Newest Crime (Historical) Reviews
A War of Flowers by Jane Thynne
A War of Flowers is the third of Jane Thynne's thoroughly researched and beautifully written novels of Nazi Berlin from the female point of view. Reading them is an immersive experience; the joy of the book is in location, description, comment. The action does not rush but the ending expertly pulls plot strings together and has a wow factor that will leave the reader eager for more. Full review...
The Fifth Heart by Dan Simmons
On a rainy night in March 1893 Henry James stands on a Paris bridge, about to end it all. Next to him sidles Sherlock Holmes, about to do the same. Instead of jumping, Holmes drags James off for a drink and decides that they will go to America to solve a 17-year-old murder case. The supposed victim, socialite Clover Adams, is believed to have committed suicide but that doesn't deter Sherlock. He's off, Henry James is going with him and that's that! Full review...
Quiet Dell by Jayne Anne Phillips
Chicago – 1931. Asta Eicher is a widow, with three children and a crippling sense of loneliness. When Harry Powers asks her to marry him, she is delighted – and the new family soon leave in order to travel to West Virginia. They are never seen again. Back in Chicago, Emily Thornhill is one of the few women journalists in Chicago, and is sent to investigate the disappearance, trying to establish what happened to the family. As she becomes ever deeper involved with the investigation, Emily begins to discover things she never expected – both about the case, and herself. Full review...
The Lady from Zagreb by Philip Kerr
The Lady from Zagreb begins and ends in 1956. Series detective Bernie Gunther is enduring a 'subtle kind of punishment' as he watches and re-watches beautiful Dahlia Dresner, a woman he has loved and lost. This is the tenth of the novels that began with the publication of the Berlin Noir trilogy (in the early 1990s) and within a few pages the action has catapulted back to the summer of 1942 and the heartland location, Nazi Berlin. Full review...
Enter Pale Death by Barbara Cleverly
Death by Misadventure.' This is the official verdict as to the cause of death of Lady Lavinia Truelove, trampled to death by a notoriously ill-tempered horse, which she foolishly tried to approach in its stall. The horse panicked and reacted badly, resulting in a gruesome and bloody attack, witnessed by two boys from the village. Most people would dismiss the event as a tragic accident, but detective Joe Sandilands suspects that this could be cold-blooded murder. Could his judgement be clouded by the fact that he has a very personal axe to grind with the 'grieving' widower, who has been showing increasing attentiveness to Dorcas, the girl he plans to marry? Full review...
Enter the Saint by Leslie Charteris and John Telfer (narrator)
When you think of thrillers written by a man in his early twenties there's a temptation to believe that the books might not be, well, top drawer, but that would be a mistake. The first of The Saint novels was published in 1928 when Leslie Charteris was just twenty one and this collection of stories is dated 1930. You might expect the rambunctious adventurer we meet, but not the subtleties of the slightly world-weary man of the world, all-knowing about the evils to which men (and women) can sink, but they're all there. Admittedly the Saint is more boisterous and less subtle than he will become - but that speaks more about the later works than this book. Full review...
Loser's Corner by Antonin Varenne and Frank Wynne (translator)
Meet Georges Crozat. He's a policeman in Paris, who boxes on the side. After a bout that leads to an almost embarrassing victory, he is made two offers – one from a clearly corrupt man behind the scenes in the sport, who seems to offer a few thrown fights for Georges, then some kind of status as assistant – training, guiding, profiteering; the other comes from a man known always as the Pakistani (or an unkind abbreviation of that), who has a friend of a friend who wants someone to do an enemy a mischief with their fists. Georges doesn't take too long to choose the latter. In alternating chapters, however, we're in the 1950s, and a rookie to the forces, Pascal Verini, is being shipped out to Algeria to work on the civil war causing the republic to break away and become independent from France. Like Georges, he finds his situation one which also causes what may be misguided violence, even if he has a very different attitude to it. Full review...
The Barchster Murders by G M Best
Anthony Trollope was very taken with Barchester when he first visited the city, but pausing to look out at a pleasant view he discovered the body of Thomas Rider, a bedesman at Hiram's Hospital. At first it was suspected that Trollope might have been the murderer - for this was no natural death, but a stabbing - but once he proved that he was a professional man there on business for the first time, he found himself drawn into the investigation. There is a secret which the warden, the Reverend Septimus Harding has hidden for well over a decade and it looks as though Rider might have been murdered to prevent the secret coming out. Full review...
The Queen's Man by Rory Clements
Elizabethan England - a murky, dirty world full of religious strife and violent, short lives. Queen Elizabeth sits on the throne, but her seat is by no means safe - her first cousin, Mary, Queen of Scots, is locked up in Sheffield Castle. Unable to leave, but by no means unable to plot and scheme with her supporters, Mary wishes to reclaim what she believes is rightfully hers - the throne. But even she cannot be prepared for the dark twists and new plots that arise. Full review...
A Cruel Necessity (A John Grey Historical Mystery) by L C Tyler
Essex 1657: Cromwell's Republic is 8 years old. While John Grey sleeps off a good night of drink under the eaves of a cottage, a Royalist spy is murdered down the road. A trainee lawyer, John also enjoys the science of investigation and so starts looking for clues that will lead him to the murderer. Although it's not easy: strange happenings occurred that night and Grey is having trouble persuading others of what he saw. Meanwhile his mother has the perfect match for him. Unfortunately their ideas of perfection differ somewhat! Full review...
Lamentation (Matthew Shardlake) by C J Sansom
The reign of Henry VIII is drawing to a close. It's heresy to speculate on the death of the king, but obvious to anyone who sees the bloated man who can barely walk that he cannot have much longer. Matthew Shardlake is still drawn to the queen - Catherine Parr as was - but he'd prefer to avoid court politics particularly when there's someone as suggestible and changeable as Henry on the throne. Ultimately though he doesn't feel that he has much choice when he's summoned to Whitehall Palace. It seems that the queen has a problem which could put her life in danger - along with the lives of all those who are seen as her supporters. Full review...
Murder at the Brightwell by Ashley Weaver
It probably helps to be a fan of Agatha Christie. It probably helps to absolutely adore the sheer selfish indulgence and style of the 1930s. It probably helps to just accept the rich as being completely divorced from real life. It definitely helps if you're happy to take your crime as a puzzle, rather than as heart-rending, gut-wrenching rendition of reality. Full review...
Queen of Hearts by Rhys Bowen
Lady Georgiana Rannoch, 35th in line for the British throne, may know how to navigate upper class society, but there aren't many acceptable career choices for a penniless almost royal. So when her mother, famous actress Claire Daniels, invites her on a transatlantic cruise, Georgie is looking forwards to living the highlife and relaxing for a while. Full review...
Havana Sleeping by Martin Davies
Hector, a night watchman is murdered at work. There's nothing unusual about that – it happens all the time. The reason being that this is Havana halfway through the 19th century; a place of intrigue, political posturing (and worse) as pro- and anti-slavery conflicts cause bubbles under the surface of society. It's a place where an apparently lowly British civil servant like George Backhouse can be posted to influential positions. It's a place where the Americans don't trust the British, the British don't trust the Americans and everyone fears what the Spanish may do. Meanwhile a courtesan named Leonarda just wants to find out why the man she loved died. Full review...
The Taxidermist's Daughter by Kate Mosse
Connie is the daughter of once renowned taxidermist Crowley Gifford. Times have changed though. Crowley may once have been famous with his own museum proudly exhibiting intricately prepared bird and animal tableaux but he's now addled by alcohol and deep melancholy, leaving Connie to continue the art in much reduced circumstances. A decade before Connie (then aged 10) had an accident that robbed her of her memory. The past refuses to stay hidden though, returning with a vengeance and explaining the shell that Crowley has become. 'A vengeance' isn't a throwaway choice of words either – its return will upturn all that Connie has believed and even threaten her life and the lives of all those whom she holds dear. Full review...
Sherlock Holmes - The Spirit Box by George Mann
In the London of World War One there is a man amongst the masses cowering from the nightly Zeppelin raids who knows death a lot more than many. He is grieving for his nephew, lost to the killing fields of France; he is pining for his wife, evacuated to the country; and he is both grieving and pining for a past where he was more active, more demonstrably brave and verifiably useful – a past whose main constituent part has also gone to the countryside, to be a beekeeper near Brighton. That man is Dr Watson, and the other, of course, is Sherlock Holmes. Here they're reunited at the behest of Mycroft, for three individual deaths provide a thorn in the side of his secret operations, and only Holmes can pluck it out with his singular talents. But when the evidence in the case so often revolves around mysterious photographs claiming to be of people's souls, there is a hint that this new modern age is a step too far for the once-retired sleuthing friends. Full review...
The First Horseman by DK Wilson
British author Derek Wilson is one with a tremendously long bibliography as a Historian, and as an author of fiction. He brings all of that to The First Horseman, a resounding success that blends fact and fiction to create a gripping, fast moving Tudor crime story that educates as well as fascinates, moving from the merchants of Cheapside to the whores of Southwark, and mixing with figures such as Thomas Cromwell and Henry VIII. Full review...
Plague by CC Humphreys
Highwayman Captain William Coke stops a carriage in the line of his chosen career and soon discovers he's not the first to have assailed it. The driver is dead and all those within have been brutally skewered. He flees the scene but unfortunately leaves a pistol behind. This is all thief-taker Pitman needs to arouse his interest and attempt to track the Captain down with a noose in mind. Meanwhile nature has an equally random mode of death that's soon to be let loose on London. This is 1665 and the Great Plague is about to begin. Full review...
Stalemate by Alan Hamilton
In the summer of 1930 Walter Bruce was told that he had an incurable illness. With nursing care and an easier job he might have a few more years to live - but without them he had a matter of months. The solution would seem straightforward but Bruce had a wife - and she demanded to be kept and was far too selfish to be his nurse. Life might have continued much as it was, but Bruce discovered that his wife had been deceiving him about her age and background - and with two of his business colleagues. The solution was obvious: he would devise the perfect murder and then live out his final years in comfort. Bruce was a chess player and he approached the problem much as he would a game of chess - but even the best plans rarely survive contact with reality. Full review...
The Marathon Conspiracy by Gary Corby
Nicolaos has a lot on his mind. His wedding is only a few weeks away and he still has no real means of supporting a wife and family. The investigating game, it seems, doesn't pay too well. So when his patron Pericles asks him to investigate the murder of a young child, Nico is a little reticent, especially since he is still waiting to be paid for his previous assignment. Deciding that he can't afford to be picky, Nico accepts a case which will see him, amongst other things, fending off street thugs, diving for treasure in a sacred spring, going on a bear hunt, rescuing a pair of fighting cocks and consulting a strange priestess who has a habit of running around the woods naked...At least he can't complain that his work is boring. Full review...
Friend and Foe (A Hew Cullan Mystery) by Shirley McKay
1583 and King James VI of Scotland is paranoid and, after the events of the Ruthven raid the year before, who can blame him? Surely this won't affect humble academic lawyer Hew Cullen? Oh but it will, eventually causing more turmoil than even he is used to. Back at the beginning though, while Hew continues, unaware of what's to come, he has more pressing domestic worries that, for once, don't affect his herbalist sister Meg or his doctor brother-in-law Giles. Indeed, this time the concern is the love of Hew's own heart. Full review...
The Axeman's Jazz by Ray Celestin
Based on a true story, The Axeman's Jazz is scriptwriter Ray Celestin's debut novel. It tells of a serial killer in New Orleans in 1919 - the Axeman - who torments the city and has everyone talking; it seems that everyone has their theories and yet no meaningful leads are presenting themselves, as the police and citizens of New Orleans begin to despair of ever catching the killer. Full review...
Sherlock Holmes: Gods of War by James Lovegrove
The year is 1913 and the storm clouds of war are gathering ominously on the horizon. Most people dread the inevitable, but there are individuals who stand to gain from the oncoming conflict and will stop at nothing to facilitate their plans, even if that means murder. However, it would take a very brave (or naïve) criminal to commit such an atrocity in the neighbourhood of Mr Sherlock Holmes, even if he is supposed to be enjoying his retirement. When it comes to investigating mysterious activity, Holmes can't resist the lure of the chase and soon the game is afoot! Full review...
The Art of Killing Well by Marco Malvaldi and Howard Curtis (translator)
Pellegrino Artusi has travelled the length and breadth of Italy researching his masterpiece The Science of Cooking and the Art of Eating Well and the chance to visit the home - or rather the castle - of the seventh Barone di Roccapendente was a double bonus. He'd have the opportunity to discover the secrets of the Barone's kitchen and the chance of a few days rest and possibly a boar hunt in the Tuscan hills. What could be better? Well, his stay would have been improved had a body not been discovered in the locked cellar of the castle. The cast of aristocratic suspects baffles the local police inspector and Artusi realises that he will have to become involved. Full review...
The Curse Of The House Of Foskett (The Gower Street Detective Series) by MRC Kasasian
Personal (not private!) detective Sidney Grice is still smarting because he's thought to have sent an innocent man to the gallows. It's also hit him in the pocket as work has dried up as a result. He's therefore pleased and intrigued when he's visited by a potential client who wants him to look into the Last Death Club, a group of people who have each put £2,000 in the kitty, the sum of which will go to the last person surviving. Unfortunately they seem to be dying quicker than planned and rather unnaturally. Sidney is about to accept the case when his client drops dead in Grice's study in front of him and his ward and assistant March Middleton. It may not improve his reputation any, but his attention has been piqued; he'll take the case anyway. Full review...
An Appetite for Violets by Martine Bailey
Biddy 'Obedience' Leigh is the under-cook at Mawton Hall, but although she is passionate about cooking, her dearest wish is to marry her young man. The date is set for her to leave the Hall for married life and she is looking forward to it. But the master of the house surprises everyone when he gets himself a very young wife – and Biddy’s world is rapidly changed. Lady Carinna takes a shine to Biddy, and when Biddy proves herself to be resourceful and entrepreneurial, her fate is sealed. Full review...
Prince of Darkness by Sharon Penman
1193: Justin de Quincy, bastard son of the Bishop of Chester and loyal to Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine, steers clear of Eleanor's youngest son John at all costs. After all, John's henchman did try to murder him. However there's a plot afoot to frame John for a crime he didn’t commit (for a change), bringing with it somewhat of a dilemma for Justin. As much as he hates John, de Quincy realises that getting to the bottom of the plot is in the interests of the Queen and England. So Justin's course is set, no matter what it costs and no matter which hornets' nests it disturbs. Full review...
Harlem Nocturne by Bruce Crowther
Just before the beginning of the Second World War and half a world away from Europe the World's Fair is taking place in New York. The British king and queen are expected and there's a Joe Louis title fight on the horizon. Daniel Leland lives in Harlem. He used to be with the NYPD but was retired after he was shot by robbers: the bullet is still in his body and perilously close to his spine. Right now he makes his living as a small-time private detective, but business seems to be looking up when he's offered an investigation - and a very large retainer - by a manufacturer who might be suffering espionage. Before long there's a murder to add into the equation too. Full review...
The Convictions of John Delahunt by Andrew Hughes
As John Delahunt sits in a cell for the condemned writing an account of his life, we go through it with him. It all begins as he witnesses a fracas between his fellow students and the police after a visit to one of the fine hostelries Victorian Dublin has to offer. In this way John's brought to the attention of 'The Department', a pro-British intelligence unit based in the notorious Dublin Castle. John agrees to help them not realising this is never going to be an agreement he can back away from, no matter how hard he tries and no matter how much it costs him. Full review...
One Night in Winter by Simon Sebag Montefiore
In June 1945 two school students are shot dead in Moscow. These aren't just any school students; they attended Josef Stalin School 801, the academy that taught Stalin's own children and the current educational establishment of choice for the offspring of many government and army grandees. Why did they die? Did the seemingly innocent Fatal Romantics Club have anything to do with it? For the children the club is a way of living their love of Pushkin's literature but to others it seems a little different. Stalin himself is determined to have it investigated and what Stalin wants, Stalin gets no matter how wide the ultimate spider's web of suspicion is cast and no matter whom it catches. Full review...
