Tag Archives: Pentecost & Parker

#BookReview ‘Murder Crossed Her Mind’ by Stephen Spotswood @playwrightSteve #crime

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New York. The disappearance of an elderly woman, a ‘retired recluse with a Kodak memory,’ is the new case for New York PIs Lillian Pentecost and Willowjean Parker. Murder Crossed Her Mind is fourth in the 1940s Pentecost and Parker series by Stephen Spotswood. I read it in three days. Stephen SpotswoodVera Bodine remembers everything and it seems to have made her a kidnap target. Forest Whitsun, a defense attorney who has battled with Lillian Pentecost in court, asks the detective duo for help. He’s worried about Vera who never goes out. He’s been visiting her apartment, taking food parcels, checking she’s okay. Until one day she isn’t in her apartment. He’s convinced her memory, a gift since she was a child, has got her into trouble. ‘I tried to imagine it,’ thinks Will. ‘Having every single thing that ever happened to me rattling around in my skull, even the bits I wanted to toss. Not to get dramatic, but it sounded like a little corner of hell.’
Will and Lillian are both distracted from the case in hand. Will was mugged in Coney Island, her beloved Beretta and bag, containing keys, money and ID, stolen. Annoyed with herself for being so weak as to be attacked, and ashamed of admitting the truth to her boss, she investigates in every spare minute she has. Lillian is hiding things too. A mysterious phone puts her into a bad mood and Will is dancing on eggshells trying not to upset her but wanting to help. Meanwhile Whitsun is demanding progress and Vera is still missing.
Does the former legal secretary at exclusive law firm Boekbinder and Gimbal know something that’s got her murdered? Or has Vera simply gone outdoors and got lost? Does she know a secret about a past client, a lawyer, her bosses? Perhaps she knows the identity of an undercover Nazi in America during the war, or the murderer in the Julia Fennel and a pawned bracelet case? There’s a lot going on here. The two detectives call in favours from the police and the FBI, but are none the wiser. Could the answer be hidden in Vera’s apartment, buried beneath the mountains of boxes and trash hoarded by this shut-in woman? Meanwhile, Lillian and Will are each dealing alone with their personal demons.
This is a really enjoyable character-led detective series of two strong women with flaws. Many characters and story strands can be traced back to the first book, so if you’re new to the series the place to start reading is Fortune Favours the Dead.
The next book in this series is Dead in the Frame.

Here are my reviews of other books in this series:-
FORTUNE FAVOURS THE DEAD #1PENTECOST&PARKER …and read the #FirstPara of HERE
MURDER UNDER HER SKIN #2PENTECOST&PARKER
SECRETS TYPED IN BLOOD #3PENTECOST&PARKER

If you like this, try:-
‘An Expert in Murder’ by Nicola Upson #1JOSEPHINETEY
‘The Blind Man of Seville’ by Robert Wilson #1FALCÓN
‘The Silver Bone’ by Andrey Kurkov #1KYIVMYSTERIES

And if you’d like to share a link:
#BookReview MURDER CROSSED HER MIND by Stephen Spotswood @playwrightSteve https://wp.me/p2ZHJe-aan via @SandraDanby

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

#BookReview ‘Secrets Typed in Blood’ by Stephen Spotswood @playwrightSteve #crime

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When a string of real-life murders are identical to a crime author’s latest stories, there’s only one detective team the writer can turn to. In Secrets Typed in Blood by Stephen Spotswood, Holly Quick asks the crack New York detectives Lilian Pentecost and Willowjean Parker for help. Stephen SpotswoodThird in the Pentecost & Parker post-WW2 1940s detective series, Secrets Typed in Blood is not a straightforward case for New York’s finest. When Miss Quick turns up on the doorstep, Miss P is weakened by side effects caused by her multiple sclerosis and Will is wearing lipstick and a pencil skirt while pretending to be a nine-to-five secretary to investigate a businessman involved in a cold case. Holly is a difficult client to read but her basic story is proven by some nifty research. Pentecost & Parker, unwilling to alert the police to their investigation, employ a private detective to research the three murdered men and identify links to Holly and her crime stories. Darryl Klinghorn does his job efficiently but without results. Until he becomes another victim of the murderer.
Entwined through this story are some attractive and unattractive characters. Miss P’s Scottish housekeeper Mrs Campbell adds her wonderful matter-of-fact analysis to knotty problems. Holly’s caretaker Mr Cosmo is a gem. I also liked the reappearance of Sam Lee Butcher, circus roustabout in the last book of the series Murder Under Her Skin, now a New York morgue orderly and occasional helper to the lady detectives. Worst is Jessup Quincannon, a wealthy man obsessed by murder who runs The Black Museum Club where murderers mingle over cocktails and canapes with his exclusive members. Upstairs is an unofficial museum of murderous artefacts displayed like art including bones, blades, hacksaws and a woman’s skirt, green chintz with golden lilies. Pentecost & Parker have a big problem. Their usual method, to identify the killer by first understanding the victim, isn’t working. Then they start to wonder if Holly is being truthful with them.
Surprising, rich, clever and inventive. The sub-plot about the Olivia Waterhouse case, the reason Will is pretending to be a secretary, left me uninvolved. I wanted to read more about the Holly Quick murders.
Next up is Murder Crossed Her Mind.

Here are my reviews of other books in this series:-
FORTUNE FAVOURS THE DEAD #1PENTECOST&PARKER …and read the #FirstPara of HERE
MURDER UNDER HER SKIN #2PENTECOST&PARKER
MURDER CROSSED HER MIND #4PENTECOST&PARKER

If you like this, try:-
‘The Killing Lessons’ by Saul Black
‘Wolf’ by Mo Hayder
‘The Various Haunts of Men’ by Susan Hill #1SIMONSERRAILLER

And if you’d like to share a link:
#BookReview SECRETS TYPED IN BLOOD by Stephen Spotswood @playwrightSteve https://wp.me/p2ZHJe-9Yk via @SandraDanby

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