The Ghosts of Belfast

Gerry Fegan has ghosts visiting him.  They number twelve, some are soldiers or police, but there are four civilians in the ghostly group that are with him.  All people he was involved in killing during The Troubles.  They torment his waking hours.  One of the ghosts, a young boy, indicates to Fegan that he should kill Michael McKenna, the man who had beaten him before Fegan did the final kill shot.  Fegan wonders if the boy will leave him alone if he does the deed?  The ghost nods.

The death of McKenna could potentially destabilise the peace in Northern Ireland.  South of the border, there are some that are very happy with the death of McKenna.

However, the ghosts of Belfast are not done with Fegan.  Two UDR men want him to kill a mobster named Caffola.  Using the background of a riot a day prior to the funeral of McKenna, Fegan does the deed.  Now only nine ghosts remain.

Dave Campbell is working under cover in the south, but he knows the trouble makers in the north.  As a result if Caffola's death, his handlers want him back in the north.  He returns and is tasked with getting rid of Fegan.  It doesn't take long for him to realise the state of Fegan's mind.

Another death and only six ghosts live in Fegan's mind.  A man he thought he could trust betrayed him, and it cost the man his life.  Next it is a cop who provided the revolutionaries with another cop's name for execution.  Only five ghosts remain now.  But Campbell has Fegan's girlfriend and her daughter.

How will Fegan save the two and can he get rid of his remaining ghosts?  Stuart Neville has written an excellent, fast paced thriller.  I found that I could not put the book down.  I recommend it to anyone who enjoys this kind of book.

Absolution

In 1984 PC Alan McAlpine has been given the task of sitting near the hospital bed of a young woman who has had acid splashed in her face.  She is in a coma, and Alan's DCI Graham wants him to be near when she regains consciousness.

McAlpine searches the woman's bedsit and possessions to try to find something out about her, but there is nothing.  As he waits by her side he tries to get to know her, which is against police procedure.  He is pulled from the case by Graham.  Later Interpol identifies her, and provides the fact that she was involved in a diamond heist.  The question is, where are the missing diamonds?

By 2006 McAlpine has reached the rank of DCI.  The body of a woman has been found in a crucifix form, and eviscerated.  This is the second such murder in a very short time.  Now he finds himself back in the old station where he had been involved in the original inquiry.  Memories flood back.

DI Colin Anderson, DS Winifred Costello and DC Vik Mulholland have been assigned to McAlpine's team.  Anderson and Costello have worked with McAlpine in the past, however Mulholland isn't impressed.  His wealthy background gives him arrogance.

During McAlpine's investigation he comes across a minister who knew the victim of the 1984 acid attack.  It brings memories and demons tumbling back.

It is a dark and stormy night when the third body is found.  McAlpine gives Costello quiet orders to investigate a prime suspect.  He wants the others on the team focussing on other matters for the time being.  An attempt is made on McAlpine's wife, fortunately she survives the attack.  From that point on, author Caro Ramsay speeds up the action taking the reader to the ultimate and surprising conclusion.  An excellent read, hard to put down.

Come the Fear

It is 1733 in Leeds, so a bucket brigade is needed when a fire breaks out in anold house.  Fortunately the family that had lived there had moved out sometime earlier.  However, when Richard Nottingham, Constable of Leeds, investigates the fire the next day he discovers a body of a woman, with a foetus torn out of her body.

Hezekiah Walton, a thief taker, arrives at Nottingham's office the following morning.  He tells Richard that he is looking for a family called the Coopers.  Nottingham feels that his story doesn't ring true.

John Sedgwick, Nottingham's deputy, and Rob Lister find during their investigation that there was a man outside the burned building in the wee hours just before the fire.  Later in the day, a woman awaits Nottingham at the jail.  She says that her 16 year old daughter is missing.  She had worked as a servant, and been dismissed.  When Nottingham questions the employer, he finds out that the girl was pregnant when she was dismissed.  Now they have a name for the victim.

Crime doesn't stop for the murder of a young lass, so the Constable and his men had other things to contend with besides.  House break ins seemed to be on the rise.  A young boy is snatched, but found unharmed.  However, there is a threatening letter found in his pocket.  It isn't long after that, that Sedgwick's own son, James disappears.

The team of investigators work hard to find James, the murderer and the child snatcher.  Author Chris Nickson brings the story to an exciting and shocking conclusion.  It has made me want to immediately read the next book in the series.

The Excursion Train

Inspector Robert Colbeck of Scotland Yard, and Sergeant Victor Leeming have been assigned to investigate a murder on an excursion train by Superintendent Tallis.  Those on the train had gone outside London to take in a bare knuckle fight.  One man was garrotted.  Colbeck finds out that a woman may have been involved.  He also discovers that the. Victim was a hangman.

Colbeck turns to his girlfriend Madeleine Andrews for help.  He is able, with Madeleine's help, to get into the hangman's private sanctum.  There he discovers a note threatening the hangman's life.  The note points Colbeck and Leeming in a possible direction.

Colbeck's investigation takes him to the prison at Maidstone where ge looks into the hanging of Nathan Hawkshaw.  There he discovers why Hawkshaw was hung and the circumstances surrounding it.  Colbeck wondered about the guilt or innocence of Hawkshaw.

It is while the two detectives are in Ashford, that the chaplain from the Maidstone prison is murdered in the same manner as the original victim.  He is the second person directly connected to the Hawkshaw case.  Could the prosecutor be next?

As the investigation progresses further, the information that Colbeck and Leeming put together point to the true culprit and his accomplice.  A thoroughly enjoyable, quick read by author Edward Marston.

1356

Fra Ferdinand has recovered La Malice, a magnificent sword.  However, he is not the only one who wants it.  A priest, Father Marchant, searches for it, hoping to acquire it so its power can be used for the Church.

Brother Michael has been sent from Carlisle to Avignon with a message for Le Batard.  He finds the man embroiled in a battle for a castle.  Le Batard leads a group of mercenaries known as the Hellequin, or the devil's beloved.  The Earl of Northampton wants Le Batard aka Thomas Hookton, to find La Malice and bring it to him.

The Lord of Douglas has come from Scotland to help the French fight the English.  He is frustrated by the lack of initiative shown by King Jean.  He is also frustrated by his nephew Robbie's refusal to fight the English.

Cardinal Bessieres creates The Order of the Fisherman to acquire the sword.  He gets Robbie to be the first knight of the order by showing him that his oath to Thomas is invalid.  Father Marchant is to be the guiding light of the order.

Hookton goes south to Montpellier in search of information.  There his wife, Genevieve and son, Hugh, are taken captive by Roland de Verrec, a knight who believes in chivalry.  Hookton must find a way to get them back.  Later, Hookton and his entourage fall into a trap while looking for La Malice.  Fortunately, before anything can happen, Hookton and his entourage are saved.  He and his archers join the Black Prince's forces.

Edward, Prince of Wales, the Black Prince, is cornered by France's King Jean at Poitiers.  Negotiations lead to Edward being offered the chance to be taken hostage and ransomed.  However, the French decide to attack instead.  They vastly outnumber the English.  All of author Bernard Cornwell's characters take part in this major battle.  It provides an exciting conclusion to this historical novel.  I was unable to put it down because it was so gripping.

The Merry Devils

Westfield's Men are preparing to put on a play entitled The Merry Devils at the Queen's Head in London.  On the opening day, the two little devils play their part perfectly, but are suddenly and unexpectedly joined by a third devil onstage!  The devil performs a bit and as suddenly as it had appeared, it disappears.  Fortunately the cast is able to save the rest of the play.

Nick Bracewell, the company's book holder, is determined to figure out how the third devil appeared on the scene.  Meantime Firethorn, the leading actor, works to maintain the mystique of the play.  Unfortunately the group's patron forces them to put the play on again.  Can they manage it?

The next play the group puts on at another theatre is called "Cupid's Folly", a rollicking comedy.  Unfortunately one of the actors is injured when the May pole collapses.  Bracewell is sure it has been sawn through with the intent to cause injury.  Westfield's Men have an enemy for sure.

Ralph Willoughby, one of the co-authors of the Merry Devils, is sure that he is responsible for the devil's appearance. As Bracewell prepares for the next performance of the Merry Devios he is surprised when a devil appears through one of the stage's trapdoors.  Before he can do anything, it appears through the other trapdoor, or is it a second devil?  Once again misfortune strikes the cast when one of the players dies before his entrance.

Bracewell is wrongly imprisoned one night.  While in prison he has time to think why, and to think on who the target of the attacks is.  He also accidentally gains some useful information while there.  The truth that Bracewell discovers is shocking to everyone involved.

Author Edward Marston has written another Elizabethan murder mystery full of guile and intrigue.  He presents lots of suspense as the story draws to a conclusion.  A very good read.

Death of a Cave Dweller

Eddie Barnes, a guitarist with The Seagulls, has just been electrocuted by his amp.  It is classified as a murder.  For the Liverpool police it is going to be a difficult murder to solve, so Scotland Yard is called.  DI Charlie Woodend and DS Bob Rutter are assigned the case.

Woodend finds out that there had been a Battle of the Bands night, the night before Barnes was killed.  This puts several other groups in the picture, as well as the members of The Seagulls.

Concern is increased for the group when the manager of The Seagulls receives a not through his mail slot threatening the group.  Woodend finds out from the editor of a local music newspaper that Barnes was planning on leaving the group.  It isn't long after that that the manager is beaten very badly.

Both Woodend and Rutter have different suspects in mind, as does Inspector Hopgood, the liaison from the Liverpool police.  It is only when Woodend sees an advertisement in the music rag for a lead guitarist for The Seagulls that the replacement guitarist's life was in jeopardy.  It also allowed him to figure out who the culprit was.

Once again Sally Spencer has put together an excellent murder mystery in the Inspector Woodend series.  I look forward to reading the next in the series.