Review: MURDER AT THE MANOR, Martin Edwards (edit)

• this edition published by Poisoned Pen Press 2016
  
• ISBN 978-1-4642-0673-6
• 376 pages
• subtitled: Country House Mysteries
• source: my local library

Synopsis (Fantastic Fiction)

The English country house is an iconic setting for some of the greatest British crime fiction. This collection gathers together stories written over a span of about 65 years, during which British society, and life in country houses, was transformed out of all recognition.

 It includes fascinating and unfamiliar twists on the classic 'closed circle' plot, in which the assorted guests at a country house party become suspects when a crime is committed. In the more sinister tales featured here, a gloomy mansion set in lonely grounds offers an eerie backdrop for dark deeds. Many distinguished writers are represented in this collection, including such great names of the genre as Anthony Berkeley, Nicholas Blake and G.K. Chesterton.

Martin Edwards has also unearthed hidden gems and forgotten masterpieces: among them are a fine send-up of the country house murder; a suspenseful tale by the unaccountably neglected Ethel Lina White; and a story by the little-known Scottish writer J.J. Bell.

My Take

This anthology contains 16 short stories, some written by masters of the genre and others by less well known. I never cease to be amazed at how many people were writing crime fiction in England in the period covered by this anthology.

Short story collections are among my favourites as they offer the prospect of quick delving, of a variety of approaches. Each of the stories in this collection relates somehow to a crime, often murder,  committed at a country house. They also offer an interesting insight into a period of English life where society rapidly changed because of the advent of World War One.

I was surprised however that the editor - and there was probably good reason for it - allowed this volume to go to press without page numbers on the Table of Contents, and without the short story titles being repeated in the top margins of the printed pages.

My rating: 4.3

I've also read
MYSTERIOUS PLEASURES
THE ARSENIC LABYRINTH
THE SERPENT POOL
WATERLOO SUNSET
DANCING FOR THE HANGMAN
4.8, THE HANGING WOOD
4.6, THE FROZEN SHROUD
4.5, M.O. CRIMES OF PRACTICE (edit)
4.3, TAKE MY BREATH AWAY
4.3, SERPENTS IN EDEN (edit)
4.5, MOTIVES FOR MURDER(edit)
4.5, GALLOWS COURT 

Review: GALLOWS COURT, Martin Edwards

• format: Kindle (Amazon)
• File Size: 1094 KB
• Publisher: Head of Zeus (September 6, 2018)
• Publication Date: September 6, 2018
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services LLC
• Language: English
• ASIN: B079GXJPC8

Synopsis (publisher)

LONDON, 1930.

Sooty, sulphurous, and malign: no woman should be out on a night like this . A spate of violent deaths – the details too foul to print – has horrified the capital and the smog-bound streets are deserted. But Rachel Savernake – the enigmatic daughter of a notorious hanging judge – is no ordinary woman. To Scotland Yard's embarrassment, she solved the Chorus Girl Murder, and now she's on the trail of another killer.

Jacob Flint, a young newspaperman temporarily manning The Clarion's crime desk, is looking for the scoop that will make his name. He's certain there is more to the Miss Savernake's amateur sleuthing than meets the eye. He's not the only one. His predecessor on the crime desk was of a similar mind – not that Mr Betts is ever expected to regain consciousness after that unfortunate accident...

Flint's pursuit of Rachel Savernake will draw him ever- deeper into a labyrinth of deception and corruption. Murder-by-murder, he'll be swept ever-closer to its dark heart – to that ancient place of execution, where it all began and where it will finally end: Gallows Court.

My take

At the centre of this novel are two characters: Jacob Flint, a young newspaperman working for The Clarion, a sensationalist daily; and Rachel Savernake, an incredibly wealthy amateur sleuth, the daughter of a judge renowned for his severe punishment and reputed to be mad at the end.

We know there is some sort of mystery surrounding Rachel Savernake right from the beginning. We are told so in a journal entry written in 1919 by a Juliet Brentano recording the death of her parents. Subsequent diary entries crop up in the novel and we attempt to reconcile the Rachel Savernake she writes about with the one we meet through Jacob Flint.

Jacob has come to head the Clarion's crime desk rather earlier than expected because his boss has been run down by a car and is not expected to live. Jacob is convinced that what happened was no accident and he attempts to work out what Mr Betts was investigating. Everything seems to lead to Rachel Savernake.

This was a challenging read, and even at the end when I thought I had worked everything out, how wrong I was!

Fantastic Fiction suggests this novel is the first in a series centred on Jacob Flint.

My rating: 4.5

A review from Cross Examining Crime

I've also read
MYSTERIOUS PLEASURES
THE ARSENIC LABYRINTH
THE SERPENT POOL
WATERLOO SUNSET
DANCING FOR THE HANGMAN
4.8, THE HANGING WOOD
4.6, THE FROZEN SHROUD
4.5, M.O. CRIMES OF PRACTICE (edit)
4.3, TAKE MY BREATH AWAY
4.3, SERPENTS IN EDEN (edit)
4.5, MOTIVES FOR MURDER(edit) 

About the author

Martin Edwards is an Edgar award-winning crime writer whose seventh and most recent Lake District Mystery is The Dungeon House. Earlier books in the series are The Coffin Trail (short-listed for the Theakston's prize for best British crime novel of 2006), The Cipher Garden, The Arsenic Labyrinth (short-listed for the Lakeland Book of the Year award in 2008), The Serpent Pool, and The Hanging Wood.

Martin is a well-known crime fiction critic, and series consultant to the British Library's Crime Classics. His ground-breaking study of the genre between the wars, The Golden Age of Murder, has been warmly reviewed around the world. it has won the Edgar, Agatha and H.R.F. Keating awards, and is currently shortlisted for Anthony, Macavity, and CWA Dagger awards.

Martin has written eight novels about lawyer Harry Devlin, the first of which, All the Lonely People, was short-listed for the CWA John Creasey Memorial Dagger for the best first crime novel of the year, The early Devlin books are now enjoying a fresh life as ebooks, with new introductions by leading authors such as Val McDermid and Frances Fyfield, as well as other new material.

In addition Martin has written a stand-alone novel of psychological suspense, Take My Breath Away, and a much acclaimed novel featuring Dr Crippen, Dancing for the Hangman. The latest Devlin novel, Waterloo Sunset, appeared in 2008. He completed Bill Knox's last book, The Lazarus Widow. He has published many short stories, including the ebooks The New Mysteries of Sherlock Holmes and Acknowledgments and other stories. 'Test Drive' was short-listed for the CWA Short Story Dagger in 2006, while 'The Bookbinder's Apprentice' won the same Dagger in 2008.

A well-known commentator on crime fiction, he has edited 28 anthologies and published diverse non-fiction books, including a study of homicide investigation, Urge to Kill.An expert on crime fiction history, he is archivist of both the Crime Writers' Association and the Detection Club. He was elected eighth President of the Detection Club in 2015, and posts regularly to his blog, 'Do You Write Under Your Own Name?

Review: SERPENTS IN EDEN: Countryside Crimes, Martin Edwards (edit)

• this edition published in 2016 by the British Library
• A British Library Crime Classic
• ISBN 978-0-7123-5794-4
• 302 pages
• content: 13 Vintage crime fiction short stories 

Synopsis  (Amazon UK)

The lowest and vilest alleys in London do not present a more dreadful record of sin than does the smiling and beautiful countryside.... Think of the deeds of hellish cruelty, the hidden wickedness which may go on, year in, year out, in such places, and none the wiser. Sherlock Holmes Many of the greatest British crime writers have explored the possibilities of crime in the countryside in lively and ingenious short stories. Serpents in Eden celebrates the rural British mystery by bringing together an eclectic mix of crime stories written over half a century. From a tale of poison-pen letters tearing apart a village community to a macabre mystery by Arthur Conan Doyle, the stories collected here reveal the dark truths hidden in an assortment of rural paradises. Among the writers included here are such major figures as G. K. Chesterton and Margery Allingham, along with a host of lesser-known discoveries whose best stories are among the unsung riches of the golden age of British crime fiction between the two wars.

My Take

These short stories were almost all published prior to 1960, The Black Doctor by Arthur Conan Doyle as early as 1898. The authors are almost all recognised Golden Age crime fiction writers. One or two of the stories have not been easily available until their publication in this anthology. Nearly all of the writers have a connection with the Detection Club.

While some of the stories had very clever plots indeed, I found some of them rather slow and tortuous. Nearly all were "different" to what a modern short story might be like. Each story is preceded by an introduction written by Martin Edwards placing the writer in the history of British crime fiction writing.

The writers: Arthur Conan Doyle, M. McDonnell Bodkin, G.K. Chesterton, E.C. Bentley, Herbert Jenkins, H.C. Bailey, R. Austin Freeman, Margery Allingham, Anthony Berkeley, Leonora Wodehouse, Ethel Lena White, Leo Bruce, and Gladys Mitchell.
`
My rating: 4.3

Review: TAKE MY BREATH AWAY, Martin Edwards

• format: Kindle (Amazon)
  
• File Size: 683 KB
• Print Length: 256 pages
• Publisher: Allison & Busby (May 22, 2014)
  first published 2002
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B00K22ZLD2
• Source: I bought it

Synopsis  (Amazon)

Lawyer-turned-writer Nic Gabriel is stunned when womanising Dylan Rees, his host at a champagne reception at the Houses of Parliament, is knifed by an ex-girlfriend and bleeds to death in front of him. It’s not just the horrific murder, but the fact that the ex, Ella, had apparently committed suicide over five years ago.

Before the party Dylan had made cryptic mention of strange and sudden deaths and now, with his friend’s death, Nic is determined to discover his meaning. His research takes him to Creed, the country’s leading human rights law firm, where Nic meets Roxanne, a young lawyer starting out in her dream job with a secret to hide…

My Take

This is a digital edition of the novel originally published in 2002.

The author is in territory that he knows well - a law firm, but this time one specialising in human rights. Nic Gabriel has been a one hit wonder with his faction title about Crippen, and his publisher (and his girlfriend) is pushing him to select a plot for his next novel. When his friend is knifed and dies at a cocktail party Nic's interests turns to unravelling a puzzle that Dylan left him with - about some deaths connected to Creed, a leading human rights firm. On his first visit to Creed he recognises a woman's face, but he knows her by another name.

This is a novel with an unexpected double twist in the tail. There were parts where I thought the plot didn't gell very well, and at first I struggled to work out how the two main strands of the plot were going to come together. However it all made sense by the end.

My Rating: 4.3


I've also reviewed
MYSTERIOUS PLEASURES
THE ARSENIC LABYRINTH
THE SERPENT POOL
WATERLOO SUNSET
DANCING FOR THE HANGMAN
4.8, THE HANGING WOOD
4.6, THE FROZEN SHROUD
4.5, M.O. CRIMES OF PRACTICE (edit) 

Review: M.O. CRIMES OF PRACTICE, Martin Edwards (edit)

• This edition published by BBC Audio Books 2009
  
• ISBN 978-1-4084-4180-0
• The Crime Writers' Association Anthology (Brit) for 2009
• 319 pages
• library book

Synopsis (Comma Press)

ROBERT BARNARD - MARTYN BEDFORD - ANN CLEEVES - BERNIE CROSTHWAITE - CAROL ANNE DAVIS - MARTIN EDWARDS - JÜRGEN EHLERS - KATE ELLIS - LIZ EVANS - PAUL A FREEMAN - JIM GREGSON - MICK HERRON - SARAH HILARY - ANDRE MAROIS - AMY MYERS - CHRISTINE POULSON - KARLINE SMITH - DOUGLAS STEWART - YVONNE EVE WALUS

A coroner reveals a body’s tell-tale clues to his students, as he unwittingly dissects his own relationship . . .

A breakdown driver turns his roadside routine into a quite different type of pick-up . . .

Two creative writing tutors discuss the merits of ‘hardboiled’ versus ‘cosy’ schools of crime writing, while a murderous student points out that it’s really procedure that counts . . .

The second in this series of anthologies from the CWA picks up the primary scent of any investigation: the modus operandi; the signature that identifies any repeat offender, the ‘how’ that supersedes the ‘why’. From the ex-doctor tenderly administering a final prescription to his victims, the party of finishing school debutantes exacting revenge on their lecherous host… these stories demonstrate that, even with the most despicable of crimes, there’s methodology in the madness.

My Take

Have I mentioned before how much I enjoy well written crime fiction short stories? And Martin Edwards, the editor of this collection, has not let me down in his selection.

An anthology of short stories by different authors really demonstrates how rich the genre can be. Each short story, while attempting to cling to a theme, brings with it a different flavour. Some are a bit more convoluted than others, but there wasn't one that disappointed. Brilliant bed time reading.

 My rating: 4.5

Review: THE FROZEN SHROUD, Martin Edwards

• Published by Poisoned Pen Press 2013
• ISBN 978-1-4642-0105-9
• 276 pages
• #6 in the Lake District (Hannah Scarlett and Daniel Kind) series

 Synopsis (Fantastic Fiction)

Death has come twice to Ravenbank, a remote community in England's Lake District, each time on Halloween. Just before the First World War, a young woman's corpse was found, with a makeshift shroud frozen to her battered face. Her ghost - the Faceless Woman - is said to walk through Ravenbank on Halloween. Five years ago, another woman, Katya Moss, was murdered, and again her face was covered to hide her injuries.

Daniel Kind, a specialist in the history of murder, becomes fascinated by the old cases, and wonders whether the obvious suspects really did commit the crimes. He spends Hallowe'en at a party in Ravenbank - only to find death returning to this beautiful but isolated spot. Once more, the victim is a woman, once more her damaged face is shrouded from view.

My Take

The blurb from Fantastic Fiction is very similar to the one on the dustjacket of  the book. Both show evidence that the author changed his mind about the name of one of the characters - in the book Katya Moss is actually called Sheenagh.

There are three murder victims - Gertrude the original Faceless Woman, Sheenagh the next one, and then five years later, another. All are murdered on Halloween and the author exploits other similarities in the cases. For DCI Hannah Scarlett the coincidences are just too great, and she wonders whether the same person is responsible for at least the two most recent murders. Daniel Kind though is interested in the historic cold case of the death of Gertrude.

Martin Edwards is an accomplished storyteller and keeps the readers on their toes with coincidences and red herrings. It is a book that makes you think as you weigh up the evidence for yourself.

Running through the background is the on-again off-again relationship between the detective Hannah and the historian Daniel. And almost a character is a sensitive portrayal of the Lake District. Many thanks too to Martin for his acknowledgment at the end of the book of the small amount of information I was able to contribute about Sheenagh's possible Australian background.

My rating: 4.6

Do check

• Publication Day on Martin's blog, Do You write Under Your Own Name?
• Review by Margaret on Books Please
• Martin Edwards' website

Lake District Mystery (Fantastic Fiction)
1. The Coffin Trail (2004)
2. The Cipher Garden (2005)
3. The Arsenic Labyrinth (2007)
4. The Serpent Pool (2010)
5. The Hanging Wood (2011)
6. The Frozen Shroud (2013)

I've also reviewed
MYSTERIOUS PLEASURES
THE ARSENIC LABYRINTH
THE SERPENT POOL
WATERLOO SUNSET
DANCING FOR THE HANGMAN
4.8, THE HANGING WOOD

9 June 2013, On the doorstep, waiting to be read

Currently I have many more books in the "waiting to be read" pile than I really have any hope of reading in the near future. Several of them seem to arrive each week at present, and sit on the shelves making me feel guilty. See the history of this occasional post. I'd like to also stress that there is no rhyme or reason to my selections. Please note that this listing is in no way a recommendation for you to read a title, simply a chance for you to assess for yourself whether you would like to read it. I will also try to discover whether the book is available on Kindle, particularly for Australian authors which are not necessarily available overseas.

You might have noticed that I haven't made a lot of progress in trimming this huge pile, but still the books arrive: some from publishers in hope of a review, and some that I have requested from the library, because I have seen a good review, or even a mention of it, somewhere.

THE FROZEN SHROUD, Martin Edwards

This is a library book, requested because I saw a mention of it on Crime and mystery fiction Friend Feed.

Synopsis (Poisoned Pen Press)

Death has come twice to Ravenbank, a remote community in England’s Lake District, each time on Hallowe’en. Just before the First World War, a young woman’s corpse was found, with a makeshift shroud frozen to her battered face. Her ghost – the Faceless Woman – is said to walk through Ravenbank on Hallowe-en. Five years ago, another woman, Katya Moss, was murdered, and again her face was covered to hide her injuries.

Daniel Kind, a specialist in the history of murder, becomes fascinated by the old cases, and wonders whether the obvious suspects really did commit the crimes. He spends Hallowe’en at a party in Ravenbank – only to find death returning to this beautiful but isolated spot. Once more, the victim is a woman, once more her damaged face is shrouded from view.

The latest horrifying murder presents DCI Hannah Scarlett, head of the Cold Case Review Team, with the toughest challenge of her career. Is the case linked to the two earlier killings, and if so, what is the connection? Hannah has never had such a huge personal stake in solving a case, and it comes at a time when her private life is thrown into turmoil.

Hannah and Daniel join forces as they try to discover who killed the Faceless Women. But before the shocking puzzle is solved, both of them must confront ghosts from their own past, as well as the ghosts of lonely and mysterious Ravenbank.

GOOD AS GONE, Douglas Corleone
This is an ARC forwarded to me by Pan Macmillan Australia. The book is not due for release in Australia until September 2013 and there is an Amazon Kindle version available for pre-order.

The paper blurb that accompanied the book says that it is a "lightning fast abduction thriller that races through the streets of Europe in a style reminiscent of the Jason Bourne and Taken films."

Pan Macmillan Australia have Corleone's debut title ONE MAN'S PARADISE listed. It won the Minotaur Books/Mystery Writers of American First Crime Novel Competition

THE HANGING, Lotte and Soren Hammer

This is a review copy sent to me by Bloomsbury Publishing
The authors are a sister and brother from Denmark, and the book is marketed as "the first in an exciting new six-part crime series."
The book was published this month.

Publisher's blurb
On a cold Monday morning before school begins, two children make a gruesome discovery. Hanging from the roof of the school gymnasium are the bodies of five naked and heavily disfigured men. Detective Chief Superintendent Konrad Simonsen and his team from the Murder Squad in Copenhagen are called in to investigate this horrific case - the men hanging in a geometric pattern; the scene so closely resembling a public execution. When the identities of the five victims and the disturbing link between them is leaked to the press, the sinister motivation behind the killings quickly becomes apparent to the police. Up against a building internet campaign and even members of his own team, Simonsen finds that he must battle public opinion and vigilante groups in his mission to catch the killers.

A nerve-wrenching look at justice and retribution, The Hanging is a spectacular crime tale straight from the heart of Scandinavia.

I'm also reading/ or planning to read these novels by Aussie authors
ROTTEN GODS by Greg Barron
THE MIDNIGHT PROMISE by Zane Lovitt
and an ARC of WATCHING YOU by Michael Robotham

Review: THE HANGING WOOD, Martin Edwards

• Hardcover: 352 pages
• Publisher: ALLISON & BUSBY (25 July 2011)
• Language English
• ISBN-10: 0749010541
• ISBN-13: 978-0749010546
• Source: a review advance e-copy from Net Galley courtesy the publishers Poisoned Pen Press.

#5 in Martin Edwards' Lakes District series.

Promotional blurb

The lakes are dark and dangerous...
Twenty years ago, a teenage boy, Callum Hinds, went missing in England's Lake District. His uncle was suspected of having done the boy harm and interviewed by the police. When he committed suicide close to his cottage in the Hanging Wood, everyone assumed it was a sign of guilt. But the body of the boy was never found.

Now his sister, Orla Payne, who never believed in their uncle's guilt, has returned to the Lakes, and taken up a job in an atmospheric residential library, close to her father's farm, the upmarket caravan park where her step father works, and the Hanging Wood. She wants to find the truth about Callum's disappearance, and-at the prompting of Daniel Kind-tries to interest DCI Hannah Scarlett, head of Cumbria's Cold Case Review Team, in the case. Hannah is reluctant, leading Orla to demand whether she cares about justice. Hannah does care, and when Orla dies in strange and shocking circumstances, she determines to find the truth about what happened to Callum-and to Orla.

Hannah's investigation brings her back into contact with Daniel, while she tries to resolve her troubled relationship with bookseller Marc Amos. But their personal lives have to be put on hold when another death occurs, and Hannah finds herself racing against time to prevent a shocking murder as the past casts long shadows on the sunlit landscape of the Lakes.

My take

I always look forward with some anticipation to reading the next instalment in Martin Edwards' Lake District series with DCI Hannah Scarlett and historian Daniel Kind, and THE HANGING WOOD did not disappoint.

While part of a continuing series THE HANGING WOOD works quite well as a stand alone if this is your first opportunity to read a title by this accomplished British author. I'm sure it will however send you looking for earlier titles.

Orla Payne's phone calls to Hannah Scarlett, DCI of the Cold Case Review unit at the Cumbria Constabulary, triggers the reaction Orla had hoped for - the re-opening of the case of her brother Callum who disappeared twenty years earlier - but too late for Orla herself.

THE HANGING WOOD has a nice balance of cold case investigation and other issues such as Hannah Scarlett breaking in a new "right hand."

He’d arrived in the Cold Case Review Team with a very dodgy reputation, but she was glad she’d given him the benefit of the doubt

and Hannah's personal relationship with one-time partner Marc, and the nature of her relationship with historian Daniel Kind. Daniel brings a historian's mindset to the interpretation of evidence, asking questions about the past, which nicely complement those Hannah herself is asking.

.. to understand the present you have to understand the past..

A satisfying read that explores both whodunnit and whydunnit issues.

My rating: 4.8

Some earlier Martin Edwards titles are available on Amazon as e-books and I certainly hope this one makes an appearance there for Kindle owners.

Other reviews of Martin Edwards titles on this blog
MYSTERIOUS PLEASURES
THE ARSENIC LABYRINTH
THE SERPENT POOL
WATERLOO SUNSET
DANCING FOR THE HANGMAN

Other reviews of THE HANGING WOOD

• Murder by Type
• Reactions to Reading
• DJs Krimiblog

About the author

Martin Edwards is an award-winning crime writer whose fourth and most recent Lake District Mystery, featuring DCI Hannah Scarlett and Daniel Kind, is The Serpent Pool, published in February 2010. Earlier books in the series are The Coffin Trail (short-listed for the Theakston's prize for best British crime novel of 2006), The Cipher Garden and The Arsenic Labyrinth (short-listed for the Lakeland Book of the Year award in 2008.)
He has written eight novels about lawyer Harry Devlin, the first of which, All the Lonely People, was short-listed for the CWA John Creasey Memorial Dagger for the best first crime novel of the year. In addition he has written a stand-alone novel of psychological suspense, Take My Breath Away, and a much acclaimed novel featuring Dr Crippen, Dancing for the Hangman. The latest Devlin novel, Waterloo Sunset, appeared in 2008. He completed Bill Knox's last book, The Lazarus Widow. He has published a collection of short stories, Where Do You Find Your Ideas? and other stories; 'Test Drive' was short-listed for the CWA Short Story Dagger in 2006, while 'The Bookbinder's Apprentice' won the same Dagger in 2008.
A well-known commentator on crime fiction, he has edited 16 anthologies and published eight non-fiction books, including a study of homicide investigation, Urge to Kill. In 2008 he was elected to membership of the prestigious Detection Club. In his spare time he is a partner in a law firm and blogs daily at 'Do You Write Under Your Own Name?'

Review DANCING FOR THE HANGMAN, Martin Edwards

Published 2008
I listened to this as an audio book from Audible.com after reading a recommendation on Reactions to Reading. The narrator was Jeff Harding who demonstrated incredible vocal versatility. It is available as an ISIS Audio Book, length 11 hrs & 26 mins, released 13 Jan 2010.

Martin Edwards begins with a true crime, taking the case of Dr. H. H. Crippen, hanged in 1910 for the murder of his wife Cora. The jury was told how he poisoned his wife, then cut her body into bits, disposing of some parts as rubbish, and then burying the rest of it under the brick floor of the cellar of his house.
Crippen nearly eludes capture, escapes via a boat to Canada, and is then met on arrival by Inspector Dew of Scotland Yard.
Did he do it? Was it murder? Was he rightfully hanged?
I know I am echoing the thoughts of others in saying this is a strong and persuasive fictionalisation, cleverly crossing that enigmatic border between fact and fiction seamlessly. I am not sufficiently knowledgeable about the Crippen case to really tell the fact from the fiction. Martin Edwards has added an epilogue in which he explains what he has done in answer to some of the lingering puzzles related to the Crippen case.

DANCING FOR THE HANGMAN is written from Hawley Crippen's point of view in 1909-1910 as he first of all awaits sentence and then execution. He and his second wife Ethel were accused of the murder of his first wife Cora. Martin Edwards fleshes out Crippen's life from his childhood onwards, his marriage to Cora and his relationship with her, and then how Ethel enters his life. Crippen comes over as a person who really doesn't understand the forces and people who govern his life. He is very conscious of his own inadequacies, particularly of how others might see him, but there is also something unwholesome and tawdry about the sexual games he and Cora liked to play. He often doesn't really recognise how he is manipulated by others, and in particular he sees Ethel through rose-tinted spectacles.

So in DANCING FOR THE HANGMAN where does fact stop and fiction start? I don't really know, and I guess it doesn't really matter. If I had thought it was "true crime" then I probably wouldn't have read it.

My rating : 4.7
It certainly whiled away the time on a long flight!


Sites to visit:

• Martin Edwards
• Reactions to Reading
• The Rap Sheet

Other Martin Edwards reviews on this blog

• MYSTERIOUS PLEASURES
• THE ARSENIC LABYRINTH
• THE SERPENT POOL
• WATERLOO SUNSET

M is for Martin Edwards

I thought my Crime Fiction Alphabet post for the letter M really couldn't do any better than feature English crime fiction writer Martin Edwards.

Here is what Martin says about himself on his blog:
I am a British crime writer, and the author of two series, set in Liverpool and the Lake District. At the CWA Daggers Awards 2008, I received the award for best short story of the year for 'The Bookbinder's Apprentice'. The eighth Liverpool book, Waterloo Sunset, and The Arsenic Labyrinth,(shortlisted for Lakeland Book of the Year 2008) have both recently appeared in paperback. So has Dancing for the Hangman, a novel about Dr Crippen. The fourth Lake District Mystery, THE SERPENT POOL, will be published in February 2010.

Here are the reviews I have on my blog:

• MYSTERIOUS PLEASURES
• THE ARSENIC LABYRINTH
• THE SERPENT POOL
• WATERLOO SUNSET

The titles to look for: Lake District Mystery
1. The Coffin Trail (2004)
2. The Cipher Garden (2005)
3. The Arsenic Labyrinth (2007)
4. The Serpent Pool (2010)

And lest you think Martin is "just" a writer:
Not only is he a busy solicitor, Martin is also a member of the Murder Squad collective of crime writers and is chairman of the nominations sub-committee for the CWA Diamond Dagger (crime writing's most prestigious award). In 2007 he was appointed the Archivist of the Crime Writers Association.
Read some interviews with Martin.

Martin Edwards' Blog: Do You Write Under Your Own Name
Martin's web site

Martin Edwards talks about the Arsenic Labyrinth (link on YouTube)

Review: THE SERPENT POOL, Martin Edwards

I read an ARC copy of THE SERPENT POOL on my Kindle. The copy came to me via Net Galley.
Publisher Name: Poisoned Pen Press
Imprint: Poisoned Pen Press
Pub Date: 1 Feb 2010
ISBN: 9781590585931

One of the unsolved crimes that always worried DCI Hannah Scarlett's former boss Ben Kind was the drowning of Bethany Friend in the Serpent Pool, a shallow lake not very far from where Hannah and her partner second hand bookseller Marc Amos now live. Bethany's death went down on the books as suicide, but Ben Kind always thought she had been murdered.

DCI Hannah Scarlett is head of Cumbria's Cold Case Review Team, but as so often happens, cold cases may have links to current ones, although these are not be obvious at first.

The shocking death of one of Marc's best customers, burned to death in a converted boathouse filled with priceless books, reveals connections between Marc and Bethany Friend, and Hannah wonders why he has never told her that he knew Bethany. The seed of mistrust, ever present in long term relationships, grows when Marc turns to an attractive colleague for solace. Just to complicate matters, Daniel Kind, Hannah's historian friend (and son of Ben) returns from overseas and gets in touch with Hannah.

THE SERPENT POOL is one of those stories is characterised by careful groundwork that then gathers breathtaking pace in the second half. I enjoyed the book very much. My rating: 4.8.

It is #4 in Edwards' Lake District Mysteries series, and while for those who have read earlier titles it is another very satisfying instalment, those who have not read earlier ones need not worry about whether they have missed too much of the backstory. I think Martin Edwards treads that fine line marvellously well. Those new to this series will find themselves hunting for the earlier titles. Among good news relayed earlier this year was that the first, COFFIN TRAIL, is being re-issued.

The titles to look for: Lake District Mystery
1. The Coffin Trail (2004)
2. The Cipher Garden (2005)
3. The Arsenic Labyrinth (2007)
4. The Serpent Pool (2010)

Links on my blog:

• MYSTERIOUS PLEASURES
• THE ARSENIC LABYRINTH
• WATERLOO SUNSET

Martin Edwards' Blog: Do You Write Under Your Own Name

Review: WATERLOO SUNSET, Martin Edwards

Allison & Busby, 2008, ISBN 978-0-7490-8053-2, 392 pages

Crusoe and Devlin, Liverpool solicitors, have only just moved into their new premises in John Newton House, when the note arrives announcing Harry's sudden death in five days' time, on Midsummer's Eve.

In Harry's fertile imagination there is no lack of suspects, but then again, perhaps it is a joke. Harry's partner Jim Crusoe is inclined to think it is. A throatily whispered message on the answering machine at home is enough to convince Harry that someone really has it in for him.

Harry's past seems to be cluttered with people less than satisfied with his services. First of all there is Tom Gunter who has anger management issues, and Aled Borth who is convinced his mother was murdered for her money by the doctor in charge of the nursing home in which she died, and then Juliet May, once a lover, but now the ex-wife of Casper May, the owner of John Newton House.

On the second day of Harry's wait for his impending death, Liverpool is gripped by the horror of a possible serial killer. For the second time, the remains of a young woman has been found on a beach near Liverpool. Rumours are suggesting there may be connections.

Well, that's all I'm going to reveal of the story of this cleverly constructed mystery. Although this is the 8th of Martin's Edwards Harry Devlin series, it is nine years since Harry had an outing, and a lot of water has passed under the bridge since his last. I've never come across Harry before although I have read a couple of titles in the Lake District Mysteries. I think the earlier novels in the series will be worth looking for.

I did like the way WATERLOO SUNSET was constructed. There was good tension between the serial killer strand, which rather inevitably Harry Devlin becomes involved in, and Harry's own quest to find out who is threatening him. I liked also the characters who populate this story, particularly Harry himself, Gina Paget, and Amazing Grace.

My rating: 4.5

Earlier this year I reported that Edwards had won a Gold Dagger Short Story Award for "The Bookbinder's Apprentice".

Other Links:

Harry Devlin series
1. All the Lonely People (1991)
2. Suspicious Minds (1992)
3. I Remember You (1993)
4. Yesterday's Papers (1994)
5. Eve of Destruction (1996)
6. The Devil in Disguise (1998)
7. First Cut Is the Deepest (1999)
8. Waterloo Sunset (2008)

Lake District Mystery
1. The Coffin Trail (2004)
2. The Cipher Garden (2005)
3. The Arsenic Labyrinth (2007)

My earlier reviews:
THE COFFIN TRAIL:
Oxford historian Daniel Kind and partner Miranda make a spur of the moment decision to give up their city life styles and move to Tarn Fold in the Lakes District. The cottage they buy near the coffin trail has a history for Daniel: it is where a boyhood friend lived. His friend was also widely thought to have been the culprit in an unsolved murder. When DCI Hannah Scarlett's new team begins its cold case review, including a review of this particular case, locals are none too happy. This is a well structured story, and seems likely to be the beginning of a series.

THE ARSENIC LABYRINTH, Martin Edwards

Read more about everything Martin is involved in at his site http://www.martinedwardsbooks.com/index.htm
Follow his blog at http://www.doyouwriteunderyourownname.blogspot.com/

Carnival of Criminal Minds #17

Somehow Martin Edwards over on Do You Write Under Your Own Name has managed to fit a hosting The Carnival of Criminal Minds into his very busy life.

I love his pictures of the big tent and the hurdy gurdy.
And his other blog postings are always interesting and worthwhile adding to your list.

If you still don't know what The Carnival of Criminal Minds is all about check here for back listings.

THE ARSENIC LABYRINTH, Martin Edwards

Here I am in Perth airport waiting for my flight back to Adelaide. At 2am this morning Perth "went off" daylight saving so we got an extra hour to sleep in, which would have been really good if Qantas hadn't kept SMSing me with new flight departure times from about 5.30 am.
At this moment I think Perth and Brisbane may be the only capital cities not on daylight saving and so the time difference between Perth and Adelaide for this week is 2hrs 30 mins. My plane leaves here at 9am and arrives in Adelaide at about 2pm. Feels like I am throwing the day away.

Last night I finished THE ARSENIC LABYRINTH, Martin Edwards, Poisoned Pen Press, 2007, 291 pp.

Ten years have passed since Emma Bestwick disappeared in Coniston in the Lakes District, and also since Guy was last there. When a local journalist runs a story on Emma's disappearance, Guy can't resist telling someone what he knows. If anything Guy is a bit of a leech, a wastrel, a ladies' man, and he not only wants to salve his conscience, but also to capitalise on his secret knowledge.

DCI Hannah Scarlett, now head of Cumbria's Cold Case Review Team, remembers the Emma Bestwick case quite well, and is pressured not only by the press, but also by her opportunistic Assistant Chief Constable, to reinvestigate the case, or at least to take a look at the file.

Hannah is conscious too that after a recent failed investigation where she was left with egg on her face, and the press had a field day, success in re-opened investigation can only improve her public image. Just before Emma Bestwick disappeared totally without trace, she appeared to have come into some new wealth, but those she lived and worked with could not throw any light on where it came from, and it was assumed that she had left the district to start a new life, perhaps with a new man.

THE ARSENIC LABYRINTH is the third title in Martin Edwards' Lake District series featuring DCI Hannah Scarlett, and Daniel Kind, son of her old boss. I read the first book in the series, THE COFFIN TRAIL, and really enjoyed it, but haven't yet got to the second THE CIPHER GARDEN, and have decided I must track it down.

I like the way Edwards mixes knowledge about the history of the Lakes District (which I have visited 2 or 3 times), in this case the production of arsenic as a byproduct of copper mining, with the elements of whodunnit and whydunnit. The thread of the investigation is interwoven with human interest elements, the story of Daniel Kind and his partner Miranda seeking to live the quieter rural life in Tarnfold; Hannah Scarlett and Mark Amos struggling to maintain a satisfying relationship in the face of Hannah's work and his expanding bookshop business. There are many elements that the reader will recognise: the rise and fall of family fortunes over the generations, the struggle to make ends meet, gambling addiction, vulnerability, and greed.

THE ARSENIC LABYRINTH is on the face of it a variation of a cozy, a police procedural, but with some unexpected twists to the plot.

Read more about everything Martin is involved in at his site http://www.martinedwardsbooks.com/index.htm Follow his blog at http://www.doyouwriteunderyourownname.blogspot.com/

My rating: 4.5