Book Log 2018 #22: The Scarred Woman by Jussi Adler-Olsen

Carl Morck and his band of misfits in the Copenhagen police department's cold case division are fighting off claims that their office doesn't clear enough cases, an allegation which could close the unit down if unrefuted. 

Complicating their defense is that Rose, who has the best handle on the team's statistics, is still trying to recover from mental trauma with links to an event in her past. That event may also have links to the present in a more recent murder and a string of assaults against women, but linking them is proving difficult.

I've liked the entries in this series that delve into the lives of the supporting characters, and Rose's troubled past provides a lot of opportunity for doing so.

Book Log 2018 #21: Elegy for April by Benjamin Black

So I'm three books into the Quirke series, and still unsure how I feel about it. I still don't get a sense as to why he investigates the crimes that bring the bodies to his morgue, though I'm not sure he does, either. I'm guessing there's a similar dynamic at work with Quirke himself, as I can't quite call him a hero or an anti-hero. He's not far enough towards either extreme.

But I'm still reading them, so it can't be all bad, can it?

In this outing, a friend of Quirke's niece/daughter Phoebe has gone missing, and asks Quirke for help in figuring out what exactly happened to her (OK, in this case I do get why Quirke is involved). As with the other books, Quirke uncovers some of the less savory parts of living in 1950s Dublin, running into entrenched attitudes and powerful clergymen as is usual.

I will likely keep up with the series, even if I can't quite put my finger on why I'm doing so.

Book Log 2018 #20: Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow

Like many people, I found my way to this book via the musical. I don't typically read biographies, but do like this era of American history and was curious to see how one would get a musical out of it.

I didn't see the musical. But I did read an engrossing story about a life critical to the foundation of this country. It's very clear from the book that without Hamilton the US becomes a very different country, and perhaps not even stay one country for very long.

It was also a fascinating look into Hamilton's personal life, especially his time growing up in the Caribbean, which understandably gets almost no coverage in the musical.

While it often reads more like a novel, there are definite stretches where the density of the material will require work to get through.  Even so, it's very much worth working through if you have the time to dedicate to it. I tend to be a fairly quick reader and read every day, and this still took me over a month to complete. Plan accordingly.