Tag: crime fiction

Read my review of Blind Witness here.

In 1923 flushed with the success of their last sluething escapade Major Alasdair Charters, a blind WW1 veteran and former intelligence officer and his aristocratic wife The Honourable Melissa, accept an invitation to a country house party on Somerset Levels in Winter.

There they find a dysfuctional family all living in a huge old house on a hill. Overnight the storm brings with it the flood waters and the house becomes surrounded and cut off from the rescue just as a murderer begins to stalk the residents.

An exciting murder mystery in the Golden Age tradition.Will our sleuths discover hidden secrets and unamsk the murderer before anymore else is killed?

This series follows amateur sleuths Major Alasdair Charters and the Honourable Melissa Charters as they inadvertently muddle their way through many investigations but always arrive at the truth. Alasdair was blinded in the First World War and uses his special skills to gain ‘insight’ into the crimes. The Honourable Melissa, who likes to think she is a socialist, has a large family and set of friends who always seem to run into problems. The books are set both in England and abroad.

Having a husband who is blind, author Vicki Goldie likes to explore perceptions about this disability and push the boundaries.

Vicki lives in Poole Dorset with her blind physiotherapist husband. She has a lifelong fascination with the Art Deco period and with books of the Golden Age of Crime. This led her to envision a series featuring a blind detective set in the 1920s. Blind Pool is the second in the series.

She is a co-pioneer for a reading charity Read Easy Bournemouth and volunteers at The Russell Cotes Museum in Bournemouth.

She is currently writing book three in the series Blind Haven set in Bournemouth.

My thoughts:

Another cracking case for the Charters’ to investigate in deepest Somerset.

Invited to a friend’s family home (even though neither is keen on staying at any more country houses, and who can blame them!), to investigate the possibility her grandmother was murdered, there’s soon bodies stacking up as the house becomes cut off by flooding and heavy rain.

I’m rather fond of Melissa and Alasdair, and this, their second outing, is full of the best Golden Age tropes and knowing winks to the crime loving reader, not least the odd mention of the excellent Poirot.

Despite being blind, Alastair sees a lot more clearly than most, and uses his brilliant mind, in conjunction with Melissa’s knowledge of psychology to work through the series of deaths and their causes.

Thoroughly enjoyable and great fun, I think Vicki Goldie may actually be from the Golden Age of Crime and have a handy time machine – these give even the marvellous Mrs Christie a run for her money. Bring on book three!

*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in the blog tour but all opinions remain my own.

My thoughts:

This was cracking, straight in with the horrific first case of murder, and off it went. The plot skips along, gathering pace as the team, helmed with ease by their DI, start to gather evidence and piece things together, all with time to hit the pub regularly.

Thoroughly enjoyable, with some good old fashioned detective work, interesting characters and a gripping plot, definitely worth a read.

*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in the blog tour but all opinions remain my own.

‘Not all evil, on the surface, is ugly and menacing. It doesn’t always lurk in city centres after dark. It
mows your lawns, frequents your local pub, takes its kids to school and contributes to communities.’

When the first letter arrives saying that ‘tonight it begins’, journalist Miller Hatcher ignores it. But
then the body of a murdered woman is discovered, strangled, a scarf around her neck.

Cassie Hughes has always vowed to find the man who murdered her mother. Cassie knows he’s out
there and wants him to pay, and Miller agrees to bring the cold case back into the public’s eye.

Logan Dodds has been obsessed with true crime ever since his sister was murdered thirty years ago.
He has turned his obsession into a career and has created the True Crime Enthusiasts Club and his
newest venture, True Crime Tours.

The lives of Miller, Cassie and Logan – all affected differently by murder – become entwined as The Scarf Killer, desperate for infamy, and Miller’s attention, makes his mark on the small town of Lentford.

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After seven years of working as a librarian in New Zealand and overseas, Nikki now works as a freelance proofreader and copy editor. She lives in the small Waikato town of Cambridge in New Zealand with her husband and two girls.

Nikki has been writing on and off her whole life and before she turned to crime writing had success in flash fiction. She has been published in ‘Bonsai: Best Small Fictions from Aotearoa New Zealand’, and ‘Fresh Ink’ anthologies.

Crime/thriller/mystery novels are her passion. Her first novel, ‘Nothing Bad Happens Here’, featuring journalist Miller Hatcher, is set on the Coromandel Coast of New Zealand. It was a finalist in the 2018 Ngaio Marsh Award for best first novel. Her second book, ‘No One Can Hear You’, was long-listed for the Ngaio Marsh Award for best novel in 2019. ‘

The Murder Club’ is the second in the Miller Hatcher series.

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My thoughts:

This was really enjoyable, a small town is suddenly on the map after a killer starts their spree, with everyone looking at their friends and neighbours slightly differently. Is the murderer among them?

Miller is a local journalist who gets drawn into the case by the killer, who starts sending her letters, in the sinister tradition of Jack the Ripper and the Zodiac Killer, among others. Instead of publishing them however, she hands them to the police, determined not to give in to the murderer’s desire for publicity.

But she can’t help but wonder about it, as more women are killed and it dredges up terrible things from the past – like the murder of Cassie’s mother, and the other terrible deaths Logan’s awful murder tours exploit.

The plot is clever, the ending satisfying, and Cassie and Miller make great characters – similar but different, both dealing with their troubled pasts and trying to heal, both stronger than they think.

*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in the blog tour but all opinions remain my own.

When a body is found in the grounds of a prestigious Wiltshire private school, DI Gillian Marsh takes
on the case. The young groundsman, Bradley Watson, has been shot dead, pierced through the heart with an arrow.
As the investigation gathers pace, DI Marsh is frustrated to find the Whalehurst staff and students
united in silence. This scandal must not taint their reputation. But when Gillian discovers pictures of missing Whalehurst pupil, fifteen-year-old Rachel Snyder, on Bradley’s dead body – photos taken on the night she disappeared, and he was murdered – the link between the two is undeniable.
But what is Whalehurst refusing to reveal? And does Gillian have what it takes to bring about
justice?

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Anna Legat is a Wiltshire-based author, best known for her DI Gillian Marsh murder mystery series. A
globe-trotter and Jack-of-all-trades, Anna has been an attorney, legal adviser, a silver-service waitress, a school teacher and a librarian.

She read law at the University of South Africa and Warsaw University, then gained teaching qualifications in New Zealand.

She has lived in far-flung places all over the world where she delighted in people-watching and collecting precious life experiences for her stories.

Anna writes, reads, lives and breathes books and can no longer tell the difference between fact and fiction.

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Giveaway to Win a DI Marsh Series Mug, and the first four books in the Series (UK Only) DI Marsh Series First four books – Swimming with Sharks, Nothing to Lose, Thicker than Blood and Sandman.

My thoughts:

I really enjoyed this crime novel set in a small Wiltshire village, after a body is found on the boundary of an elite public school.

Dealing with the attitudes and insularity of the privileged school felt slightly familiar as my home town also houses (and shares a name with) one of the fanciest public schools in the country.

At this school, Whalehurst, there is a distinct us and them attitude with regards to the villagers, and the headmaster tries to push the investigation off his campus. However the dead body is a member of staff, and there’s also a missing student to account for.

Within the walls of the school someone knows what happened, and Detective Inspector Marsh is not giving up.

She’s a forceful and determined protagonist, putting the case first in her priorities as she searches for answers on behalf of the families and victims. She knows there’s something very wrong at the school, and she will keep digging.

Clever, gripping and with a sinister villain at the heart of it, this was a great read and perfect for a cold, wintry night’s reading.

*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in the blog tour but all opinions remain my own.

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