Review: A WINTER GRAVE, Peter May

• 
  This edition published Quercus 2023
  
• ISBN 978-1-52942-849-0
• 357 pages

Synopsis (Fantastic Fiction)

A TOMB OF ICE

A young meteorologist checking a mountain top weather station in Kinlochleven discovers the body of a missing man entombed in ice.

A DYING DETECTIVE

Cameron Brodie, a Glasgow detective, sets out on a hazardous journey to the isolated and ice-bound village. He has his own reasons for wanting to investigate a murder case so far from his beat.

AN AGONIZING RECKONING

Brodie must face up to the ghosts of his past and to a killer determined to bury forever the chilling secret that his investigation threatens to expose.

Set against a backdrop of a frighteningly plausible near-future, A WINTER GRAVE is Peter May at his page-turning, passionate and provocative best. 

My Take

Set in November 2051, this novel is not only a murder mystery, but portrays a future affected by global warming after the major powers have failed to meet targets back at the beginning of the century. The world has changed drastically with countries near the equator becoming too hot to live in, sea levels having risen, and the northern hemisphere has entered a new Ice Age.

The body of an investigative reporter has been found entombed in ice near a nuclear power station which supplies all the power for Scotland. It is just days out from a national election in which it is expected that the ruling party will be returned. 

A Glasgow detective, Cameron Brodie, has recently received the worst news from his medical specialist, and decides to undertake this investigation which may very well be his last hurrah. He also has some unfinished business which he hopes the journey north will enable him to complete.

This novel has a nicely balanced story, set against this futuristic scenario, where unmanned drones fly people to destinations.

I thoroughly enjoyed it.

My rating: 4.6 

I've also read

• THE RUNNER
• VIRTUALLY DEAD
• FREEZE FRAME
• 4.7, THE BLACKHOUSE
• 5.0, THE LEWIS MAN
• 4.5, EXTRAORDINARY PEOPLE
• 5.0, ENTRY ISLAND
• 4.9, COFFIN ROAD
• 4.8, LOCKDOWN
• 4.6, ENTRY ISLAND

Review: THE RAGING STORM, Ann Cleeves

• 
   this edition made available by my local library
  
• #3 in the Two Rivers series
• published 2023 Pan Macmillan
• ISBN 978-1-5290-7770-4
• 383 pages

Synopsis (publisher)

When Jem Rosco - sailor, adventurer and legend - blows in to the local pub, The Maiden's Prayer, in the middle of an autumn gale, the residents of Greystone are delighted.

The whole place has a strange, unreal quality: the village that time forgot. Backed by a worked-out quarry, with a shingle beach and a north-facing quay, there's little to recommend it to tourists.

When Rosco disappears again, they think nothing of it; that's the sort of man he is. Until the lifeboat is launched to a hoax call-out and his body is found in a dinghy, anchored off Scully Cove, a place with legends of its own.

This is an uncomfortable case for Venn. Greystone is a stronghold of the Barum Brethren and he came here as a child. Faith and superstition mix as another body is found in Scully, and Matthew finds his judgement clouded.

The wind continues to howl, and he realizes that his own life is in danger. 

My Take

The setting is a rather unlovely village in coastal Devon but one which Matthew Venn is familiar with.  The story begins with the arrival of a sailing legend and adventurer cum TV personality who momentarily put the village on the map. But the villagers have mixed feelings about him. Then he disappears and turns up dead and the detectives arrive.

The background, and why anyone would want to murder Jem Rosco takes a lot of discovering. The weather is wild and the going is slow. The village is struggling to survive, but at the same time incomers are treated with suspicion.

Part of the narrative focuses on how anxious the detectives are to please their boss Matthew Venn, and at the same time on the things that niggle them about each other.

I seem to have missed reading THE HERON'S CRY, #2 in this series.

My rating: 4.8

I've also read

• RAVEN BLACK - Shetland #1
• WHITE NIGHTS - Shetland#2
• RED BONES - Shetland #3
• 5.0, BLUE LIGHTNING - Shetland#4
• 5.0, DEAD WATER  - Shetland#5
• 4.6, THIN AIR - Shetland #6
• 4.3, MURDER IN PARADISE - Palmer-Jones series #3
• TELLING TALES (Vera Stanhope) #2
• 4.8, SILENT VOICES, (Vera Stanhope) #4
• 5.0, THE GLASS ROOM (Vera Stanhope) #5
• 4.9, HARBOUR STREET (Vera Stanhope) #6
• 4.5, BURIAL OF GHOSTS - stand-alone
• 4.8, THE MOTH CATCHER (Vera Stanhope #7)
• 4.4, TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE (Quick Reads)
• 4.7, THE SEAGULL - (Vera Stanhope #8)
• 4.6, THE LONG CALL - Two Rivers #1
• 4.9, THE DARKEST EVENING - Vera #9
• 4.5, A LESSON DYING - Inspector Ramsay #1
• 4.5, MURDER IN MY BACKYARD -Inspector Ramsay #2 
• 4.4, A DAY IN THE DEATH OF DOROTHEA CASSIDY - Inspector Ramsay  #3
• 4.6, KILLJOY -  Inspector Ramsay #4
• 4.5, THE HEALERS - Inspector Ramsay #5
• 4.6, THE BABY-SNATCHER - Inspector Ramsay #6
• OFFSHORE, Ann Cleeves - Shetland 6.1 - short stories
• 5.0, THE RISING TIDE - Vera #10
• 4.5, THE MISSING AND THE DEAD

Review: THE CAMDEN MURDER, Mike Hollow

• 
  This edition read on my Kindle (Amazon)
  
• #7 in the Blitz Murder series
• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0BBZ288RL
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Allison & Busby (December 15, 2022)
• Print length ‏ : ‎ 337 pages

Synopsis (publisher)

November 1940. As dawn begins to break, blackout regulations are rendered pointless by a car burning fiercely near the Regent's Canal in Camden Town, north London. In the burnt-out vehicle police find the charred remains of a body. The victim is Les Latham, a commercial traveller for the Baring and Sons confectionery company. He liked to be known as Lucky Les, but it seems his luck has finally run out.

Detective Inspector John Jago discovers a mysterious photograph and some suspicious-looking petrol ration books among Latham's belongings. These lead him off on a murky trail of deceit, corruption and murder. It seems that the Blitz Detective will have to make his own luck to bring to light an unexpected killer.

My Take

Another instalment in this lovely series with John Jago and his offsider Peter Cradock hunting down the person responsible for the death of a commercial traveller.

There are a number of red herrings to be discarded before the truth is finally revealed.

What I love about these books is the feeling of authenticity that comes from solid research and details gleaned from the news of the day. (Who knew that early RAF bombers were sent out with homing pigeons to deliver their location in the case of being shot down; or that Great Britain paid Jamaica NOT to export their banana crop?)

In some ways police procedures have not change in 80 years - fingerprinting, dental records etc - but these crimes are set against the setting and stress of London in 1940, and the characterisation is superb. There are glimpses of what is happening in the rest of the world and how England is surviving as Hitler attempts to cut it off.

You will notice that I've inadvertently skipped reading #6, THE PIMLICO MURDER, but I will remedy that in the New Year.

My rating: 4.5 

I've also read

• 4.5, THE BLITZ DETECTIVE - #1
• 4.6, THE CANNING TOWN MURDER -#2 
• 4.5, THE CUSTOM HOUSE MURDER - #3
• 4.5, THE STRATFORD MURDER - #4 
• 4.5, THE DOCKLAND MURDER, - #5

 

Review: DECEPTION, Lesley Pearse

• 
  this edition from my local library
  
• published 2022 by Michael Joseph
• ISBN 978-0-241-14494-1
• 362 pages

Synopsis (publisher)

After the funeral of her mother, Sally, Alice Kent is approached by a man claiming to be her father.

She had accepted Sally's many faults, and her reluctance to ever speak of the past. But faced with this staggering deception, Alice knows she must uncover the whole truth about her mother.

Whatever the cost.

As Alice journeys into the past she discovers her mother may never have been the woman she claimed to be . . .

My Take

Some will point out that this isn't my usual fare of crime fiction, but there are a number of crimes described, and it is based around mystery.

Angus Tweedy's claim to be her father, and to have been gaoled for bigamy with her mother at first upsets Alice Kent, but then sets her off on a quest to learn as much about her mother's life as she can. She tracks down former friends of her mother and manages to piece together answers to many questions.

What Alice finds out is interspersed with a third person narrative which details episodes in her mother's life from when Sally was a small child.

An interesting novel which also reminds us of how the world has changed in the last 80 or so years.I will certainly read more by this author.

My rating: 4.5 

I've also read 4.5, LIAR

Review: LIAR, Lesley Pearse

• 
  This edition read as an e-book on Libby through my local library
  
• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B085ZD3K3W
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Penguin (25 June 2020)
• Print length ‏ : ‎ 355 pages

Synopsis (publisher) 

Amelia White didn't expect her career as a reporter to start like this: by finding a young woman's body, just around the corner from her Shepherd's Bush bedsit.

With rumours already spreading about this poor murder victim, she seizes her chance to write the true story.

But when more bodies are found, the police are baffled.

Reporting on the story, Amelia meets witnesses as well as suspects. If she can only work out who the liar among them is, she may be able to stop the murders.

Or might she turn herself into the next victim? . . .

My Take

Lesley Pearse is an accomplished author with over 30 titles in 30 years to her credit.

At the same time, however, as feeling some empathy for Amelia, the central character who discovers a body on a rubbish heap during a strike by London's sanitation collectors, I also found her to be a bit gullible and pliable. She is a little too willing to be thrust into the role of investigative journalist by her exploitative editor. As it is, she is very lucky to have some people on the look out for her welfare.

The story was full of twists and turns, leading us first down one path and then another.

My rating: 4.5

About the author

Lesley Pearse was told as a child that she had too much imagination for her own good. When she grew up she worked her way through a number of jobs, including nanny, bunny girl, dressmaker and full-time mother, before, at the age of forty-nine, settling upon a career that would allow her gifts to blossom: she became a published writer. Lesley lives in Devon and has three daughters and three grandchildren.

Find out more about Lesley and keep up to date with what she's been doing:

Follow her on Twitter @LesleyPearse

Follow her on Facebook @LesleyPearseAuthor

Sign up for her newsletter www.lesleypearse.com

Review: A DEADLY AFFAIR, Agatha Christie

• 
  this edition read on Kindle
  
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ William Morrow Paperbacks (January 4, 2022)
• Paperback ‏ : ‎ 272 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0063142341
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0063142343

Synopsis (Publisher)

Love can propel us to our greatest heights . . . and darkest depths. In this new collection of Agatha Christie short stories, witness the dark side of love—crimes of passion, games of the heart, and deadly affairs. This pulse-pounding compendium features beloved detectives Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple, master of charades Parker Pyne, the enigmatic Harley Quin, and the adventurous Tommy and Tuppence, all at the ready to solve a tantalizing mystery.

In 'The Face of Helen,' a night at the Royal Opera could reach a deadly crescendo for a woman caught in a dicey love triangle; 'Finessing the King' delivers a curious ad in the personals that could mask sinister intentions; who’s in danger of getting stung in 'Wasp’s Nest' depends on rounding up suspects and solving a murder—before it even happens. Those are just a few of the tales in this collection featuring essential reading that Christie fans old and new will simply love.

My Take

An interesting collection of 14 short stories, mostly featuring sleuths that have not been as popular as Poirot and Marple, and mostly written early in the author's career, as shown in the list below.

I found Magnolia Blossom particularly interesting because it was published in the same year as Christie's own disappearance, and could shed some light on her state of mind. Death by Drowning is also interesting for the role played by Miss Marple's doctor.

Affairs of the Heart - from Autobiography
The King of Clubs - Poirot, 1923
The Face of Helen - Mr Quin, 1927
A Death on the Nile - Mr Parker Pyne, 1933
Death by Drowning - Miss Marple, 1931
The Double Clue - Poirot, 1923
Finessing the King - Tommy and Tuppence, 1924
A Fruitful Sunday - standalone, 1928
Wasps' Nest - Poirot, 1928
The Case of the Caretaker - Miss Marple, 1942
The Man in the Mist - Tommy and Tuppence, 1924
The Case of the Rich Woman - Mr Parker Pyne, 1932
Magnolia Blossom - stand alone, 1926
The Love Detectives - Mr Quin, 1926

My rating: 4.5 

Here are the Agatha Christie short stories I have read

Review: JUST MY LUCK, Adele Parks

• 
  this edition made available as an e-book on Borrow Box through my local library
  
• Harper Collins Australia
• ISBN: 9780008318420
• ISBN 10: 0008318425
• Imprint: HQ Fiction GB
• On Sale: 04/05/2020
• Pages: 384

Synopsis (publisher) 

For fifteen years, Lexi and Jake have played the same six numbers with their friends, the Pearsons and the Heathcotes. Over dinner parties, fish & chip suppers and summer barbecues, they’ve discussed the important stuff – the kids, marriages, jobs and houses – and they’ve laughed off their disappointment when they failed to win anything more than a tenner.

But then, one Saturday night, the unthinkable happens. There’s a rift in the group. Someone doesn’t tell the truth. And soon after, six numbers come up which change everything forever.

Lexi and Jake have a ticket worth £18 million. And their friends are determined to claim a share of it.
 
Sunday Times Number One bestseller Adele Parks returns with a riveting look at the dark side of wealth in this gripping take on friendship, money and betrayal, and good luck gone bad…

My Take

Most of us have fleetingly thought about this scenario. What would we do if we won the lottery? How would we behave? What if we were in a syndicate? You probably wouldn't keep your cool too well.

Lexi loves her job so much that she has never considered she would stop working, yet for Jake that is the first thing he thinks of. He and the kids go on a spending spree. They plan a huge party, but Lexi keeps thinking about how she can help others. But winning the lottery can bring out the worst in people too, and Lexi just has not envisaged what her husband and her friends will do.

My rating: 4.8

About the author

Adele Parks MBE was born in North Yorkshire. She is the author of 21 bestselling novels including most recently the Sunday Times and ebook Number One bestseller Both of You. Adele's recent Number One bestsellers Lies Lies Lies and Just My Luck were shortlisted for the British Book Awards and have been optioned for development for TV. Adele has lived in Botswana, Italy and London and is now settled in Guildford, Surrey. In 2022 she was awarded an MBE for services to literature. Find Adele on Twitter @adeleparks, Instagram @adele_parks and Facebook @OfficialAdeleParks or visit www.adeleparks.com.

Review: THE STRATFORD MURDER, Mike Hollow

• 
   Book 4 of 8: Blitz Detective
  
• First published as FIRING LINE.2018
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Allison & Busby (December 10, 2020)
• Paperback ‏ : ‎ 352 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0749026030
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0749026035

Synopsis (Amazon)

October, 1940. Bombs are falling on Stratford when air-raid warden Sylvia Parks sees a house with a shining light, in clear breach of the city’s strict blackout rules. With no answer at the door she manages to break in, only to discover the body of a young woman, strangled to death with a stocking. For Detective Inspector John Jago, the scene brings back memories of the gruesome Soho Strangler, who murdered four women a few years ago but has never been caught – could there be a connection?

My Take

I'm very much enjoying this series, reading them as e-books on my Kindle. The characters are well drawn, the scenarios feel authentic, and each book leaves you looking forward to the next.

In this case a young woman is found during a blackout strangled in her home. She works as a cinema usher, but  there seems some possibility that she may be earning extra money by entertaining men in her home.

My Rating: 4.5

I've also read

• 4.5, THE BLITZ DETECTIVE - #1
• 4.6, THE CANNING TOWN MURDER -#2 
• 4.5, THE CUSTOM HOUSE MURDER - #3

Review, SLEEPING MURDER, Agatha Christie

• 
  This edition read on Kindle (Amazon)
  
• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B004BDOTLS
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ HarperCollins; Masterpiece Ed edition (October 14, 2010)
• Originally published 1976 (Miss Marple's last case, written about 35 years earlier)
• Print length ‏ : ‎ 257 pages 
• My earlier review 
  

Synopsis (Amazon) 

A strange house
A ghost from the past

As soon as she moves into Hillside, Gwenda knows there’s something strange about this house.

A sealed room. A hidden door. The apparition of a young woman being strangled.

But strangest of all – this all seems quite familiar.

As her friend Jane Marple investigates, the answer seems to lie in a crime committed nearly twenty years ago.

The killer may have gotten away with murder. But Miss Marple is never far behind.

Never underestimate Miss Marple

My Take

I have of course read this earlier, but have re-read it for discussion with my U3A Agatha Christie Reading group.  I think they will enjoy the read. I think this is one of the best Marple stories.

Despite the advice not to investigate Gwenda and her husband decide try to work out what Gwenda's vague memories of the house she has recently bought actually mean. 

I particularly liked the description of Miss Marple.
Miss Marple was an attractive old lady, tall and thin, with pink cheeks and blue eyes, and a gentle, rather fussy manner. Her blue eyes often had a little twinkle in them.

There are no signs that this was actually written during World War II and stored for later publication. Certainly no signs that it was meant to be Miss Marple's last case.

My rating: 4.7

My Agatha Christie book reviews

Review: THE BREAKDOWN, B.A.Paris

• 
  This edition made available as an e-book on Libby by my local library
  
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ St. Martin's Press (18 July 2017)
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1250122465
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1250122469

Synopsis (Amazon)

If you can’t trust yourself, who can you trust?

Cass is having a hard time since the night she saw the car in the woods. It was on the winding rural road, in the middle of a downpour, and a woman was sitting inside―the woman who was killed. She’s been trying to put the crime out of her mind; what could she have done, really? It’s a dangerous road to be on in the middle of a storm, and she probably would have been hurt herself if she’d stopped. Not only that, her husband would be furious if he knew she’d broken her promise not to take that shortcut home.

But since then, she’s been forgetting every little thing. Where she left the car; if she took her pills; even the alarm code.

The only thing she can’t forget is that woman, the woman she might have saved, and the terrible nagging guilt.

And the silent calls she’s receiving, or the feeling that someone’s watching her…

My Take

Cass Anderson is haunted that her mother suffered from early onset dementia and is worried that she is going the same way. She seems to forget so much: online shopping that she's done, arrangements inviting people to a meal, her purse when she goes shopping, where she parked her car, and so much more.

She is lucky her husband and her best friend are so supportive isn't she? But then she visits a doctor who puts her on pills, and instead of getting better, she seems to be getting worse.

And then there is the murder of the woman in the car, and Cass is worried that the murderer is stalking her.

A nailbiter of a book, with a resolution you won't expect. 

This is another author to watch.

My rating: 4.6 

I've also read

• 4.5, BRING ME BACK  
• 4.5, THE THERAPIST 

Review: JUST ANOTHER MISSING PERSON, Gillian McAllister

• 
  this edition provided by my local library
  
• Harper Large print published August 2023
• 496 pages
• ISBN 9-780063-322899

 Synopsis (Publisher)

From the author of the Reese's Book Club Pick and the New York Times bestseller Wrong Place Wrong Time comes a new heart-stopping thriller in which a missing-person case unravels deeper, darker secrets that lead a detective to an impossible moral choice.

Not everyone who is lost should be found...

Twenty-two-year-old Olivia has been missing for one day...and counting. She was last seen on CCTV, entering a dead-end alley. And not coming back out again.

Julia, the detective heading up the search for Olivia, thinks she knows what to expect. A desperate family, a ticking clock, and long hours away from her husband and daughter. But she has no idea just how close to home this case is going to get.

Because the criminal at the heart of the disappearance has something she never expected. His weapon isn't a gun, or a knife: it's a secret. Her worst one. And her family's safety depends on one thing: Julia must NOT find out what happened to Olivia - and must frame somebody else for her murder.

If you find her, you will lose everything. What would you do?

This clever and endlessly surprising thriller is laced with a clever look at family and motherhood, and cements Gillian McAllister as a major talent in the world of suspense and a master of creating ethical dilemmas that show just how murky the distinction between right and wrong can be.

My Take

Julia is a detective who does everything by the books, dots the i's and crosses the t's, always. But in her past lies a mistake just waiting to trip her up.

Missing persons is her speciality and the case of Olivia seems much like any other. But is it? She is captured on CCTV walking into a dead end alley, and then she disappears. No trace, no blood. Nothing.  As the days count down, no clues, except something that a masked man gives Julia.

There are a lot of surprises in this plot.

There are a number of new authors around this year. Here is another to watch, and catch up on.

My rating: 4.5 

About the Author

Gillian McAllister is the New York Times bestselling author of Reese's Book Club Pick Wrong Place Wrong Time, Just Another Missing Person, Everything but the Truth, The Choice, The Good Sister, The Evidence Against You, How to Disappear, and the Richard & Judy Book Club pick That Night. She graduated with an English degree before working as a lawyer. She lives in Birmingham, England, where she now writes full-time. She is also the creator and co-host of the popular Honest Authors podcast.

Review: THE THERAPIST, B. A. Paris

• 
  this edition provided as an e-book on Libby by my local library
  
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ HQ; International Edition (January 1, 2021
• Length ‏ : ‎ 362 pages 

Synopsis (Amazon)

When Alice and Leo move into a newly renovated house in The Circle, a gated community of exclusive houses, it is everything they’ve dreamed of. But appearances can be deceptive…

As Alice is getting to know her neighbours, she discovers a devastating, grisly secret about her new home, and begins to feel a strong connection with Nina, the therapist who lived there before.

Alice becomes obsessed with trying to piece together what happened two years before. But no one wants to talk about it. Her neighbours are keeping secrets and things are not as perfect as they seem…

The million-copy Sunday Times bestselling author B A Paris returns to her heartland of gripping psychological suspense in this powerful tale of a house that holds a shocking secret.

My Take

Alice is sure that she has been totally honest with Leo, kept nothing back from him; after all, she is convinced she wants to spend the rest of her life with him. But then she finds that he hasn't been totally honest with her. He has tried to keep something back, hoping she won't find out, or at least, if she does find out, she will get over it quickly.

This novel turned out to be a real page turner. To me Alice seemed a bit neurotic, but then we find that although she has been honest with Leo, she has a big secret that the reader is not privy to. Also her need to know what happened two years before makes her suspect everyone, and blindsides her to the real truth.

A good read. I must read more by this author.

My rating: 4.5

I've also read

4.5, BRING ME BACK  

Review: THE CANNING TOWN MURDER, Mike Hollow

• 
  This edition on Kindle from Amazon
• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B088WS4B88
  
• first published 2016 as FIFTH COLUMN
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Allison & Busby; Reprint edition (July 23, 2020)
• Print length ‏ : ‎ 464 pages
• Page numbers source ISBN ‏ : ‎ 0369358198
• #2 in THE BLITZ DETECTIVE series

Synopsis (Amazon) 

First Published as Fifth Column.
September, 1940. As the Blitz takes its nightly toll on London and Hitler prepares his invasion fleet just across the Channel in occupied France, Britain is full of talk about enemy agents. Suspicion is at an all time high and no one is sure who can be trusted.
In Canning Town, rescue workers are unsettled when they return to a damaged street and discover a body that shouldn't be there. When closer examination of the corpse reveals death by strangling, Detective Inspector John Jago is called upon to investigate. But few seem to really care about the woman's death - not even her family. As Jago digs deeper he starts to uncover a trail of deception, betrayal, and romantic entanglements.

My Take

Well, this series has me hooked and I'll be reading more. The setting is well researched and authentic, and the characters are likeable.

In this case a female body is found on top of the ruins of a bomb site but it hadn't been there two hours earlier. The woman is identified as working in local premises that deal with the some sensitive projects. The pathologist confirms that she has been murdered.

Inspector Jago finds other things are going on  and he is not sure that everyone is acting honestly, nor that everyone is just who they say they are.

Interesting plot.

My rating: 4.6

I've also read

4.5, THE BLITZ DETECTIVE - #1

Review: THE BLITZ DETECTIVE, Mike Hollow

• 
   this edition published for Kindle on Amazon
• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B088WPQYLS
  
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Allison & Busby; Reissue edition (July 23, 2020)
• first published 201
• Print length ‏ : ‎ 448 pages 
• #1 of 8
• first published as DIRECT HIT
  

Synopsis (Amazon)

First published as Direct Hit.

Saturday 7th September, 1940. The sun is shining, and in the midst of the good weather Londoners could be mistaken for forgetting their country was at war - until the familiar wail of the air-raid sirens heralds an enemy attack. The Blitz has started, and normal life has abruptly ended - but crime has not.
That night a man's body is discovered in an unmarked van in the back streets of West Ham. When Detective Inspector John Jago is called to the scene, he recognises the victim: local Justice of the Peace, Charles Villiers. The death looks suspicious, but then a German bomb obliterates all evidence. War or no war, murder is still murder, and it's Jago's job to find the truth.

(Please note Direct Hit, Fifth Column, Enemy Action and Firing Line were republished in 2020 as The Blitz Detective, The Canning Town Murder, The Custom House Murder and The Stratford Murder respectively. See www.blitzdetective.com)

My Take

This is the first in an interesting looking crime fiction series set in London at the beginning of the Blitz, the bombing raids by the Luftwaffe in September 1940.

Like every other service, the police detectives in London have been severely depleted by the demands of the army, navy and airforce. Detective Inspector John Jago is a survivor of World War One and should be looking at retirement rather than leading an active unit. His sergeant has been promoted from the uniforms probably well ahead of his time and is not yet familiar with procedures.

This story raises a number of questions of morality and the role of policing when the country is under attack from the enemy. What is the value of tracking down a murderer locally, or corruption, when so much chaos reigns?

Has the makings of a good series.

My rating: 4.5

About the author

Mike Hollow was born in West Ham and grew up in Romford, Essex. He studied Russian and French at Magdalene College, Cambridge, and then worked for the BBC and later Tearfund. In 2002 he went freelance as a copywriter, journalist, editor and translator, but now gives all his time to writing the Blitz Detective books.

(Please note Direct Hit, Fifth Column, Enemy Action and Firing Line were republished in 2020 as The Blitz Detective, The Canning Town Murder, The Custom House Murder and The Stratford Murder respectively. See www.blitzdetective.com)

Review: THE CORTADO CLUB, G. R. Jordan

• 
  ASIN ‏ : ‎ B09NL676CT
  
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Carpetless Publishing (February 20, 2022)
• Publication date ‏ : ‎ February 20, 2022
• Print length ‏ : ‎ 224 pages
• #17 in the Highlands and Islands Detective Thrillers

Synopsis (Publisher)

An established coffee house with a reputation for excellence. A rapid surge in customers dying with froth on their lips. Can Macleod and McGrath discover the link between the clientele before the last cup is drunk?

When Macleod is called back to his Isle of Lewis roots, he finds the most sedate murders he has ever known. But for all the quietness and beauty in the method of dispatch, an evil seeks to destroy the community. With a subtlety Macleod finds hard to expose, the killer follows their path of perfect destruction. Can the Inspector thwart his most taxing nemesis yet?

Why take two shots when one will do? 

My Take

Set on MacLeod's home island of Lewis. Who is being targetted with these strange coffee cup poisonings?

Another in this series with an interesting plot and some interesting things to say about human relationships. Rewarding reads especially if you read them in order.

My rating: 4.5 

I've also read

• 4.5, WATER'S EDGE -#1
• 4.4, THE BOTHY - #2
• 4.4, THE HORROR WEEKEND - #3
• 4.5, THE SMALL FERRY - #4 
• 4.5, DEAD AT THIRD MAN  - #5
• 4.4, THE PIRATE CLUB  - #6
• 4.5, A PERSONAL AGENDA  - #7
• 4.6, A JUST PUNISHMENT - #8
• 4.5, THE NUMEROUS DEATHS OF SANTA CLAUS - #9
• 4.4, OUR GATED COMMUNITY - #10  
• 4.4, THE SATCHEL - #11 
• 4.3, CULHWCH ALPHA - #12
• 4.5, FAIR MARKET VALUE - #13
• 4.5, THE COACH BOMBER -  #14 
• 4.7, THE CULLING AT SINGING SANDS - #15
• 4.6, WHERE JUSTICE FAILS - #16

Review: WHEN JUSTICE FAILS, G.R. Jordan

• 
  Publisher ‏ : ‎ Carpetless Publishing (31 October 2021)- Amazon
  
• Paperback ‏ : ‎ 244 pages
  
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1914073606
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1914073601
• #16 in the Highlands and Islands Detective Thrillers

Synopsis (publisher)

A disturbed grave and a switched corpse. A new TV show and a quest for the truth. Can Macleod and McGrath bring an increasingly popular vigilante to justice before mob rule takes over?

When the first episodes of a new programme coincide with the discovery of corpse switching, Macleod believes the gaudy production is merely fuelling high jinks from a disaffected community. But when the presenter becomes a spokesperson for the lack of justice, the Inspector finds his casebook increases with previously thought innocent suspects. Can the team discover the connection between the weekly show and the spate of new killings before a growing clamour for justice becomes the prelude to kangaroo courts?

Make way for the public's arbiter of justice!

My Take

This story is set in Inverness. MacLeod's partner Jane is watching a new TV reality show - titled Where Justice Fails. The general idea is that there are crimes where the wrong person has been blamed, and a murderer is still at large. The television producers really want to prove that the police are incompetent.

The series begins with a disturbed grave, the former occupant disinterred and taken away, and a new body sitting on top of the grave. A sticker has been left on the side of the coffin, showing Lady Justice within a red circle with a bar across it.

I love the way this series comes up with interesting cases, at the same time as exploring the relationships between team members and incorporating new people in the team.

My rating: 4.6

I've also read

• 4.5, WATER'S EDGE -#1
• 4.4, THE BOTHY - #2
• 4.4, THE HORROR WEEKEND - #3
• 4.5, THE SMALL FERRY - #4 
• 4.5, DEAD AT THIRD MAN  - #5
• 4.4, THE PIRATE CLUB  - #6
• 4.5, A PERSONAL AGENDA  - #7
• 4.6, A JUST PUNISHMENT - #8
• 4.5, THE NUMEROUS DEATHS OF SANTA CLAUS - #9
• 4.4, OUR GATED COMMUNITY - #10  
• 4.4, THE SATCHEL - #11 
• 4.3, CULHWCH ALPHA - #12
• 4.5, FAIR MARKET VALUE - #13
• 4.5, THE COACH BOMBER -  #14 
• 4.7, THE CULLING AT SINGING SANDS - #15

Review: CURTAIN, Agatha Christie

• 
  This edition an e-book on Kindle
  
• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B000FCK68Y
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ William Morrow Paperbacks; Reprint edition (October 3, 2006)
• Print length ‏ : ‎ 224 pages
• Page numbers source ISBN ‏ : ‎ 0425173747
• my earlier review

Synopsis (Amazon)

The legendary detective saves his best for last as he races to apprehend a five-time killer before the final curtain descends in Curtain: Poirot’s Last Case, the last book Agatha Christie published before her death.

The crime-fighting careers of Hercule Poirot and Captain Hastings have come full circle—they are back once again in the rambling country house in which they solved their first murder together.

Both Hercule Poirot and Great Styles have seen better days—but, despite being crippled with arthritis, there is nothing wrong with the great detective and his “little gray cells.” However, when Poirot brands one of the seemingly harmless guests a five-time murderer, some people have their doubts. But Poirot alone knows he must prevent a sixth murder before the curtain falls.

My Take

Published in 1975, and supposedly written about 35 years earlier, which puts it at the beginning of World War II, apparently during the blitz.  

I have read this before, when I was reading the Agatha Christie Reading Challenge. Now I have re-read it for my U3A Agatha Christie Reading Group.  However we intend to keep up our reading and discussion next year.

Nearing the end of his life Hercule Poirot has discovered 5 murders where he believes innocent people have borne the responsibility but at someone else's design. He calls this person X. The place where he met Hastings so many years ago, Styles, has now become a guest house, and one of the people now staying there is X. Poirot realises that X will never be tried in a court of law and he is determined that he will deal with X himself. He wants Hastings to be his eyes and ears because he himself is crippled with arthritis, and prone to heart attacks, and in a wheel chair. 

But Poirot understands the dangers to both Hastings and himself, as well as Hastings' daughter Judith who is also living at Styles.

This novel is a very fitting tribute to Poirot, obviously written while Christie was still enamoured with him, and not yet ready to kill him off.

My rating: 4.7 

All the Christie books I have reviewed. All the short stories.

Review: THE CULLING AT SINGING SANDS, G. R. Jordan

• 
  Publisher ‏ : ‎ Carpetless Publishing (31 October 2021)
  
• Paperback ‏ : ‎ 244 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1914073606
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1914073601
• #15 in the Highlands and Islands Detective Thrillers
• author website
  

Synopsis (publisher)
A glamorous retirement village on an isolated island. A brutal killer culls the elderly starting with the oldest resident. Can Macleod discover the murderous motive and prevent the island graveyard from overflowing?

When the Isle of Eigg enjoys the opening of ‘The Singing Sands’ Later but Better Township’, little do they realise that death is only round the corner for the new arrivals. Joy turns to sorrow as old friends meet a bloody end, and DI Macleod and DS McGrath are dispatched to investigate. As a determined clientele and some unseasonal weather hamper the investigation, the detectives must look to the past to prevent the dispatching of those seen to be past their time.

Even in paradise you’re only one step from the grave!

My Take

Hope McGrath's Aunt Mary lived in this select retirement village until she apparently committed suicide.  She apparently jumped into the sea and her remains have never been found. And then Hope finds her shawl and an arm. She also learns that her aunt was the 3rd person to disappear in this way. 

This very select retirement home has only 8 residents and now 3 of them have gone in a matter of months. With the discovery of the arm all of Hope's alarm bells are ringing and a full investigation is launched.

I really enjoyed this story and you can see from my rating that I think it is the best one yet. I think this one is a little blacker than the rest, but I am also enjoying the character exploration and varied scenarios. Each book is a little over 200 pages, so not long reads, but they do pack quite a punch.

But if you haven't read any of them, then you must make the effort to read them from the beginning. They are all available on Kindle and probably on other e-book platforms.

According to Fantastic Fiction there are now 29 in the series, and I am intending at this stage to read them all.

My rating: 4.7

I've also read

• 4.5, WATER'S EDGE -#1
• 4.4, THE BOTHY - #2
• 4.4, THE HORROR WEEKEND - #3
• 4.5, THE SMALL FERRY - #4 
• 4.5, DEAD AT THIRD MAN  - #5
• 4.4, THE PIRATE CLUB  - #6
• 4.5, A PERSONAL AGENDA  - #7
• 4.6, A JUST PUNISHMENT - #8
• 4.5, THE NUMEROUS DEATHS OF SANTA CLAUS - #9
• 4.4, OUR GATED COMMUNITY - #10  
• 4.4, THE SATCHEL - #11 
• 4.3, CULHWCH ALPHA - #12
• 4.5, FAIR MARKET VALUE - #13
• 4.5, THE COACH BOMBER -  #14

Review: LAST SEEN ALIVE, Claire Douglas

• 
   this edition published by Penguin Books UK 2017
• ISBN 978-1-405-93252-3
  
• 378 pages

Synopsis (publisher)

She can run but she can't hide. Because someone knows her secret . . .

Libby and James Hall can't believe their luck when the leaflet comes through the door. Swapping their tiny city flat for a beautiful house by the sea? Who would say no? But once they arrive at The Hideaway Libby starts to get jittery and increasingly paranoid. She is sure that someone is watching them. Something here isn't right. And when she suspects their lives to be in danger they swiftly decide to return to Bath.

But they can't pick up their old life so easily. Because this isn't just a casual house swap. This is something much, much more sinister.

My Take

Libby and Jamie Hall seem to have had a real struggle since they married a few months earlier. So many things have gone wrong. But now Libby has two weeks holiday and the offer of a house swap comes just at the right moment. Libby is able to make all the arrangements by phone and two days later they are on their way to Cornwall. 

But the week in Cornwall doesn't go quite to plan and at the end they are happy to be on their way back to Bath.  But the return home brings only temporary relief. Because that's when we become aware that Libby isn't who we think she is, and the world as we know it is turned upside down

To quote a common phrase this novel has the potential to "do your head in." There are so many twists and turns the brain struggles to make sense of it all.

Very cleverly written.

I've discovered there are quite a few titles I haven't yet read by this author. They are now on my bucket list.

My rating: 4.7

I've also read

• 4.6, THE COUPLE AT NO. 9
• 4.6, JUST LIKE THE OTHER GIRLS

Review: THE LAST DEVIL TO DIE, Richard Osman

• 
  This edition published by Viking 2023
• ISBN 978-0-241-51245-6
• 417 pages
  

Synopsis (publisher)

The fourth book in the record-breaking Thursday Murder Club series from British national treasure Richard Osman

Shocking news reaches the Thursday Murder Club.

An old friend in the antiques business has been killed, and a dangerous package he was protecting has gone missing.

As the gang springs into action they encounter art forgers, online fraudsters and drug dealers, as well as heartache close to home.

With the body count rising, the package still missing and trouble firmly on their tail, has their luck finally run out? And who will be the last devil to die?

My Take

At their Boxing Day lunch the Thursday Murder Club learns of an online scam affecting new resident Mervyn. And then on December 27th, their friend in the antiques business, Kuldesh Sharma, is killed. These two incidents form the basis of most of the investigations the Club becomes involved in: convincing Mervyn that he has been "taken for a ride", and finding out who killed Kuldesh. The Kuldesh scenario leads them once more into close contact with local police Chris and Donna. Puzzlingly Chris and Donna are taken off the case by Jill Regan of the National Crime Agency.

I love the way these books are written, and the empathetic way these geriatic investigators are dealt with, with snippets of humour, and realistic scenarios. 

The book contains a tribute to those people, and their families, living with dementia. It is rare for reading a book to bring tears to my eyes, but, as Elizabeth and Stephen arrive at a solution, this one did. 

The author finally assures readers that there will be more in this series.

My rating: 4.8

I've already read

• 4.5, THE THURSDAY MURDER CLUB  
• 4.3, THE MAN WHO DIED TWICE 
• 4.6, THE BULLET THAT MISSED