‘Don’t Let Go’ by Michel Bussi

Published by Weidenfield and Nicholson,
27 April 2017. 
ISBN 978 1 474 60179 5

Martial and Liane Bellion and their six-year-old daughter Sopha are holidaying on Reunion, a  small island that is situated in the Indian Ocean about a hundred and seventy kilometers from Mauritius.  The Bellions had appeared to be the perfect, golden couple until Liane retires to their hotel room and vanishes, leaving only blood stained carpets and bedding behind her.

The hotel staff try to tell Martial that his wife has run off with a lover - all Liane’s clothes have gone too - but Martial insists on sending for the police. When they eventually arrive, a cleaning lady informs them that she saw Martial wheeling a laundry trolley that could have carried Liane’s body out of the couple’s room. Other staff corroborate her story. At first Martial denies this, but he changes his account completely when he goes to the police station the next day. Why had he lied? Is he deliberately trying to hide the real reason behind Liane’s disappearance? And what is that anyway?

In the meantime Rodin, the island’s contemplative philosopher is killed with a knife that belongs to Martial. The knife has Liane’s and Rodin’s blood on it, together with Martial’s fingerprints.

Once Martial realizes that he is about to be charged with two murders, he decides to flee with Sopha. When they approach their hire car Martial finds a message written in the dust on his window screen.  It instructs him to be at a meeting point at four o’clock the next day, and to bring his daughter with him. Hoping to find his wife alive Martial and Sopha set out on a perilous journey whilst every available policeman on the island, including marksmen in a dozen helicopters, try to capture them. During this journey we learn that Martial is no stranger to the island – in fact he had previously lived there for nine years, during which time he had been married and divorced and had a son who had drowned.

Captain Aja Purvi manages the police investigation. Many officers assist her, but her main support is Christos Konstantinov an exceedingly laid-back colleague who much prefers probing his mistress, Imelda, than the mysteries he is supposed to be solving. Fortunately for Christos, besides being a wonderful mother and mistress, Imelda has an excellent memory and a very logical mind. She enjoys helping him sort out the inconsistencies in various conundrums he is struggling with, though she would have done better to curb her enthusiasm this time.

Don’t Let Go is like a magical mystery tour in which you know you are constantly being led astray, but have little idea why.  You have the feeling that the whole thing is being staged, but again you don’t know why.  Even if Michel Bussi takes liberties with us, which he does, you simply have no option but to finish this superb book. And, as a bonus, on the way you will learn much about the island and its inhabitants.  

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Reviewer Angela Crowther

Michel Bussi was born 29 April 1965 in Louviers France. He is a French writer of detective novels, and a political analyst and Professor of Geography at the University of Rouen, where he leads a Public Scientific and Technical Research Establishment. After the Crash was his first book to be published in the UK. Black Water Lilies was published in June 2016.

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.

‘Cursed’ by Thomas Engen

Translated by Kari Dickson
Published by Orenda Books,
1 March 2017.
ISBN: 978-1-910633-64-9 (PBO)

Present-day Norway. Hedda Hellberg told her husband she was having a three-week retreat in Italy. When she didn’t return, he contacted her journalist friend, Nora, who soon discovered that Hedda never even booked a flight ...

This journalist investigation thriller follows Nora and her estranged husband, Henning Juul. Both are characters you want to get to know. Their lives have been defined by the loss of their son, Jonas, in an arson attack. Nora is trying to rebuild her life, while Henning is determined to track down the person responsible for the fire, at any cost to himself. Their separate investigations gradually focus on the late Tore Pulli, an enforcer who once worked for the Hellberg family. The plot is intricate, with several twists, the motive unusual and convincing, and the final scenes page-turning. Nordic Noir fans will enjoy the setting, which moves from Oslo to the countryside. The novel ends with a new lead in Henning’s quest.

A cleverly-plotted Nordic Noir family who-dunnit, with sympathetic protagonists. Recommended.

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Reviewer: Marsali Taylor

Thomas Enger born 1973 is a former journalist. He made his debut with the crime novel Burned (Skinndod) in 2009, which became aninternational sensation before publication. Burned is the first in a series of 5 books about the journalist Henning Juul, which delves into the depths of Oslo's underbelly, skewering the corridors of dirty politics and nailing the fast-moving world of 24-hour news. Rights to the series have been sold to 26 countries to date. In 2013 Enger published his first book for young adults, a dark fantasy thriller called The Evil Legacy, for which he won the U-prize (best book Young Adult). Enger also composes music, and he lives in Oslo.

 

Marsali Taylor grew up near Edinburgh, and came to Shetland as a newly-qualified teacher. She is currently a part-time teacher on Shetland's scenic west side, living with her husband and two Shetland ponies. 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.  Marsali also does a regular monthly column for the Mystery People e-zine.

A review of her recent book Ghosts of the Vikings can be read here.

http://promotingcrime.blogspot.co.uk/2017/03/ghosts-of-vikings-by-marsali-taylor.html

www.marsalitaylor.co.uk

‘River City Dead’ by Nancy G West

Published by Henry Press
17 January 2017.
ISBN: 978-1-63511-133-0

Aggie Mundeen, she of the ‘Stay Young with Aggie’ column, has arranged a rendezvous with Detective Sam Vanderhoven at the San Antonio River Walk Hotel.  They have booked the penthouse suite, and Aggie is looking forward to a blissful crime free
romantic long weekend.   The news of the body of a dead girl found in their penthouse puts paid to Aggie’s romantic ideas.

The girl is identified as a regular guest during Fiesta Week, and she is known to Aggie. While chatting to the maid Sara who found the body Aggie learns that the victim was a member of the Fabulous Femmes who are holding their convention at the hotel. They are split into sub-groups - the Madhatters, the Foxy Fixits, and the Flamboyants, who, Aggie learns are party girls, and they do get around.  As she chats by the pool she learns a lot about the Fabulous Femmes and some of what she learns is disturbing.  Even more disturbing is a conversation with her friend Grace.

Aggie learns that the victim had booked the penthouse for a ten day stay but decided to leave on the Sunday, hence the penthouse becoming free for Aggie and Sam or not as it turned out!  What was her reason for cutting short her stay?

The story is told from the point of view of both Aggie and Sam. Both investigating using different approaches. But most fascinating is the murder weapon which is ingenious and despite the clues, it came as a real surprise. Clever and tantalising, this is a good and enjoyable mystery.

Always good to catch up with Aggie and initially it looked as if things would go well with her and Sam, both have traumatic experiences in their pasts and have danced around each other for some time.  Would they this time move their relationship on to a deeper level?

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Reviewer: Lizzie Sirett

Nancy G West was seven years old, when she and her mother wrote poems to each other on special occasions. In high school, the Library Journal Pegasus published Nancy’s poem. At eighteen, she realized she might have to get a real job.  She heard journalists were underpaid and English majors were selling lingerie, so she studied General Business at the University of Texas and University of Houston and earned a BBA.  A few years later, married, with two daughters, Nancy realized she had to study English literature and write. She read numerous books on writing and wrote articles, poetry, and the biography of artist Jose Vives-Atsara (Shoal Creek Publishers). She founded Book Publishers of Texas, edited their trade journal and promoted their books for seven years. While earning her MA in English literature at University of the Incarnate Word, San Antonio, she began writing Nine Days to Evil, a novel of psychological suspense, Shakespeare, and nonstop-action which won the Blether Gold Award. As West finished, Nine Days to Evil Meredith Laughlin’s story, Meredith’s “mature” graduate school friend, Aggie Mundeen, took over West’s consciousness. The result was the author’s creation of the Aggie Mundeen Mystery Series.