‘Mystery at the Station Hotel’ by Edward Marston

Published by Allison & Busby,
23 January 2025.
ISBN: 978-0-749030124-4 (HB)

The year is 1866 and at the Station Hotel in Shrewsbury the body is discovered of Julian Lockyer, an important figure in the Great Western Railway. At first it is believed to be suicide, but why would a man expected to be elected as the next Chairman of the Railway kill himself? Plus, the knife used was by his right hand – he was left-handed!

Superintendent Edward Tallis of Scotland Yard dispatches Inspector Robert Colbeck and his Sergeant Victor Leeming to investigate. They have a rather frosty welcome from the local police, who believe they are quite capable of solving the murder themselves, however as things turn out, they really need their help. As Colbeck and Leeming delve more into Lockyer’s life, it becomes clear that he was not the respectable gentleman he would have everyone believe.

A real puzzle is why did he tell friends and family he was going to visit someone he knew in Kent, when he actually went to Shrewsbury? His son Pelham is especially at a lost to understand, and when he finds out is knocked for six.

At the same time, Colbeck’s wife Madeleine, an artist of some repute, has a mystery of her own to unravel. Someone is copying her work and passing themselves off as her. Not only that but one such painting is seen for sale in a shop window. Madeleine is incensed and together with her outraged father Caleb, resolves to find the culprit, leading to a very surprising outcome.

Meanwhile back in Shrewsbury the police wonder if the person responsible for Lockyer’s death is someone jealous of his expected promotion. Colbeck is not too sure, it doesn’t feel right to him.

It soon becomes clear that whoever planned the killing actually hired someone else to do their dirty work for them. If the police can discover who carried out the murder, it will surely lead them to the person behind it all, but this proves more difficult than expected. The local police really do need Colbeck’s expertise now.

Another absorbing book in the Railway Detective series. I have read many of the previous stories and have nothing but praise for the way the author brings to life the times of the days of steam. Highly recommended.
----
Reviewer: Tricia Chappell

Edward Marston (A pseudonym used by Keith Miles) was born and brought up in South Wales. A full-time writer for over thirty years, he has worked in radio, film, television and the theatre and is a former chairman of the Crime Writers' Association. Prolific and highly successful, he is equally at home writing children's books or literary criticism, plays or biographies.

www.edwardmarston.com 

Tricia Chappell. I have a great love of books and reading, especially crime and thrillers. I play the occasional game of golf (when I am not reading). My great love is cruising especially to far flung places, when there are long days at sea for plenty more reading! I am really enjoying reviewing books and have found lots of great new authors.

 

‘A Wind in the Hebrides’ by Donna Fletcher Crow

Independently Published,
27 November 2024.
ISBN: 979-830145321-2

‘A Wind in the Hebrides’ is the seventh novel in ‘The Monastery Murders’ series, and features Felicity Sherwood and her husband Father Antony Sherwood, a priest in the Church of England and a lecturer in church history. The latter has been asked to lead a course on Iona which will study Saint Columba, and Felicity, a former student of Father Antony, needs to prepare a lecture she has agreed to give at the AGM of the association of Spiritual Directors. Given that her theme is spiritual awakening, Felicity must research the so-called Lewis Awakening of the post-Second World War years. This was a religious movement whose fervour gripped the outer Hebridean island and led to packed meetings in churches and halls.

Antony and Felicity, accompanied by their five-year-old son Teddy (who plays an important role in the story) go to Iona, via Glasgow where they stay with old friends, one of whom lends Felicity a manuscript of a relative’s story of the Awakening. During her brief stay on Iona, Felicity is convinced that she has seen a body, but as she was in a dangerous position leaning over a cliff to rescue a prized possession of Teddy, she gets only a glimpse. Subsequent investigations by the authorities find no body.

Before long Felicity and Teddy are on their way to Lewis. Between her own researches Felicity reads the manuscript she has been loaned. It was written in 1949 by a young lady from Lewis called Aileana Mackay who appears to be on the verge of a breakthrough in her singing career in Glasgow when she is told her parents are very ill, if not on the verge of death, on her native island. Much against her will Aileana races to Lewis to find that there is nothing wrong with them apart from what was probably a bad attack of food poisoning. However, Aileana’s return throws her into a number of affairs, the maelstrom of the Awakening being one. Her sister’s boyfriend Euan has gone missing. It seems he has led a far from spotless life, and suggestions of wartime dodgy dealings – not only concerning Euan - hang in the air. As Aileana’s story reaches a climax, old relationships come into play. Who can she believe?

Felicity’s own researches on Lewis lead her into an apparently parallel situation. A yacht belonging to one of Antony’s students is seen a few times. What is it doing there when its owner is on Iona? Somebody she is convinced she saw on Iona reappears on Lewis. Who is he? Reports in the press about ‘dodgy diesel’ causing traffic accidents give more credence to her suspicions. Is Lewis a centre for illegal importing? More to the point, are she and Teddy in danger? As her story and suspicions grow, Felicity (like Aileana 70 years before) has to decide who she can trust.

The novel is a slow-burner, with plenty of background before matters come to a head. It is not only Aileana and Felicity who don’t know who to trust, as you will find out. The resolution to both stories is well-handled and convincing, with good plot twists (particularly in Felicity’s tale) that you may or may not foresee.
------
Reviewer: David Whittle 

Donna Fletcher Crow is a former English teacher and a Life Member of the Jane Austin Society of America. She is the author of 50 books, mostly novels dealing with British history.  The award-winning Glastonbury, A Novel of the Holy Grail, an Arthurian grail search epic covering 15 centuries of English history, is her best-known work.  She is also the author of The Monastery Murders: A Very Private Grave, A Darkly Hidden Truth and An Unholy Communion as well as the Lord Danvers series of Victorian true-crime novels and the literary suspense series The Elizabeth & Richard Mysteries. Donna and her husband live in Boise, Idaho.  They have 4 adult children and 12 grandchildren. She is an enthusiastic gardener.

To read more about all of Donna’s books and see pictures from her garden and research trips go to: http://www.donnafletchercrow.com/ 
You can follow her on Facebook at: http://ning.it/OHi0MY

David Whittle is firstly a musician (he is an organist and was Director of Music at Leicester Grammar School for over 30 years) but has always enjoyed crime fiction. This led him to write a biography of the composer Bruce Montgomery who is better known to lovers of crime fiction as Edmund Crispin, about whom he gives talks now and then. He is currently convenor of the East Midlands Chapter of the Crime Writers’ Association.

Coming Soon: 'A Scandal Has Wings' by Graham Donnelly

 
Published The Book Guild Ltd
28 February 2025

In the mid-1970s, a rapidly growing college becomes a playground where young lecturers, barely older than their students, balance ambition with maturity. The competitive atmosphere, marked by jealousy and corruption, blurs the lines between innocent play and darker rivalries.

Lecturers, seen as professionals with full control over their classrooms, usually uphold their responsibilities. However, one day, indulgence and recklessness lead to a situation spiralling out of control, putting two lives at risk. The identities of those in danger and those who have endangered them remain a mystery, until two lecturers, the eager Gillian and the hesitant Roger, embark on solving it, leading to a scandal that will affect the futures of both lecturers and students, guilty and innocent alike.

Graham Donnelly was born in Homerton, London. He holds an Economics degree from the University of London and has a professional background in government service, banking, and lecturing in economics, politics, and management. While lecturing, he published several economics books. His novels reflect his deep interest in political and socio-economic history, a passion shaped by his varied career and academic pursuits. He now lives with his wife in Essex

Coming Soon: 'The East Ham Golem' by Barbara Nadel

Published by Allison & Busby,
20 February 2025. 

Book 9 in the Hakim & Arnold series 

The streets of East London are alive with different languages, cultures and religions. Private investigators Lee Arnold and Mumtaz Hakim are well-versed in the community’s tensions, the sad day-to-day reality that includes the desecration of graves at Plashet Jewish cemetery in East Ham. 

The vandalism of these final resting places leads to a disturbing discovery: one of the damaged coffins does not contain human remains but instead a sculpture of a man made of clay. This so-called ‘golem’, a term from Jewish myth given to a figure brought to life by supernatural means, proves intriguing to Arnold and Hakim, even more so when it is stolen from a police storage facility in an armed raid. 

The case leads the pair deep into London’s past and its connections to wartime Prague, and onto the trail of a priceless jewel worth killing for.

Barbara Nadel was born and brought up in the East End of London. She has a degree in psychology and, prior to becoming a full-time author, she worked in psychiatric institutions and in the community with people experiencing mental health problems. She is also the author of the award-winning Inspector Ikmen series and received the Crime Writers' Association Silver Dagger for the seventh novel in the series Deadly Web. There are now 24 books in the series. She is also the author of the award-winning Inspector Ikem series now adapted by the BBC as The Turkish Detective.
Barbara now lives in Essex.

Coming Soon: 'The First Husband' by Elisabeth Carpenter

Published by Bookouture, 31st January 2025.

I thought he was dead. I thought I was safe. Was I wrong?
In two days’ time, I’m getting married again. It’s bittersweet, after everything that happened. But when I look at my cheeky son and his loving, handsome father, I know I’m doing the right thing in moving on.
Then a card comes through the letterbox:
Two days to go. I can’t wait to see you. I’ve missed you so much. All my love, Callum.
Callum was my first husband. He disappeared eight years ago, leaving only secrets and pain behind. He’s dead.
But as my friends and family gather for my big day – all the same people who were there the night Callum vanished – my fear grows. Things go horribly wrong with the wedding plans. And then an anonymous note threatens my son.
Is someone playing a cruel joke, or is Callum really back? I have two days to find out who’s doing this to me… and learn the truth about what happened all those years ago.
Because I will do anything to protect my son. Even if it means destroying my life…

 

Elisabeth Carpenter lives in Preston with her family. She completed a BA in English Literature and Language with the Open University in 2008. Elisabeth was awarded a Northern Writers’ New Fiction award and was longlisted for Yeovil Literary Prize (2015 and 2016) and the MsLexia Women’s Novel award (2015). She loves living in the north of England and sets most of her stories in the area, including the novel she is writing at the moment. She currently works as a bookkeeper. 

https://elisabethcarpenter.co.uk

‘The Antique Store Detective and the May Day Murder’ by Clare Chase

Published by Bookuture,
14 January 2025.
ISBN: 978-1-83525-289-5 (PB)

The friendly but efficient village bobby is a dying breed these days – but who needs him when you’ve got Bella Winter, antiques dealer and part-time detective, and a whole posse of her friends to hunt down the local criminal fraternity? Who was it who said it takes a village to solve a crime?

Not only hunt them down; Bella’s detecting skills are so sharply honed that she can spot a murder even when the coroner’s verdict is a firm Natural Causes. The advantage, of course, is that the police – the real police, based in a large town miles away – are happy to leave her to it. The disadvantage is that she can’t tap into their information sources. Except she can, since she has a convenient godfather who happens to be a retired cop.  

To begin at the beginning. During a traditional May Day Walk, Bella and her friends see a local ne’er-do-well leave a little doll stuck with pins beside a sacred well. It’s done up to resemble Mary Roberts, highly efficient school secretary and the ne’er-do-well’s nemesis – and Mary’s lifeless body is discovered a few hours later. The verdict is a heart attack, but Bella doesn’t believe it. Despite the police’s best efforts, she determinedly believes Mary was scared to death. There are plenty of suspects, so she sets out to prove one of them guilty.

The investigation which follows is littered with eccentric characters on both sides. To name just a handful: on the side of the angels is Bella herself, well known in the vicinity for her vintage dress sense. She’s very much her father’s daughter; Dad was the last village copper, both popular and perceptive. Jeannie the pub landlady, large, loud and matriarch to a large family of sons, knows everyone in town. Opal, the mysterious woman of the woods, lives mainly in the shadows. On the darker side there’s Noah, teenage tearaway with a grudge against the victim. Shane, her ex-husband, still stings from the public humiliation Mary delivered when she caught him in flagrante. Adrian, the local headmaster, has far too high an opinion of himself.

There’s plenty of local colour in the form of feuds, traditions and pretty buildings, all of which contribute to a strong sense of community. The May Day murder is already the second case for Bella to investigate; no doubt there will be more, and yet another pretty semi-rural area will become a dangerous place to visit. Long may it continue so!
-------
Reviewer: Lynne Patrick

Clare Chase writes classic mysteries. Her aim is to take readers away from it all via some armchair sleuthing in atmospheric locations. Like her heroines, Clare is fascinated by people and what makes them tick. Before becoming a full-time writer, she worked in settings as diverse as Littlehey Prison and the University of Cambridge, in her home city. She’s lived everywhere from the house of a lord to a slug-infested flat and finds the mid-terrace she currently occupies a good happy medium. As well as writing, Clare loves family time, art and architecture, cooking, and of course, reading other people’s books.

www.clarechase.com

Lynne Patrick has been a writer ever since she could pick up a pen, and has enjoyed success with short stories, reviews and feature journalism, but never, alas, with a novel. She crossed to the dark side to become a publisher for a few years and is proud to have launched several careers which are now burgeoning. She lives in Oxfordshire in a house groaning with books, about half of them crime fiction.

‘A Knot of Sparrows’ by Cheryl Rees-Price

Published by The book Folks,
1 March 2021.
ISBN: 978-1-91351657-1 (PB)

The fourth book in this series story opens with the return of DI Winter Meadows back from a three-week holiday. He is called to the death of a young girl, one Stacey Evans. Her death was violent, but as he learns more about her, he realises that she was a distinctly unpleasant character, a bully and many other things besides. But did she deserve to be murdered?

As DI Winter Meadows investigates those around her, he comes to realise that there are many people who will not mourn Stacy Evans.  Meanwhile he also has a missing doctor to find. One who has just simply disappeared taking nothing with him.

Adding to his case load are the deaths of Ryan Phillips and his mother, who both burned to death in their home. The people in the Welsh village of Gaer Fawr seem strangely silent on the subject. But Winter Meadows had encountered Ryan Phillips in an earlier investigation, and he was not a nice character,

Struggling to pierce the secrecy surrounding Stacey Evans busy love life, he ponders, was the killer one of her pursuers acting out of jealousy? Or maybe someone’s wife seeking revenge?

Then another body is found.

And so, we meet again Winter Meadows and his DC Tristan Edris, along with DC Valentine and DS Blackwell, who in earlier books seemed rather unpleasant but he is growing on me.

This is an incredible read. I couldn’t get my head around it.  If you are looking for a book with an amazing ending, this one is for you. Highly recommended.
------
Reviewer: Lizzie Sirett

Cheryl Rees-Price was born in Cardiff and moved as a young child to a small village on the edge of The Black Mountain, South Wales, where she still lives with her husband and three cats. After leaving school she worked as a legal clerk for several years before leaving to raise her two daughters. Cheryl returned to education, studying philosophy, sociology, and accountancy whilst working as a part time bookkeeper. She now works as a finance director for a company that delivers project management and accounting services. In her spare time Cheryl indulges in her passion for writing. Her other hobbies include walking and gardening which free her mind to develop plots and create colourful characters.

‘Suffer The Children’ by Cheryl Rees-Price

Published by The Book Folks,
5 October 2020.
ISBN: 978-1-91351657-1 (PB)

When Natalie Benyon awakes following a wild party with her friends Claire, Dan and Jamie she discovers that her eighteen-month-old baby Ella is missing. The police immediately organise a search of the  surrounding country area and the Welsh village of Bryn Mawr..  

DI Winter Meadows and his DC Tristan Edris focus on the family, and it becomes apparent that Natalie’s lifestyle of drinking and drugs is somewhat precarious for her young child. Unable to ascertain any details of the party as Natalie has no memory of the evening but says that the front door was open when she awoke. The police have two possibilities to pursue. Did Ella leave the house under her own steam, or has she been abducted?

All the usual lines of investigation are pursued. Has Natalie’s ex-husband Dylan Lewis taken the child?  To further confuse the situation, when questioned Natalie’s next door neighbour, George, says he saw Natalie get into a car at 2am!

Drawing complete blanks on their lines of investigation, they look to the house and a search of the garden reveals the skeleton of a small child, maybe three months old and which the pathologist Daisy Moor says has laid there for possibly more than 20 years. And so, DI Meadows now has two cases to solve, one missing child and one murdered child.

The following investigation is fascinating as the team including surly DS Blackwell and DC Valentine seek to trace all the people who have lived in the house in the last twenty years.  Some undertaking.

This is the third book I have read in this series and whilst nothing is given away, I liked the conversation at the beginning of this book and the second in the series relating to the previous investigations. I emphasise that nothing is given way, it just tidies it.  

A compelling and intriguing story, that will keep you turning the pages. I couldn’t put this book down until I had finished it. Highly recommended.
------
Reviewer: Lizzie Sirett

Cheryl Rees-Price was born in Cardiff and moved as a young child to a small village on the edge of The Black Mountain, South Wales, where she still lives with her husband and three cats. After leaving school she worked as a legal clerk for several years before leaving to raise her two daughters. Cheryl returned to education, studying philosophy, sociology, and accountancy whilst working as a part time bookkeeper. She now works as a finance director for a company that delivers project management and accounting services. In her spare time Cheryl indulges in her passion for writing. Her other hobbies include walking and gardening which free her mind to develop plots and create colourful characters.

Mick Herron Awarded CWA Diamond Dagger

 

Slow Horses author receives highest accolade in crime writing

Mick Herron is the 2025 recipient of the
Crime Writers’ Association (CWA)
 Diamond Dagger - the highest accolade in the genre.

The award recognises authors whose crime writing careers have been marked by sustained excellence, and who have made a significant contribution to the genre.

One of the UK’s most prominent societies, the CWA was founded in 1953 by John Creasey; the awards started in 1955 with its first award going to Winston Graham, best known for Poldark.

 Born in Newcastle upon Tyne, Herron studied English Literature at Oxford, where he continues to live. He began writing fiction while working as a sub editor in London.

His first novel, Down Cemetery Road, was published in 2003.
This was the start of Herron’s Zoë Boehm series.

 In 2008, inspired by world events, he began writing the Slough House series, featuring MI5 agents who have been exiled from the mainstream for various offences. The first novel, Slow Horses, was published in 2010. Some years later, it was hailed by the Daily Telegraph as one of “the twenty greatest spy novels of all time.”

A #1 Sunday Times bestselling author, the Slough House thrillers were adapted into an Apple TV series, starring Oscar-winning actor Gary Oldman as Jackson Lamb, and have been published in twenty-five languages.

Herron has a long association with the CWA, becoming a member in 2004. Two of his books in the Slough House series have received a Dagger: Dead Lions won the CWA Gold Dagger in 2013, and Spook Street the Ian Fleming Steel Dagger in 2017.

Herron’s Zoë Boehm series is to be adapted into a major TV series starring Emma Thompson and Ruth Wilson. Herron is also the author of the highly acclaimed standalone novels Nobody Walks and The Secret Hours.

Mick Herron said: “I’ve spent the best part of my life – not the majority of it; just the best part – in the crime writers’ community, and to receive this accolade from these friends and colleagues is both a career highlight and a personal joy. I’m touched and thrilled beyond measure, and will try to live up to the honour.”

 Vaseem Khan, Chair of the CWA, said: “I am delighted that the Diamond Dagger judges have picked Mick as their recipient this year. Few could be more deserving. Mick is the quintessential writers' writer and his Slough House novels have, by general consensus, reinvented the spy thriller, going on to delight millions on the page and onscreen. The Diamond Dagger is a fitting tribute to a writer whose work has become both cultural marker and record of our time.”

Nominations for the CWA Diamond Dagger are recommended by CWA members. Industry experts then narrow these down to a shortlist. The winner is then voted for by a panel of past Diamond Dagger winners.

Recent recipients of the Diamond Dagger include:
 Lynda La Plante, James Lee Burke, Peter James, Walter Mosley, Lee Child, Lawrence Block, Ian Rankin, Michael Connelly, Lindsey Davis, Andrew Taylor, Martina Cole, Ann Cleeves, Val McDermid, Robert Goddard, Martin Edwards, Catherine Aird and Simon Brett.

Past icons of the genre acknowledged with a Diamond Dagger include Ruth Rendell, PD James, Colin Dexter, Reginald Hill, and John le Carré.

The CWA Daggers are now regarded by the publishing world as the foremost British awards for crime-writing. As the oldest awards in the genre, they have been synonymous with quality crime writing for over half a century.

The Diamond Dagger is presented at the annual CWA Dagger Awards, dubbed the ‘Oscars of the crime genre,’ which take place this year on Thursday, July 3.

SIR IAN RANKIN REVEALED TO BE GUEST PROGRAMMER FOR BLOODY SCOTLAND INTERNATIONAL CRIME WRITING FESTIVAL 2025

For the first time ever, Bloody Scotland International Crime Writing Festival has invited a guest programmer to join the festival team. 

International bestselling novelist, Sir Ian Rankin, is working alongside the programming team - which includes fellow authors, Abir Mukherjee, Lin Anderson, Craig Robertson and Gordon J. Brown - to bring another world class line-up of authors and special guests to the prestigious Festival, which will return to the historic city of Stirling 12-14 September 2025

 Ian Rankin, who has sold over 35 million books and was awarded a Knighthood in 2023 for services to literature and charity, is working closely with Festival Director, Bob McDevitt to share his personal passions and put his unique spin on one of the UK’s largest crime fiction festivals.

All will be revealed when the programme launches in June 2025.

Festival director Bob McDeviit said:
"Ian has been one of the foremost supporters of Bloody Scotland since the beginning and he has brought imagination and enthusiasm to the programming process. He is a much loved and respected writer around the world and has friends and contacts in all sorts of places which have delivered some unique events for us this year."

Sir Ian Rankin said: “Bloody Scotland manages to remain the world’s friendliest and most inclusive crime fiction festival while also attracting the biggest and brightest names in the business to the city of Stirling. It’s epic!”

Ian Rankin has been involved in Bloody Scotland since its inception. He has captained the Scotland football team, led the torchlit procession through the streets of Stirling and in 2021 his warmup act ‘Crime in the Spotlight’ was Graeme Macrae Burnet who went on to be shortlisted for the Booker. It is a pleasure to welcome him back at the helm of the festival and we are excited to see what 2025 will bring.

Bloody Scotland | International Crime Writing Festival 

‘Spring Offensive’ by Edward Marston

Published by Allison & Busby,
23 January 2025.
ISBN: 978-0-7490-315-6 (PB)

It is spring 1918 and things are going badly for Britain and its allies as the Germans launch their Spring Offensive. Battalions of stormtroopers are forcing their way through the allied lines, while a million shells explode over them. Thousands of British soldiers have been killed or seriously wounded.

In London a fire breaks out and the Fire Brigade struggle to try to save the neighbouring houses and shops. Under the cover of the chaos caused by the fire, a nearby bank is robbed. Two police constables, who are on patrol, come upon the robbers leaving the bank and are viciously attacked; one is knocked unconscious and the other is stabbed to death.

Summoned in the middle of the night, Detective Inspector Harvey Marmion hurries to the scene of the crime. He is particularly distressed by the murder because the dead constable is an old friend who had joined the police force at the same time as Marmion. For once Marmion’s superior officer is fully supportive and allows him all the manpower available. This is a notable concession because there are a limited number of policemen at his disposal, as many former police officers are now serving in the army. Unfortunately, the officer that Marmion most wants to support him is not available. His trusted second-in-command, Detective Sergeant Joe Keedy, is still on the sick list after he was seriously wounded. Keedy was shot while breaking up a siege some weeks before and has just come out of hospital. He is still convalescent, although he is determined to be fully fit as soon as possible, both because he is eager to return to work and, even more important, he intends to walk down the aisle unaided when he marries Marmion’s daughter, Alice.

In Keedy’s place, Marmion is assigned Acting Detective Sergeant Clifford Burge, a dedicated and intelligent young detective who is eager to learn but does not possess Keedy’s experience or the instinct that comes with it. Marmion deduces that there must had been three active and ruthless men to carry out the actual robbery, two to invade the bank and a driver of the stolen getaway car. However, Marmion is also certain that there must have been another player who had provided the robbers with information about the security alarms in place in the bank and the way to circumvent them. He identifies three suspects amongst people previously employed by the bank. Keedy, who insists that his body might need further rest but his brain needs stimulation, suggests a fourth person who may be of interest. Marmion and Burge work their way through the suspects, attempting to identify the person who has betrayed the bank’s trust and facilitated the robbery. This entails travelling not just within London but right across the country. At the same time they work on tracking down the three men who physically committed the robbery, whom Marmion thinks have gone to ground somewhere outside the capital. They are handicapped by the shortage of manpower within the police force throughout the country, but they are helped by the willingness of everybody to do all they can to capture the killers of the policeman.

Marmion tries not to allow personal problems to interfere with his concentration on the investigation, but this is far from easy, and it is even harder when he knows that his wife, Ellen, is afraid. The Marmions’ son, Paul, was wounded fighting in the war and although he recovered physically, his mental health deteriorated. When Paul was discharged from the army, he disappeared from the lives of his parents and sister and fell into bad company. Now Ellen is terrified when she realises that somebody is sneaking into their house and stealing money and clothes, and she is also convinced that she is being followed. Despite having had the locks changed, Ellen feels unsafe in her own home, but is the culprit her son or one of Paul’s unpleasant new friends?

Marmion and his subordinates are well aware that, even if the investigation is successful and they trace the robbers to their hiding place, these are dangerous, desperate men who have already killed once and will have nothing to lose if they are cornered. Marmion is determined to ensure that the final confrontation with the killers does not prove fatal to any more of the policemen serving under his command.

Spring Offensive is the eleventh book in the Home Front Detective series and it is a fascinating addition to an excellent series. The characters are engaging and the historical background is cleverly portrayed as it captures the horrors, tragedies and challenges of life on the Home Front in Britain during the First World War. This is a very enjoyable book which I thoroughly recommend.
------
Reviewer: Carol Westron

Edward Marston was born and brought up in South Wales. He read Modern History at Oxford then lectured on the subject for three years before becoming a full-time freelance writer. His first historical mystery, The Queen's Head, was published in 1988, launching the Nicholas Bracewell series. A former chairman of the Crime Writers Association Edward has written over forty original plays for radio, film, television and the theatre. Edward lives in Gloucestershire with his wife and author Judith Cutler.  Murder in Transit, is the 22^nd book in the Railway Detective series. 

http://www.edwardmarston.com/  

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

‘Liars Island’ by T. Orr Munro

Published by HQ,
21 November 2024.
ISBN: 978-0-00864470-3 (HB)

Liars Island is the third novel in the CSI Ally Dymond series. Dymond appears a fairly complex character with a considerable back story (I haven’t read the first two books in the series so have pieced it together as perhaps you will have to), including adoptive parents, an abusive drunk ex-husband and a daughter (the result of a teenage pregnancy) who was almost the third female victim of a murdering paramedic. Dymond killed the paramedic (no spoiler here as she tells us early on), but this is known only to two other people and not to the police. As the novel starts she is waiting to hear if her application to rejoin the Major Investigations Unit has been successful whilst having suspicions that someone is trying to block it. Dymond’s career has suffered because she exposed corruption in the police force.

Kieran Deveney, a partner in a water sports centre on Liars Island off the Devon coast, is found dead in a remote cove. Before long two islanders both confess separately to the murder. They each claim they acted alone, and neither can be convicted as long as the other stands by their story. Dymond has her own reasons for not wanting to go to an island which she knew well in her childhood (these concern her adoptive father’s death – more back story), but she cannot avoid doing so for the demands of her professional life. When she arrives with a young and inexperienced colleague, Dymond finds a very close community of a handful of people, all of whom seem to have something in their lives that they wish to conceal (her junior colleague says at one point ‘It’s like everyone on the island is hiding a dirty little secret’). Dymond’s exposure to this group becomes intense as storms hit and she and her colleague cannot get off the island as planned. What was supposed to be a day trip stretches into considerably more than that.

Gradually we discover that the few people left on the island all have their reasons for killing Deveney as well as their reasons for not wanting to leave the island. This is skilfully done by the periodic appearance of crime scene examination reports and Facebook Messenger posts. There are also flashbacks in the voices of those remaining on the island, all of which end along the lines of ‘But he belonged here now. This is his home. He couldn’t leave Liars Island. Not now . . . Not ever.’

A closed community, then, made up of people who have every reason to avoid the scrutiny of those on the mainland in general and the police in particular. Another death muddies the waters, and during Dymond’s enforced sojourn she discovers more and realises the potential danger she and her colleague are in. The climax is dramatic, with the dreadful conditions and the sea playing their part. Dymond is helped by what she learned from her sailor father.

This is a very readable and atmospheric novel, with fully-drawn characters and a tight plot as well as more than passing nods to contemporary issues. Munro makes the most of the island and marine setting. The story works its way inexorably to a conclusion, and although by that time there are a limited number of suspects left, the ending is thoroughly convincing. The postscript is heart-warming, with some tensions released in Dymond’s relationships with her teenage daughter, her adoptive mother and a potential lover. I am very happy to recommend it.
------
Reviewer: David Whittle

T. Orr Munro was born in Hampshire. After university she trained as a Crime Scene Investigator, then became a secondary School teacher. She changed career at 33 to become a police and rime journalist. She has since returned with her family to live in North Devon, the setting for the Ally Dymond series. Her time as a CSI provided much of the inspiration for the novels, shining a light on what happens behind the crime scene tape. 

David Whittle is firstly a musician (he is an organist and was Director of Music at Leicester Grammar School for over 30 years) but has always enjoyed crime fiction. This led him to write a biography of the composer Bruce Montgomery who is better known to lovers of crime fiction as Edmund Crispin, about whom he gives talks now and then. He is currently convenor of the East Midlands Chapter of the Crime Writers’ Association.

‘The Silent Quarry’ by Cheryl Rees-Price

Published by The book Folks,
22 July 2020.
ISBN: 978-1-91351655-5

The story opens when teenager Gwen Collier awakens after being unconscious for several weeks.  Did I have an accident? she asks her mother. Despite physiotherapy and counselling Gwen has no memory of what happened to her.

Move forward twenty years. Gwen is now married to Matt Thomas, and they have two children. But it becomes clear that their marriage is not a happy one.

After a rather drunken party, to clear her head Gwen takes her Siberian husky, Blue, for a walk and ends up on Quarry Road a place that she has avoided since she had been found there unconscious as a teenager, and where her school friend Beth was found dead. She decides to go further but as she does, so her unease grows and as she reaches the shack, where she and Beth used to meet and she misses her step and finds herself falling,

When Gwen is reported missing DI Winter Meadows and DC Edris, the new trainee respond to the call.  The village of Bryn Melyn is not a big place, and Winter Meadows recognises Gwen’s husband Matt Thomas, as the same unpleasant bully he was at school.

Then Winter receives the news that Gwen has been found and taken to hospital. She is confused and has a nasty bump on the back on her head and according to the doctor, has regressed to a fifteen-year-old girl.  But it is possible that she may now regain all of her previous memories.

Soon Gwen begins to have flashbacks, but they are random and disjointed.

DI Winter Meadows reopens what has for some time been a cold case. However, it is to be remembered that Beth’s killer was never caught, and Gwen with her returning memory now faces a greater danger, at the hand of whoever killed Beth.

As Winter Meadows investigation progresses it becomes clear that many people have secrets that they don’t wish to be revealed. It also becomes clear that Winter Meadows is a little in love with Gwen. Will they have a happy ending?

And many people have lied, as to where they were at the time of the incident, two being Giles Epworth, the head teacher, and Gwen’s husband Matt. Will DI Meadows find the killer before he strikes to protect the truth emerging.

This is a fascinating story, with many twists and turns. But the most spectacular is the twist at the end. Now that is what I call a twist. Highly recommended.
------
Reviewer: Lizzie Sirett

Cheryl Rees-Price was born in Cardiff and moved as a young child to a small village on the edge of The Black Mountain, South Wales, where she still lives with her husband and three cats. After leaving school she worked as a legal clerk for several years before leaving to raise her two daughters. Cheryl returned to education, studying philosophy, sociology, and accountancy whilst working as a part time bookkeeper. She now works as a finance director for a company that delivers project management and accounting services. In her spare time Cheryl indulges in her passion for writing. Her other hobbies include walking and gardening which free her mind to develop plots and create colourful characters.

‘The Last Days of Kira Mullan’ by Nicci French

Published by Simon & Schuster,
16 January 2025.
ISBN: 978-1-3985-2413-2 (HB)

What do you do if you suspect someone has been murdered but everyone around you, even the police, assumes it was suicide? That’s the situation Nancy finds herself in when Kira, the young woman in the flat downstairs, is discovered hanging from a beam.

For Nancy it’s worse than simply not being believed. She’s recovering from a breakdown caused by overwork, and everything she says is put down to a relapse. Nobody takes her seriously, even – or especially – her solicitous partner Felix and their over-maternal neighbour Michelle. Nancy is convinced she is right and sets out to prove it. Her methods get her into trouble; Felix, Michelle and another neighbour, junior doctor Harry, call in a psychiatrist, and she is hauled off to the worst kind of mental health facility.

Meanwhile Maud, a sharp-eyed detective inspector has taken an interest in the case and starts to look more closely at the evidence.  By the time Nancy is finally released from the facility Maud has serious doubts about the original verdict, and Nancy’s reasons for her unshaken belief give her more food for thought. She has a battle to fight to convince her senior officer that the case merits further investigation, but Maud is made of stern stuff and wins out.

Like all Nicci French’s novels, this one is primarily about the people affected by the crime – for there’s little doubt there has been a crime. Nancy remains at the centre throughout, determined against the odds to prove that her breakdown was a temporary lapse, and hasn’t affected her judgement. Felix is ubiquitously at her shoulder, apparently caring and protective but with a well-hidden darker side. Michelle’s nosiness is thinly disguised as neighbourly concern. The various neighbours, friends, medical professionals and police all have distinct personalities, and so does the community they all inhabit. Even more vividly portrayed is the mental health facility, where Nancy’s struggles against even worse odds are the stuff of nightmares.

There’s a strong whodunnit thread, with several potential killers, but mainly the novel is about Nancy’s fight to be believed, and to believe in herself again. On another level it’s about relationships, their complexities and duplicities, what we show to others and what we hide. It’s more than crime novel – but so are all the best crime novels. 
------
Reviewer: Lynne Patrick

Nicci French is a pseudonym used by Sean French and Nicci Gerrard, two London journalists who conceive and write together psychological thrillers.

Lynne Patrick has been a writer ever since she could pick up a pen, and has enjoyed success with short stories, reviews and feature journalism, but never, alas, with a novel. She crossed to the dark side to become a publisher for a few years and is proud to have launched several careers which are now burgeoning. She lives in Oxfordshire in a house groaning with books, about half of them crime fiction.