‘The American Mission’ by Matthew Palmer

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

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

‘Locked in’ by Jussi Adler-Olsen

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

www.jussiadlerolsen.dk/ 

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

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

‘The Secret of The Three Fates’ by Jess Armstrong

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

www.carolwestron.com

Christmas is coming. What is Santa going to do?

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

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

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

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

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

Oh! dear!

‘A Killer of Influence’ by JD Kirk

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

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

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

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

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

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

www.marsalitaylor.co.uk

‘Midnight in Vienna’ by Jane Thynne

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

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

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

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

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

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

janethynne.com 

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

www.marsalitaylor.co.uk

‘Cold in The Earth’ by Thorne Moore

Published by Diamond Crime,
22 October 2024.
ISBN: 1-91564943-0 (PB)

Picking up a new book by Thorne Moore guarantees two things: a rattling good story, and a quality of writing which carries you along and ensures you don’t want to stop reading it till the last page. Add to that characters you warm to and want to know more about, locations that spring off the page, and an approach to crime fiction quite unlike any I’ve encountered elsewhere, and it’s one of those indefinable mysteries why her books aren’t top of the bestseller lists.

Cold in the Earth follows ex-policewoman Rosanna Quillan as she sets off to track down a woman who holds the key to the whereabouts of four, possibly five bodies of young girls murdered nearly twenty years ago by Timothy Gittings. The killer was caught, and sentenced to life in a secure hospital, but the families of the girls are broken, and want to bring their daughters home to be buried. 

Gittings’s mother has disappeared, but she was fiercely protective of her son at the time of the murders, and Rosanna is soon convinced that she knows more than she ever said. Her quest is to trace the woman and persuade her to talk before the mother of one of the girls dies of cancer. The search takes her to rural Lincolnshire and a tiny, remote Welsh village, close to where the girls were killed.  

Thorne Moore’s books are full of intriguing characters and Rosanna Quillan is one of the most fascinating yet. On the surface she is ordinary, but she reveals imagination, resourcefulness, tenacity... the list goes on and on. Despite a promising start to a career in the police, she abandoned the force because crime-solving and administering justice seemed to take second place to box-ticking. She isn’t above a bit of minor crime herself, when it serves a higher purpose. 

Then there’s Gethin Matthews, who has exchanged city life for sheep farming when his father develops Alzheimer’s; and retired detective Malcolm Cannell, who investigated the murders and put Gittings away, but has never forgiven himself for not finding the bodies. I especially enjoyed his feisty wife Barbara, who is quite willing to co-operate with Rosanna, and even to push Malcolm outside the boundaries of the Law. 

The places Thorne Moore creates are as fully realized as the people. The contrast between the dank cottage Rosanna rents and the warm, welcoming Matthews farmhouse sharpens the image of both; and I could almost trace Rosanna’s steps and feel her desperate frustration when she ventures out into a vicious storm, and finds herself thwarted by a flooded bridge.   

Happy endings are impossible in this kind of story, but you’ll be relieved to know that it finishes with a ray of hope. But how Rosanna arrives at that point, and where she might possibly go next? For that you’ll have to read the whole book. And believe me, at two in the morning because you couldn’t put it down till the last page, you’ll be glad you did.
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Reviewer: Lynne Patrick

Thorne Moore grew up in Luton, near London, but has lived in Pembrokeshire in West Wales for the last 35 years. She writes psychological crime, or domestic noir, with an historical twist, focusing on the cause and consequences of crimes rather than on the details of the crimes themselves. A Time For Silence, set in Pembrokeshire, was published by Honno in 2012. It was followed by Motherlove and The Unravelling, set partly in a fictional version of Luton. Shadows, published by Endeavour in 2017, is set in an old house in Pembrokeshire, and is paired with Long Shadows, which explained the history and mysteries of the same house from Medieval times to the late Victorian period. 

https://www.thornemoore.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.

‘Playlist’ by Sebastian Fitzek

Published by Head of Zeus,
12 September 2024.
ISBN: 978-1-80454242-2 (PB)

Alexander Zorbach, ex-police officer and now a private investigator is contacted by a desperate Emilia Jagow. Her daughter Feline has disappeared, believed abducted on her way to school. She wants him to discover what happened and where she is, as there seems to be no trace of her. Emilia was given Zorbach’s name by Alina Gregoriev, a blind physiotherapist who used to treat Feline. A case some time ago involving the hunt for the “Eye Collector” had brought Alina and Zorbach together. This had been a traumatic time involving Julian, Zorbach’s son.

Because Feline’s father would not allow her to have access to music to listen to her favourite tracks, Alina had given her an MP3 player in the shape of a watch, which needed to be connected to a wireless network.

Out of the blue, a month after Feline’s disappearance, Alina realises the MP3 player is connecting and is able to track it. Zorbach and her trace it to a hotel, Ambrosia Resort. On investigation they discover it certainly is not all that it appears to be. Even more intriguing, Feline’s playlist of her favourite tracks has been changed in the last few days. Is it possible she is trying to send a clue as to her whereabouts?

The more Zorbach and Alina look into the abduction, the more it is evident that the perpetrator is playing a deadly game, leading to more than one horrifying death.

As Zorbach digs deeper he is dragged into an unbelievably disturbing nightmare, which is also connected to past horrors. He cannot possibly emerge from these latest terrifying events unscathed in body and mind.

The warped mind behind all the murder and mayhem is bent on setting all the people involved a “love test”, but why? Horrifyingly, not everyone passes the “test” leading to dire consequences.

A grippingly gruesome crime thriller telling of a manipulative genius leading to the brutal consequences of such a twisted mind. The author certainly knows how to grip the reader by the throat and squeeze! Highly recommended.
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Reviewer: Tricia Chappell

Sebastian Fitzek was born 13 October 1971 in Berlin Germany. He is a writer and journalist. His first book Therapy was a bestseller in Germany in 2006, toppling The Da Vinci Code from the #1 position.

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 new authors.

Unsung Heroes of Crime Fiction by Lynne Patrick

An occasional series which looks at the work of authors whose books qualify as bestsellers,
but who still aren’t quite as famous as they deserve to be.
Aline Templeton

The challenge was to name six Scottish crime writers. Easy, came the reply. Ian Rankin, Val McDermid, Ann Cleeves, Denise Mina, Peter May, Lin Anderson... shall I go on?

Only if you include Aline Templeton, I replied.

She’s reviewed in the Times and the Guardian as well as the big Scottish papers. Val McDermid calls her the crime czar of the small Scottish town. So why isn’t she a shoo-in on a list of Scottish crime writers – or on any list of crime writers you care to name, come to that?

In the course of a writing career lasting four decades (and counting!) she’s written six standalones, and a successful nine book series which charts the career of Marjory Fleming, a DCI in rural Galloway, right through to retirement. Now there’s a second series, featuring the head of a fictional Serious Rural Crime Squad; the sixth title has just been published, and the protagonist Kelso Strang is still going strong. Aline’s may not be the first name that comes up in a discussion of Scottish crime writers, but she’s not going anywhere.

Aline Templeton was born close to St Andrews, and apart from a sojourn in Cambridge where she studied English literature, she lived most of her life in Scotland until a few years ago, when she decamped to Kent for family reasons. A voracious reader from the age of four, she wrote her first novel when she was six, on notepaper stitched together with yellow thread. At various times she has been CWA Booksellers’ Champion, a justice of the peace, chair of the Society of Authors in Scotland, and a member of the Scottish Parliament Cross-party group for Media and Culture. And she found time to get married and bring up two children. She says herself that there has to be more to life than writing, and that everything else she does, even a country walk with her grandchildren, feeds into her books one way or another.

Character and location are the mainstays of her work. Her protagonists always have a rich life outside crime fighting. Marjory Fleming is a farmer’s wife and is often seen feeding the chickens before heading off to a murder scene. Kelso Strang has had to sort out his sister’s problems, is a fond uncle to his small niece, and has now embarked on a serious relationship with Marjory Fleming’s daughter!

Kelso Strang’s remit sends him to rural communities all over Scotland, and his creator makes a point of visiting them all. ‘It’s a great treat to have a legitimate, tax-deductible reason to holiday in such wonderful places,’ she says.

https://www.alinetempleton.co.uk/ 

The Kelso Strang series:

Human Face
Carrion Comfort
Devil's Garden
Old Sins
Blind Eye 
Deadfall

The Marjory Fleming series: 

Cold In The Earth 
The Darkness and the Deep
Lying Dead
Lamb To The Slaughter
Dead In The Water
Cradle to Grave
Evil for Evil
Bad Blood 
The Third Sin

Standalones:

Death Is My Neighbour

Last Act of All

The Trumpet Shall Sound

Past Praying For

Night And Silence  

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.

  

‘Litany of Lies’ by Sarah Hawkswood

Published by Allison & Busby,
5 December 2024.
ISBN: 978-0-7490-3108-4 (HB)

Despite the twelfth century setting Sarah Hawkswood’s Bradecote and Catchpoll series has all the hallmarks of a police procedural. Hugh Bradecote, undersheriff of Worcester, is the officer running the investigation, with perception, compassion and dignity. Serjeant Catchpoll is the experienced man on the ground, every bit as observant and quick-witted as his boss. Walkelin, Catchpoll’s apprentice, is shaping up to be a capable detective in his own right and is treated as one by his seniors.

The doughty trio are bidden to Evesham Abbey to look into the suspicious death of Walter the Steward, who has been found at the bottom of a newly dug well pit. In the absence of forensics, keen eyes suffice, and it becomes plain that he was hit on the head with a dressed stone and thrown into the pit.

There is no shortage of suspects. Not only has the steward been mistreating his young wife; he has been cheating both the abbey and the local residents by holding back some of rents it was his job to collect. In addition, there is considerable friction between the abbey and the nearby castle, which lies under the jurisdiction of Bradecote’s boss, William de Beauchamp, the local Sheriff, who cares more for his own comfort than the rule of law. It seems that almost everyone in town bore a grudge against the dead man. 

A second murder seems linked to the first, and a vicious assault on a ferryman a few miles away adds more tangles to an already knotty case.

Sarah Hawkswood’s meticulously researched series is never short of vivid characters. This time I especially enjoyed Cuthbert, the least popular man in the alehouse because of his aromatic employment; Alnoth the Handless, born with two deformed arms but the sharpest eyes and ears in the vicinity, Maerwynn, the steward’s teenage wife, who is quiet and downtrodden at first but  blossoms like an English rose once she is free from her coercive husband: warring neighbours Oswald and Wulfram; and de Cormolain. the lazy and languid commander of the castle across the bridge, and Bradecote’s sworn enemy.

The locations, too, are richly wrought. The dank, uninviting castle contrasts with the warm, welcoming abbey. The abandoned cell of Mother Placida, late anchoress, yields up a wealth of clues to the attentive Walkelin. The river which loops round Evesham is the domain of Kenelm the ferryman, a key witness.

There’s a little of everything here, all wrapped up in dialogue which brings the characters to life and a wealth of historical background that draws the reader effortlessly back into the time of King Stephen. Fans of both crime and historical fiction will find plenty to entertain them in Bradecote and Catchpoll’s latest case. Long may they continue
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Reviewer: Lynne Patrick

Sarah Hawkswood read Modern History at Oxford University and specialised in Military History and Theory of War. She turned from writing military history to mediaeval murder mysteries set in the turmoil of The Anarchy in the mid 12thC, all set in Worcestershire, where she now lives. The Bradecote & Catchpoll series began with Servant of Death (previously published as The Lord Bishop's Clerk) set in Pershore Abbey. The second, Ordeal by Fire, is set in Worcester itself, and there are already another five written. Writing is intrinsic to who she is, and she claims she gets 'grumpy' when there is not another manuscript on the go. Her aim is to create a 'world', one in which the reader can become immersed, and with an accurate historical context, not 'dressing up'. Sarah Hawkswood is a pen name. 

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