In the Woods

Detectives Robert Ryan and Cassie Maddox have been called out to an archeological site where the body of a young girl has been found.  It is a place which has memories for Ryan.  It was here that something happened to him and two of his friends.  His memory won't let him know what happened, and his two friends disappeared at the time.

It doesn't take long for the body to be identified.  When Ryan and Maddox speak to the family, they learn that the father of the girl had been supporting a cause to prevent a highway from being built over the archeological site.  He had also received threatening phone calls from an unknown man, who said he knew where they lived.  Ryan and Maddox wonder about the females in the family.  Why had the victim been sick for so long; why was her twin nothing but skin and bones; why was their older sister trying to be older than she is and why was the mother so quiet?

A hair clip found at the scene matches one from the cold case involving Ryan.  The pair get Sam O'Neill as a third on their team, plus several others to do the leg work.  Ryan gets a possible break when the twin sister of the victim tells him that the pair had been approached by a man a week before the killing.

Sam discovers a reporter who had researched the building of the highway and who was behind it.  He had been told to stop any further research.  However, he was able to surreptitiously provide Sam with the names of the three men behind it.  Are they possibly connected to the killing?

Can the three detectives solve the case based on the limited information that they have gleaned or will they get a break?  Author Tana French's first murder mystery is full of tough mysteries that seem so tangled for the detectives that it does their heads in. Although the book got off to a slow start and I was wondering what I had gotten myself into, I found the book hard to put down.  A very good read.

Incomplete Revenge

James Compton has returned from Canada to complete a business deal.  He asks Maisie Dobbs to do some investigative work about the business.  It just happens that her assistant, Billy Beale will be in that part of Kent hop picking for two weeks, so she tasks him with gathering information.  Shortly after he gets there he calls Maisie to ask for her help for a friend whose sons have been arrested for theft, which they deny.

Could the thefts be the responsibility of the gypsies camped nearby?  Maisie stays at an inn to do her investigation.  The first night there a fire breaks out in the coal shed behind the inn.  Maisie is sure that she saw a couple of people running away from the shed before she raised the alarm, yet the innkeeper denies that could be possible.

Also in play is the local lord, who seems to think that feudal life still exists.  He is the one that Compton is negotiating a deal with. Maisie doesn't feel that he is trustworthy.  She and Billy help to save a gypsy woman from attack by this lord claiming that everything belongs to him.

All of these threads must be sorted out by Maisie into order and then back tracked to find the truth.  Author Jacqueline Winspear's mystery novel has treachery throughout and her heroine's resolve leads to reckoning for many.  A good read.

The Daughters of Gentlemen

Bayswater Academy for Young Ladies is in need of a detective to determine who had placed pamphlets in the books of the girls, which discouraged them from marrying.  Obviously only a female detective would be suitable in this case, so the board of governors turn to Frances Doughty.

Frances is surprised when she ascertains that the headmistress is not happy that she is there.  The headmistress has burned all of the pamphlets.  Frances engages the services of her friends Chas and Barstie to do a bit of snooping for her.

The following day, when Frances returns to the school, she is surprised to learn that the house maid is missing and there is a stash of £20 in a box under her bed.  Why would she go missing when that money exists, and why was the money there?  Not long after this the maid's body is discovered in the Serpentine.  Was her death accidental or something more serious?

Frances is finally able to get her hands on a copy of the pamphlet in question.  She realises that the pamphlet is directed at the school's headmistress and her late husband.   Frances' helper, Sarah discovers that the person who had it printed was a woman between the ages of 40 & 50.  She then discovers that the girls in the school actually had the pamphlets in their possession a week earlier than thought.  What is going on?

Frances' investigation leads her outside of London.  While there, a body of a man is found on property belonging to one of the governors of the school.  Is there a connection to the other murder?

Frances determines who wrote the pamphlet, but she still is left with some puzzling quandaries.  Author Linda Stratmann writes like a person working on a jigsaw puzzle.  The parts are all there, it is just left up to the heroine, Frances to put it all together.  It takes time and effort and in the end a satisfying result.  A quite enjoyable read.

Murder in Thrall

DCI Michael Sinclair, Lord Acton and DC Kathleen Doyle are investigating a murder at a racecourse.  Unfortunately Doyle is in the DCI's bad books due to an error she has made.  The following morning they have to attend the brutal death of a woman they had questioned in the night.

The autopsy on the first victim shows that the bullet had been surgically removed, whereas the bullet went through the second victim and was removed from the wall behind her.  Same killer?  But, what was the motive?  Not long after they are called to an apparent murder/suicide.  However, the first constable on the scene feels that it is actually a double murder, and that is why he called for Sinclair.

As Acton and Doyle's relationship becomes more personal, Acton provides her with an illegal firearm.  He later informs her that the man in the double murder was actually her father.  He decides to remove her from the cases because he feels that there is a threat to her.

Doyle is sure that they are getting close to the killer when one of the forensic specialists is gunned down.  She is sure that the specialist knew who the killer is.  Can she and Acton get to the killer before he kills again?

Author Anne Cleeland is a new author to me, and I was quite impressed with this book.  It was complex with a few surprises thrown in. A good read and I have added the rest of her series to my reading list.

The Poisonous Seed

Frances' father William Doughty, a chemist, has been accused of accidentally poisoning one of his customers with a mixture which had been prescribed to him.  The victim had used this particular prescription in the past.  Had his own illness caused William to make a mistake in preparing the tincture?  Frances decides to become a detective and figure out the true cause of death.

She has only six days to gather evidence before the coroner's inquest.  She decides to dress in her late brother's clothing and using subterfuge, question the victim's brother.  She does gain some, which she shares with Constable Brown.  When questioned by their solicitor, William remembers having had a phial of pure strychnine.  Could this have been used to poison the victim?  Frances does some digging on her own and enlists the help of two new friends.

Unfortunately the inquest jury returns a verdict of death by misadventure owing to the poor health of William Doughty.  Frances is sure that one of the witnesses lied on the stand, but how can she prove it?  Before she can, the husband of the witness is arrested for fraud.  Thinking this proves her father innocent, Frances is shocked to find that her father has died in the meantime.  She is further shocked when her uncle Cornelius informs her that the business is badly in debt.  She begs his help to get out of the situation and he grants her a month.

As Frances gathers information, she seems to run into more conundrums.  Will she be able to clear her father's name and expose the real killer?  And what of the new mystery presented to her?

Author Linda Stratmann has tied so many strands together into an immensely enjoyable read.  The reader has to keep on top of every one.  A book, which I found hard to put down.  I'm looking forward to reading the sequels.

The Templar's Cross

It is 1424 and Sir Law Kintour has returned to Stirling in hopes of securing service with Archibald, Earl of Douglas.  However, he is sure that his badly wounded leg will prevent him from gaining employment.  The earl rewards him with a small purse for bringing news of the battle of Verneuil, and then sends him on his way.  Kintour and his friend, Duncan, head for Perth.

There a Lord Blinsele comes to him to ask Kintour to search for his missing wife and the man she disappeared with.  That night Kintour's friend Duncan is stabbed to death while doing his part in the quest.  Kintour later finds out that Lord Binsele is no lord after all, just an ordinary man in search of property belonging to the Knights Templar.  He is also not very trustworthy.

The sheriff tells Kintour that if he doesn't find the killer, he will hang him instead.  Kintour begins his search.  Along with a minstrel friend, Cormac, Kintour finds the object Binsele was looking for; it is a gold cross.  When Kintour is attacked and stabbed, he begins to wonder if there is another party involved.

Author J. R. Tomlin's mystery ends rather bluntly.  Although she built up the mystery well, the method in which she concluded it was unappealing.  A fair read otherwise.

Messenger of Truth

Maisie Dobbs has just agreed to take on the case of what appears to have been the accidental death of an artist.  His twin sister is sure that he was murdered.  Whilst the investigation is getting underway, the daughter of her assistant, Billy Beale, is unwell.  On top of that his brother-in-law's family have moved in with them due to the dire economy.

Maisie has some concerns regarding the post-mortem, bruises, which in her mind don't seem connected to the death of the victim.  She had seen the post-mortem notes in the company of DI Stratton, whom she had worked with before.  But, why after the meeting was he talking to a member of the flying squad?  She travels to the home of the artist to get a sense of who he was.

Maisie is surprised at a party hosted by her client when Oswald Mosley makes an appearance.  Later Maisie learns that the victim had no intention of selling his last piece; it was going to be donated to an art gallery.

Sadly, at this time, the Beales lose their daughter to diphtheria.  Not long after that, Maisie's office is broken into and papers relevant to the investigation are stolen.  Who did it and why?

Maisie is going to find herself involved with a criminal element as her investigation progresses.  Will author Jacqueline Winspear protect her from that, or lead her to the depths of despair?  An intriguing read, that keeps the reader involved start to finish.