London – Grab This Book

The Silent Man – David Fennell

A father is murdered in the dead of night in his London home, his head wrapped tightly in tape, a crude sad face penned over his facial features. But the victim’s only child is left alive and unharmed at the scene.

Met Police detectives Grace Archer and Harry Quinn have more immediate concerns. Notorious gangster Frankie White has placed a target on Archer’s back, and there’s no one he won’t harm to get to her.

Then a second family is murdered, leaving young Uma Whitmore as the only survivor.

With a serial killer at large, DI Archer and DS Quinn must stay alive long enough to find the connection between these seemingly random victims. Can they do it before another child is orphaned?

My thanks to Tracy Fenton at Compulsive Readers for the opportunity to join the Blog Tour and to the publishers (Zaffre) for my review copy.

I read a lot of good books but The Silent Man is a great book and I had a blast following the action.

DI Grace Archer is a woman with a whole world of problems. She’s had a long-standing enemy in London gangster Frankie “Snow” White and things appear to be coming to boiling point. Having not read the previous books* I am presuming past events have seen Frankie White blaming Archer for an incident which caused him a great deal of pain and cannot be undone (no spoilers). Frankie White is gunning for Grace Archer and nothing is going to get in his way.

From the early pages of The Silent Man the readers see the ruthless nature of White, the extent of his reach and the sinister methods he is prepared to adopt to get to Grace and her family. David Fennell creates tension right from the very start of this book and I found myself considering every new character as a possible threat to Archer. It’s a highly effective way to ensure I kept reading – I want to pick up a book and feel I am living the story and that I care about what happens to the characters, Fennell nailed that in The Silent Man.

Archer is a likeable character, a good cop and has a loyal partner at her side. You’ll root for her to escape the attentions and machinations of Frankie White and you’ll will her to track down the dangerous killer who has been targeting people in their homes. Wait, what killer? There’s not been talk of a killer so far…

Yes indeed – not content with pitching Archer against her nemesis the author also has a really nasty serial killer on the prowl and he’s the titular Silent Man. The killer operates under the cover of darkness, entering the home of his victim, incapacating them and leaving their body with masking tape wrapped around their head and a distinctive image penned onto the tape. The police don’t have much to work on but their first victim wasn’t living an angelic life so their initial focus is on people who may have been holding a grudge.

Conducting a murder investigation while avoiding the increasingly direct and dangerous attacks from Frankie White will keep Archer stretched and stressed. There’s so much going on that readers will be kept breathlessly entertained. It’s books like The Silent Man that I love to read: no pacing issues, no plots which feel like padding, no messing about – this is a full throttle thriller and I’m very much here for it.

If you’re a crime fiction fan and you want a stone cold page-turner to keep you entertained then you should look no further than The Silent Man.

* I said I hadn’t read the earlier books by David Fennell – I am righting that wrong immediately. I have a copy of The Art of Death sitting by my bed which I will be starting just as soon as I finish this review.

The Silent Man is published by Zaffre and you can order a copy here: https://www.waterstones.com/book/the-silent-man/david-fennell/9781804181737

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June 28

London In Black – Jack Lutz

A TENSE, TICKING-BOMB THRILLER SET IN A GRITTY NEAR-FUTURE LONDON

LONDON 2027

Terrorists deploy London Black, a highly sophisticated nerve gas, at Waterloo Station. For ten percent of the population – the ‘Vulnerables’ – exposure means near-certain death. Only a lucky few survive.

LONDON 2029

Copy-cat strikes plague the city, its Vulnerable inhabitants kept safe by regular Boost injections. As the anniversary of the first attacks draws near, DI Lucy Stone, a guilt-ridden Vulnerable herself, is called to investigate a gruesome murder of a scientist. Her investigation soon unearths the possibility that he was working on an antidote – one that Lucy desperately needs, as her Boosts become less and less effective.
But is the antidote real? And can Lucy solve the case before her Boosts stop working?

My thanks to Tara at Pushkin Press for the opportunity to join the blog tour for London in Black. I am reviewing a purchased digital copy of the book.

I have read a few dystopian stories for this blog and too often the blurb on those books made the book sound edgy and terrifying but the story just did not deliver on that early promise. So it was a genuine pleasure to discover London in Black was graphic, edgy and sufficiently nasty to tick all my boxes.

The cause of the apolcalypic event in this story was a toxin attack on London. Large numbers of the population were not harmed by the gas but for the vulnerable amonst them infection meant a prolonged and terrifying slide towards a painful death. A very small percentage of those vulnerable are hanging on to life, their bodies dependant upon a drug developed by scientist Flinders Cox and manufactured by his firm. But Flinders Cox has been murdered and DI Lucy Stone is on the case. Except she isn’t because she has been suspended from duty.

Lucy is one of the vulnerable who relies upon the drug Cox developed. She monitors her reistance to the effects of London Black (the toxin) and takes a daily booster to keep her alive. But the booster seems to be losing efficiency and with each hour her monitor shows her defences against infection are falling. If Cox has been killed then who will be able to continue his research and develop an antidote? Why was this prominent scientist killed and who benefits from his death?

London in Black takes a fast paced murder investigation and throws in the drama of the lead character constantly battling to avoid potential exposure to toxins which could kill her. The prospect of Lucy’s daily booster failing her and losing effectiveness over each day means she is in a real race against time to solve this case and uncover what Cox had been working on at the time of his death. Could it have been an antidote which would cure her?

I really enjoyed the duplicity and red herrings littered through this story. I thought I was doing well in unpicking motives and identifying possible suspects but Jack Lutz had other ideas and kept me on my toes with revelations and surprises which totally caught me off guard. Despite my abject failure at guessing where this story may take me I was fully onboard for the ride. At the end of the book I was only disappointed it was finished – I could easily have spent more time reading about this near future London.

If you want a thriller which offers a high tempo and edgy, gritty storyline then you should look no further.

London in Black is published by Pushkin Press and is available in hardback, digital and audiobook format. You can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B09YN2YPGV/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_tkin_p1_i0

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October 13

The Jigsaw Man – Nadine Matheson

There’s a serial killer on the loose.

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.

The race is on before more bodies are found.

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 . . .

Will it take a killer to catch the killer?

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?

I received a review copy from the publishers through Netgalley

The problem with reading multiple books at the same time is that I tend to finish a few titles in a short space of time. My review writing does not keep pace with my reading so (long story short) some reviews don’t get written when they should. Couple this with my goldfish memory and it is only when I revisit my Netgally library that I realise I have finished some books and not provided the feedback.

Putting a positive spin on all that means I have a great book to review today even though I have not actually finished reading any new books this week. Hurrah. And strap in – this one’s a bit graphic in places!

The Jigsaw Man, Peter Olivier, is in prison for multiple murders. He acquired his name as he dismembered his victims leaving limbs well apart from their body. A charismatic character who believes himself to have a superior intellect, he was caught by DI Anjelica Henley who was badly injured in by Olivier when he was arrested. Henley has been absent from work for a prolonged spell but her recouperation is complete and she feels ready to resume her duties in full – her mental recouperation may not quite be where it needs to be though.

Unfortunately for Henley she is returning to work just as a new killer is making his presence known, an Olivier copycat, which means more bodies are going to be found and readers be warned…Nadine Matheson is giving you details of his crimes so be sure you are ready for some detailed descriptions.

Henley isn’t working alone though and we get to enjoy a new investigating team. This includes her very new trainee: Ramouter who is to work alongside Henley. Ramouter is cutting his teeth on a dangerous and disturbing investigation and I loved this pairing who are finding their feet with each other as we watch. It’s a fun dynamic and Nadine Matheson makes it work really well.

Serial Killer stories are a particular favourite of mine and I prefer my crime thrillers to lean towards gritty so The Jigsaw Man was ticking all my boxes. It’s a brilliantly spun story and one I thoroughly enjoyed, flying through it in just a couple of days. More like this would be very welcome but if you haven’t picked up your copy yet – go get one today.

The Jigsaw Man is published by HQ and is available in hardback, digital and audiobook format. You can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B088PBPZZR/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0

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March 30

The Late Train to Gypsy Hill – Alan Johnson

Something a little different from me today which I am really excited to share with you. I am usually the last person to hear about new books but I am delighted to bring you an early notification of a forthcoming release which will be hitting our bookshelves in September. The author will be familiar name to many but not (yet) as a crime writer.

Alan Johnson is the former Home Secretary and, more recently, political commentator. Alan currently hosts a brand new Podcast series called How To Change the World, guests will include Caitlin Moran, James Dean Bradfield and Stuart Lee. Alan has a monthly column in Saga Magazine acting as their first ever Agony Uncle, as well as a regular slot on ‘Steph’s Packed Lunch’, Steph McGovern’s show on Channel 4.

Due for release on 2 September 2021, The Late Train to Gypsy Hill is Alan’s first crime novel. Alan himself will be along in a moment to tell you about his new novel but first the important details…cover and blurb.

The Late Train to Gypsy Hill

Gary Nelson has a routine for the commute to his rather dull job in the city. Each day, he watches as a woman on the train applies her make up in a ritual he now knows by heart. He’s never dared to strike up a conversation . . . but maybe one day.

Then one evening, on the late train to Gipsy Hill, the woman invites him to take the empty seat beside her. Fiddling with her mascara, she holds up her mirror and Gary reads the words ‘HELP ME’ scrawled in sticky black letters on the glass.

With a little bit of internet trickery and the kind support of Vicky at Headline I can also bring you this short video of Alan introducing his first crime novel: The Late Train to Gypsy Hill

You can get your order in early with this handy pre-order link: https://smarturl.it/TheLateTrain

Keep abreast of updates through social media by searching for the hashtag or keeping an eye on the publisher social accounts:

#TheLateTrain

@headlinepg

@CrimeFilesBooks

I love how the cover has the feel of an old railway poster and the teaser blurb had me hooked – that was before the extra detail which Alan shares in the video!

Get your orders in early as I suspect we will be hearing a lot more about this one as September draws near.

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October 20

Some Lockdown Reviews

Without being too subtle about 2020 – it has been a really crap year. I have found my reading has really suffered and my reviews more so. Working from home has been a great relief but at the end of my working day I have felt little urge to shut down the work laptop only to remain sitting in the same spot and crank open my own laptop to draft a few reviews.

But that’s selfish behaviour – I have used stories to lift my blue moods and give me the escapism I needed. Maybe someone else would benefit from knowing about the great stories which brought me some respite and the authors and teams behind the stories worked so hard to get their books out there that I cannot simply pass them over without comment. So here are some catch up reviews for books I have read “in lockdown”

Knife Edge – Simon Mayo

You never know where danger may come from…

6.45am. A sweltering London rush hour. And in the last 29 minutes, seven people have been murdered.

In a series of coordinated attacks, seven men and women across London have been targeted. For journalist Famie Madden, the horror unfolds as she arrives for the morning shift.

The victims have one thing in common: they make up the investigations team at the news agency where Famie works. The question everyone’s asking: what were they working on that could prompt such brutal devastation?

As Famie starts to receive mysterious messages, she must find out whether she is being warned of the next attack, or being told that she will be the next victim…

I received a review copy from the publishers through Netgalley

I know that Simon Mayo has had a number of successful books which are aimed at younger readers so I was keen to see how the transition to the adult market would be recieved. If Knife Edge is reflection on the excitement and tension he brought to his earlier books then I can see why his previous titles are held in such high regard. This was a highly enjoyable thriller.

Focus is on Famie Madden, she works for one of the top media outlets in the country and on the day we join her story she is in the hot-seat for co-ordinating all the stories which are going to air. However, Famie is soon to find the news is coming far too close to home – a series of murders in London all take place during the start of the morning rush hour. The attacks are clearly linked and must have been conducted by different people as they are spread around the city. As more information starts to come through to Famie and her team they realise that all the victims are their colleagues.

It is a shocking opening to the story and Famie is impacted more than most as she had been in a secret relationship with one of the victims. Naturally Famie wants answers so she begins to look into what story her colleagues may have been working on that brought about their terrible fate.

Knife Edge has all the thrills you need from a high stakes thriller. After a dynamic start the pace does slow a touch but it’s a steady build up back to a corking finale. While there haven’t been many opportunities to post recommendations for a summer beach read – Knife Edge falls into that category. The paperback is out in March 2021 so keep this one in mind when the good weather returns and you are planning some relaxing downtime. If you can’t wait that long then hardback, digital and audio copies are all available now!

Knife Edge is published by Doubleday and is available in Hardback, Digital and Audiobook format: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07WFS252B/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0

The Photographer – Craig Robertson

The sergeant took some from each box and spread them around the floor so they could all see. Dozens upon dozens of them. DI Rachel Narey’s guess was that there were a few hundred in all.

Photographs.

Many of them were in crowd scenes, some just sitting on a park bench or walking a dog or waiting for a bus or working in shops. They seemed to have no idea they’d been photographed.

A dawn raid on the home of a suspected rapist leads to a chilling discovery, a disturbing collection hidden under floorboards. Narey is terrified at the potential scale of what they’ve found and of what brutalities it may signal.
When the photographs are ruled inadmissible as evidence and the man walks free from court, Narey knows she’s let down the victim she’d promised to protect and a monster is back on the streets.
Tony Winter’s young family is under threat from internet trolls and he is determined to protect them whatever the cost. He and Narey are in a race against time to find the unknown victims of the photographer’s lens – before he strikes again.

I was at the launch of The Photographer and Craig Robertson gave a very powerful demonstration of the inherent creepiness behind an element of this story. It made me uncomfortable but made me really want to read The Photographer to see how the author addressed the issue in the book.

I was horrified to realise that a good many months (far, far too many) have passed since that launch event and that a review I thought I had written remained outstanding. The good thing about a good book is that it doesn’t go away and on a recent trip to my local bookshop I saw copies of The Photographer on the shelves waiting to find new readers. Go find it – this is a powerful and brilliantly told story.

Photographs – taken without the consent of the subject, or without the subject even knowing they were being photographed, have been found by DI Rachel Narey while she searched the home of a suspected rapist. What was already a harrowing case has taken an even more sinister turn. Narey is convinced her suspect is guilty of the rape she is investigating but now she wonders what other crimes he may have committed. She will throw herself at this case in the pursit of justice and in doing so will bring danger to her home.

This is an incredibly tense read and it’s another cracking addition to what is already a brilliant series. Craig Robertson knows how to hold his readers attention and I found I lost huge chunks of time engrossed in The Photographer. The scenes of tension and peril are nicely balanced out with lighter moments between Narey and Winter as their relationship further develops and they juggle their time between work and caring for their young daughter.

It is always a reading treat to spend time with one of Craig Robertson’s books – if you haven’t read any of his books before now then there is no time like the present to start!

The Photographer is published by Simon & Schuster and is available in paperback, digital and audiobook format. You can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B06XKH76MX/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i4

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September 21

How The Wired Weep – Ian Patrick

The Wire crosses the pond.

Ed is a detective who handles informants. He recruits Ben, a young man, who is treading a dangerous path into the criminal underworld.
Ben’s unsure of where his loyalties lie. They have to find a way to work together despite their differences.

Both men are drawn into the world of Troy, a ruthless and brutal leader of an Organised Criminal Network.

Ben is torn between two worlds as he tries to walk the impossible line between criminality and helping Ed combat crime.
He lives in fear of discovery.

When your life is thrown upside down who do you turn to in order to survive?

Set against the backdrop of the 2012 Olympic Games, How the Wired Weep is a fast paced urban thriller where time is against both men as they attempt to serve their own agendas.

My thanks to Emma at Damppebbles Blog Tours for the opportunity to join the tour for How The Wired Weep. I purchased this book prior to accepting the invitation to join the tour.

I don’t really know where to start with this review – I loved this book and I am not sure how to convey some of the emotions I had while reading.

How The Wired Weep is an intense story, small core characters living on the front line of police and gang divide. The story is told from both viewpoints. Ed is our police detective. He has a contact within a gang who is feeding him important information. He receives tip offs about where drugs are stashed, guns are moved around and other activities which the police will try to clamp down on.

Ed’s source is Ben (not his real name). Recently out of prison and keen not to return. He is an excellent driver and used by Troy (head of one of the London criminal networks) to run errands and pick up and deliver drugs and weapons. Ben seems to be moving up in Troy’s trust as he gets more important tasks to complete. But the greater the task the greater the risk.

Ben drips info to Ed but is ever aware that to be caught means certain retribution. Ed knows Ben is unreliable. He is a drug user and a criminal so it is a fine line the police need to tread to keep their source on the street while not digging too deep into what Ben may not be telling them about his daily activities.

Readers see Ed trying to keep Ben on yhe right side of the law where he can. We also see Ben’s reactions to Ed’s good intentions. It is a fascinating dynamic and both men are deeply entrenched in the life of the other – even if they may not always see it as such.

Away from their interactions with each other Ian Patrick shows the intensity of Eds job against his home life. Ed and his wife are trying fertility treatment but the demands of work always seem to stop Ed having conversations with his wife. It is quite distressing to see her desperately trying to get their family together but Eds job getting in the way. Making this worse is that we also see how close Ed is to his colleagues and the trust and reliance they need to have in each other. In terms of character development and authenticity everyone in this story feels solid and real – the life experiences we are seeing them handle make them so believable.

I can’t recommend this story enough. It is the police trying to manage the street but the street is too big and chaotic. It’s compelling and so vividly told that you will be hooked. Read this!

How The Wired Weep is available in paperback and digital format. You can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B08B64GXK1/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i2

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July 30

Holiday Reading – Part 1

Time to do some catching up. I have spent a large part of July reading and a tiny part of July writing reviews so it’s time to redress the balance. I finished over a dozen books during my summer break and that is too many to fit into a single catch-up post so I shall break these down into double headers.

Thin Air – Lisa Gray

Private investigator Jessica Shaw is used to getting anonymous tips. But after receiving a photo of a three-year-old kidnapped from Los Angeles twenty-five years ago, Jessica is stunned to recognize the little girl as herself.

Eager for answers, Jessica heads to LA’s dark underbelly. When she learns that her biological mother was killed the night she was abducted, Jessica’s determined to solve a case the police have forgotten. Meanwhile, veteran LAPD detective Jason Pryce is in the midst of a gruesome investigation into a murdered college student moonlighting as a prostitute. A chance encounter leads to them crossing paths, but Jessica soon realizes that Pryce is hiding something about her father’s checkered history and her mother’s death.

To solve her mother’s murder and her own disappearance, Jessica must dig into the past and find the secrets buried there. But the air gets thinner as she crawls closer to the truth, and it’s getting harder and harder to breathe.

The first book to feature PI Jessica Shaw and it’s a cracking start to what I hope will be a long running series. Shaw is an immediately likeable main character and Thin Air places her at the heart of the narrative.

Shaw discovers she is a kidnap victim, taken from her family at a very young age and seemingly brought up by a family who are not her own. Determined to investigate her own past and a seemingly forgotten crime Jessica heads to LA where she shall encounter a cop called Pryce.

Pryce is investigating the brutal murder of a student who, despite her wholesome image, has been hiding a secret life from her friends.

The two investigations have a very different feel, Pryce in the immediate and unsettling present while Jessica digs into events long forgotten. Lisa Gray balances the twin narrative superbly and the story zipped along pulling me deeper into the lives of Shaw and Pryce.

Tension packed thrillers are my reads of choice and this was everything I had hoped it would be. I need some more Jessica Shaw in my life.

Thin Air is published by Thomas and Mercer and can be ordered here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Thin-Air-Jessica-Shaw-Book-ebook/dp/B07G8NTJVP/ref=sr_1_1?crid=KRU874PGPUKX&keywords=thin+air+lisa+gray&qid=1564515932&s=gateway&sprefix=thin+air%2Caps%2C177&sr=8-1

Blood & Sugar – Laura Shepherd-Robinson

June, 1781. An unidentified body hangs upon a hook at Deptford Dock – horribly tortured and branded with a slaver’s mark.

Some days later, Captain Harry Corsham – a war hero embarking upon a promising parliamentary career – is visited by the sister of an old friend. Her brother, passionate abolitionist Tad Archer, had been about to expose a secret that he believed could cause irreparable damage to the British slaving industry. He’d said people were trying to kill him, and now he is missing . . .

To discover what happened to Tad, Harry is forced to pick up the threads of his friend’s investigation, delving into the heart of the conspiracy Tad had unearthed. His investigation will threaten his political prospects, his family’s happiness, and force a reckoning with his past, risking the revelation of secrets that have the power to destroy him.

And that is only if he can survive the mortal dangers awaiting him in Deptford . . .

I decided I needed to take a variety of titles when I packed the holiday reading so I included Blood & Sugar to ensure I had a historical thriller to get my teeth into…1781 here I come.

I didn’t read the blurb on this book, choosing to go in cold and see where the story would take me. Pleasingly it took me to an engaging tale of murder, slavery and deception.

Historical novels have to capture the feeling of the correct time and place if I am going to stand any chance of losing myself in a story. Obviously I have no point of reference to life in 1781 but I felt Laura Shepherd-Robinson did a fantastic job when describing the world and time which her protagonist, Captain Corsham, inhabits. Much of my mental world building came from the additional, incidental detail which the author included – it became immersive.

So to Corsham. He is visited by the sister of one of his old friends. Her brother is missing and she fears for his safety as he had been making powerful enemies. Corsham’s friend had been an outspoken critic of slavery and would side with the slaves as he tried to secure a better life for them. His actions were very much at odds with the norms of society in the 1780’s and Corsham agrees to help find his old friend.

As you may expect, a well-to-do gentleman asking tricky questions in some of the more “earthy” parts of the city will soon attract unwelcome attention and it is not long before Corsham finds himself in peril.

Historical novels are always a bit of a departure from my normal reading but Blood & Sugar was a very welcome change to the usual diet of police procedurals. Laura Shepherd-Robinson has penned a slick thriller with some brutal and unflinching moments. Many of the biggest names in crime fiction have been lavishing praise on Blood & Sugar – it is easy to see why.

Blood & Sugar is published by Mantle and is available to order here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Blood-Sugar-Laura-Shepherd-Robinson/dp/1509880771/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1564517200&sr=8-2

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November 1

The Mystery of Three Quarters (New Hercule Poirot Mystery) – Sophie Hannah

The world’s most beloved detective, Hercule Poirot – the legendary star of Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express and most recently The Monogram Murders and Closed Casket—returns in a stylish, diabolically clever mystery set in 1930’s London.

Returning home after lunch one day, Hercule Poirot finds an angry woman waiting outside his front door. She demands to know why Poirot has sent her a letter accusing her of the murder of Barnabas Pandy, a man she has neither heard of nor ever met.

Poirot has also never heard of a Barnabas Pandy, and has accused nobody of murder. Shaken, he goes inside, only to find that he has a visitor waiting for him — a man who also claims also to have received a letter from Poirot that morning, accusing him of the murder of Barnabas Pandy.

Poirot wonders how many more letters of this sort have been sent in his name. Who sent them, and why? More importantly, who is Barnabas Pandy, is he dead, and, if so, was he murdered? And can Poirot find out the answers without putting more lives in danger?

My thanks to the publishers for my review copy which I received through Netgalley.

Happy oh happy day. Hercule Poirot is back for a third outing under the care of Sophie Hannah.

Over 20 years ago I read, what I had assumed to be, the last Poirot novel. I had worked my way through all the Poirot novels and short story collections and knew that when I finally finished Dead Man’s Folly I would be done. Sadly I found I had left one of my least favourite Poirot stories to the end and this only increased my disappointment.

Spin forward to 2014 and Sophie Hannah brings Poirot back in a whole new adventure – The Monogram Murders. I had to read it. I did read it. I loved having a whole new Hercule Poirot murder story to enjoy…would there be more books to follow?

Yes!

2016 saw Sophie Hannah release Closed Casket and 2018 brings us The Mystery of Three Quarters (by far the most intriguing title to date). Poirot is accused of writing to a number of people and suggesting that one Barnabas Pandy was murdered. Furthermore the recipient of these letters are accused of murdering Pandy.

When first confronted with one of the letters he sent Poirot is perplexed – he has never heard of Barnabus Pandy. Has no idea who the recipient of the letter is either and most certainly does not know if Barnabus Pandy was murdered. But of course Poirot must now find out!

Who would dare bring the attention of the world’s greatest detective to an accidental death? Who would presume they could send out letters in Poirot’s name and not expect him to uncover the truth behind the death of poor Mr Pandy? And why is M. Poirot being force-fed cake every time he visits a local tearoom?

Sophie Hannah takes on all these questions and breathes new life into the much loved Belgian detective. She captures Poirot magnificently and fans of the series can delight in the knowledge that our favourite character is being well cared for in his new adventures.

The mystery is nicely played out and there are plenty of clues and red herrings to keep readers on their toes. A cast of quirky, eccentric supporting characters give us plenty of options to ponder when we try to work out if there is a killer in their midst. Poirot manipulates and questions everyone as he digs to uncover secrets and possible motives and it is remarkably easy to become engrossed back into his world.

More Poirot would be very welcome but, for now, The Mystery of Three Quarters is a very pleasing addition to the collection.

The Mystery of Three Quarters is published by Harper Collins and is available in Hardback, digital and audiobook.

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August 31

Crack Apple & Pop – Saira Viola

Tony is a handsome young boxer is forced into a life of crime after suffering a vicious blow in the ring.

Seduced by the glitz and glamour of London and mentored by charismatic gang lord Don March he rises rapidly up the crime ladder until he spies an opportunity to start a semi-legit Natural Highs business.

Bank-rolled by an eccentric British dandy and accompanied by a cast of starry misfits including a 3ft tall blue-haired money man, an Etonian drug mule, two dominatrix debt collectors, a dodgy lawyer and a host of demi-celebs, Tony carves out a life for himself in a city where money creates its’ own morality.

All seems to be going well until in the shadows, a Bollywood mobster threatens to derail their plans.

Chaos ensues, of course it does – wonderful, beautiful, visceral chaos.

The deft wit of Hammett meets the vivid poetics of Chandler: Crack Apple and Pop is slick smart and razor sharp. A gritty and sometimes metafictive slice of London noir.

A city of artful dodgers, yardie gangsters, kinky aristos, cocaine dusted starlets and social thrill seekers where everyone’s hustling and everyone’s getting high.

Whether it’s law, finance, the music biz, or the boxing ring: money is king. And only the ones prepared to risk everything will survive…

My thanks to Emma at Damppebbles for arranging the blog tour and to Fahrenheit Press for my review copy.

Fahrenheit Press release books which are dark, edgy, “noirish” and their regular readers love the unpredictable stories on offer.

Crack Apple & Pop is not going to be to everyone’s taste. It is cleverly written, loaded with lives and stories, anecdotes and glimpses into the lives of colourful characters but cosy crime fans will not embrace the darkness on offer here.

As a Scottish blogger I review a fair few Scottish crime thrillers – the biggest gripes I see about Scottish books I love is that “local dialect” upsets some of Middle England. Crack Apple & Pop is pure London (and not the pleasant BBC Radio 4 London voices). There is slang, drug references, gang culture and dozens of vulnerable lives being manipulated by the powerful.

The reader is taken to snapshots of different scenes, a return to the lead characters then an aside to a random encounter. Everything feels 100mph and there are so many incidents which may shock or amuse. I find it hard to do describe how it feels to read (as you can clearly see).

An example: the opening chapters are about a developing boxing career. The rhythm of the writing is amazing in that it is punchy, it weaves and bobs and bruises the reader then it is over and all slows and the pattern of writing changes.

This happens over the story – fast scenes are sharp, stacatto or spiked. Then slower, calmer scenes are detailed and comfortable. It is very cleverly done as it changes the feel of the story.

If you want to read a character driven book this has to be a contender. It is lives laid out for our inspection – these may not be happy lives so proceed with caution.

Crack Apple & Pop is published by Fahrenheit Press and is available in digital and paperback format. You can order a copy here: http://www.fahrenheit-press.com/books_crack_apple_and_pop.html

Category: Blog Tours | Comments Off

August 24

Short Stories and Novellas

I don’t often read short stories (though that will be changing soon…more on that later). Recently, however, I have had the opportunity to snatch some quick reading time and have targeted some short stories and novellas which had caught my eye.

First up is The Travelling Bag by Susan Hill

From the foggy streets of Victorian London to the eerie perfection of 1950s suburbia, the everyday is invaded by the evil otherworldly in this unforgettable collection of new ghost stories from the author of The Woman in Black.

In the title story, on a murky evening in a warmly lit club off St James, a bishop listens closely as a paranormal detective recounts his most memorable case, one whose horrifying denouement took place in that very building.

In ‘The Front Room’, a devoutly Christian mother tries to protect her children from the evil influence of their grandmother, both when she is alive and when she is dead.

A lonely boy finds a friend in ‘Boy Number 21’, but years later he is forced to question the nature of that friendship, and to ask whether ghosts can perish in fires.

This is Susan Hill at her best, telling characteristically flesh-creeping and startling tales of thwarted ambition, terrifying revenge and supernatural stirrings that will leave readers wide-awake long into the night.

My thanks to the team at Serpents Tail for the review copy I received through Netgalley

A collection of 4 ghostly tales from Susan Hill. Three stories are outlined in the description above – each took me around half an hour to read and the whole book is around 180 pages in length. I have my favourites, Boy Number 21 and the unmentioned 4^thstory (Alice Baker – a chiller set in an office) were the two which gripped me most.

The Front Room is particularly grim reading but I found it didn’t draw me in quite in the way the other stories had done. I find that Ghost Stories are harder to pitch as a collection – while all the stories can be creepy, different people respond to different types of chills so in any collection there will be elements which impact people in different ways.

I do enjoy a creepy tale and The Travelling Bag was the welcome break from reading crime thrillers that I had hoped it would be. The physical book looks rather nice too but its relatively short length made me think it may be more likely to be given as a gift than one a reader may seek out on their own.

Fans of Susan Hill and readers who soak up ghost stories this is one to seek out.

The Paper Cell – Louise Hutcheson

The first in a new series of distinctive, standalone crime stories, each with a literary bent. In 1950s London, a literary agent finds fame when he secretly steals a young woman’s brilliant novel manuscript and publishes it under his own name, Lewis Carson. Two days after their meeting, the woman is found strangled on Peckham Rye Common: did Lewis purloin the manuscript as an act of callous opportunism, or as the spoils of a calculated murder?

My thanks to Sara at Contraband for my review copy

The Paper Cell is a novella from the new Pocket Crime Selection from Contraband Books. It is a beautifully crafted tale of life in the literary circles of 1950’s London. We begin in the modern day, an author meeting with a journalist after the author grants a rare interview. It becomes clear that there are reasons the author has been reluctant to speak with the press – once we are transported back to recollections of the author’s life as a young man in London the shocking truths start to spill out.

Of the three books covered in this post The Paper Cell was by far the one I enjoyed the most. Louise Hutcheson keeps the story slick, her characters leap off the page and you can easily imagine the smoke filled reading rooms and fussy publishers office meetings.

There is a darkness running through The Paper Cell and the reader gets a fly on the wall view of some terrible behaviours and sinister actions. Yet those dark scenes are in the background as much of the story follows young writers pursing their dreams or and young lovers enjoying their blossoming relationship.

Louise Hutcheson can tell knows how to tell a good story and this had me captivated.

A Rare Book of Cunning Device – Ben Aaronovich

Exclusive to Audio! Somewhere amongst the shadowy stacks and the many basements of the British library, something is very much amiss – and we’re not talking late returns here. Is it a ghost, or something much worse? PC Peter Grant really isn’t looking forward to finding out….

Still working my way through audiobooks and this was my introduction to PC Peter Grant – popular protagonist of the Ben Aaronovich Rivers of London series. At 30 minutes running length this free audiobook is a must listen for fans of the series. I can say this only from the position of a new reader as I have not read Rivers (or any of the other Grant books) but I loved A Rare Book of Cunning Device.

The narrator Kobna Holdbrook-Smith has a very listenable voice and the feedback on his performance from other readers is extremely positive as fans of the series have expressed their approval at how he handles their beloved characters.

Deep within the British Library, Peter Grant, comes up against the most formidable of opponents – a Librarian. Oh there may also be a poltergeist but Grant knows better…doesn’t he?

Category: 5* Reviews, Audiobook, From The Bookshelf | Comments Off