MYSTERIES in PARADISE: May 2018

30 May 2018

Review: COME A LITTLE CLOSER, Rachel Abbott

format: Kindle (Amazon)
File Size: 6326 KB
Print Length: 406 pages
Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited
Publisher: Black Dot Publishing Ltd (February 15, 2018)
Publication Date: February 15, 2018
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services LLC
Language: English
ASIN: B079GYCX7R
#7 in the DI Tom Douglas series

Synopsis (Amazon)

They will be coming soon. They come every night.

Snow is falling softly as a young woman takes her last breath.

Fifteen miles away, two women sit silently in a dark kitchen. They don't speak, because there is nothing left to be said.

Another woman boards a plane to escape the man who is trying to steal her life. But she will have to return, sooner or later.

These strangers have one thing in common. They each made one bad choice - and now they have no choices left. Soon they won't be strangers, they'll be family...

When DCI Tom Douglas is called to the cold, lonely scene of a suspicious death, he is baffled. Who is she? Where did she come from? How did she get there? How many more must die?

Who is controlling them, and how can they be stopped?

My Take

Once again Rachel Abbott has delivered a believable page turner. There is just enough confusion related to who exactly the narrator of this story is to ensure that you keep reading to solve the mystery.

I have missed reading the 2 novels in this series prior to this one, but I felt I had sufficient understanding of the main characters.

Highly recommended.

My rating: 4.6

I've also read
4.8, ONLY THE INNOCENT
4.9, THE BACK ROAD
4.6, SLEEP TIGHT
4.5, STRANGER CHILD

Here is the series
DI Tom Douglas
1. Only The Innocent (2011)
2. The Back Road (2013)
3. Sleep Tight (2014)
4. Stranger Child (2015)
5. Kill Me Again (2016)
6. The Sixth Window (2017)
7. Come A Little Closer (2018)

27 May 2018

Review: ROGUE LAWYER, John Grisham - audio book

Originally published: 20 October 2015
Author: John Grisham
Genre: Legal thriller
Publisher: Doubleday
Country: United States of America
Pages: 352 pp (Hardcover 1st edition)
narrator of audio version: Mark Deakin:

Synopsis (author)

On the right side of the law. Sort of.

Sebastian Rudd is not your typical street lawyer. He works out of a customized bulletproof van, complete with Wi-Fi, a bar, a small fridge, fine leather chairs, a hidden gun compartment, and a heavily armed driver. He has no firm, no partners, no associates, and only one employee, his driver, who’s also his bodyguard, law clerk, confidant, and golf caddy. He lives alone in a small but extremely safe penthouse apartment, and his primary piece of furniture is a vintage pool table. He drinks small-batch bourbon and carries a gun.

Sebastian defends people other lawyers won’t go near: a drug-addled, tattooed kid rumored to be in a satanic cult, who is accused of molesting and murdering two little girls; a vicious crime lord on death row; a homeowner arrested for shooting at a SWAT team that mistakenly invaded his house. Why these clients? Because he believes everyone is entitled to a fair trial, even if he, Sebastian, has to cheat to secure one. He hates injustice, doesn’t like insurance companies, banks, or big corporations; he distrusts all levels of government and laughs at the justice system’s notions of ethical behavior.

My Take

The structure of this book is virtually that of a series of episodes, or linked short stories, in Sebastian Rudd's life.

Rudd's clients are often those whom other lawyers will not take, and sometimes they are not innocent. Rudd often attracts a lot of opposition, even becoming a target for those who despise his clients.

The narration is excellent with Mark Deakin dramatising a number of voices.

My rating: 4.4

I've also read
4.4, A TIME TO KIL L

25 May 2018

Review: THE SANS PAREIL MYSTERY, Karen Charlton

this edition published in 2015 by Thomas Mercer
ISBN 978-1503-947825
322 pages
source: my local library
The Detective Lavender Mysteries #2

Synopsis (Amazon)

On a cold February night in Regency London, a dark curtain falls on the Sans Pareil Theatre following the death of April Clare, a promising young actress, whose body is found in mysterious circumstances.

Detective Stephen Lavender and his dependable deputy, Constable Woods, quickly discover that nothing is quite as it seems. As successive mysteries unfold, they soon realise that it is not only the actors from the Sans Pareil who are playing a part.

With the Napoleonic War looming dangerously across the Channel, this is a time of suspicion and treachery. Following the clues from the seedy back streets of Covent Garden up through the echelons of society, Lavender and Woods begin to fear that the case is much bigger than they’d dared imagine—and worse, that they are at risk of becoming mere players in a master criminal’s shadowy drama.

It will take all of Lavender’s skill and wit, and help from the beautiful Magdalena, to bring the mystery of the Sans Pareil Theatre to a dramatic conclusion in the final act.

My Take

The second in the Detective Lavender series, set in London in 1810, Lavender is the chief detective in the Bow Street Runners. The body of a young woman is found under the floor of a derelict house about to be demolished. She is identified by the pathologist who had seen her on stage at a local theatre.

Apart from the murder mystery, the story gives interesting insights into Regency London. The Napoleonic Wars are not going well and London is full of foreigners such as Spanish that have fled from the invaders and French spies and those who who have fled from Bonaparte's regime. William, Duke of Clarence, who lives with an actress, is one of the circle of those who patronise the Sans Pareil theatre. (From the early 1790s until 1811, William lived with his mistress, the actress Dorothy Jordan. They had 10 children who took the surname Fitzclarence). Later he becomes William IV, married to Queen Adelaide. Ironically, in view of the 10 earlier children, their marriage is childless.

Lavender himself is very friendly with a Spanish widow. She is also a Catholic in a largely Protestant England.

The story becomes a tale of espionage when a coded document is discovered among the dead actress' papers.

This was one of those books that could have done with much better proof reading. The "typos" were made more noticeable by an earlier borrower who had gone through with a pencil striking words out and indicating omissions. Some errors were obviously caused by the use of an auto-correcter where the wrong version of a word had been accepted. All would have been funny if it hadn't become so annoying.

My rating: 4.3

About the author
Karen Charlton, a writer of mysteries, writes historical crime fiction, set in Regency England.

The Detective Lavender Mysteries, published by Thomas & Mercer, are the fictional adventures of Stephen Lavender, who was a real-life Principal Officer with the Bow Street Police Office in London.
By the early 19th century, Principal officers had a variety of different and important roles although they were still nicknamed 'Bow Street Runners' as if they were messenger boys. Apart from supporting their colleagues solve crime in the capital, they were often sent out to help magistrates in the provinces with difficult cases. They also took part in undercover work in periods of insurrection, for example, during the Luddite riots in the Midlands and were available to hire by wealthy landowners.

They were Britain's earliest private detectives and were famous throughout London. They were the only policemen allowed into Buckingham House (the forerunner of the palace) and did security work for the Bank of England. On some occasions, they were even sent abroad to help with crimes and criminals who had spilled out onto the continent.

Where my reading is heading

My life is dominated by lists, some of them a bit incomplete

But anyway here is some of the crime fiction that I have my sights set on for the next few weeks

TBRN - To Be Read Next - lists to give me direction, but I often ignore them :-)

BY MY BED

FAR FROM TRUE, Linwood Barclay
THE TWENTY-THREE, Linwood Barclay
MISS KOPP'S MIDNIGHT CONFESSIONS, Amy Stewart
BLUE LIGHT YOKOHAMA, Nicolas Obregon

Book Group

DARK PINES, Will Dean
TIME IS A KILLER, Michel Bussi

LIBRARY BOOKS
IN THE SHADOW OF AGATHA CHRISTIE, Leslie S. Klinger (edit)
THE WITNESS, Nora Roberts
THE SANS PAREIL MYSTERY, Karen Charlton
THE GUILTY WIFE, Elle Croft
THE SIXTH WINDOW, Rachel Abbott

AUDIO BOOKS ON THE GO

ROGUE LAWYER, John Grisham

e-books - Kindle & iPad

COME A LITTLE CLOSER, Rachel Abbott
KILLER'S ISLAND, Anna Jannson
ON THE LIP OF A LION, Roy Jenner
NOT WITHOUT RISK, Pete Trewin

REVIEW BOOKS

THE MARMALADE MURDERS, Elizabeth J. Duncan

23 May 2018

50 Books Read

I'm steaming along quite well this year, and have reached one of those milestones: 50

I keep a full record of categories here
The main ones are

2018 Aussie Author Reading Challenge: aiming for 20: currently 11
2018 Australian Women Writers Challenge: aiming for 20. Currently 6
British Books Challenge 2018 currently 24
2018 Ebook Reading Challenge currently 13
New to me authors - a personal challenge currently 17
Snagged at the Library currently: 24
Audio books: currently: 8

Looking at the ratings I've given them, you may well note that they range only from 5.0 to 4.0
To be truthful I've had a few DNFs that I have not recorded, but actually I've finished and rated over 90% of the books that I've started. I think that is because so many of the books that I tackle, I do so as a result of recommendations in book groups and by friends on line. So, in a sense, a certain amount of pre-selection has already taken place.

Here are the books

22 May 2018

Review: MACBETH, Jo Nesbo

Format: Kindle (Amazon)
File Size: 3476 KB
Print Length: 494 pages
Page Numbers Source ISBN: 1781090262
Publisher: Vintage Digital (April 5, 2018)
Publication Date: April 5, 2018
Sold by: PRH UK
Language: English
ASIN: B01N6STDIS

Synopsis (Amazon)

He’s the best cop they’ve got.

When a drug bust turns into a bloodbath it’s up to Inspector Macbeth and his team to clean up the mess.
He’s also an ex-drug addict with a troubled past.

He’s rewarded for his success. Power. Money. Respect. They’re all within reach.

But a man like him won’t get to the top.

Plagued by hallucinations and paranoia, Macbeth starts to unravel. He’s convinced he won’t get what is rightfully his.
Unless he kills for it.

My Take

Beware of spoilers!

Right from the beginning there is a dystopian feeling about this stand-alone novel unmistakeably related to the "Scottish play". In it you will meet modern versions of the main characters from the Shakespearian story, bearing in mind that his stage version was only that - a fictionalisation of what had happened in Scotland over 500 years earlier.

The setting of the novel seems rather obscure and vague, with the city not actually being named. although obviously in Scotland. The city is no longer a bustling metropolis. The drug trade and drug pushing has gone on too long. Addicts lie everywhere. There's a depiction of the struggle between opposing groups struggling for control of its underworld and drug trade: cops, bikies, corrupt politicians. The police force has been cleansed but there is rivalry between groups, at least one mole, and power struggles everywhere you look.

Nesbo has taken themes and plot lines from the Shakespearian play and put them in modern settings. This book won't be everyone's cup of tea, especially not those who are expecting a Nordic thriller. It will mean more to those who know the original play. Other reviews that I have read on Amazon have asked why Nesbo went down this path. I think he recognised a timeless story, but just to make sure he used the same names for many of the characters: Macbeth, Banquo, Malcolm, Lennox, Fleance etc., so we would recognise them too.

An interesting rather than enjoyable novel, springing from the sort of thoughts you have after seeing the Scottish play and wondering whether it has modern relevance. I think Nesbo proves that it does.

My rating: 4.3

I've also read
NEMESIS
THE REDEEMER
5.0, THE SNOWMAN
4.8, THE LEOPARD
4.7, HEADHUNTERS
4.7, PHANTOM
4.7, THE BAT
4.7, POLICE
5.0, THE SON
4.4, BLOOD ON SNOW
4.8, THE THIRST
4.4, MIDNIGHT SUN: BLOOD ON THE SNOW 2

15 May 2018

Review: RUSH OF BLOOD, Mark Billingam

this large print edition published by W F Howes Ltd 2012
ISBN 978-1-47120-637-5
518 pages
source: my local library

Synopsis (Fantastic Fiction)

Perfect strangers. A perfect holiday. The perfect murder...

Three couples meet around the pool on their Florida holiday and become fast friends. But on their last night, their perfect holiday takes a tragic twist: the teenage daughter of another holidaymaker goes missing, and her body is later found floating in the mangroves. When the shocked couples return home, they remain in contact, and over the course of three increasingly fraught dinner parties they come to know one another better. But they don't always like what they find: buried beneath these apparently normal exteriors are some dark secrets, hidden kinks, ugly vices... Then, a second girl goes missing. Could it be that one of these six has a secret far darker than anybody can imagine? A brilliantly plotted, utterly gripping thriller about the danger of making friends on holiday.

My take

3 couples: Angie and Barry, Sue and Ed, Marina and Dave, meet at a Florida resort, and on their last day at the hotel the intellectually challenged daughter of another holiday maker goes missing. The three British couples are questioned about their whereabouts at the time the girl went missing, and nothing seems suspicious and they are allowed to fly home.

The structure of the book is interesting: emails arranging dinner parties once they are home, chapters exploring how each couple happened to take that holiday along with other details of their marriages, interspersed with the occasional chapter in the voice of the murderer.

At their first meeting back in London the conversation inevitably turns to whether the missing girl in Florida has been found. Back in Florida We are introduced to Detective Jeffrey Gardner, in charge of the investigation. Six weeks after she disappeared the body of the young girl is found, and in London the Lewisham CID room gets a request from the Florida detective for follow up interviews of the British tourists. The task is handed to Trainee Detective Constable Jenny Quinlan who is determined to make her mark. And then a second girl goes missing, but this time in Jenny's territory.

This was a really well plotted story. It had me asking who the murderer was- trying to identify him or her from those very short chapters that kept popping up.

As it turned I was very nearly right, but the author inserted a couple of real twists at the end.

My rating: 4.5

I've also read
4.3, TALKING TO THE DEAD

11 May 2018

Review: THE VANISHING BOX, Elly Griffiths

this edition published by Quercus (UK) 2017
ISBN 978-1-78429-700-8
351 pages
#4 in the Stephens & Mephisto Mystery series
source: my local library

Synopsis (publisher)

The fourth Stephens and Mephisto mystery from the author of the bestselling Dr Ruth Galloway series, for fans of Agatha Christie and Anthony Horowitz

'Vivid description, masterful sleight of hand and a lightness of touch add up to a terrific read for aficionados and newcomers alike' Guardian

Winter, 1953. A young flower seller is found dead in her room at a Brighton boarding-house, posed with chilling perfection into a recreation of the death of Lady Jane Grey. This is a killer unlike any DI Edgar Stephens has encountered before.

Across the city at the Hippodrome theatre, Max Mephisto is top of the bill in a double act with his daughter Ruby. Tarnishing the experience, though, is one of the other acts: a seedy 'living tableaux' show where barely-dressed women strike poses from famous historical scenes. Is the resemblance to the murder scene pure coincidence, or is life imitating art?

When another death occurs - this time within the troupe itself - Max once again finds himself involved in one of Edgar's cases, and a threat that will come closer to home than anything before. What should be just a job is about to become personal.

My take

When people ask me about the best way to tackle a book that is part of a series, I always tell them to start with the first book. Well, this time I didn't take my own advice and I think I paid the penalty.

One of the benefits of reading a series from the first book is that you meet the characters as they are introduced and read of the events in their lives, and then follow the minor plots as they develop. There were references to previous events in THE VANISHING BOX about which I had no clue and could only surmise what had happened. Similarly I was coming to the main characters cold and had little idea, apart from hints dropped in the book, about the connections between them. As the story progressed those omissions mattered less, but the end result was that it took me a while to warm to the main characters and to begin to enjoy the story.

I like the time frame of 1953. World War II is an event that connects the investigative duo of DCI Edgar Stephens and Max Mephisto the magician, and this is the time of variety halls and boarding houses. The world has an old-fashioned feel about it, of a morality not quite the same as ours. Policewomen who actively participate in investigations of murder are new, and there is a feeling in the force that they need to be protected from gruesome sights and are best as providing comfort in distressing situations.

In the long run it was an entertaining read but for most of the time I had little idea who the murderer was, so the final explanation came as a bit of a surprise.

My rating: 4.4

About the author
WINNER OF THE 2016 CWA DAGGER IN THE LIBRARY. Elly Griffiths was born in London. She worked in publishing before becoming a full-time writer. Her bestselling series of Dr Ruth Galloway novels, featuring a forensic archaeologist, are set in Norfolk. The series has won the CWA Dagger in the Library, and has been shortlisted three times for the Theakston's Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year. Her Stephens and Mephisto series is based in 1950s Brighton. She lives near Brighton with her husband, an archaeologist, and their two children.

6 May 2018

Review: THE FIX, David Baldacci

this edition published by Hachette Book Group 2017
ISBN 978-1-4879-4546-8
417 pages
#3 in the Amos Decker series
source: my local library

Synopsis (Fantastic Fiction)

Amos Decker witnesses a murder just outside FBI headquarters. A man shoots a woman execution-style on a crowded sidewalk, then turns the gun on himself.

Even with Decker's extraordinary powers of observation and deduction, the killing is baffling. Decker and his team can find absolutely no connection between the shooter--a family man with a successful consulting business--and his victim, a schoolteacher. Nor is there a hint of any possible motive for the attack.

Enter Harper Brown. An agent of the Defense Intelligence Agency, she orders Decker to back off the case. The murder is part of an open DIA investigation, one so classified that Decker and his team aren't cleared for it.

But they learn that the DIA believes solving the murder is now a matter of urgent national security. Critical information may have been leaked to a hostile government--or worse, an international terrorist group--and an attack may be imminent.

Decker's never been one to follow the rules, especially with the stakes so high. Forced into an uneasy alliance with Agent Brown, Decker remains laser focused on only one goal: solving the case before it's too late.

My Take:

Amos Decker is "the memory man" - the man who has a photographic memory, the man who can never forget. He also appears to others to be a little tunnel-visioned, perhaps a touch autistic. He hasn't always been that way. His special powers are the result of severe concussion which has put his brain onto a permanent state of video record.

The murder takes place right in front of Decker, in front of the FBI headquarters in Washington DC. And nothing about it seems to make sense.The shooter is a respectable business man on his way to a meeting at headquarters and he doesn't appear to know the victim at all. The FBI investigation gets a set back when a DIA tells them that they must surrender the investigation to them.

The case turns out to be one of "homeland security", that state of awareness that the USA has been in since 9/11. But the issues that result in the shooting go back decades.

My Rating: 4.4

I've also read THE WHOLE TRUTH

5 May 2018

Review: RECALLED TO LIFE, Reginald Hill - audio book

source: my local library
Narrated by: Brian Glover
Series: Dalziel & Pascoe, Book 13
Length: 11 hrs and 53 mins
Unabridged Audiobook
ISBN: 1-4915-7352-X / 978-1-4915-7352-5 (USA edition)
Publisher: Brilliance Audio
Release date: 08-29-05
originally published 1992

Synopsis (Audible)

1963. It was the year of the Profumo Scandal, the Great Train Robbery, the Kennedy Assassination ...and the Mickledore Hall Murder. The guests at the hall that weekend had included a Tory minister, a CIA officer specializing in dirty tricks, a British diplomat with royal connections, and Cissy Kohler, a young American nanny who had come to England for love. And love kept her in England for nearly 30 years. In jail. For murder.

Detective Superintendent Andrew Dalziel is convinced that Cissy Kohler was -- and is -- guilty. But, investigating further, he soon finds his certainties being eroded. Not a state of affairs Dalziel can put up with for long, particularly when his old mentor's reputation is at stake. Not to mention his own...

My Take

The decision by the narrator/publisher to have the Yorkshire accent feature so strongly in this audio book was a brave one, and, for this non-Yorkshire listener, a trying one. I kept wishing they would lapse into "proper" English.

The story begins with the release of Cissy Kohler from prison, her sentence quashed, but the reason for the release is not given. "New evidence at come to light" - at the instigation of an American TV host into whose care Cissy is released.

The conviction obtained 30 years before is under scrutiny, especially the role played by the now-dead Inspector Tallantire, Dalziel's old boss. If Cissy Kohler is innocent, what does that mean in the case of Mickledore who was hanged for the murder?

In the long run the plot was a very complex one with some historical roots. Listening to an audio version probably detracted from my ability to follow the plot, as it is very difficult to check on a point that you didn't quite get the significance of at first. This book also has little quotations at the beginning of each chapter, and their meaning often quite eluded me.

I was struck though by Reginald Hill's at times quirky sense of humour, interesting turn of phrase, an allusions to other literature.

My rating: 4.4

I've also read
A CURE FOR ALL DISEASES
ASKING FOR THE MOON
4.5, CHILD'S PLAY
DEATH OF A DORMOUSE
MIDNIGHT FUGUE
THE SPY'S WIFE
THE ROAR OF THE BUTTERFLIES
THERE ARE NO GHOSTS IN THE SOVIET UNION
4.8, THE WOODCUTTER

3 May 2018

Review: THE RUIN, Dervla McTiernan

format: Kindle (Amazon)
File Size: 704 KB
Print Length: 332 pages
Publisher: HarperCollins (February 19, 2018)
Publication Date: February 19, 2018
Sold by: HarperCollins Publishers
Language: English
ASIN: B0758ZBY2K

Synopsis (Amazon)

Galway 1993: Young Garda Cormac Reilly is called to a scene he will never forget. Two silent, neglected children - fifteen-year-old Maude and five-year-old Jack - are waiting for him at a crumbling country house. Upstairs, their mother lies dead.

Twenty years later, a body surfaces in the icy black waters of the River Corrib. At first it looks like an open-and-shut case, but then doubt is cast on the investigation's findings - and the integrity of the police. Cormac is thrown back into the cold case that has haunted him his entire career - what links the two deaths, two decades apart? As he navigates his way through police politics and the ghosts of the past, Detective Reilly uncovers shocking secrets and finds himself questioning who among his colleagues he can trust.

What really did happen in that house where he first met Maude and Jack? The Ruin draws us deep into the dark heart of Ireland and asks who will protect you when the authorities can't - or won't.

My Take

Cormac Reilly has recently moved back to Galway from a top notch crime unit in Dublin. But he is finding it hard to fit in. Others at the station turn their backs on him, or try to score points at his expense. He is assigned to routine enquiries into cold cases, well below his level of experience. Then an apparent suicide turns out to be someone from his early days as a Garda. Coincidentally, it seems, he is assigned to the cold case twenty years before where he first met Jack Blake, the young man who has just died in the River Corrib.

It is hard to believe this is a debut novel, it is written with such assurance of tone. The plotting is clean with quite a number of well developed strands, while the characterisation is excellent, and relationships between characters well explored. I liked the linking between cold cases and current ones, with a clear indication of the role modern technologies can play - not just DNA but apps like Google Timeline.

An author's note at the end tells readers there is a second novel to be released in 2019. I certainly look forward to seeing it.

My rating: 4.8

About the author
Dervla McTiernan was born in County Cork, Ireland, to a family of seven. She studied corporate law at the National University of Ireland, Galway, and the Law Society of Ireland, and then practiced as a lawyer for twelve years. Following the global financial crisis she moved with her family to Western Australia, where she now lives with her husband and two children. In 2015 she submitted a story for the Sisters in Crime Scarlet Stiletto competition and was shortlisted. This gave her the confidence to complete her first novel, The Ruin.

What I read in April 2018

April 2018

I read a good range of books in the last month
My Pick of the Month is THE GIRL BEFORE by J P Delaney

See what others have chosen for their Pick of the Month.

1 May 2018

Pick of the Month: April 2018

Crime Fiction Pick of the Month 2018

Many crime fiction bloggers write a summary post at the end of each month listing what they've read, and some, like me, even go as far as naming their pick of the month.

This meme is an attempt to aggregate those summary posts.
It is an invitation to you to write your own summary post for April 2018, identify your crime fiction best read of the month, and add your post's URL to the Mr Linky below.
If Mr Linky does not appear for you, leave the URL in a comment and I will add it myself.

You can list all the books you've read in the past month on your post, even if some of them are not crime fiction, but I'd like you to nominate your crime fiction pick of the month.

That will be what you will list in Mr Linky too -
e.g.
ROSEANNA, Maj Sjowall & Per Wahloo - MiP (or Kerrie)

You are welcome to use the image on your post and it would be great if you could link your post back to this post on MYSTERIES in PARADISE.

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