Author: Steven

Scarlet Odyssey

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Scarlet Odyssey by CT Rwizi is a fusion of magical fantasy and sci-fi set in Africa. It takes a while to grasp what is going on (I’m still a little puzzled) but it’s well worth the effort.

Salo is a young man who struggles with his mystical talents inherited from his mother. In his community men are warriors not mystics. When his village is attacked and his young friend is killed Salo knows it is time for him to declare his magical skills.

Salo is sent on a journey to the heart of Africa pursued by an evil enchantress and her minions.

This was described as a “young adult” novel but it seems pretty readable and adult to me. Certainly good enough to look forward to the second in this series!

The Rhino Conspiracy

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The Rhino Conspiracy by Peter Hain is set in modern day South Africa, it combines a page turner about the battle against rhino poachers with a scathing critique of the corruption that pervaded South Africa in the post Mandela era.

Hain is well qualified to expose the corruption of the modern state but I was surprised at how good a thriller writer he is. This is really really good, I wonder what he will do next?

4/5

The Liar’s Dictionary

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The Liar’s Dictionary by Eley Williams is very very wordy. If you love words you may well love this novel about the creation of a dictionary, I didn’t, I gave up before the 3rd chapter.

For me, this was too wordy, too self indulgent and trying too hard to be clever. That said lot’s of critics have been very impressed and it will probably turn out to be a cult novel which will mean that I have to pick it up and give it a second try!

Lost Souls

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Lost Souls by Jonathan and Jesse Kellerman is a police procedural centred around Deputy Coroner Clay Edison.

Amidst protests against the redevelopment of Peoples’ Park in Berkley California the body of an infant is uncovered. At the same time Clay is approached by someone who thinks the baby may be his sister who disappeared 50 years ago.

This is a well executed novel with a few twists and turns and some good nostalgia for the San Francisco peace and love activists of the 60’s but ultimately it lacks something.

3/5

The Sandpit

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The Sandpit by Nicholas Shakespeare is a bit of a slow burner but well worth persevering with.

John Dyer, an ex journalist, has returned from Brazil to Oxford with his son and enrolled him in the rep school that he had attended nearly 50 years ago. Life is dull and predictable in the middle class Oxford academic and school community until an Iranian, Rustum Marvar, parent entrusts John with the results of his research. When Marvar and his son disappear, the mystery unfolds at pace as different intelligence services and murky business interests encircle John and his son trying to find the potentially world changing secret.

The Sandpit is elegant, well observed and quite readable but overall a little unsatisfying.

3.5/5

The House of Lamentations

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The House of Lamentations is the 5th in Shona Maclean’s much praised Seeker series.

It’s 1658, Damian Seeker is living under cover in Bruges keeping tabs on the royalist followers of the exiled King Charles who are scheming to restore Charles to the thrown. Meanwhile in London the Protector, Cromwell, is in the last days of his life and all around him are preparing for a power shift and a new leader.

The royalists have discovered that there is a spy within their midst they have no idea who it is and send their own spy to spy on Seeker’s spy. Complicated? Yes but Maclean weaves a complex plot around these characters while providing a fascinating and detailed understanding of life in 17th century Bruges and the politics of England and Europe.

The House of Lamentations is historical fiction at it’s very best. The publisher says this is the last in the series. I hope not!

4.5/5

The Sin Eater

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The Sin Eater by Megan Campisi is very definitely different. Set in a version of Elizabethan England that has dystopian hints of the Handmaid’s Tale, the story is told by May Owens, who is the Sin Eater.

Sin Eaters hear the sins of others and then eat foods associated with each different sin, they carry those sins with them to the grave and relieve the sinner of the fear of dying and being cast into some form of hell with Eve rather than going to their Maker. It is a cruel world where the burden of being the city’s Sin Eater and a social outcast is imposed on women by the mail judges as a way of exercising power and revenge.

May discovers a plot to kill the Queen, a mystery about her own parentage and eventually realises her own agency and independence.

After a slightly slow start The Sin Eater is a compelling read well worth persevering with. I think this is Campisi’s first novel, I hope she writes more.

4/5

Elementary

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When I was in my early teens I devoured every bit of the Sherlock Holmes opus, all 4 novels and the 5 collections of short stories. In fact I think I read most of them twice! Since then I have read a few attempts to extend the series, some have worked quite well (e.g. The House of Silk by Anthony Horowitz) and some have fallen short.

Elementary by William Todd comprises “4 mysteries from the case files of Sherlock Holmes” which Dr Watson had not published. It didn’t work for me, it felt formulaic and somewhat predictable. To be honest I couldn’t bring myself to read all 4 of the stories, 2 were more than enough!

Unless you have read and remember all of the original Conan Doyle stories you might do better to go back to the originals and even if you do remember them I would still rather read the originals again than these wooden homages.

Death in Delft

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Death in Delft by Martin Brack is the first in a new series. Set, not surprisingly in Delft in 1671 the plot is based around 3 young girls who have been abducted, one turns up dead and our hero Master Mercurius a protestant protest who is also a secret catholic, is called on by the mayor to try to solve the murder and find the two remaining girls before they are killed.

As a crime novel this might be quite standard fare though well executed, what makes this more interesting is the rich imagery of 17th century Delft, the currents of repressed religion post reformation and the insertion of the painter Johannes Vermeer and the scientist Antonie van Leeuwenhoek who discovered protozoa into the plot. The novel is in the form of a journal by Mercurius and has a dry humour running through his dialogue with the reader.

I was surprised how much I enjoyed this, I’ll give the next one a go.

4/5

A Shooting at Chateau Rock

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A Shooting at Chateau Rock is the 13th in Martin Walker’s Bruno Courreges series and it does not disappoint.

The Bruno series are well paced, elegantly written and charming, there are usually 3 threads to the plot, the main mystery, a sub-plot and a beautiful description of the French village life within the Perigord region. Add in Walker’s obvious love for French regional cuisine and wines, the simple recipes that magically appear and you will feel as if you are sitting around the table with him for a Sunday lunch in the French countryside.

This isn’t all food and countryside, Bruno is a tough, likeable character who fans of the series have followed through scrapes and romances (still unresolved). A Shooting at Chateau Rock delves into the way in which wealthy Russians have been purchasing EU citizenship and the crime that follows them. It’s a great page turner for a sunny afternoon, perhaps with a glass of chilled white at your side.

4.5/5