Family Matters (Rohinton Mistry)

This is a close-up, unflinching portrait of a family in present-day Bombay struggling with many issues. The central character for most of the book is the family patriarch, living with his two adult stepchildren, who seem to be too bitter and focused on complaining about life to have ever married. He has Parkinson's and, on one of his daily walks, is injured, putting an intolerable burden of nursing and care on these two. Across town his biological daughter is living with her husband and two children in a two-room apartment, and his relationship with them is loving and tender. How will this family deal with the patriarch's escalating needs for care when money, space, and patience are stretched thin? Mistry paints unforgettable pictures of all the people, from the patriarch to the laborers hired to haul heavy things, and the epic city of Bombay itself. My personal preference is for stories with more likeable characters; as this story goes on, there are fewer and fewer of those to curl up with. The last section of the book, which I originally took for a small epilogue but spanned at least a chapter, seemed almost to come from a different story entirely - the main character had changed in ways that did not feel entirely justified. These are the only weaknesses in an otherwise fine novel.

Suspect (Michael Robotham)

There is a lot that's good in this mystery thriller, especially for a first novel. The protagonist is competent but flawed and has to overcome a devious plot to save himself and his family. The tension keeps climbing, and I was always wondering what was coming next. I did have some problems with it though. <SPOILERS!> For someone so smart, he could be frustratingly stupid. He is on the run from the police who suspect him of one murder when he goes to a friend's house and finds the friend murdered. Does he immediately notify the police, when there are people who can testify that he just left them and didn't have time to commit the crime? No, of course not. He wanders all over the crime scene, poking his fingers into things, leaving his traces everywhere, and then runs. But then at the end, despite a disability that keeps locking up his leg, he runs a quarter mile to the next crime scene, beating the police there. Really? So although I did enjoy the book and can recommend it, there was some mighty strenuous suspension of disbelief required.