Al’s career as an ‘interloper’ has been governed by a set of self-imposed rules that have seen him successfully occupy a number of empty properties anAl’s career as an ‘interloper’ has been governed by a set of self-imposed rules that have seen him successfully occupy a number of empty properties and leave without their owners ever knowing he was there – or so he thinks. However, a single breach of one of his rules – that he always works alone – proves a costly mistake, threatening to bring the whole edifice tumbling down. The location from which he’s writing his account of events is a sign of how badly things went wrong. (Think Kind Heart and Coronets but without the potential death sentence.)
Teaming up with three other ‘interlopers’ – Jonny and sisters, Em and Elle – Al’s persuaded they really need to discover the person responsible for the compromising position in which they find themselves. It turns out their situation is more precarious than they realised and there is potential danger from many directions, including the menacing individual they nickname Mr Bowling Ball. Soon Al, Jonny, Em and Elle find themselves in a world of financial shenanigans and international espionage. By the end of the book you may find yourself knowing more than you ever imagined about offshore trusts, unless of course you already possess one.
I loved technology wizard Jonny who’s almost umbilically connected to his laptop, has a wardrobe consisting solely of T-shirts with quirky slogans and who can secrete a microphone in the most unlikely places. Em and Elle I did find a little bit interchangeable although they both displayed a healthy dose of chutzpah.
Told in conversational style, Al’s self-deprecating humour runs through the book and there are some great puns. (You’d expect nothing less from an author who also writes jokes for a living.) My favourite was ‘The camera is going to ruin my life. I am literally Canon fodder.’ I also loved some of the set pieces such as when Em and Al brazenly crash the opening of a ultra hip boutique.
Al comes across as confident, even slightly cocky, and he can certainly create an intricate life story that’s almost completely untrue. However, as the book progresses we begin to appreciate that it’s a bit of a facade and that perhaps his ‘interloping’ isn’t as much a lifestyle choice as he’d like us to believe but the symptom of a rather rootless existence. But even when your luck seems to have finally run out, never underestimate the kindness of half an orange KitKat.
There’s a more serious aspect to the story as well. Al’s position mirrors that of many young people these days who find themselves homeless, not necessarily sleeping rough, but sofa-surfing or living with their parents because they cannot afford to rent or buy a home. Okay, so Al’s sofa-surfing is done on other people’s sofas without their knowledge but at least he’s careful not to leave any crumbs or move your favourite coaster. And, in case you weren’t aware of them before, the book introduces us to the existence of ‘poor doors’ and even ‘poor floors’.
Although the book didn’t have quite the outrageously audacious ending I was hoping for, A Beginner’s Guide to Breaking and Entering is a thoroughly entertaining crime caper and tremendous fun....more
I haven’t read Death and the Conjuror, the first book featuring illusionist turned sleuth Joseph Spector, so waiting for him to appear in this one wasI haven’t read Death and the Conjuror, the first book featuring illusionist turned sleuth Joseph Spector, so waiting for him to appear in this one was like awaiting the start of the main act. Actually I’m being rather unfair to young lawyer and amateur magician. Edmund Ibbs, who carries a good deal of the first part of the book. I found him a really engaging, sympathetic figure although, as the book progresses, you learn that not everyone may be exactly what they seem. What, even Edmund? Well, he does find himself in a rather incriminating situation…
A theatre makes the perfect setting for a murder mystery because it’s all about artifice, make believe and playing a part. Add set, lighting and costume changes and you create situations designed to confuse, amuse, shock or surprise. And none of the audience can see what’s going on backstage whilst a performance is taking place.
Illusionist Joseph Spector possesses Sherlock Holmes’s observational ability plus a magician’s knowledge of techniques with which to distract an audience, techniques which, as it turns out, are equally useful when trying to commit a murder and, importantly, get away with it. Or, even better, frame someone else for it. In fact, Spector regards a crime as being much like a magic trick, as ‘a complex network of deceptions’. Inspector Flint’s approach, which Spector rather disaparagingly describes as ‘making the facts fit the solution’, provides a counterpoint to Spector’s lateral thinking and sparks of genius. As Spector boasts, ‘I can spot an inconsistency like no man on earth’. And, boy, can he.
There were lots of things I loved about the book, such as the character names that were so unusual I was convinced they must be anagrams. Or the chapter near the end which invites the reader to put all the facts together (apparently all ‘in plain sight’) and come up with a solution. And, as the solution is revealed, the footnotes directing you back to the page on which a relevant piece of information appeared. Or to be more accurate, the pages on which the pieces of information you totally overlooked appeared.
Never mind rotating on a Ferris wheel, my head was spinning by the end of the book such is the intricacy of the plot and the number of red herrings and false trails the author has subtly inserted into the story.
The Murder Wheel is a skilfully crafted and very entertaining crime mystery that will have you scratching your head whilst speedily turning the pages to find out what happens next. Definitely one for fans of ‘Golden Age’ crime fiction....more
The Fairfax Manor Inn may be a bit run down (and the adjoining mini golf course may have seen its last hole in one) but the motel is a place of generoThe Fairfax Manor Inn may be a bit run down (and the adjoining mini golf course may have seen its last hole in one) but the motel is a place of generosity and philanthropy thanks to Mess Hopkins who has a heart of gold and makes a wonderfully engaging protagonist. I think most of us would agree with his view: ‘So many people in this world . . . needed help. And not just a cup of sugar or a hand moving a heavy sleeper sofa into the basement. Serious life-changing help.’ Unfortunately his Uncle Phil, who has been given reponsibility for overseeing the business in the absence of Mess’s parent, would be the exception.
Mess forms a really touching relationship with Kevin, the teenage son of the missing woman, although doing so takes a lot of patience. By the way, if you’re wondering how Mess got his nickname, you’ll have to read the book.
I loved the cast of secondary characters, particularly Mess’s friend and sidekick, Vell, who has a seemingly inexhaustible list of contacts. He boasts, ‘I got my own personal Internet, on the streets. People see me coming, they’re dying to tell me stuff. Think of me like Vellipedia.’ I also really enjoyed the back-and-forth banter between Mess and Vell. Mama (although she’s actually Vell’s grandmother) is another fantastic, larger than life character. She has a laugh ‘like a thunderstorm’, is a giver of huge bear hugs, has turned her ability to read people into a money-making venture and believes there’s no such thing as a table with too much food. Just as well, as both Vell and Kevin, have seemingly insatiable appetites.
If Mess and Vell are the good guys then of course you need some bad guys to even things up and the author provides us with plenty, including the missing woman’s abusive husband and some heavies working for the local organised crime head honcho. Mess and Vell have some narrow escapes and in the process of resolving the mystery of the disappearance of Kevin’s mother uncover some distinctly dirty goings-on.
A motel with its ever changing population of guests is a great location around which to base a crime mystery series so I’m looking forward to future arrivals at Fairfax Manor Inn, plus seeing if its owner can avoid making a ‘mess’ (sorry!) of his budding relationship with Lia.
Sanctuary Motel is an enjoyable crime mystery with a plot that will keep you guessing and characters you’ll find yourself rooting for....more
The publisher describes The Witch in the Well as ‘a deliciously disturbing Gothic tale of a revenge reaching out across the years’. There are elementsThe publisher describes The Witch in the Well as ‘a deliciously disturbing Gothic tale of a revenge reaching out across the years’. There are elements that match that description, notably the sections entitled ‘The Nicksby Documents’ which have a really fantastical, malevolent and creepy feel. Unfortunately I found the modern day storyline less diverting. It essentially depicts the increasingly fractious relationship between two women, Catherine and Elena, who were once childhood playmates but are now involved in a rivalry about who has the right to tell Ilsbeth Clark’s story.
Neither of the women are particularly likeable. Elena is a prolific poster on social media, a fan of hashtags and an advocate of listening to the voice of one’s SOUL (her capital letters, not mine). For her, the ancient well is not a place of menace but somewhere magical, hence it being her favourite place for her morning yoga workout. She believes she has formed a spiritual connection with Ilsbeth and is possessed by the idea that she can use this to prove the existence of ‘good magic’. Unfortunately, the situation is rather different, creepily different in fact.
On the other hand, Catherine sees Ilsbeth as a victim of prejudice, like so many other women through history, and is intent on bringing this injustice to light. Catherine can’t stop herself posting instalments from an open letter to the inhabitants of F- in response to their accusations against her. She feels she’s the victim of a modern day ‘witch hunt’. Unsurprisingly, comments such as ‘In my humble experience, none of you are geniuses’ don’t endear her to the local people. And her unfiltered posts which include conversations with her family and her lawyer, Louise don’t go down well either. Responding to Catherine’s protestation that she felt she had to write it all down, Louise says, ‘Then keep a journal, for God’s sake! You don’t have to paste it all over the internet!’. Quite.
A combination of folk tale, horror story and mystery, the book incorporates a number of narrative structures, including Elena’s journal, Catherine’s Facebook posts, emails, excerpts from Catherine’s novel about Ilsbeth Clark and the aforementioned ‘Nicksby Documents’ written by an unnamed author but whose identity it’s not too difficult to guess . The latter was probably the most successful bit of the book for me but overall the story felt rather disjointed and moved a bit too slowly....more
Set in the 1930s, Skelton’s Guide to Blazing Corpses sees Arthur Skelton, assisted by his trusty clerk Edgar Hobbes, juggling the defence of Tommy ProSet in the 1930s, Skelton’s Guide to Blazing Corpses sees Arthur Skelton, assisted by his trusty clerk Edgar Hobbes, juggling the defence of Tommy Prosser, accused of the murder and immolation of vacuum cleaner salesman Harold Musgrave, with a number of other cases. One of the joys of the series is the glimpses of these cases whose unlikely subject matter, such as the difference between ‘knickerbockers’ and ‘plus fours’, turn out to be loosely based on actual cases (as the Author’s Note reveals). I particularly liked Arthur’s joy at being able to utter the word ‘lavatory’ in open court – not once but twice – in relation to another case.
Fans of the series will be delighted by the return of characters from the previous books, such as Skelton’s cousin and prolific correspondent, Alan, who along with his sister Norah, travels the country in a caravan spreading ‘the joy of Jesus’. What’s particularly clever is the way the author uses Alan’s experiences to highlight the impact of the Depression on ordinary people. It’s a time of low wages, traditional industries closing down, ill health caused by poor housing, and families struggling to put food on the table. So completely different from now then…
I was also overjoyed by the return of Rose Critchlow now working as an articled clerk for the solicitors who provide most of Arthur’s work. During her trip to Heidelberg in Germany to secure a vital piece of evidence she witnesses the first signs of the malevolent influence of the Nazis that will eventually culminate in the outbreak of the Second World War.
It’s not all doom and gloom though because one of the lovely features of the series is the humour, whether that’s Edgar’s newly acquired obsession with Czech cubist furniture design, the secret of the perfectly pressed trouser or the humiliation of a pompous opponent by Arthur’s formidable wife, Mila. Arthur and Mila’s affectionate banter is a lot of fun too.
After an exciting and dramatic conclusion to the case of the blazing corpse, the end of the book sees Arthur rather disillusioned with the justice system and the inequality he witnesses on a daily basis. Will the man the newspapers have dubbed ‘The Who Refuses to Lose’ give up? I hope not.
Skelton’s Guide to Blazing Corpses is a delightful, ingenious historical crime mystery, and a great addition to the series....more
As I discovered when I read his previous book, A Stranger from the Storm, you can rely on the author to come up with something just a little bit diffeAs I discovered when I read his previous book, A Stranger from the Storm, you can rely on the author to come up with something just a little bit different. I think we can safely say a story involving a group of people confined in a Siberian mansion with a swarm of deadly blood-sucking insects outside satisfies that description.
The members of the Aristov family are gathered to hear about the will of their father, the wealthy but ailing Konstantin who has made part of his fortune from the animals who give the book its title. Much in the manner of Shakespeare’s King Lear, Konstantin is unwilling to divide his empire and has devised a test of loyalty with the winner taking all. ‘Konstantin, the king, was mad. Narcissistic, monomaniacal, paranoid. But still the king.’
What follows is like some macabre game of Cluedo in which the library, billiard room and ballroom of the board game are replaced by monk’s cell, bathhouse and tiger pit. The task of working out what’s going on falls to Ilya Dudnyk, a Russian police inspector who also moonlights as Konstantin’s ‘fixer’.
The shady goings-on are enlivened with moments of humour, such as the teasing banter between Ilya and Latvian journalist, Santa Ezerina (who featured in the author’s story, ‘Demon in the Depths‘). The latter will go to any lengths to get a story.
House of Tigers is a locked room mystery with nods to everything from Daphne du Maurier’s story The Birds to the film Night of the Living Dead, but still has classic elements such as a denoument which sees all the suspects gathered together in the library for the final reveal. An epilogue provides a ‘what happened next’ with the surviving characters; it’s a mixture of just desserts and lucky breaks.
House of Tigers is a quirky and highly entertaining mystery....more
The Twist of a Knife is the fourth in the author’s crime mystery series featuring ex-Detective Inspector Hawthorne and author Anthony Horowitz in the The Twist of a Knife is the fourth in the author’s crime mystery series featuring ex-Detective Inspector Hawthorne and author Anthony Horowitz in the role of sidekick and, in this case, murder suspect. I really enjoyed the two previous books in the series I’ve read – The Word in Murder and A Line to Kill – and at some point I will get around to reading the second book, The Sentence is Death.
A Twist of the Knife has all the elements fans of the series have come to expect, including the author’s deadpan humour. ‘St John’s Gardens had originally been a cemetery but the dead bodies had all been removed (to Woking, which must have surprised them)’. And when he is arrested, he is sure sales of his children’s books will collapse but that it might help his crime fiction. There are plenty of references to the author’s work – his Alex Rider series, his TV drama Foyles War – and he admits, ‘If there’s a book of mine in a room, it’s always the first thing I’ll see’ but these are balanced by his self-deprecating observations.
Hawthorne is his same old self – taciturn, dismissive of his former colleagues, not afraid to tell a porkie or two to get access to a suspect or when questioning a witness, or to call on the skills of his neighbour Kevin. And Hawthorne’s remarkable observational and deductive skills are once again on display. The author teases us with some more details about Hawthorne’s childhood and private life, although tantalisingly his literary alter ego stops short of further probing even when given an unexpected opportunity. Hawthorne warns him, ‘I don’t want you talking about how and where I live. All right? And I definitely don’t want to read about it in your book’. Oops.
We also learn a few things about Anthony Horowitz, namely that he’s not averse to a bowl of Coco Pops and his library contains five hundred books. (I bet he has more than that really but I completely believe he possesses all the Bond novels and a signed copy of I, Claudius found in a bookshop in Hay-on-Wye.)
The book has a colourful cast of characters, including those appearing in Horowitz’s comedy thriller, Mindgame, the play which attracts such a scathing review from feared theatre critic, Harriet Throsby. Just about everyone has the motive, means and opportunity to have committed the murder but none of them has so much evidence pointing to them as the culprit as Anthony Horowitz. Did he do it or is someone out to get him?
The final act sees Hawthorne create a mise-en-scène reminiscent of an Agatha Christie novel. Has he worked out whodunnit it? Of course he has. Will you have? I very much doubt it.
The Twist of a Knife is another highly entertaining murder mystery, full of wit and invention....more
The book has some really fascinating information about the birth of the NHS and the difficulty of overcoming people’s disbelief that health services The book has some really fascinating information about the birth of the NHS and the difficulty of overcoming people’s disbelief that health services are now free. I had not come across the role of a medical almoner before and it took me a little while to work out exactly what it comprised. The author certainly succeeds in depicting what life was like for the poorer inhabitants of Edinburgh: living in crowded and often insanitary housing, existing on poor diets and lacking knowledge of how to prevent common diseases. The theme of women’s health, infertility and motherhood run throughout the book.
In the opening chapters, we learn a lot about Helen’s family and their domestic background. Helen’s determination to forge a career meets with opposition from her mother who can’t see why she would want to do anything other than start a family with her husband, Sandy. Unfortunately, there’s a big stumbling block to this, the nature of which Helen won’t fully understand until later in the book. In the meantime, she’s just patiently trying to help Sandy recover from his experiences as a prisoner-of-war. He is reluctant to talk about what he went through in any detail but it has left him with a fear of enclosed spaces.
The use of Scottish dialect, although giving authenticity, did impair my reading experience. (I appreciate this would not be the case for Scottish readers.) Sentences like, ‘She couldn’t stop the weans from palling around the back greens and the front streets, although she told Helen not to give killycodes if she could help it’ left me mystified and had me searching online for clarification. There were phrases I didn’t know the meaning of – drookit (soaking wet, drenched) or hackit (ugly) – and others that had a different meaning to the one I was used to – bunker (a table top or kitchen counter) or press (cupboard).
For me, the book never really lived up to the publisher’s description of ‘gripping’. The mystery element unfolds really slowly although it takes some interesting twists and turns towards the end of the book revealing a distinctly unpleasant side of Edinburgh life. The author slips in some neat deflections and one or two surprises. However, the skip ahead in time at the end of the book and the late introduction of a new character made the conclusion feel a bit rushed....more
Kat, Flora and Lauren have different mothers but share the same father: famous artist, Charles Finch. Summoned to Rock Point by their father, an unexpKat, Flora and Lauren have different mothers but share the same father: famous artist, Charles Finch. Summoned to Rock Point by their father, an unexpected announcement – and the arrival of an individual from the past – threatens to widen the rift that already exists between the sisters as well as bring back unwelcome memories of the dramatic event that occurred two decades earlier. It’s an event that hasn’t been spoken about since but which has lurked beneath the surface as unfinished business between the sisters. ‘It’s the secret they forged here twenty years ago that’s pushed them apart as it’s run through each day of their lives since. In each other they see too much of the worst of themselves.’
In Charles, the author gives us a portrait of a mercurial, rather self-obsessed artist who pours his energy into making art rather than sustaining relationships. ‘He has an ability to detach from his subjects; to see human beings as arrangement of form and flesh in space, volume and light; a technical challenge to be solved.’ His three marriages are not the only evidence of his inability to be faithful but his dedication to art has come at a cost.
In a striking metaphor, the sisters are ‘mismatching dolls, from different sets’. Kat is a high-flying successful entrepreneur (on the surface at least) and Flora is a wife and mother trying hard to live up to the expectations of her husband, Scott. Close to each other in age, Kat and Flora had a close bond when younger. Lauren, on the other hand, has always felt like the outsider right from the first moment she was introduced to her two half-sisters. ‘In the archipelago of the sisters, she’s still an island on her own.’ One other notable character is Bertha the parrot whose often ill-timed mimicry of snippets of overheard conversations proves key to what unfolds. ‘We all knew Bertha didn’t invent things, just repeated them.’
As with all Eve Chase’s books there’s a real sense of place – in this case the wild, expansive coastline of Cornwall. Rock Point’s remote location surrounded by moorland dotted with abandoned cottages and standing stones, contributes to the sense of unease. As Lauren observes, ‘Everything was bigger. Skies. Rooms. Feelings. There was more to go wrong’.
The present day story (2019) alternates between the points of view of the three sisters. Interwoven with this is Lauren’s first person narrative of events in 1999. The author skilfully ramps up the tension through fleeting references and tantalising snippets of detail about events on an August day in 1999. It soon becomes apparent that no-one has the full picture of what took place on the fateful day. It’s only when all the pieces are put together that the sisters – and the reader – find out what actually happened. Like me, you may have an inkling about the direction of some of the story but I’m pretty sure you’ll discover a few surprises.
The Birdcage’s combination of long-buried secrets and exploration of complex family relationships adds up to an intriguing, well-crafted and satisfying mystery....more
The first night shift I need to tell you about is the one I put in reading this book until way past my bedtime which should tell you all you need to kThe first night shift I need to tell you about is the one I put in reading this book until way past my bedtime which should tell you all you need to know about the compelling nature of this book.
The blurb poses the question, What connects a pair of small-town murders that happened fifteen years apart? There are the obvious ones: Ella, the lone survivor of the first massacre, now pursuing a rather unlikely, it has to be said, career as a therapist given her risk-taking behaviour, and Chris, a public defender who also happens to be the brother of the man accused of the original murders. Then there’s FBI Agent Sarah Keller, who despite being eight months pregnant with twins can still be a ‘badass’ when the need arises – and it does. I loved Sarah Keller as a character and her young assistant Atticus (yes, he is named after the character in To Kill A Mockingbird), keen and highly intelligent but still wearing his ‘L plates’, as it were, when it comes to fieldwork. I must also mention Bob, Sarah’s lovely husband, who ensures she eats a nutritious breakfast before setting off to work and provides her with a healthy drink to sustain her during the day, even if it does resemble green slime.
So three characters with connections to the two massacres but perhaps there’s someone else as well? In a novel like this when we’re given small details about a secondary character my immediate thought is, why is the author telling me this? Is it to flesh out a minor character or is it concealing a subtle clue? In fact a ‘blink and you’d miss it’ detail did allow me to guess the guilty party. However I find there’s just as much enjoyment from being driven mad by the fact you got it wrong as there is from the smug satisfaction you got it right.
Those who like plenty of action in their crime thrillers will not be disappointed; nor will those who love a fiendishly complex plot and positively enjoy being wrong-footed and surprised.
The Night Shift is a supremely well-crafted, totally absorbing and deliciously twisty crime thriller....more
My first thought is that I’m not sure the long blurb does the book any favours – personally, I would have limited it to the first paragraph – as it diMy first thought is that I’m not sure the long blurb does the book any favours – personally, I would have limited it to the first paragraph – as it discloses quite a lot of what happens although, admittedly, not the final climactic reveal. Having said that this is a novel which exudes a pervading air of menace and in which the author skilfully ratchets up the tension bit by bit.
Jeff’s perhaps natural desire to find out more about the man whose life he saved becomes more than mere curiosity but something bordering on obsession. Jeff finds himself drawn closer and closer to Francis Arsenault, an art dealer with a supposed remarkable ‘eye’ for what will sell, a skill that doesn’t seem to extend to recognising the man who saved his life. However, as Jeff discovers, Francis is a master in the art of maintaining a double life (Francis Arsenault isn’t even his real name) and of using others for his own ends. The world of art dealing thus makes the ideal environment for him to inhabit. ‘The only reason Francis is in this business is because it’s the most easily manipulated market in the world, and he’s a master manipulator.’
The book is in essence a massive game of consequences in which Jeff finds himself carried along by the train of events, events in a way he enabled by saving Francis’s life. As he confides, ‘I wanted him to be good, though, I wanted to feel that I had done a good thing not only for him but for all the people he came in contact with.’ As Jeff’s life becomes more closely intertwined with Francis’s through his relationship with Francis’s daughter, Chloe, he finds his loyalties tested and begins to wonder just what he unleashed when he saved Francis’s life. What if Francis is far from good? Is Jeff then implicated in Francis’s deceit?
But, of course, we only have Jeff’s word for all of this. The narrator begins to wonder about Jeff’s motivation for telling him the story. ‘Was it excavation, though, Jeff getting everything off his chest? Or was he painting for me a kind of self-portrait? And what is a self-portrait if not self-serving?’
Mouth to Mouth is a compulsively readable, deliciously disquieting little novel with a sting in its tail....more
Reading the description of The Mirror Game suggests it has all the ingredients to make an enjoyable historical crime mystery – and it certainly succeeReading the description of The Mirror Game suggests it has all the ingredients to make an enjoyable historical crime mystery – and it certainly succeeds on that score – but using the aftermath of the First World War as a backdrop to the story adds an additional element of interest, a darker tone if you like.
The lasting impact of the war is evident in many way, not just on those who survived or were injured but on the families of those who never returned or were reported missing in action. As Harry Lark says, ‘What did the hell did we expect to happen after it was over? We’d go on quietly living our lives, never minding the horror we were part of?’ Harry himself is a troubled man. He sustained physical injuries in the war which still cause him pain but it’s the mental scars more than anything that see him turn to laudanum to help him to forget the things he witnessed.
He finds a welcome new purpose in life when asked to investigate the mysterious reappearance of Adrian Harcourt after an absence of seven years. His journalistic instincts raise a series of questions in his mind. Why would someone who survived the war disappear and not return home? Where have they been for all that time? Why reappear now? What has caused the apparent change in them? I suspect I’m not the only reader to share Harry’s curiosity.
Harry makes a resourceful, resilient and feisty hero, and it soon becomes clear he will need all his wits about him (not to mention his fists) because the deeper he delves the more trouble seems to come his way – and anyone else he’s called upon for help. Why, he wonders, are people so anxious to stop him getting to the truth and what really happened in the battlefield incident during which Adrian Harcourt supposedly lost his life? Is there a cover-up aimed at hiding details of some atrocity or is something more sinister going on?
Alongside Harry’s investigation there’s a touching side story as he wrestles with his attraction to gifted musician Ferderica, the fiancé of the man he’s searching for. They seem simpatico but if he finds Adrian, won’t she want to pick up with him where they left off and what does Harry have to offer her anyway? When he looks in the mirror what does he see? A man fighting an addiction to laudanum, with no job and scarred by a previous relationship that ended in tragedy. Those who love a tortured hero will be urging Ferderica to go for it anyway – at least I was!
The plot moves along in double quick time and has more twists and turns than a corkscrew. Trust me, if you think you’ve got the solution to the mystery all worked out before the final pages you’ve probably got it wrong.
The Mirror Game is an extremely well-crafted, ingenious historical crime mystery. I don’t know if the author has more books featuring Harry Lark planned but I think he would make a great character to build a historical crime series around....more
A Three Dog Problem proved to be the perfect contrast to the run of rather serious books I’ve read lately. It’s a delightful, charming mystery in whicA Three Dog Problem proved to be the perfect contrast to the run of rather serious books I’ve read lately. It’s a delightful, charming mystery in which Her Majesty proves herself to be just as astute and no-nonsense as we always imagined. As one of her staff observes, ‘She was a hell of a lot sharper than she looked. Mistakes were picked up on. Dry comments were made. Eyes were rolled.’
Ex-soldier Rozie, the Queen’s Assistant Private Secretary, is a great character and a force to be reckoned with. As she reminds herself, when the enquiries she has set in train take an unexpectedly risky turn, ‘her regimental specialism had been “find, strike, destroy, suppress”‘.
I loved the humorous elements in the book such as Prince Philip’s petname for his wife being Cabbage, the idea of the Queen googling herself on her iPad to find out where she was on a particular date, and that she spent some of her time at Balmoral binge-watching Murder She Wrote.
I also enjoyed the ‘behind the scenes’ look at life in a royal palace, an increasingly dilapidated one as it turns out in the case of Buckingham Palace. And, as Rozie observes, at night its character changes. ‘The majority of staff went home, the flood of tradesmen, craftsmen and daily visitors slowed to a trickle, and the place was reclaimed by those who lived there or habitually worked late. The buildings stopped trying to impress and their occupants got on with the task of working as efficiently as they could in a rabbit warren of corridors that ceased to make sense two hundred years ago.’
External events such as the fallout from the Brexit referendum and the US Presidential election provide a subtle backdrop to the main storyline. The Queen muses about women who have achieved things or may do so in the future, such as Hilary Clinton, whilst underplaying her own role in world affairs. And there is a moving scene in which the Queen attends the annual Remembrance Day ceremony at the Cenotaph; it’s especially poignant as ill-health meant she was unable to attend the ceremony for only the seventh time in her long reign this year.
And, of course, at the heart of the book is an ingenious mystery involving amongst other things an unexplained death, poison pen letters, Renaissance art, and some murky goings-on in the bowels of Buckingham Palace. Definitely a three dog problem.
I know many readers have fallen in love with this series, which commenced with The Windsor Knot in 2020, and I can now understand why. The good news is the author promises there’s another book on the way next year....more
Opening with a chilling prologue, the book alternates between the point of view of Áróra and several other characters, some of whom this reader immediOpening with a chilling prologue, the book alternates between the point of view of Áróra and several other characters, some of whom this reader immediately suspected were not who they claimed to be and whose true nature was probably quite different from that presented. Ah, but of course Lilja Sigurðardóttir is too clever and skilful a writer not to trip the reader up; she certainly did this one! The fact that events unfold over the space of a few weeks and the chapters are short kept the pace high and led to that ‘just one more chapter’ feeling, although this is a book that could easily be read in one sitting.
In Áróra the author hasn’t given us a straightforward heroine. She’s a complex character who has come to resent the frequent need to rescue her sister from situations Áróra feels are of her sister’s own making. It’s only at the urging of Violet, with perhaps a mother’s instinct that the cause of Ísafold’s disappearance is something sinister, that persuades Áróra to travel to Iceland in search of answers. Áróra’s occupation as a financial investigator provides the opportunity for the introduction of a subplot which delves into the murky world of financial crime. Finding money which others have tried to hide away is something of a drug for Áróra, who thinks of herself as a kind of ‘avenging angel’. It leads to her taking personal risks which on occasion threaten her safety. Brought up in Britain but with an Icelandic father, I liked the way we see Áróra having to acclimatise to the more open and trusting Icelandic society whose population is seemingly fuelled largely on coffee!
Áróra is persuaded by her mother to enlist the help of Daníel, a relative by marriage and serving police officer. His involvement opens doors that would otherwise be closed to Áróra and they make an effective team, with hints of the possibility of something more in future. I liked Daníel as a character even if he does have somewhat of an obsession with maintaining an immaculate lawn! And I particularly liked his neighbour Lady Gúgúlú, an unlikely combination of drag artist and physicist. As she observes to Daníel, ‘Well, I have many different selves, darling. Just the same as you do. Just like everyone else. Most people only let one of these show.’
The author lays down plenty of false trails that are impossible to resist following and which distract you from what’s really going on. Does everyone get what they deserve? You’ll have to read the book to find out. Cold As Hell is a taut, atmospheric and skilfully crafted crime thriller, and a great introduction to what promises to be an addictive new series for fans of Icelandic noir....more
I seem to be making a habit of reading Gary’s books part way through a series! For example, I’ve previously read The Mountain Man’s Badge, book three I seem to be making a habit of reading Gary’s books part way through a series! For example, I’ve previously read The Mountain Man’s Badge, book three in the Mountain Man Mysteries series, and Lying in Vengeance, the follow-up to courtroom drama, Lying in Judgment. True to form, A Better Part of Valor, published on 21st September 2021, is the third book in the author’s Valorie Dawes series. The book can be read as a standalone but the references to key events in Valorie’s life and the previous investigations she’s been involved in would be spoilers for the earlier two books. So if you fancy embarking on a new police procedural series, start with the first book, A Woman of Valor.
The book contains meticulous detail of police procedure and the step-by-step process of a murder investigation: narrowing down suspects, cross-checking alibis, interviewing witnesses, identifying connections between the victims, trawling social media for background information on victims and suspects, not to mention recording every piece of evidence, every conversation and interaction in minute detail. As the hunt for the killer progresses, the long hours take their toll on everyone involved in the investigation, including Valorie who seems to exist solely on a diet on coffee and the odd snatched breakfast. How she finds the energy for runs and punishing gym sessions I don’t know! The team also have to put up with interference from the Mayor, Megan Iverson, anxious for a crime wave not to jeopardize her political ambitions, shared by her husband.
Val’s back story, the details of which are slowly revealed, helps the reader understand why she is so driven to solve the case, why she often underestimates her abilities and can at times take unnecessary risks. Luckily, she has former partner, Gil, to provide wise advice. Recovering from a serious injury incurred in a previous case, Gil is the person who knows Valorie best and one of the few people from whom she will accept advice – and actually take it! Gil’s description of Valorie as ‘intelligent, intuitive, relentless, and gutsy as hell’ sums her up nicely and makes her an engaging protagonist. I really liked the relationship between Gil and Valorie, and his wise advice when Valorie doubts herself, ‘Find the best part of you. That’s the key’.
Given the nature of the crime, the suspects are all male most of whom are rather unpleasant characters or suspiciously too helpful. I had various suspicions about who the perpetrator might be but the author skilfully led me up several blind alleys before returning to main street. The tension ramps up in the final chapters in which the hunter becomes the hunted. But is the real conflict within Valorie’s heart as she ponders the risks of crossing the boundary between friendship and something more?
A Better Part of Valor is a chunky read but its intricate plot, likeable central character and sense of authenticity kept this reader turning the pages way past her bedtime. ...more
Opening in 2018 and then going back in time to 1989 and 1959, before returning in reverse to 2018, The Beloved Girls has a cast of damaged individualsOpening in 2018 and then going back in time to 1989 and 1959, before returning in reverse to 2018, The Beloved Girls has a cast of damaged individuals; the male characters, with a few exceptions, are particularly unpleasant.
Janey is struggling to manage her grief following a traumatic event that came out of the blue, and is in search of somewhere she feels she can belong. She thinks she has found that at Vanes, the country house of the Hunter family that she once visited as a child.
Ah yes, the Hunter family. I have to say they’re not a group of people I’d be keen to spend time with, much less be a member of. The creation of this dysfunctional family and the sense of menace, of suppressed rage and discontent that threatens to spill over into violence, was probably the strongest part of the book for me.
Charles Hunter, referred to as pater familias by his children, is irascible, petty and often cruel towards those around him. He is in thrall to his family’s history and the traditions associated with it, especially the annual ritual known as The Collecting. His wife, Sylvia, is a talented designer whose time has been diverted to running the household in accordance with the whims of her husband, and to protecting her children – the twins Kitty and Joss, and Melissa (known as Merry) their younger sister – from the malign influences that seem to hover around them. The sense of unease is heightened by the presence of the bees, housed in an old, rundown chapel, whose humming is a constant backdrop to life at Vanes.
For me, the chapters set in 2018 felt very different in tone from those of the earlier timelines. The run-up to Catherine’s disappearance conforms to everything you might expect from a modern day thriller. On the other hand, the sections set in 1989 had a rather timeless quality despite the frequent references to 1980s music. Part three of the book, set in 1959, filled in the back stories of key characters but for others represented their sole appearance.
I wasn’t quite sure how the author would manage to bring together the three timelines to form a coherent whole but I think this was largely achieved, although for the observant reader the direction the story will take won’t be a great surprise. On the other hand, the book leaves a few unanswered questions for readers to ponder.
At just under 450 pages, The Beloved Girls represents quite an investment in reading time but will reward the reader who is prepared for a slow increase in tension and is happy to inhabit the strange, unsettling world the author has created....more
The author’s decision to include a character with such fervently anti-Brexit and anti-Trump views as Ed Shannon is likely to divide opinion, especiallThe author’s decision to include a character with such fervently anti-Brexit and anti-Trump views as Ed Shannon is likely to divide opinion, especially as one suspects they are the barely disguised views of the author himself. But at least Ed’s views are clear and firmly held, or so Nat believes. This is in contrast to the self-serving attitude of many of Nat’s colleagues, who seem more interested in climbing the next rung on the career ladder or securing a lucrative pension. This includes his odious boss, Dominic (the choice of name, replicating that of the Prime Minister’s former chief advisor, is surely no coincidence). Only Nat’s young colleague, Florence, seems driven by her moral convictions.
Although he doesn’t know it at the time, his meeting with Ed will give Nat the opportunity to do what he does best. As he says himself, he’s ‘a field man, not a desk jockey’. Nat definitely isn’t prepared to take a back seat, unless that’s in the rear of a laundry van filled with high-tech surveillence equipment.
Though the book doesn’t quite have the atmosphere of the author’s Cold War thrillers such as The Spy Who Came In From The Cold or A Small Town in Germany (two of my personal favourites), there are scenes which come close. For example, the episode in which Nat travels to Prague to meet former agent, Arkady, or the tense scene in the Control Room as a complex surveillance operation gets underway.
The book contains the “tradecraft” that le Carré fans have come to expect – dead letter drops, encoded messages using one-time pads, abort/go signals for meetings, and invisible writing concealed in seemingly innocuous correspondence. And the job of an agent or handler being what it is, a cover story may be needed even for a game of badminton. However, this being the age of oversight and budgets, the book also demonstrates the often lengthy process of gaining financial and operational approval for surveillance and other covert operations from the various gatekeepers in the Service.
I liked the fact that in this book the author gives the reader a glimpse into Nat’s family life and the strain of having to keep so much about his work secret. For instance, Nat’s struggle to maintain his relationship with his idealistic daughter Steff demonstrates the difficulty of fulfilling the role of caring father whilst at the same time concealing the true nature of his work. Nat’s wife Prue, a human rights lawyer, knows more about Nat’s real role than anyone else but even so still needs to call on her seemingly infinite supply of patience when yet another late night telephone call calls Nat away. And, as Nat acknowledges, when he finds himself into trouble it’s Prue’s resourcefulness that comes to the rescue. ‘At which juncture Prue does what Prue always does, just when I think she has finally run out of patience with me: steps back, takes a second reading of the situation and sets about fixing it.’
The book’s satisfyingly intricate plot encompasses everything from Ukranian oligarchs, double agents and the fallout from Brexit to Anglo-American relations in the age of Donald Trump. There were a few literary tics that grated such as Nat’s repeated use of the term chers collègues when referring to the other employees of the Haven (pretentious, moi?). However, overall I enjoyed my return to the world of espionage conjured up by John le Carré....more
