Paula Longhurst's Blog, page 5

Bookclub Corner : The Children Return, Martin Walker

I finally joined the bookclub I've been sneakily attending for years. The Armchair Mystery Bookclub used to meet at TKE on a Tuesday evening and in between helping customers I would listen in. When Wendy, who has guested on this blog a number of times invited me to join I jumped at the chance. This bookclub has everything, great discussions and a group of strong, funny and inspiring women that - like I said - I've looked up to for years. 

Some mystery series are comfort blankets, authors like Louise Penny, Alan Bradley create whole literary eco systems where you can just go and hang out. Three Pines, Buckshaw and now St Denis, the fictional French town where Martin Walker sets his Bruno mysteries.

Children Return brings international intrigue to St Denis, Sami an autistic young muslim whom the village thought was in a French mosque turns up on a French operated airbase in Afghanistan. Meanwhile Bruno is looking into a murder on his turf and a possible endowment for the town from Maya, a Jewish woman sheltered with her brother in St Denis during WWII  Powerful forces are racing towards the tiny town, some keen to assess and study Sami, some desperate to silence him for good.  

For the purists amongst you that want to start from the beginning pick up Bruno, Chief of Police at your local indie.

 

How Can I Help You, Laura Sims

Patricia Delmarco, self-confessed failed writergets a job as a reference librarian in a small town library. The patrons andstaff seem normal, until a death in the women’s bathroom reveals a differentside to one of her colleagues. Patricia begins to dig and the secrets she unearthscould turn into a true crime bestseller or land her in the obituaries column.

Blind Fear, Brandon Webb, John David Mann

Eight months ago a strangerarrived in Puerto Rico the locals call him Mimo - we know him as fugitive Navy SEAL,Chief Finn.

Fully recovered from his brushwith an assassin in Iceland Finn gets a job with a local - blind - cafe ownerand his two grandchildren. At night he continues to hunt for the man whoordered the Mukalla massacre.

Until, the kids go missing.

Finn breaks cover to search for them, knowingthat whoever snatched them regards them as witnesses to something and won't keep them alive for long. Whilst hurricane Will picks up speed and barrelstowards Puerto Rico Finn has his own hurricane to deal with; ex USS Lincolnhelo pilot turned JAG officer Monica Halsey. Halsey has been primed with falseintel about Finn and now she's determined to kill him herself.
For those who want to enjoy Finn's odyssey from the beginning start with Steel Fear(#1) and Cold Fear(#2). Mann and Webb have created a complex character in Chief Finn. Steel Fear was a pretty high bar debut and the pair just keep raising that bar with each new title.

Last Dance, Mark Billingham

It’s been just shy of two monthssince Declan Miller’s wife - and fellow detective - Alex vanished from theMajestic Ballroom mid-competition only to wind up dead on a  Blackpool street hours later.

Dec, who was immediately put onmedical leave can’t hack sitting around doing nothing so he takes his awfuljokes and quirky attitude back to work. Teaming up with Xiu, his replacement,their first case is murder at the ‘how on earth did they give it three stars’Sands hotel.

Was this a northern ganglandkilling, fratricide or maybe a jealous spouse with a hitman on speed dial. Decworks the case with Xiu, his dancer friends, a young homeless informant andAlex who despite being dead keeps showing up in his kitchen to chat.

Billingham has blended a northern policeprocedural with Strictly Come Dancing added some genuinely surprising plottwists and come up with a winner. 

Zero Days, Ruth Ware

Jack Cross gets paid to break intohigh tech buildings. She and her hacktivist husband Gabe pinpoint securitybreaches for companies large and small. It's a point of pride that she rarelygets arrested, when she goes Gabe will bail her out, but Gabe is dead; murderedwhilst Jack was out on a job.

In a fog of grief Jack realizesthat she is being set up and narrowly evades arrest.

With nothing left to lose she’sdetermined to punish Gabe’s killer if it’s the last thing she ever does.

Prepare to let your coffee go cold as you readthis in one sitting.

Puzzle Master, Danielle Trussoni

Sudden acquired savant syndrome; the result of ahigh school football injury left Mike Brink a changed man. A message from Dr.Thessaly Moses at Ray Brook prison piques Brink’s curiosity. Her patient, JessPrice, who is serving 30 years for murder has drawn a mysterious puzzle, theGod Puzzle. Solving it could change Brink’s life and humanity in ways he can'tpossibly imagine; especially since a shadowy cabal with deep pockets is alsoafter the solution and will stop at nothing to acquire it.

My Murder, Katie Williams

Hi, I’m Lou, mother to adorable baby Nova, wifeof Silas and the 5th victim of a serial killer (technically I’m Lou’s clone anddon’t worry, they caught the serial so he can’t hurt anyone else) The scandalprone Replication Commission cloned all five of us victims and though my lifefits me well enough there’s still the thorny question of who actually murderedme because until the serial 'confessed' the cops were about to arrest somebodyelse for my murder. 

Going Zero, Anthony McCarten

A public private partnership pairstech titans Cy Baxter and Erica Coogan with the CIA. Using Baxter’s predictiveFUSION tech they will attempt to track down and apprehend 10 ‘zeros’ (ninesecurity experts and one rogue librarian) If the ‘zeros’ can elude capture for30 days they win 3 million dollars and FUSION loses billions in governmentfunding.

As the deadline looms, Baxterbegins to cut corners.

Never hook a scheming billionaireup with a predator drone.

You may want to scrub your social media accountsafter reading this book.

Stateless, Elizabeth Wein

1937 Brit Stella ‘Northie’ North is the only young female pilot in an air race across Europe. The entire group must contend with the public’s appetite for news of the race, and the twin spectres of sabotage and tragedy.

Whilst the race aims to promote peace, Northie and the other contestants are beginning to suspect that one of their number will kill to win and some of the pilots are not who they claim to be - including Stella herself.

Red Queen by Juan Gomez-Jurado

Antonia Scott was a genius before the Red Queen project. Now she's hyper intelligent and broken. She spends her days in an empty flat and her nights next to a Spanish hospital bed being serenaded by an eeg machine. Inspector Jon Gutierrez is flamboyant, jobless and prison is looming; his one chance at redemption is to convince Scott to accompany him to a crime scene at one of the most exclusive residences in the country. Ahead of the pair a body drained of blood, kidnappings with impossible ransom demands and behind them all a ghost who matched wits with the Red Queen at the height of her powers and lost. 

Gomez-Jurado's Red Queen, Black Wolf and White King have been huge Spanish bestsellers - be warned you'll get whiplash from the twists and turns and some serious Lisbeth Salander vibes.