Blog Tour – January 2023 – Dead Of Night – Simon Scarrow

After thoroughly enjoying Blackout, the first in the new Horst Schenke series, it’s now onto the next in the series, Dead Of Night…and if possible, it’s even better!

As I doubtless mentioned in my review of Blackout, the enthralling beginning to a new historical crime series set in Nazi Germany, I’m missing a dose of crime solving in Nazi Germany in my reading diet. Since the premature death of Philip Kerr, who wrote the fantastic long-running Bernie Gunther series, there’s been a gap in my reading diet – and doubtless many others’ – for a policeman who has a conscience about what’s happening in his country, but is pragmatic enough to realise he has to put up and shut up, and, in this case, do his job at Kripo, which investigates serious crime.

Scarrow has assembled a great cast for his series…

Horst Schenke is an ex-racing driver who had to retire after a serious leg injury. His main sidekick is his sergeant, Hauser, and there’s also the quirky Liebwitz on secondment from the Gestapo. We recognise he’s probably on the spectrum but they merely regard him as something of an “odd fellow,” but affection is starting to build for him among the team.

In Schenke’s life outside Kripo there’s Karin Canaris, his other half, who adds glamour, with her Louise Brooks-style bob, and who has an uncle high-up in the Admiralty. Personally, though, she resents Hitler and his henchmen, and her loudmothed criticism of their politics in public sometimes worries Schenke. Far more interesting and intelligent, though, is Ruth, a young Jewish woman hiding out in Berlin with the help of a sympathetic network. She helped Schenke solve the crime in Blackout, and asks him for help investigating the death of a doctor who was kind to her family, and whose suicide she regards as suspicious. Schenke is attracted to Ruth, but realises he cannot seen to helping her, or even with her.

So there’s this death which doesn’t really make sense…what other crimes are Schenke and the team investigating?

His boss is getting irate about a gang of ration coupon solvers who are costing the government dear, but Schenke (rightly, in my opinion!) clearly finds this investigation somewhat dull, and much prefers to get involved in investigations which do nothing to endear him to Heydrich and other powerful men in the Reich.

Firstly, there’s the suicide of Schmesler, Ruth’s doctor friend. His wife is also adamant he wouldn’t have killed himself, and the shooting certainly appears staged. However, Schenke is soon roughed up by a violent gang, and a phone call from Heydrich himself advises him to drop things. Ruth, however, has nothing to lose and is adamant she’s continuing her investigation.

And there’s the deaths of children in the Schiller clinic…

Disabled children are being sent to a clinic at the recommendation of their doctors. This is a crime that history allows us to look back on and instantly see as the work of enthusiasts of eugenics, and the beginning of the Reich getting rid of those it regards as inferior.

The clinic is in Potsdam – a place students of the Nazi regime will know is to be feared – and Schenke is approached by the family of a little girl called Greta, who despite being born with problems, was physically healthy. What initially appeared to be a good option for her – fresh air, good food, other children, the possibility of training for work in the future at this clinic – soon took on a more sinister tone, with stories of children disappearing, never to be seen again, and brutal treatment. Then within a few months Greta is dead, from pneumonia. Soon her mother has compiled a list of parents with tales that are almost identical. And, as no-one else is interested, Karin, and an American journalist friend who’d been researching the story, persuade Horst to look into it. Yet again, he’s burrowing into things the Nazi party would prefer kept hidden…

Sounds like a dangerous path to take.

It is, and so it leads to plenty of drama, and of course violence, as the regime attempt to keep a lid on it’s most hideous crimes. Plus it’s soon established there’s a link between the doctor’s “suicide” and the goings-on at Potsdam.

It’s high drama throughout – the absolute epitome of a pageturner. I’m even thinking of investigating some of Simon Scarrow’s Roman Empire-set books, as he is the most wonderful plotter, and creates memorable characters. As for Horst Schenke et al, well, I cannot wait to see what he has planned next for them, as we get deeper into the war years. It’s thrilling stuff; one of those books where you really begin to care about the characters and which is sure to leave you yawning the next day!

An absolute must-read for fans of historical crime fiction!

With thanks to Jess at Midas PR for inviting me to participate in the blog tour, and Headline Books for the ARC. This has not influenced my opinion, and this is a fair review.

Author Simon Scarrow (top); the other wonderful bloggers who are participating in this blog tour (below)

BLURB: After Germany’s invasion of Poland, the world is holding its breath and hoping for peace. At home, the Nazi Party’s hold on power is absolute.

One freezing night, an SS doctor and his wife return from an evening mingling with their fellow Nazis at the concert hall. By the time the sun rises, the doctor will be lying lifeless in a pool of blood.

Was it murder or suicide? Criminal Inspector Horst Schenke is told that under no circumstances should he investigate. The doctor’s widow, however, is convinced her husband was the target of a hit. But why would anyone murder an apparently obscure doctor? Compelled to dig deeper, Schenke learns of the mysterious death of a child. The cases seem unconnected, but soon chilling links begin to emerge that point to a terrifying secret.

Even in times of war, under a ruthless regime, there are places in hell no man should ever enter. And Schenke fears he may not return alive . . .

Blog Tour – January 2023 – Trouble – Katja Iver

So, off to Finland now, and the early 50s…This is a book from one of crimeworm’s favourite imprints, isn’t it?

It is indeed! Bitter Lemon Press have had me travelling vicariously all over the world, with their translations of high quality crime fiction. This is the third book in a series, and after reading it, I can assure you I’m really keen to get my hands on the first two.

From this book it’s clear that Hella Manzer was a homicide detective in the first two in the series, but now she’s moved on to being a private investigator…

Yes, and the main crime she wants to investigate is described in the prologue, and occurred eleven years earlier, when she was in her late teens, and only survived as she was at home unwell. It’s the death of her entire family, who were mown down by a truck on a remote country road, with no witnesses, excepting of course the driver, who failed to stop. Both of her parents, her sister, and her infant nephew were wiped out in this hit and run. If it weren’t for the fact that Hella’s father was a very high-ranking officer in SUPO, the Finnish Secret Service, there would probably be no reason to consider anything awry.

Hella’s given a PI job by her old boss, Jokela, now Chief Of Police, isn’t she?

Yes, but her only reason for accepting it is as a quid pro quo for finally getting to see the file into the investigation into the deaths of her family. The job he gives her is to assess someone’s suitability as head of homicide, Jokela’s previous position. This candidate, Johannes Hiekkinen, is currently in SUPO, the Secret Service where Hella’s father had been employed prior to his death. On the plus side, he might be able to help Hella into the investigation into her family’s death, even in the smallest way.

Hella’s made a couple of other changes to her life since her move into becoming self-employed, hasn’t she?

She’s finally felt able to move back into the family home, which had essentially been mothballed since their death. She’d also ended her five-year relationship with Steve, as he’d been married, so it was essentially going nowhere. Even when he arrives to see her and tells her he’s now divorced she has little inclination to re-ignite things between them – for her, it’s time to change everything in her life. The fact that there’s a handsome new neighbour makes taking up with Steve again even less appealing! Even if nothing happens between her and Erkki, it’s showing her there are other possible options out there for her, and it’s time to start living.

But the file on the deaths of the rest of her family proves a disappointment…

When she goes to pick it up, it’s empty, as she expected. However, that in itself tells a story – for if there wasn’t anything to hide about their deaths, the file would’ve surely still existed, as a cursory investigation at least.

Also, a scruffy-looking stranger is leaving parcels at the house. Are they intended for her – or does someone think her father is still alive? And why are these being left now, eleven years after his death?

What about the job Jokela had given her?

Johannes Heikinnen’s only family seems to be an estranged who everyone describes as slightly bonkers. He’s certainly eccentric, and something of a hoarder, but it’s difficult to judge whether he’s a fantasist. Regarding Heikinnen, his son had died, as had his (now severely depressed) wife shortly afterwards, in a fire. There doesn’t appear to be anything suspicious there, but Hella investigates it thoroughly – imagine how disastrous it would be were they to appoint a murderer as head of the homicide division!

This entire investigation opens up a huge can of worms, as it appeared the “mad cousin” had held something of a torch for Heikinnen’s wife – did he kill her in a fit of jealousy? Or was the fire simply the accident it appeared to be? Heikinnen, after all, still seems a man shattered by grief, and injured himself in his desperate attempts to rescue his wife. And ultimately, which of the men would you believe?

Hella is a thorough and capable investigator, then?

Absolutely, and that’s why I’m looking forward to reading the first two books in the series – and any future volumes, of which I hope there will be many! Ivar is a thorough and capable plotter of historical crime fiction too! She knows how to build a fast-paced story that doesn’t overstay its welcome, at a compact 217 pages. It also taught me some things I didn’t know about Finland historically, both during the war and afterwards.

This’ll be another hit from Bitter Lemon Press, then…

Indeed it is, giving them a score of 100% for quality from me!

Original, well-plotted, and with an engaging heroine at its heart – very highly recommended.

With thanks to Anne Cater at Random Things Tours for inviting me to participate in this blog tour, and to Bitter Lemon Press for the ARC. That has in no way influenced my opinion, and this is an honest review.

Author Katja Ivar

Check out some of the other bloggers who took part in this blog tour!

BLURB: Helsinki, June 1953, at the heart of the Cold War. Hella, now a reluctant private investigator, has been asked by her former boss at the Helsinki murder squad to do a background check on a member of the Finnish secret services. Not the type of job Hella was hoping for, but she accepts it on the condition that she is given access to the files concerning the roadside death of her father in 1942, at a time when Finland joined forces with Nazi Germany in its attack against the Soviet Union. German troops were sent to Finland, the Gestapo arrived in Helsinki and German influence on local government was strong, including demands for the deportation of local Jews. Colonel Mauzer, his wife and other family members were killed by a truck in a hit and run incident. An accident, file closed, they said. But not for Hella, whose unwelcome investigation leads to some who would prefer to see her stopped dead in her tracks.

Blog Tour – January 2023 – Death And The Conjuror – Tom Mead

Wow! How much did I adore this book!

Cutting to the chase right there, lest there be any doubt…I think all long-term fans of crime fiction adore a locked-room mystery. To my mind, it’s the purest test of those “little grey cells” Poirot and his ilk enjoyed exercising, and it’s a direct link back to those wonderful Golden Age mysteries so many of us cut our crime fiction reading teeth on, and of which author Tom Mead is clearly an aficionado.

He was originally a short story writer, yes?

Absolutely – many of his early published work was writing for Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, and Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine. I know a lot of writers think perfecting a short story is the way to really hone your craft, as you have to get everything bang on within a limited word count – and it’s very clear Mead has honed things thus. His other talent is doing his homework – he’s learnt from the biggest and most beloved names in Golden Age fiction, which means setting things in his clearly beloved timeframe was the right idea – things are ruined so much nowadays for Macchiavellian villains by technology, scenes of crime officers and forensics, CCTV et al! That’s probably why people only really write “closed island” mysteries, which often take place off the Scottish West coast, somewhere near me!)

And there isn’t only one “locked room” mystery in this book, is there?

No, there isn’t, and there’s a very specific cast of possible offenders. The fun is for the readers to attempt to spot the clues and figure out the identity of the murderer. Our policeman, Inspector Flint, requests the help of his friend, celebrity stage magician, Joseph Spector, whose expertise he requires to solve the murders.

Spector’s explanation of each crime was particularly enjoyable, wasn’t it?

Yes – he obviously revels in having figured out the murderer’s modus operandi for each death, and his explanation to Flint demonstrates what a showman he is, as he lists the group around the celebrated psychologist – his mere three patients (and those around them); his daughter; her fiancee – and those present at each murder. Each and every piece of misdirection is referred back to the appropriate page of the book, so the reader can check back – a tool I found particularly useful, and used on every occasion! – and often to the Golden Age “locked-room” mystery from which the murderer (and by extension Mead!) got their inspiration.

So you thoroughly enjoyed this book, then?

I absolutely revelled in it, racing through it until well into the night. My hope is that it’s the start of a new series. I’d also love to see a collection of the Joseph Spector short stories released at some point too…that’s if that’s not being too greedy!

This book is one for those who love their Golden Age crime, as well as fans of more recent crime novels. Indeed, it’s for anyone who enjoys pitting their wits against a clever writer – although it would take a very smart reader to outwit Tom Mead!

An absolute masterpiece!

With thanks to Anne Cater of Random Things Tours for the invitation to participate in this blog tour, and to Head Of Zeus for the ARC. This has not influenced my opinion of the book, and this is an honest review.

Author Tom Mead

Check out what the other fantastic bloggers on this tour made of the book!

BLURB: An enthralling locked-room murder mystery inspired by crime fiction of the Golden Age, Death and the Conjuror is the debut novel by acclaimed short-story writer Tom Mead.

Selected as one of Publisher Weekly‘s Mysteries Of The Year.

1936, London. A celebrity psychiatrist is discovered dead in his locked study. There seems to be no way a killer could have escaped unseen. There are no clues, no witnesses, and no evidence of the murder weapon. Stumped by the confounding scene, Inspector Flint, the Scotland Yard detective on the case, calls on retired stage magician turned part-time sleuth Joseph Spector.

Spector has a knack for explaining the inexplicable, but even he finds that there is more to this mystery than meets the eye. As he and the Inspector interview the colourful cast of suspects, they uncover no shortage of dark secrets… or motives for murder. And when a second murder occurs, this time in an impenetrable elevator, they realize the crime wave will become even more deadly unless they can catch the culprit soon.

Blog Tour – January 2023 – A Winter Grave – Peter May

Wow! Peter May, one of the biggest crime and thriller writers there is, has a new novel out! Tell me more…

This is what is apparently called “cli-fi,” which is a new term to me, but if this is what it’s like, sign me up for more!

The novel itself is absolutely packed with twists, turns, thrills, and action, not to mention shocking revelations. There’s also the very, very scary element of what the future could look like, according to the research May has done – and this is a writer who’s a stickler for doing his research! It’s set in the near future, in 2051 – so within the lifespans of many alive today. Be afraid, younger people, be very afraid…

So what kind of world are we looking at?

Well, in the West of Scotland the two main things that have changed are climate and technology. The melting ice caps have naturally seen the seas rise dramatically, and “water taxis” (boats as taxis) are a necessity to negotiate your way around the centre of Glasgow. The ground floors of many buildings are unuseable. Police Scotland have new headquarters at Pacific Quay, and Cameron Brodie, a detective in his mid-50s, is summoned there as a body has been found encased in an icy grave near Kinlochleven, a village at the head of Loch Leven. It’s a popular destination for hillwalkers, and an experienced policeman is required to investigate whether the death is suspicious, with the aid of a pathologist who he’ll pick up en route. As Brodie enjoys hillwalking and is capable on the hills, he’s asked to go along. Despite initially refusing due to an urgent medical appointment, after receiving a grim prognosis he reluctantly decides a visit to that particular village is about due – as there’s someone he hopes to see there before it’s too late.

And throughout the book there are flashbacks which fill in Cameron’s background?

That’s right, and both strands are equally gripping, which I don’t always find to be the case. Brodie travels by what are essentially mini-helicopters, first to Tobermory on Mull (the island where I grew up and my family still live), to pick up the pathologist, Dr Sita Roy, and her equipment. Then it’s onto their ultimate destination, and en route we learn something of his past – about his wife Mel, and the unusual circumstances of their meeting, and his estranged adult daughter, Addie, as well as what happened between him and Mel, and the reason for his daughter’s refusal to acknowledge him.

The entirety of it is gripping – it really is the hardest book to put down I’ve read for a long while. Cameron’s personal life and its events are totally intriguing, and then when we get to the Highlands…well, it’s absolutely action-packed, and will knock your socks off!

This sounds thrilling!

Believe me, it’s one drama after another – all of them unexpected. An ice storm knocks out all power to the village, despite there being recently constructed nuclear power stations just along the glen, which provide employment to the village, and guaranteed electricity to all of Scotland – something of a coup for the fictional Scottish Democratic Party and its leader Sally Mack, as no other country has continual power (weather permitting, naturally!) The internet is also down, which prevents Dr Roy and Cameron from reporting back to police headquarters, and confirming they’re dealing with the murder of investigative reporter Charles Younger. Then there’s another murder, and, finding the helicopter sabotaged so that even when power returns, he still can’t leave, Cameron knows he’s a sitting duck for a ruthless killer – who could be anywhere in the village…

There’s also the very big question of what a journalist who had no interest in hillwalking was doing in the village, where the notes for the story he was writing are, and why he would possibly be in possession of a Geiger counter…Was this story so important that people might be prepared to kill to prevent it getting out?

Plus he has something important from the past to deal with, too – and that just might be the hardest thing of all…

There’s so much going on in this book!

Absolutely – and in the best possible way, in that you cannot put it down. I haven’t read all of Peter’s considerable output, but I’d say this the best book of his I have read – even the wonderful Lewis trilogy, which shot him to fame.

I love the way he uses traditional Scots words like “dwam” and “trauchling” (a favourite of my late mother’s.) We see huge change, through ecological disasters and technological advances. However, people and families don’t change at all, and that’s so perfectly illustrated.

All in all, it’s something of a masterpiece. It’s only January and I’ve a couple of candidates for “Best of 2023” already!

Join me tomorrow when I ask Peter a few questions about what prompted him to look into the future, and write A Winter Grave.

A Winter Grave is published by Quercus and is out now in hardback priced £22.

Don’t miss this one!

I’d like to thank Ransom PR for kindly inviting me to participate in the Blog Tour, and to Quercus for the ARC. This is an honest review.

Author Peter May

Check out what some of the other fabulous bloggers on the tour thought!

BLURB: From the twelve-million copy bestselling author of the Lewis trilogy comes a chilling new mystery set in the isolated Scottish Highlands.

A TOMB OF ICE

A young meteorologist checking a mountain top weather station in Kinlochleven discovers the body of a missing man entombed in ice.

A DYING DETECTIVE

Cameron Brodie, a Glasgow detective, sets out on a hazardous journey to the isolated and ice-bound village. He has his own reasons for wanting to investigate a murder case so far from his beat.

AN AGONIZING RECKONING

Brodie must face up to the ghosts of his past and to a killer determined to bury forever the chilling secret that his investigation threatens to expose.

Set against a backdrop of a frighteningly plausible near-future, A WINTER GRAVE is Peter May at his page-turning, passionate and provocative best.

Book Review – January 2023 – Dead Man’s Creek – Chris Hammer

So this is the latest from one of your favourite writers, Chris Hammer…

It is, and it’s a book I’m really excited about – as I think anyone who reads it will be! I know he’s written some exceptional books before – Opal Country, which I reviewed last year, and Scrublands, from 2019, spring instantly to mind – but despite it only being January I can already see this as a contender for one of the books of the year (I’m still to do a list of favourites from last year; indeed I’m still to review a couple of them, and some other very good books as well – I’ll get there eventually…!)

We have the return of Nell Buchanan from Opal Country in this book, too?

Yes, and on this occasion she moves onto centre stage, because although Ivan Lucic does make a reappearance in this book, it’s very much Nell’s story, some of it literally. The reason I say this is because part of the backstory involves her family history, in the form of one of the cold cases. Now she’s been promoted to homicide she’s sent to investigate, partly as she’s from the area – but obviously that’s before it emerges she has a family connection to a case…

One of the cold cases suggests there’s more than one…

Indeed there is – and both of them have equally compelling back stories, which are contained in the book. It’s similar to the way Michael Connelly builds a back story to a cold case and, like him, it’s masterfully done. Whenever I read the words, “cold case” in the description of a book I get really excited – I feel it gives a writer licence to do almost anything, in any historical period, and the best are really good at it. Let’s face it: modern investigations often involve more desk work and technological examinations of phones, laptops, etc, whereas digging into old cases are guaranteed to involve more shoe leather and talking to those who were actually there – and these things are the real building blocks of a good crime fiction novel.

So this must have been really enjoyable for you!

It’s exceptionally well written, the way we learn the back stories to the two cases. The bodies are discovered when a regulator, which controls the amount of water which goes into the forest, is bombed (presumably by an eco-warrior) and the area beyond it is drained, revealing a skeleton.

In other chapters, we are taken back to two different times: 1943, when most of the local men are away at war, but a camp for Italian POWs is in the forest, where they are put to work. This timeframe is narrated with the use of an elderly man’s statement, remembering in detail his boyhood, taking care of the cattle grazing in the forest while his father is at war. These portions of the book are beautifully detailed: the horror of the war may be lurking in the background, but he and his friend Bucky are up to typical boys’ larks – swimming in the river; spying on the Italians, imagining them to be spies, before he realises they are ordinary men, just like his father; helping out at the charcoal furnace by weighting the empty water buckets with their bodies. It’s probably the highlight of the book, and just so wonderfully written.

The other time we go back to is 1973, where we meet teenagers in a really hot summer, swimming in the regulator (now built) and dreaming of getting away from their small town lives, while they listen to music like Joni Mitchell’s Blue. As the names are revealed we realise this is the case with the connection to Nell’s family. Could she have a murderer in the family?

And the present day isn’t short of action, either…?

It certainly isn’t, with the attempted murder of a twitcher, and an attack on Nell – not the first; the vaxxers, cookers, and preppers, as well as a long-time feud with her family and another, ensure she has to watch her back in what used to be a quiet town, where she knew everyone, and where she could relax. She’s beginning to learn that police aren’t welcome everywhere – just when she’s trying find her feet with the homicide promotion. She’s desperate to prove to Ivan she can run an investigation single-handedly, but of course the family connection means she has to step aside…at least officially. It doesn’t stop her investigating on the quiet, naturally…

This sounds like a really busy book!

There are a lot of things happening – but bear in mind there are 470-odd (wonderful!) pages for it all to happen, so nothing feels rushed; it’s an exceptionally well-paced novel. Both of the historical storylines are really engaging, and I’d be hard-pushed to pick a favourite, but, if forced to choose, I’d say the wartime tales, told in James Waters’ voice, nudges ahead, as it really brings the era and place alive, just as it must have been for a boy.

This novel really shows Chris Hammer to be a master of his craft – it’s his best so far, and that’s saying something, especially after the wonderful Opal Country. Weaving all these storylines together takes an exceptional level of talent, and that’s something Hammer’s proving he has – and then some. This book, and it’s characters, are guaranteed to linger long in the memory.

With thanks to Wildfire Books for the proof copy. This review is unbiased and is my own opinion of the novel.

Author Chris Hammer

BLURB: Newly-minted homicide detective Nell Buchanan returns to her hometown, annoyed at being assigned a decades-old murder – a ‘file and forget’.

But this is no ordinary cold case, her arrival provoking an unwelcome and threatening response from the small-town community. As more bodies are discovered, and she begins to question how well she truly knows those closest to her, Nell realises that finding the truth could prove more difficult – and dangerous – than she’d ever expected.

The nearer Nell comes to uncovering the secrets of the past, the more treacherous her path becomes. Can she survive to root out the truth, and what price will she have to pay for it?

Gripping and atmospheric, Dead Man’s Creek is a stunning multi-layered thriller from Chris Hammer, the award-winning author of Sunday Times Crime Book of the Year Scrublands (2019) and Times Crime Book of the Month Opal Country (January 2022).