Baileys Blog

Sally Spencer – Death in Disguise (2016)

Severn House, Hardcover, 224 pages

Published: 30^th April 2016 (UK)

ISBN13: 978-0727886200

Death in Disguise is the 11^th in the DCI Monika Paniatowski Police Procedural series by Sally Spencer.

DCI Monika Paniatowski investigates the killing of an American guest in an hotel and discovers she has two cases – one in the present day (the 1970s) and one in the 1920s. The body of Mary Edwards (an American female tourist) is found in the Prince Alfred suite at the Royal Victoria Hotel; Mary Edwards had been a guest at the hotel for two weeks having paid cash in advance. But who is Mary Edwards and what was she doing in a small town like Whitebridge?

The answer to the question of why was she here could lead to the answer as to who killed her.

This was the first book by Sally Spencer I have read but as I do like police procedurals I thought I would give it a chance.

The book has the two main plot strands of the 1920s and 1970s which intertwine to keep you engaged, it is well researched and plotted to keep you engaged as the plot twists and turns. Characterisation is good especially of Monika but also of DS Kate Meadows who is a very interesting character.

It can be read as a standalone but I will be working my way through now from the 1^st novel where Monika Paniatowski becomes the lead character (The Dead Hand of History).

I received a free copy of this book from the publishers on NetGalley.

 When She Was Bad by Tammy Cohen  (April 2016)

The blurb is

“YOU SEE THE PEOPLE YOU WORK WITH EVERY DAY.
BUT WHAT CAN’T YOU SEE?
Amira, Sarah, Paula, Ewan and Charlie have worked together for years – they know how each one likes their coffee, whose love life is a mess, whose children keep them up at night. But their comfortable routine life is suddenly shattered when an aggressive new boss walks in ….
Now, there’s something chilling in the air.
Who secretly hates everyone?
Who is tortured by their past?
Who is capable of murder?”

which does neatly sum up the plot.

There are two parallel storylines here – that of Amira, Sarah, Paula, Ewan and Charlie who all work together in a recruitment agency and have a new, rather foreboding and very different boss take over to motivate them and that of Dr Anne Cater – a child psychologist, who is remembering one of her most famous and horrific cases. The first storyline is also told from multiple perspectives.

This is a very competent psychological thriller with lots of plot twists and tension building.

Whilst psychological thrillers are not my usual cup of tea I really did enjoy this as it kept you turning the page to find out what happened next.

 

Thanks to Black Swan for an uncorrected proof copy.

 

 

I just want to signpost 2 radio highlights for crime fiction fans on BBC Radio 4 in February 2016.

On Saturday 13th February at 14:30, a 2-part (2 x 60 minutes) adaptation of A Question Of Blood by Ian Rankin starts – “When a known criminal dies in a house fire the forensic evidence suggests he was murdered before the fire started. Rebus – the last person to see the victim alive – becomes the main suspect. Meanwhile, a fatal shooting at a private school near Edinburgh unexpectedly leads Rebus to an army helicopter crash on Jura in a case involving diamonds and drug smuggling.”

More information is at Rebus – A Question Of Blood

On Friday 19th February at 11:30am, a 4-part (4 x 30 minutes) adaptation of A Decent Interval by Simon Brett starts – “Charles, bit-part actor and amateur sleuth, returns to the stage as the ghost in Hamlet, but rehearsals are fraught as both Ophelia and Hamlet are being played by reality TV stars and soon it’s not only Shakespeare’s lines that are being murdered. As the body count rises, so do Charles’ suspicions. Whilst at home, meanwhile, Frances fears she may have come to the end of allowing her semi-detached husband to remain as her lodger.”

More information is at A Charles Paris Mystery: A Decent Interval

Elly Griffiths – The Woman in Blue (2016)

Quercus, Hardcover, 368 pages

Expected publication: 4^th February 2016

ISBN13: 978-1784292379

 The Woman in Blue is the 8^th in the Ruth Galloway Mystery series by Elly Griffiths.

The medieval town of Little Walsingham is famous for religious apparitions so Ruth’s friend Cathbad takes it in his stride when he sees a vision of a woman in a white gown and blue cloak in the graveyard next to the cottage he is house-sitting. Walsingham has strong connections to the Virgin Mary and Cathbad as a druid feels that visions come with the job. But it becomes clear that Cathbad’s vision was all too human when the body of a woman in a blue dressing-gown is found dead the next day in a nearby ditch. DCI Nelson and his team are called in for the murder investigation and they quickly establish that the dead woman was a recovering addict being treated at a nearby private hospital.

Ruth has managed to avoid Walsingham during her seventeen years in Norfolk but an old university asks to meet her in the village and Ruth is amazed to discover that her friend is now a priest. She has been receiving vitriolic anonymous letters targeting women priests – letters that contain references to local archaeology and a striking phrase about a woman ‘clad in blue, weeping for the world’.

Then another woman is murdered – a priest.

As Walsingham prepares for its annual Easter re-enactment of the Crucifixion, the race is on to unmask the killer before they strike again…

 

Personally, I am a big fan of the Ruth Galloway novels but should warn you that this is best enjoyed if you are following the series through in order but I still do think you can pick up most of the background needed to enjoy the novel as you go along.

Why am I a fan – well here there is the usual excellent characterisation that one expects in Elly Griffiths’ books that gives you believable albeit flawed but ultimately likeable ongoing main protagonists (Ruth Galloway, Harry Nelson & Cathbad especially in this one) along with a sufficiently twisty plot to keep you engaged and a well-researched backdrop to hang the story on.

If you have a liking for modern cozies with a hint of grit than I would strongly recommend this to you.

 

Adrian McKinty – Rain Dogs

Trade paperback: 336 pages (December 2015 in UK)

Publisher: Serpents Tail

ISBN: 978-1781254554

This is the fifth Sean Duffy novel set in and around Carrickfergus in County Antrim, Northern Ireland.

The novel starts with DI Sean Duffy in charge of part of the crowd control for a visit by Muhammad Al to Belfast in 1987 which is a break from his usual routine of riot duty, heartbreak and cases solved that can never get to court. Financial Times journalist Lily Bigelow is found dead in the courtyard of Carrickfergus castle – she has been following a group of potential Finnish investors to Northern Ireland. It looks like a suicide but some things don’t add up and this bothers Duffy who has met and solved a locked room murder before. He finds out that she was working on a devastating investigation of corruption and abuse at the highest levels of power in the UK and beyond.

Again this a very assured police procedural with multiple serious themes (the peace process is still in the background, economic regeneration is in the middle and a cover up in the foreground) and great writing which is strongly literate but still keeps you engaged & turning the page.

I still want to see how Duffy handles the Patten Commission reforms and the shift to the PSNI as it looks like he is stuck in the RUC until retirement.

 

I took part in the Golden Age Card of the Vintage Mystery Bingo in 2015 (where Golden Age Vintage Mysteries are defined as having been first published before 1960).

More details are available at the My Reader’s Block website

My final card is :

My reviews of the books read are as follows:

1. Edmund Crispin – The Moving Toyshop (1946) – L3 entry “Read One Book with an Amateur Detective” – Edmund Crispin – The Moving Toyshop (1946)
2. Dorothy L. Sayers – Gaudy Night (1935) – L5 entry “Read One Academic Mystery” – Dorothy L. Sayers – Gaudy Night (1935)
3. Edmund Crispin – Buried for Pleasure (1948) – N5 entry “Read one book written by an author with a Pseudonym” – Edmund Crispin – Buried for Pleasure (1948)
4. Edmund Crispin – Frequent Hearses (1950) – L1 entry “Read one book set in the Entertainment World” – Edmund Crispin – Frequent Hearses (1950)
5. Agatha Christie – The ABC Murders (1936) – L2 entry “One Book that has been made into a Movie or TV Show” – Agatha Christie – The ABC Murders (aka The Alphabet Murders) (1936)
6. Margery Allingham – The Case of the Late Pig (1937) – L4 entry “Read one book with a man in the Title” – Margery Allingham – The Case of the Late Pig (1937)
7. Agatha Christie – Death in the Clouds (1935) – L6 entry “Read one book that involves a mode of transportation” – Agatha Christie – Death in the Clouds (1935)

Paul Johnston – Skeleton Blues

Hardback: 244 pages (January 2016)

Publisher: Severn House

ISBN: 978-0-7278-8578-4 (hardback)

This is the seventh novel in the series of novels featuring Quint Dalrymple.

It is Spring 2034. The United Kingdom, along most of the world, was torn apart by civil wars and criminal gangs in the early years of the twenty-first century. Edinburgh in the last free election in 2003 voted in the Enlightenment Party (a small grouping of university Professors) who with a mind set influenced by Plato guaranteed basic human rights such as work, food and housing but removed most elements of choice from peoples lives. Crime has been pushed underground where it is fed in part by the envy of the tourists who come for the year-round festival with legalised gambling, prostitution and drugs for the tourists.

The weather is balmy and most un-Scottish. A referendum is imminent on whether or not to join a reconstituted Scotland. A tourist is found strangled in the apartment of a citizen and, as usual, maverick detective Quint Dalrymple is called in to do the dirty work of the Council of City Guardians. Quint is stumped by the complexity of the case when an explosion at the City Zoo is followed by the discovery of another body with the prime suspect nowhere to be found. Can Quint and Davie put a stop to the killings before the city erupts into open violence – are the leaders of the other Scottish states planning to take over Edinburgh or is the source of unrest much closer to home?

Again, you have an engaging plot that goes along at a rate of knots and you can understand the motivation of the characters whilst not agreeing with them – the key driving force is the camaraderie between Davie (his sidekick in effect) and Quint which has been built on throughout the series.

This is a good addition to the series and once again I would definitely like to see where Quint Dalrymple goes from here.

Simon Brett – The Killing in the Cafe: a Fethering Mystery

Hardback: 192 pages (November 2015 – UK, March 2016 – US)

Publisher: Creme de la Crime

ISBN: 978-1780290812 (Hardback)

 

THE KILLING IN THE CAFE is the 17^th of the Fethering series of novels by Simon Brett.

 

Polly’s Cake Shop has been a feature in Fethering for many years but when its current owner announces her retirement, the residents worry about the loss of this popular amenity and alarmed by the rumours circulating they form the Save Polly’s Cake Shop Action Committee. Their plan is that the cake shop should become a community venture which is both managed and run by volunteers from the village. Jude is roped in to help by one of her clients and finds the committee meetings fraught with petty power struggles and clashing personalities & egos.

Carole and Jude discover a badly-decomposed body on Fethering beach and uncover a link to Polly’s – now they have to find out whodunit.

 

Like all of the Fethering novels I have read what you get here is a good solid character driven novel in an interesting milieu with characters who are believable if a little bit over the top.

Again there isn’t a strong whodunit here – pick the character who is most out of place and that is your killer BUT this is a nice traditional cozy mystery with just a little bit of dark humour and I will continue with the series.

My copy was provided by the publishers, Severn House, via Netgalley.

Elly Griffiths – Smoke and Mirrors (2015)

Quercus, Hardcover, 352 pages

Expected publication: November 5th 2015

ISBN13: 9781784290269

Smoke and Mirrors is the 2^nd in the Stephens and Mephisto Mystery series by Elly Griffiths (probably best known for the Ruth Galloway novels).

It is Brighton, England in 1951 – the war is over but rationing is ongoing and life is still grim.

Max Mephisto, master illusionist, is slumming it somewhat in a pantomime on the Palace Pier playing Abanazar, the Demon King in Aladdin.

But the headlines in the local papers are no longer about his first appearance in a pantomime, but about the disappearance of two local children (Mark and Annie); when they are found dead in the snow, surrounded by sweets, it’s not long before the police nickname them ‘Hansel and Gretel’.

There are plenty of leads for DI Edgar Stephens (war-time comrade of Max) to investigate.

Annie used to write gruesome plays based on the unexpurgated versions of Grimms’ fairy tales – does the clue lie in her last unfinished – and rather disturbing – script?

Is the presence of sweets a red herring or where they used to lure them to their deaths by Sam Gee, owner of the corner shop where the local children bought sweets?

Or does the answer lie with the eccentric cast of theatricals who have assembled for the pantomime?

 

I haven’t read the first in the series (The Zig Zag Girl) but do like the Ruth Galloway novels so I thought this might be worth a try plus I have always been interested in the worlds of magic and theatre. In terms of whether you can start here, I think you can as I certainly picked up what background was needed to enjoy the novel as I went along so this can be read as a standalone novel in my opinion.

There is excellent characterisation, especially of the 4 main protagonists (Max Mephisto, DI Edgar Stephens and his 2 sergeants, Emma Holmes (new to CID) and Bob Willis) all who contrast with each other nicely – especially the Roedean educated Holmes and the secondary modern educated Willis.

The mystery element is well handled with twists and turns but a fair outcome.

But for me, it is the detail in the background that makes this book work so well – the wartime experience of Edgar and Max as part of a shadowy secret unit called the Magic Men who used stage trickery to confuse the enemy (paralleling the claims of Jasper Maskelyne in his book Magic: Top Secret) and the seediness of Brighton in general post-war and especially within the theatrical community are particular strengths.

Brian McGilloway – Preserve the Dead

Hardback: 256 pages (August 2015)

Publisher: Corsair (part of the Little, Brown Book Group UK)

ISBN: 978-1-4721-1894-3 (hardback) 978-1-4721-2039-7 (trade paperback) 978-1-4721-1319-14 (e-book)

 

This is the third novel in the series of novels by Brian McGilloway featuring Detective Sergeant Lucy Black who works in the Public Protection Unit in Derry/Londonderry, Northern Ireland.

Lucy is visiting her father who is a patient in a secure unit in Gransha Hospital on the banks of the River Foyle – he has been hurt in a fracas with another patient and Lucy finds him chained to the bed for either his or others safety. She barely has time to take this in before an orderly knowing she is in the Police tells her that a body has been spotted floating in the river below…

The body is that of an elderly man in a grey suit and Lucy & the orderly haul him ashore – he is dead and has been so for several days. The post mortem reveals that he has already been embalmed which initiates a full scale investigation as to why the body was dumped and where he came from.

The following day she is called by her friend Tara to help out in a CID investigation of a body found in a rubbish dump after being in a trash compactor – the post mortem reveals that he had been severely beaten in the hours prior to his death.

These 2 strands and that of Lucy’s neighbours spousal abused sister interlink over 6 days in July when the police in Northern Ireland are at their most stretched because of the Twelfth parades.

Lucy’s dedication to the case and to taking care of others causes problems with her private life – be it with her boyfriend who was injured in HURT (the previous novel), her father whose Alzheimer’s is worsening or the mother who abandoned her as a child and is now her boss as the Assistant Chief Commissioner of Police.

 

This is a solid police procedural driven by old-fashioned detective work rather than technology and set against a backdrop of social unrest (the Police are not trusted by large parts of the community, both Protestant and Catholic) and the aftermath of the collapse of the Celtic tiger which has left people adrift and vulnerable.

Although this is the third in a series, I feel that you could start with this one and read the others later although I would recommend reading them in order (LITTLE GIRL LOST, HURT, PRESERVE THE DEAD) to see how Lucy develops as an officer and how her complex private life has evolved.

PRESERVE THE DEAD is a fast page-turner or clicker (like Brain McGilloways other series featuring Garda Inspector Benedict Devlin and set the other side of the border in Donegal for the most part) and I look forward to seeing the next one.