Look Out For These! A late September selection - forensics, psychological suspense and two views of London

I’ve been reading lots of books since going back to work after the holidays and struggled to catch up with reviews and postings.  My September “Look Out For These” is later than expected, but I have made a really good selection this month with something for everyone.

Believe No One by A D Garrett.  The second novel form the Margaret Murphy/Dave Barclay writing partnership sees DCI Kate Simms in the USA, escaping the fallout from her association with Professor Nick Fenimore in her last case.  Simms is working with the cold case unit in St Louis PD when she gets a call from Fenimore, who is also in America.  Fenimore wants her help with a case on Oklahoma – a mother is dead and a child vanished – painful echoes of Fenimore’s own personal torment.  Simms however is more occupied with an emerging pattern of murders in St Louis – young mothers murdered and dumped by the highway.  Fenimore and Simms find their cases are linked, revealing yet more killings stretching back decades.  Believe No One is a good mix of police procedural with bags of authentic forensic detail that makes it a must for crime fans in general and particularly for readers that enjoy the forensic science aspects of crime fiction. 

The Telling Error by Sophie Hannah.  Nicki Clements is stuck in a traffic queue when she sees the face of the police officer stopping cars.  She panics, does a u turn and drives away from the scene.  The next day, she’s visited by police who question her about why she fled and whether she has any information about the murder of newspaper columnist Damon Blundy.  Clements is a clever liar and manipulator, denying all knowledge of the Blundy murder, but her lies and evasiveness are unconvincing.  The tension ratchets up as reader sees a slow reveal of Clements shadowy life of intense email contact with an anonymous man and strange links to Blundy and his murder.  A genuinely intense psychological thriller.

Poisoned Ground by Barbara Nadel.  This is the third book in the Arnold and Hakim series – a curious duo of private detectives pursuing cases in the East End of London.  Hakim takes on the case of an Egyptian woman who is convinced her husband’s innocence.  He’s been in Belmarsh prison for eight months but the woman quickly convinces Hakim that her husband has been framed and wrongly imprisoned.  She them convinces Hakim to go undercover to prove it.  Only the Egyptian woman isn’t who she seems to be and hakim’s life is soon in danger when she is trapped in a tunnel leading to the London docks.  This book is filled with authentic detail of contemporary life in London’s East End – I’d describe it as crime in a cultural melting pot.

Welcome to Meantime by Murray Davies.  This is the first crime novel by Murray Davies, introducing DCI Patsy Chalke (independently wealthy, well connected and a determined detective) plus her new sidekick DS Bobby Leyden (originally from the notorious Ferrier Estate, sporting a number one haircut and a pugnacious no messing manner that hides a sharp intelligence).  Chalke and Leyden investigate the peculiar case of a dead man supposedly buried, only for his corpse to reappear hours after the funeral sitting at the undertaker’s desk.  There are more bizarre murders, linked by the victim’s previous criminal backgrounds and the manner of their killing, which are both novel and curiously entertaining.  Chalke and Leyden search for a clue to link the murders, but can they find the clue and the murderer?  Welcome to Meantime presents a different slant on London from that in Barbara Nadel’s books, but nevertheless has an interesting mix of characters and an almost tongue in cheek plot.  A first crime novel and worth a try. 

That’s all for September – I’ll be posting more reviews and interviews soon, so do keep visiting The Crime Warp and please do let me have your ideas, comments and feedback, which are always genuinely welcome. 

Romancrimeblogger