Love, friendship, betrayal and revenge

I HAVE devoured five hits that I'm going to tell you about.

I have a soft spot for John Grisham and court dramas: Apprentice lawyers who work day and night and take notes on yellow legal pads. Slightly different is his Camino series of which I have now read the third, Camino Ghosts. Still lawsuits, greed, revenge and justice, but it's set on an island and the main character is a cool bookstore owner, Bruce Cable. Also living on the island is a successful author, Mercer Mann, who suffers from writer's block. Bruce presents her with a story: the true tale of Dark Isle, a swath of land near the North Florida coast. The island is legendary for its curse and has a murky history. It was settled by ex-slaves and their descendants inhabited it until 1955, when the last was forced to leave: Lovely Jackson, elderly and devoted to her birthplace, which she considers her legal property.

A large corporation with no heart, Tidal Breeze, seeks to transform the island into a luxury resort with a casino. Cable helps Lovely get legal representation and Mercer researches the island's dark history. As is typical in Grisham's books, an individual takes on Goliath corporations and politicians. As always, it's satisfying.

It's also fascinating, as history can be in the hands of a born storyteller. The reader dwells in the present and in the past of the island. The inhumanity of the slave trade makes your hair stand on end.

It's a suspenseful, humane book with sharply drawn characters and a lot of heft. I recommend it.

Camino Ghosts by John Grisham was published by Hodder & Stoughton and costs R450 at Graffiti.

Have you ever read Graham Norton? The an award-winning Irish writer, actor and comedian has clashed with J.K. Rowling over cancel culture and transgender rights.

Like many books that hit the shelves these days, Frankie is about an elderly person: Frances Howe. She falls. Half reluctantly, she befriends her carer, the young and gay Damian, who like her, is Irish. It's set in London. Her lifelong friend Norah pays for the care.

In Frankie and Damian's conversations, her life unfolds, which, like every life, has been remarkable. From a post-war Cork to the arts landscape of London in the 1960s, where Frankie becomes the pet of an older, ambitious, highly successful lesbian. She invariably sees herself as the side character, but the reader begins to suspect otherwise. Apparently her much older husband is parthenophobic – suffering from fear of virgins. And so the marriage is not consummated.

There is amazing dialogue, like: “Love. It’s like ordering food you know you’re allergic to.”

A fascinating life unfolds. It reminds one that every disoriented, frail, elderly person you meet had once danced on tables, been the object of obsessive desire, and lived a rich and textured life. I highly recommend it.

Frankie by Graham Norton was published by Coronet and costs R398 at Loot.

Liane Moriarty is the Australian author of hits such as Big Little Lies, which became a series. She has all the ingredients for domestic noir: eccentric characters, hairpin-twist plots, humour, and tight suspense.

Here One Moment is a bulky book with a deceptively simple premise: An elderly woman experiences a nervous breakdown on a plane. She walks through the aisles – flight attendants try to stop her without success – and tells each passenger at what age they are going to die, and from what cause. Her mother was a fortune teller, but she is an actuary. She speaks formally, matter-of-factly, saying over and over again: I expect ...

A few months later, her predictions begin to come true, one after another. This, of course, creates unbearable tension for the rest of the passengers. Relationships are wrecked, nerves fray. The press christen her The Death Lady. Passengers try to locate her to get an alternative forecast.

The reader focuses on one passenger in particular, Leo. He was told that he would die in an accident at work, within a year. Questions are asked about predestination and chance. Can you escape fate?

Here's a quote:

I still love logic, but I understand its limitations. I was nineteen when I first learned about Gödel’s “incompleteness theorem”, which states that in any reasonable mathematical system there will always be true statements that cannot be proved. I was so disappointed!

It's a voluminous book that captivates to the end.

Here One Moment by Liane Moriarty is published by Penguin Books Ltd and costs R351 at Graffiti. 

I plead guilty: When a writer is successful in one genre, I expect more of the same from him or her, rather than a dramatic sidestep. Born in Zimbabwe, Paula Hawkins became known for domestic noir. She was the mother of it, so to speak, with her novel Woman on the Train, which was also filmed. An unreliable narrator with a drinking problem and mental health issues, a small stage. It has become standard in the genre. I haver also read her next two novels, Into the Water and Slow Fire Burning.

So, I picked up The Blue Hour with certain expectations. Which were not fulfilled. It's not household noir, not quite. It's a semi-literary exploration of art and friendship, atmospheric and dense. The beautiful, elegant artist Vanessa Chapman stayed on an almost-island: only accessible by land when it's low tide. She lived in seclusion on her one-woman island, writing in her notebooks, painting and doing pottery. She has already passed away and is survived by her longtime friend – apparently platonic, but closer than many a love affair – the unattractive physician Grace who came to live with her on the island and cared for her selflessly: When Vanessa started creating, she forgot to eat. She remained attached to her unfaithful playboy husband who lied and embezzled her money.

Vanessa's work was bequeathed to her married ex-lover, a wealthy art collector. He has since passed away and his charismatic son Sebastian now holds sway. He appoints his clever university friend, James Becker, with a humbler background, as curator. It's an awkward setup in the mansion: Sebastian, his quarrelsome mother, Becker, and his wife, who used to be Seb's fiancée. Grace didn't hand over all the paintings as she should have. In addition, a rib in one of Vanessa's artworks appears to be of human origin.

Back and forth between the present and the past, the reader navigates the stormy seas. It's elegant and entertaining and I have to try to forget about Hawkins' previous bestsellers.

The Blue Hour by Paula Hawkins was published by Penguin Random House and costs R347 at Graffiti.

I'm a huge fan of Jo Nesbo. I find the man's disposition and imagination entertaining. Blood Ties isn't a Harry Hole adventure, but the main character, Roy Opgard, is equally damaged, complicated, and enchanting. He and his brother Carl are the kings (mafia-like) of a small Norwegian town, Os. Roy is the older brother and early on the mess that was their childhood is revealed: Since Carl was 12, their father regularly raped him at night – in the bunk bed underneath Roy, who kept his ears shut because he didn't know how to put an end to it. He was only one year older than Carl.

Now they are adults and Carl feels that Roy owes him for not protecting him. They have since killed their parents, making it look like an accident. Carl killed a few more people and Roy helped him get rid of the bodies every time, as a good brother does. It's a grim picture, but the surprising fact is that Roy, unlike the smooth-talking psychopath Carl, is a sensitive, good man.

The sheriff, Kurt, has an axe to grind: His father was one of the people killed by Carl. However, Carl was only 18 when this happened, so Roy, who was 19, is in Kurt's sights.

Carl has all sorts of shady business operations while Roy works hard and helps the community. However, Carl becomes a problem: He is increasingly cold and subversive towards his brother. Roy firmly believes in family ties.

Then Roy falls in love again: The first time was with Carl's wife, who was murdered by Carl. He wants to start believing in a future, but storm clouds gather and old secrets threaten to tumble out of the closet.

It's an atmospheric, captivating novel full of moral dilemmas, but what keeps you reading is the dynamics between the characters. There's something Shakespearean about that. I highly recommend it.

Blood Ties by Jo Nesbo was published by Penguin Random House and costs R327 at Graffiti.

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