Crime Novel ('tis the season...)

I cannot believe Christmastime started and I have not given any new reading suggestion, as I usually do. For me, 'tis the season to be reading,as the holidays give me the opportunity to read a lot, particularly crime fiction. And I know I plugged this one back in 2016, but this was late in the season and I thought I would mentionit early on this year so you can have time to get your hands on it. Anyway, there are novels I stumble upon, there are others I specifically choose to read around Christmas. Deon Meyer's Icarus belongs to the latter. To this day, it remains one of my best seasonal reads. For the reasons stated in 2016, among them it gives a new perspective to the holiday, being set in summery South Africa. If you are a bit tired of sugary Christmas stories and would rather have yours with sex and violence, but with character and soul, this is the novel for you.

Still the season to be reading...

Christmastime is on its last leg and soon it will be New Year, a time that gives me a fair deal of melancholy. All the same, as the season is still going, I thought I would plug one last book to read for Christmas. As you probably don't have time this year, maybe you can read it for Christmas 2017. But anyway, Deon Meyer's Icarus was my main Christmastime read of 2016. In fact, it is still my Christmas read: I have a few pages left of it. Like the season, I want it to last as long as possible. The story is set during Christmastime in South Africa. Which means that there is no blood on snow for this Yuletide read. We often forget that for half the world, Christmas happens in summertime and often in heatwaves. All the same, it has many things a seasonal novel should have. Alcohol for instance, with police officer and recovering alcoholic Benny Griessel not recovering anymore and back on the wagon, as he must investigate the murder of an internet entrepreneur specialized in adultery. The most unsavoury sides of Christmas are all there all right. And you can never go wrong with Meyer. Oh and there are two characters named Guillaume (not one as I had mentioned here). It makes it all the more interesting for me personally. But in any case, this is a great Yuletide book.

Deon Meyer and me

I mentioned the crime novel Icarus by Deon Meyer recently and I intend to write more about it in the upcoming weeks. I have started reading it and I wanted to share a trivial details that I found quite funny. One of his characters is named Francois Du Toit (his name should be written François with a cedilla, but nevermind, I guess he could not type it with his keyboard). He is a wine farmer and has a six months old son named... Guillaume. Reading this today, it made my day. I wonder why  he chose that name. It is fairly common in the French speaking world and I understand Deon Meyer is francophile. Now in recent years I have occasionally been in contact with Mr Meyer via social medias, so my wife suggested that he may have been subconsciously influenced by me... Or it is a complete coincidence. All the same, I thought it was quite funny. Especially since I am also the father of a young child. I wonder what's in store for my namesake.

Icarus on the reading list

My readers know that I am a big fan of South African crime fiction writer Deon Meyer. Well, I saw that I had not yet on my bookshelves his novel Icarus, which has been released in October 2015. It is one of the few books of Meyer that I have yet to read to be up to date. As it has now been released in paperback, I decided to order it now. I considered asking for it as a Christmas present, but then saw that the story is set during Christmastime, which prompted me to buy it now, so it will be among my Christmas reads this year.