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The Ghost Fields by Elly Griffiths
16th July 2023. This series simply gets better with each book. It’s no mean feat when the bar was set so high from the start, but like the previous outings for Dr Ruth Galloway, she’s soon immersed in another original and different plot when a plane from the Second World War is uncovered at a building site. Inside the cockpit, there’s body with a bullet hole in the head. Only he’s not the pilot. It’s the start of another mystery that centres on the Blackstock family, who have lived on the same land for centuries. Three generations occupy their stately home, along with a host of family secrets and conflicts…
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The Heron’s Cry by Ann Cleeves
9th July 2023. This is another beautifully crafted investigation that draws you in from the opening chapters with engaging characters and a shocking murder. Dr Yeo is stabbed in the neck with a glass shard that comes from one of the vases his daughter crafted. The impact ripples through the local community, affecting the families of those connected with the doctor, his daughter, and DI Matthew Venn. A second murder with another glass shard has detectives investigating on several fronts, straining local relationships further. It’s a complex story that moves at a sure and steady pace. The affect on the local community and families is at the core of the…
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H is For Homicide by Sue Grafton
28th June 2023. Over 30 years ago, I started reading Sue Grafton’s brilliant Alphabet series. This time around the books are still as fresh and brilliant, driven by Kinsey Millhone’s determination and her irreverent humour and sometimes acerbic observations. In her eighth outing, she’s looking into an insurance scam that starts out with Bibianna Diaz, who appears to be a small fish in a large pond. Kinsey catches up with her one evening, only to end up involved in a shooting that lands them both in jail. Then the police approach Kinsey to go undercover and stick with Bibianna, who’s involved with the mastermind running the insurance scam, and more.…
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Mystery at the Abbey Hotel by Clare Chase
24th May 2023. In this hugely enjoyable outing for obituary writer turned sleuth, Eve Mallow, she’s won a stay at the classy Abbey Hotel. She immediately takes to the owner, Debra Moran, who has a very clear vision for the future. Unfortunately, someone kills her in the woods that night, bringing the police to the hotel to investigate. As Eve collects details for an obituary and her own investigation, a second murder shocks the peaceful Suffolk countryside. With a large number of suspects and motives, it’s slow progress. Gardener and former police officer Robin is on hand to pass information both ways as the investigation deepens, bringing Eve closer and…
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G is for Gumshoe by Sue Grafton
16th May 2023. In the seventh book in the series, PI Kinsey Millhone has an eventful birthday. She moves into her new apartment, gets a straightforward job to track down a missing mother, and discovers a criminal’s hired an assassin to kill her. Being feisty, determined and independent, Kinsey’s certain she can deal with the death threat until she’s attacked and then run off the road while trying to track down the missing mother. When she learns a judge, who is also on the hit list, has been killed, it’s time to call in Dietz to protect her. Dietz is a bit of a handful, invading Kinsey’s space, but he…
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The Mystery of the Blue Train by Agatha Christie
14th April 2023. This is another original and imaginative mystery featuring Hercule Poirot. When Ruth Kettering, the daughter of an American millionaire is murdered on the Blue Train, travelling to Nice in France, Poirot is also on board. He soon offers his assistance to the French police. They soon identify a number of potential suspects. In his usual methodical way, Poirot employs his little grey cells, probing and questioning a number of people on the French Riviera. Ruth’s estranged husband, who has been having an affair with a dancer, is soon questioned and ultimately arrested. Poirot’s not convinced, but struggles to get a lead and evidence to identify the real…
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Murder in the Parish by Faith Martin
13th April 2023. Hillary Greene returns to investigate another cold case murder, involving Rev Keith Coltrane thirty years ago. Popular with his parish and many of the women in the village, there were several key suspects in the original investigation, but a lack of evidence. Hillary sets out with her team to uncover new details that may shed light on the killing and the killer. Progress is slow, people have secrets to hide, and Hillary’s struggling with a chest complaint that’s more than a simple infection. But her determination is legendary, and despite the lack of evidence and the time lag, she starts to piece it all together. Like the…
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Dying Fall by Elly Griffiths
12th April 2023. The day before former university student and friend, Dan Golding, is killed in a house fire, he writes to Dr Ruth Galloway, asking for her opinion on some bones. He believes he’s made a big discovery that will have a massive impact on an old legend. Ruth travels north to Blackpool with daughter Kate and her friend Cathbad, unaware of the dangers that face her. DCI Harry Nelson is also holidaying in the resort and catching up with an old police colleague. When he discovers Ruth in the town, it all gets a little complicated. This is another gentle, but compelling novel that slowly builds the tension…
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F is for Fugitive by Sue Grafton
7th April 2023. In the sixth novel of the series, Kinsey’s hired to find out who killed Jean Timberlake seventeen years ago in Floral Beach. Bailey Fowler, her boyfriend at the time, was convicted of her murder, but escaped gaol soon after. Now he’s been caught and Bailey’s father wants Kinsey to find the real killer. In a small, tight knit community, convinced of Bailey’s guilt, it’s not going to be easy for Kinsey. From almost the moment she arrives at the Fowler’s hotel, she’s subjected to intimidating phone calls. Naturally, the residents are reluctant to help, more so when Bailey’s friend springs him from the courtroom, getting shot in…
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The ABC Murders by Agatha Christie
3rd April 2023. In another original and ingenious mystery from Agatha Christie, an unknown serial killer announces his intended murders by letter to Hercule Poirot. At first, it appears to be a hoax, until a murder is committed in Andover. An ABC guide to railway travel is left with the body. When a second murder is announced and carried out in Bexhill on Sea, Scotland Yard take control, working with Poirot, but with little success. A third murder at Churston attracts the attention of the press, but offers few clues to the killer’s identity. Unable to make any progress, Poirot calls together all the people closely involved with the three…
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No Alternative (Or why I wrote No Accident)
I didn’t need to write No Accident. I’d already written No Bodies, a perfectly good story to launch the Kent Fisher murder mystery series. A UK agent had read it from cover to cover, keen to see how an environmental health officer (EHO) would solve a murder. Alas, she didn’t take me or the book on. It needed polishing, some work on the characters. I was getting closer to a publishing deal, so why didn’t I do the work, improve the story and resubmit it? Something was missing. In No Bodies, there’s a reference to Kent Fisher helping the police round up a drugs gang. Yeah, just the sort of…
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Bleeding Heart Yard by Elly Griffiths
26th March 2023. Once again, Elly Griffiths has produced an outstanding and captivating novel, featuring Harbinder Kaur. She’s moved from Sussex to London, following her promotion to detective inspector. She’s soon thrown into a murder investigation when MP Garfield Rice is killed at a school reunion, attended by Cassie, one of the detectives in her team. It’s the start of a complex investigation, delving into the lives of several people, who were part of an elite group during their schooldays. They were also involved in the death of another pupil, pushed in front of an oncoming train. Is this death significant? Is it linked to the murder of Garfield Rice?…