Settled Blood

DCI Kate Daniels has been called out to Hadrian’s Wall where the body of a young woman has been found.  Initial evidence points to the body being dumped there from a great height.

Her superintendent calls her in because a wealthy friend of his has reported his daughter missing, and a threatening note has been received.  Could his daughter be the victim?  When he comes to identify the body, it turns out that the victim is not his daughter.  He then receives a warning text; he is obviously being watched.

The following day Daniels gets a call from Detective Superintendent Naylor of County Durham.  He wants to find out about the body, because he has a missing person who matches the description.  Sadly the victim is also the missing girl.  It also appears that the victim was wearing the clothes of the missing girl.

It turns out that the father of the missing girl had been a pilot in the army.  Could that have anything to do with the dropping of the dead girl from the air?  Daniels turns to her former lover and profiler, Jo Soulsby for help getting into the mind of the killer.  The police also turn to a rescue group because trace evidence on one of the victim’s shoes shows a rare mineral found in mines.  They will also need the help of a geologist.  But will it be enough to find the killer and save the girl?

And then a third girl goes missing.  She looks like the two previous victims.  Fortunately she turns up safe and sound a few days later.

The team then gets a break, and a suspect.  But do they have enough evidence to go on, and will they find the missing girl alive?

Author Mari Hannah’s thriller is scary and exciting at the same time.  Well written, it is a page turner, and hard to put down.  An excellent read and I look forward to reading the sequel.

The Red Coffin

Inspector Pekkala has brought in Colonel Nagorski to Lubyanka because the secrets of the T-34 have become known to the enemies of the Soviet Union.  Stalin informs Pekkala that the Germans have tried, unsuccessfully, to gain information on the T-34.

Later, when Pekkala goes to tour the facility where the T-34 is being tested, he arrives to discover that Nagorski has been crushed under one of the tanks.  It is at this time that Pekkala learns that the nickname for the tank is the “Red Coffin”.

Pekkala and his assistant, Major Kirov, discover that Nagorski has been shot in the head.  The tank was used to make it look like an accident.  A Major Lysenkova of the NKVD has been sent to the facility to investigate.  She doesn’t seem overly concerned.  Stalin is sure that the killing is an attempt to get the Soviet Union into a war that he is sure to break out shortly.  And a rogue former policeman has plans to ensure that happens before the Soviet Union is ready.  He steals  T-34 to put his plan into motion.  Can Pekkala and Kirov stop him before war breaks out?

Once again Sam Eastland has written a gripping thriller, which I found hard to put down.  An excellent read.

The Salt Marsh

Sam Coyle is having a hard time getting over her father’s death.  Is someone listening in on her conversations with her therapist ?  Why would somebody leave a message of whistling the Third Man theme on her phone?

Later she talks to her father’s friend, Harry, who tells her that she might be on a list of possible terrorists.  She can’t understand why.  She also receives a strange phone call from somebody telling her to trust no one.  Her boyfriend has disappeared and now suddenly her roommate seems to have committed suicide; only Sam knows that he would not have done that.

Then she is offered help by a man she knows is an assassin, because he had saved her life earlier.  Later she discovers that a cop is after her, and that he has a hatred for her father.  Who can she trust?

Author Clare Carson’s second novel pulls the reader in numerous directions.  Like Sam, the reader doesn’t know who to trust or where the story is going.  It comes to an interesting conclusion.  Fast paced, a good read.

After Anna

Julia Crowne has a busy schedule, which she wants to break away from to pick up her five year old daughter from school.  Unfortunately she is going to be late.  When she arrives at the school, Anna is missing!

The torment of the search is hard on Julia, besides which, she has to deal with an upcoming split with her husband and and overbearing mother-in-law.  Things get worse when the press turn against her, which in turn causes the public to turn on her.

One week on, Anna walks into a news agent’s.  However, Anna has no memory of the time she was gone.  The police assume that she had been drugged.  Everyone wants to know the reasons behind Anna’s abduction.  Then her husband leaves with Anna, saying it is for the best.  Julia knows who’s really behind her husband taking her daughter, and that is his mother.  But, how can she fight the both of them?

Author Alex Lake’s psychological thriller is intense, and hard to put down.  Every parent’s fear is losing a child, and the reader feels Julia’s pain.  This was a great read and I look forward to reading more from this author.

The Winter Warrior

Three years on from the Norman invasion, Hereward and his soldiers still battle on against their oppressors.  The new sheriff, Ivo Taillbois, has been nicknamed “The Butcher” by King William.  Can Hereward’s meagre army defeat William’s well armed soldiers?  How will he feed those who come to join him?

As their numbers grow, a realisation sets in that some of the newcomers support the Normans.  How can Hereward and his army manage such a situation?

Meanwhile King William turns to the north of England with sword and torch.  His intent is to suppress any thoughts of rebellion there, nor was he going to allow the Danes to come in and retake what had once been theirs.

While Hereward is besieging a nearby town, his wife succumbs to treachery.  Turfida is now in the hands of his mortal enemy.  Hereward will no t give her up easily, but in his attempt to free her, he too is captured.  Is this the end of the English rebellion against William?

Author James Wilde continues the story of Hereward in this action packed historical novel.  It is a story of struggling to survive and full of treachery such as life was full of during these medieval times.  A thoroughly engaging story, which was hard to put down.  I await the sequel.

She's Leaving Home

1968 London; DS Cathal Breen has been called out to investigate the death of a young woman.  Her body was found in a trash heap behind a tower of flats, not far from Abbey Road.  Could she have been a fan of the Beatles?

The day after, Breen is put in charge of a new female temporary DC.  Breen doesn’t know how to handle women, especially DC Tozer.  When a suspect is brought in, Breen is surprised at his confession, but it is not the confession he was hoping for.

Tozer gets a break when she discovers a name at the EMI Studio, which houses the Beatles fan club. Tozer and Breen head off to the country to speak to the parents of the victim.  The day after they return to the parents only to find that the wife has killed her husband.  She has escaped in their Jaguar.

More death will ensue as Breen and Tozer pursue the killer.  Together they manage to connect all the dots, but it results in danger. Author William Shaw’s murder mystery starts off slowly, but leads on to plenty of action.  A very good read.  I’m looking forward to reading the sequels.

A Column of Fire

Ned Willard has just returned to Kingsbridge after being away for a year.  He is saddened to discover that the girl he loves is engaged to marry another.  Can Ned still win Margery Fitzgerald?

At a feast, William Cecil, counsellor to Princess Elizabeth, meets with the Mayor of Kingsbridge, the family of Ned’s beloved and Ned to put forth Princess Elizabeth as the rightful heir to an ailing Queen Mary.  Cecil hints at a possible job working for him.

Ned and Margery are both heartbroken when she is forced to marry a man she doesn’t want to.  At the same time, the English lose Calais to the French.  As a result, Ned’s mother’s business is affected.  And due to a twist in the law, she loses that business to the Fitzgerald clan.  Ned is devastated.  The Fitzgeralds also had revenge on the Protestant family, which had put them in a bad situation.

Ned decides that he must now work for Cecil.  Employed by Cecil, it doesn’t take Ned long to make enemies, but yet at the same time win the trust of the princess.  When Queen Mary died, it didn’t take long for Elizabeth to be proclaimed Queen.  Another death, this time in France, makes Mary Queen of Scots also Queen of France, and an enemy of Elizabeth.

Cecil sends Ned as part of a delegation to ensure that Mary stays in France rather than returning to Scotland.  Unfortunately the delegates are unable to convince Mary to stay in France.  She would marry Lord Darnley in Scotland and have a son, but would end up being imprisoned on an island in Loch Leven.  Her one year old son, James, was proclaimed King of Scotland.  Mary’s attempt at getting the Scottish throne back fails, so she flees to England hoping that Elizabeth will help or that she can wrest the throne from her.  Elizabeth does the only thing she can; Mary is imprisoned.

Ned is once again sent to France; this time with Walshingham, Elizabeth’s spymaster.  There he meets a brave Huguenot woman by the name of Sylvie.  She is able to provide him with information about the de Guise family who are staunch Catholics and hoping to take control of the French throne. Then the St. Bartholomew Day Massacre occurred.  Fortunately Ned was able to save Sylvie, but not her mother.

Back in England, Ned now had to deal with conspiracies that would see Mary placed on the throne of England, and Elizabeth executed.  Once Mary had been dealt with, England faced the prospect of a Spanish invasion.

The future would bring relative peace to England and Ned would be part of the change; from a queen to a new king.

Once again author Ken Follett has written an epic historical novel full of intrigue, live and treachery.  For fans of historical novels this is one that you won’t want to miss.

The Murder Wall

DCI Kate Daniels just wanted to stop at the church to say a prayer for her mother who had passed on.  She wasn’t expecting to find the body of a girl, nor that of the priest.  Almost a year later she is called out to another grisly murder scene.  The thing is, she knew the victim.  The victim’s ex-wife is the police’s profiler.   It isn’t until later that Kate finds out that she has been in a motor vehicle accident.  Could she be the killer?

When another shooting occurs, Kate is sent to it, but it is out of her jurisdiction.  Funnily enough, the victim has a parlayed card, just like the priest had had.  Coincidence?  Then a third killing occurs in Birmingham with the same MO.

Unfortunately circumstantial evidence is enough to have the profiler arrested.  Now Kate has to find the evidence to prove her friend’s innocence.  Can she and her team find it before another person falls victim to what they now know to be a serial killer.

Mari Hannah is a new author to me, so I wasn’t sure what to expect.  However, she had my attention within the first pages of this murder mystery.  This was a real page turner, which has left me looking forward to the sequel.