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Lindstrom Alone
Harry Lindstrom is a Toronto-based private investigator hired by a woman to prove her son is a killer and is drawn into the saga of a murderously dysfunctional family . His harrowing odyssey takes him to Stockholm in the dead of winter and eventually to an ancient burial mound on Ingmar Bergman's windswept island of Fårö in the Baltic Sea.
253 pages, Paperback
Published March 20, 2018
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3 people want to read
About the author
John Moss
97 books11 followersJohn Moss writes mysteries because nothing brings life into focus like the murder of strangers. Elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada in 2006 in recognition of his career as a professor of Canadian literature with over a score of books in his field, John moved progressively away from literary criticism to creative writing, before settling comfortably into the Quin and Morgan series which now occupies his writing efforts full time. He and his wife, Beverley Haun, whose book, Inventing ‘Easter Island’, grew out of her work as a cultural theorist and their travel adventures as scuba divers, share a stone farmhouse with numerous ghosts in Peterborough, Ontario. Recently sidelined from his diving avocation (he was an instructor in both PADI and SDI programs), John and Bev have no intention of giving up whitewater canoeing and cross-country skiing with old friends, or taking long hikes in interesting places around the world.
John is professor emeritus at the University of Ottawa.
John is professor emeritus at the University of Ottawa.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
June 4, 2018
John Moss is a Peterborough author and is participating in the upcoming Lakefield Literary Festival. I picked this book up at Happenstance, and was initially very impressed with the plot. To adopt my friend Alan's approach, I'd give the first 2/3 of the book a 4/5, but the last part 1 or 2/5. So many murders, so many potential serial killers working in cahoots or not, so much ping-ponging around with the protagonist(s) making psychological assumptions... in the end I don't know who was guilty of what.
This is the first of a trilogy, the most recent of a well-published author, though I'd not heard of him.
Great cover photo.
This is the first of a trilogy, the most recent of a well-published author, though I'd not heard of him.
Great cover photo.
January 27, 2019
I really enjoyed Lindstrom Alone! Is a great mix of mystery and psychological thriller, with a sub-story of the hero's personal life, and his spiritual connection with his wife.
With its mix of psychopath/sociopaths; rogue cops; tragedy, and a little bit of comedic irony, and a little bit of intimate learning about the places, the story moves you along at different speeds, and keeps you interested until the very end.
With its mix of psychopath/sociopaths; rogue cops; tragedy, and a little bit of comedic irony, and a little bit of intimate learning about the places, the story moves you along at different speeds, and keeps you interested until the very end.
June 27, 2018
Not a Conventional Detective Story
I don’t often find myself reaching for Ronald Knox's "Ten Commandments of Detective Fiction" and S.S. Van Dine's ”Twenty Rules for Writing Detective Stories" but the unsettled feelings left by Lindstrom Alone caused me to search for reasons to help identify my issues with it. The “Ten and Twenty” are from the early part of the 20th Century though and many classic detective story writers since then have broken a few of them along the way. Rules are meant to be bent and/or broken of course but when writers start going too far afield most readers will start to feel some degree of discomfort and disorientation. Some of this rule bending goes on in Lindstrom Alone to good effect but with some others it becomes wearisome by the end.
Private detective Harry Lindstrom (who is also an ex-philosophy professor prone to related musings) is a damaged individual who is recovering from the loss of his wife Karen and their children. The accident behind that loss is revealed very gradually throughout the story. The quirky thing here is that even though Karen is dead, she still appears as the partner detective in the story. You could even say that she is the Holmes (i.e. smarter) partner vs. Harry’s Watson (i.e. not as smart) partner. The more perceptive observations are expressed by the “Karen” voice which are always written in italics to distinguish them from the rest of the book. All of the thoughts are coming from Harry in reality of course but this manifested split-personality is how he is processing his bereavement. This is the most interesting twist on the genre and is apparently to be continued in the later books of this planned trilogy based on the teasers provided at the end of this volume.
I don’t want to get into spoilers about the overall plot except to say that some of the characters, esp. the Swedish police and the suspect family simply did not act and feel very true to life. The police especially were really odd. You expect the culprits to be suspicious of course, but not the police as well. It just felt too elaborate and drawn out in an odd way.
Lindstrom himself was an interesting character and I would definitely read more of this trilogy when it appears. An early scene that was played out on a high-rise balcony was especially expertly handled and portrayed a gripping sense of fear and terror.
Trivia
With titles like Lindstrom Alone, Lindstrom’s Progress and Lindstrom Unbound, you definitely get the sense that writer Moss has taken his title inspirations from some past classics. I thought of Titus Alone, The Pilgrim's Progress and Prometheus Unbound, but each reader will have their own thoughts.
The characters Quin and Morgan, who have cameos in Lindstrom Alone are the lead characters in their own series. See https://www.goodreads.com/series/1370....
Links
I tried to embed the links for the "Ten and Twenty" into the above text but could not make them work for some reason. So here they are below:
Ronald's Knox's "Ten Commandments of Detective Fiction" at https://www.writingclasses.com/toolbo...
and S.S. Van Dine's "Twenty Rules for Writing Detective Stories" at http://www.thrillingdetective.com/tri...
I don’t often find myself reaching for Ronald Knox's "Ten Commandments of Detective Fiction" and S.S. Van Dine's ”Twenty Rules for Writing Detective Stories" but the unsettled feelings left by Lindstrom Alone caused me to search for reasons to help identify my issues with it. The “Ten and Twenty” are from the early part of the 20th Century though and many classic detective story writers since then have broken a few of them along the way. Rules are meant to be bent and/or broken of course but when writers start going too far afield most readers will start to feel some degree of discomfort and disorientation. Some of this rule bending goes on in Lindstrom Alone to good effect but with some others it becomes wearisome by the end.
Private detective Harry Lindstrom (who is also an ex-philosophy professor prone to related musings) is a damaged individual who is recovering from the loss of his wife Karen and their children. The accident behind that loss is revealed very gradually throughout the story. The quirky thing here is that even though Karen is dead, she still appears as the partner detective in the story. You could even say that she is the Holmes (i.e. smarter) partner vs. Harry’s Watson (i.e. not as smart) partner. The more perceptive observations are expressed by the “Karen” voice which are always written in italics to distinguish them from the rest of the book. All of the thoughts are coming from Harry in reality of course but this manifested split-personality is how he is processing his bereavement. This is the most interesting twist on the genre and is apparently to be continued in the later books of this planned trilogy based on the teasers provided at the end of this volume.
I don’t want to get into spoilers about the overall plot except to say that some of the characters, esp. the Swedish police and the suspect family simply did not act and feel very true to life. The police especially were really odd. You expect the culprits to be suspicious of course, but not the police as well. It just felt too elaborate and drawn out in an odd way.
Lindstrom himself was an interesting character and I would definitely read more of this trilogy when it appears. An early scene that was played out on a high-rise balcony was especially expertly handled and portrayed a gripping sense of fear and terror.
Trivia
With titles like Lindstrom Alone, Lindstrom’s Progress and Lindstrom Unbound, you definitely get the sense that writer Moss has taken his title inspirations from some past classics. I thought of Titus Alone, The Pilgrim's Progress and Prometheus Unbound, but each reader will have their own thoughts.
The characters Quin and Morgan, who have cameos in Lindstrom Alone are the lead characters in their own series. See https://www.goodreads.com/series/1370....
Links
I tried to embed the links for the "Ten and Twenty" into the above text but could not make them work for some reason. So here they are below:
Ronald's Knox's "Ten Commandments of Detective Fiction" at https://www.writingclasses.com/toolbo...
and S.S. Van Dine's "Twenty Rules for Writing Detective Stories" at http://www.thrillingdetective.com/tri...
September 20, 2018
When you see a book authored by John Moss, find a comfortable place to sit down to spend an enjoyable time as you will not want to put the book down until you have finished reading it.
It may be the most interesting and exciting mystery you will ever encounter and when you finish it you will anxiously await his next release. I don't want to give away any clues but you won't be disappointed with its unpredictable, unexpected but plausible ending. His command of the English language far exceeds that of the usual formula writer and is very thought provoking. The settings are realistic and must be familiar to the author and often certain places are identifiable to the reader giving the story a factual feel.
Harry LIndstrom, the investigator, becomes so familiar to the reader that his experiences feel like one's own. A must read.
R.M.Gilbert
It may be the most interesting and exciting mystery you will ever encounter and when you finish it you will anxiously await his next release. I don't want to give away any clues but you won't be disappointed with its unpredictable, unexpected but plausible ending. His command of the English language far exceeds that of the usual formula writer and is very thought provoking. The settings are realistic and must be familiar to the author and often certain places are identifiable to the reader giving the story a factual feel.
Harry LIndstrom, the investigator, becomes so familiar to the reader that his experiences feel like one's own. A must read.
R.M.Gilbert
May 17, 2018
Since I'm the author, this may be suspect. I inadvertently signed on as a reader so I thought I had no alternative. It would be awkward to give fewer than 5 stars to a book I hope others will read.
August 14, 2018
The first in the Lindstrom trilogy is a cleverly conceived mystery starring a tragic and thoughtful philosophy professor turned private investigator.
July 9, 2018
There were things I liked about this book, but ultimately not enough. I like this author's writing in the Quin and Morgan series andcso I will read the next to see if I like it better. Biggest problem for me was too much dialogue, not enough story. Also nobody really to care about in the resolution of the case.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews