Robert G. Barrett (1942-2012)

Tainted Blood by Arnaldur Indriðason
The first of the Reykjavik Murder Mysteries to be translated. A very, very good police procedural set in Iceland. (aka "Jar City")

 

A Feast for Crows by George R.R. Martin
Book Four for Martin's huge series and the canvas and cast of characters continues to expand. This tells half a story, with the other half in Book Five.

 

 

River of Shadows by Valerio Varesi
Shortlisted for the CWA International Dagger award. The translation is a bit clunky and it's rather a slow burn to a so-so ending.

 

 

The Quiet American by Graham Greene
Greene's famous novel about the French War in Vietnam in the 1950s and the beginnings of American involvement. Such power behind such a delicate touch.

 

The Marvellous Boy by Peter Corris
The third Cliff Hardy novel from 1982. Corris writes in the classic Private Investigator tradition, mixing a complicated plot with memorable characters and solid locale descriptions. Terrific stuff.

 

A Storm of Swords by George R.R. Martin
Book Three in Martin's "A Song of Ice and Fire" saga. Many, many story-threads come to a head and then open back out again to maintain a stunning series.

 

Killing Floor by Lee Child
The first Jack Reacher novel, in which he investigates the death of his brother and a major crime ring in a small country town. A little rough around the edges but you can see where the later novels sprung from.

 

The Eerie Silence: Are we Alone in the Universe? by Paul Davies
Davies contemplates the subtitle, examining all the evidence and possibilities.

 

The Diggers Rest Hotel by Geoffrey McGeachin
The 2011 Ned Kelly Award winner - the first Charlie Berlin novel. A Melbourne detective investigates a series of robberies and a murder in Albury-Wondonga in the 1950s.

 

A Clash of Kings by George R.R. Martin
The second volume of Martin's monumental Song of Fire and Ice sequence. Not as good as the first volume and acts more as a stage-setting set of exercises, but you can tell it's building up to something big.

 

The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes
The 2011 Man Booker Prize winner. Not Barnes's best book but highly readable and echoes some of his very early work.