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.

[Madeleine]

The Killing Place by Kate Ellis - another instalment in the long-running Wesley Peterson series, set in Devon.  This time he's investigating the murder of a young man who was tutor to the son of a local wealthy family, who have apparently headed off to Scotland to live off-grid for a break,which means of course that they can't be found.  Then a local woman is murdered and the police become even keener to find out what's really been going on at Nesbarton Hall.  Meanwhile, the historical story which runs parallel to the modern investigation concerns a body found on the estate, admittedly one from a couple of hundred years ago but when an old grotto is discovered, which has strange markings on the wall, Wesley's friend Neil is fascinated by the possibility of an illegal club which may have existed in the 18th century.  It's a fairly standard police procedural,easy to read but a bit dry, with a bit of light relief provided by, as usual, Wesley's irrepressible mum in law Della, who happens to be on a writing retreat at the lodge on the estate.  An OK read but nothing particularly special. 6.5/10

[Madeleine]

How to find love in a Bookshop by Veronica Henry - this is one of the author's earlier books,and after a slightly depressing start, with the main character Emilia, sitting by her father's hospital bed, promising him that she'll carry on running his bookshop in the Cotswold town of Peasebrook, and the back story of how her parents met, the story finally starts properly.  For Emilia, still wrestling with her grief, finds the bookshop, though it's much loved by the town's residents and visitors, is deep in debt and as she struggles to find a way of making it pay it's way whilst keeping her father's ethos, we learn about the other users and locals.  In the meantime, an unscrupulous property developer is desperate to get his hands on the shop, so that he can build even more flats.  Secrets are revealed as various people's back stories are revealed, and the reader can play the guessing game of wondering who will end up with who by the end. I must admit I got one of these plotlines wrong, and overall it wasn't a bad read once it got going, though perhaps some of the various storyline endings were a little too neat, but as a piece of escapism it's fine. 6.5/10

[Madeleine]

Give unto Others by Donna Leon - this is the 31st book in the Commissario Guido Brunetti series,and though I haven't read all of them this one is one of the weakest. It starts off promisingly enough, when the daughter of an old friend of Brunetti's mother comes to ask if he will privately try to find out what is going with her son-in-law, after her daughter tells her he has frightened her,although no physical harm has been done.  Brunetti, partly for sentimental reasons, agrees to try to help, but there's only so much he can do on his own, so he brings in his 2 trusted colleagues to "discreetly" help him and he gradually comes to realise that very large sums, supposedly donations to a charity, are involved, and he soon starts to realise he may be compromising his career, and is no longer sure how far he can go.  And that's generally the plot, which becomes repetitive, with long parts of the book not really going anywhere, and at times I felt the book could have been called "The Musings of Guido Brunetti", as there are several of his flights of fancy and thoughts on various subjects, which after a while started to feel like padding.  Coupled with a slightly open ending, which isn't unusual in these books, I felt somewhat cheated out of a decent storyline, as to be honest it's not  the most exciting plotline anyway, and I did almost give up halfway through.  Very disappointing, though Brunetti is likeable as ever. 5/10

[France]

I feel Donna Leon rather ran out of steam in the teens of this series. I gobbled up the first ones then found I was getting less and involved to the point I was stopping searching out her books. 

[Madeleine]

I've got the latest one so hope that is better.

[Madeleine]

The Great Deceiver by Elly Griffiths - this is much better than her previous book, with Inspector Edgar Stephens and magician Max Mephisto much more prominent than in the last instalment, which seemed mainly to focus on Edgar's wife, former WPC Emma, and journalist Samantha forming their own private detective agency.  They all get fairly equal billing this time round, when magicians' assistants who have been taking part in a variety show on Brighton's Pier start to get murdered, the first is almost a locked room mystery, the second is found almost on the doorstep of her lodgings.  Worried that they might have a serial killer on their patch, Edgar and his colleagues start to investigate all the acts on the variety bill, as many of them were staying at the house.  Sam and Emma become involved when the parents of the first victim engage them to find out who killed their daughter, and both teams try to work together before another young woman is killed, which involves looking into the sometimes sordid background of some of the artistes.  I found this an easy, well-paced read,and thankfully more of an ensemble piece, with a very evocative setting of mid 1960s Brighton. 7.5/10

[Madeleine]

Shadows in the Moonlight by Santa Montefiore - this is the first in the author's new "Timeslider" series and would appeal to those who like dual time-frame novels, this one is slightly different in that the main character, Pixie, actually goes back in time to help restless spirits move on.  She discovered this talent as a way of escaping a difficult childhood, and as an adult she works as a psychic medium.  Her job here is to move on the spirit of a woman heard crying at night in the rambling Cornish house recently occupied by Olivia and her husband Bruce, who flee the rat race in London with their children when Bruce inherits the property from a relative he's never heard of.  They employ Pixie to help move on Cordelia, who with a bit of research they discover was the lady of the house back in 1895, during which a traumatic event occurred which she has never recovered from.  Pixie goes back to a few days before the event, and uses the time to get to know the family, with the unexpected bonus of an attraction to one of the family, but of course she cannot act on this attraction, nor do anything to change the events that have already happened, however distressing they might be.  Meanwhile in the present day, members of the current family also have a part to play.  This was an enjoyable, easy read, and Pixie is a likeable character, and things are set up nicely, if slightly predictably as it's not  hard to see where the story is going, for the sequel. 7.5/10

[Madeleine]

The Retreat - this is the 2nd in the series featuring Detective Elin Warner, who we first met in The Sanatorium, which was the author Sarah Pearse's first novel. In this follow-up, Elin is back at work in Devon, cautiously getting back to normal after the events of the first book, when she is sent to an island off the Devon coast, where a woman has fallen to her death at an exclusive holiday resort, which just happens to have been designed by her boyfriend Will, who has been nominated for an architectural award for the building's design.  She heads off with her work partner, Steed, and while they're on the island another death occurs, which is definitely suspicious.  Although forensics were able to process the scene of the first death, they have now gone back to the mainland and a series of major incidents mean that no more police resources are available to get to the island, and then, yes a storm moves in, so when someone else goes missing Elin and Steed are pretty much on their own.  Not knowing who to trust, they have to work very carefully, as well as dealing with an increasingly nervous clientele, who by now have realised that something is going on.  it's the usual Agatha Christie type scenario, and though not particularly original it's a fast easy read, with Elin having to deal with her own problems as well as keep a clear head, and keep the remaining guests safe ie stop them being killed off!  Although why anyone would want to stay at a resort on an island with such a grim history is beyond me, asking for  trouble! 6.5/10

[Madeleine]

One Night at  the Chateau by Veronica Henry - this year's summer book by Veronica Henry is set in Provence, and is told in two time frames.  One starts in the mid 1980s, when Lismay and her husband Piers buy a chateau in Provence on impulse after their life plans take an unexpected and sad turn, instead they focus on turning a run down chateau into a luxury home from home for holidaymakers, and fairly successful it is too, but in the 2nd time frame, set in the present day, it's starting to look a bit rundown, the reviews aren't very good and something has to be done and fast.  So Lismay asks her god daughter Connie if she'll babysit the chateau, and perhaps do it up a bit, whilst she and Piers are in London where he's having hip replacement surgery. Connie is at a crossroads herself, her long term relationship has just imploded when her partner leaves her for a younger more glamourous woman, her job has fallen through and their children are forging their own lives at uni.  So she reluctantly agrees to sell the family home, and moves to Provence to look after and regenerate the chateau.  She has happy memories of childhood holidays there, as her late mother was French and was best friends with Lismay, so the connection to the chateau runs deep.  And that's basically the story, although of course there is a hunk called Remy involved ,with whom Connie had a brief fling back in their younger days  - he's now also returned to Provence, to help run his parents' vineyard nearby, but what will happen when he meets Connie again?  No prizes for guessing how it all pans out, it's a nice enough book but everyone is a bit too good to be true, or maybe I'mn just too cynical!  A pleasant holiday read but not her best book.  6.5/10

[Madeleine]

Panic by L J Ross - this carries straight on from the cliffhanger ending of "Mania", so you really need to have read that for this one to make sense. I think this is the better book, "Mania" was a bit OTT and not very original using the now rather tired theme of corrupt police officers, criminal "circles" etc.  In this one, Carl Deere,wrongly convicted of murder, has had his conviction overturned and is now a free man, however someone is killing off everyone involved in the original investigation, including police officers, judges etc.  The killings continue, and as psychologists Alex Gregory and his friend Bill Douglas also worked on the case, they are also in danger.  Meanwhile, the killings continue, but is it Deere out for revenge or is there someone else?  it's a fast-paced, easy to read story which ends on another cliffhanger!  There's also a brief appearance from LJ Ross's other hero, DCI Ryan, though thankfully at least Gregory hasn't achieved the near sainthood which Ryan has in his series of books.  7/10

[Madeleine]

A Great Deliverance by Elizabeth George - this is the first in the long-running crime series featuring Inspector Tommy Lynley, who though based in London seems to be asked to cover cases all over the UK,and how he came to work with his sidekick, Sergeant Barbara Havers. Lynley comes from an aristocratic family and has the world at his feet, and also has a reputation as a womaniser,and none of these features endear him to Havers, who has already spent time being demoted to uniform because she can't get on with any of her superiors.  So when she is paired with Lynley to investiage a gruesome murder in Yorkshire, she is deeply suspicious and resentful, believing that she's only been paired with the handsome detective as she's probably the only woman he won't fancy.  And the author spares no detail in her description of Havers,it's positively brutal and Havers' huge chip on her shoulder about her own troubled background does her no favours either,though deep down she desperately wants to get on,but always seems to jeopardise any opportunites thrown her way.  The main suspect in the murder is the victim's adult daughter, and the case looks cut and dried; the suspect, Roberta, has been detained in a mental health facility and the author again spares no grim detail in her descriptions of the unfortunate woman.  Gradually Lynley and Havers unravel the facts which led to the murder, and both face their own demons- Havers is her background, Lynley is still struggling to come to terms with the fact that the love of his life has married his friend (not really a spoiler as this happens very early on in the book).  I did find this dragged for a while, and the author's descriptions are so scathing that I really wondered if they would have been allowed now - the book was written in 1989.  But gradually events developed and it finally became quite engrossing, though I still found it hard to like Havers, despite her sad family circumstances. The TV series was very popular a while ago, and apparently a reboot is on it's way, though I don't know if this book has been filmed. 6.5/10

[Madeleine]

The Secrets of Harbour House by Liz Fenwick - following her father's death in a cycling accident, Kerensa returns to her native Cornwall to sort out his estate, help her grieving and ailing mother, and also wind up the estate of 2 women artists, who both died within a few weeks of each other, and whose work was little known, though when they did sell a piece it usually sold for quite a bit of money. Kerensa is fascinated by a portrait of a beautiful woman in the house of the title, and tries to find out more, especially her identity,and so we get the subject's back story, and the book follows two timelines, the present day and the mid 1930s, when we first meet one of the artists, Bathsheba (Sheba) Kernow, who travels on the Orient Express to Paris and Venice to follow in her late mother's footsteps. On the train she meets a woman who beguiles her, but it's when they meet again in Venice that their story really starts.  At  a time when such relationships were forbidden for both men and women, they have to be very careful, especially as Sheba's new love is married, to a cold controlling husband who is a poet trying to gain favour with Mussolini and Hitler, both of whom feature, thankfully briefly, i in thebook.  Meanwhile back in the present Kerensa's return to Cornwall isn't looked on happily by her uncle, who ran the family auction house with her father, or her partner Paul, who wants her back in London as soon as possible as he can't live without her, but once she starts to find discrepancies in her father's financial affairs, she has no choice but to stay in Cornwall to sort things out.  So the main themes of this book are family mysteries and dynamics, forbidden love and controlling men, and this was were the book fell down for me, for most of the male characters were so two dimensional I wanted to hiss whenever they appeared!  It was an OK read but not that convincing though the settings are lovely and the artistic references , to both real and fictitious writers and artists, were also interesting. 7/10