murder


IT’S obviously far too late now but at least one of  Britain’s top crime solvers needs a name change. Having two of crime fiction’s best with the same surname gives readers one puzzle too many. Is it Helen or Roy who is expected to respond when someone yells “Grace”? Nor is there any easing of the confusion to have them operating within a few miles of each other. Both are on England’s south coast. Roy’s patch is Brighton and its Sussex  hinterland. Helen’s manor fans out from Southampton. Less than seventy miles between them.   About ninety minutes along the A47… Continue reading

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For once I can use the phrase “a true page turner” with utter conviction. And happily add the clumsier “unputdownable”. This novel fully merits both descriptions. And though I am not one of those speed readers who can zip through a book in a single session, I was close to achieving that feat on this occasion. It grips, intrigues and enthrals. Fittingly it cannot be neatly slotted into any one genre – certainly not basic crime fiction, although a crime is committed (or is it?) and there is a shadowy detective hovering in the background keeping a watchful eye on… Continue reading