Recent Books

Raven Black

Ann Cleeves, translated from English by Lee Joo-hye; Younglim Cardinal: 400 pp., 10,000 won

If you are looking for a mystery crime thriller to ease into a summer night, this book should be your choice. The novel is written faithfully in the tradition of the atmospheric ``Whodunit'' with colorful characters having little eccentricities and secrets of their own. It won the prestigious Duncan Lawrie Dagger Award last year.

On a remote island in the Scottish Shetlands, a teenage girl Catherine Ross is found dead, strangled and half-buried in the snow. Eccentric recluse Magnus Tait becomes the prime suspect, as he is not only thought to be the last person to have met the girl that night, but is also suspected of being involved in the disappearance of another girl eight years before. But Jimmy Perez, a rather worn-out yet earnest police detective inspector, has doubts and searches for evidence.

It won't be easy even for mystery-savvy readers to guess the identity of the murderer until the last chapter. When it is revealed, it is less surprising than understandable, as the writer does an excellent job of portraying each character's psychological traits. The landscape of the isolated island is also very vivid along with the suppressed emotions and animosities among small village residents.

-Seo Dong-shin