Broken Ground by Val McDermid A Review Published in 2018, Broken Ground is a police procedural set in Edinburgh and the Highlands of Scotland. Thus I couldn't resist delving into it. ' "I need you over here. This body that's supposed to have been in the ground for seventy-four years? He's wearing a pair of …
Category: detective stories
Before It’s Too Late
by Jane Isaac A Review 'A wet sponge touched my nose. I threw my eyes open. It was not a sponge. I shuddered, darted back. A rat.' It is always good to read a novel set in places one knows quite well. Before It's Too Late is one such story, a police procedural thriller based …
One Day At A Time
The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton A Review 'As with Bell, my skin prickles when I see Ravencourt in the mirror. Some part of me remembers my real face and is perplexed by this stranger staring back.' This novel was a 'left-over' from my recent holiday. Having been warned that it was …
Strike Four
Lethal White by Robert Galbraith ‘ “I’m not mental! He strangled the kid and they buried it, down in the dell by our dad’s house. Wrapped in a blanket it was….” ' The latest novel by JK Rowling under her Robert Galbraith pseudonym begins with the wedding from hell. Robin Ellacott, employee/partner at the …
The Robots of Dawn
by Isaac Asimov A Review 'And all turned to grey - and he was drowning. He could not breathe. He struggled desperately to open his clogged throat, to call to Daneel for help -' Looking back, I notice that I reviewed Asimov's Robots and Empire in May last year, and The Naked Sun in December …
In a House of Lies
by Ian Rankin A Review ' "Information is power, Siobhan. Cafferty didn't just bludgeon his way to the top." ' A bunch of kids find an abandoned car at the bottom of a gully in the woods. Inside is the body of former private detective Stewart Bloom. He has been handcuffed round the ankles by …
Tooth and Nail
by Ian Rankin A Review Like Witch Hunt, which I reviewed two days ago, Tooth and Nail is a Rankin novel from the early 1990s. This one features Inspector John Rebus, but in an unusual setting. Rebus is called to London by the Met to assist in catching the Wolfman, a serial killer responsible for …
Witch Hunt
by Ian Rankin A Review 'No spies any more. Now there were only the technicians.' Witch Hunt is an early Rankin novel which features none of his now well-known characters. Published in 1993 under Rankin's pseudonym Jack Harvey, it is not exactly a spy thriller in the sense that heroes and villains are engaged in …
Space Detectives
The Naked Sun by Isaac Asimov 'And at the very moment he felt Daneel's hand clamping down upon his shoulders ..... But surely a robot would not dare use violence on a man. That thought was dominant. Daneel could not prevent him forcibly, and yet Baley felt the robot's hands forcing him down.' Written sixty …
In Wine Is Truth
The Critic by Peter May A Review I had previously read two of this author's books, one a detective story set on a Hebridean Island, the other a mystery coming of age story set in Glasgow and London. I enjoyed both. 'With great apprehension she leaned over to smell the fermenting juice and felt her …
