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.