The Exeter stationmaster has disappeared. It is possible that the body
in the Guy Fawkes bonfire is his. Superintendent Tallis is sending
Detective Inspector Colbeck and Sergeant Leeming to investigate.
Exeter's Superintendent Steel has a criminal in mind who might be in the
picture for the murder of the victim. Both Steel and Colbeck are
castigated by the bishop for allowing this murder to happen so close to
the cathedral. At the inquest, Colbeck and Leeming feel that the new
stationmaster is also worth looking into. As Colbeck and Steel sift
through the house of the victim, they are presented with a third
suspect.
Having apprehended one of the suspects, Colbeck is unsure whether he is
the true culprit. He and Leeming maintain the pressure on the other
two. In a surprising turn of events the victim's diary turns up. What
hidden clues will it provide?
Author Edward Marston provides a surprising conclusion to this murder mystery. A good, quick read.
Wednesday, July 30, 2014
Tuesday, July 29, 2014
Sanctity of Hate
A body has been found in the mill pond of Tyndal Priory. Brother Thomas
sets to investigate on behalf of Prioress Eleanor, for Brother Gwydo
has found blood in the grass alongside the stream inside priory
property.
Brother Thomas has also been asked to interview a young man who wants to become a monk. However, he suspects that the lad carries hate in his heart for many things, and may not be a good candidate for the monastery. A riot breaks out, threatening a young Jewish family temporarily seeking refuge in the inn's stable. The young wife is about to give birth. Adelard, the baker's son, wants to become become a monk and may have spread vicious rumours about the family. He has also cast aspersions on Eleanor's maid and one of the monks. Thomas has also promised not to baptise the child while Sister Anne helps with the birth.
Eleanor needs to make sense of it all. Further turmoil is added to the community when one of the monks is garrotted outside the priory's walls. Crowner Ralf arrests the young Jew when the aspiring monk is attacked. He later learns he really has no suspects, yet keeps the Jew secure for his own protection.
As Thomas questions the aspiring monk, he learns things that point in a bad direction. He tells Eleanor of the revelations. They discuss the information with Crowner Ralf. Trials and tribulations await the trio before author Priscilla Royal allows them to solve the murder. A good, quick read.
Brother Thomas has also been asked to interview a young man who wants to become a monk. However, he suspects that the lad carries hate in his heart for many things, and may not be a good candidate for the monastery. A riot breaks out, threatening a young Jewish family temporarily seeking refuge in the inn's stable. The young wife is about to give birth. Adelard, the baker's son, wants to become become a monk and may have spread vicious rumours about the family. He has also cast aspersions on Eleanor's maid and one of the monks. Thomas has also promised not to baptise the child while Sister Anne helps with the birth.
Eleanor needs to make sense of it all. Further turmoil is added to the community when one of the monks is garrotted outside the priory's walls. Crowner Ralf arrests the young Jew when the aspiring monk is attacked. He later learns he really has no suspects, yet keeps the Jew secure for his own protection.
As Thomas questions the aspiring monk, he learns things that point in a bad direction. He tells Eleanor of the revelations. They discuss the information with Crowner Ralf. Trials and tribulations await the trio before author Priscilla Royal allows them to solve the murder. A good, quick read.
Friday, July 25, 2014
A Killing Coast
DI Andy Horton is continuing his search for information about his
missing mother. However, he has his hands full, preparing for an
American sub that is going to come into Portsmouth in the coming days.
He is involved in security operations, and must check out all reports
of unusual activity.
It is while on one of these investigations that he gets a call from DS Barney Cantelli that a woman's body has been found on the shore. During the post-mortem, it is discovered that the she is a he.
Also in the port is a super yacht, worth millions. The owner is hosting a charity event. Horton discovers that the wife of the owner is an old girlfriend of his.
The following day, the pathologist tells Horton that the victim found on the shore had been beaten and then drowned. As a result of his delay in acting on the investigation, Horton gets a bollocking from his superior officers; one of whom didn't listen to him when he did mention the body.
Another body turns up in the boot of a car that has recently been submerged. It turns out to be an elderly man who had been providing Horton with information. The car belongs to a man who had been seen entering the first victim's home. What ties them all together? Horton thinks he has everything sewn neatly together, until one foggy afternoon he comes across the body of the owner of the super yacht in a derelict house.
Author Pauline Rowson has provided the reader with a very convoluted tale. Her protagonist, Andy Horton, works hard to develop a solution to the crimes in the story, yet he is unable to unwrap his own mystery. A very good read.
It is while on one of these investigations that he gets a call from DS Barney Cantelli that a woman's body has been found on the shore. During the post-mortem, it is discovered that the she is a he.
Also in the port is a super yacht, worth millions. The owner is hosting a charity event. Horton discovers that the wife of the owner is an old girlfriend of his.
The following day, the pathologist tells Horton that the victim found on the shore had been beaten and then drowned. As a result of his delay in acting on the investigation, Horton gets a bollocking from his superior officers; one of whom didn't listen to him when he did mention the body.
Another body turns up in the boot of a car that has recently been submerged. It turns out to be an elderly man who had been providing Horton with information. The car belongs to a man who had been seen entering the first victim's home. What ties them all together? Horton thinks he has everything sewn neatly together, until one foggy afternoon he comes across the body of the owner of the super yacht in a derelict house.
Author Pauline Rowson has provided the reader with a very convoluted tale. Her protagonist, Andy Horton, works hard to develop a solution to the crimes in the story, yet he is unable to unwrap his own mystery. A very good read.
Wednesday, July 23, 2014
Limestone Cowboy
Ebola virus has broken out at Heckley General Hospital, and it is in
quarantine! Fortunately it turns out to be a false alarm. However, it
appears that the patient may be a victim of attempted murder. His
bleeding was the result of ingesting a large amount of Warfarin - that
is, rat poison! DI Charlie Priest and DS Dave Sparkington visit the victim in
the hospital to get the lowdown.
The investigation of the victim's home turns up a tin of pineapples that has been tampered with. Priest and Sparkington turn their investigation to supermarkets and they find that there have been complaints of mouldy fruit and dyed beans. Obviously a nutter is at work.
Meantime life intervenes for Charlie in the form of his goddaughter and a potential girlfriend. How is he to mange these things while handling a murder investigation?
By the end of the novel, Priest's team has solved a couple of mysteries, yet author Stuart Pawson provides a huge surprise right at the end of this police thriller, which is totally unexpected. A very good, quick read.
The investigation of the victim's home turns up a tin of pineapples that has been tampered with. Priest and Sparkington turn their investigation to supermarkets and they find that there have been complaints of mouldy fruit and dyed beans. Obviously a nutter is at work.
Meantime life intervenes for Charlie in the form of his goddaughter and a potential girlfriend. How is he to mange these things while handling a murder investigation?
By the end of the novel, Priest's team has solved a couple of mysteries, yet author Stuart Pawson provides a huge surprise right at the end of this police thriller, which is totally unexpected. A very good, quick read.
Tuesday, July 22, 2014
Dead on Cue
Vicar Nick Lawrence has been convinced to take a minor role in a play
being put on in nearby Fulke Castle. Unfortunately the man who was to
direct it has suddenly passed away. On the other hand, fortunately, an
actor from Hollywood and recent immigrant to the area, Gerry Harlington,
steps in to take on the fole of director.
On the first night of the production, Harlington dies as the result of a fall from the battlements of the castle. Inspector Dominic Tennant, and his DS, Mark Potter investigate what now appears to be a murder.
One of the cast members, Jonquil Charmwood, confesses to Nick that she actually didn't act in the first performance; a friend had taken her role, and now she is missing. Nick calls Tennant who now has a missing person to contend with as well as a murder investigation. Or is it two murder investigations?
Author Deryn Lake presents a few potential killers in the lead up to the conclusion of this little murder mystery, finally narrowing it down to the culprit in the dying pages. A quick, but good little read.
On the first night of the production, Harlington dies as the result of a fall from the battlements of the castle. Inspector Dominic Tennant, and his DS, Mark Potter investigate what now appears to be a murder.
One of the cast members, Jonquil Charmwood, confesses to Nick that she actually didn't act in the first performance; a friend had taken her role, and now she is missing. Nick calls Tennant who now has a missing person to contend with as well as a murder investigation. Or is it two murder investigations?
Author Deryn Lake presents a few potential killers in the lead up to the conclusion of this little murder mystery, finally narrowing it down to the culprit in the dying pages. A quick, but good little read.
Monday, July 21, 2014
Four Below
DI McLusky, and DS Austin have been called out to Leigh Woods because a
woman has reported seeing a fox carrying part of a human head. In the
cold and mist the search team isn't having any luck when McLusky and
Austin are called to an automobile accident. There are several
suspicious things related to the accident.
Meantime, DI Kat Fairfield has been called to a shopping centre where the body of a man has been found in the toilets. The pathologist wants an immediate post-mortem, and his suspicions turn out correct. The victim is a heroin addict, but his heroin has been laced with anthrax! Other users are at risk, too.
A few days later, a body is found in a shallow grave in Leigh Woods. It isn't long before the body is identified as someone from the drug world. Is it a case of out with the old as a new gang tries to take over? Also the MO of the murder is strange, indeed. It isn't long before a second body is found in the woods. The bodies of junkies are piling up for DI Fairfield, too.
Author Peter Helton neatly ties the two cases together and provides an exciting conclusion to this thriller. This the second murder mystery I have read in the DI McLusky series, and I am looking forward to the next.
Meantime, DI Kat Fairfield has been called to a shopping centre where the body of a man has been found in the toilets. The pathologist wants an immediate post-mortem, and his suspicions turn out correct. The victim is a heroin addict, but his heroin has been laced with anthrax! Other users are at risk, too.
A few days later, a body is found in a shallow grave in Leigh Woods. It isn't long before the body is identified as someone from the drug world. Is it a case of out with the old as a new gang tries to take over? Also the MO of the murder is strange, indeed. It isn't long before a second body is found in the woods. The bodies of junkies are piling up for DI Fairfield, too.
Author Peter Helton neatly ties the two cases together and provides an exciting conclusion to this thriller. This the second murder mystery I have read in the DI McLusky series, and I am looking forward to the next.
Sunday, July 20, 2014
The Cipher Garden
Chief inspector Hannah Scarlett and her cold case team have been sent a
note about the murder of Warren Howe, accusing his wife of being the
culprit. Is there enough evidence to reopen the case? DS Nick Lowther,
who had been in on the initial investigation, feels that the case isn't
worth re-opening.
It is years on and now, quite suddenly, the family of the victim are getting anonymous hate letters. Thrown into the mix is historian Daniel Kind, a friend of Scarlett's. Once he learns of the investigation, he decides to surreptitiously help the chief inspector. Kind is also trying to organise the garden of the cottage he and his partner, Miranda, recently purchased. There is a mystery in the garden that the historian/detective in Daniel would like to solve.
A suicide in the community throws everyone for a loop. Is it tied to the original murder? As the investigation progresses, DS Lowther throws a spanner in the works. This isn't the only surprise author Martin Edwards has in store for the reader before drawing this murder mystery to a conclusion. A thoroughly good read.
It is years on and now, quite suddenly, the family of the victim are getting anonymous hate letters. Thrown into the mix is historian Daniel Kind, a friend of Scarlett's. Once he learns of the investigation, he decides to surreptitiously help the chief inspector. Kind is also trying to organise the garden of the cottage he and his partner, Miranda, recently purchased. There is a mystery in the garden that the historian/detective in Daniel would like to solve.
A suicide in the community throws everyone for a loop. Is it tied to the original murder? As the investigation progresses, DS Lowther throws a spanner in the works. This isn't the only surprise author Martin Edwards has in store for the reader before drawing this murder mystery to a conclusion. A thoroughly good read.
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