Guest Post by Erik Hanberg - An American Explains Thanksgiving

An American Explains Thanksgiving 

My most recent novel, The Marinara Murders, is set at the beginning of a cold winter in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The climax of the book takes place on Thanksgiving Day. 

 

I recognize that many readers of Booked Up live in the UK and likely don’t celebrate Thanksgiving. My hunch is that you’re aware of it, but have never been to a Thanksgiving dinner. Just like I’m aware of Boxing Day, but have never been to a Boxing Day … ah, high tea? candle ceremony? ritual unboxing? (Truly, I don’t get Boxing Day.) 

Anyway, here’s a quick primer on an American Thanksgiving. 

• Thanksgiving is always on the fourth Thursday of November. This creates an awkward question about whether to take the day after as a holiday as well. Bankers don’t get the day off, but a lot of other people do (unless you work in retail, then the day after Thanksgiving is a terrible terrible day). 

• In New York, Macy’s throws a big parade with floats and giant balloons. Most people not in New York are too busy sleeping, cooking, or cleaning to watch it. 

• For some reason, the Detroit Lions and the Dallas Cowboys always play football on Thanksgiving Day (by which I mean American football, of course, and not football football). 

• There are no gifts given at Thanksgiving. Independence Day (the fourth of July) and Thanksgiving are about the only two holidays or occasions where gifts or cards aren’t expected. You can bet retailers are figuring out a way to change this. 

• Thanksgiving dinner is a massive dinner, traditionally consisting of turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy, cranberries, and rolls. The dinner is eaten fairly early in the day, as if to give everyone time to recover from the food coma before they have to go to bed. 

• Thanksgiving is basically the first day of Christmas. Everyone complains about Christmas music and decorations before Thanksgiving, but after that, it’s wall-to-wall Christmas. 

I hope this has been enlightening. Now I’m off to start my next book. It’s about St. Boxing, who rode through the land the day after Christmas helping people break down their empty boxes to make them easier to store (or something like that).

* Thanks to Erik for taking the time to educate me, it explains a lot! I just wish I could give  a definitive answer on what the heck Boxing Day is all about but it's a bit of a mystery. I'd love to make up some mad British tradition, but if I could manage that I'd probably be a writer not a reviewer. You can read my review of The Marinara Murders here. You can read more from Erik at erikhanberg.com

Book Review: The Marinara Murders by Erik Hanberg

Over the summer I reviewed the first book in the Arthur Beautyman series, The Saints Go Dying and enjoyed it. I was keen to read the second, The Marinara Murders. The blurb for the latest book, released on 15th November, goes like this - "A grown man living in his mother's basement, disgraced detective Arthur Beautyman knows his life has fallen off a cliff.

But that doesn't mean he has to be happy about his mother's solution to his woes: volunteering him to solve a case for her favorite bridge partner. Oh, and to make matters worse, she wants to be his partner on the case as well ..."

Having left LA in disgrace Arthur has moved to Minnesota to live with his mum. Determined to get him working again she as good as forces him to investigate the recent death of her friend's grandson, the same grandson who was believed to have committed suicide 3 years earlier. Where has Jake been and who was hiding him? 

Arthur meets and questions the dysfunctional Diamond family, and finds his hacking skills come in handy again. Not as handy as his mother's instincts though! Their differences in approach make it hard for them to work together, so while the reader sees Arthur's progress we don't see what mum Ruth is achieving without him. The story climaxes in a Thanksgiving dinner that will make the average family get together seem far more tolerable.

Again Erik Hanberg has produced the sort of book it is easy to get into and fly through. I read it in about half a day. The tone is a bit lighter than the first book and I found myself laughing at points. The relationship with his mum shows a different side to the man in the first book and I sympathised with him and the difficulties he faced having to move back in with an over-anxious parent. The unlikely hero even manages to find a potential love interest again.

The outcome of the investigation reveals a slightly complex series of events, and I appreciated the recap Arthur provided to new friend (and client) the dazed and confused Matt, although I had to re-read it a couple of times to try and get my head round exactly what had happened and why. I was pleased that the formatting and typos I noted in the first book were absent this time & I liked the note at the end explaining the inspiration for the story.  

Another really good outing for Mr Beautyman!

Format: Kindle, review copy

My Rating: 4*

Book Review: The Saints Go Dying by Erik Hanberg

A serial killer has been targeting LA for over a year, and the police are struggling to find new leads. They are also continually exasperated by the spotlight shone on them by TV crime show Watchdog, with the show's staff taking every opportunity to ridicule the team, and worse. The killer masquerades as a modern Whore of Babylon, revelling in evil, and is killing modern day saints. As if Arthur Beautyman doesn't have enough to contend with, his secret hacking to help solve cases has brought his online persona to the attention of his unsuspecting colleague and potential love interest.

I love a good crime novel, and this definitely fits the bill for me. It is fast paced, with a bit of gory detail (not too much though), a likable lead detective and some smart twists. I found it a quick read, partly as it's not that long and partly because I got into it so easily and then had problems putting it down. Arthur is an interesting character, one who is pretty self-aware and admits to his weaknesses. Not being ultra-handsome or recovering from some major trauma as is often the case within the genre he is very human and more empathetic for it.

This storyline had a few twists and some humour to it, which helped make it such an enjoyable read, without being over-complicated. The identity of the killer was no major surprise, and I don't think it was meant to be, but the ending was very satisfying and tied up the ends nicely. I'm sure you could read a lot more into the book as a commentary on the role of the media in major investigations but I'm content to enjoy it purely as a crime story.

Looking at the negatives, there were a few typos I spotted that could do with a tidy up, and in places it seemed a bit far-fetched. However overall this was a really fun crime read, and I was pleased to see that the next book in the series is due in November.

Format: Kindle, review copy
My Rating: 4*