Tag Archives: Crime

The Cuckoo’s Calling by Robert Galbraith

September 16, 2018Book ReviewCormoran Strike, Crime, Robert Galbraithskyebjenner

Title: The Cuckoo’s Calling
Author: Robert Galbraith
Series: Cormoran Strike #1
Rating Out of 5: 4.5 (Amazing, but not quite perfect)
My Bookshelves: Crime
Pace: Slow
Format: Novel
Publisher: Sphere
Year: 2013
5th sentence, 74th page: It’s “D.B.” really,’ she enunciated clearly.

When a troubled model falls to her death from a Mayfair balcony, it is assumed that she has committed suicide. However, her brother has his doubts and calls in private detective Cormoran Strike to investigate.

Strike is a war veteran – wounded both physically and psychologically – and his private life is in disarray. The case gives him a financial lifeline but it comes at a personal cost: the more he delves into the young model’s world, the darker things become and the closer he gets to terrible danger…

This was kind of a slow start. Not in a bad way, but in a way that allowed me to put this story down and pick it back up again at my leisure. It wasn’t something that I had to read. But it was something that I couldn’t stop reading. It wasn’t until Part Four that I found it began to get really difficult to stop absorbing. Which worked perfectly, because this is the climax of the story and you want it to really grip you.

I loved Cormoran Strike as a lead. He wasn’t pretty. He wasn’t balanced. But he also wasn’t ridiculously and comedically off balance. He is a man with a past and personal issues, like we all are. But he has a job that he enjoys and works with. The fact that this is a private detective in contemporary England dealing with issues that everyone has to face at some point or another makes him much more relatable than many of the other protagonists of stories that I have read lately.

From the beginning, I knew that Lula’s death wasn’t going to be a suicide, but a homicide. I mean, why have a crime novel that would just end in suicide? Although, as the story began to unfold, I wasn’t entirely sure of myself. And I really couldn’t figure out who could have possibly killed the model. It honestly wasn’t until the final, big reveal that I finally understood who had orchestrated the entire affair. And it did shock me. Not that drop out the bottom of my stomach shock, but a huh. I did NOT see that coming kind of shock.

<- Lethal White Review

The Silkworm Review ->

Image source: Ex Libris

The Suicide Club by Robert Louis Stevenson

September 12, 2018Book ReviewClassics, Crime, Robert Louis Stevenson, Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde & Other Storiesskyebjenner

Title: The Suicide Club
Author: Robert Louis Stevenson
In: Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde & Other Stories (Robert Louis Stevenson)
Rating Out of 5: 4.5 (Amazing, but not quite perfect)
My Bookshelves: Classics, Crime
Pace: Medium
Format: Novella
Publisher: Word Cloud Classics
Year: 1878
5th sentence, 74th page: And they awaited the event in silence, the Doctor shaking with fear, the Colonel in an agony of sweat.

Short story trilogy involving a club for people who wish to end their lives. The “Story of the Young Man with the Cream Tarts,” “Story of the Physician and the Saratoga Trunk,” and “The Adventure of the Hansom Cab” chronicle the exploits of Prince Florizel of Bohemia and Colonel Geraldine through some of 19th-century London’s most dangerous haunts.

I really loved this novella. It was basically three short stories that had the common thread of the villain and the hero. The hero being the Prince and the villain the perpetrator of the Suicide Club. Written in the lyrical fashion that I’m starting to associate with Stevenson, it’s kind of a fun journey through London and Paris. With a heavy dose of mystery and crime thrown in.

There is something soothing about reading Stevenson right before bed (even if it is a tale called The Suicide Club). But, what I really liked about this tale is that it was kind of three different tales, and therefore it was a good way to finish up three days. I didn’t really wonder what was going to happen next, because each time there was a conclusion of sorts. But I also looked forward to picking up my book at the end of a long day and losing myself in Stevenson’s words.

I’m sure that there is a profound commentary on the extravagancies of daily life that I could tweeze out of The Suicide Club. And the idea just sit just outside of my awareness. But it is such an enjoyable story and was so much fun, that quite honestly, I don’t feel like thinking any further about it at all.

<- Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Review

The Rajah’s Diamond Review ->

Image source: Pinterest

Hot August Moon by Katherine Sutcliffe

August 16, 2018Book ReviewCrime, Katherine Sutcliffe, Lover Beware, Romanceskyebjenner

Title: Hot August Moon
Author: Katherine Sutcliffe
In: Lover Beware (Christine Feehan, Katherine Sutcliffe, Fiona Brand & Eileen Wilks)
Rating Out of 5: 3.5 (Liked this)
My Bookshelves: Crime, Romance
Pace: Slow
Format: Novella
Publisher: Berkley Books
Year: 2003
5th sentence, 74th page: “Is there a problem?” She pocketed the shield.

Among women of the night… An FBI profiler can see into the mind of a French Quarter killer targeting prostitutes – but not into the heart of the detective she must trust with her life…

I have very mixed feelings about this novella. It was incredibly difficult to put down. It was really enthralling. But, after I finished reading it… it wasn’t overly memorable. The really amazing stories that have completely gripped me, I remember them, days, weeks after I have closed the last page. But here I am, trying to write a review about Hot August Moon, and the main thing that I remember was that it was enjoyable.

I enjoy stories that have multiple points of view. It’s not something that I find easy to write (which expands on my fascination with this talent. It also provides a great alternate insight into what is happening, regardless of the other point of view. The fact that Hot August Moon has the point of view of the serial killer. Watching the main character, planning what he could do with her… well, it manages to make this a little bit creepier and more full on.

One of the reasons I find this story a little more difficult to recall is that it felt unfinished. The story built up tension, and then just kind of… finished. No conclusion was reached. There was a huge, gapping hole left in the relationship… it just felt… incomplete.

<- Magic in the Wind Review

After Midnight Review ->

Image source: Fantastic Fiction

Cross Bones by Kathy Reichs

August 8, 2018Book ReviewAnthropology, Crime, Kathy Reichs, science, Strong Women, Temperance Brennanskyebjenner

Title: Cross Bones
Author: Kathy Reichs
Series: Temperance Brennan #8
Rating Out of 5: 4 (Really good read!)
My Bookshelves:Anthropology, Science, Crime, Strong women
Pace: Fast
Format: Novel
Publisher: Arrow Books
Year: 2005
5th sentence, 74th page: At the airport bookstore, only a few million copies of the year’s blockbuster bestseller barred my way.

Buy The Book Now at The Book Depository, Free Delivery World Wide

A full week after death, a barely recognisable body is discovered in a closet. ‘Death by self-inflicted funshot wound to the head’ is the initial assessment, but the victim’s relatives are adamant that this was not suicide.

Extreme heat has accelerated decomposition, and Dr Temperance Brennan’s forensic expertise is required. Even for her, it is virtually impossible to determine the trajectory of the bullet.

But just as Tempe is attempting to make sense of the evidence, she receives a photograph of a skeleton from an unknown source. Could this hold the answer to the victim’s death?

It’s difficult to write and read about Christianity. It is such a sensitive topic, and one that I tend to steer clear of at all times. However, Reichs manages to use discussions surrounding Jesus and Christianity beautifully. She doesn’t talk about the different aspects of faith, but rather touches upon the different groups who are heavily entrenched within this discussion. And I actually loved it.

Entwining a murder mystery with a theological mystery which impacts upon a large proportion of the world’s viewpoint seemed a little risky. Even the beginning of this novel starts with a foreword by Kathy Reichs that outlines some of the theological debates surrounding Masada, Jesus Christ and the many, many, many arguments which surround such a complex issue.

I found that Cross Bones went a little slower than the other Temperance Brennan stories so far. Most of the novels in this series so far, I have to read when I have someone else home with me. I tend to get swept away by it and also get really freaked out by what the main character is going through. However, because there was more of a focus on the social and political terrors of this story, than the physical ones that are normally faced. I liked that fact. Although, it did mean that I took longer to read this novel, because I didn’t need to watch the culprit getting caught to sleep at night.

<- Monday Mourning

Break No Bones ->

Image source: Penguin Books Australia

Gold, Babies and the Brothers Muldoon by Derek Landy

August 1, 2018Book ReviewArmageddon Outta Here, Crime, Dark Fantasy, Derek Landy, Easy Reading, Paranormal Fantasy, Skulduggery Pleasantskyebjenner

Title: Gold, Babies and the Brothers Muldoon
Author: Derek Landy
In: Armageddon Outta Here (Derek Landy)
Series: Skulduggery Pleasant #2.5
Rating Out of 5: 4 (Really good read!)
My Bookshelves: Crime, Dark fantasy, Easy reading, Paranormal fantasy
Pace: Fast
Format: Short story
Publisher: Harper Collins
Year: 2011
5th sentence, 74th page: “Ok,” Valkyrie interrupted, “I get it.

Midnight. Valkyrie Cain approaches an old, ramshackle church to make a delicate deal with a trio of ugly, hairy goblins. To her absolute non-surprise, the goblins have no intention of honouring that deal- but not to worry. Skulduggery Pleasant is standing by to deliver a surprise of their own.

Things, however, don’t go exactly according to plan. Not least because the goblins have a sister. A very big, very strong sister. Who might just have a TINY crush on one of our heroes…

Trolls and goblins are always interesting, and disgusting, and a good misadventure for any books’ or series’ heroes. Which is where the Brothers Muldoon fit into this tale – they are disgusting and entertaining. They are a good counterbalance to the babies which Valkyrie and Skulduggery are trying to rescue. And the combination of evil cunning and sheer stupidity made me giggle all throughout this short story.

At the opening of this story I thought that this was just about Valkyrie and a solo mission. It was kind of an exciting idea, but what I love most is the witty repartee between the two leads, so it was also a little disappointing. But then Skulduggery bursts through the ceiling, gets trapped by a potential wife and general chaos ensues. Which leaves me not in the least bit disappointed, and very much entertained.

<- Playing with Fire Review

The Faceless One Review ->

Image source: Skulduggery Pleasant Wiki

Playing with Fire by Derek Landy

July 30, 2018Book ReviewCrime, Dark Fantasy, Derek Landy, Easy Reading, Paranormal Fantasy, Skulduggery Pleasantskyebjenner

Title: Playing with Fire
Author: Derek Landy
Series: Skulduggery Pleasant #2
Rating Out of 5: 4 (Really good read!)
My Bookshelves: Crime, Dark fantasy, Easy reading, Paranormal fantasy
Pace: Fast
Format: Novel
Publisher: Harper Collins
Year: 2008
5th sentence, 74th page: “I’m afraid I can, and I have.”

“Valkyrie Cain looked down at her own dead body, cold and unmoving. She kept expecting to see it breathe. But it just lay in the boot, a thing, a corpse with her face…”

With Serpine dead, the world is safe once more. At least, that’s what Valkyrie and Skulduggery think, until the notorious Baron Vengeous makes a bloody escape from prison, and dead bodies and vampires start showing up all over Ireland.

With Baron Vengeous after the deadly armour of Lord Vile, and pretty much everyone out to kill Valkyrie, the daring detective duo face their biggest challenge yet. But what if the greatest threat to Valkyrie is just a little closer to home…?

Skulduggery Pleasant is the kind of series that I can pick up and put down whenever I feel like something light and kind of sarcastic. This week, that’s exactly what I felt like. So I picked up Playing with Fire. And I read it in just over a day. Actually, the bulk of the book get read in one night. While I was watching Pride and Prejudice. A little bit of an odd combination, but it worked really well…

There are two things that I love about Landy’s writing and Skulduggery Pleasant series. The first is the fact that the main character is a thirteen-year-old girl. I don’t find many action-type books that are aimed at a young audience, potentially male, that has a young girl as the lead. Especially when said series is written by a man. Valkyrie might be the sidekick to the magic-wielding skeleton detective, but the storyline tends to centre on her, rather than him. And I love it. It’s so important to have a strong, female lead and one that young girls can look up to. We’re not pretty little wallflowers after all.

The second thing I love is the sarcastic wit and the dialogue. I find it hard to find a book that will generally make me laugh. Actually, I find it hard to find anything comedic that I enjoy. It has to be witty and clever. And generally it has to be sarcastic and a little dark. All of which this style of writing manages to accomplish. The dry, droll, sense of humour is exactly what I love and, although the storyline is good, it’s really the sarcastic wit with which it is carried forward that makes me read the story so quickly and vehemently.

<- The Lost Art of World Domination Review

Gold, Babies and the Brothers Muldoon Review ->

Image source: Thirst for Fiction

Even Hand by Jim Butcher

July 20, 2018Book ReviewCrime, Dark and Stormy Knights, Jim Butcher, Paranormal Fantasy, The Dresden Files, Urban Enemies, Urban Fantasy, Wizardsskyebjenner

Title: Even Hand
Author: Jim Butcher
Series: The Dresden Files #11.6
In: Dark and Stormy Knights (P.N. Elrod) & Urban Enemies (Joseph Nassise)
Rating Out of 5: 4.5 (Amazing, but not quite perfect)
My Bookshelves: Crime, Paranormal fantasy, Urban fantasy, Wizards
Pace: Fast
Format: Short story
Publisher: St. Martin’s Griffin
Year: 2010
5th sentence, 74th page: I glanced past the young woman to Gard, who gave me a slow, cautious nod.

Even Hand is a short story in The Dresden Files series by Jim Butcher. It is set between Turn Coat and Changes, and is narrated by John Marcone.

It’s always interesting to read a short story from an alternate point of view. And although I am nowhere near up to book 11 in The Dresden Files, I have already met Marcone. And it was really fun to read a story about him. From his point of view. Which was kind of dark.

Something that I enjoy about Butcher’s writing is that he doesn’t have clear cut good and evil characters. Harry Dresden is the protagonist, and the “good guy”, but he isn’t completely innocent, and there is a darker side to him. One that I’m sure develops throughout the tale. Likewise, Marcone is strongly cast as the “baddie”. But, in reading Even Hand, you discover that there are good and nice aspects about him and his moral code. He’s still a scary, ruthless, unkind mob boss. But he does have some laws and rules by which he lives his life. Something that has certainly made me want to dive headfirst back into The Dresden Files….

<- A Questionable Client Review

The Beacon Review ->

Image source: Goodreads

Veiled Menace by Deborah Blake

July 12, 2018Book ReviewCrime, Deborah Blake, Paranormal Fantasy, Veiled Magic, Witchesskyebjenner

Title: Veiled Menace
Author: Deborah Blake
Series: Veiled Magic #2
Rating Out of 5: 4 (Really good read!)
My Bookshelves: Crime, Paranormal fantasy, Witches
Pace: Medium
Format: Novel
Publisher: InterMix
Year: 2017
5th sentence, 74th page: This was one conversation she didn’t want anyone to overhear.

Since Witches came out of the broom-closet in the early 21st century, they have worked alongside humans as police officers, healers, stock traders, and more. But they aren’t the only paranormal entities in our world…

Witch and police officer Donata Santori is no stranger to magical mayhem, but lately her life has been unexpectedly charmed. Her job as a Ghost Yanker now includes the occasional paranormal investigation, and she’s advancing her magical abilities with the help of an ancestor’s treasured spell book. And while both of her former love interests—reclusive half-Dragon art forger Peter Casaventi and disgraced Shapechanger Magnus Torvald—are nowhere to be found, she’s not averse to being wined and dined by wealthy businessman Anton Eastman.

But Eastman isn’t what he seems, and what he wants from Donata is far more than she’s willing to give. When a mysterious relic, the Pentacle Pentimento, resurfaces, along with Peter’s Dragon father and a shocking Santori family secret, Donata must fight to save herself, her friends, and just maybe the fate of the world from a magic as old as it is dangerous…

I didn’t enjoy this as thoroughly as the first book in Veiled Magic. I think because the relationships were a little off, and her best friend Doc just appeared… there were just a few holes that made the continuity from Veiled Magic a little clunkier than I’m used to from Blake. That’s not to say that I didn’t still thoroughly enjoy this story, but I did take a lot longer to read this than I did the first novel.

Although Veiled Magic features a love triangle, Veiled Menace focuses solely on Donata’s relationship with Pete. Again, the continuity of this was a little disjointed. They had the off again, on again drama going on. Which was a fun driver, but when they were off, Pete wasn’t even mentioned. For the amount of passion in their on moments, it was weird to have such a lack in their off moments.

I liked that we finally discovered who the sixth race was in this and how they fit into the scheme of things. I had formed a number of opinions as to who and what this race could be throughout both Veiled Magic and Veiled Menace, but it still completely swept me away. Donata’s connection to this further surprised me, and I can’t wait to see how all of this unfolds in Veiled Enchantments. That, and how the relationship with Pete is going to evolve (if it does).

<- Veiled Magic

Veiled Enchantments ->

Image source: Goodreads

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

June 21, 2018Book ReviewClassics, Crime, Easy Reading, Sherlock Holmes, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Word Cloud Classicsskyebjenner

Title: The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
Author: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Series: Sherlock Holmes #3, Word Cloud Classics
Rating Out of 5: 4.5 (Amazing, but not quite perfect)
My Bookshelves: Classics, Crime, Easy reading
Pace: Medium
Format: Collection
Publisher: Word Cloud Classics
Year: 1892
5th sentence, 74th page: ‘Does it not strike you as a little singular that this McCarthy, who appears to have had little of his own, and to have been under such obligations to Turner, should still talk of marrying his son to Turner’s daughter, who is, presumably, heiress to the estate, and that in such a cocksure manner, as if it were merely a case of a proposal and all else would follow?

Circumstantial evidence is a very tricky thing… It may seem to point very straight to one thing, but if you shift your own point of view a little, you may find it pointing in an equally uncompromising manner to something entirely different.

I’ve been wanting to read Sherlock Holmes for ages. After all, there are a lot of TV shows and genres that I absolutely adore. And, I really wasn’t in the slightest bit disappointed. Actually, I found a more comprehensive collection of Sherlock Holmes tales which I bought after reading the first few pages of this book. There is a great lyrical flow of words, a great journey upon which to be bought and I just love how at the end of each tale, there is a grand reveal.

Each of the twelve cases in this collection have their completely unique spin and take on modern-day life in Victorian England. What I like about this is that it is far more accessible than many of the other stories that I have read of this time. The language is a lot simpler, and it deals with the courses of daily lives. The lyricism makes it incredibly difficult to put this book down and it makes me want to know what has happened to the vast array of clients which march through the pages.

I know that this is one of those stories that I will find more details as I reread it. The culprit and the villain (if there is one) is woven through each story. Yet, it isn’t until the very end that it becomes so blatantly obvious what happened – and only through Holmes’ amazingly concise reiterations of the storyline. I like that although everything isn’t necessarily tied up in a neat bundle, it is all explained completely.

<- Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass

The Count of Monte Cristo ->

Image source: Rainbow Resource

Monday Mourning by Kathy Reichs

June 4, 2018Book ReviewAnthropology, Crime, Kathy Reichs, science, Strong Women, Temperance Brennanskyebjenner

Title: Monday Mourning
Author: Kathy Reichs
Series: Temperance Brennan #7
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves:Anthropology, Science, Crime, Strong women
Pace: Fast
Format: Novel
Publisher: Arrow Books
Year: 2004
5th sentence, 74th page: Grabbing a lab coat from my office, I headed to the morgue.

Three skeletons are discovered in a Montreal basement.

The building is old, and the homicide detective in charge dismisses the reamins as historic. Not his case. Not his concern.

Forensic anthropologist Dr Temperance Brennan is not so sure. Something about the bones of these three young women suggests a different message: murder.

Soon she finds herself drawn ever deeper into a web of evil from which there may be no escape. Three women have disappeared, never to return. Will Tempe be next?

Mondays suck. And I love that this was highlighted not only in Reichs’ title for this novel, but also in the fact that every important moment in this story came on a Monday. Each revelation and spinning of the spider’s web happens on that horrible day, and ultimately, the climax and kind of horrible ending (in the best sense possible) also occurs on a Monday. Like I said, Mondays suck.

From the first discovery, it was obvious that this story was going to be kind of horrible. Three skeletons of young girls found in a basement – it doesn’t take much to realise that this is going to go places that you don’t necessarily want to go. The fact that it then leads to the villain of the story eventually escaping (and being an unexpected one at that)… well, when I finished this tale, I had goosebumps. I actually made sure that I didn’t read this story unless I knew my partner was going to be home for dark. The young women being the victims just hit a little too close to home.

As always, I love the level of science and detail that Reichs manages to bring to her work. By using expose to explain the science behind each discovery, you not only get swept away by the story, but you learn a lot. Good science is hard to come by in literature (at least in my experience), so having a series that not only manages to get my blood pumping, but also brings to life an area of my life that I love is the perfect way to spend a few spine-chilling nights curled up under a blanket.

<- Bare Bones

Cross Bones ->