The Recesses of Darkness Anthology by R L Schumacher

October 15, 2024 By Leave a Comment


The Recesses of Darkness Anthology by R L Schumacher
Publisher: Self-Published
Genre: Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller, Paranormal, Contemporary, Historical
Rating: 3 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

Horror is an intense emotional response characterized by an overwhelming and painful feeling. It arises when one encounters something that is frightfully shocking, terrifying, or revolting. This profound emotion can lead to a visceral reaction, often causing a person to shudder with fear. It grips the mind and body, paralyzing them with a deep sense of dread and repulsion.

Horror comes in all shapes and sizes.

Two old, broke prospectors named Regan and Barlow decided to pan for gold in a new spot at the recommendation of a friend in “Teamwork.” There were some fun plot twists in this tale involving their search for treasure that made me wonder what might happen next but that I don’t want to spoil for others by going into detail about. I also appreciated the way the author played around with the audience’s expectations and made me wonder if he really was going to go in the direction I thought he might.

Some of the tales in this collection had abrupt endings that I wish had been given more time to develop. “Cellar Door” was one example of it. Ron’s troubled relationship with Cheryl was hinted at briefly before the story switched to describing why he decided to sign up as a medical test subject to make some extra money. It was never quite clear to me why he was so eager to do this or what was going on with him and Cheryl. This was a pattern that repeated itself in other instalments and was an impediment to a higher rating in my opinion.

Artie woke up from a mysterious surgery in “The Prototypical Soldier” and needed to piece together his past. As he recovered and began regaining both physical and mental strength, more clues about his mysterious past and the reasons why he had surgery began to emerge. I was pleasantly surprised by several of the plot twists and thought he was a well-written protagonist. This would have made a great full-length novel, although I was content with how things ended in the final scene.

The Recesses of Darkness Anthology put a shiver down my spine.

Filed Under: Mystery/Suspense, Reviews, Science Fiction/Fantasy Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Crustaceans by William Meikle

October 14, 2024 By Leave a Comment


Crustaceans by William Meikle
Publisher: Severed Press
Genre: Contemporary, Paranormal, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller, Horror
Rating: 4 Stars
Reviewed by Fern

Killer Crabs Take Manhattan!

A welcome return to those tomes of pure enjoyment that we read with guilt in our early teens, in the tradition of James Herbert’s THE RATS and Guy N. Smith’s NIGHT OF THE CRABS.

It begins with a dead whale on a Boston shoreline–not in itself an unusual occurrence. But the things that claw their way out of the blubber are very unusual indeed.

Giant crabs descend on a small coastal town and, having feasted, make their way to Manhattan, hunted and harried by a SWAT team tasked with ridding the city of the menace…before the menace gets big enough to rid itself of the city.

When flesh eating crabs chew their way out of a dead, beached whale, it’s enough to draw some very serious attention. A number of unusual events revolving around a new found species of crabs soon has the Armed forces sitting up and taking notice, especially when some of their own are taken. It soon becomes clear the crabs are growing – and converging on Manhattan. A small team race to answer why – and how large will these things grow to?

I have been a huge fan of William Meikle’s for a number of years now and this story did not disappoint. A republishing of a previous novel of his I found this was everything about his writing that I love. Giant, monstrous beasties eating everyone in sight. A small and dedicated team hunting them down. Plenty of action, monsters and a rollicking good pace.

Readers who enjoy B grade horror movies and books along the same lines – ones that are here for a good time with plenty of fun – should find this a thoroughly enjoyable tale. I love this author’s S-Squad series and while this isn’t one of that series he admits it was where some of his earlier ideas for that did germinate. Sit back with a large cold drink, switch off your brain and be prepared for a fun, fast paced and excellently written tall tale. With just enough reality to make you think this is a wonderful monster story and one I will happily reread again soon.

With some memorable and enjoyable characters, giant monster crabs that are determined to take over everything and some exceptional fire power, this is a fun and rambunctious story and a brilliant addition to my Meikle library. Recommended.

Filed Under: Horror, Reviews Tagged With: , , , , , ,

One Of The Broken by John Carson

October 11, 2024 By Leave a Comment


One Of The Broken by John Carson
Publisher: Amazon Kindle
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller
Rating: 3 stars
Reviewed by Fern

You can run…but you can never hide from the truth

A man is found murdered in his home, bludgeoned to death. In his hand is a piece from a jigsaw puzzle. Despite being widely liked, someone harboured a deadly grudge.

DCI James Craig, who recently relocated from London to Fife to work with Police Scotland, leads a dedicated team tasked with unraveling the mystery behind the murder and the significance of the puzzling clue left behind. Despite the victim’s seemingly spotless reputation, lingering shadows from his past hint at a possible motive.

As Craig delves into the victim’s history, he uncovers the existence of a sinister alter ego that may have precipitated his demise, and the unsettling realisation that the killer may have more targets in mind.
With time ticking away, Craig races against the clock to identify potential victims before the tranquillity of the area is shattered by further bloodshed.

After the traumatic events that changed DCI James Craig’s world a few months ago, Craig and his wife are finally beginning to settle into a new routine. Back in Fife, Scotland they are trying hard to find a sense of normal again. When Craig is called out onto his first proper investigation, he’s pleased to finally turn his mind onto easier matters – like murder.

I enjoyed this second book in a new series by this author. While the cast of characters isn’t enormous, there are quite a few in the team and periphery around the case. I didn’t struggle to keep everyone in order – but readers who aren’t used to the frequently large cast this author tends to write might find it an effort to keep all the characters clear in their head. I also was quite pleased there was a bit of explanation and a very brief summary of events that led Craig and his wife to where they are right now. The ending to the previous book was literally life shattering for them both and they are both still clearly processing and coming to terms with this outcome and so it would have been quite disjointed I feel without some explanation, so I thought this was handled very well.

That said, I do feel this book can be picked up by itself. I’m wondering if perhaps later books in this series might have a bit too much history and backstory to really leave the option open to read these out of order or just randomly select one and start there, but for this second book I definitely feel readers should be able to comfortably catch up without having to go back to the first.

I also thought it was quite refreshing how the “who” aspect to the villain in this book was shown to the reader fairly early on. This was very much more of a plot and story to solve why the murders occurred and how these events came to be – rather than a “whodunit” style of mystery. While absolutely not uncommon – I really did enjoy this and being able to glimpse snatches from the murder’s perspective and slowly try to piece the puzzle together was really interesting and kept me heavily invested in the story. While I could understand if early unveiling isn’t every reader’s cup of tea, I absolutely felt there was plenty of mystery around why these murders were occurring and how it all connected up together, so I felt it was a lovely and rather refreshing take on a police procedural style of mystery novel.

With the slightly grittier Scottish backdrop and a complex plot I enjoyed this book and am eagerly awaiting the third to be published.

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The Island by Brian Conte

October 4, 2024 By Leave a Comment


The Island by Brian Conte
Publisher: Page Publishing
Genre: Middle Grade (8 – 12 y.o.), Young Adult (14 – 18 y.o.), Paranormal, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller, Contemporary
Rating: 4 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

The Island is a coming-of-age story about the real-life adventure that the author’s son, Zeb, had. The story is about Zeb washing ashore as a castaway on a desert island and all the ways he must learn to survive and get off it.

Survival is the goal.

Some of the best scenes were the ones that described how Zeb figured out how to meet his basic needs on the island. He needed the basics like food, water, and shelter, of course, but he also had emotional needs to fulfill in order to remain hopeful that he was going to figure out a way to go home again. I cheered him on every time he made a new discovery that took care of one or more of these needs.

I was never entirely sure who this was written for, so clarity would have been helpful there. Some portions sounded like they were for adults who enjoy magical realism or blending fiction with fact while other ones felt more appealing to middle grade readers who like lighthearted castaway stories or teens who prefer a grittier and more realistic description of what it takes to survive by oneself on an island. Of course there can be more than one target audience, but when something is written for such a large range of ages and reading styles it can make it tricky for me as a reviewer to know who to recommend such a tale to. Some of the whimsical sections would probably fly over the heads of the average preteen while other scenes might feel too playful for anyone who knows how hard it is to catch your own food or keep a fire going on a damp, tropical island. Then again, there is something to be said for rereading an old favorite years later only to discover a deeper layer of meaning to it. This is a minor criticism of something I thought was otherwise engaging and well done.

It’s hard to talk about the magical realism and paranormal elements of the storyline without giving away spoilers, but it was such an important part of the plot that I must try. There’s something so emotionally satisfying about being allowed to make up one’s own mind about what was going on in the scenes that could be interpreted in multiple ways, including ones that are only possible in fiction. I have my own theories about how to interpret them, but there are equally valid explanations other readers might prefer about what the causes of these events were and if Zeb’s descriptions of them were what actually happened.

The Island kept me guessing until the final sentences.

Filed Under: Mystery/Suspense, Reviews, YA/Middle Grade/Children's Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Ruin Beach by Kate Rhodes

October 3, 2024 By Leave a Comment


Ruin Beach by Kate Rhodes
Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller
Rating: 4 stars
Reviewed by Fern

DI Ben Kitto has become the Scilly Islands’ Deputy Chief of Police. As the island’s lazy summer takes hold, he finds himself missing the excitement of the murder squad in London. But when a body is found anchored to the rocks of a nearby cave, it appears he’s spoken too soon. The island of Tresco, and the deep and murky waters that surround it, hold a dark secret. One that someone seems desperate to uncover . . .

Ben Kitto is now the Scilly Isles’ Deputy Chief of Police. Life is a lot more slower paced on the tiny islands than in London, but before the summer can get too underway the body of a local diver is found, anchored to the rocks and drowned. It’s quickly established that the woman was murdered and the small community is in shock that one of their locals could have done something so horrendous. Ben needs all his skills to both uncover the murderer and keep the small community intact.

This is the second book in the Isles of Scilly mystery series and I am really enjoying it. I definitely feel this book can be read alone. There is an extremely small police team – Ben, Eric and the Chief – and as this is a different island to the previous books setting everything is fresh and stands very well on it’s own. Readers can definitely pick up this book without having read the first in this series.

I thoroughly enjoyed that this had the feel both of a British Police Procedural style of novel but also a very small, isolated community. There were only a certain number of people who could have performed this murder and as in any small group the emotions and ties and network between everyone is both complicated and encompasses everyone.

I thought the author had a really good pace to this story. Despite there being only a small cast of characters this felt very layered to me – where there is history and secrets lurking underneath the normality of everyone’s day to day existence. I enjoyed reading along and discovering all the ties that wove the various community members together and learning the bigger picture along with Ben. I thought this pacing and writing style was really good and readers who usually enjoy British based mysteries should find this equally enjoyable.

With a lovely costal themed, small town murder mystery this was an enjoyable book with a good pace and well balanced cast of characters. I really enjoyed this book.

Filed Under: Mystery/Suspense, Reviews Tagged With: , ,

The Mechanical Devil by Kate Ellis

October 2, 2024 By Leave a Comment


The Mechanical Devil by Kate Ellis
Publisher: Piatkus Publishing
Genre: Contemporary, Historical, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller
Rating: 3 stars
Reviewed by Fern

Secrets never stay buried for long . . .

When archaeologist Neil Watson unearths a long-buried mechanical figure in a Dartmoor field, he is determined to discover the truth behind the bizarre find.

Soon, however, the sleepy village becomes the focus of press attention for another reason when two people with no apparent connection to each other are found shot dead in nearby Manor Field, seemingly victims of an execution-style double murder.

DI Wesley Peterson is called in to investigate, but the two murders aren’t his only problem. The daughter of a local MP has gone missing and the pressure is on to find her, especially when it’s revealed that she has a connection to one of the murder victims. And Wesley’s own life is thrown into turmoil when a woman he helped on a previous investigation finds herself subjected to a campaign of terror . . .

Is there a link between the double murder and the accidental death of a young history student in Manor Field twenty years ago? And just what is the true identity of the Mechanical Devil?

Archaeologist Neil Watson unearths a strange, long buried mechanical figure. But soon the area is overrun with press attention for a very different reason – two locals with no apparent connection are both found murdered in what appears to be an execution. DI Wesley Peterson and his team are trying to uncover what has really gone on – but Wesley also is juggling the increasing demands of a previous victim he’s helped when she’s the new victim of a terror campaign. Can Wesley and Neil each solve their respective puzzles?

I found this to be a very interesting and well plotted murder mystery novel. While I thoroughly enjoyed the interweaving of the historical mystery along with the modern day murder investigation I found it really added a sense of tension and atmosphere to the whole book. I enjoyed trying to work out which pieces of the plot were red herrings and which pieces were connected.

I must admit, I was a little disappointed that Wesley took so long to catch on to what was really going on with the previous victim and her many phone calls. I connected those dots what felt like very early on – pretty much after the character’s first few mentions – so it really surprised me that a detective as seasoned and intelligent as Wesley didn’t even seem to wonder or question what popped into my head very early on. It made him appear fairly silly to me to have missed something this obvious and I feel that was a bit of a disservice to the character really.

That said I found the main two plot mysteries – that of the missing teenage girl and the two murdered locals in the field really was a far more interesting and well written plotline. I thought this was handled very well and I enjoyed these two plots as well as Neil and his historical puzzle. I definitely thought this whole book stood very well on it’s own – I don’t think readers really would have needed to read anything previously written by this author to thoroughly enjoy this novel and aside from the blind spot of Wesley with his previous victim I felt this was a very well encapsulated story that can definitely be enjoyed on it’s own merits.

Readers who enjoy a British Police procedural mystery with quite a bit of history interwoven into the plotline should find this an enjoyable read.

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Not What She Seems by Yasmin Angoe

October 1, 2024 By Leave a Comment


Not What She Seems by Yasmin Angoe
Publisher: Thomas & Mercer
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller
Rating: 3 Stars
Reviewed by Ginger

After years of self-exile, Jacinda “Jac” Brodie is back in Brook Haven, South Carolina. But the small cliffside town no longer feels like home. Jac hasn’t been there since the beloved chief of police fell to his death—and all the whispers said she was to blame.

That chief was Jac’s father.

Racked with guilt, Jac left town with no plans to return. But when her granddad lands in the hospital, she rushes back to her family, bracing herself to confront the past.

Brook Haven feels different now. Wealthy newcomer Faye Arden has transformed the notorious Moor Manor into a quaint country inn. Jac’s convinced something sinister lurks beneath Faye’s perfect exterior, yet the whole town fawns over their charismatic new benefactor. And when Jac discovers one of her granddad’s prized possessions in Faye’s office, she knows she has to be right.

But as Jac continues to dig, she stumbles upon dangerous truths that hit too close to home. With not only her life but also her family’s safety on the line, Jac discovers that maybe some secrets are better left buried.

Not What She Seems by Yasmin Angoe is a compelling mystery set in a small Southern town. The story follows Jacinda Brodie as she returns home after six years, haunted by a tragic incident involving her father, the police chief. Will the town have a change of heart or will Jac’s return open old wounds?

Told entirely from Jac’s perspective, the novel offers a limited viewpoint that can be both intriguing and frustrating. While the single narrator provides a deep dive into Jac’s thoughts and feelings, it can also limit the reader’s understanding of the broader community and the events surrounding her grandfather’s death.

The story begins with a strong premise, however, the introduction of multiple subplots was distracting, taking away from an already full storyline. Some of these subplots, such as the mysterious two cases her grandfather was working on solving, specifically what happened to the Colleton Girls, feel disconnected and raise more questions than they answer. When the truth came out about what happened to Jac’s dad I was confused she was there, how did she not know what happened? Was there an investigation into what happened to her father?

Jac’s grandfather’s killer is suspected early on, but the suspense of why they were the killer, along with the resolution to the other mysteries, kept me reading. While I appreciated the author’s writing style and her ability to create memorable characters, the storyline was lacking for me. It was long-winded and Jac was not a character that I admired. She seemed immature to be taking on murder cases, accusing people with little to no evidence, and then having a tantrum when the police did not take her seriously.

Despite its shortcomings, the author’s writing style is engaging enough to warrant exploring her future works. While the conclusion may not be entirely satisfying, the novel does provide closure. The book’s title and cover are fitting and effectively capture the theme of the book.

Ultimately, Not What She Seems is a mixed bag. While the central mystery is intriguing, the execution could have been fine-tuned.

Readers who enjoy character-driven mysteries may find this book worth exploring, but those seeking a fast-paced plot may be disappointed.

Filed Under: Mystery/Suspense, Reviews Tagged With: , , , ,

Death Message by Damien Boyd

September 26, 2024 By Leave a Comment


Death Message by Damien Boyd
Publisher: Thomas & Mercer Publishers
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller
Rating: 3 stars
Reviewed by Fern

Graffiti is a dying art in this thriller from the bestselling DI Nick Dixon crime series.

A routine missing person enquiry takes a grisly turn when a young couple drag a box containing human remains out of a Somerset river. The victim was a surveillance expert investigating an exaggerated injury claim—a murder with an obvious motive, until a police officer is implicated and suspended.

Still brooding after his recent brush with police Professional Standards, Detective Chief Inspector Nick Dixon is on extended leave, helping his pregnant fiancée, Detective Sergeant Jane Winter, fight for her place on the major investigation team.

Convinced that the death of an art student is connected, Dixon returns to duty, and when graffiti depicting the murders starts to appear, the race is on to find the artist and the murderer. But, why the paintings? Could an infamous street artist be involved?

With colleagues questioning his every move, Dixon must stop a sadistic killer before another life is taken. Then a second art student is reported missing…

Detective Sergeant Jane Winter has no problem taking a new probational officer Sarah Loveday under her wing when the officer brings what at first appeared to be a routine missing persons report to Jane’s attention. As they begin to follow the usual procedure it soon becomes apparent that this missing person is anything except ordinary. And when parts of the person are found in a local river – dismembered and weighted down – it doesn’t take long for Jane’s fiancé, currently on leave DCI Nick Dixon to also find his curiosity roused. Can they uncover the various messages layered in this unusual case?

With DCI Dixon taking a slightly more back seat than usual in this novel I found I really enjoyed Jane’s time to step up and be fully one of the main characters in this novel. As Dixon’s fiancé and team member Jane has been a strong secondary for quite a few books now, but I really enjoyed seeing her both take a more active role, but also help train and lead what I feel might become the newest character in their team.

Readers should definitely feel able to pick up this book and read without any of the prior novels – this book stands very well by itself and certainly the plot is completed encapsulated here, with a clear beginning and a satisfying ending with the loose threads all cleared away. Readers who enjoy a solid and well plotted British police procedural should find this pacing and storyline definitely meets their expectations and readers who have enjoyed previous books in this series should be aware that there is a character death in this story. I personally felt the death was very well handled and sensitively treated.

Readers looking for something very high action or intense might not feel this book quite meets that criterion, but personally I’d much prefer a well plotted storyline with plenty of twists and turns as more of the mystery is slowly uncovered. There is some really good police work here and I definitely felt like this was an exceptional mystery. Readers who enjoy most British police procedural style books should feel this is a book well worth the time invested in it.

Filed Under: Mystery/Suspense, Reviews Tagged With: , , , ,

Ask The Parrot by Richard Stark

September 19, 2024 By Leave a Comment


Ask The Parrot by Richard Stark
Publisher: The University Of Chicago Press
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller, Action/Adventure
Rating: 4 stars
Reviewed by Fern

In Ask the Parrot, the followup to Nobody Runs Forever, ruthless thief Parker is back on the run, dodging dogs, cops, and even a helicopter. His escape brings him to rural Massachusetts, where he is forced to work with a small-town recluse nursing a grudge against the racetrack that fired him. Even in hiding, Parker manages to get up to no good. It’ll be a deadly day at the races . . .

On the run from the law, Parker is trying to find somewhere to lay low until the worst of the heat passes. Finding a semblance of refuge in a small town with a hermit who has a big idea, Parker is determined to make the situation work for him. But can they both turn their fortunes around and stay out of the grasp of the law?

While there is a thread interweaving through all the Parker books, by and large they all stand very well on their own. The last three books ever written, however, are a little more closely linked – and this is the middle book of that. While in one respect I do feel anyone can pick this book up by itself and thoroughly enjoy the lean, gritty and slightly old-fashioned hard-boiled heist novel, I equally really do feel a deeper connection and enjoyment would be had if the reader had also read the previous book to this – “Nobody Runs Forever”.

This book picks up mere minutes after where Nobody Runs Forever leaves off, and while it’s extremely clear the main thrust of what occurred in that book (three robbers got away with a large sum of money, one of whom was Parker) a lot of the depth of trouble Parker currently finds himself in really is laid as groundwork in the previous book. That said, this is an exceptionally well written story, and I did love how the seemingly unconnected people in the small town all began to weave together into their story – rather like a tar baby sucking everything in and not letting anything fully go.

If you haven’t read the previous books in this series, I can strongly recommend them. This is a brilliant series and a superb set of gritty, slightly grim and very lean heist novels that have utterly enthralled me these last few years. I will be deeply sorry to read the last one (there’s only one more left for me in this series) and since the author passed away a number of years ago this time there’s really no hope for any more to come.

With an older style of writing that remains refreshingly wonderful even in this modern era, this is a great series and an excellent book. I’m actually looking forward to going back to the start of the series and re-discovering them all again. Highly recommended.

Filed Under: Mystery/Suspense, Reviews Tagged With: , , , , ,

Lady’s Well by LJ Ross

September 17, 2024 By Leave a Comment


Lady’s Well by LJ Ross
Publisher: Dark Skies Publishing
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller
Rating: 3 Stars
Reviewed by Fern

THERE’S SOMETHING IN THE WATER…

When the ancient waters of Lady’s Well in the rural village of Holystone begin to run red, it seems to be a nasty Hallowe’en prank and nothing more. But things take a sinister turn when the entire village suffers severe poisoning, and one old man turns up dead.

Accusations abound in the small, close-knit community, and ‘old’ religions spar against ‘new’ while fear runs like wildfire through the streets. With so many potential motives and countless opportunities, there’s only one man who can help solve this particular mystery…

Murder and mystery are peppered with romance and humour in this fast-paced crime whodunnit, set amidst the spectacular Northumbrian landscape.

The tiny rural village of Holystone has many customs – old and new – revolving around Lady’s Well. When the waters turn red sometime in the evening of Halloween half the small township feel it’s a distasteful prank, but the other half are convinced it’s an omen of ill will. Accusations abound in the small community and a number of already volatile situations surrounding the small village begin to flare. When first one, then another local is found dead DCI Ryan and his team can only treat these as suspicious and race to uncover what’s really going on in the tiny community.

This is the twentieth book in this series, and I have to admit the writing and plot feels just as fresh to me now as the first few books did. While there is a lot of history between the various team members, I was pretty pleased that I felt everything was very well explained and handled. It’s been a number of months since I’ve read one of this series and I didn’t feel as if I was missing anything – the author did a good job to explain everyone’s links and where the characters were all coming from. While certainly readers might be able to feel the weight of the shared cases and history all the previous books provide, I honestly feel anyone picking this book up on a whim with no previous reading under their belt from this author should be able to enjoy this mystery book as much as I did.

The plot is fairly straight forward and not overly complicated. Readers looking for some nefarious, intricate and deeply plotted puzzle might find this a little light. But I found the small town setting, the British Police Procedural tone and feel to the book coupled with the small team and various characters really helped this feel like an interesting and realistic police murder mystery story to me. There is a bit of residual drama surrounding two of the secondary characters which is clearly explained and I felt sympathetically handled from issues holding over from the previous book. This added a fair bit of emotional weight to the story and helped show the characters’ progression without interfering too deeply I felt with the main murder mystery plotline.

I was pretty pleased with myself for guessing part of the plot but found it equally enjoyable that there were a number of other aspects I didn’t get at all and found delightfully surprising. With a solid plotline having a number of elements wound well together and the cast of well-known and enjoyable characters I found this overall the be a strongly written and solid book that I can recommend to all mystery lovers out there.

Filed Under: Mystery/Suspense, Reviews, Uncategorized Tagged With: , , , ,
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