Review: MURDER ON THE LAKE, Bruce Beckham

• 
  This book available as an e-book on Kindle (Amazon)
  
• #4 in the Inspector Skelgill series
• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00RU7SNP0
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Lucius; 1st edition (January 4, 2015)
• Print length ‏ : ‎ 317 pages

Synopsis (Amazon)

BY THE TIME Detective Inspector Skelgill becomes the tenth person to be stranded on secluded Grisholm (Pigs’ Isle in Old Norse) where a writers’ retreat is taking place, one of the assembled literati is already dead. Though natural causes may provide the explanation, a second ‘accidental’ death and a raft of curious experiences convince Skelgill that a cold and calculating killer is at large. But where is his evidence?

Set around Derwentwater in the English Lake District, this traditional whodunit sees Skelgill striving both to fathom the mystery and convince his superiors that it is not merely his imagination at play.

My Take

Here I've hit on a series that I am really enjoying. Out fishing for a monster pike (to win a wager) Skelgill comes across a group at a writer's retreat where one of their number has died. The plot smacks a little of AND THEN THERE WERE NONE, a small group of people invited to a secluded island, with no communication with the mainland, host elusive or unknown, and the first of their number killed, and maybe another lined up.

Unable to contact the police, Skelgill decides to spend the night with them, and by the morning another is dead. Back on the mainland Skelgill and his team investigate the connections between the guests and come up with some surprising answers. 

The plotting is well done, and Skelgill and his team are well drawn.

My rating: 4.5 

I've also read

• 4.4, MURDER IN ADLAND- Skelgill #1
• 4.5, MURDER IN SCHOOL - Skelgill #2
• 4.5, MURDER ON THE EDGE  - Skelgill #3

Review: DEATH AT PARADISE PALMS, Steph Broadribb

• 
  This edition an e-book available on Kindle (Amazon)
  
• The Retired Detectives Club, Book 2
• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B09R4GKR8V
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Thomas & Mercer (October 11, 2022)
• Print length ‏ : ‎ 313 pages

Synopsis (Amazon)

It looks like an open-and-shut case—until one of the Retired Detectives disappears…

When movie producer Cody Ziegler goes missing from The Homestead’s Millionaires’ Row, his wife, retired actress Olivia, immediately claims there’s foul play afoot. A million-dollar ransom demand soon follows, with clear instructions not to involve the cops. In desperation she enlists the help of Moira, Rick, Philip and Lizzie, aka the Retired Detectives Club.

Racing against the clock, the four retirees set to work. Sure, Cody had enemies—there’s a disgruntled employee, a jilted film-maker and a hundred other people who know how much he’s worth. But when it emerges that Cody’s apparently perfect marriage isn’t what it seems, even Olivia isn’t above suspicion.

When Cody’s car turns up in a nearby lake with a shocking surprise inside, the case becomes even more complicated. But with Philip and Lizzie’s marriage on the rocks, and threatening notes sending Moira into a spin, the Retired Detectives Club risks falling apart before getting any closer to the truth.

My Take

Book 1, DEATH IN THE SUNSHINE left the newly created Retired Detectives Club ready to take on a new case, despite uncomfortable relations between married couple Philip and Lizzie, and the fact that we know that Moira is hiding something quite significant.

There are several threads in this novel: the disappearance of Cody Ziegler, strange threatening messages that Moira is receiving on her phone, the difficult relations between Philip and Lizzie. All the group however are very glad to be back "working" but the local police are still not welcoming, seeing their investigation as interference.

Very readable.

My rating: 4.4

I've also read Book 1:  4.5, DEATH IN THE SUNSHINE

Review: THE LOST MAN OF BOMBAY, Vaseem Khan

• 
  this book made available by my local library
  
• published 2022 by Hodder & Stoughton UK
• ISBN 978-1-529-34110-2
• 366 pages
•  #3 in The Malabar House series

Synopsis (Fantastic Fiction) 

Bombay, 1950
When the body of a white man is found frozen in the Himalayan foothills near Dehra Dun, he is christened the Ice Man by the national media. Who is he? How long has he been there? Why was he killed?

As Inspector Persis Wadia and Metropolitan Police criminalist Archie Blackfinch investigate the case in Bombay, they uncover a trail left behind by the enigmatic Ice Man - a trail leading directly into the dark heart of conspiracy.

Meanwhile, two new murders grip the city. Is there a serial killer on the loose, targeting Europeans?

Rich in atmosphere, the thrilling third chapter in the CWA Historical Dagger-winning Malabar House series pits Persis against a mystery from beyond the grave, unfolding against the backdrop of a turbulent post-colonial India, a nation struggling to redefine itself in the shadow of the Raj.

My Take

Although I have read #1 in another series by this author, I haven't obeyed my own "rule" and read #1 in this series (Malabar House). That means that there are relationships between characters that were revealed and developed in the earlier two novels which I have come to cold. Nevertheless the author did a fairly good job of filling in the gaps for me.

The plot is a fairly complex one. A dessicated body is found in a cave in the Himalayan hills by a climber. Shortly after that three people are murdered in Bombay and Inspector Persis Wadia discovers a connection between them and the Ice Man.

India is newly independent and relations between India and their former masters have to be handled carefully. Research into the past is fraught with problems and these are exacerbated by the personality of Persis, particularly because she is female in what is essentially a male world.

My rating: 4.4

I've also read

4.4, THE UNEXPECTED INHERITANCE OF INSPECTOR CHOPRA - #1 in the Inspector Chopra series

Review: THE SOULMATE, Sally Hepworth

• 
  This book made available as an e-book on Libby through my local library
  
• ISBN: 9781761263064
• ISBN-10: 1761263064
• Format: ePUB
• Language: English
• Published: 25th October 2022
• Publisher: Pan Macmillan Australia
• 336 pages
  

Synopsis (publisher)

Gabe is alone at the cliff's edge. His arms are outstretched, palms facing the empty air.

He said she jumped. He wouldn't lie.

Before the woman went over the cliff, Pippa and Gabe were happy. They had the kind of marriage that everyone envies, as well as two sweet young daughters, a supportive family, and a picturesque cliff-side home - which would have been idyllic had the tall beachside cliffs not become so popular among those wishing to end their lives.

Gabe has become somewhat of a local hero since they moved to the cliff house, talking seven people down from stepping off the edge. But when Gabe fails to save the eighth, a sordid web of secrets begins to unravel, pushing bonds of loyalty and love to the brink.

What wouldn't you do for your soulmate? 

My Take

Since he and Pippa have moved to their clifftop house on the Mornington Peninsula, Gabe has become a sort of Good Samaritan, persuading 7 people who've come there not to end their lives. Until the 8th one jumps. Or at least that's what Gabe says. Pippa is not so sure. What Gabe doesn't tell her, is that he knows this woman. 

There are two narrators: Pippa and Amanda, the woman who jumped. The dual narration provide between them a fascinating story. What seemed simple at first becomes a very complex plot with far stretching threads.

Highly recommended.

My rating: 4.7

I've also read

• 4.5, THE MOTHER IN LAW
• 4.7, THE YOUNGER WIFE

Review: SO SHALL YOU REAP, Donna Leon

• 
  This edition made available by my local library
  
• published by Hutchinson Heinemann UK 2023
• ISBN 978152153323
• 262 pages
• #32 in Commissario Brunetti series
  

Synopsis (Fantastic Fiction)

On a cold November evening, Guido Brunetti and Paola are up late when a call from his colleague Ispettore Vianello arrives, alerting the Commissario that a hand has been seen in one of Venice's canals. The body is soon found, and Brunetti is assigned to investigate the murder of an undocumented Sri Lankan immigrant. Because no official record of the man's presence in Venice exists, Brunetti is forced to use the city's far richer sources of information: gossip and the memories of people who knew the victim. Curiously, he had been living in a garden house on the grounds of a palazzo owned by a university professor, in which Brunetti discovers books revealing the victim's interest in Buddhism, the revolutionary Tamil Tigers, and the last crop of Italian political terrorists, active in the 1980s.

As the investigation expands, Brunetti, Vianello, Commissario Griffoni, and Signorina Elettra each assemble pieces of a puzzle-random information about real estate and land use, books, university friendships-that appear to have little in common. Until Brunetti stumbles over something that transports him back to his own student days, causing him to reflect on lost ideals and the errors of youth, on Italian politics and history, and on the accidents that sometimes lead to revelation.

My Take

Looking over The Fantastic Fiction list of the Brunetti series, I was surprised to see how many I have missed. The first in the series was published in 1992 and have continued at the rate of about one per year. That makes it a rather daunting list to read if you have never read any, as I am going to assert that you should read them in order. Not only do the books focus on contemporary Venetian social and political problems, there is also a very nice development of Brunetti and his family over time.

I've got to the stage where reading a Brunetti is rather like catching up with an old friend.

My rating: 4.7

I've also read

ABOUT FACE
THE GIRL OF HIS DREAMS
THROUGH A GLASS DARKLY
4.4, A QUESTION OF BELIEF
4.5, BEASTLY THINGS
4.4, QUIETLY IN THEIR SLEEP
3.9, THE JEWELS OF PARADISE
4.8, DRAWING CONCLUSIONS
4.5, DRAWING CONCLUSIONS, Donna Leon - abridged audio version
4.6, DEATH IN A STRANGE COUNTRY
4.7, BY ITS COVER
4.5, THE GOLDEN GOOSE
4.8, THE WATERS OF ETERNAL YOUTH
4.5, FALLING IN LOVE
4.8, EARTHLY REMAINS - #26

4.6, TRANSIENT DESIRES - #30     

Commissario Brunetti Mysteries (Fantastic Fiction)

1. Death at La Fenice (1992)
2. Death in a Strange Country (1993)
3. The Anonymous Venetian (1994)
4. Death and Judgment (1995)
5. Acqua Alta (1996)
6. Quietly in Their Sleep (1997)
7. A Noble Radiance (1998)
8. Fatal Remedies (1999)
9. Friends in High Places (2000)
10. A Sea of Troubles (2001)
11. Willful Behaviour (2002)
12. Uniform Justice (2003)
13. Doctored Evidence (2004)
14. Blood from a Stone (2005)
15. Through a Glass Darkly (2006)
16. Suffer the Little Children (2007)
17. The Girl of His Dreams (2008)
18. About Face (2009)
19. A Question of Belief (2010)
20. Drawing Conclusions (2011)
21. Beastly Things (2012)
22. The Golden Egg (2012)
23. By Its Cover (2014)
24. Falling in Love (2015)
25. The Waters of Eternal Youth (2016)
26. Earthly Remains (2017)
27. The Temptation of Forgiveness (2018)
28. Unto Us a Son Is Given (2019)
29. Trace Elements (2020)
30. Transient Desires (2021)
31. Give Unto Others (2021)
32. So Shall You Reap (2023)

Review: DEATH IN THE SUNSHINE, Steph Broadribb

• 
  This edition available as an e-book on Amazon (Kindle)
  
• Book #1, The Retired Detectives Club
• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B094JMFJNK
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Thomas & Mercer (March 1, 2022)
• Print length ‏ : ‎ 319 pages

Synopsis (Amazon)

Four ex-cops in a retirement paradise. Sure they’ll rest…when the killer is caught.

After a long career as a police officer, Moira hopes a move to a luxury retirement community will mean she can finally leave the detective work to the youngsters and focus on a quieter life. But it turns out The Homestead is far from paradise. When she discovers the body of a young woman floating in one of the pools, surrounded by thousands of dollar bills, her crime-fighting instinct kicks back in and she joins up with fellow ex-cops—and new neighbours—Philip, Lizzie and Rick to investigate the murder.

With the case officers dropping ball after ball, Moira and the gang take matters into their own hands, turning into undercover homicide investigators. But the killer is desperate to destroy all the evidence and Moira, Philip, Lizzie and Rick soon find themselves getting in the way—of the murderer and the police.

Just when they think they can finally relax, they discover that someone has infiltrated their ‘safe’ community. Can they hunt down the murderer and get back to retiring in peace? And after all the excitement, will they want to?

My Take

A crime fiction that is not quite a cozy, and not quite geezer lit. Moira, married couple Philip and Lizzie, are British cops who have, for various reasons, decided to retire to Florida in the USA. Philip and Lizzie have been retired at The Homestead for about 10 years while Moira is recently arrived. Rick, on the other hand, is American, recently widowed. Moira is trying to maintain a low profile and seems to have a lot to hide. She is cautious not to reveal too much about herself to her new neighbours.

All four feel that they have been either forced into retirement or have retired too early, that they still have a lot to give. So when Moira discovers a body in the lap pool they slip into old ways. They all know what ought to be done in terms of an investigation, and find it hard to understand while the local police are slow to react.

A reasonably satisfying read with plenty of room for a sequel or two.

My rating: 4.5 

About the author
Steph Broadribb was born in Birmingham and grew up in Buckinghamshire. Most of her working life has been spent between the UK and USA. As her alter ego - Crime Thriller Girl - she indulges her love of all things crime fiction by blogging at www.crimethrillergirl.com
Steph is an alumni of the MA in Creative Writing (Crime Fiction) at City University London, and she trained as a bounty hunter in California. She lives in Buckinghamshire surrounded by horses, cows and chickens.

 

Review: HERMIT, S.R. White

• 
  This edition made available from my local library
  
• Headline Publishing 2020
• ISBN 978-1-4722-6844-0
• 375 pages
• #1 in Dana Russo series

Synopsis (publisher) 

After a puzzling death in the wild bushlands of Australia, detective Dana Russo has just 12 hours to interrogate the prime suspect – a silent, inscrutable man found at the scene of the crime, who disappeared without trace 15 years earlier.

But where has he been? Why won’t he talk? And exactly how dangerous is he? Without conclusive evidence to prove his guilt, Dana faces a desperate race against time to persuade him to speak. But as each interview spirals with fevered intensity, Dana must reckon with her own traumatic past to reveal the shocking truth . . .

Compulsive, atmospheric and stunningly accomplished, HERMIT introduces a thrilling new voice in Australian crime fiction, perfect for fans of Jane Harper’s THE DRY and Chris Hammer’s SCRUBLANDS.

My Take

Three main mystery threads run through this novel. 

First of all how is it that "the hermit" has been "off the radar" for the last 15 years. Why did he become a hermit? How has he lived? 

Secondly, did he kill the person he was found standing over? Why? If he didn't, then who did?

Thirdly, why does Detective Dana Russo avoid contact with people on this day in particular? 

I have never quite met a detective like Dana Russo. Her main aim is to get to know the suspect, to get him to trust her, and to find out what has happened to him in the past. She interviews him in short bursts, on her own, although under observation by her boss and colleagues. She compiles questions that she wants her team to find the answers to, to give her ammunition for her questions to the suspect. She gets him to see her as his only friend, so eventually he will reveal his innermost secrets.

All the time though Dana is comparing their experiences. Asking him questions without revealing too much of what has happened to her in the past.

A fascinating novel, and a compelling read.

My Rating: 4.6

About the author
S. R. White’s debut novel, HERMIT, was a top ten bestseller in Australia and nominated for the Crime Writers’ Association award for the best crime novel by a first-time author. He now lives in Queensland, having worked for a UK police force for twelve years before taking an MA in Creative Writing at Nottingham Trent University.