My Review (4 stars out of 5) Britain, 391 AD. While the powers-that-be in Rome vie for control of the empire, Flavius Vitulasius and his pal, Siward, are engaged on a confidential mission – an important document, the ‘Pagan Concord’, could rip Britain apart leading to civil war between the Christians and Pagans. Teaming up…
Category: Characters
‘The Summer House’ by Keri Beevis
My Review (3 stars out of 5) Following their grandmother’s sudden death, twins Lana and Ollie are back at the old woman’s house. But the place brings back bad memories. The murder of the siblings’ older sister Camille occurred in the summer house. While Lana identified the killer, it was her brother who discovered the…
Heroes and Collectives
How many central characters should a novel have? One or two? Three? Or… Most novels have a hero or heroine, or in some cases, a pair of heroes or heroines. In creating what I hoped would be a new thriller series, I realised I’d gone a bit overboard in character-creation mode and for a while,…
‘The Lonely Lake Killings’ by Wes Markin
My Review (3 out of 5 stars) This is book 2 in the Yorkshire Murders series, and is the first I’ve read by this author. The story centres on the murder of a barmaid who is found dead by a lake. The proximity of the body to the home of a local recluse seems to…
‘King of Kings’ by MJ Porter
My Review (4 stars out of 5) Following his father’s death, King Athelstan rules over the English, unifying the territories of Wessex, Mercia and York. But uniting the Scots and Welsh to ensure peace and protect against invasion from the Norse Vikings, isn’t so easy. Set against him, is his own stepbrother, Edwin, who believes…
‘The Blue Bar’ by Damyanti Biswas
My Review (3 stars out of 5) A Mumbai police officer striving to solve a spate of murders, finds himself hindered at every turn. It seems someone is keen to stop him tracking down a serial killer. Troubled by his own past, Inspector Arnav Singh Rajput can’t escape the memory of his former lover, Tara,…
‘In Ice’ by Dave Sivers
My Review (5 stars out of 5) DI Nathan Quarrel and his team uncover a horrific scene in an apparently empty house in a Hertfordshire village. Finding three chest freezers in the basement, they discover the bodies of five naked women. As the investigation gets under way, the team realise they have a serial killer…
‘Looking for Trouble’ by Cath Staincliffe
My Review (5 stars out of 5) Single parent and private eye Sal Kilkenny, takes on what appears to be a straightforward case when Mrs Hobbs asks her to hunt down her missing son. Initially, the search doesn’t turn up much, but as she becomes more involved, Sal realises the story she’s been told isn’t…
‘Just One Damned Thing After Another’ by Jodi Taylor
My Review (3 stars out of 5) Recruited to the mysterious St Mary’s Institute of Historical Research, Dr Madeleine Maxwell finds that some historians don’t just sit on their thumbs and read about history, but actually go there. But History has rules and trying to outdo it can incur a serious risk to health and…
‘Heart of Bone’ by Maggie James
My Review (5 stars out of 5) When her son dies, Greer Maddox’s world falls apart. After his heart is donated to someone else in a transplant, Greer becomes obsessed with tracking down the patient – Nathan Taylor – hoping to somehow continue her relationship with her dead son’s heart. But Nathan isn’t quite what…
Colin Garrow 