‘I Am Half-Sick of Shadows’ by Alan Bradley

Published by Orion,
3^rd November 2011. 

ISBN: 978-0-4091-1420-8

It’s a cold winter in the 1950’s, and devotees of this series will know that with the fortunes of the de Luce family being in a dire state, it will be cold indeed in Buckshaw the family seat, which is fast becoming a ruin.  In an effort to stem deterioration and improve the family’s financial situation Colonel de Luce has rented out Buckshaw to a film company - well not in its entirety, the family consisting of the Colonel and his three daughters and his staff will remain in residence, with their rooms off-limits, with a number of rooms being assigned to the film company.   Eleven year-old Flavia de Luce, budding scientist, has big plans for Christmas which she is brewing in her laboratory in the East wing – luckily it’s so cold in the East wing that no one visits and Flavia can experiment to her heart’s delight – although her method of experiment to prove or disprove the existence of Father Christmas is somewhat controversial and may provoke comment.

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For Flavia’s two sisters Ophelia (Feely) and Daffy (Daphne), both who Flavia is convinced hate her for some reason she cannot fathom, the arrival of the screens most glamorous star Phyllis Wyvern is a high spot on what was expected to be a dreary Christmas.

With filming, cameras, cables, lights and an impromptu Christmas Eve performance attended by many of the villagers, when a heavy snowfall cuts Buckshaw off from the rest of the world, there is chaos indeed.  As everyone finds a corner and settles to wait out the weather, someone has murder in mind.  With the house cut off Flavia users her powers of observation and deduction to find the killer.  But soon despite the weather Inspector Hewitt is on the case and does not welcome Flavia’s interference.  Undeterred she continues her own investigations which leads her into great danger.

Flavia continues to be an engaging and interesting protagonist. This is a delightful entry in this marvellous series and is highly recommended.

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Lizzie Hayes

Alan Bradley was born in Toronto and grew up in Cobourg, Ontario. With an education in electronic engineering, Alan worked at numerous radio and television stations in Ontario, and at Ryerson Polytechnical Institute (now Ryerson University) in Toronto, before becoming Director of Television Engineering in the media centre at the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon, SK, where he remained for 25 years before taking early retirement to write in 1994.

In July of 2007 he won the Debut Dagger Award of the (British) Crimewriter’s Association for his novel The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, the first of a series featuring eleven year old Flavia de Luce.
Alan Bradley lives in Malta, with his wife Shirley and two calculating cats.

‘Truth Dare Kill’ by Gordon Ferris

 Published by Corvus

6 October 2011.  

ISBN 978-0-85789-492-2 

Danny McRae having survived the war has set himself up as a private investigator. The world is trying to get back to normality, but for Danny, who has no memory of a year of his life, what is normality?  He knows that he was in France on a mission and he knows that he was captured by the Germans, but for the rest…..

His first case is very reminiscence of what we know of the Golden Age, as beautiful elegant, upper-class Kate Graveney hires Danny to investigate the death of her lover – she says she is not certain whether she killed him, or  if it was  the bomb that ravaged the flat in which they were both staying.

Danny set’s out on this his first investigation, but Danny is still subject to black-outs that are a result of his head injury which account for his loss of a year’s memory. As he sets off on a hunt through bomb-ravaged London, he meets Valerie who seems to be on his side, something he dearly needs – someone on his side.  But Valerie is elusive giving no address and just turning up out of the blue and disappearing just as abruptly.

  

As Danny attempts to establish whether Tony, Kate’s lover died in a bombing, his blackouts raise for him questions, as he reads about a brutal killer stalking London's red light district, and he wonders of just what he could be capable of when out of it.

Gradually, he begins to piece together the events leading up to his arrest in France and as he does so he becomes a threat to someone, someone who cannot risk him recovering his memory. With his handicap of not knowing Danny is stabbing around in the dark and the fact that an Inspector Wilson has it in for him doesn’t help.  

This is an excellent mystery with a wonderful ambiance of the mysteries of the late 1940’s.  It has a truly wonderful surprise ending, and is highly recommended.

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Lizzie Hayes

Gordon Ferris is an ex-techy in the Ministry of Defence, and ex-partner in one of the Big Four accountancy firms. He writes about the important things in life: conflicted heroes and headstrong women embroiled in tangled tales of life, love and death.  Other books are The Unquiet Heart and the highly acclaimed The Hanging Shed. 

‘The Deadly Touch of the Tigress’ by Ian Hamilton

Published by Sphere,
6 October 2011.
ISBN: 978-1-84744-503-2

Wow! I have been reviewing for fifteen years and I have never started a review with, Wow! This is one of the best books I have read in a long time.

Ava Lee is a forensic accountant - she tracks money owed to people who have advanced money in good faith, but then found that the recipients have reneged on their commitments.

Asked by her elderly Hong Kong based ‘Uncle’ to locate money that should have been paid to Andrew Tan, Ava sets out to track the money and return it to its rightful owner.  But, although she quickly successfully tracks the money, retrieving it is a different matter. Her quest takes her to Guyana, and it’s not a place I would ever want to visit, and if you read this book you won’t want to visit it either. But with some fancy footwork Ava sets up deal, but she is dealing with rogues and very influential rogues at that. Can Ava pull it off?

I was fascinated about the form of martial arts she practised bal mei, not that I was familiar with this form of martial art but interested because it is said to be Taoist, which is close to my heart. It is I think, having done a little Internet research a coincidence that the author Ian Hamilton should have a protagonist who practises a Taoist martial art, that instantly brings to mind J D Salinger’s ‘Raise High the Roof Beam Carpenters’ which features on it’s first page a Taoist tale, and that Ian Hamilton wrote a book entitled ‘In Search of J D Salinger’ this is I assume one of those bizarre coincidences.

For whatever reason you pick up this book, don’t put it down unless it is safely in your tote bag and you are taking it home. It is a not to be missed read. I just can’t wait for the next one.

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Lizzie Hayes

It was a life-threatening health scare that prompted Ian Hamilton to write his first in the series of captivating Ava Lee novels. Just two days out of hospital and recovering from surgery, Ian sat down at his computer. The name ‘Ava Lee’ came to him and the first chapter was quickly written. A few short weeks later, the first Ava Lee novel was completed. Ian is not a stranger to the literary world. He began his career as a journalist and wrote a non-fiction book in 1968, The Children’s Crusade, which was a Canadian Book-of-the-Month selection. He has written for several magazines and newspapers in Canada and the U.S., including Maclean’s, Boston Magazine, Saturday Night, the Regina Leader-Post, the Calgary Albertan, and the Calgary Herald. He has been a senior executive with the federal government, and as worked internationally as a diplomat and businessman. Although there are 40 years between books, Ian never lost his passion for writing. The years he spent travelling the world on business, spending countless hours on planes and hotels, became important influences on his writing, providing personal insights into the world of business and into the many people, places and cultures Ava Lee encounters. His inspiration for the Ava Lee series did not end when the first book was complete. About half way through writing the first book, an idea for the second book came to Ian and he built it into the plot of the first. He began writing the second book the day after the first book was finished. The same is true for the third and fourth books. Within eight months, all four books were complete. Ian secured a four-book deal from his publisher before the last two books were even read by the publisher. International rights have been sold into the UK, Australia, New Zealand, Holland, Germany and worldwide Spanish and French rights. Ian is currently working on the continuation of the Ava Lee series and has already completed books 5 and 6.
Ian lives in Burlington, Ontario with his wife Lorraine. He has four children and seven grandchildren.

‘Silent Mercy’ By Linda Fairstein

Published by Little Brown,

March 2011. ISBN: 978-1-4087-0241-3

This latest thriller featuring Assistant DA Alex Cooper and NYPD Detective Mike Chapman opens with the discovery of a headless body on the steps of a church in New York. Within days a second body turns up also left at a church, and not just any church, it is clear that the killer is making a particular point

To try and get in the mind of the killer Alex and Mike explore various religious beliefs trying to get a handle on the message being left by the killer.  With Mike being Catholic and Alex of Jewish decent there are many interesting discussions. Tackling a religion is never an easy subject but Linda does it in an interesting and non confrontational way

As with all the books in this acclaimed series Linda’s research is meticulous and we learn much about the history of New York landmarks. In this book we learn of the many churches in the city and in particular the Church of St John the Devine –the largest cathedral in the world.

Mercer Wallace completes the trio of pursuers of justice which take them to a stunning climax on Cape Cod.

A marvellous entry in this excellent series.

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Lizzie Hayes

Linda Fairstein, former prosecutor and best-selling crime novelist, is one of America’s foremost legal experts on crimes of violence against women and children. For three decades, from 1972 until 2002, she served in the office of the New York County District Attorney, where she was Chief of the Sex Crimes Prosecution Unit for twenty-five years. In that position, Ms. Fairstein supervised the investigation and trial of every Manhattan case involving sexual assault, domestic violence, child abuse and homicides arising out of these crimes. She was the lead attorney and directed all major litigation in these specialties, ranging from the homicide prosecution of Robert Chambers (the “Preppy Murder” case) in 1988 through the trial against the offenders charged with the riot in Central Park following the Puerto Rican Day parade in June, 2000.

Fairstein is an honors graduate of Vassar College (1969) and the University of Virginia School of Law (1972). In 1998, several of Fairstein’s law school classmates established a scholarship fund in her honor at their alma mater. The Fairstein Public Service Scholarship supports law school students interested in pursuing careers in the public sector. Linda Fairstein is married to Justin Feldman. She lives in Manhattan and on Martha’s Vineyard.

Earlier books in the series are Final Jeopardy (1996) Likely To Die (1997) Cold Hit (1999) The Deadhouse (2001)  The Bone Vault (2003) The Kills (2004) Entombed (2005) Death Dance (2006) Bad Blood (2007) Killer Heat (2008) Lethal Legacy (2009) Hell Gate (2010)

‘Above Suspicion’ by The Mulgray Twins

Published by Robert Hale,

October 2010.
ISBN: 978-0-7090-9136-3

Deborah J Smith (DJ)  an undercover investigator for Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs is currently residing in a B&B following information that a freighter carrying a consignment of drugs was due to arrive in the estuary of the Firth of Forth.  DJ’s instruction is surveillance -which is proving very boring.  What surveillance doesn’t cover is drawing attention to oneself and the local press by finding a dead body. ‘Undercover, not on the cover’ is the message DJ receives from her head of section Gerry Burnside.

Soon DJ and her trusty companion Gorgonzola, DJ’s Persian cat are re-assigned, this time DJ is to infiltrate the home of Sir Thomas Cameron-Blaik the wealthy and respected owner of Sron Dubh distillery on the island of Islay, by posing as a butler to locate the whereabouts of one Louis Moran.

Of course nothing goes to plan, and as ever Gorgonzola has her own agenda, as she puts her exceptional nose to good use.

A good romp with plenty of twists and turns along the way, as DJ attempts to remain alive and undetected long enough to attain her goal. 

An excellent entry in this popular series.

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Lizzie Hayes

The Mulgray Twins. Helen and Morna Mulgray born 1939 in Edinburgh, took up writing after they retired from teaching English at two neighbouring Secondary schools in Edinburgh. Other books in the series are
No Suspicious Circumstances (2007)
Under Suspicion (2008) Suspects All (2011)

‘A Bespoke Murder’ by Edward Marston

Published by Allison & Busby,

26 September 2011.

ISBN: 978-0-7490-0990-8

May 1915 and the Lusitania sailing from New York is in sight of land when she is torpedoed by the Germans.  The story is told by stewardess Irene Bayard who had worked on the Lusitania since her maiden voyage in September 2007.  

The sinking of the Lusitania provokes ferocious revengeful action in her home port of Liverpool.  The shops of anyone with a German name are looted, and even naturalised British citizens are not safe but beaten up at random. Sadly this action is soon seen in other major cities. But in London matters take a sinister turn when a tailor’s shop on Jermyn Street in London is burnt out and the owner killed.  Whilst fleeing from the shop at her father’s insistence Ruth Stein is waylaid by two soldiers and raped.

Assigned to the murder case are Inspector Harvey Mamion and Sergeant Keedy. The former, a family man, the latter a ladies man, but maybe he just needs to meet the right girl.

Whilst the action taken by Mamion and Keedy as they investigate both the murder and the rape, have all the hallmarks of a good detective story, with the satisfying knowledge that the strong arm of the law has a long stretch, much of the strength of the book is in the characters and their lives on the home front during war. Following her recent experience, Irene decides that she will return home to her sister Dorothy in London, and find work there.  Ruth Stein a quiet rather sheltered middle-class girl attempts to deal with the dreadful thing that has happened to her and, along with her family, the death of Jacob Stein. 

Cleverly plotted, well written and invoking the atmosphere of the time, I heartily recommend this book as an excellent read. I am delighted to see that this is the first in a new series and I look forward to the next one.

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Lizzie Hayes

Edward Marston was born and brought up in South Wales. He read Modern History at Oxford then lectured in 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 worked in radio, film, television and the theatre. Edward lives in the Cotswolds with is wife, author Judith Cutler.  A Bespoke Murder is the first in the Home Front Detective series.

‘The Drop’ by Michael Connelly

Published by Orion 27^th October 2011.
ISBN: 978-1-4091-3428-2

LAPD Detective Harry Bosch has been put on DROP – Deferred Retirement Option Plan, and is currently assigned to the Open-Unsolved Unit. The thousands of unsolved cases are slowly being evaluated in the light of forensic developments such as DNA.  A cold hit is when DNA from an old case is matched to the DNA in the nation’s databases and then the case is re-opened.  With his long experience Harry gets the cases that require careful handling, and when a cold case from 1989 gets a DNA hit for the rape and murder of young woman which points to a convicted rapist who was only eight at the time of the killing, the case is immediately assigned to Harry.

Within hours of being assigned his new case Harry gets an urgent call to investigate the death of Councilman Irvin Irving’s son George.  It appears that the Councilman who has considerable clout with the police department has requested that Harry take-over the investigation.  As Irvin Irving and Harry have clashed on many occasions over the last twenty-five years, with Irving seemingly bent of destroying Harry’s career, he is surprised and suspicious of the request, but is unable to get out of it.  Although told to put his cold case on the back burner and to concentrate on the death of George Irving, Harry continues to pursue both cases along with his new partner David Chu.  

As with previous books I was fascinated by the detail of the chase as Harry follows the trail of these two cases that twist and turn like live snakes.  While the cold case leads Harry in pursuit of justice for a brutally murdered young girl, the current case immerses him in politics, corruption and conspiracy.

While juggling with two cases, with the Police Chief and Councilman Irving constantly on his back, Harry is also a single parent caring for his fifteen-year-old daughter, and trying to have a personal life – a tall order.

A compelling entry in this excellent series, I couldn’t put this book down and read into the early hours to finish it.  One of the best books I have read this year, put it in your ‘must read’ list.

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Lizzie Hayes

Michael Connelly was born in Philadelphia, PA on July 21, 1956. After graduating in 1980, Connelly worked at newspapers in Daytona Beach and Fort Lauderdale, Florida.  After three years on the crime beat in L.A., Connelly began writing his first novel to feature LAPD Detective Hieronymus Bosch. His first book The Black Echo, based in part on a true crime that had occurred in Los Angeles, was published in 1992 and won the Edgar Award for Best First Novel by the Mystery Writers of America. Connelly followed up with three more Bosch books, The Black Ice, The Concrete Blonde, and The Last Coyote, before publishing The Poet in 1996—a thriller with a newspaper reporter as a protagonist. In 1997, he went back to Bosch with Trunk Music, and in 1998 another non-series thriller, Blood Work, was published.  Connelly's next book, Angels Flight, was released in 1999 and was another entry in the Harry Bosch series. The non-series novel Void Moon was released in 2000 and introduced a new character, Cassie Black, a high-stakes Las Vegas thief. His 2001 release, A Darkness More Than Night, united Harry Bosch with Terry McCaleb from Blood Work.  In 2002, Connelly released two novels. The first, the Harry Bosch book City Of Bones. The second release was a stand-alone thriller, Chasing The Dime. Lost Light was published in 2003. It is another in the Harry Bosch series but the first written in first person. Connelly's 2004 novel, The Narrows, is the sequel to The Poet. His 11th Harry Bosch novel, The Closers, was published in May 2005. The Lincoln Lawyer, Connelly's first-ever legal thriller and his 16th novel, was published in October. This book introduced Mickey Haller, a Los Angeles defense attorney who works out of the back seat of his Lincoln Town Car.  Echo Park, was released in October 2006. The Overlook, Michael's 18th novel, was originally serialized in the New York Times Magazine. This Harry Bosch story was published as a book with additional material in May 2007. Michael's 19th novel, The Brass Verdict, was released in October 2008. It introduces Lincoln lawyer Mickey Haller to LAPD Detective Harry Bosch in a fast-paced legal thriller. Michael's 20th novel, The Scarecrow, was first released in May 2009, and reunites reporter Jack McEvoy and FBI Agent Rachel Walling for the first time since The Poet. In the 15th Harry Bosch novel, Nine Dragons, Bosch goes to Hong Kong to find his missing daughter. It is the most personal Bosch story since The Last Coyote.  In October 2010, The Reversal was released. This book has Mickey Haller and Harry Bosch working together on the high-profile retrial of a brutal child murder. The Fifth Witness, a Mickey Haller novel, was released in April 2011.     Michael lives with his family in Florida.

‘Cage of Bones’ by Tania Carver

Published by Sphere,
17 September 2011.

ISBN: 978-0-7515-4525-8

Employees of a building company inspecting an old house for demolition, discover a feral child in the cellar imprisoned in a cage of human bones.

Detective Inspector Phil Brennan of the Essex Police Major Incident Squad, calls in his partner psychologist Marina Esposito, to try and talk to the child, but the child can barely form words. 

As the CSI and the detectives investigate the cellar it becomes apparent that this is not an isolated incident. They have disturbed a killer who has been operating secretly undetected for many years.

How has this killer operated for so long, where are his victims? And more importantly does he have accomplices that have enabled him to have stayed hidden for so many years?

This is the most action packed thriller that I have read for many a year. The story moves along at a cracking pace. The characters are well fleshed out and each of their lives a story in themselves.  Detective Rose Martin, manipulative and power hungry, who had an affair with DCI Ben Fenwick, and is now is well in with his successor DCI Brian Glass, back on duty after a period of recuperation following her abduction in an earlier case. DS Mickey Philips, who has unexpressed feeling for DC Anni Hepburn -will he ever be able to voice them?  And Faith – what is her story?

It’s not a comfortable book, delving as it does into the depths into which humans can sink. Greed, lust for power, and evil. As Phil Brennan digs around he becomes more and more uncomfortable – but he cannot put his finger on the cause of his discomfort, he only knows something is wrong, but what?  As the hunt for the killer intensifies before he kills again, there are secrets long buried now rising to the surface which will have a profound effect on Brennan, and those around him.

For lovers of a good thriller this is a must.  Atmospheric and plain scary you won’t be able to put it down. 

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Lizzie Hayes

Tania Carver is the pseudonym for the husband and writing team Martin Waits and his wife Linda Waits. Martin Waits is the author of the Joe Donovan crime series set in Newcastle.

‘Rip Tide’ by Stella Rimington

Published by Bloomsbury, July 2011.

ISBN: 978-1-4088-1112-2

Mitchell Berger who has lived in most places in the world, is now living in Athens and co-ordinating aid for the charity UCSO. A call that an aid ship bound for Mombasa had been subject to a hijacking attempt, which had been foiled by a French Navy patrol is on the face of it good news. However this is the third hijacking of an aid ship and Mitchell surmises that it is no chance attack, as like the earlier two hijacking this particular aid ship was carrying unusually expensive cargo.  With a sigh Mitchell telephones the London Headquarters of UCSO and alerts his boss David Blakey to the problem. An ex-MI6 officer David decides to have a chat with an old colleague.

Meanwhile, the problem reaches MI5 Officer Liz Carlyle by a different route as the French Navy who captured the pirates have found that one of the gang has a British passport.  Would Liz like to question the prisoner?  During the decade that Liz Carlyle has been in MI5 things have changed dramatically following 9/11. So a British citizen of Pakistani descent in a gang of Somalis pirates raises a red flag.

As Liz investigates the background of the prisoner Amir Khan, and tries to make sense of the chain that has resulted in Amir being part of a pirate gang, a separate prong of attack is being put in place in Greece.

Whilst the investigation steps up, and Liz and her team try to get a handle on the facts and information that they are uncovering, equally fascinating are the behind the scenes politics and relationships inside MI5 and MI6

On a personal level Liz is currently enjoying a relationship with a French counterpart, but can relationships ever stand still?

An exciting entry in this excellent series, this book is recommended.

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Lizzie Hayes

 Dame Stella Rimington joined the Security Service (MI5) in 1968 and during her career she worked in all the main fields of the Service's responsibilities - counter-subversion, counter-espionage and counter-terrorism - and became successively Director of all three branches. She was appointed Director-General of MI5 in 1992. She was the first woman to hold the post and the first Director-General whose name was publicly announced on appointment. She has written her autobiography and five Liz Carlyle novels. She lives in London and Norfolk.

 Earlier books in the series are: At Risk, Secret Asset, Illegal Action, Dead Line and Present Danger

‘Taboo’ by Casey Hill

Read by Olivia Caffrey

Published by Whole Story Audio Books, July 2011. ISBN: 978-1-40748-565-2

(9 CD’s) Playing time 10 Hours.

Reilly Steel forensic investigator, California born and bred, has taken a job in Dublin, to bring the Dublin police force into the forensic twenty-first century. Ireland had come as something of a shock to her.  Originally Ireland had sounded magical from tales told by her Irish father Mike Steel, but the Ireland of today she has found to be a very different place, and so has her father.

When the bodies of a young man and woman are found in an apartment in a good part of town it looks initially a possible killing followed by suicide, with no third party involved, but Reilly voices other possibilities much to the disgust of  Detective Pete Kennedy of the Serious Crime Unit - he is keen for an open and shut case. But Detective Chris Delaney has a more open mind and at least listens to her.  As more bodies turn up it becomes a serious possibility that they have a serial killer operating in Dublin.

Having a young American female brought in to update their forensic operation unsurprisingly creates tension and in some cases resentment. Reilly deals with the situation with professionalism. As Reilly and her team sifted through the ever increasing crime scenes, I was enthralled as along with the detectives the deductions begin to point in an unexpected surprising direction.

This is a well-plotted and fascinating mystery, with an interesting protagonist, who has a troubled past that is only slowly revealed, keeping the reader avidly turning the pages.  I highly recommend this mystery and eagerly look forward to hearing more of Reilly Steel.

Much of my enjoyment in this story comes from the narration by Olivia Caffrey - she has a beautiful voice, with that lovely Irish lilt which effortlessly produced a credible American accent when the story called for it.

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Lizzie Hayes

Casey Hill is the pseudonym of husband and wife writing team, Kevin and Melissa Hill. Melissa is a bestselling author in her own right with her hugely popular novels about contemporary women's lives. A deserve to delve into the darker side of fiction led her to team up with Kevin to write Taboo, the first in a series of forensic thrillers featuring Californian-born investigator Reilly Steel.

Olivia Caffrey has stage, film and TV experience, including Playing the Field and Waking the Dead. Her film credits include Conspiracy of Silence and The Matchmaker, and she has performed in a number of theatre productions including Pride and Prejudice and A Christmas Carol.