Recommendations

Harlan Cohen is one of my favourite authors, his Myron Bolitar series is both witty and pacey.

The Boy From The Woods is a stand alone novel. Wilde, no first name, is the boy who was discovered living in the wild in the woods, there’s no real explanation of why. Years later he is an ex special forces, loner investigator searching for Naomi, the target of the class bully, who has gone missing, then the bully goes missing! Confused? Add in a couple of distracting side plots and an unsatisfactory ending 😤

Not my favourite Coben book.

2.5/5

The Brothers York by Thomas Penn is a superb example of how history can be serious, detailed, absorbing and exciting. I loved it.

The York brothers – Edward, George and Richard were the successors of Edward III. Their history, spanning three kingships from 1465 to 1485, is full of rivalry, feuds, treachery and deception. This is one of the bloodiest periods in English history and Penn leads the reader through the twists and turns of fate that lead to the rise and fall of the three York brothers and ultimately to the Tudor dynasty starting with Henry VII.

The Brothers York reads as exciting narrative but it is also well researched and insightful history. I couldn’t put it down.

5/5

I’ve mentioned SJ Parris’ Bruno series before and I’m a big fan, Execution is the 6th in the series.

Bruno is back in London, the Catholics aided by the French and Spanish are plotting to restore the prisoner Mary to the throne in place of Elizabeth. Bruno has to insert himself into a ring of aristocratic plotters by pretending to be a Jesuit priest on a secret mission. Alongside the main plot, a young woman (an agent for Walsingham) has been murdered, has she been discovered as a spy or is there something else going on? Add in a cast of characters living in the slums and brothels of Southwark and you have very readable historical mystery.

But, and this is a big but, this series doesn’t seem to be going anywhere, the characters don’t seem to develop, every book has a catholic conspiracy of some sort and it is beginning to feel a bit samey. If you haven’t read any of the series yet, start at the beginning because they are really good, if you have read 1 to 5, you won’t miss much if you skip this one. I’m still looking forward to the next one!

3.5/5

Unknown Male by Nicolas Obregon is the second in the Iwata series, it is worth starting with the first in the series Blue Light Yokohama.

Skye Mackintosh, a young English student is found brutally murdered in a “love” hotel in Tokyo. Several prostitutes have disappeared off the streets with no trace. How are the two linked?

Iwata has been away from Tokyo for a decade after the Akashi case (Blue Light Yokohama) he is summoned back by his old commander to lead the search for the murderer of Skye assisted by Anthea Lynch, a detective sent to Tokyo by the Met police who also has some skeletons in her closet.

Combine the twists and turns of a murder investigation with a truly chilling serial killer and Iwata’s struggle for resolution with his long estranged father and you get a cracking novel.

4/5

I was blown away when I discovered Harlen Coben and I am still a big fan of his Myron Bolitar series but I have some reservations  about his one off’s and Don’t Let Go has not changed that view.

A cop who doesn’t play by the rules, a pair of unresolved teenage deaths, hints of conspiracy. coven keeps the pace up in this easily readable book but it just seems to unbelievable and by the end pointless. I wouldn’t bother, if you want to read Coben at his best go back to the beginning of the Myron Bolitar series and start there.

3/5

I am a sucker for Swedish noir so I settled in to read Stockholm Delete by Jens Lapidus with enthusiasm. Disappointment followed. It’s a legal/lawyer lead plot with a few twists and turns but it turns into more of an ordeal than a pleasure. Either the characters aren’t well enough developed or they just aren’t captivating.

This is the first part of a trilogy, I’ll pass on the next two parts.

2/5