Aubrey Hamilton Reviews: In a House of Lies by Ian Rankin

In a House of Lies by Ian Rankin (Little, Brown and Company, December 2018) is the 23^rd book in the contemporary police procedural series set in Edinburgh, Scotland, and featuring former Detective Inspector John Rebus.

Rebus is long retired, reaching mandatory retirement age a few books ago. (Rankin has often said that if he knew the required retirement age of the Scotland police force at the time he started writing this series, he would have made Rebus younger to give him more active time on the police force.) Rankin has had to look for ways to keep him credibly involved with the current undertakings of the local police. First he brought him back as temporary staff to clear up a cold case backlog, and then he created cases with some element of history that requires the investigating team to ask Rebus to explain it.

This latest title involves the discovery of the body of a private investigator who had been missing for about a dozen years. What was once a missing persons case is now an established homicide, and all of the original files must be reviewed. The original investigating team members, including Rebus, are interviewed and their reports are re-evaluated. From the beginning the family of the missing man filed complaint after complaint about the police’s failure to locate their son, who was openly gay, and hints of police homophobia, incompetence, and corruption hover over the re-opened case.

Siobhan Clark, former subordinate and wingman to Rebus, is assigned to the project and serves as an information conduit to Rebus. Matthew Fox comes back into the picture, after having been elsewhere for a few books. Rebus as usual does his own looking under rocks and behind doors, trying hard to pull his old frenemy Big Ger Cafferty into the frame. He has never been successful in putting this old crime boss away, and it continues to gall him. As usual in this series justice takes different shapes and colors in the end.

I won a character name in a Rebus book in a mystery conference charity auction years ago and this is the book my name appears in. The forensic anthropologist is Aubrey Hamilton, who makes a few appearances to work with the pathologist and the soils analytical expert. It’s always entertaining to see how authors decide to use my name. In this case I’m pleased to see it in a book that continues to uphold the high standards of this bestselling series with well-realized characters and a convoluted plot, in which everyone has something to hide.

·         Hardcover: 384 pages

·         Publisher: Little, Brown and Company (December 31, 2018)

·         Language: English

·         ISBN-10: 0316479209

·         ISBN-13: 978-0316479202

Aubrey Hamilton ©2018

Aubrey Hamilton is a former librarian who works on Federal It projects by day and reads mysteries at night.

Mystery Fanfare: MYSTERY BYTES: Interesting & Quirky Mystery-Relate...

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Lesa's Book Critiques: Six Cats a Slayin' by Miranda James

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KRL This Week Update for 10/27/18

We are playing catch-up again in KRL and have reviews and giveaways of another big group of mysteries-"Treacherous Is the Night": A Verity Kent series by Anna Lee Huber, "In Want of a Knife": A Little Library Mystery by Elizabeth Buzzelli, "Read and Gone": A Haunted Library Mystery by Allison Brook, "Murder Flies the Coop": Beryl and Edwina Mystery by Jessica Ellicott, and "Silver Anniversary Murder": Lucy Stone series by Leslie Meier http://kingsriverlife.com/10/27/end-of-october-mystery-catch-up-group/

And a review and giveaway of "Bells, Spells, and Murders" by Carol Perry  http://kingsriverlife.com/10/27/bells-spells-and-murders-by-carol-j-perry/

Also a review and giveaway of "Seances are for Suckers" by Tamara Berry, along with an interesting interview with Tamara http://kingsriverlife.com/10/27/seances-are-for-suckers-by-tamara-berry/

We also have the latest mystery Coming Attractions by Sunny Frazier, and a chance to win books by Tina Kashian, Peggy Ehrhart and Cheryl Hollon

http://kingsriverlife.com/10/27/november-coming-attractions-thanksgiving-edition/

And for those who enjoy fantasy with their mystery, a review and giveaway of "Deadly Rising" A Booke of the Hidden Novel by Jeri Westerson, and an interesting guest post by Jeri about demons http://kingsriverlife.com/10/27/deadly-rising-by-jeri-westerson/

And we have reviews of 2 mystery TV shows streaming on BritBoxTV, "The Coroner" and "Gil Mayo Mysteries" http://kingsriverlife.com/10/27/the-coroner-gil-mayo-mysteries-streamingthe-way-of-the-future/

And another dark short story for your Halloween reading, this one by Nancy Brewka-Clark http://kingsriverlife.com/10/27/heir-of-innocence-by-nancy-brewka-clark-a-dark-short-story-for-halloween/

Up on KRL News & Reviews, a review and giveaway of "The Pint of No Return" by Ellie Alexander aka Kate Dyer-Seeley https://www.krlnews.com/2018/10/the-pint-of-no-return-by-ellie-alexander.html

And a review and giveaway of "Royally Dead" by Greta McKennan https://www.krlnews.com/2018/10/royally-dead-by-greta-mckennan.html

And a review and giveaway of "Blame It On Paris" by Lise McClendon

https://www.krlnews.com/2018/10/blame-it-on-paris-lise-mcclendon.html

Happy Halloween!

Lorie

Saturdays With Kaye: Exposed by Lisa Scottoline

Exposed by Lisa Scottoline

In this, the fifth book in the Rosato & DiNunzio series, the story opens on Mary DiNunzio’s father and his friends from their close-knit South Philly neighborhood calling Mary in, in need of a lawyer.

The group of older men is great comic relief: her deaf father, Matty, and three men named Tony. They are differentiated by their nicknames, Tony “From-Down-the-Block,” Pigeon, and Feet. But the case Mary is called in on is a serious one. A man from her childhood, Simon, has just been fired from his job at OpenSpace, a company that makes cubicles. The reason for his firing was obviously bogus and the timing is horrible. He has lost his insurance just when his baby daughter, Rachel, desperately needs an expensive bone marrow transplant for her ALL (acute lymphoblastic leukemia). Mary says that, of course, she will help him sue OpenSpace.

That’s a problem, though, as her law colleague, the tough, prickly Bennie Rosato, points out. She tells Mary that OpenSpace is owned by Dumbarton, which is a client of their firm. Will Mary have to quit her job with the firm to help the old family friend? Will this come between Mary and Bennie? The latter believes she should not take the case.

There are lawsuits and countersuits that pile on to the complications. Rachel’s illness causes ripples in every direction. As the reader is taken into the sad world of childhood cancer, layers of guilt and deception are uncovered on many levels, and both Bennie and Mary realize that the personal and professional consequences are huge for both of them.

Reviewed by Kaye George, Editor of Day of the Dark: Eclipse Stories, for Suspense Magazine

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Crime Review Update: 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 John Lawton in the Countdown hot seat:
http://crimereview.co.uk/page.php/interview/6698

We’re on Twitter at:
Crime Review: @CrimeReviewUK
Linda Wilson: @CrimeReviewer
Sharon Wheeler: @lartonmedia

This week’s reviews are:

Lethal White by Robert Galbraith, reviewed by Linda Wilson

Private investigator Cormoran Strike and his partner Robin Ellacott have another mystery to solve, digging into a blackmail attempt on a Tory MP, as well as looking into the disturbing possibility that a distressed client really did witness the murder of a child many years ago.

Mr Godley’s Phantom by Mal Peet, reviewed by John Cleal Martin

Heath is struggling to settle after the horrors of World War Two. When an old comrade tells of a position with elderly Harold Godley in a lonely part of Devon, he is plunged into a dark mystery.

A Summer of Murder by Oliver Bottini, reviewed by Chris Roberts

Chief Inspector Louise Boni of the Freiburg Kripo is back on duty and immediately pitched into a major case involving the movement of weapons across Europe.

Maigret’s Failure by George Simenon, reviewed by Arnold Taylor

 Maigret is visited by a village school acquaintance he had never liked. He tells the detective that he has been receiving letters threatening to kill him and, reluctant as Maigret is to get involved with the man, he decides to make enquiries.

Kill the Angel by Sandrone Dazieri, reviewed by Sylvia Maughan

A train from Milan pulls into Rome’s Termini station. No one emerges from the Top-Class coach – they are all dead. Deputy Chief Colomba Caselli is the person who discovers them and then sets out to find the culprit

Keeper by Johana Gustawsson, reviewed by John Barnbrook

Famous actress Julianne Bell is abducted in London in circumstances that are just like murders committed ten years earlier – a case that was believed to have been solved. Then a similar murder is reported in Sweden.

Breathe by Dominick Donald, reviewed by John Cleal

Dick Bourton is not like other probationer policemen. He makes connections his superiors don’t want to see, linking a series of deaths as the fogs of the 1952 winter stop the city in its tracks.

Cry To Dream Again by Jane Hawking, reviewed by Arnold Taylor

The Marlow family are on their annual holiday in the French village of Trémaincourt. Seventeen-year-old Shirley has an insatiable desire to become a ballet dancer. One obsession turns into two when, on the ferry journey home, she encounters a handsome young man named Alan.

The Sinners by Ace Atkins, reviewed by Chris Roberts
Sheriff Quinn Colson finds his wedding plans disrupted when two rival drug suppliers come into conflict and disturb the calm of Jericho and Tibbehah County.

Betty Church and the Suffolk Vampire by MRC Kasasian, reviewed by John Cleal
Partly disabled Met sergeant Betty Church avoids being invalided out when her godmother March Middleton arranges a transfer to the Suffolk force. She returns to the town where she grew up to find a police station in chaos and a murderer dubbed the Suffolk Vampire on the loose.

The Friend by Teresa Driscoll, reviewed by Kati Barr-Taylor
Two boys are in hospital 200 miles away and one of them is Sophie’s son. But no one knows which child Ben is.

The First Prehistoric Serial Killer and Other Stories by Teresa Solana, reviewed by Chris Roberts 
A collection of short stories set in or around Barcelona featuring a variety of characters, apparently respectable, who become involved in serious crime.

The Bad Neighbour by David Tallerman, reviewed by Linda Wilson
It doesn’t take Ollie Clay long to realise he’s made a mistake buying a rundown house in a squalid district of Leeds. But he’s made his bed, and now he has to lie on it.

The Helicopter Heist by Jonas Bonnier, reviewed by John Cleal
A gang sets out to commit Sweden’s biggest ever cash robbery.

The Ways of Wolfe by James Carlos Blake, reviewed by Chris Roberts
Axel Wolfe’s first attempt at robbery does not go well and he ends up doing a long stretch at a Texas state prison, feeling sore about the partner who left him behind

Crook’s Hollow by Robert Parker, reviewed by Linda Wilson
Someone wants Thor Loxley dead. But he doesn’t know who, or why.

Murder at the Bayswater Bicycle Club by Linda Stratmann, reviewed by John
Cleal
Frances Doughty is asked by a mysterious government agency to keep an eye on goings-on at a posh West London cycle club and enters a world of corruption, murder, espionage and personal danger.

A Darkness of Dragons by SA Patrick, reviewed by Linda Wilson
The children of Hamelyn have never been found, but at least the man responsible for their disappearance is safely under lock and key. Until the dragons decide to take their revenge

The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov, reviewed by Ewa Sherman
A mysterious Professor of Black Magic arrives with his bizarre entourage in Moscow to wreak havoc among the city’s intellectual elite and ordinary citizens. He soon becomes interested in the fate of the Master and his manuscript about Pontius Pilate.

Before I Let Go by Marieke Nijkamp, reviewed by Linda Wilson
Corey’s best friend is dead, and Corey wants to know how and why that happened. Her questions don’t make her popular in an isolated Alaskan community.

Best wishes

Sharon
www.crimereview.co.uk

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FFB Review: WHISTLE UP THE DEVIL (1953) by Derek Smith Reviewed by Barry Ergang

As we grind through October with rains and cooler weather here and snow flying from time to time up in the Texas Panhandle proving winter is coming, Barry is back today with another all new review. After you check out his work below, head on over to Patti’s blog and see what else is recommended.

WHISTLE UP THE DEVIL (1953) by Derek Smith

I first learned about this novel when Patrick Ohl reviewed it in December of 2011—see http://at-scene-of-crime.blogspot.com/2011/12/devil-take-hindmost.html. I was immediately intrigued because of the way Patrick raved about the cleverness of the story’s two impossible crimes, followed by immediate frustration over the difficulty of finding a copy. At that time, original editions were scarce, and nobody had yet done a reprint.

Then in July of 2012, TomCat reviewed it on his blog—see https://moonlight-detective.blogspot.com/2012/07/where-devil-slumbered.html—and, like Patrick, he gave it a radiant recommendation. He had also clearly been able to find a copy of what I assume, from the cover shown on his site, was one of the original editions, either from John Gifford or the Thriller Book Club. From the logo on the spine shown at Patrick’s site, my guess is the latter.

Barring stumbling upon a copy of one of the aforementioned editions, or unless someone brought out a contemporary reprint, I had resigned myself to never having the opportunity to read this one. But then a stumble occurred, and I discovered that the publisher, Locked Room International, had reissued Whistle Up the Devil, along with two other impossible crime novels and a previously unpublished short story, in The Derek Smith Omnibus, so I snagged an electronic edition. I’ve so far only read the book under consideration here, and there’s no point in my writing out a plot synopsis or my take on it or other elements of the tale because my views would primarily echo those of Patrick and TomCat. Thus, I recommend that you click on the links supplied above and read their insightful reviews.

I have but one small nit to pick, which may or may not pertain to Locked Room International’s both paperback and electronic editions—and with regard to this specific novel in The Derek Smith Omnibus—but the publisher could use a careful proofreader. Although Whistle Up the Devil doesn’t teem with the kinds of mistakes many of us have seen in other electronic publications, it does contain its share of punctuation (and paragraphing) errors, along with sentences containing a few words missing letters that readers can sometimes easily guess at, and perhaps a few sentences (or missing ones) that provide no clues to their meanings.

Don’t let the nits dissuade you. (<--I may have just come up with a variation on a Ray Charles song title.) It’s an eminently worthwhile read for fans of this kind of mystery fiction. It has become a (kind of) classic by virtue of (its relative) obscurity.

© 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.