Seeking the Dead

DI Joe Plantagenet and DS Sunny Porter have an unusual double homicide to investigate.  A man and a woman have been killed in similar circumstances and left in a cemetery, their bodies naked.  The press has dubbed the killer “The Resurrectionist Man”. 

DCI Emily Thwaite is their new senior officer and she wants to get up to speed on both cases. 

Meanwhile, the daughter of Joe’s deceased former partner has moved into a flat near the cathedral.  The girl who had lived there previously had disappeared owing a months rent.  Now Carmel has received a threatening message on her answer machine and two letters addressed to the missing girl.  She asks Joe what to do.  When Joe looks at the letters, he recognises the name of a recent motor vehicle accident. 

The day after visiting Carmel, the body of the missing girl is found in a graveyard in a nearby town.  The killer has struck a third time.  The team have numerous suspects, but later when the main suspect turns out to be a victim himself, the case is turned topsy-turvy.  Where do they go with the case now?  Who could the next victim be?

Author Kate Ellis has written an excellent thriller in this new series for me.  She gives the reader a few suspects before presenting the real one in the closing pages.  A thoroughly enjoyable read and I look forward to reading the sequels.

Semper Fidelis

Ruso has returned to his role as a doctor in the Twentieth Legion in the Roman army.  His wife, Tilla, hopes that they can earn some extra money as doctor and midwife in Eboracum.  At the hospital, Ruso finds out that a group of recruits is regarded as an unlucky unit.

There have been two deaths and one suicide amongst the recruits.  Also there is one in the hospital who is suffering from a self-inflicted wound.  Ruso trues to find answers from his staff, but they are cautious with their answers.  Tilla is also doing her own investigation.

Ruso speaks to the centurion in charge of the recruits, Geminus, and learns how the accidents had happened.  Geminus wants Ruso to keep his nose out of it.  Later Ruso is attacked by Geminus’ dog and escapes with a bite to his leg.  Geminus is very apologetic.

When Ruso speaks to Hadrian, when the emperor shows up, contrary to orders, he is busted by Tribune Accius and put on lateine duty.  Accius also divorces Ruso and Tilla.  The following day Geminus goes missing.  Later in the day Geminus is found in a ditch with his throat slit.  Ruso is arrested on the order of Accius, accused of the murder of Geminus.  It is now up to Tilla to find out who killed Geminus, but can she manage it with her own life in jeopardy?

Author Ruth Downie has several trials ahead for Ruso and Tilla in the remaining pages.  Can Tilla save Ruso and if so, what will she have to give up for him?  Downie’s series has both amusing and frightening situations for this pair and this particular story is no different.  A thoroughly enjoyable read.

Treachery

Giordano Bruno is travelling by sea from London to Plymouth with his friend Sir Philip Sydney ostensibly to check out Drake’s fleet.  Sydney is Elizabeth’s Master of Ordinance.  Sydney will also meet the pretender to the throne of Portugal there and escort him to London to meet Elizabeth.  It is only after the ship has sailed that Sydney informs Bruno that Drake had specifically asked that Bruno be brought along.

Upon their arrival in Plymouth, Drake informs them of a death on his ship, one that has the appearance of suicide, but he is sure is a murder.  He doesn’t want his fleet to sail until an investigation is held.  On shore, at the inn recommended by Drake, Bruno is sure that there is a man watching him.

Later, meeting with Drake, Bruno learns of the reason he is there.  Drake has a manuscript, which had been taken from a priest on a previous voyage.  When Bruno sees the manuscript, he is sure that he is holding the Gospel of Judas, which if true could tear the Catholic Church asunder.  Bruno May look at the manuscript, but only on Drake’s ship.

From Drake’s explanations, Bruno and Sydney realise that their old nemesis, Jenkes, could also be on the trail of the book.  While on the ship in harbour, Bruno and Sydney also investigate the apparent suicide.  It will take Bruno into brothels and beyond, but can he find the answers there? Time is limited before the inquest into the death is held.  How can they prove that it wasn’t a suicide?

Author S. J. Parris offers up plenty of suspects for Bruno and Sydney to investigate and confront.  Bruno gets himself into comprising positions, from which there seem to be no way out, but luck always seems to be on his side.  Another rollicking adventure from this wonderful writer of historical fiction.

Persona Non Grata

Ruso has just broken his foot when he receives a letter from his brother, Lucius, asking him to come home to Gaul.  When Ruso and Tilla get home, Ruso finds out from Lucius that the letter had not been sent by him, and that his being home now created legal problems for them.

He also finds out that the farm is about to be seized for debts, his sister-in-law’s brother is missing at sea, he needs to find dowries to marry off his sisters, and his stepmother wants to marry him off to the widow next door.

When the agent comes to discuss the situation with Ruso, he suddenly dies in front of Ruso.  It appears as though his sister-in-law may have poisoned him.  What are they to do now?  Ruso begins an investigation.

As his investigation progresses, his next potential suspect is his ex-wife, which he finds hard to believe.  What will Ruso do when the investigators from Rome arrive?

Tilla isn’t interested in Ruso’s investigation. She wants to help Ruso’s sister-in-law find out what happened to her brother.  What she learns will turn the investigation on it’s head.  Author Ruth Downie has a very surprising and rollicking conclusion to this historical murder mystery.  A very enjoyable read.

Death on Demand

DI Peter Shaw has just visited with his Chief Constable, Kieran Joyce, to discuss an upcoming pilgrimage to a nearby shrine.  Joyce also informs Shaw, that his DS , George Valentine has been diagnosed with lung cancer.  Joyce also tells Shaw to keep it quiet.

The following day, Shaw and Valentine are called out to the murder of a lady who would have turned one hundred that day.  They find that the woman had been pushed out of her care home to the beach and left with a plastic bag tied over her head.  The home had six security cameras, but it turns out that one was simply playing the same scene over and over again from a pre-recorded film.  Shaw and Valentine now have a prime suspect; the home’s administrator.

Another suspect is an artist who has been left fifty thousand pounds in her will.  The victim’s lawyer also informs Shaw that she had planned on changing her will the day after her birthday.

Unconnected to the death of the old woman are pairs of shoes that have been thrown up to hang on wires.  When removing one pair PPC Jan Clay sees the body of a young man lying in a nearby skip. There seem to be two gangs of youths at war in the community.

Checking out the house of a friend of the elderly woman who had died earlier, Shaw and Valentine find the body of a doctor who had been on hand when the friend passed away.  What is going on?  Could his death be connected to the gangs?

Author Jim Kelly has a few surprises up his sleeve in this thriller, which leaves the reader wondering if their own suspicions were correct.   A thoroughly enjoyable read.

Red Famine ~ Stalin’s War on Ukraine

At one time Ukraine was a province of Russia, but when the revolution occurred in 1917 many Ukrainians thought that they were on the verge of independence.  It was not to be.  They traded one tsar for a new one in the form of Lenin.  Ukraine has rich black soil, which is good for growing crops like wheat.

Lenin saw Ukraine as serving only one purpose, and that was to feed the revolution.  He demanded that tonnes of grain be provided to Russia.  His plan also included collectivisation.  Farmers were forced off their land, and if they didn’t accept collectivisation, their land and animals were simply taken from them.

When Stalin came to power, the demand for grain became even harsher.  During the period 1932 - 1933, people in Ukraine began to starve to death.  To those in power, their deaths were irrelevant.  Any talk of famine was vehemently denied.  People were transported out of Ukraine to other parts of the Soviet Union or simply executed for talking against the authorities. During this period it is estimated that 4.5 million Ukrainians died.  News of the famine was suppressed.  With so many deaths, there were very few people available to seed the next crop, of seeds were even available!  Russians were resettled onto the lands, but even that was ineffective.  This time became known as the “Holodomor”.

After the famine was over, and the country was beginning to recover, no one was allowed to talk of the time, however many people kept the memory of the time alive.  In the aftermath, the Soviet Union would deny that the famine ever happened.

When Germany invaded in 1941 the Ukrainians thought of them as liberators.  However, that was not to be.  Hitler wanted the rich land for his Aryan super race.  He regarded the Ukrainians as sub-human.  Many more would die during this time.

Following the war there were many Ukrainians who made sure that the memories of the famine were not lost.  Fortunately, they lived outside the Soviet Union and were able to tell their stories.  As the fiftieth anniversary of the famine neared, stories of the famine were published.  Ukrainians living in Canada were now part of the middle class and able to fund these works.  However, the Soviet Union did their best to counter these publications with publications of their own.

Then in 1986, Chernobyl happened.  The USSR no longer looked competent.  Gorbachev, the Soviet leader launched “glasnost” or transparency.  This would in turn unravel the deceit of the famine.  By 1993, Ukraine was independent of the Soviet Union.

As author Anne Applebaum notes in her conclusion, the Holodomor was genocide perpetrated by Stalin and his followers.  Applebaum’s research is extensive and up-to-date, including the Russian invasion of Crimea and the fact that Russia is once again in full denial that the famine ever occurred.

This book is well researched and well written.  Applebaum doesn’t pull any punches.  She points out that Ukraine still exists, but modern threats exist in the form of modern technology, which Russia puts to good use to attack a sovereign nation.

I had been aware of the Holodomor, but not to the extent that Applebaum has detailed it in this book.  For any fan of history, this is an essential book to read.

Caveat Emptor

Ruso has just returned to Londinium from Gaul with his new wife, Tilla, to find that his old friend Valens has arranged for him to investigate the disappearance of a tax man up in Verulamium.  The following day an innkeeper reports finding the body of the missing man, but Ruso has suspicions.

When Valens performs the autopsy on the dead man, he discovers that he had been hit over the head.  A Council man from Verulamium arrives in Londinium asking questions and confusion arises when his wife tells Ruso and Tilla that the dead man is the father of her child.

A day later, while ruminating on his investigation to that point, Ruso runs into Metellus, the governor’s head of security and Ruso’s former employer.  Metellus tells Ruso that the dead man had been working for him.  He threatens Ruso to provide him with information before going to the procurator; he holds information about Tilla, which is threatening.

Up in Verulamium, while visiting one of the town’s councillors, the body of the brother of the first victim is discovered.  Ruso isn’t sure what to make of this.  Is he confronting more lies?  Is his own safety compromised?

Author Ruth Downie has several more trials and tribulations ahead for Ruso as he tries to solve this conspiracy and murders in Verulamium.  Will he be able to bring those responsible to justice?  The reader will have to turn the pages and find out in this thoroughly enjoyable historical thriller.

Dead Man's Lane

Someone has dropped off a bag at the Tradmouth police station containing a skull.  DS Rachel Tracy has put it on DI Wesley Peterson’s desk because of his background in archaeology.  Who dropped it off and is it an old or modern skull?  Fingerprints on the bag point to a former criminal, and he willingly shows them where he had found the skull.  It was in the home of a killer who now resides in prison.

Later in the day, a birdwatcher discovers a body floating in a nearby lake.  Initial examination shows it to be a woman and hit appears that she was strangled.  Then an anonymous call comes in that another body had been found inside the home of an elderly man.

Both victims are quickly identified.  The woman turns out to have been the half-sister of a notorious killer who is currently in jail.  Not long after this the body of a man is found in the mud of a tidal creek.  At first it was thought to be a drowning, but stab wounds make it a very different situation.

With three deaths in a short time, can Peterson nab the killer before he strikes again?  Author Kate Ellis has a number of surprises awaiting the audience in the remaining pages.  This was another good quick read by this author, with a bit of added tension.

Sacrilege

July of 1584, and the treat of plague hovers over London.  Giordano Bruno remains in the city in order to get his manuscript to a printer.  He is surprised to find that Sophia Underhill has been shadowing him for some time.  When he confronts her, she is dressed as a man and wants to be known as Kit.  Sophia has an unusual story to tell; she is wanted for the murder of her husband.  She denies any wrongdoing and wants to find the real killer.

In order to help Sophia, Bruno would have to travel to Canterbury, where the crime had occurred.  This would require the permission of the French ambassador, with whom Bruno lives, and from Walshingham, Queen Elizabeth’s master spy for whom Bruno works.

Having been given permission to travel to Canterbury with admonishment to use a different name, Bruno is not at ease because he is going to have to share his room with Sophia who travels as his boy assistant.  They will have to be careful so that no one recognises Sophia.

Bruno leaves Sophia with a Huguenot family while he stays at an inn to begin his investigation.  Firstly he must introduce himself to Walshingham’s man in Canterbury, Harry Robinson.  Robinson informs Bruno that Walshingham had sent him to Canterbury to keep a watch on the cathedral’s treasurer, Langworth.  Langworth is closely connected to Henry Howard, who was recently imprisoned for fomenting rebellion against the queen.

The day after arriving in Canterbury, Bruno discovers the murder of an apothecary whom he had visited the day before.  Why would anyone want to kill him?  Could it be connected to the murder of Sophia’s husband?

Before he knows it, Bruno is accused of the murder and jailed.  Fortunately , Robinson stands bail for him.  Now he has to prove his innocence.

Can he survive being jailed and the forthcoming court case?  There is so much against him.  Author S. J. Parris’ historical thriller is full of tension that the reader will find themselves full of tension wanting to know how Bruno will escape this.  Be prepared for surprises along the way.  This was a thoroughly enjoyable read and hard to put down.

Deadly Secrets

DCI Erika Foster was in the way to Christmas lunch when she arrived on a crime scene.  DC John McGorry informs her that the victim had been badly slashed to death on her doorstep.  Foster decides to forgo lunch.  It doesn’t take long for them to arrest a potential suspect; someone who seemed to have been stalking the victim.  However, shortly after showing him evidence, he commits suicide in his cell.

A couple of days later when Foster and DI Moss go to speak to a man who had been having an affair with the victim, they find that he too had attempted suicide.  Fortunately, they arrive in time to prevent that from happening.  Speaking to a neighbour afterwards, they learn that he had been with the victim on the day she had died.

The next person Foster and Moss speak to is an elderly lady for whom the victim worked.  She informs them that the victim had been assaulted by a man wearing a gas mask a couple of months before.  This puts a new light on the case.

However, when Foster’s elderly father-in-law has a fall and breaks his hip, she takes herself off the case and hands it over to Moss so that she can care for him.

Can Moss solve the crime, which had Foster struggling to solve?  Author Robert Bryndza has a few surprises in store for Moss, Foster and the reader over the next several chapters.  A thoroughly enjoyable read and hard to put down.

The Mechanical Devil

DCI Gerry Heffernan and DI Wesley Peterson have been handed the case of a missing seventeen year old girl.  She abruptly left the drama school she was attending and hasn’t been heard from since.

On top of that, they have a double murder to contend with.  A man and a woman were found shot to death not far from each other in a remote rural area.  They likely have been dead for a few days.  There seems to be no connection between the pair.

Meanwhile, archeologist Dr. Neil Watson and his team have just opened a recently discovered child sized lead coffin and found a doll of sorts inside it, which seems to have mechanical clockworks inside it.

Some time later, the police have another shooting on their hands.  This time it appears to be a vicar, but why would he be living in a down and out house?  Do they have a madman in the area randomly killing people?

Author Kate Ellis has written many threads into this murder mystery, but many seem to just dangle there leaving Peterson with a dead end.  In addition, Peterson has family difficulties to deal with, which interfere with his investigation.  A good quick read.

Prophecy

September of 1583, and Giordano Bruno is being warned by Sir Francis Walshingham that he has to restrict his friendship with Walshingham’s new son-in-law, otherwise the French ambassador, to whom Bruno is also close might become suspicious.  Walsingham on the other hand is suspicious of Mary, Queen of Scots, connection to the French, and their hopes to overthrow Elizabeth and place Mary, a Catholic on the throne of England.

The pair have been called by Lord Burghley to examine the body of one of Elizabeth’s maids of honour.  She had been killed outside the palace, the symbol for Jupiter carved into her breast, in one hand was a crucifix and in the other a wax effigy of the Queen.  Already the servants are whispering about the Great Conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn, and the prophecy of famine and death, which it brings.

The first thing Bruno learns is that the young woman had been secretly meeting with a man at court.  Castlenau, the French ambassador believes that it is a plot to make the Catholics look bad.  While meeting with the ambassador and others, Bruno learns how letters are being smuggled to Queen Mary, and that Lord Howard supports a Catholic invasion, not just from France, but also from Spain.

When Bruno is passed a series of items belonging to the dead girl, he is unsure of their importance until he accidentally drops a hand mirror, which is part of the items.  Inside the mirror is a piece of paper with planetary symbols and the date, November 17.  What is the significance of these?  Bruno then goes to Dr. Dee with a container of perfume, which was also in the possession of the dead girl.  They discover that it is actually a poison.  Could this have been meant for the Queen?

While at a concert hosted by the Queen, Bruno is taken away by Walshingham and Burghley to investigate the murder of another young woman.  This is the woman who had passed the items on to Bruno.  Why was her death foretold by Dee’s scryer?

Are there more deaths to come?  How can Bruno, who is living in the French embassy, prevent them?  He needs to gather more evidence.  Author S. J. Parris’ thriller is based on facts and has plots within plots, within plots running through this story.  One wonders at the machinations of the spy world then and now.  A thoroughly enjoyable read.