Madeleine's Book Log 2025

[Madeleine]

"A Devon Midwinter Murder" by Stephanie Austin - this is the 7th book in the Dartmoor Murders series ,but the first one I've read, and as it's set over Christmas and into January it fitted in nicely with the first Reading challenge of 2025!  it worked well as a stand-alone, though there's obviously a lot of history, but the main character is Juno Browne, a 30-something woman who lives in the Dartmoor area, runs an antique shop, and a dog-walking business, and does cleaning for a few local people, and also finds time to be an amateur investigator, who is as usual a hindrance to the police, except for one, Dean Collins, with whom she seems to have a mutual if grudgingly respectful relationship - and no other relationship, as he's happily married and she is reeling from a previous romantic break-up.  The story starts when a man is murdered during the Christmas fair, and when Juno is contacted, out of the blue, by an old astrologer friend, it looks like there could be a connection to some earlier deaths.  After another attack, this time at the local wassailing, Juno and the police start to wonder if there's a repeat offender in their midst.  I enjoyed this, it was quite well-written and the wintry atmosphere, and local rural traditions, were nicely described, and Juno comes across as a believable, and slightly cynical but likeable, character.  8/10

[Madeleine]

The Poison Garden by L J Ross - this is the 22nd in the DCI Ryan series, and it's hard to review this one as you need to have read the previous book "Death Rocks", due to the story arc, and the twist ending.  The story arc is concerns a series of murders, though at first the cases in the previous book look like either accidents or suicides, but a closer look reveals a seemingly disparate link to the victims.  The new book starts with 2 people being poisoned, one dies the other survives, but both knew each other, and once the links between them become clearer, the detectives finally think they have made a breakthrough in their investigation, which leads to cold cases from several years ago being re-opened,and they still have a seemingly impossible task of tracing the person/people behind it all, for it seems as if a network of killers is operating.  And one of their own may also be in danger.....which is all I can say!  One of the better books in the series.  8/10

[Madeleine]

The Sign of The Devil by Oscar de Muriel - and so I finally read the last book in the great Frey and McGray series, recommended on this very forum.  In the 7th and final adventure, what seems to be at first a fairly straightforward case of arresting body snatchers turns out to be something more complex, as the two latest "victims" were both patients at the same asylum as McGray's sister, and both bore the so-called "mark of the Devil".  McGray's obsession with his family's history goes into overdrive and when his sister is implicated in the deaths (which are at first passed off as natural causes) he will stop at nothing to protect her.  And Ian McFrey, who thought he'd retired to his estate in Gloucestershire, agrees to come back to Edinburgh for one last case, which ends up putting him in more danger than ever.  We finally find out the true connection between the McGray and Ardglass families, and it all leads to a thrilling conclusion - a great series which has been consistently good, and I am already sad to see that there aren't any more cases for our mis-matched detectives.  9/10

[Madeleine]

"A Death in the Parish" by Richard Coles - this is the 2nd book in the Canon Clement series, and starts with Daniel, the main character and rector of the parish, trying to get used to the new associate vicar, Chris Biddle, who's been brought in to look after two parishes which have been joined into one - a stickler for the rules, he and Daniel soon clash, and his brattish teenage children don't help.  Daniel is trying to juggle the relationship with the Biddles, whilst trying to help an elderly widow whose carers may have their eyes on her fortune, dealing with his irascible mother, and then discovering that Hilda the dachshund is in the family way!  Then an extremely nasty murder occurs, and everyone is thrown into turmoil, and once again Daniel finds himself trying to keep himself and everyone else calm, whilst also helping his policeman friend, Neil, find out who would carry out such an awful crime.  This book took ages to get going, and really does need editing, with long paragraphs which don't say very much.  Coles writes well but goes into too much detail, and though the pace finally picked up, and towards the end became quite gripping, it took so long to get there that I nearly gave up a few times. In fact at one point I only kept reading to see if Hilda and her puppies were OK! 6/10

[France]

This doesn't sound any better than his first book which I gave up on eventually.  But I would probably have gone on reading if there had been uncertainty about puppies!

[Madeleine]

I actually think the first book was better.  And don't worry, the puppies are fine!

[France]

5 hours ago, Madeleine said:

I actually think the first book was better.  And don't worry, the puppies are fine!

Glad  to hear it!  

[Madeleine]

Black Fell by Mari Hannah -this is the 4th book in the Stone and Oliver crime series set in Northumberland, I loved the first book which was a bit different to other police procedurals but now the series seems to have settled into a more conventional example of the crime genre.  Frankie Oliver is a 3rd generation officer, following in the footsteps of her father and grandfather, and is one of 3 sisters, one of whom was murdered in her teens, and whose killer has never been caught.  David Stone, her boss, has come up to Northumberland following the murder of his partner on the Metropolitan Police Force, and both of these tragedies lie heavily with the officers, and gives them a common bond, plus a reluctance to get involved with anyone, although there are definite stirrings of attraction in this book.  To distract them they have 2 cases to work on, one new and one cold, literally as a body which has been dead for about 20 years is retrieved from the popular tourist spot of Kielder Water, stuffed into a barrel, but bizarrely, almost on the same day, an Icelandic tourist is found murdered in the same body of water.  There does seem to be a link between the cases, especially as a group of young tourists from Iceland were camping nearby, so once again it looks like the answers are hidden in the past, and it turns out to be a very murky past indeed.  Then a journalist with a grudge against Stone enters the fray, and the police force finds itself under pressure to solve the crimes, and also with a PR disaster on it's hands as they try to stop the tabloid journalist from printing wild claims about the detective team.  This wasn't a bad read, though the plot was very convoluted but well- written, though I have to say that Frankie has started to annoy me a bit ,with her constant whining and hesitancy as she grapples with her own demons, and seemingly everyone else's too, as well as her promotion.  Not a bad series though, and the characters are well-drawn. 7/10

[Madeleine]

The Raging Storm by Ann Cleeves - this is the 3rd in her newish series featuring Detective Matthew Venn, who's based in Devon,and finds himself spending time in the remote, rather grim village of Greystone, when a man is found dead in a boat in a nearby cove, following a storm, presumably the storm of the title as apart from this one storm the title is a bit of a misnomer.  Anyway the dead man grew up in the village, but then became famous for his sailing exploits and most people hadn't seen him for years, until he literally blows in one night and becomes a regular in the pub, claiming to be waiting for someone to come to him.  Then one night he doesn't turn up, and the lifeboat crew find his body in a small boat belonging to one the lifeboat volunteers. It turns out the man ruffled a lot of feathers during his earlier years, and Venn's team find it hard to separate the man's own self-constructed life, from his real life, including his mysterious visitor.  Venn finds himself conflicted, as he grew up in the area, and was at school with many of the locals.  This is a densely plotted story, and whilst it was readable I don't think it's one of the author's best books, Venn came across as being a bit whiny and introspective (perhaps another raging storm, this time his personal one?!) and I didn't find it particularly involving, and not as dramatic as the blurb promises,apart from the ending.  Ann Cleeves's next book brings back Jimmy Perez, which is a surprise. 6.5/10

[France]

To be honest I find this series dull and I love Vera and Jimmy Perez.

[Madeleine]

Yes I must admit it's not up to the standards of the other series, and I did find Matthew a bit annoying, as I mentioned in the review, he's getting a bit whiny! She has said that she plans to write at least one more Vera book, and the new Perez book is a real surprise, though at the moment she says it's a one-off.