The Gates of Rome

Gaius and Marcus are eight year old boys revelling in life when they are set upn by  Suetonius a 14 year old neighbour and a couple of his friends.  The two lads take a serious beating.  Tubruk, ex-gladiator and the estate manager is asked by Gaius' father to find someone to train the boys.  Renius, a battle hardened veteran is brought in to do so.

Cabera comes at a time when Gaius is injured and saves his life.  Later, Gaius loses his father in a riot and becomes master of the estate.  He has an interest in Alexandria, who is a slave.  He later discovers that Marcus is also interested in her.  Gaius looks to his uncle for protection.  The boys have a lot to learn from Uncle Marius.

Gaius is elected to the senate in place of his father, while Marcus is sent to Greece for further military training with Renius.  Gaius gets to meet men like Sulla and Pompey.  He also falls in love with Cornelia, daughter of Cinna.  When he marries her he takes his adult name; Gaius Julius Caesar.

Sulla has been sent by the senate to put down a revolt in the east.  Inthe meantime, Marius takes control of Rome.  Sulla is quick in putting down the revolt and returns to Rome with his army.  Marius is intent on preventing him from taking the city.  However, Sulla's guile wins the city back and Julius is forced to flee.

Julius and Cabrera join a legion headed to Egypt, but when he boards the legion's ship he runs into his old nemesis, Suetonius.

Author, Conn Iggulden, has done terrific research to present this novel of Rome.  A great read for fans of historical fiction.  I am looking forward to reading the sequel.

Birdman

A body has been found near the Millenneum Dome.  DI Jack Caffery of the Area Major Investigation Pool with his superior, Detective Superintendent Dave Maddox,  have been dragged out of bed to investigate.  DS Fiona Quinn tells them that an amateur autopsy has been performed on the body.  Hours later Maddox calls Caffery and tells him that four more bodies have been found.

A new DI on the team plays the racist angle on the serial killer, but Caffery doesn't buy it.  The autopsy reveals that the culprit is a necrophileiac.  Later a witness remembers an incident which could be crucial, she tells Caffery.  Someone arrested by the new DI also points out that he had taken a couple of the victims to the same place.

When the prime suspect takes his own life, everyone thinks that the killing spree has come to an end.  However, another victim appears, and is clinging to life.  Caffery comes to the realisation that there were two involved in the murders and mutilations.  Now he just has to figure out how to catch the remaining criminal.  As he investigates further, he determines who the culprit wants the victims to look like, and realises that she might be in trouble.  However, she is now missing.

Author Mo Hayder is excellent at creating rising tension as she draws her murder mysteries to a conclusion.  I have been a fan of hers ever since I picked up the first book I read of hers.  "Birdman" leaves the reader wanting more of this fine author.

Dead Beat

It is the early 60s, Kate O'Donnell has left Liverpool to look for a job in London as a photographer.  She has no place to stay, but is able to sleep on the couch of a friend.  Luckily she does land a job with an agency on a two month trial basis.  One other reason for going to London was to search for her brother, Tom.

DS Harry Barnard is on the lookout for the killer of a homosexual, a man who apparently lived with Kate's brother.  He finally comes across Kate.  He gets a picture of Tom from her.  Later, he can't understand why his boss is telling him to back off the case.

Kate's quest for information leads her along a similar path to that which Barnard is following.  As the investigation progresses, DS Barnard stumbles on a murdered shop owner who has been a reliable informer for him.  The victim has died in the same way the original victim had, a slashed throat.

Pictures Kate has taken may prove her brother's innocence, although she doesn't know that until she shows Barnard.  Barnard is shocked by what the pictures reveal.

Author Patricia Hall has written a graphic and tension filled novel of London on the early sixties.  A good read.

The Crossing Places

A body has been found in the salt marshes near King's Lynn and DCI Harry Nelson has asked Doctor Ruth Galloway, a forensic archeologist, to examine it in situ.  What she finds, she is sure is a Bronze Age child.  Nelson was hoping that it was a recent murder, a missing child, that would allow the parents to finally grieve.

It is just before the new year when Ruth is called back to the police station in King's Lynn.  Another child has been abducted in similar circumstances to the one Nelson was investigating.  He asks for help.

One stormy night later, Ruth opens her door looking for one of her cats.  She finds it at her feet with its throat slashed.  She is frightened and Nelson tells her this could be a threat from the person who has taken the two little girls.

Using her knowledge of archeology and information from the letters Nelson had received regarding the two little girls, Ruth surmises where the second girl is buried.  She is correct.  Later she makes a surprising discovery in her own library.  People she knows seem to be tied into the murders.  What is she to do now?

Author Elly Griffiths has written an excellent novel here.  I am looking forward to reading the sequel.

Truth Dare Kill

Danny  McRae has returned home from the war with a steel plate in his head.  He doesn't want to return home to Scotland, so he has set up shop as a private investigator in London.  Kate Graveney has come to him fearing that she has killed a man.  When she names the man, it turns out that McRae knew him through the SOE.  Prior to the war McRae had been a police detective, and now he was being asked to use his skills again.

McRae can't let go of his policing instincts, so he starts to inquire about the recent spate of murdered prostitutes.  The local police inspector doesn't appreciate McRae's interest.

McRae finds out that the man in question is indeed dead.  He is also surprised at the lack of reaction by Kate when he tells her.  Something doesn't seem right in his mind.  He is also unable to get information from the SOE about his head injury and the missing memories.

As McRae delves into his past he is punished for it, but it slowly brings back painful memories.  He is also put into the frame for a murder, so has to go into hiding.  As he puts things together, he is sure of who the murderer is, it is just a matter of proving it and his own innocence.

Author Gordon Ferris has put together a real page turner, a book that is hard to put down, one I am sure fans of murder mysteries will enjoy.

Vodka Doesn't Freeze

The body of a man has been found near a beach in Sydney.  It turns out that he is a paedophile.  DS Jill Jackson, and her partner Scott Hutchinson are investigating.  Their investigation points to two other similar killings in the area.

Jackson discovers a link to all three dead men;  Mercy Merris, a clinical psychologist.  Dr. Merris had treated Jackson after a critical incident.  Jackson didn't want the therapy, but in the end found it refreshing.  However, Jackson is unsettled at Merris' reaction to the death of the men.

Jackson turns to a transvestite for help.  Honey was one of those abused by a paedophile ring, and Jackson hopes to use her to find out more about the ring.

As the investigation continues, the murder team intends to look at the doctor, the head of a paedophile ring and his procurer.  As they close in on the ring, Jackson's life is threatened.  The climax of this psycho-drama is scary and tense.

Author Leah Giarratano has written a very good thriller, one that is hard to put down.

Where the Shadow Falls

Sheriff James Freeman has been brutally murdered in his home.  DS Alice Rice is part of the team investigating the murder.  Upon further investigation, Rice finds out that Freeman had a motor neurone disease and had planned to commit suicide on the night he was killed.     

Newly appointed DCI Robin Bruce has a different approach to how to get information on the murder.    He is hard core, and looking for advancement.  This is not an approach that Rice uses.  Rice receives a series of threatening letters from the sheriff's lover that the victim received.  The murder team now has a new unknown suspect.  It appears that a wind farm was being proposed in the area and Freeman was one of the principal supporters.

It isn't long after that, that Freeman's lover is hit by a car that leaves the scene.  Are the two incidents related?  Evidence now points to the fact that the sheriff was going to put a stop to the wind farm, however immediately following his death, his brother gave it the go ahead.

Author Gillian Galbraith provides an interesting twist to this murder mystery.  A good read.