Chameleon

Stephanie Patrick has been retired for two years at the age of twenty-seven.  Now, a man she only knows as Alexander has shown up at her home with pictures of her brother’s family.  Magenta House wants her for one more job.  Can she refuse?

In London, at Magenta House, Alexander informs Stephanie that a man who entered the U. K. recently had been carrying weapons grade plutonium.  He had suffered a self inflicted heart attack when pulled for closer inspection.  Apparently there were other couriers carrying the same thing throughout the world.  Where were they going and what were the ultimate plans?

Alexander knows that the plutonium had come from the former Soviet Union, and they have the name of the man behind the scheme.  Koba.  However, there are two men by that name.  By the time Stephanie is ready, they hope to have determined which one is the culprit.

She returns to Scotland and the rigorous training of Iain Boyd.  It is going to take some time to rid her of her softness.  She also has a tutor to expand her knowledge of Russian.

Her first job takes her to New York City.  She makes a connection with Konstantin Komarov.  Stephanie aka Petra’s first task is to steal a disc containing information.  Things go from bad to worse when she finds the owner of the disc and his bodyguard assassinated.  The disc is not in the safe, and men are about to enter the flat!  That same night another man was taken out.  He was going to be her connection to Koba.  What is going on?

Back in London, Stephanie demands independence from Alexander and Magenta House.  Alexander is reluctant, but grants it.

Stephanie is off to Moscow to broker a deal, and then back to London to finalise it.  She gets to know Komarov better.  They are becoming very close to one another.  Can she trust him?  Can she trust anyone?

Once again author Mark Burnell has written a tense thriller.  It is full of action from beginning to end.  You will not want to put this book down, nor wait for the sequel.

The Back Road

Tom Douglas has left the Met and moved to Cheshire so that he could be near his eight year old daughter, Lucy.  He is on the hunt for a new job, preferably not in policing.  His friend Steve has dropped by on his way home, and informs him of a hit and run on the nearby back road.  A fourteen year old girl was run down.  She’s in a coma, and the doctors are unsure whether she will make it.

That same evening, Tom was invited to a dinner party by neighbours who had just finished renovating their home.  There are about a dozen guests, which will allow Tom to get to know his new community.  Things go well until talk turns to the girl involved in the hit and run.  Alcohol fuels various discussions afterwards.

Several days later, the mother of the injured girl tells one of the ICU nurses that her daughter had made a new friend on Facebook, who was going to be coming to school for the coming year.  She also tells the nurse that the police have found out that the friend didn’t exist!  It is now known that the victim had been abducted!

As the mystery progresses, author Rachel Abbott, tells stories about each of the dinner guests.  The reader wonders which of them was the driver of the car, and who was responsible for the abduction.  The ending will come as a surprise for the reader.  Quite a good read and a real page turner.  This was a book, which I found hard to put down.  I look forward to reading the sequels.

The Rookery

Penny Green is on the way home from the library when she is knocked over and a lad steals her handbag.  Inside the bag are notes and diaries of her father’s.  A man gives chase and she follows.  When they meet in Seven Dials, the lad is nowhere to be found.  The man who chased him had given up.  Moments later a cry of “murder” is heard nearby.  The boy who had stolen her bag was the victim.

Speaking to people at the scene, Penny learns that there had been two other similar murders in the area called St. Giles Rookery recently.

The following morning, Penny goes to the police station to make a statement to Inspector Fenton.  She questions him about the other two killings.  As she leaves the station, Fenton arrests Reuben O’Donoghue, the man who had helped her, for the murder.

Penny starts her own investigation and learns that each of the victims had a connection to one another in small ways.  Could their killer be known to all of them?  She prepares notes on what she has learned and presents it to the police, but will they act on them?

O’Donoghue is later released, but as a result of the things that Penny has heard about him, she has started having second thoughts about him.

She meets with Inspector James Blakely, of Scotland Yard, informs her that he has taken over the case.  Two days later, another man is murdered in his pawn shop.

Later, Blakely receives letters from two different men.  One suggesting that O’Donoghue is the killer, and the other telling Blakely that he is the killer.  How will Blakely find out the truth?  The writer named the sister of the latest victim, and a few days later, she too, was murdered.  How many more will die before Blakely catches the killer?  Or will he?

Blakely has one suspect in mind, while Penny has another.  Which one will it be?  Author Emily Organ has a few plot twists before revealing the killer.  A jolly good read.

A Spy for the Redeemer

Owen Archer is still in Wales, where his father-in-law had gone on a pilgrimage to.  Sadly, Sir Robert died, but was happy at the end.  Owen has just found out that the stonemason he had hired to prepare the tomb cover for Sir Robert had just recently hung himself, without finishing the cover.  Will he be delayed in getting home to York as a result?

The local archdeacon tells Owen that the stonemason was murdered.  He also claims to have the killer in custody.  The archdeacon insists that Owen is at the centre of the murder, so he insists that Owen stay to help find the truth.

Back in York, Owen’s wife, Lucie, has to travel from the city, to inform her aunt about her father’s death.  She finds her aunt not well in mind and body.  Unfortunately, the estate is attacked by armed horsemen just before Lucie and her aunt were to return to York.  The raiders made off with some valuables.  Could they have been helped by someone who lives on the estate?

A man has been arrested for the murder.  The suspect’s brother is the man that Owen was supposed to sail home with.  When Owen and his man, Iolo, go to speak to the parents of the stonemason, they are attacked and injured.

Meanwhile, back in York, Lucie hears rumours that say that Owen is going to become a traitor to the king.  In addition, people are talking about her supposed paramours that she is taking advantage of while Owen is away.

Will Owen make it safely back to York, or will he join the Welsh rebels?  And what if the people trying to destroy Lucie?

Author Candace Robb has the answers in the remaining pages of this medieval thriller.  A quite enjoyable read.

Cut to the Bone

DCI Kate Riley has a new case on her hands; a missing young woman.  Since it is early morning, she gets DS Zain Harris to open the investigation.  Harris learns that the missing woman, Ruby Day, is a vlogger.  The parents had called 999 to ask for the police.  They have no idea how Commissioner Justin Hope became involved.  He was the one who assigned the case to Kate.

Later that morning, the parents received an anonymous video of Ruby running for her life.  The parents think that the boyfriend could be behind the video.  He too, is a vlogger, and Ruby was planning on dumping him.  Shortly after that, the video is posted online.

As they continue with their investigation, they are sure that those they question are lying or leaving things out of their stories.  The next video posted online is extremely shocking.  The team will have to up their game before someone else becomes a victim.

Author Alex Caan has developed a thriller that involves international corporate greed, which involves the PMO.  However, the end result is completely shocking.  The reader will find themselves on the edge of their seat as they turn the final chapters.  A thoroughly engaging read.

A Season of Knives

Is Sir Robert Carey wanting a bribe for the victuals at the castle in Carlisle, or is he wanting to take over the contract himself.  He has the men who are currently in charge of the contract unsettled.

Carey also has heard that reivers are preparing to possibly kidnap Elizabeth Widdrington as she returns to her home.  What can he do, since he has no men available.  They are busy bringing in the hay.  However, he is able to assemble a small group of soldiers and ride out, hoping to prevent a catastrophe.

While Carey is away dealing with the men who would attack Elizabeth, his man Barnabus, is thrown into the dungeon at Carlisle Castle, accused of murder.  Richard Lowther, the man who wanted the job that Carey now has, is the man behind the accusation.  What can Carey do to prevent his own neck being put in a noose?

Things are thrown into disarray when the lover of the murdered man’s wife confesses, and then moments later she also confesses.  With two confessions, which he knows are both lord, how will Carey get at the truth?

Author P. F. Chisholm has Carey come to the truth in an unusual way.  It will prove to be a costly way, but the truth will out.  A good, quick read.

Without a Trace

DCI Kate Daniels has travelled from Northumbria to the Met in London with DS Hank Gormley to offer their services in light of a plane crash in the Atlantic.  A plane on which her loveJo Soulsby, was on.  Will the Gold Commander at the Met allow her and Hank to participate?  Would her own governor allow it?

Of course Detective Chief Superintendent Bright denied her request.  Not put off, Kate, with Hank in tow, heads off to Terminal 5 at Heathrow.  There it is confirmed that Jo had boarded the plane.  But Kate refuses to give up, thereby putting both her job and Hank’s on the line.

Understanding where his protégé was coming from, Bright relented and arranged for both Kate and Hank to join the Met team.  An airport security official tells the pair that two women did not board the flight.  Could one of them have been Jo?  She doesn’t know.

CCTV coverage shows that Jo didn’t check in luggage on her connecting flight out of Newcastle.  Shortly after this, USA Homeland Security requests Kate to immediately become a part of the inner circle.  Why?

With an intense murder case having occurred back in Newcastle, Bright orders one or the other back.  Both refuse, thereby putting their jobs and pensions on the line.

Meantime, Kate is ordered undercover by her Homeland Security connection.  Will her history with Jo endanger her?

What follows not only endangers Kate, but also her team.  Author Mari Hannah’s story takes a sudden turn when she throws a wrench into Kate’s investigation.  This turn is unexpected for the reader and leads to a tragic incident.  Will there be a sequel in this series?