Welcome to my Blog!
I hope to share here my irrepressible thoughts on news, music, books, arts and such like. In general these will be items, events and issues I feel have no place on my website (focussing mainly on aviation history and travel photography).

The item immediately below this would be the latest posting.

CURRENT BLOG

Anybody, providing he knows how to be amusing, has the right to talk about himself. - Charles Baudelaire
Esse est percipi (To be is to be perceived) - Bishop George Berkeley

In 2013 I started a series of photo albums on Blurb.com, named '36Exp' (a subject adressed in 36 exposures, a reference to the exposures on most common rolls of 35 mm film: 12, 24 & 36.). The books can be ordered directly from the Blurb.com website.
http://www.blurb.com/user/ruudleeuw

The item immediately below this would be the latest posting.

CURRENT BLOG

This book caught my eye because the backcover opens with the sentence: 'Inspectors Cetin Ikmen and Mehmet Suleyman from Istanbul..
A few weeks ago I visited Istanbul for the first time and found it a fascinating city.
Then I read, on that same backcover, that this book sees both inspectors travelling to Detroit,USA... But the fact that Barbara Nadel has won the 'Silver Dagger'-award for her writing made me buy the book anyway.

Inspectors Cetin Ikmen and Mehmet Suleyman from Istanbul are sent to a policing conference in Detroit.
Both feel quite out of their depth, but Ikmen empathizes with 'a fellow Turk', Ezekeil Goins, and finds himself sniffing at ongoing investigations. Suleyman finds he us unable to woe any woman there and abhors the food; he wants to go home asap.
A prime suspect of crime and fraud takes a shot at both inspectors from Turkey and Ikmen uses the excuse of assisting in an investigation to stay in Detroit, while Suleyman returns home.
The book goes to and fro from a storyline in Turkey, unrelated to the Detroit story.
Ikmen has lost his son in a drugs-related crime and finds he has to do more for Ezekial Goins, who has lost his son many years ago, an unsolved murder.
He stumbles into a web of corruption and past loyalties.

The title 'Dead of Night' seems ill-fitting as the story has little bearing to the hours of darkness. Indeed, the suspense of the wee hours is seriously lacking I found.

If I decide to read another book by Barbara Nadel it may have to do more with my interest in Istanbul than in any high quality crime writing.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbara_Nadel

Magnum published this 'Sixty-Five Years of Revolution' recently, which I gladly added to my collection.

Magnum, the co-op agency founded in 1947 by four photojournalists who had all experienced the Second World War—Robert Capa, Henri Cartier-Bresson, George Rodger, and David (Chim) Seymour—has secured its esteemed place in the photographic world.
Over the past 65 years new photographers have joined Magnum while others have died (e.g. Tim Hetherington recently) or retired; the legacy continues to grow and keeps history in focus.
New York Times Review
Magum Photo agency on Wikipedia

Those Who Kill - is another success for Scandinavian crime drama. In this box with 3 dvd's we had 6 gripping episodes.
The series is a Danish-German-Swedish-Norwegian 2011 co-production.
The final episode premiered in Danish cinemas on 15 March 2012, and was being aired as a final, 6th episode of the series in many other countries, such as the UK and Germany.

Police detective Katrina Ries Jensen and profiler Thomas Schaeffer, reluctantly accepted by Police Chief Magnus Bisgaard, investigate a series of gruesome murders.
The series see character development of Katrina (single, totally committed to her work, a fine role by actress Laura Bach) and Thomas (sensitively played by Jakob Cedergren; he's involved in a divorce, but things seem to work out for the best, until..).
The role of Magnus Bisgaard is beautifully played by actor Lars Mikkelsen, whom we remember from that brilliant role as politician Troels Hartmann in The Killing.

Although originally planned to run for several seasons, Danish TV2 announced in October 2011 that there would be no further seasons made, due to falling viewer shares after the first few episodes.

WIKIPEDIA
IMDB

Bought this book this week, Goed Volk which translates as Good People.

Dutch photojournalist Joost van den Broek has been hard at work for years now to make a name for himself as a photo journalist.
He was honoured with various prices and credits to his name: Photojournalist of the Year (both in 2006 as well as 2008), World Press Photo (2e prijs 2011) and the Zilveren (EN=Silver) Camera (2011).

After his first monograph 'Portrait Joost van den Broek', he produced this book ‘Goed Volk’ in 2012.
It documents his work over the recent years, representing his national journalistic- and documental work.
Much of his work depict important issues such as ethnic minorities integrating in our multi-cultural society (such as the front cover: a man visits a Dutch museum during such integration project), people being deported (the boy on the back cover) and many other moments which may or may not have made the news.

Joost van den Broek forces us to look at the issue at hand again, perhaps even reconsidering a point of view. Such work is vital in the news media.

http://focusmedia.nl/nieuws/van-den-broek.html

Today I visited the Diane Arbus exhibition at FOAM (Photography Museum Amsterdam).
A truly impressive amount of the weird and wonderful caught on camera.
After I made that one photo it was pointed to me that photography was not allowed. The small images are all from the internet (Google Images) And seen on display except that one photograph of Diane herself.

Diane Arbus (b.14Mar1923 – d.26Jul1971) was an American photographer and writer noted for black-and-white square photographs of "deviant and marginal people (dwarfs, giants, transgender people, nudists, circus performers) or of people whose normality seems ugly or surreal".

Loudon Snowden Wainwright III (b. 05Sep1946) is a Grammy Award-winning American songwriter, folk singer, humorist, and actor.
Wainwright is perhaps best known for the 1972 novelty song 'Dead Skunk (in the Middle of the Road)' and for playing Captain Calvin Spalding (the 'singing surgeon') on the American television show, M*A*S*H.
Using a witty, self-mocking style, Wainwright has recorded over 20 albums on 11 different labels. Three of his albums have been nominated for Grammy Awards: I'm Alright (1985) and More Love Songs (1986).
In January 2010, he won the Grammy for Best Traditional Folk Album for 'High Wide & Handsome: The Charlie Poole Project'.
That Charlie Poole album was the first one I bought of his work.

According to his own liner notes, Wainwright entered a period of deep depression following the death of his mother in 1997 and believed he could never write again. Retreating to his mother's cabin in the woods, he underwent therapy and gradually recovered, eventually recording the soul-baring 'Last Man on Earth' in 2001. Since then his recording career has mostly returned to its previous frequency.

In September 2006, Wainwright and musician Joe Henry began composing the music to the Judd Apatow film, Knocked Up, which was released on 01Jun07.
I recently bought my first album made by Joe Henry, you'll find a note on it further down this page.

This album 'Older Than My Old Man Now' is very nicely produced, glad I have instead of a mere download to my computer. The lyrics are included, produced in a nice booklet which also has portraits of guest appearances: Ramblin' Jack Elliott, Kate McCarrigle, Barry Humphries a.k.a. Dame Edna ('Remember Sex'', hilarious!) and Chris Smither. Other photos make this a very personal document.

Great music by a master storyteller!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loudon_Wainwright_III
www.lw3.com

This is the first music I bought made by Ian Siegal: 'Candy Store Kid', by Ian Siegal and the Mississippi Mudbloods.
This CD was quite a revelation for me, really liked it.
'So Much Trouble' is my favourite.
The album is nicely produced, with one serious flaw though: no lyrics included.

Oh and it so happened I watched a dvd today, 'The Blues' by Martin Scorsese.
From that box I watched 'The Soul of a Man', written and directed by Wim Wenders. Alvin Youngblood Hart plays on that dvd and he features on this CD by Ian Siegal too!
Besides Alvin Youngblood Hart, this CD sees the following other musicians performing:
Luther Dickinson, Cody Dickinson, Garry Burnside, Lightnin' Malcolm and singers Stefanie Bolton, Sharisse Norman & Shontelle Norman.

Pity about those missing lyrics, though.

http://iansiegal.com/

Simon Carmiggelt was a Dutch writer (b.07oct1913 – d.30nov1987) and columnist, who became particularly famous for his newspaper columns ('Kronkel', in Het Parool) and his appearances on tv (he read some of his work, this was early days of television).

It was only after I'd read this book that I became aware this book was published (a selection from his columns) in 1954!
Compared to some of his other work I was particularly struck by his craftsmanship building round, flourishing sentences. To show how contemporary his work is: during the 1990s, and even more recent, much of his work was published again; 'Ping Pong' was republished (in one book, with 'Vergeet Het Maar') in 1998.

Carmiggelt describes himself, in the closing chapter of this book, as a journalist, not a writer. He reports from what we call these days 'the public domain'; as a fly on the wall he has a keen eye for observation and a pleasant wry sense of humour.
Wikipedia (Dutch)
Wikipedia (English)

From www.dbnl.nl Simon Carmiggelt's anthology:

Vijftig dwaasheden samen (1940, in 1946 uitgebreid tot 'Honderd dwaasheden')

Allemaal onzin (1948)

Het jammerhout (1948)

Tussen mal en dwaas (1949)

Klein beginnen (1950)

Louter leugens (1951)

Omnibus (1951)

Poespas (1952)

Vergeet het maar (1953)

Speciaal voor u (1953-1978)

Al mijn gal (1954)

Ping pong (1954) <-------

Articles de Paris (1955)

Fabriekswater (1956)

Kwartet (1956)

Spijbelen (1956)

Vliegen vangen (1956)

Allemaal onzin (1957)

Haasje over (1957)

Een toontje lager (1959)

Duiven melken (1960)

Alle orgels slapen (1961)

Een stoet van dwergen (1961)

Torren aan de lijm (1961)

Dag opa (1962)

Een stoet van dwergen (1962)

Kroeglopen 1 (1962)

Oude mensen (1963)

We leven nog (1963)

Weet ik veel (1963)

Herman Heijermans (1964)

Later is te laat (1964)

Fluiten in het donker (1965)

Kroeglopen 2 (1965)

Mooi weer vandaag (1965)

Een Hollander in Parijs (1967)

Een stoet van dwergen (1967)

Een toontje lager (1967)

Morgen zien we wel weer (1967)

Allemaal onzin (1968)

Drie van vroeger (1968)

Je blijft lachen (1968)

Kroeglopen 2 (1968)

Mijn moeder had gelijk (1969)

Speciaal voor u. 1969 (1969)

Speciaal voor u. 1970 (1970)

Twijfelen is toegestaan (1970)

Gewoon maar doorgaan (1971)

Speciaal voor u. 1971 (1971)

Ik mag niet mopperen (1972)

Elke ochtend opstaan (1973)

Brood voor de vogeltjes (1974)

 

Speciaal voor u. 1974 (1974)

Duiven melken (1975)

Notities over Willem Elsschot (1975)

Slenteren (1975)

Dwaasheden (1976)

Dwaasheden (1976)

Notities over Willem Elschot (1976)

Ze doen maar (1976)

Duiven melken (1977)

Vroeger kon je lachen (1977)

 

Bemoei je er niet mee (1978)

Onzin (1978)

Onzin (1978)

Bemoei je d'r niet mee (1979)

De rest van je leven (1979)

 

Mooi kado (1979)

Onzin (1979)

Speciaal voor u. 1979 (1979)

De avond valt (1980)

 

Speciaal voor u. 1980 (1980)

Een Hollander in Parijs (1981)

Een toontje lager (1982)

Welverdiende onrust (1982)

 

De Amsterdamse kroeg (1983)

Mag 't een ietsje meer zijn (1983)

Met de neus in de boeken (1983)

Ik red me wel (1984)

 

Vreugden en verschrikkingen van de dronkenschap (1984)

Drie in een (1985)

Ontmoetingen met Willem Elsschot (1985)

Bij nader omzien (1986)

 

Trio voor één hand (1986)

De vrolijke jaren (1987)

 

Het literaire leven (1987)

 

Zelfportret in stukjes (1989)

 

De kuise drinker (1990)

 

Schemeren (1992)

 

'Van u heb ik ook een heleboel gelezen...' (1993)

Schemeren (1993)

Thelonious en Picasso (1995)

Beste Godfried, beste Simon (1999)

Voorhout (1999)

Ik lieg de waarheid. De beste Kronkels (2007)

Uitgaven van Simon Carmiggelt
Kraaltjes rijgen (1958)
Maatschappelijk verkeer (1965)

De gedichten (1974)

Ongeordend lezen (1975)

Ze doen maar (1976)

Mag 't een ietsje meer zijn (1983)

Tussen mal en dwaas & Klein beginnen (1997)

Louter leugens & Poespas (1997)

Articles de Paris & Vliegen vangen (1998)

Vergeet het maar & Ping pong (1998)

Mijn moeder had gelijk & Twijfelen is toegestaan (1999)

De gedichten (1999)

Dag opa & Oude mensen (1999)

Mooi weer vandaag & Fluiten in het donker (1999)

Spijbelen & Haasje over (1999)

We leven nog & Later is te laat (1999)

Morgen zien we wel weer & Je blijft lachen (1999)

Duiven melken & Alle orgels slapen (1999)

Kraaltjes rijgen & Een toontje lager (1999)

De kuise drinker & Schemeren (2000)

De vrolijke jaren & Zelfportret in stukjes (2000)

Bemoei je d'r niet mee & De rest van je leven (2000)

Brood voor de vogeltjes & Slenteren (2000)

Ik mag niet mopperen & Elke ochtend opstaan (2000)

Ik red me wel & Bij nader omzien (2000)

De avond valt & Welverdiende onrust (2000)

Ze doen maar & Vroeger kon je lachen (2000)

Ik lieg de waarheid. De beste Kronkels (2007)
Note-
For some reason the list showed a number of duplicated titles; I removed the duplicated ones.

When I went for my first visit to Istanbul last month, I took it upon myself to read Orhan's Pamuks memories on this city.
The cover has statement in praise on it: Sunday Times is quoted to have written 'A declaration of love' on which I can agree, and the Guardian is quoted with 'An irresistibly seductive book'.
Sorry, but I cannot agree with the latter.

On the back is written 'Turkey's greatest living novelist guides us through the monuments and lost paradises, dilapidated Ottoman villas, back streets and waterways of Istanbul - the city of his birth and the home of his imagination.
As I roamed the back streets too, I was interested in that link with the past. As such that book is of little use, though it does express feelings of melancholy related to the fast changing world while evidence of the past sturggles to survive.

My objection to the book is the often wishy-washy attitude of the author reminiscing on his youth, spoiled by his mother and relatives, lack of a sense in direction during his teenage years. While this may be an honest portrait of his formative years, for me it tainted an historic document on the recent decades of Istanbul.
At times it was quite tedious to read.

I did rather enjoy the many photos in the book, many if not most taken by the Turkish photographer Ara Güler (a link to his portfolio further down this page).

It was my first book by James Lee Burke and while entertaining I could not warm to Billy Bob.
The characters are interesting enough, but Billy Bob goes around insulting people in a way no decent thinking person would antagonize others; he's no character I could believe in, quite unrealistic.

A recent visit to Istanbul made me stumble upon a truly fascinating photography museum with some gripping photography on display.

Istanbul's first photography museum opened its doors on 19Nov2011. The museum which aims to support Turkish photography and contribute to it taking its place amidst world photography awaits its visitors in Kadırga.
Photography has found a home here.

We admired the work of many talented photographers in all fields of photography. Put it on your shortlist when you visit this fascinating city.

www.istanbulfotografmuzesi.com

In 2018 he died at the age of 90.
Nicknamed 'The Eye of Istanbul', Ara Guler chronicled the city with melancholic black-and-white pictures taken mostly with a Leica camera.
He died in hospital in Istanbul on 17Oct18 after suffering heart failure, Anadolu news agency said.
www.bbc.com/news/

en.wikipedia.org:_Ara_Güler

Simon Johannes Carmiggelt (b. Den Haag, 07oct1913 – d. Amsterdam, 30nov1987) was a Dutch writer and columnist, who became esspecially famous for his newspaper columns in 'Het Parool' and by his tv performances.
His spoke slowly on tv, like he had to make an effort, like life was almost too much of an effort. So were the lines in his face: it had seen life. Life. It isn't always easy, but if you look closely there are little diamants in the rough.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simon_Carmiggelt

Martin Bril (1959 - 2009) was a Dutch journalist and author, writing columns for newspapers such as Het Parool and De Volkskrant; he also wrote for the weekly publication Vrij Nederland and published many books of which most, if not all, turned into bestsellers.

For many years, Martin Bril drove around the country in his car, visiting the most obscure hamlets as well as larger cities in the Netherlands, making notes of his observations. Each and everyday this provided interesting material for his daily columns.
Frequently he was amazed of what he saw, sometimes irritated but always positive and full of energy to start anew. He talked to people sometimes, but often either the moment passed or he forgot to ask a specific question and back in his car he pondered on possible answers. Conclusions often bordered on the philosophical, but he probably would have laughed aloud when accused of being a philosopher.

His wry, Cheshire-cat-like grin is representative for his attitude in writing: positive, to be taken seriously... but not always too seriously!
It is a fun way to learn about the Dutch and their country.
I am not sure if his work has been translated and how that would come across.

This book, published in 2012, compiles some 140 of his columns and in the back of the book, nicely in alphbetical order, is a list of places he wrote about. For those who may want to visit and compare notes.

More: Wikipedia (Dutch)

Another Detective-Inspector Rebus novel, by Ian Rankin.
We see here quite an ambitious stage set by the writer, throwing into the plot all sorts of international ingredients, while the story remains firmly situated on Rankin's homeground: Edinburgh, Scotland.
Ingredients such as a Bosnian-refugee-prostitute problem, international links for a drug-importing racket, even a small role for the Japanese Yakuza and the pursuit of a possible Nazi war criminal. Mixed with the usual grim local delinquents of the Scottish gangland. Also a personal upheaval when DI Rebus' daughter Samantha falls victim to a hit-and-run accident: while she is in a coma, Rebus struggles with finding out if it was a mere accident or a threat to warn him off?
DI Rebus has strong feelings of guilt for what happened to his daughter, feels remorse for broken relations, while on another front he shows his usual gallantry trying to save a Bosnian prossie against all odds. His share of guilt will grow even larger when tragedy happens to a friend of him, whom he got involved in a sting operation.
Trying to remain off the booze doesn't make it easier for him either.

Another Ian Rankin novel that will keep you reading until the last page.

Enjoyed the last series of Ørnen or as it is internationally know: The Eagle. Box 6 again has 2 dvd's with 2 episodes each each. These are Minos 1, Minos 2, Ithaca 1 and Ithaca 2.
240 Minutes of more 'crime odyssey'..

The series debuted on 10 October 2004 in Denmark. It won an International Emmy Award from the International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences for best non-American television drama series in 2005.
'The Eagle' is the nickname of Hallgrim Ørn Hallgrimsson, an Icelandic-born, Danish-bread lead investigator of the RSA, an International Criminal Investigation Unit.
The last episode originally aired in Denmark on 26 November 2006; almost 6 years later, and the tv series hardky seemed dated, I saw the closing episode too. Really enjoyed these.

These four epsiodes; we see Nazim being shot. Michael is ousted from the group, having shot a few episodes ago an innocent person whom he thought was a terrorist. Thea returns from the Balkans, retakes her place at the head of the group; she seems involved in an extra marital affair but her alleged lover is murdered. Maria Wied, temporarily in charge of the Investigation Unit, is being challenged for future leadership of the RSA Group.
The group is falling apart.
Hallgrim longs to return to Iceland. A holiday and his birthday is celebrated in Iceland, but his path crosses that of Bosco Markovich: the villain of these episodes.
Hallgrim also becomes a father, but the mother refuses him as a partner; he was unfaithful to her and his job is his no.1 commitment.
But Hallgrim follows the advice of Nils Hauge (again a wonderful role by Bjørn Floberg, who also stars in Varg Veum), he buys a place of his own and the closing scene is him preparing a lunch (baking an egg) and sitting at a dining table in his otherwise empty apartment.
The End.

Starring: Jens Albinus, Janus Nabil Bakrawi, Marina Bouras, Steen Stig Lommer, Ghita Nørby, Elva Osk Olafsdottir, Susan A. Olsen, David Owe.
en.wikipedia.org

Exquisite exhibition of work by Raphael, the famous Italian renaissance painter, in Haarlem's Teylers Museum.

The Teylers Museum is a science museum and this exhibition focussed on drawings as studies for paintings, tapestries, etc.

In collaboration with Vienna's Albertina Museum, Teylers Museum proudly presented the Netherlands' first exhibition on Raphael (1483- 1520). With Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael was one of the greatest artists of the Italian Renaissance.
More than 90 paintings / drawings were seen displayed in the Netherlands for the first time. Due to their fragility, the drawings are rarely exhibited.
With works dating back to the 16th century, Teylers Museum's celebrated collection of drawings contains several absolute masterpieces. In 1791 the museum acquired works by masters such as Raphael and Michelangelo, many of which had come from the collection of Queen Christina of Sweden. It was previously assumed that the Teylers collection contained nine drawings by Raphael. But extensive research during the preparation of this exhibition showed that there are actually twelve: mistakenly, three had been attributed to his students.

www.teylersmuseum.eu/rafael/
More photos on FLICKR.com

Frederic Sackrider Remington (October 4, 1861 – December 26, 1909) was an American painter, etcher, illustrator, sculptor, and writer who specialized in depictions of the Old American West, specifically concentrating on the last quarter of the 19th century American West and images of cowboys, American Indians, and the U. S. Cavalry.

Recently I was adding photos to my Traveloque pages, trips to the USA in 1990 and 1994. I relived my interest in the Old West, pioneers and mountain men. It also reminded me I had wanted to read more on Mr Remnington's work. Through Abebooks.com I ordered a book, Frederic Remington's Own West by Harold McCracken (Dial Press, 1960), which arrived today.

In 1886, Remington was sent to Arizona by Harper's Weekly on a commission as an artist-correspondent to cover the government’s war against Geronimo. Although he never caught up with Geronimo, Remington did acquire many authentic artifacts to be used later as props, and made many photos and sketches valuable for later paintings.
His full-color oil painting 'Return of the Blackfoot War Party' was exhibited at the National Academy of Design and the New York Herald commented that Remington would "one day be listed among our great American painters".
His first one-man show, in 1890, presented twenty-one paintings at the American Art Galleries and was very well received.
...
Wikipedia, more..

Enjoyed another series of Ørnen or as it is internationally know: The Eagle. Box 5 has 2 dvd's with 2 episodes each each. These are Calypso 1, Calypso 2, Thanatos 1 and Thanatos 2.
240 Minutes of more 'crime odyssey'..

The series debuted on 10 October 2004 in Denmark. It won an International Emmy Award from the International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences for best non-American television drama series in 2005.
'The Eagle' is the nickname of Hallgrim Hallgrimsson, an Icelandic-born, Danish-bread lead investigator of the RSA an International Criminal Investigation Unit.

The series was filmed on location in various parts of northern Europe, from Copenhagen (Denmark) to Oslo (Norway) and other locations including Iceland.
Starring: Jens Albinus, Janus Nabil Bakrawi, Marina Bouras, Steen Stig Lommer, Ghita Nørby, Elva Osk Olafsdottir, Susan A. Olsen, David Owe.
en.wikipedia.org

One of the police officers, who found the child in the flat, is Tracy Waterhouse; in the present she's retired from police and works as a security manager in a mall.
Plots cannot be weird enough for Kate Atkinson: she has Tracy buying a 4-year old child (she carried money to pay the Polish builder wirking in her house) from an abusing mother, a 'prozzie', for UKL 3.000,-
Tracy knows there is no validity in buying this child, Courtney, in fact she isn't certain the child belonged to Kelly Cross, so she goes into hiding. She sees danger, people following her, imagined or real.
Jackson needs to speak to Tracy, but she is hiding esspecially for people who are trying to find her.

There is Barry Crawford, former collegue of Tracy, they keep in touch. Barry is close to retirement from the police, but all joy from life has gone since his daughter and grandson died in a car driven by his son-in-law, under the influence.
Barry sniffs on an old trail, would like to see that old crime solved: who killed Carol Braithwaite and what happened to the kid after it was handed over, at the scene of the crime, to Linda Pallister of child care.
Police detectives Len Lomax, Ray Strickland and Rex Marshall were all involved in 1975, but was it all above board? Was Braithwaite a victim of the Ripper, or killed by someone else?

And there is Tilly, an actress in the police series on tv, Vince Collier, reminiscing about her career and unfulfilled promises - and struggling with first stage dementia. Her role in all this? Well..
Tilly chances upon Jackson, who lends her a comforting hand when she’s in a mall (Tracy's mall), disoriented and suspected of shoplifting.

Atkinson’s characters tend to have bleak pasts, which she mines most expertly, often to the point of distraction. Jackson has never recovered from his sister’s unsolved murder. It chases him through all these novels, fostering his intensity and his protective concern for women.
Dogs too.
Jackson has picked up a dog, decked the tatttoed, skinhead owner when he was abusing the dog in a park - took the dog with him for safekeeping. The dog saves him, when Jackson himself ended up in a spot of bother.
He meets us with his former wife, Joan, who plays the role of medical examiner in Vince Collier. Jackson has never recovered from his sister’s unsolved murder, divorced his first wife and his second was found to be an embezzler who took his money and ran.

Wonderful book, but one should be aware of Mrs Atkinson's attempts to mix mysteries, cloud the trail and she paints long shadows from the past over the present. All overcome, one is rewarded when it all comes together.
The book closes with Jackson Brodie looking at his mobile, with an incoming call from one he knows very well and would like to know even better, except she's married: Louise..

www.kateatkinson.co.uk
www.nytimes.com/2011/04/17/books/review
Wikipedia