Review: SOMETIMES PEOPLE DIE, Simon Stephenson

• 
  This edition available on Kindle
• A SUNDAY TIMES Crime Book of the Month and NEW YORK TIMES Editor Pick
  
• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B09RPM3CTQ
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ The Borough Press (September 1, 2022)
• Print length ‏ : ‎ 353 pages
• Page numbers source ISBN ‏ : ‎ 0008547610

Synopsis (Amazon)

The year is 1999. Returning to practice after a suspension for stealing opioids, a young Scottish doctor takes the only job he can find: a post as a senior house officer in the struggling east London hospital of St Luke’s.

Amid the maelstrom of sick patients, over-worked staff and underfunded wards a darker secret soon declares itself: too many patients are dying.

Which of the medical professionals our protagonist has encountered is behind the murders? And can our unnamed narrator’s version of the events be trusted?

My Take

A young doctor is caught up in an investigation into a series of deaths in the London hospital he is working in as a junior doctor. Because of his previous history of opioid theft the police treat him as their prime suspect. Eventually all the doctors and nurses come under suspicion.

The narrative is written 20 years later, when the young doctor has finally worked out who was responsible for the deaths of a number of patients. The reader is taken on the journey of discovery that he went through.

Chapters of the book are interspersed with descriptions of people who in history have been healthcare serial killers. In some cases the number of deaths they were responsible for was incredible.

A well cosnstructed novel and an enjoyable read.

My rating: 4.6

About the author

Hello!

I am from Edinburgh in Scotland, but live now in Los Angeles. I have had stopovers along the way in London and San Francisco.

I’m a writer and screenwriter, and before I became a full-time writer I was a physician.

My new novel, ‘Sometimes People Die’ will be published in September 2022.

I have written two other books. ‘Set My Heart To Five’ came out in 2020. The Washington Post review said that I might be ‘Vonnegut’s first true protege’. You’d better believe I am going to be dining out on that for the rest of my life.

‘Let Not the Waves Of the Sea’, my memoir about losing my brother came out in 2012. It won Best First Book at the Scottish Book Awards, and was serialized on BBC Radio 4.

I’ve worked as a writer on various films including Pixar’s LUCA, PADDINGTON 2, and my own THE ELECTRICAL LIFE OF LOUIS WAIN. Like every other screenwriter in Hollywood, I have a bottom drawer full of unproduced scripts and forgotten promises. So it goes.

Review: THE CROSSING, Matt Brolly

• 
  #1 of 5 books, available on Kindle
• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B07T73RLVN
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Thomas & Mercer (February 14, 2020)
  
• Print length ‏ : ‎ 333 pages

Synopsis (Amazon) 

An Amazon Charts bestseller.

In a small town full of secrets, everyone’s a suspect.

When a body is discovered, bled dry on a beach, the sleepy seaside town of Weston-super-Mare wakes up to a nightmare. For Detective Inspector Louise Blackwell, recently transferred to the town she last saw as a child, it’s her first case on the job.

The victim—Veronica Lloyd, an elderly volunteer at a local church—has puncture wounds to her hands. When a priest is found killed in a nearby church in a similarly grisly condition, it becomes clear that Blackwell is dealing with a righteous and bloody murderer. But the victims aren’t random. The killer has a vendetta and is hell-bent on exacting twisted revenge for a dark secret dating back years—and there are more murders planned.

As the body count rises, Blackwell faces a race against time to solve the mystery of the murderer’s identity and put an end to the carnage. She thought she knew Weston, but the town holds more secrets than she’d ever have imagined. Who can she trust and who knows more than they are letting on?

She must discover the crimes that unite the victims—before it’s too late.

My Take

There are elements in this first-in-a-series novel that have been common to a number of crime fiction novels recently: female detective, life made more difficult for her by male colleagues than it need be, appears to make a mistake, penalised by her superiors; misses out on promotion, relocated to a position now seen as a demotion, has to step straight up to the plate, with a very puzzling case.

This novel has a well thought out and intriguing plot, with a central character who is at the same time likeable and has potential. 

My rating: 4.5

About the author

Following his law degree, where he developed an interest in criminal law, Matt Brolly completed his master’s in creative writing at Glasgow University.

He is the bestselling author of the DCI Lambert crime novels Dead Water, Dead Eyed, Dead Lucky, Dead Embers and Dead Time; the acclaimed near-future crime novel Zero; and the US-based thriller The Controller.

Matt also writes children’s books as M. J. Brolly. His first is The Sleeping Bug.

Matt lives in London with his wife and their two young children. You can find out more about Matt at www.mattbrolly.co.uk or by following him on Twitter: @MattBrollyUK.

Review: MURDER ON THE CHRISTMAS EXPRESS, Alexandra Benedict

• 
  This edition available as an e-book on Kindle
• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B09TS137RK
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Simon & Schuster UK (November 10, 2022)
  
• Print length ‏ : ‎ 351 pages
• Page numbers source ISBN ‏ : ‎ 1398519820

Synopsis (publisher) 

Eighteen passengers. Seven stops. One killer.

In the early hours of Christmas Eve, the sleeper train to the Highlands is derailed, along with the festive plans of its travellers. With the train stuck in snow in the middle of nowhere, a killer stalks its carriages, picking off passengers one by one. Those who sleep on the sleeper train may never wake again.

Can former Met detective Roz Parker find the killer before they kill again?

My Take

Recently retired Met detective Roz Parker is on the Christmas Eve train London to Fort William to be with her daughter Heather, who is soon to give birth. After the train leaves she learns that Heather has gone into labour. The train is somewhat predictably derailed in a snow storm after passing through Edinburgh.

And then, also predictably one of the passengers dies violently in a room locked from the inside. Roz's training kicks and she begins to record scene of crime notes. Through her eyes we assess passengers as suspects. When a second passenger also dies violently, the remaining passengers reject Roz's attempts to confine them to the main dining room, and she retreats to her room. But then it becomes obvious that the police will not be able to get to the train at all quickly and Roz needs to work out who is the killer.

The author attempts to confuse the reader with passages narrated by the killer without revealing who it is. In the background the theme of the imminent birth of her grandchild runs a fairly predictable course.

My rating: 4.3

About the author

Alexandra Benedict has been a composer, singer-songwriter, actor, and lecturer in crime fiction, and is now an award-winning writer of novels, short stories and scripts. As AK Benedict, she writes high-concept novels, speculative short stories and scripts. Her first novel, the critically-acclaimed THE BEAUTY OF MURDER, was nominated for the eDunnit Award; her short stories have featured in many anthologies; and her audio drama has been shortlisted for multiple awards including the BBC Audio Drama Award 2020, and, twice, for the Scribe Award, winning it in 2019. As Alexandra Benedict, she writes contemporary tributes and takes on Golden Age crime fiction. THE CHRISTMAS MURDER GAME was an Amazon Fiction Bestseller and was long-listed for the CWA Gold Dagger Award. Her latest novel, MURDER ON THE CHRISTMAS EXPRESS, arrives on November 10th. She lives on the south coast of England with her fiancé, writer Guy Adams, their daughter, and their dog, Dame Margaret Rutherford.

Review: THE TWYFORD CODE, Janice Hallett

• This edition provided by my local library
• 
  Publication date: 21/07/2022
  
• ISBN: 9781800815278
• Imprint: Viper
• 361 pages 

Synopsis (publisher)

Forty years ago, Steven Smith found a copy of a famous children's book by disgraced author Edith Twyford, full of strange markings and annotations. Wanting to know more, he took it to his English teacher Miss Iles, not realising the chain of events that he was setting in motion. Miss Iles became convinced that the book was the key to a secret code that ran through all Twyford's novels. Then she disappeared on a class field trip, and Steven has no memory of what happened to her.

Now, out of prison after a long stretch, Steven decides to investigate the mystery that has haunted him for decades. Was Miss Iles murdered? Was she deluded? Or was she right about the code? And is it still in use today?

But as Steven revisits the people and places of his childhood, seeking answers, it soon becomes clear that Edith Twyford wasn't just a writer of forgotten children's stories. The Twyford Code has great power, and he isn't the only one trying to solve it... 

My Take

This book not only describes a mystery, but also presents a number of them for the reader to solve. But that is not the only challenge, The narrative is presented as 200 audio files from an iPhone 4 transcribed into text in batches of text files. The iPhone was one of a number of items belonging to a recently reported missing person. 

In the audio files, Steven Smith describes his search for the last teacher who made an impact on him. He tracks down those who were in the same remedial English class as he was 40 years before when his teacher Miss Iles went missing.

But as the reader discovers, Steven's narration, while comprehensive, does not always tell the truth.

I did find the format of the narration challenging, and even at times considered whether I wanted to finish reading the book.

My rating: 4.5

About the author

Janice Hallett studied English at UCL, and spent several years as a magazine editor, winning two awards for journalism. After gaining an MA in Screenwriting at Royal Holloway, she co-wrote the feature film Retreat. The Appeal is inspired by her lifelong interest in amateur dramatics. Her second novel, The Twyford Code, will be published by Viper in 2022. When not indulging her passion for global adventure travel, she is based in West London.

Review: INTO THE WATER, Paula Hawkins

• 
  this large print edition made available by my local library
  
• published by Random House USA 2017
• ISBN 978-0-5254-9620-5
• 532 pages
  

Synopsis (Publisher)

A single mother turns up dead at the bottom of the river that runs through town. Earlier in the summer, a vulnerable teenage girl met the same fate. They are not the first women lost to these dark waters, but their deaths disturb the river and its history, dredging up secrets long submerged.
 
Left behind is a lonely fifteen-year-old girl. Parentless and friendless, she now finds herself in the care of her mother’s sister, a fearful stranger who has been dragged back to the place she deliberately ran from—a place to which she vowed she’d never return.
 
With the same propulsive writing and acute understanding of human instincts that captivated millions of readers around the world in her explosive debut thriller, The Girl on the Train, Paula Hawkins delivers an urgent, twisting, deeply satisfying read that hinges on the deceptiveness of emotion and memory, as well as the devastating ways that the past can reach a long arm into the present.
 
Beware a calm surface—you never know what lies beneath

My Take

 Written from multiple points of view, this novel made me work very hard to ithe action together and to sort the characters out.

Given her preoccupation with the Drowning Pool and her research into its history and the women who had ended their lives there, perhaps it wasn't surprising that Nel Abbott had drowned there. But her sister Jules found it hard to accept and her daughter Lena feels abandoned.

A few weeks earlier Lena's best friend Katie had drowned there too and Katie's parents are grieving and, for some reason, blaming Nel for Katie's death. 

But in the close knit community there are those who don't think Jules should just accept things,

The narrative is interspersed with items that Nel had written as part of here research and a number of the community members add their opinions and narratives. The structure gives the story a rich complexity.

My rating: 4.8 

I've also read

• 4.9, THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN
• 4.7, A SLOW FIRE BURNING

Review: THE RAILWAY MURDERS, J. R. Ellis

• 
  this edition an e-book on Kindle (Amazon)
  
• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B09WTDGPHW
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Thomas & Mercer (November 9, 2022)
• Print length ‏ : ‎ 271 pages 
• A Yorkshire Murder Mystery #8
  

SYNOPSIS (Amazon)

A puzzling locked-room mystery that puts someone Oldroyd loves in terrible danger…

When a film shoot on Wharfedale’s vintage railway turns into a grisly crime scene, DCI Oldroyd’s idyllic visit to the countryside with his partner Deborah is well and truly stopped in its tracks. One of the film’s stars has been shot dead in a train carriage while the cameras rolled outside. But nobody else went in—or came out. Has the killer really pulled off the perfect, impossible crime?

Scouring the victim’s past for clues, Oldroyd soon unearths a string of heartbroken lovers and a mountain of unpaid debts, each adding to the growing list of suspects. But before he can determine who the culprit is, there’s the small matter of figuring out how they did it. A potential connection to a previous tragedy offers Oldroyd a much-needed lead…

Whoever the perpetrator is, they are ruthless and determined to avoid detection, and when a railway worker starts joining the dots, they are quickly silenced—for good. But as Oldroyd gets ever closer to the truth, it’s only a matter of time before he is given a chilling warning to back off.

Perhaps Deborah should have stayed somewhere safe… 

My Take

This is another of those small British crime fiction e-book series which I thoroughly enjoy reading. There are a number of characters who have been in the series from the beginning, and others recently introduced. The plots are generally engaging, credible and well fleshed out.

Strictly speaking the murder of an actor at Wharfedale is not really a case for DCI Oldroyd but the local police feel a little out of their depth and ask Oldroyd to take charge. And then as the case looks like it won't be wound up in a hurry, Oldroyd has the idea of getting his partner Deborah to book into the local hotel. There is a second murder and Deborah is snatched while out on a walk in the hills.

The first murder takes place in a railway carriage and has all the features of a locked room mystery. No-one apart from the victim is seen going into or coming out of the railway carriage. As Oldroyd is forced to step back from the case he works out how it was done, and then why the second murder was committed. There are still some surprises for the reader.

Rating: 4.5

I've also read

• 4.3, THE BODY IN THE DALES - #1
• 4.3, THE QUARTET MURDERS - #2
• 4.4, THE MURDER AT REDMIRE HALL  - #3
• 4.6, THE ROYAL BATHS MURDER - #4 
  
• 4.5, THE NIDDERDALE MURDERS - #5
• 4.5, THE WHITBY MURDERS - #6
  
• 4.6, MURDER AT ST ANNE'S - #7

Review: THE IT GIRL, Ruth Ware

• 
  This edition made available as an e-book through my local library on Libby
  
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Gallery/Scout Press (July 12, 2022)
• Print length ‏ : ‎ 431 pages
• Page numbers source ISBN ‏ : ‎ 1982155264

Synopsis (Amazon)

April Clarke-Cliveden was the first person Hannah Jones met at Oxford.

Vivacious, bright, occasionally vicious, and the ultimate It girl, she quickly pulled Hannah into her dazzling orbit. Together, they developed a group of devoted and inseparable friends—Will, Hugh, Ryan, and Emily—during their first term. By the end of the year, April was dead.

Now, a decade later, Hannah and Will are expecting their first child, and the man convicted of killing April, former Oxford porter John Neville, has died in prison. Relieved to have finally put the past behind her, Hannah’s world is rocked when a young journalist comes knocking and presents new evidence that Neville may have been innocent. As Hannah reconnects with old friends and delves deeper into the mystery of April’s death, she realizes that the friends she thought she knew all have something to hide…including a murder.

My Take

Hannah Jones believes she may have been responsible for an innocent man spending ten years in jail. It proved to be the rest of his life. John Neville was jailed mainly on the evidence that Hannah gave, but now she believes she may been wrong, and that the murderer is still at large.

At the time that April was murdered Hannah's husband, Will, was April's boy friend. And even Will is not above suspicion. As Hannah tries to work out who was where when April died, she realises that even those who are closest to her are not above suspicion.

A very readable story, and intriguing. The only problem I have is with the title.

Like many other readers, I really didn't see the end coming.

My rating: 4.6

I've also read

4.8, IN A DARK, DARK WOOD
4.4, THE WOMAN IN CABIN 10
4.8, THE DEATH OF MRS WESTAWAY
5.0, THE TURN OF THE KEY

Review: CULHWCH ALPHA, G.R. Jordan

• 
  This book available as an e-book on Kindle (Amazon)
  
• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B08YY1NMVF
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Carpetless Publishing (May 9, 2021)
• #12 in the Highlands & Islands Detective series
• Print length ‏ : ‎ 219 pages

Synopsis (Amazon)

A routine call to muster on a North Sea oil rig. One man short and a body found hanging in the canteen. High above the raging sea, can Macleod and McGrath uncover the underbelly of fear to reveal a brutal killer?

Six months into production and the death of a well-liked colleague rips apart the community on Scotland’s newest oil rig. But beneath the camaraderie and sense of loss, broods a sense of fear and control. As a killer extends their sights to multiple targets, can Macleod stop the murders before the shift completes its final day.

When the sea becomes your cage there’s nowhere left to hide!

My Take

This is really a variant on a locked-room mystery. A murder has taken place on a North Sea oil rig and Macleod and his team know the murderer is still on the rig. However there is a limited time people can be kept on the rig, and while they narrow the list of suspects down to 20, some are due to return home within hours.

So Macleod is coordinating an investigation both on the rig and back on nearby islands and the mainland. As they get closer somebody tries to eliminate McGrath.

This time the plot struggles to hold itself together and I got the feeling the author was juggling a few too many balls, and occasionally I struggled to make sense of the connections.  It all seemed to come together at the end, but I think Macleod seemed out of his depth at times.

Rating: 4.3

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 - #1
  

Review: THE SATCHEL, G. R. Jordan

• 
   This book available as an e-book on Kindle (Amazon)
  
• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B08V22KVZH
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Carpetless Publishing (March 20, 2021)
• Print length ‏ : ‎ 221 pages
• #11 in the Highlands & Islands Detective series

Synopsis (Amazon)

A bag is found hanging on a lonely tree in an Inverness park. Inside, a morbid collection of fists tell a tale of murder and intrigue. Can Macleod find the killer and stop a second show of hands?

Battle-weary Macleod must seek to understand a murderer’s obsession when a bag of appendages turns up in a local park. But as the links between the victims become more apparent, the possible identities of the killer increase. Can Macleod sift the wheat from the chaff and stop the killer before another bag is full?

Don’t raise your hand if you know what’s good for you!

My Take

This series really has me hooked

The gruesome discovery of a satchel full of 8 right hands hanging from a tree near a popular picnic spot near Inverness sparks a hunt by Macleod's team to identify their owners. Some of the hands have been recently detached, while others belong to people who have been missing for some time. And what have their owners done to deserve this sort of treatment?

The team discovers that two satchels were bought at the same time, and so there are some people still in danger of becoming victims. It is a race to find them, and then to convince them that they are in danger.

The team is well established now and the main characters are clearly defined.

Rating: 4.4

Others in the series that I have 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 
  

Review: THE CASE OF THE DISGRACED DUKE, Cathy Ace

• 
  This edition an e-book on Kindle (Amazon)
  
• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0B69W5748
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Four Tails Publishing Ltd. (August 1, 2022)
• Print length ‏ : ‎ 299 pages
• #5 in the Welsh Mystery series
  

Synopsis (Amazon)

THE DUKE’S REPUTATION IS IN PERIL – can the women of the WISE ENQUIRIES AGENCY save the day?

Henry Devereaux Twyst, eighteenth duke of Chellingworth, is desperate to disprove murderous rumors about his ancestor before his first child is born, so he enlists the help of the women of the WISE Enquiries Agency.

However, Annie is working undercover – on a case that turns out to be more deadly than anyone had imagined, and Carol is finding it difficult to juggle her responsibilities – especially when faced with a puzzling theft in the village. Meanwhile, Christine is consumed with fears about Alexander's shady colleagues, and Mavis is trying to manage the dowager's dispute with the local vicar.

In the fifth WISE Enquiries Agency Mystery stately Chellingworth Hall, and the charming Welsh village of Anwen-by-Wye, both of which have more than their fair share of quirky inhabitants, are once again subjected to a host of problems that need to be solved…and the WISE women are ready to use their considerable skills to do so.

My Take:

The women of the WISE Enquiries Agency juggle several balls in this outing, among them an attempt to investigate the truth about the thirteenth Duke, thought to have murdered a couple of locals. 

I enjoyed the character development in this novel, and the complexity of the plot lines.

My rating: 4.4

I've also read

• THE CORPSE WITH THE SILVER TONGUE 
  
• 4.3, THE CASE OF THE DOTTY DOWAGER  - Welsh Mystery #1
• 4.5, THE CASE OF THE MISSING MORRIS DANCER  - Welsh  Mystery #2
• 4.4, THE CASE OF THE CURIOUS COOK - Welsh Murder #3
• 4.5, THE CASE OF THE UNSUITABLE SUITOR - Welsh Murder #4

Review: THE PARIS APARTMENT, Lucy Foley

• this edition an e-book from Amazon (Kindle)
• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B08J6D7993
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ HarperCollins (March 3, 2022)
• Print length ‏ : ‎ 412 pages 

Synopsis (Amazon) 

Unlock the mystery. Only you hold the key…

In a beautiful old apartment block, deep in the backstreets of Paris, secrets are stirring behind every resident’s door.

The lonely wife
The party animal
The curtain-twitcher
The secret lover
The watchful caretaker
The unwanted guest

There was a murder here last night.
Who holds the key to the mystery of apartment three?

My Take

Ben's half-sister Jess is arriving from London. She talks to Ben on the phone, but when she arrives at his very exclusive apartment building three hours later the gates are locked and he is gone.

Jess manages to find her way into the building and then into Ben's apartment which she know is on the third floor.

The story focuses on Jess's search for Ben, her quest to find out what has happened to him. There are 5 apartments, plus a concierge's cabin. Ben is a journalist and Jess suspects that he is chasing a story but when she finds his wallet and the keys to his Moped she suspects foul play. She thinks perhaps the residents of the apartments know what has happened to him, but they are blocking her efforts at discovery.

Gradually Jess begins to discover what Ben has previously found out about the residents.

As with most of Foley's other books there are a couple of twists in the tale. There are multiple narratives, and a lot of juggling of past and present, just to keep the reader on his/her toes.

My rating: 4.7

I've also read

• 4.6, THE HUNTING PARTY
• 4.7, THE GUEST LIST
• 4.5, THE INVITATION

Review: MARPLE: TWELVE NEW STORIES, Agatha Christie and 12 others

• 
  This edition an e-book from Amazon on Kindle
• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B09DNJ4ZZD
  
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ HarperCollins (September 15, 2022)
• Print length ‏ : ‎ 379 pages
• by Agatha Christie, Naomi Alderman, Leigh Bardugo, Alyssa Cole, Lucy Foley, Elly Griffiths, Natalie Haynes, Jean Kwok, Val McDermid, Karen M. McManus, Dreda Say Mitchell, Kate Mosse, Ruth Ware

Synopsis (publisher)

Agatha Christie’s legendary sleuth, Jane Marple, returns to solve twelve baffling cases in this brand-new collection, penned by a host of acclaimed authors skilled in the fine art of mystery and murder

One doesn't stop at one murder...

Jane Marple is an elderly lady from St Mary Mead who possesses an uncanny knack for solving even the most perplexing puzzles. Now, for the first time in 45 years, Agatha Christie’s beloved character returns to the page for a globe-trotting tour of crime and detection.

Join Marple as she travels through her sleepy English village and around the world. In St Mary Mead, a Christmas dinner is interrupted by unexpected guests; the Broadway stage in New York City is set for a dangerous improvisation; bad omens surround an untimely death aboard a cruise ship to Hong Kong; and a bestselling writer on holiday in Italy is caught in a nefarious plot. These and other crimes committed in the name of love, jealousy, blackmail, and revenge are ones that only the indomitable Jane Marple can solve.

Bringing a fresh twist to the hallmarks of a classic Agatha Christie mystery, these twelve esteemed writers have captured the sharp wit, unique voice, and droll ingenuity of the deceptively demure detective. A triumphant celebration of Christie’s legacy and essential reading for crime lovers, Marple is a timely reminder why Jane Marple remains one of the most famous detectives of all time.

This collection of twelve original short stories, all featuring Jane Marple, will introduce the character to a whole new generation. Each author reimagines Agatha Christie’s Marple through their own unique perspective while staying true to the hallmarks of a traditional mystery.
· Naomi Alderman
· Leigh Bardugo
· Alyssa Cole
· Lucy Foley
· Elly Griffiths
· Natalie Haynes
· Jean Kwok
· Val McDermid
· Karen M. McManus
· Dreda Say Mitchell
· Kate Mosse
· Ruth Ware

Miss Marple was first introduced to readers in a story Christie wrote for The Royal Magazine in 1927 and made her first appearance in a full-length novel in 1930’s The Murder at the Vicarage. It has been 45 years since Agatha Christie’s last Marple novel, Sleeping Murder, was published posthumously in 1976, and this collection of ingenious new stories by twelve Christie devotees will be a timely reminder why Jane Marple remains the most famous fictional female detective of all time.

"Each of the twelve authors captures Christie—and Marple—perfectly, while also displaying just a bit of her own unique touch. . . . This new and entertaining collection by some of our favorite writers will hook a new group of readers to the formidable Miss Marple." — Rhys Bowen, Washington Post

My Take

95 years after Miss Marple made her first appearance in 1927 in a short story called The Tuesday Night Club, here she comes to life again. I thoroughly enjoyed this collection of new Miss Marple short stories. The writers were committed to producing authentic and believable stories. Readers who know their Marple mysteries will recognise characters and settings that appeared in the original novels and short stories, as well as appreciating what each of these writers has tried to do.

My rating: 4.7

Agatha Christie Short Stories

Review: THE SERIAL KILLER'S WIFE, Alice Hunter

• 
  This edition an e-book on Amazon (Kindle)
  
• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B08N5MQYJ5
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Avon (May 27, 2021)
• Print length ‏ : ‎ 382 pages

Synopsis (Amazon)

Every marriage has its secrets…

Beth and Tom Hardcastle are the envy of their neighbourhood – they have the perfect marriage, the perfect house, the perfect family.

When the police knock on their door one evening, Beth panics. Tom should be back from work by now – what if he’s crashed his car? She fears the worst.

But the worst is beyond imagining.

As the interrogation begins, Beth will find herself questioning everything she believed about her husband.

They’re saying he’s a monster. And they’re saying she knew. 

My Take

This story is told from the point of view of two main narrators - Beth and her husband Tom - with the occasional insert from another.

Neither of them are always truthful. The light of Beth's life is their small daughter Poppy. She will do anything for Poppy and every decision she makes is based on that premise. Tom and Beth have moved from London to the country to give Poppy a better life, even though it means quite a long commute for Tom as he still works in London. Beth has created a cafe where customers can paint ceramics while they sip coffee.

Beth is a very determined woman, and as the book progresses we learn that what Beth wants Beth gets.

In the end I was blown away by the way the story ends although there were hints of this earlier.

My rating: 4.6

About the author

After completing a psychology degree, Alice Hunter became an interventions facilitator in a prison. There, she was part of a team offering rehabilitation programmes to men serving sentences for a wide range of offences, often working with prisoners who'd committed serious violent crimes. Previously, Alice had been a nurse, working in the NHS. She now puts her experiences to good use in fiction. THE SERIAL KILLER'S WIFE draws heavily on her knowledge of psychology and the criminal mind.

Review: DEATH COMES AS THE END, Agatha Christie

• 
  this edition accessed through my local library as a large print edition
  
• first published 1944
• ISBN 978-0-06-287971-4
• 321 pages

Synopsis (publisher)

It is Egypt, 2000 BC, where death gives meaning to life. At the foot of a cliff lies the broken, twisted body of Nofret, concubine to a Ka-priest. Young, beautiful and venomous, most agree that she deserved to die like a snake. 

Yet Renisenb, the priest’s daughter, believes that the woman’s death was not fate, but murder. Increasingly, she becomes convinced that the source of evil lurks within her own father’s household. 

As the wife of an eminent archaeologist, Agatha Christie took part in several expeditions to the Middle East. Drawing upon this experience and exhaustive research, she wrote this serial killer mystery laid in Egypt 4000 years ago.  

My Take

This is not the first time I've read this novel - I am re-reading it with my U3A Agatha Christie Reading Group. See my previous review.

When Imhotep, the Ka-priest, returns to his family, he brings with him an unwelcome surprise, a concubine from the North, who is in fact younger than his recently widowed daughter. None of his household like the concubine, and she plainly does not like them. She tries to turn the family against their father and seems determined to stir up trouble.

But what Nofret, the concubine, does, as one of the family remarks, is reveals where trouble and evil already are present.

In the introductory Author's Note Agatha Christie points out that the fact that the action of the book takes place on the West bank of the Nile at Thebes in Egypt about 2000 BC is actually incidental to the story. It is a story that could have been played out against any setting. It is a story of jealousy, a father who dominates too much, and children who are chafing against the bit. The murder of the concubine is just the first in a series of incidents, and the author holds various characters up for us to scrutinise.

We see the action mainly through the eyes of Imhotep's daughter Renisenb, who is not always the most reliable judge if character, and she is bewildered as various members of the household are killed, and she is not sure who to trust.

The author puts her knowledge of Egyptian funerary rites and procedures to good use in providing the reader with an authentic background for a solid murder mystery. In all there are 5 murders, enough to overwhelm even the most vigilant family.

My rating: 4.4

Agatha Christie novels I've read

Review: TERRA INCOGNITA, Ruth Downie

• 
  This edition made available as an e-book on Kindle
• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B07BHPT57D
• Publication date ‏ : ‎ March 15, 2018
  
• Print length ‏ : ‎ 404 pages 

Synopsis (Amazon)

Wind-swept North Britannia, where the natives are in the mood for killing…

Gaius Petreius Ruso, medicus to the Twentieth Legion, has been posted to the hostile north – and thrown into a no-win situation. Thessalus, the current doctor at the Fort of Coria, has confessed to a grisly murder and his Prefect demands that Ruso take charge of the patients and convince Thessalus to retract his confession. But, it seems a reputation for solving tricky murders down south isn’t always helpful.

Unfortunately, the corpse is offering up few answers other than to suggest that the natives might be more murderous than restless. If Ruso is to identify the killer, he’ll need all his wits about him to keep Romans, natives and slave girls from each other’s throats.

The second novel in the bestselling Gaius Petreius Ruso series. Formerly published as Ruso and the Demented Doctor.

My Take

This story was made more interesting, despite its length, by the fact that I have been in the area in which it is set, just south of Hadrian's Wall, at least a couple of times. 

I am always surprised too at how Ruth Downie makes the characters and situations feel so modern, despite the fact that historically it is set in Roman Britain, and life would have been horrendously primitive by our standards.

My rating: 4.4

 I've also read

4.4, MEDICUS, Ruth Downie - #1  

Review: THE PORTSMOUTH MURDERS, Pauline Rowson

• 
  this edition an e-book on Kindle (Amazon)
  
• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B09SV6G9QP
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Joffe Books crime thriller, mystery and suspense (February 17, 2022)
• Print length ‏ : ‎ 194 pages 
• previously published as TIDE OF DEATH

Synopsis  (Amazon)

Meet Detective Inspector Andy Horton. It’s his second day back in Portsmouth’s CID and things aren’t going well.

Please note this was previously published as Tide of Death.

DI Andy Horton is on his morning run along an isolated stretch of beach when he stumbles across a dead man. Stark naked and bludgeoned to death.

Eight months ago, DI Horton’s life fell apart when he was suspended for misconduct. His wife kicked him out and stopped him seeing his daughter.

The young woman who’d accused him went missing and the charges were dropped, but his personal and professional life are still in a mess.

And now it doesn’t look good for a detective under suspicion to be the one to find a dead body. His colleagues don’t want him on the case.

But this murder will challenge Detective Horton in every single way. And when another body turns up with the same cause of death, Horton suspects he might be the next person in the killer’s sights.

My Take

It felt good to catch up with Andy Horton again (see below for titles I have read before). He is still a bit of a loose cannon that life has dealt some hard knocks to. Some of it he brings on himself.

This felt like a good book to start again on, so if you haven't read any of Pauline Rowson's novels and are looking for relatively quick reads, then this could be where you will start. Characters are well described and plots are well constructed.

I will certainly be trying the second title in this series.

My rating: 4.5  

THE DETECTIVE
DI Andy Horton’s mum walked out on him when he was a child and he grew up in children’s home. Now he lives onboard his yacht in Southsea Marina. He rides a Harley-Davidson and never wears a suit or tie — unless it’s to go to court. He’s an instinctive copper and a man of contrasts, which often lands him in trouble with his bosses. He has a desperate need to belong, and yet is always just on the outside. Self-contained, afraid to show his feelings, but he’s a risk-taker that seeks justice.

THE SETTING
Portsmouth boasts a vibrant waterfront, a diverse multicultural population, an international port, a historic dockyard, and is home of the Royal Navy. Portsmouth Harbour is one of the busiest in the world — and one of the best places to hide a body, it seems. Set against the backdrop of the sea, the Solent area of Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight is every detective’s worst nightmare. The sea is ever-changing and often the best clues get swept away by the tide.

THE SOLENT MURDER MYSTERIES
Book 1: THE PORTSMOUTH MURDERS
Book 2: THE LANGSTONE HARBOUR MURDERS
Book 3: THE HORSEA MARINA MURDERS
Book 4: THE ROYAL HOTEL MURDERS
Book 5: THE ISLE OF WIGHT MURDERS
Book 6: THE PORTCHESTER CASTLE MURDERS
Book 7: THE CHALE BAY MURDERS
Book 8: THE FARLINGTON MARSH MURDERS
Book 9: THE OYSTER QUAYS MURDERS
Book 10: THE COWES WEEK MURDERS
Book 11: THE BOATHOUSE MURDERS
Book 12: THE THORNEY ISLAND MURDERS
Book 13: THE GUERNSEY FERRY MURDERS

I've also read

DEADLY WATERS
THE SUFFOCATING SEA
4.4, DEAD MAN'S WHARF
4.3, A KILLING COAST
4.6, DEATH LIES BENEATH
4.5, DEATH SURGE
4.6, SHROUD OF EVIL
4.3, FATAL CATCH

Review: THE EYE OF THE BEHOLDER, Margie Orford

• 
  this edition made available on Kindle via Amazon
  
• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B09NW1XS2K
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Canongate Books (July 7, 2022)
• Print length ‏ : ‎ 321 pages

Synopsis (Amazon)

When danger lies in the eye of the beholder, what happens when you reject its pull?

Cora carries secrets her daughter can’t know.
Freya is frightened by what her mother leaves unsaid.
Angel will only bury the past if it means putting her abusers into the ground.

One act of violence sets the three women on a collision course, each desperate to find the truth. In a nail-biting thriller set between the scorched red soil of South Africa, the pitiless snowfields of Canada and the chilly lochsides of western Scotland, each woman must contend with the spectres of male violence, sexual abuse and the choices we each make to keep our souls.

My Take

This was one of those books that felt almost longer than it actually is. Three women's lives converge along what seemed to me improbable lines. Cora is the main thread of the book, but the other two threads are joined to he by both who they are and also by the things that have happened to them.

A very harrowing read.

My rating: 4.6

About the author 

Margie Orford is an award-winning journalist who has been dubbed the Queen of South African Crime Fiction. Her Clare Hart crime novels have been translated into ten languages and are being developed into a television series. She was born in London and grew up in Namibia. A Fulbright Scholar, she was educated in South Africa and the United States, has a doctorate in creative writing from the University of East Anglia and is an honorary fellow of St Hugh's College, Oxford. She is president Emerita of PEN South Africa and was the patron of Rape Crisis Cape Town while she lived in South Africa. She now lives in London.

Review: PASSENGER TO FRANKFURT, Agatha Christie

• 
  this edition a large print one published in 2012 by Harper Collins Publishers
• novel first published 1970
  
• ISBN 978-1-4448-0305-1
• 357 pages
  

Synopsis (Agatha Christie fandom)

Sir Stafford Nye's flight home from Malaya takes an unexpected twist when the bored diplomat is approached in an airport by a woman whose life is in danger, he agrees to lend her his passport and boarding ticket. Suddenly, Stafford has unwittingly entered a web of international intrigue, from which the only escape is to outwit the power-crazed Countess von Waldsausen who is hell-bent on world domination through the manipulation and arming of the planet's youth, which brings with it what promises to be a resurgence of Nazi domination. Unwittingly the diplomat has put his own life on the line; when he meets the mystery woman again she is a different person and he finds himself drawn into a battle against an invisible and altogether more dangerous enemy.

My Take

I was so conscious that my U3A Agatha Christie reading group might make heavy weather of this novel that I wrote them some guidelines for their reading:

I am very conscious that you won't find PASSENGER TO FRANKFURT the easiest book to read but please persist.

Passenger to Frankfurt: An Extravanganza is a spy novel by Agatha Christie first published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club in September 1970 and in the US later in the same year.

It was published to mark Christie's eightieth birthday and, by counting up both UK and US short-story collections to reach the desired total, was also advertised as her eightieth book. It is the last of her spy novels. 

Plot Summary (from Agatha Christie fandom)
Sir Stafford Nye's flight home from Malaya takes an unexpected twist when the bored diplomat is approached in an airport by a woman whose life is in danger, he agrees to lend her his passport and boarding ticket. Suddenly, Stafford has unwittingly entered a web of international intrigue, from which the only escape is to outwit the power-crazed Countess von Waldsausen who is hell-bent on world domination through the manipulation and arming of the planet's youth, which brings with it what promises to be a resurgence of Nazi domination. Unwittingly the diplomat has put his own life on the line; when he meets the mystery woman again she is a different person and he finds himself drawn into a battle against an invisible and altogether more dangerous enemy.

There is more detail and a list of characters at https://agathachristie.fandom.com/wiki/Passenger_to_Frankfurt but you may not want to look at that until after you've finished reading it and after you've made your own notes.

So, in reading it, I suggest you make your own notes and try to think about the following questions

• think about Christie the social commentator: what is she observing happening in the world (in the 1950s and 1960s)?
• think of the world events that are described in various chapters as snapshots from television news reels. Make a list of some of them
• Make a list of the world problems that Christie identifies.
• What does the Young Siegfried symbolise? Who is he?
• What does the young woman to whom Sir Stafford Nye lends his cloak at Frankfurt airport carry into England?
• Where and when did Christie make this sort of commentary before?
• What does this novel have in common with one that we read earlier, DESTINATION UNKNOWN?
• Make a list of your own questions and comments not covered by mine

This novel had a very mixed reception. Can you understand why? Is it a satire or are we meant to take it seriously?

I read this novel nearly 10 years ago and really didn't give it much credit then and gave it a rating of 2.0

Today I am feeling a bit more kindly to it, but have still only given it 3.5 and I feel there is a certain clumsiness about it and I don't think it was a style she was suited to.

See my list of Agatha Christie novels.