Scenes of Crime

Reviews
Due to financial pressures and increasingly lack of space for book storage, I'm turning more and more to my local library, ending up with a rather eclectic selection, which has allowed me to investigate some of the more intriguing authors that I've heard so much of but have never got around to reading. So, here are the latest noteworthy titles and a few thoughts, in addition to the odd piece of my current favourite writers and series. I make no apologies for writing from the perspective of a fan, but am merely trying to share some of these wonderful novels with you.
Additionally, since this page was getting a little bulky, I've now set up an archive for my older reviews that are now living out their twilight years just about here. Enjoy, and don't forget to send your own reviews in!

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'Dispossession' by Chaz Brenchely
Why would a man abandon his job as a decent, honest lawyer, to go and work for the biggest crook in town? Why would a man ditch the woman he lives with, and loves, to marry a stranger? He must have been possessed. But Jonty isn't possessed, he's dispossessed: waking up in hospital to discover that he's done these things, and he doesn't know why, doesn't remember anything of the last three months. And then a blazing truck comes crashing into his hospital room.

One thread of Dispossession is a straightforward thriller; the hero is caught up in dangerous dealings among the crooks of an entirely identifiable Newcastle-upon-Tyne. Somehow he has to stay ahead of the game, while his treacherous mind has dumped him back at the starting line. Maybe there's a clue in his computer files, but he can't remember the password...

The narrative combines enough puzzles with enough action to satisfy at this level; but there is more. While Jonty pits his intellect against these external events, he is also confronted with the mystery of his emotional life. The characters are real enough, and likeable enough, to enlist the reader's sympathies on two sides: you want Jonty to be who he believes himself to be, to be faithfully reconciled to Carol, but you also want the charming, valiant Susie to keep the husband she loves, and has come by so unexpectedly.

A rich mixture of action and romance, then, but there is more. When Jonty wakes up to find that his world has fallen apart on him, and he can't even trust his own mind, he takes refuge with the one friend he is sure of, a fallen angel called Luke. This is a classic Brenchley touch; a piece of baroque decoration which is nonetheless firmly anchored into the plot. Jonty, who thinks of himself as a good man, is unable to justify his recent actions; who should he run to but someone who accepts no excuses, whose sense of right and wrong is absolutely pure and certain? Luke provides an inspired counterpoint to Vernon Deverill, the heavy who also thinks of himself as being a good man.

This rich confection of dirty realism and supernatural imagination is narrated in Chaz Brenchley's inimitable voice. Who else could mix such acute observation with such poetic diction and such excruciating puns? Luke is played entirely straight, as a character: but his name is worked over in such chapter headings as "Luke, back in anger"!

Jean Rogers

http://www.outremer.co.uk



'Chocolate Lizards' by Cole Thompson

Stranded in the barren oil field of West Texas, Erwin Vanderveer is out of cash and out of luck until a chance encounter changes his life dramatically. Harvard drama graduate Erwin is returning to Boston with his tail between his legs after a disastrous and humiliating attempt to break into the movies in Hollywood, when an ill-chosen poker game leaves him flat broke and stranded. Morosely contemplating his future in a diner in Abilene, West Texas, he meets Merle Luskey, an oil driller with a taste for whiskey and a relaxed attitude to life and the law. Merle takes the young Yankee in, gives him a job as a roustabout and occasional drinking companion, and even buys him a pair of genuine cowboy boots, the chocolate lizards of the title. However, Merle is in trouble, with the bank threatening to foreclose on his loan, taking his ranch, his land and his beloved rigs. Merle needs to find hard cash, fast, and thinks Erwin is just the man to help. With a reluctant Erwin in tow as a 'rat killer', an increasingly lunatic Merle burgles and cons his way across the state to get his hands on drilling rights for a prime piece of land with enough oil, even calling in an old friend and showgirl from Dallas to help persuade a rancher who just doesn't want any oil men on his land. Unfortunately, the bank and the local sheriff have other ideas, and both Merle and Erwin have their hands full trying to fend them off long enough to strike it rich.

'Chocolate Lizards' is a richly drawn, hilarious and above all hugely enjoyable book, full of sharp dialogue and raucous humour set against the barren but spectacular Texas landscape. It seems a clichˇ, but Thompson brings to his pages a cast of truly larger than life characters, from Merle Luskey, the hard-drinking, lunatic but eternally optimistic driller, to Tex-Ann, the busty but shrewd Dallas showgirl, and Alton Scheermeyer, farmer and porn connoisseur. Thompson also shows a remarkable and at times fascinating knowledge of oil exploration and geology, not to mention the nitty-gritty of drilling, explored with the aid of Merle's chorus of roustabouts, whose rough humour and consummate skill with the immense rigs provide a rich backdrop for the story. With 'Chocolate Lizards', Cole Thompson shows himself to be a remarkably talented writer with a sharp ear for dialogue and a fine eye for comic situations, and a first-rate storyteller.



'Everybody Smokes In Hell' by John Ridley

Paris Scott is just another Los Angeles slacker, working nights and fending off the local lowlifes at a convenience store while dreaming of how to break into the movie business and how to get back with his girlfriend, until fate drops a major opportunity in his lap, in the shape of Ian Jermaine, grunge superstar, who collapses in a drunken heap outside the store one night. Taking the drunken Jermaine back to his mansion, Paris decides to grab life by the balls for once, and swipes a DAT tape of some of Jermaine's new music, aiming to make a few bucks pirating it. However, Jermaine's drunken binge is just the prelude to his main event, his farcical, Cobain-esque suicide which leaves the tape as his last ever work, and something that Jermaine's agent is very anxious to get his hands on. To complicate matters further, Paris's wannabe-gangsta room-mate turns up dead, leaving a kilo of heroin stashed in a holdall that Paris unwittingly takes on the road with him. Naturally, the owners also want a word with the hapless Paris, who is thrown helplessly around as the situation escalates rapidly out of control. Leaving a trail of corpses from Los Angeles to Las Vegas, he flees the clutches of the recording company's mismatched duo of enforcers, the gang boss's pair of street hoods and Brice, a psychotic nymphomaniac and enthusiastic killer, all of whom want Paris and what he's carrying...

With 'Everybody Smokes In Hell', John Ridley proves himself to be a major talent, adeptly mixing comedy of the blackest streak with the eternally sunny but violent and desperate world of Los Angeles. Paris is an oddly neutral character, whose passive approach to life makes him hard to empathise with, but the supporting cast of crazies, suits and lowlifes are superbly drawn. Although Everybody Smokes In Hell is by its nature extremely violent, it is also bitterly funny, creating blackly comic situations from Jermaine's inelegant death to the poignant portrayal of a company enforcer's secret longings for his macho partner. The writing is both imaginative and pacey, and Ridley makes an excellent job of painting Los Angeles as how it must surely seem, a place of dreams and desperation under the Californian sun. Ridley is a remarkable writer, and 'Everybody Smokes In Hell' is one of the most original, engaging and hilarious novels that I've read for a long time.



'The Sanctuary Seeker' by Bernard Williams

'The Sanctuary Seeker' is the first in a new series of novels concerning Sir John de Wolfe, newly appointed as King's Coroner for Devon by King Richard, and the crimes he investigates, ably assisted by his loyal man-at-arms and friend Gwyn of Poltruan, a blunt and forthright Cornishman and Thomas de Peyne, a defrocked priest who got a little too close to one of his young charges, now Crowner John's resentful and sullen clerk. 'Crowner' John and his men are called to investigate the appearance of a corpse in the stream between two small Devon parishes, which appears to be that of a young nobleman recently returned from the Crusades, initially to determine whether the deceased was a Norman, and hence apt to render the parish liable for a murdrum fine of amercement, a sum levied on a parish found with a corpse that they cannot prove 'Englishry' on, a law enacted to prevent the wholesale slaughter of the colonial Norman aristocracy. However, the circumstances of the death are enough to pique John's interest, and his investigations soon lead to the arrest of a Crusader who knew and detested the dead nobleman. John's brother-in-law and bete noire, the Sheriff of Exeter is convinced that the young Crusader is guilty, and for political expediency forces him to undergo a barbaric trial by ordeal, forcing John to redouble his efforts to find the true murderer. Unfortunately, the evidence begins to point at someone who the authorities are not anxious to find guilty...

Bernad Williams proves remarkably knowledgeable on medieval law and law enforcement, although the four page glossary that confronts the reader at the front of the book is a little daunting, though highly enlightening. 'The Sanctuary Seeker' doesn't have that much forensic material for Bernard Williams, former Home Office patholgist, to get his teeth into, but as a first novel, Williams acquits himself well. The plot and mystery is interesting enough to engage the reader, though none too original, or challenging. Rather, it comes across as an interesting case that a real-life medieval coroner might have been faced with, rather than a complex, intellectual puzzler of the type Paul Doherty is so fond of. The characters are both real-seeming and sympathetic, even though even Crowner John is no saint and thankfully not an anachronistic caring, sharing twentieth century copper dumped unceremoniously into the twelve century. John's relationship with his wife is particularly well-drawn; although John spends much time with his mistress, the tavern keeper Nesta, his frosty, formal marriage becomes an interesting look at two people thrown together by the politics of arranged marriage, and their first fumbling steps towards companionship, if not love, are often touching. His wife, Matilda, is also a nice example of a woman trying to hold on to what personal power she can muster in a time when women were disenfranchised to a remarkable degree. In all, whilst not the most brilliant historical crime novel I've ever read, 'The Sanctuary Seeker' is a diverting read, and the characters of Crowner John and his associates are ones I'll look forward to reading about again.



'Frost at Christmas' by R.D. Wingfield

After a long absence, DI Jack Frost of Denton CID back, and as usual, its still winter in Denton (is it ever summer?) and Denton CID struggle valiantly against rising crime figures, bureaucracy and chronic undermanning. And, as usual, through it all shambles Jack Frost, scruffy, insubordinate, genially corrupt and mildly incompetent. This time, Frost is trying to deal with a spate of burglaries, a coachload of drunken, larcenous football supporters, missing children and what looks like a serial killer with the same world view as Peter Sutcliffe, whilst fending off the unwelcome intrusions of the dim but ambitious Supt. Mullet, his superior. However, things take a turn for the worse, as the harried, exhausted Frost begins to let his grip on the situation slip, as first a prisoner commits suicide, naming Frost as his persecutor, and worse still, Frost's actions put the life of a fellow officer in the greatest peril.

There's not much to say about 'Winter Frost' - it is very much a retread of the plot elements, characters and ideas that form the basis of the previous four novels, and Denton is still dark, cold and depressingly banal. This is not a critisiscm of Wingfield - he handles these qualities superbly, making a darkly humourour blend of a police procedural and a traditional detective novel. In particular, he has a great gift for portraying the banality of evil, and the claustrophobia of a small town. However, it is Frost that makes these novels what they are. If your only experience with D.I. Jack Frost is with David Jason's curmudgeonly, gruff but warm-hearted TV portrayal, then Wingfield's original character may come as a shock. Inept, cowardly, occasionally callous, but with a fierce sense of natural justice and an occasional twinge of conscience, Frost is a superbly monstrous literary creation. However, to get a true sense of this character, it would not be best to read this particular novel, as the enormities of Frost's actions are as nothing compared to those of earlier novels. In fact, my chief critiscism of this novel, besides its rather close similarity to earlier books, is that the character of Frost no longer grips the reader as compulsively as before. That aside, my verdict would be that if you have enjoyed the Frost novels in the past, you'll certainly find this diverting, if over-familiar, but if you haven't encountered DI Frost before, I'd recommend starting with an earlier novel.



'Foreign Body' and 'Bad Vibes' by Joyce Holms

Its always nice to see somewhere like Edinburgh as the setting for a nice, run-of-the-mill story, as opposed to the dark, corrupt city that is home to the likes of John Rebus and Bob Skinner, and Joyce Holms seems to have cornered the market in vaguely cosy Scottish detective novels. 'Foreign Body' and 'Bad Vibes' are the second and third in the Fizz and Buchanan series ('Payment Deferred' being the first) concerning staid Edinburgh solicitor Tam Buchanon and his persistent and occasionally irresponsible protegee, Fizz Fitzgerald. Fizz is now a law student, and Tam is trying to get himself settled and in control of the familt solicitors office, but at the start of 'Foreign Body', Tam finds himself forcibly absented from the office whilst recovering from minor surgery. However, Fizz manages to persuade him that he'd be much better off staying with her grandparents in her native Perthshire, and Tam allows himself to be persuaded by thoughts of beautiful scenery, incredible fishing and the odd dram. Within a few hours of their arrival in the tiny Loch Tay village of Am Bealach, Fizz's motives become very clear, but her initial urge to persuade Tam to investigate the disappearance of a local woman is tempered by their discovery of first an abandoned tent, and second, the battered body of a missing hiker. Needless to say, the village soon proves to be a seething pot of unresolved bitterness, suspicion and murderous hatred.

After their brief but eventful sojourn in Am Bealach, 'Bad Vibes' find Tam and Fizz back in Edinburgh, with Tam as usual struggling to establish himself as new senior partner, and Fizz fending off student poverty by working evenings as a receptionist at an Edinburgh hotel. Naturally, it isn't long before Fizz finds herself involved in a mysterious death of a German tourist at the hotel. Of course, she considers this to be a fascinating case, while Tam considers it to be an irritation and waste of his valuable time. None-the-less, Fizz is undeterred, and is employed by the dead man's sister to find out why he died, and more importantly, what happened to the valuable painting that he bought the day he died. Fizz, with a reluctant Tam in tow, doggedly pursues the truth, through Musselborough racecourse, a painter's colony and the Isle of Arran until they finally discover the dark secret at the heart of the mystery.

If you've not read any of Joyce Holm's Fizz and Buchanon books before, you're in for a treat, since Holm's has a gift for writing light, pacey mysteries, steering well clear of theintrospection and dark brooding atmosphere of some of her contemporaries, producing instead engrossing, entertaining novels with an engaging central pair of protagonists in Fizz and Tam. True, they certainly aren't the most original creations ever to walk out of the page, but Tam's generally staid, thoughtful character and high moral standards play nicely against Fizz's happy-go-lucky, guiltless and relentlessly perky character. Neither character usually have much luck with the opposite sex; indeed, Fizz rarely seems to have anything to do with men other than Tam. Naturally, Holms seems to be playing on the unresolved sexual tension as much as she can, which at times seems a little forced and contrived, and even vaguely tasteless in a scene in 'Bad Vibes' in which Fizz ends up with a wet T-shirt, much to Tam's discomfort. In addition, many of the other characters in both of these novels seem a little one-dimensional, and often the dialogue never seems quite believable. However, these criticsms aside, both 'Foreign Body' and 'Bad Vibes' are entertaining, diverting novels, which, although never likely to net Holms the Booker Prize, are good, clean fun...



'Turbulent Priests' by Colin Bateman

Its the Millenium, and the Messiah has finally come again. However, the Messiah in question is a four-year old girl called Christine, living on the isolated island of Wrathlin off the Northern Irish coast, and senior figures in the Catholic Church are becoming worried, and decide to send someone to find out exactly what is going on. Unfortunately, the man they choose is Dan Starkey, Belfast's most erratic journalist, along with his wife unsuspecting Patricia and her newborn child, Little Stevie (not being the father, Dan is finding things a little tricky). Hoping for a touch of unspoilt paradise, Dan soon finds that all is not well on Wrathlin, and that the locals are more than a little eccentric, not particularly friendly, and better armed than the IRA. To make matters worse, the ever-thirsty Dan finds that the Parish Council, in their wisdom and messianic fervour, have decided to ban alcohol from the island. Now things are serious...

After his last few novels, set in America, Bateman returns to his native Ulster, a place he knows best. Although it lacks the bite and bizarre mix of nihilism and idealism of novels like Cycle of Violence and Divorcing Jack, 'Turbulent Priests' is still comedy of the blackest stripe, with violence and death permeating, Bateman not flinching from killing even the most likeable of characters, despite the absence of the previously ubiquitous paramilitaries. Dan Starkey is still a superb narrator, and perhaps Bateman's most likeable protagonist, despite his raging first for booze that dominates this novel. However, above all, Bateman's sense of comic timing and talent for exquisite one-liners remains his strongest suite; at one point, he seems to have spent a good deal of time setting up and entire character, background and sequence of events for just one line, which, I'm glad to say, doesn't disappoint. And that, to conclude sums up 'Turbulent Priests' rather nicely - it certainly doesn't disappoint.



'Truth' by Patrick Dillon

My thanks go out to that excellent writer John Baker for this - was it not for his recommendation, I probably would never have tracked down this excellent piece of modern, urban British crime writer, by an author who promises to be on a par with Harvey and Rankin. 'Truth', a title carrying many meanings, deals with a senior detective from the Met, D.C.I. George Havilland, and his fight to see justice done as he imagines it should be. Matthew Hall, a rich young man with some dubious connections south of the river, managed to evade conviction for the brutal murder of a homeless man a year ago, and Havilland, who saw his case collapse and his reputation shredded, has a burning need to see Hall pay for his crimes. His chance appears when Hall's chauffeur and alleged accomplice in murder, Joe Bates, is found shot dead following an argument with Hall, and Havilland seizes this opportunity to see justice served. However, events overtake him, and he finds himself out of favour with his superiors, and under suspicion of forging evidence. Having seen the Hall case destroy his career and his relationship with Mary, a jazz singer, Havilland crosses the line between detective and criminal in his obsessive search for the truth...

I can't say enough good things about Patrick Dillon's debut novel; gritty and realistic without drowning the reader in violence and gore, the writing spare and lean yet superbly descriptive, the plot complex but compulsive, and the south London location well-drawn and accurate. Havilland, although at first glance just another maverick copper with personal problems, is sufficiently flawed and contradictory to be both sympathetic and unlikeable to the reader, and his love of jazz, although echoing John Harvey's Resnick, forms a melancholy counterpoint to his life and surroundings. In all, 'Truth' is without a doubt the best debut I have read for many years, and one of my favourites of the year, and its blend of police procedural and a psychological study of one man's obsession with the truth makes for compulsive reading.



'The Mask of Ra' by Paul Doherty

A new departure for the legendary Paul Doherty, who is most famous for his medieval mysteries featuring characters such as Hugh Corbett and Brother Athelstan. Doherty's newest protagonist is Amerotke, Judge of the Two Choices in Thebes, capital of the New Kingdom of Egypt in 1479 BC. The Pharoah, Tuthmosis II, has just returned to Thebes victorious over raiders threatening the Nile Delta, but seems strangely subdued. No sooner has he set foot back in Thebes, than he falls to the ground, dead from what appears to be a snakebite. A search reveals a viper which may have been responsible, and Amerotke is given the job of trying the Captain of Pharoah's Guard, Meneloto. However, the scrupulous and persistent Amerotke is convinced that the Pharoah's death was no accident, and perhaps linked to the desecration of Pharoah's unfinished tomb and the deaths of two others in the royal circle. Soon, Amerotke finds himself caught up in deadly court intrigue as Pharoah's widow, the sly Hatsusu, and the suitably Machievellian vizier Rahimere vie for the Regency and control of the young Pharoah, whilst the stability of the Kingdom of the Two Lands is threatened from outside by an invading army, and from within by the deadly guild of Assassins.

Doherty is rightly known as a popular but authorative writer of medieval whodunnits, and this is an area he is definitely strong in, having studied 13th century English politics for his D.Phil. However, although he stills seems to exhibit the same exhaustive researching that characterises his other novels, the Ancient Egyptian setting 'The Mask of Ra' does not feel as natural or realistic as for those in his other novels. This may reflect this reader's relative unfamiliarity with those times as much as it does the author's, but Doherty's writing is not helped much by his over-use of grandiose descriptions of the setting and emphasis on the appropriate terminology. A second criticism might be that Amerotke is rather too close to being an Egyptian Hugh Corbett, complete with beautiful wife and streetwise sidekick, but then characterisation has never been one of Doherty's strong points in any setting. However, these criticisms aside, 'The Mask of Ra' is still a fascinating and well-written book by anyone's reckoning, with a gripping plot, albeit one which takes a while to get going, and a location that although not as easily described to the reader as medieval England, is one that is both alien and familiar, and certainly one that engages both the imagination and the intellect.



Last Rites by John Harvey

Of all the talented crime writers that Britain has produced over the last decade, John Harvey must surely rank amongst the best, and certainly amongst the most critically acclaimed, through his superb series of novels concerning Charlie Resnick and his team from Notts CID, which includes some of the finest crime writing of recent years. However, Harvey has decided after ten novels to move on to something different, and Last Rites is the last of the Resnick series. Last Rites finds Charlie and his team trying to deal with the explosion of drug and gun-related violence on the streets of Nottingham, whilst Charlie himself is in a state of limbo, contemplating his apparently stable relationship with a teacher, Hannah Campbell, but still struggling to resolve his relationship with Lynn Kellogg, a protˇgˇe of his. However, Resnick and his team must also deal with Michael Preston, jailed for the murder of his own father, who has escaped whilst attending the funeral of his mother. Initially, Preston appears to have fled the country, but Resnick suspects that Preston is still on his patch, with unfinished family business to attend to...

Appropriately, Last Rites brings closure to the series, and although harrowing events of the type that made Easy Meat, a previous Resnick novel, so gripping are absent, Harvey instead injects a brooding atmosphere, full of jazz-tinged melancholy into the gritty, harsh inner city setting, focusing particularly on Resnick's own feelings of self-doubt and belief in the police force. The novel has an elegiac quality, dealing with guilt, betrayal and the kind of dark secrets that only family life can conceal. Throughout, Harvey proves equally adept at both handling the gritty events of the police procedural and examining the complex motives of ordinary people. Resnick is definitely one of a team, and police officers such as Lynn Kellogg and Mark Divine have over the years become nearly as central to the series as Resnick himself, and it is a shame that we'll never see what might happen with relative newcomers to the series such as Sharon Garnett and Carl Vincent. On a related note, readers of Last Rites who are new to Resnick might find it more enjoyable to read some of the earlier novels first, since Last Rites often refers to events in the past of some of the characters. However, Resnick is still the focal point of this novel, and his flaws and idiosyncrasies that make him such a compelling character are still present. From his abiding love of jazz, his cats, eccentric sandwiches and Budvar to his Polish heritage that reminds him of being an outsider in his own land, Resnick is a marvellous creation, and an excellent antidote to the clichˇ of the brilliant, cerebral detective. It's sad to see the last of Charlie Resnick and his colleagues, but Harvey has finished on a high note, and a writer of his calibre has much more still to offer.


'The Psalm Killer' by Chris Petit

Northern Ireland, 1984. Inspector Cross of the RUC is on the trail of a killer. This is nothing special in Belfast, with sectarian and terrorist killings at their height, but the serial killer seems to transcend the usual religious and cultural divides, and seems to be waging his own war against the past, taunting the police with tantalising clues. Woven into Cross's story is that of Candlestick, a British mercenary of uncertain allegiance, carving a bloody swathe through the sectarian politics of the 1970s as a member of the infamous Shankill Butchers. 'The Psalm Killer' is a tremendously effective thriller, hinting at dark conspiracies concerning the British in Ireland which at times seem frighteningly plausible. In addition, the hunt for the killer's identity, is only half the battle for Cross and his assistant, WPC Westerby - what really motivates the killer and what is he trying to prove? More than anything, though, 'The Psalm Killer' serves to paint a grim portrait of the Troubles, evoking memories for anyone from these islands who has lived through them and even now sees Loyalist, Nationalist and British locked in conflict around the conference table. Petit evokes the cold, threatening atmosphere of sectarian violence, and the sheer banality of many of those who committed atrocities in the name of religion and national identity. Cross, although an identikit DI complete with marriage problems, serves to act as the ultimate impartial observer, being both English and Catholic in the Protestant RUC. In all, Petit has written an immensely powerful novel exploring the past that still directs our futures.



'Angel Bootlegged' by Mike Ripley

Morse is gone, Charlie Resnick's retired from the fray, even John Rebus is not in the best of health. To cap it all, Mike Ripley announced last year that his latest novel, 'That Angel Look', would be the last to feature the inimitable Fitzroy Maclean Angel. Thankfully, this disturbing turn of events has been swiftly rectified by Ripley, and in 'Angel Bootlegged', our boy is back. You can't keep a good man down for long, least of all Fitzroy Maclean Angel, Hackney's finest trumpet-playing, cab-driving, cat-owning amateur 'tec. However, things aren't all as they should be, since Angel, after the tumultuous events of 'That Angel Look' is now hitched to the lovely Amy May, now an ultrasuccessful fashion designer and general all-round high-powered businesswoman. However, all is not well for our hero. Angel is now somewhat bored, despite being kept in a fashion to which he is rapidly becoming accustomed by his lady wife, whose financial and fashion acumen are paying great dividends. Luckily, he still keeps in touch with the mob at Stuart Street, and is approached by Veronica Bludgen (see 'Angel Confidential'), PI-extraordinaire, to undertake a little work on the side. Normally, confronted with such a situation, Angel would run a mile, but there is something about this work that appeals to him - its working undercover for a Kentish brewery investigating beer smuggling. Before you can say 'Old Speckled Hen', Angel is up to his neck in trouble, tangling with London gangsters, computer hackers, bent revenue officers and worst of all, running a pub assisted only by three of his wife's gorgeous models...

Back on the scene with a bang - from page one, Ripley shows his old talent and superb comic timing, with Angel's incomparable style well to the fore. In particular, I'll second Iain Rankin's endorsement of what must be one of the funniest, and most painful 'morning after' scenes in literature. The plot is classic Angel - scams about, described in loving detail, a modest amount of violence is meted out by either side, and our hero manages to save the day by the skin of his teeth (or in this case, with the aid of an HGV full of stolen beer) I have one quibble - Ripley doesn't really seem to be happy with Angel's current domestic situation, perhaps regretting marrying off Angel in a fit of pique. This shows in Amy, not an appealing character at the best of times, who seems completely at odds with Angel's freewheeling lifestyle. She's not often seen in the novel, and perhaps Ripley just plans to use her as a plot device or to provide the loan of her BMW occasionally... That aside, it is sheer delight to welcome the return of the talented Mr. Ripley (he must be sick of that by now) and the singular personality that is Fitzroy Maclean Angel.



'The Last Kabbalist of Lisbon' by Richard Zimler

Touted as the new 'Name of the Rose', 'The Last Kabbalist of Lisbon' is a combination of a historical mystery novel with an exploration of the brutal pogroms carried out against the Sephardic Jews of sixteenth century Portugal. Berekiah Zarco is a 'New Christian', a member of those Portugese Jews forcibly converted to Christianity in 1497, but still practising their religion in secret. The New Christians of Lisbon have adapted to their forcible conversion, hiding their religion in secret codes, hidden synagogues, samizdat manuscripts and even behind the guise of the Catholic priesthood. However, in 1506, as Passover begins, events overtake Berekiah and his community, in the form of a riot instigated by Dominican friars that rapidly becomes a massacre, with Jews hunted down and murdered or burnt in the public squares of the city. Berekiah escapes the massacre while out of the city, and on his return finds the body of his uncle, Abraham Zarco, a scholar and kabbalist, who studied the hidden and arcane mysteries of the Hebrew Kabbalah. Berekiah finds the body of his uncle lying in his secret annexe next to that of a young girl, their bodies naked and their throats cut. However, the manner of their deaths suggests to Berekiah that far from being murdered by bloodthirsty Old Christians, a member of their own community and even of Abraham's secret circle of scholars is in fact responsible, and hence he is forced to turn detective in the chaos of the ensuing pogrom.

While comparisons to 'The Name of the Rose' are not wholly justified, as Zimler never reaches the unique blend of historical fact, mystery, philosophical discourse and semiological wordplay that Eco has made his own, 'The Last Kabbalist of Lisbon' is a riveting work of fiction. The central mystery, intriguing and exciting in its own right, becomes a starting point for Zimler's exploration of religious intolerance and the banality of human evil, and the perseverance and cunning of a people whose culture has been forced underground. At times harrowing, 'The Last Kabbalist of Lisbon' is a tremendous feat of evocation of a dark time in history, and its young narrator comes across as being a genuine character from that era, bitter beyond belief against those who have perpetrated and colluded in this crime.



'Spanking Watson' by Kinky Friedman

The latest offering from Texas Jewboy, mystery writer and country musician Kinky Friedman, concerning the latest exploits of his protagonist, the Texas Jewboy, amateur detective and country musician Kinky Friedman, is no less than fans have come expect. After the somewhat disappointing previous novel 'Blast From The Past', 'Spanking Watson' finds Kinky contemplating a large hole in his ceiling caused by the antics of his upstairs neighbour, Winnie Katz, and her lesbian dance class, and also ruminating on the suitability of his coterie of his friends and occasional assistants, The Village Irregulars. In a playful mood, and after a drinking session in which Kinky ends up writing an eventually unsent threatening note to Winnie, he decides to put his crew of friends to the test by challenging them to uncover the nonexistent person who is threatening Winnie to decide once and for all which of the Village Irregulars will make the best Watson to his Sherlock. However, things begin to go rapidly wrong, as it transpires that someone is actually trying to kill Winnie, sending Kinky and his friends on a dangerous but comical mission to unearth the identity of the would-be killer whilst trying to remain alive, and more importantly, on speaking terms with each other.

Suffice to say, if you're not a Kinky Friedman fan, 'Spanking Watson' is probably not for you. Kinky's unique narration and his own personal vocabulary and remarkable worldview don't always endear the reader to him, and the characters are probably best encountered by reading his earlier novels first. However, for fans, this is vintage Kinky. The jokes sparkle, the dialogue crackles, and all the usual suspects pop up to help. 'Nuff said.



'Dmitri and the Milk Drinkers' and 'Dmitri and the One-legged Lady' by Michael Pearce

One of my favourite historical mystery series of all time must be Michael Pearce's wonderful 'Mamur Zapt' series about Capt. Gareth Owen, the eponymous chief of the Secret Police in Edwardian Cairo. Pearce has also started a new series, of which these are the first two novels, featuring the adventures of Dmitri Kameron. Kameron is a young lawyer of Russo-Scottish descent, living in the provincial city of Kursk in the Tsarist Russia of the 1890's. Its really quite impossible to sum up a Pearce plot in a paragraph, but suffice to say that the Dmitri novels are full of baffling and occasionally surreal events including missing idols, famines, corrupt and/or inept bureaucrats, religious cults, missing persons and political agitators.

As usual, Pearce's strength lies in his wonderful ear for dialogue, creating marvellously inane or complex conversations between characters, leaving the reader feeling suitably bemused. In addition, both books are crammed with minutely observed comic situations, though in a less outwardly hilarious vein that the likes of Mike Ripley. As with the Mamur Zapt books, Pearce manages to evoke an atmosphere which feels to the reader exactly as Tsarist Russia must have been, a mix of peasant simplicity and encroaching modernity, in the middle of which, the young and occasionally arrogant Dmitri is caught. Blended with this is an acute understanding of the Russian mind and personality, which seems as appropriate then as now. Dmitri is not as sympathetic a character as Gareth Owen, but then, his character has not had as long to develop yet, and one senses that Pearce is still feeling his way in exploring a world that he as a Russian linguist knows so well. On balance, I still prefer the Mamur Zapt novels, but I think the Dmitri Kameron novels are certainly something to watch out for...



'The Blue Hour' by Jefferson Parker

At first sight, 'The Blue Hour' appears to be yet another member of the rash of gritty American serial killer novels that have been appearing in bookshops ever since Thomas Harris and Hannibal Lector burst onto the scene. This resemblance is strengthened even further by the key ingredients that 'The Blue Hour' and other novels of this ilk share; a series of brutal murders of attractive young women by a monstrous but cunning killer with a nickname of dubious taste, a 'chalk-and-cheese' detective duo with a jaded old-hand paired with a brash, aggressive young detective determined to make her name, and the full weaponry of forensic investigation deployed in all their gruesome detail. The duo in question are Tim Hess, a retired deputy with the Orange County Sheriff's Department, suffering from lung cancer but working as a consultant with Merci Rayborn, an ambitious young deputy whose determination to succeed and unwillingness to acquiesce to the institutionalised sexism of the department has earned her few friends. Together, Hess and Rayborn use their combination of grizzled experience and youthful drive to investigate the killer known as 'The Purse Snatcher', who kidnaps women and then leaves their purses surrounded by the leavings of what appears to be evisceration of their bodies. However, Parker's undoubted skill as a thriller writer raises 'The Blue Hour' far above the crowd, creating a novel that blends the tension and pace of a first-rate serial killer with an peculiarly sensitive examination of the human psyche under stress. 'The Blue Hour' boasts some beautiful writing, particularly when exploring Hess's emotional state on finding himself old and frail at the end of a life of action and excitement, and also when describing his tentative relationship with Merci. Overall, 'The Blue Hour' is a welcome exception to the dull, repetitive voyeuristic 'serial killer' novels that throng the shelves, and worth much more than a second glance.


'The Remorseful Day' - Colin Dexter

'The Remorseful Day' is the last ever (and Dexter seems to have definitely decided this time!) Inspector Morse novel, and with it comes a feeling of the end of an era. The ending is something that it has been difficult to hear about what with the offhand attitude of the media, at least in the UK, who almost seem to delight in revealing the end of the novel. However, I won't reveal it, since I almost got to read this book without finding the ending, were it not for the unthinking words of my boss, who let slip the ending just a day before I got my hands on this novel, and would like to ensure that any unwitting readers will not suffer the same fate. Detective Chief Inspector E. Morse of Thames Valley CID is still unwell, coping with diabetes and also managing to thoroughly frustrate the attempts of his doctors to get him to mend his ways. Meanwhile, Supt. Strange, also contemplating retirement, tries to get a strangely reluctant Morse to team up with the ever-dependable Sgt. Lewis to reinvestigate the brutal murder of nurse Yvonne Harrison in the tightly-knit Oxford village ofLower Swinstead, the case still unsolved a year on. However, Morse seems to have a personal interest in the case, and his behaviour becomes increasingly suspicious as he and Lewis investigate the death.

Besides being a fitting end to the series, 'The Remorseful Day' (a terrible pun, I thought, but apt given Dexter's love of wordplay) is also one of Dexter's best works for a while. The mystery itself is convuluted and complex, and Dexter delightedly leads the reader up a variety of enticing but false paths, and Morse demonstrates his usual blend of obstinacy and uncanny intuition to finally untangle the circumstances of the crime. Dexter's style has matured to become uniquely playful, showing his remarkable ear for dialogue and at the last, displying a mischievous sense of fun, coming close to parody at times as he makes sly asides to such Morse cliches as his unfailing ability to fall for attractive suspects and his (and Dexter's) unceasing pendantic nature over spelling and grammar. It is also pleasing to note how the supporting characters, not least Lewis and Strange, have grown over the years to become fascinatingly complex characters in their own right, and Dexter's portrayal of them is skilful, as is his drawing of the other protagonists of this novel. Remarkably moving in places, 'The Remorseful Day' is a fine and fitting end to a superb series that has always been a pleasure to read. Although it seems a shame that we'll never read a new Morse novel, I can think of no better note on which to end the exploits of Oxford's most idiosyncratic copper.


'Angel's Flight' by Michael Connolly

Connolly's flawed, complex LA cop Hieronymus 'Harry' Bosch has always been one of my favourite protagonists, and its good to see that Connolly still doesn't disappoint with the sixth in his ongoing series. Bosch, struggling with his hastily-conceived marriage to disgraced gambler and former FBI agent Eleanor Wish, is summoned one sleepless night to deal with a double murder on the Angel's Flight, a funicular railway up Bunker Hill. However, one of the victims is Howard Elias, civil rights lawyer and the nemesis of LAPD's finest. Needless to say, the finger of blame is pointed at the police department, and Bosch is maneuvered by his seniors into working the case, digging deep into Elias's death and the fate of a man condemned for the murder of a young girl to discover the unlikely truth before the restless city explodes around him...

Once again, Connolly has pulled off a remarkable feat, investing a highly topical and novel plot with his own superb sense of place, with Bosch as flawed and fascinating as ever. In particular, the power politics of the police hierarchy and their fragile relationship with the community that they serve is especially well-drawn, as one might expect from a journalist of Connolly's experience. After the more fantastical elements of Connolly's stand-alone serial killer novels, Angel's Flight is a welcome return to the more complex and real world of Harry Bosch.


'Ladder of Angels' by Brian Thompson

Brian Thompson is not someone I come across so far, but picking up this Slow Dancer Press (an imprint presided over by none other than John Harvey) was definitely a good move. 'Ladder of Angels' is narrated by Patrick Ganley, world-weary ex-copper turned PI (is there any other kind?), moving from an unorthodox relationship in Yorkshire to investigate the disappearence of a schoolgirl in Hertfordshire. Needless to say, his hunt for the missing Melissa takes the cynical but decent Ganley on a journey through the grubby underbelly of modern Britain, from a deeply dysfunctional family to the business-like headquarters of a telephone sex service, the recurring motif of a disturbingly sexual prepubescent angel serving to lead Ganley onward and downward to a violent climax in rural France. You could say that Thompson is not exactly original in his plots or choice of characters, but both his settings and protagonists are well-drawn, and Ganley's self-deprecating narrative is bitterly humourous. Definitely one to watch.


Hugh Corbett, the Early Years - 'Satan In St. Mary's', 'Crown in Darkness' and 'Spy in Chancery' by P.C. Doherty

Okay, this makes it seem like an omnibus, which it isn't, but the Corbett novels have been recently issued under the new catch-all name of Paul Doherty (quote from Mike Ripley in Shots; 'the novels have recently all been reissued under his real name, just so football fans can chant "There's only one Paul Doherty...") so I took my chance and continued my recent policy of reading everything I can by this man... For those unfamiliar with Doherty, he is a writer of historical crime novels, and one of his most successful series has followed the career of Hugh Corbett, clerk in the chancery of Edward I. In 'Satan In St. Mary's', Corbett is first recruited by Chancellor Burnell to investigate a murder of a Cheapside merchant, and the ostensible suicide of his killer in the church of St. Mary-Le-Bow, leading Corbett not only into the arms of a duplicitous woman but also into a plot involving devil-worshippers and the followers of Edward's eternal nemesis, the late Simon de Montfort. In 'Crown in Darkness', the scenery changes as Corbett is dispatched to the Scottish court to investigate the mysterious circumstances in which King Alexander II of Scotland fell to his death one stormy night, and hence leaving the country with no clear heir and on the brink of the chaos and war that was to engulf it for the next hundred years. Finally, in 'Spy in Chancery', Edward, now taking a direct interest in the career of the chancery clerk, orders Corbett to investigate the possibility of a traitor within the chancery, passing secrets to the French, through the good offices of Amaury de Craon, Corbett's opposite number, and hence Corbett travels to both Paris, where he encounters an unlikely assassin, and to recently subdued Wales and the unruly, rebellious Lord Morgan and his beautiful niece, Maeve...

What can one say? Doherty, though never Booker Prize material, has a great talent for writing an exciting, fast-moving novel, and creating a vivid atmosphere of times part. True, Satan In St. Mary's is clumsy in places, and the character of Corbett unformed and vague, but otherwise all of these novels deliver the goods solidly. In particular, I've come to know Corbett, Ranulf and the rest through the later novels that I've read, so finding out how and why Ranulf-atte-Newgate came to accompany Corbett as body-servant, and what Uncle Morgan was like before becoming a permanent house-guest at Epping, and what became of Corbett's first wife and child. In all, I probably wouldn't start reading the Corbett novels right from the start, but if you've come to enjoy the series, then you won't be disappointed.


'The Linguist' by Mark Urban

BBC journalist Urban's first novel, 'The Illegal' was one of my favourite reads of last year, and a welcome regeneration of the often-tired spy novel. With 'The Linguist', Urban builds on his success and uses his insider knowledge of the counter-intelligence community with this novel about OREGANO, a world-shattering technological breakthrough by GCHQ scientist Ted Lofting. OREGANO allows eavesdroppers to intercept signals on an optical fibre link without signal interruption or detection by the receiver, and its first application, a joint UK-US venture, reflecting the beggarman status of the UK intelligence services, is to gather intelligence from the main French governmental optic fibre link to allow Britain to swing a multimillion pound arms contract with the Saudi government. However, technologists are not quite enough to put this operation into action, and Lofting's team includes Margaret Reynolds, a GCHQ linguist, to monitor and translate the French telephone traffic. In particular, Reynolds is assigned to monitor traffic to and from Bernard Bourrat, a French entrepreneur involved in the contract, and after a spur-of-the-moment contact is made between Margaret and Bernard, they develop a close and passionate clandestine relationship that threatens the security of the entire operation... Meanwhile, Urban explores the conflicts in modern signals and counter-intelligence, between the politicians who know precious little of what is happening, the civil service bureaucrats willing to disavow anything, and the decent, technical . Urban writes a cracking story, and The Linguist is packed with enough technical detail to keep any spy novel fan happy, but also manages to echo the grimy, shopsoiled secret world evoked by Le Carre at his best. On the minus side, Urban doesn't deal with Margaret's sexual nature in a particularly subtl or pleasant way, but overall, I've no complaints and would happily recommend The Linguist to any fan of a well-written spy novel.

'The Masked Man' by P.C. Doherty

My last of Doherty's "lost novels", tracked down eventually to a large-print version languishing in a mobile library somewhere outside Ely, sees a distinct change of scene of the usually firmly medieval (not to say fourteenth century) Doherty with the action taking place in 18th century Paris. As with many of Doherty's stand-alone novels, 'The Masked Man' allows Doherty to examine a real historical conundrum through the medium of a contemporary investigator, this time through the agencies of English rogue (who else would Doherty use?) and forger Ralph Croft, who is languishing in the Bastille at the start of the book. Following the death of Louis XIV, the Duke of Orleans, Regent to the young Louis XV, instigates an investigation into the by-now legendary mystery of the Man in the Iron Mask, a prisoner of some importance kept in several fortresses around France during the reign of the Sun King. However, with the passing of Louis and the deaths of all those who came into contact with the prisoner, the Regent now wishes to discover for himself the identity of the masked man, and coerces Croft into aiding the investigation carried out by D'Estivet, cold-eyed killer and Captain of the Regent's Guard, and the scholarly M. Maurepas, archivist and librarian. Needless to say, Croft is soon plunged into a deadly game, played between those who would find the truth and those who need to conceal it - unfortunately, Croft becomes increasingly unsure of exactly who is on whose side... There's not much more to say about The Masked Man - Doherty seems at home as ever, rifling through the archives of history to find his own truth, and it makes for an interesting read, though unfortunately the characters are the usual warmed-over archetypes that litter Doherty's early novels, but if you are a Doherty fan, I'd recommend tracking this one down.


'The Field of Blood' by Paul Doherty

Following on from 'The Devil's Domain', 'The Field of Blood' is the latest in the ongoing Sorrowful Mysteries of Brother Athelstan, first written as Paul Harding but now part of Doherty's 'rebranding' scheme. Brother Athelstan, the mild, concientious priest of the parish of Southwark is confronted by not one but two cases of murder. Firstly, a young barmaid on trial for the murder of a drunken clerk accuses her former employer, Mistress Vestler, widowed owner of The Paradise Tree Inn, of murdering a chambermaid and her lover and burying their corpses by night beneath a tree in the eponynous field. Secondly, three corpses are found lying within a deserted house, including that of a royal messenger, whose unsolved death may mean a heavy fine for the parish. Naturally, Brother Athelstan, with the assistance of the Falstaffian coroner Sir Jack Cranston, sets out to discover the truth behind these mysteries and to save both his parish and the falsely accused Mistress Vestler.

Although I've been occasionally uncharitable about Doherty's earlier work in these pages, a book like 'The Field of Blood' shows Doherty at his best, full of humour and compassion, skilfully plotting a fiendish mystery and settting it in a richly drawn London. Athelstan and Cranston make a likeable, if unlikely, pair, and as always, the full supporting cast of Athelstan's parishoners make a superbly raucous counterpoint to the dark, mysterious matters of the main plot. Long may Doherty continue.


'The Demon Archer' by Paul Doherty

Doherty's other main protagonist, Sir Hugh Corbett, makes his latest appearance in 'The Demon Archer'. When we last left him in Oxford in 'The Devil's Hunt', the Keeper of the Secret Seal to Edward of England was falling, struck down by an assassin's crossbow bolt. To confound my musings that this event might presage the end of the Hugh Corbett novels and perhaps the rise of Ranulf-atte-Newgate as Edward's new agent, Corbett is back, his wounds only slight due to his luck in choosing to wear a rather thick calfskin jacket, and yet again cajoled into leaving his wife and family in Epping to investigate a politcally sensitive matter on behalf of King Edward. Corbett is dispatched to Savernake Forest, where Lord Henry Fitzalan, the local lord, has been slain by an unseen archer whilst hunting. A much-disliked man, not least by a local outlaw known as the Owlman, the death of Lord Henry would have gone unmourned, but Lord Henry was due to head an important embassy to Paris, and was entertaining powerful guests of the King, including Seigneur Amaury de Craon, Corbett's eternal nemesis. Naturally, Corbett's investigations begin to uncover a host of suspects, from the Owlman, to Fitzalan's chief verderer, to his own younger brother, jealous of Henry's inheritance, to those who would influence the outcome of the embassy. In addition, Ranulf is deeply smitten by the beautiful, wilfull daughter of Robert Verlian, the accused verderer, and Corbett acquires a new ostler in the form of Baldock, unluckiest man alive and an uncannily well-suited successor to the late lamented Maltote, clumsiest man on earth (which makes one wonder if Doherty regrets killing off Maltote in a fit of pique...). Once again, Doherty's long experience and prolific writing skills serve him well, as 'The Demon Archer', although nothing new, is a fitting entry to this long-running series, and is supported not only by Doherty's scholarship and talent for creating a realistic, atmospheric setting, but also by his by now mature lead characters, who he employs deftly to lay bare yet another seemingly baffling mystery.


'The Death of a King', 'The Whyte Harte' and 'The Serpent Amongst The Lilies' by P.C. Doherty

I've been a fan of Paul Doherty's historical novels for many years, but given hi s immmense and diverse output, have never been able to track down his earliest n ovels until now, luckily chancing upon a Poisoned Press reprint of 'The Death of a King', his first novel, and two other early novels, found by chance in my loc al library. Besides being highly enjoyable in their own right, these novels offe r a fascinating glimpse into the development of Doherty as a writer, and enable the reader to trace the genesis of such characters as Hugh Corbett and Roger Sha llot.

In 'The Death of A King', Doherty's debut, Chancery clerk Edmund Beche is assign ed by King Edward III to investigate the events surrounding of the mysterious de ath of his father, Edward II, at Berkeley Castle in 1330. Edward II, a weak figu re taken beside the imposing character of his father, Edward I, whose lack of su ccess in battles fought in France and Scotland, led to a revolt instigated by hi s wife, the 'She-Wolf' Queen Isabella, and her lover, Roger Mortimer, who depose d and imprisoned Edward and ruled in his stead until they were in turn deposed b y the later Edward III. In the meantime, the former king was imprisoned in a suc cession of castles until his death at Berkeley Castle, surrounded by rumours of assassins and red-hot pokers, and public burial in Gloucester, put an end to any hopes of a Restoration. However, as Beche begins to investigate, the secrecy su rrounding his death, and the odd juxtaposition of facts concerning his incarcera tion and alleged death, lead him to believe that all is not quite as it appears. Unfortunately for Beche, his investigations, including grave-robbing in Glouces ter and larceny in the Chancery of the Secret Seal, provoke another party into v iolence to prevent the disclosure of his findings, propelling Beche into a race across Europe, from the terrors of the battle of Crecy to the decaying streets o f Rome, and a final unveiling of the truth. Its immediately obvious that 'The De ath of A King' is Doherty's first novel, as it frequently seems clumsy, both in style, and in Doherty's often heavy-handed explication of the complicated politi cs of the time. This is not helped by Doherty's use of letters from Beche to a f riend as the medium for his story, though this fact becomes significant in the b ook's conclusion, but lends a feeling that Beche's story is contrived. Indeed, t he whole novel smacks very much of Doherty's fervent belief that Edward II's fat e was not as history teaches us, and his wish to communicate his own academic re searches in the form of a novel. Still, Doherty shows his ability to write a gri pping story, and his historical authority is a strong as ever, and in Beche we s ee the earliest glimmerings of Hugh Corbett, though more passionate and lacking Corbett's guilt and self-doubt. All in all, 'The Death of a King' is not the str ongest of Doherty's novels, but provides an interesting viewpoint on a mysteriou s period in English history and is of particular interest to anyone who has foll owed Doherty's career with interest.

In 'The Whyte Harte' and 'The Serpent Amongst The Lilies', Doherty introduces a new character, Matthew Jankyn, former scholar, heretic and thief, now in the emp loy of the saturnine Bishop Beaufort, in the early years of the fifteenth centur y. Richard II, grandson of Edward III, is dead, after his deposition by Henry Bo llingbrooke of Lancaster, now King Henry IV, and the last of Richard's follower' s, including Jankyn's father, have been defeated by Hotspur. Jankyn, a former st udent expelled for his heretical views, falls into a life of crime, and then whi le on the run for murder, is taken in by Sturmey, an old man dedicated to the ca use of Richard II. However, as Jankyn becomes involved in the cause of the Whyte Harte, the organisation dedicated to Richard's restoration, his strong instinct s for self-preservation lead him to betray the organisation to Henry IV's Chance llor, Bishop Beaufort, who then induces Jankyn to investigate whether Richard is still alive, taking him from Stirling to Agincourt in his hunt for the elusive Whyte Harte.

In 'Serpent Amongst The Lilies', we find a much older Jankyn, now Lord of the Ma nor in his home village of Newport, bored with life but thankful for the peace h is position has brought him, until Cardinal Beaufort summons him once again to a ssist him, this time as a spy in the camp of Jehanne the Maid, known to history as Joan of Arc. Jankyn travels to France, and insinuates himself into Jehanne's entourage, witnessing for himself her skill and bravery as a general in the sieg e of Orleans against the armies of Henry IV. As the book progresses, Jankyn's re spect (and that of Doherty) for Jehanne becomes obvious, and he is unwillingly u sed in her ultimate betrayal and capture, though he also casts considerable doub t on her death at the stake in Rouen.

Anyone who has read some of Doherty's later work will doubtless be struck by the resemblance of Jankyn to his two arch-rogues, Ranulf-atte-Newgate, and Sir Roge r Shallot, particularly when the first chapter of 'The Serpent Amongst The Lilie s' might have been lifted wholesale from 'The White Rose Murders' (though it is more likely the other way round), even down to Jankyn's berating of the embarass ed priest to whom he is dictating. In particular, Jankyn's moral 'flexibility' i s deeply reminiscent of that of Ranulf, though in 'The Whyte Harte' in particula r, Jankyn kills without remorse or guilt, though is plagued by nightmares about the very 'harte' he chases. All in all, Jankyn is a much more complicated charac ter than the rambunctious, Flashman-esque Shallot, or the amiably rogueish Ranul f, and it is a pity that Doherty seems to have abandoned Jankyn and his equally ambiguous master, Beaufort in favour of the charms of the fourteenth century. As usual, Doherty mixes gritty realism, dwelling with relish on the horrors of med ieval warfare, with his own passion for historical puzzles, using, as ever, the medium of the historical novel to provide his own solutions to the mysterious de aths that appear to litter medieval English history... Overall, these two books are a real find, and I think that Doherty might be well advised to stick with wh at he knows best, and employ the likes of Jankyn to get to the bottom of the his torical enigmas that he knows and loves.


'Outsider in Amsterdam' - Janwillem van der Wetering


A welcome paperback reissue, Outsider in Amsterdam is in the first novel in van der Wetering's Amsterdam Cops series following the frequently bizarre exploits of Detective-Sergeant Grijpstra and Adjutant de Gier of the Amsterdam police force. Grijpstra and de Gier are summoned to investigate the death by hanging of Piet Verboom, owner of the Hindist Society commune and cafe-bar. Naturally, the duo soon discover that suicide is not a likely explanation, and their hunt for Verboom's murderer brings them into contact with the naive commune members and the less innocent inhabitants of Amsterdam's underworld and then nascent drug culture. They also encounter the extraordinary character of van Meteren, the outsider of the title, a former policeman from Papua New Guinea, now traffic warden and commune member, at once suspect and ally in their investigations into the legal and possibly illicit dealings of the late commune owner, culminating in an energetic finale of showdowns, shoot-outs and a boat chase on the IJssel-lake.

Van der Wetering was at the time a reserve member of the Amsterdam police force and brings his experience of police matters to bear, particularly in his unmistakable distaste for drug users and dealers, while the influences of his earlier travels in Asia and South America, make Outsider in Amsterdam a remarkably thoughtful and electic novel. His portrait of 1970s Amsterdam is skilfully drawn, using the remarkable architecture and topography of the city to great effect, and presents a quite different image to the odd mixture of culture and sleaze that visitors to the city often encounter. The gruff, older Grijpstra and the young, hip and intellectual de Gier, although the classic 'chalk-and-cheese' police duo that readers have come to expect, and occasionally dread, are sufficiently sympathetic and quirky to engage the interest of the reader. This is particularly evident in their conversation where van der Wetering shows his talent for wry, amusing and remarkably subtle dialogue. Although at this stage van der Wetering had not quite developed the distinctive mix of surrealism, Zen philosophy and broad comedy that characterise many of his later Amsterdam Cops novels, but in balance, the plot is considerably more lucid and less deliberately obscure than some of the later novels. In all, Outsider in Amsterdam is a wonderfully engaging piece and a superb introduction for anyone who has yet to encounter van der Wetering.

'Body Politic' - Paul Johnson

'Body Politic' is Johnson's CWA Dagger-winning debut novel, a blend of crime and science fiction, set in Edinburgh in 2020. Following the breakup of the United Kingdom and the subsequent anarchy that engulfed the country, Edinburgh emerged as an independent city state, founded on Platonic ideals and run by a meritocratic body known as The Enlightment. Now controlled by a more pragmatic and less accountable body, Edinburgh and her citizens are dedicated to the amusement of tourists in search of tartan and ersatz whisky in the now year-round Festival, under the watchful eye of the auxillaries and their masters, the City Guardians who form the ruling Council. Johnson's Edinburgh is explored through the eyes of one Quintillian Dalrymple, former policeman, now ekeing out an existence as a parks department worker and occasional private eye, barely tolerated by his former employers. However, with the discovery of a mutilated corpse, the Guardians suspect that the serial murderer known as the Ear, Nose and Throat Man is once again active, and recruit an unwilling Dalrymple to help with their investigations. Needless to say, Dalrymple's search reveals a more sinister scenario than the authorities might wish to have found.

The view of the future described in 'Body Politic' is dystopian, without doubt, and although not the most original of scenarios, with a corrupt, totalitarian regime under whom television, private cars and unsuitable music is banned, the setting lends an edge of versimillitude and originality, married to a suitably noir sensibility. However, his descriptions of Edinburgh remain shadowy, and more could have been made of the rich atmosphere and topography that makes Edinburgh such a fascinating city. Johnson unfolds the story of the events leading to the current situation slowly and with great care, so that the reader is drawn slowly into the world of 2020 Edinburgh, and manages a number of sly digs at contemporary politics and mores, even ensuring that his old school gets its comeuppance. Dalyrmple, though possessed of one of the most outlandish monikers I've seen in recent years, is a sympathetic protagonist, with enough flaws and personal history to be believable and interesting, While the plot is dense and offers more intriguing possibilities than the serial killer novel this first appears to be, my one major concern with this novel is that in creating his richly imagined alternative history, Johnson has been a little too ambitious in the scope of Dalrymple's findings, rather than using the citystate as a backdrop for a less grand, but more believable plot. Still, Johnson richly deserves his award, and I look forward greatly to reading the other books in this sequence.

'Blind Date' - Frances Fyfield

Something a little different to my usual reading, Fyfield's 'Blind Date' is a tense, claustrophobic psychological thriller. Elisabeth Davey is a guilt-wracked former policewomen, scarred after an attack by an unknown assailant with caustic, and haunted by memories of the brutal murder of her younger sister and her attempts to trap her killer that led to the suicide of an innocent man and her abrupt dismissal from the force. Escaping from the seemingly sedate, calm world of her mother's seaside home to the abandoned church bell-tower in which she makes her home, the arrival of Joe, a sometime photographer and now legman for her former boss, throws her deeper into confusion and forces her to face her past and to attempt to discover the real killer of her sister and its link to the brutal killings of young women looking for romance through the world of the dating agency.

'Blind Date' is a disturbing read, and Fyfield has a great gift for creating an unsettling, claustrophobic atmosphere, adding to it slowly through many different plot threads to build up a picture of the human mind in torment. In addition, her characters are deeply flawed, and with the exception of Joe, are often unsympathetic but none-the-less highly compelling. This is true for both her 'heroes' as for her 'villains', both of whom have deeply damaged and scarred psyches. Even more unsettlingly, Fyfield also uses the character of Lizzie's young nephew and his mutually manipulative relationship with a local couple to explore the damage that a young psyche may encounter and the effects that may become frighteningly clear in later life. Her use of imagery, from the decaying London bell-tower to the theme of gems and their symbolism that runs through the book, merely adds to the dense, brooding atmosphere that pervades this novel. 'Blind Date' is not an easy read, but confirms Fyfield's growing reputation as a writer in the class of Rendell or Highsmith.

'The Devil In Disguise' - Martin Edwards

The sixth in Martin Edwards' successful Harry Devlin series, 'The Devil in Disguise' continues to follow the exploits of Devlin, a down-at-heel Liverpool solicitor and plunges him deep into another case of murder. This time, the trustees of the Kavanaugh Arts Trust find themselves at the mercy of an avaricious housekeeper who seems poised to take the lions share of their late benefactor's legacy, leaving them up a certain creek... Added to this, their Chairman is found dead after a fall from a hotel window, an apparent suicide, but Harry is not so sure. His investigations, aided by the irascible PI Jonah Deegan and his keen young niece Stephanie, begin to unravel the but danger is close at hand, leading Devlin to question the motives of some his oldest and closest friends...

Edwards is one of the best British crime writers around at the moment, blending a modern, urban novel with noir overtones with the plot devices, which Edwards more than acknowledges with his descriptions of Devlin's addiction to crime novels and the 'Speckled Band' bookshop in which many of the key scenes unfold. Devlin is a tremendous character, wryly humourous, down-at-heel and still haunted at times with the memory of his late wife. As regular readers might expect, his private life is still as unpredictable as ever, with Devlin torn between two women, though I often wonder if Edwards is likely to give Harry a break one of these days... In this novel, Edwards has created an almost perfect blend of brooding urban crime, traditional mystery writing and sharply observant, mordantly humourous wit, and has certainly maintained the high level reached by his earlier novels.

'The Devil's Hunt' - P.C. Doherty

Another entry in Doherty's ongoing medieval crime series featuring Sir Hugh Corbett, Keeper of the Secret Seal to Edward I, and reluctant investigator and trouble-shooter. The arrival of Edward and his entourage at Corbett's home of Leighton Manor at Epping (close to Doherty's current home) signals another case for the world-weary, haunted Corbett to investigate, and drags him away from his wife, the Lady Maeve, and their young daughter Eleanor. Corbett and his manservant, the rogueish Ranulf-atte-Newgate, accompanied by Ralph Maltote, horseman extraordinaire, are sent to Oxford, where a mysterious figure called the Bellman has posted treasonous attacks on the King around the city, evoking the spirit of the dead Earl Simon de Montfort, whose urgings for greater democracy within the state were met by Edward with violent and deadly force. Furthermore, the Bellman claims to come from Sparrow Hall, founded by the late Henry Braose, loyal knight to the king during his battles against the rebellious Earl, and where several Masters have recently died in mysterious circumstances. Edward has assigned Corbett to locate the Bellman before his proclamations provoke treasonous plottings within the populace, to unearth the culprit behind the deaths of the scholars and to discover why the decapitated heads of beggars have been found hanging from trees in the countryside surrounding Oxford. Needless to say, Corbett and his companions rapidly find that there are those in the University City who would rather they were unable to continue their investigations, and set themselves to staying alive long enough to discover the culprits and motives behind these baffling crimes.

Doherty's Corbett novels are not deep books, but cracking good fun and Doherty does this kind of thing so well and certainly does not disappoint the reader in search of a diverting, thrilling mystery. Although his characterisation is generally minimal, the principals are sufficiently well developed to be sympathetic and likeable to the reader, and the felonious Ranulf begins to show deeper and more complex characteristics that are likely to become more significant as this series continues, as surely it must. Doherty has great fun with the convulted plot, and once more excels in that classic mystery puzzle, the locked room, weaving it skilfully with the rich atmosphere of fourteenth century England that he evokes so well, and the complex politics of the time which he describes with exceptional clarity and real authority. If you're new to Doherty, this is as good a place to start as any, and if, like me, you're a confirmed addict, then 'The Devil's Hunt' will certainly satisfy you.

'Last Reminder' - Stuart Pawson

'Last Reminder' is another chapter in the life of Heckley CID, and its offbeat DI, Charlie Priest, previously encountered in 'The Mushroom Man', 'The Picasso Scam' and 'The Judas Sheep'. The morning starts badly for Charlie, nursing a hangover when called to investigate a rather grisly attack on swans in the local park, but things get even more complicated when a local financial adviser is found dead, and when it is discovered that he was rather less than honest with his clients about his investments, and involved in a dodgy diamond scam to boot, Charlie has an enviably long list of suspects to investigate....

Stuart Pawson's Charlie Priest series is one of my current favourites, and Last Reminder is a good entry in the ongoing exploits of sensitive, offbeat copper Priest. It has to be said that Pawson is never going to be remembered as a groundbreaking crime writer capable of the brooding atmosphere and damaged characters of Harvey or Rankin, but I think Pawson is deserving of recognition and accolade for producing a series of well-written, intelligent, funny and involving detective novels. Priest is a great character who one warms to quickly, and the supporting cast and streaks of grim humour are immensely welcome, as is the well-drawn backdrop of the Yorkshire Dales. One critiscm - Charlie is currently involved with Annabel Wilberforce, the widow of an Anglican bishop, and unfortunately her character seems rather unreal and decidedly out-of-place. If the author reads this - go on, get Charlie the person he deserves...


'Dead Souls' - Ian Rankin

Tenth book in Rankin's highly acclaimed Rebus series, and things aren't getting any better for poor old John Rebus. The booze still isn't under control, nor the guilt over the serious injuries suffeered by his daughter Sammy in The Hanging Garden, and guilt over the death of his old friend and colleague, Jack Morton (see 'Black and Blue'). Ghosts haunt him at every turn, and even his closest firends notice that 'something's gone bad' within him. His involvement in a child abuse case at a local children's home is too much for him, and after catching sight of a convicted paedophile at a local zoo, instigates a press leak and the matter concludes in a violent vigilante action by locals. Added to this, an old schoolmate from Fife, Brian Mee, and his wife, Janice, an old flame of Rebus, want him to help locate their runaway teenage son, last seen in the company of a mysterious blonde, but the presence of Janice and Brian brings back too many memories of childhood betrayals and lost friendships than Rebus can handle. If this were not enough, a burnt-out tabloid hack comes to Edinburgh to capitalise on the return to Scotland of Cary Oakes, a charming, amoral psychopath convicted of several murder in the US though suspected of far more crimes than could be proved, particularly by a retired Edinburgh copper who suspects that Oakes may have been responsible for the brutal murder of his niece. Rebus is assigned to harry Oakes out of Edinburgh, but Oakes finds Rebus's flawed and vunerable persona too tempting to pass up using as a pawn in his intricate mind games.

Rankin skilfully handles events and the heady cocktail of plot elements, but disappointingly, the ending is cliched and far too rapidly concluded and neatly to be truly satisfying. This might be a result of the choice of plot elements - Rankin seems to have outreached himself by trying to cram far too much into one book. Still, Rankin's talent is immense, and the atmosphere of the book is rich and brooding, although the chilling feelings engendered by the ghostly presence of Jack Morton earlier in the book fade rather too quickly. Rankin's remarkable use of Edinburgh landmarks is still as striking as ever, particularly the juxtaposition of a rundown council estate with the site for the new Parliament building, and the intense, claustrophobic atmosphere of the mist-draped Salisbury Crags where a colleague of Rebus takes his own life, and Rebus and Oakes confront one another. Rebus is still as confused, and contradictory a character as ever, simultaneously inciting compassion, sympathy and disgust at once. Particularly touching is Rebus's grudging compassion for Darren Rough, a convicted paedophile who he takes pity on after local vigilantes have forced him out of their estate. Rankin hasn't yet attained the heights he scaled in the monumental Black and Blue, but Dead Souls still shows he is a remarkable writer, and is a book that should not be passed over lightly.


'The Last Cut' - Michael Pearce

Its always refreshing to see a historical novel set in something else than the usual, all-purpose 'coarse medieval', and particularly refreshing to find a series of historicals with the wit, intelligence and originality of Michael Pearce's Mamur Zapt series, of which 'The Last Cut' is the latest installment. 'Mamur Zapt' is the title traditionally given to the head of the Khedive's secret police in Cairo, and the incumbent and protagonist of the series is Captain Gareth Owen, serving in turn-of-the-century colonial Egypt as part of the large contingent of . As Mamur Zapt, Owen is in charge of investigating political and potentially inflammatory crimes in the ethnically and theologically diverse Cairean culture - the latest of these to cross his path is the series of crimes surrounding Cairo's water supply. Not only has someone, widely rumoured to be the infamous and possibly mythological Lizardman, blown up one of the canal regulators, but the body of a young woman has been found in front of a dam. The significance of this becomes clear - the dam is annually breached, in a ceremony steeped in ancient fertility rites Muslims vs. Jews about the last 'cut' - watercarriers economy. With a cast that includes Nikos the retentive clerk, Georgiades the sly Greek with a regrettably large extended family, Mahmoud the shrewd, Nationalist lawyer, miscellaneous inept or downright insane British officials, a supporting cast of Scottish engineers, and Zeinab, his always unpredictable girlfriend, Owen steers his haphazard path through the fraught, seemingly irrational world of Egyptian politics. Needless to say, Pearce handles the unbelievably complex plot with aplomb, displaying his customarily dry sense of humour to the full. The dialogue is first-rate, particularly when it comes to the native Egyptian population, and scenes are skilfully intercut to produce a truly satisfying novel. Long may it continue.


'Criminal Shadows' - David Canter

'Criminal Shadows' is a definite departure from the usual slew of true crime novels dealing with forensic psychology, and a remarkably refreshing one, given the lurid nature of many such novels. Prof. David Canter is first and foremost a psychologist, originally concentrating on 'environmental psychology' ie. the interaction of people with the geography and topology of their surroundings, and responsible for studies of behaviour during disasters such as the tragic King's Cross tube fire. However, a series of rapes in the London area led him to apply his methodology, including multispatial analysis of behavioural patterns, on a series of violent crimes as a consultant to various British police forces. The first section of the book deals mainly with these as case histories, and he shows a remarkable restraint in dealing with the more sensational and lurid aspects of his work, choosing instead to actually follow the techniques used to analyse serial rapes and murders. The second half of the book is equally interesting, being somewhat like a potted history of psychology, with Canter's own views on the subject, which given the number of textbooks that Canter has written, is lucid and convincing. Particularly interesting is his treatment of behaviour as being 'narrative-based', with individuals attempting to fit their own behavioural patterns around a pre-conceived, though dynamic, inner narrative, a view that is not widely discussed outside academic circles. In all, David Canter has produced a remarkably lucid and readable work on an important subject to which he gives due consideration without the voyeurism evident in other popular works on.
For those interested in Canter's work, you might find the following website at Liverpool University to be interesting, dealing as it does with Canter's bibliography and a selection of articles.


'Mindhunter' - John Douglas

Yet another popular book on forensic psychology, this time from the pen of John Douglas, a pioneer of profiling in the US as part of the now-defunct Behavioural Sciences Unit, and investigator on all manner of gruesome and violent crimes. Unlike Canter's work, this definitely falls into the 'memoirs' category, unmistakabely since Douglas devotes a considerable section of the book to discussing himself, and most irritatingly, his childhood and teenage years, emphasising what a naughty boy he was but how he was beginning to 'profile' people even then. This self-centred approach is also particularly evident when name-dropping about Thomas Harris and 'The Silence of the Lambs' as being inspired by himself, and how he has managed to convince lots of tough-nut coppers that he really does know what he's talking about and won their grudging respect - but then, what do you expect from a book with a Patsy Cornwell recommendation? This review seems to be a little one-sided, and to give Douglas his due, his work has been impressive, and it certainly makes for slightly more exciting reading than other books dealing with UK-based crimes (thankfully, Britain lacks a lot of this kind of 'excitement'...), and you come away, like a hard-bitten, big-city cop, with a grudging respect for this man and his undoubtedly important investigations and studies into violent crime.

'Ghost of a Chance' - Peter Guttridge
The second book by freelance journo Guttridge, after his highly successful debut No Laughing Matter, Ghost of a Chance also features hapless journalist Nick Madrid, this time staked out on a prehistoric burial site on the Sussex downs as part of a feature for his ferocious editor. The night proves uneventful, naturally, if you discount the strange procession of animal headed humanoids and the discovery of a hanged man in a nearby churchyard... Things go rapidly down hill as Madrid is determined to find out why the man died, and just what the connection to 'The Great Beast' and sorceror Aleister Crowley, legendary film director Zane Pynchon and a new Age retreat really means.

A Ghost of a Chance is a cracking novel - laugh-out loud hilarious, exciting and with more than enough quirks and originality to keep anyone amused. It was rather reminiscent of Ripley's Angel novels in its tone and outlook, though perhpas lakcing some of Angel's more perceptive one-liners although also lacking his rather self-satisfied viewpoint. Madrid (it should be noted that Guttridge loves giving his characters rather bizarre monikers) isn't that well-developed as a character, particularly since he rather obviously echoes his creator's skills, hobbies (some form of rather extreme yoga) and outlook, but he works well as a narrator and is the butt of several rather humuorous situations. The plot is rather outlandish, but not too difficult to follow and generally makes for fun rading. Overall, Guttridge is definitely one to watch.


'Blast From The Past' - Kinky Friedman

The latest opus from the pen of Kinky Friedman, country singer turned writer, concerning the exploits of Kinky Friedman, country singer turned writing, takes a different perspective from his previous novels. For those not familiar with the Kinkster, the series is rather hard to explain, suffice to say that Friedman has a great deal of fun setting himself up as an offbeat PI in New York, armed only with a Stetson and the odd cigar, and populating his cases with his friends as associates, suspects and even psychotic killers. In 'Blast From The Past', a sudden blow to the head sends Kinky's narrative back by twenty years, when he was a struggling, penniless country and western singer sleeping on friends couches and inhaling rather too much Peruvian marching powder. However, the arrival of the fugitive Abbie Hoffman, in fear of his life from the FBI, CIA and just about anyone else in the vicinity, and a series of murderous assaults on Kinky changes his life rather radically, setting him on the first steps of a new career path.

I've always enjoyed both the writing (and quite a lot of the music) of the Kinkster, but I'm afraid Blast From The Past was a bit of a disappointment after some of his previous highly enjoyable novels. I'll grant that the same superb cast of characters is still in place, including young versions of Ratso, Rambam, McGovern and the late Tom Baker (no relation), but the change of setting isn't really particularly enlightening or engaging. The mystery plot is so-so, but then I don't tend to read Kinky's novels for the intricacy of their plots, and most of the events rather forgettable. The mileu of late seventies New York is also ever so slightly depressing, as Kinky's previous successes grow distant, and everything seems somewhat seedy and rundown. More importantly, the dialogue, though good, isn't up to the usual high standard, and the famous Friedman one-liners are less than sparkling. I get the impression that Kinky the author is getting a little tired and jaded, and this comes across in the narrative. Another criticism of 'Blast From The Past', and of some of the more recent novels, is that Friedman is trying to develop the fictional Kinky far more as a character (which is a difficult thing to do when writing about yourself in a work of fiction, I'll admit...), and it doesn't always work, mainly since the earlier novels had a much less introspective and much funnier point of view. Still, I'll keep on reading Kinky Friedman, since the man has so much to offer.

A Time For The Death of a King' - Ann Dukthas

Yet another P.C. Doherty incarnation, wherein the author explores the now familiar ground of unsolved historical mysteries using a new device, the seemingly immortal scholar Dr. Nicholas Segalla. Segalla is introduced to us through the offices of Ann, a historian with an interest in the reign of Mary, Queen of Scots, who is astounded by Segalla's possession of a remarkable piece of evidence surrounding the mysterious death of Darnley, dissolute of husband of Mary. The rest of the novel then recounts Segalla's involvement with the mystery, as a French Jesuit priest sent on a diplomatic mission to Scotland by Archbishop Beaton, the saintly advisor to Mary. Whilst trying to track the nefarious activities of the Raven Master, the chief agent of Sir Francis Walsingham, Elizabeth's spymaster, the debauched and syphilitic Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, Mary's estranged husband, is found dead outside the Old Provost's House at Kirk O'Field, which has itself just been leveled by a massive explosion. However, Darnley's corpse, and that of his servant, is devoid of any sign of injury, leading Segalla to suspect that all is not as it seems.

Although the puzzle surrounding Darnley's death is intriguing (and still unanswered by most), I'm afraid Doherty has miscalculated with this novel by concentrating too much on the puzzle and not enough on plot, pace and characterisation. Segalla is far too much of a device, and not really a character with whom one can empathise. Oddly, most of the narrative is from Segalla's point of view, but we know so little about this man that it is hard to care much about the proceedings. Doherty might have played it better by having an ingenue clerk or servant, say, assigned to the mysterious Segalla's staff in order to provide a more accessible grasp on the story. In addition, this novel also suffers through its poor construction - the lead up to and aftermath of the bombing is, but the finale is extremely rushed, and Segalla's conclusions seem based on pretty flimsy, circumstantial evidence. As always, Doherty's historical credentials appear impeccable, at least to the moderately informed observer, and his talent for conveying a believable period atmosphere is always welcome but although and the novel contains some interesting passages, I'm not as fond of this new direction as I am of some of Doherty's more established works.
'Killing The Lawyers' - Reginald Hill

The latest in Reginald Hill's comic crime series concerning the exploits of Joe Sixsmith, unemployed lathe operator turned PI, 'Killing The Lawyers' finds Joe and his feline sidekick, Whitey, simultaneously embroiled in two separate cases. His unwitting pursuit of an unfair insurance claim ruling leads Joe to end up having harsh words with a lawyer from a prestigious local firm of solicitors who unfortunately ends up dead. To make matters worse, a number of his colleagues follow suit, leading the police, in the shape of DS Chivers, to finger Joe as Number One suspect. Whilst Joe is attempting to clear his name, he is also retained by the up-and-coming and decidedly tasty Lutonian athelete, Zak Oto and her sinister bodyguard (with the unlikely name of Starlight Jones) to find out just who is trying to scare her off winning the inaugural race at the new Luton Pleasuredome.

The main thing going for this series of novels is Joe, the engagingly inept and naive protagonist, whose internal monologues and conversations with Whitey are extremely appealing and make for enjoyable reading. The idea of taking a decidedly dull town like Luton (okay, I'm biased after spending eight hours there waiting for a flight to Scotland...) and discarding all of its features but its name and is inspired, particularly when Hill digresses into short sections of the 'Lost Traveller's Guide To Luton'... While the plot strands are wrapped up too neatly, Hill again displays his undoubted talent as a writer to the full, making for an enjoyable entry to this series.
'A Bone of Contention' - Susannah Gregory
Once again, Susannah Gregory returns to the chaotic and violent world of 14th century Cambridge to follow the career of Matthew Bartolemew, Fellow of Michaelhouse, physician and unwilling detective. This time, Bartholemew is called upon to offer his professional opinion on a skeleton unearthed in the Kings Ditch, widely rumoured to be the remains of a local figure renowned for his philanthropic and saintly nature. The typically hard-headed Bartholemew dismisses this rumour as impossible, but is disturbingly reminded of the disappearance of a childhood friend many years in the past. However, the importance of such relics to the economy of the town is reinforced by the discovery of a suspiciously clean-looking hand unearthed by the fellows of Valence Marie Hall and Bartholemew finds his sceptical voice lost in the enthusiam for such a find. Meanwhile, Cambridge is swept by a series of violent riots in which a number of people are killed, and a young Scots student is found brutally murdered, which Bartholemew and his friend Brother Michael, Senior Proctor begin to investigate.

I have a great deal of admiration for Gregory's Bartholemew novels, which has a good deal to do with my interest in the history of the city of Cambridge, my current home, but more to do with her ability to create a rich and believable atmosphere. This novel is somewhat more densely plotted than its predecessors, but Gregory acquits herself well, producing an enjoyable detective story set in a fascinating location. At odds with the rather dark nature of her previous novels, Gregory injects a degree of rather slapstick humour, which strikes a rather odd note, although it is welcome, particularly her description of a debauched College feast to which Bartholemew invites no fewer that three women, including a local prostitute of his acquaintance.... If I have one major criticism, it is that Bartholemew has rather anachronisitic views on medicine, notably a love of hygiene and a contempt for astrology (there is a rather annoying running joke about the misdiagnosis of Bartholemew's stars by a student which dogs his footsteps past its time) but fortunately Gregory tempers this with the display of contempt shown it by his peers and patients. Overall, a good addition to the series, though not as satisfying as her previous novels.
'The Jigsaw Man' - Paul Britton

'The Jigsaw Man' is the best-selling and critically acclaimed popular work on forensic psychology by Paul Britton, one of the pioneers of offender profiling in Britain. Basically a memoir of how he first became involved with offender profiling, it details of some of the more infamous cases that he has been involved in, including the kidnapping of Stephanie Slater and the murder of Rachel Nickell on Wimbledon Common, something I remember vividly from the time, and the subsequent collapse of the trial against a prime suspect, resulting in Britton's vilification by the media. It is also interesting to read the other, less violent crimes that Britton has been involved in, notably the spate of blackmail threats against baby food companies by a former detective and the copycat crimes that followed.


This book is extremely disturbing in places, especially in views of the names that Britton mentions are resonant with memories for me, having heard them on the television and radio as the police appealed for information - Stephanie Slater, Julie Dart, Caroline Hogg and most disturbing of all, the murder of Jamie Bulger. If I have a major criticism, it is that Britton's narration can be a little self-congratulatory. Indeed, one wonders how many cases he has advised on, and of how many his advice proved to be unproductive or misleading. However, his simultaneous professional interest and empathy with the crimes and their victims is evident, and reassuring, and there is also a refreshing lack of the voyeurism that is evident in all too many 'true crime' books. Overall, a fascinating look at the work that Britton has carried out, although I have heard that caution is advised due to an alleged tendency to Britton to play the great detective a little too much.
'Shinju' - Laura Joh Rowlands

An interesting variant on the traditional historical detective novel, Shinju is a police procedural, set in 17th century Japan. The protagonist, Sano Ichiro, is a member of a rather down-at-heel samurai caste family, whose father calls in a long-standing debt of honour so that his son may become a yoriko (police commissioner) based in Edo (Tokyo). After discovering the hard way that his job involves rather more bureaucracy than thief-taking, he begins a routine investigation of a double suicide, or shinju, which leaves loose ends that he is not satisfied with, and so he sets out to determine just why the daughter of a powerful family has been dragged out of the river with a penniless artist. However, Sano's investigations soon lead to the conclusion that the explanation of a double love suicide between two people of different classes is just a convenient story to cover up something far more sinister. However, he runs into barriers imposed by social restraint and etiquette, and far more importantly, the intransigence of his superior, the magistrate, and his fellow yoriko, and his diligent pursuit of the truth against all odds leads him to a sinister conspiracy aimed at the heart of society.

'Shinju' deals with the strong themes of duty to the system warring with the personal desire of the individual to achieve goal that they see as 'right', which is an obvious theme for a novel set in such a stratified society as 17th century Japan. However, Sano is perhaps too modern a character in his preconceptions and outlook on life to fit well enough in, and also a little too much of a 'maverick cop' to be a truly original character, though he is engaging as a protagonist and generally sympathetic. Although this is a minor criticism, this problem of twentieth century characters in 'fancy dress' is all too frequent in historical novels, and something more is needed to overcome this flaw. Main strength of this book is its setting, which is atmsopheric and well realised by the author. Plot is also intriguing, though a little obvious and somewhat contrived in places. Furthermore, Rowlands over-reaches herself with the ending - novels of this type often work better by sticking to the terrifying mundaneness of crimes like murder. However, this is an enjoyable novel and full of promise for further entries in this series.
'A Famine of Horses' - P.F. Chisholm

Possibly one of the most critically acclaimed historical of the last few years, 'A Famine of Horses' is the first in Chisholm's series of historical novels about Sir Robert Carey, Deputy Warden of the West March, on the Anglo-Scots Border of the late 16th century. Based on the journals of the real Robert Carey, the series of novels deals in a remarkably prosaic manner about the day to day duties of the Deputy Warden and focusses on some of the more dramatic incidents in his tenure. 'A Famine of Horses' follows Carey's baptism by fire in the wild Marches, and his attempts to regain control of the March from the corrupt but well-entrenched Sir Richard Lowther, frustrated rival for the post of Deputy Warden. In addition, Carey discovers the corpse of a member of the notorious Graham faimly and takes the apparently unheard path of trying to discover who killed him and why.

'A Famine of Horses', and the novels that follow, are rather unique amongst the current crop of 'historicals', mainlt because of the feeling that Chisholm's characters behave as they probably did at the time. The historical detail immense but not overwhelming, and Chisholm explores the complex politics of the time with admirable clarity. The principal storyline of Carey's attempts to discover the circumstances surrounding the murder of Sweetmilk Geordie Graham is sufficiently intriguing to form the basis of any good detective novel, and the climatic scenes of the novel are both exciting and imaginatively portrayed. Added to this there is a wicked sense of humour and characters, such as Janet and Henry Dodd, who are both interesting and also likeable, with a liberal sprinkling of vivid names and characters such Jock of the Peartree and the infamous 'surnames' of the era, the Grahams, Eliots, Armstrongs et al. Overall, the first novel in what is becoming one of the best historical crime series of recent years.
'Anno Dracula' - Kim Newman

Not really a conventional mystery, although a series of murders occupies its heart, 'Anno Dracula' is a terrific blend of horror, alternative history and a "what if" take on the classic novel 'Dracula'. Newman's premise is that van Helsing and his companions failed to defeat Dracula (the transition point occurs at the end of Chapter 25), and Dracula has won in his attempt to establish an empire of undead in Victoria's Britain. Dracula has 'turned' Queen Victoria, and as Prince-Consort Vlad Tepes ushers in a new age of medieval brutality. Vampires occupy senior positions in government, the aristocracy aspire to joining their ranks, and the enemies of the state are impaled before Buckingham Palace by the elite Carpathian Guard. Meanwhile, a killer known first as Silver Knife, and later by a more familiar name, brutally murders a series of vampire prostitutes in London's East End. Since the foremost consulting detective of the age is imprisoned in the Devils Dyke concentration camp, Charles Beauregard, a "warm" diplomat and spy, is dispatched by the secretive ruling cabal known only as the Diogenes Club, to investigate these potentially inflammatory killings. Together with Genevieve, an elder French vampire, and Dr. John Seward, mourning his lost Lucy Westenra, he delicately negotiates his way through the dangerous alleys of Limehouse, fending off vampires and the rebellious warm alike, towards the identity of the killer and other revelations.

Newman has produced an exceptionally fine and remarkably playful novel, skilfully blending the flavour of Stoker's original novel with the atmosphere and personalities of real and fictional Victorian events and novels. One of the chief delights is spotting the numerous cameos by real and fictional characters, from the vampire Prime Minister Lord Ruthven (his protege, Sir Francis Varney, being otherwise occupied with rebellious native vampires in India), the pitiful figure of Victoria Regina, through the good Drs. Jekyll and Moreau, the villanous Colonel Sebastian Moran and Dr. Fu Manchu, right down to an ancient, hopping Chinese vampire known only as Mr. Yam... Newman's vision of a nouveau vampire society is excellently imagined and the plot sufficiently involving, although Dracula remains far too much of a shadowy figure, and the denouement leaves something to be desired. Vampire physiology is dealt with in a consistent manner, and thankfully the vampires are somewhat more vulnerable and ultimately more sympathetic than certain bestselling vampire novelists would have you believe.
'The Bloody Red Baron' - Kim Newman

Newman returns to the alternative world of 'Anno Dracula' but it is now 1915, and a Great War rages between the Powers of Europe. Dracula, expelled from the United Kingdom, has found a new niche in Germany, and commands German warm and undead troops in an offensive against the Allied Powers. Unfortunately, the extensive use of silver-jacketed machine gun ammunition has lead to a stalemate in the trenches of Northen France, and the new-born vampires of Europe are dying in great numbers, so Graf von Dracula masterminds the formation of an undead airforce under Manfred von Richthofen, the Bloody Red Baron. Once again, Charles Beauregard, older and still warm, is called upon by the Diogenes Club to discover Dracula's plans. The plot and alternative history covered here stretchs credibility a little, and Newman doesn't quite capture the atmosphere of the trenches as well as he did with Victorian London, but this is still an extremely enjoyable novel, featuring once again a host of cameo roles, including Edgar Allen Poe, Winston Churchill and even Colonel Clive Wynn-Candy and Oberst Theo Kreustchmar-Schuldorf.

Lindsay Davis - The Falco Novels

 Lindsay Davis's best-selling historical crime series follows the exploits and mishaps of Marcus Didius Falco, down-at-heel and distinctly proletarian private informer, a character cast very much in the mould of Marlowe and company, thrust wholesale into the Rome of Emperor Vespasian. This admitte dly strange idea works extraordinarily well, the funny, streewise and down-to-earth Falco fitting well into Davis's wonderfully imagined and atmospheric Rome, full of sights and characters that seem real and believable.

Working on his own behalf and for clients including the noble imperial family and their less-than-noble associates, Falco painstakingly works to discover the truth surrounding the crimes that confront him, whilst trying to survive the vagaries of life on the streets of Rome, the vicious politics of the era and his enduring though tempestuous relationship with the aristocratic Helena Justina. The novels cover many different cases, clients and locales, with Falco dispatched to the deserts of the East, Spain and the wild, cold and frightening island of Britain. At times, Falco's peregrinations are a little tedious, resembling nothing more than historical travelogues, particularly in Last Act In Palmyra, but Davis's eye for detail and characterisation more than compensate.

Detractors have noted that Davis lacks the rigourous scholarship and historical of writers such as Steven Saylor (author of the equally excellent Gordianus novels, set in Republican Rome) - such comparisons are unavoidable, but Davis's entertaining style pace and feeling for the period more than compensate for any such shortcomings. The relationship between Falco and Helena is sensitively and compassionately drawn, in a truly romantic sense that makes wonderful reading. Perhaps Davis's most positive aspect is her wicked sense of humour, particularly in the narrative style, with Falco owing much to Chandler's Marlowe, combined with a delicious sense of the absurd, not to say farcical. Not wishing to overwhelm you with examples, I merely advise you to watch out for a scene in Venus In Copper involving a turbot, a shield and Titus Caesar. Another prime source of the finest one-liners I have ever read is Davis's Dramatis Personae preceding each novel. All that is left for me to say is that the set have been amongst the best new crime fiction of recent years, and I strongly urge you to try them. The list to date is:

(There is also a non-Falco novel, The Course of Honour, strictly a historical romance dealing with Vespasian and his freed-woman mistress Caenis, but none-the-less well-worth seeking out.)

John Harvey - The Resnick Novels

 Amongst the best of the new breed of English crime writers is John Harvey, leading the way with his Nottingham-based policeman, DI Charlie Resnick. I don't think anything has ever come so close to capturing the atmosphere and reality of modern life in urban Britain. Resnick is cast somewhat in the mould of fictional policeman such as Dexter's Morse, but a more different setting from Dexter's Oxford could not be imagined. Dark in tone, Harvey's writing details Resnick's investigations into crimes in the industrial Midlands city of Nottingham - a far cry from its popular image as the home of Robin Hood. Harvey's Nottingham typifies many modern British cities, a mixture of the poor and the affluent, and of depressed and thriving areas. Although each novel deals in the main with one particular case, often the hunt for a killer, it is clear that Nottingham CID have a great deal of other matters that concern them, which, combined with limited resources and a stressed, overworked force, create a less-than-easy path for Resnick to follow.

As has been said, Resnick might be compared to Morse, but he is a more complex, flawed and ultimately human character than the often aloof Morse, dealing with more than the abstractions of one particular case. Like many other fictional policemen, Resnick has a somewhat erratic personal life, dealing with his ex-wife and other romantic entanglements whilst trying to deal with the pressures of his work. Harvey handles this in a sensitive manner, allowing Resnick to become more than the stereotypical 'screwed-up cop'. Of particular interest is Resnick's need to deal with his Polish ancestry, and with the Polish community in Nottingham, particularly with his contemporary, Marion, who has not embraced English life in the way he has.

Although Resnick is the supposed 'hero' of the novels, Harvey also pays great attention to Resnick's fellow detectives and their relationships in and out of work. Recurring characters include the crude, brash Mark Divine, a 'lad' who at times to live merely for lager, casual sex and rugby, and Lynn Kellogg, a struggling young DC from rural Norfolk, confronting her background and role as a woman in the male-dominated police force. Another characteris Diptak Patel, a Asian Briton, who Harvey makes use of to explore issues of racism in a multicultural Britain. Combined with other characters exemplifying diverse range of the personalities and problems that police face at work and at home, Harvey paints a realistic image of urban life and crime in modern Britain. These novels are to be recommended highly, not solely as crime fiction, but in a broader sense concerning the issues they deal with.

To date, the novels are: Note: The first two novels were filmed by the BBC, starring Tom Wilkinson as Charlie Resnick. The series doesn't appear to be available on video, but if anyone happens to hear of available copies, I'd be extremely grateful to hear about it.

Note for mystery fans: Living Proof, although in many respects Harvey's weakest novel, is a delightful find for mystery buffs, satirising neatly modern crime fiction and the eternal conflict between advocates of the 'cosy' and 'hard-boiled'. Also, watch out for special guest appearances by Ian Rankin and Mark Timlin....

Mike Ripley - The Angel Novels

 Mike Ripley's novels detail the trials and tribulations that life in London throws at Fitzroy Maclean Angel, Hackney-living, cab-driving, trumpet-playing wide-boy. Angel's exploits make a delightfully light-hearted counterpart to the dark, grim London portrayed in Ripley's contemporaries Mark Timlin and Dan Kavanagh. These might be compared in some sense to Jonathan Gash's Lovejoy novels, written in a funny, observant manner and featuring a loveable rogue who although never quite on the right side of the law is always on the side of the angels (no pun intended). However, for my money, Angel is a far more engaging and likeable hero, and Ripley's writing tears along at a terrific pace, featuring crackling narrative and dialogue and wonderful set-pieces. Angel, a man of uncertain history, is a reluctant hero at the best of times, frequently trying to avoid trouble but only ending up mired in even worse straits, but always managing to slide his way out, and usually resolving most problems on the way. Although not a professional 'tec by any means, Angel has enough reserves of nous, street-knowledge, and surprisingly useful (and technically illegal) skills to see him through.

Angel's London is very much the flipside of the decaying urban landscape of London as it is frequently portrayed, still grimy, grubby and down-at-heel but filled with a Dickensian array of characters and events, not least Angel's trusty black Austin FX4 cab, Armstrong, his down-right psychotic cat, Springsteen, and a veritable host of lowlives and eccentrics who Angel frequently prevails upon on to (grudgingly) assist him, including Werewolf the banjo player, Duncan the Drunken ('probably the best car mechanic in the world'), The Celtic Twilight, Lisabeth & Fenella and worse still, his eccentric family. Ripley has one of the keenest eyes around for prevailing trends, fondness for brand names and a talent for spotting whatever recent events that shape the attitudes of the average Londoner. Ripley excels in lovingly detailing scams and set-ups of all kinds, from music-industry rip-offs to international drug smuggling, and these make for highly engaging and enjoyable reading. In all, Mike Ripley has created an extremely readable and engrossing series, full of terrifically observed detail and outlandish characters.

Just Another Angel
Hired to get a necklace back for a casual but gorgeous acquaintance, the trail leads Angel into a decidedly tricky situation involving an obsessive policeman, a somewhat violent London gangster and his gargantuan sidekick. All in a days work, no doubt...

Angel Touch
Asked by his gorgeous (but unfortunately married) upstairs neighbour Salome to help her clear her name of suspected espionage at the City brokerage where she works, Angel puts all his considerable resources into tracking down exactly who's leaking vital information from the firm.

Angel Hunt
When an old college friend drops in, rather literally, and rather dead, Angel starts to investigate his links with animal rights campaigners, ending up in confrontation with huntsmen, animal libbers and radical clergy alike. This novel features possibly the best use of a cat as an anti-personnel device...

Angel City
Doing a bit of cash-in-hand labouring for the enigmatic and eccentric Tigger O'Neill, Angel soon wonders exactly what the cargo is, and just why Tigger turns up dead soon after.

Angels in Arms
Angel's old jazz-playing buddy, the fearsome Werewolf, has found himself kidnapped by a Breton nationalist terrorist group, and held until some missing merchandise turns up. Guess who feels obliged to head to the rescue, accompanied by a dipsomaniac Irish monk, a fearsome lady rock singer and several hundred slightly annoyed bees...

Angel Confidential
Never one to admit to any kind of professional status when it comes to sleuthing, Angel reluctantly agrees to help out Veronic Bludgen, the kind of female PI you don't read about in books, to track down the missing daughter of an impoverished aristocrat.

Family of Angels
The mysterious (or at least unforthcoming) Angel's background comes uncomfortably into play when his prominent father persuades him to find out just what his dear brother has been up to, leading to revelations involving EC fraud, drug dealing and Springsteen's parentage...

That Angel Look
Almost certainly the last Angel novel, mores the pity, That Angel Look sees Angel up to his neck in murder, gang warfare, political extremism, murder and even the London fashion industry, as he all to willingly becomes driver, PR and personal assitant to three young women on their way up in the fashion industry.

As has been the case with these short pieces on this page, I can't praise Ripley enough - he is witty, descriptive and has a terrific sense of place and character. Read 'em, if only for Angel's 'Rules of Life'.

Latest News: Although Ripley swears blind that TAL is his last novel, Granada TV are apparently producing 'Angels In Arms'. More on this as and when, though I sincerely hope Danny Baker is not involved... ;-)
Even Later News: Okay, so Ripley was lying... 'Bootlegged Angel' came out last month, and its well worth a look. Supermodels, smugglers and an undercover job for a brewery.

R.D. Wingfield - The Frost Novels

Along with Rankin's Rebus and Harvey's Resnick, Wingfield's Frost series typifies the modern British police procedural, dark, gritty and shot through with a grim humour, but the character of Det. Insp. Jack Frost is in a world of its own. Set in Denton, a fictional Anytown of Middle England, Frost is part of the over-stretched, under-resourced Denton CID, a modern police force struggling with bureaucracy and limited man-power. The books are true police procedurals, taking place over very short stretches of time, and frequently involving more than one unconnected case, through which Frost ploughs his haphazard and slapdash way.

Frost is a truly great creation. A middle-aged widower, unkempt, foul-mouthed, insubordinate and lazy, he dodges through life, antagonising superiors, cutting corners and trying to get finished as quickly as possible. Strange as it may seem, Wingfield has created a monstrous character who has few redeeming feature - indeed, when something comes to the fore that might make him a more sympathetic character, we find out that this is really not the case - but Frost is a strangely sympathetic man, trying to deal with a confused and frightening world as best he can. Frost fits his town, Denton, well - like him, it is dark, cold and filled with surreal occurrences. In Denton, its always raining, and this gives you an idea of the tone of the books. Events happen fast, or frustratingly slow, full of dead-ends that seem initially promising, and the grim reality of life is mroe than evident. People are frequently rude, stupid or selfish, not least Frost, and life seems truly unfair. This might sound like a rather unlikeable world, but the dark humour of the novels and the quality of the plotting combine well with their intense atmosphere, and above all, Jack Frost is an inspired creation.

To date, the novels are:
A Touch Of Frost
Hard Frost
Frost At Christmas
Night Frost
Winter Frost

For those who are interested, there is a UK ITV TV series based loosely on the novels, starring the excellent David Jason as Jack Frost. Good as the programmes are, they really don't capture sufficient of the book's atmosphere to satisfy me, and Jason's Frost is merely a dour old man, rather than the comic monster of the novels. Try them, anyway.

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Legal Stuff: All material on this page copyright Daniel M. Staines 1997. Reproduction in any form prohibited without permission except for personal or academic use.