Anybody up for a bit of crime fiction? Well, I was up for some crime
fiction when I picked up this novel. Of course, crime fiction is not for
everybody. In fact, I would go as far as to say that fiction is not for
everyone. I read a bit of fiction now and then and I enjoy it. But the crime fiction
genre seems to me to be a very difficult genre. Maybe I’m just being silly, I
don’t know. But maybe I am a bit of a specialist with a lot of reading
experience and simply hard to please. Maybe that is why I did not really feel
satisfied after I had finished ‘The burning girl’.
I have to admit, it’s been many years since the last time I have picked up a crime fiction novel. Most of these crime fiction authors have a specific recipe, much like an AC/DC album. You more or less know what you’re going to get, but you know it will thrill you to some extent. That is the feeling I always got when I picked up a new crime novel that I haven’t yet read before. I used to have a favorite crime fiction author. Mine was without a question Michael Connelly. I can remember reading ‘Blood Work’ many years ago. Ironically, ‘Blood work’ featured Mcaleb (?) instead of the legendary and fascinating Harry Bosch character, which I encountered later in Connelly’s works.
In South Africa, the works of Deon Meyer is obviously very popular and one tries not to miss a single one. One of the most exciting aspects of being a lover of crime fiction novels is the opportunity to read, not only works by different authors, but also works in different settings. Connelly’s works often is set in California, while Meyer’s works sometimes are located in the Western Cape of South Africa. ‘The burning girl’ is possibly the first crime novel that I have read that is set in England.
I found many parts of the book interesting. The storyline is not bad. There was at least one occasion where I laughed out loud at some incident in the book. However, when all is taken into consideration, ‘The burning girl’ was, to me, not the most gripping piece of crime fiction writing I have ever come across. I have read many books of this nature. But ‘The burning girl’ just was not that entertaining to me, and I had to force myself thru the last quarter of the book.
Exploring the criminal world of gangsters in England was a good idea. In fact, I would not discourage anybody to read this book. It certainly had its moments. However, in my mind, there are better authors of crime fiction than Billingham. ‘The burning girl’, to me, was not at all a bad book. But it just did not grab my attention and kept me turning the pages. Maybe Billingham produced other great works. Maybe one shouldn’t draw conclusions after having read only one book, but sadly, ‘The burning girl’ will discourage me to try one of his books again.
I have to admit, it’s been many years since the last time I have picked up a crime fiction novel. Most of these crime fiction authors have a specific recipe, much like an AC/DC album. You more or less know what you’re going to get, but you know it will thrill you to some extent. That is the feeling I always got when I picked up a new crime novel that I haven’t yet read before. I used to have a favorite crime fiction author. Mine was without a question Michael Connelly. I can remember reading ‘Blood Work’ many years ago. Ironically, ‘Blood work’ featured Mcaleb (?) instead of the legendary and fascinating Harry Bosch character, which I encountered later in Connelly’s works.
In South Africa, the works of Deon Meyer is obviously very popular and one tries not to miss a single one. One of the most exciting aspects of being a lover of crime fiction novels is the opportunity to read, not only works by different authors, but also works in different settings. Connelly’s works often is set in California, while Meyer’s works sometimes are located in the Western Cape of South Africa. ‘The burning girl’ is possibly the first crime novel that I have read that is set in England.
I found many parts of the book interesting. The storyline is not bad. There was at least one occasion where I laughed out loud at some incident in the book. However, when all is taken into consideration, ‘The burning girl’ was, to me, not the most gripping piece of crime fiction writing I have ever come across. I have read many books of this nature. But ‘The burning girl’ just was not that entertaining to me, and I had to force myself thru the last quarter of the book.
Exploring the criminal world of gangsters in England was a good idea. In fact, I would not discourage anybody to read this book. It certainly had its moments. However, in my mind, there are better authors of crime fiction than Billingham. ‘The burning girl’, to me, was not at all a bad book. But it just did not grab my attention and kept me turning the pages. Maybe Billingham produced other great works. Maybe one shouldn’t draw conclusions after having read only one book, but sadly, ‘The burning girl’ will discourage me to try one of his books again.
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