Costa Zannis has rapidly risen through the ranks of the police in
Salonika. Hitler's armies are poised to invade Greece and Zannis finds
himself in the midst of an oncoming war. He has just dealt with the
death of a German national and now he has a German Jew who is trying to
smuggle children through Greece to Turkey to deal with.
Later that same woman wants Zannis to help smuggle more Jews. However,
before he can consider that, Italy invades Greece. Being a reservist,
Zannis is called up. Things are quiet for the most part because
Mussolini's troops have invaded late in the year and the mountains are
an advantage to the Greeks.
Zannis is tasked with liaising with Marko Pavlic from Yugoslavia. They
find to each other's delight that they are both policemen.
Unfortunately for both of them, their war doesn't last very long
because their barracks is bombed. Before parting ways Zannis convinces
Pavlic to become involved in the smuggling of Jews out of Germany. Back
in Salonika, Zannis begins to set up his network.
How long can the network stay up and running before the Gestapo break it
down? Will Hitler's ambitions for the Balkan countries stop the
network? Author Alan Furst has written an exciting spy thriller that
the reader will find as hard to put down as I did.
Wednesday, October 29, 2014
Saturday, October 25, 2014
The Last Good Man
In Jewish scripture there is a story of God placing 36 good people on
the earth to protect humanity. Without these people, humanity will
perish. The 36 do not know that they are the chosen ones. When these
people start dying off, it is assumed that they are being murdered.
In Copenhagen, a veteran detective, Niels Bentzon is placed in charge of warning the good people of Denmark to be ready, the question, is how does he find the good people? During his quest, he meets Hannah Lund, an astrophysicist. Hannah is drawn in by the mystery.
Meantime, in Venice, another detective has been doing a lot of research on the same thing, and has amassed a tremendous file. He is also occupied by looking after his dying mother. His seniors suspend him because he is so focused on his investigation. Bentzon convinces him to fax all his material to him.
Bentzon and Hannah study the material. Hannah sees a pattern to the deaths. She is able to calculate where the remaining two of the 36 will die. One will be in Copenhagen and one in Venice. Now, it falls on the pair to find the people who will die and prevent them from going to the place of death.
Author A. J. Kazinski creates a very exciting and tense thriller in this novel. It is a book that the reader will find hard to put down.
In Copenhagen, a veteran detective, Niels Bentzon is placed in charge of warning the good people of Denmark to be ready, the question, is how does he find the good people? During his quest, he meets Hannah Lund, an astrophysicist. Hannah is drawn in by the mystery.
Meantime, in Venice, another detective has been doing a lot of research on the same thing, and has amassed a tremendous file. He is also occupied by looking after his dying mother. His seniors suspend him because he is so focused on his investigation. Bentzon convinces him to fax all his material to him.
Bentzon and Hannah study the material. Hannah sees a pattern to the deaths. She is able to calculate where the remaining two of the 36 will die. One will be in Copenhagen and one in Venice. Now, it falls on the pair to find the people who will die and prevent them from going to the place of death.
Author A. J. Kazinski creates a very exciting and tense thriller in this novel. It is a book that the reader will find hard to put down.
Sunday, October 19, 2014
A Very Private Murder
Charlie Priest has been taken off his leave because of a breech of
security at the grand opening of a new mall in Heckley. The word 'fuck'
had been painted on the plaque commemorating the opening of the mall.
The question is, who is it directed at?
Meantime there have been some robberies with violence in the area. Priest would like to be involved in the investigation, however his assigned task is the vandalism. Unfortunately nothing of interest appears in the vandalism case, so Priest and his team is able to concentrate on the robberies. That is, until the man at the centre of the vandalism is found with his brains blown out.
Throughout his investigation, Charlie learns quite a bit about the lifestyle of the rich and famous. He cracks the case despite making a few errors along the way and at the same time his team is able to find the men who were using a vicious pitbull to commit robberies. A good, quick, read by author Stuart Pawson.
Meantime there have been some robberies with violence in the area. Priest would like to be involved in the investigation, however his assigned task is the vandalism. Unfortunately nothing of interest appears in the vandalism case, so Priest and his team is able to concentrate on the robberies. That is, until the man at the centre of the vandalism is found with his brains blown out.
Throughout his investigation, Charlie learns quite a bit about the lifestyle of the rich and famous. He cracks the case despite making a few errors along the way and at the same time his team is able to find the men who were using a vicious pitbull to commit robberies. A good, quick, read by author Stuart Pawson.
Monday, October 13, 2014
The Black House
Fin Macleod has recently lost a child and it has kept him from returning
to his policing job in Edinburgh. Now he has been forced back to work
because of a murder in his hometown on the Isle of Lewis; the question
is whether it is the same killer he had been investigating in Edinburgh.
DS George Gunn meets him at the airport in Stornoway. They immediately connect, however, the DCI sent from the mainland, Tom Smith is not impressed. He sees no need for Fin, nor help from the local police. Gunn tells Fin that the victim had been accused of an assault and a sexual assault.
As Fin progresses with his investigation, memories of his childhood in the area come flooding back. Will the ghosts of his past help him solve the murders?
Author Peter May uses flashbacks to develop the characters in this murder mystery, weaving them into the main plot. The story becomes very intense, and is hard to put down. A very good read, and I look forward to reading the next two books in this trilogy.
DS George Gunn meets him at the airport in Stornoway. They immediately connect, however, the DCI sent from the mainland, Tom Smith is not impressed. He sees no need for Fin, nor help from the local police. Gunn tells Fin that the victim had been accused of an assault and a sexual assault.
As Fin progresses with his investigation, memories of his childhood in the area come flooding back. Will the ghosts of his past help him solve the murders?
Author Peter May uses flashbacks to develop the characters in this murder mystery, weaving them into the main plot. The story becomes very intense, and is hard to put down. A very good read, and I look forward to reading the next two books in this trilogy.
Saturday, October 11, 2014
The Absent One
Detective Superintendent Carl Morck has just returned from his vacation
and been handed a file containing a cold case. He has also been
provided with a new secretary, Rose Knudsen. His assistant, Assad,
points out that they may have gotten the cold case because of funds
flowing into the account of one person who pled guilty to the murders.
There were other suspects, but being children of wealthy parents, no
prosecution followed.
Where the file had come from was a mystery, as were the bits of information that appeared on his desk afterwards. Returning to the scene of the crime Morck and Assad discover a Trivial Pursuit game set up similarly to one that had been found at the scene of the crime. What is the meaning of that?
Just as Morck and Assad are provided with more information, they are told by their superiors to stop the investigation. Morck becomes more determined to carry on as a result. However, both his home and car are shortly thereafter tampered with. This only strengthens his resolve.
Morck, Assad and Rose set about gathering information on the gang. As the information comes in, Morck gets to know the members of the gang. They are violent and deadly. Author Jussi Adler-Olsen creates a lot of tension for the reader as he draws this murder mystery thriller to its conclusion. A very good read, hard to put down.
Where the file had come from was a mystery, as were the bits of information that appeared on his desk afterwards. Returning to the scene of the crime Morck and Assad discover a Trivial Pursuit game set up similarly to one that had been found at the scene of the crime. What is the meaning of that?
Just as Morck and Assad are provided with more information, they are told by their superiors to stop the investigation. Morck becomes more determined to carry on as a result. However, both his home and car are shortly thereafter tampered with. This only strengthens his resolve.
Morck, Assad and Rose set about gathering information on the gang. As the information comes in, Morck gets to know the members of the gang. They are violent and deadly. Author Jussi Adler-Olsen creates a lot of tension for the reader as he draws this murder mystery thriller to its conclusion. A very good read, hard to put down.
Friday, October 10, 2014
The Butcher Beyond
Charlie Woodend has taken his wife to Spain for a rest. The doctor has
recommended it for her health. However, Charlie is unable to stop being
the policeman that he is. He immediately becomes suspicious of a man
travelling on the bus with them to their hotel. Fortuitously Charlie
meets a Spanish policeman, who is no longer working due to Franco, the
first evening in a pub.
That evening upon returning to his hotel, Charlie sees a man fall from the next room's balcony. Upon a cursory examination of the body, he is positive that the man had been murdered. Charlie is arrested and taken in for questioning, but released shortly afterwards. Charlie's new ex-policeman friend, Paco Ruiz, tries to convince him into helping with a surreptitious investigation.
The body is identified and as a result, Charlie is forced by the British consul to work with a local police officer, by the name of Lopez, whom he despises. Meanwhile back in England, Charlie's protégés, Bob Rutter and Monika Paniatowski begin by questioning the widow and then the victim's best friend.
Charlie is having no luck with his interrogations due to the interference of the the local policeman. Paco, on the other hand is beginning to learn more. Unfortunately, Lopez has a spy who also learns what Paco has discovered. This gives him a very strong hand.
When the mayor of the Spanish town is murdered, Lopez is in a panic. He realises that he needs the help of Charlie. However, Woodend refuses to help unless he has the help of Paco. Lopez ungraciously acquiesces.
Author Sally Spencer ensures that Woodend has his work cut out for him in solving the murders, and it is done in a very unusual way. A good, quick read.
That evening upon returning to his hotel, Charlie sees a man fall from the next room's balcony. Upon a cursory examination of the body, he is positive that the man had been murdered. Charlie is arrested and taken in for questioning, but released shortly afterwards. Charlie's new ex-policeman friend, Paco Ruiz, tries to convince him into helping with a surreptitious investigation.
The body is identified and as a result, Charlie is forced by the British consul to work with a local police officer, by the name of Lopez, whom he despises. Meanwhile back in England, Charlie's protégés, Bob Rutter and Monika Paniatowski begin by questioning the widow and then the victim's best friend.
Charlie is having no luck with his interrogations due to the interference of the the local policeman. Paco, on the other hand is beginning to learn more. Unfortunately, Lopez has a spy who also learns what Paco has discovered. This gives him a very strong hand.
When the mayor of the Spanish town is murdered, Lopez is in a panic. He realises that he needs the help of Charlie. However, Woodend refuses to help unless he has the help of Paco. Lopez ungraciously acquiesces.
Author Sally Spencer ensures that Woodend has his work cut out for him in solving the murders, and it is done in a very unusual way. A good, quick read.
Backlash
Chief Superintendent Kershaw has just been in a serious road accident.
Apparently he has been desperately searching for his wife. DI Colin
Beresford meets his boss at the house of Kershaw and is surprised when
DCI Monika Paniatowski introduces DS Katherine Meadows as her new
bagman.
For some reason, Kershaw is convinced that his wife has been kidnapped. It is DC Jack Crane that brings it to the attention of Monika that there appears to have been a forced entry into Kershaw's house. Bad Monika starts her investigation she comes to the realisation that she really doesn't know her superintendent.
Later that second morning, Monika is approached by two prostitutes who inform her that one of their friends has disappeared. After hearing their story, Monika is convinced that the two cases could be tied together. She gets reluctant support from her superior to carry on investigating both, and despite the support from her DI, Beresford is wary because of the damage it could do to her career.
The badly mutilated body of a young woman is found in the toilet of a pub on the nearby moors. A third prostitute is able to provide a possible culprit when she looks at mug shots. The team hustles to capture the perp. Unfortunately they only find him and not Kershaw's wife. The interview with him doesn't give any aid to the investigation either. Are they too late?
Author Sally Spencer provides a couple of surprising turns of events as the reader progresses to the climax of this murder mystery. A very good read; one of Spencer's best.
For some reason, Kershaw is convinced that his wife has been kidnapped. It is DC Jack Crane that brings it to the attention of Monika that there appears to have been a forced entry into Kershaw's house. Bad Monika starts her investigation she comes to the realisation that she really doesn't know her superintendent.
Later that second morning, Monika is approached by two prostitutes who inform her that one of their friends has disappeared. After hearing their story, Monika is convinced that the two cases could be tied together. She gets reluctant support from her superior to carry on investigating both, and despite the support from her DI, Beresford is wary because of the damage it could do to her career.
The badly mutilated body of a young woman is found in the toilet of a pub on the nearby moors. A third prostitute is able to provide a possible culprit when she looks at mug shots. The team hustles to capture the perp. Unfortunately they only find him and not Kershaw's wife. The interview with him doesn't give any aid to the investigation either. Are they too late?
Author Sally Spencer provides a couple of surprising turns of events as the reader progresses to the climax of this murder mystery. A very good read; one of Spencer's best.
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