‘Murder by the Book’ by Debbie Young

Published by Hawkesbury Press. 
10 April 2018.

 ISBN 978-1-911223-26-9 (PB)

This is the third book in the series about Sophie Sayers in the fictional Cotswold village of Wendlebury Barrow.  Here Sophie is trying to develop an image on social media for the romance writer Hermione Minty.  Her boyfriend. Hector owns the village bookshop which needs some business after Christmas and Sophie is trying to help his earnings.  

She suggests a Valentine Dinner to the local pub manager and local characters (most of whom would be familiar to the regular reader) attend.   She and Hector are not fully established as a couple but in this book, she visits his parents for the first time and meets his family.

The Valentine’s Night in the Bluebird Inn is accompanied by a body falling into the well in the pub courtyard but, in all the excitement, nobody hears.  Eventually the body is discovered and the events leading to the death are elucidated.

Obviously, Sophie is getting established in the village and sees the people there as her friends.  This is a warm and cosy book which makes a nice read on a cold night!

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Reviewer: Jennifer S. Palmer

Debbie Young plans a series of 7 novels that happen during a year in the Cotswold village.

Debbie Young was born and raised in Sidcup, Kent. When she was 14, her family relocated to Germany for her father’s job. Debbie spent four years at Frankfurt International School, broadening her outlook as well as gaining the then brand new IB (International Baccalaureate). She returned to the UK to earn her BA (Hons) in English and Related Literature at the University of York, then lived and worked for a while in London and the West of England as a journalist and PR consultant.  In 1991 she moved to the Cotswolds. In 2002, she married a Scot named Gordon whom she met in Swindon – and not, as village rumour once had it, a Swede named Scottie.  In 2003, her daughter Laura was born.  Best Murder in Show was the first in her series featuring Sophie Sayers. There are now a further three books in this series.

https://authordebbieyoung.com

Jennifer Palmer Throughout my reading life crime fiction has been a constant interest; I really enjoyed my 15 years as an expatriate in the Far East, the Netherlands & the USA but occasionally the solace of closing my door to the outside world and sitting reading was highly therapeutic. I now lecture to adults on historical topics including Famous Historical Mysteries.

‘The Wanderer’ by Michael Ridpath

Published by Corvus,
6 September 2018.
ISBN: 978-1-78239-873-8 (PB)

This thriller sees the return from Boston of the intrepid Icelandic-American detective Inspector Magnus Jonson to the fire and ice territory of Iceland and Greenland to investigate some extraordinary crimes.  The body of a young Italian woman is found in mysterious circumstances near an ancient church and the spotlight of suspicion focuses on a TV crew filming a documentary about Gudrid, a legendary female Viking, who, 1,000 years earlier explored across continents.  As the novel progresses, more characters meet a sticky end and Magnus, who has featured in the author’s earlier books, seems no nearer to apprehending the perpetrator as the death count stacks up.

The wide-ranging research undertaken has been skillfully drip-fed into the story, the plotting is clever, with interesting twists and turns and the characters credible, if not exactly likeable. What is stunning is the way in which the author creatively introduces the reader to the fables and sagas of Iceland and interweaves these elements of history, fiction and myth into a contemporary crime drama.

Another pleasing dimension is the author’s dramatic description of the topography and weather conditions that directly orient the reader in the landscape   and makes him/her truly involved in, and caring about, the action.  

The clear, narrative style flows well and, like a stream of lava, doesn’t falter and the author’s experience as an engaging storyteller   shines through, the secrets, lies, divided loyalties, betrayals and hoaxes keeping the reader agog, guessing and entertained throughout.  A cracking whodunit.

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Reviewer: Serena Fairfax

 

Michael Ridpath was born in Devon in 1961 but brought up in Yorkshire. He was educated at Millfield, Merton College, Oxford. Before becoming a writer, Michael Ridpath used to work in the City of London as a bond trader.  He has written eight thrillers set in the worlds of business and finance. In 2010 he published the Where The Shadows Lie, the first in the Fire and Ice series featuring an Icelandic detective named Magnus Jonson. He has published four further books in the series.  In between the writing the series he has published three standalone novels the most recent being Amnesia in 2017. He lives in London.

http://michaelridpath.com/

Serena Fairfax spent her childhood in India, qualified as a lawyer in England and practised in London for many years. She began writing by contributing feature articles to legal periodicals   then turned her hand to fiction. Having published nine novels all, bar one, hardwired with a romantic theme, she has also written short stories and accounts of her explorations off the beaten track that feature on her blog. A tenth, distinctly unromantic, novel is a work in progress. Thrillers, crime and mystery narratives, collecting old masks and singing are a few of her favourite things.

www.serenafairfax.com

Roma Nova Extra’ By Alison Morton

Published by Pulcheria Press,
19 October 2018.
ISBN: 979-1-09731008-0 (PB)

The Roma Nova novels are set in an alternative history scenario in which the Roman Empire did not disappear. Instead, a few breakaway families showed great courage in establishing a new country, which is run on the Roman ideals of government and ruled by the female heads of the great families. The book is divided into two parts: the historical, which starts at AD 370 and concludes in  1983; and the contemporary, which starts in 2011 and ends in 2029.

This collection of short stories is cleverly collated to lead the reader through the history of Roma Nova from its beginning and traces its influence on world politics. I particularly enjoyed ‘A Roman Intervenes’, the bold and inventive story that used the potential of alternative history to describe how an envoy from Roma Nova took drastic action in an attempt to prevent Duke William from invading England in 1066.

The Roma Nova novels centre around Carina Mitela and her grandmother, Aurelia Mitela. Although there is one story featuring Aurelia at the end of the historical section, she plays a small part in Roma Nova Extra compared to Carina, who appears in all the stories in the contemporary part of the book, although she is not always the central protagonist. The stories vary in length and theme and feature a mixture of adventure stories, tales of political intrigue, and love stories, all skilfully weaved into the history of Roma Nova.

The concept of alternative history is fascinating and the author shows a masterly grasp of history and politics and its many ramifications, and the stories are well crafted and enjoyable. I have read and enjoyed all the novels about Carina and Aurelia and I found this a delightful ‘extra.’ I am slightly concerned that anybody who has not read the novels might find that the stories featuring Carina and Aurelia contain several ‘spoilers,’ and would recommend reading the novels first, they are excellent.

Roma Nova Extra is a very pleasurable read and one which I would recommend.

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Reviewer: Carol Westron

Alison Morton Even before she pulled on her first set of combats, Alison Morton was fascinated by the idea of women soldiers. Brought up by a feminist mother and an ex-military father, it never occurred to her that women couldn’t serve their country in the armed forces. Everybody in her family had done time in uniform and in theatre – regular and reserve Army, RAF, WRNS, WRAF – all over the globe. So busy in her day job, Alison joined the Territorial Army in a special communications regiment and left as a captain, having done all sorts of interesting and exciting things no civilian would ever know or see. Or that she can talk about, even now…
But something else fuels her writing… Fascinated by the mosaics at Ampurias (Spain), at their creation by the complex, power and value-driven Roman civilisation she started wondering what a modern Roman society would be like if run by strong women…

Now, she writes Roman-themed alternate history thrillers with tough heroines:

http://alison-morton.com

Carol Westron is a successful short story writer and a Creative Writing teacher.  She is the moderator for the cosy/historical crime panel, The Deadly Dames.  Her crime novels are set both in contemporary and Victorian times.  The Terminal Velocity of Cats the first in her Scene of Crimes novels, was published July 2013. Carol recently gave an interview to Mystery People. To read the interview click on the link below.

https://promotingcrime.blogspot.co.uk/2017/11/carol-westron.html

www.carolwestron.com
http://carolwestron.blogspot.co.uk/

To read a review of Carol latest book Strangers and Angels click on the title.