I devoured Cooper’s first novel, ‘The Chalet’ in one sitting during a heatwave – and I’m pleased to report that ‘The Chateau’ was every bit as gripping! This is another one that I sailed through with remarkable speed.
Thanks to NetGalley for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review.
Continue reading Book Review: ‘The Chateau’ by Catherine CooperWelcome to my stop on the blog tour for ‘Cold Sun’ by Anita Sivakumaran, a lively and engaging police procedural set in Bangalore.
With thanks to Random Things Tours and Dialogue Books for my copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
From the Publisher:
‘Cold Sun is a stylish and exuberant, fish-out-of-water, crime thriller… A wonderfully observed, whip-smart, India-set thriller.’
Amer Anwar, author of Brothers in Blood and Stone Cold Trouble
Bangalore. Three high-profile women murdered, their bodies draped in identical red saris.
When the killer targets the British Foreign Minister’s ex-wife, Scotland Yard sends the troubled, brilliant DI Vijay Patel to lend his expertise to the Indian police investigation.
Stranger in a strange land, ex-professional cricketer Patel must battle local resentment and his own ignorance of his ancestral country, while trying to save his failing relationship back home.
Soon, the killer’s eyes will turn to Patel. And also to Chandra Subramanium, the fierce female detective he is working with in Bangalore.
This breathless thriller will keep you guessing until the final, shocking revelation.
My Review:
I’ve read a few police procedurals set in India – both Vaseem Khan and Abir Mukherjee write fabulous crime novels set in the country.
However, what appealed to me with ‘Cold Sun’ was the idea of a British Indian detective helping to solve a crime in Bangalore. DI Vijay Patel of Scotland Yard is sent in to investigate a series of high-profile murders and finds himself totally lost in India’s policing practices. Kind of a bit ‘Death in Paradise’ but grittier and in India!
DI Vijay Patel is called in when three high-profile women (one of them the British Foreign Minister’s ex-wife, hence the UK link) are killed. There are key similarities between the crimes and each of the women is clothed in a red sari when she is found. Patel needs to work with the often-hostile local police in order to stop a killer before they strike again…
I really liked the way that DI Patel was forced into a balancing act and his position was continually precarious. He has to work hard to gain the trust of the local police while finding their policing methods alien. He works hard not to trample on Indian customs while really struggling with his lack of awareness of his own ancestral heritage. All of this makes him quite a sympathetic character, even as the reader watches him make some huge errors and faux pas.
For me, the character of Chandra Subramanium was one of the real strengths of the novel. I loved that this tough, feisty female detective is partnered with Patel and they make an extremely unlikely pairing – she gets things done in often unconventional ways, while he is much more used to softer policing methods. I really enjoyed the relationship building between the two characters and hope that we will see more of them in future books.
The Indian setting is vibrant and vivid – regular visitors to my blog know that I’m all about the setting! I really enjoyed being immersed in a culture and place so different from rainy Cheshire in August. There was a sense of the heat and the dust, the poverty and colour, the people and customs of Bangalore. I’m a huge fan of novels that can transport me to other places so this was a hig bonus.
The plotting of the novel is well done – it was suitable twisty so that I didn’t guess the denouement at all, even as the book was racing towards its conclusion. I found myself caught up in the story and wanting to read on as the tension was ramped up and the stakes became ever higher.
I’d recommend this to lovers of police procedurals, those who enjoy a ‘fish-out-of-water’ detective, those who love immersive settings, those who like strong female characters…just about everyone really. There is plenty to enjoy in this clever and tense thriller – and I hope to read more by this talented writer.
About the Author:
Anita Sivakumaran was born in Madras and has lived in the UK since 2004. Her historical novel, The Queen, based on real events, has been made into a major television series. Cold Sun is her first novel in the DI Patel detective series.
As I’m much too ginger to really enjoy the sun, I’ve developed a bit of a fascination with cold places. Holidays in Alaska, Russia or Norway – count me in! With that in mind, it was the setting of Antarctica that brought me to this book – and I am so glad it did.
Thanks to NetGalley for my copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
The story opens with Kate, our main character and a medical doctor, arriving at a research station in the Antarctic. She has her own reasons for taking the remote job and steps at short notice into a role recently held by a doctor who died in an accident on the ice. As the team shrinks down to core staff for the winter, only 13 people remain at the facility, When that number becomes 12, Kate begins to question whether the death is part of a bigger picture. Not knowing who she can trust, she begins a dangerous investigation…
This is a genuinely tense and exciting thriller – I couldn’t put it down as I watched Kate navigate her way through some excruciatingly tense events and situations. Given the fact that Kate is herself an unreliable narrator (not a spoiler), I was drawn into guessing and second-guessing all the time. I didn’t manage to get anywhere near the solution but I had a lot of fun trying.
The setting is the real strength of this novel. The dangerous and inhospitable Antarctic surroundings really add to the tension, especially when the research facility closes down to core staff only for the 24 hours a day darkness that the winter season brings. Haughton perfectly captures the peril inherent in living in such extreme conditions – the disorientating and unnavigable whiteness, the reliance on generators and supplies, the lack of contact with the outside world. There is a real sense of claustrophobia that will probably be a whole lot more understandable to readers now after the various Covid lockdowns!
The day to day realities of living in these remote conditions make up a lot of the novel and Haughton seems to have done some seriously extensive research into this. Between all the heart-in-mouth moments, I found it fascinating to see how people cope with living in these circumstances. Details about clothes, weather, food supplies, communications, the base’s layout and the science experiments are woven into the fabric of the novel seamlessly. So interesting, but so extreme!
I loved the fact that this is essentially a mystery with a closed circle of suspects. There is no way anyone can come from outside, so the reader is left to guess which of the research station’s ‘inmates’ is dodgy – and there is an international and diverse cast to choose from. I did find it a bit tricky to remember who was who at the beginning – a reference list would have been handy. I found myself really liking some characters before (like Kate) remembering that they could easily be a criminal!
I’d recommend this to anyone who loves truly tense thrillers – the monotony of daily life at the research centre (although I found this bit really intereresting!) is perfectly offset with the paranoia that everyone could be an enemy. If you like psychological mysteries with a finite number of possible suspects (think along the lines of Ruth Ware and Catherine Cooper books) then this is for you.
As for me, as much as I love cold places, I will give Antarctica a miss!
If you’d like a copy of this book (out on 19th August) then please use my affiliate link – thanks for supporting my blog with any purchases.
Header photo by Torsten Dederichs on Unsplash
WWW Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted at Taking on a World of Words. Anyone can take part and it is a great way of sharing what you have just finished reading, what you are currently reading and what is next on the TBR.
The school term is now finished and I am free to read! In fact, I spent much of the heatwave this week lying really still and reading books…bliss!
I’m now at 78/100 on my Goodreads Challenge.
Continue reading WWW Wednesday: 28th July, 2021
WWW Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted at Taking on a World of Words. Anyone can take part and it is a great way of sharing what you have just finished reading, what you are currently reading and what is next on the TBR.
Since I last did a WWW Wednesday post, the school term has finished and this teacher is now reading whatever and whenever! I’m now at 70/100 on my Goodreads Challenge.
Continue reading WWW Wednesday: 14th July, 2021I’ve been with Arrowood from the start of the series so I knew just what to expect in this fourth instalment – a fiendish mystery, grimy Victorian London and some great characters. Thanks to Mick Finlay and HQ for my copy of this book in exchange for an honest review, plus the invitation to join the blog tour.
Welcome to my stop on the blog tour for ‘A Public Murder’ by Antoinette Moses, a clever police procedural introducing DI Pam Gregory.
With thanks to Random Things Tours for my copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
From the Publisher:
‘My mother was a very difficult person, Inspector, and not always a very nice one. I can think of any number of people who would want her dead.’
Continue reading Blog Tour: ‘A Public Murder’ by Antoinette MosesWelcome to my stop on the blog tour for ‘The Distant Dead’ by Lesley Thomson, the latest in the Detective’s Daughter series.
Thanks to the publisher, Head of Zeus, for inviting me on the blog tour and for gifting me a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
From the Publisher:
A woman lies dead in a bombed-out house. A tragic casualty of the Blitz? Or something more sinister? Sixty years later, the detective’s daughter unearths the truth… From the number 1 bestselling author of The Detective’s Daughter.
LONDON, 1940
Several neighbours heard the scream of the woman in the bombed-out house. One told the detective she thought the lady had seen a mouse. Another said it wasn’t his business what went on behind closed doors. None of them imagined that a trusting young woman was being strangled by her lover.
TEWKESBURY, 2020
Beneath the vast stone arches of Tewkesbury Abbey, a man lies bleeding, close to death. He is the creator of a true-crime podcast which now will never air. He was investigating the murder of a 1940s police pathologist – had he come closer to the truth than he realised?
Stella Darnell has moved to Tewkesbury to escape from death, not to court it. But when this man dies in her arms, Stella, impelled to root out evil when she finds it, becomes determined to hunt down his killer and to bring the secrets he was searching for into the light…
My Review:
I was drawn to this book by the prospect of a dual narrative – 1940 and 2019 – because I love the idea of the events of the past having their echoes in the present day.
This book begins with the murder of a young woman, Maple Greenhill, in a house abandoned during the Blitz in London during the Second World War. Although her murderer is revealed early on, this crime continues to reverberate down the years as people involved with the original investigation are hiding secrets. When a true crime podcaster is murdered in 2019 in Tewkesbury Abbey, it seems he was about to reveal something about the 1940 murder…
I loved the premise of this book and the balance between 1940 and 2019 is managed well by the writer. As a sucker for historical fiction, I particularly loved the 1940 scenes and some engaging writing about London in the war.
This is the eighth book in the series to feature Stella Darnell who is (from what I gathered) a cleaner and private investigator who has ended up fleeing London and settling in Tewkesbury. However, her new job cleaning Tewkesbury Abbey doesn’t provide her with much escape from her investigative past and it isn’t long before she is at the centre of a new mystery.
I think this book would probably be slightly easier to follow if you have read the previous ones in the series. Although a lot of the back-story is explained, I did find it a bit tricky to remember some of the finer details and get a sense of some of the characters – I guess they would be familiar if you know the series.
That said, I liked Stella as a main character – she seemed strong and clever, resilient and engaging. I didn’t fully understand the situation with Jack, but I liked him too – and the marvellous Lucie.
The novel is really well plotted – it kept me reading as I tried to keep one step ahead of Stella and her investigations. I totally failed, fell for every red herring going and didn’t identify the final solution – hats off to anyone who does because it is very involved and cleverly revealed.
I’d recommend this especially to those who are already familiar with the series and the relationship between Jack and Stella, the cleaning agency and the reasons Stella is in Tewkesbury. For those new to the series, I’d still recommend the writer but perhaps suggest starting with book one. However, this writer clearly has lots to offer so do pick up a copy!
About the Author:
Lesley Thomson is the author of the Detective’s Daughter series of West London-set mysteries featuring private investigators Stella, a cleaner, and Jack, a tube driver. The first novel, The Detective’s Daughter, became an ebook phenomenon in 2013, staying at number 1 in the digital charts for 3 months. Since then, the series has gone on to sell 800,000 copies worldwide. Lesley is an active member of the UK crimewriting community, and appeared at several crime festivals in 2019, including CrimeFest, Harrogate, Morecambe & Vice and Capital Crime. She lives in Lewes with her partner and her dog.
Welcome to my stop on the blog tour for ‘Stealing the Spanish Princess’ by Bea Green, a clever art crime mystery with an eccentric detective.
With thanks to Random Things Tours for my copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
From the Publisher:
In this captivating and dazzling art crime mystery, eccentric detective Richard Langley hunts for a 16th-century masterpiece by the artist El Greco.
The thief stole the priceless painting from an apartment in Kensington, London, and in the process knifed to death a Russian woman.
DCI Richard Langley from Scotland Yard’s Art and Antiquities Unit joins colleagues from Homicide as they pursue a trail that leads them to St Petersburg and then to Madrid.
Following closely in their footsteps is a maverick private investigator hired by the painting’s owner. Knowing how hard it is to sell on stolen artworks of that calibre, Richard wonders what the motive behind its theft might be.
The answer, when it comes, takes everyone by surprise.
My Review:
As someone who loves crime novels, I’ve always kind of wondered what kind of detective I’d make. However, my squeamishness would inevitably exclude me from anything too nasty or gritty or potentially unpleasant – so I’d kind of considered a place on the police art fraud team about my only option!
It turns out DCI Richard Langley – the focus of this novel – got my job.
In this book, DCI Richard Langley of Scotland Yard’s Art and Antiquities Unit joins forces with the Homicide team to solve the mystery of a missing painting and a dead woman. The painting’s Russian owner is keen to reclaim his painting – apparently verified as being by famed artist El Greco – and perhaps less concerned about the demise of his girlfriend, left bleeding in the bedroom where the painting was cut from its frame. Langley and his colleagues follow a trail that takes them across Europe and which leads to some interesting revelations…
I’ll admit that this book hooked me in from the start – a scene in which Langley is scrutinising a mummified foot and pondering the nature of looted antiquities. I found the art crime bits really interesting – I found out a lot about how paintings are verified, restored, copied and stolen.
Although DCI Langley seems to be a department of one (I guess there isn’t too much funding for his line of work when more pressing policing matters need attention), the addition of the Homicide team is welcome here. CI Abdul Hazim is an interesting partner to give DCI Langley on this case, but it is DI Eilidh Simmons who steals the show – she is my favourite character of the three and (I hope) a possible love interest for Richard if this book becomes a series. Please let this book become a series!
Richard himself is a likeable lead, although I wanted to know him a little better – I did have questions as he is a bit of an enigma in some regards. He comes across as an academic trapped in Scotland Yard and surrounded by people who neither understand nor care about his passion for art. The fact his office is deep in the basement and forgotten about is telling for the reader (but appreciated by Richard!) In my head, he’s like a sexy Indiana Jones of the art world…definitely a figure I can get behind!
Another really appealing aspect of this novel is the setting. Although the story starts in London, we also travel (with Richard Langley) to Madrid and St Petersburg – the latter instantly recognisable from my own travels there and I longed to wander the Hermitage Museum a little longer with my art expert.
I also loved that the missing painting was so much more than just an expensive stolen canvas. In the hands of the writer, this became a vivid portrait with a back-story and historical significance. I really wanted to see the picture so it was interesting to read in Bea Green’s biography (below) about the inspiration for the novel.
I’d heartily recommend this to those crime fiction fans who like a story told with intelligence, wit and verve. This isn’t your standard police procedural as the investigation is multi-layered, Europe-wide and not always totally above board (thanks to maverick private investigator Mike Telford). It is a fascinating and lively novel and I hope there will be more to come from this writer.
About the Author:
Bea Green has had a somewhat roving life as the daughter of a British diplomat. Her mother is Spanish and growing up Bea spent every summer at her grandfather’s olive tree farm in Andalusia. This olive tree farm was the inspiration for her contemporary romance book, La Finca.
Bea studied Art throughout school and then did Art History for two of her four years at St Andrews University, where she met her husband. She graduated with an MA in English Literature.
Her interest in art was fostered by her father and her Spanish grandmother. Her Spanish grandmother accompanied her to many of Madrid’s art galleries and several of El Prado’s paintings are fondly remembered in Bea’s art crime book, Stealing the Spanish Princess.
‘Stealing the Spanish Princess’ was inspired by a Spanish painting, Lady in a Fur Wrap, at Pollok House, Glasgow. When Bea wrote ‘Stealing the Spanish Princess’ there was a huge debate among art experts about the painting, with some claiming it was painted by El Greco. Some experts thought the painting was of Princess Catalina Micaela, daughter of the Spanish King, Philip II.
Bea Green has lived in Edinburgh since leaving St Andrews University, with her Glaswegian husband and two daughters. She also maintains close links with her family in Spain.
I’m halfway to my Goodreads 2021 target of 100 books!
With 50 (mostly) great books under my belt, I thought it was time to take stock and pick my favourites so far.
These five in particular have helped light up my 2021…
I've included affiliate links in this post - thanks for supporting my blog with any purchases.Continue reading Woah-oh, I’m halfway there!
