Crime Review Update

Starting from this issue, we shall feature 20 reviews in each edition of
Crime Review (www.crimereview.co.uk), together with a top industry
interview. This time it’s author Alison Bruce in the Countdown hot seat.
We’re on Twitter at:
Crime Review: @CrimeReviewUK
Linda Wilson: @CrimeReviewer
Sharon Wheeler: @lartonmedia

This week’s reviews are:
TRIGGER MORTIS by Anthony Horowitz, reviewed by Linda Wilson
James Bond is tasked with keeping a British racing driver safe on the
notoriously difficult Nurburgring circuit.

JOHN LE CARRE by Adam Sisman, reviewed by Arnold Taylor
This biography of David Cornwell, better known as John le Carre, attempts
to explain the link between his upbringing and his interest in secret
intelligence.

MAESTRA by LS Hilton, reviewed by Sharon Wheeler
Judith Rashleigh loses her job with a London auction house when she
discovers an art fraud. And then the body count starts to rise.

A VERY ENGLISH SCANDAL by John Preston, reviewed by John Barnbrook
The secret life of Jeremy Thorpe, leader of the Liberal Party in the 1970s,
builds up to a shocking scandal and a court case which rocked the British
establishment.

INSPECTOR SINGH INVESTIGATES: A FRIGHTFULLY ENGLISH EXECUTION by Shamini
Flint, reviewed by Chris Roberts
Inspector Singh is posted from Singapore to London to attend a task force
on inter-racial policing. Mrs Singh insists on coming to keep him out of
trouble.

A FEVER OF THE BLOOD by Oscar de Muriel, reviewed by John Cleal
Mismatched detectives ‘Nine Nails’ McGray and Ian Frey are on the track of
a patient who has escaped Edinburgh’s asylum where a nurse has been
murdered.

WICKED GAME by Matt Johnson, reviewed by Ewa Sherman
Robert Finlay is in his late 40s, and returns to uniform policing in
London. But the past comes to haunt him when two of his former colleagues
are murdered.

SPY OUT THE LAND by Jeremy Duns, reviewed by John Cleal
Double agent Paul Dark hides his own past, but when his family is
kidnapped, he discovers his wife has also been living a double life.

THE PERPLEXING THEFT OF THE JEWEL IN THE CROWN by Vaseem Khan, reviewed by
Chris Roberts
Inspector Chopra (ret’d) is actually present when the Koh-i-Noor diamond is
stolen from its display case, and to save an old friend must help to ensure
its recovery.

ALL THROUGH THE NIGHT by MP Wright, reviewed by Linda Wilson
Bristol PI JT Ellingham is hired to retrieve some papers stolen from an
orphanage, and to find the truth. That’s the part of the job that proves
the hardest.

BRYANT & MAY: LONDON’S GLORY by Christopher Fowler, reviewed by Sylvia
Maughan
A collection of short stories recounting some of the cases of the two
detectives, Bryant and May, of the Peculiar Crimes Unit, based in London.

BLOOD MIST by Mark Roberts, reviewed by Madeleine Marsh
A family is massacred in their home in Liverpool, and another the night
after. DCI Eve Clay is caught in a race against time to save the lives of
the next family.

A DEATH IN THE DALES by Frances Brody, reviewed by John Cleal
Investigator Kate Shackleton is loaned a cottage in a Dales village by her
suitor – and plunged into a decade-old mystery.

THIRTEEN GUESTS by J Jefferson Farjeon, reviewed by Anthea Hawdon
There are 13 guests staying at Bragley Court for a hunting weekend, and
that doesn’t bode well.

THE BOY WHO FOLLOWED RIPLEY by Patricia Highsmith, reviewed by Chris Roberts
Ripley is captivated when a young American arrives at his house in France,
but finds the boy has serious problems.

THE RED HOUSE by Emily Winslow, reviewed by John Cleal
Imogen is obsessed with finding her young brother from whom she was
separated by adoption. Her fiance Maxwell comes to believe he could be the
boy.

STATE OF EMERGENCY by Andy McNab, reviewed by Fiona Spence
Ex-SAS man Tom Buckingham investigates dodgy goings-on in an
ex-serviceman’s charity after foiling an assassination attempt on his Home
Secretary boss.

THE SAPPHIRE CUTLASS by Sharon Gosling, reviewed by Linda Wilson
Remy Brunel and the crew of the ruby airship travel deep into the forests
and mountains of India on the trail of the mysterious Sapphire Cutlass.

THE LIE TREE by Frances Hardinge, reviewed by John Cleal
Faith’s scientist father is found dead under strange circumstances. In his
belongings she discovers references to a tree which feeds off lies.

MODESTY BLAISE: THE YOUNG MISTRESS by Peter O’Donnell and Enric Badia
Romero, reviewed by Linda Wilson
Modesty and Willie tangle with forgers, horse-thieves and a diabolical plot
to kill an old friend in three stories from Peter O’Donnell, drawn by
artist Enric Romero.

Best wishes

Sharon