Mystery

Quick Review: THE PROOF OF MY INNOCENCE by Jonathan Coe (Europa Editions)

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A coming-of-age tale, wrapped up in a mystery, with a backdrop of state-of-the-nation and politics

When Phyl, a young literature graduate, moves back home with her parents, she soon finds herself frustrated by the narrow horizons of English country life. As for her plans of becoming a writer, those are going nowhere. But the chance discovery of a forgotten novelist from the 1980s stirs her into action, as does a visit from her uncle Chris — especially when he tells her that he’s working on a political story that might put his life in danger.

Chris has been following the careers of a group of students, all present at Cambridge University in the 1980s, now members of a think-tank which has been quietly pushing the British government towards extremism. And now, after years in the political wilderness, they might be in a position to put their ideas into action.

As Britain finds itself under the leadership of a new Prime Minister whose tenure will only last for seven weeks, Chris pursues his story to a mysterious conference taking place deep in the Cotswolds. When Phyl hears that one of the delegates has been murdered, she begins to wonder if real life is starting to merge with the novel she’s been trying to write. But does the explanation really lie in contemporary politics, or in a literary enigma that is almost forty years old?

Darting between decades and genres, THE PROOF OF MY INNOCENCE reimagines the coming-of-age story, the cosy crime caper and the state-of-the-nation novel with Coe’s trademark humour and warmth. From one of Britain’s finest living novelists, this is a witty, razor-sharp novel which explores how the key to understanding the present can often be found in the murkiest corners of the past.

The Proof of My Innocence is a very good read. An interesting blend of mystery, character focus and contemporary and past British politics, I was hooked from early on and read this in a couple of deep-into-the-night sittings. Continue reading →

Very Quick Review: TO DIE FOR by David Baldacci (Grand Central)

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Travis Devine gets an unusual babysitting assignment, which (of course) ends up being far more dangerous than expected…

The 6:20 Man returns, this time sent to the Pacific Northwest to aid in a complicated FBI case—and he’s about to come face-to-face with his nemesis.

Travis Devine has become a pro at accomplishing any mission he’s given. But this time it’s not his skills that send him to Seattle to aid the FBI in escorting orphaned, twelve-year-old Betsy Odom to a meeting with her uncle, who’s under federal investigation. Instead, he’s hoping to lay low and keep off the radar of an enemy—the girl on the train.

But as Devine gets to know Betsy, questions begin to arise around the death of her parents. Devine digs for answers, and what he finds points to a conspiracy bigger than he could’ve ever imagined.

It might finally be time for Devine and the girl on the train to come face-to-face. Devine is going to find out the difference between his friends and his enemies—and in some cases, they might well be both.

In the third novel starring Travis Devine, the accidental intelligence operative is sent to Seattle to babysit an orphaned girl with connections to a sprawling federal investigation. Naturally, Devine’s plans to keep this assignment quiet and easy (while simultaneously not really wanting to do it) go awry as the scope of the investigation and Betsy’s importance become clearer. In many ways, this novel is classic Baldacci. Continue reading →

Excerpt: THE EXCLUSION ZONE by Alexis von Konigslow (Wolsak & Wynn)

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Today we have an excerpt from The Exclusion Zone by Alexis von Konigslow. Due to be published by Wolsak & Wynn, on May 6th. It is a novel that takes a look at the impact of politics on science, and women in science in particular. It has been described as “part ghost story, part literary thriller”, and I am looking forward to giving it a try. Here’s the synopsis:

She would harness fear. And this terrifying place would help her do it.

Renya, a scientist who studies how people react to fear, flees a troubled marriage to conduct research on the scientists working in the “exclusion zone” around Chernobyl. In the eerily silent forests surrounding the research station, she finds more is haunting her than the dangers of radiation exposure. As she gathers data from her colleagues and probes historical records of the Chernobyl disaster, unsettling questions rise to the surface. Who is funding her research? Why are all the scientists’ findings off? And what do those who stalk the ruins of the abandoned city nearby want?

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Excerpt: THE ADVENTURES OF MARY DARLING by Pat Murphy (Tachyon)

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Next month, Tachyon Publications are due to publish The Adventures of Mary Darling by Pat Murphy, a “subversive take on both Peter Pan and Sherlock Holmes”. I don’t think I’ve seen anything that attempts to merge those two stories, so this sounds like it could be quite interesting. To introduce readers to the characters, the publisher has provided CR with an excerpt to share with our readers. First, here’s the synopsis:

Mary Darling is a pretty wife whose boring husband is befuddled by her independent ways. But one fateful night, Mary becomes the distraught mother whose three children have gone missing from their beds.

After her well-meaning uncle John Watson contacts the greatest detective of his era (but perhaps not that great), Mary is Sherlock Holmes’s prime suspect in her children’s disappearance. To save her family, Mary must escape London — and an attempt to have her locked away as mad — to travel halfway around the world.

Despite the interference of Holmes, Mary gathers allies in her quest: Sam, a Solomon Islander whose village was destroyed by contact with Western civilization; Ruby, a Malagasy woman on an island that everyone thinks is run by pirates (though it’s actually run by women); Captain Hook and the crew of the Jolly Roger; and of course, Nana, the faithful dog and nursemaid.

In a witty and adventurous romp, The Adventures of Mary Darling draws on the histories of women and people indigenous to lands that Britain claimed, telling the stories of those who were ignored or misrepresented along the way.

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Quick Review: LETHAL PREY by John Sandford (G. P. Putnam’s Sons)

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Lucas Davenport and Virgil Flowers join forces to track down a ruthless killer who will do whatever it takes to keep the past buried…

Doris Grandfelt, an employee at an accounting firm, was brutally stabbed to death… but nobody knew exactly where the crime took place. Her body was found the next night, dumped among a dense thicket of trees along the edge of an urban park, eight miles east of St. Paul, Minnesota. Despite her twin sister Lara Grandfelt’s persistent calls to the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, the killer was never found.

Twenty years later, Lara has been diagnosed with breast cancer. Confronted with the possibility of her own death, she’s determined to find Doris’s killer once and for all. Finally taking matters into her own hands, she dumps the entire investigative file on every true crime site in the world and offers a $5 million reward for information leading to the killer’s arrest. Dozens of true crime bloggers show up looking for both new evidence and “clicks,” and Lucas Davenport and Virgil Flowers are called in to review anything that might be a new lead.

When one of the bloggers locates the murder weapon, Lucas and Virgil begin to uncover vital details about the killer’s identity. But what they don’t know is the killer lurks in plain sight, and with the true crime bloggers blasting every clue online, the killer can keep one step ahead. As the nation maneuvers the detectives closer to the truth, Lucas and Virgil will find that digging up Doris’s harrowing past might just get them buried instead.

In this, the 35th novel in Sandford’s superb Prey series, the author’s two main protagonists team up again to investigate a 20-year-old murder. It’s another fast-paced and engaging mystery, showcasing everything that has made Sandford’s series so compelling for so long. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this. Continue reading →

Excerpt: ONE LEVEL DOWN by Mary G. Thompson (Tachyon)

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One Level Down is Mary G. Thompson‘s debut novella for adults, which examines identity and autonomy through the lens of technology and more. It due to be published at the beginning of next month, by Tachyon Publications. Today, we have an excerpt for our readers! First, here’s the synopsis:

Trapped in a child’s body, a resourceful woman risks death by deletion from a simulated world…

Ella is the oldest five-year-old in the universe. For fifty-eight years, the founder of a simulated colony-planet has forced her to pretend to be his daughter. Her “Daddy” has absolute power over all elements of reality, which keeps the colonists in line even when their needs are not met. But his failing experiments and despotic need for absolute control are increasingly dangerous.

Ella’s very life depends on her performance as a child. She has watched Daddy delete her stepmother and the loved ones of anyone who helps her.

But every sixty years, a Technician comes from the world above. Ella has been watching and working and biding her time. Because if she cannot make the technician help her, the only solution is a desperate measure that could lead to consequences for the entire universe.

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Excerpt: PAGANS by James Alistair Henry (Moonflower)

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Today, we have an excerpt from the recently-published Pagans, by James Alistair Henry. It certainly has an intriguing premise, as it is a crime/mystery novel set in an alternative 21st Century Britain where a number of key events never happened (including the arrival of Christianity, the Norman Conquest and the Industrial Revolution). My interest in the novel grew after I learned that the author had written for Smack the Pony and Green Wing. The novel is out now, published by Moonflower Books. Here’s the synopsis:

21st Century London.
The Norman conquest never happened.
The ancient tribes of Britain remain undefeated.
But murders still have to be solved.

The small, mostly unimportant, island of Britain is inhabited by an uneasy alliance of tribes – the dominant Saxon East, the beleaguered Celtic West, and an independent Nordic Scotland – and tensions are increasing by the second. Supermarket warpaint sales are at an all- time high, mead abuse shortens the lives of thousands, and social media is abuzz with conspiracy theories suggesting the High Table’s putting GPS trackers in the honeycakes.

Amid this febrile atmosphere, the capital is set to play host to the Unification Summit, which aims to join together the various tribes into one ‘united kingdom’. But when a Celtic diplomat is found brutally murdered, his body nailed to an ancient oak, the fragile peace is threatened. Captain Aedith Mercia, daughter of a powerful Saxon leader, must join forces with Celtic Tribal Detective Inspector Drustan to solve the murder – and stop political unrest spilling onto the streets.

But is this an isolated incident? Or are Aedith and Drustan facing a serial killer with a decades-old grudge? To find out, they must delve into their own murky pasts and tackle forces that go deeper than they ever could have imagined.

Set in a world that’s far from our own and yet captivatingly familiar, Pagans is “The Bridge” meets “Vikings”, exploring contemporary themes of religious conflict, nationalism, prejudice… and the delicate internal politics of the office coffee round. Gripping and darkly funny, Pagans keeps you guessing until the very end.

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Excerpt: THE APOCALYPSE ARK by Peter Darbyshire (Poplar Press)

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DarbyshireP-BoC3-ApocalypseArkThe Apocalypse Ark is the third novel in Peter Darbyshire‘s Book of Cross series, and today we have an excerpt from the book. We’ve already shared excerpts from the first two books in the series — The Mona Lisa Sacrifice and The Dead Hamlets. The three novels are out now, published by Poplar Press. Here’s the synopsis for the third book:

“You fool,” Sariel said. She gestured with a hand and the table between us slid to the side. “You ridiculous mortal fool. What did you do with the sphinx?”

With these words Cross finds himself thrust into his most dangerous adventure yet, working with the double-crossing angel Sariel to stop Noah from ending his eternal suffering by ending the world. But this Noah has not saved any beings from the flood, he is God’s warden, and he is bound to hold all God’s mistakes captive on his ark for eternity. And he has gone mad. Between provoking the sorcerous pirate Blackbeard, dealing with the devious vampire Ishmael and travelling beneath the seas with Captain Nemo and the last of the Atlanteans, Cross struggles to keep one step ahead of Noah until the last battle occurs before the very doors of Atlantis itself.

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Excerpt: THE DEAD HAMLETS by Peter Darbyshire (Poplar Press)

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DarbyshireP-BoC2-DeadHamletsOn January 13th, we shared an excerpt from the first novel in Peter Darbyshire‘s Book of Cross series, The Mona Lisa Sacrifice. Today, we have an excerpt from the follow-up book: The Dead Hamlets. (In a few days, we’ll post an excerpt from the third novel, The Apocalypse Ark.) The three novels are out now, published by Poplar Press. Here’s the synopsis:

The Witches never failed to extract a price somehow.

When Cross stumbles drunkenly into a darkened Berlin theatre that is staging Hamlet, he does not expect to see Morgana le Fay on stage as Queen Gertrude or witness a real murder. But a deadly ghost is haunting the faerie queen’s plays and Morgana expects Cross to solve the mystery or risk his daughter, Amelia, becoming the next victim. With the fate of Amelia in the balance Cross tries to unravel a mystery that takes him to libraries outside of time, into battles alongside an undead Christopher Marlowe and to bargaining with the real Witches of Macbeth. But is the play the thing, or is there something far older haunting Shakespeare’s famous work?

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Quick Review: FOG AND FURY by Rachel Howzell Hall (Thomas & Mercer)

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HallRH-H1-FogAndFuryUSHCIntroducing Sonny Rush, former LAPD now small-town P.I.

She’s a new PI in a beautiful seaside town. It’s dirtier than it looks — and more dangerous too — in a twisting novel of suspense…

After ten years on the force, LAPD cop Sonny Rush relocates with her elderly mother to peaceful Haven, California, to join her godfather’s burgeoning PI business. What crimes could possibly happen in a town nicknamed “Mayberry by the Sea”? Sonny’s first case: find Figgy, a missing goldendoodle last seen sporting a Versace collar. At least scouting out a dognapper gives Sonny a chance to get to know her new neighbors.

Forty-eight hours in town and Figgy’s disappearance entangles Sonny in an unwelcome reunion with her ex, one of Haven’s wealthiest citizens. And when the body of a teenage boy is found along a popular hiking trail, Sonny is drawn into a web of strange beyond anything she ever saw in LA.

Then comes a local’s warning: question everything. Haven hides secrets that could destroy its idyllic facade. Or destroy Sonny first.

This is the first novel in a new mystery series from Rachel Howzell Hall, and it’s a great introduction to both the protagonist and the idyllic-on-the-surface town of Haven. As will surprise no one, there’s plenty of ugliness brewing below the surface of this town… This is a solid start to a new series. I enjoyed it. Continue reading →