‘Exit the Thief’ by Danny Miller

Published by Constable  & Robinson Crime.
20 March 2014.
ISBN: 978-1-4721-0749-7

In this fast paced adventure Vince Treadwell goes to the French Riviera to pursue a famous cat burglar.  This is in 1965 during the Cannes Film Festival and Vince is concerned with a movie star's jewels which had been stolen from the Ritz in London.  Vince has already had some painful experiences ending up as the chief suspect in the murder of a jewel fence known as Teddy the Levantine.  His Riviera trip is being undertaken in the hope of proving his innocence.

The frenetic atmosphere of Swinging 60s London is matched by the supercharged atmosphere of the Cannes Film Festival.  The luxurious high life and the scruffy back streets feature in dizzying succession.  The glamorous parties with the stars are recreated with Vince accompanied by a knowledgeable insider who certainly 'knows her tittle from her tattle.'  Vince has made contact with Jean-Jacques Messina, a famed French crime figure, nicknamed Mad Dog, who hopes for a film of his life. His style is violent and often horrific.

This is a gripping thriller with excellent recreation of that excitement of the 1960s.  Car chases trace the winding streets of Cannes and Antibes, people are shot and beaten up, drugs appear at orgies.  French attitudes to American cheap crime thriller film styles are nicely mocked as Marxist intellectuals criticise the crudity of simple narrative form as opposed to real film noir! As Vince puts it - the French 'are full of existential ennui.'  In fact anyone with pleasurable memories of 1940s to 1960s films will enjoy the satirical referencing of these movies.

This is a well written book with violent action in 'hip' style combined with tightly packed vivid  background. 
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Reviewer Jennifer S Palmer
This is Danny Miller's 3rd book featuring Vince Treadwell.

Danny Miller was born in Brighton and studied English and Drama at Goldsmiths College, University of London. As a playwright he's had his work performed at the National Theatre Studio, Bush Theatre and Theatre Royal Stratford East. As a scriptwriter he's worked for the BBC, ITV and Channel 4. Kiss Me Quick (2011) was his first novel and the first in a detective series featuring Vince Treadwell. It was shortlisted for the CWA John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger Awards 2011 and was highly commended by the judges.

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.

‘Breaths of Suspicion’ by Roy Lewis

Published by Robert Hale,
29 March 2013.
ISBN: 978-0-7198-0913-2

Edwin James relates to us the story of his working life in England. He is a Victorian lawyer in the mid Nineteenth century who becomes more and more successful in his professional life and eventually becomes an MP; however, he is followed by doubts about his conduct throughout that time.

He describes his involvement in many notorious cases of the era such as  that of the Rugeley poisoner, William Palmer, and the trial of Dr Bernard for planning the bombing of Emperor Napoleon III.   His successes bring even greater professional and financial advantages but the adversarial nature of the practice of the law means that he gains more enemies too.

           

Edwin James is constantly prey to breaths of suspicion as the title tells us and the honesty with which reveals his actions, private as well as public,

helps to show why he is seen as less than admirable.  The story he tells involves suspicions about his connections to several deaths - as the events progress the reasons for the suspicions become clear to him as well as to us.

This is a fascinating book as the machinations by and against an immensely able but flawed man are revealed.  Other famous Victorians such as Palmerston and John Sadleir appear, and Edwin acts as election agent in what has been seen as the most corrupt election in mid-Victorian England.

The atmosphere of the 1850s and 1860s in the legal and political world is magnificantly conveyed.

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Reviewer: Jennifer Palmer

Other books are: a series about Inspector John Crow (5 books),the modern lawyer Eric Ward (15 books), and antiquarian Arnold Landon (22 books) and various stand alone titles.

Roy Lewis is a well-established crime writer with 60 novels to his name. He lives in the north of England where he sets many of his books. He is a former college principal and Inspector of Schools who now runs business training programmes and has business interests in Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia. He has three children - all of them lawyers.

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 Dog Killer of Utica’ by Frank Lentricchia.

Published by Melville International Crime, 

22 April 2014. 

ISBN: 978-1612193373

This is the second book in the Elliot Conte series.

I have never read a book in a day...until I read this! The final page had my skin rippled in Goosebumps – It was deep, difficult at times but when you caught up it was all there.

Part written like a script he mainly uses dialogue it’s an experience. The main character Elliot Conte an Ex-PI and son to a political kingmaker, walks you, no, jogs you through the story set in Utica, New York. A past secret leads to a trail of brutal killings all involving people he loves. It’s written in a distinct way that’s fresh and compelling, I couldn’t put it down.

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Reviewer: Nicky Cooper Brown

Frank Lentricchia was raised in Utica, New York, to working-class, first-generation Italian-American parents. He’s the author of The Accidental Pallbearer, the first book in the Eliot Conte series, and seven other novels, and a number of highly acclaimed critical studies. He is a professor of American literature at Duke University.

Nicky Cooper Brown came late to this game we call writing. Growing up, up North, she was always praised for her talents with her hands, rather than her mind, she harboured an artistic flair often drawing and painting into the night. It wasn't until she moved south to the Beautiful picturesque New Forest that she took pen to paper so to speak. Now Nicky enjoys writing short stories and articles and has a funny and light hearted style, but when it comes to her novels she displays a darker side and a taste for psychological thrillers.

‘The Preacher’ by Sander Jakobsen

Published by Sphere,
17 July 2014.
ISBN: 978-0-7515-5236-2

This the first book in what is obviously intended to be a series, written by Danish debut pseudonymous authors Dagmar Winther and Kenneth Degnbol.  It's received rave reviews in Denmark, as much for the clear and punchy writing as for the wonderful scene-setting.  Not Copenhagen, but the cold little villages and isolated houses of east Jylland.  I was strongly reminded of Babette's Feast. 

Thea Krogh, the pursuing detective, is another of those good solid women, whose life is uneventful, and whose pursuit of the villain responsible for the shooting deaths of at least two women is remorseless. Who is he?  Why does he want these particular women dead?  The plot is full of twists and surprises. Well worth reading.
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Reviewer: Susan Moody
The Preacher a debut novel, which we translated into English by the authors.

Dagmar Winther was born in 1980 and graduated from the Danish School of Journalism in 2004. She has worked as an intern at the Birmingham Post & Mail and for the European Commission in Brussels before settling down as a teacher of journalism at Rønde Højskole, a Danish Folk High School ( a very Danish phenomenon which is part of the non-formal education system in Denmark). She still does the occasional freelance job and is also a singer, mostly of classical music. She has a daughter and currently lives in Thorsager, a tiny village near Aarhus.

http://sanderjakobsen.com

Kenneth Degnbol was born in 1972. He has a master’s degree in music and history from the University of Aarhus, and spent four years as an organization consultant before he began working at Rønde Højskole in 2004, alongside Dagmar, teaching philosophy and music. He is a skilled musician and a father of three. He lives in Hornslet, a small town near Aarhus.

http://sanderjakobsen.com

Susan Moody was born and brought up in Oxford.  She has published over 30 crime and suspense novels, including the Penny Wanawake series and the Cassandra Swann bridge series.  She is a past Chairman of the British Crime Writers' Association, a member of the Detection Club, a past Writer-in-Residence at the University of Tasmania and a past President of the International Association of Crime Writers.  She divides her time between south-west France and south-east Kent.   Nominated for the CWA short story award.  Nominated for the RNA's award.