Just Thieves

By Gregory Galloway

Published by Melville House https://www.mhpbooks.com/

272 pages ISBN 9781612199375

Publication date 14 October 2021

I received an uncorrected proof to review for participating in the Blog Tour. Many thanks to Tom at the publisher for including me.

From the blurb

Rick and Frank are recovering addicts and accomplished house thieves who steal to order, as assigned jobs by their boss. Nothing is left to chance. In fact, chance is their biggest fear. They devote much of their time to eliminating chance to ensure that they don’t get caught.

But then they’re sent to an unfamiliar city to break into a home and steal something that seems worthless to them – although they quickly discover that there are others who seems to want it quite badly…and to be willing to do anything to get it.

As Rick and Frank become trapped in a tightening web of greed and violence, they are forced to confront their past and their livelihoods.

Synopsis

Rick became a thief to pay off his debts to a shady man who knew his father and bailed him out when he was desperate. He is told what to steal and where to find it.

His partner is Frank who is older, wiser and a great planner. He makes sure there are no problems, and they are never caught. There is never any need for violence.

When they are ordered to steal an object that is seemingly worthless to them Frank is the one who recognises that it must be priceless to someone. When they are in a minor traffic accident whilst in possession the object, he realises all is not as straightforward as it seems. This can be no mere accident, there must be more to it. He needs to think, so he goes off on his own.

Losing Frank makes Rick determined to discover what is going on even though this is against his instructions and puts his life in danger.

My thoughts

A crime novel centring on Just Thieves is a bit of a novelty. The modern diet of crime fiction is generally a gruesome murder, often several and serial killers. Where there is theft, it is bank robbery or diamond heists not lowly housebreaking, which along with shoplifting represents much of city-based crime. I loved the matter-of-fact approach to the crime and attitude of Rick and Frank, to whom it is just a job. They don’t go out to physically hurt anyone, mainly because that is a sure way to get caught and get a heavy sentence, but they have no compunction about what they do.

This is noir but not the run of the mill noir, it’s a dark tale about the lives and problems of two men drawn together by a chance meeting. It lays bare addictions and how they are dealt with, their debts both financial and of honour, and trying to determine a future when someone ultimately controls your life. There is a nod to the classic noir of the Maltese Falcon in that more than one person wants the stolen object but there’s no wisecracking gumshoe or femme fatale.

Central to the story are relationships.

Rick’s father was a petty crook but one who knew to steal just the right amount, enough to be worth it but not significant enough to be investigated and charged for. Through his father’s relationship with the shady figure of Froehmer Rick knows who to contact when his life starts to fall apart. Working for him albeit as a thief gives Rick the security and income to put his life straight.  Rick is, however, under his controlling influence until he has paid off the debt, the sort of debt that is never quite repaid.

Meeting Frank starts to give his life meaning. Like Rick, Frank is a recovering addict who is much further along in is recovery and is mentoring when their paths cross at a recovery meeting and then they quickly become partners and friends. Rick moves in with Frank who helps him with the planning of the robberies and brings wisdom and calm to his life. There is a hint that they share a bed but no more, a brief interest in passing, perhaps like a Morecambe and Wise bedtime sketch and nobody gave those a second thought. The two men work well together forming a tight bond making them engaging protagonists even though we know we shouldn’t warm to them.

Frank deals with his problems by trying to take control and eliminate risks by thinking deeply and planning. For him everything has a reason and so he needs to determine what it is and what are the consequences, which we see at the opening when they come across a horse laid in the road and he delays the job until he understands the implications. Frank’s knowledge and expertise with security systems eliminates the risks when carrying out a job making Rick’s life much easier.

Once Frank’s influence has gone Rick becomes more reckless in his actions leading to him being sucked deeper in and crossing the line to become someone he didn’t want to be. This second half is where the novel becomes dark but also compelling as Rick battles for his existence and to discover what became of Frank. The plotting is intricate as twists are revealed and the reader can never be confident where it is leading. As the tension ratchets up then the pace of the writing increases as if the story is pulling in a preordained direction it must go. The conclusion itself wasn’t what I was expecting, I’m not sure many will guess it, but it works well.

Just Thieves revels in its quirkiness but delivers a dark tale full of double crosses and surprises.

I would like to thank Melville House for the opportunity to take part in this blog tour. The remaining featured blogs can be seen below.

A Slow Fire Burning

By Paula Hawkins http://paulahawkinsbooks.com/

Published by Doubleday (Penguin) https://www.penguin.co.uk/

298 pages ISBN 9780857524447

Publication date 31 August 2021

I won a hardback copy in a Twitter competition.  Many thanks to the author, publisher, and Nina Pottell for arranging this competition.

From the blurb

‘What is wrong with you?’

Laura has spent most of her life being judged. She’s seen as hot-tempered, troubled, a loner. Some even call her dangerous.

Miriam knows that just because Laura is witnessed leaving the scene of a horrific murder with blood on her clothes, that doesn’t mean she’s a killer. Bitter experience has taught her how easy it is to get caught in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Carla is reeling from the brutal murder of her nephew. She trusts no one: good people are capable of terrible deeds. But how far will she go to find peace?

Innocent or guilty, everyone is damaged. Some are damaged enough to kill.

Look what you started.

Synopsis

Nosy Miriam discovers the dead body of Dan on his canal boat when she goes to tell him he has overstayed on his mooring.  On the floor she finds a key and pockets it.

Dysfunctional Laura returns home, covered in blood, without her key and so must smash a window to her flat to get in.  Shortly before she was seen on the tow path and so she becomes the prime suspect for the murder.

All is not straightforward though.  Dan was the son of Angela whose sister Carla suffered the tragic loss of her son Ben who died when Angela was looking after him and Dan found his body.  This caused Carla and Theo’s marriage to fail though they remained close.  Theo couldn’t forgive Angela whereas Carla was at least partially reconciled with Angela, before her death, and Dan.  When Irene, Angela’s neighbour, finds a graphic novel drawn by Dan amongst Angela’s books what they believed to be the truth starts to unravel.

My thoughts

Every couple of years or so a novel takes off in spectacular style, coming seemingly from nowhere to sell millions of copies.  It may be due to a TV book club endorsement like Richard and Judy or Oprah, word of mouth or just even a title with prescient timing that captures the mood of the public. Whatever the reason it usually guarantees good sales in the short to medium term and the major publishers offering contracts in the future.  A few years ago, Paula Hawkins’ ‘The Girl on the Train’ was one such novel and it was quickly turned into a Hollywood movie making the author hot property.  Such success in sales doesn’t always equate to great literature; The Da Vinci Code sold millions and was an entertaining read but I wouldn’t consider Dan Brown a great writer. 

I must confess that I have not read the author’s earlier books (I’ve got The Girl on the Train as an e-book on an older device I believe) so this was a good chance to see what I thought.

The novel is set in a small part of London around the Regent’s Canal and there is a lovely hand drawn map of the area in the inside cover to help those of us unfamiliar with the area visualise it.

The prose style is both comfortable, not trying to be highbrow or complex, and written with the confidence of experience and sales security.  The pacing feels about right, a little slow at times perhaps but picks up in the final third, and at 300 there is no unnecessary padding.  I certainly enjoyed the book from a stylistic point of view.

The plot centres on a collection of damaged individuals and how they react to those around them.  The fact that most of the damage has been by the actions of others makes the interactions even more acute and provides motivations for the murder.  Each chapter switches from character to character which is a little choppy but allows for progression without going back in time too often and keeps the reader unsure as to the identity of the murderer (or at least it did me).

The characterisation is good, though because of their personal issues none of them are particularly likeable which probably makes for a more interesting book.  The fact that I warmed to, or at least had empathy for, Laura most of all when she was a thief who has major psychological problems is an indication of what the rest were. Laura has the greatest physical and psychological problems and is sympathetically written about.

There is an amusing twist with Theo the author who had his great success with ‘The One Who Got Away’ by plagiarising the autobiographical work of Miriam and then struggling with writers’ block.  He then goes on to say the going backwards and forwards within the plot was a terrible idea which made me chuckle as authors seem to be doing a lot of that in the recent works I have read.  The inserting portions of ‘The One Who Got Away’ between some chapters allowed Miriam’s story to be told without distracting from the main plot line but at the expense of not building up the fear and tension in her tale.

The finding of the graphic novel and its contents was clever devise and ultimately, we end up uncertain whether it represents the truth or not. It provides the catalyst for the crime and its attempted cover up.

It is a novel that plays safe though, being neither gruesome or dark and even the part where Laura goes through a melt-down is underplayed.  However, it is a well written book which I enjoyed much more than I expected and now I will probably go back to read The Girl on the Train sometime.

The Source

By Sarah Sultoon

Narrated by Mofetoluwa Akande

Published by Orenda Books https://orendabooks.co.uk/

263 pages ISBN 9781913193591

Publication date 15 February 2021

I listened to the audiobook version produced by Audible Studios and released on 16 September 2021. This version is currently (i.e., October 2021) free to stream by Audible subscribers.

From the blurb

One last chance to reveal the truth…

1996. Essex. Thirteen-year-old schoolgirl Carly lives in a disenfranchised town dominated by a military base, struggling to care for her baby sister while her mum sleeps off another binge. When her squaddie brother brings food and treats, and offers an exclusive invitation to army parties, things start to look a little less bleak…

2006. London. Junior TV newsroom journalist Marie has spent six months exposing a gang of sex traffickers, but everything is derailed when New Scotland Yard announces the re-opening of Operation Andromeda, the notorious investigation into allegations of sex abuse at an army base a decade earlier…

As the lives of these two characters intertwine around a single, defining event, a series of utterly chilling experiences is revealed, sparking a nail-biting race to find the truth … and justice.

Synopsis

The blurb itself is a perfect synopsis to which I will not add to avoid spoilers.

My thoughts

When I first started to listen, I initially struggled with the narration which seemed a bit choppy to me, but after a couple of minutes I became attuned to the cadence and became absorbed in the story. The narration overall is very good and perfect as the younger voices which are the key ones in the story.

As a debut novel this is an impressive work and the author’s experience in major newsrooms is clear as she tells a compelling story with intensity which keeps the reader’s interest to the final page. Her first-hand knowledge gives the novel an authentic feel throughout, from the early undercover people trafficking sting to the national security protections. The story itself is nicely paced, the writing itself is taught and without excess or over embellishment.

The book has a dual timeline, Carly’s strand starting in 1996 which eventually catches up with Marie’s which is set in 2006. The historical setting becomes apparent as it coincides with major newsworthy events which are essential to the plot, but the story is essentially one of today, with its themes of abuse of power, exploitation, grooming, and people trafficking. The subject matter means that some scenes make for uncomfortable reading, but these dark themes are tackled with great sympathy and sensitivity.

The principal character Carly is portrayed as a strong and determined child/young woman who has been let down by her circumstances. Her mother has given up on life and can be found slumped in a stupor so Carly, even though only a schoolgirl herself, must be a stand in mother as well as big sister to baby Kayleigh. It is Carly who makes sure Kayleigh is fed and changes her soiled nappies, forming an unbreakable bond with her and finding a measure of comfort and solace in this relationship. She will do everything she can to make Kayleigh’s life better and protect her from the sordid world of exploitation that she has been dragged into to just to allow them to survive. Eventually her position is such that she is forced into making the only move she can make to protect Kayleigh, even if this is life changing for herself and at the expense of her best friend Rachael. The fact that Rachael, who is also a victim, becomes collateral damage down to the fact she is two years older doesn’t occur to her and is one of those real-life situations that are hard to acknowledge.

Marie is determined but is also damaged. Her problems with anxiety are laid bare as are the coping mechanisms she has adopted just to make it through each day. From burying herself in night-time shop work to progressing through the local newspaper to a busy newsroom is her strategy to keep her mind so busy she can blot out her past and her anxiety at bay. However, the resurfacing of Operation Andromeda causes her managed state of mind to start to unravel as parts of her past resurface and what she believed to be fact is not what it seemed. The passages where her mental health suffers, which anyone’s would who had gone through what Marie had done, are difficult but handled with care and empathy.

This is a novel that doesn’t pull its punches and is all the better for it. The ideas are bold but tackled with confidence and panache. The subject matter means there’s a necessary toughness to it but nothing is included for its shock value, so it is never insensitive.

If you are an Audible member then there is nothing to stop you listening to The Source, if you are not or just prefer reading then I would recommend getting a copy. This is an outstanding novel and I will definitely be looking out for Sarah’s next one, it has much to live up to.

Murder at the Savoy

By Jim Eldridge www.jimeldridge.com

Published by ‎ Allison & Busby www.allisonandbusby.com

319 pages ISBN 9780749027063

Publication date 21 October 2021

This is the second novel in the World War II Hotel Mysteries series.

I was allowed access to a pdf review copy on Net Galley.  Thanks to the author and publisher for organising this.

From the blurb

As the bombs fall, where can you shelter from a murderer?

Synopsis

It’s the height of the Blitz and bombs are falling all over London. The Savoy hotel is confident that its underground air raid shelter with dormitory facilities will appeal to its well-heeled guests so much that it is advertised in the newspapers.  This encourages of Eastenders from Stepney to congregate one night, and they are eventually admitted preventing the trouble from escalating. During the night the Earl of Lancaster is murdered, stabbed in the back as he sleeps.

Detective Chief Inspector Coburg is called in by the owners but when he arrives he finds the local police have been called and Inspector Lomax is in charge and believes he has solved the case already, he says that the Earl’s son is the murderer.

Lady Lancaster believes her son is innocent and asks Coburg to intervene. He says it’s not is case and so is powerless. After establishment pressure the Commissioner steps in and hands the case to Coburg, much to Lomax’s chagrin. Lomax thinks Coburg has worked behind his back, using his class and status to get the case, and seeks evidence of wrongdoing to bring him down.

During questioning Lady Winship takes a shine to DCI Coburg and when she discovers he has recently married Rosa a famous jazz singer, she pressures the Savoy to give Rosa a showcase spot and then invites her to one of her soirees. Is this merely an innocent invitation to a talented singer or is there an ulterior motive behind it?

The investigation takes DCI Coburg and DS Lampson from the luxury of the Savoy to the bombed-out streets of London’s East End and gentile Ascot in search of the truth. In doing so they encounter the rich, famous, and powerful and the doughty poor, members of the establishment, communists, fascist appeasers, and foreign detainees.

My thoughts

The Savoy is an excellent setting for a murder mystery.  It and the adjoining theatre was memorably used in Christopher Fowler’s Seventy-Seven Clocks Bryant and May novel. In this he includes detailed descriptions and the connections with the D’Oyly Carte family. In this novel Jim Eldridge counterpoints the opulence of the suites and public rooms with those behind scenes populated by the maids and waitresses as well as introducing us to the air raid shelter which is key to the story.

Placing the novel in 1940 is perfect for what essentially is a period piece of writing. This is a murder mystery very much in the style of the ‘Golden Age’ of crime substituting the hotel for the country house or manor so favoured by contemporary writers then. The structure and descriptions are in keeping with the time and whilst I noted a couple of modernisms these are easily overlooked and will be unnoticed by many. It manages to capture the gentile feel of the 1930s for those who were comfortably off but with war just starting to be felt after the period known as the phoney war. The devastation of the Blitz is covered and is central to the plot without taking over.

Overall, the feel was that of good television writing, entertaining and inoffensive without being over demanding. The murders were not dark or overly gruesome, the poor are downtrodden but there are no descriptions of grinding poverty, and the inclusion of the internment camp was a novel addition, but the treatment of the internees were not covered in detail. This is very much a work of entertainment and doesn’t set itself out to reflect the social realities of the time or comment of futility or waste of war.

It is very much a novel of class and manners; Coburg is upper class but trying to make his way through the ranks of the police force whereas his brother Magnus very much enjoys the trappings of privilege, but both are treated with equal sympathy. The working class are portrayed as stoically battling on through their privations and the hotel workers are diligent and mindful of their position. Coburg is ‘bombed out’ of his flat and so can, like the Queen after Buckingham Palace was bombed, feel empathy with average Eastender and ‘look them in the eye.’ The reader also gets a good feeling for the protocols operating within a mid-twentieth century grand hotel where guests expect the best and everything must be done just so.

There is mention of real-life people from the period including significant war time figures as well as people from popular entertainment. There is a minor cameo role for Agatha Christie, which is a nod towards the heritage of the work, but the author has resisted incorporating the real-life figures within the action, something which seems to be increasing in popularity with writers. This allows for the plot to remain straightforward and to flow without unnecessary distractions. There is plenty of intrigue to keep the reader guessing and the action is in keeping with the style of the work.

This is an excellent recreation of a period novel which I found entertaining, and I am sure that lovers of those works and indeed people who enjoy programmes like ‘Foyle’s War’ are going to love it.

A Taste for Poison

By Neil Bradbury https://neilbradbury.org/

Published by Harper North (an imprint of Harper Collins) https://harpercollins.co.uk/

304 pages ISBN 9780008449547

Publication date 20 January 2022

I was provided with a review copy from the publisher, many thanks to Alice Murphy-Pyle for arranging this.

From the blurb

Poison is one of the most enduring weapons of choice for a scheming murderer.  In a drink, smeared onto the tip of an arrow or even the handle of a door.  But how exactly do these poisons work to break our bodies down, and what can we learn from the damage they inflict?

Synopsis

Over the course of eleven chapters Dr Neil Bradbury describes the most significant substances used as poison by man. These include poisons derived from plant matter, natural toxins, and mineral metals from the earth; comprising aconite, arsenic, atropine, chlorine, cyanide, digoxin, insulin, polonium, potassium, ricin, and strychnine.

Within each chapter he weaves the story of the history of the discovery of the substance, its practical uses, how misuse as a poison can occur and how it works to destroy the body, along with real-life accounts of famous murders both historical and modern.

The Epilogue entitled ‘The Garden of Death’ goes on to describe the special garden at Alnwick Castle which holds over one hundred specimens of poisonous plants, which is not unlike Blofeld’s suicide garden which was a centrepiece of Ian Fleming’s ‘You Only Live Twice’.

Finally, the appendix sets out the details (route of entry, lethal dose, target, symptoms, and antidote) for all the poisons mentioned, but as the author points out this is for educational purposes and not to guide the potential murderer to his/her choice of weapon!

My thoughts

Crime fiction is an enduringly popular genre and, judging by the number of new books and authors, getting bigger every year. There are many crimes of the statute books, but it must be said that the bulk of crime fiction revolves around murder be it revenge, through passion or the work of a serial killer.  A good murder was entertaining reading a hundred years ago as much as it is now. What has changed though is the methods of despatch. Poison was used as a murder weapon more often in the ‘golden age’ of the detective story quite simply because murder by poison was still common in those days and would remain so until later in the 20^th century when sophisticated detection tests were developed. As the likelihood of detection rose it fell out of favour, though modern compounds have been developed for state sponsored murder in the 21^st century. All of which is covered in depth in Dr Bradbury’s book.

As he points out one of the worrying aspects of poisoning is the number of medical people who use it as a means for murder. They have the knowledge of its action as well as access to it and the trust of patients, though following the actions of Beverly Allitt and Harold Shipman more people are questioning.

Poison was seen as the murder weapon of women both in real life and fiction, as they were seen as lacking in physical strength and had limited access to weapons. Times change though and many authors now include deadly women using all manner of weapons and the whole life order on Joanne Dennehy demonstrates that fiction reflects real life.

The writing style, for me, is perfect. The science parts are serious but suitable for a layperson rather than for a chemistry or biology textbook. The true crime aspects are covered with sensitivity rather than being salacious or gratuitous. To keep it from being too heavy there are occasional injections of humour of the silly or absurd rather than being overly flippant, such as the case of Paul Agutter who ended up with Wayne Smith, the man who falsely confessed to his crimes, as cellmate.

As the author points out one of the interesting facts is that drugs created to do good can when administered incorrectly or in excessive doses can be fatal. Insulin has transformed and prolonged the lives of millions of people but has also been used as a poison. Also, in some instances poison can be used as an antidote to other poisons such as atropine to digoxin and the chemistry is explained within the text.

As a reader of crime fiction, I loved linking the symptoms and actions to books I have read and the introduction of some of the famous names. Naturally, Agatha Christie is included as she wrote about poisoners and the author notes a review of ‘The Mysterious Affair at Styles in the Pharmaceutical Journal noted “…we are tempted to believe that the author had pharmaceutical training.”  Christie was, of course, a certified pharmacist and worked at University College Hospital under her surname of Mallowan (as I recently read in ‘Murder at the Savoy’). Arthur Conan Doyle also gets a mention through being in the same class as murderer Thomas Neill Cream at medical school in Edinburgh.

Fans of true crime will not be disappointed as each chapter covers something from the Borgias and their creation of the mysterious Cantarella (based on arsenic) through to Alexander Litvinenko being killed with polonium-210 and the unsuccessful attempt on the Skripals (father and daughter) with Novichok.

As befits a serious work there is the expected bibliography together with a series of footnotes for each chapter. My personal preferences are for footnotes to be included at the bottom of the page, but these are often too long and are what may be described as ‘by the way’ facts which could spoil the flow for some readers and are a definite must read.

This is a cleverly put together book which manages to be both entertaining and informative. Whilst reading I did google a number of references for more insight (such as what Mee’s lines look like) so I clearly found it engaging. If you are fascinated by crime you are going to love it!