"The Salton Killings" start with two gruesome murders. Chief Inspector
Charlie Woodend is sent in by Scotland Yard, along with a new DS Bob
Rutter to investigate.
Woodend is sure that the victim's best
friend is holding back information. However, the investigation must
continue. His team discover that there had been another murder of a
young woman in Salton during the war. Many felt that her American
boyfriend had done it, but there was no postmortem conducted at the
behest of her father. Was something being hidden? More questions arise
than answers.
The murderer returns to the scene of the crime,
which Woodend has had locked up. He breaks in and is surprised by a
couple of cops, one of whom he bashes over the head and the other he
surprises in the police car by smashing in the wind screen. Woodend
wonders what the murderer was looking for.
When Woodend explores
the graveyard of the small town, he discovers two relatively new
graves. Both young girls, both drowned. He believes that the girls
were victims of the same murderer. They now have a serial killer, one
who is becoming more active.
Author Sally Spencer presents a
number of potential murderers throughout this mystery and completely
catches the reader off guard when the real culprit is discovered. A
very good read, and I look forward to the sequel.
Friday, February 15, 2013
Thursday, February 14, 2013
Death on the Pont Noir
Inspector Lucas Rocco has an unusual case on his hands. A farmer has
reported a truck ramming a car out on the highway. When he goes to
investigate he discovers blood on the verge, plus a human tooth. Has a
filming stunt gone wrong and the stunt man been killed? But then, where
are the actors?
Shortly afterwards the police have to arrest several Englishmen following a bar brawl. Rocco wonders if they might be tied to the so-called accident. Later, three unusual men appear at the police station with Rocco's superior, Massin. Rocco realises that one of them, Saint-Cloud, is a member of the president's body guard. He wonders what this is about. Unexpectedly Rocco is seconded to work with Saint-Cloud.
This doesn't prevent him from continuing the investigation into the staged crash, especially when a burnt out truck is discovered. Along with the truck is found the incinerated remains of a man. Shortly thereafter a damaged car is found at an auto scrapper. Can Rocco tie the two together?
Back to the security task at hand, Rocco studies a map of the area around Amiens looking for a possible site to attack the president. He discovers a potential site at Pont Noir; a site where many British and Australian bodies are being exhumed from the First World War. A site that the ex-military president is apt to visit. Unfortunately, Saint-Cloud doesn't agree with Rocco's theory.
Rocco's investigation takes him to London and Scotland Yard in search of help. While at Scotland Yard he runs into a couple of French security officers, which is a puzzle. A short time thereafter, an attempt is made to bribe Rocco and as a result he is suspended.
The ensuing pages rivet the reader with plenty of action and intrigue. What an excellent read! Author Adrian Magson grasps the reader's mind and you follow along at a pace that excites and stimulates the mind. I can hardly wait to read the fourth novel in this series.
Shortly afterwards the police have to arrest several Englishmen following a bar brawl. Rocco wonders if they might be tied to the so-called accident. Later, three unusual men appear at the police station with Rocco's superior, Massin. Rocco realises that one of them, Saint-Cloud, is a member of the president's body guard. He wonders what this is about. Unexpectedly Rocco is seconded to work with Saint-Cloud.
This doesn't prevent him from continuing the investigation into the staged crash, especially when a burnt out truck is discovered. Along with the truck is found the incinerated remains of a man. Shortly thereafter a damaged car is found at an auto scrapper. Can Rocco tie the two together?
Back to the security task at hand, Rocco studies a map of the area around Amiens looking for a possible site to attack the president. He discovers a potential site at Pont Noir; a site where many British and Australian bodies are being exhumed from the First World War. A site that the ex-military president is apt to visit. Unfortunately, Saint-Cloud doesn't agree with Rocco's theory.
Rocco's investigation takes him to London and Scotland Yard in search of help. While at Scotland Yard he runs into a couple of French security officers, which is a puzzle. A short time thereafter, an attempt is made to bribe Rocco and as a result he is suspended.
The ensuing pages rivet the reader with plenty of action and intrigue. What an excellent read! Author Adrian Magson grasps the reader's mind and you follow along at a pace that excites and stimulates the mind. I can hardly wait to read the fourth novel in this series.
Sunday, February 10, 2013
Beware This Boy
In this sequel to "Season of Darkness", Inspector Tom Tyler has been asked by Special Branch to investigate an
explosion at a munitions factory in Birmingham. The question is, was it
caused by human error, or was it sabotage? With the war ongoing,
hopefully it isn't the latter.
Young Jack Walmsley is being forced to rob bombed out houses by an older lad who operates a little crime organisation in Birmingham. In one house, Jack discovers his older brother, Brian, who has just deserted from the army. Frightened by both his brother and his older crime lord, be betrays his brother. What position does this put Brian in now?
Inspector Tyler's first day of investigation gets him nowhere, so he requests that Constable Eagleton come up from Whitchurch to help him. Tyler has many people to question, so he gives Eagleton the job of investigating the site of the explosion. As they work their way through the personnel files, questions arise.
Tension mounts in the novel as things come to a head. Sabotage and murder are the name of the game in this World War II thriller by author Maureen Jennings. I hope that there will be another sequel to the story of Inspector Tom Tyler.
Young Jack Walmsley is being forced to rob bombed out houses by an older lad who operates a little crime organisation in Birmingham. In one house, Jack discovers his older brother, Brian, who has just deserted from the army. Frightened by both his brother and his older crime lord, be betrays his brother. What position does this put Brian in now?
Inspector Tyler's first day of investigation gets him nowhere, so he requests that Constable Eagleton come up from Whitchurch to help him. Tyler has many people to question, so he gives Eagleton the job of investigating the site of the explosion. As they work their way through the personnel files, questions arise.
Tension mounts in the novel as things come to a head. Sabotage and murder are the name of the game in this World War II thriller by author Maureen Jennings. I hope that there will be another sequel to the story of Inspector Tom Tyler.
Friday, February 8, 2013
A Dead Man in Istanbul
This novel is Michael Pearce's sequel to "Dead Man in Trieste". It is
now 1911 and Seymour is in Istanbul to look into the suspicious death of
a member of the Foreign Service. Cunningham had gotten it into his
head to repeat the feat of Leander and swim the Dardanelles.
Unfortunately, as he stepped out of the water, he was shot in the
middle of the forehead.
Shortly afterwards Cunningham is accused of spying by the Turks, but the British ambassador claims he was simply bird watching when he sailed up and down the strait.
It isn't long after this that a British actress is murdered in her theatre. Seymour was to meet with her that evening. At the same time, the Turk who rowed with Cunningham is threatened for working so closely with the infidels.
The British military attaché thinks that the road being built south to Gallipoli is for the purpose of building gun emplacements. Could Cunningham have been spying on that?
Cunningham is connected to the actress; both of them are connected to Prince Selim, who is a potential heir to the Turkish throne. Are their deaths somehow connected to the prince? Working with the local terjiman, Muhktar, Seymour hopes to find out exactly what is going on. What they find out is indeed surprising resulting in an interesting conclusion to this novel.
Shortly afterwards Cunningham is accused of spying by the Turks, but the British ambassador claims he was simply bird watching when he sailed up and down the strait.
It isn't long after this that a British actress is murdered in her theatre. Seymour was to meet with her that evening. At the same time, the Turk who rowed with Cunningham is threatened for working so closely with the infidels.
The British military attaché thinks that the road being built south to Gallipoli is for the purpose of building gun emplacements. Could Cunningham have been spying on that?
Cunningham is connected to the actress; both of them are connected to Prince Selim, who is a potential heir to the Turkish throne. Are their deaths somehow connected to the prince? Working with the local terjiman, Muhktar, Seymour hopes to find out exactly what is going on. What they find out is indeed surprising resulting in an interesting conclusion to this novel.
Saturday, February 2, 2013
Tyrant of the Mind
Prioress Eleanor and Sister Anne have travelled to the prioress' home,
Wynethorpe, in order to look after her sick nephew, Richard. Brother Thomas has travelled with them to aid in the venture.
One morning a hunting party returns with the corpse of a retainer of Eleanor's brother. Thomas feels that there is some mystery to the death because of the way several of the hunters treat each other.
Eleanor is shocked to find that the woman her brother is set to marry does not want to marry at all. She wants to join Eleanor at her priory instead. Later that night, Robert, Eleanor's brother is found over the body of Henry, a guest of the family, and brother to Robert's bride to be. Is he truly guilty? Eleanor, Anne and Thomas must find the truth.
The evidence provided by Robert and found at the scene of the murder create confusion in the mind of Thomas. It isn't long after this that a winter storm descends on Wynethorpe, delaying the sheriff's coming. Also during the storm, Father Anselm receives a nasty blow to his head. Thomas is sure that it is no accident. And, Richard has taken ill again.
The following evening, Sir Geoffrey, father of Henry is attacked and left to die. How will they find the person causing all this grief? After the person is discovered and the reasoning behind the murders, author Priscilla Royal spends an inordinate amount of time filling the pages with material revolving around the two families involved; otherwise a good read.
One morning a hunting party returns with the corpse of a retainer of Eleanor's brother. Thomas feels that there is some mystery to the death because of the way several of the hunters treat each other.
Eleanor is shocked to find that the woman her brother is set to marry does not want to marry at all. She wants to join Eleanor at her priory instead. Later that night, Robert, Eleanor's brother is found over the body of Henry, a guest of the family, and brother to Robert's bride to be. Is he truly guilty? Eleanor, Anne and Thomas must find the truth.
The evidence provided by Robert and found at the scene of the murder create confusion in the mind of Thomas. It isn't long after this that a winter storm descends on Wynethorpe, delaying the sheriff's coming. Also during the storm, Father Anselm receives a nasty blow to his head. Thomas is sure that it is no accident. And, Richard has taken ill again.
The following evening, Sir Geoffrey, father of Henry is attacked and left to die. How will they find the person causing all this grief? After the person is discovered and the reasoning behind the murders, author Priscilla Royal spends an inordinate amount of time filling the pages with material revolving around the two families involved; otherwise a good read.
Tuesday, January 29, 2013
Instrument of Slaughter
Inspector Harvey Marmion and Sergeant Joe Keedy have been given the sad
task of informing a father that his son has been cruelly murdered. The
victim is a pacifist who had just attended a meeting against the recent
bill passed to impose conscription. While going through his bedroom,
they discover a picture of a married woman. Was the man a victim of a
jealous husband? The victim's three friends are overcome with a sense
of panic.
Marmion and Keedy's investigation turns up the fact that the victim had a secret woman friend. They also have two possible suspects, but both seem to have readily available alibis. When a second attack occurs, Marmion's supervisor seems to think they are tied together. Marmion isn't so sure.
Author Edward Marston throws a couple of curve balls at the reader before presenting us with the solution to the crime. An enjoyable read.
Marmion and Keedy's investigation turns up the fact that the victim had a secret woman friend. They also have two possible suspects, but both seem to have readily available alibis. When a second attack occurs, Marmion's supervisor seems to think they are tied together. Marmion isn't so sure.
Author Edward Marston throws a couple of curve balls at the reader before presenting us with the solution to the crime. An enjoyable read.
Monday, January 28, 2013
Birthdays for the Dead
Someone has been grabbing young girls, torturing them, and taking photos
of the torture. He then mails photos of the progression of the torture
to the parents on the child's birthday. DC Ash Henderson has been
assigned to the case and to help him he has been given a criminal
psychologist, Dr. Alice McDonald. She is afraid of air travel, and
going too fast in a car in case either crashes, however, she becomes
competent when dealing with the victim's parents. For Henderson, the
investigation is personal.
A number of bodies have been found in an abandoned park. Dr. McDonald thinks that it is weird that the killer is abandoning the bodies in this fashion. It doesn't seem orderly to her. She also questions why a twelve year old (one of the victims) would have a shelf full of first edition books, worth thousands.
Each birthday of the missing child the parents receive a birthday card from " The Birthday Boy". Some of the parents have moved, yet they still receive the birthday card. How is The Birthday Boy able to find out their new address? McDonald creates a prfile and together she and Henderson come up with a potential suspect. But how can they prove it?
Things turn for the worse when Henderson's youngest daughter disappears. Has she been taken, too, or is she just acting up? No, she too, has become a victim of the Birthday Boy!
Stuart MacBride's latest novel is a dark one. The story is intense and demanding of the reader. It reminded me very much of the dark novels of Ian Rankin's 'Rebus'. Although there is a lot of gratuitous violence, I found it to be a good read.
A number of bodies have been found in an abandoned park. Dr. McDonald thinks that it is weird that the killer is abandoning the bodies in this fashion. It doesn't seem orderly to her. She also questions why a twelve year old (one of the victims) would have a shelf full of first edition books, worth thousands.
Each birthday of the missing child the parents receive a birthday card from " The Birthday Boy". Some of the parents have moved, yet they still receive the birthday card. How is The Birthday Boy able to find out their new address? McDonald creates a prfile and together she and Henderson come up with a potential suspect. But how can they prove it?
Things turn for the worse when Henderson's youngest daughter disappears. Has she been taken, too, or is she just acting up? No, she too, has become a victim of the Birthday Boy!
Stuart MacBride's latest novel is a dark one. The story is intense and demanding of the reader. It reminded me very much of the dark novels of Ian Rankin's 'Rebus'. Although there is a lot of gratuitous violence, I found it to be a good read.
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