The Secret Speech

Leo Stepanovich Demidov is a former MGB agent during the reign of Stalin  and is now, in 1956, in charge of a murder squad.  He has since married and adopted two girls, one of whom hates him for what he did to their family.  His past is now about to come and haunt him and his fellow former agents under the rule of Khrushchev.

Khrushchev has made a speech in which he denigrates all that Stalin did.  Those that suffered under Stalin look for revenge.  Demidov and his former colleagues are now targets.  Demidov's eldest daughter, Zoya, is kidnapped and his wife, Raisa, is severely injured during the kidnap.  A few hours later he finds out from the wife of a priest he had arranged to have arrested is behind the terror.  She demands he arrange the release of her husband from a gulag or she will kill Zoya.

Demidov travels to the gulag in question and after receiving a punishment from the prisoners manages to free Lazar.  Meantime Zoya tries to become a part of the gang that has imprisoned her.  When Demidov returns to Moscow, he is in for a terrible shock.

Author Tom Rob Smith spins an interesting thriller that takes the reader throughout the Soviet dominated world of 1956 bringing to life the terror the citizens of those nations lived under at the time.

Sidney Chambers and the Shadow of Death by James Runcie

Sidney Chambers is the canon of a church near Cambridge following World War II and  he never intended to get into the detection business.  However, after one service he is asked by a female parishioner to look into a suicide, which she feels was really a murder.  She and the victim had had an affair.  Sidney discusses the case with his friend Inspector Geordie  Keating and finds out that no note was left.  This case is the beginning of what is to be a minor career in helping the police solve crimes.

However, later, the secretary of the victim shows Sidney a note that appears to be a suicide note.  Sidney also receives the victim's diary in which he would erase his daily notes.  The initials A. M. and P. M. Play a prominent role in the diary.

Sydney makes some calculated assumptions and puts forth his thesis to the inspector.  Together they concoct a plan to draw the murderer out, and are not surprised when another murder is attempted.

New Year's Eve and Sidney is in London to attend a party.  One of the guests is given an engagement ring, but before she can accept it, a minor mishap occurs in the room.  While the mishap is being attended to, the ring disappears.  It would appear that none of the guests has taken it.  Naturally, the priest is asked to quietly investigate, otherwise calling the police might do harm to the host, an MP.

Lent has rolled around and Sidney is asked by his friend, Inspector Keating, to quietly query a woman and her fiancé, who is a doctor, about the death of her mother and rather hasty marriage that is about to ensue.  Was it a medical mistake or a matter of murder? 

Later in the spring, while in London taking in a jazz concert, Sidney and Inspector Keating are thrust into another murder investigation when the daughter of the nightclub owner is strangled during the drum solo.  Is her death a vendetta?  It is when Sidney is on the train home, and a parishioner asks for a clue to a crossword that Sidney comes up with a solution to the crime.

Summer has arrived and Sidney is visiting Lord Teversham's home.  Teversham has an extensive art collection, and Sidney offers to have his friend Amanda Kendall come evaluate it.  She discovers that one of the restored pictures is actually a copy of the real thing.  Now they must find out what happened to the original.  Unfortunately Amanda begins her own investigation on her own leading her into trouble.

Once autumn arrives Sidney finds a new diversion, acting in a modern version of Shakespeare's Julius Caesar.  Unfortunately during the play Julius is really done to death.  Since the actors were all wearing black, it was difficult to determine who the murderer actually is; plus the murder weapon has disappeared.

To be honest, this book was not one I would rate highly.

The Hypnotist

A family of four has been foully attacked in Sweden.  The father at the soccer centre and the others at their home, all stabbed numerous times and their bodies dismembered.  Only the son survives, covered with multiple cuts.  Detective Joona Linna wants to hypnotise the young lad to find the perpetrator and save his older sister from the same thing happening to her.

Linna wants to investigate the case.  He feels that it is much more than just a local case, but his superiors disagree.  It is only when he is proven right about the sequence of the murders that Linna is given the case.

Erik Bark is the doctor Linna is trying to convince to hypnotise the young victim.  It takes some convincing, but interesting information is revealed when the first hypnosis occurs.

As the story unfolds author Lars Kepler tells the reader about each of the characters in the story.  Things don't seem to be as they should when the missing sister is found.  As more evidence comes to light and other people become threatened the story takes on a very chilling aspect.  From that point on the novel becomes more and more intense until the ultimate climax.  Well written and very much worth the read.

The Keeper of Secrets

It is 1810 and Tobias Campion has been appointed the new parson of St. Jude's.  He comes from a wealthy family, but doesn't want anyone to know it.  The evening before taking on his new parish, he stays with a cousin, and while there punches a young man who is trying to molest a maid.

It doesn't take long for young Tobias to see how different life is for the common working person compared to the life of luxury he is familiar with in the early 19th century.

When the husband of Tobias' cousin dies in suspicious circumstances Tobias and his doctor friend, Edmund Hansard, set out to determine the truth of the matter.  Late one afternoon Tobias is attacked, robbed of his possessions and left to succumb to the cold night.

Later in March Tobias discovers the body of the maid servant who had worked for his cousin.  She had been brutally murdered.  Dr. Hansard and Tobias feel obligated to discover the culprit.  They travel to Bath in search of their main suspect.  Once there, they discover that he is held in an asylum, and under the control of laudanum.  However, they do manage to gain valuable information, which means that they must rush home to prevent further carnage.

Author Judith Cutler has written an intriguing novel.

Bereft

At the age of 16 Quinn Walker was found with a bloody knife in his hand and his 12 year old sister, Sarah, dead at his feet.  He panicked and ran.  Afterwards his family and community thought the great outback had gotten him, but rather the army had.  He served in the Great War and was returning home to set the record straight.

He finds his mother stricken with influenza, but he can only approach her when his father has left the homestead.  His mother believes in his innocence, but no one else does.  Those that believe in his guilt would kill him if they knew he was back.

One morning Quinn awakes in his campsite to find a young girl watching him.  She is a waif who seems to know everything.  Sadie Fox is an orphan.  She knows the outback and how to supply them with food.  Quinn is able to spend a little time with his mother each day quietly talking and caring for her.  As he cares for her, we learn his story of what happened to him following Sarah's death.

Sadie draws the story of Sarah's murder out of Quinn and what he saw that day.  She encourages him to exact revenge.  Author Chris Womersley draws the tale to an interesting conclusion.  A very good read.

The Betrayal of Trust

Torrential rains have flooded Lafferton, but in so doing they have released a long buried body.  DCS Simon Serrailler has a 16 year old cold case on his hands, and it doesn't take long to identify the remains of 15 year old  Harriet Lowther.  Serrailler is on his way to inform Harriet's father of the discovery when he is called of the report of another body found in the vicinity of Harriet's.

Author Susan Hill runs stories of two other people parallel to the crime story.  Jocelyn is suffering from a motor neuron disorder that will eventually kill her; and she has come to the conclusion that an assisted suicide in Switzerland is the best way to conclude her life.  Assisted suicide is illegal in the UK.  Lenny's partner has Alzheimer's and is no longer allowed to stay in her hospice.  Simon's sister Cat is a doctor and is working on solutions for such cases in Lafferton.  The reader wonders what the relevance is to the cold cases is as their stories are interwoven with the cold case. 

Serrailler works hard at the cold case despite having limited resources and other current cases on his plate.  A reconstruction of the incident is planned for TV, which does help to bring new information to light.  Serrailler has a lot on his mind, including a new love.

It takes time, but Serrailler manages to tie the loose strings together and find the murderer.  In the end, it all makes sense.

Cromwell's Blessing

Peter Ransley continues the story of Tom Neave, which he had written about in "Plague Child".  Tom's surname is now Stonehouse and he is now heir apparent to Lord Stonehouse.  He is also married and father to two children. 

As the story re-commences, Tom is now a major in Cromwell's New Model Army.  Issues result in him returning home to London where he runs into conflict with the lord, and meets up with his father.  It is the death of his daughter that forces Tom back into the clutches of Lord Stonehouse.

Circumstances force Tom to do the bidding of Oliver Cromwell.  He is given two tasks.  Retrieve the king and bring Tom's traitorous father back to London for interrogation.  Unfortunately Tom's fortunes take a turn for the worse after he has captured the king and he finds himself in jail. 

Tom is freed because, when arrested he had given the name Neave, instead of Stonehouse.  He begins a new life as a printer of pamphlets, shut out of the lives of his wife and son.  He hopes that Cromwell will be able to bring freedom and the vote to all men through the new parliament.

Throughout, Tom is confused about his allegiance to his father.  His father has tried to kill him, gain his confidence and take advantage of him.  His father is for King Charles and Tom supports Cromwell.  What will they do when an assassination attempt is planned on Charles?  Treachery abounds!

Tom discovers that he has an illegitimate son after an affair with a young woman during his time as a printer.  He sets out to help his son, while at the same time, not letting him know he is his true father, nor letting the son of his legitimate marriage know of his half-brother's existence.

An excellent historical novel based on the time of Oliver Cromwell.  I look forward to the third in this trilogy.