2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Irish Independent
Cosy slice of crime set on Seine cruise would make a compelling TV series
The mystery and intrigue behind Laura Lippman's 'Murder Takes a Vacation' is reminiscent of Agatha Christie
Crime fiction can, in very reductive terms and with many obvious exceptions, be divided into two broad categories: hard-boiled and cosy mysteries. The former is defined by your fast-talking PI or tortured cop, beautiful femmes fatales, sex, violence, treachery, conspiracy, bad language, usually a large urban setting.
The latter is more your Agatha Christie/Midsommer Murders type affair, where killing is almost a genteel pursuit, the detectives are inquisitive amateurs, the mystery is a clever puzzle to be solved, the setting is quaint and/or beautiful, and the real-life consequences of death – anguish, misery, destruction – are nowhere to be seen, barring the major's housekeeper discreetly giving an unhappy gasp on finding his bloodied corpse in the billiards room.
