New Books - Chronicles of Crime
I could have bought more books but limited myself to 4 books.
"Parisian P.I. Aimée Leduc finds herself involved with a secretive North African radical group the French government would rather she didn’t investigate
When Anaїs de Froissart calls private investigator Aimée begging for help, Aimée assumes her best friend's sister wants to hire her to do surveillance on her philandering husband again. Aimée's too busy right now to indulge her. But Anaїs, a politician's wife with an unhappy marriage and a young daughter, insists Aimée must come, that she is in trouble and scared. Aimée tracks Anaїs down just in time to see a car bomb explode, injuring Anaїs and killing the woman she was with.
Aimée, who saw her father die in a car bomb five years earlier, is shaken by the attack, but manages to escort Anaїs to safety. But Anaїs can't explain what Aimée just witnessed. The dead woman, Anaїs says, is Sylvie Coudray, her cheating husband's long-time mistress, but she has no idea who wanted her dead, and Anaїs officially hires Aimée to investigate.
As she digs into Sylvie Coudray's murky past, Aimée finds that the dead woman may not be who Anaїs thought she was. Her Belleville neighborhood, full of North African immigrants, may be hiding clues to who Sylvie really was. As a prominent Algerian rights activist stages a hunger protest against new immigration laws, Aimée begins to wonder whether Sylvie's death was an act of terrorism, and who else may be at risk. To make matters worse, Yves, Aimée's ex-boyfriend, a journalist who seems to appear in and disappear from Aimée's life without any regard for her feelings, is back in town. Just the kind of distraction she doesn't need right now."
"1926. The war-ravaged vineyards of France. In this masterpiece of suspense from CWA Historical Dagger Award-winner Barbara Cleverly, a nameless soldier plunges Scotland Yard inspector Joe Sandilands into a shifting world of deception, rage, and murder....
A well-earned vacation takes a sharp detour when Sandilands is called to France, where a shell-shocked patient--a tragic casualty of war--is in the throes of a violent nightmare. Trying to determine the mystery man's identity proves a difficult, internationally delicate task: several families are claiming the unknown soldier as their own.
But it is at a famed chateau, where the wine flows and disturbing secrets abound, that Sandilands meets a woman who takes his investigation in a chillingly different direction. Strong-willed and alluring Aline Houdart's husband has been missing and presumed dead for nearly ten years. Her true motives are as elusive as the truth about a long-ago night...when a horrific crime was committed and lives changed forever. Now Sandilands, an ex-soldier himself, a man who has seen his share of bloodshed and sorrow, is waging his own battle for justice. It is a fight for his fallen comrades that will unmask a killer. Or bury the truth forever..."
"It’s been a busy few days for Inspector Hal Challis. The school year has just ended, and with the sudden influx of rowdy teenagers on break, Waterloo has become a hotbed for petty crimes. But there are also more serious matters at hand. A well-connected chaplain at a prestigious school has been brutally beaten, and a local official has turned up dead. If Challis was having a hard time keeping up with the caseload before, it certainly hasn’t helped matters that he’s become romantically involved with his colleague Ellen Destry. Challis struggles to maintain a clear head as the crimes mount. Will their relationship derail all they’ve worked for?"
"It’s the middle of a long hot summer on the French Mediterranean shore and the town is teeming with tourists. Sebag and Molina, two tired cops who are being slowly devoured by dull routine and family worries, deal with the day’s misdemeanors and petty complaints at the Perpignan police headquarters. But then a young Dutch woman is found murdered on a beach at Argelès, and another disappears without a trace in the alleys of the city. Is it a serial killer obsessed with Dutch women? Maybe. The media senses fresh meat and moves in for the feeding frenzy.
Out of the blue, Inspector Gilles Sebag finds himself thrust into the middle of a diabolical game. In order to focus on the matter at hand, he will have to put aside his cares, forget his suspicions about his wife’s unfaithfulness, ignore his heart murmur, and get over his existential angst. But there is more to this case than anyone suspects."
Just Finished
"If you enjoy an excellent police procedural, Roots Of Evil, the 3rd Chief Inspector Morrissey mystery, by Kay Mitchell is a good place to start... Well, you should start with the first book, but the series is what I was talking about. It reminds of other such excellent series, JJ Marric's Chief Inspector Gideon books or Michael Gilbert's Inspector Petrella series.
As you might have guessed, CI Morrissey is an English police inspector; he works out of Malminster police district. Like the other series I mentioned above, while Morrissey is the focus of action, the story also features many of the other detectives in the department. There are a number of cases being worked on. Things have been slow but with an apparent accidental death of a local member of the town's planning commission. There are other goings on as well that starts making life interesting for Morrissey and his team; a racist attack on a row of houses owned by Asians, a vicious attack on another Asian boy. Besides this, one of his investigators has to be put in hospital and Morrissey is dealing with family issues.
How this is all tied together by Morrissey and Barret and Smythe, etc makes for an interesting, page turning story. There are murders, spousal abuse, political intrigue, etc. It's all matter-of-fact and almost thrown at you in a staccato, quick pace. I really enjoyed this, Morrissey's grumpiness but way of putting things together, the manner in which the investigations are conducted and the other characters on his team and the victims and suspects. I'll continue to search for books in this series. It's very enjoyable (4.5 stars)"
"Autumn, All the Cats Return is the 2nd book in Philippe Georget's Inspector Sebag mystery series set in Southern France. This was my first experience with Georget's writing. As far as I know there is one other book in this series, plus one other book by Georget that has been translated into English. (I've since discovered that there is a third book)
This story has an interesting back story exploring the transfer of Algeria back to the Arab majority by General de Gaulle. The story deals with the historical battle for Algeria by the French national OAS and the Arab FLN. It's a nasty, vicious period in French history. In the story, an ex-OAS fighter now living in France is murdered. Inspector Sebag and his team of investigators begin an investigation to find the killer. The story moves from Inspector Sebag to the killer and then back in the past to the battle within Algeria. At the same time, Sebag has told his young daughter that he will check out an auto accident where her school mate was killed and as well, he is examining himself and his relationship with his wife, Claire, who he thinks has cheated on him.
It's not a perfect story by any means but the subject matter is unique and the characters are all interesting and the investigation is conducted methodically and comprehensively. I liked learning about that area of France and found the historical references especially interesting. I did partially come up with some of the solutions but that didn't take away from my overall enjoyment of the story. The translation was more than satisfactory and did not affect my enjoyment. I'll try and find the first book, Summertime All the Cats are Bored. (3.5 stars)"
Currently Reading
"Jemima Weiss grew up with a special feeling for British commandos, American westerns, the Knights of the Round Table, bagels with cheddar on top, and, above all else, her family. Now grown into a worldly yet deeply troubled woman, Jem revisits her formative years, even as she struggles not to let herself be engulfed by the present. In a voice crackling with humour and shot with straight talk, she recounts a childhood in a family so extraordinary that it has left her adrift in the adult world.
In seven episodes that elide to form a dense, rich impression of an unforgettable family, Jem candidly relates her mythological view of her parents – her gruff Jewish father, whom she saw as a gun-slinging cowboy, and her prophetic, beautiful mother who, like a “good witch,” always knew what her children were thinking and feeling. Then there are her four siblings, chief among them a charismatic, adventurous brother who has remained Jem’s main object of affection, and her ethereal little sister, Harriet, who becomes a surprising source of comfort in Jem’s adult life."
"One of the most likable rogues in mystery history. The British-Roman coins had been around for centuries, so when they disappear from a local museum, Lovejoy has a more than passing interest in finding them. Abandoning his usual pursuits of good buys and willing women, Lovejoy finds himself in the much less agreeable company of one Dandy Jack, the sinister Rink, and the lovely, treacheerous Nicole. They lead him on a merry chase through a countryside filled with heather and danger. A superb tdour through the glittering and greedy world of antiques."
In my next entry, I'll finish up my Victoria purchases with those I bought at Russell Books. See anything you like?
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