Review: TO THE LAND OF LONG LOST FRIENDS, Alexander McCall Smith

• 
  this edition made available by my local library
  
• large print edition from Pantheon Books published 2019
• ISBN 978-1-4328-7127-7
• 343 pages 

 Synopsis (publisher)

THE TWENTIETH BOOK IN THE BELOVED NO. 1 LADIES' DETECTIVE AGENCY SERIES The one with the mysterious reverend . . .

At a local wedding, Mma Ramotswe reunites with a friend whose daughter has inexplicably turned away from her. Elsewhere, several ladies in the region fall under the spell of a charismatic self-styled reverend. With little work on at the agency, Precious and Mma Makutsi see no harm in looking into such curious events. Meanwhile, Charlie is anxious. How can he, the part-time detective, secure his love's hand in marriage? Even in the quietest months, it seems, there's plenty for the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency to investigate . . 

 My Take: 

It seems a long time since I have read one of these books, perhaps 10 years, but I have enjoyed many of them in the past. 

Here are a few

TEA TIME for the TRADITIONALLY BUILT
THE MIRACLE AT SPEEDY MOTORS
THE DOUBLE COMFORT SAFARI CLUB
4.5, THE SATURDAY BIG TENT WEDDING PARTY
4.5, THE LIMPOPO ACADEMY OF PRIVATE DETECTION
4.6, THE MINOR ADJUSTMENT BEAUTY SALON  

The author really hit the spot when he created Precious Ramotswe and her faithful offsider Mma Makutsi. And their agency now includes Charlie, once a mechanic, not a very good one though, and now part time detective in search of a wife.

 Their homespun philosophy is still the same, and they still find solutions to problems.

 My rating: 4.4

Review: BURNT ECHO, Rhys Dylan

• 
  This edition read as an e-book on Kindle (Amazon)
  
• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0BRYL8Z6N
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Wyrmwood Books (March 28, 2023)
• Print length ‏ : ‎ 336 pages
• DCI Evan Warlow Crime Thriller Book #7  

Synopsis (Amazon)

In a deep, dark, hole…

When the putrid smell oozing out of an old mine shaft in the Cambrian hills’ ‘green desert’ of Wales turns out to be a corpse, DCI Evan Warlow and his team quickly slip into gear.

But this is no pot-holing adventure gone wrong. Soon, Evan and the team are hunting for another missing person and discovering ghosts from the past that no one wants to confront. With the team stretched and confronting their own demons, DCI Warlow has his work cut out in unravelling a web of manipulation and lies.

Yet there is more than one victim here. And unless he can find a way to the truth and quickly, someone else is going to fall foul.

My Take

Another excellent story in this series. A combination of police procedural and a string of personal problems challenging Evan Warlow's team. Not only a foul smell emanating from an old mine shaft, but a missing mother with mental health issues. The landscape of this series continues to build. I'm loving it.

My rating: 4.5

I've also read

4.6, THE ENGINE HOUSE - #1

4.5, CAUTION: DEATH AT WORK -#2

4.6, ICE COLD MALICE - #3

4.5, SUFFER THE DEAD - #4

4.6, GRAVELY CONCERNED - #5 

4.5, A MARK OF IMPERFECTION - #6

4.6, THE BOWMAN - #15

Review: A MARK OF IMPERFECTION, Rhys Dylan

• 
  This book read on Kindle (Amazon)
  
• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0BK74FYBM
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Wyrmwood Books (January 16, 2023)
• Print length ‏ : ‎ 337 pages
• DCI Evan Warlow Crime Thriller Book 6  

Synopsis (Amazon)

Evan Warlow is a man with enemies. As a DCI in the Dyfed Powys force, that comes with the territory. But when two of his most vicious critics are abducted and turn up dead in a macabre tableau, tough questions need to be asked.

The uncomfortable answers lead Evan and the team back to his roots and an old case that has haunted him for years. The deaths in the forest have all the hallmarks of a dangerous killer with no fear of consequences. And when one of Evan’s fellow officers becomes the next target, it’s clear that the murderer isn’t finished yet.

There’s a coppery aroma of vendetta in the air. Unless Evan and the team can get to the root cause of the killer’s twisted anger, there will be more deaths. And guess who’s next on the list?

This dark murder mystery full of action and pathos with a dash of dark humour will keep you guessing. 

My Take

This series is developing nicely. I like the focus on team development and the introduction of KFC who doesn't quite fit - he is cynical and constantly looks to cut corners. For the rest of the team, each is becoming a personality with memorable characteristics, and, in some cases, problems.

 

The story is a macabre one: a very nasty couple have been killed, but there are few clues as to who or the motive. 

The series is quite long now (17 books) but I am planning to work my way through it. So far it has a nice blend of believable plots and challenging mysteries.

My rating: 4.5

I've also read

• 4.6, THE ENGINE HOUSE - #1
• 4.5, CAUTION: DEATH AT WORK -#2
• 4.6, ICE COLD MALICE - #3
• 4.5, SUFFER THE DEAD - #4
• 4.6, GRAVELY CONCERNED - #5
  
• 4.6, THE BOWMAN - #15
  

Review: MURDER ON THE MARLOW BELLE, Robert Thorogood

• 
  This edition read as an e-book on Kindle (Amazon)
  
• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0D4CJZ261
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ HQ (January 16, 2025)
• Print length ‏ : ‎ 333 pages 
• Book 4/5 Marlow Murder Club series

Synopsis (Amazon)

Verity Beresford is worried about her husband. Oliver didn’t come home last night so of course Verity goes straight to Judith Potts, Marlow’s resident amateur sleuth, for help. Oliver, founder of the Marlow Amateur Dramatic Society, had hired The Marlow Belle, a private pleasure cruiser, for an exclusive party with the MADS committee but no one remembers seeing him disembark. And then Oliver’s body washes up on the Thames with two bullet holes in him – it’s time for the Marlow Murder Club to leap into action.

Oliver was a rather complicated chap and he wasn’t short of enemies. Judith, Suzie, and Becks are convinced they’ll crack the case in no time. But things are not as they seem in the Marlow Amateur Dramatic Society, and the gang will need to keep their wits about them, otherwise a killer may sail away scot-free …

My Take

Quite an enjoyable cosy. Lots of red herrings. Every one seems to have an alibi for Oliver Beresford's murder and the final denouement is in an an unusual setting. A bit of a "soft" read.

My  rating: 4.4 

I have read 4.6, THE MARLOW MURDER CLUB

Review: THE CARETAKER, Gabriel Bergmoser

• 
  This edition read as an e-book on Libby, supplied by my local library
  
• ISBN: 9781460763131
• ISBN 10: 1460763130
• Imprint: HarperCollins AU
• On Sale: 28/07/2023
• Pages: 336 
• Finalist, Best Novel, 2024 Ngaio Marsh Awards
  

Synopsis (publisher)

An isolated, empty ski resort in the off-season. A woman who doesn't want to be found. A man who may not be who he appears to be. A game of cat and mouse - with deadly consequences.

On the run from a controlling husband and his underworld associates in Melbourne, Charlotte has adopted a new identity and found a job as an off-season caretaker in a tiny, deserted alpine resort. Some dangerous people are looking for Charlotte and so she's lying low, tending to the lodges, happy to be alone, but jumping every time a floor creaks or the wind whistles through the empty buildings. She's trying to convince herself she's okay, that she got away. But then strange things start happening around the resort. And Charlotte starts to realise that every escape route is being sealed off, one by one.

From Gabriel Bergmoser, the master of propulsive, page-turning storytelling, The Caretaker will have readers second-guessing themselves at every turn. What's real and what isn't? Who's dangerous and who isn't? And who will survive? A menacing, nail-biting, nerve-racking psychological thriller.

My Take

I was well engaged in the initial part of the novel, plenty of mysteries in the plot. I wanted to know why Charlotte was on the run, who she was hiding from, what she had been accused of, who it was who was looking for her.

But the author lost me with the level of violence in the final part of the story. I also thought Charlotte's character didn't ring true. She seemed to have developed some odd skills, particularly for one so young. It seems setup for a sequel, if I am reading the final pages correctly, but not for me.

My rating: 4.3

About the author

Gabriel Bergmoser is an award-winning Melbourne-based author and playwright. He won the prestigious Sir Peter Ustinov Television Scriptwriting Award in 2015, was nominated for the 2017 Kenneth Branagh Award for New Drama Writing and went on to win several awards at the 2017 VDL One Act Play Festival circuit. In 2016 his first young adult novel, Boone Shepard, was shortlisted for the Readings Young Adult Prize. His first novel for adults, The Hunted (2020), became a bestseller and a film adaptation is currently in development. Since then he has published the thrillers The Inheritance (2021) and The Caretaker (2023), along with the YA coming-of-age novel The True Colour of a Little White Lie (2021) and the middle-grade adventure Andromache Between Worlds (2024).

Review: WILD DOGS, Michael Trant

• 
   this edition supplied by my local library
  
• published Penguin Random House Australia 2022
• ISBN 978 1 76104 677 3
• 355 pages  

 Synopsis (publisher) 

Wild Dogs is a page-turning action thriller set in the WA outback, introducing Australia’s answer to Jack Reacher

In the drought-ridden rangelands of Western Australia, Gabe Ahern makes his living trapping wild dogs for local station owners.

Still coming to terms with his wife’s death – and the part he played in it – the old bushman leads a solitary life. Until one morning, when he rescues a young Afghan man, Amin, from certain execution.

Now, with a gang of people smugglers on his tail and the lives of Amin's family on the line, Gabe is drawn into a ruthless game of cat and mouse. His main opponent is Chase Fowler, a kangaroo hunter with bush skills as wily and sharp as his own.

As the old dogger and roo-shooter go head to head, Gabe will need all his cunning to come out of this alive…

My Take

The author really hits his straps in this novel. Strikes both political and social chords. The "dogger" Gabe Ahern comes across a people smuggling operation in northern WA when he rescues Amin who has come to Australia on an illegal boat. Amin wants to rescue his wife and son but says that he knows that bent cops are assisting the people smugglers.

This novel is a thriller from the get-go. The setting feels authentic and the characters loom large.

Very impressive.

My rating: 4.7 

I've also read

4.4, RIDGEVIEW STATION

Review: GRAVELY CONCERNED, Rhys Dylan

• 
  This edition an e-book on Kindle (Amazon)
  
• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0B7P8ZTNY
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Wyrmwood Books (November 1, 2022)
• Print length ‏ : ‎ 322 pages
• Book 5 of 17  

Synopsis  (Amazon)

Predators watch. They’re patient. And strike when it’s least expected.

In broad daylight, on a quiet rural road, six-year-old Osian Howells disappears from his own front garden. In the blink of an eye he’s a missing person, taken, in the words of a headline hungry press, for nefarious purposes.

DCI Evan Warlow knows that the first hours after an abduction are crucial. Decisions have to be made quickly. Evidence can get lost or compromised, persons of interest need to be interrogated. And one or two have the team’s antennae twitching.

Worse, the abductor’s deviousness seems to know no bounds as cruel taunts pepper the investigation. With emotions at boiling point, and under pressure from family, the press and his superiors are all ‘gravely concerned’ for the boy’s welfare.

As always in such cases, the clock is ticking. Warlow and the team need answers and soon, before a kidnapping turns into something infinitely worse.

Gravely Concerned is the fifth book in the DCI Warlow bestselling series of fast-paced thrillers by Rhys Dylan. Set in the heart of wild Wales, this dark murder mystery full of action and pathos will keep you guessing.

My Take

Another cracking read. The abduction of a child from his front garden spurs an investigation with a strict timeline. Red herrings abound. And the pressure on Evan Warlow mounts as the hours progress.

The urgency and the characterisation are both very well done.

My rating: 4.6

I've also read

4.6, THE ENGINE HOUSE - #1

4.5, CAUTION: DEATH AT WORK -#2

4.6, ICE COLD MALICE - #3

4.5, SUFFER THE DEAD - #4

4.6, THE BOWMAN - #15

Review: THE BOWMAN, Rhys Dylan

• 
  This edition an e-book on Kindle (Amazon)
  
• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0DJ5N28GZ
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Wyrmwood Books (January 21, 2025)
• Print length ‏ : ‎ 310 pages 
• DCI Evan Warlow Crime Thriller Book 15 

Synopsis (Amazon)

In the wild heart of Wales, terror stalks the open moor.

In the remote and unforgiving Cambrian Mountains, two bodies are found, sparking fears that a long-buried nightmare has returned. DCI Warlow is plunged into a chilling mystery, hunting a murderer who disappeared without a trace—leaving only blood and silence behind.

As Warlow’s team battles against mounting pressure, they face a haunting question: is this the work of a twisted imitator, or has The Bowman, a ruthless killer thought to be gone forever, resurfaced?

With each dark discovery, they’re pulled deeper into a case where the land itself seems to conspire against them—and the answers may come at a deadly cost.

Edge of the seat crime fiction. The Bowman is the 15th riveting novel from bestselling crime author, Rhys Dylan, perfect for fans of JD Kirk, Simon McCleave, and Peter Robinson

My Take

Oh dear! I've jumped the gun a bit (see below for my list of books read) by reading this title, the 15th in the series, when I should have read the 5th. Never mind, I fully intend to correct that in the near future. I did have some trouble in catching up on what has happened in the series since #4.

I have become thoroughly immersed in the books each time though. The characters are great and the scenarios believable.

My rating: 4.6

I've also read

• 4.6, THE ENGINE HOUSE - #1
• 4.5, CAUTION: DEATH AT WORK -#2
• 4.6, ICE COLD MALICE - #3
• 4.5, SUFFER THE DEAD - #4
  

Review: RIDGEVIEW STATION, Michael Trant

• 
   this edition supplied by my local library as an e-book on Libby
  
• ISBN:978176029420
• Publisher:Allen & Unwin
• Imprint:Arena
• Pub Date:28 Jun 2017
• Page Extent:336  

Synopsis (publisher) 

A vast outback property. An unforgettable season. A family's fight to save their livelihood. A sweeping tale of love and loss, and the highs and lows of life on the land, from an utterly authentic new voice in rural fiction.
Many of Peter and Kelsie Dalton's friends thought they were crazy when they bought Ridgeview Station. But five years on, their hard work, help from Kelsie's parents, and record rainfall have them in high spirits as the summer muster approaches.

Realising they're going to need more help this season, Peter rings around the neighbouring stations to try and find a good worker. After a glowing recommendation, Alexi arrives to give them a hand - and is not at all what they'd expected ...

Everything is going smoothly with the muster before disaster strikes and the Dalton's find themselves battling to save their livestock, their property and their lives.

An entertaining yarn set on a vast outback property peopled with colourful and authentic characters, Ridgeview Station is about love, loss and the spirit of the bush.

My Take

Please note- not crime fiction. But if you are looking for something authentic about life on an Australian outback station then this might be just the book for you.

My rating: 4.4

 Author bio:

Michael Trant been involved with agriculture for most of his life. After 16 years running a sheep station, he took up writing to report on the live export controversy from the farming side. Michael currently lives in Perth. Ridgeview Station is his first novel.

Review: THE RIVER HOME, Hannah Richell

• 
  this edition supplied by my local library
  
• published by Hachette Australia 2020
• ISBN 978 0 7336 4366 8
• 359 pages
• author website
  

Synopsis ( author website)

A gripping family drama about sisterhood, secrets and forgiveness.

‘There’s something I need to tell you.’

Eight years ago, Margot Sorrell left the crumbling family home in the Somerset countryside under a dark cloud, hoping never to return. And until she tells her two sisters why she ran away, they refuse to forgive her...

But with her sisters' perfect lives starting to unravel, Margot knows she must go back. The river by her home has kept her secret all this time - as well as the memories of the terrible night that tore her family apart.

As the past threatens to surface, will the truth destroy the Sorrell family - or bring them back together?

My Take

Not really crime fiction, although a crime has occurred. But certainly it has strong elements of mystery.

Margot has thought she would never return to her family home but her sister is getting married, and then there is the message that she needs her. She also dreads facing her mother. None of them really understand why Margot left and she is resolved to never tell them the truth. 

Engrossing.

My rating: 4.5

I've also read

5.0, THE SEARCH PARTY

Review: THE MURDER OF ROGER ACKROYD, Agatha Christie

• 
  This edition an e-book on Kindle
  
• first published 1926
• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0046A9MRW
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ HarperCollins; Masterpiece Ed edition (October 14, 2010)
• Print length ‏ : ‎ 210 pages 
• already reviewed 2008 and 2021

Synopsis (Amazon)

Agatha Christie’s most daring crime mystery – an early and particularly brilliant outing of Hercule Poirot, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, with its legendary twist, changed the detective fiction genre for ever.

Roger Ackroyd was about to be married. He had a life of wealth and privilege. First he lost his fiancée – and then his life.

The day after her tragic suicide he retires upstairs to read a mysterious letter, leaving his closest friends and family to eat dinner below.

Just a few hours later he is found stabbed to death in a locked room with a weapon from his own collection.

Was he killed for money? For love? Or for something altogether more sinister?

The truth will out.
But you won’t see it coming.

My Take

I have read this book again having read it at least twice in the last 20 years ( 2008 and 2021). This time I am reading it with my U3A Agatha Christie Reading Group. It is our 3rd Hercule Poirot this year and I'm sure the group will find plenty to discuss.

It is a relatively short novel. But it was considered controversial because it subverted what many considered one of the golden rules of crime fiction.  Hercule Poirot has retired to the country, where he is tending marrows. Captain Hastings has gone to Argentina where he has apparently made some unwise investments. Poirot is missing him more than he had expected to.

Almost everyone in this novel has something to hide. Does this confuse readers as they try to work out who killed Roger Ackroyd?

I found some quizzes which ask questions about each chapter.

My rating: 4.5 

See all my Agatha Christie reviews

Review: THE DROP, Michael Connelly

• 
  This edition an e-book made available on Libby by my local library
  
• Published 2011
• The Drop is the 24th novel by American crime author Michael Connelly, and the fifteenth novel featuring Los Angeles Police Department detective Harry Bosch.
• author website 

Synopsis (author website )

Harry Bosch has been given three years before he must retire from the LAPD, and he wants cases more fiercely than ever. In one morning, he gets two.

DNA from a 1989 rape and murder matches a 29-year-old convicted rapist. Was he an eight-year-old killer or has something gone terribly wrong in the new Regional Crime Lab? The latter possibility could compromise all of the lab’s DNA cases currently in court. 

Then Bosch and his partner are called to a death scene fraught with internal politics. Councilman Irvin Irving’s son jumped or was pushed from a window at the Chateau Marmont. Irving, Bosch’s longtime nemesis, has demanded that Harry handle the investigation. Relentlessly pursuing both cases, Bosch makes two chilling discoveries: a killer operating unknown in the city for as many as three decades, and a political conspiracy that goes back into the dark history of the police department.

My Take

Two very different stories in this novel,  with Harry Bosch under political pressure to focus on resolving whether a recent death is murder or suicide. 

Harry's partner gets very frustrated when Harry keeps excluding him from decision making. The partner does the unforgiveable and leaks bit of their investigation to the press.

Meanwhile there is a case that Harry really wants to focus on.

A good read.

My rating: 4.5

I've also read

• THE OVERLOOK
• THE BRASS VERDICT
• THE CONCRETE BLONDE
• 4.3, THE REVERSAL
• 4.4, SUICIDE RUN
• 4.4, ANGLE OF INVESTIGATION
• 4.5, THE POET
• 4.5, FAIR WARNING
• 4.5, THE NIGHT FIRE  
  

Review: FROM DOON WITH DEATH, Ruth Rendell

• 
   This edition read as an e-book on Kindle (Amazon)
  
• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0031RSBQO
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Cornerstone Digital; Special edition (January 26, 2010)
• Publication date ‏ : ‎ January 26, 2010
• Print length ‏ : ‎ 214 pages
• #1 in the Inspector Wexford series  

Synopsis  (Amazon)

AN ORDINARY LIFE. AN EXTRAORDINARY DEATH.

The trampled grass led to the body of Margaret Parsons.

With no useful clues and a victim known only for her mundane life, Chief Inspector Wexford is baffled until he discovers Margaret's dark secret - a collection of rare books, each inscribed from a secret lover and signed only as 'Doon'.

Who is Doon? And could the answer hold the key to Wexford solving his first case?

My Take

My first review of FROM DOON WITH DEATH on this blog is from 2009 but I had read it earlier than that. I have re-read it this time for discussion with my U3A Crime Fiction group. I have chosen Ruth Rendell/Barbara Vine as one of our Award winning crime fiction writers.

This is the first of the Wexford series, the first of 24 novels, published between 1964 and 2013, a period of 49 years. Wexford is a mature detective at the beginning of this series, already 52 years old. His sidekick Inspector Mike Burden is younger but also reasonably mature.

Ruth Rendell always said that she wished Wexford had been younger at the start of the series.

There are almost no clues to who murdered Margaret Parsons and I think the solution must have shocked readers back in 1964. Rendell leads the reader carefully to some conclusions about the nature of the killer, although the final reveal still has elements to shock.

There is almost none of Wexford's personal life in this novel. He and Burden spend huge amounts of time, some overnighters, investigating the case.

My rating: 4.6

You might also be interested in

Forgotten Book: FROM DOON WITH DEATH, Ruth Rendell

 I have also read

Rendell, Ruth:
FROM DOON WITH DEATH - Wexford #1
4.5, A NEW LEASE OF DEATH- Wexford #2
4.6, THE BEST MAN TO DIE - Wexford #4
4.3, A SLEEPING LIFE, Ruth Rendell  - Wexford #10 
4.7, PUT ON BY CUNNING - Wexford #11
4.6, THE VAULT- Wexford #23
4.5, NO MAN'S NIGHTINGALE- Wexford #24
PORTOBELLO
4.7, THE MONSTER IN THE BOX
4.5, A SIGHT FOR SORE EYES
4.5, THE SAINT ZITA SOCIETY
4.6, THE MASTER OF THE MOOR
4.4, DARK CORNERS
4.6, A SPOT OF FOLLY  

Vine, Barbara:
THE BIRTHDAY PRESENT
4.8, A DARK ADAPTED EYE
4.3, THE CHILD'S CHILD

4.7, THE BLOOD DOCTOR, Barbara  

Review: THE BENEVOLENT SOCIETY OF ILL-MANNERED LADIES, Alison Goodman

• 
   This edition an e-book on Kindle (Amazon)
  
• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0BP9WFCY1
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ HarperCollins (June 1, 2023)
• Print length ‏ : ‎ 459 pages  

Synopsis  (Amazon)

A Washington Post Best Mystery Novel of 2023

A high society amateur detective at the heart of Regency London uses her wits and invisibility as an ‘old maid’ to protect other women in a new and fiercely feminist historical mystery series from New York Times bestselling author Alison Goodman.

Lady Augusta Colebrook, “Gus,” is determinedly unmarried, bored by society life, and tired of being dismissed at the age of forty-two. She and her twin sister, Julia, who is grieving her dead betrothed, need a distraction. One soon presents itself: to rescue their friend’s goddaughter, Caroline, from her violent husband.
 
The sisters set out to Caroline’s country estate with a plan, but their carriage is accosted by a highwayman. In the scuffle, Gus accidentally shoots and injures the ruffian, only to discover he is Lord Evan Belford, an acquaintance from their past who was charged with murder and exiled to Australia twenty years ago. What follows is a high adventure full of danger, clever improvisation, heart-racing near misses, and a little help from a revived and rather charming Lord Evan.

Back in London, Gus can’t stop thinking about her unlikely (not to mention handsome) comrade-in-arms. She is convinced Lord Evan was falsely accused of murder, and she is going to prove it. She persuades Julia to join her in a quest to help Lord Evan, and others in need—society be damned! And so begins the beguiling secret life and adventures of the Colebrook twins. 

My Take

This was a fairly light whimsical read set in the early 19th century in London. The historical detail was impressive, and the stories were credible, if rather cosy. I'm not sure that it is a series that I will want to continue. A bit too romantic for my taste.

My Rating: 4.4

About the author

Alison Goodman lives in Australia with her husband and their terrier, Buckley. Her latest book is The Dark Days Deceit, the final in the Dark Days Club trilogy which Alison calls Pride and Prejudice meets Buffy (or Georgette Heyer goes demon hunting!). She is happily learning how to dance a quadrille, hoist herself into boned stays, and handle a small-sword...all in the name of research.

Alison is also the author of New York Times Bestsellers, EON and EONA (also known as The Two Pearls of Wisdom and The Necklace of the Gods). The award winning fantasy duology is set in a mythical China and has sold into 20 countries, and translated into 12 languages.

Alison's other novels are the SF thriller, Singing the Dogstar Blues, and her wickedly dark adult crime novel, A New Kind of Death, which has just been re-released as a Kindle e-book. Her artist husband painted the cover, which is - Alison says without any bias, whatsoever - totally brilliant and the best cover she has ever had on any of her books. 

Review: THE BOOKSELLER, Tim Sullivan

• 
  this edition read an e-book on Libby through my local library
  
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Head of Zeus -- an Aries Book; 1st edition (16 January 2025)
• Print length ‏ : ‎ 359 pages 
• #7 is the DS Cross Thriller series 

Synopsis (Amazon)

THE SETTING
The body of a bookseller is discovered, lying in a pool of blood in his Bristol bookshop. Police have one question: how did the man meet such a violent, murderous end in this peaceful place?

THE CONFLICT
DS Cross's ability to dismiss red herrings is challenged by a worrying development in his personal life. Hopelessly distracted, he needs to rely on those around him in a way he has never been comfortable doing before.

THE MURDER PLOT
It may be a quiet profession, but it's full of passionate, ambitious characters who know the value of a rare book. Their extensive reading means they also know how to get away with murder.

But is that enough to fool the tenacious DS George Cross?

My Take

This is the last book in the current series, with THE TAILOR promised for 2026.

The plot is a complex one, with George's father Raymond having an operation to remove a carcinoma from his lung and then having a stroke. DS Ottey is now DI Ottey, and for George that takes a bit getting used to. It took us into a world that, although we are book readers, we are not really familiar with.

There were a number of plot strands and I thought it was a measure of how far Tim Sullivan has come as an author.

Highly recommended.

My Rating: 4.6

I've also read

4.5, THE DENTIST- #1

4.6, THE CYCLIST - #2

4.6, THE PATIENT - #3

4.6, THE POLITICIAN -#4

4.5, THE MONK - #5

4.7, THE TEACHER - #6