Review: Turn a Blind Eye by Vicky Newham

I'm focussing my reading/reviewing this summer on debuts - including first crime novels from authors known for a different genre. Mostly British but I have also reviewed one from New Zealand. My fourth entry in this feature, is Vicky Newham's Turn a Blind Eye.

Turn a Blind Eye by Vicky Newham, April 2018, 368 pages, HQ, ISBN: 0008240671

I've been eagerly awaiting reading Vicky Newham's debut, having followed her progress via Facebook and in person at CrimeFest, and I'm pleased to report that it doesn't disappoint.

TURN A BLIND EYE introduces DI Maya Rahman, who is based in East London where she grew up after arriving from Bangladesh at a young age. The book opens with scenes in Bangladesh at the funeral of Maya and her sister's brother.

Returning to London, she is thrown into a murder case at the school she went to as a young girl. The headmistress has been killed and a cryptic message has been left. A message which indicates that there has been or will be more linked deaths.

Maya also has a new team member, a fast-tracked Australian, DS Dan Maguire, whose family is back in Australia. Chapters are told from the points of view of Maya and Dan with occasional chapters from the teacher who found the body.

TURN A BLIND EYE is a detailed and authentic feeling police procedural. The introduction of an outsider – Dan – gives Maya a natural opportunity to expand on the history, geography and background to the case and area that they're working in. Maya comes across as a serious, capable individual and there is a mystery in her childhood which could be resolved in one book or teased out over more. I'm looking forward to finding out which.

Ngaio Marsh Awards Blog Tour: Review: Nothing Bad Happens Here by Nikki Crutchley

Having been hooked on New Zealand's tv shows, 800 Words and The Brokenwood Mysteries, I was very pleased to be asked again to get involved in the blog tour for the Ngaio Marsh Awards which celebrate New Zealand's crime fiction.

As I've been focussing on debuts this summer I asked if I could review one of the shortlisted debut novels and I chose NOTHING BAD HAPPENS HERE by Nikki Crutchley which is available in the UK.

NOTHING BAD HAPPENS HERE is set in the fictional coastal town of Castle Bay in the Coromandal region of the North Island. The book opens with the murder of a young woman and chapter one is the discovery of her body a few months later by a hiker.

Sergeant Kahu, who moved to the small town ten years ago after time working in the big city, is able to identify the body as British tourist Bethany, who disappeared a few months ago whilst travelling round the world and was last seen in the bar in Castle Bay.

Kahu is shunted aside when the “more experienced” detectives show up as does the press… And in the first of several misdirections, the author switches the main point of view from Kahu to Miller, a journalist who is to write a feature on Bethany with a hope of securing a promotion. Miller is dependent on alcohol and grieving the recent death of her mother.

Due to her late arrival and no accommodation in town, Miller has to stay at the New Age-y Haven, a wellness retreat whose current residents include local queen bee Patricia, wife of the mayor and two other young women. Patricia and other locals keep insisting that their town is safe and nothing bad happens there.

Miller's writing project is slow and though she befriends Kahu he doesn't give her much publishable material. A tip-off seems to lead to a suspect and another woman goes missing. Is Bethany's murderer a local and not a passer-through as first thought?

NOTHING BAD HAPPENS HERE builds an oppressive picture of a small town where there are no secrets or at least your secrets aren't secret forever. Autumn is coming and the wild weather adds to the feeling of claustrophobia. There are several scenes which I read one way and when I got to the end of the book I realised I'd read them completely wrongly. The author conceals the true meaning whilst putting things in plain sight. I'm not sure whether this is the first in a series but I'd like to read more about either of the main characters, Kahu and Miller and what happens in their lives after this dramatic episode which leaves them both changed.

I found myself thinking about this book, the setting, and the plot long after I'd finished reading it.

Review: The Prime of Ms Dolly Greene by E V Harte

I'm focussing my reading/reviewing this summer on debuts - including first crime novels from authors known for a different genre. Mostly British but I hope to throw in the occasional US or NZ author. My second entry in this feature, is E V Harte's The Prime of Ms Dolly Greene.

The Prime of Ms Dolly Greene by E V Harte, September 2017, 277 pages, Constable, ISBN: 1472124243

THE PRIME OF MS DOLLY GREENE is the first book in the Tarot Detective series and introduces the eponymous Dolly Greene. Dolly is scraping by after her divorce. She lives in a tiny one-bed terraced house along with her college-attending daughter, Pippa, and makes her living giving tarot card readings.

When she reads the cards for a young woman, Nikki, she foresees bad things for Nikki and even gets a vision of a bruised face. Nikki says she was recommended to Dolly by Dolly's older neighbour, Maurice but Maurice later denies this.

When the body of a woman is found in the nearby Thames, Dolly wonders if it is Nikki. Especially when she cannot get in touch with her.

It's only when there is a death on the street that Dolly starts to detect, with the assistance of a local and handsome police sergeant who is quite willing to keep Dolly up to date with the investigation(s).

The isolated nature of the street that Dolly lives in – with the properties fronting a cycle path – lends the story a village feel with all the residents knowing each other's business and their stories being quite entwined. The Tarot back ground is unusual and interesting and Dolly is a likeable character. The crime story, however, does take a while to get going and Dolly does little to find out if the dead body is Nikki until she is more directly affected. This has a traditional mystery feel to it, as indicated by the gorgeous cover, but it also contains some very modern language and sexual references/activities. The second book in the series, THE CASE OF THE FOOL, is out now.

E V Harte is the nom-de-plume of novelist Daisy Waugh.

Review: The Devil's Dice by Roz Watkins

I'm focussing my reading/reviewing this summer on debuts - including first crime novels from authors known for a different genre. Mostly British but I hope to throw in the occasional US or NZ author. I'm starting with Roz Watkins' very accomplished debut, The Devil's Dice:

The Devil's Dice by Roz Watkins, March 2018, 368 pages, HQ, ISBN: 0008214611

THE DEVIL'S DICE introduces DI Meg Dalton who has moved back to Derbyshire from Manchester after some personal issues.

Meg is called out to the discovery of a body in a small, reputedly haunted cave. The body is that of a local, male, patent lawyer and it looks like poison is the killer. Investigations into the deceased reveal that his personality had changed over the last few months and so suicide can't be ruled out.

Meg and her sergeant, Jai, proceed to investigate further, interviewing relatives and work colleagues. Meg has trauma in her past and the nature of this is slowly revealed over the book. Her mum is a carer for Meg's bed-ridden gran and this is an added pressure when Meg is busy on a murder case.

THE DEVIL'S DICE, a debut, is an absorbing book full of many layers - both the mystery side of it, bringing in local legends and the landscape, and Meg's personal life both as a child and current. It builds to not one but two dramatic set pieces

I very much enjoyed this book. I really liked Meg, she is humorous and likeable, with a diet of choccy biscuits and a cat called Hamlet. Her sidekick seems quite fond of her too... The plot is unusual and not one that could be easily guessed. It's a real page-turner with Meg getting into regular, serious scrapes though she is not one of those energiser bunny types and it takes its toll. And of course there is a well evoked Derbyshire setting which includes real places such as Matlock, alongside a fictional town.

The sequel, DEAD MAN'S DAUGHTER, is out next April and I'm really looking forward to it.

It's not overt but I checked with the author and I have been able to add Meg to my short list of vegetarian sleuths.