My Darkest Prayer #SACosby #MyDarkestPrayer

By S.A. Cosby

Narrated by Adam Lazarre-White https://www.adamlazarre-white.com/ @alazarrewhite

Published by Headline Publishing Group, Headline Audio https://www.headline.co.uk/landing-page/headline-books-at-home/ @headlinepg

288 pages (9 hours 23 minutes) ISBN 9781472299123

Publication date 6 December 2022

I was allowed access to an audio review copy on Net Galley.  Thanks to the Author and Publisher for organising this.

The cover

Excellent cover, dark, foreboding, in black and white with storm clouds ahead and a small chapel. Totally in keeping with the tone of the novel and an indication of what is to come.

From the blurb

“I handle the bodies.”

Whether it’s working at his cousin’s funeral home or tossing around the local riffraff at his favorite bar, Nathan Waymaker is a man who knows how to handle the bodies. A former marine and sheriff’s deputy, Nathan has built a reputation in his small Southern town as a man who can help when all other avenues have been exhausted. When a beloved local minister is found dead, his parishioners ask Nathan to make sure the death isn’t swept under the rug.

What starts out as an easy payday soon descends into a maze of mayhem filled with wannabe gangsters, vicious crime lords, porn stars, crooked police officers, and a particularly treacherous preacher and his mysterious wife. Nathan must use all his varied skills and some of his wit to navigate the murky waters of small town corruption even as dark secrets of his own threaten to come to the surface.

The narration

This starts with the forward which sets out the background to writing the novel, which is read by the author himself, who possesses a great voice. The remainder is read by an experienced and accomplished actor and voice artist and is magnificent. He displays a nice range of voices and in particular I loved the African bodyguards. The delivery is on the slow side with pauses (which I know some people don’t like and increase the playback speed, I never do) but this brings a depth and gravity to the performance. This is far from being jaunty or frivolous book.

My thoughts

This is the first novel by this Author that I’ve read or listened to. I have a copy of Razorblade Tears (which has had fantastic reviews) to tackle but I wasn’t sure what to expect. After listening to My Darkest Prayer whilst walking my dog, I can see what the fuss was all about, from time to time having to stop walking to take it all in. It is a dark and at times brutal novel, so not for the faint hearted, but it is the intensity of the writing that is absorbing. Certainly from an audio version it totally consumes the listener and after long sessions is quite draining.

The plot is relatively straightforward, Nathan is asked by two ladies to use his former police contacts to ask around to determine why their pastor, Rev. Watkins’, death didn’t seem to be being investigated. It is being ‘swept under the carpet’ and treated as suicide even though it was a gunshot to the chest. A simple look at the body in  the funeral home where he works shows it was no suicide. Reluctantly Nathan agrees to get involved and it is his terrier like tenaciousness that makes him go on long after it becomes unwise and eventually lethal.

Watkins it seems was not a pure clergyman, having a chequered past involving drugs, guns and prostitution, but later he was found by God. His congregation it seems were also looking for personal salvation from their own murky past. Watkins’ chapel was doing well though; the collection plate was suspiciously full, tithes were never better and people flocked to the bible classes he held at his home. There was no obvious reason for him to die, but of course, all is not how it appears.

Nathan is a focussed and determined man whose past frames his present. Nathan’s father was white and mother was black which meant racism was never far away. As far as some white were concerned he was just another uppity black but also even within the black community there was some suspicion that he wasn’t black enough. A lifetime of this meant he fights back against racism and bullying, perfectly illustrated by an incident on the school bus. His parents were good people who instilled in him fine morals and a community ethos, it was their deaths that freed his anchor. They were run of the road by a drunken driver, who was the privileged son of a wealthy banker. He avoided jail because vital evidence was ‘lost’ by the police department and later in the story we discover how little this cost to be arranged. This was what made Nathan leave the department and instilled his hatred of local police officers. The search for justice for his parents lead to him crossing a line that he shouldn’t. Nathan isn’t an evil man but rather a good man whose environment contributes to him doing bad things as these back stories demonstrate.

The story is told in first person and bowls along like Nathan’s 57 Chevvy pickup truck, gradually picking up speed as it works its way through the gears, threatening to knock over anything in its path, until it comes to a crashing stop at end of the road. The ending itself produces a couple of twists and surprises along with a fine example of unintended consequences.

I have to say this is a violent novel, there are killings, plenty of fights (some scenes very long) and testosterone splashed around like your grandad putting on Old Spice. For me this is within the framing of the plot but it’s strong stuff. Nathan also has a friend Skunk, who plays wingman when required and he is a true professional a killer of ten men, or was it eleven Nathan was never quite sure, but also an expert scene cleaner, so vital in these days of CSI.

The prose itself is fabulous, at times dark and brooding, at others its almost an intense force that hits you like a punch on the nose. The author also is an expert of the wisecracking, sharp tongued dialogue and descriptions beloved of the hard-boiled genre which bring the necessary lift. There are too many to quote but describing a woman as being as tough as a $2 steak with false eyelashes that could trap a fly or the likelihood of something happening as seeing a Chupacabra taking on the Loch Ness Monster at Double Dutch, stuck in my memory. There is also a lovely streak of black humour, the sort of this you would expect from undertakers such as when an old lady dies post coitus at a care home but I will add no more and spoil that one.

Although very much a male dominated book there is female interest provided by Rev Watkin’s daughter Lisa who is a high profile porn star in LA. She is enlightened as much as businesswoman adding more than ‘a tart with a heart’ trope. Her history is harrowing and once Nathan becomes involved with her it adds to his drive.

My Darkest Prayer is an intensely powerful and brooding examination of financial and moral corruption within a small-town community.

My Darkest Prayer can be purchased from the publisher’s website here

The author

S.A. Cosby is the New York Times national best selling award-winning author from Southeastern Virginia. His books include MY DARKEST PRAYER, Blacktop Wasteland, Amazon’s #1 Mystery and Thriller of the Year and #3 Best Book of 2020 overall, a New York Times Notable Book of the Year, a New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice, Winner of the LA Times Book Award for Mystery or Thrillers and a Goodreads Choice Awards Semifinalist and the winner of the ITW award for hard cover book of the year, the Macavity for best novel of the year, the Anthony, The Barry , a honorable mention from the ALA Black Caucus and was a finalists for the CWA Golden Dagger. He is also author of the best selling RAZORBLADE TEARS which was also nominated for numerous awards as well

His short fiction has appeared in numerous anthologies and magazines, and his story “Slant-Six” was selected as a Distinguished Story in Best American Mystery Stories for 2016. His short story “The Grass Beneath My Feet” won the Anthony Award for Best Short Story in 2019. His writing has been called “gritty and heartbreaking” and “dark, thrilling and tragic” and “raw ,emotional and profound “

Sources: Amazon author’s page and publishers website (photo)

The narrator

Adam Lazarre-White is an actor, writer, director and producer, who is best known for roles in film and television like The Gift, The Blacklist, Scandal, Grey’s Anatomy, The Temptations, The Young and the Restless and Ocean’s Thirteen. 

Adam grew up in Manhattan and graduated from Harvard University with Honors in Government and Political Philosophy.  He was the starting Quarterback for the Harvard Crimson and also played in the Harvard University Jazz Band. 

Source: Narrator’s website

Trouble

By Katja Ivar @KatjaIvar

Published by Bitter Lemon Press https://www.bitterlemonpress.com/ @bitterlemonpub

224 pages 9781913394776

Publication date 19 January 2023

I was sent a paperback copy to enable me to take part in this Blog Tour. I would like to thank Anne at Random Things Tours for the invitation to participate and of course the Author and publishers.

The cover

I like the juxtaposition between the bright and bold suit against a drab Helsinki backdrop. The well-worn Luger she is holding hints at the Trouble ahead…

From the blurb

Helsinki, June 1953, at the heart of the Cold War. Hella, now a reluctant private investigator, has been asked by her former boss at the Helsinki murder squad to do a background check on a member of the Finnish secret services. Not the type of job Hella was hoping for, but she accepts it on the condition that she is given access to the files concerning the roadside death of her father in 1942, at a time when Finland joined forces with Nazi Germany in its attack against the Soviet Union. German troops were sent to Finland, the Gestapo arrived in Helsinki and German influence on local government was strong, including demands for the deportation of local Jews.

Colonel Mauzer, his wife and other family members were killed by a truck in a hit and run incident. An accident, file closed, they said. But not for Hella, whose unwelcome investigation leads to some who would prefer to see her stopped dead in her tracks.

My thoughts

Trouble is set in 1953 and I like fiction from this period as it gives the author a great historical canvas to work upon. The Second World War may be over but the memories are fresh, there is a sense of optimism amongst the relief that now normality can return but also a fear of the unknown as East and West jostle for supremacy. In many parts of Europe there still are privations, shortages and rationing, for many people life remains a day-to-day struggle. To this mix is added the near constant daylight of mid-summer in Finland, the land of the midnight sun. Whilst we enjoy the long summer evenings and sharp early dawns, it almost never getting dark must fray the tempers of those who live there. Hella, our heroine, is not interested in putting flowers under her pillow on mid-summer’s evening to dream about her future husband, she wants to discover who killed her family.

At the start of the novel there is a flashback to 1942 when her family were killed by a lorry whilst walking down a lane after viewing a lakeside cabin. The authorities put it down to be accident, albeit one of hit and run where they perhaps never realised they had hit them. Hella though is convinced that the collision was deliberate, that they were murdered, and she is determined to bring those responsible to justice. This remains the driving motivation for the determined Hella throughout the novel.

Hella has stepped down from the police and has only recently recovered from nearly being killed during her last investigation when she fell through some ice whilst being pursued by a serial killer. She is now working as a PI when former colleague Police chief Jokela decides to put a little work her way. He needs a member of the Finnish Secret Service, Johannes Heikkinen, vetting as he has applied for Jokela’s position which will become vacant. Ultimately this proves to be significant because Hella’s father was also a member of the service until his sudden retirement. This vetting procedure provides the basic skeleton of the plot, with a skilfully constructed bluff worthy of the best whodunnits.

The war looms large as it did for much of Europe at that time. Finland was effectively piggy in the middle between the Nazis and the Soviets, attacked from both sides at different times whilst battling to remain free and independent. Once the Nazis exerted influence over Finland those in power were left were left with a dilemma, do nothing and go along with brutality or do the honourable thing and make a stand even if it comes at a personal cost. Doing ‘the right thing’ is a motif that repeats throughout the story.

Hella is a great character, strong, determined and completely focused. Her relationship with Steve a married man who she had waited for has been parked for now, even though after five years he has finally divorced his wife. His hopes at rekindling affection provide some spiky scenes. The pathologist Tom is the closest she has to a friend or at least someone to confide with and their interactions help to give some light against the shade.

There are deaths, but this is neither a violent or gritty piece of writing, if anything it is quite cerebral as Hella does plenty of thinking whilst digging into the past and uncovering the unpalatable truth. The storyline is nicely constructed, twisting the two threads together and keeping both active. There are little seeds of clues planted along the way for the reader to pick up on before they germinate to produce the reveal and set up the finale. The ending itself works well, Hella gets some closure or sorts and proves that not everything in life can be neat and tidy.

Trouble is a terrific piece noir writing that is of a lighter shade of grey under relentless daylight of the midnight sun. Its carefully crafted plot reads like a whodunnit from the golden period of crime writing and leaves the reader looking for the next in the series.

Trouble can be purchased via the publisher’s website here

The author

Katja Ivar grew up in Russia and the U.S. She travelled the world extensively, from Almaty to Ushuaia, from Karelia to Kyushu. She now lives in Washington, DC with her husband and three children. Katja received a B.A. in Linguistics and a master’s degree in Contemporary History from Sorbonne University.

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Cut and Shut

By Jonathan Peace https://www.jpwritescrime.com/

Published by Hobeck Books https://www.hobeck.net @HobeckBooks

370 pages ISBN  9781915817020

Publication date 24 January 2023

Cut and Shut is the third novel in the DC Louise Miller series.

I have reviewed the first two novels in the series, Dirty Little Secret and From Sorrow’s Hold previously on this Blog.

I was sent an electronic copy to enable me to take part in this Blog Tour. I would like to thank Rebecca at Hobeck Books and the Author for the invitation to participate.

The cover

Love the cover its suitably strange and sinister. The title Cut and Shut implies backstreet garages doing a Frankenstein job on the front and back ends of two different cars, which is relevant, but the subject matter of the jacket will become much clearer deep into the novel…

From the blurb

Tensions are high – tempers short

Following a stupid, drunken car theft, the tragic deaths of three local lads uncovers a powder keg of racial intolerance and bigotry.

A vicious attack

When two Muslim brothers are violently attacked, WDC Louise Miller sees her hometown with jaded eyes, shocked that so many of her colleagues are reluctant to get involved or help in any way those they once called neighbours.

A terrible truth

As she investigates, Louise, accompanied by WDC Hines and psychologist Karla Hayes, discovers links between the car theft and the assault but worse; the racial tensions that now threaten to tear the community apart, have masked an even darker crime – one that has gone long undiscovered, but will have devastating consequences.

My thoughts

The third novel of the series moves the timeline on six months with Louise’s relationship with Karla becoming settled and Hine’s turbulent one with Joe more off than on, as domestic violence creeps in. As their vociferous personalities clash, Joe finds out about Hine’s one night stand with Danes and resorts to violence. Beth is a woman who can handle herself, but it ends up past the point of no return with an unpleasant leaving gift providing a sting in the tale. Once again, the author doesn’t back away from a sensitive issue is handled with a sureness of touch.

Louise is smarting from being passed over for promotion to Sergeant, instead a man Bailey gets the job even though he is incompetent compared to her. The sexual politics of the era are never far away, Louise manages to best him and one day will eventually rise above him.

The plot centres on racial tensions in Dewsbury and Ossett, as the increasing Pakistani Muslim portion of the local community begins to rub up against the established White Cristian one (well notionally Christian at least). It is 1989 and the local coalfields have been closed following the ultimately futile miners’ strike and local industry decimated. For many cash is tight and once proud men with no work feel emasculated, a breeding ground for hatred against those who are different, especially those enjoying some success. This is all captured and thoughtfully expressed as we see not only the personal hatred but also some of the background. It is not just the attitudes of the public that are examined but also those of the police as they use racist language and treat attacks on non-white people as low priority. Sadly some 34 years later in real life these issues persist although they have morphed somewhat, with it now the turn of those of Pakistani origin, rather than white protesting at the school gates. Late in the novel there is a brief exchange between the two brothers Raja and Bilal that perfectly sums up the stupidity of it all.

There is a secondary aspect to the plot and that is the search for Stinky Pete’s sister, the part time prostitute Helen, who disappeared at the end of the last novel. Less than a decade since the Yorkshire Ripper was captured and still prostitutes are being treated as being lessor beings and for some this remains the case today. One of the things I love about this series of novels is the humanity given to characters like Pete and Helen, people who so many don’t see or refuse to see. In novels these types of characters are merely there to move the story along but here Mr Peace treats them with dignity as people who are dealt a bad hand and play their poor cards badly, a position I fear many will be in today. I just hope the empathy towards them shown by Louise, Beth and Mandy is mirrored in real life though I suspect this is unlikely. It just proves a little genuinely felt sensitivity can enrich a storyline.

The pacing is perfectly judged, with a nice balance on the chapter length and sensible scene switching. In the first threequarters it is a modest pace as the two investigations are progressed in tandem and tensions start to build. Then suddenly on the day of the BNP rally its ratchets up as the jeopardy is exposed, leading to a frantic finale and what a finale it is. After two gritty novels this one explodes into something darker and more visceral, not gratuitous but certainly more nastier than what has gone on before, perhaps more in keeping with killers in LA.  A bit of a surprise for the reader and it’s written with confidence and some aplomb. Ossett will never replace Midsomer as the murder of Britain, but this will put it on the map with a bit of blood splatter.

The dialogue and banter between the characters is now well developed and entertaining. It may be darker than the previous two novels but there are some lovely nuggets of humour that glisten in the gloom.  There’s a cracking comment about Freddie Mercury to look out for that I won’t spoil here and the provincial media are not spared with a classic put down “even Radio Leeds turned up!”

The author is now getting into his stride with the Louise Miller series which is just getting better. Cut and Shut is a dark and gritty crime novel set against the backdrop of a troubled community which is about to erupt.

Cut and Shut can be purchased direct from the publisher here

Signed copies of all three of the Louise Miller series can be purchased from the author’s website from the links in his biography below.

The author

Jonathan Peace is a husband, cat-dad and author of the WDC Louise Miller novels, set in West Yorkshire during the 1980’s and 90’s. Signing with Hobeck Books in January 2022, the first two books, Dirty Little Secret and From Sorrow’s Hold were released in May and July, with the third in the series, Cut and Shut, was released on 24 January 2023.

He is now writing the fourth in the series, ‘Til it Bleeds.

He holds a BA (Hons) degree (First) in Creative Writing, enjoys Marvel and Star Wars movies, and tries to find time to indulge in his passion for tabletop gaming. Jonathan is a member of the Crime Writers’ Association.

Source: Author’s website

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The Next To Die

By Elliot F. Sweeney https://www.elliotfsweeneywriting.com/ @elliotfsweeney

Narrated by Elliot Fitzpatrick elliotfitzpatrick.com @theelliotfitz

Published by Wildfire (an imprint of Headline Publishing Group) https://www.headline.co.uk/imprint/headline/page/headline-books/ @Wildfirebks, Headline Audio

341 pages (10 hours) ISBN 9781472292643

Publication date 2 February 2023

I was allowed access to an audio review copy on Net Galley https://www.netgalley.com/ @NetGalley.  Thanks to the Author and Publisher for organising this.

The cover

An excellent cover dark with a sinister edge and a train which proves to be critical to the plot.

From the blurb

Dylan Kasper is stuck. Living in self-imposed reclusion from his former life in the police, he’s been in a downward spiral since his daughter’s death five years ago.

All that changes when the son of an esteemed professor jumps under an inner-city train. His former colleagues call it suicide, but Kasper knows different. This has all happened before – to him, and his dead daughter.

Taking on the investigation himself, Kasper soon realises the terrible trouble young Tommy had found himself in. With nowhere to run, he thought suicide was the only way to keep his family safe.

But before long, Kasper’s investigation makes him target number one. Can he keep his demons in check and stay alive long enough to bring those responsible to justice?

The narration

A good solid performance with Kasper given a sense of calm control and Tommy well-judged capturing a fey troubled young man but avoiding comedy campness.

My thoughts

As debut novels go The Next to Die is rather dark and foreboding. There is a look at the sleazy underbelly of the capital but it digs deep into the psyche of damaged individuals.

The central character is Dylan Kasper is former police officer who blames himself for the suicide of his daughter, she wanted to speak to him and he put her off until the evening before which she jumped under a train. He wears his self-perceived guilt like an albatross around his neck, dragging himself down into a self-imposed exile from his former life, family and friends. Kasper has an anti-authoritarian streak and is reckless at times displaying a touch of Martin Riggs (from Lethal Weapon). Working as a barman and largely shunning the outside world he lodges with a retired psychiatrist Dr Steiner who keeps an eye on him but hasn’t analysed him yet to his face. A chance encounter with a young man called Tommy ends up providing the catalyst to bring himself out of this state of fugue.

Tommy is a damaged young man, outwardly confident but under this thinnest of veneers he is clearly troubled, even disturbed. After making a big impression on Tommy, his father Saul asks an initially reluctant Kasper to look out for Tommy and try and discover what is bothering him. Tommy quickly makes an impression on Kasper, but the blossoming friendship is short lived, something pushes Tommy over the edge and he kills himself using the exact method that Rosie, Kasper’s daughter, used. Again, the sense of guilt drives Kasper on to discover why Tommy did it.

The plot is then this investigation into the life and death of Tommy and that is when it gets dark and sordid. Within the shadows are homosexual honey-traps, class A drugs and blackmail, backed up by a vicious gang boss and his hardmen. A central theme is one of redemption, the desire to put right past wrongs or where this is not possible at least stimulate some good. This clearly applies to Kasper, he can’t bring his daughter back but may be able to help others. Kasper’s motivation is clear, that of Tommy, his sister Harriet and father Saul much less so and ultimately prove to be plot critical in the end. What ends up being revealed is disturbing and certainly caught me off guard, the final quarter of the story has several surprises.

The story is told in first person, from Kasper’s viewpoint and moves along rapidly covering a lot of ground. There is plenty of incident throughout to keep the reader entertained and regular injections of jeopardy with fights, murder and some gore. Not always easy to capture convincingly, the scenes of aggression and fights are well written and stay well within the realms of credibility. Kasper is not a man to be messed with but he is certainly no superman.

Naturally Kasper is front and centre, but within all the action the nature of other characters is revealed. There is the wisdom and benevolence of Dr Steiner, there to save Kasper from himself. Saul is shut down and almost characterless for much of the story, his reveal is the most shocking. Suicide is a difficult subject to write about as it is to broach in real life, but here it is nicely judged with the inclusion of Emmanuel quite telling. He was the driver of the train that killed Tommy and the effect on him is profound, as it must be in reality. Here we see the damage suicide can do to others. There is almost a selfishness to the act which impinges on those who come into contact. Here Kasper helps with Emmanuel’s rehabilitation though one questions whether it is possible to put back together the pieces that are broken. The author is a community psychiatric nurse and it is clear this professional insight has influenced his writing.

There’s not much scope for humour in such a dark tale but I did love the fact that Kasper, who has little money, gets around on a bicycle even using it to peddle away from mayhem he has caused.

The ending is satisfying and introduces the series nicely as Kasper, now without a job but with a little seed funding from Saul, sets himself up as a man to help right wrongs and the way things are now, we need a few of those be they Jack Reacher, Robert McCall or Dylan Kasper.

The Next to Die is an action-packed crime thriller that crashes through the grimy London underworld. An impressive debut novel.

The Next to Die can be purchased via the publisher’s website here

The author

Elliot Sweeney is a community psychiatric nurse from London. He was awarded the Fisher Scholarship to attend the Curtis Brown Creative novel writing course, and he’s also been supported by Spread the Word through their London Writers Awards Scheme. The Literary Consultancy has showcased him as a Spotlight Author, and he’s written for Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine and Switchblade, amongst others.

Source: Publishers website

The Narrator

Elliot Fitzpatrick trained as an actor at Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, graduating in 2012. Since then h’e worked in theatre in the West End and throughout the UK; with Shakespeare’s Globe, the Rose Theatre Kingston and Pitlochry Festival Theatre among others. He’s also worked extensively abroad in countries including China, Germany, UAE and Singapore.

In 2019 he began to forge a new career path as a voice actor and has since been lucky enough to work on some amazing audiobooks, video games, corporates, audio dramas, commercials and more.

He now records from his broadcast-quality Session Booth home studio in South London. 

Source: His website

The Second Stranger

By Martin Griffin martingriffinbooks.com @FletcherMoss

Narrated by Tamsin Kennard

Published by Sphere (an imprint of Little, Brown Book Group) https://www.littlebrown.co.uk/ @LittleBrownUK, Hachette Audio https://www.hachetteaudio.com/ @HachetteAudio

254 pages (8 hours 16 minutes) ISBN 9781405553001

Publication date 19 January 2023

I was allowed access to an audio review copy on Net Galley.  Thanks to the Author and Publisher for organising this.

From the blurb

Remie Yorke has one shift left at the Mackinnon Hotel in the remote Scottish Highlands before she leaves for good. Then Storm Ezra hits.

As temperatures plummet and phone lines go down, an injured man stumbles inside. PC Don Gaines was in a terrible accident on the mountain road. The only other survivor: the prisoner his team was transporting.

When a second stranger arrives, Remie reluctantly lets him in from the blizzard. He, too, is hurt. He claims to be a police officer. His name is also Don Gaines.

Someone is lying and, with no means of escape, Remie must work out who. If the cold doesn’t kill her, one of these men will get there first . . .

My thoughts

Only into the second week of January and this is the second audiobook set in a near deserted snow-bound Scottish hotel I’ve listened to, they are arriving like buses. They are both due for publication on the same day too. Its strange when authors pick similar themes, but I guess the sheer volume of books published each year mean that co-incidences like this are inevitable and indeed that is where the only similarities lie.

As the title implies, key to the story is The Second Stranger who also claims the identity of the first stranger. This is a device beloved in film and television, frequently employing an actor playing both roles so that they appear identical or having a time lag of years and the second person assumes the identity of the first. In this novel though they both appear during the same blizzard blown evening and look completely different and claim to be the same police officer. Both individuals initially appear plausible enough, but neither is totally convincing in what are testing conditions and a dangerous situation. This provides the critical issue for Remie who is the night manager the hotel, who to put her trust in, one is a policeman the other could be a killer. The most difficult of choices.

The story very much revolves around Remie and Tamsin Kennard does a great job in expressing her fears and anxiety whilst also capturing the steely determination she possesses to get away that evening. Remie has an appointment she intends to keep.

At the very start we discover that it is Remie’s last night at the Mackinnon hotel, for tomorrow she is flying from Aberdeen to London, then on to Madrid with an ultimate destination of Chile. A bit random on the face of it but there is a reason for the journey which had been planted by her brother Cameron. This provides her motivation throughout and as the story unfolds it becomes if not her salvation a starting point for a new beginning.

It is the relationship between Remie and her brother Cameron which is the emotional core of the storyline, and it runs much deeper than it initially appears. It is clear from the onset that Remie took the job to be near to Cameron who was sent to the local prison and that he was murdered whilst inside. It is this that leaves Remie unanchored and provides her desire to move on. She doesn’t realise it but there is more to his murder than appears and it will have a significant impact on the night’s events and her future.

The characterisation here is particularly strong as we discover how different the siblings were. Remie is studious and went to university, Cameron wanted an easy life, was a bit of a Ned and drifted into a life of crime. Remie looked out for him more than any big sister should, but it was her actions, such as breaking one of his friends’ hand with a hockey stick, which were forcing deeper into this.

The plot is a variation on the classic jailbreak but in this case hampered by the weather. The question of why try to break out on such a night becomes apparent much later in the story. Although there are few characters to work with the author does an excellent job of keeping the reader guessing who is friend and who is foe and which of the strangers is actually the police officer. The setting is also skilfully used, avoiding some obvious cliches, the hotel providing a big setting for the few characters to move around in ‘get lost’ or disappear for a while only to reappear when not expected. The snowstorm also ensuring all the action is compact.

The pacing varies throughout, slow and steady most of the time but speeding up in times of jeopardy. Some may find it a little too slow at times, but I thought it helped to add to the tension. Referring to Gainies 1 and 2 is a little clunky and at times you need to concentrate carefully on what is happening consequently but overall, it was easy enough to follow. The reader is certainly not shortchanged on action and incident.

The motivation behind the trip is a curious one. Cameron it turns out was not irredeemable and it his attempt to ‘balance the scales’ which led to his death. Just before this he told Remie of a rare astronomical event taking place with an alignment of planets that is best seen from Chile. Cameron loved astronomy and passed on this desire to Remie asking her to make it there when he couldn’t. A bit of an odd one but just the sort of promise we are liable to make to a loved one and it becomes a tribute or memorial to Cameron who ensures she has the means to do so.

The light relief from all the tension is provided by Jai, the crime blogger come want-to-be journalist, who ends up getting the scoop of a lifetime and ends up winning the British Podcast of the year award for A Question of Guilt. This is part of a nicely judged ending which ties the story up perfectly but also leads options open for a follow up to keep the reader guessing.

The Second Stranger is tense, tightly plotted thriller full of second guesses and secrets.

The Second Stranger can be purchased via the publisher’s website here

The author

Martin Griffin is an exciting new voice in the crime genre. Before turning his hand to writing, he was a deputy headteacher and a doomed singer who was once asked to support The Fall on tour, a gig he had to decline having only composed two good songs. Martin lives in Manchester with his wife and daughter.

Source: Publisher’s website

The narrator

Tamsin Kennard

Audiobook Narrator/Voice Artist, singing teacher, theatre maker & committed declutterer.

Source: Goodreads

Fallen Butterfly

By Anna Nicholas https://linktr.ee/annanicholas @ANicholasAuthor

Published by Burro Books @burrobooks

375 pages ISBN 9781838311025

Publication date December 2022

Fallen Butterfly is the third Isabel Flores Mallorcan mystery.

I was sent a paperback copy to enable me to take part in this Blog Tour. I would like to thank Anne at Random Things Tours for the invitation to participate and of course the Author and Publisher.

From the blurb

With political tensions running high due to a controversial new motorway scheme, the chilling and ritualistic murder of a high-flying local government minister sends shockwaves through the island. When her home is ransacked and another brutal killing occurs, Isabel Flores Montserrat, unorthodox former detective, joins up once again with Mallorca’s police chief, Tolo Cabot, in a perilous race for answers.

Meanwhile, fear and distrust grow in Isabel’s village as fake signs and cairn markers send disorientated hikers plunging off cliffs. Is this mountain mischief the work of environmentalists or is something far more sinister afoot?

My thoughts

I start with a word of warning; if you are on a diet then this book just may well be responsible for cracking your resolve. There are a great many food references throughout, covering all times of the day and range from mere snacks like smoked almonds or olives to sumptuous local dishes. The central character Isabel loves her food and is never without a bag of sunflower seeds or a Chupa Chup lolly. When some characters go on a diet it is circumvented and ensaimada the ubiquitous breakfast pastry is mentioned so often I had to have a go at making them (see the end of this post for the results.) If you’ve got some will power, you are in for a treat.

The tale unfolds on the Spanish Balearic Island of Mallorca famed for its tourism, but largely away from the busy areas. Instead, we see life in the small villages on the Island where neighbours know and look out for each other and life moves at a difference pace, where breakfast isn’t a slice of toast eaten stood up in the kitchen but an ensaimada and a café cortado in the local bar chatting with friends. The author has written several travel books about the Island and this knowledge shines through, but most of all it is clear that she loves the place, its people and their way of life. This joy rubs off on the reader, it’s just the sort of book for the cold winter months.

The plot initially looks like a single issue but as it progresses it develops into three separate investigations. It starts with the death of a local politician responsible for a motorway nobody wants being constructed. Suspicion initially falls on local environmentalists, but Isabel’s instinct is that this is too obvious a solution. Then when hikers are being injured by misplaced cairns and direction signs the scrutiny intensifies, but the death of the politician’s deputy indicates that there more to it than meets the eye.

The pacing is leisurely which works perfectly with the storyline, the way it is investigated and island life. Information must be carefully coaxed from people, whilst others need to be cajoled to open up, something Isabel is adept at. It is a story with family secrets and loyalties which Isabel is the first to recognise as she works hard to establish the facts with the minimum of emotional suffering for those involved. The themes throughout are bang up to date and just the sort of issues that many such places face; the balance between tourism income and preserving natural beauty, the care of wild animals and local nepotism and corruption. All thoughtfully covered, making it clear where the author and locals stand but without being preachy.

Our heroine Isabel is a wonderful creation. A former police officer who now runs the family holiday letting agency but can’t stay away from detection, she is occasionally seconded back onto the force. She is quirky, headstrong and courageous with a winning personality, clearly wasted in property management which she can leave to her ‘wet behind the ears’ assistant Pep though even he couldn’t keep out of the action. Isabel has recently started a relationship with Chief Inspector Tolo Cabot, who provides romantic interludes, but has a very special partner in Furó. She’s sentimental enough to name her old car pequeñito (little one) but also has a love of big fast motos (motorcycles). Isabel is always on the go, be it swimming with Furó in a morning, dashing around town or hiking in the mountains, which is just as well considering her prodigious appetite. Isabel is the kind of woman who lights up the room when she enters.

As a Yorkshireman who doesn’t own a whippet (I have a border collie, German shepherd cross Romanian rescue) then some believe I should have a ferret (like Compo Simmonite) but no I don’t. Isabel, however, does because her special little friend Furó is one and he goes pretty much everywhere with her. He goes in her car, she walks him on a lead and even has a special basket for the motorcycle! A refreshing alternative from the more usual cat or dog, he has been given a personality of his own, such that the reader can picture his little happy dance. He’s also keen and inquisitive, managing to play a useful active role in the investigation.

The cover art is lovely and colourful in a naïve style and encapsulates what the book is about. The yellow butterfly is symbolic and there are a couple of references to One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez where it is also significant (its on my kindle to be read one day). Inside there are also hand drawn maps of Mallorca and Isabel’s village of San Martí which are a delight.

The whole ethos of the novel can be summed up by the final sentence “Nothing in the world could ever beat the power of community and there was nowhere else she’d rather be.”

Fallen Butterfly is a slice of feel-good crime fiction, be it served up with a strong coffee or a nice glass of vinto tinto, that will leave you wanting to live the quiet life in a Mallorcan village.

Fallen Butterfly can be purchased from Amazon here

The author

Anna Nicholas is of Celtic origin & has lived for 20 years in rural Mallorca. An inveterate traveller & experienced freelance journalist, she regularly participates in humanitarian aid expeditions overseas with British explorer Colonel John Blashford-Snell, CBE & is a Fellow of the RGS. She ran her own PR company in Mayfair, London, for 20 years, was a Guinness Book of Records adjudicator alongside the book’s founder, Norris McWhirter, CBE, and as a rookie press officer at charity
Help the Aged, handled events for Princess Diana. She runs an international
marathon annually for her favourite causes. Anna & friend, Alison, are currently scaling all of Mallorca’s 54 peaks over 1,000m. They hope to be the first women to have climbed them all by the end of 2023.

Don’t forget to check out the other stops on this Blog Tour:

The baking

All that reading about food got me peckish, so I decided to have a go in the kitchen and the most obvious thing to try was the Mallorcan ensaimada. A look at various recipes showed that much like the croissant there is quite a lot of work goes into making them, which probably explains why they are bought from small bakers. I did manage to find a simple/short cut method online though which can be found here. Traditionally they are made with pork fat/lard which I did consider along with a vegetable shortening alternative but went for this one which uses butter, quite a lot of butter. Overall I was happy with the result and they go well with a coffee and a good book. Buen appetito!

The Devil Takes You Home

By Gabino Iglesias @Gabino_Iglesias

Published by Wildfire (an imprint of Headline Publishing Group) https://www.headline.co.uk/ @Wildfirebks

305 pages ISBN 9781472291059

Publication date 2 August 2022

I was sent a Hardback copy of the novel in exchange for a fair review. I would like to thank Caitlin at Headline for arranging this and of course the Author and Publisher for this kind gesture.

From the blurb

It was never just a job. Becoming a hitman was the only way Mario could cover his young daughter’s medical expenses. But before long his family is left in pieces, and he’s barely even put a dent in the stack of bills.

Then he’s presented with an offer: one last score that will either pull him out of poverty forever or put a bullet in the back of his skull. A man named Juanca needs help stealing $2 million dollars from a drug cartel.

Together, they begin a journey to an underworld where unspeakable horrors happen every day. He’s a man with nothing to lose, but the Devil is waiting for him.

Wrestling with demons of our world and beyond, this blistering thriller charts the unforgettable quest of a husband and father in search of his lost soul.

My thoughts

This novel has sat on my shelf for a while and my intention was I’ll read it next, only for something else to crop up. A few days ago, I decided I must read it and so I took it down and within a few pages I was mesmerised in the way that you see something awful but are transfixed, unable to look away. Once you are captured there’s 300 pages of it to get through and though I finished it yesterday it’s taken a little while to process it all. The Devil Takes You Home is an intense, brutal, and violent novel but also one that is prophetic and at times incredibly touching.

This is certainly not a book for the faint hearted, there’s plenty of violence which at times is visceral (in the true meaning of the word), there is also some vivid and disturbing imagery invoked, which some might find terrifying, and inherent racism is portrayed. As ever with such things context is everything. The plot is set against the drug cartels of Mexico where life almost has no value, they are exporting poison for vast wealth and anyone who gets in their way or crosses them will simply be eliminated. Showing disrespect leads to an early grave and if you strike against them it’s not a case of an eye for an eye, it’s both eyes and a headful of teeth. If a ‘solider’ is stabbed ten times it is repaid by stabbing one of theirs twenty times in an ever escalating orgy of brutality. As the reader discovers this attitude becomes significant.

The plot centres on Mario a man whose mother was American, and father was Puerto Rican, mixed race but essentially seen as not white. His life is far from perfect but whilst he has his wife Melisa and the daughter he dotes upon, Anita he can get by. Things start to unravel when Anita gets leukemia. Hospitalisation and treatment puts Mario and Anita’s relation under great strain as does its financial cost. When Mario’s attendance effects his job at the insurance company they show little compassion, and he is sacked. After Anita dies, in emotional distress he lashes out and hurts Melisa who leaves him. Friend Brian introduces Mario to meth (which he doesn’t take to) and a way of making easy money as a low-level hit man (which he takes to like a duck to water) thus beginning his slow descent to his own personal hell. This becomes a downward spiral for a normal man wracked with grief and remorse which the only way out and salvation comes in the form of the big job.

The storyline is told in first person (Mario) and we see how his experiences cause him suffering and mould his perspective and the desensitising effect of the progressive violence. All the while though it is clear he retains some decency at heart, but will it be enough to see him through?

Mario is the nucleus of the story but there is some great characterisation throughout, with Brian the junky and Juanca the tattooed Mexican ex-gang member his partners just for starters. Expect compromised religious figures (both conventional and not), casual racists, laughing killers, a bar woman with a big surprise and an unforgiving nature, along with some crocodiles (because Pablo Escobar’s hippopotamuses were too boring.) A colourful cast set against dusty small towns, tunnels under the border and secure compounds.

The story progresses rapidly and is very focused and linear being unencumbered by side issues or flashbacks. This works perfectly as it builds to the main set piece crescendo with aggression, shocking events and otherworldly imagery along the way. They may be ruthless murderers, but they are also very superstitious men, perhaps not believing in God but certainly believing in the Devil albeit one of their making. The precise meaning of the ‘protection’ given to Mario, Brian and Juanca will make your jaw drop, believe me.

Strip all of this away and at the heart we have elements of a buddy road trip and a noir tale of a heist complete with surprises and double crossing. Its masterful storytelling. The writing is stylish and at times stunning, this is not horror pulp but top-quality prose which can be as snappy as Don Vazquez’s crocodiles and yet at other times as an almost lyrical quality to it. Amongst this there are acute observations about the human condition and our worth as a species.

The Devil Takes You Home just might be the most incredible book I read this year; it left me speechless at the end. Not a novel to appeal to everyone, but it will be brilliant to those it does.

The Devil Takes You Home can be purchased via the publisher’s website here

The author

abino is a writer, journalist, professor, and literary critic living in Austin, TX. He is also the author of the critically-acclaimed and award-winning novels Zero Saints and Coyote Songs, which racked up nominations for the Bram Stoker Award, the Locus Award and the Wonderland Book Award (the latter of which Gabino won for Coyote Songs). As well as writing Gabino is a reviewer, author of non-fiction, and has been a juror for the Shirley Jackson Awards twice and the Millions Tournament of Books.

Source: Headline Publishing website

A Winter Grave

By Peter May http://www.petermay.co.uk/ @authorpetermay

Narrated by Peter Forbes @ForbesPeter

Published by Quercus Audio https://www.quercusbooks.co.uk/ @QuercusBooks Riverrun https://www.quercusbooks.co.uk/imprint/quercus/riverrun/page/quercus-imprints/riverrun/ @riverrunbooks

368 pages (9 hours 23 minutes) ISBN 9781529428513

Publication date 19 January 2023

I was allowed access to an audio review copy on Net Galley.  Thanks to the Author and Publisher for organising this.

From the blurb

A tomb of ice
A young meteorologist checking a mountain top weather station in Kinlochleven discovers the body of a missing man entombed in ice.

A dying detective
Cameron Brodie, a Glasgow detective, sets out on a hazardous journey to the isolated and ice-bound village. He has his own reasons for wanting to investigate a murder case so far from his beat.

An agonising reckoning
Brodie must face up to the ghosts of his past and to a killer determined to bury forever the chilling secret that his investigation threatens to expose.

Synopsis

Detective Cameron Brodie who has been a keen climber and hill walker spending years ‘collecting’ the Munroes (peaks over 3,000 feet) turns down a job crying out for his skills. They need someone to investigate the case surrounding the discovery of the body of a man found entombed in ice by a meteorologist high in the mountains. Was the death an accident or suspicious? The reason he declines is his estranged daughter lives locally and she still blames him for the death of her mother ten years ago. A confrontation is something he has no stomach for.

When he discovers he has stage 4 cancer and only a few months left to live he changes his mind. This will be the last chance he will get to see his daughter and at least try to explain his actions as a reconciliation seems unlikely.

The high ground may be Brodie’s environment, but he quickly finds himself out of his comfort zone. Opening up over his feelings and actions in the past will prove the easy part as he battles against the control of outside forces to get to the truth.

My thoughts

A Winters Grave is an incredible book. Peter May is a great writer of contemporary crime fiction so that part is given but in this work he has managed to capture the zeitgeist of the 2020’s and project it forward by 30 years. Much of it may be set in 2051 but it is neither science fiction or some dystopian fantasy but a realistic extrapolation of where we (and more specifically Scotland) may be by then. A world we can recognise but with chilling prospects ahead in more ways than one.

As can reasonably guessed the investigation becomes a murder one and this proves to be the main thrust of the plot, one which is very plausible and worryingly believable. The second strand is the reason why Cameron needs to unburden his past, not so much as a death bed confession as a dead man walking on his personal Green Mile. This runs from 2020s to 2040s and covers him meeting Mel and their lives together before her death.

Life in 2051 is so believably imagined its disconcerting; the effects of climate change mean all plastics are banned, water levels have risen, the subway flooded, power is nuclear and some hydro and there is constant mass migration as lands are flooded and populations seek higher ground. As someone born and bred in Hull I release the city will be amongst the first to vanish but it still gives a shiver to hear it said in fiction. Cameron gets some high-tech computer glasses like a modern Google Glass that actually works, and air transport is by EVTOL, electrical vertical take-off and landing craft like helicopters but nothing outlandish. Then there’s the little observations like the kids are playing on Play Station 15 and houses being 3D printed at location, which make it convincing.

Climate change means storms, so atmospheric in film and literature and here it is huge snow falls rather than relentless rain that does the work. It shrouds things hiding or disguising them, it traps people and limits their scope and horizons. All of which is cleverly and stylishly used within the prose, nothing is wasted. Add to this a hotel with only two customers who liken it to the one in The Shining and we see a confident author having a little fun.

Cameron’s relationship with Mel is the emotional thrust of the story a perfect match but ultimately a doomed relationship. A relationship that causes him desperation and ultimately drags him down to the level of those he despises. His need to unburden and tell his side of the story to daughter Adele (named after the singer who is beautifully skewered in description) is palpable. He also explains that he blames himself for squandering life. Adele starts to come around before her own world is ultimately torn asunder from simple human vulnerably. Powerful stuff.

As someone who has a low opinion of politicians, I am pleased to see that they are portrayed as venal chancers here. Obviously Scottish politics are volatile currently with independence still important to many and as Englishman who loves Scotland my position is probably best summed up by that meme of Kermit the Frog drinking Liptons Tea. By 2051 Independence has been gained and, quite sensibly the EU re-joined but all is still not rosy. A SNP replacement is in charge and riding roughshod with the Ecology party the only credible opposition. The next election is going to prove vital, so depressingly familiar.

The pacing is perfectly judged, moving along briskly but with plenty of space for observations which brings the prose alive. There’s enough action set pieces to keep the most demanding thriller read happy and plenty of jeopardy for Cameron and Adele.

Characterisation is strong as is their personal interactions. I particularly liked the scenes shared by Cameron and the pathologist Sita Roy quite touching, especially when they demolish most of a bottle of Balvenie Doublewood and reveal their inner secrets. As one of them says ‘in vino veritas’ and there lies the truth indeed.

The narration is masterful as I have come to expect from Peter Forbes.

Well, it’s the first week in January and I already have a contender for book of 2023 (not that I compile such lists.)

A Winter Grave is a magnificent crime thriller and much more as it delivers a chilling warning of a future that we face unless humanity gets a grip of what is happening in a short window of opportunity. A must read for 2023.

A Winter Grave can be purchased via the publisher’s website here

The author

Peter May was born and raised in Scotland. He was an award-winning journalist at the age of twenty-one and a published novelist at twenty-six. When his first book was adapted as a major drama series for the BBC, he quit journalism and during the high-octane fifteen years that followed, became one of Scotland’s most successful television dramatists. He created three prime-time drama series, presided over two of the highest-rated serials in his homeland as script editor and producer, and worked on more than 1,000 episodes of ratings-topping drama before deciding to leave television to return to his first love, writing novels. In 2021, he was awarded the CWA Dagger in the Library Award. He has also won several literature awards in France, received the USA’s Barry Award for The Blackhouse, the first in his internationally bestselling Lewis Trilogy; and in 2014 was awarded the ITV Specsavers Crime Thriller Book Club Best Read of the Year award for Entry Island. Peter now lives in South-West France with his wife, writer Janice Hally.

Source: publishers website

The English Führer #RoryClements #TheEnglishFührer

By Rory Clements https://www.roryclements.co.uk/ @RoryClements6

Narrated by Adam Sims https://www.voicesquad.com/artist/adam-sims/ @AdamSims_

Published by Bonnier UK Audio , Zaffre https://www.bonnierbooks.co.uk/imprints/zaffre/ @ZaffreBooks

400 pages ISBN 978-1804181089

Publication date 19 January 2023

The English Führer the seventh book in the Tom Wilde series.

I was allowed access to an audio review copy on Net Galley.  Thanks to the Author and Publisher for organising this.

From the blurb

Hitler is dead. A new threat is born . . .

Autumn 1945. Off the east coast of England, a Japanese sub surfaces, unloads its mysterious cargo, then blows itself to pieces.

Former spy Professor Tom Wilde is enjoying peacetime in Cambridge, settling back into teaching and family life. Until a call from senior MI5 boss Lord Templeman brings him out of retirement. A nearby village has been locked down by the military, its residents blighted by a deadly illness. No one is allowed in or out.

There are rumours the Nazi machine is still operational, with links to Unit 731, a notorious Japanese biological warfare research laboratory. But how could they possibly be plotting on British soil – and why?

What’s more, Wilde and Templeman’s names are discovered on a Gestapo kill list. And after a series of assassinations an unthinkable question emerges: could an Englishman be behind the plot?

Synopsis

The war is over, and the OSS (Office of Strategic Services) is being wound up so Anglo-American history professor Tom Wilde can retire from spying for the allies and concentrate on educating young minds. Back at Cambridge he’s allocated a mature student, who served during the war, to supervise who is determined to immediately make his presence felt and has influential contacts.

Tom has barely resumed with academic life before he is drawn into more intrigue. There is an outbreak of plague in a coastal village which effects one of his wife Lydia’s friends. When Tom tries to make contact, the area is in lockdown and he is arrested. Lord Templeton manages to intervene and enlists his help in investigating what is going on. He also imparts some disturbing news. The Nazi’s ‘black book’ of people to be arrested if there was a successful invasion of the British Isles was well known but there has been discovered an addendum list of people to be killed which Tom and Lydia are on. This would not be significant except that some on the list have already been murdered using phenol. Can these plots be neutralised before it is too late?

Tom’s wife Lydia is getting bored of a life of domesticity in the shadows and wants to make her mark in society, she dreams of being a doctor, a profession she would be well suited to. Few women were then accepted into the profession and there are two obstacles, she is married and a mother. Tom’s wartime deceptions appear to be rubbing off on her as she applies for a position in her maiden name. She’s accepted and their domestic life is thrown upside down as she must start immediately. Luckily, she has found a young widow with a daughter to act as housekeeper and look after Tom and her son. This comes as a big surprise to her long-term cleaner and is the cause of some friction. Is the housekeeper all she all she appears to be, or does she harbour secrets of her own?

My thoughts

So, the seventh instalment sees us at the end of the war, but there’s still some fall out to investigate so I’m pleased that there’s likely to be a few more stories to come in this great series.

The plot is a little outlandish but based on enough historical fact to remain plausible and is one that should please fans of conspiracy theories and what if scenarios. The ‘black book’ existed and we know some of the names included were truly baffling, one can imagine those who insulted the Nazi hierarchy being added much in the fashion of that wonderful episode of Dad’s Army where captured U-boat caption (Philip Madoc) wants their names and Captain Mainwaring blurts out ‘Don’t tell him Pike!’ Unit 731 was real, and I suspect that we will never get the full truth on what happened to all the German and Japanese experimenters at the end of the war. Certainly, chemical, and biological weapons remain a chilling threat to this day.

Home grown fascism is central to the plot and seems to be quite vogue in current wartime thrillers. It is a subject that has been somewhat played down in the past and well deserves to be exposed the bleaching effect of sunlight. Whilst most of us hard heard of Sir Oswald Mosley and his blackshirts and some of the clashes that occurred in London, Liverpool, Hull and elsewhere fascism ran much deeper with tacit approval from some in the establishment. Perhaps it’s the result of the last few years with Brexit and immigration controls that are providing the inspiration for a reassessment within literature?

The storytelling style remains that of the old school thriller, pacey with full on action, plenty of jeopardy and quite a few murders but never gratuitous or graphic. As someone who loved the books of Alistair Maclean and his ilk in my youth it’s great to see the tradition continued. The reader’s attention is grabbed at the start and from then on it is thoroughly absorbing. The pacing may well be quick and the action relentless at times but there is also great characters and snapshots of life to fill out the storyline. So we see that the war has ended but rationing is still a major headache for ordinary people, consuming their day unless they can afford the black market. Tom even has to beg for petrol in order to carry his pursuit down to London.

Tom Wilde remains an unlikely hero, but the series works because he is kept believable, he’s boxed a bit but doesn’t win fist fights against ludicrous odds, he’s intelligent and analytical but even he can be taken in and confused as he is here. No superhero but typical of many who were thrust into extreme circumstances by war, somehow finding the fortitude to survive and display extraordinary bravery in the face of death.

The other main characters are well portrayed. Wife Lydia is much more to the fore in this one as her determination sees her getting a place at medical school and her exploits along with roommate Miranda add a nice diversion and another thread to face imminent danger.

The narration is perfect for the style of novel and Mr Sims demonstrates a broad range of voices and accents.

The English Führer is another wonderful action packed addition to the Tom Wilde series of intelligent wartime espionage thrillers. The war may be over but I think there’ll be a few more scrapes to come, I certainly hope so.

The English Führer can be purchased via the publisher here

The author

Rory Clements has had a long and successful newspaper career, including being features editor and associate editor of Today, editor of the Daily Mail’s Good Health Pages, and editor of the health section at the Evening Standard. He now writes full-time in an idyllic corner of Norfolk, England. 

(Sources: Photo Amazon; text Goodreads)