Review: Untraceable by Sergei Lebedev

Synopsis: In 2018, a former Russian secret agent and his daughter were poisoned with a lethal neurotoxin that left them slumped over on a British park bench in critical condition. The story of who did it, and how these horrendous contaminants were developed, captivates and terrifies in equal measure. It has inspired acclaimed author Sergei Lebedev’s latest page-turning novel. At its center is a scheming chemist named Professor Kalitin, obsessed with developing an absolutely deadly, undetectable and untraceable poison for which there is no antidote. He becomes consumed by guilt over the death of his wife, the first accidental victim of his Faustian pact to create the ultimate venom, and the deaths of hundreds of test subjects. After he defects from the Soviet Union to spend his “retirement” years in the West, two Russian secret agents are dispatched to assassinate him. In this fast-paced, genre-bending novel, Lebedev weaves tension-filled pages of stunningly beautiful prose exploring the historical trajectories of evil. From Nazi labs, Stalinist plots, the Chechen Wars, to present-day Russia, Lebedev probes the ethical responsibilities of scientists supplying modern tyrants and autocrats with ever newer instruments of retribution, destruction and control. Lebedev, one of Russia’s most important and exciting writers, has never been better.

This really is the tale of assassination. We open with an assassination and we finish with one.

It took me a little while to get into the rhythm of the narrative style of the author, and to be honest, I nearly put it aside (I wasn't really sure where this was set - ie: locations - and what time period - though guessed late 20th / early 21st century). However, upon persevering, it became quite a good story. 

Chemical and biological warfare is nothing new in the spying game, but we only ever hear of the main players - the victims, the politicians - we never read about the creators of these fiendish weapons. Lebedev does just that - we are taken into the private world of a defecting scientist who has created the perfect, untraceable, weapon, as he grapples with his current lot in life and wonders whether the grass was actually greener on the other side. Played against the chemist Kalitin, the prey in this cat and mouse game, is the soldier - the hunter - Lt Colonel Shershnev. He too grapples with his past as he and his companion embark on their mission.

The narrative alternates between Kalitin and Shershnev as each recall events in their past that have led to this point in time. There is not thrilling chase scenes (Bourne style) - well, not to we get towards the end.

Not your standard espionage novel - but definitely one to read.

See also:

- Spy Assassinations: Top 5 Deadly Poisons

- The Devilish Art of Assassination

- List of Soviet & Russian Assassinations

Put that in your pipe: why the Maigret novels are still worth savouring

From The Guardian:

As a six-year reissue project of the series reaches completion, Scottish author Graeme Macrae Burnet explains why Simenon’s Parisian sleuth still matters, 90 years after his first case.

This project has introduced a whole new audience to Simenon’s work, and provided long-standing fans with the chance to renew their acquaintance with the world of Maigret. When Simenon was asked how the Maigret novels differed from his other books – his romans durs – he described them as “sketches”. But are they more than that? Ninety years after the series was begun, are they still worth reading? Yes, and yes.

The character of Maigret is introduced in Pietr the Latvian (1930). It’s a novel that bears some of the hallmarks of the hundreds of pulp novels Simenon had written in the previous years (a surfeit of action and exclamation marks), and this embryonic manifestation of Maigret is more of the alpha-male action hero than in the later novels: “He was a big, bony man. Iron muscles shaped his jacket sleeves. He had a way of imposing himself just by standing there.” But even at the very beginning, there was something else. Maigret has his pet theory: “Inside every wrong-doer and crook there lives a human being. What he waited and watched out for was the crack in the wall, the instant when the human being comes out from behind the opponent.”

In 1948, Simenon was to provide something of a second introduction to Maigret. Maigret’s First Case predates Pietr the Latvian by some 20 years. Maigret is the 26-year-old secretary to Superintendent Le Bret of the Saint-Georges station in Paris. Simenon was by then at the height of his powers as a novelist, and the portrayal of the detective is now more nuanced.

One does not read the Maigret novels in expectation of wild revelation or plot twists, but to inhabit the vividly realised world of Parisian streets, dives, bistros and high-class hotels. If the books are sketches, they are the sketches of an old master. But the thread that runs though all the books is Maigret’s inquiries into the psychology of his adversaries, and it is this unfailing humanity that makes the Maigret books truly worth reading.

read more @ The Guardian

I fell in love with the Maigret books many years ago and borrowed as many as I could find from local libraries. Recently, I came across a number of volumes via local bookshops and secondhand book sales, so eagerly added these to my crime shelf of my own personal library.

I also recently invested in the BBC / Rowan Atkinson series but remember fondly the Michael Gambon series from years gone by.

Obit: Terry Goodkind

From The Bookseller: 

Tributes have been paid to “amazing” fantasy author Terry Goodkind, best known for the 17-volume Sword of Truth series, after he passed away aged 72.

His first Sword of Truth book was published in 1994 with many more following in a prolific writing spell that climaxed with Warheart, released in 2015 by Head of Zeus alongside e-books of the rest of the series.

In 2019, he returned to the world of D’Hara with five serial novels published between April 2019 and June 2020. The Children of D’Hara, a 1,000-page omnibus edition, will publish in February 2021.

read more here @ The Bookseller

website @ Terry Goodkind

Review: Cesare & Lucrezia Borgia by Samantha Morris

Synopsis: Myths and rumour have shrouded the Borgia family for centuries - tales of incest, intrigue and murder have been told of them since they themselves walked the hallways of the Apostolic Palace. In particular, vicious rumour and slanderous tales have stuck to the names of two members of the infamous Borgia family - Cesare and Lucrezia, brother and sister of history's most notorious family. But how much of it is true, and how much of it is simply rumour aimed to blacken the name of the Borgia family?

In the first ever biography solely on the Borgia siblings, Samantha Morris tells the true story of these two fascinating individuals from their early lives, through their years living amongst the halls of the Vatican in Rome until their ultimate untimely deaths. Cesare and Lucrezia Borgia begins in the bustling metropolis of Rome with the siblings ultimately being used in the dynastic plans of their father, a man who would become Pope, and takes the reader through the separate, yet fascinatingly intertwined, lives of the notorious siblings. One tale, that of Cesare, ends on the battlefield of Navarre, whilst the other ends in the ducal court of Ferrara. Both Cesare and Lucrezia led lives full of intrigue and danger, lives which would attract the worst sort of rumour begun by their enemies.

Drawing on both primary and secondary sources Morris brings the true story of the Borgia siblings, so often made out to be evil incarnate in other forms of media, to audiences both new to the history of the Italian Renaissance and old.

A fine edition to add to the many books tackling these infamous siblings - in both fact and fiction - see my 2011 blog post - A Bundle of Borgias.

Morris make a poignant remark: "... now, as throughout history, people love a good gossip ...", and like us today, they "... want stories that both disgust them and draw them in ...". In their own time, Cesare and Lucrezia are the equivalent of today's Kardashians or Osbornes. 

Delving into the family history from its Spanish roots, Morris provides the reader with a concise background of the family including Rodrigo's rise to the Papal throne up until the siblings draw final breath. But the focus here is on the two siblings - Cesare and Lucrezia - as opposed to a complete history of all Borgias. In this easy to read and well presented tome, all the main events are covered off - we are not bogged down in unnecessary detail so readers new to this topic will have no trouble at all keeping pace. For me, I love the Borgias, so much of this was well worn and familiar ground.

Gossip and hearsay were the weapons of the day that were used to destroy reputation - not only powerful, but also long lasting that like a series of chinese whispers, people begin to accept them as truths using that old adage "no smoke without fire" to justify such. And we are more than accustomed to history being written by the victors -as poor old Richard III can attest.

It is easy to forget that what is unseemly to our modern view and sensibilities was very much the norm - here, family is so important, that it is not strange at all to discover that Cesare and Lucrezia were close - afterall, it was the Borgias against the world - who else would they turn to and trust but one of their own.

Morris finishes by taking the reader through the various modern day adaptions of the Borgia story - from film and television, to game and books. Having just taken possession of yet another book on the Borgias (Paul Strathern's The Borgias), Morris' book will also find a home on my "Borgia" shelf in my personal library. 

Review: The German Client by Bruno Morchio

Synopsis: Private investigator Bacci Pagano can’t resist taking the bait when his new client dangles a check with too many zeros. He should have known that where there’s bait, there’s always a hook.

In a hospital corridor, Bacci Pagano is keeping watch over Jasmìne Kilamba. If she lives, her testimony will shatter a notorious human trafficking ring. Seemingly out of nowhere, he is approached by an elderly German named Kurt Hessen who is searching for his Italian half-brother. Despite his better judgment, Pagano accepts the job. So many things, good and evil, happened when the Nazis occupied Genoa in 1944, what did it matter now? But it matters very much to someone and Pagano finds himself plunged into a world of old secrets and new lies in this wartime thriller where the the bill for the sins of the past has come due . . . with interest. 

The novel is set in Genoa, in the industrial (working class) suburb of Sestri Ponente - in both time frames. What was life really like for those who endured the wartime conditions under both the Italian Fascists and Germans.

When Mussolini was removed from power in 1943, Italy signed the Armistice of Cassabile, ending its war with the Allies. However, German forces shortly succeeded in taking control of northern and central Italy, creating the Italian Social Republic (RSI), with Mussolini installed as leader after he was rescued by German paratroopers. The Germans, often helped by Fascists (Blackshirts), committed several atrocities against Italian civilians and troops. As result, the Italian Co-Belligerent Army was created to fight against the RSI and its German allies, while other Italian troops, loyal to Mussolini, continued to fight alongside the Germans in the National Republican Army. 

For the people living under this regime, brutality (including assault, imprisonment, torture and death), sacrifice, guilt and fear, oppression, betrayal and collaboration, hunger and rationing was commonplace. Many found work in the industries geared towards to the war effort in order to supplement their meagre resources - 1944 would see an incredibly harsh winter and fuel supplies were non-existent. People did what they could to survive. One of Morchio's character laments that "... as long as the war lasts, no one has the luxury of shame .."  

However, it wasn't long before civilians were being rounded up and sent off to work in Germany; others just "disappeared". And as resistance grew and more people joined the partisans, the retaliation by the occupying forces increased in its repressive brutality. The published order by the German Commandant, General Kesselring, was that for every German killed by partisans 10 Italians selected at random would be shot. 

The Italian Communist Party was also seen as a counter to the prevailing fascism - their task was to:

• attack and annihilate in every way officers, soldiers, material, deposits of Hitler's armed forces;
• attack and annihilate in every way people, places, properties of fascists and traitors who collaborate with the occupying Germans;
• attack and annihilate in every way war industries, communication systems and everything that might help to war plans of Nazi occupants.

Of the Italian Resistance Groups, the Gruppi di Azione Patriottica ("Patriotic Action Groups") or simply GAP, established small cells whose main purpose was to unleash urban terror through bomb attacks against fascists, Germans and their supporters. However, another of their tasks was the "elimination of enemies especially heinous", such as torturers, spies and provocateurs. They operated independently in case of arrest or betrayal of individual elements. In Morchio's story, the Patriotic Action Group (PAG) is the equivalent.

On April 26 Genoa fell, with 14,000 Italian partisans forcing the city's surrender and taking 6,000 German soldiers as prisoners.  Many veteran partisans today often deny that a civil war took place in Italy during World War II. However, a clear and simple version of events is not possible as many people made sacrifices to pursue their goals, aspirations and ideals.

When a dying Professor from Germany - Kurt Messen - seeks out Bacci Pagano, the investigator is forced to dig deep into the long concealed wartime memories of family and friends in order to find some semblance of truth and help reunite lost siblings. 

From this point onwards, the narrative alternates back and forth from 1944 to modern day, with Pagano's in the first person, and that of the partisan Tilde, in the third person. But nothing is ever that simple.  With little to go on and brick walls going up left, right and centre, Pagnano, distracted by the brutal assault of girlfriend Jasmine, must find answers before time runs out (for the dying Professor).  

When speaking with one of the old partisans, Bacci muses: "... I'm starting to think that there's something really dirty behind all this and your terrified that it will all come out, even after all these years .."

Long held secrets are slowly being teased out until we reach the final denouement - and for Pagano, things finally make sense.

This is a great read. Originally entitled "Rossoamaro", this is the sixth in a series of elevn (or twelve), and the first one I head read. Whilst not fully conversant with the background of the character Bacci Pagano, there is enough here to weave a wonderful tale. And - of course - make you want to seek out more in the series!

See also:

The Guardian - A House In The Mountain (review)

Review: The Creak on the Stairs by Eva Björg Ægisdóttir

Synopsis: When a body of a woman is discovered at a lighthouse in the Icelandic town of Akranes, it soon becomes clear that she’s no stranger to the area.

Chief Investigating Officer Elma, who has returned to Akranes following a failed relationship, and her collegues Sævar and Hörður, commence an uneasy investigation, which uncovers a shocking secret in the dead woman’s past that continues to reverberate in the present day …

But as Elma and her team make a series of discoveries, they bring to light a host of long-hidden crimes that shake the entire community. Sifting through the rubble of the townspeople’s shattered memories, they have to dodge increasingly serious threats, and find justice … before it’s too late.

I think this will become my top read of the year. 

Hauntingly brilliant; atmospheric; harrowing; compelling; dark; suspenseful; edge of your seat stuff.

In the genre of past secrets coming back to take a bite out of those involved, this one packs a punch. Aegisdottir uses (sparingly) the past life of our victim to gently tease out the threads whilst never quite showing her hand. Only as your are propelled down the path of the investigation d little snippets of what is to come are being revealed.

The characters are well written and definitely add to the storyline - and the fact that this mystery is set in the author's home town makes it all the more real. There are other themes running through - and it all links up as we reach the culmination of the police investigation.

I am hoping that this is just the beginning of a new series.

Definitely recommended for those who love their Scandi-crime and for those wanting a change of (fictional) locale. 

Review: The House of Twelve by Sean Davies

Synopsis: Twelve strangers wake up in a strange house with no memory of how they got there, and barely any recollection of who they are. They quickly learn that there is no way out, scarcely enough food and water to go around, and eerie music plays constantly in the background of every room. There is nothing to explain their mysterious incarceration except for a few scattered clues, a strange clock with twenty-four numbers and one single hour hand, and a leather-bound sheet of rules that makes their situation all the more fatal.

We predominantly following the character of "Sarah", we are taken through events on a day by day basis. The rules are very clear:

Rule one: No escape. You can’t leave, plain and simple. Try to escape and you won’t like what you find on the other side.

Rule two: Make what you have last. Whatever food and water you currently find in the house is all that you will be provided with during your stay. No more will be given to you under any circumstance.

Rule three: When the music stops, someone must die. The music you can all hear in the background will cease between the hour of twenty-three and twenty-four; when this happens someone must die. Failure to comply with this rule will result in everyone’s death.

Rule four: Only one, and only when the music stops! One death, and only one death, must occur in the allotted time between the hour of twenty-three and twenty-four. Again, failure to comply with this rule will result in everyone’s death.

Redemption is the key to escape. But for some, this is this learned all too late?

This is one of those "must read in one sitting" books with a killer twist at the end. Definitely pays homage to Agatha Christie's "And Then There Were None" - twelve people and each night one must die to save the rest. 

Although devoid of memory except their names, along the way we discover a little more about the twelve prisoners - you know that not all will make it out alive. What type of people were these prisoners will slowly be revealed as the days count down to the last person standing ... and what happens then?

Review: Midwinter Murder by Agatha Christie

Synopsis: There’s a chill in the air and the days are growing shorter . . . It’s the perfect time to curl up in front of a crackling fire with these wintry whodunits from the legendary Agatha Christie. But beware of deadly snowdrifts and dangerous gifts, poisoned meals and mysterious guests. This chilling compendium of short stories—some featuring beloved detectives Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple—is an essential omnibus for Christie fans and the perfect holiday gift for mystery lovers.

A wonderful collection of short stories curated around the theme sof winter and Christmas. These stories, featuring well known characters such as Poirot, Marple, Pyne, and Quin, have all appeared in previously published tomes - listed at the end. This will make a nice addition to anyone's Agatha Christie library - and will be adding it to my own. 

Review: The Inspector of Strange & Unexplained Deaths by Olivier Barde-Cabucon

Synopsis: Everyone has secrets. Even the king.

When a gruesomely mutilated body is found on the doorstep of the Versailles Palace in 1759, the Inspector of Strange and Unexplained Deaths is called to the scene. His ensuing investigation is thwarted at every turn by shady figures such as notorious seducer Casanova, a mysterious Italian gentlewoman who knows more than she lets on and a secret order harbouring revolutionary sentiment.

As the body count rises, the Inspector is brought even further into a web of deceit that he soon suspects may go all the way to the very top of society.

France in the mid-1700s was a melting pot of new enlightened thinking, religious turmoil, and the murmurs of a society fed up with its monarchy. The French King, Louis XV, was on the throne and was well noted for his many mistresses, including the most famous - Madame de Pompadour. It was rumoured that the King kept a private brothel of teenage girls, and was served by some 2000 courtiers, whose main job was to keep him from becoming bored, and he bored easily – and lost his temper readily. Madame de Pompadour, when her relationship with the king was waning was said to have provided the king with suitable female company whilst still ensuring her influence was in the ascendant.

Whilst the nobility lived the high life, attending parties and balls, and reveling in their wealth and status, the majority of the people were poor, illiterate farmers were slowly being broken under the arcane laws and increased taxation. The middle-classes gathered at coffeehouses, where in addition to drinking coffee they read newspapers and discussed ideas. Middle-class and aristocratic professionals formed societies that explored intellectual issues. As time moved on, the disparity between the nobility and commoners grew ever wider.

There was a distinct lack of civil rights. The king could have anyone arrested without reason and imprisoned (and tortured) for as long as he wanted. The kingdom of King Louis XV had no uniform system of law. French society was filled with swindlers, thieves, beggars and vagabonds, and the average Frenchman delighted in witnessing their punishment (there was no guillotine just yet). Security was provided by two different corps of police; the Garde de Paris and the Guet Royal, or royal watchmen. Both organizations were under the command of the Lieutenant General of Police. Parisians considered the police both corrupt and inefficient, and relations between the people and the police were increasingly strained. Paris possessed an extraordinary number and variety of prisons, used for different classes of persons and types of crimes. The fortress of the Châtelet was the oldest royal prison, where the office of the Provost of Paris was also located. It had about fifteen large cells; the better cells were on the upper levels, where prisoners could pay a high pension to be comfortable and well-fed, while the lower cells were extremely damp and barely lit by the sun coming through a grate at street level. The Bastille and the Château de Vincennes were both used for high-ranking political prisoners, and had relatively luxurious conditions.

The Catholic Church played an enormous role in the everyday life of people.  However, petty jealousies existed within its ranks and local parish priests were becoming increasingly displeased by the ambition, indifference and vanity of the upper clergy who behaved more like the nobility than prelates. The Church's influence declined toward the end of the century, partly because of the Enlightenment, and partly from conflicts within the church establishment.

There were many plots and secret societies in France at the time. Pre-eminent among those societies were the Freemasons and a group known as the Encyclopediests. Encyclopedism was a burgeoning movement within France. The 32-volume "Encyclopédie", edited by Diderot and D'Alembert, was the pride of Enlightenment France. There were 74,000 articles written by more than 130 contributors. It presented a secular worldview, drawing the ire of several Church officials. Authorities saw it as a dangerous work-it was banned in France, and the Catholic Church placed it on the Index librorum prohibitorum, or Index of Prohibited Books. The authors themselves came under attack and were threatened with imprisonment. Despite all this, work continued "in secret," partially because the project had highly placed supporters. It sought to empower its readers with knowledge and played a role in fomenting the dissent that led to the French Revolution.

Freemasonry acquired the image of the secret society par excellence. One important reason was the early and long-lasting opposition of the Roman Catholic Church, which first condemned the "liberi Muratori seu Francs Massons" in the bull In eminenti (1738). In fact, the society was used for subversive purposes (on both sides) in the lead up the the French Revolution. Freemasonry membership in France included French nobles and many military men, but the largest portion of membership was the bourgeoisie who liked the idea of being members because they appreciated Freemasonry’s motto of equality. Those excluded from joining included Jews, actors, employees, workers, and servants, as well as women - however, Lodges of Adoption soon sprouted through which women could actively participate. 

The Devot (Devout) Party also makes an appearance. This real group were fiercely opposed to the idea of an absolute monarchy and worked with a number of other secretive groups to achieve their ends, including the (fictional) Brotherhood of the Serpent (possibly modeled on the ancient Brotherhood of the Snake whose purpose was to oppose the enslavement of the spirit and to enlighten through scientific knowledge).

The alternating narrative (Volnay and Casanova) begin with a gruesome murder of a young woman. Volnay investigates whilst Casanova's own motives are never quite revealed until the reader has been well drawn into the tale. During the course of his investigation, Volynay finds himself up against a number of different factions, all with their own endgame, all trying to manipulate and direct the detective for their own purpose.

The characters littered across the pages are suitably human, odious, mysterious, enlightened; a good mix of both fiction and real personages. We have our main character, the Inspector of Strange and Unexplained Deaths - the Chevalier de Volnay, aided in all things by his mysterious and sinister accomplice known as "the Heretic Monk". A worthy foil to Volnay is the ever encroaching presence of Giacomo Casanova, who is content to conduct his own investigation in his own inimitable way. However, Volnay is also up against one Antonie Raymond de Sartine, Lieutenant General of Police, who though admired by his contemporaries, was also criticized for using his highly efficient secret police to spy not only on criminals but also on ordinary citizens. It is in this role we are introduced to Sartine. Then there is also the obscure and mysterious Comte de Saint-Germaine with his connections to the monarchy. A number of fictional characters take centre stage with Volnay including Chiara D'Ancilla (one of Madame de Pompadour's ladies); Wallace, the old soldier

Barde-Cabucon certainly takes the reader on a wild journey through the underbelly of pre-Revolutionary France - with its political and religious intrigue; espionage; secret societies; rumblings of revolution; and a murder or two. There were so many reveals towards the end that I felt like a carnival clown, mouth perpetually open. I literally felt exhausted (in a good way) when I finally finished this.  Whilst there are many themes peppered throughout, rest assured, it does all come together, and Barde-Cabucons extensive research is evident .

This novel (originally titled Casanova and the Faceless Woman) is the first in a series - and I hope that the rest will be translated and re-published in due course as I am looking forward to reading more - and will definitely read this again. 

Recommended reading: 

The Chatelet Apprentice by Jean-Francois Parot

See also: Recreation of 18th Century Paris

Review: People of Abandoned Character by Claire Whitfield

Synopsis: Marry in haste . . . Murder at leisure?

London, 1888: Susannah rushes into marriage to a young and wealthy surgeon. After a passionate honeymoon, she returns home with her new husband wrapped around her little finger. But then everything changes. Thomas's behavior becomes increasingly volatile and violent. He stays out all night, returning home bloodied and full of secrets. The gentle caresses she enjoyed on her wedding night are now just a honeyed memory. 

When the first woman is murdered in Whitechapel, Susannah's interest is piqued. But as she follows the reports of the ongoing hunt for the killer, her mind takes her down the darkest path imaginable. Every time Thomas stays out late, another victim is found dead. Is it coincidence? Or is her husband the man they call Jack the Ripper?

To think I nearly gave up on this. It wasn't quite holding my fascination at the beginning, but the premise promised so much that I continued on. And OMG! What a finish! About halfway through things start to move - think gothic fiction along the lines of "Gaslight" and "Rebecca" and you'll know what you are in for. 

Just as Alice was led down the the rabbit hole by the White Rabbit, so Whitfield leads the reader through the crime-ridden sordid streets of Victorian Whitechapel, an area of overcrowding and abject poverty. It was a city of doss houses, sweatshops, abattoirs, overcrowded slums, pubs, a few shops and warehouses. Although described as “terra incognito for respectable citizens", it was a place were the wealthy gentlemen "slummed it" and the well-heeled ladies got their daily crime fix by visiting the scenes of horror (from the deplorable living conditions to the crimes scenes of the Ripper).

Women within Victorian society were entirely at the mercy of the men who dominated their lives: first, their fathers and brothers would control them when they are still young and when they are married, their husbands. Marriage was considered very essential and significant for the sake of the stability of the society. Women were therefore expected to be very obedient and submissive in order to have a happy and stable marriage. Women were not supposed to divorce; they were expected to live with their husbands even if it meant to live in miserable marriage.

Women thus began to perform duties outside their homes. This meant that they would cook, nurse and educate young people for a pay. Nevertheless, a woman was only supposed to work as long as she was not married, but once married, she was expected to stop working and take up her role as a wife and mother.

It wasn't until the 1880s that educational opportunities and institutions opened up to women to continue with their learning. Whereas prior to this, an educated woman was not considered attractive nor marriageable material. At the same time, women attained more legal rights with the establishment of more movements and acts. The married women property act allowed married women authority over their own properties. Her property was hers and not her husband’s. 

When Nurse Susannah Chapman marries wealth doctor Thomas Lancaster, little did she know what she was getting in for - yes, marry in haste, repent in leisure is very apt. With no family of her own and isolated from her friends, Susannah finds herself trapped in a loveless marriage. Husband Thomas becomes this Jekyll and Hyde type character, and when the Ripper murders start, Susannah slowly connects the dots, coming to a horrifying conclusion that could end in her own death. 

For a first novel, this is gripping stuff - as I said, I nearly gave up on it early on in the piece, but the scene was just being set with a bit of retrospective narrative - it will make sense as you near then end. And I especially loved the narrative ascribed to the Ripper's victims. The ending .... you know its building up to something, however, the something that we get is far for expected! It is almost noirish by definition. 

This and Elizabeth Hill's "Killing The Girl" have to be two of my favourite crime reads for this year.

Review: The Cromwell Enigma by Derek Wilson

Synopsis: July 1540. The courts of Europe are stunned to hear that Henry VIII has executed his all-powerful minister, Thomas Cromwell.

Poet and classicist Nicholas Bourbon is sent from the cultured court of Queen Marguerite of Navarre to investigate. Thrust into a turbulent world of religious, political and personal rivalries, his travels take him far and wide. He endures perils at sea, incarceration in a monastic prison and poisonous intrigue in the Tudor court. 

Yet this retiring scholar cannot abandon a quest which steadily becomes an obsession, drawing him ever deeper into the beliefs and motivations of his mysterious quarry.  Only after facing many hazards does he discover the astonishing secret that unlocks the Cromwell enigma.

The synopsis pretty much covers it story-wise.  And this reminded me of what I refer to as "in the footsteps of" - wherein an author attempts to walk in the footsteps of their chosen subject to discover more about them and takes the reader along their journey. Usually this type of book is non-fiction, but I find that it works just as well in a fictional format - as it does in this instance.

Utilising the real-life character of Nicholas Bourbon, the reader is taken on a quest to discover the missing years of Thomas Cromwell (or Tom Crom as he is often referred to) in order to understand the man he became at the time of his execution (no spoilers here - just the facts). I really do love the use of other real historical characters to give some authenticity to the plot.

So, who are our main characters:  firstly we have our narrator, Nicholas Bourbon, who was a noted court poet, as well as tutor to Jeanne d'Albret, daughter of Marguerite Queen of Navarre, as well as (in this instance) her ambassador. Whilst we learn of Nicholas' past throughout his mission - and his dealing with the English Court of Henry VII - very little is known about his final years.  As such, Wilson creates a possible scenario for Bourbon's final years.

Whilst not appearing in the physical sense, Thomas Cromwell, King Henry VII's most trusted advisor, Lord Privy Seal, and the architect of the Dissolution of the Monasteries, looms larger than life throughout.  What has always interested people is Cromwell's rise to power from humble beginnings, and those years he spent in Italy early on.  And this is what Wilson explores through the use of Nicholas Bourbon, as almost a detective type figure.  However, not everyone welcomes Bourbon's investigation and some are keen not to follow in Cromwell's footsteps to the executioner's block by voicing their opinions.

Although no exactly nail biting, white knuckle edge-of-your-seat drama, there is action aplenty to keep the reader entertained as we draw ever closer to Cromwell's secret. The narrative is peppered with extracts from documents and correspondence of the day, adding to the authenticity of the tale.

As Nicholas is given to say: " ... like a squirrel worrying a nut, I was possessed by the need to find a kernel of truth written within the shell of conflicting information ..."

Definitely one for historical fiction and Tudor fiction readers.

Review: The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman

Synopsis: In a peaceful retirement village, four unlikely friends meet up once a week to investigate unsolved killings.

But when a local property developer shows up dead, 'The Thursday Murder Club' find themselves in the middle of their first live case.

The four friends, Elizabeth, Joyce, Ibrahim and Ron, might be pushing eighty but they still have a few tricks up their sleeves. Can our unorthodox but brilliant gang catch the killer, before it's too late?

Not having any idea who Richard Osman is and what he had previously written, I came into this with no preconceptions. I loved the premise of the story when I requested a review copy.

No surprises - I loved it! The story follows the first person narrative of newly arrived Joyce (as diary entries) and the standard third person narrative for the rest of the book. The setting is an up-market retirement village - Coopers Chase - populated by a vast range of retired (or semi-retired) professionals, four of who make up the Thursday Murder Club. This group meet together to look over cold cases from the files of one of the groups' former members - however, when real life steps in and the property developer Ian Ventham is murders, the group decide to get in on the sleuthing themselves. 

" ... if today was anything to go by, this whole murder investigation is going to be the most enormous fun ..."

This reminded me slightly of Charlaine Harris' "Aurora Teagarden" series - so if you love that, then you will also love this one.

The story builds up slowly and has a great twist at the end. It is witty, suspenseful, serious, fun; the characters are endearing, slightly questionable in their ethics, and nowhere close to retiring!. I do hope there is more.

Review: The Inugami Curse by Seishi Yokomizo

Synopsis: In 1940s Japan, the wealthy head of the Inugami Clan dies, setting off a chain of bizarre, gruesome murders. Detective Kindaichi must unravel the clan’s terrible secrets of forbidden liaisons, monstrous cruelty, and disguised identities to find the murderer.

After reading the Honjin Murders back in March, I was excited to receive a review copy of another Kosuke Kindaichi mystery. However, this does not directly follow the first in fact it is number six in the series, but the second only to have been translated into English (nothing is lost in the translation!).

Events are set roughly around 1947 - after the second world war - and involve a prominent Nasu family. Following the death of the patriarch, the reading of his will (with its very special conditions) plunges the family into a "series of bloody murders". Kindaichi is on the spot and is involved in the investigation from the very beginning.

To say the family is disfunctional would be an understatement - petty jealousies, long concealed secrets, simmering hatreds, questionable motives, a gruesome deaths - all provide a deliciously deceptive narrative, with more red herrings than a Dr Seuss book.  Don't worry if you lose track, Kindaichi provides a brief summary of his discoveries about two thirds of the way through.

As I mentioned in my review of the Honjin Murders, I do hope that more of Yokomizo's Kindaichi series are translated and released.

Side note: another reviewer mentioned the movie version. I tracked it down (the 1976 version at least) on youtube - loved it!.

Partisan Diary by Ada Gobetti and Jomarie Alano

Ada Gobetti's Partisan Diary is both diary and memoir. From the German entry into Turin on 10 September 1943 to the liberation of the city on 28 April 1945, Gobetti recorded an almost daily account of events, sentiments, and personalities, in a cryptic English only she could understand. Italian senator and philosopher Benedetto Croce encouraged Ada to convert her notes into a book. 

Published by Giulio Einaudi editore in 1956, it won the Premio Prato, an annual prize for a work inspired by the Italian Resistance (Resistenza). From a political and military point of view, the Partisan Diary provides firsthand knowledge of how the partisans in Piedmont fought, what obstacles they encountered, and who joined the struggle against the Nazis and the Fascists. The mountainous terrain and long winters of the Alpine regions (the site of many of their battles) and the ever-present threat of reprisals by German occupiers and their fascist partners exacerbated problems of organization among the various partisan groups. So arduous was their fight, that key military events—Italy's declaration of war on Germany, the fall of Rome, and the Allied landings on D-Day —appear in the diary as remote and almost unrelated incidents. 

Ada Gobetti writes of the heartbreak of mothers who lost their sons or watched them leave on dangerous missions of sabotage, relating it to worries about her own son Paolo. She reflects on the relationship between anti-fascist thought of the 1920s, in particular the ideas of her husband, Piero Gobetti, and the Italian resistance movement (Resistenza) in which she and her son were participating. While the Resistenza represented a culmination of more than twenty years of anti-fascist activity for Ada, it also helped illuminate the exceptional talents, needs, and rights of Italian women, more than one hundred thousand of whom participated.

Partisan Diary makes a singular contribution to women's history by chronicling the experiences of many Italian women who not only participated actively in the Resistenza, but who continued their fight for women's rights after the war.

Obit: Maj Sjöwall: ‘Nordic noir’ pioneer, author of the Martin Beck series

From April's The Guardian:

Maj Sjöwall, one half of a Swedish crime-writing couple credited with inventing the “Nordic noir” genre, has died aged 84, her publisher said on Wednesday.

Sjöwall, a pioneer of gritty realism and an inspiration to modern crime writers, “passed away today after an extended period of illness,” Ann-Marie Skarp, head of publisher Piratforlaget, told AFP.

With her partner Per Wahlöö, who died in 1975, Sjöwall penned a 10-book series centred on the dour, middle-aged and decidedly unheroic Martin Beck and his team of detectives in Stockholm’s National Homicide Bureau.

The duo penned the series decades before the likes of Henning Mankell and Stieg Larsson made the genre a worldwide hit.

The Martin Beck books have been translated into 40 languages, according to news agency TT, and served as the source material for dozens of movies.

read more here @ The Guardian

I picked up these two in my local secondhand book store - they were the only two and I nearly put them back - glad I didn't.

The Honey and the Sting: the novel that didn’t want to be written

From Historia Magazine:

Author Elizabeth Fremantle discusses the ansgt that came with writing her lastest book - The Honey and The Sting.

I had wanted to write a companion piece to my Jacobean thriller, The Poison Bed, as books about a pair of infamous Stuart murders involving two prominent favourites of James I: the poisoning of Sir Thomas Overbury (allegedly by Robert Carr, Earl of Somerset, and his wife, Frances Howard) in 1613, and the assassination of Carr’s successor as favourite, the Duke of Buckingham, in 1628.

I had a very clear idea about how I would fictionalise the Overbury affair and its protagonists, a husband and wife both in the frame for the murder and though it had its challenges the general shape of the story was fixed from the outset. But when it came to Buckingham things became so much more complicated.

I had initially intended to focus on the fascinating testimony of a royal doctor, Eglisham, who claimed to have witnessed the murder of James I by Buckingham and had written it all into a tract designed to bring the Duke down.

It was such an outrageous notion: regicide, a secret tract, scurrilous goings on, I was determined to make it work as part of my novelistic scheme.

But I had also intended to tell the story of Buckingham’s sister-in-law, the heiress Frances Coke – forcibly married off to Buckingham’s insane brother as a way for him to grab her lands and titles. She was pursued by Buckingham on a charge of adultery which forced her into hiding with her young son. I had imagined she had the Eglisham tract and was going to use it to blackmail her ruthless brother-in-law and bring him down.

read more here @ Historia Magazine

see also my review of The King's Assassin by Benjamin Woolley

This historian's drawings capture a forgotten Wakefield demolished in the 1960s

From the Wakefield Express:

The Buildings of Tudor and Stuart Wakefield by Peter Brears documents the ever changing landscape of Wakefield as history gave way to modernisation.

He began recording buildings as they were being demolished, making detailed drawings of what they looked like and where they stood. A volunteer with Wakefield Museum at the time, he also flagged up with staff any carvings and materials he thought were worthy of preservation and several were saved within its stores and collections.

“I was coming through Wakefield virtually every early evening after school,” says Brears. “I started doing drawings of things as they were coming down.” It was a case, he says, of “if I didn’t do it, nobody else would”.

Established historian Brears kept the notebooks of his sketches for five decades, hoping one day to revisit them. A few years ago, he finally got the chance and earlier this year, he officially launched his latest book The Buildings of Tudor and Stuart Wakefield.

It’s a culmination of painstaking work, both as an adolescent and in recent adulthood. Through his own meticulously detailed drawings and paintings, Brears reconstructs Wakefield’s lost buildings, informed by his early sketches, as well as architectural drawings and the materials of the day that have been kept in stores in the city’s museums.

Having researched the buildings in the context of Wakefield’s history and development, Brears accompanies these with a scholarly text discussing the area’s architectural heritage.

read more here @ Wakefield Express

Miss Silver Series by Patricia Wentworth

Miss Maud Silver is a fictional main character in series mystery novels written by bestselling British author Patricia Wentworth. Miss Silver is a former governess turned a private investigator whose age and physical appearance make her appear harmless. 

Unlike her literary contemporary Miss Marple, Miss Silver is an active,  professional investigator, often working closely with Scotland Yard (especially Inspector Frank Abbott) - a "true predecessor of all female private detectives". 

Most of Miss Silver’s activities happen from the readers view without getting a glimpse of how she works or how she learns all that she does. In fact, very little is known of the character - she appears fully developed, and readers are not treated to the backstory.

The Miss Silver series begins in 1928 with the Grey Mask and lasted thirty-two books concluding in 1961 with The Girl in the Cellar.

A full list of Miss Silver titles can be located here @ Goodreads

A must for fans of the golden age of classic crime.

see also:

- A List of Female Detective Characters

Review: Joan, Lady of Wales: Power and Politics of King John's Daughter by Danna R Messer

Synopsis: The history of women in medieval Wales before the English conquest of 1282 is one largely shrouded in mystery. For the Age of Princes, an era defined by ever-increased threats of foreign hegemony, internal dynastic strife and constant warfare, the comings and goings of women are little noted in sources. This misfortune touches even the most well-known royal woman of the time, Joan of England (d. 1237), the wife of Llywelyn the Great of Gwynedd, illegitimate daughter of King John and half-sister to Henry III. With evidence of her hand in thwarting a full scale English invasion of Wales to a notorious scandal that ended with the public execution of her supposed lover by her husband and her own imprisonment, Joan's is a known, but little-told or understood story defined by family turmoil, divided loyalties and political intrigue.

From the time her hand was promised in marriage as the result of the first Welsh-English alliance in 1201 to the end of her life, Joan's place in the political wranglings between England and the Welsh kingdom of Gwynedd was a fundamental one. As the first woman to be designated Lady of Wales, her role as one a political diplomat in early thirteenth-century Anglo-Welsh relations was instrumental. This first-ever account of Siwan, as she was known to the Welsh, interweaves the details of her life and relationships with a gendered re-assessment of Anglo-Welsh politics by highlighting her involvement in affairs, discussing events in which she may well have been involved but have gone unrecorded and her overall deployment of royal female agency. 

This was a difficult review for me not due to the content but how to formulate my many and varied thoughts on this book as they are at odds with each other.

On the one hand, this is a detailed study on the role of royal / noble women of the Welsh ruling houses (the titles are interchangeable) during the late 12th and early 13th centuries. To illustrate her points, the author's chosen subject is Joan, daughter of John of England, one of the predominant women at this time. Messer provides us with a well researched and thought out argument for her choice of Joan's mother, which she utilises throughout the narrative.

A number of chapters cross over with each other as certain themes are discussed, and at times we jump forward and backwards in the timeline so that there is no strict chronological order to things. A number of other notable women are also used to provide examples of their influence in the areas of hospitality, patronage, marriage, and some times, in the changing of prevailing attitudes and customs - most of these women have some connection of Joan.

What I am at odds with is the documentation used to support the theory that Joan played a dominant political role in Wales at this period. Messer acknowledges that ".. invisibility in sources doesn't naturally preclude invisibility in life ..". It also doesn't preclude an active political role. There is quite a bit of "it is likely" and "it is possible"and to conclude that Joan may have been one of the "unnamed" persons who may or may not have been awarded safe conduct to attend meetings without factual evidence does not make it fact. Alternatively, to assume that the granting of land and property to Joan and Llwellyn is payment for Joan's role as political negotiator or "peace weaver" would be to make fact out of supposition and assumptions, and to insert her into the narrative that may not be hers to own, and ponder the possibilities.

I have no doubt that Joan may have played an important political role as wife of the reigning prince, however, I would like to have seen some more supporting documentation from the multiple sources used - an image of a document, a translation of a text, a pipe role entry. To tell us that "... simply because details are non-existent does not mean .. Joan did not parley behind the scenes as she was so wont to do on many occasions ..". That is a rather bland and empty statement to put forth as a solidly researched argument.

In fact, as Messer admits, there is only one case that we actually know that Joan had a hand in it - the rest remains a matter of "contextualisation". And so Joan, like many women of her era are left to ".. languish in the shadows of the feats, tragedies and majesties of the powerful men .." in their lives, and that Joan's life has and will remain a mystery.

Look, this is a decent work on the role of women in Wales - maybe that should have been the focus, using what is known of Joan and the many other notable women, to provide a discussion on the different areas where women did have a documented involvement in society and politics.