Usually, FD will finish almost any mystery. But when one picks up a book with insufficient information, based just on the back cover blurbs, there can be mistakes. Recently, FD abandoned an Iris Johansen book. Many people admire her work, but FD is through with serial killers obsessed with specific detectives. Especially those who dismember young women along the way. Somehow, FD didn’t grasp that was what would be found in “Blood Game,” though the title should have provided a hint!
And last night, FD decided that Peter Temple’s Truth isn’t going to be finished, either. Temple is a well-respected, prize-winning Australian author (here’s an older interview), but his style doesn’t work for how FD reads mysteries. Temple’s novel is written primarily in dialogue, and although there is a glossary provided for non-Australians, it’s just too much work for that half-hour before the light gets turned off. FD did notice that like many other mystery novels these days, Truth includes an Audi, in this case sighted on page 43. It would seem that Audi has made a deal with mystery writers; sometimes it’s the detective, sometimes it’s a a victim, so far FD hasn’t seen any criminals driving Audis…