The Stonehenge Legacy

A fast paced novel that you won't want to put down.

Author Sam Christer's story keeps you riveted from beginning to end.  A foremost treasure hunter commits suicide leaving his son Gideon Chase a cryptic letter that will lead Gideon on a search for the modern keepers of Stonehenge.  A secret society is exposed that plans of committing a human sacrifice on a specific date at a specific time.  The sacrificial girl is chosen at random because she touched a particular stone in Stonehenge at the wrong time.  Events seem to swirl out of control from then on and the action picks up.

This is a novel you will not want to put down.

Death Toll

Bodies are being removed from the cemetery in King's Lynn to avoid flooding.  However, when a body is discovered buried above a casket, a murder inquiry is begun by DI Peter Shaw and DS George Valentine.  Their investigation leads them to The Flask, once owned by the person in the coffin below the body.  Dark secrets are revealed, and no one tells the full truth, so Shaw and Valentine widen their investigation.  However, during their investigation more deaths will occur.  Are they related to the body?  And if so, how?

An interesting murder mystery that leaves you guessing as to who the culprit is right up to the last pages.

Vital Secrets

Author Don Gutteridge continues his Lt. Marc Edwards stories with another mystery set in 1837 Toronto.

Marc's good friend Rick Hilliard has fallen for a young actress.  Things turn deadly when an older rival is found murdered in her room, stabbed with Rick's sword and he is discovered with his hands on the bloody sword.

Marc's investigation, with his friend Constable Cobb, lead to the discovery that the victim was going to smuggle guns across the border to help foment rebellion in Upper Canada.  Further investigation leads Marc to discover things he doesn't want to know and things he is very surprised to learn.

A good, quick read.

Skin

This is the first book I have read by author Mo Hayder.  I thoroughly enjoyed the story she presented.

A decomposing body is found near the railway tracks near Bristol.  It appears to be a suicide, but DI Jack Caffery is not so sure because other apparent similar suicides have appeared in the area.  Working alongside Caffery is Sergeant Flea Marley, a police diver.  She begins pursuing an investigation of her own.

Two stories that intertwine within the larger story.  Both Caffery and Marley have to handle their own demons that seem to be drawing them closer together, yet seemingly pushing them apart. 

An intriguing murder mystery to say the least, well worth the read.  I am going to look for other books by Mo Hayder now.

Plague Child

The plague is upon England and a child is born into this time.  The plague cart comes to pick up the child, which has died, or so it appears.  The carter who is driving the body to the plague pit where plague victims are buried hears it cry out.  He saves the child for what will be an interesting future.

The child, now known as Tom, grows up to work in a shipbuilding yard.  An investor sees him and takes an interest in him.  The investor arranges for Tom to be taken to a printing shop where he is put to work, and is educated.

Later, England would be split in two when civil war breaks out.  King Charles demanded more money from Parliament, but Parliament refused.  Tom sides with Parliament.  He goes on to discover that he might be the illegitimate child of a peer.  He sets out to discover where his roots lie.

For fans of historical fiction, author Peter Ransley has created an intriguing read; well researched and one that you will enjoy and not want to put down.  I am looking forward to the next two books that will come out as sequels to "Plague Child".

The Bishop's Man

Linden MacIntyre's novel, The Bishop's Man touches on the human condition that affects us all.  It is the story of a priest who does the bidding of his bishop; cleaning up messes where needed.  But in doing so, he is forced to reflect upon his own humanity and desires.  Although I found the book hard to get into initially, before long I was captured by the story that MacIntyre created.

Scaredy Cat

Two women dead.  One woman selected as she got off the tube and viscously killed in her home.  At the same time another woman is killed in the same way.  The deaths resemble the deaths of two other women killed earlier on the same day.

DI Tom Thorne realises that it isn't one serial killer, but rather two!  When will the next two die?  He and his team must act swiftly to prevent the killings, but can they?  Author Mark Billingham keeps you intrigued as you read; at times you are led in one direction only to discover you are following the wrong path along with DI Thorne.

A good read, don't pass it by.

Raven ~ Blood Eye

It is the eighth century; the Romans have been long gone.  Britain has sunk into the dark ages with half a dozen kingdoms vying with each other for control of the island.  Along come a brutish group of men set on gathering great wealth to take back home ~ The Norsemen are men not to be dealt with lightly.

Giles Kristian begins his trilogy by creating the character of "Raven", a young man who has no memory of his past, however when his town is raided by Sigurd the lucky, the Norse language comes to his lips naturally.  Raven joins Sigurd and his Wolfpack as they go in search of a "church book" in order to win silver or glory in Valholl. 

The story is fast paced, well written and worth the read.

Lost River

Author Stephen Booth has DC Ben Cooper and DS Diane Fry working separate cases; cases that are personal for each of them.  For Cooper it is related to a child that he pulls out of a river, but is unable to save from dying.  His investigation leads him into a family's present and past.  Fry's investigation is about an event that occurred in her past, which because she was the victim, she is not supposed to be investigating.  Fry has to rely on her sister and Cooper for help.

Both investigations will have a direct impact the future of both Cooper and Fry.  I enjoyed this book and look forward to the next by Booth.