Blue Wolf Reviews

Tag: murder

  • Murder at the Royal Palace

    Murder at the Royal Palace

    Change is very much in the air coupled with immense excitement in the latest Lady Eleanor Swift Cozy Murder, Murder At The Royal Palace, as both Clifford and Lady Eleanor wait in the magnificent Ballroom of Buckingham Place to witness Hugh, her beloved husband of barely one month, receive his Knighthood from King George.

    When a recipient waiting to receive his award for Services to the King, catches her eye, she is much struck by his immense pallor; when he stumbles, almost falling she instinctively goes to help until the Place security men come to assist the man.

    Sir Leonard Dalrymple, Head of Palace Security makes himself known to Ellie, Hugh and Clifford, much to Hugh’s chagrin. Ellie considers this could be the break they need to start their very new Detective agency and is prepared, up to a point, to let bygones be gone!

    Accepting the death of the man who collapsed at Buckingham Place was unusual, he was also Sir Leonard’s brother, they agree to investigate his death much against their better judgement.

    Clifford and Ellie find they will need to go undercover in the Tower of London, while Hugh is doing his best to finish up his massive pile of paperwork before he leaves Scotland Yard for good, and with more than one or two strange occurrences happening Ellie, Clifford, Hugh and the Ladies find themselves up against a very careful, ruthless killer.

    Murder At The Royal Palace is steeped in the bloody history of the Tower of London, the superstition that surrounds old buildings with a long history, the small town inside the walls of the Tower, which is home to the Beefeaters, (Yeoman Warders, Guardians of the Tower) as well as the Tower Ravens. When all these factors combine you have the perfect setting for a very grizzly series of murders which will plunge Ellie, Hugh and Clifford into immense danger.

    The research that has gone into the background of Murder At The Royal Palace is formidable which has resulted in creating a captivating murder but also offers a slice of British history many readers will enjoy.

    Highly recommended for lovers of a good murder mystery.

  • A Very Merry Murder

    A Very Merry Murder

    The quiet life of Malvern Farm was about to become seriously disrupted by the arrival of a film crew to carry out live broadcasts for the hit TV Show Countryside Live in the lead up to Christmas.

    Jude Gray is preparing for the wedding of her sister Lucy after Christmas and is hopeful all will go well with the preparations as well as the filming of the Christmas Special, but it is only days into the arrival of the film crew when the best laid plans begin to falter.  

    The Director, Dean is demanding, Annie Bird, beloved presenter of the show, along with her husband Simon North, has an anaphylactic reaction on camera and Mary, one of the camera crew is found dead.

    Kate Wells sets the scene for an intriguing murder mystery in A Very Merry Murder which once again sees Jude doing her best to keep out of trying to solve a murder, coping with the endless demands of Dean, as she reminds herself that the money will come in useful, and  juggling her daily tasks of looking after the livestock on her lovely farm.

    When a second murder is committed Jude realises she is the best person to watch and see what is going on within the film crew, as so many small things she has noticed over the past week simply don’t add up.  Suspicion falls on all the members of the film crew, particularly Simon North, but once again, nothing quite fits!

    Sit back and enjoy this latest cozy murder from Kate Wells  set in the charming and peaceful English Countryside of Malvern, with a real twist in the tale and see if you can work out ‘who did it’ before the final page.

  • Murder on an Italian Island

    Murder on an Italian Island

    T.A. Williams returns with another enjoyable murder mystery in the Armstrong and Oscar series this time set on the island of Elba, the island that was once the home of the exiled Napolean Bonaparte but is now a most desirable place to have a holiday when in Italy.

    Dan is facing writers block having found his victim at the base of the tower with no plausible reason as to how they got there no matter ow hard he tries to find one that will work.

    When Virgilio, his best friend in Tuscany also a Commissario in the Police Department, asks whether he and Anna would like to join he and his wife Lina for a week’s holiday on Elba he decides this is the answer to his writer’s block.

    Unfortunately, they are only one day into their holiday, enjoying their first delicious meal when an incident occurs, a man is later found dead, and Virgilio is being held as the man most likely to have committed the murder.

    Between eating wonderful food, Oscar naturally getting his share, learning to kite surf, trying not to be a detective or even a Private Investigator, Dan and Oscar manage to become embroiled in the investigation into the death of Ignazio Graziani, a thoroughly despicable man.

    It is not until the unpleasant truth begins to surface, they all realise that there is more than one party invested in what is definitely looking like murder especially when a second, highly suspicious death occurs, that of Ignazio’s brother. Aldo.

    Murder on an Italian Island is the perfect cozy murder, to while away an afternoon practicing amateur sleuthing skills, as Dan and Oscar once again make solving a murder or two somewhat of an adventure Italian style. Even though this is a part of a series it is also a stand-alone book.

  • Kill Code

    Kill Code

    Wolf Six is back in action in the latest edge of the seat thriller from Alex Shaw, Kill Code, but he is in a bit of bind as he is on a plane with absolutely no idea how he got there. He has a terrific headache and for some reason the plane is very quiet, no engine noise, just the buffeting of the wind as it hurls the plane though space.

    Hormann, a CIA operative is on the plane with him, but he has less than no idea what is going on, other than the plane is plummeting into a large body of water. Ruslan Akulov wonders for a fleeting moment as to whether this is the way he will die but understands whatever happens next, he is not going to like it.

    So begins another stellar plot through the badlands of organised crime and the life of an assassin as Akulov discovers he has literally crash landed into a world of an organised crime syndicate in Black River that makes absolutely no sense whatsoever, other than is it led by the local sheriff.

    Locked in the local gaol he ponders what has happened, realising he has been on some sort of clandestine mission for the CIA that for whatever  reason has gone terribly wrong. His nemesis Basson is also on his trail, determined to kill him for shooting him after a botched job in Amsterdam.

     Basson has never forgiven Akulov for inflicting the wounds and Akulov has never forgiven Basson for stepping over the line and becoming a murderer.

    As the private war between Akulov and Basson rages across Europe, closer to home Akulov is beginning to understand that whatever is going on in Black River may well see him killed unless something like a miracle occurs.

    Once again Alex Shaw has delivered a fast paced, engrossing and in many ways enlightening storyline as Wolf Six, a man with a dark past sets out to not only complete a mission but level a score long overdue.

  • Death at Booroomba

    Death at Booroomba

    AL Booth has captured the very essence of small-town Australia post World War1 in this enthralling murder mystery Death at Booroomba set in the town of Warrawolong four years after the ending of the War.

    Jack O’Rourke has finally returned home, weary of body mind and soul, recovering from his injuries and learning to cope with the mental and emotional aftermath of fighting on the front line. He learns he has inherited the property of Booroomba, owned by Samuel Lomond, a man he rescued from drowning in Sydney Harbour, just days before he embarked to fight in France.

    Unfortunately, Lomond had been murdered and when Jack arrives in town at the request of the solicitor Will Grimble, to accept his inheritance, the murder has not been solved; Jack is considered as the man who most likely was responsible for Lomond’s death.

    From his first encounter with the locals, he realizes this is anything but a friendly town, it is a town with very strong undercurrents, secrets that go back many years and as with all small towns, everyone knows your business, or considers they do.

    Befriended by retired town Doctor, Dr Duncan MacDonald and his wife, Jack begins to put the pieces of the recent past together, making the decision, that as the local Policeman appears to be lazy and incompetent, he would make his own enquiries to honor the kindly man he considered his friend.

    This sets off a chain of incidents that see jack arrested. The arrest is reported in the local paper by Tess Allingham, the local journalist, which helps give him a far better understanding of how the small town works and how well it can hide its secrets.

    AL Booth has carefully crafted characters who rise off the pages as people, damaged, scared, careless, manipulative and kindly along with a plot line that hides within plain sight the murderer, a person disguised by events decades old but prepared to go to any lengths to hide a brutal and bloody past.

    Death at Booroomba is highly recommended for anyone who enjoys a well-constructed murder mystery set firmly in the history of Australia.

  • The Case of the Body on the Orient Express

    The Case of the Body on the Orient Express

    Have you ever wondered about the real story behind the famous Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie released in 1934 featuring the now famous Hercule Poirot.

    The Case of the Body on the Orient Express could be the answer to this time old mystery as Agatha Christie, still barely coping after her recent divorce, agrees to join her friend and fellow Crime writer Dorothy L Sayer at the International Writers Convention in Constantinople.

    Eliza Baker is Secretary to Dorothy Sayers, a position she has held for two years, after she left her position with Scotland Yard. When her sister Jane arrives with a very impressive blue and gold envelope containing her ticket on the Orient Express, she realises Dorothy was serious about her attendance.

    And so begins another riveting adventure with the new heroine of sleuth in Eliza Baker, a young woman with a very shady past, a career with Scotland Yard as a Detective cur short in tragic circumstance, a sister who works for a clandestine  Government department and a somewhat broken heart due to Theo Sharpe, a man to whom she gave her heart, who then ran away to Paris.

    When a body, a friend of both Dorothy and Agatha’s is discovered on the Orient Express Eliza begins to investigate what happened as best she can with the help of Theo, who she has discovered is working on the train as a Steward.

    A second death occurs before the train reaches Constantinople making things murkier than they were already and the so-called script written by Peachy, a long-time friend of Dorothy, is at the centre of what and why people are being murdered.

    Once they get to Constantinople, and Jane is there in her capacity with the Government, Eliza and Theo begin to understand that there is a far deeper and murkier layer to this than even they understood which places  not just Eliza and Theo in grave danger but everyone who has ever had anything to do with Peachy at risk.

    The Case of the Body on the Orient Express is a fast paced, complex and a thoroughly enjoyable cozy murder that just might answer a few questions as to where crime writers get their stories. Look out for the obnoxious Orson Wells as well as he plays a small but persistent part in trying to sleaze his way into Eliza’s bed!

  • A Halloween Murder

    A Halloween Murder

    A cryptic but ghostly message opens what is a quirky, intriguing and most enjoyable murder from Mary Grand, A Halloween Murder set on the beautiful Isle of Wight at Halloween; a time when a group of friends have decided to hold a reunion at the historic Carisbrook Castle; a castle considered as haunted.

    Susan has only recently moved to the little village of Bishopstone and is still processing the fact she is now divorced and living on her own with her two beloved cocker spaniels, Rocco and Libs. Her daughter Zoe and friend LeAnne will be staying with her over the weekend as the small apartment at the Castle is too small to cater for the group.

    Susan agrees to go on the Ghost Tour with trepidation which as it turns out was well founded as one of the group falls to her death; a death that could very easily be murder and it could have been anyone in the group who was involved.

    When Zoe is considered as the prime suspect, Susan realises that she needs to be able to do something to prove Zoe had nothing to do with the death. In the face of what she considers as apathy from the local Police, she begins to look a little deeper into the lives of the people she has known since Sophie was in High School and sadly discovers more than one of them could have had reason to commit murder.

    Filled with more twists and turns than a castle staircase, Mary Grand has created an entertaining ‘who dun it’ that will keep you following the clues until the cold blooded killer is finally revealed in horrifying circumstances.

    A Halloween Murder is Book four in the Isle of Wight Killings series.

  • Death at a Paris Hotel

    Death at a Paris Hotel

    Lady Eleanor Swift and the handsome Hugh Seldon have finally made it to Paris, the city of romance for their honeymoon. Ellie is still wondering at being married and enjoying endless time with Hugh, a real luxury as he was always time strapped in his role with Scotland Yard.

    Clifford has accompanied them in the role of Secretary to ensure all goes well and look after Gladstone, who had to come along.

    They are raising their glasses for a toast in the luxuriously appointed dining room of the Hotel. Ellie looks up to marvel at the ornately stunning class cupola ceiling and wonders at the shadows she sees. Only moments later a man crashes thought the roof and lands on their table. He hands something to her seconds before he dies.

    Who is he and what was he doing on the roof become the central questions both Ellie and Hugh ask each other as the Hotel appear to be lax at setting a proper train of action in place, and in the general confusion Ellie is the one held responsible for the ‘murder’. Interestingly Ellie believes the man looks familiar but has no idea why.

    Despite their desire to not become involved in the case, because they are on their much-awaited honeymoon, they are reluctantly drawn into the investigation to the point where their lives are in danger and old history becomes the focal point to a series of terrible crimes.

    Once again, the team of Verity Bright bring a well-planned and plotted murder mystery to life under the shadow of the Eiffel Tower as Ellie and Hugh along with Clifford struggle to find answers to Death at a Paris Hotel.

    Death at a Paris Hotel is book 22 in the Lady Eleanor Swift Mystery Series and another fantastically un-put-downable murder mystery, Parisian style.

    Vale Laura Tong.

  • Loving Spirits at the Vintage Teashop

    Loving Spirits at the Vintage Teashop

    Loving Spirits at the Vintage Teashop is book 2 in the very quirky series Ghosts of Rowan Vale where Aunt Polly, along with her modern family live, and have done so for many generations.

    Rowan Vale is a beautiful tourist village which has been carefully restored to days of yesteryear, where people can come to sample the past through the many shops that grace the township; Shona Bannerman is the manager of the Vintage Teashop which has been managed by her family for more than eighty years.

    The difference with Rowan Vale is it has a village full of Ghosts who live there and have done so for many years, some for centuries. The new owner of the Village, Callie Chase has a gift that allows her to see and talk with all the Ghosts in residence, whereas others can see some or none at all.

    Callie comes up with the idea to have a theme weekend set during the War years which while agreed to by the current day villagers, is met with scepticism from the ghostly residents, but the decision to proceed is accepted by all, eventually.

    Aunt Polly is a very popular figure around the town, having passed away in 1948, she was murdered, thinks it is a great idea and when Shona Bannerman nee Deakin, her niece asks if it will distress her, she says it will not. The murderer was never caught and if Aunt Polly knew who it was, she has carefully locked that memory away, not to be disturb at any cost.

    When a stranger comes to town asking questions about the men held there as Prisoners of War a change begins to take place within the close-knit Deakin family and other members of the community.

    Max is good looking, well dressed and in some distress about what he perceived happened to his beloved grandfather while he worked in Rowan Vale. He and Shona meet, and she finds there seems to be some sort of attraction between them, which she finds surprising as she has no inclination at all to invite another man into her life after the shattering end to her marriage.

    As the past starts to give up its secrets, a decision must be made as to how much of the past should be revealed and how much harm it will do to the living with the retelling of crime committed more than seventy years ago.

    Entertaining and most enjoyable Loving Spirits at the Vintage Teashop is the prefect excuse to spend the afternoon on the couch reveling in a well written, cozy mystery which will keep you guessing

  • Minoan Footsteps

    Minoan Footsteps

    Eve Viali is facing a small crisis in her life. Her position as a tutor at Rethymno University of Crete has dried up, her long-time partner Bethan is going to  return home to Wales at the end of the annual Minoan Pilgrimage for women’s only groups, something  created some years before for a cash income and which they both enjoy.

    A new group of women has arrived to sample the delights of Crete, dabble in the history of the Minoan culture and swim in the beautiful assure seas. They are four; diverse, a couple and two single women each facing challenges within their own lives.

    As the tour progress the conflict faced by the women comes to a head after a night out and too much wine. One of the women, Kelly decides to swim to a small island, stripping off and sinking into the waters. Observed by three men who follow her to the island, they treat her brutally then leave her for dead.

    In drunken bravado Sophie decides to follow her finding Kelly savagely beaten and abused. Hiding in a grotto, afraid for their lives, Sophie hurls a rock hitting one of the men on the head; he later dies. The Police try to pin his death onto the girls; they are calling it Murder.

    As Eve and Bethan frantically try to help the girls, they find they, as well as the four young women must face hard truths, decide how they want to live their lives going forward and no matter how challenging accept the final decision.

    In Minoan Footsteps Coleen Claire has with her clearly detailed characters and well set out plot line portrayed a world where women can be very easily victimised and held to account for no reason other than they find themselves in a patriarchal society that will not tolerate anything other than a traditional relationship.