Tag Archives: murder mystery

Death at the Sign of the Rook by Kate Atkinson

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Death at the Sign of the Rook Book CoverDeath at the Sign of the Rook by Kate Atkinson was published in 2024 by Penguin Randow House. I borrowed it from the library. It’s the latest in the Jackson Brodie series.

Ex-police detective Jackson Brodie has been hired to investigate the theft of a painting. Dorothy Padgett had died recently and it’s her pension age twin son and daughter who have hired him. The setting is Ilkley in Yorkshire, which boasts a Betty’s Tea Room and it’s the thought of a visit there which is interesting Brodie, he hasn’t been to that one before!

The painting of a woman holding a small mammal in her lap had been in their mother’s bedroom for years, and it’s reputed to be by Turner, but it disappeared at the same time as the woman who had been caring for Dorothy. It seems like a no-brainer, but all is not as it seems of course.

I have to say that I’m not so enamoured of Atkinson’s Jackson Brodie series but I did quite enjoy this one.  The author is an Agatha Christie fan and had wanted to write a sort of homage to her for years apparently. This book is definitely that. It features a large house with servants, a terrible snowstorm with people being stranded, murders of course, plus a group of people who have paid to become part of a murder mystery weekend, oh and I almost forgot the escaped prisoner!

I struggled a bit with this one at the beginning but as it became more amusing I began to enjoy it more.

On page 126 Kate Atkinson has one of her characters claiming that Keighley in Yorkshire was the first place to get a Carnegie Library. I knew that that was nonsense as the Scottish philanthropist Andrew Carnegie’s first library was commissioned in 1880 and opened in 1883 in his birthplace Dunfermline – as you would expect. It’s still there and is a great library. I did a wee bit of research and discovered that the Carnegie library at Keighley didn’t open until 1924, so there were many others before that one.

If you are interested in Carnegie you can see my post on his birthplace here.

 

 

 

The Skeleton Road by Val McDermid

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The Skeleton Road Book CoverThe Skeleton Road by Val McDermid was first published in 2014 and it’s the third book in her Karen Pirie series.

Fraser Jardine is a demolition quantity surveyor, he’s been doing it for some years now but had always managed to avoid going onto the roof of any building that he was inspecting, which is just as well as he has a terrible fear of heights. But the day comes when he’s the only person available and he has to go on to the roof of a large and very tall and crumbling Victorian Gothic building, the John Drummond in Edinburgh. Fraser is a complete wreck, but when he reaches one of the roof’s decorative pinnacles, he’s in for an even worse time. There’s a skeleton lying inside the pinnacle, and the skull has a hole in the side of the head.

This is obviously a job for Detective Chief Inspector Karen Pirie, head of Cold Cases. As all the clothes have been rotted away by the weather and time there’s really nothing to go on, it seems unlikely that the murder victim will ever be identified.  But there is a tiny bit of possible evidence to be researched, and the trail leads to the time of the Balkan Wars some decades previously.

So this one was quite different from the first two books in this series, with the investigation moving to Croatia where Karen is told about some of the atrocities in that horrendous war.

The blurb says: Atmospheric, spine-chilling and brimming with intrigue and suspense , this is Val McDermid’s richest and most accomplished psychological thriller to date.

I actually found it to be a bit too dark and sad for me, but I suppose that given the fact that the very first shot of the Balkan War was fired in Kirkcaldy where McDermid grew up, then it’s fair enough that she wanted to incorporate it in one of her books.

Raven Black by Ann Cleeves

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Raven Black by Ann Cleeves was first published in 2006. This is the first book by Cleeves that I’ve read, and when I started to read it I realised that it is one that I had seen on TV years ago, but I didn’t remember the ins and outs of it  – so carried on reading. I’m glad that I did because there are so many details in the book that you don’t get on TV.

It’s January in Shetland, so it’s freezing and snowy, but the Up Helly Aa celebrations are something to look forward to, even if a lot of the locals see it as being a bit embarrassing, something for the tourists really.

But when Fran Hunter discovers that the splash of red that catches her eye in the distance turns out to be a scarf which has been tightened around the neck of her teenage neighbour Catherine, and the local ravens had already discovered her, the island is gripped with fear.

A young girl had disappeared some years ago and her body had never been found, the locals are suspicious of the man who had been under suspicion back then, but Jimmy Perez isn’t so sure. The mainland police have come over to Shetland to help with the investigation, which Perez doesn’t mind at all, in fact he’s not even sure if he wants to give up his career in the police and go back to his home of Fair Isle where a family croft is now available for him.

I’ll continue with this series as I enjoyed being in the company of Jimmy Perez and his team.

 

What Time the Sexton’s Spade Doth Rust by Alan Bradley

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What Time the Sexton’s Spade Doth Rust by Alan Bradley was published by Orion in 2024 which means that there was a five year gap between this one and the previous book in the Flavia de Luce series – The Golden Tresses of the Dead. I had thought that the author might have run out of steam – or indeed life, so I was glad to hear that this one had been published.

Flavia has been left the family home Buckhouse after her father’s unexpected death. Her two older sisters weren’t at all happy about that, but it means that things go on much as before for Flavia and for the staff who help to run the house – Dogger and Mrs Mullett the cook  – in truth Flavia is closer to those two than she is to her sisters who are almost completely absent from this book.  A younger cousin called Undine has joined the household, she’s a bit of a handful, even for Flavia, she’s a law unto herself so she supplies some entertainment, but I feel that she doesn’t make up for the lack of snarky banter between Flavia and her older sisters.

When Major Greyleigh, one of the villagers is found dead in his kitchen it’s Mrs Mullett who is suspected of poisoning him. She gave him mushrooms that she had foraged from the woods and she wonders if some of them had been poisoned. It turns out that the Major and Mrs Mullett had had a romantic relationship years before in their youth, but Flavia can’t believe that she could be a murderer.

This tale takes a very unexpected turn towards the end, for me anyway. I enjoyed it although there were some aspects that annoyed me. The setting is 1950s England and everything feels authentic, the suddenly the reader is confronted with American spellings such as tire, color, I didn’t take note of the others. I was particularly annoyed by the word ‘purse’ being used to mean a handbag more than once.

“She rumaged in a sideboard and pulled out her purse. It was a flat Monda-go-to market  straw receptacle, good for carrying everything from a check to a chicken. She reached into the depths and dredged up a small sketchbook.”

So definitely not a small purse with just enough space for some coins and paper money then.

It just throws the reader (well me anyway) out of the setting. I was also annoyed by the use of the word foyer when it should have been hall or hallway as it was in a private home. In the UK the word foyer is reserved for theatres, cinemas, large hotels, conference centres and the like. Nit-picking maybe, but I think things like that should be picked up by an editor.

 

 

A Darker Domain by Val McDermid

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A Darker Domain by Val McDermid was first published in 2008, the setting is mainly Fife in the east of Scotland, and the time switches between 1985 and 2007. This is the second in the author’s Karen Pirie series.

DI Karen Pirie is in charge of cold cases. An adult daughter is desperate to discover the whereabouts of her estranged father who hasn’t been seen since the miner’s strike in 1985. It’s thought that he had been a ‘scab’ who had gone down to Nottingham to get work there. That turned his abandoned wife and young daughter into pariahs as far as the mining community was concerned.  It’s now 2007 and the action swings between 1985 and 2007 although it isn’t at all confusing.

Karen Pirie finds herself investigating two cold cases as in 1985 there had been a kidnapping in Fife. The daughter of a very wealthy and well-known businessman had been abducted along with her small son and in the chaos of a handover she had been shot dead, and her young son had never been handed over to his wealthy grandfather with the kidnappers disappearing with him. When an investigative journalist discovers a possible clue in an abandoned building in Tuscany – of all places – Karen has to open that case again too.

I enjoyed this one, I must say that a lot of people have in the past complained that Val McDermid’s books are too grim and violent, but this one isn’t like that. There’s violence but nothing really graphic.

This is the most local to me book that I’ve ever read, one of the detectives even bought a house that must have been about five minutes away from where I lived for 26 years, going from the description. It definitely adds to the experience when you can visualise all the wee villages mentioned in Fife.

The miners strike took me right back to 1985. Jack had trouble getting to work as the police were stopping any cars which only had men in them and as teachers had all been encouraged to car share as parking at schools was a problem, they didn’t have enough spaces. So the car they were travelling in was stopped by the police and turned back as they were suspected of being ‘flying pickets’ travelling to coal pits to help out the striking miners. So the police were menacing and threatening cars full of teachers – and getting huge pay packets for their troubles. Grim times all round.

Hickory Dickory Dock by Agatha Christie

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Hickory dickory dock – agatha christie – 1st book club ed. 1956.

Hickory Dickory Dock by Agatha Christie was first published in 1955. It’s a Poirot book.

When Poirot’s normally perfect secretary Miss Lemon makes three mistakes in one letter that she has typed for him he realises that there is something seriously wrong with her. It turns out that Miss Lemon’s sister is having problems at her work. She is a matron at a hostel for students, and things have been disappearing. It seems that there’s a kleptomaniac living within the hostel, a strange conglomeration of items have gone missing. Miss Lemon’s widowed sister is worried, as is Miss Lemon. Obvioulsy Poirot has to investigate, and things take a much more serious turn when one of the students is found dead.

This is a book that I’ve had in the house for years, unread. That is probably because I much prefer the Miss Marple books to Poirot, of course this book is still a good read.

I might be strange but it’s the Art Deco style of the Poirot episodes that I appreciate most about them, although there’s not quite enough of it, in my opinion. What is your preference, Marple or Poirot? If Marple which one? There are quite a few to choose from, all good but Joan Hickson is my favourite.

I’ve just checked and it’s over ten years since I read an Agatha Christie book. How did that happen?

Murder Must Advertise by Dorothy L. Sayers

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Book CoverMurder Must Advertise by Dorothy L. Sayers was first published in 1933. My edition is a Hodder reprint from 2016.

The very successful advertising agency Pym’s Publicity has taken on a new copy-writer by the name of Death Bredon, it is of course Lord Peter Wimsey looking exactly like himself but claiming to be his disreputable cousin Bredon when he is recognised.

There had recently been a death within the offices of the company. Victor Dean had fallen down a metal spiral staircase, but was it purely an accident or a dastardly murder? Lord Peter is engaged to go undercover and get to the bottom of the mystery, but the bodies pile up before he cracks the case. In some ways the plot seems quite a modern one involving fast living upper class types and illegal substances, but I suppose there’s nothing new in crime.

There’s an introduction by Peter Robinson.

I read this one about 30 years ago and as I’m quite a fan of Sayers it was about time I had a re-read. It doesn’t feature Harriet Vane, those ones are my favourites, but it’s still really enjoyable, with what I’m sure was a very authentic setting as Sayers got the idea for the book while she was working as a copy-writer in an advertising agency. It’s thought that she came up with the famous Guinness adverts featuring a Toucan. She injects plenty of humour into the tale with quick witted wordplay  as you would expect from such characters.

LOVELY DAY FOR A GUINNESS - Alcohol Advertisement Wall Poster Print - 30cm x 43cm / 12 Inches x 17 Inches

 

Whose Body? by Dorothy L. Sayers

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Whose Body? by Dorothy L. Sayers was first published in 1923. It begins with Lord Peter Wimsey getting a phone call from his mother. She tells him that Mr Thipps the architect who is working on her local church’s roof, has discovered the body of a man in his bath. The body is naked apart from wearing a pair of pince nez.  When Peter goes to investigate he realises that the corpse is supposed to be the wealthy businessman Sir Reuben Levy who has gone missing. It bears a resemblance to Sir Reuben, but Peter isn’t fooled.

Inspector Sugg jumps to conclusions and thinks he has solved the case, of course he is completely wrong, and Lord Peter is going to enjoy proving him to be wrong.

This was a good mystery which kept me guessing. There is some slight discomfort in that Sir Reuben’s Jewish background is mentioned a few times, but nothing really disparaging, considering the times in which the book was written.  He’s portrayed as being a kind and generous husband and Lord Peter is an admirer, despite his father having disliked self-made men like Sir Reuben. Sheer snobbery.

Hop Scot by Catriona McPherson

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Hop Scot by Catriona McPherson (Last Ditch series) was published by Severn House (Canongate Books) in 2023. I picked this one up recently from the New Arrivals shelf in my local library. I enjoyed the author’s previous Dandy Gilver series which is set in the 1920s/30s. This series is contemporary and unfortunately I’ve found it rather late because when I started to read it I realised that this one is sixth in the series, but I don’t think it’s really necessary to read them in order, although I wish I had.

Lexy Campbell is living in California but she’s travelling to Scotland to spend Christmas with her parents, and the Last Ditch Motel extended family is accompanying her. They’ve never been to Scotland before and they’re all geared up to spend their time in Dundee, but there has been a last minute change of plan and they all end up being driven to the pretty village of Yule not far from Edinburgh to spend Christmas at Mistletoe Hall. Lexy’s parents have bought it intending to run it as a posh B&B – after a lot of refurbishment.

This is a good mystery with lots of humour and quirky characters. I’ll have to go back to the beginning of the series though to get to know them all better. A lot of the humour revolves around the differences between American and Scottish society.

The blurb on the back says: Deadly secrets, berry rustlers, skeletons and a snowy Christmas Eve in the booze aisle at Tesco; the last Ditch crew won’t forget their Scottish holiday in a hurry.

On balance I preferred the Dandy Gilver series, for the setting.

Dissolution by C.J. Sansom – 20 Books of Summer 2024

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Dissolution by C.J. Sansom was first published in 2003 and it’s the first book that I’ve read by the author, in fact it was only when I read his Guardian obituary when he died in April that I realised that I had almost certainly missed out on some really good reads. I think I did borrow one of his Shardlake books from the library before, but realised that it was part of a series, but never did get around to getting the first one, until now. I really enjoyed it.

The setting is England in 1537. It’s the year after Anne Boleyn’s execution and Henry VIII is beginning to dismantle the large network of monasteries that have managed to accumulate huge riches over the years. Henry is determined to strip them of their wealth and Thomas Cromwell has sent a young man to St Donatus Monastery to investigate their finances, but he is found dead there, he has been beheaded in the kitchen, and Cromwell sends Matthew Shardlake and his young apprentice to investigate the murder.

When they start to question the monks they soon realise that they are very far from being holy men, or even good men, the place is awash with sin, but which of them is a murderer?

This is an atmospheric read with a long snowstorm adding to the sense of menace as the monastery turns into a prison for Shardlake and his apprentice, trapped with  a murderer on the loose.

This was another of my 20 Books of Summer.