***** In the East Texas town of Ashland, the Great Depression means times are hard. With money and jobs scarce, anyone with any sense is leaving town. For red-head Eudora Durant, something needs to change and when her violent and whoring husband disappears, townsfolk soon begin making assumptions. But then a stranger comes to town…
Category: Characters
‘Deadly Harm’ by Owen Mullen
***** Five years after being abducted and held captive, Mackenzie Darroch is making a difference in the world. Running a refuge for abused women, things are going well. Then she’s thrown into a bizarre situation when she saves the life of a car-crash victim. But offering the woman a place to stay, has consequences –…
Violence in the Blood by Mark J Newman
**** Glasgow villain Malkie Thompson has ambitions. Feeling constrained by his boss McAlister, he decides to take over and establish his own firm, and if that means getting rid of anyone who stands in his way, that’s fine with him. This is a novella that introduces Mark Newman’s Crime Syndicate series. The plot rolls along…
‘Noel’ by AJ Griffiths-Jones
***** When a rain-drenched Dutch traveller hitches a lift to a rural French monastery, the monks take care of him. But when the young man dies, detectives Mallery and Hobbs launch an investigation and the monastery’s seventy inmates quickly fall under suspicion. The mystery deepens when the Dutchman’s grandmother arrives, as the old woman introduces…
‘High Force’ by LJ Ross
***** (Audio Book) Following the escape from prison of murderer Keir Edwards, one of DCI Ryan’s best detectives is missing. Kidnapped from her own home by the notorious serial killer, Ryan knows Edwards will flaunt his new-found freedom and won’t hesitate to slice up his most recent captive. With Detective Sergeant Frank Phillips at his…
‘Midtown Huckster’ by Leopold Borstinski
***** Welcome to my stop on the Blog Tour for ‘Midtown Huckster’ (Alex Cohen #3) by Leopold Borstinski. Thanks to Emma at Damppebbles Blog Tours for including me. My Review: Working with mobster Lucky Luciano, Jewish gangster Alex Cohen needs to find a new way to make money. But when his boss is nabbed for…
‘Driftnet’ by Lin Anderson
***** A murder in a Glasgow flat sees forensic scientist Rhona MacLeod attending an early-morning crime scene. The shocking killing of a teenage boy brings back memories from MacLeod’s own past as she struggles to come to terms with the disturbing resemblance between herself and the victim. Having given up a baby boy for adoption…
‘The Bowery Slugger’ by Leopold Borstinski
**** Arriving in America in 1915, Alex Cohen is tagged with an unusual name, courtesy of a dull-witted official. Moving into a tenement apartment with his family, Alex’s reputation as a fighter (Slugger) secures him work in one of the many gangs who use extortion and muscle to make their money. This is book 1…
‘Fog of Doubt’ by Christianna Brand
***** When Belgian paramour Raoul Vernet is found with his head bashed in on the night of a particularly dense fog, suspicion naturally falls on members of the house he was visiting at the time. While no-one appears to have been in the immediate vicinity when Vernet was killed, Inspector Charlesworth is certain someone in…
‘Blade Runner’ by Philip K Dick
***** (Audiobook) Classic sci-fi novel originally published as ‘Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?’ Set in 2021, after World War Terminus has killed millions, living creatures are coveted by everyone. While most individuals can only afford fake animals, the few remaining real ones go for very high prices. As well as animals, a range of…
Colin Garrow 