My Review (4 stars out of 5) Following the murder of his pal, Tom, lawyer Johnny Maguire decides to check out a Chinatown strip joint. With not much to go on, he ingratiates himself with one of the club’s ‘stars’ in the hope she might let slip information about the place being used as a…
Category: detective
‘After the Storm’ by Isabella Muir
NB This post first appeared on the Blog Tour for ‘After the Storm’, via Rachel at Rachel’s Rare Resources. My Review (4 stars out of 5) Giuseppe Bianchi’s intended short stay with relatives in Bexhill-on-Sea, turns into an extended holiday due to his reluctance to return home and the memories that haunt him there. While…
‘Kill Shot’ by Sally Rigby
NB This post first appeared as part of the Blog Tour for ‘Kill Shot. Thanks to Emma at Damppebbles. My Review (Three out of Five Stars) When a famous snooker player is shot dead, DCI Whitney Walker moves in to investigate. Along with forensic psychologist Dr Georgina Cavendish, Whitney doesn’t need anyone else poking their…
‘Dead Simple’ by Peter James
My Review (5 stars out of 5) What starts off as a stag-night prank ends in tragedy when the groom’s pals are involved in a car accident. Now, the only people who know what they did with Michael are either dead or unable to talk. With only three days to go before the wedding, Detective…
‘The Crow Trap’ by Ann Cleeves
***** At an isolated cottage, three women meet to carry out an environmental survey. On her arrival, the first of the three makes a gruesome discovery. Amid the initial investigation of what looks like suicide, the women begin their work, but all three are hiding secrets and when another death occurs, Inspector Vera Stanhope turns…
‘The Umbrella Man’ by Jake Needham
***** When bombs explode in three American hotels in the heart of Singapore, Inspector Sam Tay is close by – so close by that he is injured and spends several days in hospital. On waking, he is disturbed to learn that he won’t be involved in investigating the bombings and has instead been assigned to…
‘Rivers of London’ by Ben Aaronovitch
***** Probationary cop Peter Grant longs for an interesting transfer in the Metropolitan Police Service, but after a strange encounter with Nicholas Wallpenny (who happens to be a ghost), what he gets is something unexpected. Learning that his new inspector is also a bit of a wizard, Grant finds himself talking to dead people, casting…
‘Troubled’ by Joy Mutter
***** The discovery of a naked body on the banks of a river in Sheffield, sets off an immediate police investigation. DCI Cosgrove and his team soon find themselves immersed in the dark world of grooming gangs, manipulation and child abuse. With kooky scientist Fenton Nightingale on the run, Cosgrove and his DS Theresa Smart,…
‘Double Indemnity’ by James M Cain
***** Insurance agent Walter Huff gets into deep water when he meets beautiful temptress Phyllis Nirdlinger. Cooking up a plot to kill the woman’s husband, Huff looks forward to getting the money and the girl. Unfortunately, the plan to pull off the perfect murder falls foul of Huff’s boss, Barton Keyes, who knows more about…
‘White Nights’ by Ann Cleeves
***** During an art event in the small community of Biddista, Shetland cop Jimmy Perez encounters an Englishman who appears to have lost his memory. When the man is later found dead in a fisherman’s hut, it looks like suicide, but further examination reveals he’s been murdered. Forced to bring in experts and another detective…
Colin Garrow 