The Excalibur Murders

Author J. M. C. Blair introduces us to King Arthur's court where all the central characters are there with the exception of Sir Percival.  He has just sent word that he has found and is bringing the Stone of Bran to the court.  Morgan plans an elaborate ceremony to welcome it.  Guinevere shows up and expects to take her royal place at court with Lancelot.  Meanwhile Merlin stays in the background with his protege Nimue (disguised as a young man).  Just before the ceremony one of Arthur's squires is brutally murdered, the stone is stolen as is Excalibur!

Arthur charges Merlin with the investigation, which is made easier by an early winter storm as all of the guests are confined to the castle.  Or so it seems; for shortly thereafter the murdered squire's twin brother is also murdered.  As the weather warms, the guests leave.  Fears are that the murderer will get away, but all the guests are to return for the Midwinter Court.

Evidence points to four possible suspects.  Merlin and his retinue travel throughout England in search of evidence.  His plan is to reveal the true murderer with a bit of drama at the Midwinter Court.

A Play of Isaac

A group of players have arrived in Oxford.  It is 1434 and they have just presented a play at an inn when a young, well-dressed mentally handicapped youth approaches them.  He wants them to come to his place, much to the dismay of his guardians.  He has his way.  When Basset, leader of the players, meets the head of the household with Joliffe, one of the players, Joliffe is sure that some unspoken message passes between the two.

Because the household is hosting an upcoming event, the group of players is welcomed to stay, as long as they provide free entertainment and allow Lewis, the handicapped youth, to be one of the players in a play to be presented to the household.  It is the morning following the presentation that the body of a man is found outside the barn the players are lodged in.

As the group prepares for their Corpus Christi play in Oxford, Joliffe is left wondering about the future of the group and what secrets Basset holds.  Later, when hosting a gathering, the household is struck by food poisoning, and Lewis dies.  Will fingers now point at the actors?  Joliffe has to find evidence pointing to the real culprit quickly in order to help the crowner find the real culprit.

Author Margaret Frazer has provided the reader with an amusing, yet intense historical murder mystery with a surprising end.

Malice in the Highlands

Scotland Yard Detective Erskine Powell is on holiday at a fishing lodge on the River Spey when another fisherman hooks a something, but not a fish, rather a man.  Also on holiday with him is Superintendent Bennett of Inverness.  Bennett is tasked with the investigation and asks Powell to help.  When it is discovered that the victim is a rich Canadian, the Canadian embassy puts pressure on, so Scotland Yard assigns Powell to the investigation.

Author Graham Thomas presents us with several suspects through the course of this novel.  Is it the Canadian investor who had visited the victim the day of his death?  What about the owner of the lodge where Powell was staying?  The victim had been heard loudly arguing with the owner the night of his death.  Could it be the lodge owner's son?  He had a love interest in the daughter of the victim.

Powell duly investigates each, and it is only in the last few pages where the author reveals to the reader who the culprit truly is.  A nice quick read.

Call Me Princess

A brutal rape has occurred in Denmark and Detective Louise Rick has been assigned the case.  The victim is unsure of what her attacker looked like, and finally admits that she had met the perpetrator online and that this had been their first meeting and date.

Unable to get any clues on the perp because he had wiped his profile from the dating site, the police are frustrated.  Lieutenant Suhr, Rick's senior officer wants Rick to put herself on the dating site in the hopes of trapping the culprit.

A second rape victim is found while Rick is away for the weekend, only this time the victim has died.  While attending the autopsy, Rick fears that the victim is her friend Camilla when the sheet covering the victim is removed from her face and hair similar to Camilla's is revealed.  Rick knew that Camilla had a date this weekend with a new online friend.  Fortunately for Camilla it is not her.

The investigation runs into difficulty when they go through the victims' computers looking for the culprit's emails.  He used different ISPs for his contacts.  Fortunately they do manage to glimpse his profile on a CCTV film with the second victim.  They hope to catch him at an online dating event, and although Rick sees him the police are unable to apprehend him.  Can she find him online and rouse his interest?

Author Sara Blaedel has written a thrilling conclusion to this mystery novel.

A Question of Despair

It is every parent's nightmare, to have their child taken from them.  DI Sarah Quinn is called to just such a scene.  Six month old Evie has been snatched from in front of a news agent while her mother went in to get a magazine.  The mother is hysterical when Quinn and her partner DS Hunt arrive.  Thus starts a massive search for baby Evie.

At the ensuing press conference Quinn comes face-to-face with her old nemesis Caroline King, a reporter from London.  The two do not care for each other.  King tries to get to the mother while Quinn puts roadblocks in her way.

The police and mother are thrown into a state of shock when the kidnapper sends each a photo of baby Evie propped up in front of the TV on which is an image of the tearful mother begging for her child's safe return.  At the same time King finds a bag containing a lock of the child's hair on her wind screen at the hotel where she is staying.  What to do with the information? How did King find out about the photos?  When King releases her information it puts the case in jeopardy as far as Quinn is concerned.  Shortly thereafter Evie is found dead by jogger.

King's release of information, obviously given to her by a police informant, angers the kidnapper and another baby is snatched in the middle of the night from its cot.  King angles for more and approaches the parents of the victims unbeknownst to the police.  The story she creates puts Sarah Quinn in a very bad light when it is released.

That doesn't prevent Quinn from solving the case, and as she does, several shocking truths are revealed.

Author Maureen Carter has written an intriguing, suspenseful murder mystery, one the reader will have a hard time putting down.  I am looking forward to the sequel.

The Thief Taker

Bow Street Runner Henry Morton is called upon when a guest shows up dead at Lord Darley's one evening.  Morton is not convinced when the doctor, who just happened to show up, states that the young man had died as a result of asphyxiation from his own vomit.

Morton is told by the chief magistrate to not investigate any further into the young man's death.  However, his fiancé wants to know more and pays Morton to investigate.  It is discovered, during the course of his investigation that the young man had been to a house of ill repute earlier in the evening of his death.

As Morton continues with his investigation his life is threatened a couple of times.  He also discovers that one of the other Bow Street Runners is corrupt and may be running the house of ill repute.  He now has to gather the proof.  Unfortunately he is foiled, and arrested for possession of stolen goods which are discovered in his home.

Will he be able to prove his innocence while jailed or will the hangman's noose be tied around his neck?  Author T. F. Banks has written an engaging mystery set at the time of Wellington's victory at Waterloo.

A Darker Night

Sub-Inspector Max Romero and his friends are alerted by a dog barking in pain only to discover the body of an ex-con.  Romero is not convinced the death is the result of a heart attack.  Nor is he convinced, as is his superior, that the first person on the scene is responsible.

In addition to the investigation into the death, Romero is assigned duty on a conference being held in Granada.  His task is to find out if there will be any violence planned.  While there he meets Margarita, an attractive young woman, and they develop an intimate relationship.

Margarita is the daughter of a wealthy businessman with whom she does not see eye-to-eye with.  He is involved in some shady real estate business that is trying to take land in order to build a huge hotel complex.  Evidence points to the possibility the death of the ex-con might be tied in to the land grab.

Romero's investigation is hindered at many points, so he accuses a fellow officer of corruption.  As a result, Romero is suspended from duty, but however is picked up by an Anti-Corruption squad, which is investigating the real estate group and Romero's police force.

The investigation takes some dramatic turns, which leave Romero reeling.  "A Darker Night" is an intense thriller by P. J. Brooke.

Why Mermaids Sing

When a body is found near Westminster Hall, Sebastian St. Cyr is asked by the magistrate to investigate.  It is the second body in recent months to have been found in similar circumstances; bled and mutilated.  St. Cyr is unsure as to whether he will take on the investigation until the father of the victim tells him to stay out of it.

Aided by his young protege, Tom, St. Cyr sets out to investigate.

Meantime his girlfriend Kat has been threatened by Lord Jarvis; turn over the French spymaster or she will be in trouble.  She is unsure as to what she should do.  What would Sebastian do to her if he ever found out?

As St. Cyr continues his investigation, despite being warned off,  Kat's life is tossed and turned upside down like a small boat in a storm.  As St. Cyr proceeds with his investigation, he discovers things that tie people together.  People who had barely survived a sinking ship and actions that have led to the death of many sons.

Author C. S. Harris builds the suspense well in this thriller and leaves the reader with several surprises.

Conscience on Trial

This is an excellent book on Stalin's Soviet Union.  It outlines how 14 people were arrested for their religious beliefs, tried and sentenced summarily.

In 1952 fourteen poor, barely literate Seventh Day Adventists were tried for advocating pacifism and refusing to work on Saturdays.  Author Hiroaki Kuromiya has carefully gone through the police and court documents to reveal how the defendants were arrested and charged with the above crimes.  In many cases the recorded charges were made days after the actual arrest.  Police interrogations would appear to have possibly included tortures of some sort (although nothing is recorded).

When the trials occurred, those charged recanted their original guilty pleas.  However, the short trials still found all guilty.  And each was sentenced to lengthy times in the gulags.

This book gives a real good snapshot of the Stalinist police state.  Well worth the read for those interested in the history of the former Soviet Union.

City of the Dead

When the Grand Vizier's friend and foreman of the Pharaoh's pyramid  is found dead with his throat slashed, Khufu's pyramid is put in jeopardy.  The Grand Vizier, Hemiunu, wants to find the murderer, but he can't stop the construction of the pyramid in order to investigate.  He also wonders about the significance of the death mask found on the body and why a finger was taken from the body.

Further consternation occurs when the wife of the pharaoh is killed in a similar fashion.  Why was one of their fingers taken?  The Grand Vizier sets out to investigate.  But he must first appoint a new foreman.  The man chosen has a beautiful daughter who leads Hemiunu to The People of One God, a secret sect in Egypt.

When a third person is killed in a similar fashion, it is Hemiunu that comes under suspicion due to the whisperings of a priest in the ear of Khufu.  Hemiunu is imprisoned.  How will he secure his freedom and prove his innocence?  Author T. L. Higley has done a fine job creating suspense in this thriller of ancient Egypt.

The Astronomer

Amaury Faverges  is a student of theology in Paris in 1534, a time when the Catholic church is under siege from numerous Protestant factions.  When a friend of his is murdered, Amaury is asked by the Inquisition to try to get inside the Lutheran movement to discover their plans.

One of his tasks is to attend a meeting where Jean Calvin was speaking.  There he met a prostitute, Vivienne, with whom Amaury becomes enamoured.  Following the meeting the man tasked with delivering messages on behalf of the Lutherans is murdered.  Amaury is tasked with the job of delivering the messages, and Vivienne joins him.

He is shocked when he arrives at Nerac to discover the woman who was his first love is also there.  When Amaury discovers his friend's murderer he is torn; does he kill him in retribution and risk his assignment or carry on as before?

In his search for evidence, Amaury comes across a document written by Copernicus, which presents evidence to show that the earth revolves around the sun.  The earth is not the centre of the universe as claimed by the church!  Unfortunately, Amaury is betrayed and arrested by the Inquisition.  Beaten and in a dungeon he thinks all hope is lost until his former love, Helene rescues him.

Betrayed, Amaury realises that his friends in Paris are now in jeopardy, as is the astronomer who has proven the sun is the centre of the universe.  He must travel to Paris and beyond to save their lives.  Helene is willing to travel with him.  Will they succeed?

Author Lawrence Goldstone has created an excellent thriller in "The Astronomer".

When Gods Die

The Prince Regent has been found in a room in The Pavilion in Brighton during a party he is hosting, holding a young noblewoman in his arms.  The problem is, a knife protrudes from her back.  Sebastian St. Cyr has been called upon to investigate.

A necklace found on the body turns out to have once belonged to St. Cyr's mother, but she had died at sea wearing that necklace.  How could this be?  As St. Cyr's investigation continues, evidence points to a possible conspiracy to replace the mad Hanoverian dynasty with the former Stuart line.

St. Cyr's investigation will lead to the uncovering of a new Gunpowder Plot and the arrest of his protege, Tom, on trumped up charges of theft.  Tom will be sent to Newgate.  Will St. Cyr find him before he is summarily hung?

St. Cyr's own life will be threatened a number of times, ruining his clothes each time much to the chagrin of his valet.  As St. Cyr investigates this crime he will discover shocking information that will set him back, but will not prevent him from finding the murderer.

A good thriller set in Georgian England by author C. S. Harris.