Lehrter Station

John Russell, his girlfriend, Effi and their families are in post-war London.  Six months after the war has ended, the Soviets contact Russell, expecting him to acquiesce to their demands.  They want him back in Berlin spying for them on the Germans and the Americans.  Russell's old friend from the Soviet Union, Shchepkin, is to be his contact while Russell plays the double agent role.  Shchepkin wants out, but it is going to be difficult for the two of them to manage.  Shchepkin also warns Russell that MI6 has Russian double agents working for them.

Upon returning to Berlin, Russell and Effi plan on searching for Rosa's father, the Jewish orphan Effi took under her wing during the closing phase of the war.  Russell's first task for the Soviets is to check into the allegiance of some of the German members of the party.  It also becomes quite clear that the Americans have great influence in the western zone of Berlin.

Russell finds out that one of his friends, a private investigator, has been denounced by a black marketeer, and is languishing in a French prison.  Russell hopes to get him released, but that could put himself in jeopardy.

Russel's quest leads him across war torn Europe.  He sees the devastation left and how the people are struggling to survive.  The Americans and Soviets are in charge, and are preparing for future battles between the two nations.  Caught in between are the Germans who the Americans feel must be punished for the war and the Jews who want to create a new home in Palestine.  And throughout, the black marketeers continue to profit.

Author David Downing has written a very good thriller that is hard to put down.

Bright Hair About the Bone

Laetitia Talbot has received a postcard from the grave.  Her godfather had been murdered in Burgundy, France, yet following his death and her return from Egypt she has received the postcard from him.  It was written in a code the pair of them had devised when she was a child.  It suggests that she travel there to do some investigating.

Her father gives her permission to travel if she has a suitable bodyguard.  She plans on travelling incognito.  Unfortunately she is unaware that her travel plans are known by people who don't want her travelling to where she is going.  She does manage to get a bodyguard; William Gunning is a former chaplain who served in the Great War, therefore is acceptable to Letty's father.

Letty travels under the guise of working at an archeological dig at Fontigny.  Gunning has already earned himself a spot there as an artist of the dig.  On her first evening there Letty upsets a local nobleman.  Much to her surprise she later finds out that the nobleman knew her godfather.

A short time later a body is found in one of the archeological trenches.  Earth has collapsed on it.  It is a recent death, and Letty discovers that the watch on the body and the wallet belonged to her godfather.  She and Gunning are sure that the murder has been staged just for her as a warning.

Letty is convinced by the nobleman to continue her godfather's search amongst the papers he owns.  However, Letty continues to distrust him.  He has ideas about a group led by a persuasive man in Germany who is a threat to France.  She finds this idea chilling.

From that point, author Barbara Cleverly builds the tension in this murder mystery.  Intrigue, suspense, and treachery all play a role in developing the story. An entirely good read.

Walking into the Ocean

Chief Inspector Peter Cammon is set to investigate the murder of a woman whose body had been thrown over a cliff by her husband who then proceeded to remove his own clothes and walk into the ocean.

Although semi-retired, Cammon has once again been called in by The Yard to help out in a troublesome case.  He has his former partner, Tommy Verden to help him.  Both are confident that the case is not as it seems.  The local police force is in the midst of investigating a serial killer, so likely aren't going to be much help.  However, Cammon finds himself drawn into the other investigation.

Unsatisfied with the way his investigation is going, Cammon calls his wife, Joan, to come and give him a woman's perspective on the murder scene.  Cammon is now sure that there was no murder, rather a suicide, but can he prove it?

Meantime the serial killer continues his actions, but his last two victims live through the attack.  A mistake, or a well planned action by a callous killer?

The husband of the woman has absconded to Malta.  Cammon goes there in search of him, only to find that the man disappeared just hours before his jet touched down.  Returning to England, Cammon resumes his hunt, only to find himself tied in to the hunt for the killer.

Author David Whellams provides the reader with an exciting read, full of plenty of action.  This is a book, which is hard to put down.

Death of a Pilgrim

Michael Delaney has decided that a pilgrimage is in order to thank God for the life of his son, James who has recently recovered from a serious illness.  The pilgrimage will start at Le Puy-en-Velay in France and end at the cathedral where St. James the Greater is entombed in Compostela, Spain.  Delaney invites members of his extended family to join him.

The pilgrims have just arrived at their starting off point and are enjoying a fine dinner when they are interrupted by the police.  A body has been found, and it turns out to be someone who was to join them on the pilgrimage.  The local police sergeant is sure this is a suspicious death.  He plans on interviewing all of the pilgrims.  Because of the language difficulties, this is going to take some time.  The Americans call on their ambassador, who in turn call London to find an investigator who could help.  The English send Lord Francis Powerscourt.

Powerscourt and his wife, Lucy, provide translation services and begin an investigation.  However, the pilgrims cannot leave without making a few well placed bribes.  While the pilgrims prepare for the next stage in their pilgrimage, Powerscourt and Lucy review the information gleaned on each of the pilgrims.

A few days into their journey a pilgrim goes missing.  He is found later in a boat downstream.  He has been strangled.  Powerscourt suggests to the pilgrims that they abandon their journey, return home.  They vote to carry on.  But should they have?  For a bit further into their travels a third pilgrim has his throat slashed.

The French can't get rid of the pilgrims fast enough.  The first stop for the train they are on is Pamplona.  The Spanish police keep a tight grip on the pilgrims.  Here violence, death and resolution are to come in this murder mystery by author David Dickinson.  A good read.

The Tomb of Zeus

It is 1928, and Laetitia Talbot has arrived at the home of archeologist Theo Russell on Crete.  She is going to head up a dig herself.  She is surprised at the first dinner party to meet William Gunning, an architect and someone she knows.  Later that evening, Gunning warns Letty of strange behaviours in this particular household.

The day after her arrival, Letty's hostess, Phoebe Russell, commits suicide.  The note she leaves uses the words of an Ancient Greek play to indicate that although she loved her husband, she had had an affair with another man.  That man being the son of her husband.  Phoebe's doctor, Letty and Gunning don't believe Phoebe committed suicide.  They are sure she was murdered.

The following day, Letty and Gunning set off with Aristidis, a local man and his crew to begin the digging of an archeological site that Russell had recommended.  Only, they move the dig slightly to a more promising ground.

At the coroner's inquest they learn that  Phoebe was pregnant, and that that pregnancy could only have happened when she was away in Paris.  Her stepson was also in Paris at the same time.  This tears father and son apart.  Letty and Gunning learn from her doctor that Phoebe was also suffering from the early onset of leprosy.  Meantime Phoebe's stepson is seriously injured in a car accident.

The dig provides some interesting and unexpected surprises.  More surprises are to come - away from the dig in this murder mystery by author Barbara Cleverly.

Death Line

Ten year old Josh Banks has gone missing; DS Bev Morriss and her partner DC Mac Tyler are leading the investigation under the direction of DCI Lance Knight.  When the body of the lad is found, Morriss realises that his glasses are missing.

It didn't take long to find a possible perpetrator.  A witness named someone they had seen near where the body was found, and the man had history.  Unfortunately, there is proof that absolves him of the crime, despite a child's sock being found at his place.  Was that a plant?

The day after the man who was released is found dead, his body hit by a train.  The pathologist indicates that he was dead before the train hit him.  Surprisingly the press knows this detail, although the police hadn't released it.  Is there a bent copper at Highgate?

When a second suspect dies after being questioned, the team experiences confusion.  Is someone killing kiddie fiddlers?

More violence occurs in this murder mystery before author Maureen Carter brings it to its tragic conclusion.  A very good read.

The Golden Calf

A wealthy young woman has arrived home with her infant son to find her husband shot to death.  DI Irene Huss and DI Tommy Persson are sent to investigate.  Their prime suspect is the wife.  Time and motive both point towards her.  The pathologist's report indicates that the victim had had a vasectomy, so he couldn't have been the father of his wife's child.

The murder of two other men in similar circumstances seem to tie in with the first victim.  A solid connection is made when it is determined that one of the victims was closely tied to the wife of the first victim.  As the team investigates, more and more ties amongst the victims and a man who had disappeared earlier are found.  Huss and another member of her team are sent to Paris to investigate the apartment where the latter two victims lived.

While in the apartment, Huss and her colleague, Kajsa, are attacked.  Kajsa suffers a concussion and is hospitalised.  Huss is interrogated by a local policeman, and receives some information from him later in the day.  She returns to the apartment on her own later that evening and is shot at.  Fortunately she escapes unscathed.

Back in Sweden, Huss and the team find more information pointing to financial corruption amongst the victims.  Huss and Persson also discover that each of the victims has been experiencing extortion, however something doesn't add up for Huss.

Author Helene Tursten has written an intense murder mystery that is full of international intrigue.  A very good read.

A Dirty Death

A local farmer has drowned in his slurry pit.  The day after his funeral, one of their neighbours comes staggering to their farm telling them that his brother is dead.  The police now think that Guy Beardon might have been killed and that his death in the slurry pit wasn't an accident.

Constable Den Cooper is given the task of gathering information in the community.  Guy's daughter Lilah, begins to fear that there just might be a murderer out there planning future killings.  A future killing does occur when Sam Carter is shot.  He had worked for the Beardons for quite a number of years.  The gun is found quite soon with a number of fingerprints on it.  So, who was the shooter?

The police have their suspicions based on fingerprints, but Lilah and her brother Rod have other ideas.  It is hard to confirm anything because they are so busy running the farm.

Author Rebecca Tope draws this murder mystery to a surprising conclusion.  A good read.