Friday, November 30, 2018
Mystery Fanfare: CHANUKAH CRIME FICTION // HANUKAH MYSTERIES
Mystery Fanfare: CHANUKAH CRIME FICTION // HANUKAH MYSTERIES: Chanukah ( no matter how you spell it - Hanukah, Hanukkah ) is celebrated for eight days. Hanukkah starts on Sunday night, so you h...
Mystery Fanfare: CHANUKAH CRIME FICTION // HANUKAH MYSTERIES
Mystery Fanfare: CHANUKAH CRIME FICTION // HANUKAH MYSTERIES: Chanukah ( no matter how you spell it - Hanukah, Hanukkah ) is celebrated for eight days. Hanukkah starts on Sunday night, so you h...
FFB Review: On The Inside: A Reid Bennett Mystery by Ted Wood
Friday means Friday’s Forgotten Books hosted by Patti Abbott. This week Todd Mason is collecting the links and will have them over on his Sweet Freedom blog. Also, please take the time to think about Patti and her husband, Phil, who is fighting cancer with everything he has. Things have been rougher than normal the last couple of weeks. Say a prayer, light a candle, do whatever works for you, as he needs all the help he can get right now. Science can and does do a hell of a lot, but I also know Sandi was here far longer becuase so many of you said prayers and more on her behalf. Tomorrow is the one year anniversary of my losing my everything. I am begging you to do whatever works for you for Phil and for Patti. Thank you.
As On
The Inside: A Reid Bennet Mystery begins, newly Married Reid Bennett is
the mining town of Elliot on an undercover assignment. He should have been
away on his honeymoon with Freda. Instead, he is applying to be an officer on
the local police force in the hopes that he can substantiate the rumors of police
misconduct and corruption. It might have been more than a rumor, but the man
who contacted the Provincial Police Commission was dead the day after he called
to report the situation.
Whatever he knew
and was going to tell investigators died with him. It is possible that the guy
might have accidentally died as a result of drunk driving. Considering he had
14 years of sobriety, the crash could have just as easily been murder. Either
way, the PPC need the situation evaluated and with the Elliot Police Chief
accused by the dead man, they don’t know who else in that department they can
trust.
The PPC
know what Bennett did in Toronto and what he has been doing in Murphy’s Harbour
the last couple of years. He is a good cop and one that can hold his own in
physical situations when needed. Thanks to media coverage about what happened
in Toronto a few years back and a couple of more recent cases in Murphy’s
Harbour, Bennett has ready-made reputation which should work in his favor on
the undercover assignment. Good thing Freda is willing to do what needs doing
and Sam can go too. It will be a family affair in more ways than one.
On The Inside: A
Reid Bennett Mystery is the 7th installment in a very good series that
started with Dead
In The Water. Published in 1990, the focus is on the mystery of
what is going on in Elliot. That mystery focus means, as always, there is
plenty of action in this one just like the other books in the series. This book
is also a bit more police procedurally as much of the book is Bennett is
actually working on shift duty with other officers.
Like the
other books in the series, On The Inside: A Reid Bennett Mystery,
is a good one.
On The Inside: A Reid Bennett Mystery
Ted Wood
Charles Scribner’s Sons
1990
ISBN# 0-684-19090-7
Hardback (also available in paperback and digital formats)
280 Pages
Material supplied by way of an Interlibrary Loan filled by the
staff of the Tom Green County Library in San Angelo, Texas, and sent to the
good folks of the Dallas Public Library. My sincere and appreciative thanks
to all involved.
Kevin R. Tipple ©2018
Thursday, November 29, 2018
Do Some Damage: What The Hell Is Punk Noir Magazine?
Do Some Damage: What The Hell Is Punk Noir Magazine?: Paul D. Brazill quite possibly cements his place as one of the hardest working writers in crime fiction with his latest creation, Punk Noir...
[DOROTHYL] Only days left to win books and more from KRL
Only days left to win copies of a fun group of food and craft mysteries perfect for your holiday reading-"A Crafter Knits a Clue:" A Handcrafted Mystery by Holly Quinn, "How to Knit a Murder": Seaside Knitters Society Mystery by Sally Goldenbaum, "Purls and Poison": Black Sheep Knit Mystery by Anne Canadeo, "Forever Fudge!" A Candy-Coated Mystery with Recipes by Nancy J Coco, "In Cold Chocolate": A Southern Chocolate Shop Mystery by Dorothy McFalls/Dorothy St. James, and "The Walking Bread": A Bread Shop Mystery by Winnie Archer
http://kingsriverlife.com/11/17/food-mysteries-for-your-holidays/
And to win a signed copy of our first Christmas mystery of the season, "Death of a Neighborhood Scrooge" by Laura Levine
http://kingsriverlife.com/11/17/death-of-a-neighborhood-scrooge-by-laura-levine/
And to win a of "Drop Dead Ornaments" by Lois Winston and while there check out a fun guest post by Lois and a Christmas craft
http://kingsriverlife.com/11/17/drop-dead-ornaments-by-lois-winston/
Also to win a copy of "Below the Tree Line" by Susan Oleksiw
https://www.krlnews.com/2018/11/below-tree-line-by-susan-oleksiw.html
And to win a copy of "Missing by the Sea" by Kathi Daley
https://www.krlnews.com/2018/11/missing-by-sea-by-kathi-daley.html
Happy reading,
Lorie
http://kingsriverlife.com/11/17/food-mysteries-for-your-holidays/
And to win a signed copy of our first Christmas mystery of the season, "Death of a Neighborhood Scrooge" by Laura Levine
http://kingsriverlife.com/11/17/death-of-a-neighborhood-scrooge-by-laura-levine/
And to win a of "Drop Dead Ornaments" by Lois Winston and while there check out a fun guest post by Lois and a Christmas craft
http://kingsriverlife.com/11/17/drop-dead-ornaments-by-lois-winston/
Also to win a copy of "Below the Tree Line" by Susan Oleksiw
https://www.krlnews.com/2018/11/below-tree-line-by-susan-oleksiw.html
And to win a copy of "Missing by the Sea" by Kathi Daley
https://www.krlnews.com/2018/11/missing-by-sea-by-kathi-daley.html
Happy reading,
Lorie
Wednesday, November 28, 2018
Publishing ... and Other Forms of Insanity: 58 Fabulous Writing Contests in December 2018 - No...
Publishing ... and Other Forms of Insanity: 58 Fabulous Writing Contests in December 2018 - No...: Wikimedia December is a great month for writing contests. This month there are no fewer that 58 contests, and none charge entry fees. Pr...
Crime Time : TROUBLED DEATHS – Roderic Jeffries
Crime Time : TROUBLED DEATHS – Roderic Jeffries: Because of my neighbors, who've become hypersensitized to my sonorous emoting while engrossed in crime novels, I nearly choked tryi...
Bookblog of the Bristol Library: Nevermore: Johnny Got His Gun, Hope Never Dies, Li...
Bookblog of the Bristol Library: Nevermore: Johnny Got His Gun, Hope Never Dies, Li...: Reported by Ambrea This week, Nevermore started their meeting with a look at Dalton Trumbo’s novel Johnny Got His Gun . Se...
Bookblog of the Bristol Library: Murder in an English Village by Jessica Ellicott
Bookblog of the Bristol Library: Murder in an English Village by Jessica Ellicott: Reviewed by Jeanne Edwina Davenport is having a bit of financial embarrassment. A frugal soul, she has made all the economies s...
Publishing ... and Other Forms of Insanity: 38 Calls for Submissions in December 2018 - Paying...
Publishing ... and Other Forms of Insanity: 38 Calls for Submissions in December 2018 - Paying...: Pixabay There are more than three dozen calls for submissions in December. All of these are paying markets, and none charge submission f...
Tuesday, November 27, 2018
Gravetapping: SPLIT IMAGE by Ron Faust
Gravetapping: SPLIT IMAGE by Ron Faust: Split Image is best read cold, and this review is loaded with spoilers. Read ahead at your own peril and rest assured it is fantastic. ...
Monday, November 26, 2018
TEXAS BOOK LOVER: Monday Roundup: Texas Literary Calendar Nov 26-Dec...
TEXAS BOOK LOVER: Monday Roundup: Texas Literary Calendar Nov 26-Dec...: Bookish goings-on in Texas for the week of November 26-December 2, 2018: Special Events: 14th Annual Signatures Author Series , The Wo...
Aubrey Hamilton Reviews: Wrong Light by Matt Coyle
Wrong
Light by Matt Coyle (Oceanview Publishing, December
2018) is the fifth book in the Rick Cahill private investigator series. Years
ago Rick was accused of the murder of his wife but never convicted. The police
and the media believe he has gotten away with a murder he knows he didn’t
commit. This assumption of guilt puts him in the cross-hairs of any law
enforcement agency that finds him in the vicinity of a crime. He’s considered
leaving his home of San Diego but his attachment is strong enough to outweigh
the logic that tells him to start over somewhere else.
In this outing Naomi Hendrix is the voice of San
Diego’s late-night talk radio, where the sleepless and the lonely go to find a
friend. She has attracted the attention of a lunatic too, and the manager of
the radio station hires Rick to find the person who is stalking her. Rick is
appalled at the lack of security at the station and equally concerned about
Naomi’s reluctance to tell him about her background. Before he can delve deeply
into whatever she is hiding, one of the waitresses at the drive-in near the
radio station who might have seen the stalker disappears. Rick is overcome with
fear that the stalker has abducted her and searches frantically for her while
fending off the local police who would like Rick to back off.
At this most inconvenient of times, an old nemesis
from the local branch of the Russian Mafia decides to call in the favor that he
thinks Rick owes him. So Rick is simultaneously trying to protect Naomi, find
the missing waitress, and keep the Russian Mafia from killing him. He calls in
a few favors of his own to help out while he juggles far too many balls.
This is another series that deserves more reader attention
than it seems to receive. The plots are creative while observing the
conventions of the hard-boiled PI genre. Even the minor characters are strongly
developed. The individual titles in the series are well-regarded by Library Journal, Publishers Weekly, and other major reviewing outlets, and a number
of them have been shortlisted for major awards. The first in the series won the Anthony
Award for Best First Novel, the San Diego Book Award for Best Mystery, and the
Ben Franklin Silver Award for Best New Voice in Fiction.
For fans of edgy, well-written crime stories.
·
Hardcover: 352 pages
·
Publisher: Oceanview Publishing (December 4, 2018)
·
Language: English
·
ISBN-10: 1608093166
·
ISBN-13: 978-1608093168
Aubrey
Hamilton ©2018
Aubrey
Hamilton is a former librarian who works on Federal It projects by day and
reads mysteries at night.
Sunday, November 25, 2018
RTE for November 24
The November 24 issue of RTE is out and includes fifteen new reviews as
well as a new interview:
http://www.reviewingtheevidence.com
Eric Beetner in the 'Sixty Seconds with . . .' interview hot seat:
http://www.reviewingtheevidence.com/interviews.html?id=262
Since this is our post-Thanksgiving issue, it's a bit tinsel-y.
REVIEWS THIS WEEK:
IN THE GALWAY SILENCE Ken Bruen Reviewed by Yvonne Klein
THE WITCH ELM Tana French Reviewed by Jim Napier
A DEATH IN EDEN Keith McCafferty Reviewed by Sharon Mensing
THE SPYING MOON Sandra Ruttan Reviewed by Diana Borse
PAPER GODS Goldie Taylor Reviewed by Ruth Castleberry
A KNIFE IN THE FOG Bradley Harper Reviewed by Rebecca Nesvet
MISS BLAINE'S PREFECT
AND THE GOLDEN SAMOVAR Olga Wojtas Reviewed by Yvonne Klein
NOBODY'S SWEETHEART NOW Maggie Robinson Reviewed by Meredith Frazier
NAUGHTY ON ICE Maia Chance Reviewed by Diana Borse
A CHRISTMAS REVELATION Anne Perry Reviewed by Lourdes Venard
LARK! THE HERALD ANGELS SING Donna Andrews Reviewed by Susan Hoover
SIX CATS A SLAYIN' Miranda James Reviewed by PJ Coldren
DECK THE HOUNDS David Rosenfelt Reviewed by PJ Coldren
AN ELDERLY LADY IS
UP TO NO GOOD Helene Tursten Reviewed by Yvonne Klein
THE POCKET DETECTIVE:
100+ puzzles Kate Jackson, ed. Reviewed by Rik Shepherd
We post more than 900 new reviews a year -- all of them are archived on
the site -- as well as a new interview with a top author every issue.
Yvonne Klein
Editor: ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com
well as a new interview:
http://www.reviewingtheevidence.com
Eric Beetner in the 'Sixty Seconds with . . .' interview hot seat:
http://www.reviewingtheevidence.com/interviews.html?id=262
Since this is our post-Thanksgiving issue, it's a bit tinsel-y.
REVIEWS THIS WEEK:
IN THE GALWAY SILENCE Ken Bruen Reviewed by Yvonne Klein
THE WITCH ELM Tana French Reviewed by Jim Napier
A DEATH IN EDEN Keith McCafferty Reviewed by Sharon Mensing
THE SPYING MOON Sandra Ruttan Reviewed by Diana Borse
PAPER GODS Goldie Taylor Reviewed by Ruth Castleberry
A KNIFE IN THE FOG Bradley Harper Reviewed by Rebecca Nesvet
MISS BLAINE'S PREFECT
AND THE GOLDEN SAMOVAR Olga Wojtas Reviewed by Yvonne Klein
NOBODY'S SWEETHEART NOW Maggie Robinson Reviewed by Meredith Frazier
NAUGHTY ON ICE Maia Chance Reviewed by Diana Borse
A CHRISTMAS REVELATION Anne Perry Reviewed by Lourdes Venard
LARK! THE HERALD ANGELS SING Donna Andrews Reviewed by Susan Hoover
SIX CATS A SLAYIN' Miranda James Reviewed by PJ Coldren
DECK THE HOUNDS David Rosenfelt Reviewed by PJ Coldren
AN ELDERLY LADY IS
UP TO NO GOOD Helene Tursten Reviewed by Yvonne Klein
THE POCKET DETECTIVE:
100+ puzzles Kate Jackson, ed. Reviewed by Rik Shepherd
We post more than 900 new reviews a year -- all of them are archived on
the site -- as well as a new interview with a top author every issue.
Yvonne Klein
Editor: ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com
Saturday, November 24, 2018
Bookblog of the Bristol Library: Before the Devil Breaks You by Libba Bray
Bookblog of the Bristol Library: Before the Devil Breaks You by Libba Bray: Reviewed by Christy After battling a sleeping sickness in the Lair of Dreams , the Diviners are back in the third insta...
Beneath the Stains of Time: Die Again, Macready (1984) by Jack Livingston
Beneath the Stains of Time: Die Again, Macready (1984) by Jack Livingston: A strange, but fascinating, passageway in the locked room-and impossible crime genre is a dark, grimy alley that opens onto those mean st...
Saturdays With Kaye: Cross Her Heart By Sarah Pinborough
Cross Her Heart By Sarah Pinborough
This is a dark British tale of family relationships.
It’s Ava’s sixteenth birthday, but a school day. Her mother,
Lisa, contemplates the time Ava will fly from the nest, and it will be too soon
for her. The first hint of shadows as they’re getting ready for the day is
Lisa’s alarm—almost panic—at an unfamiliar car coming up the street. She has to
tell herself that she and Ava are safe to calm her racing heart. At work, her
unease continues as she gears up for a presentation for a potential client,
Simon Manning. She feels an attraction developing between them that she doesn’t
know how to deal with.
Ava is involved with a good swim team consisting of three other
girls she has known for only ten months, but has bonded with. She feels closest
to Jodie, who is much older but likes swimming with them. They compare their
weird mothers. Ava’s hovers and is overprotective, Jodie’s is mostly absent.
Lisa and Ava alternate telling the story as it deepens and darkens. Ava has
started getting involved with an exciting romance online. She knows about the
dangers, but she’s smart and aware, right? Nothing bad will happen. She has to
keep this secret from her mother, though, because she would flip.
Meanwhile, Lisa is struggling to keep her sanity as mysterious
signs start popping up, reminding her of a life she thought she shed, and
making her physically sick to her stomach. The worst thing that could happen
would be for the people from her past to find her and Ava. Even Lisa’s best friend,
sunny and outgoing Marilyn, has her own dark secrets.
Mother and daughter, separately and together, head toward
disaster, both of them trusting the wrong people as the reader cringes for what
could be coming; not knowing what it is, but knowing it will be disastrous.
The past and the present speed to converge on an awful event
bringing about the startling, defining moment in their lives.
Reviewed by Kaye George, Editor of Day of the Dark: Eclipse Stories, for Suspense Magazine
Friday, November 23, 2018
A Writer's Life....Caroline Clemmons: FOR MELISSA AID HER CANCER FIGHT!
A Writer's Life....Caroline Clemmons: FOR MELISSA AID HER CANCER FIGHT!: A Rafflecopter giveaway is at the end of this post! This title is also on sale for 99 cents! All proceeds go to help Melissa...
Crime Time : TWO-FACED DEATH –Roderic Jeffries
Crime Time : TWO-FACED DEATH –Roderic Jeffries: I wish I could say I read somewhere recently an IT innovation would be available soon--some sort of software, I imagine--that would enabl...
FFB Review: THE WENCH IS WICKED (1955) by Carter Brown Reviewed by Barry Ergang
Hope your
Thanksgiving was a good one. Barry Ergang is back today to help you cope with
your post turkey fog. Make sure you head over to Todd Mason and his blog, Sweet Freedom, for the full list.
Detective Lieutenant Al Wheeler has a date with a blonde
singer named Goldie as soon as he’s finished his shift—which will end ten
minutes after the call he receives
from motorcycle patrolman Macey. Macey has discovered a body in a long-unused
gravel pit a mile past the Eldorado Roadhouse, a body entertaining three fatal bullet
holes. When Captain Parker insists that Wheeler investigate, he reluctantly
does so and learns from a corpse’s billfold that the victim is one Robert
Heinman from New York.
© 2018 Barry Ergang
THE
WENCH IS WICKED (1955) by Carter Brown
Reviewed
by Barry Ergang
(Before we go further, this is definitively not a police procedural. Wheeler and
crew could pollute a crime scene faster than a factory stack.)
The billfold also contains an inscribed photograph of
alluring movie star Deidre Damour. It happens that a western starring Ms.
Damour is being filmed in the area. When he digs further, Wheeler learns that
Heinman wrote an exposé in the publication Dynamite
that did little to endear many to him in Hollywood, including a number of the
personalities in the local film unit.
There is something questionable about Macey’s report
concerning his discovery of the body that Wheeler wants to follow up on. Doing
so takes him back to the gravel pit where Macey is shot and killed, and the
murderer takes off with Wheeler’s prowl car. The result is a meeting with his
unhappy captain, the police commissioner, and a politically ambitious district
attorney—a meeting that results in Wheeler’s suspension. This, of course,
doesn’t deter him from investigating, and his probe entangles him with the
Hollywood crowd and several local personalities. It also nearly costs him his
life in the obligatory sock finish.
Readers familiar with the work of Carter Brown (real name Alan
G. Yates) know that he was a one-man fiction factory, grinding out hundreds of short,
very fast reads. The Wench is Wicked
is the first in the Al Wheeler series. I’ve read only one other, The Lady is Transparent, quite a number
of years ago. I’ve read titles in a few of his other series, my favorites being
those starring the ditsy Mavis Seidlitz. (If I had kept all of the various
Carter Brown novels my father bought and read, most of which I didn’t, I’d conceivably
own a minor fortune in collectibles.)
Barring a major disruption of the space-time continuum, it
is extremely unlikely that Brown will be remembered as a top-shelf literary master
of crime fiction a la Dashiell Hammett,
Raymond Chandler, Ross Macdonald or Jim Thompson, but he qualifies as a decent
entertainer. Having said so, however, I must add with greater specificity that The Wench is Wicked struck me as
middling—and that’s being generous. Its characters are not well-defined and, in
most cases, are stereotypes. Wheeler—via his creator—tries much too hard to be
funny and, for me at least, doesn’t succeed. Brown’s prose is relatively
pedestrian, although he sometimes tries to be clever and winds up with unintentionally
fatuous moments—e.g., “Goldie was there, all right. She was sitting facing the
bar, her chin propped up on her elbows” is worthy of mention in Bill Pronzini’s
wonderful Gun in Cheek or Son of Gun in Cheek.
I read this title, the first, in the electronic version of
Stark House’s collection of the first three Al Wheeler mysteries: The Wench is Wicked, Blonde Verdict, and
Delilah Was Deadly.
© 2018 Barry Ergang
Derringer Award-winner Barry
Ergang’s mystery novelette, The Play of
Light and Shadow, is available at Amazon and Smashwords, along with some of his other
work.
Thursday, November 22, 2018
Thanksgiving Day 2018
Thanksgiving these days has never been the same since 2011. It was back then, after a couple of weeks in the hospital with a collapsed lung and a ton of fluid withdrawals later, Sandi and I would learn she had cancer. It was on Thansgiving Day at around 2:30 in the afternoon when nine doctors and several nurses gathered around Sandi's bed at Baylor Plano to tell us she had two forms of Non Hodgkins Cancer. It was very bad and they were sure that she could beat it.
It was only later when the stem cell transplant failed and they moved her to terminal staus while moving her case to Medical City Dallas Hospital we knew that someday in the not so distant future it would all be over. Sandi made six Thanksgivings which was far longer than anyone expected after the stem cell transplant failed so quickly.
Anyway, Thanksgiving has never been the same and it really was different this year. It was our first one without her and happened just two days after my birthday. A day that passed without Sandi being in my life since the fall of 1980 when I met her all those years ago at Richland Junior College. I am 57 now with a widower withalmost one year under my belt and I am still as devestated and destroyed as I was when she passed on December 1st.
People keep telling me it will get better. It isn't. If anything, it is getting worse.
Today has been very difficult, but Scott and I focused on football and doing various things around here. Sandi always did a turkey with my job being to lift the bird where it needed to go as it moved from fridge to sink to oven and back out again. So, since I don't have a clue how to cook that, we had a ham which I cooked yesterday evening. Pumpkin pie awaits us later this evening for a late night dessert.
It has been a quiet Thanksgiving around here. We miss her, it massively hurts, and yet everything and everyone else goes right on doing whatever like nothing happened. We tried to do something different...to start something new as she would have wnted....but, I don't know that it took.
It was only later when the stem cell transplant failed and they moved her to terminal staus while moving her case to Medical City Dallas Hospital we knew that someday in the not so distant future it would all be over. Sandi made six Thanksgivings which was far longer than anyone expected after the stem cell transplant failed so quickly.
Anyway, Thanksgiving has never been the same and it really was different this year. It was our first one without her and happened just two days after my birthday. A day that passed without Sandi being in my life since the fall of 1980 when I met her all those years ago at Richland Junior College. I am 57 now with a widower withalmost one year under my belt and I am still as devestated and destroyed as I was when she passed on December 1st.
People keep telling me it will get better. It isn't. If anything, it is getting worse.
Today has been very difficult, but Scott and I focused on football and doing various things around here. Sandi always did a turkey with my job being to lift the bird where it needed to go as it moved from fridge to sink to oven and back out again. So, since I don't have a clue how to cook that, we had a ham which I cooked yesterday evening. Pumpkin pie awaits us later this evening for a late night dessert.
It has been a quiet Thanksgiving around here. We miss her, it massively hurts, and yet everything and everyone else goes right on doing whatever like nothing happened. We tried to do something different...to start something new as she would have wnted....but, I don't know that it took.
New Issue of Crime Review
We feature new 20
reviews in each issue of Crime Review (www.crimereview.co.uk), together with a top industry interview. This time it’s
author Mike Hodges in the Countdown hot seat.
We’re on Twitter at:
Crime Review: @CrimeReviewUK
Linda Wilson: @CrimeReviewer
Sharon Wheeler: @lartonmedia
This week’s reviews are:
THE FOX by Frederick Forsyth, reviewed by John Cleal
A retired Cold Warrior uses the unique skills of a 17-year-old computer hacker with Asperger’s Syndrome to change the balance of world power.
THE RECKONING by Yrsa Sigurðardóttir, reviewed by Ewa Sherman
A chilling message found in a school’s time capsule says that six people will be killed. The threat has been written ten years ago. Disgraced detective Huldar is assigned to investigate this seemingly non-case.
THE OTHER WOMAN by Daniel Silva, reviewed by Arnold Taylor
A long time ago an event occurred that had profound consequences for the future, involving a young child who was brought up with certain beliefs that practically determined the course of a life. The consequences of that upbringing eventually become clear.
MAIGRET IN COURT by Georges Simenon, reviewed by Chris Roberts
When a woman and child are murdered, Maigret finds himself in court, uneasy with the way human events are distorted through the prism of official proceedings.
THE WELL OF ICE by Andrea Carter, reviewed by Linda Wilson
When the local pub burns down, the heart seems to have been ripped out of the small Irish town of Glendara. Matters get worse when local solicitor Benedicta ‘Ben’ O’Keefe and Garda Sergeant Tom Molloy make a grim discovery on Christmas Day.
DID YOU SEE MELODY? By Sophie Hannah, reviewed by Sylvia Maughan
Cara Burrows needs time away from her family to think. At her holiday resort, she thinks that she sees a young girl who had, according to common belief, been murdered some years previously.
THE KILLING HOUSE by Claire McGowan, reviewed by John Cleal
When a puzzling missing persons case, possibly connected to her own past, opens up in her home town, forensic psychologist Paula Maguire can’t help but return.
THE FORGER by Cay Rademacher, reviewed by Arnold Taylor
Chief Inspector Frank Stave has decided to transfer from the homicide section of Hamburg CID to Department S, which deals with economic crime, mainly the black market. Even he’s not sure why he wants to move.
We’re on Twitter at:
Crime Review: @CrimeReviewUK
Linda Wilson: @CrimeReviewer
Sharon Wheeler: @lartonmedia
This week’s reviews are:
THE FOX by Frederick Forsyth, reviewed by John Cleal
A retired Cold Warrior uses the unique skills of a 17-year-old computer hacker with Asperger’s Syndrome to change the balance of world power.
THE RECKONING by Yrsa Sigurðardóttir, reviewed by Ewa Sherman
A chilling message found in a school’s time capsule says that six people will be killed. The threat has been written ten years ago. Disgraced detective Huldar is assigned to investigate this seemingly non-case.
THE OTHER WOMAN by Daniel Silva, reviewed by Arnold Taylor
A long time ago an event occurred that had profound consequences for the future, involving a young child who was brought up with certain beliefs that practically determined the course of a life. The consequences of that upbringing eventually become clear.
MAIGRET IN COURT by Georges Simenon, reviewed by Chris Roberts
When a woman and child are murdered, Maigret finds himself in court, uneasy with the way human events are distorted through the prism of official proceedings.
THE WELL OF ICE by Andrea Carter, reviewed by Linda Wilson
When the local pub burns down, the heart seems to have been ripped out of the small Irish town of Glendara. Matters get worse when local solicitor Benedicta ‘Ben’ O’Keefe and Garda Sergeant Tom Molloy make a grim discovery on Christmas Day.
DID YOU SEE MELODY? By Sophie Hannah, reviewed by Sylvia Maughan
Cara Burrows needs time away from her family to think. At her holiday resort, she thinks that she sees a young girl who had, according to common belief, been murdered some years previously.
THE KILLING HOUSE by Claire McGowan, reviewed by John Cleal
When a puzzling missing persons case, possibly connected to her own past, opens up in her home town, forensic psychologist Paula Maguire can’t help but return.
THE FORGER by Cay Rademacher, reviewed by Arnold Taylor
Chief Inspector Frank Stave has decided to transfer from the homicide section of Hamburg CID to Department S, which deals with economic crime, mainly the black market. Even he’s not sure why he wants to move.
IN THE CAGE WHERE YOUR
SAVIOURS LIE by Malcolm Mackay, reviewed by John
Cleal
Young and naive private investigator Darian Ross is dragged into a world where no one can be trusted when he investigates the killing of a money launderer for his former partner, the fascinating Maeve Campbell.
THE BOY AT THE DOOR by Alex Dahl, reviewed by Ewa Sherman
Cecilia Wilborg’s picture-perfect Scandinavian life is threatened when a small, lonely and vulnerable boy enters her world. She’s determined to protect her family and status in the wealthy Norwegian town, and takes extraordinary measures to keep her dark secrets hidden.
NO TIME TO CRY by James Oswald, reviewed by Linda Wilson
DC Constance Fairchild’s undercover operation ends abruptly when she finds the dead body of her boss who’s been tortured and shot in the head. Constance is determined to find his killers.
VERMIN by William A Graham, reviewed by John Cleal
When Scottish PI Allan Linton is hired to find a missing young woman he finds himself in a world of gangsters, people traffickers and murder.
BROTHERS IN BLOOD by Amer Anwar, reviewed by Chris Roberts
Zaq Khan’s criminal record consigns him to a driving job and things get worse when his employer directs him to recover an absconding daughter, or else.
BAD APPLE by Zoje Stage, reviewed by Kati Barr-Taylor
Hanna may only be seven years old, but she is a genius at showing her love for daddy. And her hatred for mummy.
KILLER INTENT by Tony Kent, reviewed by John Cleal
What appears a failed assassination attempt on the American president during a visit to London leads three strangers into a world of political conspiracy, violence and murder.
GANGSTER NATION by Tod Goldberg, reviewed by Chris Roberts
Mob hitman Sal Cupertine escaped from Chicago in a meat truck after killing three FBI agents, but hiding out in Las Vegas as a rabbi has its problems.
KISS OF DEATH by Paul Finch, reviewed by John Barnbrook
The National Crime Group’s existence is at threat and so its members are instructed to hunt down wanted criminals. DS ‘Heck’ Heckenberg is charged with finding one of the most wanted men in the UK.
LIKE LIONS by Brian Panowich, reviewed by Chris Roberts
Sheriff Clayton, the last surviving member of the Burroughs family which for decades ran drugs from Georgia’s Bull Mountain, comes under attack from a rival clan.
DEAD LOCK by Damien Boyd, reviewed by Linda Wilson
The hunt for a missing ten-year-old girl intensifies when a second girl of the same age disappears. The police believe the two are connected, and DI Nick Dixon is called back from holiday to help the investigation,
IT ENDS WITH YOU by SK Wright, reviewed by Linda Wilson
When a murdered girl is found in woodland, suspicion immediately falls on her boyfriend. The police think they’ve got the killer, but others aren’t so sure.
Best wishes
Sharon
www.crimereview.co.uk
Cleal
Young and naive private investigator Darian Ross is dragged into a world where no one can be trusted when he investigates the killing of a money launderer for his former partner, the fascinating Maeve Campbell.
THE BOY AT THE DOOR by Alex Dahl, reviewed by Ewa Sherman
Cecilia Wilborg’s picture-perfect Scandinavian life is threatened when a small, lonely and vulnerable boy enters her world. She’s determined to protect her family and status in the wealthy Norwegian town, and takes extraordinary measures to keep her dark secrets hidden.
NO TIME TO CRY by James Oswald, reviewed by Linda Wilson
DC Constance Fairchild’s undercover operation ends abruptly when she finds the dead body of her boss who’s been tortured and shot in the head. Constance is determined to find his killers.
VERMIN by William A Graham, reviewed by John Cleal
When Scottish PI Allan Linton is hired to find a missing young woman he finds himself in a world of gangsters, people traffickers and murder.
BROTHERS IN BLOOD by Amer Anwar, reviewed by Chris Roberts
Zaq Khan’s criminal record consigns him to a driving job and things get worse when his employer directs him to recover an absconding daughter, or else.
BAD APPLE by Zoje Stage, reviewed by Kati Barr-Taylor
Hanna may only be seven years old, but she is a genius at showing her love for daddy. And her hatred for mummy.
KILLER INTENT by Tony Kent, reviewed by John Cleal
What appears a failed assassination attempt on the American president during a visit to London leads three strangers into a world of political conspiracy, violence and murder.
GANGSTER NATION by Tod Goldberg, reviewed by Chris Roberts
Mob hitman Sal Cupertine escaped from Chicago in a meat truck after killing three FBI agents, but hiding out in Las Vegas as a rabbi has its problems.
KISS OF DEATH by Paul Finch, reviewed by John Barnbrook
The National Crime Group’s existence is at threat and so its members are instructed to hunt down wanted criminals. DS ‘Heck’ Heckenberg is charged with finding one of the most wanted men in the UK.
LIKE LIONS by Brian Panowich, reviewed by Chris Roberts
Sheriff Clayton, the last surviving member of the Burroughs family which for decades ran drugs from Georgia’s Bull Mountain, comes under attack from a rival clan.
DEAD LOCK by Damien Boyd, reviewed by Linda Wilson
The hunt for a missing ten-year-old girl intensifies when a second girl of the same age disappears. The police believe the two are connected, and DI Nick Dixon is called back from holiday to help the investigation,
IT ENDS WITH YOU by SK Wright, reviewed by Linda Wilson
When a murdered girl is found in woodland, suspicion immediately falls on her boyfriend. The police think they’ve got the killer, but others aren’t so sure.
Best wishes
Sharon
www.crimereview.co.uk