Bad Press

DS Bev Morriss is three months pregnant, and no one she works with knows.  Not even the father of the baby.  So, when she is called out to a brutal murder in the early morning she is on the brink of morning sickness as it is.  The victim is a well known paedophile.  The person found by the body is a well known news hound and DI Mike Powell has taken perverse pleasure in questioning him.

No one on the murder team is very interested in catching the killer of a paedophile.  The question is, was he targeted?

In the midst of the investigation, Morriss is asked by a senior officer to look into an apparent suicide.  An anonymous letter had been received that questioned the verdict of suicide.

Matt Snow, the newshound, is now afraid.  Whoever committed the murder knows his number, has stolen and returned his car and been inside his house.  Snow has also been warned not to contact the police.

While Morriss is having a scan, another body is found.  DI Powell is not impressed by the fact that she is not available, but her partner Mac Tyler covers for her.  He knows that she is pregnant, although she is unaware of his knowledge.  When Tyler gets to victim he finds out that the man is still alive, but his face is badly battered.  The victim's wallet contains the business card of the newshound, and the police wonder why.

Morriss is sure that the murderer is someone who has suffered at the hands of a paedophile.  And the murderer strikes again whilst a riot is underway.  Was the riot a diversion to allow him to get away with murder?  Another paedophile down the drain, and the newshound has a connection to the place where the victim was found.

As the case progresses, author Maureen Carter throws in several twists and a couple of real surprises right at the end.   A thoroughly good read.

Scorpion's Nest

Kit Marlowe is given the task of finding a conspirator of Mary, Queen of Scots by Nicholas Faunt, spymaster of  Walshingham who is secretary to Queen Elizabeth.  Marlowe takes on the persona of one of his rivals, Robert Greene when he goes to the English College in Rheims.  There his contact is unsure if whom they are looking for.

Marlowe's contact informs him of two recent deaths at the college.  One said to be an accident and the other a natural death.  However, the contact is sure things are not as they seem.  Marlowe surreptitiously checks the crypt and finds that one of the men had been hung.  Marlowe is sure that the second victim's death involved copious amounts of blood, primarily because the victim's room had been meticulously scrubbed clean.  His contact warns him that the college is a scorpion's nest.

Another scholar dies at the college, and Marlowe is sure he had been suffocated.  Shortly after that, Marlowe's subterfuge is discovered.  Fortunately he has a backup plan that will allow him to continue in his secret quest.

Meantime back in England, Walshingham and Burghly are moving ever closer to having Elizabeth sign the death warrant of Mary, Queen of Scots.

Marlowe's quest comes to a culmination when a whore, who was one of the victim's lover, tells Marlowe that she would recognise the killer again if she saw him.  Marlowe sets up a sting.

Author M. J. Trowe has presented the author with a nice Elizabethan thriller here.  Part murder mystery and part spy thriller.  A good read.

Sydney Chambers and the Perils of the Night

This book by James Runcie contains half a dozen short stories rather than being one complete novel.

Three men are climbing one of the university buildings in Cambridge when one falls to his death.  One of the other two has disappeared in suspicious circumstances.   Canon Sydney Chambers is asked to speak to to remaining lad and liaise with Inspector Geordie Keating of the Cambridge police.

When the missing student's room is examined it is discovered to be clean; too clean.  Keating is sure it is a professional job, but why?  Are the KGB and SIS involved?

The second story involves arson.  Who are the potential suspects?  A young man and his girlfriend or the local taxidermist?  The method of arson is surprising once Sydney works it out.

In the third story a young professor has a heart attack and then drowns in his bath.  Concerns are raised about his death.  An electrician who had been re wiring the college is sure that the professor was bumped off.  Hildegard, Sydney's girlfriend sides with him, so Sydney sets out to investigate.

With the now fired electrician and Hildegard, Sydney discovers that the bath was wired to cause an electrocution.  It is just a matter of pinning the crime on the culprit.

The fourth story commences with a cricket match.  Following the match there is a fete, which results in a number of people coming down with food poisoning.  An East Indian, who has been seeing a local girl, eventually dies as a result of the food poisoning.  Is it because of his race and religion that he is dead?  It turns out that the young man was poisoned.  The method of delivery of the poison is a surprise to the reader.

In the fifth story, Sydney doesn't trust the man his friend Amanda has chosen to marry.  His investigation into the man proves his instinct correct.

The final story finds Sydney in Berlin about to meet his girlfriend, Hildegard.  Unfortunately her mother has become sick, and she has gone to Leipzig.  Sydney sets out for there after getting all the papers necessary to travel in East Germany.  On the train he runs into one of the students involved in the first story.  The young man passes on an envelope to Sydney.  Later Sydney is arrested by the police on suspicion of being a spy.  Fortunately for him, Hildegard has connections which result in his freedom.  However, their adventures don't end there.

A quick read.

Dead on Cue

Valerie Farnsworth, an actress on "Maddox Row" has not made it to the TV set when her cue is called.  A few minutes later she is found stabbed to death in her dressing room.  Chief Inspector Charlie Woodend is assigned the case along with Inspector Bob Rutter and DS Monica Paniatowski.

Woodend takes Rutter with him to investigate the studio while Paniatowski is tasked with some undercover work; she is to act as a temporary replacement for one of the studio crew.  A television studio provides many suspects for murder team to consider.

During the investigation, Woodend receives two shocks on the same day.  First his boss has a heart attack and secondly his daughter runs away from home, back to London.  The following day, during a fire drill at the set, the producer of the show is murdered.  Woodend is sure he is in deep shit now.

Woodend has his suspects in mind, but it is a random news story that sets everything he thought all askew.  Once again, author Sally Spencer has written a good little murder mystery.  An enjoyable, quick read.

Sovereign

Lawyer Matthew Shardlake and his right hand man, Jack Barak, have travelled north from London to York prior to Henry VIII making his own progress there.  They are to meet with a barrister there to hear pleas to the king.  However, Thomas Cranmer wants shard lake to also ensure the safety of a prisoner who is being sent from York to The Tower.

The people of York are hostile to those from the south, they do not like being forced to follow the new religion.  The morning after their arrival a glazier is killed, and he speaks his last words to Shardlake.  Are they the words of a traitor or is there something more to them?  Shardlake is ordered to investigate the death.

During the investigation, Shardlake and Barak discover a box containing old papers.  Before Shardlake can discover what all the papers are about, he is knocked unconscious.  The name Blaybourne keeps cropping up.  That same night the prisoner, whose safety Shardlake is supposed to ensure is poisoned.  Fortunately he survives the attempt on his life.  

The evening that the king and queen arrive in York, another attempt is made on Shardlake's life.  Later Barak and Tamasin, the young woman he is seeing, see Thomas Culpeper coming out of Queen Catharine's quarters.  Culpeper, Catharine and Lady Rochford see the two young lovers.  They are now in danger.

The morning that the royal entourage is to set out for Hull, another attempt is made on Shardlake, only it is Barak that suffers.  Fortunately it is only an injured ankle.  Storm-stayed in Hull, Shardlake comes across information that may be behind the attacks on him.

Shardlake's responsibility for the prisoner had been removed before leaving Hull, so when the prisoner dies aboard the boat to London, he wonders if his own safety is jeopardised.  However, when they arrive in London, Shardlake is immediately arrested and taken to the Tower on the suspicion he knew of the queen's dalliance with a courtier by the name of Dereham.  How long will Shardlake last under the hands of the torturer?

Author C. J. Sansom has written an excellent historical murder mystery thriller well based on fact.  A great read for fans of this genre.

A Street Cat Named Bob

Author James Bowen was living a rough life in London when he happened upon a ginger cat in his living complex.  It was in rough shape, but he took it in anyways.  Because it hadn't been neutered, the young cat could get rambunctious.  As a result, Bowen named it Bob.

Bob and Bowen made an immediate connection.  The first thing to do was to get Bob healthy and then have him neutered.  Throughout these life changing events, the two of them grew closer.  In order to sustain himself, Bowen busks, usually in Covent Garden.  He was shocked one day when Bob decided to join him on his trip there.

Busking can be tough, but with Bob at his side, people were stopping to chat with the cat and more coins appeared in Bowen's guitar case.  Once, when a gang of youths attempted to harm the pair Bowen had to stand up to them.  Fortunately there was a CCTV camera pointed directly at them, so the gang left.  Another time, a big dog tried to take some of Bob's biscuits, and with a quick swat that surprised the dog, the dog's owner and Bowen, Bob defended the biscuits.  The dog and the dog's owner left in shame.

However, one day Bob got such a fright that he ran off.  Bowen was sure that he had lost the cat that he was in a panic.  Fortunately they were reunited after a lengthy run.  When Bowen is fitted up for a crime he didn't commit, he comes to the realisation that he can no longer rely on busking to support Bob and himself.  He now has to figure out what to do with his life.

When Bob becomes ill, Bowen becomes very frightened, but discovers that people care about Bob and random acts of kindness are valuable works.  Bob's illness also convinces Bowen that he needs to get himself completely clean.  James Bowen and Bob have more trials and tribulations to go through before Bowen is finally clean.

Bob and James' story is charming and touching.  It is a great read, especially for us cat lovers.  I am looking forward to more stories about Bob.

1914 ~ A Novel

Anthime is out for a bicycle ride in the Loire region on a warm Saturday August afternoon.   When he stops to take a breather atop a hill he sees semaphores waving in several towns, and then hears bells.  It can only mean one thing; mobilisation!  Charles, a man he knows in his town tells him the war will only last a couple of weeks.

The next day Anthime and four of his friends arrive at the barracks to get outfitted.  It isn't long before Anthime and his friends are bound for the Ardennes. Meantime back home, Blanche goes to the doctor to get confirmation that she is pregnant.  The doctor is also someone who could have influence and put the father of her child in a safe position during the war.

The men marched about, with their packs, through villages, some destroyed, and others still with people in them.  Charles, it seems, has disappeared on a top secret mission.  The first battle is mind numbing, and it isn't long before the two sides settle down into trenches facing each other,

In this very short novel, author Jean Echinoz vividly describes the horrors of the First World War.  A quick, intense, good read.

Some by Fire

A fire has claimed five lives in Leeds.  It appears to have been arson.  Returning to the site if the fire, Sergeant Charlie Priest makes acquaintance with the PC he stopped from entering the fire, Dave Sparkington.  This would be the beginning of the detective team that Charlie wanted to create.

Now a DI, Charlie is running his own investigative unit in Heckly, with Dave as part of it.  Their most recent case is a series of home invasions in the elderly.  While his team is working on the investigation, Charlie receives a request from a former MP to meet with him.  What he learns from the MP is both surprising and shocking and goes back to the fire.

Priest begins to work on the case with the national fraud squad, but is doing it basically on his own.  It means looking at old files, looking for missed leads.  As he and Dave start to pull the leads together, a better picture is drawn of who was responsible.

Author Stuart Pawson has written another good detective story and as usual he manages to throw in some amusing insights.  A thoroughly good read.

Valley of Dry Bones

The queen's emissaries have come for a visit at the priory of Prioress Eleanor prior to the Queen making the trip herself.  They are an odd assortment of people, and bring with them a variety of stories.  What problems will they bring to the prioress' domain?

It is the arrival of Father Eliduc that upsets Eleanor.  He is the one who, in the past, has taken away Brother Thomas for the church's nefarious purposes.  Baron Otes is also one of the party and he offers Eleanor land, but with the stipulation that she get rid of Prior Andrew, who he claims has vowed to kill him.  Sheriff Fulke, brother of Crowner Ralf has brought the crowner a proposal of a new wife.  Ralf rejects him, just as Eleanor has rejected the baron's offer.

The following day Brother Thomas, now a hermit, finds a corpse at his swimming hole.  It turns out that Baron Otes has been murdered.  Thomas now learns that the prior, Brother Andrew, has hated the baron for some time because the baron killed the prior's brother.

Eleanor turns over in her mind who the potential culprits could be, and what their reasons might be for killing the baron.  She is shocked shortly afterwards to find out that her prior had been seen in an argument with the baron.  She secludes him in a locked cell to consider his sins.

It is during a rehearsal of a play that another death occurs.  This time it is the servant of one of the queen's emissaries that dies.  It appears that poisoned wine was used to kill the man.  Brother Thomas is sure, that because of the two methods of murder, that there are two different culprits.  What author Priscilla Royal offers as a solution is not a complete surprise as she provides many hints for the reader to come to the same conclusion.  Otherwise a good read.

Dead Man's Wharf

Inspector Andy Horton and Sergeant Barney Cantelli have been called to a nursing residence to quell a disturbance.  While there Horton discovers that the basement locker of a recently deceased patient has been forced.  Horton now wonders about the death of the patient.  He calls the mortuary only to find out that the son of the patient had just died; he was a prisoner at Her Majesty's prison.  Are the deaths connected?

Horton is surprised when his superior, DCI Lorraine Bliss, is seconded to headquarters and he is given temporary command plus a DC to help him out.  He wonders what is going on.  The young woman DC makes him more suspicious when she arrive the next morning.

Horton receives another surprise when he is told that the victim of a drunk driving accident worked at the nursing home.  He decides to investigate the accident.  This leads to more questions, and the discovery that the young DC is from the Intelligence Directorate.  What is the reason that she has been planted on him?

Another body is discovered down at the wharf, partially covered in gravel.  Is the death tied in to the others, or was it down to other reasons?  Later, the pathologist provides Horton with evidence that shows that the young victim of the drunk driving accident had actually been strangled.  Could she now come up with evidence on the other deaths?

Author Pauline Rowson throws several curves at the reader before bringing this murder mystery to its ultimate and surprising conclusion.  A very good read.

Embroidering Shrouds

Leek has had a recent spate of attacks on elderly people.  DI Joanna Piercy and DS Mike Korpanski are unsure if it is a gang or an individual doing these heinous crimes because of the information provided by the victims.  The intrusions have turned increasingly violent until a murder occurs.

Piercy sets up a murder room and with her team review the past attacks up to the current murder.   Evidence is scant.  However, the great-nephew seemed to know the victim well, but would he kill her?  Also, the milkman who found her had previously found another elderly victim who had survived an attack.  Is he responsible?

When evidence from one of the previous attacks is found in the last victim's home with her fingerprints on it, Piercy and Korpanski need to re-think.  Piercy wonders if the attacks were separate, not gang related as previously thought, and did one even really occur?  New suspects are now considered.

Author Priscilla Masters provides a few suspects for the reader to consider, however throws a completely unexpected conclusion at the reader.  A good, short read.

The Silver Locomotive Mystery

Inspector Robert Colbeck has been called to Cardiff, along with his sergeant, Victor Leeming, to investigate the murder of a young silversmith.  The young man had been transporting a silver locomotive to a client.  Are the two thespians who travelled with the young man culpable?  Or could it be the son of the silversmith who had become estranged from his father?

The autopsy on the victim indicates that the person or persons involved in his death plainly wanted him to suffer.  Back in London, Leeming and Superintendent Tallis discover that the estranged son has disappeared when they go to investigate the robbery of the silversmith.  All of his work and his tools have been taken.  Is his son the culprit responsible for both crimes?  Colbeck has discovered that there were several people who were aware of the date and time of the delivery of the silver locomotive.

As Colbeck anticipated, a ransom note is delivered to the commissioner of the locomotive.  He recommends paying the amount requested.  He hopes to use Leeming to set up a sting.  Unfortunately it is Leeming that is stung.  Colbeck is sure that a second request will be come forth shortly.  He is also firmly convinced that there is a particular woman involved.

Just before the ransom is to be handed over, an actress is kidnapped.  Is this done to divert Colbeck's attention from the exchange?  When Colbeck and Leeming arrest the man that they had suspected of the murder, Colbeck comes to a certain realisation.  Author Edward Marston gives the reader a surprising conclusion to this Victorian murder mystery.  A very good read.