Behind the Beautiful Forevers by Katherine Boo

Katherine Boo, a Pulitzer prize winning journalist, shines a beacon of light on an otherwise ignored, under city slum in India. In this makeshift slum, the inhabitants' homes are always in danger of being razed to the ground by Mumbai officials.

Boo focuses upon Abdul Husain and his family, a Muslim family who barely scratch out a living. The family's business is garbage-picking. They have painstakingly risen a little in status and they are Muslim, which makes them vulnerable.

Jealous of them, a neighbor starts a fight that leads to disastrous consequences. In Boo's words it causes Abdul's life to implode. Despite the adverse living conditions, however, the slum dwellers do their best to enjoy themselves and lead good lives.

Boo has written about the cycle of poverty in U.S. cities but here she becomes philosophical. Boo searches for the "infrastructure of opportunity" in Annawadi and finds few opportunities.

One wonders, she argues, how anyone can be moral in these circumstances. In one of the most poignant analogies, Abdul realizes he can't be "ice" (hopeful and untarnished): "For some time I tried to keep the ice inside me from melting...But now I'm just becoming dirty water, like everyone else."
 
Behind the Beautiful Forevers, winner of the National Book Award, is both informative and heart-breaking. 

The Bat by Jo Nesbo

In Nesbo's first Harry Hole mystery, Hole, goes to New South Wales, Australia, to discover why a fellow Norwegian and gap-year student, Inger Holter, was murdered. 

The local police chief, Andrew Watkins, immediately tries to undermine Hole. Harry is told to take a vacation--enjoy the food and scenery--while the locals do the actual investigation. Naturally, Harry does the opposite, immersing himself in the case.

Readers are introduced to the flawed hero, Hole, who is a reformed drunk as well as many quirky characters. Andrew Kensington is an ex-hippie and ex-boxer while Otto Rechtnagel is a clown who discusses politics. 

Local detectives and Harry Hole, argue whether Holter's death is a random killing or the work of serial killer. 

Aboriginal myth pervade the story, including the "bat" of the title which is the aboriginal symbol of death.  In the aboriginal stories, the bat is called Narahdarn and plays an important part in their dreamtime myths.

Thoroughly enjoyable, The Bat has a fast-paced plot and a detective who makes intelligent observations and somewhat erratic decisions. I like the Norwegian title (Flaggermusmannen) better than the prosaic-sounding title in English (The Bat).

A BBC interview with Jo Nesbo below:
http://jonesbo.com/en/