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 …
Category: detective stories
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 …
Curtain
by Agatha Christie How do you end a successful run? At some stage, an author tires of her characters, runs out of steam or perhaps decides that it's simply time to end it. " 'I can visualize him, developing this hobby of his .... And little by little developing a morbid taste for violence at …
Third Girl
by Agatha Christie Fast forward three decades from the colourful world of Death on the Nile! We're now in the sixties, a time I remember quite well, the age of the Beatles, Beatniks, miniskirts and tight trousers, of long hair, Purple Hearts and angst. " 'Yes, I've killed him.... The blood got on my hands …
Death on the Nile
by Agatha Christie For my second post this week on the Hercule Poirot novels, I've chosen this novel from 1937, one of my favourites. '[Poirot's] glance softened as it rested on one particular couple. A well-matched pair - tall broad-shouldered man, slender delicate girl. Two bodies that moved in a perfect rhythm of happiness. Happiness …
Bookheathen Scribblings 