Difference between revisions of "Newest Crime Reviews"
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| + | |author= John Bude | ||
| + | |title= Death Makes A Prophet | ||
| + | |rating= 4.5 | ||
| + | |genre= Crime | ||
| + | |summary= Two pages into this ''Crime Classic'' I had to check the first publication date. Reading the first two pages, it could easily have been written in 1967, or '87, or even (possibly as a pastiche) in 2017. Given that Bude's witty caper originally came out in 1947, it's slightly criminal that it's taken this long to resurface. | ||
| + | |amazonuk=<amazonuk>0712356916</amazonuk> | ||
| + | }} | ||
{{newreview | {{newreview | ||
|author=Stephen Booth | |author=Stephen Booth | ||
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|summary=In January 1987 it was only joggers and dog walkers who went on to the Thames towpath after dark. Estate agent Helen Honeysett left the riverside cottage she shared with her husband and never came home. A neighbour returned their dog who was found wandering, but Helen's body was never discovered. In 2016 Helen's husband, Adam, still wants to know what happened. He has an alibi, albeit a somewhat dubious one, but another neighbour was suspected. Steve Lawson couldn't stand the constant suspicion and drowned himself in the Thames: over the years that came to be accepted as an admission of guilt and even one of his children is certain that he was responsible. | |summary=In January 1987 it was only joggers and dog walkers who went on to the Thames towpath after dark. Estate agent Helen Honeysett left the riverside cottage she shared with her husband and never came home. A neighbour returned their dog who was found wandering, but Helen's body was never discovered. In 2016 Helen's husband, Adam, still wants to know what happened. He has an alibi, albeit a somewhat dubious one, but another neighbour was suspected. Steve Lawson couldn't stand the constant suspicion and drowned himself in the Thames: over the years that came to be accepted as an admission of guilt and even one of his children is certain that he was responsible. | ||
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1784972258</amazonuk> | |amazonuk=<amazonuk>1784972258</amazonuk> | ||
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Revision as of 16:34, 15 July 2017
Death Makes A Prophet by John Bude
Two pages into this Crime Classic I had to check the first publication date. Reading the first two pages, it could easily have been written in 1967, or '87, or even (possibly as a pastiche) in 2017. Given that Bude's witty caper originally came out in 1947, it's slightly criminal that it's taken this long to resurface. Full review...
Dead in the Dark (Cooper and Fry) by Stephen Booth
It's ten years since Reece Bower was accused of the murder of his wife, but the case never came to trial: Annette Bower's body was never found and although a murder can be prosecuted without a body there was an added problem here. Annette's father said that he'd seen his daughter a couple of days after she'd apparently disappeared. Had Annette simply left the marriage that was in difficulties or was something more sinister going on? Then, a decade later, Reece Bower disappears without trace. His new partner wants some answers. Full review...
The Breaking of Liam Glass by Charles Harris
A flawed but reasonably entertaining swipe at modern media. There's plenty here to like, and plenty not to. But good structure and scramjet pace keep this one flying to the final page. Full review...
So Say the Fallen (DCI Serena Flanagan) by Stuart Neville
Harry Garrick had been a successful businessman until the car accident which cost him both legs and left him bedridden and beholden to his wife for even the most intimate functions, so there was not a lot of surprise when, six months later, he seemed to have taken his own life. One sachet of morphine granules, mixed in a pot of yoghurt had given him a good night's sleep. Garrick appeared to have crunched ten sachets of granules, if the empty packets were anything to go by. It seemed obvious that the case should be closed quickly: who would dispute a finding of suicide? Even DCI Serena Flanagan was just about convinced: it was just that the widow, Roberta Garrick, and the local clergyman, Peter McKay seemed suspiciously close. Perhaps a few loose ends needed tidying up before the case was closed? Full review...
Three Drops of Blood and a Cloud of Cocaine by Quentin Mouron and W Donald Wilson (translator)
Paul McCarthy is a man of simple pleasures; Sheriff in a small town, a good husband father and neighbour, he moves through life buoyed by his faith, in both God and justice. The brutal murder of old Jimmy Henderson rocks this simple man's tenuously ordered life and drags him to the edge of the abyss. McCarthy is tasked with leading a fractured investigation whilst managing his own soul-searching questions about morality and the nature of existence. Into this quagmire steps Franck, a private detective with a shadowy agenda, a raging cocaine habit and a twisted sense of morality. As McCarthy tries to solve this apparently motiveless crime, Franck acts as a perverse Jiminy Cricket, dripping immorality and depravity into his ear with a kiss and a wink. Full review...
Merlin at War: A DCI Frank Merlin Novel by Mark Ellis
Whilst war is raging in Europe and France is occupied, there's something of a lull in Britain. Hitler needs the Luftwaffe for other duties and London is spared the nightly blitz, but no one's under any illusions that it could start again at any time. There's been a certain relaxation in sexual relationships though and illegal abortions are on the rise and not all of them go as they should. A young woman is found dead in a London hotel room as the result of a botched operation: she has no identification and no one knows who the father of the baby was, or who performed the operation. Full review...
The Vinyl Detective - The Run-Out Groove: Vinyl Detective 2 by Andrew Cartmel
The Vinyl Detective is not really a detective. He's just a normal bloke - though that might depend on your definition of 'normal' - who lives with his girlfriend Nevada, two cats and a collection of vinyl in a house that happens to be adjacent to the Abbey, a posh rehab place notorious for the celebrities it treats. He doesn't solve crimes or trace missing people, even if he does search for rare records. So when an odd couple turn up on his doorstep requesting his help in tracing a missing child of a 1960's female rock star whose own death was shrouded in now somewhat cultish mystery, he says no. That is, until he is told that the job would also involve tracing a rare single. Full review...
Sleeping in the Ground by Peter Robinson
It was the sort of display which would have been better in black and white and without a sound track, but what happened at the Red Wedding, as it would come to be known, was noisy, brutal and fatal. A sniper on a distant hillside began shooting at the wedding party: three people, including the bride died immediately. Another two, including the bridegroom would die soon afterwards. Terry Gilchrist saw the shooter disappearing over the hillside, but the armed response officers were unwilling to take his word for it when they finally arrived and it was a further three-quarters of an hour before they gave clearance for the paramedics to come to the scene. It would be this delay which made the headlines before too long. Full review...
Suspicion (Inspector Barlach 2) by Friedrich Durrenmatt and Joel Agee (translator)
Inspector Barlach is dying. We did know that, more or less, from the first book to feature him, but it's confirmed here by us opening on him in a clinic bed, with a year left to live. But his doctor is helping him in other ways – sustaining his policing career as much as his life. When his doctor blanches at the sight of a magazine photograph featuring a Nazi camp doctor at work, a story slowly starts to emerge, one that may prove to be a wicked conspiracy to keep the Nazi alive and still practicing, under someone else's name. Barlach, clearly well suited to go under cover as someone needing to go under the knife, works up a plan to check whether his suspicion is correct. What's the worst that could happen after all? – even were he to regret his decision, it would never be for long… Full review...
Forever and a Death by Donald E Westlake
A lot of time and effort goes into the average movie, but this is at least double in the case of Bond. Each one is part of a decade's long institution and must excel. With this in mind there is a sea of discarded wannabe-Bond themes, wannabe-Bond stories and wannabe-Bond actors. For every successful Garbage Bond theme, there are numerous other indie bands that never made the cut. Donald E Westlake was a successful thriller writer in his own right, but once he jumped aboard the good ship Bond his work never cut it. The result was this adaptation of his failed Bond script, but did Barbara Broccoli have justification for passing? Full review...
Two Lost Boys by L F Robertson
Janet Moodie is a seasoned death row appeals attorney. Overworked, lonely, and feeling like she's drunk her fill of desperation and sadness, she takes on one final case, determined it will be her last. Marion 'Andy' Hardy is sweet, polite, good-natured, and a little slow, but according to the state, he's also a rapist and a murderer. Moodie must untangle his aging case against the clock. She can't save his innocence, but maybe she can save his life. Full review...
The Obsession by Nora Roberts
Naomi Carson lives in New York but she hasn't always lived there. Actually her name hasn't always been Naomi Carson. Naomi's life had to start again when, aged 11, she sneakily followed her father into the woods to see if he was hiding her birthday present. That night she saw something no child… no person... should see. As an adult she's now putting her life back together and even coping with the advances of Xander Keaton but danger still lurks. The past will one day repeat itself and this time Naomi will find she's the target. Full review...
The Woman in the Wood by Lesley Pearse
Lesley Pearse compares her writing process to the art of gardening: 'A seed of a plot drops into my head, I plant it with a few chapters, spend a great deal of time thinking it through, and once the green shoots come through, I water it with care. Hopefully several months later something beautiful has grown.' Certainly she carefully cultivates her characters, meticulously researches the locations for her books and is an expert at creating a fast paced plot with heart in the mouth moments. She delivers staggering surprises as her brave protagonists battle terrifying odds and draw on inner hidden strengths to triumph over adversity. Invariably her well-crafted novels, whether they be historical fiction, family sagas or crime stories are captivating best sellers. Consequently as an avid Lesley Pearse fan I had high expectations for her latest novel. Whilst it delivered on some levels, it regrettably didn't leave me in disbelief at the denouement. Full review...
The Templars' Last Secret: A Bruno Courreges Investigation by Martin Walker
The body of a woman was found beneath the ruined Templar chateau of Commarque, but what had she been doing there? She'd apparently been climbing the structure, but using some cheap and unsuitable rope. Sprayed on the wall in orange paint were the letter IFTI. Had she been intending to write more when she fell, but if so, where was the paint - and the rope? Her neck had been broken, but was this an accidental fall when doing something stupid, or had she been pushed? She carried no identification and her fingerprints weren't known to the French police or Interpol. Full review...
Errant Blood (Duncul Mysteries) by C F Peterson
When Eamon Ansgar's father passes away, he makes the decision to return to his home in the Scottish Highlands to take over control of his family's estate. He has been gone for many years, during which time he has pursued a career in the army and survived a posting in Afghanistan. Having failed to succeed at his subsequent attempt at city life, it seems village life back in Glencul is his only option. For most people in his position, returning home to the peaceful life of lordship over a castle and village would sound like a dream come true. But Duncul Castle and the village it overlooks are both keeping secrets – a mystery lurks in the cellars of Duncul, and some of Glencul's residents would kill for it. Full review...
Hellfire by Karin Fossum
In July 2005 Inspector Konrad Sejer stood in the door of the caravan and surveyed the scene. The mother - she'd be in her thirties - and her four-year old son had both been brutally stabbed. There was blood everywhere and the only clue as to who had murdered them was a bloody footprint. But who would want to kill Bonnie Hayden and her son Simon? You see, Bonnie is one of those people whom you feel is due some luck. As a child she wanted to be a doctor, but when we go back to December 2004 she was working as a home help and dealing with some of the most difficult invalids in the area. Simon's father had left them and they were living a hand-to-mouth existence with both of them hating the fact that Simon had to be left at nursery so that Bonnie could go to work. Full review...
Love Like Blood by Mark Billingham
DI Nicola Tanner's lover, Susan, was brutally murdered as she entered the hallway of their home. She'd been driving Nicola's car and it seemed obvious that this was a case of mistaken identity: Nicola was working on honour killings and was convinced that many of the cases were contracted out to the same people. Was she getting too close? Tanner wants the killers and the go-betweens, but it's not as easy as it might be as there's no obvious route to take: several faiths are involved so it's not just a case of tracking the killers down through a family's place of worship. After Susan's death Tanner is angry and wants revenge - then she's frustrated when she's taken off the honour killings cases and put on compassionate leave. She has a solution though: she calls on the services of D I Tom Thorne who - in policing terms - is everything that she isn't. Full review...
Sleep Baby Sleep (Detective Pieter Voss) by David Hewson
Annie Schrijver is just twenty-two-years old and is known as 'the flower girl' in the picturesque Albert Cuyp flower market, where she works on her father's stall. It's almost impossible to believe that she's missing as she's very personable and always popular with the customers. When she's found she's barely alive though, tied to a stone angel in a graveyard and surrounded by a ring of fire. In her body there are traces of a drug which takes Detective Pieter Voss back four years to the Sleeping Beauty murders. He had his doubts at the time as to whether or not everyone involved had been caught: now it seems that his doubts have come back to haunt him. Full review...
The Dry by Jane Harper
Sometimes a book takes a while to get into. Sometimes it's quicker than that. If Harper hadn't grabbed me in the first paragraph, she certainly had half-way down the second page: So nothing reacted when deep inside the house, the baby started crying. Full review...
An Unlikely Agent by Jane Menczer
London, 1905. Margaret Trant lives with her ailing, irascible mother in a dreary boarding house in St John's Wood. The pair have fallen on hard times, with only Margaret's meagre salary from a ramshackle import-export company keeping them afloat.When a stranger on the tram hands her a newspaper open at the recruitment page, Margaret spots an advertisement that promises to 'open new horizons beyond your wildest dreams!'. After a gruelling interview, she finds herself in a new position as a secretary in a dingy backstreet shop.But all is not as it seems; she is in fact working for a highly secret branch of the intelligence service, Bureau 8, whose mission is to track down and neutralise a ruthless band of anarchists known as the Scorpions.Margaret's guilty love of detective fiction scarcely prepares her for the reality of true criminality, and her journey of self-discovery forms the heart of this remarkable novel, as she discovers in herself resourcefulness, courage, independence and the first stirrings of love. Full review...
Block 46 by Johana Gustawsson and Maxim Jakubowski (Translator)
Jewellery designer Linnéa Blix fails to appear at a Cartier event presenting some of her new creations. Her friend Alexis Castells knows something must be wrong; nothing would have kept the talented young artist from attending this prestigious function. When a young woman's mutilated body is discovered in a Swedish marina near Linnéa's holiday home, Alexis' worst fears are confirmed. But Linnéa's death is not unique; in fact, she is only the latest in a string of similar gruesome murders that have occurred in both London and Falkenberg. Up until now, the bodies have all belonged to young boys, so what has caused the killer to change his or her MO? How can Alexis help to find justice for her friend, and stop a serial killer before he strikes again? Full review...
No Middle Name by Lee Child
There is a theory, to which those who regularly read my reviews will know I sometimes subscribe, which says that the short story's heyday has passed and it has now put itself out to grass. This is particularly true, some say, and I have been known to concur, of the crime and thriller genres. Tosh! I can only apologise to all authors involved and own up: I simply haven't been paying attention. Not even to shorter offerings my by favourite authors. So: big thanks to Lee Child and publishers Bantam Press for putting me straight with No Middle Name : a collection of short stories about my favourite latter-day, American-style, Robin Hood by the name of Jack Reacher. Full review...
The Silence Between Breaths by Cath Staincliffe
I'm always wary of author endorsements, even those from people I rate as writers, but the harrowing and humane quote from Ian Rankin on the front cover of The Silence Between Breaths does not overstate the case. This is an extremely powerful book. Full review...
A Burning in the Darkness by A P McGrath
At a busy airport, Michael Kieh is a full time faith representative serving the needs of some of the 80 million passengers, but circumstance and evidence point to his guilt in a terrible crime. His struggle to prove his innocence leads him on a charged journey that pitches love against revenge. When a mysterious woman confides a dark secret, he is motivated to redress a heart-breaking injustice. Together they must battle against powerful forces as they edge dangerously close to unmasking a past crime. But Michael faces defeat when he chooses to protect a young witness, sparking memories of Michael's past in Liberia. As he fights to prove his innocence, Michael has to risk anything for the sake of love and truth. Full review...
Before the Fall by Noah Hawley
All artist Scott Burroughs did was to accept the offer from the wife of a media mogul for a short plane ride, not realising it will shape the rest of his life. The private jet falls out of the sky, making him a hero in the way he saved the only other survivor, the mogul's small son and heir JJ. The search for answers makes Scott uncomfortable in many ways, especially when he realises that for some he's not so much the hero as the murderer. Are they right? Full review...
Heretics by Leonardo Padura
Daniel Kaminsky is a child émigré to Cuba in 1939, looking forward to being joined from Germany by his parents. They're on board the St Louis in Havana docks but in a country and a time rife with politics and corruption, the ship is turned back without permitting any of their passengers to disembark. Now, nearly 80 years later, Daniel's son wants to know how an auction house obtained a family heirloom: a Rembrandt painting that the Kaminskys had with them on the ill-fated ship. He approaches retired Cuban policeman Mario Conde for answers to something that may seem straightforward but they soon realise it will prove to be anything but. Full review...
Rhyming Rings by David Gemmell
David Gemmell is a well-known name. Until his death in 2006 he topped the UK author lists in fantasy and historical fiction…but some will suggest that this previously unpublished manuscript shows that he might have gone in a different direction entirely. He might have opted for a life of crime. Crime fiction that is. I'll come back to that. Full review...
The Dog Walker by Lesley Thomson
In January 1987 it was only joggers and dog walkers who went on to the Thames towpath after dark. Estate agent Helen Honeysett left the riverside cottage she shared with her husband and never came home. A neighbour returned their dog who was found wandering, but Helen's body was never discovered. In 2016 Helen's husband, Adam, still wants to know what happened. He has an alibi, albeit a somewhat dubious one, but another neighbour was suspected. Steve Lawson couldn't stand the constant suspicion and drowned himself in the Thames: over the years that came to be accepted as an admission of guilt and even one of his children is certain that he was responsible. Full review...
