Tag Archives: murder

find them dead

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Find Them Dead (Roy Grace #16) by Peter James

This post may contain spoilers.

This is not a Roy Grace novel! He is in it but very much a secondary character. The main character is Meg. She is a widow with one daughter who is heading off on a back packing trip to South America. The two of them are still grieving the loss of Meg’s husband and son in a car crash five years ago.

Having just taken redundancy from one job and searching for another Meg is selected for jury duty in the trial of a solicitor hiding a life as a major head of a criminal organisation. Meg is selected by an associate of the crime boss to influence the rest of the jury to deliver a “not guilty” verdict. Her daughter Laura is under surveillance in Ecuador and Meg is blackmailed into complying with the criminal gang who have threatened to harm and kill Laura. They break into her home, leave her threatening messages and photos of Laura and gradually escalate the level of pressure to make sure Meg delivers the jury and doesn’t go to the police.

This was a very good idea for a novel but unfortunately the court case itself was dull and boring. The evidence against the crime boss was mostly circumstantial and presented in great detail. The author talks about the jury getting lost in the detail and unfortunately so was I as the reader. Both the defence and prosecution cases were drawn out then repeated in the summing up – totally unnecessary.

MAJOR SPOILER

I also have issues with the ending. It’s as if the author suddenly decided he couldn’t repeat the evidence a third time, threw in a juror that discovers evidence the police missed and suddenly it’s all over. It’s all wrapped up far too nicely for Meg and Laura despite the nasty threats. I find the compassionate treatment of Meg at the end of the wrong verdict out of character for someone who would cook a pet Guinea pig!

My major problem though is the depiction of this as a Roy Grace story. He’s there at the start and through the book but has little to no influence on the story. He has a murder to investigate but turns up barely any evidence and almost discovers the culprit by accident. The author is also still beating to death this terrible storyline of Bruno who seems to be the perfect depiction of a young psychopath and serial killer in training but the hunter of serial killers can’t see it despite actually calling him an anti-christ in this book. I really wish the author would bring this particular story to a conclusion. The relationship between Grace and his superior, Cassian Pewe, is also getting very old. I’d like to see both these storylines wrapped up in the next novel and something fresh introduced.

Unless you are a diehard Grace fan and desperately need to read the entire series I’d probably skip this one. It’s OK but disappointing in general. Definitely feels like the author is cashing in on the fact that this series is now also going to TV.

My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐

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shadows of sounds

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Shadows of Sounds (DCI Lorimer #3) by Alex Gray

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Definitely the best of the series so far. I really struggled with the first and although the second was better it still didn’t really grip me. This time the story focuses mostly on the detective side of the story and while Lorimer’s bizarre marriage situation is still in play, it complemented rather than detracted from the investigation.

The setting is an unusual one with a murder of the lead violin of Glasgow Royal Concert Orchestra just as a big performance is about to start. The victim has a complicated personal life and it eventually turns out that he’s also been involved in a criminal scheme involving expensive musical instruments. A second murder complicates things and it suddenly appears that the motives for both go way back and are much more personal than anyone could have guessed.

I enjoyed the novelty of the investigation focusing on the stories behind the murder instead of the processes and science of modern investigation. It seemed simpler somehow and reminded me of the one hour type of detective shows I grew up watching on TV – Columbo, Touch of Frost, etc.

I also enjoyed the introduction of Flynn. There was something very endearing about the hardened street boy and the cynical detective connecting and becoming friends. It’s probably totally unrealistic and did very little to move the plot along but it brought a very comforting tone to what otherwise could have been a very grim story.

My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐

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forty words for sorrow

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Forty Words for Sorrow (John Cardinal and Lise Delorme Mystery #1) by Giles Blunt

This post may contain spoilers.

This was brilliant! I have recently finished the TV series and was a little apprehensive about reading the books so soon but if anything it enhanced the books. The story was virtually unchanged for the TV production and going by the books was excellently cast. The only real change I noticed was that the senior officer was male in the book and female in the TV show as well as the reason Cardinal was under suspicion by senior officers.

The basis of the story is that John Cardinal has been demoted within the department for irrational focus on the case of a missing child, claiming that it was related to another written off as a runaway and that they were both the work of a serial killer. A body is discovered which appears to be the missing girl and Cardinal is brought back into the fold.

In the background Delorme is brought into the homicide department and partnered with Cardinal with an additional task of investigating him for supplying information to the head of a serious crime organisation. The two of them work together to identify and apprehend the psycho couple kidnapping and torturing victims.

This is one of the best detective stories I’ve read for a long time. The quality of the writing is superb and the characters are hugely interesting. I’m sure it was enhanced by the TV show but I could feel myself immersed completely in the situations being described and able to picture them clearly. The descriptions of the landscape and weather of a Canadian winter were so detailed. It was fab.

My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

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dark sacred night

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Dark Sacred Night (Harry Bosch #21, Renee Ballard #2) by Michael Connelly

This post may contain spoilers.

Connolly has created a superb character in detective Harry Bosch, supplemented that with his excellent half brother Mickey Haller and recently introduced a very intriguing new character with Renee Ballard. In this novel he brings Bosch and Haller together in one interlinked story.

This is an interesting concept. Bosch is well established as a bit of a lone wolf and with no hesitation about stepping outside of the line when circumstances require it. Ballard is also very much a loner. She is effectively homeless, working the unwanted night shift and with her dog as the only consistent relationship in her life. When we first met her we were given the impression that the “late show” was a punishment for lodging a harassment complaint against her former superior officer but in this book we get the strong message that she likes working it as she doesn’t have to interact with many other colleagues. In fact she’s particularly happy this time as she’s running solo with her partner off on leave. The author blends these two lone wolves together very well.

I particularly liked the way he took the chapters and focused them on one character at a time. Their stories overlap and become more and more entwined as the story progresses but it’s really good to see it told from the individual points of view. It also helps with the momentum of the plot as he brings them together more frequently as it picks up pace towards the end.

On top of all of this the author has created two very interesting cases to be worked. Bosch is working a cold case as a reserve officer with a local police force (San Fernando Valley) but trying to solve an old case of the brutal murder of Daisy Clayton. This has become particularly personal with Daisy’s mother now living in his house as she gets clean from her own battle with drug addiction. Ballard comes across Bosch and eventually takes on the Clayton investigation as a hobby case to work it officially from within LAPD.

This Clayton investigation is the basis of the recent Bosch: Legacy TV show which made this feel very familiar. As a fan of Bosch on TV I can’t help but overlay Titus Welliver’s portrayal on to the book character. Despite the huge variations it doesn’t cause any problems for me and in some ways, enhances the books.

I found the partnering of Bosch and Ballard very enjoyable in this book and it seems there are more to come. I would like to see Ballard getting another book of her own though as she is a brilliant character in her own right.

My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

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white nights

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White Nights (Shetlands #2) by Anne Cleeves

This post may contain spoilers.

We’re back on the Shetlands once again with DI Jimmy Perez thrown into the midst of an apparent suicide that quickly becomes a murder investigation. It’s set against the backdrop of Jimmy’s developing relationship with Fran and the complex relationships between the small community in an isolated area of Shetland called Biddista. The people living there include an eccentric, high flying but now reclusive artist, her nephew who is a celebrity fiddle player and a fantasy author.

The author does a great job of building a very enjoyable plot as Jimmy wends his way carefully through the complex and historical relationships in this small community discovering many long buried secrets along the way. I’ve seen one review describe this as more of a murder mystery than a detective thriller and I can see why.

The standout of this book is the wonderful depiction of the relationship between Kenny and Edith, how they started their relationship and how it developed over the years. I also particularly liked how she described how Kenny dealt with the grief of his long missing brother.

Roy Taylor, a senior detective from Inverness, also returns in this story. I thought he was a good addition to the first book but struggled to see how he fit in here. He didn’t add much to the story for me apart from a reason for Jimmy’s insecurity which I found jarring. Jimmy’s insecurity with Fran, a constant worry about how their relationship was developing, also felt wrong to me. It was these two elements that stopped me from giving it 5 stars.

Like all good murder mysteries there is a great final reveal. Many authors struggle to avoid a “Scooby Doo” type ending but Cleeves provides a fantastic surprise at the end of this story and one for me that I found very sad. There are no happy endings here but a wonderfully enjoyable book.

My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

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gallows lane

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Gallows Lane (Inspector Devlin #2) by Brian McGilloway

This post contains spoilers and affiliate links. If you use these links to buy something I may earn a commission.

Once again I’m brought back to familiar territory. Inspector Devlin is a Gardai based in Lifford just 20min down the road from where I live. The title of the book is taken from an area of Lifford that was associated with the hanging tree used for executing condemned prisoners from Lifford Gaol which sets the darker tone of this book. As a young child we were well aware of the associated ghost stories and its place in local mythology. Unlike the previous book (Borderlands) where local areas seemed a little jarring due to changes made in places and names I found this one much more familiar and less unsettling.

There are quite a few storylines running through this book. To my mind Lifford is a pretty sleepy and dull town but the author has created something very different. There’s a serial abductor of young girls who is murdering them in a frustrated rage, drug abuse, burglary and gruesome, violent murders associated with an historical robbery. Throw into the mix some good old fashioned police intimidation and corruption and there’s a lot going on. If that isn’t enough for you there’s a creepy old ex-terrorist priest floating around and Devlin is getting a bit too friendly with his attractive partner. There’s still sub plots I haven’t even touched on!

The complicated interconnecting plots is one of the negative aspects of the book. Another reviewer stated his desire to see less happening and more detail but then again maybe this is the unique style of this author and what sets him apart from others.

Some aspects of Devlin’s character I find hard to accept. He’s portrayed very much as a dedicated family man with a strong religious streak but he’s had two different relationships with female characters that don’t fit this and stoops to some illegal activity himself in this story. I find these different personas jarring and they don’t fit together. I hope this settles more as the series progresses.

The author’s depiction of women is weak also. Devlin’s partner, Caroline Williams, is strong but she eventually succumbs to the pressure of the job after being injured and it looks like she is leaving. Devlin’s wife Debbie is woefully ignored except as a bit of a nag (in fact I couldn’t even remember her name and had to look it up!) and his ex-girlfriend is depicted as a shallow, scorned lover out for revenge for being rejected in the first book.

It does need to be remembered that this is still only the second book by this author. There are three more to come featuring Inspector Devlin as well as a second series with a female police officer as the lead character.

⭐⭐⭐⭐ (3.5 in reality)

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the general’s daughter

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The General’s Daughter (Paul Brenner #1) by Nelson deMille

From Goodreads:

Captain Ann Campbell is a West Point graduate, the daughter of legendary General “Fighting Joe” Campbell. She is the pride of Fort Hadley until, one morning, her body is found, naked and bound, on the firing range.

Paul Brenner is a member of the Army’s elite undercover investigative unit and the man in charge of this politically explosive case. Teamed with rape specialist Cynthia Sunhill, with whom he once had a tempestuous, doomed affair, Brenner is about to learn just how many people were sexually, emotionally, and dangerously involved with the Army’s “golden girl.” And how the neatly pressed uniforms and honor codes of the military hide a corruption as rank as Ann Campbell’s shocking secret life.

My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Overall a very good story and well written. It’s a difficult task to take on with two topics you don’t see much of in books – murder/rape on a military base and the impact of introducing women into the armed services. I thought that they were both handled pretty well.

The difference between crime investigation and procedure in the army versus civilian life was intriguing and Brenner is an interesting character with a surprisingly cavalier attitude towards the army and procedures, not what you would expect from a long serving soldier.

I did enjoy the book very much but found the use of leaps of intuition and guesswork to solve the case frustrating. Too much of it came out of nowhere. Maybe that’s the result of years of experience as an investigator but I found it to be lazy writing.

The book has also been made into a film. Reading the synopsis on Wikipedia it seems they have made some interesting plot changes. I’m not usually a fan of John Travolta but might be tempted to watch it.

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a cold day in paradise

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A Cold Day in Paradise (Alex McKnight #1) by Steve Hamilton

From Goodreads:

Other than the bullet lodged near his heart, former Detroit cop Alex McKnight thought he had put the nightmare of his partner’s death and his own near-fatal injury behind him. After all, the man convicted of the crimes has been locked away for years. But in the small town of Paradise, Michigan, where McKnight has traded his badge for a cabin in the woods, a murderer with the same unmistakable trademarks appears to be back. McKnight can’t understand who else would know the intimate details of the old murders. And it seems like it’ll be a frozen day in Hell before McKnight can unravel truth from deception in a town that’s anything but Paradise.

My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

I read this entire series a while back and enjoyed it so have decided to read them again.

I read this one on a very lazy start to a couple of weeks off work and finished it in less than 24hrs. It’s a very easy book to do this with as it has a story that rolls along at a nippy pace that encourages you to keep reading and interesting enough to stop you wanting a break. The characters are well developed, although he does have a weird relationship with his best friend and wife, with a back story that isn’t completely explained. This will keep character development interesting for the rest of the series.

Easy to read and a reasonably straight forward story with a few twists. Perfect holiday reading I guess.

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in the woods

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In The Woods (Dublin Murder Squad #1) by Tana French

From Goodreads:

As dusk approaches a small Dublin suburb in the summer of 1984, mothers begin to call their children home. But on this warm evening, three children do not return from the dark and silent woods. When the police arrive, they find only one of the children. He is gripping a tree trunk in terror, wearing blood-filled sneakers and unable to recall a single detail of the previous hours.

Twenty years later, the found boy, Rob Ryan, is a detective on the Dublin Murder Squad and keeps his past a secret. But when a 12-year-old girl is found murdered in the same woods, he and Detective Cassie Maddox (his partner and closest friend) find themselves investigating a case chillingly similar to the previous unsolved mystery. Now, with only snippets of long-buried memories to guide him, Ryan has the chance to uncover both the mystery of the case before him and that of his own shadowy past.

My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

I almost gave up on this book not long after starting. The style of the first couple of chapters kind of grated on me and I wasn’t enjoying them. However, I’m very glad I persevered as either the style changed or I became used to it. Either way I ended up really enjoying this.

I also didn’t realise that this book was made into a TV series that I watched last year (Dublin Murders). I had a nagging feeling that the story was familiar but I knew I hadn’t read the book. Eventually the penny dropped, Google confirmed it and I was happier reading the story.

*SPOILER AHEAD* This is quite a dark story, dealing as it does with disappearing children, the murder of another child and dysfunctional families. The trauma of Ryan’s own experiences, how he deals with them as well as the new case, the breakdown of his special relationship with Cassie and the eventual harm to his mental health and career do not make for easy reading. However, the author does a great job of making this all very readable.

This is the first in a series of 6 books set in a fictional murder squad within An Garda Siochana but it seems that they are all pretty much standalone. Cassie does appear in the next but this is Ryan’s only one and Cassie doesn’t feature again. This is an interesting approach.

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monday mourning

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Monday Mourning (Temperance Brennan #7) by Kathy Reichs

From Goodreads:

Temperance Brennan, forensic anthropologist for both North Carolina and Quebec, has come from Charlotte to Montreal during the bleak days of December to testify as an expert witness at a murder trial.

She should be going over her notes, but instead she’s digging in the basement of a pizza parlor. Not fun. Freezing cold. Crawling rats. And now, the skeletonized remains of three young women. How did they get there? When did they die?

Homicide detective Luc Claudel, never Tempe’s greatest fan, believes the bones are historic. Not his case, not his concern. The pizza parlor owner found nineteenth-century buttons in the cellar with the skeletons. Claudel takes them as an indicator of the bones’ antiquity.

But something doesn’t make sense. Tempe examines the bones in her lab and establishes approximate age with Carbon-14. Further study of tooth enamel tells her where the women were born. If she’s right, Claudel has three recent murders on his hands. Definitely his case.

Detective Andrew Ryan, meanwhile, is acting mysteriously. What are those private phone calls he takes in the other room, and why does he suddenly disappear just when Tempe is beginning to hope he might be a permanent part of her life? Looks like more lonely nights for Tempe and Birdie, her cat.

As Tempe searches for answers in both her personal and professional lives, she finds herself drawn deep into a web of evil from which there may be no escape. Women have disappeared, never to return…Tempe may be next.

My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Fast paced, easy to read and just complicated enough to keep the reader interested without getting lost. My only complaints were how silly and immature Anne’s character was portrayed (I couldn’t see how she fitted with the overall story and her behaviour was just irritating) and Tempe’s relationship with Ryan. This latter was at least resolved and I hope it’s less angsty and distracting in the rest of the series.

I did find the ending very good and left me with a mixture of feelings which is good writing. I especially liked the final dedication and the author’s note for the real life inspiration behind the story.

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