Recommendations

The Winemaker Detective Omnibus

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The Winemaker Detective series by Jean-Pierre Alaux is more wine than detective.

If you are into the nuances of fine wines, different chateaux, grape species and the like with a bit of gourmet food thrown in and all complimented by elegant descriptions of the French countryside and Bordeaux life, then you will love this. The crime bit seems almost like an afterthought with little detection and a sort of surprise “oh that’s who did it and why” in the last chapter.

This omnibus contains the first three books in the series. They are quite short (not sure what defines a short novel as a novella) so you might be disappointed if you bought them individually.

Personally I like my crime a bit more on the robust side with some dark flavours, a hint of a plausible diversion and a satisfying aftertaste or conclusion. Give me a Premiere Cru crime novel not this light whimsical novella. This is only a 2.5/5 for me

If you  want a top quality crime series set in rural France with a bit of food and wine around the edges try Martin Walker’s Bruno Courreges series, I’d give them a 4.5/5

The Thicket

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I’d forgotten how much I enjoy Joe R Lansdale, he is a witty writer who tells good hard boiled stories.

The Thicket is set in East Texas at the turn of the century, it’s a combination of a ‘coming of age’ story and a tough bounty hunting chase of a brutal gang of bank robbers and killers. The lead character, Jack Parker, is accompanied by Shorty, a crack shot midget, Eustace, a grave digger and a Jimmy Sue, kind hearted whore on his pursuit of his sister’s kidnappers.

This is a very good read, when you’ve finished you will want to meet more by Lansdale, a great find.

This is at least a 4/5

Star Sand

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Star Sand by Roger Pulvers tells the story of two deserters, one Japanese and one American, stranded on a tiny island as WW2 draws to a close. Star Sand explores their relationship through the diary of a young girl of mixed Japanese and American parentage who finds them and helps them to remain hidden and to survive.

What does it mean to be enemies? How do you forgive and move on? The conflict between a sense of duty and humanity. This is a compelling read, even though you sense that you know what is going to happen the tension builds and you hope for a different outcome.

Almost 4/5

The Plea

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The Plea by Steve Cavanagh is a cracking legal novel, sort of Micky Haller with knuckle dusters.

Eddie Flynn is an ex con man turned lawyer.  He gets pressured into defending an open and shut murder case by a secretive FBI agent who wants Eddie to convince the defendant to plead guilty. As he looks into the case and meets the defendant Eddie starts to have doubts about his guilt but anything other than a quick guilty plea will put Eddie’s wife at risk.

This is a pacy courtroom page turner with some good twists and turns. Well worth a read, 4/5

Floodgate

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I like Johnny Shaw’s stuff, I thought Big Maria was a great read, if you haven’t read it you should give it a try.

Floodgate is completely different to Shaw’s previous novels, it’s set in the fictional city of Auction City which is held together by an uneasy coalition of crime syndicates, an outrageously corrupt police force and the church. The story switches between two time periods 1929 when there was a catastrophic street battle between the police, organised crime gangs and the underclass of the city and 1986 when after over 50 years of peace the tense relationships are on the verge of fracturing.

Floodgate is pacy and witty, albeit a little predictable. 3.5/5