Difference between revisions of "Newest Crime Reviews"
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| + | |author=Augusto de Angelis and Jill Foulston (translator) | ||
| + | |title=The Mystery of the Three Orchids | ||
| + | |rating=3 | ||
| + | |genre=Crime | ||
| + | |summary=All the ladies of O'Brian Fashion House are trying to do is to present their works in the best of lights to the best of Milanese and European society, but they're not going to find a dead person on their premises much help. Cristiana lives in Casa O'Brian, on the top floor of the building where everything key to her company happens, and it's on her bed that she finds the corpse – resplendent with an orchid perched nearby, an orchid that bizarrely means a lot to her. What could it signify? Was she correct in thinking she'd seen some people she really didn't want to see back in her life, in the audience below? And who here might not actually be who they first appear? It'll be a tough case for Inspector de Vincenzi, that's for sure. | ||
| + | |amazonuk=<amazonuk>1782271724</amazonuk> | ||
| + | }} | ||
{{newreview | {{newreview | ||
|author=Mario Giordano | |author=Mario Giordano | ||
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|summary=Inspector De Vincenzi is working against the clock. A body was found in his old school-friend Giannetto Aurigi's apartment in the early hours of this morning and the investigating magistrate wants to take over as quickly as possible. The trouble is, Aurigi owed the dead man money, has been acting strangely, and isn't trying to defend himself. Unless De Vincenzi finds strong evidence to the contrary today, the investigating magistrate will see it as an open and shut case, and that will be the end of Aurigi. But none of the evidence seems to add up. | |summary=Inspector De Vincenzi is working against the clock. A body was found in his old school-friend Giannetto Aurigi's apartment in the early hours of this morning and the investigating magistrate wants to take over as quickly as possible. The trouble is, Aurigi owed the dead man money, has been acting strangely, and isn't trying to defend himself. Unless De Vincenzi finds strong evidence to the contrary today, the investigating magistrate will see it as an open and shut case, and that will be the end of Aurigi. But none of the evidence seems to add up. | ||
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1782271708</amazonuk> | |amazonuk=<amazonuk>1782271708</amazonuk> | ||
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Revision as of 12:52, 24 August 2016
The Mystery of the Three Orchids by Augusto de Angelis and Jill Foulston (translator)
All the ladies of O'Brian Fashion House are trying to do is to present their works in the best of lights to the best of Milanese and European society, but they're not going to find a dead person on their premises much help. Cristiana lives in Casa O'Brian, on the top floor of the building where everything key to her company happens, and it's on her bed that she finds the corpse – resplendent with an orchid perched nearby, an orchid that bizarrely means a lot to her. What could it signify? Was she correct in thinking she'd seen some people she really didn't want to see back in her life, in the audience below? And who here might not actually be who they first appear? It'll be a tough case for Inspector de Vincenzi, that's for sure. Full review...
Auntie Poldi and the Sicilian Lions by Mario Giordano
Poldi had not long been widowed when she decided to move from Bavaria to Sicily with the intention of drinking herself to death. She could, of course, have done this in Germany, but she felt that a sea view was essential. Once there, new friends, family already resident on the island and the corpse of a young man, his face blown off by a shotgun, whom she found on the local beach, intervened to give her life some meaning. For a while she was a suspect, but that (and her wig) were no obstacle to her falling for Commissario Vito Montana who was assigned to investigate the case. Assisting him (or having him assist her) came naturally to Poldi and before long there was an investigative and personal partnership. At least so far as Poldi was concerned. Full review...
The Quiet Death of Thomas Quaid by Craig Russell
Everybody liked quiet Tommy Quaid, a professional burglar who like Norman Stanley Fletcher saw arrest and imprisonment as occupational hazards and on the rare occasion he was nabbed, he'd raise his hands and come quiet. Turns out that's not what his nickname meant at all. Turns out there was a lot about Quiet Tommy Quaid that a lot of people didn't know. Even those who thought they knew him well, who thought they were his friends. Full review...
Silent Scream by Angela Marsons
In Silent Scream, D.I Kim Stone is called to investigate the body of a woman found dead in the bath of a house that has been set on fire. As Stone and her team start to investigate the suspicious circumstances, it becomes clear that this isn't going to be an isolated case and they are in a race against the clock to find out who could be next on the killer's hit list and why. Full review...
You Were Never Really Here by Jonathan Ames
He came up with a plan, a solution, a way to live, which was to get very small and very quiet and leave no wake. So he had to be pure. He had to be holy. He had to be contained. He is Joe, an ex-Marine, ex-FBI, who has had demons drummed into him by not only his work but his abusive father, with the help of a hammer. Having left one of his own hammers behind in a hotel room, only to need it in an introductory scuffle which really places the reader in a dark and grim place, he moves on to the next job on his list – rescuing the daughter of a Senator. But are that holy lack of wake and his consummate survival skills actually going to be enough? Full review...
The Man Who Wasn't There by Michael Hjorth and Hans Rosenfeldt
Somewhere along the line over the last few years Nordic noir has become the mixed metaphor du jour. It's hard to say where it started, the novels of Henning Mankell possibly, though Mankell himself credited Martin Beck series of novels by Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö as being the first to take mix Swedish crime story-telling with social commentary. Stieg Larsson took it in a different direction with his Salander trilogy – much darker and much more violent. For most Brits and Americans though the term really hit home when The Bridge and The Killing hit our screens. It was through TV that we found the books. Full review...
Shadow Rider by Christine Feehan
Stefano Ferraro is the head of Italian family-run mega business. From hotels to racing cars, the Ferraros seem to have their fingers in many pies, and not all of them are legal. Splashed across the gossip columns of every newspaper and magazine in America the 4 brothers and their sister are a group of gorgeous beings to be reckoned with. The family have a secret though; they are Shadow Riders. They have supernatural powers which allow them to travel, unseen, through the shadows; a power which they use to serve justice when the legal system fails, allowing them to protect their neighbourhood from the criminal underworld. Full review...
Blood Torment (DCI Andy Gilchrist) by T F Muir
Two-year-old Katie Davis was abducted from her mother's home some time in the early hours of the morning. There's something wrong though and DCI Andy Gilchrist suspects that Andrea Davis might have abducted - possibly even murdered - her own child. Then it starts to get political when Gilchrist discovers that Davis' father is Dougal Davis, the former MSP who was forced to resign his seat when he was accused of physically abusing his third wife. Even disgraced politicians have some clout and there's the added complication of the fact that Davis's first wife went to school Gilchrist's ultimate boss. Just to make matters even worse Gilchrist finds that he could be working with DI Tosh MacIntosh - a man for whom he has no respect. But could there be an answer to the abduction in the form of Sammie Bell, a convicted paedophile who had moved back to his home town just a few weeks ago? Full review...
Secrets of Death (Cooper and Fry) by Stephen Booth
A strange phenomenon has hit the Peak District. There are those who call it 'suicide tourism', but it's frowned on, although it does rather hit the nail on the head. There have been an number of suicides in reasonably public, but picturesque place and all the victims seems to be remarkably competent at what they've done and usually from outside the immediate area. It's almost as though they've been tutored. But whilst it's against the law to assist someone to commit suicide, what's the legal position about providing information and support? Detective Inspector Ben Cooper and his colleagues in E Division have to try and find some connection between the people who have died. But in what might almost be another world - the city of Nottingham - Detective Sergeant Diane Fry finds that a key witness in a case she's involved with has vanished. Full review...
The Murder Road (Cooper and Fry) by Stephen Booth
The locals will tell you that there's only one road into and out of Shawhead and over the years they've become accustomed to being cut off by snow or floods. The road passes under a railway line and one day in early February Mac Kelsey's curtain-sider jammed under the bridge. It was Amanda Hibbert who discovered the obstruction as she tried to return home to Shawhead, but there was no driver in the cab. There was a lot of blood though. Full review...
Fatal Pursuit: A Bruno Courreges Investigation by Martin Walker
Two young racing drivers come to the Perigord region to hunt for clues as to the whereabouts of the missing Bugatti Type 57c Atlantic. Only four were made and three are accounted for - but stories would have it that the missing car is somewhere in the Perigord. It's more than seventy years since the car was last seen and that was in war time - but it's worth finding: a Californian museum paid $37,000,000 for one of the cars. One of the young racing drivers has local connections and another is in a relationship with Annette, a magistrate. The race to find the car is not going to be kind. Full review...
Who Killed Sherlock Holmes? by Paul Cornell
The Great Detecitve's ghost has walked London's streets for an age, given shape by people's memories. Now someone's put a ceremonial dagger throug his chest. But what's the motive? And who - or what - could kill a ghost? When policing London's supernatural underworld, eliminating the impossible is not an option. DI James Quill and his detectives have learnt this the hard way. Gifted with the Sight, they'll pursue a criminial genius - who'll lure them into a Sherlockian maze of clues and evidence. The team also have thier own demons to fight. They've been to Hell and back (literally) but now the unit is falling apart... Full review...
Private Investigations (Bob Skinner) by Quintin Jardine
When Bob Skinner's wife has a yearning for a particular cake from Marks and Spencer he thinks nothing of taking a detour on his way to work, snatching the last one available and heading back to the car. It's then that the fates start being naughty. Reversing out of his parking space he's hit by a speeding BMW - only the driver doesn't get out to exchange insurance details and offer apologies. He gets out of the car and legs it. Checking his own car for damage Skinner notices that the boot of the beemer is slightly open - something which presumably happened on impact - and his attempts to close it mean that it opens instead and the body of a small child is revealed. Full review...
Little Sister (Detective Pieter Vos) by David Hewson
Late one night, after a talent content on the waterfront, Kim and Mia Timmers returned to their home to find a scene of utter carnage and their mother, father and sister dead. It would have hit any eleven-year-old child hard, but the dead girl, Little Jo, was their triplet and there was a special bond between the three of them. The girls then left the house and apparently murdered the lead singer of The Cupids, a world-famous band, in the belief that he had been responsible for the deaths of their family. Officially there didn't seem to be any doubt about what had happened to the musician, despite the fact that there were certain points about the murder scene which might have suggested that someone with more worldly experience was responsible. Full review...
Die of Shame by Mark Billingham
A group of addicts - the addictions differ - meet regularly at the home of their therapist, Tony De Silva, himself a former addict. On the night we join them, Chris, Robin, Heather and Diana are surprised to see that there's an extra chair in the circle. It changes the dynamics of the group, but the newcomer is Caroline and she's a large lady - but although she likes her food it's painkillers that she's addicted to. There's no obvious reason why Caroline's arrival should make such a difference to the group - she's keen to fit in - but it does and before many weeks have passed one of the group is murdered. It's increasingly obvious that one of the group is responsible. Full review...
Bird in a Cage by Frederic Dard and David Bellos (translator)
A man returns to the flat he grew up in and where his mother died without his knowledge, and finds it too desolate for the time of year it is – Christmas Eve. Bursting for more life, despite being a solitary character, he goes to a restaurant, and finds a connection with a mother with her daughter. They dine, then go to the cinema, and sit together, and things happen from there – in a gentle, no-pressure, no-names-no-packdrill way. If this isn't a reasonable start to a novella, consider the tag it has as a noir classic. And consider the fact the strange woman is the spitting image of the man's dead wife… Full review...
The Hanging Club by Tony Parsons
When the three yobbos who kick to death a young husband and father are given a perfunctory sentence, DC Wolfe finds it hard to hold his true feelings in check. Confounded by the injustice of the British Courts and legal system, DC Wolfe spends a good while soul searching and wondering why he invests so much of his life in fighting crime, finding murderers and bringing them to justice when the integrity of the criminal justice system is so sorely lacking. Luckily for DC Wolfe he has his bright and funny daughter Scout to keep him from looking too hard into the darkness that DC Wolfe knows lives inside every dutiful cop; until the videos start being posted on the internet. Full review...
The Case of the Missing Bronte by Robert Barnard
Superintendent Perry Trethowan was returning to London from Northumberland with his family when their car broke down in the Yorkshire Dales and they were stranded in a small village for the night. When they had a drink in the local pub they were joined by a local resident, Miss Edith Wing, who had what might be an extraordinary document in her possession. Could this be a lost Bronte novel? The provenance of the manuscript suggested that it could well be genuine, but was it - and Miss wing - the real thing or was it a very clever forgery? Perry suggested visiting a local expert for an opinion and in doing so sends Miss wing into mortal danger. Full review...
Dodgers by Bill Beverly
Judging a book by its cover can mislead. It can especially mislead if you don't look closely at the cover and are just grabbed by the feel or style of the design of the thing. Being misled is not necessarily a bad thing. For reasons best left in the depths of my addled brain, the styling of Dodgers had me thinking 'noir'. I was expecting late fifties, early sixties. If I'd looked closer, I'd have seen that it is much more contemporary than that. Then again… Full review...
Death on the Riviera by John Bude
Counterfeit currency was circulating on the French Riviera and it was suspected that an Englishman was behind the crime, so DI Meredith was sent along with acting-Sergeant Strang to trace the whereabouts of Chalky Corbett. It wasn't entirely an unpleasant assignment - the warm of the south of France compared favourably with polluted London - and Meredith (whose French was far from fluent) got on well with the local policeman, Inspector Blampignon of Nice. It wasn't long before their interest settled on the Villa Poloma, home of an eccentric expatriate Englishwoman, Nesta Hedderwick and her band of bohemian house guests. Full review...
The Place That Didn't Exist by Mark Watson
Sometimes a book just leaves you wondering what it was trying to be. I'm afraid Watson's sixth novel is one of those. I can't compare it to his previous work because I've not been there. Or if I have I have forgotten all about it. I will quickly forget this one too. Full review...
Inspector Singh Investigates: A Frightfully English Execution by Shamini Flint
Inspector Singh wasn't completely insulted when he was told that he was to attend a Commonwealth conference on policing in London, despite the fact that he was of the opinion that this was a job for paper-pushers rather than real policemen. He would go. Then Mrs Singh decided that she too would go to London to visit the legions of unknown relatives who live in the metropolis and to collect yet more essential souvenirs. Things looked up slightly when Singh realised that he would be looking at a cold case - the five-year-old unsolved murder of Fatima Daud - along with an Inspector from the Met. Only - Singh wasn't there to solve or even investigate the case (that was forbidden) - he was there to consider how it could have been handled differently. Full review...
The Bursar's Wife by E G Rodford
Private investigator George Kocharyan struggles along on the seedy side of Cambridge, following the odd unfaithful spouse or checking up on benefit claimants for the Department of Work and Pensions. This just about pays for his invaluable part-time assistant Sandra who knows how to work the office computer, and her teenage son who George occasionally hires to do some of the leg work. Into this grubby world walks Sylvia Booker, wife of the bursar at Morley College, overprotective mother, glamorous middle-aged woman. Worried that her daughter has fallen in with a bad crowd she hires George to look into it. Then one of the unfaithful wives George had been following turns up dead, and life begins to get complicated. Full review...
Bryant and May: Strange Tide by Christopher Fowler
The thirteenth outing for Bryant and May is looking very much like it will be their last. Arthur Bryant is on compassionate leave whilst tests are continuing, which are likely to confirm that he is suffering from Alzheimer's. His condition is worsening almost by the day, memory lapses are morphing into full-scale hallucinations. Full review...
Jonathan Dark or The Evidence Of Ghosts by A K Benedict
Maria King sits by the Thames mudlarking - sifting through the washed up treasures - on a regular basis. Only today she finds a ring in a box with 'Marry me Maria' on the lid in braille. Blind from birth and now blind by choice, the words can be for no one else but Ms King. However a greater surprise awaits inside the box: the ring is still on a finger belonging to the last girl who received such a proposal. DI Jonathan Dark is assigned to the case, not realising what he's taken on or the sort of help he'll need to call on. The dead are all around him, his plan is not to let Maria join them. Full review...
Trust No One by Clare Donoghue
They're an ordinary family, by modern standards. Richard and wife Nicola have split up, but are on reasonably amicable terms. The kids stay over with their Dad often enough. He makes time for them and their friends. Ok, so fourteen year old Harvey is dyslexic and has been diagnosed as having ADHD. He's also got a quick temper. But he's very protective of his little sister, 12-year-old Olive. Full review...
Thin Ice (Officer Gunnhildur) by Quentin Bates
Gunnhildur's family life is a bit complicated. Her son Gisli is now the father of two children, only they're not the traditional year or two apart, but just a few weeks and there are - as you might have gathered - two mothers involved. He's now living not with the one that Gunna might have expected but doing his best to maintain contact with the other, and his other son, of course. At work, two small-time crooks have robbed Reykjavik's most infamous drug dealer of a couple of hundred thousand euros, but couldn't get away as their getaway driver failed to turn up. Two women - mother and daughter - have disappeared along with the mother's car and a thief has died in suspicious circumstances. Full review...
Promises of Blood by David Thorne
I love getting in on the ground floor. Thanks to this very website I was one of the first in this country to read the Twilight series and was smitten from the start. We'll ignore the films, the books are worth a look! In a completely different genre, but no less a lucky fluke it was through here that I stumbled across East of Innocence by David Thorne and put in an old-fashioned baggsy for whatever followed. On reading the second of the series Nothing Sacred by David Thorne I commented that I hoped that in the next outing Connell would see him up against, or siding with, some kick-ass-don't-take-it female. So far his women do tend to be 'birds or victims' . I'm pleased to say he's moving in the right direction… women are central to this story one way and another. For the first time he's given us female characters who (despite their plot-device roles, which is varied and not always predictable) are stronger than they look – strong in a number of different ways – he hasn't simply opted for my "kick-ass" option, he's more subtle than that. Full review...
The Murdered Banker by Augusto De Angelis and Jill Foulston (translator)
Inspector De Vincenzi is working against the clock. A body was found in his old school-friend Giannetto Aurigi's apartment in the early hours of this morning and the investigating magistrate wants to take over as quickly as possible. The trouble is, Aurigi owed the dead man money, has been acting strangely, and isn't trying to defend himself. Unless De Vincenzi finds strong evidence to the contrary today, the investigating magistrate will see it as an open and shut case, and that will be the end of Aurigi. But none of the evidence seems to add up. Full review...
