‘Flanagan’s Legacy’ by James Morley

Published by Benhams Books.
ISBN: 978-0-9548880-5-3

Michael Walters is having problems in his boatyard, centring round Quadra, the yacht he’s restoring for attractive Irishwoman Clare O’Dwyer. Soon they’re on the run, with a number of unscrupulous people close behind ...

This action thriller is set at the time of the Northern Ireland Peace Agreement, and is focused on dangerous papers from the time of the Irish Rebellion that have been hidden by Clare’s grandfather ‘in the boat’. In the classic race against time, Clare and Michael need to find the yacht’s secret before the imposing array of forces after them: MI5, led by Clare’s unscrupulous aunt, MI6, the IRA, the Basque movement ETA, the French, British and Irish governments ... There are chases on land and sea, trips to Brittany and Ireland, fights, surprises, and a lot of twists as to who’s working for whom. Clare and Michael’s relationship is developed convincingly, and the author’s sailing expertise comes across in the particularly vivid sea scenes.

An enjoyable all-action thriller in the style of Sam Llewelyn.

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Reviewer: Marsali Taylor

James Morley sis a local author, writing books under the name Benham's Sea Mysteries. Retired from an agricultural background Jim has been writing books since 2005. He is well known in the local area for his novels, short stories and publicity writing. He is chairman of Petersfield Writers’ Circle and an active members of his local book club. Jim lives in Liss in Hampshire, a widower, in an untidy house filled with books and computers. Jim is a members of the UK Society of Authors.

http://www.jimmorleybooks.com/
http://jimmorleybooks.blogspot.com

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.

In 1996 Jim retired from full-time farming to start a ca

‘Death Deserved’ by L.J. Sellers

Published by Thomas & Mercer,
19 July 2016.
ISBN: 978-1503936843

Detective Wade Jackson is a senior detective in the police department at Eugene, Oregon, and, at the start of the book, he has a lot going on in his personal life: he is still working on rebuilding his relationship with his fifteen-year-old daughter, Katie, who went off the rails after her mother's violent death; he has recently adopted Bengie, an orphaned toddler who bonded with him after Jackson discovered Bengie at the scene of his mother's murder; and he is trying to sort out a new house to share with his partner, Kera, and Micah, the young grandson that she has looked after since Micah's parents' death. Added to all this, he has to deal with a lawsuit against him and has concerns about his health. The last thing Jackson needs is to walk into work one morning and be told by the Chief of Police that he has to take charge of the Violent Crimes Unit as well as working his own job, but when this happens he has no choice but to agree.

Denise Lammers is Jackson's sergeant, the officer in charge of the Violent Crimes Unit, and Jackson and his team are shocked to hear that she is in ICU, desperately ill, apparently having been poisoned. All that the doctors can say is that it appears to be an environmental poison but there is no indication whether Lammers was poisoned by accident or whether it is attempted murder. A cop who has been on the job as long as Lammers has, inevitably made a lot of enemies, and the police have to assume the poisoning was deliberate and that Lammers was targeted.

Jackson hopes for a lull in violent crime while he investigates Lammers' poisoning and juggles his dual role but within minutes he is summoned to a double shooting, one male victim dead and a woman seriously wounded. The state of Oregon has recently legalised marijuana and the two victims were shot at a small, legal, pot growing farm. The possible motives for the shooting are many and varied: a disgruntled neighbour, angry at the smell coming from the farm; or a rival pot grower trying to remove the opposition; alternatively a rival trying to force a take-over of the farm; on the other hand it could be the work of activists opposed to the legalisation of the drug. Jackson also realises that the location could be irrelevant and the reason for the shootings could lie in the victims' personal lives.

The case grows more complicated when it is proved that the female victim has a false ID and she disappears from the hospital. Also Lara Evans, one of Jackson's team, discovers more about Sergeant Lammers' personal life than she or Jackson wish to know and they have to decide whether to conceal this from the Chief of Police. Another death occurs and another person gets sick with the same symptoms as Lammers, and this time the poisoning victim is a child. The links between the two cases grow stronger and, as the ugly fear of product tampering proves ever more probable. Jackson and his team have to work quickly before more people die.

Death Deserved is the eleventh book in the Detective Jackson series but the author introduces the characters and situation with such skill that it works very well as a stand-alone novel. Jackson and his team are all far from perfect but they are decent, likeable people who are doing a tough job to the best of their ability. The author has built a community of characters with whom it is easy to empathise and the plot is intricate and cleverly woven together. An excellent book from an author who never fails to deliver stories with strong characters and thought-provoking situations.

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Reviewer:  Carol Westron

L J Sellers writes the bestselling Detective Jackson mystery/thriller series, a Readers Favorite award winner, as well as provocative standalone thrillers. Her novels have been highly praised by Mystery Scene, Crimespree, and RT Reviews, and her Jackson books are Kindle bestsellers as well as top-ranked novels. L.J., who resides in Eugene, Oregon where her novels are set, is also an award-winning journalist who earned the Grand Neal. When not plotting murders, she enjoys standup comedy, cycling, social networking, and attending mystery conferences. She’s also been known to jump out of airplanes.

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 is the first in her Scene of Crimes novels, was published July 2013. Her latest book The Fragility of Poppies was published 10 June 2016.

www.carolwestron.com

‘Dangerous Minds’ by Priscilla Masters

Published by Severn House,
29 February 2016.
ISBN: 978-0-7278-8598-2

An invitation to a wedding may evoke many emotions, but when psychiatrist Claire Roget receives an invitation to the wedding of Jerome Barclay it fills her with horror, doubt and dismay. Claire has many present-day patients to occupy her attention but, although she has discharged him, Barclay is the one who preys on her mind. Barclay has an extreme personality disorder and is a manipulative, clever man. He has not been convicted of any serious offence but several of his relations died in suspicious circumstances. To the rest of the world Barclay plays the bereaved man dogged by tragedy but, in private counselling sessions with Claire, she feels that he enjoys taunting her with subtle hints of his involvement in the deaths of his parents and baby brother and her inability to prove it. Also Claire knows that he was abusive to his previous girlfriend and tried to kill her, although the terrified woman was intimidated by Barclay into withdrawing her evidence.

Two years before, Claire had discharged Barclay because she felt he was gaining pleasure and power from his game of 'tease the psychiatrist'. Claire is aware that none of her present professional colleagues perceive Barclay as a serious threat and had encouraged her to discharge him. The invitation to his wedding alarms her in a professional way because she fears he has found another victim to prey upon as he had his family and previous girlfriend. It also worries her in a personal way because he had sent the invitation to her home address – an address he was not supposed to know. Claire already feels lonely and vulnerable at home since Grant, her partner of five years, had walked out on her without giving any reason. She decides that she must attend Barclay's wedding in the hope that she can work out what he is up to.

In the meantime Claire continues to treat her other patients at Greatbach Psychiatric Unit. With an increasing sense of horror she comes to believe that somebody is targeting some of her patients, deliberately preying on their delusions and vulnerabilities, and the only person she can imagine doing so is Jerome Barclay. What is even more alarming, somebody she works with must be giving Barclay information about her patients.

Isolated and unable to prove her suspicions, Claire's hands are tied. Nevertheless she is desperate to protect her vulnerable patients and Barclay's prospective bride and her parents, and, as Barclay intrudes deeper into her own personal life, she fears that she too may be at risk.

This is the first in the Claire Roget series and it is a gripping read. Claire is a strong but vulnerable character with whom it is easy to empathise and her relationships with her other patients are skilfully described, with sensitivity but without sentimentality. Central to the book is her relationship with the chillingly manipulative Jerome Barclay. It is a wonderfully authentic book. I found it compelling and wholeheartedly recommend it.

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Reviewer: Carol Westron

Priscilla Masters was born in Halifax,brought up in South Wales, one of seven multi racial children adopted by an orthopaedic surgeon and his Classics graduate wife. Trained as a registered nurse in the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham. She moved to Staffordshire in the 1970s, had an antiques business for a while and two sons. She started writing in the 1980s in response to an aunt asking her what she was going to do with her life! Winding up the Serpent was her first Joanna Piercy story, a series which she is continuing with as well as her medical standalones and the Martha Gunn, Shrewsbury coroner, series. Currently she works as a respiratory nurse in the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital. Her latest book is Dangerous Minds a psychological thriller.

http://www.priscillamasters.co.uk/

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 is the first in her Scene of Crimes novels, was published July 2013. Her second book About the Children was published in May 2014.

www.carolwestron.com

‘The Evolution of Fear’ by Paul E Hardisty

Published by Orenda Books,
5 May 2016.
ISBN: 978-1-91063-324-3   

Claymore Striker is running for his life. He is a wanted man with a price on his head for acts of terrorism he didn’t commit. Added to that, his best friend has been murdered, the woman he loves, journalist Rania, has disappeared while following a story about dirty dealings. She is in danger, and Striker must find her before its too late. His search takes him to Cyprus and slap-bang into a violent struggle between the Russian mafia, Greek Cypriot extremists and Turkish developers cashing in on the tourism boom. In his search for Rania, Clay has to deal with corrupt politicians and dangerous businessmen as well as stay one step ahead of those from his past who want him dead.

The writing is taut and gripping. Claymore Striker is an action hero with flaws – he struggles with the dark deeds he has committed in the past, but he is brave, loyal and fights against the injustices he sees around him. He keeps going despite the dangers and a succession of injuries. The action is thrilling, and at a breakneck pace, and the landscape in which the action is set is described by the author so vividly you can feel the heat and taste the dust.

There is also a message behind the story: how much damage we can do to the environment as we pursue profit at any cost. It’s a message Paul E Hardisty is qualified to deliver as he has spent many years working all over the world as a hydrologist, engineer and environmental scientist.

But the book wears its message lightly. Above all, it is a highly entertaining and high-octane thriller.

The Evolution of Fear is the second of a planned trilogy. I haven’t read the first, The Abrupt Physics of Dying (though I intend to now!), but I didn’t feel I had missed out too much, as anything I felt I needed to know had been woven very cleverly into the story. Roll on Claymore Striker number three.

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Reviewer: Mary-Jane Riley

 

Paul Hardisty is a writer, chartered environmental engineer, university professor, and triathlete. He lives in Perth, Western Australia, with his wife Heidi, and sons Zachary and Declan. His first novel, The Abrupt Physics of Dying, has just been published by Orenda Books. It is a story of greed, corruption, and the power of redemption.

Mary-Jane Riley wrote her first story on her newly acquired blue Petite typewriter. She was eight. It was about a gang of children who had adventures on mysterious islands, but she soon realised Enid Blyton had cornered that particular market. So she wrote about the Wild West instead. When she grew up she had to earn a living, and became a BBC radio talk show presenter and journalist. She has covered many life-affirming stories, but also some of the darkest events of the past two decades.
Then, in true journalistic style, she decided not to let the facts get in the way of a good story and got creative. She wrote for women's magazines and small presses. She formed WriteOutLoud with two writer friends to help charities get their message across using their life stories. Now she is writing psychological suspense, drawing on her experiences in journalism.
The Bad Things by Mary-Jane Riley was published by Harper Collins/Killer Reads. Her second book, After She Fell, also published by Killer Reads, is out on April 28th.
In her spare time Mary-Jane likes to walk the dog and eat a lot. Good job she likes walking.