BOOK REVIEW: Open Grave by Kjell Eriksson

Book: Open Grave
Author: Kjell Eriksson (Translated from Swedish by Paul Norlen)
Publisher: Minotaur Books, an imprint of St. Martin's Publishing Group
Year First Published: 2009 as Öppen grav by Ordfront Förlag

ISBN: 978-1-250-02549-4
Genre: fiction, Scandivian fiction, Nordic noir, mystery, suspense

I had such high hopes for Open Grave by Kjell Eriksson -- the book is one of my favorite genres: Scandinavian (or Nordic) noir. It could have been so great if it hadn't been so slow. Please note: Open Grave appears to be the sixth novel in a series by Eriksson -- have not read the first five.

I'm actually rather amazed that I finished this novel. I kept hoping for it to speed up or for there to be some interesting turn around the next page. The writing (or at least the translation from Swedish to English) was just good enough and the suspense just slightly strong enough that I kept reading and turning pages. By the time I finally felt like nothing really interesting was going to happen and had resigned myself to a lack of plot twists ahead, I was so close to the end of the book that I decided to go ahead and just finish it. 

Sadly, while there were some great suspenseful chapters and pages, they didn't happen until almost the last 50 pages of this 280+ page novel. I really only enjoyed the last 50 pages or so and felt like the rest was just all warm up. If the first 200 pages had been condensed and the last 50 to 80 expanded, the novel would have been so much better! 

Truly, Open Grave did not really begin until nearly its end. 

The novel centers on an old man who has won the Nobel Prize for Medicine, but the award has not come without controversy. There is a jealous neighbor and former coworker, a mysterious gardener, two police officers, a lesbian daughter and her partner, and a trio of house keepers. This book seems to want to be several stories at once but none of them is carried through thoroughly enough for this novel to really feel like a strong work of fiction. The "open grave" is referred to a few times throughout, but makes no sense until the very end of the novel and then the book just...ends. 

I think I'll go back to Jo Nesbo for my next Scandi noir novel -- read my review of Midnight Sun HERE.

Although the stories aren't at all similar except in that they both involve the Nobel Prize and some suspense and tension, I was reminded of the film he Wife with Glenn Close and Jonathan Pryce (with a cameo by Christian Slater) while reading Open Grave. The Wife does include suspense and a lot of marital tension. It was not what I expected, and although it was slow, I was captivated by Close's character and the warped view of himself of Pryce's character. You can find it on Amazon HERE. I also enjoyed the acting by Max Irons, the son of one my favorite actors, Jeremy Irons. 

Follow the Amazon links below to check out some of my favorite Scandinavian noir novels -- but if you decide to read the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo series, I suggest you SKIP The Girl Who Takes an Eye for an Eye -- read why HERE.

I was so disappointed by Open Grave that I'm not going to bother sharing an Amazon link with you. If you are curious to read it, see if your local library has it first.

Is there a Nordic noir novel that you just love and think I should read? Drop a comment below!

Please note: This post does contain affiliate links. Shopping through these links is at no additional cost to you, although I may receive a small commission from your purchases. I appreciate every single penny. Thank you!

BOOK REVIEW: Planting for Honeybees--The Grower's Guide to Creating a Buzz by Sarah Wyndham Lewis

My son and I recently moved to a 15 acre piece of farm land and are creating our first garden since he was a toddler. I'm so excited! I don't want this to be just any garden, but also a nature habitat for local wildlife, including honeybees, and a source of food for most of our needs throughout the year.

We both envision vegetables, fruits, and flowers. And, abundance!

But, without honeybees to pollinate, why bother?

With that in mind, headed to the library and looked for books on honeybee gardening. I found the sweetest little book -- Planting for Honeybees: The Grower's Guide to Creating a Buzz by Sarah Wyndham Lewis. This book appealed to me for several reasons:

• It's on a topic I am committed to learning and implementing.
• It's short enough to not be overwhelming.
• It's pretty! The illustrations throughout are gorgeous!
• It's easy to read in chunks, but short enough to read all at once.
• It's written in clear language that is easy for a beginner to understand.

I also like how Planting for Honeybees is laid out. There are the usual overview chapters about gardens, bees, and so on, but there are also sections and chapters that are almost like bullet points -- simple, quick lists of plants for various situations and garden sizes, seasonal breakdowns of various plants, and so on. The goal of the book is, in large part, to help you keep honey bees happy all year long.

Although our farm is several acres in size, most of that space is dedicated to cows. We'll be limiting our gardening and crops to a plot that is about 80 feet x 40 feet and almost rectangular. It's a lumpy, bumpy, weed covered, sloping mess, but it's ours and we love it! After my first read through of Planting for Honeybees, we've made some changes to our initial gardening plans and layout and will be including a few patches that we leave wild (we LOVE our dandelion patch!), and we'll be planting some flowers in large groups of single varieties. According to Wyndham Lewis, this is what honeybees really enjoy!

Now, I'm going to sit down with Planting for Honeybees again to make a list of plants to buy and sow now, as well as a list and plan for the rest of the year to keep our bees happy and working!

I'm looking forward to having an abundant flowering garden, busy with the hum of happy bees, and a huge, producing vegetable plot that will help keep our bellies full all summer, fall, and across winter!

You can learn more about Planting for Honeybees and the author, Sarah Wyndham Lewis, by visiting her website HERE.

Do you have a garden? What's your favorite flower to grow? Your favorite vegetable? Leave a comment and let me know!

While I found Planting for Honeybees at my local library (one of my favorite places!), you can find it on Amazon HERE or by following the links below:

BOOK REVIEW: Recipes for Love and Murder—A Tannie Maria Mystery by Sally Andrew

I love fiction plus food, and when recipes are included? Even better! That was certainly the case with Recipes for Love and Murder by Sally Andrew.

This was a fun romp through South African cuisine, a new language for me (Afrikaans), and more than one murder! Although there were parts of the story that were definitely thrilling, it was overall upbeat and funny. The main character, Tannie Maria, is a newspaper columnist who writes recipes and love advice—every piece of love advice revolves around a recipe or a meal. And, throughout the story, she relates to the other characters through food as well.

Frankly, some of the recipes made me hungry and I can’t wait to try some of them!

Recipes for Love and Murder starts off as a mystery around the murder of an abused woman and suspects that include her husband and her best friend, a woman who was in love with the murder victim. Among characters are a slimy grocery store manager, a dashing police officer, a hip young reporter, another shy police officer, an organic farmer, and so on.

The book very briefly delves into politics, discussing Nelson Mandela and pre- and post-Apartheid South Africa. There are a few characters who seem to be racists...but are they really? 

And then, there's more than one couple with mixed signals -- does she like me? Does he like her? Who likes who? 

And, I can’t forget a spectacular character running throughout the entire book: the landscape and the sunrises and sunsets! Truly, these were their own characters and really brought the book to life. I’ve never been to South Africa (or any other part of the African continent!), but the author, Sally Andrew, described it in such rich detail that I could see the flora and fauna in my mind as clearly as if they were in front of me.

By the end of the book, I was longing to sit on Tannie Maria’s porch with her, eating cookies or cake, and watching the sunset.

As a bonus, to help you understand the book which is written in English but with a lot of Afrikaans sprinkled throughout, there is a glossary at the back; however, you can get the general meaning of most words from the context.

Recipes for Love and Murder by Sally Andrew is a nice, easy read that kept me interested throughout. I hope you’ll enjoy it too!

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