The Red Herring

The world is on the brink of World War III, Khrushchev and Kennedy are at loggerheads over Cuba, and everyone is on tenterhooks.

DCI Charlie Woodend, DI Bob Rutter and DS Monika Paniatowski have been called out to a farm where the body of a woman has been found in a pig sty; the pigs have been breakfasting on her body.  A handbag found nearby gives the team her identity.

Paniatowski's investigation leads her to the pub where the victim's car had been left.  She finds out that the victim had met up with an American from the nearby air base.  She also finds out that the victim spoke to other men who were also in the pub.  Rutter gets a surprising reaction from the London policeman he speaks to when he mentions to the name of the victim to him.

Meantime the daughter of the base's squadron leader has gone missing from her school.  Woodend and Rutter are pulled from the murder investigation to head up this one, while Scotland Yard is going to send someone to work with Paniatowski on the murder investigation.  Paniatowski runs into roadblocks when she speaks to an officer on the American air base.  He is obviously more concerned about the current international situation than helping the murder investigation.

Rutter wonders if the two cases might be linked; the murder victim taught in the school from which the girl has gone missing.

DCI Jack Horrocks is the detective sent from Scotland Yard to work with Paniatowski.   Monika finds him very different to work with.  Rutter meantime, has determined who one of the kidnappers could be; however, when he gets to the place of work, the man has apparently been taken by two policemen already.

Author Sally Spencer has written a tale that has a superbly twisted plot.  This novel is well titled.  An entirely enjoyable read.

A Killing Season

Prioress Eleanor has travelled with her brother Hugh, Brother Thomas, Sister Anne, and physician, Master Gamel to a castle on the coast owned by a crusader friend of Hugh's.  As they arrive at the castle, a potential heir to the castle falls from its ramparts.

Brother Thomas is of the opinion that the man who fell might have been pushed to his death.  Eleanor finds out from the mother of the young man that he actually thought he could fly when he plunged out the window, however prior to his fall his behaviour seemed very strange.

Baron Herbert had requested Hugh bring healers of soul and body to him.  Thomas now finds out that no one has seen the baron since his return because he is in perpetual hiding.  Why is he doing that?  Thomas also learns from a guard that the castle's priest had died in mysterious circumstances, however from the description the guard gives, Thomas wonders if the priest wasn't smothered.

Mysterious deaths in the past causes Thomas to question the guard further.  He learns that the guard had seen mysterious lights beneath the castle walls.  When they were investigated, nothing was found.

Shortly afterwards one of the remaining heirs is knifed in the chest.  Did Thomas find him in time?  Eleanor, Anne and Gamel set about searching for the killer.  Will they find him before he kills again?

Author Priscilla Royal has concocted an interesting tale of murder and conspiracy.  A good, quick read.

Footsteps on the Shore

A killer, who has served his time, has been released from prison, however, for some reason he has gone missing.  DI Andy Horton and his DS Cantelli have gone in search of him.  The search is called to a halt when a body is found along the shore.  It is in bad shape, so identification is impossible immediately.

As the investigation is making headway, a call is received by Horton informing him of a body.  This time it is a person he knew, because he was going to buy her yacht.   Her house is unusually sterile, as if it had been cleaned, also, the yacht is missing.  Is it possible that the missing man, the death of the woman and the missing yacht are tied together?

When Dr. Clayton, the pathologist, identifies the body on the shore her information is immediately flagged.  This causes Horton to wonder just who this person was and what his connections are.  It isn't long before two agents of the Serious Organised Crime Agency are in his office.  He is told by them he no longer needs to continue his investigation into the victim.

Author Pauline Rowson has an intriguing solution to the case of the missing man, although DI Horton takes awhile to get it right.  A good, quick read.

Laughing Boy

DI Charlie Priest and his team have been investigating the random stabbing of a young woman for the past month.  Having gotten nowhere with it, it is time to set the case aside.  However, it wasn't the end, as another girl is killed that same night. The team looks into links with other murders.  A psychologist suggests to Priest that the violence is escalating.

Priest is called down to Scotland Yard to discuss the possibility that there is a serial killer at large.  There he is informed that there are more murders, and the killer has taunted the Yard. Priest is invited to take over the investigation.  It isn't long after this that the killer strikes again.

One of Priest's team, Pete Goodfellow, discovers that the bodies were not left in a random pattern, but  when place on a grid map, the co-ordinates match the lyrics of a song.  The killer is taunting the police.

Author Stuart Pawson provides the reader with an exciting conclusion to this murder mystery.  It is a real page turner, hard to put down.

Falling More Slowly

DI Liam McLusky has just accepted a new job in Bristol.  Moments after arriving at his new police station he is called out to a domestic.  He takes DS Austin, whom he has just met with him.  On the way back to the station an incredible explosion on a nearby hill requires their attention.  Vandals or terrorists?

Superintendent Denkhaus puts McLusky in charge of the investigation despite DI Fairfield being of equal seniority and having been in Bristol longer.  Convinced that the explosion is a one off, McLusky is surprised when a young woman has a compact blow up in her face during her lunch break a few days later.

A third explosion later results in the death of a man.  A man on a powered skateboard had been seen nearby prior to two of the explosions.  After a fourth bomb, McLusky gets an anonymous letter from the bomber.  He holds back the information hoping the bomber will make further mistakes.

Author Peter Helton has written a gripping thriller.  I found it hard to put down this novel.  A very good read.

The Fire Witness

Violent death has been visited upon a home for troubled girls in Sweden.

At this time DI Joona Linna has received a cryptic message about his daughter who has been missing for some time.  He needs to search for some answers and takes some leave to do just that.  He is asked by his senior officer to be an observer on the above case.

Detective Gunnarsson is not impressed that Linna is going to be observing, however, the scene of crime officers are.  Linna wonders why the victim's body is clean of blood, yet blood is spattered all about the room.  Could the murderer have escaped and stolen a car with a child in it?  If that is the case, where is the car?

When the prosecutor finds out that Linna is under review, she removes him from the case.  Linna doesn't give up however.  Checking with a profiler, they come to the conclusion that the young girl thought to have committed the murders couldn't be the killer.

Meantime, Flora Hansen has started to see visions of the girl.  She has seen her with the murder weapon.  She tries to get the police to listen to her, but the person she talks to thinks she is just a crazy woman.  Only and Joona and three others know about the murder weapon; how could Flora know?  

Author Lars Kepler has written an intense murder mystery with many twists and surprises.  This is a novel that you will not want to put down.  An extremely good read.

Gods and Beasts

DS Alex Morrow and DC Harris have been called to the scene of a armed robbery and murder at a post office.  Martin Pavel is one of the witnesses who gives a very detailed description.  From his description of the incident it appears that the robber was known by the man he killed.

Meantime, DCs Leonard and Wilder have been set up by a drug dealer.  Tamasin Leonard isn't sure how she is going to get her and Wilder out of their predicament, but she is going to figure something out.  DS Morrow needs to figure out how to deal with the two, despite nailing a criminal for the setup.

Morrow is shocked when another of her officers investigated for corruption.

Author Denise Mina has created a story that leaves the reader hanging, and wondering what all the connections are.  As a result you want to read the next in the DS Alex Morrow series.