Book #60 The Lost Man

The Lost Man by Jane Harper
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I have previously read The Dry and Force of Nature by Jane Harper so, when offered the opportunity by Little, Brown Book Group and NetGalley to read The Lost Man, I jumped in. And this book is different. A great family drama set against the backdrop of the Queensland outback, 1500 kms west of Brisbane, where cattle stations cover several thousand square kilometers. Like that of the Bright family. Territory where temperatures regularly reach 45⁰C and to be left stranded means certain death. As Cameron Bright was to find out. Found dead and sprawled out in front of the Stockman's grave. Since the father Carl Bright had died, three brothers had shared the responsibility of managing the spread: Nathan, Cameron and Bub - the youngest. They all knew the peril of being stranded in the outback, so just what happened to Cameron? Is this a sinister occurrence or a stupid mistake? He leaves behind his wife Ilse and two daughters...

The Bright family have many skeletons in the cupboard - not the least - Nathan, with a troubled background. And Bub is no saint. And as various truths begin to emerge the family are faced with events that hold dire consequences.

The Lost Man is a fabulous mystery/drama that gets under your skin. Slow paced and relentless with reveals that are breathtaking in scope. Highly recommended. Another ripper from Downunder!

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Book #59 Wild Fire

Wild Fire by Ann Cleeves
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

So, there it is then. The publishers in their wisdom decided to put the Acknowledgements at the very beginning of the book. First sentence: "This is the last Shetland novel..." There were some of us who still held on to a glimmer of hope, trying to ignore the fact that Ann Cleeves had intimated that Wild Fire would be it...

Shetland. Welcoming. Wild. Remote. It is all of these. I have been there. I love the place and I have loved this series. All good things must come to an end I suppose. So, how does Cleeves handle this swan song? What will happen to DI Jimmy Perez? No spoilers from me! This is writing of the highest calibre. A slow burner that ignites the pages, when a young nanny's body is found hanging in the barn of incomers - the Flemings. An English family who have moved to the area to give their autistic son a better life. The girl was the nanny to the children of Dr and Mrs Moncrieff.

Two families, four parents, six children. Include Magnie Ridell, besotted with the nanny, Emma. His mother and his aunt. A previous suicide. Duncan Hunter is here, natural father of Cassie, DC Sandy Wilson, DCI Willow Reeves - on-off lover of Jimmy Perez. A Perez here who seems constantly preoccupied...

Not many possible suspects then but the conclusion still managed to evade me! And what of Perez? Did Cleeves...? Didn't she...? You will have to read it to find out!

Me? I have to swallow my disappointment. This is the last Shetland...

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Book #58 The Forbidden Place

The Forbidden Place by Susanne Jansson
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Oh dear. I got completely bogged down with The Forbidden Place (no pun intended). So much hype about the book and yet, for me, it's a slow burner that never really gets going until near the end.

Nathalie returns to her childhood home in Mossmarken, a village on the edge of a mire in the remote Swedish wetlands. Rents a cottage on the estate of the local manor in order to carry out studies on emissions from the mire. The same mire where 'The Lingonberry Girl' had been found, a body dating back to 300 bc. The same location where her parents had died when she was just twelve years old. And then there is Maya, an artist interested in the bog as a site of mystery and especially in bog bodies as a historical phenomenon. This location where a number of persons have disappeared over the years. When a corpse is found - pockets filled with gold - just like ancient human sacrifices - detective Leif Berggren investigates...

Nothing here set my pulse racing and the conclusion, for me, was rather underwhelming.

My thanks to Hodder & Stoughton - Mulholland Books and NetGalley for the opportunity to read The Forbidden Place.

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Book #57 Down to the Woods

Down to the Woods by M.J. Arlidge
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

If you go Down to the Woods today... you'd better go in disguise... beneath the trees where nobody sees... is a devilish killer. Ponies slaughtered and victims hunted down and dispatched with such evil and menace. But it's no picnic, certainly not for DI Helen Grace, who once again is pitched against a ruthless killer who hides at ease amongst the dense surroundings of the New Forest. No apparent motive, no apparent link between the victims.

Helen's team become involved in a frustrating investigation with little if nothing to go on and it is difficult to say more without giving away too much. But it's hats off to M.J. Arlidge for writing another thrill-ride of a police procedural with a helter-skelter, breathtaking ending as DI Grace once again puts herself in harm's way. And just for a moment there I thought - OH NO!....

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Book #56 Absolute Proof

Absolute Proof by Peter James
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Proof is the enemy of faith

For a moment I thought I had stumbled into the pages of a book by Simon Toyne or even Dan Brown. Does God exist? What of the God Particle and the Big Bang Theory? And if two particles collided at the beginning of time and created the universe - who put them there in the first place?

Ross Hunter finds himself faced with this dilemma. Hunter is a successful freelance journalist; he is contacted by Dr Harry F. Cook, a former RAF officer and a retired history of art professor at Birmingham University: ”I know this is going to sound strange but I’ve recently been given absolute proof of God’s existence - and I’ve been advised there is a writer, a respected journalist called Ross Hunter, who could help me to get taken seriously”. Could such proof really exist? Hunter is sceptical but intrigued. To be able to publish such a momentous story could be the making of him and his expectant wife, Imogen.

Who else might want to lay their hands on such ‘evidence’? The Vatican? The Anglican church? High-profile militant atheists? Big pharma organisations? Or perhaps a forty-six-year old evangelist preacher, Pastor Wesley Wencelas, who has amassed huge wealth from the gullible? Throw them all into the mix and you have a thriller of ‘divine’ proportions! Hunter will put himself in serious harms way to seek the proof, our Lord’s DNA… The Archbishop of Canterbury tells him: ”This is on a different scale to anything you’ve delved into before. You are tackling the most fundamental question for humankind. And there are a lot of people in the world who would use religious belief to legitimise violence….”.

And how on earth could Michael Henry Delaney, an ageing American close magician, be involved?

Peter James has tackled a very difficult subject. The idea for the book was first given to him in 1989. Read how he copes with the most fundamental question for humankind.

And a quite stunning ending!!

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Book #55 When The Music's Over

When the Music's Over by Peter Robinson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I am a fan of DCI Banks on TV - presently watching re-runs on ITV3. Strangely though, I have only read one previous book by Peter Robinson. I've jumped in at No. 23 here. Alan Banks has been promoted to Detective Superintendent but still retains his active status. Annie Cabbot is now a DI. Familiar characters. Banks has to investigate allegations of rape back in the 60s; Linda Palmer was attacked aged just 14 by celebrity entertainer Danny Caxton, now in his 80s. A case that is as old as they come and has all the hallmarks of similar events with Jimmy Saville and Rolf Harris.

Meanwhile Cabbot is brought in to investigate the vicious beating and murder of a 15-year-old girl found in a remote countryside lane.

The investigations are slow and frustrating. Two young girls, two unspeakable crimes in a labyrinthine plot. The dialogue is spot on. This is how conversation is so realistic, unspectacular language in Robinson's hands. This is top notch police procedure that spans 482 pages - perhaps a tad too long.

Nevertheless a very satisfying read.

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Book #54 The Body on the Shore

The Body On The Shore by Nick Louth
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A successful architect, Peter Young, is assassinated - shot with two bullets through his office window. A body is found on a remote Lincolnshire shore. Two Albanian children, adopted by a wealthy couple, Sophie and Dag Lund, suddenly disappear. Abducted? Are these seemingly unrelated events connected in any way? DCI Craig Gillard was the on-call detective in Surrey when Young was killed. How was Young shot through his 2nd storey office window? From a high vantage point?

Strange symbols are found at the various locations. Geoff Meadows, a former detective chief superintendent at the National Crime Agency is one of the few experts on Albanian crime outside academia. He recognises the symbol as the triple-headed eagle of the Dragusha clan, a notorious Albanian mafia family.

The police investigation will find connections that take Gillard to Albania and become embroiled in the blood feud between the Dragusha and Kreshniki crime families. Assisted by Sergeant Tokaj:

'This is the empire of blood,' Tokaj said, spreading his hands. 'Built on violence, extended through marriage, cemented by corruption and bulwarked by fear.'

Why is Gillard in Albania? Why has he put himself in harm's way? No more spoilers. Read it and find out. The Body on the Shore is different - full of menace and dark moments and a totally unexpected twist that is breathtaking in its audacity.


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