John Russell
has been in Berlin for a decade by early 1939. He has a son with his
German ex-wife. For the most part he is happy, he sees his son
regularly and he has a beautiful girlfriend. However, life in Nazi
Germany is not as happy as the Germans portray. Jews are being sent off
to concentration camps for no reason at all. Life is becoming
regimented and certain things are becoming harder to come by.
Life
changes for Russell when a fellow journalist supposedly commits
suicide. He had been working on a story that the Nazis didn't want to
get out, and Russell was privy to the basic information that the Nazis
planned to euthanise those who were mentally handicapped.
In
addition, the Soviets have asked Russell to write a series of stories
for Pravda that would tell the Soviets about the Third Reich. He is
about to become entangled in the world of espionage. How can he stay in
Germany, help his Jewish friends and keep his son and girlfriend safe,
and be a spy all the while maintaining his front as a legitimate
journalist? Fear of the Gestapo was constant.
As I started
reading "Zoo Station" I wasn't sure that it was going to be a good read,
but David Downing does a tremendous job building the story and tension.
I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Monday, April 30, 2012
Thursday, April 26, 2012
Trick of the Light
Letters from the past, a murdered Confederate soldier in Leith, seances, brothels at war, Arthur Conan Doyle and monsters in the night are all in the mix in this Inspector McLevy mystery.
Madame Jean Brash has a new competitor in the brothel business, known as The Countess. Two of her magpies have flitted over to Jean. The Countess will not countenance this and a fierce rivalry ensues that will lead to violence and death.
A robbery at the friend of Doyle's mother result in the introduction of Doyle to Inspector McLevy. Doyle is a fan of 'deduction' and requests to tag along during the investigation.
When a businessman is found murdered, Doyle is able to tell McLevy that the victim had caused the medium, Sophia Adler, to scream and faint during a seance. Another murder puts Jean right in the mix as the main culprit.
It is up to Inspector McLevy to either tie all of these leads together or rather unravel the whole mess. Author David Ashton does a fine job of leading the reader on a merry chase.
Madame Jean Brash has a new competitor in the brothel business, known as The Countess. Two of her magpies have flitted over to Jean. The Countess will not countenance this and a fierce rivalry ensues that will lead to violence and death.
A robbery at the friend of Doyle's mother result in the introduction of Doyle to Inspector McLevy. Doyle is a fan of 'deduction' and requests to tag along during the investigation.
When a businessman is found murdered, Doyle is able to tell McLevy that the victim had caused the medium, Sophia Adler, to scream and faint during a seance. Another murder puts Jean right in the mix as the main culprit.
It is up to Inspector McLevy to either tie all of these leads together or rather unravel the whole mess. Author David Ashton does a fine job of leading the reader on a merry chase.
Monday, April 23, 2012
Blood Wedding
Leila is a young Moslem woman from Scotland doing research on the
Spanish Civil War in Spain. When her body is discovered the local
police look to blame her sometimes boyfriend, a Moslem lad, who is
working at the local Moslem retreat for up and coming Moslem
businessmen.
Sub-Inspector Max Romero from Granada is inclined to disagree, feeling that the lad is not someone the police should be investigating. Meantime he is also involved in working with the Spanish anti-terrorist group. Feelings are running high against the Moslem community because of the war in Iraq. As the investigation is progressing, the local police brutally beat the prime suspect in hopes of gaining a confession.
The head of the ant-terrorist group orders a raid on the retreat. In the ensuing raid one of the young men is shot and later dies. Hoping to keep bad news at bay, pornography is planted on a computer at the camp by the police.
Shortly afterwards the prime suspect in Leila's murder commits suicide. The local police are convinced that his suicide is evidence of his guilt. Romero is not convinced. Will further investigations prove him right despite being told not to by his superiors?
A good mystery by author P. J. Brooke, however, I was disappointed with the editing.
Sub-Inspector Max Romero from Granada is inclined to disagree, feeling that the lad is not someone the police should be investigating. Meantime he is also involved in working with the Spanish anti-terrorist group. Feelings are running high against the Moslem community because of the war in Iraq. As the investigation is progressing, the local police brutally beat the prime suspect in hopes of gaining a confession.
The head of the ant-terrorist group orders a raid on the retreat. In the ensuing raid one of the young men is shot and later dies. Hoping to keep bad news at bay, pornography is planted on a computer at the camp by the police.
Shortly afterwards the prime suspect in Leila's murder commits suicide. The local police are convinced that his suicide is evidence of his guilt. Romero is not convinced. Will further investigations prove him right despite being told not to by his superiors?
A good mystery by author P. J. Brooke, however, I was disappointed with the editing.
Sunday, April 22, 2012
The Emperor's Assassin
England, the summer of 1815, Napoleon has been captured and is on a ship in Plymouth Sound. Hopefully peace will reign.
Unfortunately for Henry Morton, a Bow Street Runner, that is not to be the case, for the body of a young woman has been found. The coroner determines it is murder. With the help of his actress friend, Arabella Malibrant, Morton is able to determine that she is French. She is also the mistress of a French count. The count is Louis XVIII's ambassador to England. A few days later the count is also brutally slain. Are the deaths the work of French royalists or Bonapartists?
Spies are spying upon spies and reporting back to their masters in France. One group wants to ensure that a king remains on the throne of France while the other wants a Corsican to have a safe retirement in the country that was once her enemy, for English law could not prosecute Napoleon once he was on English soil. England is caught in the middle. Treachery, murder and mayhem ensue.
This is the first book of T. F. Banks I have read, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Unfortunately for Henry Morton, a Bow Street Runner, that is not to be the case, for the body of a young woman has been found. The coroner determines it is murder. With the help of his actress friend, Arabella Malibrant, Morton is able to determine that she is French. She is also the mistress of a French count. The count is Louis XVIII's ambassador to England. A few days later the count is also brutally slain. Are the deaths the work of French royalists or Bonapartists?
Spies are spying upon spies and reporting back to their masters in France. One group wants to ensure that a king remains on the throne of France while the other wants a Corsican to have a safe retirement in the country that was once her enemy, for English law could not prosecute Napoleon once he was on English soil. England is caught in the middle. Treachery, murder and mayhem ensue.
This is the first book of T. F. Banks I have read, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Friday, April 20, 2012
The Dead Hand of History
Monika Paniatowski has just been appointed Detective Chief Inspector of Whitebridge. She has earned her way up through the ranks, and on her first day she is presented with a gruesome case. A woman's hand has been discovered in town. Her team is in place, but one member, Sergeant Walker doesn't really want to help make it easy. It is 1973 and women just aren't promoted to such positions.
It isn't long before a man's severed hand is presented to the police. It had been discovered by a reporter who was provided with an anonymous note. This reporter also doesn't have much use for women being in positions of authority and before long he writes a news article condemning DCI Paniatowski for not making an arrest because the prime suspect is also of Polish background. This makes the DCI's work that much more difficult as she is now under pressure from her Chief Constable.
Author Sally Spenser has written a very good thriller here, full of clues, none of which point to the real villain in the story until Paniatowski pulls all them together in the final chapters of the book. A very good read.
It isn't long before a man's severed hand is presented to the police. It had been discovered by a reporter who was provided with an anonymous note. This reporter also doesn't have much use for women being in positions of authority and before long he writes a news article condemning DCI Paniatowski for not making an arrest because the prime suspect is also of Polish background. This makes the DCI's work that much more difficult as she is now under pressure from her Chief Constable.
Author Sally Spenser has written a very good thriller here, full of clues, none of which point to the real villain in the story until Paniatowski pulls all them together in the final chapters of the book. A very good read.
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
The Calling
What person would tie up and gag a young woman and then leave her in a remote place to die from exposure to the elements?
This is the latest case put before the Cambridge police when a young woman is discovered to be missing. DC Kincaide seems to have the case all wrapped up after he charges her uncle with the murder. An anonymous phone call suggests looking at someone else and DC Gary Goodhew can't let that information go.
As Goodhew is putting together his case, author Alison Bruce introduces us to the the potential culprit and the issues that he has in his relationships with women. They are rough and dangerous for the women, but none of them has become a murder victim.
It is only when Goodhew finally meets the anonymous caller that he is able to piece together the connections between the culprit and his victims. Two near tragedies draw the story to its ultimate, fast paced climax.
A great read by author Alison Bruce.
This is the latest case put before the Cambridge police when a young woman is discovered to be missing. DC Kincaide seems to have the case all wrapped up after he charges her uncle with the murder. An anonymous phone call suggests looking at someone else and DC Gary Goodhew can't let that information go.
As Goodhew is putting together his case, author Alison Bruce introduces us to the the potential culprit and the issues that he has in his relationships with women. They are rough and dangerous for the women, but none of them has become a murder victim.
It is only when Goodhew finally meets the anonymous caller that he is able to piece together the connections between the culprit and his victims. Two near tragedies draw the story to its ultimate, fast paced climax.
A great read by author Alison Bruce.
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
What Angels Fear
London, 1811; King George III is on the throne, but utterly mad. The Prince of Wales is about to be made regent. Great Britain is at war with France and there is a French spy in London.
Sebastian St. Cyr has been wrongly arrested for the brutal murder of a young actress. During the arrest he pushes back at one of the constables who pulls a knife and then accidentally stabs his fellow constable. St. Cyr finds himself accused of the stabbing, too. Fortunately he makes his escape.
Covered in the blood of the constable St. Cyr makes his way to the seedier part of London. At an in a young lad tries to pick his pocket and is caught. Tom, as the lad is known, is released and will become St. Cyr's right hand man as he goes about trying to prove his innocence and stay free of the law.
Author C. S. Harris writes this murder mystery like a compass gone wrong. In his investigations St. Cyr has several potential culprits, but when the evidence seems to point to one, new evidence points to another. It is only near the end of the story that we find the true culprit. Well written and enjoyable.
Sebastian St. Cyr has been wrongly arrested for the brutal murder of a young actress. During the arrest he pushes back at one of the constables who pulls a knife and then accidentally stabs his fellow constable. St. Cyr finds himself accused of the stabbing, too. Fortunately he makes his escape.
Covered in the blood of the constable St. Cyr makes his way to the seedier part of London. At an in a young lad tries to pick his pocket and is caught. Tom, as the lad is known, is released and will become St. Cyr's right hand man as he goes about trying to prove his innocence and stay free of the law.
Author C. S. Harris writes this murder mystery like a compass gone wrong. In his investigations St. Cyr has several potential culprits, but when the evidence seems to point to one, new evidence points to another. It is only near the end of the story that we find the true culprit. Well written and enjoyable.
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