The Chilling

 

In the days before television I remember listening to part of a radio serial set in Antarctica where there was the danger of falling down a crevasse - very scary. Reading the debut novel, The Chilling, by Australian author, Riley James, caused part of that long ago memory to resurface.

Kit Bitterfield has the opportunity to spend a winter in Antarctica assisting her friend, Sally, in a project involving Wendell seals. On the journey to Macpherson Station they learn that another ship, The Petrel,  has become stuck in the ice. While waiting for orders to attempt to rescue the passengers they then learn that the ship is on fire. By training Kit is a dentist though she now works primarily on research projects so, because of her medical training, she is involved in the search for the passengers of the stricken vessel. They only locate one passenger who they take back to their ship. Where are the remaining passengers? What caused them to leave the ship? How did the fire start?

Being in Antarctica was a very different experience for Kit. Early on it was explained to her about the mood swings suffered by some of those spending a winter in Antarctica. If a boiling point is when people cannot contain their anger, the chilling point is when they cannot suppress their hostility or lack of sympathy. (p 45) All is well initially at MacPherson Station, apart from the concern about the missing people from the other ship, but then a malaise begins to afflict many of the staff. What has happened to cause this?

Nick, the geologist rescued from the other ship, has lost his memory though his general health rapidly improves. Kit hopes that Nick will recover his memory and be able to explain some of their concerns. Meanwhile the search for the passengers of The Petrel and their general scientific investigations continues while the the survivors of The Petrel disaster attempt to make their way across the ice to Macpherson Station - provided that they do not starve or freeze to death. In The Chilling Riley James has written a tension filled thriller of survival in an extreme climate and terrain.

Talking about detective fiction

P D James is well known as a writer of detective fiction. In this book she discusses the writing of detective fiction, particularly British books in this genre. Authors she discusses include Arthur Conan Doyle, G K Chesterton, Agatha Christie, E C Bentley, Gladys Mitchell, Edmund Crispin, Cyril Hare, Josephine Tey, Dorothy L Sayers, Margery Allingham and Ngaio Marsh. There is also a chapter on American 'hard boiled' detective writing highlighting the work of Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett. The author looks at why readers enjoy detective fiction and provides an insight into what methods authors, including herself, use to write successful detective novels.

Not Dead Yet

This book by Peter James, is the eighth title in the Roy Grayson series, novels set in Brighton and surrounding areas in England with the emphasis on police procedures in solving crime. Gaia, an American rock star, is about to travel to England to star in a film about King George IV and Maria Fitzherbert when a staff member driving Gaia's car is murdered. Detective Superintendent Roy Grayson is made responsible for overseeing her safety when working on the film. He and his team are also investigating the finding of a torso at a nearby poultry farm. The reader is invited to follow the workings of the police as the investigations occur but like a number of other modern crime writers the story is not told from just one viewpoint but through the actions and thoughts of a range of characters including those committing the crime. As you would expect the plot has many twists and turns but towards the end just when you think you know what is happening a new twist is revealed. An enjoyable read.

Death comes to Pemberley

PD James has written an account of a murder investigation and subsequent trial set in the realms of Jane Austen's Pemberley, the home of Elizabeth and Fitzwilliam Darcy.

It is the evening before Lady Anne's Ball when an eratically driven coach carrying an hysterical Lydia Wickham arrives at Pemberley. Lydia is convinced that her husband has been murdered. Thus the tranquility at Pemberley is interrupted. Darcy, Colonel Fizwilliam and the young lawyer, Alverston, go into the woods to investigate Lydia's claims to find Wickham alive but bending over the body of Captain Denny.

PD James obviously enjoys the opportunity to set a crime story in the world created by Jane Austen and tries to remain faithful to the characters that Jane Austean created.