Sails on the Horizon

It is 1797 and Second Lieutenant Charles Edgemont, his ship The Argonaut are in battle with the Spanish.  As the battle ensues, men are killed, including the captain.  Sudden,y Edgemont is now in charge of the ship.  The Argonaut is in diar straits when she is raked with cannon shot by Santa Brigida.  Edgemont vows revenge for the carnage left when the Santa Brigida flees.

Daniel Bevan,the first Lieutenant, and Stephen Winchester, the midshipman are both raised in rank after he battle.  Admiral Jervis assigns Edgemont as acting commander to the Louisa,  he requests to take Bevan and Winchester with him.  Edgemont's share of the prize money after the battle is substantial and he is able to lend sufficient to his brother to maintain the home of the family.

Edgemont is given temporary charge of a brig in Liverpool while waiting for his own ship.  Unfortunately he finds that the Lomond is in bad shape as are the crew.  He sets to righting the deficiencies immediately, but chafes at the bit because there are no orders from the admiralty.

It isn't long after that, that the Channel Fleet mutinies and Edgemont, Bevan, and Winchester are ordered to Plymouth to their new posting, the Louisa.  When they arrive at their new ship, they find it inadequately equipped and lacking men.  When they do set sail for the Mediterranean, they have a very motley crew.

The time at sea is good for training the crew.  They are assigned to stay near Corunna.  The Santa Brigida is discovered in port.  Edgemont draws her out for a minor skirmish.  After the skirmish, the Louisa returns to Portsmouth for re-supply.  Admiral Jervis needs the Louisa back as soon as possible.  He orders Edgemont and the crew back on the day Edgemont gets married.

Author Jay Worrall has given the reader a glimpse of life in the British navy in the late eighteenth century in "Sails on the Horizon".  His descriptions of battles are explicit.  A good read for naval history buffs.

Working Girls

Fifteen year old Michelle Lucas has been found with her throat slashed in a park near her school in Birmingham.  From the look of it, she was on the game.  DS Beverly Morriss is one of the first officers on the scene along with Detective Superintendent Byford.  They are sickened by what has happened to the young girl.

Vicki Flinn is a mate of Michelle's, and is also on the game, but she doesn't have a pimp.  When she finds out what has happened to Michelle, she is happy to help find out who did this.

Later in the morning Byford gets an anonymous call from a man threatening to clean up the streets of prostitutes.  He claims that the people of the area in which Michelle was killed are tired of the used condoms, noise and other issues that the prostitutes bring.  They will do something if the cops don't.

Morriss' interview of Flinn provides the name of Michelle's pimp; Charlie Hawes.  Unfortunately his whereabouts is an unknown.  However, within 24 hours another girl is beaten within an inch of her life.  She is one of Hawes' working girls and a close friend of Michelle's, and Flinn has gone missing.  That same night, Morriss is mugged.  Meantime Hawes is busy.

It isn't long after this that another body is discovered in the same location.  This time the dead girl is the daughter of a cop.  When a man comes forward and admits to both murders, Morriss doesn't buy it, not even with his superior knowledge of the crime scenes and victims.

The case comes to a surprising close when the badly beaten girl provides Morriss with information.  Author Maureen Carter has written an exciting thriller, a very good read and I look forward to reading more of her works.

Farewell to Freedom

A young woman has been found with her throat slashed in an area of Copenhagen known for prostitutes.  Detective Louise Rick is at the crime scene.  Her colleague, Michael Stig, quickly assesses the young woman as an Eastern European whore.

Camilla Lind is in for her Monday morning editor's meeting when she receives a call from her son, Markus.  He and a friend have just found an abandoned baby on the floor of a church.  At the church, Camilla discovers that the baby is a little girl, not more than a day old.  She awaits with the pastor until the police and the EMTs arrive to take the child to the hospital.

As Rick, and her partner, Lars Jorgensen, begin their investigation, they learn about the seedier side of  prostitution in Copenhagen.  They also get information about a pair of Albanian brothers who are running a prostitution ring, bringing in girls, and threatening them with their lives, a case of human trafficking.  The girls say farewell to freedom at that point.

Purely by accident, Camilla comes across a man who has information about the murder.  He will not speak to the police for fear of his own life.  She passes the information on to the police.  A short time later her source is found brutally murdered.  How did anyone find out who her source was?

A new twist is thrown into the story when Camilla stumbles on another infant in the church when she went there to prepare it for the funeral of her source.  This time the infant is dead.

As the investigation continues, it proves that the two stories are linked.  Unfortunately for Camilla it comes to a shocking end.  Rick is also caught completely off guard.

Author Sara Blaedel has written a graphic novel about murder and human trafficking, an intense read.  Thoroughly enjoyable.

Laidlaw

Bud Lawson has reported his 18 year old daughter as missing to DI Jack Laidlaw, even though she has only been gone overnight.  Lawson has a temper on him and is known to the police.  Laidlaw calmly tells him to go home and wait.  She may show up yet.  Unfortunately she later showed up dead.

Bud wants only one thing, and that is to get his hands on the person who did this to Jennifer.

DC Harkness is assigned to work with Laidlaw, but the pair will be outside of the main investigation.  Harkness' job will also be to liaise with DI Milligan, who is in charge of the investigation.  The first person they want to speak to is Harry Rayburn, owner of the place Jennifer was last seen.  After meeting Rayburn, they feel that he is hiding something.

Laidlaw and Harkness meet up with one of the kingpins of the Glaswegian crime world, John Rhodes, and ask him to help in finding the perpetrator of the crime.  What they don't know is that one of Bud Lawson's friends has already asked for the same thing.

Laidlaw gets the truth out of Jennifer's friend, Sarah.  They weren't where she had said they had been, Jennifer was actually with a guy.

Meantime, Harry Rayburn is attempting to protect the culprit for reasons of his own, while his silent partner, Matt Mason, is out to fix things, and not the way Harry wants them fixed.  Rhodes is also on the hunt for the culprit.  As Laidlaw and Harkness gain their information, they get closer to their quarry.  Who will get there first?

Author William McIlvanney has put together a thrilling murder mystery set in Glasgow.  Right from the get go, the reader knows who the murderer is, however we don't know how or whether he will be caught.  A very good read.

Marbeck and the Double Dealer

Marbeck is a spy in Her Majesty's service.  Sir Robert Cecil is his spymaster.  Cecil has found out that one of their spies is a double dealer working for the Spanish with the code name "Mulberry".  Cecil has several in mind, and as a result can't trust any incoming messages.  He assigns Marbeck to find the double dealer.

Marbeck's investigation reveals news that the Spanish are planning a new attack on England, not using an armada, but rather coming across from the lowlands.  Cecil suddenly orders Marbeck to Brittany.  There he finds news of the Spanish; their target may not be the west of England, but rather Ireland.  He needs to travel further into France to get more information.

Marbeck is captured, regarded as a spy.  Has the woman, who had been providing information, become a double dealer, or was she already one?  He is punished in his effort to find out, and upon escaping, now it is time to travel to Paris.  Upon reaching Paris, Marbeck quickly comes to the conclusion that he must immediately return to London.

London is not safe for Marbeck.  He is set upon and an attempt is made to turn him.  He must tell Cecil and face the consequences.  What ensues is intrigue and violence as Marbeck works to find the threat to England.

Author John Pilkington has written an excellent thriller, set in Elizabethan times, which is both exciting and a fun read.  I look forward to reading sequels.

Where Death Delights

Richard Pryor and Anglea Bray have just established a laboratory in Wales.  He has just come back from 10 years in Singapore following the war, and she has become disillusioned with the medical system in London.  Together they want to create a new start.  They have employed Sian Lloyd as a lab tech. 

Their first case is trying to identify who a partial skeleton  belongs to.  Unfortunately the bones have already been buried.  They only have the coroner's report and word of mouth to go on.  They gain the help of Trevor Mitchell, a retired detective.  Business starts to boom as word gets out about their new business.

Richard is given another case of suspected drowning.  However, the father of the victim has difficulty accepting that verdict.  He wants a second post mortem carried out by Richard.

They are able to eliminate one person as the possible victim in the first case.  They need more information to be able to eliminate another.  The other major investigation, after Richard conducts a second post mortem, points to a possible murder, which also requires more information.  It is when another drowning occurs that fresh evidence appears.

Author Bernard Knight has given the reader many insights into pathology, the biology related to it, the legal background related to sudden deaths and investigations.  A thoroughly enjoyable read.  I highly recommend this book and am looking forward to reading the next in this series.

Winding up the Serpent

Newly minted DI Joanna Piercy has a sudden death on her hands.  A nurse didn't show up at work, the neighbour and staff at the clinic where she worked were concerned.  When the police entered her home, she is found splayed on her bed, very scantily clad.  Suicide or murder? Piercy is sure it is murder.  DS Mike Korpanski feels that it is an accidental death due to drugs, but then he resents Piercy because she got the appointment and he didn't.

The pathologist is unable to find a cause of death.  He points out that the corpse had had numerous surgical augmentations.  He doesn't believe it is murder, but must await lab reports on samples taken from the body.

The victim lived in a house that was beyond the means of a nurse.  She led everyone to believe that when her mother died, she had come into an inheritance.  She also told her neighbour that she had a boyfriend who was married, although the neighbour didn't believe her.  Piercy begins to wonder if blackmail was the source of her income.

As the investigation comes to its final conclusion, Piercy discovers much more than she had anticipated.  An enjoyable murder mystery by author Priscilla Masters, and a quick read.