The monster in the box by Ruth Rendell

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Genre - Mystery


Inspector Reg Wexford is startled to see a face from the past, a man who he believes has committed at least two murders, but who he never expected to see again. This is the catalyst that takes Wexford back to his early days in the police force, when he was convinced that Eric Targo had murdered young mother, Elsie Carroll. He had no evidence & was too junior to influence the murder investigation, but he knew Targo was guilty, & Targo knew that Wexford knew. So, a strange game developed where Targo would walk his dog past Wexford’s house or stare up at the windows of the police station. Then, he would disappear for years before unexpectedly turning up again. As Wexford tells the story to his deputy, Mike Burden, the evidence becomes more compelling, especially when another murder occurs close to Wexford’s home. The Wexford series has been one of the best police procedurals for over 40 years & this is another great installment. It’s not one of the best, but interesting to see Wexford as a young man, starting his career & meeting his wife, Dora.

---- Reviewed by Lyn, Headquarters

Mud, muck & dead things by Ann Granger

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Genre - Mystery


This is the first in a new series of mysteries by Granger, set in the Cotswolds. Lucas Burton, a shady businessman, is lured to a deserted farmhouse for a meeting. Instead of his business partner, he finds a dead girl in the barn. In his panic, he scrapes his silver Mercedes against a fencepost & is seen leaving the farm by Penny, who owns the livery stables nearby. Inspector Jess Campbell is called in to investigate the murder, &, as well as identifying the victim & coping with the eccentric old man who owns the farm, she has to deal with the expectations of her new boss, Superintendent Carter. No sooner has Jess & her team identified Lucas’ car & tracked him down, than he is found murdered in his garage. Granger sets up her characters nicely in this first novel, & the Cotswolds setting is a bit less attractive than usual – all that mud & muck. Great for fans of Midsomer Murders.

---- Reviewed by Lyn, Headquarters

Dark mirror by Barry Maitland

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Genre - Mystery


Marion Summers dies a painful death in the London Library. The autopsy reveals that she died of arsenic poisoning, a method of murder more suited to the murky 19th century world of the Pre-Raphaelite painters & poets she was researching. Detectives Brock & Kolla investigate secretive Marion’s background & discover that her research may have been the reason she was killed. Did her discoveries threaten the career of her academic supervisor? Or was it the fellow researcher who had been following her, taking photos on his mobile phone? Or her mysterious lover, who may have been the father of the child she lost just weeks before her death? This is a complex mystery with fascinating literary & historical elements. Brock & Kolla are sympathetic characters & it’s always good to catch up with them again.

---- Reviewed by Lyn, Headquarters

A perfect death by Kate Ellis

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Genre - Mystery


A woman is burnt alive in a deserted field in Devon. The murder has echoes in the past when a woman was burnt alive by her husband, who suspected her of being unfaithful, on the same spot in the 13th century. An archaeological dig has just begun on the site before a new housing estate is built, & the developer’s wife has received death threats. A group protesting about the influx of holiday home owners are suspected of being involved in arson attacks on holiday homes. D I Wesley Peterson investigates the links between these events & another archaeological dig on the same site 20 years before that ended with the mysterious deaths of two of the archeologists involved. This long-running detective series combines modern day mystery with a historical subplot. Fans of Time Team will also enjoy the archaeological plots which are a big part of the series.

---- Reviewed by Lyn, Headquarters

Burn out by Marcia Muller

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Genre - Mystery


Sharon McCone is depressed & burnt out. She runs a successful private investigation agency in San Francisco, but her last job has left her wondering where her life is headed. She investigated sabotage at her husband’s private security, & was nearly blown up in the process. She heads to her ranch to heal her wounds & think about the future. While she’s there, she becomes involved in the search for a missing girl, the niece of Ramon Perez, who works at the ranch. The trail soon leads to murder & to a crime from the past, where her investigations frighten the murderer into trying to cover their tracks. Marcia Muller has created a great character in McCone, in a series which began in the late 1970s. Fast-paced action & lots of background about McCone, her family & friends, make this a good place to start in this long-running series.

---- Reviewed by Lyn, Headquarters

Oxford menace by Veronica Stallwood

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Genre - Mystery


Kate Ivory is a novelist living in Oxford who has a habit of becoming involved in murder. A local scientific laboratory has become the target for demonstrations by an animal rights group. A small bomb is detonated causing a little damage; graffiti is scrawled on walls & one person receives a letter bomb. When Kerri, the young woman who received the letter bomb, is killed in a hit & run accident, Kate thinks it could be murder. The lab is under pressure from the pharmaceutical company funding its research to get results, & there are several people who suspected Kerri of being a spy for the animal rights group. Kate’s personal life is also complicated with her current boyfriend wanting commitment & her mother mysteriously planning a holiday. This is an atmospheric series of mysteries set in a beautiful city. Recommended for anyone missing Inspector Morse.

---- Reviewed by Lyn, Headquarters

Murder on a midsummer night by Kerry Greenwood

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Genre - Mystery


Melbourne at the beginning of 1928 is suffering through a heatwave. Phryne Fisher, private investigator, becomes involved in two very different cases. Augustine Manifold’s mother is convinced that his death by drowning was murder, not suicide as the police think. Kathleen Bonnetti has died a rich woman, leaving her fortune to her children, but she hasn’t specified that only her legitimate children can inherit, and there was a missing year in her youth when she may have had an illegitimate child. Phryne is a perfect fantasy figure, rich, young, beautiful & clever. With her adopted daughters, Jane & Ruth, faithful companion, Dot, gorgeous lover, Lin Chung & the rest of her friends, she sets out to illuminate the mysteries of Melbourne in the 20s. Kerry Greenwood’s descriptions of clothes & food are very seductive & this is an exciting fast-paced mystery for lovers of the traditional crime novel.

---- Reviewed by Lyn, Headquarters

We shall not sleep by Anne Perry

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Genre - Mystery


This is the final novel in Perry’s WWI series. Chaplain Joseph Reavley must find out who murdered Nurse Sarah Price at a Casualty Clearing Station in France in the last weeks of the war. The possible suspects include wounded soldiers, medical staff & German prisoners. One of the German prisoners, Schenckendorff, is a vital witness in the plot that Joseph & his brother Matthew, an intelligence officer, have been trying to foil throughout the war. When Schenckendorff is arrested for Sarah Price’s murder, the Reavleys must find the real killer & get Schenckendorff to London before the Armistice is signed. As this is the end of a long series, all the strands of a complex plot must be resolved. Joseph & Matthew, along with their sisters, Judith & Hannah, have been searching for the man they call the Peacemaker, a traitor to Britain’s war effort, who has murdered many people, including their parents. The Reavleys must also find a way to deal with the traumas & grief they’ve suffered & look towards the future.

---- Reviewed by Lyn, Headquarters

The headhunters by Peter Lovesey

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Genre - Mystery


Jo & Gemma sit in a café planning ways to murder Gemma’s irritating boss. Friends Rick & Jake join in the game & they’re soon calling themselves the Headhunters. The laughter stops when Jo finds a woman’s half-naked body on the beach, and when Gemma’s boss disappears, & another body is discovered, the game becomes serious. This is an intriguing mystery. I suspected most of the main characters at some point. DCI Hen Mallin, who featured in a previous novel, The Circle, is the investigating officer, but this isn’t a traditional police procedural. Jo finds herself becoming more & more involved with Gemma’s flights of fancy & as the plot thickens, she can’t tell who to trust. Lovesey’s plot is entertaining, wonderfully convoluted & full of red herrings.

---- Reviewed by Lyn, Headquarters

The private patient by P D James

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Genre - Mystery


Investigative journalist Rhoda Gradwyn is booked into a private clinic in Dorset to have a scar removed from her face. The scar was inflicted over 30 years before, and when Mr Chandler-Powell, the plastic surgeon, asks Rhoda why she’s having the scar removed now, she says “Because I no longer have need of it.” This is the intriguing opening of the new mystery by P D James. We know on the first page that Rhoda is the murder victim, but why is she murdered? Is it because of who she is, or is it what she knows? James always uses wonderfully isolated locations for her books, & the Dorset clinic is just the kind of remote place with a small group of suspects which she enjoys. The staff of the clinic are the main suspects & most of them have something to hide. The book has an air of finality about it, as Commander Adam Dalgliesh contemplates marriage & a new job when his investigative team is disbanded. Recommended for lovers of the classic English detective story.

---- Reviewed by Lyn, Headquarters

The vows of silence by Susan Hill

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Genre - Mystery


A gunman is killing young women in the cathedral town of Lafferton. There seems to be no connection between the women targeted, and the police have few leads. DCS Simon Serrailler & his team must follow the few leads available & try to anticipate the murderer’s next move. What distinguishes this series from most other series in the genre is the feel & texture of real life which Hill evokes. Serrailler is another in a long line of loner detectives, wary of commitment in his private life. But, he has a family, and for me, this allows us to see his humanity & makes him a believable character. His sister, Cat, has just returned from a sabbatical in Australia with her husband & children. Cat & Chris are both doctors, and this has brought in other characters to the series that reappear in this book. Most significantly, Jane Fitzroy, an Anglican priest, who ran away from the tentative beginnings of a relationship with Simon in an earlier book. Serrailler’s mother has died, & he’s upset by his father’s new relationship. Other characters are briefly introduced, and, in some cases, violently removed, just as the reader has started to get to know them. We also enter the mind of the killer, and understand his motives while the police are still in the dark. There are plenty of red herrings & the solution is satisfying. I read it in an afternoon & can’t wait for the next installment.

---- Reviewed by Lyn, Headquarters

The suspicions of Mr Whicher by Kate Summerscale

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Genre - True Crime

This absorbing book is an examination of one of the most famous murder cases of the 19th century. Three year old Saville Kent was found horribly murdered in the outdoor privy of Road Hill House in June 1860. Jonathan Whicher, one of the first plain clothes detectives at Scotland Yard, is sent down two weeks after the murder, to help the local police. Whicher becomes convinced that one of the family is responsible for Saville’s death. The case exposed the Kents to intrusive publicity, and the family’s history was laid bare. Samuel Kent’s first wife had died, some said of madness, some said because he was having an affair with the governess. When Samuel then married the governess, and started a second family, the older children were said to feel neglected and jealous. Saville was the favoured child of this second marriage. Had one of his half-siblings murdered him out of spite & jealousy? Had Saville seen his father in bed with the nursemaid and been killed to keep him quiet? Had a jealous neighbour or disgruntled former servant taken their revenge on Samuel by murdering his beloved child? All these theories were canvassed in the press, and Jonathan Whicher’s investigation reached an inconclusive end. His career was damaged by his failure to bring the culprit to trial, although he was confident he knew who the murderer was. Five years later, the murderer was brought to trial after a dramatic confession. But was this the truth? Summerscale’s recreation of the crime is masterly. She shows the influence of the murder on the sensation fiction of Wilkie Collins and Mary Elizabeth Braddon which was so popular in the 1860s. The case exposed middle-class society’s secrets and flaws.

---- Reviewed by Lyn, Headquarters