Tony Lee Moral: Playing Mrs. Kingston Sunday, Jan 11 2015 

Uncategorized , , , Auntie M Writes Crime 12:37 am

Please welcome Tony Lee Moral, who will describe the genesis of his new mystery, Playing Mrs. Kingston:

PMKCover

How Alfred Hitchcock can influence Your Novel Writing by Tony Lee Moral

Alfred Hitchcock has been a huge influence on my life, ever since I saw my first Hitchcock film, I Confess, at the age of 10 years old. I was immediately struck by the moral ambiguity of the film and the conflicted viewpoint of the central character, a priest, played by Montgomery Clift. Since then I’ve written three books on Hitchcock, the Master of Suspense. Two books are on the making of specific films, The Birds and Marnie, which were made in the early 1960s and have a close production history; and a more general book called Alfred Hitchcock’s Movie Making Masterclass, which is about all of his films, for aspiring screenwriters and film makers.

So when writing my murder mystery novel Playing Mrs. Kingston, I was immediately drawn to the Hitchcockian principles of suspense and characterization. The central character, Catriona Kingston, takes after many a Hitchcock blonde, particularly Grace Kelly, Ingrid Bergman and Eva Marie Saint. She is feisty, determined, action oriented, duplicitous and mysterious. The duel identifies she plays, both Catriona and Catherine, is reminiscent of Kim Novak’s character in Vertigo. Her boyfriend, Mario Montefiore, a saxophonist at the the Stork Club, was inspired by Henry Fonda’s character in The Wrong Man, who himself was based on the real life Manny Balestrero, wrongfully accused of a series of robberies in 1950s New York, the same time period in which my novel is set.

Hitchcock often spoke about the MacGuffin in his films, a key plot device that drives the story. The MacGuffin is the engine that propels the plot. It is the object around which the plot revolves and motivates the actions of the characters. In North by Northwest, the MacGuffin is the roll of microfilm in the pre-Columbian statue, which both Cary Grant, the hero, and James Mason, the villain, are after. In Playing Mrs. Kingston, the MacGuffin is the stolen Caravaggio painting, which Catriona’s arch enemy so desperately wants. But the real story is about Catriona and Mario, and finding out who the killer is. But in having a MacGuffin in my novel, the stolen painting, it drove the plot forward, and motivated the characters, especially in the second half of the book, when all seemed lost.

Good writing is subtext, reading between the lines, rather than on the nose dialogue. Much of the dialogue in Hitchcock’s best screenplays, such as Notorious, Rear Window and North by Northwest, have layers of meaning. Good dialogue should be full of conflict between the chracters and have a natural rhythm that’s easily spoken, like a verbal sparring game that resembles the epic tennis match in Strangers on a Train until someone scores a point. The writing between Catriona and Detective Radcliffe is like a cat and mouse game, with Catriona trying to stay a few steps ahead of the Detective who is chasing the real Catriona Benedict, while she is in disguise as Catherine Kingston.

Hitchcock loved counterpoint and contrast and often had two things happening at once. He built tension into a scene by having contrasting situations, with two unrelated things happening simultaneously. In Notorious, a big party is taking place in Ingrid Bergman’s honor, but she is too preoccupied in showing Cary Grant the wine cellar, which holds the MacGuffin, in this case the uranium ore stored inside the wine bottles. Upstairs the champagne is quickly running out, threatening to expose the couple to Nazi villain Claude Raines, who Bergman has married, which ratchets up the tension.

A good example of this in Playing Mrs. Kingston is when both Lowry, Catriona’s old theatre boss, and Detective Radcliffe are at the Kingston gallery, and Catriona is threatened to be unmasked at any moment for who she is really is. I had Notorious very much in my mind when writing the novel, especially the big party scenes, when the moral ambiguity of the conflicted heroine comes into play, and she marries into a family full of secrets and becomes trapped in the enemy’s house. Only by using all her wits is she able to escape.

Alfred Hitchcock's Masterclass Cover
Alfred Hitchcock’s Movie Making Masterclass is published by Michael Wiese Books

Playing Mrs. Kingston is published by Zharmae Publishing Press

 

Lynda La Plante/Wrongful Death and M R Hall/The Burning Sunday, Jan 4 2015 

Uncategorized , , , , Auntie M Writes Crime 12:44 am

WrongfulDeath
Lynda LaPlante’s newest DCI Anna Travis novel, at close to 500 pages, could encompass two stories and then some. The London detective finds herself heavily embroiled in a case of suicide which is reopened after a criminal awaiting trial claims he has information that proves the man was murdered. With too many suspects to count, and far too many toes to step on, Travis is treading lightly when she’s handed a partner from the US, FBI profiler Jessie Dewar, part of the same exchange program that finds Travis seconded to an FBI course in the US.

Dewar’s brash approach soon ruffles feathers in everyone from suspects being interviewed to members of Travis’ team. It’s an uneasy alliance, even as Travis realizes Dewar has solid information to contribute.

Auntie M has a love-hate relationship with these books. La Plante’s dialogue with its lack of contractions often sounds stilted and formal. Yet there’s no question the author of the Prime Witness series has a knack for complex plots and that is certainly on view here. You’ll notice Auntie M keeps reading the series, because despite the reading flaws, the stories are compelling and the cases far from simple.

Always on the side is Travis’ boss, Langton, with whom she has her own complicated history. And there will be the potential for Travis to finally have some kind of private life after the death of her fiancé two years ago. A storyline in the US is conveniently cleared after Travis gets on the case, and it remains to be seen if she will return to the US in future entries in the series.

Burning

Auntie M is a huge fan of M R Hall’s series featuring Coroner Jenny Cooper and her complicated life. He gets inside a woman’s head well and writes in a believable voice. The cases are complex and yet have the ring of truth, and along the way, readers learn what constitutes the real job of a coroner.

In this outing, it’s the cold period between Christmas and New Year’s when Jenny is called to an horrific scene: a house has burned to the ground and it’s later discovered that three members of the family were inside; two daughters and stepfather Ed Morgan. With evidence of shotgun injuries to the three bodies, it is felt that Ed killed the girls and turned the gun on himself after starting the fire. But what has happened to his young son with wife Kelly, who was off premises at work that evening?

It’s a complicated case, made all the more so by some witnesses withholding information and others not realizing how important their information may be. And how does it tie in to the disappearance ten years ago of another young girl from the same village? There will come a time when Jenny isn’t certain who she can trust and that includes members of the police force who are supposed to be helping her investigation.

Add in the twists of Jenny’s personal life, and the return of her assistant after an accident from she sustained in the last book, helping to save Jenny’s life and that of her son, and it all adds up to a complex and compelling read.

Auntie M is surprised more readers haven’t discovered this always-satisfying series. Give it a try if you haven’t yet found the delightful and compelling novels in this series.

 

‘Tis the Season: Readers Favorites for Stockings Saturday, Dec 20 2014 

Uncategorized Auntie M Writes Crime 12:15 am

A huge thank you to Auntie M’s readers as the year changes and we all review our blessings. Hers include all of YOU who take the time to read the reviews she posts!

It’s coming down the wire for those of you still with shopping to do, so Auntie M is plunging in with a listing of great gift books for all kinds of readers left on your to-do list–or just for your personal New Year’s resolution lists to find for yourselves. Enjoy~

For those who like a cozy-type mystery, there’s Murder at the Brightwell, Ashley Weaver’s debut set in 1930’s England at a tony seaside resort called the Brightwell. Murder and mayhem ensue, along with missed connections and predicaments and a love triangle. Perfect for those who enjoy a bit of romance with their mystery.

Booty Bones is Carolyn Haines’ follow up to last year’s Smarty Bones (now in paperback). The Sarah Booth Delany series charms readers with its southern setting, when Booth’s fiancé, recovering from injuries in the first book, decides Graf Milieu needs a romantic getaway. A local historian soon convinces Sarah to get involved in an island case involving the murder of her father, and what started out as a peaceful vacation soon become so much more.

Staying south, readers visit the NC’s Outer Banks in Corolla in Murder on the Hoof, Kathryn O’Sullivan’s sequel to Foal Play. With Fire Chief Colleen McCabe leading rookie training, she’s also becoming more involved with Sheriff Bill Dorman as the local theatre troupe rehearses a new production. Then an actor is murdered just as Bill’s former fiancee’ turns up. Humorous and engaging.

Horses are in evidence in Holly Menino’s second Tink Elleridge mystery, A Distance to Death. Set in the mountains of Sierra Nevada, Tink finds her own plans is disarray when her husband’s new partner suddenly dies. As she searches for clues, Tink finds more intrigue and secrets than she’d thought possible, and those closest to her become in peril. Publisher’s Weekly calls the series “Gripping” with an “exciting insider’s view of the elite horse world.”

Talk about endurance and you have Mary Daheim’s Bed and Breakfast series, which serves up its 29th offering in Clam Wake. Featuring innkeeper Judith McMonigle Flynn owner of the B&B, Hillside Manor, Judith is housesitting for relatives on an island during her own slow period. But the discovery of a body soon leads her and her always-funny cousin to anything but the quiet vacation Judith had planned.

In the same amateur sleuth vein but taking a trip to Singapore comes Ovidia Yu’s delicious mystery Aunty Lee’s Deadly Specials. Rosie “Aunty” Lee serves up more than her famous home cooking; it’s a hive for Singapore gossip, placing Aunty Lee right at the heart of things when a scandal erupts over organ donations. Then murders occur at an event Aunty Lee is catering and she must clear her own name while finding the real killer. Delightful

Turning to those readers who enjoy their books with a hint of myth and magic, The Patron Saint of Ugly is Marie Manilla’s West Virgina story featuring Garnet Ferrari, an unusual protagonist who is used to being an outcast due to her unusual appearance. Visiting pilgrims decide Garnet’s appearance is that of a saint who can heal skin ailments and perform miracles, forcing her to trace back into her own history as the lines of myth and reality start to blur.

The Season of the Dragonflies is Sarah Creech’s entry into the genre. The story focuses on the women of the Lenore family, whose secret formula for a unique perfume scented by a highly guarded flower has been used by women to realize their ambitions. It’s a love triangle of sorts, but between Willow, the mother of the clan, and her two daughters: Mya, who can read scents, and Lucia, the creative younger sister. Their roles will be called into question as the magical plants that provide the perfume’s secret ingredient start to die.

We turn to younger voices in Crooked River, Valerie Geary’s debut mix of coming-of-age and ghost story between two sisters, 15 yr-old Sam and 10 yr old-Ollie. Add in psychological suspense, and set in rural Oregon, Sam and Ollie’s journey will leave readers flipping pages to find out what secrets their eccentric father has kept buried, even as Ollie must confront her own startling talent.

Ghosts of the past are apparent in Linda Castillo’s newest Kate Burkholder thriller, The Dead Will Tell. When the police chief is called to the scene of an apparent suicide, it quickly turns to murder and she must marshall all of her wit and resources to unravel what’s really behind the killing. With an Amish town haunted by ghosts of its past and terrible secrets of a haunted farm, Kate must brush the cobwebs away to find a very real killer. Gripping and fast-paced.

Stephanie Feldman’s The Angel of Losses could be called a family saga but it is so much more, as grad student, Marjorie, finds her grandfather’s notebook and everything she thought she knew is turned on its head. Blending mythology with today’s world, Feldman successfully incorporates Jewish folktales with history and theology in a stunning literary thriller.

Cradle to Grave is Eleanor Kuhns newest Will Rees Revolutionary War tale. With Will newly remarried and working as a farmer, he will return to the Shaker community of Mount Unity to help Mouse, as his friend Hannah is called. Despite saving children in the course of her charity work, Mouse is soon the suspect when the children’s mother is murdered. Historically clear portrayal of life and social mores in this time.

It’s 1957 in Michael Nethercott’s Haunting Ballad, when the unlikely sleuths Lee Plunkett and Mr O’Nelligan visit Greenwich Village’s Bohemian music scene. They soon find themselves investigating a group of suspects after foul play is suspected when a folk song collector takes a fatal plunge off a rooftop. Nethercott gets the period right, and the charming O’Nelligan is the right foil to Lee Plunkett.

Moving across the pond, Oliver Harris’ crime novel, Deep Shelter, takes readers to the streets of London with his protagonist, Hampstead CID detective Nick Belsey. Venturing into London’s secret tunnels to impress a date, Belsey soon loses the woman and find himself avoiding arrest as he tries to find her abductors. With his flawed yet compelling Detective Belsey, Harris wraps readers up in this edgy page-turner that has a fast-paced psychological bent.

Paul Pilkington’s Emma Holden trilogy is another strong consideration. Staring with The One You Love, both recent entries continue to top charts with last year’s The One You Fear and this year’s The One You Trust. Featuring lies, kidnappings, and high suspense, the books all focus on the relationships between the characters who find themselves caught in unusual and nightmarish circumstances.

Historic London of 1876 is the setting Charles Finch chooses in The Laws of Murder, when his private investigator, Charles Lenox, must deal with the murder of his Scotland Yard friend. With peculiar details his only clues, Lenox leads himself into personal danger in this Victorian series that rivals those of Anne Perry and has a strong following. This is the fifth in the series, a continued winner.

Fast forward to 1917 Britain for Andrew Williams compelling The Suicide Club. Based on real events and drawing on the diaries and letters of several War Cabinet members, Captain Alexander Innes leaves undercover work abroad to investigate the heads of the Army in France with his goal to discover who is compromising intelligence chiefs–and why. He will find a deep distrust between the Army and the newly-established Secret Services, and a source who holds the lives of thousands of British soldiers in his hands.

With romance as a strong focus, consider I Adored A Lord, Duke University professor Katharine Ashe’s newest lush historical romantic mystery. This second in the “Prince Cathchers” series thrusts the wallflower Ravenna Caulfriend, with her interest in animals, into the arms of Lord Vitor Courtenay. With his own varied past, Vitor and Ravenna pair to solve a murder and a kidnapping as romance blossoms.

Turning to espionage and international intrigue brings readers to Sebastian Rotella and The Convert’s Song, which has the cover line: “Would you recognize a terrorist if he was your oldest friend?” It’s a question former US law enforcer-turned-private eye Valentine Pescatore must answer. Trying to establish a new life in Bueno Aires, a terrorist attack kills hundreds, putting Pescatore’s old friend Raymond in the frame, and himself for that matter. With its far-ranging settings from Paris to Baghdad to South America, this race-against-time plot is a satisfying action thriller.

Staying with action-oriented plots, Mark Sullivan’s Thief refers to his protagonist, Robin Monarch. This time Monarch and his team invade the Christmas party of a powerful behind-the-scenes player, Beau Arsenault, who deals in illicit profits. Using a legendary Christmas party as cover to break into Arensault’s vaults, Monarch discovers more than he’d bargained for in an explosive secret he must now keep from falling into the wrong hands. Bourne fans will be glued.

Roger Pearce’s The Extremist has the same kind of strong action, but here the setting is post-Olympic London, where DCI John Kerry intercepts two gold smugglers who have just murdered a fellow Special Branch agent. Seemingly random murders start to pile up as Kerr is forced to rely on an undercover operative to help him search for the perpetrators. The Guardian calls it: “Dramatic, fast-paced, code word-heavy fun.”

Moving to Missouri, Detective Jules Bettinger is busy settling his family into their new location in S. Craig Zahler’s Mean Business on North Ganson Street.The dying rustbelt city is a haven for criminals with the odds stacked against law enforcement. Investigating a double homicide of two policemen leads Bettinger to his worst fear: that the killings are just the first in a series of cop executions. Black humor relieves the tension.

Santa Barbara is the setting for Karen Keskinen’s Black Current, the sequel to Blood Orange, which introduced PI Jaymie Zarlin. In the vein of Kinsey Milhone, Jaymie is nevertheless her own person who is called to look into the death of a local teen found dead in a fish tank at the Santa Barbara Aquarium. With the teen’s parents urging her to prove the death was not accidental, Jaymie’s suspect list soon turns longer than imagined and points to a decades old mystery that might be behind the murder.

If noir is your reader’s thing, look no further than The Detective and the Pipe Girl, Michael Craven’s suspenseful LA mystery featuring strong-minded PI Jon Darvelle. When heavy-hitter filmmaker Arthur Vonz hires Davelle to find a young woman, the easy assignment soon takes a turn to the dark side, and Darvelle finds himself searching for the woman, and answers, amongst the Hollywood elite, the LAPD and an underground crime scheme. Rich and atmospheric.

Auntie M hopes some of these will find their way into the stockings of readers on your list–or perhaps to your own! Happy Holidays to all~

 

Wendy H Jones: Killer’s Countdown Friday, Dec 19 2014 

Uncategorized , , Auntie M Writes Crime 12:35 am

KillerCountdown-WEB

Thank you Aunty M for hosting me on your blog and allowing me to talk about my first novel. It is an absolute honour to be on such an imaginative and interesting blog.

As you are aware, but many of your readers may not be, I released my first book in the Detective Inspector Shona McKenzie Mysteries in November this year. This is set in Dundee, Scotland, where I am originally from and live.

I say originally from as I left Dundee two weeks after my eighteenth birthday to join the Royal Navy as a Nurse. I served for six years and then joined the Army and served for a further seventeen. During this time I was fortunate enough to travel to many different countries and have some amazing adventures.

Three years ago I returned to Dundee to write and DI Shona McKenzie was conceived. Shona is a feisty young woman who, like me was born in Dundee. However at the age of two she moved to Oxford as her father took up a post at the University there.

She has only returned to Dundee a year before the novel starts, at the insistence of her now ex-husband. She is an excellent detective but relies on her team, DS Peter Johnston in particular, for local knowledge. This is her first major case and Shona is keen to prove herself to both her superiors and her team.

A number of women have been killed and the police are at a loss to find out what is linking them. The book is written from both the viewpoint of the police and the killer.
The book has been well received and most people who have read it are asking when the next book will be out. I have almost finished writing the second book and this is called Killer’s Craft. I am expecting it to be out in June or July 2015.
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Since the book came out, other than wanting the sequel, the burning question seems to be what does the H. in my name stand for? My middle name is Henderson, a fine Scottish name, and it also happens to be my great grandmother’s maiden name.

Thank you once again for allowing me to take over your blog for the day. If anyone wants to find out more about the book then here is the Amazon Universal Link. This will take you to the Amazon of the country in which you buy your books. http://mybook.to/KillersCountdown Website: http://www.wendyhjones.com Twitter: @WendyHJones

 

Judi Dench: Behind the Scenes Tuesday, Dec 9 2014 

Uncategorized Auntie M Writes Crime 3:01 pm

dench behind scenes
Auntie M usually reviews crime novels, in all their glory and all the varied genres that exist. But occasionally different publishers allow her to read and review a different kind of book, and she thanks St. Martin’s for giving her the chance to read the wonderful book Judi Dench has put together that debuts today on what is her 80th birthday.

With her interest in all things British and her own mystery series set in England, it’s no surprise Auntie M relished reading about the life of the wonderful actress whose varied stage and movie roles span a career that started in her teens and continues today. The book includes photos of family and friends, as well as her movie and stage roles, and gives readers a glimpse into the life of a working actor who has no intention of stopping.

This book is a fast, delightful read, filled with photos from her personal collection and captioned with anecdotes. In this way it’s less a traditional biography and more of a blend of her reminiscing with a personal take on her life and career. Paging through the book, one can hear her voice reflecting on the images.

The numerous awards Dench has won include an Oscar, two Golden Globes, ten BAFTA Awards and the BAFTA Academy Fellowship Aware for Lifetime Achievement. Her knowledge of Shakespeare and the roles she’s played are incredible to understand as the reader pages through. And yet she could be speaking to the reader over a cup of tea: ‘I don’t want to work with anybody who hasn’t got a sense of humor, it’s too boring and that goes for directs too. It’s too tedious … the moment you start taking yourself too seriously, and you can’t laugh at yourself or see the funny side of something, I think pack your bag.”

Finty, Michael, Judi
L to R: Daughter Finty, husband Michael Williams, Judi Dench, courtesy BBC.uk

And laugh she has, sometimes on stage in the middle of productions, and more often with her daughter, Finty, also an actor, and grandson Sammy. These moments are balanced by the more poignant remembrances: the loss of her beloved husband, fellow actor Michael Williams, with photos of them playing together; as well as her more recent situation with macular degeneration, which has made it impossible for her to read scripts or watch films. Instead she learns her lines by listening to them on tape, which means she is often the best-prepared actor when it comes time to rehearse.

There was a huge outcry and surprise when her Bond character “M” was killed off in Skyfall recently, yet Dench never looks back. She enjoys ensemble acting and traveled to India again to complete the sequel to The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, and found great joy within with her friends who happen to be great actresses on Masterpiece Theatre’s Cranford. She met the real Philomena she played in the film of the same name, and followed that with the stage play Peter and Alice, about Lewis Carroll’s inspiration for Alice in Wonderland, Alice Liddell Hargreaves, meeting J. M. Barrie’s model for Peter Pan in Peter Llwelyn Davies. By the way, that play was written by American John Logan, who also wrote the scripts for such films as Gladiator … and Skyfall. The circle of life continues in the theatre and film world and at its center is this wonderful actor who has given us so much delight.

Judi, Queen E2
Dame Judi Dench receiving her Companion of Honour Award from Queen Elizabeth II.

Awarded an OBE in 1970, Dench was created a Dame of the British Empire in 1988 and a Companion of Honour in 2005, this last a reward for outstanding achievement, in this case, for the Arts. Happy Birthday, Dame Judi.

 

Cold, Cold Sea by Linda Huber Sunday, Nov 23 2014 

Uncategorized Auntie M Writes Crime 12:02 am

Please welcome guest Linda Huber, a Scot who lives in Switzerland (big sigh here) who will describe the impetus for her book THE COLD COLD SEA: TCCS3

Tale of Two Families

Family is such a big part of everyone’s life. My own family spans two countries now; Scotland, where I grew up, and Switzerland, where I’ve lived for the past twenty-odd years.

Living as I do between two cultures has certainly enriched my writing, but it was a family event that inspired my second book, The Cold Cold Sea, which tells how a (fictional) family cope after the death of a child. My Scottish roots have always been important to me. In the late 90s I began to research my family tree, and found something that shook me to the core. These were the pre-Internet days and I had sent charts of various family groups to all the relations I could find, asking them to fill my gaps with as much detail as they could.

One distant cousin returned hers having added a child to an aunt’s family – a girl who died in the 1940s, aged just eleven. Beside the child’s dates she had written two words – Agnes drowned. I was horrified to think that this little girl had lived her short life in a branch of my own family – and I had never heard of her. We discovered later that she had drowned in an indoor swimming pool in Glasgow.

I began to wonder – how do parents cope with such a tragedy in their lives? What do they do to get over their loss? How is the relationship affected? And the siblings of the dead child?

Then I thought – what if they don’t cope, these bereaved parents? What if this new, terrible reality in their lives is so unbearable that they have to change it? And of course, you can’t change reality. Or can you? And that was the start of The Cold Cold Sea.

Website: http://www.lindahuber.net Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/Linda- Huber/e/B00CN7BB0Q/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1414345217&sr=1-1
LindaHuber
Linda Huber grew up in Glasgow, Scotland, where she trained as a physiotherapist. She spent the next ten years working with neurological patients and handicapped children, firstly in Glasgow and then in Switzerland. During this time she learned that different people have different ways of dealing with stressful events in their lives, and this knowledge still helps her today in her writing.

Linda now lives in Arbon, Switzerland, where she works as a language teacher at a school in a medieval castle on the banks of Lake Constance. The Paradise Trees is her debut novel and was published by Legend Press in 2013. Her second Legend Press book, The Cold Cold Sea, was published in August 2014. She has also had over 50 short stories and articles published in women’s magazines.
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John Bainbridge: The Shadow of William Quest Sunday, Nov 2 2014 

Uncategorized , , , Auntie M Writes Crime 12:02 am

Please welcome UK author John Bainbridge:

The-Shadow-Of-William-Quest

Thank you for the kind invitation to talk about my novels. I have been writing for most of my life, though usually journalism and non-fiction. After a number of abortive attempts at novel writing, I decided to sit down and write the kind of historical crime thriller I actually wanted to read, but which wasn’t out there to buy.

I read for a degree in literature and Victorian history, and specialised in the Victorian Underworld. About a year ago I had this image in my mind of a Victorian gentlemen walking down an alley carrying a swordstick – and very little more. I knew he was there to right wrongs, but that was about it.

So I sat down and started writing. It was really quite spooky! One scene after another unrolled on the screen, characters seemed to leap out – almost as though it all had a life of its own. Before I knew it William Quest, his friends and enemies, were there before me. It was like watching a film. In all my writing life, I’ve never had anything flow quite so easily.

The result was The Shadow of William Quest. I wanted a hero with a dark edge and Quest is – to say the least – morally ambivalent. A man who takes the law into his own hands as he fights against the injustices of Victorian society. I wanted to try and portray Victorian life as it really was, from the rookeries of London to the harshness of rural counties, but try and put forward some uplifting message. After all, we all benefit from the great social reforms put forward by campaigning individuals in that era.

John-Bainbridge-Outdoors-Jo
I’m now writing a second William Quest novel, which will be out for next summer. I’ve also finished a novel set in England during the 1930s, (no final title yet) which will be out in December. Apart from Quest I also collaborate with my wife Anne on Victorian Cozy crime novels, The Inspector Abbs mysteries. Two out so far, A Seaside Mourning and A Christmas Malice.

Fortunately, I have a lot of ideas and intend to write several novels featuring William Quest. We have a blog at http://www.gaslightcrime.wordpress.com which keeps our readers up to date with our latest work.

 

Jane Haddam: Fighting Chance Sunday, Oct 26 2014 

Uncategorized , , , Auntie M Writes Crime 12:57 am

Auntie M’s News for Readers:

Once Upon a Lie by Maggie Barbieri AND Through the Evil Days by Julia Spencer-Fleming both now in paperback.
Two different and compelling reads previously reviewed here. If you missed them on first release, now’s time time to pick these up.

ALSO: Two great mysteries from Endeavour Press are FREE on Amazon Kindle’s store from 10/27-10/31. Don’t miss your chance to read these good reads for free:

Death on a Sunday Morning by J F Straker Death Sunday AM and

A Knife for Harry Dodd by George Bellairs Knife Harry

Now on to today’s review:

Fightin Chance
When you pick up what is the 29th book in a series, you know you are in the hands of a master. Jane Haddam’s Gregor Demarkian series has always given readers a tremendous sense of his Armenian community with a mystery to match. Haddam has been successful by moving Demarkian around on occasion, yet in this outing she keeps him close to home in Fighting Chance , and it’s one of her best.

Demarkian’s Armenian neighborhood in Philadelphia resounds with local foods and customs and superstitions. One institution is the parish priest and Demarkian’s best friend, Father Tibor Kasparian. Demarkian has always thought Tibor to be the most gentle soul he’s ever met.

Judge Martha Handling is a different kind of person. Known for her strict and overzealous sentences for youthful offenders, its rumored she is under investigation for being paid for her sentencing practices. She’s also highly suspicious of government interference and surveillance, and starts her daily routine at the courthouse by spray painting any camera lens she can find.

Tibor is at the courthouse to vouch for a young offender due to be sentenced that day. It’s a surreal shock when Tibor is arrested for murdering Judge Handling and refuses to talk to the detectives of to hire a lawyer. Demarkian swings into action, determined to uncover who really murdered the judge in her chambers. Tibor has been found with her bloody gavel in his hands, and a video soon surfaces showing him raising and lowering the blood-soaked instrument.

Demarkian will have lots of help in his investigation: from his wife, Bennis; from his neighbors on Cavanaugh Street; and from the Mayor himself. In a horrific ending, Demarkian will uncover the truth of the matter, but at tremendous cost to himself.

 

Arnaldur Indridason: Strange Shores Wednesday, Oct 22 2014 

Uncategorized , , , Auntie M Writes Crime 12:43 am

Strange Shores
Multi-award winning Nordic author sets his Inspector Erlendur series in Iceland, where the detective has had to tackle the ghosts of many other criminals’ lives. In Strange Shores he brings Erlendur to his childhood home to face the ghosts of his own past.

Erlendur’s entire life has been affected by the loss of his only sibling, a younger brother. Beggi’s disappearance in a sudden blizzard whilst the boys were on the moors with their father has left a hole in his heart. No trace of the boy was ever found, and he realizes he must discover what really happened to his brother.

The frozen fjords of Iceland, miles away from Reykjavik, present him with a distinct challenge as he camps out in the remains of his old home. The story of a woman who disappeared years before is brother has caught his interest, and he follows the scent of the two lost people, looking for clues to both of their endings.

It will be a long, plodding time, visiting people who are old and have tainted memories and secrets to hide. But Erlandur will persevere until he finds the answers to the questions he seeks. The ending will have readers riveted as Erlandur chases down a decadeds-old case.

These are moody, brooding novels that echo the chilly landscape, with subtle clues and a bone-chilling climax.

 

Tana French: The Secret Place Sunday, Oct 19 2014 

Uncategorized , , , Auntie M Writes Crime 12:02 am

The Secret Place
Auntie M is a huge fan of Tana French’s books, so she was excited to read her newest, The Secret Place. And she’s happy to report it’s another incredible winner. This writer just keeps getting better and better, with complex and compelling plots, believable characters, and that gritty realism that has been her forte` all along.

One of the devices French uses is to bring a previously seen character into the new action, and she does just that in using Det. Frank Mackey (Faithful Place) and his daughter Holly as characters when Det. Stephen Moran, working Cold Cases, gets his chance at a murder case, and what a case it turns out to be.

Moran has been wanting to be part of Dublin’s Murder Squad and his chance appears in the form of Holly Mackey, who shows up at his precinct bearing a clue to the murder the previous year of a male student from the neighboring school of St. Kilda’s, where Holly boards.

The Secret Place is a board at St. Kilda’s where girls can leave notes, postcards and other messages of their secrets, a ventilation board if you will, and is usually a place of gossip and innuendo. This message is designed to bring back the stalled investigation, which has frustrated Detective Antoinette Conway, she of the sharp chin, slick clothes and demeanor to match.

Conway grudgingly allows Moran to accompany her to St. Kilda’s to interview the students. It quickly becomes whittled down to two sets of four friends, one including Holly Mackey. And here Moran gets his chance to shine. Conway interviewed all of these girls during the initial investigation. She allows Moran to play questioner and he lets his chameleon personality loose on each girl, divining which approach will lead to the most usable information.

The tension rises as the two detectives, not friends by any means, testing each other as they go along, throw out different theories and dig deeper and deeper into the lives of eight teenage girls. Who has the most to lose? Who would have the courage to whack a lone male teen over the head and leave him for dead? The dialogue is pure teen and yet they girls remain distinct and different. The two sets of four have completely different bonds, too, which in the end will lead to tragedy.

It is to French’s credit that we hardly realize all of these scenes take place over one tense day. She keeps the reader riveted to the page as the girls secrets are torn loose, with an ending so unexpected you will be as surprised as the girls are to find the real murderer. Just how far will someone go in the name of friendship an loyalty? Highly recommended.

 

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