Murderous Mistral

Captain Roger Blanc is newly divorced and transferred to the south of France, which is seen as a demotion.  Fortunately he does have the old house his uncle willed to him.  How will the other detectives in this southern gendarmerie take to him, who has come from Paris?  However, his new partner, Lieutenant Marius Tonon is very welcoming.

Within minutes of meeting, the pair are called out to a murder scene.  The victim is badly burned, and there are many Kalashnikov shell casings nearby.  When the crime of scene doctor turns the body over, Tonon recognises a necklace the victim had been wearing.  The victim is a local man.  Second Lieutenant Fabienne Souillard is able to come up with further information from police files about the victim.

Blanc is surprised to find that the judge in charge of his investigation is the wife of the minister who transferred him down to the south.  He is sure that she will attempt to derail his career, too.  However, he continues with the investigation.

Blanc discovers that two of the victim’s neighbours had had arguments with him in the days leading up to his death?  Also, why was a German painter who lives in the area asking questions about the victim before he was killed?

The next surprise for Captain Blanc and Lieutenant Tonon is the death of one of their suspects.  Is it a sailing accident or murder? Is it possibly connected to the death of the first victim?  Then a second suspect goes missing.  Has he absconded or is there another reason for him being missing?

An old case worked on by Tonon helps to develop the investigation, but will it lead to the perpetrator of the murder?  Only author Cay Rademacher knows.  Rademacher’s murder mystery is an excellent read and I want to get my hands on the sequels.

Resurrectionist

Matthew Hawkwood has been sent by Chief Magistrate James Read to a cemetery where a man has been found hanging.  Hawkwood discovers that his tongue and teeth have been removed.  He also discovers that the body of a woman has been removed from her nearby grave.  He is sure that the hung man is there as a warning from one group of resurrectionists to another.

When Hawkwood reports to Read, Read asks him to also investigate a murder which had occurred the night before at Bethlem Hospital, which is better known as Bedlam.  The killer is known to be a vicar!  However, when he gets to the cell of the victim he finds that the victim is actually the parson, and the killer, who had been an army surgeon has escaped custody.  What would he do next?

It is at this point, that a constable arrives to inform Hawkwood that they had the vicar cornered in a church.  Hawkwood rushes to the church only to find it on fire and the surgeon consumed by it.

Not long after this two constables discover a couple of bags near a hospital with the remains of two women who had been disinterred and then surgically divested of some of their organs and skin.  Hawkwood wonders how a dead surgeon could have done this.  He returns to the church to try and figure out how the surgeon had survived the conflagration.  He also sets out to learn as much as he can about the surgeon, but will it be enough to help him find him?

As Hawkwood gains more information about the surgeon, he comes to a terrifying realisation. 

What comes afterwards is well written, expanding tension by author James McGee. This thriller is well worth the read for fans of historical fiction.

The Falcon of Sparta

Artaxerxes is first in line to the throne of Persia.  His brother Cyrus is loyal to him, so when Araxerxes sends a message to Cyrus that their father is failing, Cyrus immediately heads home.  There his bodyguard of three hundred Spartans are massacred and he is jailed, awaiting execution.  Fortunately his mother intervened and he is freed.

Having made his escape, Cyrus begins to build an army. He has recruited more Spartans under the leadership of General Clearchus.  One of the men to join his army is Xenophōn, a student of Socrates.  However, will his small army be enough to take on the mighty Persian army?

It isn’t long before Artaxerxes cuts off money Cyrus needs to pay his army.  What can he do?  The only thing left was to march.  When word of Cyrus marching against him, Artaxerxes masses his own army.  Badly outnumbered, Cyrus dies in the battle when the two armies meet.

The Greeks are relatively unscathed by the battle.  Clearchus orders the Greeks to retreat to protect the camp followers, and then to begin a march to the north to get away from the massive Persian army.  Will Artaxerxes let them go, or will his army descend on them and destroy all?

Artaxerxes is not prepared to let them go.  What follows is a test of strength and endurance for the Greek soldiers and their camp followers.  Conn Iggulden’s historical novel is based upon facts and the writing of Xenophōn.  It was a thoroughly enjoyable read.  Any fan of historical fiction will enjoy this book.

War at the Edge of the World

War at the Edge of the World by Ian Ross

Centurion Aurelius Castus has recently been promoted and transferred to Eboracum.  Called before the governor, Arpagius, he is informed that there will soon be changes amongst the Caesars.  He is shocked and doesn’t know what to think.  Later, he and his small century are ordered to serve as an honour guard for a dignitary attending a meeting of Picts north of Hadrian’s Wall.

The envoy they are to guard is Aelius Marcellinus, a former officer who had dealt with the Picts in the past.  Along with them is a secretary by the name of Strabo.  Just before they are to cross the wall, Castus and Marcellinus discover that Strabo is an agent of the emperor, and also a member of the secret cult of Christians.

They arrive at their destination just as the Picts are about to vote for their new leader.  Things go awry shortly after their arrival and Castus’ troops are surrounded.  After a couple of brief battles, Castus submits to giving himself up so that his remaining troops can go free.

Strabo is killed by the Picts and Marcellinus takes his own life using poison, however before doing that he asks Castus to take a message back to his wife and daughter.  Castus is fortunate to escape and on the way to Eboracum Dave Marcellina, daughter of Marcellinus from a band of roving brigands.  His troubles don’t end when they get to Eboracum, though.

Author Ian Ross has lots of action awaiting Castus as the Romans set out to wreak vengeance on the Picts.  This was a thoroughly enjoyable and exciting read, leaving me wanting to get my hands on the sequels.

The Merchant's House

DS Wesley Peterson has just arrived in Devon and immediately finds himself part of an investigation into a woman’s body found near a walking path.  Everyone is glad that it isn’t a little boy who had recently gone missing.  DI Gerry Heffernan and DC Rachel Tracey are working the case with him.  When hethe victim’s handbag turns up, a photo inside it rings a bell for Peterson, but he can’t remember where he had seen the victim before.

When Peterson remembers that he had seen her in a pornographic magazine left in his desk by the previous DS, it leads him and Heffernan to Manchester.  There they find out the identity of the victim and locate her mother.

Shortly after this, Peterson is called to an archeological site where a body has been found.  It’s another murder case, albeit a four hundred year old one.

Everyone is shocked when the victim turns up in the police station alive!  So, who is the victim really?

Author Kate Ellis’ murder mystery has the reader guessing right up until the end.  A very good read, which had me caught up right from the very first page.  I am looking forward to reading this series.

Berlin Red

Inspector Pekkala has been called to Stalin’s office, where he is introduced to the local member of the British intelligence.  This officer wants his help in extricating one of their members from Berlin before the city collapses under the weight of the Russian invasion. The operative in question is none other than his fiancé, Lilya Somonova, who Pekkala hasn’t seen since 1917!

Pekkala gets further information from a British double agent who has returned to Moscow.  Major Kirov is also able to glean some information from a German POW.  It isn’t long before Stalin orders Pekkala and Kirov to Berlin to extract Simonova.  However, the British inform them that Hitler has assigned a special detective to root out whomever is relaying information from the bunker to the outside world.  Pekkala knows that Leopold Hunyadi is a ruthless detective.

Can Pekkala and Kirov get to Lilya before Hunyadi, or will the Allied bombers kill her?  Or will the Russian army reach Berlin first?

Berlin Red is author Sam Eastland’s final instalment in the Pekkala saga. Once again, it is a perfect thriller full of action and tension. The complete series is an excellent read.  I recommend the series be read.

The Dark Clouds Shining

Former spy Jack McColl has just been sentenced to three years in jail for assaulting a police officer.  A few months later, his old boss, the chief of the Secret Service, Mansfield Cummings, offers him a pardon if he agrees to return to Russia to find out what his old nemesis, Aiden Bradley, is doing there for MI5.  McColl also wants to know if his former lover, Caitlin Hanley, is still there.

It isn’t long before the Cheka are on McColl’s tail.  As he was entering Russia, he and his Russian host killed a Cheka agent and injured another.  Fortunately he is provided with a new identity, and a job as a translator for a delegation from India. 

Suddenly McColl finds himself on the way to Tashkent with Komarov, deputy head of the Cheka and his former lover, Caitlin.  How will he get out of this entanglement?  The way the train makes progress, it is going to be a long trip.  Shortly after leaving Tashkent, McColl comes to the realisation that the Cheka know that he is a spy.

Will McColl come out of this alive, or will his plans be thwarted by Caitlin or Komarov?  Author David Downing’s thriller is just that, a thriller, full of action and suspense.  This book brings the Jack McColl series to a conclusion.  It was a very good series.