Postcards from Paris, another first!

One of the things that has really improved since I first came to Paris in the 70's is the public bathrooms. Back then, 'pissoirs', outdoor urinals, were the preferred venue for Parisian men (I don't know what women did). They were large, round, dark green, steel contraptions not unlike the familiar round advertising locations common now, only larger. Men (up to 10 at a time) would enter and pee against the center wall and it would drain to the sewer. Bathrooms in Cafes were co-ed and featured urinals along one wall and commodes along the other for men and women. Less elegant locations would have neither urinals nor toilets, but rather co-ed 'squatters 'with two raised footprints in the center of a tiled drain.

Today, public bathrooms in Paris are a joy, located in every cafe, restaurant and public facility. There are also high-tech pay toilets located on busy streets. These are well designed commodes that self-clean and disinfect after every use. There's also a mechanism which causes the doors to fly open after a respectable time period. They've been in use for about 5 years and NYC recently agreed to purchase a number of them for use in Manhattan.

As one of his first initiatives, the new Mayor of Paris made all city museums and pay toilets free of charge. This does not include the major museums that are national. To date, we had enjoyed the free museums, but not the toilets. I'm happy to report that they are not to be shunned

- they are clean and well equipped with toilet paper, towels and running water. This is probably more then you ever wanted to know about this topic, but suffice it to say that any remaining hesitations about coming to Paris should now be eliminated.

Postcards from Paris #3

We're eating at home tonight after visiting a great exhibition at the Centre Pompidou all about the sculptor and painter "Giacometti". It was wonderful with over 100 pieces of work beginning with his earliest painting at age 15. You'll recongnize him as the artist who did "Walking Man"--tall skinny sculpted figures that have a 'pinched' look to them. It was particularly interesting as we thought his work was familiar to us but found he had evolved significantlym over the years. He had even been briefly part of the Surrealists, but they threw him out after a few years for unspecified reasons - maybe his work was understandable!

Walking home along rue Rambuteau, we picked out goodies for the evening meal which included stuffed bread and little calimari from an Italians place, pate and some cold salads from the French place and then of course there was the usual cheese, wine and chocolate to round things off!

Yum, wish you were here, Chris and Paul

A Postcard from Paris

A postcard from Paris . . .

I took a French cooking class with Scott and Jory/ We enjoyed experimenting with new ingredients we bought at a local market. The result, at the end of a morning in the kitchen with 'chef Eric,' was a sumptuous lunch of sauteed shrimp on ratatouille and winter veal stew. We finished with cheese and a molten chocolate cake (served with a "surprise" sauce of banana and avocado). All were served with the appropriate wine. All in all a fine morning! Paul was happy to be invited to share the meal even though he did not participate in the preparation.

Wish you all could have been there,

Postcards from Paris

Postcards from Paris: An Unusual Visitation. . .

Christina and Christine went to visit Pere Lachaise Cemetery this week where the line-up of illustrious corpses date back to the 1700's! Here lie Proust, Oscar Wilde, Edith Piaf, and almost anyone French, talented and DEAD that you can think of. They don't discriminate against creed or nationality but space is now at a premium, in fact since 2003 they have introduced 10, 30, and 50 year leases. If you have an existing lease, it buys you about a century and those in 'perpetuelles' may stay until abandoned. Of the one million originally buried here, approximately 200 thousand remain--now that's a lot of souls!

The grounds are beautiful, and you need a minimum of half a day here. Here's just a little snap shot of some of the gravestones we found interesting.

Ooh la la

We have never visited Reims, the Champagne region, just outside of Paris. So we decided that it would be a perfect trip to take when Scott and Jory joined us in Paris this year. Several people had recommended a particular chateau that offered a one day, all inclusive lunch with a champagne tasting menu and a visit to Veuve Cliquot, our favourite 'cave'. Sounds perfect--right????

The day started badly... We had to leave the house at 8:30 am to catch the train. That was aggressive planning on Chris's part since Scott and Jory were still somewhat jet-lagged and not not stirring before noon. I'm normally grumpy about doing anything before I've read the paper. The short train ride put us in Reims at about 9:45 am, giving us what Chris said, would be enough time to explore the city before the designated pick-up by the Chateau. I had been thinking about our visit to Burgundy and the lovely little towns like St. Emilion that we enjoyed so much. Unfortunately, Reims is more New Haven than St. Emilion. As we headed out from the station, Chris was looking for the Cathedral, I was looking for a nice Cafe or tea house for breakfast; Scott and Jory were just groggily following along -- we were hopeful! Quel domage! We were too cold to walk all the way to the cathedral and didn't have enough time to visit the town and still satisfy the need for coffee so..... we stopped at the least offensive place and managed to get warm and raise our blood sugar enough to head back to the station for our designated pick-up.

Eh bien, at the station, with no pick-up in sight there was a certain degree of anxiety. Chris began her efforts to call the Chateau while Scott was looking at the timetable to see the earliest he could get back to Paris - not a good sign! I was thinking about the Rolls Royce that the hotel in Hong Kong had sent to pick us up. Forty-five minutes later with still no car in sight, there was some brief talk about lynching our travel arranger (Chris). Instead we took a cab to the chateau.

As we pulled into the drive, things began to look up. The chateau was lovely. In the garden room the mood quickly changed with our first glass of champagne and a discussion of the menu.

The menu was too complicated and required too many decisions so Scott suggested they just "surprise us". There were four courses. All had a champagne accompaniment except dessert (according to Veuve Cliquot, you "don't drink champagne with chocolate"). Each course had a dominant theme but was broken into 4 or 5 flights, each one presented separately in a dish or cup or bowl or goblet. I couldn't begin to describe them all so I'll just stick to the basic theme. Assume that fresh truffles, foie gras and seasonal mushrooms were

abundant.

Aperitif

1998 Veuve Cliquot Brut

Assorted nuts, flat breads, olives, salmon cake and faux french fries made from whipped potatoes. Not to mention the little glass of deviled egg that was outrageous.

The 'amuse bouche' was a little ball filled with warm champagne, presented atop the neck of a cut champagne bottle. We were told to pop the entire thing in our mouth because there would be a burst of liquid--a surprise!

Fish Course

2002 Veuve Cliquot Rose

Salmon tartare et al for the ladies

Scallops et al for the men.

Meat Course

1999 Veuve Cliquot Brut

Veal for the women on a bed of crisp veggies

Chicken rolled in truffles for the men (Bresse, of course - it is the most prized chicken in France where the markets carry, at least, Cock or Hen for 'traditional', 'farm raised' and 'Bresse') .

Dessert Course

Believe it or not, this was the course where they really outdid themselves. It came in three waves, each having 3-5 components. The first wave was a light puff pastry with cream and fresh raspberries, Next came the chocolate sensations: molten cake, mousse, puddings and ices. The third wave was delivered on a cart, like a cheese selection! At this point we all groaned--it all looked so good and was one of the most interestingly presented carts (Sheila-we were thinking of you!) We declined all but the smallest of tastes.

Coffee course

Served back in the garden room with brandies and chocolate truffles. We could barely finish the coffee--just wanting to be left alone to sleep it off. But no!!! There was more to come. We couldn't believe we were heading off to the caves and MORE CHAMPAGNE!

Our private tour with Fanny as guide, made this a truly deluxe experience. We went through the museum, which had a fascinating discussion of champagne forgery over the years and then went down into the chalk caves to look at the wine. It was interesting to hear about the process and the stories and innovations of Mme Cliquot. There were bottles that dated back almost 100 years. Back in the tasting room, they opened three bottles, all vintage a Brut, a Sec (slightly sweeter) and the flagship of the brand La Grande Dame (at least $150 a bottle retail). They were delicious but we were probably a little over-champagned by that point and not as appreciative as we might have been before lunch. Each couple was sent off with a bottle of the non-vintage Brut and a book of the history of Veuve Cliquot and an invitation to return.

The train ride home was quiet with all of us wishing that we could have gone back to the that lovely garden room for a nap. What an experience!

Paris Notes: 2

The past week and a half has been filled with friends and visitors. It's great to have visitors when we're in Paris, because it brings a new rhythm to our days and it's fun to share the experience with others. So far, it's been really great--highlights include:

• An invitation to the home of a French couple who call Paris their home. Their warm welcome and willingness to put up with my less then perfect French won't be forgotten.


• Participation in "Nuit Blanche" with friends Narissa and Tony. Without them we would probably never have gone Cafe hopping to watch the final minutes of the Rugby match between France and New Zealand (France won) nor gone walking at the Tuilleries which were lit up with hundreds of open torches, and burning sculptures.


• Spending time with Scott and Jory eating great food, touring Champagne country and going to a cooking class.

Paris Notes

This is the fifth year we've come to Paris since we retired. We thought we'd share some observations at the end of the 2nd week...

We still love Paris.

• On average, we walk about 5 miles a day (based on Chris' pedometer). Paris is an outdoors city where people are on the street, walking, bicycling and cafe-ing . Sometimes the whole city feels like Central Park on a Fall weekend. On every corner there are one or more terraces open all year long with large gas heaters for the colder weather. The good ones are full all year. It may be the small, dark apartments but people don't seem to entertain at home; instead congregating in the cafes and Bistros around town where you can meet friends or simply spend the day people-watching. New York is trying to increase the number of sidewalk cafes but the city just isn't set up that way. Paris has a "Place" every hundred yards - hell on traffic, but wonderful for sitting around.
  
• There are more museums in Paris than in New York - there seems to be a museum to celebrate everyone and everything, but on the whole we prefer the ones we have in New York. They're more people-friendly and less crowded; one seldom finds a line to get in. On the other hand, the Musee d'Orsay may be the best all around museum I've ever been to, based on content and its manageable size.
  
• Everybody has a dog and they seem to be welcome most places. The stoop and scoop law is often ignored, so it's imperative to keep at least one eye on where you're walking!
  
  
  

Staying on our diet is very difficult!

• we love bread and cheese
  
• salad is hard to find
  
• the ice cream and gelato shops are along our daily route--we sometimes choose to miss a meal so we can indulge
  
• It sometimes feels like we walk from cafe to bakery to creperie to gelato shop to chocolate shops. Every one having a favorite that is calling to us.
  

The Euro is strong, the Dollar is WEAK!

• especially painful with the cost of restaurants. It can cost $50 for salad and club soda for two at a cafe and $600 for two at a nice (1 star) restaurant.
  

Chris is frustrated learning the language

• She spends hours every day doing "homework" and in a conversation group
  
• She talks to every cab driver, dog owner and waiter we see.
  
• She is making progress despite what she thinks
  

To be continued...

It's All About the Food!

Part of the fun in coming to Paris each year is not only the street markets, but also some of the most wonderful specialty stores that carry the foods we've come to enjoy and sometimes can't find in the same abundance at home. In New York we have places like Zabar's and Citarella that have beautiful selections of food, but here food is a living thing. Everything has a story, where it was made (or grown) and by who, how it was made. Our local cheese store has a dozen types of Tomme cheese - Cow, goat and sheep; mountain or valley, raw or pasteurized; and the producer. Every one of these decisions is passionately debated by the customers. I didn't know I could feel so inadequate. Last year we "discovered" a new store near the Madelaine called Hediards (it's a little bit like "discovering" the Bergdorf's of food unknown only to us). Paul is poised in the section devoted to 'drink' and from the smile on his face you'd think that he'd sampled extensively--NOT! This, like the food halls at Galleries Lafayette and Bon Marche that are chock full of top quality products both from France and afar. In the area where thay sell prepared foods there are series of vendors that also serve every imaginable food to be eaten there - for example, Petrossian serves caviar and salmon to be eaten right at the counter. We've also noticed more and more imports, probably to satisfy the palates of the many travellers from Europe, Asia and the US.

Each department here has products so tempting and beautifully displayed that it's pretty difficult to leave without something. We left with the cutest little dried sausages in a jar, incredible strawberries (here bigger is NOT better) and reasonably priced bottles of Cote du Rhone. We managed to march right past the pastry counter!
Hediards 2007

One Way to go

In July, the city of Paris followed a tradition that began in Lyon to put 10,000 bicycles at 750 points around the city for people to use. It's called Velib. With a mere swipe of your credit card you can rent a bicycle for a short trip. Bicycles come equipped with a basket to hold your supplies, a lock, generator-operated light, reflectors and 3 gears! Use requires getting an inexpensive access card that provides 30 minutes of free time. After that, the cost is about E 2 per hour. The goal is to enocourage bike riding for short distances. You can pick-up and return the bicycles at any station. There are regular maintenance checks to keep things in order. There is a service that cruises the locations and checks tires and cleans the bikes. So far, it seems to be a hit with tourists and the general population. We see them eveywhere in central Paris. The plan is to double the number of bikes and locations by year-end. I have trouble imagining anything like it in NY - the closest we have are Zip Cars!

Using typically Parisian logic, the applications for the access card are available at Metro stations an PASTRY SHOPS only at the moment.

Paul and I haven't tried them YET! But it's on Chris' agenda.

It's A Tight Squeeze

In Rome, everything is a tight squeeze--the streets are that narrow and that old! Walking driving and parking present daily challenges that had us often shaking our heads and thankful that it wasn't us negotiating our way in a car. The locals, however, seem to take it all in stride, patiently moving over that extra inch that makes the difference. There's very little horn honking, everyone just accomodates because I'm sure that they've all found themselves in similar circumstances!

Being here reminded us about our first driving trip through Europe and the adventures of Paul negotiating his way backwards down a lane that wasn't meant to be driven on! Needless to say, we prefer pedestrian travel!


September, 2007

Why are you going to Paris again, for six weeks!

Paris again? You're going for six weeks? Why not try some place else?

These are questions our friends ask us and that we ask ourselves. When we were in Rome last week we seriously discussed the possibility of going there or somewhere else instead of Paris. I have a strong bias towards cities and there are a number of world-class cities we could visit. Compared to Paris, cost is not a major issue with any of them. To me, the list of world class cities begins with New York and Paris followed by London and Rome and maybe a few others. After that, there is a break before a large group of nice cities that I would love to visit; but not spend six weeks.

The issue for me is that I want to go away for long enough to really feel like we're living there, not just visiting and sightseeing. I want to get up each morning, not with a checklist of things I to do before leaving, but with the thought that I just want to enjoy the day in the best way I can. That can mean just getting a baguette and a newspaper and sitting and watching the people go by; or it can mean going to see a wonderful show at a museum. It all depends on the day and what's available.

When we arrive in Paris, it's like coming home. We're like kids rushing to our favorite store to buy the bread and cheese we love. We spend hours going over Pariscope to see what's happening at the cabarets, museums and movie theaters and we start going over the Michelin and Pudlo restaurant guides to decide where we will be eating - old favorites and new. And, Chris starts planning her trips to the market - think of 10 Union Squares arranged end to end with incredible variety. They have more kinds of mushrooms, potatoes and beans than we ever dreamt of. We're much more organized here than we are in NY! I can't explain it but it's like being home. We love to walk the streets, miles of them. There's so much to do we feel like we're "bathing" in Paris. We know we won't get to it all, but we're also never bored. There's always next year.

I would be willing to go just about anywhere for a week, maybe two; but compared to New York or Paris I can't imagine staying any longer.

September 20/07

The del Balsos are in Rome

We just arrived in Rome and spent the day walking around and immersing ouorselves in Roma! What a difference from France (or Germany or the UK for that matter)! Here everything just comes at you in waves of smells and tastes and language and TRASH! I've been here maybe 10 times for short stays, mostly on business. Every time I leave with a sense of having been welcomed with open arms. The people you meet just want to help you find what you need or want. There's a strong sense they feel sorry for you that you don't live here and they just want to help the less fortunate.

In France, Germany and the UK everything (or as much as they can manage) is neat and organized and cared for. The paradigm is the neat English or French garden or the German window box. There is also a sense that the visitor is less fortunate, but the effect is more one of disdain than welcoming (NY has some of this sense too).

We are staying in a small Inn near the Spanish Steps (about 10 feet!). It's charming with a lovely roof garden for breakfast and evening cocktails. It's very centrally located in walking distance from all of central Rome and the night noises make us feel like we're in our own apartment. We're on the Via Condotti (the Madison Avenue of Rome) which begins at the Spanish Steps. It's a Saturday and the hordes of tourists are somewhat disconcerting. Everything in Rome is all jumbled up together. You leave the Via Condotti and turn a corner and you come upon the Panthenon, built in 40BC(!) and still open to the public! Another block or two and we're at the 16th century Piazza Navona filled with artists, fountains and cafes (and benches!) then turned the corner and came to the Campo del Fiore (60 BC) where there's still a market every morning. In between these major sites every block was filled with little shops and interesting buildings. Romans still live and work in all these neighborhoods. Chris, of course, had to look into every shop and building along the way. It takes a long time to get anywhere but what great way to see the city.

We're here for only three more days before we go to Paris and are thoroughly enjoing ourselves. It's a real change from New York and Paris. This is like standing in a waterfall with sensations crashing out at you from every direction.

September 15, 2007

BLT Market, again

We went to BLT Market again tonight. It's our second time since it opened this summer. We liked it so much we changed our reservation for today (with Scott and Jory) from one of our other favorites, Sfoglia on the EUS. This will be our last dinner before we leave for Paris on Friday or six weeks . This really made us think about what makes a "good" restaurant--one that we would want to.

At the very least it has to have good food and an interesting menu. BLT Market qualifies on both counts. Chris and I "fought' about whether her Starter of "Soft Shell Crab with Grilled Local Corn" was as good as my "Langoustine with Arborio Risotto" (it wasn't!) or her "Veal and Pork Meat Balls with Garlic Pomodoro Sauce" were as good as my Daily Special "5 Spiced Glazed LI Duckling" (it also didn't cut it). The sign of a good menu is the number of items we want to order but don't - for example they have a delicious sounding "Stuffed Amish Chicken Provencale" that sounds delicious but keeps getting superseded by the daily special. An interesting menu and high quality food is critical, but not enough to make us come back. The restaurant also needs a a really good ambiance. BLT Market has very comfortable tables, windows that open to the street and for right now at least an exceptionally attentive staff. This restaurant has only been open a month but even sow, we probably couldn't have gotten a reservation if it wasn't Rosh Hashanah.

All in all, we think this a really good restaurant. Not fancy, but with an excellent menu, well prepared and served by an attentive staff. This makes the 6th BLT restaurant in NY. We're not fans of the others because they seem too "trendy" and gimmicky. However, tonight will make the third time we've been here since it opened. A good choice before we leave for Paris tomorrow.

BLT Market

Ritz-Carlton Hotel
1430 Sixth Ave. (CPS)
212-521-6125

Tess Gerritsen - The Mephisto Club

Book description

In this brisk, deftly plotted thriller from bestseller Gerritsen (Vanish), Boston medical examiner Maura Isles and police detective Jane Rizzoli look into the murder of 28-year-old Lori-Ann Tucker, whose body is found Christmas morning in her apartment amid an unholy mess of severed limbs, black candles and satanic symbols rendered in blood. "Peccavi," reads one word scrawled across Tucker's wall—Latin for "I have sinned." Isles and Rizzoli must sort sinner from innocent among suspects who can be found on several continents and include a group of sophisticates—scholars, an anthropologist, a psychiatrist—who are either cult members or crusaders against evil straight from the pages of Revelation. Other murders follow, all gruesome, all involving apocalyptic messages. On occasion, the action shifts to Europe, to a young woman running from a man she's convinced is descended from a race of fallen angels. Gerritsen has a knack for stretching believability just short of the breaking point—and for amassing details that produce an atmosphere in which the most terrible possibilities can and, indeed, should occur.

John Harvey - Darkness & Light

Book Description

In Harvey's engaging third British procedural to feature retired policeman Frank Elder (after 2005's Ash & Bone), Elder grudgingly agrees to try to find Claire Meecham, the older, widowed sister of a friend of his ex-wife's. While poking through the missing woman's Nottingham bungalow, Elder finds nothing untoward other than evidence that Claire was not quite so uninterested in sex, and possible new relationships, as her younger sister believed. Soon after, Elder is surprised when Claire turns up in her home dead, looking at peace, carefully dressed and laid out in the manner of a woman who met a similar fate years earlier"and whose killer was never caught. Elder's probe of this murder leads him down several blind alleys even as it forces him to re-examine uncomfortable aspects of his own past. Fans of PBS's Mystery will find Harvey's novel, with its scattering of contemporary English slang, a genial read.

Charles Lohr - The Chess Machine

Book Description...

German writer Löhr resurrects a chess-playing automaton in his generously imagined debut novel. Set in 1770, Baron Wolfgang von Kempelen of Hungary, anxious to win the favor of Empress Maria Theresia, builds an engineering marvel: the Mechanical Turk, a chess-playing automaton. The Turk, though, isn't exactly as it seems; hidden inside is Italian chess prodigy (and dwarf) Tibor Scardenelli, hired by Kempelen to secretly control the contraption during its debut match in front of the empress. Tibor, a devout Catholic, is hesitant to partake in the scam and insists he will quit after the match. The game goes off without a glitch, but Court Mechanician Frederich Knaus is suspicious of the Turk and convinces his lover, Galatea, to spy on Kempelen. Tension mounts as the Turk gains notoriety and is requested to perform at a ball celebrating the union of Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI. Tibor agrees to a repeat performance (at a higher fee), but when a baroness is found dead after the match and traces of her rouge are found on the Turk, rumors of the "Curse of the Turk" spread and may be Kempelen's undoing. Though the narrative could use a light pruning, Löhr's eye for period detail and cast of eccentrics create an immersive and mirthful experience

Charles Cumming - A Spy by Nature

Book Description...

Loosely based on the author's real-life experience of having been recruited by the Secret Intelligence Service (SIS) in 1995, Cumming's supremely intelligent and utterly readable debut will delight fans of such British masters of spy fiction as John le Carré, Robert Ludlum and Len Deighton. Alec Milius, a 24-year-old marketing consultant for a tiny London company that solicits business people in central and eastern Europe to advertise in a dubious publication called Central European Business Review, welcomes the chance to join the SIS, which after an exhausting selection process places him as a support agent with a British oil company. Alec initially thrives in his new job, but as he becomes increasingly entangled in his mission, he begins to face unexpected dangers as well as the loss of his identity. Smartly paced and intricately plotted, Cumming's decidedly unglamorous look at industrial espionage provides plenty of elaborate deceits, double crosses and other trappings of a first-class spy thriller.

Barbara Cleverly - The Last Kashmiri Rose

Paul's comments
I love historical mysteries set in interesting places. She does a great job on both India and a credible mystery

Book description

In an impressive debut, British author Cleverly weaves an engrossing tale of serial murder and the impending decline of the British Empire into a well-written fair-play mystery set in 1920s India. Commander Joe Sandilands, a Scotland Yarder completing a stint with the Bengal Police, is on his way back home when the provincial governor asks him to look into the recent death-by-suicide of an army officers young wife. Nancy Drummond, a close friend of the dead woman, reveals that four other officers wives have also died¢apparently by accident or misadventure¢over a period of 12 years, all in the month of March. Sandilandss investigation reveals further disturbing similarities; the cause of death in each case was the victims greatest phobia, and an unknown person has marked the anniversaries of their passing by placing a Kashmiri rose on their graves. With Drummond as his assistant and love interest, the detective probes beneath the surface of a society attempting to replicate pre-WWI England in a very different milieu. The political tensions of the time are more than mere background dressing, while the clash of cultures is instrumental to the plot. The likable and plausible Sandilands and other characters, both British and Indian, come across as living, breathing people. The killers motivation proves to be more baffling than his identity, but the solution is satisfying, as is Sandilandss handling of the ethical issues that his uncovering of the truth has raised. Classic whodunit fans should look forward to Cleverlys future efforts.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Incescription

Barbara Cleverly - The Damascened Blade

Paul's comments

A good mystery set in a fascinating time.

Book description


Devotees of classic Golden Age whodunits will delight in British author Cleverly's third Joe Sandilands mystery set in India in 1922; it evokes, and in some ways surpasses, the work of Agatha Christie. The resourceful and insightful Sandilands assumes a glorified babysitting assignment when a rich and attractive American heiress expresses a desire to tour India's dangerous northwest frontier with Afghanistan during a period of heightened political tension. The heiress and Sandilands end up at a frontier outpost with a motley collection of companions—a Pathan prince and his kinsman, a female doctor en route to serve the amir ruling Afghanistan, a sleazy entrepreneur, an RAF pilot hoping to gain support for an increased military aerial presence and a veteran civil servant advocating a British retreat. When the prince is found dead, evidence suggesting foul play is suppressed. Sandilands is forced to act on his suspicions when the victim's kinsman takes a hostage and imposes a one-week deadline for a solution to the crime. Cleverly does a masterful job of combining traditional puzzle elements, including false endings and subtle fair-play clues, with convincing period atmosphere and characters with more complexity and sophistication than Christie typically provided. This marvelous historical delivers on the promise of the author's first two mysteries—The Last Kashmiri Rose

Ian Rankn - A Question of BloodBloo

Book description

The 14th novel to feature the always compelling (and, as his name suggests, perpetually puzzling) John Rebus begins with what seems to be a uniquely American crime: a madman enters a school and starts shooting, killing two students and wounding a third before turning the gun on himself. But we're in Rankin country-a perpetually damp and morally bankrupt Edinburgh-with Rebus and Siobhan Clarke searching for the real story behind what seems an act of sheer madness. This immensely satisfying police procedural has plenty of forensic science, but Rebus knows that "none of it might make them any the wiser about the only question that mattered....The why." Why did Lee Herdman, a drop-out of the U.K. version of the Special Forces, go on a rampage? Why was James Bell, the son of a self-righteous Scottish M.P., merely wounded? And why are two Army investigators sniffing around the case? A subplot has Rebus himself under suspicion of murder: a minor criminal is found dead, burned in an apartment fire, and Rebus shows up with heavily bandaged hands the next morning. The detectives encounter every stratum of contemporary Scottish society, from angry teenage toughs and petty criminals to the privileged and the powerful. It's a complex narrative, perhaps too much so at times, but the plot is less important than Rebus himself, a brilliantly conceived hero who is all too aware of his own shortcomings. In an essentially amoral society, his moral compass is always pointed steadily towards the truth