Crime – Page 16 – Everything Is Better With Dragons

Review: ‘White Bodies’, by Jane Robins

Published By: HQ

Publication Date: 28th December 2017

I.S.B.N.: 9780008217549

Format: Hardback

Price: £12.99

Blurb

Felix and Tilda seem like the perfect couple: young and in love, a financier and a beautiful up-and-coming starlet. But behind their flawless façade, not everything is as it seems.

Callie, Tilda’s unassuming twin, has watched her sister visibly shrink under Felix’s domineering love. She has looked on silently as Tilda stopped working, nearly stopped eating, and turned into a neat freak, with mugs wrapped in clingfilm and suspicious syringes hidden in the bathroom rubbish. She knows about Felix’s uncontrollable rages, and has seen the bruises on the white skin of her sister’s arms.

Worried about the psychological hold that Felix seems to have over Tilda, Callie joins an internet support group for victims of abuse and their friends. However, things spiral out of control and she starts to doubt her own judgement when one of her new acquaintances is killed by an abusive man. And then suddenly Felix dies—or was he murdered?

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Review: ‘Who Killed The Mince Spy?’, by Matthew Redford

Published By: Clink Street

Publication Date: 6th December 2016

I.S.B.N.: 9781911525158

Format: Paperback

Price: £5.99

Who Killed The Mince Spy?

Tenacious carrot, detective inspector Willie Wortell is back to reveal the deviously delicious mind behind the crime of the festive season in this hugely entertaining, and utterly unconventional, short story.

When Mitchell the Mince Spy is horrifically murdered by being over baked in a fan oven, it falls to the Food Related Crime team to investigate this heinous act. Why was Mitchell killed? Who is the mysterious man with a long white beard and why does he carry a syringe? Why is it that the death of a mince spy smells so good?

Detective Inspector Willie Wortel, the best food sapiens police officer, once again leads his team into a series of crazy escapades. Supported by his able homo sapiens sergeant Dorothy Knox and his less able fruit officers Oranges and Lemons, they encounter Snow White and the seven dwarf cabbages as well as having a run in with the food sapiens secret service, MI GasMark5.

With a thigh slap here, and a thigh slap there, the team know Christmas is coming as the upper classes are acting strangely – why else would there be lords a leaping, ladies dancing and maids a milking?

And if that wasn’t enough, the Government Minister for the Department of Fisheries, Agriculture and Rural Trade (DAFaRT) has only gone and given the turkeys a vote on whether they are for or against Christmas.

Let the madness begin!

This short story by Matthew Redford follows his deliciously irreverent debut Addicted To Death (Clink Street Publishing, 2015).

Purchase from Amazon UK – https://www.amazon.co.uk/Who-Killed-Mince-Spy-Investigation/dp/1911525158/ref=sr_1_cc_2?s=aps&ie=UTF8&qid=1478177564&sr=1-2-catcorr&keywords=matthew+redford

About Matthew Redford

Born in 1980, Matthew Redford grew up with his parents and elder brother on a council

estate in Bermondsey, south-east London. He now lives in Longfield, Kent, takes masochistic pleasure in watching his favourite football team snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, is a keen chess player and is planning future food related crime novels. To counterbalance the quirkiness of his crime fiction Redford is an accountant. His unconventional debut crime thriller, Addicted to Death: A Food Related Crime

Investigation was published by Clink Street Publishing last summer.

Website – http://www.matthewredford.com/

Twitter – https://twitter.com/matthew_redford

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Review: ‘Resort To Murder’, By TP Fielden

Published By: HQ

Publication Date: 2nd November 2017

I.S.B.N.: 9780008193737

Format: Hardback

Price: £14.99

Blurb

Death stalks the beaches of Devon

With its pale, aquamarine waters and golden sands, the shoreline at Temple Regis was a sight to behold. But when an unidentifiable body is found there one morning, the most beautiful beach in Devon is turned into a crime scene.

For Miss Dimont ferocious defender of free speech, champion of the truth and ace newspaperwoman for The Riviera Express this is a case of paramount interest, and the perfect introduction for her young new recruit Valentine Waterford. Even if their meddling is to the immense irritation of local copper Inspector Topham

Soon Miss Dimont and Valentine are deep in investigation why can nobody identify the body, and why does Topham suspect murder? And when a second death occurs, can the two possibly be connected?

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Review: ‘Lady First’, by Lea O’Harra

Independently Published

Publication Date: 28th August 2017

I.S.B.N.: 9781549610981

Format: Kindle e-book and paperback

Price: Kindle – £2.00, Paperback – £7.99

Blurb

Murder is back, and it’s nastier than ever… Fujikawa in southern Japan is finally getting over the shock murder of a resident university head and, three years later, the strangling of a local child – when terror strikes the quiet, provincial town once more. When young Mayumi Ikeuchi is killed on her way home from her job at The Paradise nightclub in a Fujikawa park, there isn’t a shortage of suspects. These include Mr Tani – Mayumi’s boss – who likes to leer over the girls who work for him, and Atsushi Taniguchi, a man who seems quite normal to the outside world but is free with his fists around his wife, Yui. There is also Nose-san, a loner who lives with his aged, incontinent mother, with witnesses hearing the sounds of brutal, physical arguments coming from his house. Even Mayumi’s sister is reported to have been overly possessive of the girl, threatening her when Mayumi had declared she wanted to strike out on her own. Lise Foster and Yui Taniguchi forge an unlikely friendship after the death of Mayumi: one is a victim of violence and the other may become one. Lise is a teacher at the local school, living close to the murder site in Ogawa Woods, and is it her imagination or is there someone sinister lurking outside her home in the shadows? Could Lise be next? For Chief Inspector Inoue and Inspector Kubo – Yui’s brother – and their colleagues, it is a race against time to find the perpetrator before he strikes again.

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Review: ‘Sweet Pea’, by C. J. Skuse

Published By: HQ

Publication Date: 2nd November 2017

I.S.B.N.: 9780008216719

Price: £7.99

Format: Paperback

Blurb

The last person who called me ‘Sweetpea’ ended up dead…

I haven’t killed anyone for three years and I thought that when it happened again I’d feel bad. Like an alcoholic taking a sip of whisky. But no. Nothing. I had a blissful night’s sleep. Didn’t wake up at all. And for once, no bad dream either. This morning I feel balanced. Almost sane, for once.

Rhiannon is your average girl next door, settled with her boyfriend and little dog…but she’s got a killer secret.

Although her childhood was haunted by a famous crime, Rhiannon’s life is normal now that her celebrity has dwindled. By day her job as an editorial assistant is demeaning and unsatisfying. By evening she dutifully listens to her friend’s plans for marriage and babies whilst secretly making a list.

A kill list.

From the man on the Lidl checkout who always mishandles her apples, to the driver who cuts her off on her way to work, to the people who have got it coming, Rhiannon’s ready to get her revenge.

Because the girl everyone overlooks might be able to get away with murder…

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Review: ‘The Riveira Express’, by TP Fielden

The Riviera Express Paperback by Published By: HQ

Publication Date: 29th June 2017

I.S.B.N.: 9780008193706

Format: Paperback

Price: £7.99

Blurb

Gerald Hennessey silver screen star and much-loved heart-throb never quite makes it to Temple Regis, the quaint Devonshire seaside town on the English Riviera. Murdered on the 4.30 from Paddington, the loss of this great man throws Temple Regis’ community into disarray.

Not least Miss Judy Dimont corkscrew-haired reporter for the local rag, The Riviera Express. Investigating Gerald’s death, she’s soon called to the scene of a second murder, and, setting off on her trusty moped, Herbert, finds Arthur Shrimsley in an apparent suicide on the clifftops above the town beach.

Miss Dimont must prevail for why was a man like Gerald coming to Temple Regis anyway? What is the connection between him and Arthur? And just how will she get any answers whilst under the watchful and mocking eyes of her infamously cantankerous Editor, Rudyard Rhys?

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Review: ‘Marked To Die’, by Sarah Hawkswood.

Published By: Allison& Busby Ltd.

Publication Date: 24th August 2017

I.S.B.N.: 9780749022402

Format: Hardback

Price: £19.99

Third in the Bradecote and Catchpoll Mystery series

Blurb

October 1143. A mysterious archer who kills cleanly and ‘dissolves’ into the forest, a missing train of pack mules on the salt road from Wich, and a lord in the wrong place at the wrong time, mean a crime the lord Sheriff of Worcestershire cannot ignore.

Bradecote, Catchpoll, and the eager Walkelin, are hunting a killer and a gang, and whoever is giving them orders. They are not helped by a reeve keen to keep his position, a lord with his own ends to serve, and a distrusting and vengeful widow with a haunted past, to whom Bradecote is increasingly attracted.

Continue reading “Review: ‘Marked To Die’, by Sarah Hawkswood.”

Review: ‘After The Fire’, by Henning Mankell

Published By: Random House

Publication Date: 5th October 2017

Format: Hardback

I.S.B.N: 9781910701768

Price: £17.99

Blurb

Fredrik Welin is a seventy-year-old retired doctor. Years ago he retreated to the Swedish archipelago, where he lives alone on an island. He swims in the sea every day, cutting a hole in the ice if necessary. He lives a quiet life. Until he wakes up one night to find his house on fire.

Fredrik escapes just in time, wearing two left-footed wellies, as neighbouring islanders arrive to help douse the flames. All that remains in the morning is a stinking ruin and evidence of arson. The house that has been in his family for generations and all his worldly belongings are gone. He cannot think who would do such a thing, or why. Without a suspect, the police begin to think he started the fire himself.

Tackling love, loss and loneliness, After the Fire is Henning Mankell’s compelling last novel.

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Review: ‘The One That Got Away’, by Annabel Kantaria

Published By: HQ

Publication Date: 21st September 2017

I.S.B.N.: 9781848455122

Format: Paperback (also available as an ebook)

Price: £7.99

Blurb

First comes the invitation…

Something makes Stella click ‘yes’ to attending her school reunion.

Followed by the affair…

It’s been fifteen years since Stella and George last saw each other. Their relationship may have ended badly, but there’s still an undeniable spark between them.

Then

the consequences…

But, once someone gets you back, what if they never let you go again?

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Review: ‘The Watcher’, by Ross Armstrong

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Published by: HQ

Publication Date: 21st September 2017

Format: Paperback

I.S.B.N.: 9780008181178

Price: £7.99

Blurb

She’s watching you, but who’s watching her?

Lily Gullick lives with her husband Aiden in a new-build flat opposite an estate which has been marked for demolition. A keen birdwatcher, she can’t help spying on her neighbours.

Until one day Lily sees something suspicious through her binoculars and soon her elderly neighbour Jean is found dead. Lily, intrigued by the social divide in her local area as it becomes increasingly gentrified, knows that she has to act. But her interference is not going unnoticed, and as she starts to get close to the truth, her own life comes under threat.

But can Lily really trust everything she sees?

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