Book #40 Last Seen Alive

Last Seen Alive by Claire Douglas
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Thanks to Net Galley and Claire Douglas for an ARC of Last Seen Alive in exchange for an honest review.

More twists and turns than Spaghetti Junction. The comfortable atmosphere of a seemingly opportune house-swap - a flat in Bath for a magnificent house in Cornwall. Was Libby Hall rather naive to accept, at face value, a note pushed through her letterbox offering the swap from someone who claims urgent need for such an arrangement as he and his wife need to visit their daughter, who awaits an operation, at the local hospital. Would you not be suspicious at least? Well, not for Libby and her husband Jamie, who are going through a rough patch in their marriage.

The secluded house in Cornwall is not everything it at first appears. Is Libby being watched? Does her paranoia come to the surface? What is she hiding from her past? And what of Jamie? Does he have secrets that he keeps from Libby? Is Libby really who she has claimed all along to be? Do past events in Thailand have a bearing on the way she acts? Just what is she hiding?

Those past events will lead to a cataclysmic outcome as the secrets and lies unravel with terrible consequences. Atmospheric, claustrophobic, a plot that often left me blind-sided and not a little confused at times. And then, the final twist.... Great stuff!

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Book #39 The Portrait

The Portrait by Antoine Laurain
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I came across The President's Hat a couple of years back, bought it, read it, loved it. In a recent foray to Waterstones I spotted this - The Portrait - by the same author, Antoine Laurain. A gentle piece of Gallic whimsy, "a hymn to la vie Parisienne" for anyone who loves all things French.

It is beautifully written as we follow the nostalgic journey of Pierre-François Chaumont, a lawyer and avid collector of all things antique. On a visit to his favourite auction house he is stunned to discover an eighteenth century portrait of an unknown man who looks just like him!. His jaded wife and circle of friends say they are unable to see the resemblance. Clearly, they have a hidden motive...

Chaumont remains convinced and his researches into the painting's history lead him on a journey into a brand new life, in a plot with a totally unexpected twist at the end. A joy to read, not quite up to The President's Hat, but delightful nonetheless.

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Book #38 Dark Water

Dark Water by Robert Bryndza
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I read most of Dark Water on EasyJet flights to and from Prague. What an enjoyable way to pass the time! The third in the Erika Foster series is another terrific read from Robert Bryndza. As cold cases go this is right up there with the best. How on earth do you start to investigate an event that happened twenty-six years ago? When the skeleton of a child is found wrapped and weighted down in a disused quarry emerged in 23 metres of water? The identity of which is soon discovered, using modern forensics.

Foster struggles with evidence (or lack of) to try and get from then to now. And matters are exacerbated when her sister turns up unexpectedly from Slovakia, complete with kids and reluctant to explain why.

Twists and turns, red herrings, evidence previously withheld, frustration, determination - all in the fold of DCI Erika Foster. It's a breathless page-turner and another superb police procedural.

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Book #37 Need You Dead

Need You Dead by Peter James
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Review to follow. I am away on holiday (vacation)!

Now back from a most enjoyable break in Prague. So, what of Need You Dead? Nothing short of brilliant! Peter James's plots are so convincing, so thorough - probably the best author when it comes to police procedurals. Like so many other readers I feel like I know Roy Grace. I have followed his career through thirteen episodes, the trauma caused by the sudden disappearance of his wife Sandy some ten years ago, finally tracking her down in Germany, the shock of her suicide and finding out he had a son, Bruno. (I have a nasty feeling about Bruno - for some reason he reminds me of Damien...) Roy's new wife Cleo takes Bruno under her wing, a new brother for her and Roy's son Noah. Why am I waiting for a car crash to happen? I could be completely wrong.

His old mucker DI Glen Branson is here along with his nemesis ACC Cassian Pewe and so many other police officers some of who actually exist. And I know Roy Grace's patch like the back of my hand; I drive around it; I live here. All the streets and landmarks are so familiar. Like slipping on a favourite pair of slippers - I sit in my favourite chair with a glass of single malt and immerse myself in the Brighton of Roy Grace.

Need You Dead is another fast-paced, unputdownable (yes, it's that word again!), adrenalin rush, sinister case for my favourite detective. Brighton Rocks? It sure does in the hands of Peter James!

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Book #36 Love Me Not

Love Me Not by M.J. Arlidge
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

It's that over-used word again. Unputdownable! You just know when you pick up a Helen Grace book you will need to be prepared for non-stop reading, non-stop action, pulsating plot, short paragraphs, heart-stopping moments (and there are plenty here!) and a race to catch the perpetrator(s).

The two Graces are my favourite coppers: Helen Grace and Roy Grace. Similar styles of writing from M.J. Arlidge and Peter James, that uncanny ability to wrack up the tension.

Love Me Not starts full tilt and just keeps going when a woman's body is found lying in the road. Tragic accident? Or cold blooded killing? For Helen Grace it's another journey into a deadly puzzle and the clock is ticking. Will more blood be shed before the day is out?

Told in virtual real time and spanning just one day this is another cracking read from Arlidge. He really does keep getting better.

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Book #35 A Song From Dead Lips

A Song From Dead Lips by William Shaw
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Don't they say if you remember the 60s you weren't there? Well, I do and I was. And William Shaw's A Song From Dead Lips is a perfect evocation of this period. Brought back so many memories for me: Abbey Road, The Beatles, St. John's Wood, Biafra (remember that - the bitter civil war in Nigeria?) and so much more. Social turmoil, class conflict, pop culture (remember Afghan coats?) - I had one, much to my parents dismay...

We meet DS Cathal Breen and WPC Helen Tozer - an odd combination; a somewhat disaffected sergeant of Irish origins, an outcast in the Marylebone CID, and the feisty Tozer, a female copper in a force when sexism was rife. Breen and Tozer investigate the murder of a nameless young woman found naked and strangled in an alley on Abbey Road, in a plot that is gripping yet slow burning, impeccably researched with pitch perfect period detail.

Police procedurals don't get any better and William Shaw has pretty much made the 60s his domain. It doesn't matter whether or not you remember this period, there is so much to enjoy here.



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