Pilgrim Soul

Douglas Brodie, a reporter for the Glasgow Gazette and former policeman, has been asked by a group of Jewish Glaswegian businessmen to investigate nine robberies that have recently happened in their community.  The police just don't have the manpower nor resources to put enough time into the investigation.

A little bit of snooping about and Brodie finds the name of the thief.  Little does he know that the thief will get caught breaking into another house and end up being knifed to death.  When Brodie speaks to the thief killer, he wonders about the man; where does all the anger come from?  The next day Brodie's source of information is brutally murdered.

A surprise development occurs when a young woman walks into the newspaper office asking to speak to Brodie.  She brings him news of gold that originated in the death camps of Germany.  Shortly after that the thief killer is killed as is the young woman who had brought the news of the gold.

Brodie is informed by his Jewish friends that the thief killer was actually a guard from Treblinka.  Now they want to catch other Nazis like him with the aid of Brodie.  MI5 also wants his help, so he is called up and sent to Hamburg.

What Brodie experiences in Hamburg saps his strength both physically and mentally.  He does discover a way that the Nazis are getting out and to South America, but now a stop to it must be made.

Author Gordon Ferris has written an exciting thriller, based on real and fictional events.  I found it hard to put this book down.

Suspicious Minds

Harry Devlin has been serving as John Stirrup's lawyer for some time, so it comes as a bit of a surprise when he has to sit in during an interrogation of the man because his wife has gone missing.  Devlin wants to know who has been stirring the police interest in this missing person.

Meantime, the area is being threatened by "The Beast", a man who has been raping young blonde women.  His attacks have been growing in intensity.  It is not long after this that Stirrup calls Devlin in a panic; his daughter Claire has disappeared.

Later Claire's body is found in a cave.  She had been raped and then strangled.  Claire's boyfriend has gone missing, too.  When Devlin catches up with him, he is in for a few surprises.  Later, Devlin's private investigator finds out that Stirrup's wife is alive and well.  This provides Devlin with more surprises.  How is he to handle them?

Author Martin Edwards is full of surprises in this murder mystery.  A good, quick read.

Stettin Station

November 1941, and John Russell has been given the opportunity to watch trains loaded with Jews leaving Berlin for places in the east like Lodz in Poland.  What can he do with the information?  Nothing.  He comes to the realisation that he needs to get himself and his girlfriend, Effi out of Germany.

Knowing that the United States is likely going to be drawn into the war, Admiral Canaris offers Russell a job working for him, but based in Switzerland.  There is a condition attached to the position; Russell must make a secret trip to Prague on Canaris' behalf.

Later, after he has returned to Berlin, Russell is told by a friend in the police that the Gestapo are looking for him.  He knows that he has to get out.  Effi plans to go with him; she has disguises available, but no papers.  They go into hiding not knowing that Japan has attacked Pearl Harbour.

Russell and Effi manage to escape Berlin, but the ship that was supposed to take them out of Germany is torpedoed before it gets to Germany.  In addition, the cell that helped them escape from Berlin had been compromised, it would only be a matter of time before they were found.

Author David Downing puts a lot of tension and excitement into this World War II thriller.  A very good read, one you won't want to put down.

Death of a Chancellor

January 1901, the 20th Century is but a few weeks old, and Francis Powerscourt is coming home from South Africa.  Alongside him on the navy ship is his good friend Johnny Fitzgerald.  Powerscourt has no idea that a death awaits his investigative powers.

To everyone's surprise there appear to be three wills prepared by the deceased.  Powerscourt considers that there are five possible suspects that could have wanted the deceased dead as each is a beneficiary of at least one of the wills.

Powerscourt is sure that the will that leaves the vast amount of the deceased's estate to his sister has been signed by a forger.  The question is, how to prove that.

A few weeks later a body is found in a badly burned condition in the kitchen near the cathedral.  Powerscourt wonders if the two deaths are related in any way.  His concern increases when an attempt is made on his own life in the cathedral.  Not long after this, another member of the cathedral is found butchered to death.

As Powerscourt's investigation progresses he discovers information that could unsettle two powerful churches.  He must put into play a plan that will both put lives at risk, yet at the same time save a cathedral.  Author David Dickinson brings this novel to an exciting conclusion.  A very good read.

The Way Between the Worlds

It is 1092 and Lassair is still learning to be a healer, but she has now become apprenticed to Gurdyman, a wizard.  She no longer lives in the fens, but is at Gurdyman's house in Cambridge.  Recently she has been having dreams in which a voice calls out to her.

When she finds out that a nun has been murdered at Chatteris Abbey, where her sister is a nun, she feels that it is her sister who has been calling her.  She sets out for the abbey, but just as she is about to enter, Hrype stops her.  They disguise themselves, fearing the new priest at the abbey, and hoping to find her sister well.

They find out that it is a novice that has been murdered.  Later, Lassair finds that the new priest, Father Clement, possesses a very powerful and dangerous mind.

Shortly after returning to Cambridge, Lassair and Gurdyman are by the quay when a boat comes in dragging a body.  The sheriff assigns Gurdyman the task of determining the cause of death.  They find that he had been poisoned as part of a sacrifice.  Hrype brings them news that the nun had died in a similar fashion.

While Lassair goes on a quest of her own, called by voices in her head, Hrype consults his runes and comes to a conclusion as to who the murderer is.  Now he and Gurdyman must prove it.

Author Alys Clare has written an historical novel rife with magic and danger.  A good, quick read.

Hard Time

In December of 1985 a baby girl was abandoned in the toilets of Stafford town centre.  The reader wonders how this is going to tie into the story.

We then jump to modern times, when former cop Robbie Crawford and his do are run down by a vehicle and left for dead.  DS Bev Morriss is attending the funeral when her pager buzzes.  A five year old boy has been snatched from his school by someone who looked like his mother.

While DI Mike Powell and DC Carol Pemberton are questioning the parents, a ransom note is dropped through their mail slot, telling them not to involve the police or the boy dies.

A friend of Morriss', who she trained with, Jack Pope, has become a crime reporter, unbeknownst to her.  She accidentally has provided him with crucial information that the police want to withhold.

That night another former cop dies in unusual circumstances.  Detective Superintendent Byford has now lost two former colleagues.  The kidnapping case is not making any progress either.  Byford feels that a crime boss may have knowledge that ties the two together.

When the body of a little boy is found, fears abound that it is the kidnap victim.  However, it turns out to be someone different, thereby creating a new case to follow.  Morriss receives news shortly after this that another cop has been murdered.  Is Byford next on the list of cops to be taken down?

The concluding pages of Maureen Carter's "Hard Time" are tense and exciting.  A very good read.

The Last Caesar

Aulus Caecina Alienus has decided to write about the history of the Roman Empire as he experienced it.  After serving in Britannica, helping to put down the revolt of Boudicca, Caecina becomes the quaestor in the city of Corduba, in the province of Baetica.

It isn't long before Caecina finds himself involved in a plot to overthrow Nero.  He is tasked with convincing Agricola and Vindex, two important governors to support the rebellion.  He finds that Vindex Has plenty of men, but they have no training, so he sets about doing that.  Which army will they have to take on first?  The army of the Rhine or the Italian?  Caecina hopes that negotiations will prevent war, but Vindex has other ideas.  After a battle, it is learned that Nero has been asked to step down by the Senate.  Will Galba become the new emperor?  In his aspirations to become so, he appoints Caecina to lead a legion in Gaul.

Caecina averts a number of potential diasters for the new emperor.  But shortly afterwards, Galba accuses him of fraud, planning on summoning him to Rome for punishment.  Caecina is naturally shocked at this treatment.  What must he do to save his own skin?

Author Henry Venmore-Rowland has written a very good historical novel of Roman times involving lots of action and betrayal.  A good read.

Blind Justice

Hester Monk's friend's father has run into extreme debt because he was convinced by a church to continuously donate to their cause.  Hester feels that there is something very wrong with the church, so she asks her accountant to surreptitiously look at the books of the church.  He confirms her worst fears.

Evidence presented results in the minister of the church being charged with fraud, and the case going to trial before Judge Oliver Rathbone.  Hestor's name comes up in the case, and is besmirched.  Unfortunately there is nothing that Rathbone can do about it.

As Rathbone listens to the evidence that the witness is giving damning Hester he comes to the realisation that he has seen the witness before, related to another case.  Can he put the information forth without affecting his judicial powers?  Shocking evidence results in the death of three people and the arrest of Rathbone.

Hester and William Monk know it is up to them to help their friend, even though he may be guilty.  Their adopted son, Scuff also wants to help.  The information they discover is shocking, but is enough to get Rathbone off?

Author Anne Perry has given the reader, not just a police investigation, but much courtroom drama in this novel.  A good, quick read.

Three to a Loaf

Rory Farrell is a young man who lives a privileged life in Montreal.  In 1915 he is at university, but decides to join the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry to go off to war.  He feels that it is his duty as a Canadian, even though his mother is from Germany.  Because of his education, he is selected for officer training.

Training occurs at Valcartier, Quebec with more in England.  It really doesn't prepare Farrell for the mud, noise and death of the Ypres Salient.  It isn't long after getting into the lines that he begins to lose comrades, and it is during a big German offensive that farrellis wounded.  As a result he loses an eye and has a badly damaged hand.  He convalesces in England, where on bad nights he dreams and raves in German.  As a result he comes to the attention of military intelligence.

Farrell is given a new identity and turned into a spy.  He travels via Norway and Sweden to Germany, where he is accepted as the German/American officer whose identity he has taken on.  However, there is one man who is suspicious of him.  Farrell is impressed by the German army, but he discovers that as a result of the war, Germany is suffering severe deprivations.

In Berlin he meets nurse Gabriele Richter, an avowed socialist. He finds himself attracted to her.  Unfortunately their time together is brief before he is transferred to Poland where his assignment is to exploit the resources for the war effort.  In Poland, Farrell finds conditions even worse as the country had been stripped first by the Russians and then by the Germans.

Working in German intelligence, Farrell gains valuable information, but how to get it back to England?  Author Michael J. Goodspeed has written an excellent thriller around the events of World War One.  Written in the first person as a memoir, I found it to be an excellent read.

The One Thing More

The vote has been taken, the king is to die; he only has three days to live.  The French Revolution is well under way.  However, a man by the name of Bernave has different ideas.  He wants to save the king and allow him to live out the remainder of his days as a normal person.  He has Celie Laurent and others to help him.  The question is, how to accomplish it.

Joseph Briard has offered to replace the king, sacrificing his life in the king's place.  Bernave's plans are limited to only a few.  Unfortunately Bernave is killed when members of the Paris Mob break into his house.  Citizen Menou, who is investigating the murder, is sure that someone living in the house is the culprit, and he wants to ensure that that person goes to the guillotine.

Celie is determined that the plan must go ahead.  She has to convince the other co-conspirators to continue with the plan, and ensure that Bernave left nothing behind that could show Citizen Menou their plans.  Can they succeed in the face of the strength of revolutionary leaders like Robespierre, Danton or Marat?  The death of the king would surely mean that the monarchies of Europe would then attack France.

Anne Perry has brought the early days of the French Revolution to life in this historical novel.  Having taught this topic for many years, I found it to be a very good read.

The Trinity Six

Sam Gaddis is in dire financial straits; the tax man wants a large amount of money and his estranged wife wants money so their daughter can attend a good school.  He is going to have to write a best seller.  His good friend Charlotte Berg suggests co-writing a book about a sixth spy, an additional member of the Cambridge Five.  Unfortunately Charlotte dies before they can get underway.

Charlotte's husband, Paul gives Sam permission to access Charlotte's research.  As he progresses with his own research, Sam runs into roadblocks, and sets into motion an even larger roadblock initiated by SIS.  However, through two of Charlotte's contacts, San finds himself on the road to a groundbreaking story.

It is during a quick trip to Moscow that San comes to the realisation that he is in danger.  Maybe Charlotte's death wasn't the heart attack it appeared to have been.

Author Charles Cumming pieces together a really good, modern spy thriller that takes Sam throughout Europe as he pieces together a story that results in the death of several people and threatens him and the people he loves.  A thoroughly good read.

And None Shall Sleep

DI Joanna Piercy has just had a severe bicycle accident.  She is taken by ambulance to the same hospital where solicitor Jonathan Selkirk has been taken, suffering from an apparent heart attack.  Sergeant Mike Korpanski speaks to Piercy the following morning because Selkirk has disappeared from his hospital bed.

Despite her injuries, Piercy becomes actively involved in the investigation.  Selkirk's wife doesn't seem overly concerned and Korpanski is sure that he was abducted; but by whom and why?   The following day, a body is found outside of town.  It appears to be Selkirk, but it is impossible to know as the man was executed with a bullet to the back of the head.  They are now sure that it was a contract killing.

Because it appears to be a professional hit, the Regional Crime Squad is placed in charge of the investigation.  Piercy resents the RCS being brought in, but is surprised when she is told to continue with her part of the investigation.

Author Priscilla Masters provides plenty of suspects in this thriller, leaving the reader guessing right up to the end.  A good, quick read.

Deadly Friends

It is just after Christmas and DI Charlie Priest has a rape to investigate that occurred on Christmas Eve.  He doesn't have a large crew to work with because many of the police are investigating the murder of a local doctor.  The murder investigation is not Priest's, but circumstances lead to it being turned over to him.

Priest and his team pull in the murder suspect, but before long come to realise that he couldn't have done it.  Meantime they continue to search for the rapist.  The name of the suspect is discovered, and Priest finds out from a colleague in a different jurisdiction that the suspect has changed his name.  He also finds out that the suspect had committed five other rapes and gotten away with them because of a smart solicitor.

Author Stuart Pawson provides the reader with some interesting detective work as Priest and his team put together evidence in both cases.  A good quick read.

Murder on the Brighton Express

The Railway Detective, DI Robert Colbeck and his DS Victor Leeming have been called to an accident on the London to Brighton line.  The railway inspector is sure that the accident is the fault of the driver of the express, however, Colbeck is not so sure.  He feels that the accident was no accident, but deliberate sabotage, resulting in deaths.

Colbeck presents two theories to Superintendent Tallis, one of which is Leeming's.  Firstly it was caused by a disgruntled ex-employee or secondly it was intended to target a person that was on the train.  A third possibility exists, that combines the two previous theories. 

As their investigation progresses Colbeck and Leeming come to the conclusion that there are two people that someone could have wanted dead.  One is the Brighton MP, and the other an important person associated with the railway.  They also come up with two suspects, it is just a matter of catching them.

Author Edward Marston has a few surprises in store for the reader as he draws this Victorian murder to a close.  A good, quick read.

Dying Bad

Frustrated by losing a child paedophile case, DI Sarah Quinn and DC Dave Harries have been called to a murder scene.  They are both hoping that it is the ring leader who got off.  No such luck.  However, later Jas Ram is pulled in on a drink driving charge and refusal to provide a sample.  Unfortunately the police can't hold him, although they know he is a groomer.

Meantime, Quinn and her team have a series of muggings to attend to.  The attacks are becoming more frequent and violent.  When two suspects are pulled in she and Harries question one of them while her DCS, Fred Baker questions the other.  Unfortunately he ends up in a physical altercation with the suspect.

Caroline King is a journalist who will go to great lengths to get a story, including interviewing Jas Ram and his victims, the latter under false pretenses.  When she is attacked and beaten, Quinn wonders if it is tied to Ram or the muggings.  As it is, they have two of the muggers in custody, yet three unnamed attackers are still at large.

Author Maureen Carter has put together another very good thriller.  Fast paced throughout.  A good read.

The Suffocating Sea

DI Andy Horton and Sergeant Barney Cantelli have been called out to a fire on a boat in the Portsmouth marina.  There is a corpse, whose charred remains indicate murder, as the head was crushed in on one side.  The pathologist informs Horton that the victim was suffering from advanced stages of cancer.

The victim is a financier from Guernsey.  Earlier in the day of the fire, he was visited by a solicitor from the same island.  When Horton contacts a police colleague on Guernsey, he finds out that the solicitor, a reputable man, is missing.  Later that night there is another fire, this time on Guernsey.  Another victim is found; the missing solicitor.

The first victim had been seen in a church, so when Horton questions the witness, he discovers that the church's priest had died a few hours before the first victim.  The witness is sure it wasn't a natural death.  Horton wonders what ties them together.  He receives an urgent call from the new vicar to the church later in the day.  Upon arrival, he discovers the body of the vicar and finds himself locked in the vestry and seconds later the room is fire bombed.

As Horton delves deeper into the investigation more questions arise.  The night that Horton's boat with him in it is fire bombed, he is sure he is on the right track.  Author Pauline Rawson creates a lot of tension as she builds the story in the final chapters.  A very good read.

Last Reminder

DI Charlie Priest is on his way in when he receives a call from dispatch.  He finds that four swans have been brutally murdered in Heckley Park.  Shortly after getting in to work, he is called out to a murder scene.  The victim is a financial advisor who had recently gone bankrupt.

Later after the fraud squad have gone through the victim's computer in search of potential murderers, and after receiving the pathologist's report, Priest finds that he is on a different track entirely.  The victim had been converting investors' money into diamonds.  Further information Priest gets points to a missing gold bullion shipment.  How are they tied together?  By drug money being laundered?

Another murder of a young woman throws Priest for a loop.  He had arranged to meet her, only to arrive at her house to find her dead.  Things get worse when his car is vandalised and his girlfriend is threatened.  Priest has a couple of suspects in his mind, it is just a matter of proving which one it is.

Once again, author Stuart Pawson has written an intriguing murder mystery.  I also like the way that Pawson throws in a bit of comic relief from time-to-time.  A good read.

Strange Bird

A pigeon racing enthusiast on the island of Gotland finds a strange pigeon at his pigeon coop so he entices it in.  He discovers, from its band, that it is from Eastern Europe.  No wonder it looks so bedraggled.  Unfortunately the next day it is dead, and he is feeling unwell.  So unwell, that he asks a neighbour to look after his pigeons.  Before long she is unwell, the enthusiast and his pigeons are dead.

Shortly after the pigeon arrived, DI Maria Wern is called to a gruesome murder scene.  The victim had been camping, and no one seemed to know anything about him.

More people become ill before Dr. Jonathan Ericsson realises that they may have a serious bird flu situation on their hands.  He is forced to quarantine the soccer school where Wern's son Emil is in attendance.  The country has limited resources if this is a major flu outbreak, those who came into contact through the initial vector are also quarantined.  Health officials confirm that it is the bird flu.

Another murder is discovered during this time of crisis, which Wern has to attend to.  The victim is a young woman.  As more deaths occur from the bird flu, panic arises on the island.  Later it is discovered that the man the second murder victim was associated with has gone missing.

Author Anna Jansson gives the reader a complete surprise at the end of this murder mystery.  Although at times the story seems disjointed, the author does tie the threads of the story together well.  A good read.

The Iron Horse

1854 Victorian England and DI Robert Colbeck has been requested to travel from Scotland Yard to investigate a head found in a hatbox in luggage at the railway station in Crewe.  Colbeck is to take his sergeant, Victor Leeming with him.

The hatbox leads them to Lord Hendry, but Colbeck is suspicious of the answers he receives to questions he put to Hendry.  He sends Leeming off to Cambridge to check out the hotel that Hendry claims to have stayed in.  Meantime, Colbeck is off to Ireland, despite Superintendent Tallis' discomfort.

In Ireland, Colbeck finds out that the victim was a horse groom with aspirations of being a jockey.  The head was intended as a warning to the owner of a racehorse.  Colbeck surmises that the owners of the three main contenders of the Derby are being placed in positions so that they will blame each other for anything that happens.

Colbeck and Leeming continue to put pressure on the three men in hopes that one will slip up.  However, Colbeck also feels that someone else is influencing the situation.  The problem is, he doesn't know who.

Author Edward Marston throws a lot of action at the reader in the last few pages of this Victorian murder mystery.  A good read.

The Bomber

Victoria Stadium in Stockholm has just experienced a bombing, and is now in flames.  Annika Bengtzon has been awoken by her editor and told to attend the scene.  Through her connections, she is able to determine that the security alarms had been turned off and that there was a body blown to bits in the stadium. 

As the news team plans how to attack the story, questions arise, such as is this an attempt to prevent the Olympics from going on?  Why was the security compromised?  Who was the body?  Was it a murder, a suicide, or an accident?

When Annika's team look for information on the Head of the Olympics, Christina Furhage, they discover that her information is blocked to them, which is very unusual.  However, later at a police news conference, it is announced that the victim of the bombing is indeed Furhage.

Bengtzon's delving into archives turns up the fact that Furhage had been married before and has a son, besides a daughter.  What she learns leads to some speculations.  Although Bengtzon had fought against the terrorism angle, that is thrown out the window when a second bombing occurs.  A man, possibly associated with Furhage, is killed.  Bengtzon's source at the police tells her that they are close to making an arrest.  Shortly before Christmas a third bombing occurs.

Author Liza Marklund builds tension in this novel right up to its ultimate conclusion.  An exciting read.  I am looking forward to reading the next in the series, 'Vanished'.

Grounds for Appeal

Two university botany students are taking core samples of Borth Bog, when one of the samples that comes up from three feet down has what appears to be human flesh in it.  Is it another Bog Man, or is it more recent?  The police call in Richard Pryor's forensic group to do further examinations.

DI Meirion Thomas organises a group of uniforms to dig at the site under the supervision of a local archeologist, Eva Boross.  Pryor and his locum, Priscilla Chambers have joined the team.  It is a long process as water from the bog keeps filling the hole despite being pumped out.

Once the uniforms have dug down to the body, Pryor begins an examination.  It is definitely human.  However, is it a recent corpse or one of an earlier time?  As the body is uncovered by Eva and Priscilla, it is discovered that it is headless.  A tattoo of Batman on the shoulder skin reveals that it is a modern body and with wrists tied and a ligature around the neck area confirms that it is a murder.

The case gets put on the back burner because of lack of progress.  Meantime, Pryor is requested by Douglas Bailey, a lawyer in Bristol to help with an appeal on a murder case.  After studying the case file, Pryor is sure that the appeal can be won.

Although the Bog Man case has gone cold, rumours of a pickled head in Birmingham point the investigation from Aberystwyth in that direction.  The Birmingham police do find a head in the possession of the former owner of a pub.  Now they just have to make connections.  They arrange for Pryor to come and examine the head.

Throughout this novel, author Bernard Knight, gives excellent details of forensic investigations, police work and the legal system of thr UK in the 1950s.  An excellent read.

The Death of Kings

Sulla, Dictator of Rome, has demanded that Cornelia, wife of Julius come to his palace.  He wants to have his way with her.  Julius is away, fighting pirates, and Sulla can do as he pleases.  Until somebody murders him, that is.

Cornelia doesn't know that Julius has been captured by the very pirates he has been sent to fight.  Meantime Julius' friend Brutus is in Greece, scrambling for his life.  Cinna and Pompey are now in charge of Rome, while Brutus and Julius have to somehow make it back home.

Ransomed, Julius doesn't want to return home.  He wants to gain retribution on the pirate who had captured him, regain the lost money of his legion and the ransoms.  Achieving that goal, Julius finds that Sulla is dead and that Mithridates has risen in rebellion.  He and his ragtag army set out to punish the rebels on behalf of Rome.

Successful in defeating Mithridates, Julius now heads for Rome.  However, there are some in the Senate who are against him such as Cato.  Fortunately Pompey speaks in his favour.  Soon the Senate has another problem on its hands; slaves have rebelled in the north.  They are led by a former gladiator, Spartacus.  The Senate must send troops to quell the rebellion.  Julius and Brutus are among the legions sent north.

Badly outnumbered the legions are unable to defeat the slaves who now turn south towards Rome.  The legions follow in hot pursuit.

Author Conn Iggulden has written a fast paced historical novel based on the life of a young Julius Caesar.  He shows how Caesar grows as a leader of men, and what the life was like for ordinary Romans of the time.  A very good read.

A Question of Identity

It is 2002 and Alan Keyes has just been found not guilty on three different counts of murdering elderly women.  His wife is afraid to return to their home, but she must.  Meantime Keyes has been taken into police custody for his own safety.  The crowd outside the courthouse is baying for his blood.

The story moves on to a period ten years later.  A small community for senior citizens has been built.  It isn't long after moving in that an 80 year old woman is found strangled in her home.  DCS Simon Serailler, just returned from a two week leave, finds himself SIO.  The murderer obviously knows his way around because no evidence has been left behind.

It isn't long before the police apprehend a suspect, and announce it to the public.  However, shortly after that another murder occurs in the same housing subdivision; the same MO.  Later DCI Nathan Coates calls Serailler and informs him of a case that has been tucked away, with only a few in the know about it.  The MO is exactly the same as Serailler's two current cases.

The team comes to the realisation, after extensive investigation, that the killer's ID is known to them, however, all documentation of him has been hidden to protect his identity.  How to get that information and then get the culprit?

Author Susan Hill, despite getting this murder mystery off to a very slow start, has created a tense thriller.  A good read.

The Judas Sheep

A woman has been kidnapped at gunpoint, and her chauffeur murdered.  DI Charlie Priest is now wanted by the Assistant Commissioner to come off his sick leave and take over the investigation.  Priest questions the husband and he states that the wife isn't missing, just gone.  He also tells Priest that he had the car the chauffeur had been driving given a thorough cleaning because it was muddy.  It seems a little suspicious to the reader, but Priest does nothing about it.

Later, bullets from the same rifle that killed the chauffeur turn up in the body of a lorry driver.  His lorry had been burned in the hopes of hiding the evidence, and had been carrying a load of cigarettes for the south of France.  Meantime, Priest is bored with sick leave, so he accepts an assignment to spy on a drug ring.  Later Priest and his girlfriend are followed after the house next door to where he was doing surveillance from burns.  Fortunately his high powered Jaguar allows him to make an escape.

As the police investigation progresses, they are able to tie the kidnapping and some murders together with the highjacked lorry.    Author Stuart Pawson puts together a gripping conclusion to this murder mystery thriller.  A very good read.

At the Dying of the Year

Richard Nottingham, Constable of Leeds, has just returned to work after several months of convalescence.  He finds that things have changed.  Meantime, one of his deputies, Rob Lister has been called to where the bodies of three children have been found.  The three were vagabonds, no wonder no one had raised an alarm about them being missing.  When Nottingham cleans them up, he comes to the realisation that they had each been brutalised.

Talking to young waifs, Nottingham finds out that there are at least two other children that have disappeared, and that there is a man calling himself Gabriel, offering children food and a place to stay.

A servant offers up the name of his master before the city offers a reward.  Nottingham knows that the reward will spell trouble.  Nottingham approaches the man in question, and after questioning him, he is sure that he has found the guilty party.  It will just be a matter of proving it now.  However, one of the waifs that Nottingham had spoken to earlier states that this man wasn't Gabriel.  It isn't long after that, that the waif is killed.

Nottingham is now sure of who the culprit is.  However, once again, he doesn't have the evidence.  John Sedgwick, another of his deputies does manage to get some, which Nottingham presents to the person in question on the sly.  Unfortunately it results in the murder of his wife.  Sedgwick and Lister vow vengeance on behalf of their boss.  However, Nottingham won't have it.  He wants justice served properly.

Author Chris Nickson's portrayal of eighteenth century is very good.  The story is intriguing and chilling.  An excellent read.

A Wreath for My Sister

It has snowed overnight and DI Joanna Piercy receives a call about a woman who didn't return home from a date the previous night.  The body is found on the moors two days later when rain washes away the snow.

The woman was raped and then garrotted.  The pathologist was able to get semen, so DNA profiling could be used to point to the culprit.  Piercy is of the opinion that the woman had been set up.  Using the police computer, Piercy is sure the culprit has killed before.  DNA testing proves her hunch is true.  However, the DNA doesn't bring the police any closer to the culprit.

Piercy brings in two suspects because of their close connection to the victim.  However, a chance incident leads her to believe neither was responsible.  Author Priscilla Masters throws three likely culprits up, but only one is guilty, and suspicion of that one person isn't presented until late in the story.  A good, quick read.

Stolen Souls

Galya Petrova has been brought to Belfast by a human smuggling ring to become a prostitute.  She has been warned that the police would return her to the ring.  After making her escape, who is she to turn to?  On her first night she had been put with a Baptist pastor, who gave her a number to call him if she ever escaped. 

Meantime, DI Jack Lennon and Sergeant Connolly have been called out to investigate a body found by the harbour.  In the morning Lennon is called by another DI, who informs him of two more bodies, which seem to have a connection to the one he is investigating.  The question is, how are their deaths tied together?  Within a short time another body is found, it turns out to be the brother of one of those recently killed.  How are their deaths tied to Galya?  Lennon needs to find out and fast.

Author Stuart Neville builds the action and tension page-by-page in this thriller, so much so that I could not put it down until I got to the ultimate conclusion.  I am looking forward to the next book by Neville.

The Railway Viaduct

It is 1852 and a man has been hurled from a train crossing the Sankey Viaduct.  Detective Inspector Robert Colbeck and Sergeant Victor Leeming have been sent from Scotland Yard to Liverpool to investigate.

An artist, Ambrose Hooper, was painting the scene at the time of the incident.  He shows Colbeck his painting.  Colbeck also discovers from the victim's jacket that he came from France.  It is some time later when a woman comes to Colbeck at Scotland Yard to suggest a name for the victim.  Colbeck feels that she is leaving something out, so he asks his girlfriend, Madeleine Andrews, to help him.  What she finds out results in Colbeck and Leeming going to France to continue the investigation.

While there, Leeming goes undercover to work on the railway an English entrepreneur is building.  Meantime Colbeck discovers that the victim had been married and had been involved in a number of affairs.  Is a jealous husband at the heart of the matter?

Damage to a French railway by Irish navvies helps Colbeck discover who the murderer is and who was behind the scheme.  Author Edward Marston has written an intriguing historical murder mystery.  A good, quick read.

I Hear Sirens in the Street

DI Sean Duffy, and DC McCrabben have found a torso in a suitcase in an abandoned plant in Belfast.  Dr. Laura Cathcart, after doing the autopsy, informs the detectives that the man had been poisoned and his body kept in a freezer.

Duffy finds out that the poison used is very toxic, acting in a matter of minutes.  Is this death associated with "The Troubles"?  If so, it has come at an inopportune time as the Argentines have just invaded The Falklands.  In order to deal with that, Thatcher will have to pull troops out of Northern  Ireland.

An identity card in the suitcase leads Duffy to a farm in search of the owner.  He finds out that the owner had been gunned down by the IRA sometime earlier.  However, the circumstances of his death don't sit well with Duffy.

A break in the investigation gives the team a possible name.  The victim appears to be an American.  Unfortunately the information is of no help, nor is the funny phone call and note Duffy receives.  This leads Duffy off to the U. S. A.  What he finds leads to more mayhem and violence.

Author Adrian McKinty has written another excellent thriller, hard to put down.

Music of the Distant Stars

Lassair has gone in the early hours to pray at the grave site of her grandmother.  She is shocked to see that the stone slab atop the grave has been moved.  When she peers into the grave, she discovers a second body inside.

When Lassair and her aunt Edild investigate the grave, they find the body is that of a young woman, and that she was pregnant at the time of her death.  Lassair rushes to the manor to tell Lord Gilbert and Lady Emma of the body.  Here she finds out that the young woman was a seamstress. 

Lassair returns to her aunt and the body with the justicair, Sir Alain de Villequier.  Edild, in the meantime, has determined that the young woman was strangled with a leather thong of some sort.  Lassair is determined to find out the story behind the young woman's pregnancy.  She and her frien Sibert head out to investigate.

Lassair later learns from Gurdyman that the victim had known Sir Alain earlier.  She is now sure that he had impregnated the young woman, that they had fallen in love when when he found himself betrothed to an unattractive woman.  She is sure that he is the murderer, but could he really have killed the woman he loved?  Why then was Sir Alain attacked in the night when he visited her grave?

Edild, based on evidence, is positive that there could be two different attackers in the area.  Author Alys Clare presents one suspect after another in this murder mystery only to reveal that they aren't the criminal.  It isn't until the very end of the book that the reader finds out who it really is.  A good, quick read.

Blood Atonement

In the sequel to "Blood Detective" we find DCI Grant Foster back on the job six months after suffering grievous injuries.  He and DI Heather Jenkins are investigating the death of a young woman whose throat was slashed.  Her 14 year old daughter is also missing.  Due to the fact that the victim was very private about her personal past, Foster and Jenkins turn to Nigel Barnes to research her past.

A profiler, Susie Danson, is brought in to help with the investigation.  She is of the opinion that the daughter was the real target.  A hair found on the body provides some DNA that points to a man who could possibly be related to the victim.  Foster once again turns to Barnes.  His research provides them with a number of names, one of which indicates that a family member had also gone missing on fourteenth birthday. 

Barnes finds that the DNA sequencing points to a North American Indian.  It is shortly after this that a family distantly related to the first victim is murdered in their beds.  Barnes' research leads him to a dead end, but information that there is a group attempting to do away with this family.

Evidence points to a cult that may be involved in the murders and abductions.  There seems to be a connection to the Latter Day Saints.  Barnes and Jenkins travel to Salt Lake City, Utah to make use of the Mormon Library.  Unfortunately they run into roadblocks, but they do discover that a splinter group exists; one with history to the victims back in England.

Author Dan Waddell has written another exciting thriller that I was unable to put down.  For those readers interested in genealogy, murder mysteries and history this is an intense read.  I can only hope that sometime in the near future Waddell will write a third in the series.

Eleven Pipers Piping

Father Tom Christmas is attending a Robbie Burns meal in a hotel during a snowstorm in the village of Thornford with eleven others.  They are joined, unexpectedly, by a woman hoping to get a room before the full force of the storm hits.  All of the guests are shocked when the host, Will Moir,  is found dead after the meal.  No help is available due to the snow.

A post mortem indicates that Will was poisoned.  The poison was taxine, a product of the yew berry.  Could the tartlets sent to the Burns meal by Christmas' housekeeper been the cause?

Later Father Christmas learns that Will had taken out a new life insurance policy on himself.  Did he know that death was imminent?  Another question arises as a result of the inquest; could the poison have possibly been meant for someone else?

Things take a tragic turn at the Wassail ceremony, when a woman standing beside Father Christmas is shot and killed.  How is her death linked to the first? Or is it? 

Author C. C. Benison offers up a number of possible suspects throughout this murder mystery before presenting the real culprit, which at no time did this reader suspect.  A good read.

Hands Like Clouds

Ira Connaught has been found hanging from a tree in the forest above Tofino.  The coroner, Elias McCann , needs to determine why. His girlfriend, Vhanna is convinced that Ira's death is not a suicide, but rather a homicide. She is convinced that he must set an inquiry into the death into place.  The RCMP must be persuaded to open an investigation.

The autopsy reveals that Ira had been strangled almost to the point of death before being strung up in the tree.  McCann doesn't want the pathologist to tell the RCMP immediately.  He wants to start his own investigation before they are brought in.

As McCann begins to piece the evidence together, he believes that he can not yet involve the RCMP because they will have their hands full shortly escorting a visiting American senator.  That evening a young woman and her daughter die when their boat catches fire.  McCann is convinced that it is no accident.  Sergeant Gary Danchuk of the RCMP is upset with McCann because he has been conducting an unauthorised investigation on his own.

McCann and Vhanna find a store of dynamite in a cabin on a remote island.  Based on the numbers on the dynamite boxes, McCann is able to trace it back to a logging company.  He later finds out that the company's owner had sold it to Connaught.  How is the dynamite tied to the death of three people?

Matters turn for the worse when an attempt is made on McCann and Vhanna's life, which results in the death of an innocent victim.  Who is the real target?

Author Mark Zuehlke provides the reader with a few possible suspects, and a thrilling conclusion.

Blood Detective

A man has been murdered in a London graveyard.  DCI Grant Foster, DS Heather Jenkins, and  DI Andy Drinkwater are investigating.  They are shocked to learn that the victim's hands have been removed, post-mortem.

Nigel Barnes is a genealogist whom the police want to use them to possibly solve the case, because DS Jenkins feels that there is a possible link to the past.  A reference number had been carved into the victim's chest.  Would it be enough for Barnes to get what the police need?  What they discover is that a person died on the same spot on the same date in 1879.  Barnes also finds, in old newspapers that there were three murders.  The one question was the second.  Has someone already been gruesomely murdered and is there going to be a third?

Foster finds a body in a mortuary that indicates the victim is part of the group.  A third victim is found, a woman this time, savaged and her eyes removed.  Foster is taken off the lead investigation by his superior when things hit the fan.  Shortly afterwards a suspect is collared, however Foster has his doubts, and is sure that the killer will strike within the next 48 hours.

Foster and Barnes have come to the conclusion that the murders are revenge killings for the wrongful conviction of an innocent man in 1879.  Can they prevent more murders, and how will they catch the current culprit?

What an excellent read!  This has been one of the best murder mystery thrillers I have read in a long time.  Author Dan Waddell has woven modern policing with genealogy and history to create a real page turner.  I am looking forward to sequels.

The Mushroom Man

Eight year old Georgina Dewhurst has gone missing.  D. I. Priest has been tasked with finding her.  Sometime later a ransom note appears.  Is it truly from the kidnapper, or simply someone making mischief?

The investigating team is startled to learn that Georgina is not the biological daughter of her father, which DNA tests indicate, and that her late mother left her business to Georgina.  Why is her father attempting to sell the business, against the terms of the will, when the police will provide traceable bills for the ransom money?

Meantime, DI Peterson has his hands full with the suspicious deaths of three vicars.  He has also received a collection of clippings of articles about the deaths with a picture of a mushroom pinned to the articles.  What is the meaning behind that?  As Peterson's investigation progresses, it leads him to where Priest is busy with the kidnapping.

When the body of the girl is found, a man steps forward in another jurisdiction confessing to the murder.  However, before he can be transferred back to Priest's jurisdiction, he commits suicide.  Priest is not convinced he was guilty, so he goes after the father of the girl.

As luck would have it, at this time, a friend of Priest's provides him with concert tickets.  He takes his girlfriend to the concert, and as they walk out of the auditorium, she is blasted by a shotgun.  Some of Priest's colleagues are convinced it is the Mushroom Man, as it is the same modus operandi that has been used in the murder of a number of vicars.  However, Priest is convinced that the shotgun blast was meant for him.

Author Stuart Pawson brings this thriller to an exciting and scary conclusion. An excellent read and I am looking forward to the next in the series.

Ragtime in Simla

Detective Joe Sandilands is on his way to Simla when he and his travelling companion are shot at.  Unfortunately his companion is killed.  Sandilands finds out from the local police chief, Charlie Carterr, that another man had been shot on basically the same spot earlier.  It appears that the sniper is the same person, but how are the deaths connected?

Sandilands discovers that there is a group of randy young men in Simla.  Is it possible that they have a connection to the murders?  He interviews the wife of one of them, a smart businesswoman, and has some suspicions confirmed by what she tells him.

Sandilands and Carter have a plethora of suspects.  The young businesswoman isn't who she seems to be.  She is being blackmailed.  Now the two policemen have to protect her and find the blackmailer.  However, new information turns their investigation on its ear; what to do now?

Author Barbara Cleverly has a few more twists and turns left before the culmination of this murder mystery.  A very good read.

Mist Over the Water

Morcar has been eel hunting and accidentally stabbed himself in the foot with an eel spear.  His mother has come to the healer, Edild and her protege, Lassair for help.  Lassair is not prepared when she is told by Edild that she, as an apprentice must go and look after Morcar.  Lassair is also tasked by Edild to find the secret way across the fen to Ely.

When Morcar wakes from his fever, he tells Lassair and her friend Sibert a horrifying story of what happened to him.  He is fearful that they are all in danger now.  His fear comes to fruition when Sibert reports a murder in Ely.  They realise that the victim was dressed similarly to the way Morcar had been. Lassair decides the two men must escape while she stays behind to maintain the pretence of healing her cousin.

Having gotten Morcar to safety, Lassair and Sibert set about the cause of the attack on Morcar.  They find out that a pale young man is being held by the monks against his will and that the new cathedral under construction is haunted.  They fear now that they are in danger, stay or go?  Sibert also wants to know the story behind his father's death at Ely.

Lassair decides to infiltrate the abbey disguised as a nun.  Unbeknownst to her Sibert takes off on a journey of his own.  Hrype, sensing danger, comes from the fens to help out.  Each goes in search of their quest and learns new truths that shock.  It also endangers all involved.

Author Alys Clare has put together an exciting historical thriller.  A good read.

Death of an Old Master

It is 1896 and Charles de Courcy has passed away.  His will leaves the house on his estate to his eldest son Edmund, and shockingly the lands around the estate to his French mistress Yvette de Castelnau and her children Francois and Marie-Claire.  What is worse the house and lands are heavily mortgaged while the income has been dropping.  The banker suggests Edmund look at learning the value of art and selling some of the family paintings.

Time has moved on to 1899 and Lady Lucy Powerscourt's cousin Christopher Montague has been garotted.  Montague was an up and coming art critic.  She asks her husband Francis to investigate.  Powerscourt finds out that Montague was having an affair with a married woman. 

Meantime forgers are copying masters, which unscrupulous dealers are passing off as the real thing by paying off people who authenticate works of art.  Powerscourt knows of the existence of the forger, just not where he is situated, nor for whom he works.  It is at this time that a good friend of Montague's is also garrotted.  Powerscourt realises that they are connected, but he is unsure just how.

Powerscourt's investigation takes him to Corsica with Lucy.  While there someone tries to shoot them.  Safely back in England, Powerscourt continues his investigation.  The name of a possible forger is provided to him, but this person seems to have disappeared.

When the case is brought to court, Powerscourt's investigation is able to provide reliable witnesses about the forgeries.  The revelations of the defense lawyer saves the defendant from the noose and bring to light the real culprit.

Author David Dickinson has provided the reader with a good mystery read.

Baby Love

Birmingham's DS Bev Morriss has just been taken off a serial rape case and assigned a missing baby case.  She is not impressed by the change, especially since DI Mike Powell had been given the rape case.

Morriss is surprised to find out that all of the baby pictures have disappeared along with the baby.  She is also surprised to find out that the teenaged mother was the victim of a rape.  Could the two cases be connected?  Morriss attends the scene of the latest rape late at night and discovers an earring.

The home where the baby was snatched from is torched and huge letters spray painted on the wall calling them baby killers.  Was it a vigilante or someone else trying to do them in?  Morriss wonders why the baby was snatched; the single teenaged mother couldn't afford a ransom.  There had to be another reason.

DI Powell catches the rapist, based on the victim's E-fit.  Morriss wonders if this is the father of the victim's baby.  Later, the victim recants her claim of rape, but it is too late; he has committed suicide.

Shortly after, Morriss comes to the realisation that her house has been entered and her photo albums taken.  She has a stalker.  Could it be the rapist?  Then a second baby is snatched from her home.  Is it a copy cat or something more sinister?

Author Maureen Carter has a few more twists as she builds the tension in this thriller before drawing it to a conclusion.  An excellent read.

The Door in the River

Henry Wiest has died from a wasp sting.  DI Hazel Micallef wonders why he had parked behind the smoke shop when the sting had apparently happened.  She asks for a second autopsy.  That autopsy reveals that it wasn't  wasp stings, but electrocution from s Taser that led to the victim's heart attack.

A few days later Wiest's wife is tasered and struck on her head with a rock.  Fortunately she survives.  Micallef feels that the victim would be safer in Micallef's home than then hospital.

When a math teacher is murdered in front of his wife, the case takes on a whole new outlook.  What is going on?  As Micallef is about to bring a possible informant in, he is shot, right in front of her. 

Midway through the story, author Inger Ash Wolfe throws the reader a real twist in the plot.  As it seems the investigation is drawing to a successful conclusion the author sucker punches you with another twist thereby increasing the tension.

The conclusion is surprising, yet seemingly inevitable.  A very good read.

Water-Blue Eyes

Inspector Leo Caldas,  and his subordinate Rafael Estevez have been tasked with the investigation of the murder of a saxophonist who lived in an exclusive high rise.  It is a rather gruesome murder, with the victim dying in excruciating pain.

The pathologist tells Caldas that the victim was injected with formaldehyde.  Obviously the culprit had to have extensive medical knowledge.  Because the victim was gay, Caldas looks for a male doctor or nurse who would have knowledge of what formaldehyde can do to body tissue.

Two of the men that Caldas and his subordinate have questioned have disappeared.  Caldas has another issue, that being his temperamental assistant, Estevez.  They are shocked when one of the men they were supposed to have a follow-up meeting with is killed.  Pictures found on the computer of the victim are very revealing.  That discovery leads to a case of blackmail.  Is the person being blackmailed the murderer?

A faint memory of a phone call to the talk show Caldas participated in helps him to follow a new lead.  Author Domingo Villar surprises the reader with the solution to the crime.  "Water-Blue Eyes" is a good first novel.

The Torso

A torso has been found on the beach of Goteborg.  It has yet to be determined whether it is the torso of a male or a female.  Superintendent Sven Andersson, DI Irene Huss, and Jonny Blom start the investigation by trying to determine how the torso in its sack got where it did before assigning the rest of the team tasks.

A little later, two more bags are discovered further along the coast with more body parts in them.  Pathology has determined that the body is male.  A tattoo on the shoulder could possibly help to identify him.

Information is received from Copenhagen about possible similarities to another murder there.  Huss is sent there.  It isn't the police that provide her with a name, but rather a sumo wrestler.  He also tells her that there is a possible connection between a doctor in Goteborg and a policeman in Copenhagen.  Huss had been asked by a friend to locate her missing daughter in Copenhagen, but after beginning her search, the girl disappears.  Was her disappearance in any way connected to Huss' investigation?

Shortly after her return to Goteborg, Huss is informed that the girl has been found; murdered in a similar manner to the other two, but not dismembered.  She must return to Copenhagen.  It is a day after arriving in Copenhagen that Huss and the police superintendent find the body of the superintendent's son brutally murdered.

After her return to Goteborg, Huss is informed that her quiet source has been attacked, and the Danish police are very upset with her.  The murderer strikes again, and even tries to get at Huss unsuccessfully.  Unfortunately he is not captured.

Author Helene Tursten creates an amazingly complex and tense murder mystery.  An excellent read.

Witch's Hammer

Elizabeth's secretary, Walshingham wants his man Faunt to find Kit Marlowe, one of is top spies.  However, playwright and actor, Kit doesn't want to be found.  Marlowe has joined Lord Strange's actors who are preparing to put on a play for the friends of William Clopton.  Meantime Edward Greville plans on interfering anyway he can.  He has been buying up land in the area using thugs to gain control.

When Lord Strange is struck down by an ailment, people wonder if it is bad food, poison or witchcraft.  Greville lays claim to Clopton's property, in the name of Queen Elizabeth, when William has a stroke.  William's daughter escapes with some of his gold and silver in his coffin and is aided by Lord Strange's Men. Unfortunately the leader of the group is killed and Kit is determined to find out who the killer is.

Before that can happen, justice is brought Joyce Greville in a very unusual way.  Kit then sets out to settle a score of his own.

Author M. J. Trow has written an unusual murder mystery, set in the 17th century.  Although it is a quick read, it was not one I enjoyed to the utmost, however it was interesting to say the least, especially with the characters the author presented the reader with.

A Cotswold Ordeal

Thea Osborne is once again house sitting in the Cotswolds.  Tragedy strikes within a few hours of her settling in when the cat is run over.  The following day she goes for a walk.  Upon her return she finds the pony out of its barn, and inside the barn the body of a man hanging from a beam.

Meantime Thea's sister comes for an unexplained visit and Superintendent Hollis arrives to tell her that the suicide isn't a suicide.  The following evening, while the sisters are out for a meal, someone breaks into the house and spray paints a message on the wall.  Is it meant for the owners or Thea?

The next shock comes when the fourteen year old daughter of the house owners shows up unexpectedly.  Other subsequent events make the women uneasy.  Author Rebecca Tope presents the usual suspects, then surprises the reader with a twist to conclude.  A good, quick read.

I, Claudia

Claudia married Gaius Serfius for his money, however her gambling habits require more than he has given her.  So, she has become involved in pursuits in order to get more.  Unfortunately for her, she is about to embark on one such endeavour when she finds her client all trussed up and dead.  It isn't the first of her clients to die, rather her fourth.  What ties them together, besides herself?

Marcus Cornelius Orbilio has been sent to investigate by Callisunus, Head do the Security Police.  Claudia wants to do some investigating of her own, too.

Not long after this she is roughed up and her guard badly beaten by men run by a man she owes money to.  She is told to have a payment ready in short order or else.  Rufus, a little ragamuffin, passes this information on to Marcus.  A short while later Rufus brings them news of yet another gruesome murder.

When Claudia's debts are taken care of, she is quite confused.  Her husband commits suicide and everyone believes that he is the murderer as a result.  Claudia refuses to accept this, even though the security police have closed the case.  She asks Orbilio to reopen it.

Author Marilyn Todd presents an interesting conclusion to his murder mystery set in Augustinian Rome.  A good, quick read.

The Golden Mile to Murder

DCI Charlie Woodend has just arrived at his new posting in Whitebridge.  Rather than being shown to his new office, he is immediately sent to the office of his superior, Chief Superintendent Ainsworth.  He quickly finds out that Ainsworth doesn't like his investigative techniques, and he receives his first investigation to look into.  On top of that he is given a new sergeant, by the name of Monika Paniatowski.  The 'he' sergeant, turns out to be a she!

They have been assigned to investigate the murder of one of their own in Blackpool.  They are given a team of four to help with the investigation.  Woodend would prefer to work on his own.  Sergeant Hanson has been told to clear all info from the other team members before passing it on to Woodend.  Paniatowski isn't sure how to take Woodend; she is one of the first policewomen on a male dominated force.

Monika is checking on the cases the dead detective was involved in investigating.  The stolen cars case intrigues her because amongst all the normal cars is a Rolls Royce.

Things change when the body of a fortune teller is found buried in the sand of Blackpool beach.  How are the two murders connected, or are they.

Meantime, Woodend's former sergeant, Bob Rutter, has also been transferred to Lancashire and promoted o a DI.  He has been given the case of the stolen cars to investigate.  A chance meeting helps him to solve it.  This leads to information about the murders, which Woodend and Paniatowski take advantage of.

Author Sally Spencer provides a real twist to the conclusion of this story with and added little surprise right at the end, which makes it a doubly good read.  An excellent, fast paced read.

Chambers of Death

Elizabeth, Prioress of Tyndal, is returning home when she and her entourage are caught in a freezing rain storm.  Fortunately they manage to gain shelter at the manor of the Earl of Lincoln.  Unfortunately, one of the young ladies in the group is gravely ill.

The following morning, while looking out a window, the prioress sees a woman in the embrace of a man.  Seconds later they break apart as a group of riders enter the manor yard.  The woman greets her newly arrived husband.

The following morning the man in charge of the stable is found with his throat slit.  The sheriff is called and following his brief investigation, he accuses the cook, and she is put in a small hut to await transportation to jail.  That night she is attacked and stabbed in the back.  Discovered in the morning, she still lives, but barely.

The following morning, the steward's wife is found hanging in the stable.  Brother Thomas is convinced that it is not suicide.  Little does he know that another death will occur shortly.  How will he and Eleanor solve these murders when there are so many suspects?  A surprising confession does it for them.

Author Priscilla Royal has presented another historical murder mystery in an easy and quick reading format.  Enjoy!

Deadly Waters

A fisherman has reported something on the mulberry in Portsmouth harbour.  DI Andy Horton goes to check it out, and finds a woman's body.  His superior, Superintendent Uckfield, appoints him to lead the investigating team.  Unfortunately it is only to be temporary, as Tony Dennings is to take major crimes over shortly.  Horton is not pleased.

A wad of money is found in the victim's knickers; wrapped in a five pound note and honey, just like in the poem, "The Owl and the Pussycat".  Is this a clue?  Horton's DS, Barney Cantelli, recognises her as the new headmaster of one of the local schools.  The school has experienced two recent break ins.  Is the murder related to them?

Shortly after that, the deputy head of the school is found murdered.  That eliminates one of the potential suspects.  When a third body, and that of the newly determined prime suspect, turns up, Horton and Cantelli are presented with a real conundrum.

Author Pauline Rowson throws a few curve balls at the reader in the culmination of this murder mystery.  A surprising end to the story.  A good read.

The Rhetoric of Death

It is 1686 and Louis XIV has just revoked the Edict of Nantes.  Now there is no protection for the Huguenots.  They must accept Catholicism or die.  Maitre Charles du Luc of the Jesuits sets out to protect Pernelle, his former betrothed, and her children, at the risk to his own life.  Fortunately, afterwards, the bishop sends him to Paris to teach rhetoric.

A day after arriving at the Jesuit college in Paris, a young lad is run down by a man on a horse.  The lad is the nephew of of of the other teachers, and the godson of another.  Charles is told one version of the events while the godfather gives him another.  Charles wonders how Antoine got the cut on his head as it is inconsistent with the evidence told him.

Shortly thereafter, Charles discovers the body of Antoine's older brother Phillipe stuffed inside the latrine.  Charles is asked by the rector of the college to investigate the death.  After the funeral of Phillipe, Antoine tells Charles that his godfather, pere Guise took a note from his pocket that Phillipe had apparently sent him.  This makes Charles very curious about Guise's role in the death and apparent accident.

Unfortunately Charles has been told to back off on the investigation.  Guise has also attempted to make him suspect in the eyes of the police.  The head of the police orders Charles to be his spy within the college; what can he do but acquiesce?  It isn't long after this that Charles overhears a plot to sent French soldiers to England to help James II keep his throne and return England to Catholicism.  He is wounded as a result.

When someone attempts to poison Antoine, answers slowly come forth about the scheme set in motion to eliminate him and his brother.  Author Judith Rock has created an exciting historical murder mystery.  I am looking forward to reading the sequel.

The Picasso Scam

At the start of this novel, we meet DI Charlie Priest who has just been shot.  He goes on to tell how he arrived in this predicament. 

Priest has been left a bequest by Rudi Truscott, the man his wife had left him for.  It turns out to be a copy of a Picasso.  When Priest finds out that Truscott had burned to death, he becomes suspicious.

Someone tries to set up Priest by placing pure heroin in his car.  He discovers it before he is pulled over.  This sets in motion an investigation that will take him to Spain.  Unfortunately Priest doesn't come up with anything, but does make a couple of friends, one of whom is killed.

Back home Priest finds himself in a shoot out, which results in an enforced holiday.  It doesn't prevent him from continuing his investigation, however.  This necessitates sending ADS Nigel Newley, and DC Jeff Caton to New York to follow up on missing antiques, all part of the Picasso Scam as Priest calls it.  Their work with the NYPD helps draw a successful conclusion to the investigation.

Author Stuart Pawson has written an exciting thriller, with an excellent conclusion.  I like how Pawson shows that a single investigation is not the be all and end all of police work, Priest continues to work on other things at the same time, which is typical of true policing.  I thoroughly enjoyed this read and am looking forward to the next in the series.

The Devotion of Suspect X

Tokyo Detective Kusanagi has been assigned the murder investigation of a body that has been found wrapped in a tarp.  The face has been smashed beyond recognition and the fingertips burned.  When a person is found to be missing from a rooming house, the are able to identify the man as Togashi.  Togashi was at one time married to Yasuko Hanaoka.  When Kusanagi and his right hand man, Kishitani, question her she denies having seen him for some time.

Kusanagi's boss Mamiya has found out that Togashi was asking about Yasuko at her former place of work five days before he was murdered.  Kusanagi occasionally asks for help of a university professor by the name of Yukawa, on cases that are difficult.  It turns out that Yukawa knows Ishigami, a neighbour of Yasuko.  Yukawa decides to pay Ishigami a visit to find out what he can.

A friend of Yasuko's takes her to dinner.  Kusanagi wants to know who this Kudo is, and if he was involved in the murder of Togashi.  Ishigami also wants to know more about him as he is also interested in Yasuko.

Meantime Yukawa presses Kusanagi to place more interest in Ishigami.  He feels that Ishigami is somehow involved in the murder.  However, everyone is surprised when Ishigami turns himself in for the murder.  Kusanagi has to accept it, but Yukawa can't.

Author Keigo Higashino presents the reader with a few twists and turns before reaching the ultimate conclusion to this murder mystery.  A good read.

Catch the Fallen Sparrow

Soldiers on training maneuvers discover a burning body of a boy.  DI Joanna Piercy and her sergeant Mike Korpanski set out to investigate.  The autopsy shows that the lad had been abused.  No one has reported a missing boy?  Could he be someone in foster care?  He has been strangled.

It takes two days of investigation before the boy is identified.  He was living in a home for orphans, and had a predilection for disappearing for days, so the warden had not been overly worried at his disappearance.

Immediately after questioning two of the children at the home, they too disappear.  The fear is that the murderer may know where they have absconded to.  They need to be found for their own safety.

Things change drastically when one of the prime suspects is found with his throat slashed.  Piercy and Korpanski need to resolve this before more become victims.  Author Priscilla Masters presents a surprising culprit in the end.  A good and quick read.

The K Handshape

Dr. Leo Forgach has called his friend DS Christine Morris of the OPP at 5:00 a. m. to help him search for his missing daughter, Deirdre.  Unfortunately they find her body in the lake, weighted down with stones in her pocket and a scarf tightly embedded in her neck.

Morris is a member of a profiling team, and they set to work on the case.  Deirdre was deaf, and worked at a centre for the deaf.  Morris has difficulty getting information from Deirdre's friends, Hannah and Jessica, not only because they are friends, but because they are reticent to tell anything.

Morris and Forgach are shocked when they see his son from a previous marriage and Deirdre together on CCTV.  What is the meaning behind it?

Morris receives a letter mixed in with her mail that is threatening in the same manner of a letter received by Deirdre.  How did the perp find out where she lived to be able to hand deliver the letter?  It isn't long after that that Deirdre's daughter, Joy is abducted.  Fortunately she is later found safe and sound, but that doesn't solve the case.  More work needs to be done in the investigation to do that.

Author Maureen Jennings has written a very good thriller that leads the reader in several directions before presenting the killer.  A good read.

The Trip to Jerusalem

Westfield's Men are leaving London because of the summer plague.  As a result, several members of the crew and players are being dropped for austerity measures.  Nicholas Bracewell is sure that one of the players in the group was taken not by the plague, but rather was murdered.

As Westfield's Men travel northwards they come across town after town in which Banbury's Men, their arch-rival group has played; not only played, but used their plays!  Their band of merry men is lessened by one when young Richard Honeydew is kidnapped late one night. 

In search of Richard, Nicholas is confronted by a madwoman, who at first believes he is Christ, and when Nicholas persuades her he isn't, she demands he take her to York to see the Archbishop.  Further into his search for Richard, Nicholas runs afoul of the kidnappers.  How will he get himself and the company out of the mess that they are in?

Once again author Edward Marston has presented an exciting mystery about Elizabethan England.  An enjoyable read.

The Fourth Crow

Gil Cunningham has been called out to examine a young woman who has been beaten and murdered while she was tied to St. Mungo's Cross.  Gil must now investigate and find the murderer.  When the victim's maid comes to wash the body she is adamant that is isn't her mistress.  What has become of the woman who was originally tied to the cross?  Who is the dead woman found hanging on the cross?

Gil is aided in his investigation by his father-in-law and intern Lowrie.  They discover that the dead woman worked as a prostitute at an inn.  The following day, the body of one of the vergers of St. Mungo's church is found stuffed down the well of the church.  He had been murdered in the same fashion as the dead woman on the cross.

It isn't long after this that a third person is murdered, it is the guardian of the missing woman. Are the murders connected, or are they of different actions? Gil needs to figure that out.  Meantime, his wife finds the missing woman.  It is the threat of excommunication that finally brings the murderer out into the open.  Unfortunately the guilt exists for only one murder.  Who committed the other?  Gil sets out to find that out.

This is Book 9 in the Gil Cunningham series by author Pat McIntosh.  She once again tells an intriguing story of murder and mayhem in medieval times.  A good read.

Killer's Island

Maria Wern is an off duty police officer in Visby, Sweden, when she comes across a group of men beating a young boy.  She intervenes and is badly beaten herself.  Unfortunately the boy is so badly beaten that he dies.

Later, Linn Bogren is accosted by the same group of men that beat Wern.  They try to force her, but fortunately a neighbour and his dogs come along.  Bogren wonders if she is safe in her own home now.  She keeps her cell phone and a kitchen knife on her bedside table as a result of her fear.

Erika Lund, a forensic investigator with the police and friend of Wern are called to a decapitated body in the centre of town one morning.  The body turns out to be Bogren.

Harry Molin is a hypochondriac who isn't convinced that his doctor, Anders Ahlstrom is up to the job.  He also lives near Linn Bogren.  He becomes the next victim, and is found hanging in the house of policeman, Per Arvidsson, who also lives nearby.  Is there something that ties the three together?  Erika Lund has found a small 'k' at both scenes.  Is it a signature of the murderer?

Author Anna Jansson continually throws out little hints and clues as to who the perpetrator could be.  Tantalising as they may be, the reader is left unsure when the next hint is thrown up.  Although the story gets off to a slow start as Jansson introduces the main characters, she does a great job of building tension.  A great read.

According to the Evidence

It is 1955 and Dr. Richard Pryor has been called out to what appears to be an accident at a mechanic's shop.  A tractor under repair has dropped onto a man.  However, upon examination, Pryor isn't so sure.  He will know more when he does an autopsy.

With the help of his partner, Dr. Angela Bray, Pryor is able to determine that the victim was strangled and then hung before being crushed by the tractor.  DI Crippen definitely has a homicide on his hands.

Pryor has also been asked to serve as a witness for the defence in the case of a vet who has been charged with injecting his ill wife with potassium chloride to hasten her death.  Pryor is able to turn to recent developments in forensic medicine to help the defence solicitors with their case.

A suicide brings the case of the tractor homicide to a close.  However, calls to Europe and America are in order to confirm information needed for the other case.

Meantime, the army brings Pryor a case; is it an accidental killing or a murder. Since it happened in the Middle East, he has only grainy autopsy pictures to look at.  The bullet is also still there.  An exhumation of the soldier is needed to gather more information.  That exhumation would prove Pryor's theory.

Author Bernard Knight presents forensic evidence in great detail as he takes the reader through the Assizes Court and murder trial.  A fascinating read.

A Perfect Hell

This is the story of the First Special Service Force, in World War II,  a joint force of Canada and the USA, which fought in Italy, and which the Germans called "The Black Devils".

Creating the joint force was a special task.  It was organised by the Americans, and training occurred at a base in Montana.  A major concern initially was that the Canadians and Americans would not blend as each had their own traditions.  However, the men did blend throughout their training to become a single, specially trained killing machine.  And, although this is a blended fighting group, the focus of this book is on Canadians serving in The Black Devils.

The initial plan for the force was to attack Norway, for which they had especially trained.  However, when Lt. Colonel Robert Frederick arrived in London after his force had completed its training, he found out that Norway was a no go.  However, they were given the task of getting the island of Kiska back from the Japanese.  Unfortunately when they got there, they discovered that the Japanese had scarpered.  Meantime, Italy had been invaded, so the special force was transferred there.

The first battle results in the first telegrams home announcing wounds and deaths.  General Mark Clarke's promise of being in Rome within a week was not to be as the Germans fought very hard defensively.

After fighting in the mountains of Italy, the Force is then sent to Anzio, where they are given the task of defending the right quarter of the beach head.  To be safer at Anzio, it was decided that the Force would be the aggressors instead of defenders of the beach.  This meant night time raids.  Within a week, they had pushed the Germans back 1 400 metres.  It was here, due to using soot from burnt corks to camouflage their faces, that the Force would earn the nickname "The Black Devils".

When the breakout at Anzio finally comes, it is like World War I all over again; out of the trenches at 7:00 a. m. following an artillery barrage.  The breakout is successful, but costly.  Unfortunately General Mark Clark decides that he wants to take Rome instead of his given objective.  As a result, the Germans escape encirclement to fight another day.  The next task given to the Force is to create a flying column and enter Rome first.

The Force was given the opportunity of some R & R south of Rome before training for an invasion of southern France.  D-Day had occurred in Normandy and the Germans were in retreat now.  It is in southern France that the Force was disbanded; an event that no German force had been able to do.  It was a very tough time for both Canadians and Americans, many tears were shed by men who had become such a strong fighting force of the Allies.

Author John Nadler has provided readers with a brilliant description of the events involving the "Black Devils".  He hasn't withheld anything, showing how gruesome war is.  Wounds, and death on the battlefield leave nothing to the imagination.  Well written, well worth the read for fans of military history.

The Summer of Dead Toys

Inspector Hector Salgado has just returned from an imposed holiday in Buenos Aires.  Superintendent Savall doesn't want him working on the case which led to his suspension.  So, Savall asks him to look into the death of Joana Vidal's son as he doesn't think there is much to it.  Apparently Marc simply fell from a window, landing on his head.

Salgado is given Agent Leire Castro to help with the investigation.  They begin their investigation at Marc's former school.  Next, they visit Gina Marti, Marc's girlfriend.  They are surprised to find Marc's friend, Aleix Rovira there.  Castro is sure that Gina is leaving something out of her story.  She also finds out that Marc was wearing a different t-shirt prior to his death.  When they go through Marc's stuff they find the original t-shirt with what appears to be blood stains on it.

As Salgado and Castro's investigation continues, Rovira's name comes up in interesting ways.  Things take a twist when Gina commits suicide.  Salgado keeps thinking 'too many dead'.  He also begins to wonder if the deaths are tied to an event in the past.  Due to the suspension case hanging over Salgado, he feels his family is threatened.  It strikes close to home when his neighbour is brutally assaulted.

Tension mounts as author Antonio Hill wraps up this intriguing murder mystery.  An intensely good read and I am looking forward to sequels.

Don't Look Back

Ragnhild is a trusting six year old girl.  So, when a man in an old van offers her a ride home, she accepts.  Konrad Sejer of the Norwegian police is involved in the search for her and is told by a boy who is searching for Ragnhild that she was seen in a van.  After a frustrating and terrifying six hours, Ragnhild turns up safe and sound.

A short time later, Ragnhild's mother calls Sejer and tells him that her daughter had seen a woman lying by a lake on her way home.  The woman had no clothes on.  Sejer and his team find the body and determine that she is quite young, and couldn't have been dead long as volunteers searching for Ragnhild had swept the area earlier.

Later that night, the victim is identified when the parents show up to report her missing.  Sejer spends a lot of time trying to get to know the victim through questioning those who knew her best.  He discovers from Ragnhild and Raymond saw a car travelling at a high speed from the are of the body.  Will their drawings help capture the murderer?

The autopsy discovers that Annie, the victim, died of forced drowning.  Also, she would have been dead in a matter of months anyway as she had liver cancer.  As the investigation continues more evidence comes to light pointing to the true culprit.

Author Karin Fossum has given the reader a good murder mystery to read.  I look forward to reading more from her.

The Gates of Rome

Gaius and Marcus are eight year old boys revelling in life when they are set upn by  Suetonius a 14 year old neighbour and a couple of his friends.  The two lads take a serious beating.  Tubruk, ex-gladiator and the estate manager is asked by Gaius' father to find someone to train the boys.  Renius, a battle hardened veteran is brought in to do so.

Cabera comes at a time when Gaius is injured and saves his life.  Later, Gaius loses his father in a riot and becomes master of the estate.  He has an interest in Alexandria, who is a slave.  He later discovers that Marcus is also interested in her.  Gaius looks to his uncle for protection.  The boys have a lot to learn from Uncle Marius.

Gaius is elected to the senate in place of his father, while Marcus is sent to Greece for further military training with Renius.  Gaius gets to meet men like Sulla and Pompey.  He also falls in love with Cornelia, daughter of Cinna.  When he marries her he takes his adult name; Gaius Julius Caesar.

Sulla has been sent by the senate to put down a revolt in the east.  Inthe meantime, Marius takes control of Rome.  Sulla is quick in putting down the revolt and returns to Rome with his army.  Marius is intent on preventing him from taking the city.  However, Sulla's guile wins the city back and Julius is forced to flee.

Julius and Cabrera join a legion headed to Egypt, but when he boards the legion's ship he runs into his old nemesis, Suetonius.

Author, Conn Iggulden, has done terrific research to present this novel of Rome.  A great read for fans of historical fiction.  I am looking forward to reading the sequel.

Birdman

A body has been found near the Millenneum Dome.  DI Jack Caffery of the Area Major Investigation Pool with his superior, Detective Superintendent Dave Maddox,  have been dragged out of bed to investigate.  DS Fiona Quinn tells them that an amateur autopsy has been performed on the body.  Hours later Maddox calls Caffery and tells him that four more bodies have been found.

A new DI on the team plays the racist angle on the serial killer, but Caffery doesn't buy it.  The autopsy reveals that the culprit is a necrophileiac.  Later a witness remembers an incident which could be crucial, she tells Caffery.  Someone arrested by the new DI also points out that he had taken a couple of the victims to the same place.

When the prime suspect takes his own life, everyone thinks that the killing spree has come to an end.  However, another victim appears, and is clinging to life.  Caffery comes to the realisation that there were two involved in the murders and mutilations.  Now he just has to figure out how to catch the remaining criminal.  As he investigates further, he determines who the culprit wants the victims to look like, and realises that she might be in trouble.  However, she is now missing.

Author Mo Hayder is excellent at creating rising tension as she draws her murder mysteries to a conclusion.  I have been a fan of hers ever since I picked up the first book I read of hers.  "Birdman" leaves the reader wanting more of this fine author.

Dead Beat

It is the early 60s, Kate O'Donnell has left Liverpool to look for a job in London as a photographer.  She has no place to stay, but is able to sleep on the couch of a friend.  Luckily she does land a job with an agency on a two month trial basis.  One other reason for going to London was to search for her brother, Tom.

DS Harry Barnard is on the lookout for the killer of a homosexual, a man who apparently lived with Kate's brother.  He finally comes across Kate.  He gets a picture of Tom from her.  Later, he can't understand why his boss is telling him to back off the case.

Kate's quest for information leads her along a similar path to that which Barnard is following.  As the investigation progresses, DS Barnard stumbles on a murdered shop owner who has been a reliable informer for him.  The victim has died in the same way the original victim had, a slashed throat.

Pictures Kate has taken may prove her brother's innocence, although she doesn't know that until she shows Barnard.  Barnard is shocked by what the pictures reveal.

Author Patricia Hall has written a graphic and tension filled novel of London on the early sixties.  A good read.

The Crossing Places

A body has been found in the salt marshes near King's Lynn and DCI Harry Nelson has asked Doctor Ruth Galloway, a forensic archeologist, to examine it in situ.  What she finds, she is sure is a Bronze Age child.  Nelson was hoping that it was a recent murder, a missing child, that would allow the parents to finally grieve.

It is just before the new year when Ruth is called back to the police station in King's Lynn.  Another child has been abducted in similar circumstances to the one Nelson was investigating.  He asks for help.

One stormy night later, Ruth opens her door looking for one of her cats.  She finds it at her feet with its throat slashed.  She is frightened and Nelson tells her this could be a threat from the person who has taken the two little girls.

Using her knowledge of archeology and information from the letters Nelson had received regarding the two little girls, Ruth surmises where the second girl is buried.  She is correct.  Later she makes a surprising discovery in her own library.  People she knows seem to be tied into the murders.  What is she to do now?

Author Elly Griffiths has written an excellent novel here.  I am looking forward to reading the sequel.

Truth Dare Kill

Danny  McRae has returned home from the war with a steel plate in his head.  He doesn't want to return home to Scotland, so he has set up shop as a private investigator in London.  Kate Graveney has come to him fearing that she has killed a man.  When she names the man, it turns out that McRae knew him through the SOE.  Prior to the war McRae had been a police detective, and now he was being asked to use his skills again.

McRae can't let go of his policing instincts, so he starts to inquire about the recent spate of murdered prostitutes.  The local police inspector doesn't appreciate McRae's interest.

McRae finds out that the man in question is indeed dead.  He is also surprised at the lack of reaction by Kate when he tells her.  Something doesn't seem right in his mind.  He is also unable to get information from the SOE about his head injury and the missing memories.

As McRae delves into his past he is punished for it, but it slowly brings back painful memories.  He is also put into the frame for a murder, so has to go into hiding.  As he puts things together, he is sure of who the murderer is, it is just a matter of proving it and his own innocence.

Author Gordon Ferris has put together a real page turner, a book that is hard to put down, one I am sure fans of murder mysteries will enjoy.

Vodka Doesn't Freeze

The body of a man has been found near a beach in Sydney.  It turns out that he is a paedophile.  DS Jill Jackson, and her partner Scott Hutchinson are investigating.  Their investigation points to two other similar killings in the area.

Jackson discovers a link to all three dead men;  Mercy Merris, a clinical psychologist.  Dr. Merris had treated Jackson after a critical incident.  Jackson didn't want the therapy, but in the end found it refreshing.  However, Jackson is unsettled at Merris' reaction to the death of the men.

Jackson turns to a transvestite for help.  Honey was one of those abused by a paedophile ring, and Jackson hopes to use her to find out more about the ring.

As the investigation continues, the murder team intends to look at the doctor, the head of a paedophile ring and his procurer.  As they close in on the ring, Jackson's life is threatened.  The climax of this psycho-drama is scary and tense.

Author Leah Giarratano has written a very good thriller, one that is hard to put down.

Where the Shadow Falls

Sheriff James Freeman has been brutally murdered in his home.  DS Alice Rice is part of the team investigating the murder.  Upon further investigation, Rice finds out that Freeman had a motor neurone disease and had planned to commit suicide on the night he was killed.     

Newly appointed DCI Robin Bruce has a different approach to how to get information on the murder.    He is hard core, and looking for advancement.  This is not an approach that Rice uses.  Rice receives a series of threatening letters from the sheriff's lover that the victim received.  The murder team now has a new unknown suspect.  It appears that a wind farm was being proposed in the area and Freeman was one of the principal supporters.

It isn't long after that, that Freeman's lover is hit by a car that leaves the scene.  Are the two incidents related?  Evidence now points to the fact that the sheriff was going to put a stop to the wind farm, however immediately following his death, his brother gave it the go ahead.

Author Gillian Galbraith provides an interesting twist to this murder mystery.  A good read.

Buried Too Deep

A bloodied, unconscious man has been brought to the doctor who lives near the mansio operated by Aurelia Marcellus.  Apparently he had asked to speak to her before losing consciousness.  The following morning Aurelia finds out that the wounded man really wanted to see he brother Lucius and pass on a message about Gaulish raiders trying to take land from small land holders.

Lucius arrives later on in the day after the man dies.  They decide to take the body home to his relatives and visit their sister, Albia, and her family in the process.  While visiting their sister, Lucius reveals that he has met their half-brother, unknown to them until now.  Matters worsen when the raiders attack Albia's farm.  The raiders named Albia and her husband when they were attacking.  Is someone ordering them to do the attacks?

Two powerful families are at odds, and like Romeo and Juliet have a set of young lovers.  Will the murder of one of the family heads lead to a war between the families, or can the Aurelius family prevent that from happening?

Author Jane Finnis has provided the reader with a very good historical novel.  Well worth the read.

Bitter Water

Police have found a body with its head encased in concrete.  It turns out to be one of the councillors of Glasgow.  Shortly after reporting on it, Douglas Brodie is asked by a demobbed soldier, calling himself Ishmael, to arrange for legal help for a mate.  His friend, Samantha Campbell agrees to take on the case.

The soldier is given five years, and his friend protests loudly in court resulting in his arrest, too.  He vows that justice will be served.  The soldier, a POW taken at Dunkirk, commits suicide in jail a matter of days later.  It isn't long after that, that a loan shark is badly beaten.  After writing about it, Brodie receives a letter stating that this is how the 'Glasgow Marshals' are going to mete out justice since neither the police nor the judges were doing it.

As Brodie delves into the incidents, he discovers at least 19 of them.  Punishment fitting the crime.  While Brodie is investigating this his senior crime reporter is investigating the original crime, which he feels leads to a corrupt city council.

Brodie and his friend Sam Campbell are surprised by the Glasgow Marshals and held at gunpoint as they threaten Brodie and explain their point of view.  Later they expand their operations by chalking messages on walls asking people to report transgressors to them for punishment.  This leads to a murder of a homosexual, which the Marshals claim they didn't commit.  While Brodie is meeting with the gang, more homosexuals are killed.

It isn't long after this that an attempt is made on Brodie.  The concluding pages of Gordon Ferris' sequel to 'Hanging Shed' are filled with tension and excitement.  A thoroughly good read.