My time spent with a rock-climbing murderer, a deceased queue jumper, and some poisonous Quality Street.

After reviewing my artistic preferences, political allegiances and use of technology, my tastes seem to be consistently ten years behind the times. Apparently, this also applies to my taste in fiction, as I’ve recently gotten into “Scandinavian Noire”, a global phenomenon/passing phase, stemming from “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo” book series and TV drama “The Killing.” Stories comprise mainly of a troubled detective (of course) finding a dead body under mountains of snow (great subtext lads), before eventually catching the killer and (equally of course) saving their own souls.

My most recent read was “The Jealousy Man” by Jo Nesbo, a collection of short stories exploring themes of jealousy and power- some during the Covid-19 pandemic. Nesbo managed to couple the examination of societal flaws like Georges Simenon with character studies focusing upon self loathing like Dostoevsky, and the exploration of the darkest human desires like Philip Roth (look at me quoting authors I’ve never read like a clever person- Wikipedia you’re a lifesaver).

My personal favourite was “London”, a simple yet moving tale between two passengers who fall in love on a business class flight to (you guessed it) London. Unsurprisingly, this is the story that has caught Hollywood’s eye, with Oscar Issac already signed on to play the lover/killer (whoops, spoiler alert) in a Ben Stiller directed film.

Now that the book is finished, time to listen to some Arctic Monkeys whilst liking the Liberal Democrat’s page on my brand new Facebook account.