Missing Persons

 

Missing Persons by Steve Braunias (2021 Harper Collins softcover 264pp)

Another fairly brief book, ‘Missing Persons’ at 264 pages is a quick read if you’re at all interested in the contents. Writer-Journalist Steve Braunias once again puts on his court reporter hat and gives us a behind-the-scenes look at some of New Zealand’s recent high profile court cases. He often highlights details that never really made it into the media at the time, some of which that could have given cause for pause.

There are 12 chapters, 2 of which bookend the text, cover the Grace Millane case which obsessed New Zealand in 2019-2020. In between we have a rogue’s gallery of names you may have heard in the news over the last decade or so.

Besides the court room dramas, Braunias also gives us some longer-form chapters regarding those who have gone missing and turned up dead or those who seemed to have vanished totally. These chapters I found to be the best writing in the book – Braunias looks into the history of these men, their family and friends and investigates where and how their lives went wrong.

A couple of lighter chapters provide some relief from the sombre tone. These cover Colin Craig’s endless libel cases and Kim Dotcom’s plans to survive the end of the world in a South Island bunker (if only those pesky court cases stopped getting in the way).

It’s a bit of a mixed bag but overall eye-opening. Braunias remains on good form, injecting just enough of himself into each chapter to keep things grounded. A taste of New Zealand as it is rather than how we’d like it look perhaps.

Slough House

 

Slough House by Mick Herron (2020 John Murray softcover 309pp)

 

 

First of all, I’ll state that I loved this book. I tore through it at high speed and had it done in 2 sittings. It was great to be back in this world again and catching up with the same old characters once more. So, this the point I have to add that if you’ve never read anything in this series before, definitely DO NOT start here – “Slough House” is the seventh novel in Herron’s Slough House series, also known (by its UK publisher) as the “Jackson Lamb Thriller” series. There are also 3 or 4 short stories/novellas set in the same universe, none of which I have actually read yet.

The eponymous Slough House is a run-down office owned by the UK secret services. It is where it places the ‘slow horses’, agents which have screwed up, made terrible mistakes or otherwise failed on the job. Too dangerous to fire outright, they spend their days doing menial and meaningless desk jobs for the service. Ringmaster to this motely crew is Jackson Lamb, a veteran field agent of disgusting habits and dubious personal hygiene. Outwardly disinterested, Lamb is actually very protective of his team and will take direct action if they’re threatened. Despite their failings the slow horses always seem to be first to come up against threats both external and internal. Some of them pay the ultimate price – there’s something of a revolving door of characters with Herron adding new team members every couple of books. The books also delve into the back-stabbing world of those who run the services and their political masters.

In this book, as in reality, Russian agents have carried out attacks in the UK using nerve agents. Diana Taverner, head of the secret service has gone off the books and organised a revenge attack funded by private interests and then finds those interests want more say in her operations. Peter Judd, Herron’s analogue of Boris Johnson has left politics and is trying to manipulate events from behind the scenes. He has his eyes on a growing populist movement which has begun to take to the streets of London. Meanwhile the Russians think they’ve discovered details about a top-secret British assassination team and start taking revenge for the British revenge. The bodies start piling up and soon Slough House becomes directly involved.

The overall tone of this instalment is somewhat darker than some of the earlier books. There’s frequent reference to ‘troubled times' and Herron seems to be no fan of the Brexit era. However, whenever Jackson Lamb takes the stage things lighten up. He has the best lines and oozes sarcasm and world-weariness. The banter between team members also is a highlight. Sometimes it seems that the looming threats are just an excuse to have the slow horses mix and mingle more with the world and show off their distinctive characters.

There are crosses and double crosses. Its probably no spoiler to say that Lamb comes out on top again but there’s something of a sting in the tail of this novel – an uncertain cliff-hanger ending for one long-term character. If you’re already a fan of the series don’t hesitate to pick this one up, otherwise start with “Slow Horses” and enjoy the ride.

Pie Fidelity

 

Pie Fidelity by Pete Brown (2019 Particular Books hardcover 342pp)

 

Pete Brown is a writer and foodie who has hauled himself up from humble beginnings to become a go-to figure for food-related TV and radio shows. After an expedition back to his home village to eat one of its legendary Pork Pies he launches into his main theory for this book. Basically, he thinks the British have self-inflicted inferiority complex when it comes to their traditional foods. Combined with an out-dated cliche that UK food is bad and general snobbery from the upper classes, British food is not celebrated like the cuisine of its European neighbours. To help right this wrong he comes up with a list of 8 top British foods/meals which suspiciously aligns with his own likes and sets out to explore the history, context and current state of each one.

Travelling to where each food was ‘invented’ he tries both elaborate versions and the platonic ideal of each dish, reveling in the glory of down to earth honest working-class food. From the humble cheese sandwich, we move on to the history and current state of Fish & Chips, Spaghetti Bolognaise – not actually a real Italian dish. Cream Teas turn out to be a relatively recent invention whilst the UK version of Indian food has diverged greatly from the food actually eaten on the subcontinent. The final two sections deal with the horror and pleasure of the full English breakfast and the monumental Sunday roast – seemingly best experienced in a country pub these days. At each point he also discusses the way each of these meals are made at home and his own history cooking and eating meals as he grew up.

It’s a quick read, moves along at a rapid pace and its full of humour and quirky facts. He does however get on his soapbox a little too often when triggered by something he feels is unfair to or just wrong about the treatment of a food or food-maker. We get the idea Pete!