Instrument of Slaughter

Inspector Harvey Marmion and Sergeant Joe Keedy have been given the sad task of informing a father that his son has been cruelly murdered.  The victim is a pacifist who had just attended a meeting against the recent bill passed to impose conscription.  While going through his bedroom, they discover a picture of a married woman.  Was the man a victim of a jealous husband?  The victim's three friends are overcome with a sense of panic.

Marmion and Keedy's investigation turns up the fact that the victim had a secret woman friend.  They also have two possible suspects, but both seem to have readily available alibis.  When a second attack occurs, Marmion's supervisor seems to think they are tied together.  Marmion isn't so sure.

Author Edward Marston throws a couple of curve balls at the reader before presenting us with the solution to the crime.  An enjoyable read.

Birthdays for the Dead

Someone has been grabbing young girls, torturing them, and taking photos of the torture.  He then mails photos of the progression of the torture to the parents on the child's birthday.  DC Ash Henderson has been assigned to the case and to help him he has been given a criminal psychologist, Dr. Alice McDonald.  She is afraid of air travel, and going too fast in a car in case either crashes, however, she becomes competent when dealing with the victim's parents.  For Henderson, the investigation is personal.

A number of bodies have been found in an abandoned park.  Dr. McDonald thinks that it is weird that the killer is abandoning the bodies in this fashion.  It doesn't seem orderly to her.  She also questions why a twelve year old (one of the victims) would have a shelf full of first edition books, worth thousands. 

Each birthday of the missing child the parents receive a birthday card from " The Birthday Boy".  Some of the parents have moved, yet they still receive the birthday card.  How is  The Birthday Boy able to find out their new address?  McDonald creates a prfile and together she and Henderson come up with a potential suspect.  But how can they prove it?

Things turn for the worse when Henderson's youngest daughter disappears.  Has she been taken, too, or is she just acting up?  No, she too, has become a victim of the Birthday Boy!

Stuart MacBride's latest novel is a dark one.  The story is intense and demanding of the reader.  It reminded me very much of the dark novels of Ian Rankin's 'Rebus'.  Although there is a lot of gratuitous violence, I found it to be a good read.

A Dead Man in Trieste

It is 1910, Lomax, the British Consul in Trieste has disappeared.  Seymour, a policeman in the British Special Branch has been sent to investigate the disappearance.  He finds Trieste to be a polyglot of nationalities, so his growing up in the East End of London is valuable.

Seymour's investigation is covert, yet Kornbluth, the local head of the police is prepared to help.  There are underlying currents of money, political intrigue and sex.  Seymour finds it hard to come to grips with what Lomax had become in Trieste.  It isn't long before the body of Lomax is found at sea.

In an empire like the Austrian Empire, the government needed to know everything, so Seymour wasn't surprised to find that he had acquired a shadow.  Seymour also finds himself entangled with Maddalena, one of the many artists that Lomax had befriended.  Seymour finds out that Koskash, the man working for Lomax has been selling British papers to Serb nationals.  Serbia had been very angry at Austria when the empire had annexed Bosnia a few years earlier.  Could this set of a major international incident?

Michael Pearce has created a novel full of intrigue and events that foreshadowed the event which led directly to World War One.  Not a bad read.

All the Lonely People

Harry Devlin is a solicitor in Liverpool.  He hasn't seen his wife, Liz, for two years, since she moved in with a member of the criminal element, one Mick Coghlan.  Now, here she is, back inside his apartment.  She feels threatened by her current boyfriend because she has taken on a new lover.  Twenty-four hours later and the police are questioning Devlin as to her murder.

Harry plans to find her murderer.  He has his suspicions.  Chief Inspector Skinner and DS Macbeth, who are investigating the murder, have their suspicions, and those seem to include Harry.  They drop a bombshell on Harry when they tell him his wife was eight weeks pregnant.

Harry confronts Coghlan, with no success.  It is shortly after this that he is presented with another lead, Joe Rourke.  Was Joe the new man in Liz's life? Harry looks into Rourke.  Things take a turn for the worse when Harry is beaten, however that only strengthens his resolve.  He continues his investigation, only to land in hot water when one of the people he is trying to talk to turns up murdered.  Shortly after that, Coghlan is arrested for attempted murder in London.

Where to turn now?  Author Martin Edwards has a number of twists and turns before drawing the story to a surprising conclusion.  When I first started reading the novel, I wasn't sure that I was going to like it, but before long, I was intrigued and enjoying the read and the ride.  Edwards gives a very good look at the underbelly of Liverpool in this novel.  Well worth the read.

Garment of Shadows

In the sequel to "Pirate King", Sherlock Holmes' young wife, Mary Russell has gone missing in Morroco.

Mary awakens inside a room, aching all over, her head throbbing and blood on her hands.  She is unsure as to what has happened to her and as to who she is.  She knows that she must escape, and does so just before French soldiers appear.  Later amongst her possessions she finds a scrap of onion skin upon which appears a crudely made capital A.  She is unsure of its meaning, but for some reason it appears to mean 'the clock of the sorcerer'.  She feels she needs to search it out.

As Mary explores the city in which she has found herself, vague memories penetrate her aching head.  She also finds out that Morocco is on the verge of civil war.

As Holmes begins his investigation into the disappearance of Mary, he finds out that she has simply walked out into the dessert holding the hand of a child.  When he searches her valise he discovers her passport and wedding ring.  It is as if she didn't want her identity known, wherever she was going.

When Mary does show up where Holmes is staying, it appears that she is suffering from amnesia.  After bathing, being fed and a good rest, Mary's memory begins to return.

Although Mary's memory hasn't returned completely, she finds that Holmes, the Resident General and herself have been tasked with meeting with a rebel leader.  Someone doesn't like what they are doing, and abduct both Mary and Holmes in different places.  There is only one conclusion left, that there is a traitor in their midst.  ow will they get free and find the traitor?

Author Laurie R. King provides the reader with some interesting twists to the story as she draws it to a conclusion.  A good read.

Wine of Violence

1270, England  and Eleanor of Wynethorpe has been appointed prioress of Tyndal Priory; not because of her abilities, but because of her family connections at court.  At the tender age of 20, Eleanor can feel a palpable resentment from the nuns of the priory because their election was not accepted when the king appointed her.

On her first day in charge, the priest who was to be her advisor is found murdered.  On top of that, a newly appointed priest, of whom nothing is known is appointed as her advisor.  Brother Thomas is young, but is knowledgeable of the law.  After questioning him, Eleanor accepts his appointment.  What she doesn't know is that Thomas has been assigned to investigate the priory's money troubles.

Crowner Ralf has been brought in to investigate the murder.  He will also question Thomas after the monk has been clobbered on the head outside the priory.  With the help of Sister Anne, it is determined that both attacks were done by a left-handed person.

Brothers Simeon and John are two men of mystery living in the male side of the priory.  Yet, their lives are an integral part of the story.  Simeon is charge of the priory's accounts.  Eleanor does not appreciate the way he has handled them and can see that she has a power struggle on her hands.

Another murder creates more chaos.  Eleanor and Crowner Ralf are determined to find the culprit, and Thomas is confused as to what to do.  How will the culprit be brought to justice.

Author Priscilla Royal has presented a well written mystery set in the 13th century.  Intriguing and a quick read.  I look forward to the sequels.

Echoes of the Dead

DCI Monika Paniatowski has been given the task of looking into what might be a case of a man who served 22 years for a crime he didn't commit.  He confessed on his death bed that he had lied about a murder he had been forced to confess to.  Monica now has to prove that her former superior Charlie Woodend did not wrongfully wring a confession out of the man.  Scotland Yard would be sending their own DCI to investigate another who is now one of their own.

Author Sally Spencer takes the reader back to the time of the murder and the two Scotland Yard detectives who investigated it, DCI Charlie Woodend and DS Ralph Bannerman.  Whitebridge had been where Woodend had grown up, and now he was back to investigate the brutal rape and murder of a young girl.

As Woodend begins his investigation he discovers how poor a job the locals have done so far.  He discovers a feather on the girl's clothing and another at the scene of the crime.  Together, they are enough to point to the criminal.

DCI Tom Hall is sent from Scotland Yard to work with Monika investigating the now retired Woodend and now Assistant Commissioner Bannerman.  Together Hall and Paniatowski find that the killer did have an alibi, but the killer's bent lawyer has a role in preventing the alibi from coming forward.  Something doesn't seem right to Monika.  She needs to see Woodend at his retirement home in Spain.

While Monika is in Spain, Hall finds information that puts Woodend in the frame for framing the original suspect.  However, Monika realises that it is Bannerman that has set up the frame.  She sets out to exonerate her former boss, Woodend.  Unfortunately the time frame her boss has set out for her is limited.  Will things fall into place to save Woodend's reputation and her own job?

An excellent read, hard to put down.

The Leopard Sword

This is the fourth volume in the "Empire" series by Anthony Riches. 

Marcus' cohort has been transferred from Britannia to the border of Germania to deal with thieves and raiders.  When they get to their destination they discover that they have two types of bandits to contend with.  The first are the opportunists, who take what they can, when they can.  The second are organised; for the most part deserters from the Roman army.

Shortly after arriving in Tungrorum, one of Marcus' friends discovers his first love.  She has become a high class whore since he left, and is well protected by armed guards.  There is also tension between the unblooded soldiers of the city and the two cohorts that have marched in to protect it.

Marcus, Julius, Dubnis and Silus are secretly tasked with finding the organised  bandits' stronghold.  They find a secret bridge across the river, and lead the cohort in attack.  Unfortunately Marcus is taken prisoner in the ensuing battle.  Marcus is surprised when the bandit leader gives intimate details about him and the leadership back at Tungrorum.  Obduro, the bandit leader sees in Marcus a man with a common enemy, Rome!  Both are in reality outlaws of the empire, and he invites Marcus to join him. 

Marcus rejects the offer, and is then given a demonstration of Obduro's "Leopard Sword", which is made if the finest Damascus steel.  Obduro sends Marcus back with a message warning the Romans not to attack his stronghold.  Marcus also returns with a broken jaw, so can only communicate his thoughts via a wax tablet.

Treachery, double crossing, murder and vengeance fill the remaking pages of this historical novel.  Author Anthony Riches provides an exciting conclusion to his story.  Another read you won't want to put down.

The Silence

A young American college student has gone missing in Cambridge.  One of her roommates feels that she could be dead.  PC Gully has started the investigation by meeting with the roommates.  She discovers that someone had been through the house using a key to access each of the different rooms.  Also, Libby noticed a smell of meat gone bad somewhere in the house.  That was enough to make Gully suspicious.

DC Gary Goodhew joins her and opens the bedroom of the missing student.  That brings many more cops.  As DC Goodhew talks to the roommates, he discovers that one of them is related to another suicide.  Following his instincts, he looks back at the old file.  It brings back black memories. 

Further investigation leads him to discover a connection between the mother of the American student and the mother of one of the roommates.  Is it relevant?

The case takes a strange twist when a second female roommate is found dead of an apparent suicide.  Goodhew's gut instinct is that there is a connection between the deaths, while others have written them off as suicides.  As Goodhew studies the information available, he discovers more and more ties.  Maybe they weren't suicides after all.  Other cases now come into play.

Author Alison Bruce starts this mystery off in a very slow manner, however as the reader begins to learn things the pace picks up, leading to a very exciting climax.  Well written and well worth the read.

The Constant Lovers

The body of a young woman has been found outside Leeds in the early part of the 18th century.  Constable Richard Nottingham has been called out to investigate.  A few days later a man shows up at the constable's office announcing that his wife is missing.  His description matches that of the young woman.  Nottingham is informed that she is the daughter of a nearby aristocrat.

The initial investigation by Nottingham and his deputy John Sedgwick unveil the fact that the maid who travelled with the young woman is missing.  They also discover that her husband had paid her parents so that he could marry her and have access to nobility.

A few days later a suicide is discovered.  Looking through his papers, Nottingham, Sedgwick and their new man Rob Lister determine that he had been seeing the young woman who had been murdered.  The three men also have several thefts to solve involving servants who take on jobs and the shortly afterwards steal and disappear.

Sometime later a body is discovered.  It has been worried by animals and is badly decomposed.  Nottingham determines that it is the body of the maid.  Now he and his men have to discover who killed the young women and why.

Nottingham also has to contend with a battle between two pimps.  The younger one challenging the older more established one for supremacy.  Nottingham's plate is full.  How can he establish the truth of the murders and keep peace in Leeds?

Author Chris Nickson has provided the reader with an intriguing puzzle in a light, quick and enjoyable read.

Fortress of Spears

In the sequel to "Arrows of Fury", Calgus finds that the Venicone, a tribe he'd persuaded to join his battle against the Romans are no longer interested in fighting the Romans.  Durst, their leader, plans on taking them home.  Unbeknownst to them the Romans are at their walls.  Marcus and his cohort have burst through the south wall of their fortress.  Unfortunately Marcus' friend Rufius is killed in the battle while King Durst and his Venicone warriors manage to stream out to the north.

Although Marcus' friends have eliminated the one person set on catching him, all are unaware that there are new men on his trail.  Men who will stop at nothing to gain their objective.

The cavalry have lost several men in running battles with the barbarians.  As a result Marcus and a few of his men are pressed into service because they know how to handle horses.  Meantime Durst and his men are escaping to the north, harried by another squadron of Roman cavalry.

It is while Marcus is far to the north that the two men set on getting him, kidnap Felicia, Marcus' fiancé in the hopes of luring him in.  Dubnus, one of Marcus' friends, who was wounded in a previous battle has overheard a conversation telling of the kidnapping.  He requests and is granted a group of men to go in pursuit of Felicia and the kidnappers.

Although the Romans and their allies successfully take the fortress of spears, they can't keep it.  It lacks water and food for a long siege, because Durst and Calgus are on their way to attack it.  The Romans must prepare for battle.

Author Anthony Riches has provided the reader with an exciting tale of war in Roman Britain.  Throughout he gives hints about things to come and then gives greater detail later on.  A great read and I am looking forward to the next in the "Empire" series.