Having just returned from
CrimeFest15 in sunny Bristol I have to admit to having been slightly overwhelmed
during my three days there by the number of authors to meet and the sheer
volume of books to read or at least to put on my ‘to read as soon as I
physically can’ list. I didn’t wind up with too much in the way of reading time
anyway what with panels to listen to, sights to see and late night shenanigans to
participate in but I did finish the one book I took with me as my CrimeFest travelling
companion.
‘The Hummingbird’ by Finnish author
and punk rock superstar Kati Hiekkapelto is about an immigrant police officer
recently assigned to a small coastal town in the north of Finland. Anna Fekete
soon finds herself investigating a string of seemingly random murders while
also trying to help the daughter of a local immigrant family. An ongoing
conflict with one of her workmates and a brother who is only slightly better
than completely hopeless combine to give Anna plenty of doubts about her
ability to stick things out in her new home.
‘The Hummingbird’ is the most interesting
book in the genre I've read since Antti Tuomainen's 'The Healer' (also Finnish
– I’m starting to see a pattern emerging here) and is well worth checking out. It
is different (in a really good way) from the usual Nordic Noir fare and very
intelligently written. Anna is an engaging and human protagonist who is easy to
identify with as well as being easy to like. Kati's second book, 'The
Defenceless' is coming out in the UK in September and on the evidence of this
book will be well worth investigating.
In the meantime Kati and her band
‘The Bearded Women’, which consists of Kati on vocals, one of her friends
playing guitar and a drum machine that is so stubborn it will only play one
beat for them (Huh… Drummers!) will continue to attempt world domination from
their outpost base on the island of Hailuoto at the top end of the Gulf of
Bothnia. I also have it on good authority that becoming a bestselling author
and chart-topping punk diva won’t even get close to satisfying this ambitious
woman. She has much grander dreams in the pipeline.
In 2016 she intends to
circumambulate Iceland using its famous Ring Road. This televised event - it
will be covered in its entirety by Iceland’s national broadcaster RUV who will
dedicate a new 24 hour channel to her exploits in an attempt to bring gripping
Icelandic reality television to the rest of the world - will be done to raise
money for immigrant puffins and in particular to finance the education of their
children. Education of under-privileged seabirds has been a passion of Kati’s
for many years now. As you see she is clearly a multi-talented woman who is
continually pushing the boundaries of crime fiction, punk rock and imaginative
fundraising campaigns.
At some point in the not too
distant future I am going to be held accountable for the tiny portion of this
article which I may have made up. In the meantime I am simply going to enjoy it
as I think it will take people a ridiculous amount of time to figure it which
bit it actually is. I was going to include Kati’s stage name in the article but have
been warned by my publisher that the use of such language will have me fired
from the company once again and I’m not ready to go back on a diet of dried
fish and watered-down vodka. That shit really sucks!
No comments:
Post a Comment