Review
The Secret Cases of  Sherlock Holmes by Donald Thomas
Macmillan £16.99
Sherlock Holmes did not really exist, did he?  Reading this book I had to keep asking myself.  The author's idea  of taking  certain historical events, shrouded in mystery and involving the highest people and institutions in the land,  of the time when  Holmes and Doctor Watson  were engaged in their numerous investigations, and of now, 70 years later, revealing the part played by Holmes in the solving of the mysteries surrounding these major crimes or scandals of the day, is a very clever idea which has  been developed with great effect.
Not counting myself a dedicated fan of the great detective  I nevertheless found that some of the aspects of the character of the man himself and some of the incidents described in Watson’s "Letter to Posterity" (Chapter 1) made me warm to this sleuth who commands such respect in the world of crime fiction. Holmes’ encounter with the bullying Oxford master of the college he was about to enter and the way he turned the tables and put him in his place had me cheering.
Nor is the puzzle story a particular favourite of mine within the genre. But the ways in which Homes solves the puzzles here, in the seven cases included in the book, are so ingenious that I was bowled over by his powers of detection. The Case of the Crown Jewels was my favourite. But there isn't one of these hush-hush and delicate matters that does not provide an excellent starting point for the author to set Holmes to work.
So, rather more of a Sherlock Holmes admirer than before but even more so an admirer of this author’s ideas and style  I shall look out for his other books which receive such glowing comments on the dust jacket of "The Secret Cases of Sherlock Holmes."
PED

Review
A Word After Dying by Anne Granger
Headline Pbk - £5.99
This is the authors ninth `Mitchell and Markby ' mystery- these two being the main characters of her story line. `A Word After Dying' features Alan Markby , a police Superintendent and his girlfriend Meredith Mitchell. Familiarity does not, in this instance breed contempt and the characterisations are comfortable, fresh and natural.
Ann Granger has again shown her aptitude as a crime writer and has penned a fine whodunit set in a sleepy English village in the Cotswolds.
Whilst they are holidaying in Parsloe St. John, a retired journalist with a nose for a story, Wynne Carter, persuades Markby and Meredith to investigate the death of Olivia Smeaton. Olivia had led a colourful life in London and France before returning to England and retiring as a reclusive old lady in the grand manor in the village. She has died recently - an accidental death -  but Wynne suspects there is more to Olivia, her reclusive years and her death than meets the eye.
In the course of their initially reluctant enquiries the pair come across some very strange village characters including a witch and local coven. Then a particularly gruesome and unforeseen murder is committed within a week of their arrival at the seemingly idyllic village.
The reader is treated to many twists and turns and new developments as Alan and Meredith continue to upset the apple cart and make sense of the mysterious developments. As sleuths they complement each other well and both work individually but not independently of each other.
It is true Olivia Smeaton has taken a secret to her grave and our likeable investigators do unearth, with a little help, the whys and wherefors. The reader is left in blissful ignorance as to the reasons for the two deaths until the final closing pages and enjoys a surprising but satisfying conclusion to the novel.
A most enjoyable, readable mystery, with believable characters, scenarios and plot. As the author is currently working on her eleventh such novel we have gladly not seen the last of super sleuths Markby and Mitchell, nor their adventures and endeavours.
Carol Butterworth

Review
The Travelling Dead by Brian Cooper
Constable £15.99
It is September 1950, three months after the end of petrol rationing. A young woman is found dead in a wood in Norfolk,  Who is she?  Where has she come from?  Is she a local girl?  Norfolk is, at this time, "a million plus acres of mediaeval England, flat, exposed and yet curiously secluded.., a dumping ground for bodies."  Has this girl been killed elsewhere and dumped here?  In other words is she one of the "travelling dead"?
The investigation is stalled at first, but the break comes when the police, led by Detective Chief inspector Tench, find out who the girl is: a bookseller and librarian, three months pregnant.  Tench is recently promoted and keen to find the murderer. Several suspects come into the reckoning: a taxi driver who drove her to a nearby village, her prim fiance who seems unlikely to be responsible for her pregnancy, the nervous young reception clerk at the hotel, the young teacher who found her body when out on a picnic with his wife.  It is the latter who emerges as the chief suspect when he admits he was the girl's lover.  Things are further complicated by a second, apparently unrelated,  murder which the chief suspect is unlikely to have committed.
The blurb tells us that this is the fifth Lubbock and Tench mystery. Lubbock and Tenet are not, however,  a senior detective and his junior assistant, but officers of equal rank, one of whom, Lubbock, is retired. He is the former chief and mentor and friend of Tench and looks on the younger man with avuncular affection, though some may find his use of the word "laddie" a bit overdone.  As the investigation proceeds Lubbock is left very much on the periphery from where he offers his occasional insights to a respectful Tench who is grateful for all the help he can get. The real work is done by Tench and his abrasive sergeant McKenzie and an efficient team of young detectives.
This is  an engaging mystery,  well plotted and well written. The author convincingly evokes an earlier time and place and his detectives, particularly Tench and McKenzie, are likeable characters,
JOHN BOYLES

ReviewCull - De - Sac by David Martin
Headline £16.99
The blurb states that Cul-de-sac is "a terrifying thriller of violence and betrayal.....not for the faint-hearted",  And previous books are referred to in the same manner: "compelling and terrifying", "not for the tender-stomached", "positively terrifying" and so on.
  The scene is set in the opening chapter.  Donald Growler, recently released from prison, has confronted his friends, the Raineys,  whose testimony had helped to convict him.  Growler is sitting on the couch, Judith Rainey is finally quiet and her head rests on Growler's lap, while Lawrence Rainey is perched uneasily on a nearby chair.  "Larry, why?" Growler asks,  It seems like an ordinary domestic scene, but the illusion is shattered when rage impels Growler to his feet end Judith's head rolls from his lap to the floor. 
   Another strand of the plot features Annie Milton whose husband, Paul, is renovating a house called Cul-de-sac,  She turns up unexpectedly at the house and finds that someone - or something - has violently attacked her husband and driven him nearly insane.  She seeks the help of an old friend
and former policeman, Teddy Camel,  who had once promised that he would rescue her from hell,  And that is exactly where she is - in the hell of Cul-de-sac.
The decapitated Judith Rainey is only the beginning.  Her husband suffers the same fate; and even Growler is savagely beaten as the strands of the plot come together in Cul-de-sac.  Camel attempts a body count at the end; ten deaths in all, including five by Growler and two by Camel himself, and there was one suicide.  It is all very violent and bloody. The carnage is not unlike that to be found in a minor Elizabethan tragedy. David Martin belongs to a tradition that goes all the way back to Seneca.
There are some people who enjoy this sort of book, who will find it "impossible to abandon once (they have) read a page or two", as the Los Angeles Times said of an earlier book by David Martin.  But there are others who will find it difficult to go beyond the first short chapter.
JOHN BOYLES

Review
The Dancing Face by Mike Phillips
 HarperCollins £15.99
This book crackles with excitement from the first to last page and is difficult to put down once begun. The Dancing Face is an African mask sought after by many and stolen in the opening chapters by Gus, a university lecturer who is of mixed race and campaigning for the payment of reparations to Africa by European governments. The theft has been organised by Dr Akinye Okigbo who requires the mask to further his own political ends, Britain has been in receipt of this artefact since the end of the last century and the Doctor's intention is to use it to make a deal with the Nigerians.
Danny is Gus's brother who is at university in Manchester  He is an interesting character whose intensely accurate study of (in particular) European history has fuelled in him a deep-seated anger towards the inherent racism evident in the way in which history has been taught in Britain .
He is surprised to receive a package from his brother, sent because of Gus's deep scepticism concerning the true nature of Dr Okigbo's motives.  Suddenly,  Danny  is  caught in  a  web of  subterfuge and  shady  deals  and  he lurches from one crisis to another when it emerges that the package contains the mask.
Rodney and Baz are two dumb but  vicious  rogues who have been hired by Gus to assist with the theft.  Simple they may be, but their gut instincts tell  them that this mask could be invaluable to their future bank balances.  Eleanor and Justine are the two main females who are strong, refreshingly
tough like the men and use a lot more than feminine wiles to engineer things their way. Dr Okigbo is a quiet, educated and deadly character who will stop at nothing to get his hands on the mask. He enjoys manipulating people and hates being outwitted.
Eventually, everyone has a pressing need to acquire The Dancing Face and blackmail, kidnapping, espionage and murder are all a part of what becomes an elaborate chase.  I thoroughly enjoyed this book; it is superbly written, very immediate and the climax is electric. The characters are utterly convincing and the style is witty and fluent.  In addition to it being a first-class  thriller,  the level of  social  comment  evident  throughout is sharp and astute.  Read this -it's excellent.
Lynda Ross

Review
Three Hands in the Fountain by Lindsey Davis
Century £15.99
Anyone with a rather jaundiced view of life in Ancient Rome acquired through "o" level Latin textbooks and  "Julius Caesar" should  read this, the latest  Falco Novel.  From the pen of an author with a wonderfully imaginative view, combined with detailed and authentic knowledge, of the early inhabitants of Rome and the city itself. 
Marcus Didius Falco,  detective of sorts,  with his friend Petronius is on the trail of a serial killer who abducts vulnerable young women , kills and dismembers them and dumps the body parts in a river on the outskirts of Rome.  But the discovery of a hand in the city's water supply and subsequently more of the same prompts horror and indignation not only about the murders but regarding the unhygienic effects  of such detritus in the city’s water supply.  It is found that the killer strikes during the games and festivals, when crowds throng the streets and  young females are in  plentiful supply as the stadiums discharge their audiences each night.
 The focus in one sense is on that amazing achievement of Roman engineering, the system of aqueducts which provided the water supply of Rome and its environs.  Stuck in ones head as a VERY IMPORTANT but dry fact, it was really good to follow the workings and picture the whole set up in the landscape through the author’s use of it as a vehicle for her story - and it provides the background for very exciting action too.  Falco’s home life, with his wife Helena and new baby gives another dimension, with a picture of domestic life in ancient Rome which will colour my view in the future.
Nothing of what actually goes on in the Games and the Circus Maximus however is mentioned, thankfully.
A new addition to my field of exploration of the scope of the historical crime novel, this story by Lindsey Davis gave me more enjoyment  than anything I had come across in a long time. An excellent whodunit, well plotted and scary, and a very clever use of that particular location and historical  era as a background.  More please, Lindsey.
PED

Review
The Spider's Web by Peter Tremayne
Headline £16.99
In "The Spider’s Web" we have a first class murder mystery with all the ingredients necessary for an
entertaining and enjoyable read  -  intrigue, suspense, fear, a plot which keeps you guessing until the  surprise of the denouement.  But  we have more than this  since the pseudonym Peter Tremayne hides the identity of an  author who is a well known scholar and authority on Irish history and who makes the 7th Century Ireland the story is set in feel like a very real place. 
Sister Fidelma, a qualified advocate of the law courts, expert  in the ancient Irish laws which govern the social and legal systems,  has been sent to preside over a court where a case involving a dispute over land ownership is in progress.  The young woman’s reasoning and judgement on the case demonstrate her clear and logical mind, confident in her knowledge of and ability to apply the laws, and full of warmth and compassion for others.  But hardly has this case been closed than  two dead bodies are discovered, one of whom is the chieftain Eber.  Sister Fidelma is immediately plunged into a murder enquiry where she  questions what others take to be  the obvious identity of the murderer and insists on searching for real motives for the crime. These gradually emerge, bringing surprises about Eber himself and pointing to more than one other person with a reason for the crime. Sister Fidelma tackles this difficult case with an admirable tenacity, assisted  by the faithful Brother Eadulf.  There are plenty of twists and turns to the plot and a build up of real tension and suspense.
I enjoyed  the descriptions of  the countryside - the skies, the hills, the forests, the deer grazing, the danger of packs of wolves which wait for the unwise traveller abroad after dark .
I also found the comparison between the philosophies of the Irish Church represented by Sister Fidelma and those of the newly emerging teachings of the Church of Rome put forward by Brother Eadulf and others very interesting, informative and  relevant to important issues today.
I shall certainly not want to miss the next Sister Fidelma mystery from the pen of Peter Tremayne.
PED  

Review
Blood Proof by Bill Knox
Constable  £14.99
 An arson attack on the whiskey warehouse of Broch Distillery kills three men and destroys eight million pounds of prime stock.  This is in the lonely Scottish Highlands, the centre of the malt whisky distilling industry, and there is something wrong at the heart of this particular distillery.  The executive members of the firm are all at odds with each other and become the chief suspects in the investigation, plus sinister outside elements.
The Chief  Constable of the Northern Police Force calls in the elite Scottish Crime Squad and Detective Inspector Colin Thane is sent north from his Glasgow base.  He takes with him his able lieutenant, DI Phil Moss and red-haired DS Sandra Craig and as many of  his team as he can muster.  We have followed Thane up the promotion ladder and Moss has closely shadowed him.  Moss has been plagued by a stomach ulcer and underwent surgery.  Sandra, though only a DS , has been recruited and at first there was considerable rivalry between her and Moss.  This ended when Moss, still suffering from his ulcer, obtains from Sandra’s grandfather a prescription of industrial strength magnesium oxide which gives him relief.  But he still burps his way through the book, as ever, in what is an essentially minor role.  Sandra’s role is only slightly less minor.  She offers the occasional suggestion to Thane and undertakes observations on his instructions, but is mainly confined to overseeing the incident room.  Bill Knox continually stresses the colour of her hair and one feels that she is little more than a  decorative addition to the team, in keeping with the modern trend for male senior detectives to have attractive female assistants (e.g. Wycliffe and Lucy Jane, Mike Yeadings and Rosemary Zycznski ).  But the main detective work is done by Colin Thane.
This is the 22nd Thane and Moss mystery and Bill Knox leans heavily on our familiarity with his characters.  They, and the management of the plot, run true to form and there is also much interesting detail about the Scotch Whisky industry which must have involved considerable research.  Thane pursues the case relentlessly to the end and is even forced to make an excursion back to Glasgow before returning back to the Highlands to resolve the mystery.  Admirers of Bill Knox will enjoy this.
John Boyles

Review
Out of Reach by Elizabeth Mcgregor
Headline Pbk £5.99 
Elizabeth McGregor is not new to the scene and she has penned  many popular stories, serials and novels.  She is a most talented story teller.  Out of Reach is no exception and is a fascinating and gripping read.
Based on the nightmare scenario of a woman who has lost her child stolen.  It is a haunting and heart rending tale.  When the reader is introduced to Kate McCauley, she has spent ten years coming to terms with the abrupt disappearance of her child at only eight weeks old.  Ridden with guilt for leaving son Jamie in the car for a few unguarded minutes she then endures the death of her marriage and all normality in her life.
She spends some years abroad, in anonymity, before returning to England and securing a job as a reporter for a local newspaper.  With a few close friends, in the main unaware of her history, she has pieced together a new life…………. Until tragedy strikes again.
Someone sends her an utterly shocking message - one that shocks her unsteady foundations and brings her to a shattering breakdown.  One which says, simply " I know where she is…".  Kate seeks help from a psychotherapist, Jonathan Reeve but as her therapy begins, she learns of the murder of her close friend Maggie in an apparently unrelated incident.
When she falls in love with Jonathan, Kate begins to see light at the end of the tunnel but she is to endure further messages and then her dear friend Isabelle is murdered.  It seems someone is conspiring to bring her to her knees.
In a masterly sub plot a co-reporter on Kate’s newspaper has uncovered Kate’s sad background and has set about, in the guise of a freelance investigator, determining once and for all what happened to Kate’s baby son.
His investigation is cleverly interwoven into the main story line and ultimately becomes the vehicle by which Kate can  find some peace and a life line.
Out of Reach is utterly absorbing.  The book leaves the reader unable to take a break.  The characters are so meticulously portrayed that the reader feels the emotions; the terror, the pain and is forced to scale peak after peak until the conclusions are reached and all the heights have been scaled. An unusual story line, with more besides, it is an absolute winner.
Carol Butterworth

Review
The Ten Commandments by Anthea Fraser
HarperCollins - £14.99 
As this book opens, DCI Webb is confronted with the discovery of a body in a pub car park and is struck by a sense of deja vu. For five or six years earlier, an almost identical killing had occurred not far away - and the crime had never been solved. The present victim is Simon Judd, a social worker; the previous case had concerned the murder of an estate agent called Trevor Philpott. There is no apparent link between the two men, yet it is difficult to believe, given the similarities between the crimes, that this is simply a matter of coincidence.
A well-known criminologist, Frederick Mace, takes an interest because he had been about to investigate the Philpott killing afresh. Aided by a somewhat enigmatic researcher, Paul Blake, Mace is working on a book called "The Ten Commandments", which is based on the premise that "if everyone kept the Ten Commandments, there would be virtually no crime." Mace suggests that Philpott and Judd were murdered by different people.
Eventually Webb learns the truth, but not before Mace has been subjected to a savage attack. The plot is carefully worked out and the book gains a good deal of strength from the depiction of the relationships between various characters, notably an adulterous affair and the liaison between Webb
himself and the teacher Hannah James.  One small quibble: we are told at the end that "informed opinion" was that the culprit's "sentence on the murder charge might not be too severe, taking into account provocation and lack of premeditation". But the sentence for someone convicted of murder is
mandatory life. Nonetheless, this is an enjoyable addition to a long-running series from the pen of one of our most reliable crime writers.
Martin Edwards

Review
Death of a Red Mandarin by  Christopher West
HarperCollins - £14.99 
Few crime novelists have the opportunity to write about history in the making, but Christopher West, an expert on Chinese affairs and author of a series of mysteries featuring Inspector Wang Anzhuang of China's Public Security Bureau has seized the chance to set a story against the backdrop of the hand-over of Hong Kong from Britain to the People's Republic. The result is a thriller that is interestingly offbeat and lives up to the promise of West's well-reviewed earlier novels, Death Of A Blue Lantern and Death On Black Dragon River.
The corpse of a senior official from Beijing, Zhang Fei, has been found  floating in the harbour at Hong Kong, with handcuffs on the wrists. Wang is sent out to investigate and he soon finds himself mixed up with prostitutes, software piracy and the Triads. A second death follows and Wang's own life is threatened as he struggles to achieve justice despite the obstacles put in his path not only by the gangsters but also by his own superiors. The atmosphere of a society undergoing a dramatic transition is conveyed with authority and there is, every now and then, a welcome dash of wit - such as when Wang encounters a computer game called "1997" in which the player takes the part of Chief Executive of Hong Kong with effect from the hand-over from British control.
Although he is keen to tell us a great deal about, for example, Chinese attitudes towards Hong Kong, West does not neglect the mystery element. There are plenty of red herrings and false suspects as well as a puzzling list of numbers compiled by the dead man. The final explanations include
revelations that are horrific and disturbing. The merit of topicality is limited, but Death Of  A  Red Mandarin offers enough to appeal to the detective fan with a taste for something rather different long after 30 June 1997 has come and gone.
Martin Edwards