‘Kill A Stranger’ by Simon Kernick

Published by Headline,
26 November 2010.
ISBN: 978-1-4722-70955-5 (HB)

Matt Walters arrives home from a trip to London looking forward to seeing his pregnant fiancée Kate. Instead to his horror there is a dead woman in their bed and no sign of Kate.

 

When a phone in her hand rings he answers and is told to get rid of the body. He is then shown a picture of Kate with a noose around her neck and told to tell no one especially the police.

 

So begins a nightmare for Matt.

 

After disposing of the body, he is instructed to kill a certain man if he ever wants to see Kate again. Distraught he goes to the address given, he is to kill him and retrieve a certain “master copy”, he is not told of its contents. Matt actually kills the man, but it is an accident, and he fails to get the requested drive off him.

 

Knowing Kate's life depends upon it he now has to search for the copy, but where to begin? It leads him to discover things involving Kate he never knew about, but he is still determined to save her.

 

At the same time, we learn that D.C. Cameron Doyle and his team are trying to solve a number of murders. Each chapter deals with three suspects as they tell their stories. It becomes clear to the reader that not one of them are as they first appear; all have something to hide.

 

Meanwhile Kate's father, the very wealthy Sir Hugh Roper, is convinced Matt is behind the disappearance of his daughter. He instructs his “heavies” to get the truth out of him. Matt now has even more problems heaped upon him and only just escapes by the skin of his teeth, but not unscathed.

 

Every time he gets nearer to finding the “copy” and the truth someone gets killed.

 

I am a great fan of Simon Kernick's and once more he comes up with a great plot. It was interesting to see how each character saw certain incidents from different angles justifying their actions. He certainly knows how to grip the reader and not let go until the final pages. The last chapter especially is quite a revelation.

Highly recommended.

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Reviewer:  Tricia Chappell

Simon Kernick is one of Britain's most exciting new thriller writers. He arrived on the crime writing scene with his highly acclaimed debut novel The Business of Dying, the story of a corrupt cop moonlighting as a hitman. However, Simon's big breakthrough came with his novel Relentless which was selected by Richard and Judy for their Recommended Summer Reads promotion, and then rapidly went on to become the bestselling thriller of 2007. Simon's research is what makes his thrillers so authentic. He talks both on and off the record to members of Special Branch, the Anti-Terrorist Branch and the Serious and Organised Crime Agency, so he gets to hear first hand what actually happens in the dark and murky underbelly of UK crime. To find out more about Simon Kernick and his thrillers, please

 www.simonkernick.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.

‘The Woman Downstairs’ by Elisabeth Carpenter

Published by Orion,
6 February 2020.
ISBN: 978-1-409-18149-1 (PB) 

Sarah lives in a flat with her teenage son and works in a café owned by her best friend Kim. She hardly knows anyone in the other flats, and is both shocked and curious when a body is found in the one below hers, especially when it turns out that it’s been there as long as she has lived in the block.

Then there’s Laura, who has lived alone since her father’s death after a long illness and is trying to piece together some kind of life. She gets a job in telesales and is surprised to find one of the managers is Tom, who used to be her friend at primary school.

In Elisabeth Carpenter’s earlier novels she has never flinched from addressing difficult issues. She’s offered answers to hard questions like how far can you trust your own family members? and can a mother’s loyalty be stretched too far?  This time she asks another tough one:  how well we do we know our neighbours, and do we bear any responsibility for them?

There are various issues to be resolved: who lived, and died, in the flat downstairs? How did he (or she) die? Why did no one realize he (or she) had gone missing? Who is Catherine, and how does she fit into the story? And who are the mysterious strangers who keep appearing?

Sarah is studying journalism and has a keen eye for a mystery. Her story interweaves with Laura’s attempts to build a new life, and slowly some answers begin to emerge. Elisabeth Carpenter’s skill at creating rounded, recognizable characters is very much in evidence, as is her ability to evoke highly visual settings. Laura is intelligent, and less socially inept than her upbringing might suggest. Her workmate Suzanne is loud and on the gossipy side of gregarious. Sarah’s policeman ex-husband is self-obsessed and borderline controlling.

The flats aren’t luxury apartments, but they fall short of being seedy and disreputable. Kim’s Kaff is several notches above greasy spoon. Laura’s workplace is noisy and slightly depressing, but her flat is neat and comfortable.

The plot goes through some satisfying twists and turns, and the questions are answered eventually – all except the biggest one: how well do we really know the people around us? The result is another piece of quality writing from this award-winning author; it will make you laugh, cry, and above all think.
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Reviewer: Lynne Patrick

Elisabeth (Libby) 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.

 https://elisabethcarpenter.co.uk

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.

‘Zero 22’ by Chris Ryan

 Published by Coronet,
26 November 2020.
ISBN: 978-1-47366795-2 (HB)

 

When an SAS group codenamed Zero 22 and led by Danny Black drive a convoy across the desert in Syria on a mission to escort a group of Kurds out of the country, they are not expecting too much resistance. However, a sudden attack on them means the task ends in devastation.  Danny finds evidence of a Russian missile launcher, photographs it and makes his escape.

 

On his return safely back to England he reports to his C.O and is told a photo he also took of a dead body was of a member of the Wagner Group, a private military group connected to Russia.

 

It is obvious there has been a leak, but who is responsible? It must be someone high up in authority. An American, General O'Brien comes under suspicion and Danny is given instructions to assassinate him. As he desperately wants to avenge the death of his comrades of Zero 22, he has no hesitation in accepting the assignment. He is teamed up with M16 agent Bethany White. They have a bit of a history and she once had wanted to kill Danny. Can he trust her?

 

They are dropped into the desert near Amman where O'Brien is known to be. They make it to a safe house where they pick up new identities. So begins what Danny and Bethany thought would be a straight forward mission, but revelations at almost the last minute throw everything into chaos. Not all is as it seems. They have to be flown out of Amman unexpectedly and at short notice.

 

Danny and Bethany find themselves the target of forces other than Russian and have more than one brush with death. Things get really complicated when they need to discover the truth in time to prevent a suspected attack on American soil. Can they manage it in time and who is behind it? Even the American President comes under suspicion.

 

What a great book, it leaps from one heart stopping moment to another with almost continuous nail-biting action. I felt quite exhausted by the last page!

 

The attention to detail of the military action and the subterfuge that goes on reveals how much Chris Ryan really knows of the workings of the SAS and powers that be.

 

Highly recommended for lovers of nonstop, page turning excitement.
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Reviewer:  Tricia Chappell

Chris Ryan was born near Newcastle in 1961. He joined the SAS in 1984. During his ten years there he was involved in overt and covert operations and was also sniper team commander of the anti-terrorist team. During the Gulf War, Chris Ryan was the only member of an eight-man unit to escape from Iraq, where three colleagues were killed and four captured. It was the longest escape and evasion in the history of the SAS. For this he was awarded the Military Medal. For his last two years he was selecting and training potential recruits for the SAS. He wrote about his experiences in the bestseller The One That Got Away, which was adapted for screen, and since then he has written other works of non-fiction, bestselling novels and a series of childrens' books. He lectures in business motivation and security and is a consultant for a security organisation.

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.

Celebrating 50 Years Of Peter Lovesey's Crime Fiction

 

2020 marks the 50th anniversary of the publication of
Wobble to Death,
Peter Lovesey's debut mystery.
Join Murder by the Book and Soho Press in celebrating the Golden Anniversary of the Diamond Dagger Winner and MWA Grand Master with a virtual gala.

Toastmakers include
Louise Penny, Peter Robinson, Jeffery Deaver, Lawrence Block, and Cara Black.
Peter Lovesey will announce the winner of the Peter Lovesey First Crime Novel Contest. 

Attendees who preorder or purchase a signed copy of the limited edition 50th anniversary hardcover of Wobble to Death will receive an exclusive printed collectible program for the gala. 

Most of our events can be watched live on the Murder By The Book YouTube page, which can be found Here.

When it’s time for the event to begin, you should be able to refresh the page until the live video shows up as a new post. Or, if you've subscribed to our channel you'll get a notification when we go live. 

If you miss the beginning of the talk, as soon as it wraps up you can find it on our
YOUTUBE CHANNEL to watch from the beginning.

Of course, the timing is crucial. In Houston, the home of Murder by the Book, it will be 6pm. On the eastern side of the United States, 7pm. On the west, 4pm. And I must remember to be awake at midnight, UK time. But fear not, English fans. You will be able to re-run the event on Youtube later.

Wobble To Death
Special Signed Collector’s Edition

The book that launched my mystery writing career fifty years ago was Wobble to Death, which has now been reissued by Soho Press in a special signed collector’s edition. Last weekend Tom Nolan wrote in the Wall Street Journal:

“Remarkably, the still productive Peter Lovesey’s mystery-writing career has stretched a decade longer then the seemingly eternal Simenon’s. Mr Lovesey’s first book, Wobble to Death (Soho Crime, 274 pages $25), celebrates its 50th anniversary this year with a gilt-trimmed collector’s edition that includes a foreword by Jeffery Deaver, who notes that, even as a beginner, ‘Lovesey writes . . . with the skill of an illusionist.’ Set in the London of 1879, Wobble to Death finds police Sgt. Cribb stalking a murderer over the course of a six-day speed-walking race. The Mystery Writers of America named this book one of the 100 best mysteries of all time; half a century later, the magic holds up.”

Still productive? It’s true. I’m glad to report that the twentieth novel in the Peter Diamond series will be published by Soho Crime in the US and Sphere in the UK in the summer of 2021. That really is as much as I can tell you.

Thanks for your interest and support. Let’s look forward to a happier, less stressful new year for us all.
Peter