Blue Wolf Reviews

Tag: intrigue

  • Two Islands

    Two Islands

    The International law regarding war crimes is very much underpinning this story Two Islands. Ian Kemish tells of the repercussions of the war between Serbia and Croatia, the horrors and the personal stories which come to light in later years.

    Bringing the guilty persons to trial is not a simple process, and here we are shown an Australian woman, Anita, who has taken up a secondment in The Hague to join the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.

    Niko is a young man who miraculously survived a slaughter in his village. He witnessed the murder of many of his fellow villagers and could identify the culprits. He was more than happy to tell his story to Anita if it meant the perpetrators could be brought to justice.

    Anita was determined that Niko would be safe and protected to give evidence at a forthcoming trial. She is vigilant about his safety and has him sent to London. However, Anita receives a message that her much loved father is ill in Australia, so she makes a flying visit to see him.

    It is during this time that Niko, in London, realizes that he is being followed. He grabs his basic requirements and jumps on the underground, too afraid to contact anyone and by chance, finds himself on a ferry to the island of Scarnsey, in Scotland.

    From here, the story is a desperate and thrilling tale. Can Niko escape the thugs who certainly want to kill him? Can Anita find him before this occurs and keep him safe? Will he ever get to trial which may take several years? The reader is kept almost holding breath while the plot is fascinating and gently unravelling. This story shows how the impact of war can be felt around the world.

  • Death at Darrington Manor. (Abigail Dixon series #2)

    Death at Darrington Manor. (Abigail Dixon series #2)

    Abigail Dixon is not your ordinary 1925’s female; she is a member of the new breed of young women who are looking for more than just marriage. They want a career, more independence. She has studied as a Journalist achieving a place of work in Paris, where she has discovered that female emancipation has not moved as far as the Newsroom at the Paris office of the Chicago International Post.

    She wants a real story to cover, not just the society pages, as she has already had an article on front page to do with a murder in which she was one of the accused. Her Editor Walter Strutt sends her to England to cover a Society Wedding; she is less than impressed.

    Arriving at Darrington Manor she is a little cautious as the level of society is very different to her American lifestyle, her friend Vivian is acting as her lady’s maid and her trunk is full of beautiful designer gowns, courtesy of her friend up and coming designer Paul Joubert.

    Only one day into the wedding preparations she begins to sense all is not well, which as it turns out is absolutely right, as Murder is committed making this second such event to occur with links to Darrington Manor. The first, the murder of a local girl in London and now the best man. Who is doing the killing and are they one of the guests is the question Abby is asking.

    Death at Darrington Manor is the second book in the Abigail Dixon series and is a very well-constructed cozy murder, the characters well-crafted, the plot carefully disguising the murderer until the final reveal.

    Nancy Warren also delves lightly into the familial pressure that can be bought to bear, often with disastrous results, as Abby discovered with the murder of her stepmother previously, something which still haunts her; particularly as she finds she has become far more involved in the hunt for this killer than any sane woman should be; journalist or not!

    Death at Darrington Manor is an excellent read as, with all ‘who dun it’s’, you find you are trying to work it out well before the last page! Will you succeed, maybe!  

  • The Frenchman

    The Frenchman

    Based on firsthand knowledge from former French spy ‘Jack Beaumont’, his debut novel  The Frenchman is a fast paced, minutely detailed, chilling thriller of a ride through the very real dark, dark world of terror, espionage, danger and fear, set in the modern times of chemical warfare.

    Beaumont has put his clandestine past to good use in his character Alex de Pyns, an operative in the secretive Y division of France’s intelligence services, responsible for eliminating terror threats and disrupting biological warfare weapons or possibilities.

    It is not until a routine mission to Palermo goes horribly wrong and de Pyns is sent to Pakistan to  investigate a secret biological warfare factory, he begins to consider that somewhere in the ranks there is a traitor; a traitor out to seek revenge and one that will stop at nothing to succeed. As more information comes to hand, it becomes apparent that Paris is the target, but just how the terrorist organisation is planning to carry out their mission is still yet to be discovered.

    De Pyns has of necessity a number of safe houses, disguises and method of operation, along with a wife and children who he desperately needs to keep out of harm. He worries that trying to keep his life as an operative secret from his family is beginning to cost them all dearly, and as the location, clothing and disguises of his daily lifestyle change, so too does the rhythm of his personal life. His fear is, as with anyone in a dangerous job, is will they come after his family. These terrorists are people who will stop at nothing to achieve their goal and he realises that second guessing is not the best way forward but somehow he finds himself doing this more often he should.

    Jack Beaumont has taken over where spymaster writer John le Carre left off with a modern, utterly engrossing spy thriller, which, while considered as fiction, leaves the residual thought of just how much is fiction and how much is fact!

  • Fool’s Gold

    Fool’s Gold

    Detective Dave Burrow’s has returned to the pages but with a significant difference;  it is 1997 and he is full of excitement to be at his first posting of Barrabine, a remote town on the edge of the goldfields. A place that is as dry and dusty as it is tenacious and tough.

    His wife of two weeks, Melinda, is not filled with excitement at all. She has left a much loved career as a paediatric nurse, as well as family and friends, to come and live in this town. She realises it is lonely, hard and very definitely remote; a long, long way from all she is used to and not all she expected.

    Before long Dave discovers the dry and dusty town holds secrets, and a series strange and unusual events begin to happen. Before long his first case appears in the form of a body discovered down a mine shaft. The question is asked as to how the body of Ross Pollard ended up in a mine shaft, as he was a man known by the locals, familiar with the local land and the disused mine shafts.

    But the tragedy has roots that stretch back into the early history of the town, the death of woman found hanging in a tree by a stranger passing by and buried at the base of the same tree in 1947.

    As the days pass Melinda finds her place in town, working as nurse, eventually coming to know the locals, while Dave and his partner Spencer become even more involved in what turns out to be a crime that has more than one player, with the layers simply get thicker and thicker.

    The more they discover about the grab for land by a large corporation, blackmail and the death of a woman and her children more than 50 years before, they begin to look at the Miners and townspeople with very different eyes.

    The final chapters to this ‘back to beginning’ Dave Burrow’s story, come to a resoundingly fitting end in true Fleur McDonald style. A stand-alone story at the end of the book fills in the gaps in relation to why Dave Burrow’s first began to take an interest policing and stock theft in remote areas.

    This latest book rounds out the bits and pieces readers of this very likeable Detective Dave Burrows have always pondered over.

  • Suddenly One Summer

    Suddenly One Summer

    Life and how you view it can change in a mere second, a splinter of time, and the effects can be life changing, as was the case when Brianna Donahue’s mother disappeared from their property when she was three years old. She appeared to have vanished without a trace, her body never discovered, leaving behind a massive question unanswered and a young child to be bought up by her loving father.

    Brianna’s husband Caleb, an up and coming lawyer in Perth, who works away from their property, which Brianna and her father manage, combining his acreage and hers and Caleb’s, running two very successful establishments. Brianna lives for the land and Caleb lives for the law, even though he too is country born and bred.

     It is not until their oldest son Trent goes missing on the morning of Brianna’s birthday, and Caleb cannot return from Perth, due to a trial he is involved with to help in the search, that Brianna discovers she needs to take a serious look at their failing relationship; perhaps it is time to make some very hard and difficult decisions.

     As the day progresses the temperatures rising to scorching and the day seems to become an endless struggle to remain calm and focused. His disappearance brings back some sad and difficult memories for Brianna and her father. When Trent is finally discovered at the dam where the best yabbies are to be found, he is very dehydrated and sporting a broken leg, having crashed off his quad bike and become unconscious.

    An older neighbour of  Brianna and her father, is also facing troubled times with missing sheep and missing wool clips, which brings Detective Dave Burrows to town to see what, if anything is going one. He and his partner Jack discover the old man, Guy Woods, has early signs of dementia, but while he is a little vague and disoriented, he is very clear about his missing property.

    During the investigations Dave turns up some of Guy’s family history, the details of which appears to be buried deep within the local community, but is intriguing enough to get him taking a closer look at Guy’s family and what happened to them. How the two families’ lives become entwined is slowly and delicately unfolded in a suspenseful and intriguing manner.

    But there is also a third and fascinating string to this story, adding to the intrigue which reflects on the many layers that go to make up the human psyche.

    Fleur McDonald has once again taken secrets that lie hidden beneath the veneer of many small communities, using them to form the basis of a story which could easily be as true to life as the words she has used to craft this absolutely enjoyable read, Once again the wonderful Dave Burrows, wife Kim, his partner Jack, and all the people of the remarkable town of Merriwell Bay, located somewhere in Australia, populate this entertaining and enjoyable story,

    A great Sunday afternoon in the shade read.

  • A Man of Genius

    A Man of Genius

    This historical, romantic novel, is set in Regency England and Venice, during 1816 with the author capturing the period accurately, giving us the sights, sounds and smells of London and Venice. The romance is of the blackest kind, with the main character Ann the victim.

     Although she is an author of Gothic murder mysteries, and a successful, independent, young woman, her upbringing was disastrous, leaving her with very little self-esteem. She believes she is quite worthless, as her mother often reminded her, and accepts abuse as her lot in life.

     Ann is invited to a dinner party, and meets and falls in love with an Irish genius and writer, Robert James, who dared to criticise……everything! “The legal robbery of the Government is not its taxation, but its opinions”, was one of his many quotes.

      After living together for a short time, Robert becomes terribly bored, suggesting they moved to Venice. Although he had little income he refused to be worried by petty issues such as finance.

     Descriptions of Venice, the architecture, the politics and the customs are beautifully relayed, providing a welcome backdrop for the disastrous turns that Ann’s relationship is taking. She manages to find a job, tutoring a young woman in English but their money is rapidly being spent.

     Eventually tragedy strikes and a man who is a stranger to Ann rescues her, taking her from Venice back to France by many a devious route as she has no papers. There she discovers her mother dying but as she is ill herself, finds she cannot understand what it is her mother means when she talks about her husband: Ann’s father.

     After several days of recuperation, Ann returns to her mother’s rooms to find she has died and there is indeed a puzzle to work out, but only the maid can help.

     At this point, the story becomes gripping and urgent, bubbling with mystery and questions. While we realise that Ann’s life has been projected from feelings of unworthiness from her mother, there are more shocking revelations in a letter and trinket box passed on to Ann.

     The authenticity in the settings, language, behaviour and politics of the time make a marvellous backdrop to a language rich story.

  • Too Soon Dead

    Too Soon Dead

    This is a wonderful ‘Who Dunn-it’ written in the best of the tradition bringing the world of 1930’s  New York, the years of prohibition, the Great Depression and the era where anything could, and often did, happen on the streets of Manhattan alive once again.

    Morgan De Witt is the assistant to famous columnist Alexander Brass, a man whose word is read daily and syndicated across America. De Witt considers he is very fortunate to be Brasses right-hand man and do-it all to this well respected columnist. That De Witt is also attempting to write his first novel is of considerable importance to DeWitt but not to anyone else.

    Alexander Brass, a revered and in some ways feared member of Manhattan Society, often finds himself working on matters that are not always society gossip, or related to current events; matters which test his intellect to the limit.

    When a man arrives in Brasses office offering a packet of photographs, refusing to give either his name or any details about the package, Brass is intrigued; even more so when he opens the packet discovering seriously compromising pictures of a number of the elite members of Manhattan Society. 

    According to the ‘fat man’ who delivered the pictures, it is not the pictures that are important but who took them and why. He refuses to add any further details, saying that the photographs are all part of a story well worth the telling, but in doing so a good deal of trouble and danger could be created. Trouble for everyone!

    Brass decides to try and find the ‘fat man’, seconding newsman Billy Fox to ‘tail’ the man, but when Fox turns up dead, Brass realises that whatever is behind the photographs is definitely deadly and there is someone out there who will stop at nothing to get them back.

    Brass is devastated that this should happen to such a young man carrying out what should have been a simple surveillance task and recruits the seriously intellectual capacity of his secretary Gloria Adams, the nightclub knowledge of Billy Fox’s widow, Cathy, Inspector Willem Raab who reluctantly agrees to share information with Brass, and of course De Witt, who amongst all the uproar is still trying to write his novel, and sets out to find out what the real issue is behind the incriminating pictures.

    Add a group of what appear to be eccentric Germans, a Nazi underground movement, along with a stripper and a nymphomaniac and you have a ripper of a story.

    Each of the characters is well portrayed and easy to create in the imagination which is a true hallmark of well written fiction such as this period style, murder mystery. The streets and back allies of Manhattan are well portrayed; the atmosphere of the 1930’s pervades every page adding colour and entertainment to the plot.

    Utterly engrossing, Manhattan, Alexander Brass style, during the 1930’s is very difficult tear yourself away from as this intriguing drama unfolds and climaxes in the most surprizing manner!