Review Roundup: Connelly, Dalbuono, Downing, Fossum, Nickson, Quinn, Randall, Russell, Seymour, Webster, Wilson

Here are 12 reviews which have been added to the Euro Crime website today, all have appeared on the blog since last time.

You can keep up to date with Euro Crime by following the blog and/or liking the Euro Crime Facebook page and follow on Twitter, @eurocrime.

New Reviews

I briefly review Michael Connelly's latest Bosch, The Crossing and float the idea of reading some of his earlier books over the summer;

Susan reviews The Few by Nadia Dalbuono, which introduces Scarmarcio of the Roman police;

Terry reviews David Downing's One Man's Flag and Silesian Station;

I also review Karin Fossum's The Drowned Boy tr. Kari Dickson which sees the return of the empathetic Inspector Sejer;

Michelle reviews Chris Nickson's Two Bronze Pennies, the second in the Tom Parker series set in 1890s Leeds;

Lynn reviews Anthony J Quinn's Silence, the third in the Celcius Daly series set in Northern Ireland;

Amanda reviews Anne Randall's Silenced, the second in the Wheeler and Ross series (the first was Riven written as A J McCreanor);

Amanda also reviews Leigh Russell's Blood Axe, the third in the DS Ian Peterson series;


Terry also reviews Gerald Seymour's No Mortal Thing;

Lynn also reviews A Body in Barcelona by Jason Webster, the fifth in the Max Camara series

and Michelle also reviews The Wrong Girl by Laura Wilson.








Forthcoming titles can be found by author or date or by category, along with releases by year.

Review: Two Bronze Pennies by Chris Nickson

Two Bronze Pennies by Chris Nickson, January 2016, 224 pages, Severn House Publishers Ltd, ISBN: 1847516084

Reviewed by Michelle Peckham.
(Read more of Michelle's reviews for Euro Crime here.)

As with many of Chris Nickson’s books, this one is set in Leeds. It’s the most recent outing in the author's newer series featuring Detective Tom Harper, and is set in 1890. Tom is recently married to Annabelle, who is the landlady of the Victoria Pub, and manages a couple of local bakeries. It’s December, Christmas Eve, and cold, when Harper is called out to the Jewish quarter of the city: the Leylands. The body of a young man, stabbed, with two bronze pennies covering his eyes, is laid out in the street. The young man, only seventeen-years-old, is quickly identified as the rabbi’s nephew, Abraham Levy. Is the murder something to do with the local hatred of the Jews? Was the perpetrator someone involved with a shady group, who meet in pubs and plan violence? Are they working on their own, or is someone organizing their actions?

As well as investigating the murder, Harper has something else to keep him busy, the imminent arrival of a French detective, Bertrand Muyrère who’s coming to try to find out what happened to someone called Louis Le Prince, the inventor of moving pictures. The Frenchman who married a girl from Leeds, invented his camera and disappeared during a visit to France, somewhere between Dijon and Paris. Harper has been asked to help Bertrand interview the family and help him with his investigations.

An interesting mix of stories, and backstories ensues. Sergeant Reed goes undercover to find out more about the group of thugs that might be involved, putting his own life in danger. There is a wealth of interesting detail about the life of the Jews in Leeds, and the various prejudices. The Jews themselves feel threatened, don’t trust the police and have their own vigilante group, the Golem, which tries to protect them from harm. More murders ensue, but slowly and surely Harper discovers the perpetrators. A good mix of characters, and some nice historical detail make this an enjoyable read.

Michelle Peckham, February 2016

New Reviews: Caldwell, Kerr, Leon, McDermid, Nesbo, Nickson, Shaw

Here are seven reviews which have been added to the Euro Crime website today, three have appeared on the blog since last time, and four are completely new.

New competition - win a weekend pass to CrimeFest 2015.

A reminder that FriendFeed has now closed. Our crime and mystery group has a new home on Facebook - Petrona's Crime and Mystery Friends. It's a closed group but there are admins in all time zones so you won't have to wait long to be approved. Do join us - new members are very welcome!

You can keep up to date with Euro Crime by following the blog and/or liking the Euro Crime Facebook page.

New Reviews

Amanda Gillies reviews Ian Caldwell's The Fifth Gospel - one of the best books she has ever read;

Bernie Gunther is back in Philip Kerr's The Lady from Zagreb, reviewed here by Norman Price;

Michelle Peckham reviews the newest in the Brunetti series by Donna Leon, Falling in Love;


Susan White reviews Val McDermid's latest standalone, The Skeleton Road;

I review Jo Nesbo's Blood on Snow tr. Neil Smith which is about a hitman named Olav;


Lynn Harvey reviews Chris Nickson's Dark Briggate Blues which introduces enquiry agent Dan Markham, and is set  in Leeds in the 1950s

and Terry Halligan reviews William Shaw's A House of Knives, the second book in the 1960s Breen and Tozer trilogy.

Forthcoming titles can be found by author or date or by category, here along with releases by year.

New Reviews: Chisholm, Cleeves, Collett, Indridason, Jacobsen, Kitchin, Marklund, Nickson, Webster

Here are nine reviews which have been added to the Euro Crime website today, one has appeared on the blog since last time, and eight are completely new.

NB. You can keep up to date with Euro Crime by following the blog and/or liking the Euro Crime Facebook page.

New Reviews

Terry Halligan reviews the sixth in P F Chisholm's Elizabethan Robert Carey series, An Air of Treason, in which is tasked to discover who killed Amy Dudley;

Susan White reviews the latest in Ann Cleeves's Shetland series, Thin Air;

Terry also reviews Chris Collett's Dead of Night, the seventh book to feature one of the few fictional Birmingham coppers, Tom Mariner;


Lynn Harvey reviews the latest (and possibly last) in the 'Older' Erlendur series, Strange Shores by Arnaldur Indridason tr. Victoria Cribb. (NB. The recent Reykjavik Nights features a younger Erlendur.)

Susan also reviews Trophy by Steffen Jacobsen tr. Charlotte Barslund, which she "thoroughly recommends";


Rich Westwood reviews Rob Kitchin's Stumped, a "slightly blacker comedy set in Dublin, Manchester and the West of Ireland";

Michelle Peckham reviews Liza Marklund's Borderline tr. Neil Smith, which see reporter Annika Bengtzon on the other side of the media fence when her husband gets kidnapped;


Michelle also reviews Gods of Gold by Chris Nickson, set in 1890's Leeds

and if you weren't already convinced by Lynn's review earlier in the year then Laura Root's review should ensure that you give Jason Webster's Blood Med a go.


Previous reviews can be found in the review archive.

Forthcoming titles can be found by author or date or by category, here along with releases by year. NB. Forthcoming releases by category for 2015 are now available.

Review: Gods of Gold by Chris Nickson

Gods of Gold by Chris Nickson, August 2014, 224 pages, Severn House Publishers Ltd, ISBN: 072788428X

Reviewed by Michelle Peckham.
(Read more of Michelle's reviews for Euro Crime here.)

In what I'm sure will be a new series of stories from Chris Nickson, once again set in Leeds, the era is now the slightly more modern one of 1890, and the new hero of the story is Inspector Tom Harper. Tom is soon to be married to a strong female character called Annabelle; a woman who runs several businesses, including a pub, she makes a good foil to Tom.

As the story opens, Tom is pounding down Briggate, running after a criminal, but unfortunately loses him. He is then alerted to a case of a missing girl called Martha. Her mother Betty is in Armley Jail, and she should be still living with her father Col Parkinson. But she hasn’t been seen for a few days, and Col claims that Martha's been sent to his sister in Halifax. But is he telling the truth? Before Tom can start investigating further, all leave is cancelled due to the gas strike. Replacement workers are being brought in to make sure that the gas supply is able to continue. Of course this is an era when houses were lit by gas lamps, and industries depended on the supply of gas. As such the threat of an interruption to gas supply would have a big effect on the local economy, and the police are needed to keep order. But then Col is found dead, and it looks like suicide. Except that a few things look suspicious, and Col was seen with a couple of shady looking characters just before he was found dead. And Betty tells the police that he doesn’t have a sister in Halifax.

Tom is tasked with finding Martha, and Col's killers, and then the perpetrators of yet another murder that happens in the melee of the replacement workers, strikers and policemen. Gradually the two plot lines throw up some connections, and Tom is able to make some progress with his investigation, with a few twists and turns along the way.

The feel of the book is somewhat similar to Nickson's earlier books, with the back story of Tom and his relationship with his wife to be, and his professional relationship with his juniors, and with his senior commanding officer. And there is a bit of necessary negotiating to do with the leader of the local union, to help the plot along. It's interesting to see a more modern updated Leeds, with the little bits of local history thrown in. If you liked the original series of Chris Nickson books, you’ll like this one, even perhaps a little more.

Michelle Peckham, November 2014

New Reviews: Brightwell, Gerhardsen, Indridason, Miller, Nickson, O'Brien

Here are six new reviews which have been added to the Euro Crime website today.

Check back tomorrow to see what is the favourite overall Euro Crime read of 2013, plus who are the team's favourite authors and translators of 2013.

NB. Keep up to date with Euro Crime by following the blog and/or liking the Euro Crime Facebook page.

New Reviews

I review Emily Brightwell's The Inspector and Mrs Jeffries which has recently had a (very belated) UK release;

Rich Westwood reviews The Gingerbread House by Carin Gerhardsen tr. Paul Norlen, the first in the Hammarby (Stockholm) series;

Michelle Peckham reviews Arnaldur Indridason's Strange Shores tr. Victoria Cribb;

Amanda Gillies reviews Norwegian by Night by Derek B Miller;

Terry Halligan reviews Chris Nickson's The Crooked Spire, set in fourteenth-century Chesterfield

and Lynn Harvey reviews the latest in Martin O'Brien's south of France set, Daniel Jacquot series, The Dying Minutes.


Previous reviews can be found in the review archive.

Forthcoming titles can be found by author or date or by category, here along with releases by year.

New Reviews: Brett, Ellis, Hauxwell, Nickson, Persson, Perry, Reichs, Thomas, Wheatley

This week's set of reviews, added to Euro Crime today, is a mixture of new reviews and a catch-up of those posted directly on the blog in the last two weeks, so you may have read some of them before if you're a regular :).

NB. There is also a Euro Crime page on Facebook which you can like and will keep you up to date with the blog (plus occasional extras).

New Reviews

Brother and sister detecting duo Blotto and Twinks are back in Simon Brett's Blotto, Twinks and the Riddle of the Sphinx, reviewed here by Mark Bailey;

Susan White reviews P R Ellis's Painted Ladies which introduces copper turned PI, Jasmine Frame;

Amanda Gillies reviews A Bitter Taste by Annie Hauxwell, the second book in her Catherine Berlin series;

Michelle Peckham reviews Chris Nickson's  Fair and Tender Ladies, the sixth in his Richard Nottingham series set in Leeds;

Laura Root reviews Leif G W Persson's He Who Kills the Dragon, tr. Neil Smith, the second in the Evert Backstrom series;

Terry Halligan reviews the latest in the Thomas Pitt series from Anne Perry, Death on Blackheath;

I review Kathy Reichs's Tempe Brennan short story Bones in Her Pocket;

Lynn Harvey reviews Ostland by David Thomas

 
and Terry also reviews the reissue of Dennis Wheatley's The Forbidden Territory.


Previous reviews can be found in the review archive.

Forthcoming titles can be found by author or date or by category, here along with releases by year.

Review: Fair and Tender Ladies by Chris Nickson

Fair and Tender Ladies by Chris Nickson, September 2013, 224 pages, Creme de la Crime, ISBN: 1780290551

Reviewed by Michelle Peckham.
(Read more of Michelle's reviews for Euro Crime here.)

This is the sixth book in a series of historical crime fiction, set in Leeds in the early 1700s. Public order is maintained by the Constable of Leeds, Richard Nottingham, along with his deputy John Sedgwich, and various other of his ‘men’ including Rob Lister, son of the owner of the Leeds Mercury, and who is courting Richard’s sole surviving daughter, Emily.

The story starts with a brother, Jem Carter, looking for his missing sister Jenny, who had come to Leeds to seek her fortune. Of course, it is highly likely that she’s ended up in one of the many brothels, but no-one seems to have seen her, not even the new owners of the late Amos Worthy’s old establishment, Mrs Wade, and her son and two daughters (the ‘fair and tender ladies’ of the title perhaps?). Then, shortly afterwards, Jem’s badly beaten dead body is found. Had he been asking questions in the wrong places? And then a face from the past turns up in Leeds, Tom Finer. A scoundrel that Nottingham thought he was rid of, when he went off to London. What is he doing in Leeds again? What underhand deeds is he planning? Finer claims he is a changed man, but Nottingham doesn’t believe him. And in another strand of the book, we learn about Emily and her charity school for young daughters of the poor. She inherited some money from Amos when he died, which she has used to set up the school. But then the school is attacked, and Nottingham is affected badly. He is worried that someone is targeting another member of his family, and yet again he will lose someone precious to him.

As with the previous books, slowly but surely, Nottingham starts to uncover what is behind the various events, from Jem’s murder, to Jenny’s disappearance, to Tom Finer’s motives and the person or persons behind the attacks on Emily’s school. Mostly through hard slog, and a relentless need to talk to anyone and everyone to find out what people have heard and seen, even the people on the fringes of society. Nothing is too easy, and there is plenty to sadden Nottingham's heart during his attempts to get to the truth. With plenty of side stories, and descriptions of 1730s Leeds to entertain, this book is as good a read as the previous books in the series, and let’s hope its not the last.

Michelle Peckham, October 2013

New Reviews: Aykol, Johnstone, King, McKinty, Nickson, Shepherd, Vargas

Win Where the Devil Can't Go by Anya Lipska (UK only)





Seven new reviews have been added to Euro Crime today:


I review Esmahan Aykol's second Kati Hirschel investigation Baksheesh tr. Ruth Whitehouse, set in Istanbul;


Amanda Gillies reviews Doug Johnstone's latest Gone Again which she found even better than Hit & Run;



Lynn Harvey reviews the most recent in the Mary Russell-Sherlock Holmes series by Laurie R King, Garment of Shadows, set in Morocco;




Mark Bailey reviews Adrian McKinty's, I Hear the Sirens in the Street, the second in the 1980s-Northern Ireland Sean Duffy trilogy;


Geoff Jones reviews the fifth in the historical Richard Nottingham series by Chris Nickson: At the Dying of the Year;




Terry Halligan reviews Lloyd Shepherd's sequel to The English Monster, The Poisoned Island


and Sarah Hilary reviews Fred Vargas's The Ghost Riders of Ordebec tr. Sian Reynolds.




Previous reviews can be found in the review archive.

Forthcoming titles can be found by author or date or by category, here along with releases by year.