By Carole Reedy
Readers often take for granted the setting of a novel, expecting the author to create an atmosphere either directly through straightforward description or indirectly via more oblique prose.
For many stories, though, the sense of place offers the reader another dimension, essentially creating an additional character central to the development of the plot.
The stories in these books could not be told anywhere other than where their authors have set them.
Belfast: Adrian McKinty’s Sean Duffy crime novels
When we think of Belfast we think: City of the Troubles. Although they can be traced back hundreds of years, the “troubles” as we know them began in the 1960s and lasted until the Good Friday Agreement of 1998.
Unless you’ve been living in a bubble, you know the conflict takes place in a sorely divided Ireland. The island includes the southern portion (the Republic of Ireland), devoted to a sovereign Ireland, and the six counties in the north (Northern Ireland) that are still loyal to the British government, which held control of the entire island until the Republic was formed in 1949. Many people see a united Ireland as the ultimate goal.
This is the setting for the life and career of Detective Inspector Sean Duffy, the only Catholic detective in a nearly 100 percent Protestant unit in Belfast, the capital of Northern Ireland and the focal point of crime in the country. DI Duffy has a tough exterior, but plays Brahms on the police car radio; he knows how to manipulate, but is essentially honest.
Duffy takes us through the back streets and surrounding rural areas of the city in a country that is desperately looking for solutions to problems of a criminal nature, but also for resolutions in the struggle for a structure in which everyone can live in peace.
The author reinvents actual happenings and crimes of the past to suit his situations. This gives credibility to the sometimes unbelievable mayhem experienced in the region. As we know, truth can be stranger than fiction.
With Duffy the personality and Belfast the catalyst, McKinty has created a world that informs, entertains, and engages his readers. The writing is precise, at times staccato and occasionally lyric, like a Brahms symphony.
Start with book one, The Cold Cold Ground (2012). You need not read the novels in order of publication. To keep readers on their toes, McKinty ends each book with various surprises and tweaks. He never loosens the reins nor lets go of his reader.
Shetland Islands: Anne Cleeves series
Confession: I had to pull out my trusty map collection to locate Shetland. My Chicago Public School education didn’t prepare me for this congregation of small islands 110 miles northeast of mainland Scotland – they are a very real character in the series Cleeves sets there, indeed a world unto itself, relying on weather conditions and human camaraderie in their frank isolation.
The books and characters provide compelling, page-turning entertainment. Detective Inspector Jimmy Perez, despite his recurring ennui, leads the investigations in the islands.
Winds, storms, and a raging sea are felt as characters that permeate the islanders’ actions and states of mind. Readers might be in awe of this remote way of life. Contrary to what I originally thought when the books were recommended to me, I, a big-city girl, devoured the series during the pandemic, though I initially wondered why a remote place surrounded by water held any interest for me.
There is also a TV series based on the books, but buyer beware. The plots and even characters don’t always duplicate the books. Some are uniquely drawn for the television series.
Addendum: a friend just called, lamenting that she needed something substantive to read that would engage her for a period of time, something to “bite her teeth into” that would endure and captivate. Right off I recommended this Shetland series.
Naples, Italy: Elena Ferrante in the Neapolitan novels
Classical music lovers swarm to Naples to inhale the sea air of the city where opera was born. Its Teatro San Carlos is the oldest active venue for opera in the world, having opened in 1737.
But this cultural-historical aspect is not the Naples of pseudonymous Italian author Ferrante’s stories in the brilliantly penned novels that make up this tetralogy.
Naples is awakening after the horror of World War II, when the port city was destroyed by the Nazis. It is reestablishing itself in a world that is healing. People are struggling in a place where obvious violence prevails in a city of unrest and poverty. The plot and characters are fiction, but the city is all too real.
The Ferrante books became international bestsellers to the point that there are tours for fans of the series that snake through the dark corners of the city frequented by Lenu and Lila, the main characters, both born in 1944 and raised in the Rione Luzzatti area of Naples (bordered by the prison to the north and central train station to the east).
Naples is not a grand city, like Rome, and no distances seem far from others. The Rione Luzzatti neighborhood, full of littered sidewalks, unmaintained grass, laundry instead of curtains hanging in windows, and the presence of a general malaise, is known for its poverty, violence, and a Mafia presence. While not physically far from the sea and tourist areas, it is miles away mentally and emotionally.
The four novels take us through the childhood and adolescence of the girls, and into early adulthood. Inseparable in early childhood, their paths wander, cross, and often merge later as they go their separate ways in their teen years.
If you hope to encounter the famous author on the streets of Naples, you will be wasting your time as she has successfully chosen to remain anonymous. Despite numerous searches, her identity remains a mystery, somewhat like her city.
Norfolk England: Elly Griffiths’ Dr. Ruth Galloway series
A quiet salt marsh is the home of choice for archeologist Dr. Ruth Galloway. She thrives there but also finds peace of mind…and some surprising archeological secrets.
The remoteness, the eerie vibes, and the lure and eccentricity of the salt marsh set the stage for a diverse cast of characters you’ll think about when you drift off to sleep and again when you awaken.
The bones of bodies found in the marsh and the surrounding area come out of the distant past and the all-to-familiar present. It is up to Ruth and her team to determine the ages of buried objects. Was the death natural or imposed?
Each book, as is each case, is unique.
An eavesdropper listening in on a conversation about this series would think the characters belong to your inner circle of friends. You’ll be frustrated by their actions and occasionally angry with them, and then you’ll forgive them, just as we do in daily lives and relationships.
You will savor every minute at the salt marsh.
It’s important to read this series in order, as the author pays close attention to the development of each character and the relationships they establish with other characters. No doubt you will fall in love with Cathbad, as most of us have.
There are 15 books in this captivating series about a woman obsessed by bones! Begin your archeological adventures now with the first book, The Crossing Places (2009).
Sicily: Andrea Camilleri and his Montalbano series
Andrea Camilleri’s 28 books paint a portrait of the island he loves and inhabited (he died in 2019, at the age of 93). They will leave you enchanted with this largest island in the Mediterranean. In addition, the customs and manners of the locals and their idiosyncrasies – especially those of the renowned detective, Commissario Salvo Montalbano – bring spice to the entire landscape.
A TV series based on the series, Il Commissario Montalbano (1999-2021, still available on Amazon Prime), has proved almost as successful as the books. As usual with books and movies, the books delve more deeply into the history and social issues of the island.
The TV series is broadcast in Italian with subtitles. If you’re tempted to ignore the subtitles in an effort to improve your Italian, you may be challenged, as the Italian is Sicilian Italian and is peppered with dialect. Take it from one who has tried.
The fictionalized city of Vigàta is based on Camilleri’s home town, Puerto Empdocle. In the books, the town is located in the famous historical area of Agrigento, on the southern coast of Sicily. The harsh landscape, teetering on the edge of the coast, parallels the often rough daily life of its habitants.
Sicily’s diverse population, thanks to the variety of cultures that have invaded this desirable island, brings a Neapolitan flavor of ways and manners. Fortunately for us, Inspector Montalbano savors the cuisine of his roots. Camilleri shares this table with us throughout: after all, one has to eat!
The series requires a commitment from the reader, but the result is a deep satisfaction with the consistent characterization, brilliant plotting, and extra credit for ambiance.
I envy the adventure you have ahead of you with each of these remarkable place-based books series!
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