As much a tour of Cornwall as solving murders there.
359314
Book 2 was my introduction to the fascinating relationship between Morgan Davies and Colum West, as well to her think-outside-the-box members of a team every competent homicide detective hopes to have. This series is also a comprehensive tour, both geographically and culturally, of the Channel side of Cornwall not found in most novels set in the area. The characters are well developed, the plot twists obvious to the reader who can't help but keep turning the pages to see how soon Davies and West and those under them will catch on. Exactly how real crime solving works, often at a maddening snail's pace. Off now to download Book 3!
1035344
This is a fun series especially after the success of Poldark on PBS this season starring Aidan Turner. The books are quick reads with fascinating details about 18th century England and particularly Cornwall. The characters are clearly defined and highly entertaining. The entire Poldark saga is mesmerizing and wonderfully engaging. I have ordered the next 5 books in the ongoing saga.
640513
Reverend Annabelle is combining a vacation and being a standin at a small kirk on a Scottish island.  She will be able to spend time with her brother, Roger, and her niece, Bonnie.  The island is a small one filled with people who are friendly and charming.  There are American tourists who believe they own part of a castle, a former rock star who has an unusual interest in dead bodies and a pub owner who takes his bagpipes everywhere he goes.
Annabelle is drawn into a wee mystery.  Bonnie's friend, Felicity, brings a box of expensive jewels to Annabelle.  They need to find the owner.
Shortly, things become much more serious.  There is a dead body on the beach.
And it turns out not everyone is friendly and charming.  One of the islanders is a murderer.
Ms Golden writes really lovely stories.  Annabelle is a very entertaining heroine.  I do find her tunnel vision off putting.  She is unwilling and unable to see anything around her other than her main focus.  When her policeman friend makes a fast trip to make sure she is safe, she ignores him except to pick his brain.  I believe that someone who has gone into the ministry would be more interested in the people around her.
This is a quick read and a well plotted mystery.  The characters are well developed and within a few lines the reader knows exactly who they are as a person.
2439962
This was my first encounter with Lloyd Biggle, Jr. as a mystery writer and I just wish I'd been exposed to his myseries earlier.

One gets a fascinating picture of Victorian London with a brilliant woman private detective (Lady Sara) and her assistant, no mean observer himself and in some ways, a bit too daring for his own good.

Two dock workers are hidiously murdered, terribly clawed.  Clues point to a convicted and recently executed axe-muderer.  Lady Sara, already investigating a series of thefts begins connecting a number of threads together that the police believe totally unconnected.  She becomes convinced that a criminal mastermind is organizing a huge conspiracy that might involve, smuggling, piracy, murder, insurance fraud, and the seemingly random theft of left shoes and jewelry.

Highly recommended and I await the publishing of the other two books in the series with anticipation.
2957213
This is a series of pretty obvious mysteries.  The main attraction is the description of life in feudal England.
176769
And, nice again, her arrival coincides with the discovery of a dead body. Not agreeing with the too hasty judgment of the local constabulary, she calls Scotland Yard for assistance. This is a spiffing yarn, with substantive intrigue and entertaining secondary characters. As I am about to read thr final novel in the Miss Fisher mysteries, it's nice to have these lined up.
1268687
This series is a delightful escape to Cornwall; complete with villagers you'd love to share tea, a mangy dog, and stunning landscapes.
4196024
The question is, whos the target to be murdered next? Laird of a castle, Stuart Menzies has died and evidence of the circumstances points to homicide. Protagonist, Duncan Dewar, insurance appraiser is a pleasant, gentleman but somebody attempted to shove him off the battlement of Castle Taye. Youd think that being busy on a murder case should be enough for him to take on but top it off with he must keep a close watch on Caroline; a beautiful young widow he becomes sidetracked with during the investigation. Woven into this tale are threads of wit, humor and insight into the beautiful culture and cuisine. Author Benchley is intricately involved in her characters, and when you read her stories, you will feel like you know them personally. I totally enjoyed traveling if only in my mind to Scotland and London; two places I would love to see one day. Reading this cozy mystery was a joyful romp through the countryside. This could be a stand-alone read, but I encourage you to get; The Merlon Murders, book 1 first, which this one ties nicely into.
4237408
Taking a close look at some of Tasmania's hard-case criminals is quick reminder of why the island has a 'dark history'. The events are gruesome - you get to welcome the murderers being led to the scaffold! Yet there is more than that to the story. Mr Cox has diligently studied the records of a number of convict period murderers including their last confessions. You have a sense of being expertly guided into what there is to know. These are voices from another time, thankfully Mr Cox has not attempted to psychoanalyse, nor has he applied modern criminology to the cases. Rather, he weaves the known facts, such as they are, into a more general history. We get glimpses of the early settlement of Van Diemens Land, insights into periods of good and poor governance, insights into a criminal class and those who supported them.

The last chapter is a whodunit, involving the unsolved murder of three people at a property near Longford in 1862. Mr Cox is at his best here - turning his attention to the suspects, the witnesses, the ongoing mystery. Mr Cox does offer his view, and it sounds right.

Clearly written, very well researched and with more than the title suggests. A good read.
1578008
Someone is committing particularly gruesome murders of the playwrights of Elizabethan London. Who is behind the strange murders?  One man?  A group of men?  What is the motive? Theatrical jealousy?  Or just pure evil?  In each of the rooms where the murders are committed, theres oceans of blood, but no bodies.  What on earth is going on?

Once again, Hippocrates Yeoman, apothecary of modest means with an uncanny gift for solving crimes, is called upon to solve a mystery that confounds city fathers.  He must find and stop the fiend before he kills again.  And this time, the murders are getting closer and closer to home.  Someone in Hippos household has just disappeared.  Author John Yeoman has done his historical homework:  the streets of Renaissance London come alive with horse dung, fleas and the smell of wood smoke.

A follow-on to A Very Cunning Man, Dream of Darkness is not only an exciting read, but a fictorial, a new invention by author, John Yeoman (no apparent descendant of Hippocrates) designed to reveal the craft behind the magic of great story telling. Footnotes found throughout the books bring up commentaries that explain the how and why of the writing. So those who want more understanding the craft can see how its done.  (And those who want a fast-paced, challenging murder mystery, can skip the tutorials and enjoy.)  As I said in my review of Cunning Man, Ive never seen a fictorial before. Its a brilliant concept.

Sample of the topics discussed in the fictorial Footnotes:
The importance of period authenticity; the significance of foreshadowing phrases; how to simulate a shift in point of view; the importance of character and setting signatures; how to mark radical scene shifts by changing the verb tense; how to modulate dark and light scenes (rather like a musical score).

About the Footnotes:
I use an Amazon Kindle, and all I had to do was tap on a footnote, and the commentary popped up, explaining what the author just did and why. The commentaries are also listed at the back of my version of the book. (There are many different brands of e-reader, and other reviewers on this page have made note of their experience with the footnotes. For me, they were not a problem.)

As a beta reader, I gladly give Dream of Darkness five stars.  Its not only a fine historical murder mystery, but a peek behind the curtain of the storytellers craft.
1723945
I have enjoyed this book even more than the last one I read in this series. It is nice to go back to Ireland and visit "friends". Can you imagine being stuck in a pub with a murder suspect from an unsolved murder? I for one would be a nervous wreck. Luckily for Diane this was a chance to clear her name with the town. It was fun to see how all these people ended up working together to solve a twenty year old crime. This was the enjoyable part of the book for me. I thought the characters really came to life and the author did a good job of making the reader feel like a part of the story. I can't wait to see what she has in store for us in the next book.
623401
Another engrossing trip to England with Inspector Wexford that will keep you engrossed to the last paragraph and make you wanting another.
961045
A very unusual setting for a mystery: a fictitious Caribbean island in the vicinity of Grenada. All dialogue is in the local dialect.

Digger, a young man who excelled at school but who has no prospects of further education or an interesting job, is rudely recruited into the local police and trained as a forensics specialist. His own mother was killed by police when he was young, and his boss, the founder of this group being built into a CID unit, is retiring but is still dragged down emotionally by an unsolved missing person case. As Digger matures as a detective, he begins to find clues to both crimes.

The exotic locale and local customs are fascinating to read about, and the mysteries are very rewarding. The dialect makes reading slow and deliberate, so this is a book to savor slowly, while letting the language be spoken in your head. Hopefully there will be a series here.
3111290
I've not read this last book of the Shetland Islands Quartet but I've found the first three books to be utterly enjoyable and they've cast the Islands as an enticing travel destination.  Based on the almost "travelogue" descriptions of the place and the people I'm planning a visit there Summer 2011 and I'd say that's great credit to Ann Cleeves.
If you can write about horrific crimes and still have the locale seem so appealing that also says a good deal about the series.
2093787
An good read. A good example of how local politics figured into crime investigation in a large portion of the country in the small towns in the good days and probably in a lot of places now.
This story is quite a contrast to watching Forensic Files or any of those type of shows. Even though it's like all of these sort of books where the outcome is predetermined there are lots of twists and turns getting there.
 I would highly recommend it as an easy read and excellent description of the way things were done 60 years ago or so before modern crime investigation methods.
1594579
The Dales of Yorkshire are the venue for the books by a couple of today's finest British crime writers. Having just finished Peter Robinson's latest book "Friend of the Devil", Ruth Rendell's brand new Inspector Wexford novel "Not in The Flesh" conveniently landed in my mail box and made for some more first class reading from another dependable master.

This time a body is found by Jim Belbury and his dog Honey searching for truffles in a wood outside Kingsmarkham. According to the medical examiner, the body has lain buried 10-11 years and a computer search for missing persons at that time is started. Chief Inspector Wexford knows that a long investigation lies ahead. People go missing at an alarming rate in Britain, somewhat like 500 a day nationwide.

Then another body is found in a cottage cellar only twenty yeards away from the woodland burial site and the detection skills of Wexford, his assistand Burden and the rest of the Kingsmarkham Police Force are tested to the utmost in order to solve the murders and fine out whether they might possibly be connected.

Chief Inspector Wexford is yet another great detective personality who over the years has come to seem like a dear old friend. As with Robinson's Alan Banks, we also get to know about Wexford's private life. His wife Dora, his two daughters and his special love for his youngest daughter Sheila.

Wexford is a peaceful, down to the earth kind of man. No dashing hero, but just as attractive in his own special way. In fact, Wexford is a bit like everybody's grandfather. Being among the last of a generation uncomfortable with and strange to computers and other technical wonders in today's world, he trusts his instincts and experience - and with great results at that.

Another thing about the Wexford series. It's very English. Of course, Kingsmarkham is not untouched by a modern and changing England. There is for instance a small colony of immigrants from Somalia in the town. However, the description of Kingsmarkham and surroundings, its population, traditions, the way people talk - it's not only very non-urbane, but a bit like a breath from an almost forgotten time. Blessedly oldfashioned and oddly peaceful in spite of the horrible crimes being investigated.

Ruth Rendell has written numerous of other books, usually deemed by reviewers to be better than the Wexford series. However, the Wexford books are my favourite Rendell novels. Having read and enjoyed them all, "Not in the Flesh" was another unputdownable treat. A great concept from a superb writer.
1479795
Before you read this book, grab a pen and paper and keep them with you. That way you can plot a family tree, delighting every time a new character is revealed. You will meet a lot of intriguing Fairbornes and you'll want to keep track of them, in order to get the most out of this book.

"In the Blood" is a mystery drama that combines suspense, intrigue and revelation, set in and around the beautiful Helford Estuary in Cornwall. Its author, Steve Robinson, really makes the most of the Cornish setting, including the boating culture to maximum effect.

It's one of those tales that spans across many generations, which really widens the variety of subplots combined in one riveting tale. Parts are reminiscent of Daphne Du Maurier but with a modern edge, making this one of my favourite indie books.

The characters are appealing and well developed to the extent that when the protagonist was in danger, I had to keep reading to find out what happened to him.

Some readers are prejudiced against indie writers, but "In the Blood" goes to show that an independently published title can be, in every way, as good, if not better, than many titles from a mainstream publisher.

All in all, a jolly good read, which will appeal to men and women of all ages. I found it difficult to put down and am really looking forward to the sequel.