A Necessary Evil by Abir Mukherjee and other mysteries

I have been reading some mysteries (of course) and wanted to provide a quick summary of a few titles.

A NECESSARY EVIL by Abir Mukherjee is the second in his series about Captain Sam Wyndham and ‘Surrender-Not’ Banerjee. I will be going back to read the first, but this one stands alone, too. Set in 1920’s India, A NECESSARY EVIL is a very well-crafted mystery (I was guessing up until the end!) and a wonderful opportunity to immerse oneself in another time and place. Motives for an assassination of the Prince of Sambalpore abound – corruption, religious fervor, and jealousy, for example. Understanding of the relationships between and within the British and Indian societies, plus gender and class divides provide much to contemplate.  Sam Wyndham, too, offers droll commentary on any number of circumstances: “I handed him the scrap and he examined it … beaming like a Frenchman in a wine cellar…” or “Indians often did that, walking a conversational tightrope between speaking the truth and what they thought we wanted to hear.” 

 A NECESSARY EVIL received starred reviews from Booklist, Library Journal, and Publishers Weekly – this mystery novel definitely deserves your time and would make a clever pairing with Sujata Massey’s The Widows of Malabar Hill, set again in India in the early 20th century.  Also set at roughly that time, but in England and Scotland, is MURDER ON THE FLYING SCOTSMAN by Carola Dunn - a Daisy Dalrymple mystery originally published in 1997. This is a lighter “cozy,” essentially a “closed room” mystery centering on an older gentleman’s death on a train going to Edinburgh. Of course, his relatives (each with a potential motive) are all on the train as they had been summoned to his brother’s estate. It was ever so much fun to spend some time with Daisy, her beau Alec Fletcher, and his young daughter Belinda who plays a fairly prominent role on this mystery. Read MURDER ON THE FLYING SCOTSMAN as a teaser for the new addition in the series, The Corpse at the Crystal Palace, scheduled for release in early July.  And for similar titles, look for mysteries by Frances Brody or Rhys Bowen. 

Another rather suspenseful story, HOTEL ON SHADOW LAKE by Daniela Tully is set in pre-war Germany, although it fast-forwards to the 1970s and today.  The two main characters of this family saga are Martha and her granddaughter, Maya. As a young girl, Martha unwisely lets her doubts about the Nazis be known and suffers as a result.  Years later she pushes Maya to spend a year abroad in the US, only to disappear herself.  I personally found that this book seemed to start slowly and to be a bit dark – particularly the sections on Martha’s youth and her brother’s enthusiasm for the Fuhrer’s policies. The romantic interests, changing narrators, and subsequent discovery of Martha’s body on another continent adds to the confusion and menacing atmosphere. Decide for yourself; HOTEL ON SHADOW LAKE received a starred review from Publishers Weekly. And if you have a mystery to recommend, please let us know.  

More on Refugees - domestic and global issues

THE FAR AWAY BROTHERS by Lauren Markham is a narrative non-fiction work which tells the story of “Two Young Migrants and the Making of an American Life.” Twin seventeen year-old brothers, Ernesto and Raul Flores, flee dangerous gang threats in El Salvador and attempt to start a life in California. As the publisher says, they are “fighting to survive, to stay, and to belong.” After paying a coyote and travelling through the desert, they ultimately reach an older brother in San Jose, and then move to Oakland, where they enroll in high school and apply for eligibility for Special Immigrant Juvenile Status.

Markham has spent over a decade working in refugee resettlement and immigrant education and she weaves numerous facts into the Flores brothers’ story. Many, particularly those related to violence and femicide in El Salvador, are shocking and difficult to read. As just one example, Amnesty International reported in 2010 that 6 out of 10 migrant woman and girls were sexually assaulted en route to the United States. Markham discusses potential policy shifts and the moral and pragmatic implications of the situation in her afterword which is accompanied by numerous sources and followed by a comprehensive index.

THE FAR AWAY BROTHERS received a starred review from Kirkus; this year we are planning to booktalk it as a possible text for interested students to read for Junior Theme.  I can see supplementing this title with excerpts from Tell Me How It Ends or perhaps contrasting it with a fictional work such as A Radius of Us or Lucky Boy or Behold the Dreamers.

GO, WENT, GONE by Jenny Erpenbeck is a fictional account focusing on the refugee crisis in Europe. Originally written in German, it is translated by Susan Bernofsky. The main character is Richard, a recently retired classics professor who is increasingly troubled by and drawn to the immigrants he meets in Berlin.  Richard learns of ten African refugees who are conducting a hunger strike before Berlin's Town Hall, eventually works to apply for asylum for them, and even invites one to his home to play piano.  

For me, this book was a fascinating look at another country as well as an exploration of a hotly debated social issue. I was surprised at how much seemingly tangential information I learned from reading GO, WENT, GONE; for example, did you know that there is more uranium in Niger than nearly anywhere else in the world?  Our global inter-connectedness is highlighted by books like this which seek to foster dialogue and understanding across cultures. I am grateful and proud that our local libraries have them available for patrons especially when just this week, the President of the United Nations decried the US government’s decision to pull out of yet another non-binding international agreement, the New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants which pledged to uphold the rights of refugees, help them resettle and ensure they have access to education and jobs. Keep reading and stay informed. Erpenbeck is an award-winning author and GO, WENT, GONE received a starred review from Kirkus. 

Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys

Read this book!  Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys is one of my favorite books of the year so far. 

This is the story of four young people: Florian, a gifted artist; Joana, a compassionate nurse; Emilia, a troubled Polish girl; and Alfred, a mis-guided soldier. The first three travel across Germany during 1945 at the end of WWII, fleeing the advancing Russian army.  Their walk is dangerous and they struggle to find food and water, shelter and courage. Yes, I was very moved by their stories, especially as they began to form a bond and to trust and care for each other.

Salt to the Sea is a survival story and as such has much to say about life and death and about a myriad of emotions, including fear, guilt, shame, hope and fate.  I have already been recommending this title to students and teachers and I know at least one teacher who is considering Salt to the Sea for an all class read next year, perhaps in tandem with a project about Syrian refugees.  She was intrigued by the multiple narrators and you will be, too.   

Salt to the Sea received starred reviews from Booklist, Library Journal, Publishers Weekly, and School Library Journal.  It will undoubtedly win numerous awards. 2/8 UPDATE: Ruta Sepetys will be at the Bookstall (847.446.8880) on Elm TONIGHT (2/8) at 7pm. 
3/9 Update:  See letters sent from WWII refugees to Syrian refugees, as profiled on pbs