Mercenaries

Tancred  de Hautville has brought his sons to Duke Robert of Normandy asking that they be allowed to serve the duke as knights.  The duke rudely rejects the request.

Far to the south in Salerno, Guaimar and Berengara have been dispossessed of their property.  They are now at the beck and call of Pandulf, Prince of Capua, the man who had stolen their father's lands and titles.  Guaimar secretly plans to regain his lost possessions.

William de Hautville and his younger brother, Drogo, head to Italy in search of gainful employment as knights.  They are employed as mercenaries by Rainulf Drengot.  William helps to capture a stronghold, but experiences the wrath of Drengot for not slaughtering everyone. 

Meantime, Guaimar and his sister have made it to the court of Conrad, Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire.  They hope that Conrad will help them gain their lost lands and titles.  It isn't Guaimar, nor his sister that persuade Conrad to march south, but the actions of the Pandulf.  Guaimar hopes to turn Drengot thereby getting his support against Pandulf.  However, it is William that negotiates and accepts on his behalf.

Guaimar has his principality returned to him.  The Normans under William head south to battle the Saracens in Sicily.  What William achieves there sets his imagination as to what else he might achieve.

Author Jack Ludlow has presented the reader with a thrilling, and adventurous historical novel.  This is the first in a series.  Well worth the read for a fan of history, I am looking forward to the sequels.

Forty Words for Sorrow

A body has been found in an old mine shaft on an island near Algonquin Bay.  Detective John Cardinal has been assigned the investigation.  Lise Delorme has been assigned to work with him on the case, he would have preferred Ian McLeod.  What Cardinal doesn't know is that Delorme is checking up on him on behalf of Special Investigations.

There are two other young people missing; a young boy who inexplicably disappears, just like the young girl, which the body turns out to be, and a 17 year old girl from Toronto.  Cardinal's boss, Don Dyson, refuses to believe that it is murder until the younger girl's body has been found.

Cardinal begins to go through old cases of missing young people in hopes of finding something similar.  His investigation leads him to another body of a young boy.  With the body is found a cassette tape, which provides surprising information, but not enough to nail the killer, whoever that may be.

Meantime the killer has picked up another victim, and is keeping him drugged.  Delorme still has to go through with the investigation of her partner, and what she has found appears incriminating.

Author Giles Blunt has done a wonderful job of getting into the minds of the criminals and police in this murder mystery.  The climax of the story is exciting and makes for tense reading.  It was a book I couldn't put down, I highly recommend it.

Only One Life

Louise Rick has been called out to the coast where the body of a young girl has been found submerged in the water.  The body is wrapped in chicken wire and a concrete slab tied to her abdomen.

Louise has been brought in from Copenhagen because of her experience and partnered up with a local detective, Mik Rasmussen.  Towards the end of the day a young girl comes in to report that her friend is missing, wondering if the missing girl is her friend.

When the girl is identified, Louise and Mik are unable to get hold of her parents.  They are not home.  The following morning the father comes in.  The police wonder if her death was an honour killing as the family had emigrated from Jordan.  The police begin their investigation by focussing on the family.

Louise's friend, Camilla Lind has been assigned to investigate the story by her newspaper.  Her attempt at interviewing the mother of the victim brings angry recriminations from the father.  However, later she does get an interview and learns a lot about the faith and rules she has to live by.  Louise has no luck when she interviews the victim's friends.

Louise is shocked when one of the victim's good friends, Dicta, is found brutally murdered outside the hotel where she is staying.  Dicta had wanted to become a model, so Louise and Mik bring in her photographer for questioning.  However, Louise is convinced that the father and brother of the first victim are responsible for both murders.  Now the team just has to gather the evidence. 

Camilla disagrees, she thinks that they will be forced to release the two men and the police will look stupid because they arrested the two men based on racial profiling.  Camilla wants to publish an article showing that Danish families also committed family exclusion.

When the truth of the matter is discovered it is both sad and very tragic.  Author Sara Baeldel has provided the reader with a thrilling murder mystery.  I highly recommend it.

Forsaken Soul

Prioress Eleanor, Sister Anne, and Brother Thomas have returned to Tyndal.  Brother Thomas has difficulties sleeping due to things that had happened in Amesbury.  Both Eleanor and Anne are concerned for him.  On the other hand they are pleased that Crowner Ralf has returned from being at court.

Shortly after they all return, a murder occurs in the nearby inn.  Crowner Ralf begins his investigation into it.  It is also at this time that Eleanor receives information that Thomas is really a spy for someone higher up in the church.

Sister Anne informs Ralf that Martin died of poisoning.  Eleanor questions Ivetta, the whore he was with at the time of his death, on Ralf's behalf.  Fingers point at Will and Hob, who were arguing with Martin just before his death.  Also in the frame is Signy, the serving wench who brought Martin his food.  But, Ralf is sure that Ivetta is the culprit.

Throughout, Thomas has been caring for an elderly lady.  He takes her a sleeping draught each evening so that she may rest peacefully.  One evening she reveals to Thomas that Will murdered her son, but got away with it.  The death had been deemed an accident.

When Ivetta dies in the same manner as Martin, the question arises, was it an accident as a result of an attempted abortion, or was it murder?  Ralf takes a blunt approach to his investigation, while Eleanor is more logical in her pursuit of the criminal.  Thomas' soul is tormented throughout the investigation as a result of past and present things.

Once again, author Priscilla Royal has provided the reader with an excellent historical murder mystery.

Murder at Swann's Lake

DS Gower accidentally stumbles on the corpse of Robbie Peterson.  Peterson has a six inch spike driven into his skull.  Chief Inspector Charlie Woodend is assigned by Scotland Yard to investigate.  He takes DS Bob Rutter with him.

Rutter is sent to another town to investigate a connection to what might be a smuggling racket that Peterson might have been involved in.  Although he doesn't speak directly to Alex Conway, an elderly lady who lives below helps him with his inquiries.

DS Gower, although suspended for his nocturnal discovery of Peterson's death, continues to follow Peterson's daughter Annie.  He feels that she has something to hide, but he is unsure of just what it is. 

Sid Dowd, Peterson's former partner in Liverpool, shows up to Peterson's funeral and hopes to ensure that Woodend doesn't come after him.  He also wants to see that the killer of Peterson is found.  He is prepared to provide Woodend with a list of names.

Gerry Fairbright is arrested for trying to break into the former office of Peterson.  He refuses to say why he was doing that.  A snoopy reporter needs Dutch courage to ask Woodend and Rutter about Fairbright, giving the detectives wonder as to why.

The investigation returns to Conway's flat, but for some reason it is devoid of details about the man himself.  Is he the murderer, or has he gone into hiding?  Many false leads lead to other discoveries as Woodend and Rutter go about solving this particular crime.  Another excellent murder mystery in the Chief Inspector Woodend series by author Sally Spencer.

Auslander

Piotr Bruck was found in a Polish orphanage by the German SS.  They wanted to find those of true Volksdeutsche - German blood.  Those found thus, would be placed in good German homes.  Piotr was quite excited about the prospect, but the other boys were not.

Professor Franz Kaltenbach lived in Berlin and had the job of ensuring that people brought before him were of proper German blood.  He was asked along with his wife Leise and their three daughters to take in Piotr.  They accept Piotr, but Germanise his name to Peter and ask him to call them Onkel and Tante.

Piotr learns that education meant sports and politics in everything at school.  He became a member of the Hitler Youth.  There he is befriended by Gerhart Segur.  They had to be careful in what they said or they would be reported to the Gestapo.  Excitement rose in Germany as the army pushed into the Soviet Union.

Anna Reiter was a pretty young woman and a member of the League of German Maidens.  She is concerned about how careful she has to be in everything she says and does.

Piotr feels pride in the German successes, but at the same time feels guilt about what is happening to the people of Poland.  He tries helping a young Polish boy, but only ends up creating trouble for the lad.  He begins to feel more and more like an Auslander - a foreigner.

Piotr discovers Anna in the library and walks her home on a dark evening.  They find that they have a like mindedness about many things.  They also begin to secretly listen to the BBC.  They discover that the British are calm, and quietly seem to know what it is really like in Germany.  Later, Anna takes Piotr to visit her brother in the hospital.  He has been invalided back from Stalingrad, and what he tells them is not pretty.

As the bombing of Berlin intensifies, Piotr and Anna are given new duties within the city, as are all young people.  Later, the family Piotr is living with receives news that his grandmother was Jewish.  He denies it, saying that she was very Catholic.

Not long after that Anna's father is arrested by the Gestapo.  Fortunately Anna and her mother see it happening.  They come for Piotr, too.  Now they must escape.

Author Paul Dowswell has written an exciting novel about life in Nazi Germany.  An excellent read.

Avon Street

Belle Bennett is an actress down on her luck.  She shares a flat with Jenny and Jenny's daughter Molly.  Jenny sews bonnets to make a living, but has had to borrow from Nathaniel Caine, who collects his money back with interst.  If he doesn't get it back, his thugs will beat the borrower.  Belle feels threatened by an actor named Cauldfield and a rogue by the name of Frank Harcourt.

James Daunton is a member of society, but his debts are piling up.  His friend, Dr. Richard Wetherby, warns him that many are aware of his looming insolvency, the banks won't lend to him, so where will he turn?  His annuity from land in Ireland has dried up as a result of the famine.

James' friend, Father Sean Brennan, has promised the poor of Avon Street that he would set up a Friendly Society to help them save money and to lend to them in times of need.  For that he is beaten by Caine's thugs.

James has been conned by Frank Harcourt, a man he implicitly trusted,  into gambling his money away.  As he wanders drunkenly along Avon Street he is set upon by thugs.  He manages to get away with the aid of John Doyle, however, he kills one of the thugs in his escape, and the thugs are set in revenge.  James has two options, to give in, or to fight.

With the help of a former con, James and his friends begin to scheme.  Author Paul Emanuelli gives a very descriptive writing of how the scheme is plotted and carried out.  He builds tension and releases it partially time and again as he takes the reader to the ultimate conclusion.  An excellent read.