‘Look In the Mirror’ by Catherine Steadman

Published by Quercus Books,
1st August 2024.
ISBN: 978-1-52943-883-3 (HB)

Catherine Steadman is a woman of many parts - quite literally, since, as well as being the author of twisty psychological thrillers, she also writes screenplays, and is an actress, appearing on stage and on screen on both sides of the Atlantic.

Look in the Mirror is her fifth standalone thriller, and a stunning tour-de-force. The opening of the book has the reader standing with Nina, a thirty-something Cambridge academic, who has recently lost her father and is dealing with his estate. A sentence on the very first page of the book sets the tone for Nina’s wry outlook on life - “The business of losing a father is a full-time, short-term contract with limited perks and a clear cutoff point.” Nina’s father had been an extraordinarily clever and accomplished man - a crossword compiler, an architect, a structural engineer, and a remorseless setter of challenges for Nina, his only child, whom he brought up as a single parent after his wife died soon after giving birth.

Amongst the paperwork Nina sorts through after her father’s death is a solicitor’s letter, informing her that her very private, very English father, has left her a house in the British Virgin Islands. Baffled - to her knowledge her father had never been to the Caribbean - Nina catches the flight the solicitors have arranged for her and travels to investigate - and perhaps to find out more about her father. Not long after she arrives, Nina finds that things are not entirely as they seem, and that she will need to be on her A-game if she is to decode the puzzles she is confronted with and survive her sojourn in the house.

As well as Nina, we also encounter Maria, a Venezuelan refugee, Yang Joon-Gi, a Korean handyman, Joe, an American construction worker, and Lucinda, an extremely wealthy woman. Their stories, woven through the book in shifting timelines, all contribute to the final unravelling of the mystery of the house, as Nina is driven almost to breaking point by the deadly hazards she must overcome.

A complex, beautifully constructed book, with striking characters, and a brilliant, deeply unsettling plot.
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Reviewer: Sarah Williams

Catherine Steadman is an actress and writer based in North London. She is known for her roles in Downton Abbey and Tutankhamun, starring alongside Sam Neill, as well as shows including Breathless, The Inbetweeners, The Tudors, and Fresh Meat. She also has appeared on stage in the West End including Oppenheimer for the RSC, for which she was nominated for a 2016 Laurence Olivier Award. 

catherinesteadman.com. 

Sarah Williams has been a professional writer for most of her adult life. She started writing under the name of Sarah Matthews, publishing translations from the French, as well as children’s information books, school textbooks, and school editions of authors such as Conan Doyle and Mark Twain. Most recently, she turned to crime, and has published How to Write Crime Fiction (Robinson), a second edition of which is due in Spring 2025. There are also two crime novels in the offing.

    Follow her on Substack at https://sarahwilliamsauthor.substack.com

‘Istanbul Crossing’ by Timothy Jay Smith

Published by Leapfrog Press,
24 September 2024.
ISBN: 978-1-94858599-6 (PB)

Istanbul Crossing is an easy to read, sensitively written story based in and around Istanbul over a nine-day period. It has one main protagonist, a young Syrian refugee called Ahdaf, and two main topics: people smuggling and Ahdaf’s embryonic homosexuality.

Ahdaf left Syria in a hurry after it became obvious that his sexuality made him an ISIS target – his cousin Sadiq had been pushed off a roof and murdered for just this reason. After walking for ninety days, he arrived in Istanbul and found himself a basic flat. Then, using his language skills, he set about making a meagre living by helping fellow countrymen with some of the arrangements necessary for them to cross over to Greece. Ahdaf is a caring and generous soul who never tries to overcharge those he helps. He understands exactly what it is like to flee your homeland because you fear persecution of one type or another. Carrying his own load of guilt and shame he had often considered suicide. Death sometimes seemed the only option for those of his sexuality.

One day after he’d got himself established, Ahdaf made the mistake of taking Kalam, a refugee he was trying to help and to whom he was attracted, back to his flat. Unfortunately, Malik, the leader of an ISIS cell at the mosque Ahdaf attended, was having him followed.  Malik warns Ahdaf that his sexual proclivities are known. Under pain of exposure and death, Malik blackmails Ahdaf into helping with his nefarious activities. The CIA, in the person of Selim, have Malik under observation. They see an opportunity to enlist Ahdaf’s help so the hapless Ahdaf becomes a double agent. Selim and Ahdaf are attracted to each other. 

Hair raising adventures follow including the shooting of five policemen by Malik’s thugs and the death of innocent refugees who had already lost nearly everything bar their lives. When the opportunity to cross to Greece presents itself, Ahdaf has to make two major decisions:  does he want to leave Istanbul, and whom to spend the next part of his life with, Kalam or Selim?

Whilst it is undoubtedly full of tragedy, Istanbul Crossing is also a tribute to the resilience and fortitude of the ordinary - or perhaps the extraordinary - Syrian people who have had the bravery to leave their homeland, driven out by the terrible persecution they faced.  In the gentle character of Ahdaf, we have a wonderful reminder of the kindness of mankind. The book may break your heart, but it may also help to restore your faith in man’s humanity.
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Reviewer Angela Crowther.

Timothy Jay Smith has travelled the world collecting stories and characters for his novels and screenplays which have received high praise. Fire on the Island won the Gold Medal in the 2017 Faulkner-Wisdom Competition for the Novel. He won the Paris Prize for Fiction for his first book, A Vision of Angels. Kirkus Reviews called Cooper’s Promise “literary dynamite” and selected it as one of the Best Books of 2012. Tim was nominated for the 2017 Pushcart Prize for his short fiction, "Stolen Memories." His screenplays have won numerous international competitions. Tim is the founder of the Smith Prize for Political Theatre. He lives in France.

Angela Crowther is a retired scientist.  She has published many scientific papers but, as yet, no crime fiction.  In her spare time Angela belongs to a Handbell Ringing group, goes country dancing and enjoys listening to music, particularly the operas of Verdi and Wagner.

Chiltern Kills : One Day Crime Writing Festival

 Report by Roger Corke 

Investigative journalist Roger Corke’s debut thriller, Deadly Protocol, has just been published, so he decided he’d better pop along to one of Britain’s newest crime-writing festivals – Chiltern Kills at  Gerrards Cross. He was in for a few surprises, not least two rounds of applause for his new book - instigated by Jeffrey Archer!

    Frederick Forsyth cuts the ribbon to
                    open Chiltern Kills

I knew we were in for a revealing day when the distinguished patron of
Chiltern Kills, Frederick Forsyth, cut the ribbon and told us about the
afternoon’s keynote speaker. 

“I knew Jeffrey Archer when he was an honest man – and that was a long time ago!” disclosed the master of the high-octane thriller. 

Lord Archer – famously convicted and jailed for perjury in 2001 – had plenty of surprises of his own when he finally came on stage, but there were revelations all day at this delightful festival, which is only in its second year but feels as though it’s been around for ever.  

That’s because of the vibe. It’s friendly and relaxed, due in no small part to the way the two local writers behind Chiltern Kills –
Paul Waters and Tony Kent –
have set it up. This is not a big money spinner for organisers, authors and publishers. All profits go to the Centrepoint charity for homeless young people and every writer gives their time for free. 

 Frederick Forsyth with Chiltern Kills curators
Paul Waters, left, and Tony Kent.  

And there was no shortage of writing talent on hand to impart the
secrets of their craft.
First up in the morning was a group of debut authors in Fresh Blood, who were asked how they came up with the plot for their debut crime thrillers.

 BBC journalist Louise Minchin revealed that a spell on I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here!
was her inspiration. The contestants were cut off by a violent storm, which she found absolutely terrifying.

 “It was doing my head in so much that I thought I had to harness that terror and fear and write it,” Louise told moderator Heather Fitt, so she set her upcoming thriller on the remote set of a reality TV show. Isolation Island was born

Fresh Blood: For first-time author Tina Payne, working for 18 years at the sharp end of the criminal justice system as a police investigator, dealing with victims of domestic violence, enabled her to write Long Time Dead.

LJ Shepherd was brutally honest about her inspiration. “My idea came from laziness,” said Laura, who trained as a lawyer. “I decided I’m going to have to write a legal thriller and I love high-concept thrillers.” The Trials of Lila Dalton, is about a barrister who stands up to speak in a murder trial but has no idea how she got there, is the result.

Left to right Heather Fitt, Louise Minchin, Tina Payne and LJ Shepherd. 

Flat Out Thrillers was asked that very question and they all came up with a different answer.

Left to right - Mason Cross, Robert Rutherford and Rob Parker in Flat Out Thrillers.

“A good and a bad guy,” said Mason Cross.

“A countdown to something,” said Robert Rutherford

“High stakes,” said Rob Parker.

Of course, you need all of those ingredients if your thriller is going to be really successful, as a group of leading authors found out in The Writers’ Room.

We don’t go in for writers’ rooms much in this country but they have elevated series like The Wire, Succession, Breaking Bad and The Sopranos into some of the greatest examples of TV drama ever.

 MJ Alridge in The Writers’ Room.

Best-selling author MJ Alridge decided to try the writers’ room concept with crime thrillers and got together with a number of colleagues from his publishers, Orion. He set out a detailed treatment for a thriller and his co-writer produced the first draft.

“Reading the first draft, it was fantastic to find surprises in a story you know really well,” Matthew told the Chiltern Kills audience.

And the experience has altered the way some of those colleagues now write.
MJ always plotted his books before writing but
co-author Lisa Hall didn’t. She does now.

“My process changed, because the treatment is now the thing,” said Lisa. “I don’t think I could write a book now without a treatment.”

Lisa Hall in The Writers’ Room

British crime-writing’s most famous jailbird has never needed a writers’ room to write more than 40 thrillers and collections of short stories. Jeffrey Archer gets by with sheer hard work, bags of ideas – and, as his audience soon discovered, plenty of charm. Within half a minute, he had the packed-out tent eating out of his hand.

In fact, the only person not charmed by the old rascal was moderator Jeremy Vine, who swiftly found himself very much surplus to requirements.

“Thank you for coming, Jeremy,” said Lord Archer, who pushed his chair back, strode to the front of the stage and spent the entire time talking to all of us about how he produces blockbuster after blockbuster.

“I like to work between six to eight, ten to twelve, two to four, six to eight and in bed by nine-thirty,” said the sprightly 84-year old.  The first draft takes 40 days but he writes as many as – wait for it – fourteen! “So, I tell every budding author that, God willing, you’ve got the talent, but it won’t stop have having to work damned hard.”
Still, it helps if you base all your main characters on a real person, which is why he puts wife Mary is in almost every one of his books. "Try not to invent characters,” he said. “The easiest thing is to write the human being standing in front of you because you will be with them and so will your readers.”

Still, it helps if you base all your main characters on a real person, which is why he puts wife Mary is in almost every one of his books. "Try not to invent characters,” he said. “The easiest thing is to write the human being standing in front of you because you will be with them and so will your readers.”

Roger Corke is a TV journalist who has travelled the world producing and directing documentaries for flagship current affairs series like the BBC's Panorama, Channel 4's Dispatches and ITV's World in Action and Tonight. That experience was invaluable in writing his first crime thriller and it was a chance conversation with a scientist whilst on a filming trip in America that led him to devise the plot for Deadly Protocol.

‘The American Mission’ by Matthew Palmer

Published by Head of Zeus,
12 September 2024.
ISBN: 978-1-03590880-6 (HB)

The American Mission is one of those rare books that has it all. Set in the Democratic Republic of the Congo – the DRC - it traces the life of Alex Baines, an American diplomat with a conscience, as his eyes are opened and ideals compromised over a four-month posting in 2009.

Suffering from PTSD, Alex was frustrated because he had been demoted to a pen-pusher. Out of the blue his old friend and mentor, Ambassador Spence, offered to restore Alex’s previous status and security clearance in return for working with him in the DRC. Alex jumped at the chance.

In the embassy in Kinshasa, Alex discovers that some of its working practices were not what he would have expected. Outsiders like Henri Saillard, head of the American company, Consolidated Mining Inc, attend high-level meetings and clearly influence decisions taken at them. Henri, a ruthless, calculating and manipulative operator, is interested only in profit and has less than no interest in the DRC or its people.

On the other hand, Manamakimba, the ruthless leader of the Hammer of God rebels, has a huge interest in the DRC and its people. He and his followers are fighting and killing to get their country and its valuable assets back from the control of greedy, foreign mining companies. He kidnaps a group of six Americans and Marie Tsiolo and will kill them unless a huge ransom is paid.  Marie is a trained mining engineer and the daughter of Chief Tsiolo whose mineral-rich village, Basu Mouli, is under threat of being taken over and ruined by Consolidated Mining. Alex is sent to negotiate with Manamakimba. Against all the odds and certain death if he fails, Alex succeeds in getting the captives released. He gains Manamakimba’s trust and the attention of Marie Tsiolo whom he regards as stubborn, opinionated and very attractive.

Unhappy about the way an embassy of the United States is colluding with American companies in robbing the DRC of its assets, Alex tries to alert his political masters in Washington to what he regards as un-American behaviour.  Instead of being listened to, he is accused of traitorous, subversive activities, stripped of his status and destined for a life in an American prison. At this point, Jonah Keeler, the head of the CIA office in Kinshasa, steps in as a typical devil’s advocate. Keeler both helps and manipulates Alex - now a wanted man on the run - as he fights to stay alive, and clear his name whilst simultaneously fighting the impossible fight against the vested interests of big business and the American state. Keeler helps Alex to warn Basu Mouli to prepare for a devastating onslaught from Rowandan fighters equipped with helicopter gunships paid for by the mining company.

The American Mission feels so authentic from start to finish that it is almost like watching a film rather than reading a book. It has wonderful descriptions of the DRC and village life, a love story and a myriad of original characters ranging from the child soldiers, orphans and natives of the Congo, to highly qualified diplomats.  Past and present armed battles and the dreadful consequences they impose on local populations are vividly portrayed along with the political intrigue, CIA shenanigans, and a coup aimed at removing the incumbent President Silwamba – a despot who stole the presidential election from the rightful winner six years previously. The book gathers momentum as you travel through its four hundred and seventeen pages, but it is a journey that is well worth making.
-------
Reviewer Angela Crowther.

Matthew Palmer is a twenty-year veteran of the U.S. Foreign Service, currently serving as the director for multilateral affairs in the State Department’s Bureau of Asian and Pacific Affairs. A life member of the Council on Foreign Relations, Palmer has worked as a diplomat all around the world.

 

Angela Crowther is a retired scientist.  She has published many scientific papers but, as yet, no crime fiction.  In her spare time Angela belongs to a Handbell Ringing group, goes country dancing and enjoys listening to music, particularly the operas of Verdi and Wagner.

‘Locked in’ by Jussi Adler-Olsen

Translated by Caroline Waight
Published by Quercus,
3 December 2024.
ISBN: 978-1-52943-454-5) (HB)

Jussi Adler-Olsen has led a life almost as quirky as that of his celebrated central character, Carl Mørck - though I am happy to say that his has been rather less hazardous than that of his frequently worn, wounded and woebegone Danish detective.

His latest novel, Locked In, marks the end of the Department Q series, and does so in superb style. If you’ve not come across Adler-Olsen before, and if you enjoy twisty police procedurals, then I suggest that you read through the series from the beginning until you reach this powerful dénouement. Although the book does stand on its own two sturdy feet, and can read that way, it makes much more sense if you have been following Mørck and his team since their inception. A lot of characters are recalled for the finale, and a lot of storylines are satisfactorily resolved - in more or less drastic ways.

The book opens with a flashback, if one can call it that, to an event which occurs before the whole series opens - an ambush in which Mørck’s partner Hardy is shot in the spine and rendered quadriplegic. It is partly Mørck’s traumatised response to that event which had led to him to being reassigned from front-line detective work to the supposedly quieter waters of Department Q, which deals with cold cases. The book then quickly moves forward to the present day, and with Mørck being held on remand, suspected of drug-trafficking, money laundering, and murder. As well as having to clear his name, Mørck also has to run the customary risks of a policeman being banged up in prison with many of those he has worked assiduously to consign there, and - the cherry on the top of this particularly vexatious cake - he is being targeted by the actual head of the drug-trafficking ring, who wants to make a spectacular and irrevocably final example of him.

The rest of the book unfolds with Mørck working to regain his liberty and the life he has built with his wife and small child, while dodging vindictive violent cons and conscience-free hired killers with a penchant for drama. All of Mørck’s team, and many other characters whose lives he has saved in other adventures in the series, come together to support him and enable the extremely satisfying final outcome. 

As always, Adler-Olsen writes with wit and compassion, and with an astonishing grasp of all the highly complex plot-lines which make up this last hurrah of the delightful Department Q. It is a series which will be much missed, but it certainly goes off with a bang!
------
Reviewer: Sarah Williams

Jussie Adler-Olsen was born in Copenhagen in 1950, is a Danish author known for the diversity of his writing, influenced by his background in political studies, film science, and being the son of a chief psychiatrist. He began his career with international stand-alone novels such Alphabet House and The Washington Decree before gaining widespread recognition with his Department Q series, starting with The Keeper of Lost Causes in 2007. ​ Adler-Olsen has also held various roles in publishing, editing, and in the Danish Peace Movement. ​ He has received numerous awards and honours, including being appointed Honorary Craftsman by the Danish Craftsman Association in 2017. ​ His work spans multiple genres, including thrillers, crime fiction, and comic strips. 

www.jussiadlerolsen.dk/ 

Sarah Williams has been a professional writer for most of her adult life. She started writing under the name of Sarah Matthews, publishing translations from the French, as well as children’s information books, school textbooks, and school editions of authors such as Conan Doyle and Mark Twain. Most recently, she turned to crime, and has published How to Write Crime Fiction (Robinson), a second edition of which is due in Spring 2025. There are also two crime novels in the offing.

 Follow her on Substack at https://sarahwilliamsauthor.substack.com

‘The Secret of The Three Fates’ by Jess Armstrong

Published by Allison & Busby,
5 December 2024.
ISBN: 978-0-7490-3163-3 (HB)

When the First World War ended, American heiress Ruby Vaughan felt that she had lost everything: her reputation had been destroyed when she was publicly shamed by the devious but charming man she was betrothed to; her parents and younger sister died when the Lusitania was torpedoed; and her beloved friend, with whom she had planned to spend her life, had left her for the false security of marriage to a wealthy man.

After spending the war years driving an ambulance and trying to save the lives of desperately injured men, Ruby was emotionally burnt out when she saw an advertisement for an assistant placed by eccentric bookseller, Mr Owen. Intrigued, she applied for the job and was selected and has spent the last few years living in Mr Owen’s house in Exeter and working for him, learning a great deal about the antiquarian bookseller’s trade.

It is now October 1922. Six weeks before the story told in The Secret of the Three Fates, Mr Owen had sent Ruby to Cornwall to make a delivery to Ruan Kivell. From their first encounter Ruby is intrigued by Ruan, who is a Pellar, a witch and healer, who can hear what Ruby is thinking. Although she doesn’t wish to admit it, she is not only physically attracted to him, but she also feels an instinctive emotional bond. In Cornwall Ruby and Ruan share a dangerous adventure that almost costs her, her life and, after she spends a few weeks regaining her strength in Exeter, Mr Owen announces that he wants her to accompany him to Scotland.

Mr Owen tells Ruby that they are going to Manhurst Castle in the Scottish Borders in order to appraise some illuminated manuscripts, but soon after their arrival she realises this is not true. There are three mediums present at Manhurst and they are going to hold a seance. Ruby is sceptical about seances, which in her experience are, at best, self-deceiving, and, at worst, deliberately fraudulent. However, she can understand Mr Owen’s desire to speak for one last time with his son, Ben, who died in the war and, despite her doubts, is impressed by Mr Owen’s claim that one of the mediums is the only person he knows who can truly communicate with the dead. As well as the three mediums, Manhurst has some socially eminent and aristocratic guests, all of whom attend the seance. When the three mediums make their entrance, Ruby is horrified to recognise one of them as a person she had encountered in Cornwall, a woman that has powers that Ruby cannot explain. The seances Ruby has previously experienced have run on well-ordered lines, with predictable special effects, but this one is very different and the spirit that is summoned is not one that any of the people attending had expected.

Later that night, Ruby discovers a murdered woman and the police officer in charge of the case seems intent on arresting Ruby for the crime, even though there is no apparent motive and little evidence to indicate her guilt. As Ruby struggles to extricate herself and Mr Owen from the web of deceit and violence into which he has led them, she is distracted by the arrival of Ruan, whom Mr Owen has summoned. She is glad of an ally but terrified by predictions that she may destroy him. Also, she is too afraid of commitment to admit, even to herself, that she has strong, passionate feelings about this strange man with his powers of insight and healing. The deeper Ruby probes, the darker secrets emerge from the past, and the danger grows more acute, until Ruby is uncertain who she can trust to help save herself and the people she cares about.

The Secret of the Three Fates is the second book featuring Ruby Vaughan and it is as compelling as its predecessor. It is a book with secrets at its core and the danger is vividly portrayed. Ruby is a fascinating protagonist, desperate to appear hard and self-sufficient, but at her core she is vulnerable and capable of loyalty, love and compassion. Ruan is an intriguing and engaging foil for her, and Mr Owen is infuriating but likeable. The book has a complex, fast-paced plot and fascinating period background. I enjoyed The Secret of the Three Fates very much and thoroughly recommend it.
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Reviewer: Carol Westron

Jess Armstrong's debut novel The Curse of Penryth Hall won the Mystery Writers of America/Minotaur First Crime Novel Competition. She has a masters degree in American History but prefers writing about imaginary people to the real thing. Jess lives in New Orleans with her historian husband. When she's not working on her next project, she's probably thinking about cheese, baking, tweeting or some combination of the above. 

Carol Westron is a Golden Age expert who has written many articles on the subject and given papers at several conferences. She is the author of several series: contemporary detective stories and police procedurals, comedy crime and Victorian Murder Mysteries. Her most recent publications are Paddling in the Dead Sea and Delivering Lazarus, books 2 and 3 of the Galmouth Mysteries, the series which began with
The Fragility of Poppies. 

www.carolwestron.com

Christmas is coming. What is Santa going to do?

In our area, there has been a massive amount of house
building. Which is a good thing.

However driving down the A43 I was looking at the huge number of new houses that have been built . But looking at them I couldn't initially workout what was wrong. And then I realised all the houses had no chimneys.  So, what is Santa going to do if he can’t get down the chimney to deliver presents to the little ones.

Or, will it be that we again change history which seems to be happening all the time now. No Santa, or maybe he comes in a ?…

Whatever, it will nil and void the wonderful Santa stories. I own to be sad about the way these old traditions are being wiped out. 

When Christmas books are read to the little ones there could be much crying. 'How will we get our presents, we don’t have a chimney mommy’.

Oh! dear!

‘A Killer of Influence’ by JD Kirk

Published by Canelo,
12 September 2024.
ISBN: 978-180436827-5 (HB)

Inverness DCI Logan has got all the bodies he can handle ... until someone kidnaps eight influencers on their way home from a convention in Inverness, and posts videos of them being tortured online.

This book is well through the series, so it took me a couple of chapters to catch up. DCI Logan and his team are finishing off the case in the previous book, Where the pieces lie, with the discovery of the bodies whose ten chopped-off index fingers were found in the neighbouring house. Logan, his police team and his partner, pathologist Shona Maguire, are working flat out to deal with them. On top of that, Logan’s received an anonymous gift of a beer mat from the pub where he used to drink – someone knows his secret. Worse, the minibus used to kidnap the influencers had his numberplate. He’s backed by a lively team: Ben, his second-in-command, whose life looks like it’ll be blighted if the cafe opposite closes; tactless Tyler and his wife Sinead; Hamza the techie cop whose marriage has just broken up. Once that was sorted out, the story raced along: a sinister stranger at Logan’s door, the caged influencers being forced to mime being themselves, a gruesome murder, Logan’s old boss, the Gozer, taking over, and twists galore, leading up to a suspense-filled ending. It was a mix of gritty situation and cosy characters, all told with a wonderful dark humour. I particularly loved the older officers’ reactions to the hitherto unknown world of influencers.

A fast-moving, wise-cracking Scottish PP with great characters and a page-turning plot. J D KIrk’s many fans know they’re in for a treat; I’m off to start catching up on the books I’ve missed. If you like to start at the beginning, the very first in the series is A Litter of Bones.
------
Reviewer: Marsali Taylor

JD Kirk lives in the Highlands of Scotland with his wife, two children, and a number of sturdy umbrellas. He has written thirteen books in a series featuring DCI Logan. Northwind is the first in a new series featuring Robert Hoon. His books combine his love of the Highlands, crime thrillers, and cats.

Marsali Taylor grew up near Edinburgh and came to Shetland as a newly qualified teacher. Marsali is a qualified STGA tourist-guide who is fascinated by history, and has published plays in Shetland's distinctive dialect, as well as a history of women's suffrage in Shetland. She's also a keen sailor who enjoys exploring in her own 8m yacht, and an active member of her local drama group.  She lives with her husband and two Shetland ponies.

www.marsalitaylor.co.uk

‘Midnight in Vienna’ by Jane Thynne

Published by Quercus Books,
5 September 2024.
ISBN: 978-1-52943-066-0 (HB)

September 1938, and war looms over Europe. Stella Fry, newly returned from Vienna, applies for the job of typing an MS by famous mystery writer Hubert Newman – and is shocked to learn of his sudden death on the way home from their interview meeting. She’s even more surprised to receive his MS in the post – with a handwritten dedication to her. Then surveillance operatives Harry Fox turns up on her doorstep to share his belief that Newman was murdered ...

Some novels are almost like time travel, and this was one of them for me, made real by innumerable tiny details of London, and later in the book, Vienna of that year. Stella’s Jewish employers in Vienna left for New York; London is filling up with refugees, and Londoners are queueing for gas masks. As we walk the streets with Stella and Harry, we see the newspapers and advertisements of the time; through Stella’s actress flatmate Evelyn we hear the gossip. The plot’s an engrossing one, based round the central mystery of who Newman really is, what killed him, and why.

Midnight in Vienna is both the book he thinks of as he dies, his own book which explains to him what killed him, and metaphorically the times which Stella experiences for herself, Vienna’s darkest hour as the Nazis take over. Stella and Harry are an enjoyable pairing, with Stella’s rash inexperience putting her into danger, and Harry’s past making him equally at risk. The plot’s cleverly worked out and speeds up as it moves towards a satisfying solution.

A fast-moving murder/thriller, with a vividly realised historical setting. Jane Thynne also wrote the superb Black Roses series, set in 1930s Germany, and this is the first in a new series set in wartime London.
------
Reviewer: Marsali Taylor 

Jane Thynne was born in Venezuela and educated in London. She graduated from Oxford University with a degree in English and joined the BBC as a journalist. She has also worked at The Sunday Times, The Daily Telegraph and The Independent, as well as for numerous British magazines. She appears as a broadcaster on Radio 4. Jane is married to the writer Philip Kerr. They have three children and live in London. Find out more at www.janethynne.com connect with her on Facebook or follow her on Twitter @janethynne.

janethynne.com 

Marsali Taylor grew up near Edinburgh and came to Shetland as a newly qualified teacher. Marsali is a qualified STGA tourist-guide who is fascinated by history, and has published plays in Shetland's distinctive dialect, as well as a history of women's suffrage in Shetland. She's also a keen sailor who enjoys exploring in her own 8m yacht, and an active member of her local drama group.  She lives with her husband and two Shetland ponies.

www.marsalitaylor.co.uk