Wickedly delightful, this is a relatively small, light, most engaging book blending detectives and  poetry. It questions the notions of inspiration and creativity. Vibrantly written by A M Carson, the poems collar the reader. There are thirty two short prose poems based on a spectrum of assorted fictional detectives. The book looks at how sitting and reflecting, away from the bustle of business, can lead to the finalising of the jigsaw puzzle of ‘solution‘- whether of a crime, or perhaps the creation of a poem.

Each poem has a title and is aptly, subtly, illustrated with line drawings by Rene Carrasco of the ‘chair’ each detective uses. There is a table of contents at the front listing the poems and detective. At the back Carson reflects on writing the poems as well as the acknowledgements, a listing of when the series the detective features in was(is) published and short biographies of Carson and Carrasco.

The detectives come from around the world – India, China, Russia, Africa, Germany, Italy, Iceland , Belgium , the UK , the US , Canada , Sweden… and Australia among other places. Both Poirot and Miss Marple (Agatha Christie) are included but not Lord Peter Wimsey (Dorothy L. Sayers). Sherlock Holmes (Sir Arthur Conan Doyle) gets a nod with the fragile first page and the magnifying glass. Guido Brunetti (Donna Leon) and both Jimmy Perez and DCI Vera Stanhope(Ann Cleeves) are included as are DI John Rebus  (Ian Rankin ), Commissaire Maigret (Georges Simenon), Inspector Kurt Wallander (Henning Mankell ), DCI Adam Dalgleish (PD James) and feisty PI VI Warshawski (Sara Paretsky), (But no Kate Shugak)

Australian detectives included are: PI Jill Fitzpatrick (Dorothy Porter), DI Hal Challis  (Gary Disher), DSS Joe Cashin (Peter Temple), Cliff Hardy (Peter Corris), PI Anna Southwood (Jean Bedford ), PI Billie Walker (Tara Moss), the inimitable Phryne Fisher  (Kerry Greenwood)  and Anne M Carson (The author!) who imagines herself as a poetical detective like Dalgleish. Carson ponders in her reflection at the back if there is a difference between male and female detectives and their approach to crime solving and creativity, and the link between poetry and detection.

For those who like poetry or crime novels, a captivating book .

https://liquidamberpress.com.au/product/the-detectives-chair/