City on Fire #GrahamBartlett #CityOnFire

By Graham Bartlett https://policeadvisor.co.uk/ @gbpoliceadvisor

Published by Allison & Busby https://www.allisonandbusby.com/ @AllisonandBusby

350 pages ISBN 9780749030513 (HB)

Publication date 21 March 2024

City on Fire is the third novel in the Chief Superintendent Jo Howe series. Click on the link to read my review of the second book in the series Force of Hate.

I was allowed access to a pdf review copy on Net Galley.  Thanks to Josie at Allison & Busby for the invitation to join the blog tour and of course the Author.

The cover

A curious but quite striking cover. A picture of the Brighton sea-front but the title font picked out in flames, for reasons which will become clear.

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My review

Chief Superintendent Jo Howe is determined to tackle the scourge of drugs on the streets of Brighton, a city that is turning into the drugs capital of England. Jo is only too aware that drug habits fuel crime, as addicts need easy cash to feed their addiction, and it destroys lives. This she knows from bitter experience as her sister Caroline succumbed to heroin, a life in dirty squats and on the streets, which led ultimately to her death. This death is still raw to Jo, she feels she let Caroline down, that she could have done more to help her. She now cannot atone for this sense of guilt to Caroline, but she is determined to help as many as she can who are in this predicament. She is the driving force behind Operation Eradicate, a two-pronged attack at the problem. Not only is there a concerted effort to reduce supply but also to get users into rehabilitation programs, and a new pharmaceutical heroin substitute being trialled is having a positive result. A somewhat controversial approach that needs time to mature, but not everyone is so positive.

The new drug is made by Respite Pharmaceuticals a company owned by Sir Ben Parsons, a formidable self-made millionaire with a vast web of useful contacts, people in high places. Respite has obviously invested millions is developing and patenting the drug, money that Sir Ben needs to earn back. However, in his eyes Operation Eradicate is proving to be too successful, curing addicts reduces his customer base which is bad for business. He wants complacent addicts hooked for the long term on the substitute. He needs to stop Howe and her scheme, and he thinks he knows how to do it.

Dark days ahead for Jo in a city about to explode.

One thing guaranteed from the author is authenticity, the policing, their actions and communications feel right, but without being dragged down by an obsession with procedure. The action is given every chance to develop and flow. Its not just the policing though, where he writes about the inter-agency work, the voluntary sector NGOs and prisons it comes over as though from experience rather than research. What a great asset when a writing a novel such as this.

If you have read the earlier novels in the series, you will know Jo is a strong and determined woman who is respected and admired by her peers. In this story she is really put through the wringer, dropped into heaps of jeopardy both personal and reputational, such that it almost brings about her complete mental destruction. A woman who is schemed against but also making poor judgement calls when under extreme pressure, which is both understandable and realistic. Stress effects people in different ways but we can all get to the point that Jo does where every step, every choice makes the situation worse.

It starts with a betrayal, from her loving and understanding journalist husband of all people. It is a professional one, forced to do it by editor, rather than a relationship betrayal with another woman. Once under the media microscope the pressure starts to mount, and Jo’s professionalism comes into doubt. That is merely the start as officers face threats and personal attacks causing support for Jo to dwindle and an increase of sick leave. When the supply of the synthetic drug dries up (thanks to carefully planning by Sir Ben) the streets boil over.

A fabulous description of a cold and calculating plan being executed step by step. Sir Ben has the contacts, the wealth and he also has the dirt on people and is not averse to a spot of blackmail to get his way. There is a suspicion amongst the public that some within the establishment can orchestrate cover ups, but here we can see such power wielded to destroy an individual. Something truly chilling to read.

It is the motivation of Sir Ben that interested me. Here we have a hugely successful businessman, one who enjoys the trappings of success, who is willing to destroy lives just to earn his drug development costs back. Apparently heartless, but then we learn of his poor mother, suffering from early onset dementia, whom he cares dearly for and lives at his house. There are some very touching scenes where he is comforting her which I am sure some carers will recognise. A real dichotomy of a man. I would have liked the relationship with his mother developed more, as we never discover how the dynamics were forged. Was she domineering, was he repressed, there is no mention of a love life for Sir Ben.

His obsession with finding a cure for his mother leads to a magnificently dramatic confrontation, one that has building up from the start. Action fans you are well catered for too, with bursts of aggression, bloodshed and personal jeopardy as momentum and tension are skilfully built up and released throughout, and at times you have to catch your breath.

At the core of the story is the notion that drugs companies just want to treat patients, to alleviate their symptoms rather than cure them. For them it’s a high stakes gamble to develop a drug, but being corporations, they want to earn profits and not just benefit mankind. What begins as an unlikely concept becomes a chilling possibility the more you think about it. There is a huge health and charity sector dedicated to developing and curing a vast array of diseases form cancer to Alzheimer’s, yet any success is a threat to their existence. A moral conundrum which we can only hope is addressed in an ethical way.

City on Fire is a convincing police procedural where a chilling businessman is determined to destroy the lives of those who get in his way.

City on Fire can be purchased via the publisher’s website here

The author

Graham Bartlett rose to become chief superintendent and the divisional commander of Brighton and Hove police. His first non-fiction book Death Comes Knocking was a Sunday Times Top Ten bestseller, which he then followed with Babes in the Wood. He co-wrote these books with bestselling author, Peter James, and has since published Bad for Good and Force of Hate starring Chief Superintendent Jo Howe. Bartlett is also a police procedural and crime advisor helping scores of authors and TV writers inject authenticity into their work.

Source: Publisher’s website

Don’t forget to check out the other great reviews on this blog tour:

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Her Last Request #MariHannah #HerLastRequest

By Mari Hannah https://www.marihannah.com/ @mariwriter

Narrated by Colleen Prendergast @CMPrendergast_

Published by Orion Books Group https://www.orionbooks.co.uk/ @orionbooks

416 pages (10 hours 48 minutes) ISBN 9781409192442 (HB)

Publication date 30 September 2021

Her Last Request is the eighth book in the Kate Daniels @DCIKateDaniels Mysteries series. Click on the links to read my reviews of the first seven books in the series, The Murder Wall, Settled Blood, Deadly Deceit, Monument to Murder, Killing for Keeps, Gallows Drop and Without a Trace.

My review is based upon the audiobook version purchased from Audible. I would like to thank Tracy @Tr4cyF3nt0n from Compulsive Readers #CompulsiveReaders for the opportunity to take part in the #TEAMDANIELS review project. My review of The Longest Goodbye the nineth novel in the series will be posted on this blog in April.

The Cover

A caravan park by the sea, on a blustery day, a scarf attached to the fence. Perfectly encompasses the novel. Good cover.

The narrator

Another excellent job by Colleen Prendergast.

My review

A woman is found murdered in a caravan at a small coastal holiday park. It is the way that she is murdered that is most disturbing to DCI Kate Daniels. Her throat has been cut, but she has been attacked with great savagery and has suffered defensive wounds, as she attempted to fight off her attacker. Truly a bad, visceral death.

The intensive forensic search of the site throws up an unexpected piece of evidence, a hidden note. This death note is a cry for help, her last request to those who find it, to find her son. Kate is deeply affected; she feels it almost on a personal level. As her partner the profiler Jo Soulsby points out, the scene is as if it were meant for Kate, the note could have been written just for her.

A haunted Kate is about to be consumed by this case. Not only must she find the killer but also find Aaron, the son, before the killer does. This is a vendetta and as the story progresses it become apparent that both the victim and killer are both communicating directly with Kate. One from beyond the grave, they other taunting like the most narcissistic of fictional serial killers.

A great set up for a two-strand storyline, effectively a dual man hunt encompassing a race against time. The pacing is wonderfully judged and is given a great sense of urgency when the search for Aaron is on.

The plotting is cleverly done, initially there is so little to go on, but bits of information and further clues are drip fed into the storyline as it progresses. In one very clever scene, the victim manages to connect with Kate from beyond the grave, thanks to keen observation and some lateral thinking. This is by no means the only clue, but certainly the most memorable. It’s not all Holmes and Watson though as there is plenty of incident, moments of breathtaking suspense and some excellent action with real jeopardy introduced as well.

Being a Daniels and Gormley story it would be amiss if they didn’t fall foul of the brass hats and this time it appears to be serious. Kate managed to use up much of DCS Bright’s goodwill during her search for Jo and this time she feels powerless. In a fabulously simple but effective piece of writing cross pollination, this allows her to introduce the reader to Stone and Oliver, the lead characters in her other Newcastle based detective series. I picked up a couple of their books up when the author came to speak at Hull Noir so once #TeamDaniels is finished I will be moving on to that series! Most authors who write more than one series set them far apart, but as they are in the same proximity it makes perfect sense that they cross over at some point.

Character development adds so much to a long running series and following the dramatic events of Without a Trace there is a sense that time has moved on. Kate and Jo’s reconciliation appears to be working, albeit with the odd factious moment and the sudden reappearance of one of Jo’s sons. The fall out from the death of DI Robson is only now being felt and there was a more subdued feel to the incident room. This provides an opportunity for DS Carmichael to move up and for some a self-confident character she is less sure footed but proves her worth in an interview late in the story. She’s proving to be a bit of a chip off the old block. The reader also gets a nice little look behind the scenes of Hank’s home life.

The killer is particularly nasty, but also demonstrates a teeth gnashing arrogance that is almost as bad, one villain who deserves his comeuppance. The central theme is one of coercive control, of a man trying to control a woman to the point where she must go on the run to escape his clutches. A painful situation that is captured convincingly but also with a sensitive touch. This becomes an extreme example of an only too common situation, where women become trapped through no fault of their own.

Reading Without a Trace I felt that changes were to come; Her Last Request brings fresh impetus to and invigorates this fantastic long running series.

Her Last Request can be purchased via the publisher’s website here

The author

Mari Hannah is a multi-award-winning author, whose authentic voice is no happy accident. A former probation officer, she lives in rural Northumberland with her partner, an ex-murder detective. Mari turned to script-writing when her career was cut short following an assault on duty. Her debut, The Murder Wall, (adapted from a script she developed with the BBC) won her the Polari First Book Prize. Its follow-up, Settled Blood, picked up a Northern Writers’ Award. Mari’s body of work won her the CWA Dagger in the Library 2017, an incredible honour to receive so early in her career. In 2019, she was voted DIVA Wordsmith of the Year. In 2020, she won Capital Crime International Crime Writing Festival’s Crime Book of the Year for Without a Trace. Her Kate Daniels series is in development with Stephen Fry’s production company, Sprout Pictures.

Source: Publisher’s website

Katy Massey at Hull Noir #KatyMassey #AllUsSinners #HullNoir

On Wednesday 20 March Katy Massey https://katymassey.com/ @TangledRoots1 was the guest of Hull Noir https://www.hullnoir.com/ @HullNoir to talk about her debut crime novel All us Sinners and her writing career in general. Host for the evening and the man asking the questions was local crime author Nick Triplow @nicktriplow a co-creator of Hull Noir.

In reviews I generally refer to writers as ‘the author’ but as we have met and even gone to the pub together, I will take the liberty of referring to her as the more intimate Katy.

The event, including a Q&A session ran for an hour but there follows a flavour of what was discussed.

Katy Massey in conversation with Nick Triplow

Background

The novel selects some from aspects of Katy’s life. Her mother worked in the sex industry, running a successful brothel in Leeds during the 1980s. Katy wanted to write about the women who worked there, they are not the stereotypes portrayed in fiction. They are just ordinary people, women working hard for their families under difficult circumstances. Putting forward the case for discrete, safe, well-run brothels which would have been important as the time the novel is set.

The novel is set in 1977 in a Leeds that is living under the shadow cast by The Yorkshire Ripper. He (like Jack the Ripper) when mentioned within stories, tends to drown out everything within the narrative, whereas she wants to reflect the terror felt by women at the time. Wanting to bring something unique to the story, an angle not pursued by other writers, where his existence is felt in the North, but he hasn’t reached the level of national infamy he was to achieve. He is a character in the novel though.

Characters

Maureen believes she is in control and very is street smart, but not as much as she thinks. The intention was to show that the harder the front a people show the outside world, the more vulnerable they are when this façade is taken away. The hard front is the result of what people have done to Maureen, but the vulnerable woman beneath is more likeable. She is a woman of complicated relationships with those around her. Mick is a policeman, around 10 years older, has known Maureen for years and is quite paternal. She sees him as a protector, but he is tempted, seeing her as a woman. A transactional relationship and one ‘across the tracks’.

Katy is deliberately looking to give a voice to characters whose story is not often told, people who are marginalised. She knows the world she is writing about, so can bring that authenticity to the storytelling. Also wanting to acknowledge that since the time the novel in which the novel is set, life has moved on, but all women remain vulnerable and deep down, attitudes have hardly changed.

Too many crime novels open with a naked or near naked prostitute, who has been murdered and never gets an opportunity to speak. In All us Sinners the story begins with the jeopardy, an attacked prostitute but one who gets to speak to the reader and can tell her story.

Setting

Nick commented on how incredibly evocative the novel is of the time and place in which it is set. How important was the relationship of Maureen, her city and specifically her neighbourhood? Katy said it was quite important that she had known nothing else, but Mick has great experience, with him bringing a much broader world view to the story. Mick’s life has been forged by religion, legitimate society and service to the community, yet Maureen had a hard dragged up existence selling what she has left to sell. There’s a sense of being trapped in Leeds, which is all she knows. Nick says this made it wonderfully claustrophobic, with the storyline leaving Leeds only twice.

Katy said for her it was important to create a sense of a community, this being part of race politics. Katy grew up mixed race, in a diverse part of Leeds and yet, she felt that she didn’t read enough books that reflect the mixing pot she experienced. Yes, there are black and Asian voices in literature, but they tend to concentrate on their section of the wider society. Whereas she wanted to give a more soap opera feel to the community, with the epicentre of community life being in Jamaican Linford’s café, he being a man with fingers in many pies.

The technical aspects of writing

As a debut novelist how conscious was she of finding her own unique voice, distinct from her work as a journalist and her memoir? Not a conscious effort at all! She just let the story guide her on tone and style as she learned to write a novel. Not being steeped in a crime writing background or having read much of the genre, she didn’t realise she was writing a crime novel, there was no specific intent from the outset. It was her editor who guided her on the technical aspects of writing within the genre.

Writing as a journalist is very different to writing a novel. Its more focussed with shorter sentences which are easy to comprehend.

Memoir

Are We Home Yet came about because of the feeling that she was burning out. Katy managed to get funding to do a MA at Sunderland and the study brought a sense of reawakening and so refreshed, her thoughts moved on to doing a PhD. The PhD thesis then became the basis for the memoir with little change. It took 11 years between writing and publishing, partly down to timing as the bottom had fallen out of the ‘misery memoir’ market. Then in 2020 she saw an opportunity, a publisher (Jacaranda Books) asking for submissions wanting to publish 20 pieces by writers of colour in that year. It was accepted and with the Windrush Generation fresh in everyone’s minds the timing was perfect.

All us Sinners can be purchased via the publisher’s website here

Are we Home Yet can be purchased direct from the publisher here

The author

Katy Massey was a journalist for many years before studying for an MA and PhD in Creative Writing. Her memoir, Are We Home Yet? was published in 2020 and praised by Bernardine Evaristo as ‘a gem’. It was shortlisted for the Jhalak Prize and the Portico Prize. In addition, her fiction and nonfiction work has been widely anthologised, including Common People edited by Kit de Waal, The Place for Me, and speculative collection Glimpse. All Us Sinners is her first novel, an unusual take on the crime genre featuring Maureen, a tough but tender-hearted brothel-keeper in 1970s Leeds. She is unexpectedly drawn into investigating the killing of a friend’s son, events which take place against the disturbing backdrop of the Yorkshire Ripper’s murder spree.

Source: Publisher’s website

Talking With Psychopaths #ChristopherBerryDee #TalkingWithPsychopaths

By Christopher Berry Dee https://www.christopherberrydee.com/

Published by John Blake Books https://www.bonnierbooks.co.uk/ @jblakebooks (an imprint of Bonnier Books UK) https://www.bonnierbooks.co.uk/ @bonnierbooks_uk

TBA pages ISBN 9781789467956

Publication date 29 February 2024

I was sent an electronic copy to enable be to participate in this Blog Tour. I would like to thank Tracy @Tr4cyF3nt0n from Compulsive Readers for the opportunity to take part and of course the author and publisher.

The Cover

Evil eyes, a knife and strange corridor in kind of a green monochrome. I don’t think the reader will be surprised to find some disturbing content.

The blurb

In Talking With Psychopaths, bestselling author and criminologist Christopher Berry-Dee takes readers deep inside the dark minds of some of the most pitiless and dangerous people alive.

With unprecedented access to the world’s most evil killers, Christopher spent years interviewing imprisoned criminals – including notorious serial killers – he discovered that the lack of remorse these people showed was in many ways even more terrifying than the crimes they had committed. Yet in the course of these conversations, the author also had the chance to interview his subjects’ psychiatrists and, in doing so, uncovered a terrible truth: a monster can be hidden behind a friendly face.

Some of these experts, he found, proved to have more in common with their patients than he would ever have expected. This book examines horrific crimes committed by some of the most remorseless and merciless people ever to have lived. If it reveals a mindset wholly alien to most people, it also, shockingly, demonstrates that some of the people who treat these psychopaths have their own demons.

This chilling study of darkest of criminal minds will inevitably shift the reader’s view of psychopaths, and in doing so, reveals that horror can be much closer to us than we think…

My review

Having already read a couple of his works, I was aware that the author has a very distinctive writing style. Thankfully, considering the people who he has corresponded with and interviewed in writing this book, he doesn’t go into too much detail regarding their crimes. He considers most to be the dregs of humanity and he certainly doesn’t pull his punches when it comes to giving his opinion on them, or recounting conversations with law enforcement officers (most of which are from the US). He reports events in a matter-of-fact way in prose which is aimed at the regular reader rather than the academic or professional. He does go into the science and explains it well, but wherever possible he avoids the jargon and buzzwords that go some way to shutting off the world of study for you and I who are his target audience. There is dark sarcasm and the odd comment that may trouble the more sensitive reader, but I believe that it is merely a function of those he deals with. They say if you lie down with dogs, you get fleas, then when consorting with killers it is important not to become desensitised. Many workers doing difficult jobs such as those in the emergency services develop a dark sense of humour as a coping mechanism to deal with the very worst experiences of humanity. So, I think it is quite reasonable for him to laugh at the expense of serial killers, psychopaths and savages.

Style aside, his works are certainly popular, as they manage to capture the essence of the convicted felons, they are amongst the best sellers. It’s not all popular appreciation though, some of his books are included on the required reading list of the FBI Behavioral Sciences unit at Quantico, in Virginia, and they are the world experts.

He doesn’t suffer fools (or rather those he considers to be fools) gladly and has a correspondingly low opinion of most professionals involved in the study of criminal psychiatry. As he says, put half a dozen shrinks in a room and the chance of them reaching agreement on anything, is about the same as we have of winning the National Lottery Jackpot. I can see two principal reasons for this. Firstly, is the divergence of opinion, particularly when cases get to court and they are called as specialist witnesses, with defence experts trying to prove spurious arguments like temporary insanity. Secondly, they must approach the subject with an open enquiring mind, to prove scientific rigor has been exercised. However, as the author is at pains to point out these killers, psychopaths and narcissists are the most skilled manipulators of the human mind there are. Coupling the mind that wants to believe with one determined to manipulate is a recipe for disaster. His approach is to regard the criminals as despicable, murdering scum, and he believes he is invariably proved right.

Don’t expect the author to hide his light under a bushel, as he sets out his successes, and quite right too, as some of the information he has manged to extract is stunning. The pain felt by the loss of a loved one who has been murdered is clearly heartbreaking; when there is no body, or the murder is unconfirmed, it can leave them in a near permanent state of grief, unable to live the rest of their life. That the author has managed to get convicted killers to further confess and reveal deposition sites to him is a testament to his work. True crime can seem voyeuristic at times but here are tangible meaningful results.

How does he do it? Over a period, he corresponds with them and subtly probes them to reveal their weaknesses, for something he can exploit. It may take months or even years to establish a rapport with them and start to gain their confidence, tricking them into believing they have a friendship. Most are narcissistic or egotistical, so he applies a form of reverse psychology on them, they think they are in control and all the while he is manipulating them. As my old father used to say “you can’t kid a kidder”. From the professional psychologist’s point of view this would be entirely unethical behaviour but from the layman’s point of view it gets the required results and so should be applauded.

Talking With Psychopaths gazes into the abyss of darkest of criminal minds and shows how a determined criminologist can turn the tables on them.

Talking With Psychopaths can be purchased from the Bookshop.org here

The author

After Asst Chief Constable Ron Stone QPM, Essex Police, Christopher became ownerand Editor-in-Chief of The Criminologist – the worlds most respected and oldest journal (at 49-years) – on matters concerning: law enforcement; penology; forensic psychiatry/psychology; penal reform; the judiciary, and all matters under the criminology masthead. He was appointed as Director of ‘The Criminology Research Institute’ (CRI) in 2005.

​Writer of some 36 separate book titles listed with Public Lending Right (PLR), published by W.H. Allen, Virgin Books and long time loyal friend and publisher John Blake (London) and now also Blake/Bonnier Christopher’s books are translated into numerous languages around the world.

Christopher frequently appears on numerous TV documentaries as a leading authority on serial homicide. He was co-producer/interviewer for the acclaimed 12-part documentary series ‘The Serial Killers’, still being screened today and has consulted on the cases of: Fred and Rose West; Ian Brady and Myra Hindley, and Dr Harold Shipman in the TwoFour produced TV series ‘Born to Kill’, which accompanied another of Christopher’s books.

Source: Author’s website

Don’t forget to check out the other reviews on this blog tour:

Crow Moon #SuzyAspley #CrowMoon

By Suzy Aspley https://www.suzyaspleywriter.com/ @writer_suzy

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

272 pages ISBN 9781914585500

Publication date 14 March 2024

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

The Cover

I love the hourglass sand turning to crows after it passes through the pinch point. To me it says a battle against time and something creepy ahead. This is one book that I didn’t need to read the blurb, I knew from the cover I wanted to read it.

My review

A teenager goes missing from the sleepy village of Strathbran…

Martha Strangeway’s life was turned upside down when her young twin boys were killed in a house fire. Martha is wracked with guilt because she feels she let them down. The night of the fire she was called out to attend a press conference and so was not there to protect them, as she feels a mother should. She ends her career as an investigative journalist and drifts apart from her partner, the father of the twins. All she has left now is her teenage son, Dougie and haunting memories. Her’s is more of an existence, self-tortured by guilt and grief, rather than a life.

Whilst out jogging Martha is struck, falls and ends up tumbling down a slope. When she regains her senses, she can see she has fallen next to the body of the missing boy. Next, she wakes in the hospital, she has been rescued, the body has been recovered but none of it seems to be real to her. It is though and she has something tangible, a small bottle that she picked up shortly before she fell. It appears to contain ink.

Martha’s journalistic instincts kick in and she takes an interest in the case, pestering DI Summers for information, well she did find the body. He reluctantly divulges that the teenager had a stanza from an ancient poem inked upon his back. When a second teenager goes missing there is a sense of panic in the community. For Matha this is heightened because both teenagers were good friends of Dougie, up to a year ago they were inseparable. Martha decides to investigate herself and manages to persuade Summers that the pooling of their knowledge will benefit them both. Realising she is at the epicentre of the crime, which is in a remote location, he gives a tacit agreement. Neither one of them is prepared for what they uncover.

As a reader who appreciates true gothic and not the camp stuff that is passed off as it in these modern times, this book didn’t disappoint. It takes many of the expected elements and skilfully weaves them within a modern crime thriller.

Crows like the rest of the corvids are intertwined in ancient folklore, often portrayed as a harbinger of death, they are a key element with this story. This had me rereading Edger Allan Poe’s most famous poem The Raven.

The plot follows the consequences of the teenagers performing an ancient rite, with the hope to alleviate the mental anguish of Dougie. The timing and location prove to be unfortunate and inopportune, which leads to a strand of ancient mysticism and witchcraft. Here there is some fabulous imagery, noises, sudden drafts and flapping of wings or fabrics, introduced with impeccable timing. Much easier to produce visually but here the timing is spot on such as the reader gets a ripple of fear or surprise. At times its dark and creepy, with an ominous foreboding feeling about the prose, one where tragedy is a wingbeat away.

The build up to the finale is both frantic and surprising, real edge of the seat stuff. It’s cleverly constructed and there’s a perfect natural symmetry to it as well as the ideal location. A bonus comes by way of one small scene which may be a homage to Poe, I won’t spell it out, but the great man did it more than once.

Martha is convincingly drawn, as a woman consumed by grief who the reader will empathise with. Even down to the matchbox she carries, which contains all she has left of the twins, as a slightly macabre memento mori. We feel Jamie’s pain too, literally as a man scarred with burns form trying to save the twins.

A nice complication is added by Martha’s friend Orla becoming involved with one of the prime suspects. She brings a slightly outrageous spark to proceedings much in the way Samantha did in Sex in the City. The police officer DI Summers is surprisingly taciturn but comes up trumps eventually. (By now I was over thinking things, making connections that were probably not intended, in the classic The Wicker Man the evil protagonist was of course Lord Summerisle…)

Grief and its effects are the core of the story. Be it Martha, Jamie and Dougie over the twins, or Father Peter’s apparent rejection by his once loving mother, all the key characters must deal with their loss but not be subsumed by it. In The Raven the writer laments for his lost love Lenore, considers whether he will get over the loss, but finds his soul covered by the shadow of the bird who says ‘nevermore’.  Can their souls escape the shadows, can put their grieving to rest and manage to move on?

Crow Moon is a simply stunning amalgam of gothic imagery and folklore within a crime story.  An amazing debut novel.

Crow Moon can be purchased direct from the publisher here

The For Women Scotland website has some interesting information on the various memorials to the victims of witchcraft trials and The Witchcraft Act 1563.

The Thief of Joy #StaceyMurray #TheThiefOfJoy

By Stacey Murray https://thestacemeister.wordpress.com/ @TheStacemeister

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

360 pages ISBN 9781915817303

Publication date 19 March 2024

I was sent an electronic copy in exchange for a fair review.  I would like to thank Rebecca at Hobeck Books and the Author for the invitation to participate in the Blog Tour.

The Cover

A large house in the leafy suburbs (Didsbury as the reader will discover) that looks all warm and welcoming. Then we notice the silhouette of a woman observing the activities from the well-lit within, a hint that not all is warm and cosy.

My review

A dramatic start to capture our interest. We’re introduced to Roz, the central character, as she is preparing for a night out, a date with Daniel, a man who she has recently started dating. The have only been on a handful of nights out but Roz is upbeat, thinking Daniel just might be ‘the one’. Then she receives a phone call from one of Daniel’s friends; Daniel is dead, killed that morning by a massive brain aneurysm. Roz is distraught.

Roz is a single mum of 39 who is mindful that time for her is running out. She just wants what everyone else has; a nice home, a settled marriage and perhaps a baby while she still can. Surely this is not too much to want or expect?

Poor Roz gets little support or sympathy from those around her, in particular her mother. They say life can hardly be over for her, after all she hardly knew Daniel. She was just being silly, projecting a future based on nothing more than dreams. She’s 39 and not 19, it’s been a bit of a shock to her but it’s merely a bump on the path of her life and she should simply move on.

Feeling that nobody understands her, Roz signs up with an online grief support group. The reactions to her posts are mixed, some sympathetic whilst others agree with her mother. Moderator Mark offers her support, and they quickly become friends, with the prospect of more developing. Mark is a widower whose wife and daughter (who would be around the age of Roz’s daughter Chloe) were killed in a tragic road accident. Mark is a bit older, lives in a fine house in Didsbury and is an anaesthetist at a local hospital, a bit of a catch for a single mum, but he likes to be in control and is domineering at times…

As the title suggests the reader must discover whom or what is The Thief of Joy. All is revealed towards the end of the story, though not in this review.

This is a slow burn story with great emphasis placed on describing Roz’s life. Her hopes, fears and expectations as well as her friendships, and the relationships with her seemingly cold mother and star quality sister, her mother’s favourite. To Roz her life may appear mundane, but she has a job, a home and a lovely daughter, which would leave most people content. The problem is she is surrounded by and reminded of those who are doing better in life, sister Fiona has a posh new home and now Roz discovers her friend Kate is going to marry girlfriend Sam. Gradually we can see Roz is not jealous but just feels that everyone is getting on with their lives whereas hers is stagnating. There may appear parallels to Bridget Jones, but their predicaments are very different, this is no romantic comedy but is a psychological story with distinctive creepy edge.  

Momentum gathers once Mark establishes himself within Roz’s orbit. At first, he seems like a good fit as a potential long-term partner, a man willing to commit and used to children and a family life. As time passes though he lets Roz and Chloe down regularly, well he does have an important job and is often on call. Then when they do meet up, he is controlling and is reluctant to reveal his life, his friends, his family or even let them visit his home. Gradually almost imperceptibly the seeds of doubt are sown. This is written with great subtlety; I expect there will be a range of reactions from different readers. I’m sure most will have been in the position where those close to them are advising on a partner (or potential partner) but there is a refusal to accept what is said. People delude themselves through love and there are those who will take advantage.

The pace increases in the final quarter leading to a dramatic and unexpected course of action for the finale. It all gets rather frantic at an inopportune time, producing a real ‘heart in the mouth’ moment.

The answers to the reader’s questions then come thick and fast, fit together nicely and make perfect sense. The motivations are not quite what we think they are, and the reader has only been exposed to a single perspective, which is what makes the story work. Roz is simply too self-absorbed, once she realises this her life looks very different, for her it’s like looking behind the curtain in the Wizard of Oz. She comes to understand there can be a different reality behind the façade. Just because other people’s lives look better doesn’t mean that they don’t have problems of their own.

I don’t subscribe to the notion that there are men’s books and women’s books, that is clearly nonsense, but I think this is the sort of novel that will elicit different responses from different demographics. I’m sure there are many women who will identify with Roz’s predicament and no doubt some older women will take her mother’s non nonsense standpoint. The reaction of men will differ, I’m sure, depending on whether they have children. Me? I’m firmly in Mum’s camp!

The Thief of Joy is a cleverly constructed story that shows what can happen when we become too absorbed with what we want from our lives to actually live it.

The Thief of Joy can be purchased direct from the publisher here

The author

A native of Glasgow, Stacey Murray was an international finance lawyer in London and Hong Kong, before changing career to become an independent film producer. Her first film, A Boy Called Dad, was acquired by the BBC and nominated for the Michael Powell Award for Best British Film at the Edinburgh International Film Festival (which meant she got to chat with Sean Connery). She lives in the dramatic Derbyshire Peak District which is the setting for her tense psychological novel The Thief of Joy. Her first novel was the acclaimed The Curious Case of Maggie Macbeth. 

Source: Publisher’s website

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Without a Trace #MariHannah #WithoutATrace

By Mari Hannah https://www.marihannah.com/ @mariwriter

Narrated by Colleen Prendergast @CMPrendergast_

Published by Orion Books Group https://www.orionbooks.co.uk/ @orionbooks

390 pages (11 hours 4 minutes) ISBN 9781409192367 (HB)

Publication date 19 March 2020

Without a Trace is the seventh book in the Kate Daniels @DCIKateDaniels Mysteries series. Click on the links to read my reviews of the first six books in the series, The Murder Wall, Settled Blood, Deadly Deceit, Monument to Murder, Killing for Keeps and Gallows Drop.

My review is based upon the audiobook version purchased from Audible. I would like to thank Tracy @Tr4cyF3nt0n from Compulsive Readers #CompulsiveReaders for the opportunity to take part in the #TEAMDANIELS review project. My review of Her Last Request the eighth novel in the series will be posted on this blog later in March.

The Cover

The audiobook cover differs from the book, though they both show airport scenes. Of the two I prefer the audiobook version; it captures the sense that something is wrong and is quite poignant. Most readers will have seen the lone bag circling on the conveyor belt and thought what happened here (last time for me meant somebody had taken my case my mistake…)

The narrator

The third audiobook of the series I’ve listened to, and Colleen Prendergast is now the voice I expect to hear. She manages to capture a sense of the North-East without becoming excessively Geordie, a great job all round.

My review

Although not essential it is helpful if readers have a little background to the series before tackling this novel. In Gallows Drop Kate and Jo were going to have one last shot at burying their differences and trying to make a go of their on-off relationship, as noted previously in the series they are really rubbish at being lesbians. A much-needed holiday for Kate and some quality time together was just what the doctor ordered. This is Kate Daniels though, a murder case handover is a disaster as she clashes with a bullying officer from her past, who then reveals Kate’s big secret. Then her father has a near fatal heart attack. Jo ends up picking up the pieces, until she finally has had enough and breaks it off with Kate, heading for New York. Then Kate gets the shocking news, the flight is reported missing…

It is here that Without a Trace picks up the story.

Wracked with guilt and self-recrimination Kate becomes suddenly incredibly selfish. Even though the investigation is nothing to do with her and well out of her jurisdiction, she heads off to London, with Hank in tow. Hank has now become her personal Jiminy Cricket, albeit it one who loves his beer and grub, if not exactly her conscience, then at least one trying to save her from herself. They are a team not to be broken up, but Kate’s recklessness puts both their careers in jeopardy. She abuses DCS Bright’s trust but does manage to insert herself into the case, one that also involves US Homeland Security.

Back in Newcastle a criminal boss is murdered in a gangland hit, but Kate has left the team without an SIO. Hank is reluctant to return without Kate, who simply refuses to, knowing she will do something stupid in his absence. DS Robson is eager to show his worth and eventually it is agreed that he will be acting DI and SIO on this case, Kate and Hank are only a phone call away, what could go wrong.

This story is something of an outlier in this cracking series, it has a distinctly different feel and is also probably the most emotionally charged one too. Kate is being torn apart by not knowing if Jo was on the plane. She needs certainty, the faint hope that Jo wasn’t aboard is destroying her, hence embarking on the mission that is potentially career suicide. In a rare look into Kate and Jo’s past, the reader finally discovers how they met and then initially became inseparable. It seems the risk of losing Jo forever finally hits home, Kate realises her life would be empty without her. About time to you might think, but there is a real intensity to how these feelings are written. There is no respite back in Newcastle for the reader either, as nerves are jangled and heart strings tugged in dramatic developments.

Parts of the plot are a little implausible, even though Jo is her profiler, Kate would surely be sent packing when she tries to get involved. That she isn’t allows for some interesting changes to the regular police investigation, such as how the accident bureau work, getting a sense of the terrible task ahead of them. It also gives one of our ‘dynamic duo’ the opportunity to work undercover for US Homeland Security. Some aspects of this are quite fascinating and this moves the story away from being a run of the mill police procedural. As usual it is left to Hank to provide the occasional chortle as he becomes more exasperated than usual. Having to bunk at a Station House is almost the final straw for the North East’s most patient detective.

A character from the past reappears and Kate is put into the position of needing to trust him against all her better judgement. Poor Kate puts herself through the wringer, finally deciding upon new priorities in life. The more cynical reader will wonder how long this will last, which is a great way of ensuring that we look out for Her Last Request the next instalment. Even though two cases are being worked upon the bulk of the story concentrates upon Kate and Hank at Heathrow. It is their relationship which is the key to the success of the series, with each new story exploring a different aspect. Here he is pushed to breaking point but still remains loyal.

For once feelings, surpass action within the story resulting a slower paced read. The pace picks up a little in Newcastle but here I felt the story needed a little more substance to it. It does leave the series refreshed though, with changes made and new impetus in some directions, which is just what the reader wants.

Without a Trace is an excellent police procedural, given a distinctive new twist, that sets up this fine series with a different dynamic for future instalments.

Without a Trace can be purchased via the publisher’s website here

The author

Mari Hannah is a multi-award-winning author, whose authentic voice is no happy accident. A former probation officer, she lives in rural Northumberland with her partner, an ex-murder detective. Mari turned to script-writing when her career was cut short following an assault on duty. Her debut, The Murder Wall, (adapted from a script she developed with the BBC) won her the Polari First Book Prize. Its follow-up, Settled Blood, picked up a Northern Writers’ Award. Mari’s body of work won her the CWA Dagger in the Library 2017, an incredible honour to receive so early in her career. In 2019, she was voted DIVA Wordsmith of the Year. In 2020, she won Capital Crime International Crime Writing Festival’s Crime Book of the Year for Without a Trace. Her Kate Daniels series is in development with Stephen Fry’s production company, Sprout Pictures.

Source: Publisher’s website

Safe Hands #WAKelly #SafeHands

By W.A. Kelly https://www.waynekellywrites.com/ @MrKelly2u

Narrated by W.A. Kelly

Published by Picklock Publishing

382 pages (8 hours 53 minutes) ISBN 9781399965170 (PB)

Publication date 6 October 2023

Safe Hands is the first book in the Mickey Blake thriller series.

I reviewed an audiobook provided by the author, in exchange for an honest review, for which I would like to thank him.

The Cover

Straightforward but at the same time effective.

The narrator

As I have noted several times before on this blog, I am not a big fan of an author narrating his own book. That said here he has made a splendid job of the task, displaying a wide variety of voices and accents. A couple of them drifted into silly voice territory but I think he may be forgiven as he attempts to inject some personality into the reading. This is his ‘baby’ and he brings the enthusiasm that demonstrates he’s proud of it.

My review

Mickey Blake is a retired ‘peterman’, a former safecracker, who should be living a life of luxury on the ‘Costa del Crime’. Instead, he is drawn back to ‘Sunny Skeggy’, the bracing Lincolnshire seaside town of Skegness for ‘one last job’. With his wife back in Spain suffering from terminal cancer and a failed business venture behind him, he is in hock to a gangster and so desperately needs the cash, after all nobody goes to Skegness without a good reason.

Hazel is a single mum with an almost grown-up son, Warren. Her life hasn’t exactly gone to plan but she does her best, at least she is doing better than her friend Maeve, who life and one man in particular has treated her badly. Hazel has her own business providing bookkeeping services, but also works part time in a local pub, so she sees a lot of life pass by. Her biggest fear is that Warren becomes drawn into a life of crime.

Mickey and Hazel’s paths will cross as he tries to crack open the huge vault of a gangland casino using only his skill and his delicate, safe hands…but can he also keep them both safe.

Well, it’s certainly an unusual character to base a new series on, a sixty-year-old former safe cracker who hasn’t worked in eighteen years. If nothing else, it will be fascinating where the follow ups head. Mickey is a complex character who doesn’t so much have a bit of baggage but rather a vintage Louis Vuitton travel trunk full. Bullied by his own father, he has spent the entirety of his adult life trying to avoid turning into the man he despised, without seeing the damage this caused his own family. A promising boxer, he quit early in his career after seriously injuring an opponent, a guilt he has carried with him ever since. Crime came easy to him, the money was most welcome, but he was always drawn into the skill aspect, pitching his wits against the safe. Now he feels trapped in a marriage that should have ended years ago, again feeling the guilt for the poor way he treated his wife. No wonder a trip to Skegness seems like a fillip to him.

The plot is nice and crazy, at first seeming too straightforward, but of course it isn’t, a simple event signals this and like railway points being thrown, we head off on a different track. Being the first in a series there is the expected back story introduced, but these are so cleverly incorporated into the plot that it steams along and even incorporates the occasional toot of pleasure. It’s not all laughs though, there is violence, some jeopardy and a body to be dealt with, enough to add some real thrills to the mix. Runaway trains do have a tendency to crash…

Safecracking puts me in mind of the post war black and white British movies, but this is no Noir and it is thoroughly modern in style. The criminals use the language we would expect, and the setting is real and has the faded, run down neglect, we now associate with British seaside towns. Serious issues are addressed but it never gets too heavy and whilst never quite ending up in saucy postcard territory there is a certain cheekiness to proceedings, in the end this is a crime caper. There is a lot of humour throughout, mostly dry and with a sarcastic observational edge, which I found engaging and not overdone. I loved the comment from Mickey telling how he worried when his son fell in with the wrong crowd, “drugs?” was the response, “no, performing arts” the reply. He also has an ear for an interesting turn of phrase and savage putdowns from the street, like ‘sanctimonious piece of excrement’.

The theme through is the family; our commitments, ties and the love we engender. In some cases this is obvious, whereas elsewhere it is buried deeper, but it is manifest in all the significant characters in the own way. This is typified by the strained relationship between Mickey and son Liam, who summarises the position perfectly in that no matter who much you love someone and want to protect them, you must let them live their lives and make their own mistakes. These interactions help to bring some substance to the story.

The supporting cast of characters are an intriguingly mixed bunch, admittedly a couple come straight from central casting but we do want our villains to be nasty. Single mum Hazel is a gem, battling to do the right thing but always seeming to be swimming against a tide of bad circumstances. Her son Warren doesn’t help and represents a generation of confused teens whose attention is easily distracted.

Safe Hands is an engaging seaside crime caper, where revenge comes with a side order of laughs.

Safe hands can be purchased from Amazon here

The author

Wayne Kelly is a screenwriter and novelist. His debut crime novel, SAFE HANDS, is released in November 2023.

In addition to novels and short stories, he’s written and directed several short films including INKLING, which was an official selection at the International HorrorHound Film Festival in Ohio. He is producer of the award-winning feature-length documentary, NO FARE: The Sian Green Story.

Since 2014 he’s hosted The Joined Up Writing Podcast, where he interviews successful authors about their books, writing and journeys to publication.
With his limited spare time, he’s a singer-songwriter with The Wry Dogs and devoted cat father to Milo. He loves to cycle around the beautiful Leicestershire countryside, where he lives with his wife and daughter.

Source: Goodreads profile

Crow Moon #SuzyAspley #CrowMoon #Extract

By Suzy Aspley https://www.suzyaspleywriter.com/ @writer_suzy

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

272 pages ISBN 9781914585500

Publication date 14 March 2024

I was sent an electronic copy and selected extract to enable me to take part in this Blog Tour. I would like to thank Anne at Random Things Tours @RandomTTours for the invitation to participate and of course the Author and the Publisher.

An extract from Crow Moon

CHAPTER THREE

The man had to be flexible with the plan. He’d watched Fraser running the trail for a few days and had done all he could to prepare. He knew the forest well, or at least this part of it. He’d been brought here as a child, had become used to the silence. No one to hear you scream but the ghosts. The Queen Elizabeth Forest Park stretched from the Trossachs hills and majestic Loch Lomond, all the way to the village of Crianlarich further to the north-west. Visitors flocked to the area. Studded with clear lochs and towering mountains, it was the Highlands within reach of Scotland’s biggest cities. Friday was the start of the weekend here.

The nearby village of Aberfoyle was steeped in folklore, and the famous Fairy Hill on the other side of the broad glen drew families from far away. Sometimes, if the wind blew in the right direction, he heard bells chiming. Not church bells, but offerings to the pagan forest spirits from folk who should know better. But there were also lonely areas of dense woodland where you could easily lose yourself; and where he knew he would never be disturbed.

People believed there was magic in these woods, and local tourist guides still told tales of witches. They knew nothing, he thought. But the stories meant they didn’t want to be here after dark, which was just as well.

He didn’t think the teenager remembered him. It was a while since they’d crossed paths, but he could take no risks. He wore his heavy coat and dark glasses, just in case. Fraser was a strong young man, almost an adult; easily capable of getting away if he suspected anything, so the man had found a way of putting the teenager on the back foot. A rope slung low across the track had done that; Fraser hadn’t seen it and had rolled to the ground. Then a friendly helping hand to get him onto the trailer. The boy looked relieved. Someone had come to save him. He was too trusting though. No sense of danger. At that time in the morning, no one else was about, but it was important to get him out of the way, off the main path, leaving as little trace as possible. He’d checked the forecast in advance. There’d been a run of dry days, so the quad wouldn’t leave tracks through mud. It had all come nicely together.

The Risperdal was prescribed for him, but he hadn’t been taking it. He’d just kept stocking up the supplies, sure they’d be useful for something. It was a stroke of luck finding the other drug stashed in the old railway buildings. He’d felt as if someone was helping him, knowing he needed to knock Fraser out for a while. But in the end he’d been forced to use a more brutal method – the stick still had the teenager’s blood on it. He’d get rid of that later.

Do it. Hit him. Make sure he stays still.

• 

The Blurb

When the crow moon rises, the darkness is unleashed…

Martha Strangeways is struggling to find purpose in her life, after giving up her career as an investigative reporter when her young twins died in a house fire.

Overwhelmed by guilt and grief, her life changes when she stumbles across the body of a missing teenager – a tragedy that turns even more sinister when a poem about crows is discovered inked onto his back…

When another teenager goes missing in the remote landscape, Martha is drawn into the investigation, teaming up with DI Derek Summers, as malevolent rumours begin to spread and paranoia grows.

As darkness descends on the village of Strathbran, it soon becomes clear that no one is safe, including Martha…

My review

My review will appear later in March.

Crow Moon can be purchased direct from the publisher here

The author

Originally from the north-east of England, former journalist Suzy Aspley has lived in
Scotland for almost thirty years. She writes crime and short stories, often inspired by the
strange things she sees in the landscape around her. She won Bloody Scotland’s Pitch
Perfect in 2019 with the original idea for her debut novel and was shortlisted for the Capital Crime New Voices Award. In 2020, she was mentored by Jo Dickinson as part of
the Hachette future bookshelf initiative. Crow Moon was also longlisted for the Caledonia Novel Award. She’s currently working on the second book in the series, and when she’s not writing, she’s either got her nose buried in a book, or is outside with her dogs dreaming up more dark stories. She lives in Stirlingshire with her family.

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Rodolfo Walsh’s Last Case #ElsaDrucaroff #RodolfoWalshsLastCase

By Elsa Drucaroff @Elsa_Drucaroff

Translated by Slava Faybysh @slavabob8

Published by Corylus Books https://corylusbooks.com/ @CorylusB

TBA pages ISBN 9781739298937

Publication date 5 March 2024

I was sent an electronic copy to enable me to take part in this Blog Tour. I would like to thank Ewa Sherman @sh_ewa for the invitation to participate and of course the Author and the Publisher.

The Cover

Very simple but at the same time very effective.

My review

Last month I reviewed Death Flight by Sarah Sultoon whose plot centred on the fate of the ‘disappeared’ some fifteen years after the fall of the military junta, then like buses, along comes another novel that focuses on this dark period in the country’s history. Rodolfo Walsh’s Last Case is set in 1976 when the military still had firm control over Argentina and brings a different feel.

Rodolfo Walsh was a famous Argentinian writer of Irish decent, but I would guess little known in the English-speaking world. He was the man who kick started investigative journalism in Argentina, as well as being a pioneer of the true-crime genre with his book Operation Massacre, at a time of civil turmoil and military rule, when to do so would put any writer in grave danger. He also wrote popular crime fiction. If that were not enough, he was active in the political underground not just being a member of the Montoneros but its head of intelligence. He also created ANCLA, (Clandestine News Agency) attempting to disseminate the truth using underground channels under the noses of the junta. So, he was both a talented and courageous man, but did his fame protect him from the repercussions of the military?

Perhaps we are expecting Rodolfo Walsh’s Last Case to be a work of non-fiction, but it is not, it is very much fiction, but expertly woven into real life events. Including real people within historical fiction is nothing new, but usually these are cameo roles to bring a sense of reality to proceedings (after all Phillip Kerr had Bernie Gunther meeting just about every major Nazi with that series.) Here though the author goes much further taking a real person (Rodolfo) and imagining a reaction to a real event, the shoot out that his daughter was involved in. A challenging concept in which to write a convincing novel, but one which the author has risen to and produced a work that is as entertaining as it is compelling. How accurate her portrayal of Rodolfo as a complex, caring, moral and driven man can only be judged by those who knew him, but even if this novel just raises awareness of the man then she has triumphed.

The plot centres on a real-life event, a shoot-out on 29 September 1976, subsequently known as the Battle of Corro Street in which Walsh’s daughter María Victoria (nom de guerre “Hilda”, or “Vicki” to family and friends) was involved. It was reported that all five Montoneros where killed, but rumours persisted that one, a woman, was captured alive. It is here that the fiction takes over. Rodolfo does what every caring parent would do, try to establish the truth and if she were alive save his daughter. If she were alive would the military use her for their own ends, as bait or a pawn in negotiations. It is here that Rodolfo does indeed take on his last case.

The story switches between the viewpoints of the venal and corrupt military and the political opposition who were effectively treated as rebels. Here they cling onto the spirit and ideals of the student protests of 1968, a movement for the workers lead by an intelligentsia despised by the military. The spirit of resistance, as well its likely futility against unsurmountable odds, is captured to perfection, the reader is convinced these characters would die for their cause. There is also a deep sense of fear that is ultimately faced by a brazen almost cavalier attitude to life, one where it is better to die an honourable death than to live on your knees in servitude.

Trust and betrayal are the central themes, though there are also explorations into camaraderie, love and family. As both sides via to establish the intent of the opposition they face the dilemma of relying upon the trusting of one’s comrades, but simultaneously on the betrayal of the opposition by those within. If you can infiltrate the opposition, can they not do the same to you. Here we are given a sense of the scheming and paranoia involved, where betrayal could lead to torture and death. I thought initially it took a little getting into the story, probably due to the constantly switching perspectives, but this builds up a nice vein of tension and urgency throughout leading up to a magnificently created set piece as Rodolfo battles to avert disaster. The translator has done a great job in pulling this together and retaining a sense of urgency.

Rodolfo is clearly the central character and wonderfully drawn, at times working in bed whilst his wife lies asleep beside him. For me the big surprise was the characterisation of the military. It would have been easy to portray them as evil, as many clearly were, but there is more nuance here and a reminder that many were conscripted into the forces and one courageous soldier plays an important role within the storyline.

In the end, as the story has its foundations in fact, we know that Rodolfo follows the path of his daughter, dying the day after publishing Open Letter from a Writer to the Military Junta when he refused to surrender to a group of soldiers. Rodolfo Walsh’s Last Case is wonderfully imaginative piece of speculative fiction and a fine testament to a talented and courageous writer.

Rodolfo Walsh’s Last Case can be purchased via the publisher’s website here or the Bookshop.org here

The author

Elsa Drucaroff was born and raised in Buenos Aires. She is the author of four novels and two short story collections, in addition to being a prolific essayist. She has published numerous articles on Argentine literature, literary criticism and feminism.
Her work has been widely translated, but Rodolfo Walsh’s Last Case is Elsa Drucaroff’s first novel to be translated into English.

The translator

(c) Acie Ferguson

Slava Faybysh is a translator based in Chicago. He translated Leopoldo Bonafulla’s The July Revolution, Barcelona 1909 (AK Press), a first-hand chronicle of a weeklong rebellion and general strike followed by government repression, told from an anarchist perspective. His translations have been published in journals such as New England Review, the Southern Review, and The Common, and his translation of Elsa Drucaroff’s thriller set in 1970s Argentina, Rodolfo Walsh’s Last Case, was recently published by Corylus Books.

Source: latinamericanliteraturetoday.org

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