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.