The Blooding

It is December 1812 and Matthew Hawkwood finds himself in Albany, New York and a long ways from home.  With the Americans planning an invasion of Canada, he knew he had to gather information and then head north.  But which route would be the best?  As he plans, he sees a group of British prisoners of war, one of whom he recognises.

Major Lawrence had once been Hawkwood’s second in a dual in London.  He had to rescue the man so they could make their escape to the north.  It is not going to be easy.  Once rescued, Lawrence and Hawkwood would be fugitives and a long ways from Canada.  Would they be able to make good their escape?

Author James McGee has plenty of excitement and action awaiting the pair as they make their way north through Indian territory.  Chased by an American force the reader wonders whether they will survive.  McGee also liberally sprinkles the story with Hawkwood’s own background, which enhances the the story.  A thrillingly good read.

Riven

DIs Katherine Wheeler and Steven Ross have been called to a murder site in Glasgow, where the body of an educational psychologist has been found badly beaten.  Gang related or something else?

Wheeler and Ross are sure that the killing has warning written all over it, but to whom? The following morning DCI Craig Stewart is very upset because someone got into the house where the body had been found and torched it.  Further possible evidence is now gone.  Also, someone from the police has been leaking details of the crime to the press. 

The investigative team can’t seem to get all of the information necessary to make a charge stick.  Then they get a surprise that shocks the team, but doesn’t help solve the case.

Author A. J. McCreanor’s mystery is full of the struggles that the police in Glasgow have in solving this crime.  She also includes the criminal element in the story.  I quite enjoyed this book and will definitely look for the sequels.

Full Dark House

An explosion outside the North London Peculiar Crimes Unit has killed Arthur Bryant.  Bryant was an elderly former police officer who worked there.  His landlady handed his old friend John May a document, which she had found in his flat.  It is in an old form of shorthand, so he has begun to translate it.

The pair had met in 1940 during the height of the Blitz.  Their first case together was the murder of a dancer.  Her feet had been found on a chestnut vendor’s wagon, and later her body was found in a lift in a theatre.

May begins to investigate what may have led to Bryant’s death.  Looking into that first case, based on Bryant’s notes, is the first thing that comes to mind for May.  Could that case be related to his death?

Another death had occurred at the same theatre shortly after the first when a piece of backdrop fell, killing one of the singers.  What is the motive behind the killings?  How many more deaths are there going to be?

Author Christopher Fowler has plenty of action awaiting the reader with plenty of twists and surprises before the conclusion of this murder mystery.  Fowler mixes historical cases, which are connected to the the modern moment.  An interesting read, to say the least.

Fall Down Dead

DI Ben Cooper is at the scene of a domestic murder.  It all seems straight forward, although DS Diane Fry is hesitant to say so.

Later DS Fry received a call from her superior telling her to report to HQ the following morning regarding professional standards.  Cooper at the same time is concerned about a group of missing hikers lost in the fog on Kinder Scout.  Fortunately they are found, but one of their group, a woman, is missing.

The following morning the missing woman was found at the foot of Dead Woman’s Drop.  When Cooper gets to the scene he wonders if she could have been pushed over the cliff.  Later, pathologist Chloe Young confirms his suspicions that she was possibly pushed.

Meanwhile, the professional standards inquiry into DS Fry have led to her sister Angela.  They also want her to take an assessment of her emotional and mental stability.  She turns to DI Cooper for help.  If he does help her, it could mean trouble for him, too.

Then errors are found in the murder inquiry, so DS Sharma has to dig further.  Will errors turn up in Cooper’s own investigation? And, what will happen to DS Fry?

Author Stephen Booth’s murder mystery is well written, and as usual his parallel stories keep the reader intrigued.  I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

Rebellion's Message

Jack Blackjack has just been struck over the head.  Upon recovering he finds in his hand a bloody knife and a dead man in front of him and another hollering bloody murder!  What can he do, but run?  Fortunately for Jack, the purse he had stolen earlier hadn’t been taken from him.  He shares the takings with the gang he is a member of, but also discovers that the purse contained a secret message.

Could Jack trust his gang to keep him safe, or should he be searching out information on the dead man and the secret message?  Sadly one gang member does betray him.  Jack makes a run for it across London Bridge and finds safety with Piers, a friend who works at a whore house.  Later, Piers introduces Jack to Mark Thomasson who assures Jack that he can translate the secret message.

Thonasson informs Jack that the message is one suggesting that Queen Mary must not be allowed to have a consort.  There are at least three men who would want whoever has the not dead.  Not long after this, Jack is arrested and questioned by Bishop Gardiner, the queen’s High Chancellor.  Gardiner gives Jack the opportunity to find out more about the men from whom he stole the purse.

As more danger appears around Jack, he hopes to escape London, but rebels are marching on the city.  With no escape, only more trials and tribulations await Jack.  Author Michael Jecks’ novel is full of perils for the young hero.  It is also full of twists and turns within the plot leading to a surprising conclusion.  A good read for fans of historical fiction.

The Bone Garden

DS Wesley Peterson and DI Gerry Heffernan have been called out to an archeological site where two skeletons have been found.  The pathologist agrees that they are a couple of centuries old, so nothing for the police to be concerned about.  Peterson is surprised at the name of the original tenant; it is the same as his mother’s maiden name.

The next day an anonymous phone call informs the police of a body in the local caravan site.  After an extensive search the body of a young man, who has been stabbed in the back is found in one of the caravans.  A young witness is able to provide a very good description of the killer.  Unfortunately when Peterson is supposed to meet with the supposed culprit, he seems to have disappeared into thin air!  His body is found a few hours later.  Murder or an accident?

Author Kate Ellis’ murder mystery is written to parallel a similar one a few centuries earlier.  Peterson sees the parallels, but almost loses one of his fellow officers before he solves the case.  A good, quick read.

Inferno

Sir Thomas Kydd needs some rest and relaxation.  He turns to his gunners mate, Toby Stirk, and the pair of them head to Dunlochry in Scotland, where Stirk’s family lives.

Shortly after arriving there, Stirk and a few friends decide to venture into the salvage business in the hopes of finding treasure.  Asking Kydd for help, he points out that the treasure is lost in several fathoms of water.  Undeterred, the group resolves to get a diving bell.  Unfortunately one is unavailable, but there is a diving machine available, for which the owner wants fifty percent of the proceeds.

It comes down to Kydd to be the one to go down in the machine.  Will he find bullion from the great Spanish Armada?

Meanwhile, the British economy is being devastated by Napoleon’s Continental System, which forbids any nation under his control from trading with Britain.  On top of that, Napoleon had forced Alexander I of Russia to withdraw from the war.  Britain was now alone in Europe.

Back aboard Tyger, Kydd finds that they are to sail with the North Sea Fleet towards the Baltic.  Beyond that he can only speculate.  At Gothenburg, the nature of the expedition is outlined; they are to take the Danish fleet, by force if necessary.  This is shocking news as Denmark is a neutral.

King George decides to send an emissary in the hopes that he can persuade the Danes to give up their navy without military action.  That emissary is to be Nicholas Renzi, Lord Farndon, good friend and brother-in-law to Kydd.

Unable to get an agreement, the British land thousands of troops.  The Danes declare war on Britain.  Renzi and his wife Cecilia are trapped!  Under seige, the governor of Copenhagen, refuses to submit.  General Cathcart decides to bombard the city.

Would the citizens of Copenhagen submit or destroy their fleet rather than give in to the British?  Author Julian Stockwin’s naval novel this time includes an integral land battle that went far in denying Napoleon a new navy.  The siege of Copenhagen is a little known act in the Napoleonic Wars, but Stockwin brings it to life in this novel.  Well researched and written, and a thoroughly enjoyable read for fans of historical fiction.

The Vanishing Box

DI Edgar Stephens and his DS, Bob Willis, are at a murder scene.  A young woman’s body has been posed in an unusual way.

Later, having seen the photos of the victim, DS Emma Holmes realises that the pose is exactly like a painting of Lady Jane Gray just before her execution.  This makes Stephens think about the tableaux that are being performed at a local Brighton theatre.

A few days later the sergeants attend the performance of the tableaux and notice that one of the participants, while wearing a wig looks similar to the victim.  She discovers flowers at her door when she gets home, just as the victim had.  Could they have been left for her roommate?

The next day the manager of the tableaux is found murdered in his flat.  The most obvious suspect is his mistress.  The problem is that Max Mephisto, a good friend of Stephens was seen in her company in the morning at the flat. 

Later one of the girls from the tableaux is attacked just as she reaches home.  While there taking her statement, Stephens is called to the home of the mistress of the manager.  She has been found dead and posed.  When will the killer stop?

As the title implies, a bit of magic and misdirection by author Elly Griffiths, leads to a surprising conclusion in more ways than one.  An enjoyable, quick read.

Clean Cut

DCI James Langton has been stabbed with a machete.  He is intensive care, but will he survive?  His girlfriend DI Anna Travis is devastated.  His police sergeants Lewis and Barolli agree that they are going to do their best to help Langton recover.

Six weeks on, and Travis is working on a new murder team.  A young woman has been murdered in her own home.  Travis is sure that the killer lives nearby and will kill again.  It isn’t long before they have a suspect, but he has disappeared.  However it isn’t long before they have him in custody. 

Although the evidence against the culprit is cut and dried, his lawyer suggests that Travis had come by some of the evidence illegally.  She retraces her steps and is surprised when she finds more evidence, which might point to the person who stabbed Langton.  But how can they get him?

Later, when Langton is released from hospital, Travis comes to realise how difficult his recovery is going to be for the pair of them.  After Langton makes a surprisingly speedy recovery, he is back on the job, but when Travis shares what she possibly knows about his attacker, he goes ballistic and they split up.

Shortly afterwards a new murder case, which is indirectly connected to the previous one, is opened up.  Langton is put in charge, and he wants Travis working with him.  She tries to refuse, but orders are orders.

This case will develop to be a brutal and horrific case.  Author Lynda La Plante is graphic in the details as Langton and his team investigate gruesome killings.  Can they gather enough evidence and capture the people behind the killings or will there be more frustration?  A thoroughly enjoyable read, and a hard to put down book.

Instrument of Slaughter

Detective Superintendent Chatfield has appointed DI Harvey Marmion to investigate the murder of a conscientious objector, against his better judgement.  However, the commissioner has insisted that the DI be the lead investigator.  Chatfield is not one to let his detectives have their head and investigate freely.  He wants to know everything.

Marmion discovers that the librarian where the victim worked had an issue with the victim because the victim had a brilliant idea, which the librarian refused to implement.  Meanwhile DS Keedy has arrested a man who vandalised the victim’s house.  However, does this bring the killer any closer to capture?  They also have one other possible suspect.

When surprising new information comes to light, Marmion is frustrated.  He realises that he and Keedy have been looking in the wrong area.  Then there is an an attack on another man.  Fortunately he survives.  Are the two attacks connected?

Author Edward Marston presents two possible suspects as the detectives close in on them.  He then throws a couple of twists into the investigation before Marmion and Keedy are able to solve it.  A good, quick read.

A Bespoke Murder

When the Lusitania was sunk, people went berserk in her home port of Liverpool.  Anyone or business with a German sounding name was attacked throughout England.

Detective Inspector Harvey Marmion has been assigned to look into one such attack in London where a tailor’s shop was burned to the ground with the tailor inside.  Marmion’s superior, Sir Edward Henry wants the man who started the fire arrested.  Marmion takes his right hand man, DS Joe Keedy with him to begin the investigation.

At the site of the fire, they are told that the owner is dead.  He had been stabbed in the chest and the safe was wide open.  Marmion is sure that the murder and arson were planned in advance and the mob taken advantage of to commit the murder.  He is also shocked to find out that the daughter of the shop owner had been raped at the time of the fire by two soldiers.  He plans on bringing them to justice despite them having been shipped out to France the following day.

Marmion and Keedy travel to the war zone in Belgium, hot on the trail of the rapists.  Shortly after having brought the culprits back to England, one of them escapes custody.  He can have only one thing in mind, and Marmion hopes to prevent that from happening.  But will that prevent the detectives from solving the other case?

Author Edward Marston has plenty of fast paced action for the two detectives in this murder mystery and more than one case to solve.  I’ve quite enjoyed the writing of Marston in his other series and am looking forward to reading the remaining books in this series.

The Funeral Boat

A farmhouse has been broken into and the owner injured in the fracas.  DS Wesley Peterson and his DI, Gerry Heffernan have been to the hospital to visit the victim.  While there Peterson gets a call about a skeleton being discovered on another farm.

Back at the office DC Rachel Tracey receives a woman who has come in to report a missing person.  A young Danish woman has disappeared.  Initially, Tracey isn’t overly concerned about the woman being missing.

Peterson calls his friend Neil Watson, who is an archaeologist, to examine the skeleton.  Both are convinced that what has been found is a Viking burial site.

The car of the missing woman has been found and her possessions still in it, undisturbed.  A pad with what smells like chloroform is also found in the car.  Has she been abducted?  Peterson and Tracey go to her B & B to examine her room.  When the missing woman’s brother shows up, Peterson is sure that he is withholding something.

Fortunately they are able to arrest the men involved in the farm break ins.  They refuse to give up the fourth man involved.  It is at this time that Heffernan learns that there is a another group also breaking into farms.

However, there are still other cases to be resolved.  Author Kate Ellis hints at suspects, and provides a surprising end to this murder mystery.  A good quick read.  I find that I’m quite enjoying this series.