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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Book #34 Levels of Life

Levels of Life by Julian Barnes
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

An uncomfortable read. I refer to the third part of this book. A monologue on grief. Julian Barnes' wife, Pat Kavanagh, died in 2008 just 37 days after a diagnosis of terminal cancer. This is a very raw piece of writing. It's tough, it's hard to get through. Barnes discusses those several moments in the years following his wife's death when he contemplated suicide. There are no easy moments here, perhaps a diminishing of grief as the years pass. "We imagine we have battled against it, been purposeful, overcome sorrow, scrubbed the rust from our soul, when all that has happened is that grief has moved elsewhere, shifted its interest".

I guess this is a book for anyone who has loved and suffered loss. But it offers little in the way of an enjoyable read. It was not intended to....

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Book #33 Charlotte

Charlotte by David Foenkinos
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

'I am deeply, deeply affected by this sad, beautiful, indignant, wrenching, important book... It's stunning' Sarah Perry author of The Essex Serpent. How can I add to that. This story about Charlotte Salomon is heartbreaking - and true. I have read many books about the horrors of Naziism during the 2nd World War and their 'Final Solution'. Charlotte is different. David Foenkinos writes in prose form and it is this simplicity that makes Charlotte's story all the more lucid, inspiring and yet - awful.

Charlotte Salomon was born in Berlin in 1917. Unknown in her lifetime, she was one of Germany's great modern artists. Her greatest achievement was Life? or Theatre?. A song-play - an autobiographical series of 769 works, which she painted in the South of France while in hiding from the Nazis. Salomon died in Auschwitz in 1943, gassed along with her unborn child shortly after her arrival.

Foenkinos's achievement in researching Salomon's story is monumental. His writing has produced a beautifully told memorial of yet another victim of Nazi brutality. As a Jew in Berlin she is torn from her family and chased from her country, seeks refuge in France and pays the ultimate price. Her life.

Everyone should read this book. This exquisite book about an artist named... Charlotte Salomon.

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Book #32 Sanctuary

Sanctuary by Ken Bruen
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Darker than Irish stout. Another cracker from Ken Bruen. Jack, who has sold up in Galway and preparing to travel to America.... doesn't. He stays put to offer support to his Garda friend (if 'friend' is the right word) who has received the devastating news that she has breast cancer. Meanwhile, Jack receives a letter containing a list of victims: two Guards, a judge, a nun and, alas, a child. The letter is signed 'Benedictus'.... And the list has already begun. Garda Flynn, deceased two days ago. Taylor determines to find the identity of the killer and stop him or her at any cost.

Jack has carried the burden of the death of a child - a young girl with Downs Syndrome, the daughter of his friends Jeff and Cathy - Jack was made to believe he was responsible. When he finds out the truth of what occurred his rage ends up in a bottle of Jameson, pints of the dark stuff and a hangover that almost pushes him over the edge. Is Jack suicidal? So much self pity. Come on Jack Taylor. If you can survive another beating at the hands of Superintendent Clancy and his thugs you can and will find a way through your despair. Get back on track.

Typical Bruen - the dialogue is harsh and authentic, the plot is compelling and I know that I am seriously addicted to this Jack Taylor series, particularly when I find myself buying CDs that happen to be Jack's favourites! Try Billy Joe Shaver. Never heard of him? Neither had I - this truly gifted alt.Country & Western singer/songwriter. Thanks Jack....



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