Reviews

Laurie Petrou - Stargazer

"This is a beautifully written novel, rich in atmosphere with a compelling and complex central character. "

Synopsis:
Diana Martin has lived her life in the shadow of her sadistic older brother. She quietly watches the family next door, enthralled by celebrity fashion designer Marianne Taylor and her feted daughter, Aurelle. She wishes she were a 'Taylor girl'.

By the summer of 1995, the two girls are at university together, bonded by a mutual desire to escape their wealthy families and personal tragedies and forge new identities. They are closer than lovers, intoxicated by their own bond, falling into the hedonistic seduction of the woods and the water at a remote university that is more summer camp than campus.

But when burgeoning artist Diana has a chance at fame, cracks start to appear in their friendship. To what lengths is Diana willing to go to secure her own stardom?

Review:
The novel opens in the summer of 1995. It's freshman week at Rocky Barrens University. At a party for the new students, we meet Diana. It's clear from the outset that Diana is an outsider. She's an observer of the events happening around her, not a participant. She stands on the side lines sketching the partygoers and scanning the crowd for 'her girl' Aurelle.

This opening chapter is breath-takingly beautiful. In a few pages, Petrou perfectly conveys the relationship between two young women with their whole lives stretched out in front of them, all of it an adventure just waiting to happen. It's a perfect description of what seems like a perfect friendship. It also leaves the reader in no doubt that something this perfect cannot last forever.

From this stunning beginning, we go back five years to Toronto where thirteen-year-old Diana lives an isolated lonely life. Diana is spending the long summer months alone in her bedroom. She passes her days watching the comings and goings of her neighbours. Life in the Taylor household seems so much better than life in Diana's own home. For starters, the Taylors' house is always full of guests and what makes the Taylor home so special is the presence of the family matriarch, celebrated fashion designer Marianne.

At first, it seems as if nothing can break the special bond shared by these two girls, but as they adapt to university life, it's clear they're on very different journeys. Aurelle, privileged and aimless, never quite finds her place in this new world. Diana, on the other hand, thrives. Her single-minded ambition, coupled with her talent, singles her out from the other Art students. And when she chooses Aurelle as the subject of a series of paintings, choosing her ambition over her friendship, nothing will ever quite be the same again.

This is a beautifully written novel, rich in atmosphere with a compelling and complex central character. I absolutely loved 'Stargazer' and will be seeking out everything else this author has written.

Reviewed by: S.B.

CrimeSquad Rating:

Brian McGilloway - The Empty Room

"This is a terrifically important novel and deserves to be an instant classic of the crime genre."

Synopsis:
Pandora (Dora) Condron wakes one morning to discover her 17-year-old daughter Ellie has not come home from a party.

The day Ellie disappears, Dora is alone as her husband, Eamon, has already left for the day in his job as a long-distance lorry driver. So Dora does the usual things: rings around Ellie's friends … but no one knows where she is. Her panic growing, Dora tries the local hospitals and art college where Ellis is a student – but then the police arrive on her doorstep with the news her daughter's handbag has been discovered dumped in a layby.

So begins Dora's ordeal of waiting and not knowing what has become of her daughter. Eamon's lack of empathy and concern, Dora realises, is indicative of the state of their marriage, and left on her own, Dora begins to reassess everything she thought she knew about her family and her life. Increasingly isolated and disillusioned with the police investigation, Dora feels her grip on reality slipping as she takes it upon herself to find her daughter – even if it means tearing apart everything and everybody she has ever loved and taking justice into her own hands.

Review:
Told in the first person from the point of view of Dora Condron, mother of a missing teenager, 'The Empty Room' is a powerful, raw and emotional psychological thriller with a frightening degree of reality. This could almost be a true-crime book written by the mother of a missing child as she takes us through the police investigative process and the fallout as her life changes forever.

Brian McGilloway is a wonderful writer and has created a thriller that is both entertaining yet shockingly real and harrowing. At times, this reader felt he was intruding on real grief, as the pain is so beautiful described. I had to keep telling myself that this is a novel and pure fiction, but at the same time, knowing this is exactly what parents are going through the world over who have a missing child.

The novel, in three parts, takes us on a journey in the most important aspects of a missing person case – the first three days. We then jump to three months later, followed by three years later. Dora's characterisation and her own personal journey is witnessed in emotional technicolour as we watch her descend into a kind of madness, and the lengths she will go to in order to discover the truth of what happened to her only child are heart-breaking to read.

The slowness of the police investigation, the way detectives have their hands tied by procedure and budgets, is all painfully depicted. This is a terrifically important novel and deserves to be an instant classic of the crime genre.

Reviewed by: M.W.

CrimeSquad Rating:

Neil Lancaster - The Blood Tide

"...DS Max Craigie is a worthy successor to become Scotland’s next great fictional detective. "

Synopsis:
In a remote sea loch on the west coast of Scotland, a fisherman vanishes without trace. His remains are never found.

A young man jumps from a bridge in Glasgow and falls to his death in the water below. DS Max Craigie uncovers evidence that links both victims. But if he can't find out what cost them their lives, it won't be long before more bodies turn up at the morgue.

Soon, cracks start to appear in the investigation, and Max's past hurtles back to haunt him. When his loved ones are threatened, he faces a terrifying choice: let the only man he ever feared walk free or watch his closest friend die.

Review:
'The Blood Tide' is the high-octane follow-up to last year's William McIlvanney Prize nominated first novel in the DS Max Craigie series, 'Dead Man's Grave'.

Neil Lancaster, a former police officer, not only gives us a startlingly accurate portrayal of police procedure no other writer of crime fiction can do, but he delivers it with the style of a seasoned writer. He's created a genuine protagonist in Max Craigie that the reader can immediately support and champion and has given him a mixed bunch of characters as his team that seem real. The camaraderie and dialogue between the detectives at work is spot on and pitch perfect. One minute you're smiling at Norma asking for another donut and the next you're on the edge of your seat waiting to see who it really is making those clandestine phone calls. It takes a writer of great creativity to put such scintillating drama into a management meeting, but Lancaster has done it with finesse.

The plot is intricate and intelligent and draws on the dark underbelly of the drug's world. We see the first-hand ruthlessness of deals gone wrong and the amount of money at stake and the lengths people are prepared to go to in order to survive. This is dark and chilling stuff, and Lancaster doesn't shy away from the disturbing consequences of such deals. The pace of the story is blistering, and the jaw-dropping finale will leave you screaming for a third book. The decision makers at HarperCollins need to hand Lancaster a lengthy contract. We need more Craigie in our lives.

Scotland has given us some wonderful crime writers over the years from McIlvanney himself to Ian Rankin, Val McDermid and James Oswald to name just a few, but Neil Lancaster can already be added to that list of great Scottish crime writers. With John Rebus now in retirement, DS Max Craigie is a worthy successor to become Scotland's next great fictional detective.

Reviewed by: M.W.

CrimeSquad Rating:

Mark Edwards - No Place To Run

"...Edwards has become one of the leading forces in crime fiction today."

Synopsis:
Two years ago, fifteen-year-old Scarlett vanished into thin air. Tormented by guilt, her brother Aidan has spent every moment since scouring the city for signs of her. But after years of false leads and dead ends, he'd nearly given up hope until a girl matching Scarlett's description was spotted running for her life across a forest clearing in Northern California. Without a thought, Aidan is on the next flight, desperate to follow the trail.

Aidan ends up in a fire ravaged town covered in missing posters of teenagers. The locals seem afraid, and the sheriff won't answer any of Aidan's questions. It looks like another dead-end. Until a chance meeting with Lana, a woman returning to town in search of her missing brother, gives Aidan his first clue to finding Scarlett. But as they piece together what happened, they make deadly enemies willing to do anything to silence them. But only one thing matters: finding Scarlett. Aidan lost her once before. He won't let it happen again. No matter the cost.

Review:
There are echoes of Lee Child here as a man searches for his missing sister, arrives at a small town and is given the cold shoulder by the locals. Aidan is no six-foot-plus man-mountain, but a mild-mannered English ex-pat, living in Seattle working in computers.

'No Place To Run' follows Aidan on his mission and we see the character grow in just a few days from a grieving brother to almost an action hero. This personal growth is wonderfully written. Aidan doesn't have time to stop and think of what he's going through, but by the end of the book, it starts to dawn on him, and you can see him living beyond the pages of the book. That's the level of care and attention to detail Mark Edwards puts into his characters, that you can picture their lives continuing.

From the beginning, it's painted clearly that young people are being brain-washed by their love of protecting the planet from climate change, that someone is using their passion for their own ends. What is revealed is disturbing, and there's a neat twist involving the truth of Scarlett's disappearance.

The interaction between Aidan and Lana, who is searching for her own missing relative, seemed effortless and natural. They have great dialogue and the emotions they go through – fear, humour, horror, and a smattering of sexual tension, make their scenes together a joy to read.

'No Place To Run' is a fast-paced thriller with two worthy leading characters to cheer on. With novels like this and his other titles, 'The Hollows' and 'The House Guest', Mark Edwards has become one of the leading forces in crime fiction today.

Reviewed by: M.W.

CrimeSquad Rating:

Hannah King - She and I

"...a cracking addition to the growing number of excellent crime novels coming out of Northern Ireland."

Synopsis:
Keeley and Jude are closer than blood. They share everything: clothes, secrets, drinks – and blame. So when they wake up after a New Year's party to find Keeley's boyfriend stabbed to death beside them, they agree to share one more thing: the story they'll tell the police. But who is their story really meant to protect?

As the murder investigation begins to send uncomfortable ripples through their community, the history of the girls' claustrophobic relationship comes under scrutiny, will the girls find there's such a thing as sharing too much?

Review:
'She and I' is the debut novel from Northern Irish writer, Hannah King. And what a debut it is! The novel centres around the intense friendship between two teenage girls: Keeley Mackley and Jude Jameson. It's a friendship that Linda, Jude's mother, disapproves of but has been powerless to do anything about.

When Keeley's boyfriend is murdered, Linda sees this as the perfect opportunity to break the tight bond that connects Jude and Keeley. Linda assumes her own daughter has nothing to do with the murder. Jude, after all, has all the advantages. She lives with both her parents, who have high ambitions for their two children. Keeley, on the other hand, comes from a deprived background and has mostly grown up without any parental influence.

King gives her readers a good cast of characters to get involved with, a plot that really packs a punch, and a hauntingly beautiful tale of female friendship. This is an excellent crime novel, written by someone who clearly knows how to weave a twisted tale that will keep readers turning the pages.

It's not clear if this is the first in a series, featuring the lead police detective DI Chris Rice, or if this is a standalone. Either way, it's a cracking addition to the growing number of excellent crime novels coming out of Northern Ireland. Hannah King is an author to watch out for. I can't wait to see what she does next.

Reviewed by: S.B.

CrimeSquad Rating:

Sarah Pinborough - Insomnia

"‘Insomnia’… Loved. Every. Page."

Synopsis:
Emma can't sleep. Insomnia struck since her fortieth birthday, a date she has dreaded since childhood, has been getting ever closer.

Her mother stopped sleeping just before her fortieth birthday too. She went mad and committed the most unthinkable crime because of it. Is the same thing happening to Emma too?

In the middle of the night, Emma gets up, she checks the windows and doors, making sure they're locked and secure. She checks on the children to make sure they're sleeping and safe. But things are happening to her family and her world is slowly falling apart. Why can't she sleep?

Review:
Insomnia is an illness that has been used many times in crime fiction novels to show a character descending into madness and it's not always been portrayed correctly. As someone who has suffered with insomnia for more than twenty years, I understand the miasma of dark thoughts, the claustrophobia, the paranoia that goes with being unable to sleep. Pinborough is obviously a fellow sufferer, or has been in the past, as she has depicted the suffering perfectly. As Emma stumbles night after sleepless night towards her dreaded fortieth birthday, the sense of torment and fear is palpable.

Pinborough writes characters and drama so well that you're immersed into the story. 'Insomnia' is written in the first person, so we get Emma's thoughts and emotions straight away and we're taken on this personal journey and experience her sense of loss of time and the nightmare of trying to understand what is happening to her. Is she really going mad or is someone playing a game with her?

There were times when I wanted to shout out at Emma, warn her of what was to come, tell her to smack her husband, throw her sister out of the house or kick that creepy client between the legs, that's how much I was hooked into the story. I had my theories of what could be happening to Emma and I was completely wrong every time. Pinborough is not the type of writer to release a standard crime novel. There was a powerful twist coming and it knocked me sideways. After the explosive finale of 'Behind Her Eyes', her novel I still think about today, I should have known Sarah would have something dark and devious up her sleeve to shock us with. She did. And I loved it.

Insomnia is a genuinely heart-pounding, throat-grabbing, twisted thriller that will (ironically) keep you up all night. You won't be able to draw yourself away from it until you're finished. People often say a writer is the Queen of Crime, but Sarah Pinborough is the Queen of the Unexpected. She's a powerful writer and one of the best at psychological fiction in this country. I want to read this book again right now. 'Insomnia'… Loved. Every. Page.

Reviewed by: M.W,

CrimeSquad Rating:

Amy McCulloch - Breathless

"A great debut thriller from this new author."

Synopsis:
When struggling journalist Cecily Wong is invited to join an expedition to climb one of the world's tallest mountains, it seems like the chance of a lifetime. She doesn't realise how deadly the climb will be.

As their small team starts to climb, things start to go wrong. There's a theft. Then an accident. Then a mysterious note, pinned to her tent: 'there's a murderer on the mountain'. The higher they get, the more dangerous the climb becomes, and the more they need to trust one another. And that's when Cecily finds the first body.

Review:
Cecily hasn't really had much success in her career as a journalist. So when she is offered the interview of a lifetime with Charles McVeigh, the renowned mountain climber she immediately accepts, despite there being a condition - that she can only get the interview after she has climbed the mountain with McVeigh. Before she even starts the climb she begins to think she has bitten off more than she can chew. The people she is joining on the expedition also feel she may not be experienced enough. But this is the least of her worries as the higher they go up the mountain, the more things start to go wrong.

'Breathless' had a great plot and felt like a modern Agatha Christie with a full cast of suspects, many of whom had a motive or a reason to be suspicious. Plenty of red herrings to keep you off the scent. I did find there was too much technical information around the climbing which for me distracted from the real reason I wanted to read the book. Nonetheless, I still enjoyed the read and wanted to keep going. A great debut thriller from this new author.

Reviewed by: H.A.

CrimeSquad Rating:

Rosemary Shrager - The Last Supper

"An intriguing twist to the tale and overall a highly enjoyable first novel."

Synopsis:
Television chef Prudence Bulstrode has mainly retired from public life to live in the country where she occasionally ventures forth to participate in local events. Her granddaughter, Suki, is sowing a few wild oats, culminating in crashing into Prudence's judging of the local produce show driving the camper van belonging to her grandmother.

When Prudence is called to take over the catering for a prestigious shooting party following the sudden death of a longstanding culinary rival, Deirdre Shaw, she takes her granddaughter along to help out. Prudence is happy to knuckle down and prove that she has not lost any of her mouthwatering skills, but events occur that lead her to believe that perhaps Deirdre's death was not just the unfortunate accident everybody believes. Current rivalries and past events lead to a dangerous situation.

Review:
Another story of crime in a cosy country setting where delicious food is served to the mouthwatering delight of the reader. It is not an original idea, but this is executed very successfully by Schrager. It helps that the author has proven credentials in the culinary field and some of the dishes sound absolutely delicious.

The characters are interesting and Suki and boyfriend provide a useful contrast to the high living guests at the weekend party. Prudence herself is no fool and down to earth. An intriguing twist to the tale and overall a highly enjoyable first novel.

Reviewed by: S.D.

CrimeSquad Rating:

Sharon Bolton - The Dark

"The tension in this book is painfully palpable and the story moves at a cracking pace."

Synopsis:
When a baby is snatched from its pram and cast into the river Thames, off-duty police officer, Lacey Flint is there to prevent disaster.

DCI Mark Joesbury has been expecting this. Monitoring a complex network of 'dark web' sites, Joesbury and his team have spotted a new terrorist threat from the extremist, women-hating group known as 'incels' or 'involuntary celibates'. Joesbury's team are trying to infiltrate the ring of power at its core, but the dark web is built for anonymity, and the incel army is vast.

Pressure mounts when the team learn the snatched baby incident was just the first in a series of violent attacks designed to terrorise women. Worse, the leaders of the movement seem to have singled out Lacey as the embodiment of everything they hate, placing her in acute danger.

Review:
I am a huge Sharon Bolton fan. Her novels are all complete page-turners, gripping from cover to cover. 'The Dark' is a return to Bolton's bestselling Lacey Flint police series, and the first one since 2014. It's been a long wait, but it was worth it.

Fans of Lacey Flint will already know of the police officer's shady past (that's putting it mildly) and the opening of the fifth book in the series gives us a snapshot of Lacey. After that shocking prologue, most writers would ease us into the story gently, but Bolton is not most writers, and she goes for the jugular with a terrifying first chapter which sees a baby snatched from its pram and hurtled into the fast-flowing river Thames.

The scene is now set for a series of shocking attacks on women around London. There's a particularly well-written scene involving a crane high up above the city in a gale-force wind where, if you're afraid of heights, as I am, you may want to read it holding someone's hand. The attention to detail Bolton puts into her work makes you feel as if you are right there among the action. My heart was in my mouth at several times throughout this book.

'The Dark' deals with incels; a group of men who seek a return to times when women weren't allowed to vote and their existence seemed to be to support the man; stay at home and have children, cook and clean, not have a job, and rely on the men for everything. Archaic thinking, definitely, but this is not fiction, these people do exist, and attacks are on the increase.

Sharon Bolton has highlighted the vulnerability of women and how very little can be done to prosecute such men without them actually breaking the law. Yet, to the victims, the threat is incredibly real and frightening and it's this menace they wish to evoke. It's shocking to think there are men out there in the world who think this is acceptable, and the fear women feel simply walking the streets in twenty-first century London.

On one level, this book is a work of fiction, entertainment to be enjoyed, but it's also a reminder that although we think we live in a democratic society, there are those who wish to believe otherwise. The tension in this book is painfully palpable and the story moves at a cracking pace. It's good to have Lacey Flint, and her many issues, back, and I hope we don't have to wait another eight years for book six.

Reviewed by: M.W.

CrimeSquad Rating:

Horst Enger - Unhinged

"Original and gripping..."

Synopsis:
Detective Chief Inspector Alexander Blix, of Oslo's Homicide investigation unit, is called out to a flat occupied by Sofia Kovic, an officer in his department and by his daughter, Iselin. Kovic is found murdered and Iselin has managed to escape from the killer. Kovic had been working on several unsolved murders and it appeared that she had discovered something that linked them.

Online crime journalist Emma Ramm has a long-standing connection with Blix, and she becomes a witness to Blix's shooting of a murder suspect. At the same time Blix's daughter is on life support systems in hospital. Blix is at a very low ebb and his only desire is to identify the person behind the deaths of several people and to prove the remarkable method he uses to achieve his ends. This struggle goes right to the wire and at the end Blix's future looks bleak.

Review:
As in the previous collaborations between Horst and Enger, the particular skills of each combine to provide a gripping thriller. The realism of the police investigation and of the murder scenes provided by Horst is enhanced by the psychological insights of Enger. Because of his emotional involvement, Blix is pushed to extraordinary lengths to follow the leads to the killer. The killer has also an important psychological twist that drives him on to achieve the deaths. Right to the end the outcome is not clear.

This is a gritty and dark mystery. It is an investigation into individual motives and behaviour that can lead you to question what you might do in the same circumstances. Original and gripping, this book is well worth a read.

Reviewed by: S.D.

CrimeSquad Rating:

Cynthia Harrod Eagles - Headlong

"...an extremely addictive read. "

Synopsis:
Famous literary agent Ed Wiseman has fallen to his death from a window in his home office, and fallen onto a load of bricks from an adjoining building site. There are three possibilities - an accident, suicide or murder. DCI Bill Slider and his team investigate, though they are hampered by an instruction from Commander David Carpenter of the Met, for an undivulged reason, but is to do with a female called Calliope Hunt, that Slider will decide that it's an accident. Unfortunately, all the evidence points to murder, and an investigation swings into action.

Wiseman turns out to have been a hard-working agent who was popular with his clients. However, he was a womaniser who slept with every woman he met, and had a wide range of dodgy authors, sleazy friends, and abandoned lovers. There is also an ex wife, the ex-wife's husband, a secretary, and a dissatisfied author called Langely, out for revenge, who has written a hopeless novel which was rejected by Wiseman. So there is no dearth of suspects. After many interviews, Slider eventually discovers who Calliope Hunt is and gradually puts together a picture of who did the deed and why.

Review:
No doubt. Cynthia Harrod-Eagles found inspiration in the people who inhabit the real world of publishing in London. Pretentious writers, untalented writers, the concerns about marketing (or lack of it) of literary products, the bitchiness and the rivalries. Whatever inspired it, this is a simple, one-murder police procedural without guns, frantic car chases, or ruthless gangland bosses. There is no heart-stopping action or sudden revelations. Its action revolves round pain-staking interviews and re-interviews, the collection of information, the thought processes and the frustrations of the investigation team.

The dialogue is witty and sharp, though the subplots about Slider's private life problems I found to be - shall we say? - on the uninteresting side. His wife Joanne was, to me, two-dimensional, and more could have been made of her. Apart from this small niggle, 'Headlong' was an extremely addictive read.

Reviewed by: J.G.

CrimeSquad Rating:

Ragnar Jónasson - Outside

"...a chilling read..."

Synopsis:
When a deadly snowstorm strikes the Icelandic highlands, four friends seek shelter in a small, abandoned hunting lodge. It is in the middle of nowhere and there's no way of communicating with the outside world. They are isolated, but they are not alone.

As the night darkness, and fear intensify, an old tragedy gradually surfaces – one that forever changed the course of their friendship. Those dark memories could hold the key to the mystery the friends find themselves in… and whether they will survive until morning.

Review:
There seems to have been a number of thrillers written in the last few years where the plot centres around old school friends meeting up for a reunion and a secret lies at the centre of the once close-knit group. It's almost becoming a cliché of the crime fiction genre. When done well, it can become an instant classic. What saves 'Outside' from slipping into the usual trope is the brutal Icelandic landscape which Ragnar Jonasson uses so well to dial up the tension to explosive.

Each chapter is told from the point of view of each of the four friends. It's a very fast read (I read it in two sittings) and the chapters are short. The characters, individually, reveal their back stories and their own lives, but as a group, the relationships are as cold as the weather. I love Jonasson's use of the landscape. In all of his novels, he adds Iceland as an addition character intruding on the human elements of the plot.

As the story unfolds, we discover each of the friends' pasts and what sadness and darkness lurks there. The introduction of a fifth character is slightly disjointed as he doesn't say anything. He's central to the drama, but we know nothing about him and picturing a man in a hut remaining in complete silence and not giving anything as to his presence stretches credibility.

The character that works best for me is Daniel. He's escaped Iceland and moved to London to try to make a career as an actor. His life isn't going how he envisioned, but he is the most fully formed of the foursome.

The secret of the reunion, when revealed, falls a little flat. It wasn't the mammoth drama I was expecting, and it could all have been summed up as a tragic accident. This is a chilling read, but it's the weather that makes it chilling rather than the plot.

Reviewed by: M.W.

CrimeSquad Rating:

Martin Edwards - The Crooked Shore

"A masterful story filled with intrigue, dark humour and a clever plot."

Synopsis:
DCI Hannah Scarlett is an acknowledged expert in solving cold cases, but she is struggling under the weight of bureaucracy when Ramona Smith's disappearance from Bowness more than twenty years ago crosses her desk.

The prime suspect was charged but found not guilty. Now the case comes back into the public eye as the result of a shocking tragedy on the Crooked Shore, the fount of dark legends in the south of the Lake District. Tensions mount in the summer heat as a ruthless killer who has already got away with one murder plans further appalling crimes. Hannah finds herself racing against the clock as she strives to solve the mysteries and save innocent lives.

Review:
This is one of those tricky reviews where I have to be careful what I write so as not to let out any spoilers! There are two strands here that propel this case. Hannah's search for Ramona Smith's body and the trials and tribulations of Kingsley Melton. With a name like that one would expect a grand man, unfortunately Kingsley's persona does not match his name. He has the propensity of being in the wrong place at the wrong time and has a reputation locally for being a bit of a jinx. Kingsley's obsession with Tory, a vivacious lady of means appears to be his oasis in a desert of disaster. But is she such an oasis? Although I enjoyed this strand, I did feel down the road, that it slightly diverted away from the main investigation and the two leads.

The Ramona Smith investigation is cleverly revealed. Throughout, there is tension between Hannah and Daniel with his arrival from his US book tour. To begin with it looks touch and go whether they will remain romantically involved. I read 'The Crooked Shore' in two days. I really couldn't put this down and was intrigued from Edwards' masterful opening, right up to the finish when, with Christie-esque finesse, Edwards ties up all the loose ends. Edwards' books are wonderfully readable and here is no exception. 'The Crooked Shore' has that – 'just one more chapter…' readability about it. A masterful story filled with intrigue, dark humour and a clever plot.

Reviewed by: C.S.

CrimeSquad Rating:

M.C. Beaton with R.W. Green - Down The Hatch

"I give it the thumbs up - it's a darn good read."

Synopsis:
Agatha Raisin is taking her usual lunchtime power walk in Mirchester Park when she hears a scream. At first she thinks it comes from some children in a play area. Then she hears another scream, and realises it comes from the other side of a hedge bordering the path she is walking along. She investigates, and what she discovers is a crown bowling green with a man, apparently dead, lying on a pool of vomit, and a woman, who obviously made the scream, and her husband. She is told that the old man's name is Nelson, and that at one time he was a seaman, so had the nickname of 'the Admiral'. The couple, Mr and Mrs Swinburn, are members of the bowling club. By the old man's side is a rum bottle, but Agatha thinks he was poisoned by weed killer being added to the rum.

DCI Wilkes, who has no time for Agatha, turns up on the scene, and thinks otherwise - that it was merely the death of an alcoholic At the inquest, so too does the coroner. Agatha knows it was murder. She decides to investigate, and then receives an anonymous note saying that it was indeed murder.

So far, so normal for Agatha. She has a murder investigation while also having a rekindled romance with her ex-husband James Lacey. But things turn nasty. Someone tries to run her down, and she finds her life in danger. Has this anything to do with another case her agency is handling, or her investigation into the Admiral''s death?

Review:
When Marion Chesney Beaton died in 2019, fellow Scot, Rod Green, Marion's friend, and with her approval, finished it for her after lengthy conversations at her home. He gave the finished typescript to her to read two weeks before she died. Now he has written this completely new Agatha Raison, and peppered it with the same well-loved characters. He is on record as saying that the characters are so well delineated that it would not be right to change them.

So 'Down the Hatch' uses the same well-loved characters, adding some nice touches of his own. Agatha is more business-like than she was in the earlier books, while still being her usual feisty, unruly, sweary, unpredictable self. And she is still, thank goodness, letting her heart rule her head in matters of romance and love.

The plot is good, the baddies are believable, and the ending is crisp, with a satisfying twist. People have pigeon-holed Agatha Raisin books as 'cosy', though there is a hard edge in them not found in other cosies. I give it the thumbs up - it's a darn good read.

Reviewed by: J.G.

CrimeSquad Rating:

Georges Simenon - The People Opposite

"...a well-written, political book that cries out to be read."

Synopsis:
The time is the 1930s, and Adil Bey has been appointed Turkish consul in the Soviet (now Georgian) city of Batumi on the Black Sea after the mysterious death of his predecessor. He speaks no Russian, and is out of his depth, being treated with animosity and suspicion by the people of the city. A member of OGPU, the Soviet security police, lives in an apartment opposite with his wife and sister. Adil Bey awakens one morning to discover that the sister, called Sonia, has been appointed as his secretary, and is sitting at a desk in his office. She is beautiful, but cold and unfriendly. He is suspicious, and believes that Sonia has been sent to spy on him.

The city has two other consulates - Persian and Italian. But they too remain cold towards him, and eventually the Persian consul returns home, leaving his wife behind. Then the Italian consul and his wife also return home, leaving Adil Bey to the mercy of the unfriendly Batumi citizens and AGPU.

However, a rapport of sorts develops between Adil and Sonia, and she becomes his lover, even though he still has his suspicions. Eventually he falls in love, and makes plans to return to Turkey with Sonia. He turns to John, an alcoholic employee of Standard Oil who lives in the city, for assistance. A plan is hatched. But will it work? Is Sonia all that she seems? Will she betray him? And what of Sonia's brother, and Nejla, the Persian consul's wife?

Review:
This is an overtly political book, part mystery and part thriller. Batumi is a real seaport, now a thriving and bustling modern city, but in the 1930s, when Stalin was General Secretary of the Communist, it was run-down, ugly, and poor. Simenon no doubt knew that Stalin himself wasn't Russian, but Georgian, and used this to accentuate the grinding poverty of Batumi's city.

Adil Bey is beautifully presented as a man who is a stranger in a strange land - totally out of his depth. Simenon presents Sonia as cold and unfriendly, but still with a hidden warmth and depth that is perceived by Adil Bey. Many of the other characters - the consuls and their wives - John the alcoholic - Adil Bey's housekeeper - are ciphers, there to highlight Adil and Sonia' awakening, but nevertheless interesting. All the suspicions, coldness, and ugliness of the city in the 1930s is starkly but simply laid bare. Food shortages, rationed electricity, mysterious disappearances and open poverty are dealt with in an almost off-hand way. This is a well-written, political book that cries out to be read.

Reviewed by: J.G.

CrimeSquad Rating:

Nadine Matheson - The Jigsaw Man

"...not for the feint-hearted, but you will enjoy one heck of a dark rollercoaster. "

Synopsis:
When bodies start washing up along the banks of the River Thames, DI Henley fears it is the work of Peter Olivier, the notorious Jigsaw Killer. But it can't be him; Olivier is already behind bars, and Henley was the one who put him there.

She'd hoped she'd never have to see his face again, but Henley knows Olivier might be the best chance they have at stopping the copycat killer. But when Olivier learns of the new murders, helping Henley is the last thing on his mind.

Now all bets are off, and the race is on to catch the killer before the body count rises. But who will get there first – Henley, or the Jigsaw Killer?

Review:
There is no let-up with Matheson's debut as a severed arm is found on the riverbank of Greenwich Pier on the first page! Then, for the next four hundred pages, Matheson makes us charge down many a dark alleyway to catch a killer who is decapitating people. DI Anjelica Henley is getting it from all sides. She has been desk-bound since being seriously injured whilst apprehending Olivier, she suffers from PTSD and her husband, Rob wants her to jack the job in and be a stay-at-home mum to their young daughter. Plus, now Henley has been gifted a trainee in the form of Salim Ramouter. Could the day get any worse? Oh, yes it can!

I really enjoyed the fledgling dynamic of Henley and Ramouter, both of whom Matheson furnishes with their own personal difficulties. I found Henley's husband a real whinge and a control freak. Thankfully, he doesn't appear much. As the CSU team realise, there is a rhyme and reason to these killings. I felt quite breathless by the time I reached the end of 'The Jigsaw Killer'. This is not for the feint-hearted, but you will enjoy one heck of a dark rollercoaster.

Reviewed by: C.S.

CrimeSquad Rating:

Colin Dexter - Riddle of the Third Mile

"...appears to be more about the puzzle than the people who populate it. "

Synopsis:
The thought suddenly occurred to Morse that this would be a marvellous time to murder a few of the doddery old bachelor dons. No wives to worry about their whereabouts; no landladies to whine about the unpaid rents. In fact nobody would miss most of them at all. By the 16th of July the Master of Lonsdale was concerned, but not yet worried.

Dr Browne-Smith had passed through the porter's lodge at approximately 8.15 a.m. on the morning of Friday, 11th July. And nobody had heard from him since. Plenty of time to disappear, thought Morse. And plenty of time, too, for someone to commit murder.

Review:
As I continue chronologically on my journey through Morse's cases, I have realised Dexter was wonderful at constructing deviously clever plots for his famous and irritable detective. Morse is hardest on himself and seems to stumble to the wrong conclusion before alighting on the real solution. Another thing I have noticed is how there always seems to be a busty woman amongst the proceedings and how someone's alibi appears to include the fact they were in the local theatre watching a 'dirty film'! This does date these books, but the Morse novels are highly entertaining. This one, although enjoyable, does tend to stretch the imagination and feels as though it stretched Dexter himself as it does slightly seem to unravel towards the end. 'The Riddle of the Third Mile' is entertaining, but this appears to be more about the puzzle than the people who populate it. I can't say anymore without spoilers, so I leave it up to you to read and find out for yourself. Not one of Dexter's best cases to spring from his fertile imagination.

Reviewed by: C.S.

CrimeSquad Rating:

Patricia Highsmith - Ripley Under Water

"...Highsmith has that talent to make you cheer for the guy who is in essence the ‘baddie’! "

Synopsis:
Tom Ripley is quietly living in luxury at his chateau at Villeperce. He has a past, however, that would not bear too much close scrutiny.He is certain that he has covered his tracks where murder and forgery are concerned. But when a certain American couple move in next door, he soon realises his every move is being shadowed.

Ripley fears his secrets may be discovered and he will stop at nothing to prevent that from happening.

Review:
I have finally come to the end of my Ripley journey. This last, written in 1991 was Highsmith's penultimate novel before she died in 1995. Here we find Ripley enjoying life with his wife until the arrival of an American couple who know more about Tom than he cares to imagine. Highsmith introduces David and Janice Pritchard who are the most bizarre couple, even by Highsmith standards. There is much innuendo as to what brings them to Villeperce and how much they know about Tom to his face. It all goes back to the missing American, Murchison back in 'Ripley Under Ground' and the Derwatt forgeries. This has been an over-reaching story arc across the latter four Ripley books and now Highsmith tries to put this particular chapter in Tom's life to a close. As much as her creation will allow, anyway. From reading his exploits, Ripley is one who will always be wheeling and dealing and nearly being singed by the fire he insists on getting too close to!

'Ripley Under Water' did at times feel a little laboured and that Highsmith had either run out of steam or love for Ripley. There is rumour that she wrote it simply on the demands of her publisher, but then I can't imagine Highsmith being brow-beaten into doing anything she didn't want to do! Again, we have a comic feel to proceedings, especially with regards to the Pritchards who appear to have every kind of physical twitch and twerk imaginable. They both seem a pair of comedic grotesques. As with Highsmith, you get the sense by the end of the novel that Tom has yet again scrapped through by the skin of his teeth, but there is also that sense that Highsmith does so wonderfully, that not everything has been put to bed quite so, and that still something may surface one day. Highsmith's novel brings in one of Ripley's great fears – of water and drowning. Again, quite tongue in cheek when you start totting up how many people Tom has thrown into the water! Not quite a finale with fireworks, but still Highsmith has that talent to make you cheer for the guy who is in essence the 'baddie'! The Ripley novels (or 'Ripliad') will always be classed as one of the most ingenious – and at times, bonkers series in crime fiction.

Reviewed by: C.S.

CrimeSquad Rating:

James Patterson and James O. Born - The Russian

"A thriller film in page form."

Synopsis:
Weeks before NYPD Detective Michael Bennett is to marry his long-time love, Mary Catherine, an assassin announces their presence in the city with a string of murders. All of the victims are young women, and each has been killed in a manner as precise as it was gruesome.

Tasked with working alongside the FBI, Bennett uncovers multiple cold-case homicides across the country that fit the same distinctive pattern. He promises Mary Catherine that the case won't affect their upcoming wedding, but, as he struggles to connect the killings, Bennett may be walking into a deadly trap.

Review:
It does feel strange writing a review on a book by a man who has sold gazilions of books worldwide. Well, it feels like that, anyway. Plus, to coincide with the new Michael Bennett novel, 'Shattered', the great man is on Radio 2 with Ken Bruce on 'Tracks Of My Years' this week!

Thankfully, this Michael Bennett thriller does not disappoint in the least and is the proverbial rollercoaster ride. 'The Russian' is one of those books, promising myself only to have a quick fifteen minute read, and the next moment I was on page one hundred! I have been lucky recently and have read some great books, and again this one was finished within two days! One thing I did wonder as the story progressed was the title, but 'The Russian' bit is explained, but not until towards the end! So no peeking at the ending or you may spoil it for yourself! With his massive output, not every book is going to hit the spot, but when Patterson hits bullseye, as in this case with James O. Born, then the results are spectacular and one is left with appetite sated and breathless at the same time. I felt as though I too had been running down all those streets in NYC with Michael Bennett! A thriller film in page form.

Reviewed by: C.S.

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