Tag Archives: crime fiction

#BookReview ‘A Witness to Murder’ by Verity Bright @BrightVerity #cosymystery #crime

When the local MP dies in suspicious circumstances at a posh dinner at Farrington Manor, the local women’s political group comes knocking on Ellie’s door. Will she, they ask, stand at the by-election on a platform of women’s rights. In A Witness to Murder, third in the Lady Eleanor Swift 1920s detective series by Verity Bright, is based round Ellie’s electioneering and detecting. Because the MP is not the only one to die. Determined to follow the advice of Detective Chief Inspector Seldon not to get involved in detecting again, Ellie changes her mind when Mrs Pitkin, the cook to Lord and Lady Farrington, is sacked and in disgrace after the fateful dinner. It was her chocolate fudge that is thought to have poisoned Arnold Aris, MP. Ellie’s job gets more difficult when Mrs Pitkin disappears and a second body is found. When Ellie and Clifford find clues to a dodgy land deal, they must discover who gains, who loses, and who is the most desperate.
Finally, the love triangle hinted at in the first two novels becomes more pointed when the second man’s intense looks at Ellie become more overt and at last the rather silly but charming Lord Lancelot Fenwick-Langham has a rival in love for Ellie’s attentions. Lancelot is getting more Wooster-ish with every book and I can’t help but think Ellie’s affection will turn elsewhere.
This series is becoming a firm favourite for me. The pages turn quickly, the mysteries are twisty and this time I didn’t correctly predict the murder. The identity of the murderer prompted possibilities in my mind that I hadn’t previously considered; about Ellie’s own origins, the death of her parents, and the role of her intriguing uncle.
The Twenties setting is charming, if at times suspiciously 21^st century, and the by-election theme in A Witness to Murder adds a tougher edge to Ellie’s adventure. The tone is settling to a hybrid mixture of period crime/comedy/cosy mystery, any danger is lightweight and the most of the daft asides are funny [though Lancelot is too much for my taste]. Just the ticket for a quiet night in.

If you like this, try:-
‘Agatha Raisin and the Vicious Vet’ by MC Beaton #2 AgathaRaisin
‘The Art of the Imperfect’ by Kate Evans #2 Scarborough Mysteries
‘Moonflower Murders’ by Anthony Horowitz #2SusanRyeland

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
#BookReview A WITNESS TO MURDER by Verity Bright @BrightVerity https://wp.me/p2ZHJe-6Yz via @SandraDanby

COMING SOON… THE NEXT BOOK I REVIEW WILL BE:-

#BookReview ‘Death at the Dance’ by Verity Bright @BrightVerity #cosymystery #crime

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What will Ellie do when the man she is keen on is arrested as a murderer? Death at the Dance is second in the Lady Eleanor Swift series of 1920s historical cosy crime novels by Verity Bright. The first novel, A Very English Murder, set the scene and introduced the characters but Death at the Dance hits the ground running and is better for it. The theme of acting runs throughout. Ellie, who feels she is still learning the role of a ‘lady,’ joins the local amateur dramatic society where she has trouble learning her lines. One of the suspects in A Very English Murder plays a key part in the play and turns out to be a very good actor. The death referred to in the title of this book coincides with a jewel theft, both take place at a fancy dress dance where everyone is in costume – a pirate, a harlequin, a Cleopatra, a bird of paradise. The pirate, Lord Lancelot Fenwick-Langham, is accused of theft and murder. There have been major jewel thefts in the area and a notorious gang is said to be responsible. Detective Chief Inspector Seldon, Ellie’s old nemesis, locks up Lancelot in the local police station.
Once again Ellie teams up with her logical, analytical and practical butler, Clifford, to prove Lancelot’s innocence. To gather evidence she goes out on the town with his friends, the Bright Young Things, including an Indian prince, two sisters, a quiet artist and a glamorous party boy. Apart from horrible hangovers and sore feet, Ellie gathers little proof except the sense that they are hiding something. Time is running out. Lancelot’s trial approaches and no evidence is found to prove his innocence. If convicted, he will hang.
There are some satisfying plot twists, surprises, suspicions that prove true, questionable decisions taken by Ellie and surprising talents shown by Clifford. All backed up with the excellent snuffling of Gladstone the bulldog, and tasty picnic food and breakfasts provided by Mrs Trotman, Henley Hall’s cook.
In my review of A Very English Murder I mentioned the lack of 1920 social, cultural and political references, but there are plenty in Death at the Dance. Suffragism, the partying Bright Young Things, drink and drug abuse.
Faster moving than the first instalment of the series, I’m loving the relationship between Ellie and her butler, the sparring with Clifford is fast, witty and funny.
Bring on the third in the series, A Witness to Murder.

Read my reviews of other books in the Lady Eleanor Swift series:-
A VERY ENGLISH MURDER #1LADYELEANORSWIFT
A WITNESS TO MURDER #3LADYELEANORSWIFT
MURDER IN THE SNOW #4LADYELEANORSWIFT
MYSTERY BY THE SEA #5LADYELEANORSWIFT
MURDER AT THE FAIR #6LADYELEANORSWIFT
A LESSON IN MURDER #7LADYELEANORSWIFT
DEATH ON A WINTER’S DAY #8LADYELEANORSWIFT
A ROYAL MURDER #9LADYELEANORSWIFT
THE FRENCH FOR MURDER #10LADYELEANORSWIFT
DEATH DOWN THE AISLE #11LADYELEANORSWIFT
MURDER IN AN IRISH CASTLE #12LADYELEANORSWIFT
DEATH ON DECK #13LADYELEANORSWIFT

If you like this, try:-
‘Fortune Favours the Dead’ by Stephen Spotswood [#1 Pentecost & Parker]
‘A Death in the Dales’ by Frances Brody [#7 Kate Shackleton]
‘The Cornish Wedding Murder’ by Fiona Leitch [#1 Nosey Parker]

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
#BookReview DEATH AT THE DANCE by Verity Bright @BrightVerity https://wp.me/p2ZHJe-6XT via @SandraDanby

COMING SOON… THE NEXT BOOK I REVIEW WILL BE:-

#BookReview ‘An Expert in Murder’ by @nicolaupsonbook #JosephineTey #crime #mystery

6 Replies

An Expert in Murder by Nicola Upson is an intriguing concept and the first in a series. A historical crime novel based on a real person – mystery novelist Josephine Tey, pseudonym of author Elizabeth MacKintosh – Upson places Tey in London’s theatreland where her successful play Richard of Bordeaux is drawing the crowds. This stage success happened for real, but Upson adds a murder. Or two. How will a writer of crime and mystery novels deal with murder so close, so threatening? Will her creative imagination help friend Detective Inspector Archie Penrose find the murderer. And what happens when someone you know becomes a suspect. More a character-led mystery than a detective or crime story.
A mixture of fact and fiction – Tey was real, the role of John Terry was in reality played by John Gielgud – the story is slow to get going after the initial death. Partly this is the curse of the first instalment of a series, characters must be drawn, relationships established, clues laid for storylines which will run throughout future novels. The 1930s theatre setting is full of colourful characters though not much action actually happens in the New Theatre itself. The story kept me guessing but at times I lost track of the labyrinthine connections between people dating from the Great War and worried that I had missed something. In places there is so much new information I had to re-read. I particularly wanted to know more about Archie Penrose but perhaps that will come in the next book.
The period between the two world wars is a fascinating time with enormous social change but still retaining a straitjacket of Edwardian social conventions, which is fertile territory for a novelist. However there were moments when language and behaviour seemed a little too modern for the Thirties setting.
This is a slow to start to the series but intriguing enough to make me want to give it another chance. Perhaps I’ll try a novel later in the series [at the time of writing there are 11]. Ultimately, more a mystery than a detective or crime story.

Read my reviews of these other books by Nicola Upson:-
ANGEL WITH TWO FACES #2JOSEPHINETEY
STANLEY AND ELSIE

And here’s my review of BRAT FARRAR by the real-life author Josephine Tey.

If you like this, try:-
‘Curtain Call’ by Anthony Quinn
‘Shrines of Gaiety’ by Kate Atkinson
‘Fortune Favours the Dead’ by Stephen Spotswood #1Pentecost&Parker

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
#BookReview AN EXPERT IN MURDER by @nicolaupsonbook https://wp.me/p2ZHJe-71K via @SandraDanby

COMING SOON… THE NEXT BOOK I REVIEW WILL BE:-

#BookReview ‘Fortune Favours the Dead’ by Stephen Spotswood @playwrightSteve #crime

11 Replies

I love finding a new series to explore. Fortune Favours the Dead by Stephen Spotswood is first in the late 1940s New York-set Pentecost & Parker detective series. Certainly different from anything else I’ve read in this genre. The post-war city setting is dynamic and refreshing. When circus runaway Willowjean Parker meets her new boss, private detective Lillian Pentecost, it is so nearly their last meeting. Ms Pentecost, whose advice has been sought in the past by Eleanor Roosevelt, widow of the wartime president, recognises Will’s unusual talents – knife-throwing, sharpshooting, bareback horse riding, fire-eating and how to get out of a straitjacket – and recruits her as her private assistant. New York is a swirling mixture of poverty, opportunity, change and excess. The war has ended and everyone is adjusting to the new rules of life. When wealthy widow Abigail Collins is murdered not long after her husband committed suicide, and in the same room of their mansion, the police investigation stalls. So the family calls in Lillian Pentecost to investigate. The Collins family steelworks faces financial trouble as wartime contracts are up for renewal, soldiers are returning from war to the jobs done in their absence by women, and rumours are circulating that Abigail was killed by her dead husband Al.
The Abigail Collins case is told from Will’s viewpoint, a nice mixture of detecting, caring for her fragile boss, and going off track pursuing her own suspicions. Will – newly trained in law, shorthand, car mechanics, bookkeeping and driving – is brave, strong and well-meaning. Sometimes she gets into trouble but she often digs up new evidence. Something that MS-sufferer Ms Pentecost, Ms. P, is less able to do. In a future book I’d like to hear more from Ms. P.
The death of Abigail in a locked room seems impossible to solve but the combination of Ms. P’s razor-sharp mind, memory of past crimes and vast cuttings archive, with Will’s derring-do, leads them to clues the police have failed to spot. There are plenty of suspects and witnesses; a theatrical fortune teller and her slimy assistant, a brawny factory manager, Abigail and Al’s fragile son and daughter, Al’s business partner, a failed journalist turned archivist and an academic sceptical about clairvoyancy.
The setting is special, the relationship between the two lead female characters is special. I’ve read a lot of crime novels of different sub-genres and have an eye for spotting the guilty party, Fortune Favours the Dead kept me guessing until the last pages. And it’s fun.

If you’re curious, try the #FirstPara of FORTUNE FAVOURS THE DEAD.

And here’s my review of the next book in the series:-
MURDER UNDER HER SKIN #2PENTECOST&PARKER

If you like this, try:-
‘The Killing of Polly Carter’ by Robert Thorogood #2DEATHINPARADISE
‘Big Sky’ by Kate Atkinson #5JACKSONBRODIE
‘The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle’ by Stuart Turton

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
#BookReview FORTUNE FAVOURS THE DEAD by Stephen Spotswood @playwrightSteve https://wp.me/p2ZHJe-6VM via @SandraDanby

COMING SOON… THE NEXT BOOK I REVIEW WILL BE:-

#BookReview ‘A Gift of Poison’ by Bella Ellis #historical #crime

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A Gift of Poison, fourth in the Brönte Mysteries series by Bella Ellis, does not disappoint. It is a fast-moving, threatening and spooky tale of a murderer who may be innocent. Or not. Charlotte, Emily and Anne must investigate. Based on a real poisoning case, The Haworth Poisoner, is a tale of innocent until proven guilty, of poison, of ghosts, of revenants returning from the grave to demand retribution. Abner Lowood – the choice of surname, echoing Lowood School, is pertinent as Charlotte is writing Jane Eyre throughout A Gift of Poison – appears at the parsonage in Haworth. He has heard that the sisters are detectors and he demands they clear his name. If they refuse to help him he will disclose their secret detecting to their father. Disgusted by Lowood but desperate to protect their father from more anguish given the rapid deterioration of Branwell’s health, they agree.
Proven innocent in court of murdering his wife, Lowood claims the continued gossip and rumour that he is guilty is ruining his life. The sisters, Branwell is now so lost and ill that he plays no role in detecting, detest and distrust Lowood. But, following the example set throughout their lives by their father, they give him the benefit of the doubt. If he has been wronged, they will prove it. But, they warn him, if they find proof that he is a murderer they will not hesitate to report their evidence to the police.
The sisters are ably assisted by Charlotte’s friend Ellen Nussey, who is staying at the parsonage when the action takes place, and by author Mrs Catherine Crowe. The latter arrives with her scientific equipment to prove that the revenant – Lowood’s wife Barbara, said to have risen from her grave to identify her murderer – is in fact a hallucination. The balance of science versus emotion, logic rather than emotion, is the first instinct of the ladies. Their search for the truth leads them to Scarborough – where a year later the real Anne Brönte was to die, and is buried – where the decision of one man holds the key.
This is a case of double bluff and triple bluff with added cruelty, deprivation and gothic hauntings. The story is set in 1847, a time when superstition was widespread. Woven into the fictional crime case are glimpses of real life. Bramwell really did set his bed on fire, while Charlotte watched Emily and Anne correct the proofs of their first novels – Wuthering Heights and Agnes Grey – soon to be published though her own The Professor was rejected.
This is the last book in the series. In an Author’s Note, Rowan Coleman, aka Bella Ellis, says farewell to her detectors. “I chose to leave them here, for now, at the moment Charlotte is sending off the manuscript for Jane Eyre and before the great waves of tragedy that were to follow all too soon, because although their lives have often been defined by sorrow, I want to celebrate the amazing victories and achievements they carved out for themselves.”
Quickly read and hugely enjoyed.

Click the title below to read my reviews of these other Bella Ellis novels:-
THE VANISHED BRIDE #1BRONTEMYSTERIES
THE DIABOLICAL BONES #2BRONTEMYSTERIES
THE RED MONARCH #3BRONTEMYSTERIES

And one by Rowan Coleman:-
THE GIRL AT THE WINDOW

If you like this, try:-
‘The Secrets of Gaslight Lane’ by MRC Kasasian #4THEGOWERDETECTIVE
‘The Various Haunts of Men’ by Susan Hill #1SIMONSERRAILLER
‘The Lost Ancestor’ by Nathan Dylan Goodwin #2MORTONFARRIER

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
#BookReview A GIFT OF POISON by Bella Ellis https://wp.me/p2ZHJe-6J0 via @SandraDanby

COMING SOON… THE NEXT BOOK I REVIEW WILL BE:-

#BookReview ‘The Cornish Wedding Murder’ by Fiona Leitch #crime #cosycrime

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Jodie ‘Nosey’ Parker, former Metropolitan Police officer, has moved home to Cornwall with daughter Daisy. When she agrees to do the catering for an ex-boyfriend’s wedding, she doesn’t expect to find herself involved a murder investigation. The Cornish Wedding Murder is first in the Nosey Parker cosy crime series by Fiona Leitch. A while ago I stumbled on the second book in this series and enjoyed it so much I decided to start at the beginning. Does Jodie find murder and mayhem, or does trouble find her? When Tony Penhaligon’s fiancé disappears on the eve of their wedding, and his ex-wife is found dead in the grounds, he is arrested. Jodie, who has taken an instant dislike to the flashy bride-to-be Cheryl, becomes peacemaker as Mel, Tony’s ex, publicly accuses her successor of marrying him for his money. Never one to stand on the sidelines, Jodie steps in to calm the situation.
This is an enjoyable, easy read. Perfect for when you want something to sink into and forget the world outside. Yes, it’s a murder story. But it’s also funny, full of twists, turns and a main character who is impossible not to like. Jodie is the sort of friend everyone wants. Meddling, well-meaning, gung-ho and giggly, she has a sensitive nose for wrongdoing and a clear idea of what’s right and wrong. Aided by an adopted fluffy white dog and loaded down with leftover wedding food that must be eaten, Jodie is determined to uphold the concept of ‘innocent until proven guilty.’
A well-written mystery that introduces the setting and characters of the future books. Jodie is likeable. Flawed, but in a nice way that makes her seem a real person. Ably supported by her Mum and daughter Daisy, everywhere Jodie turns in the village someone remembers her as the daughter of respected and much-missed Chief Inspector Eddie Parker. That’s quite a reputation to live up to. Looking for a peaceful life, a new start with her daughter away from London, she manages to find trouble around every corner. She pursues every clue she finds, instead of telling local detective DCI Withers who despairs [or pretends to] at her interference.
Close to the end, I was still guessing the identity of the murderer. The conclusion of the romantic sub-plot is also unsure. A nice mixture of amateur sleuthing and romance. You’ll finish it wanting to read more.

Here are my reviews of other books in the Nosey Parker series:-
THE CORNISH VILLAGE MURDER #2NOSEYPARKER
THE PERFECT CORNISH MURDER #3NOSEYPARKER
A CORNISH CHRISTMAS MURDER #4NOSEYPARKER
A CORNISH RECIPE FOR MURDER #5NOSEYPARKER
A CORNISH SEASIDE MURDER #6NOSEYPARKER
THE CORNISH CAMPSITE MURDER #7NOSEYPARKER

If you like this, try:-
‘Murder at Catmmando Mountain’ by Anna Celeste Burke
‘The Art of the Imperfect’ by Kate Evans #1SCARBOROUGHMYSTERIES
‘Magpie Murders’ by Anthony Horowitz #1SUSANRYELAND

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
#BookReview THE CORNISH WEDDING MURDER by Fiona Leitch https://wp.me/p2ZHJe-64h via @SandraDanby

COMING SOON… THE NEXT BOOK I REVIEW WILL BE:-

#BookReview ‘City of Masks’ by @SD_Sykes #historical

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It is 1358 and Lord Somershill, Oswald de Lacy, is in Venice with his mother on route to the Holy Land. But Venice is at war with Hungary and the pair are stranded in this city of secrets. City of Masks, third in the Oswald de Lacy medieval mystery series by SD Sykes, sees the young lord investigating the death of a friend. Venice is a wonderful setting for Oswald’s detecting. A closed city with its own rules, customs, prejudices and culture, it is a minefield for a stranger seeking information. Oswald relies on acquaintances and new friends for help. But all is not as it seems. Not all deceivers wear a traditional grotesque Venetian mask, some are in full sight. Oswald’s mother continues to be an irritant to him but is full of surprises and there is tension in the house of their hosts, John Bearpark and his young wife, who is due to give birth. As Oswald’s investigations progress, so do strange happenings at the Bearpark house. Plus, Oswald has the feeling he is being followed everywhere he goes. Even to the dangerous military complex, the Arsenale, to the island of lepers and to the gambling dens where he wins, and loses, money.
In this instalment we learn more of Oswald’s inner devils. He is accompanying his mother on this pilgrimage not because he shares her beliefs but because he is running from a bad memory at home. This dark shame within him will not be repressed and as he closes in on the murderer, his thought processes become fickle and his decision-making unreliable. As the days pass, Oswald must solve the murder or an innocent woman will be executed. And Oswald owes money he doesn’t have, money lost at cards, to a thug named Vittore. Venice is portrayed as a repressive, autocratic society with abuse of the poor and infirm. The surface glitters with beautiful houses but beneath, the foundations are rotting. Each island in the lagoon is a separate territory, outsiders are watched, exploited, killed.
Oswald is an impetuous investigator. He assumes possibilities are fact and pursues numerous wild goose chases. He is not an ideal detective. He stumbles on truths and walks straight into danger. He is emotional and naïve. But hidden in his to-ing and fro-ing around Venice and other islands in the Venetian Lagoon, are hints of the real crime, the real culprits. Venice is riddled with deception and Oswald must learn to see beyond the disguises and dissembling, to apply scepticism to everyone and everything around him.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE ABOUT THIS BOOK

Click the title to read my reviews of the first two books in this series:-
PLAGUE LAND
THE BUTCHER BIRD

If you like this, try:-
‘The Almanack’ by Martine Bailey
‘The Leviathan’ by Rosie Andrews
‘Dangerous Women’ by Hope Adams

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
CITY OF MASKS by @SD_Sykes #bookreview https://wp.me/p5gEM4-5RO via @SandraDanby

#BookReview ‘A Fatal Crossing’ by @TomHindle3 #crime

8 Replies

‘When amateurs are involved… mistakes are made,’ says the detective. It is 1924 when a suspicious death occurs on board a transatlantic liner bound for New York with 2000 passengers. A Fatal Crossing by Tom Hindle is set up as a classic closed room murder mystery. The detective has four days to find the murderer before the ship docks in New York. Key elements are mixed together. An elderly gentleman travelling under a false name is found dead, a key witness disappears, a painting is stolen, the captain wants an easy final voyage before retirement, while a Scotland Yard detective James Temple won’t say why he’s travelling to America. The captain, who is desperate to believe the death was accidental, permits Temple to investigate the crime only if accompanied by ship’s officer Timothy Birch. They are a mis-matched pair. Grumpy Temple is irritated by Birch’s interference. Birch, whose unspecified grief makes him an outsider amongst the crew, is intimidated by Temple. They begin to interview witnesses. Soon, Birch receives a death threat.
The story is told through the first-person narrative of Birch which is limiting and repetitive. It is a feature of crime novels to use more telling – not showing – than other genres, but here the options were reviewed again and again. I struggled to trust either Birch or Temple, but trust is a major theme of the book… trust tested under duress and grief, loyalty to someone hardly known, debts owed, and the sifting of truth from lies. The classic closed room setting of a ship should add to the tension but the nautical setting was under-used in terms of adding atmosphere, claustrophobia and the countdown of days as time runs out. As the story unfolds, we realise that information is being hidden by everyone and there are two mysteries to be solved. I started to long for a second voice as an alternative to Birch, to add perspective on the mysteries and bring a change of tone.
This is a novel featuring a soul-searching protagonist that also involves a crime, rather than a fast-paced crime novel with a single focus. Neither Birch nor Temple seems to be telling the truth. When a huge twist is revealed at the end, I was left not knowing what to believe.

If you like this, try:-
‘Death and the Brewery Queen’ by Frances Brody #12KATESHACKLETON
‘The Mystery of Three Quarters’ by Sophie Hannah #3POIROT
‘The Secrets of Gaslight Lane’ by MRC Kasasian #4GOWERDETECTIVE

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
#BookReview A FATAL CROSSING by @TomHindle3 https://wp.me/p5gEM4-5xi via @SandraDanby

#BookReview ‘The Red Monarch’ by Bella Ellis #historical #crime

5 Replies

I’ve loved both of the Bella Ellis’s Brönte Mysteries series to date and the latest, The Red Monarch, is my favourite so far. If I could give it 6*, I would. It ticks so many boxes. Fast action, thoughtful detecting, literary and Brönte references, romance, the dirty violent underworld of London, dastardly baddies to defeat and wrongs to be righted. When Lydia Roxby runs into trouble in London, she writes to her former governess Anne Brönte appealing for help. Lydia’s actor husband Harry has been imprisoned by a violent gang, accused of stealing a jewel. Heavily pregnant Lydia is given seven days to return the jewel or Harry will be killed. The four Brönte siblings rush to London and find Lydia living in an attic room at the Covent Garden Theatre, run by Harry’s father.
The first problem for the Bröntes is how to find a jewel when no information is available. Lydia knows nothing and either people are ignorant or frightened to speak. The streets around Covent Garden are run by a gangster, Noose, and his network of thugs and spies. So, naturally, the first thing the Bröntes do is seek a face-to-face meeting with Noose.
Operating out of their comfort zone but driven by a clear determination of what is right, backed up by their love for each other, Charlotte, Emily, Anne and Branwell must negotiate the dangerous streets of the slums, adopting disguises, refusing to be cowed by threats and bluster, taking risks on who to trust. The more they find out, the clearer it is that they must confront the crime boss who terrifies everyone. But the so-called Red Monarch is so feared that no one dare say his name for fear of being overheard by one of his spies and subsequently killed as a traitor. The whole area exists in an atmosphere of fear and exploitation.
This is an original concept and a plot that, like its two predecessors, combines genres effortlessly. With witty asides and foreshadowing of the Bröntes’ writings – as this novel starts, the sisters’ first edition of poetry is published – this is both familiar and unfamiliar territory. Like comfort food, but surprisingly different. As the thoughtful, literary siblings pursue criminals, we see the strengths and weaknesses of each. Who would have imagined Emily carrying a sword?
Loved it. Oh, and another beautiful cover.

Click the title below to read my reviews of these other Bella Ellis novels:-
THE VANISHED BRIDE #1BRONTEMYSTERIES
THE DIABOLICAL BONES #2BRONTEMYSTERIES
A GIFT OF POISON #4BRONTEMYSTERIES

And one by Rowan Coleman [aka Bella Ellis]:-
THE GIRL AT THE WINDOW

If you like this, try:-
‘A Death in the Dales’ by Frances Brody #7KATESHACKLETON
‘Hiding the Past’ by Nathan Dylan Goodwin #1MORTONFARRIER
‘Cover Her Face’ by PD James #1ADAMDALGLIESH

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
#BookReview THE RED MONARCH by Bella Ellis https://wp.me/p5gEM4-5wo via @SandraDanby

#BookReview ‘A Change of Circumstance’ by @susanhillwriter #crime

11 Replies

Lafferton, the small town at the heart of the Simon Serrailler crime novels by Susan Hill, has until now only known small-scale drugs crime. In A Change of Circumstance, a young local man is found dead of a presumed overdose in a flat above the Chinese pharmacy in neighbouring hippy village Starley. County lines drug gangs are using local Lafferton children and people are beginning to die. This is the eleventh instalment of this excellent series. Hill’s Serrailler novels are always a delight to read, thoroughly grounded in the town of Lafferton with familiar characters and landmarks set against beautiful countryside. A reminder that crime happens in pretty places too. I wasn’t so sure about the veracity of some of the police procedure but the stories of Brookie and Olivia feel real enough, both children from fractured families pulled into crime by lies and bribes. A Change of Circumstance is a horrible portrayal of the manipulation and abuse of children but lacking in the narrative drive of earlier books. I finished it quickly but it is short – 315 pages compared with first in the series The Various Haunts of Men which is 448 pages long.
As always, a network of minor storylines add depth and colour to the main themes and Simon’s sister Cat is the beating heart of the drama. Now a GP for a private doctors’ service, she is called out to an elderly man who refuses to go into hospital. Her Yorkie terrier Wookie goes missing while son Sam is home from medical school and being secretive about his study plans. Small details that add to the real life feeling of the series, typical family life.
It’s an odd ending to the drugs case, almost as if a television drama stopped five minutes before the end. I felt slightly let down in not seeing the arrest of the guilty party, instead it is more a hint than an action scene and I missed that final feeling of justice done. The ending to Simon’s story is the change of circumstance of the title. I’m still not quite convinced but it will add a new angle to the next Serrailler story.

And also by Susan Hill, HOWARD’S END IS ON THE LANDING

If you like this, try:-
‘Magpie Murders’ by Anthony Horowitz #1SUSANRYELAND
‘The Killings at Kingfisher Hill’ by Sophie Hannah #4POIROT
‘The Killing Lessons’ by Saul Black

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
#BookReview A CHANGE OF CIRCUMSTANCE @susanhillwriter https://wp.me/p5gEM4-5vO via @SandraDanby

	#BookReview ‘The Tus… on #BookReview ‘The Sicilian Secr…
	#BookReview ‘The Tus… on #BookReview ‘The Lost Garden…
	#BookReview ‘The Sic… on #BookReview ‘The Lost Garden…
	#BookReview ‘The Pos… on #BookReview ‘The Sicilian Secr…
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SANDRA DANBY'S BOOK REVIEWS

Sharing thoughts on the books I read, new authors, favourite authors, classics re-visisted

Tag Archives: crime fiction

#BookReview ‘A Witness to Murder’ by Verity Bright @BrightVerity #cosymystery #crime

#BookReview ‘Death at the Dance’ by Verity Bright @BrightVerity #cosymystery #crime

#BookReview ‘An Expert in Murder’ by @nicolaupsonbook #JosephineTey #crime #mystery

#BookReview ‘Fortune Favours the Dead’ by Stephen Spotswood @playwrightSteve #crime

#BookReview ‘A Gift of Poison’ by Bella Ellis #historical #crime

#BookReview ‘The Cornish Wedding Murder’ by Fiona Leitch #crime #cosycrime

#BookReview ‘City of Masks’ by @SD_Sykes #historical

#BookReview ‘A Fatal Crossing’ by @TomHindle3 #crime

#BookReview ‘The Red Monarch’ by Bella Ellis #historical #crime

#BookReview ‘A Change of Circumstance’ by @susanhillwriter #crime

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