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Showing posts with label crime. Show all posts
Showing posts with label crime. Show all posts
3 December 2015
Title
| Bad Billy |
Author
| Jimmy Pudge |
Publisher
| Burning Man Productions |
Publication Date
|
September 2011
|
Pages
| 64 |
Genre
| Horror, crime, psychological |
Synopsis
Bad Billy has spent his entire life in Mama's basement. When the chains break free and he escapes into the world, he must learn the difference between being a monster and a human being.
It's going to be a bloody education.
My thoughts
At only 64 pages, I was happy to give this a try. And I don't mind a bit of blood and gore ever now and again. And you are certainly going to get this here.
Bad Billy is the evil product / spawn of an incestuous relationship. And there is always a story behind the evil. Not only are Bad Billy's parents siblings, they are also suffering from various degrees of mental and physical disabilities. Not being 'bad' people themselves, they can't cope with whats before them. Billy probably just wants to be loved, but after being chained up in the basement and fed only roadkill for all his childhood and adolescence, there is not much human feelings left in Billy.
This short book is about 30% of backstory, and the rest is action - what does Billy actually do when he escapes. Don't try to analyse it too deeply and look for extensive psychological backgrounds. This would not be possible within this short book, and is not the aim of the author I would think. Just simply see it as a feast of horror and human evil. is the whole story a bit over the top? Yes, maybe, but it also makes weirdly addictive reading.
14 August 2014
Title
| Not in the Flesh |
Author
| Ruth Rendell |
Publisher
| Arrow |
Publication Date
|
July 2008
|
Pages
| 322 |
Genre
| Crime |
Blurb:
Amazon.co.uk
The wait is over: here’s a new Wexford novel. And Not in the Flesh is one of the sharpest, most astringent outings for Ruth Rendell’s doughty copper in some time. Rendell's studies in dark psychology (which have at their centre characters who appear only in individual novels) are the most highly regarded among aficionados of her wok, but the unalloyed good feeling prompted by a fresh appearance for her long-term protagonist Inspector Wexford is something to be savoured, and we are once again in safe hands here.
A man taking his dog for a walk in a wooded area stumbles across a grim object -- a severed human hand. The body to which it belongs has been hidden from sight for years, as Wexford subsequently finds out. Of course, with the uncountable numbers of missing persons in police files, Wexford is well aware it will be an uphill struggle tracking down the identity of the body. Shortly after, in the basement of a disused cottage, another victim of violence is discovered, and Wexford and his reliable team find themselves attempting to discover connections between the murders.
My review:
A body gets found in an old overgrown field by a dog walker. It is quickly established that the body has been there for around 10 years, and could not have died from natural causes. In good old fashioned detective story style, we have several suspects. There is grumpy John Grimble, owner of the field where the body was found. Grimble is your arch-typical does-not-get-on-with-authority-person. He wanted to develop the fields into housing, but this was not allowed. Indeed, he has started already to dig - almost 10 years ago! - but than was not allowed to continue. On the grounds of this field is also an old cottage where Grimble's old dad used to live. And another body gets found there, dead for at least 8 years so it can be established. It is reasonable to assume that there is a connection between the two bodies. Most neighbours have various kind of alibis, but all of them seem to come apart one way or another.
Let's face it - with book 21 in this series, we certainly know what we are going to get here. An Inspector Wexford book with all the usual trimmings. Good old style English crime, a 'whodunnit' in modern day setting. Several suspects - some more in the frame than others, red herrings, getting nearer and nearer to the real suspect until the reader can have a good guess. And part of this good guess is being mistaken (or being at the right) in the end.
The setting of the book in the english countryside makes for a quiet pace of the investigation. No inner-city tough cop, but Wrexford and his team who certainly know what they do. And I don't mean this in a bad way. If this is the crime story you enjoy this is exactly what you are going to get. The plot is interesting, with many twists and turns, but not over-complicated.
A book for a fan of the 'Whodunnit' genre which will keep you entertained.
About the author:
Biography
29 May 2014
Title
| The Bone Garden |
Author
| Tess Gerritsen |
Publisher
| Bantam Press |
Publication Date
|
2007
|
Pages
| 524 |
Genre
| Thriller |
Blurb:
A gruesome secret is about to be unearthed…
When a human skull is dug up in a garden near Boston, Dr Maura Isles is called in to investigate. She quickly discovers that the skeleton - that of a young woman - has been buried for over hundred years.
But who was the young woman? And how did she die?
It is the 1830s, and an impoverished medical student, Norris Marshall, is forced to produce corpses in order to further his studies in human anatomy.
It's a gruesome livelihood that will bring him into contact with a terrifying serial killer who slips from ballrooms to graveyards and into autopsy suites.
And who is far, far closer that Norris could ever imagine.
My review:
Crime and medical thriller with a great historic twist - another solid read from the never-disappointing Tess Gerritsen.
The story of this book plays out in two different times with an interlinking plot.
In the present day, divorced teacher Julie finds a skeleton whilst doing some gardening in her new house in Massachusetts. Tests quickly discover that the skeleton is more than 150 years old, and belonged to a young woman who was most likely murdered. Curiosity raided, Julie starts to make enquiries and discovers a murder series in Boston from 1830.
The story than takes us back to 1830 and to Irish immigrant Rose Connolly who witnesses her sister's death in hospital from puerperal fever after childbirth. Rose takes baby Margaret who survives and vows to look after her. But it becomes clear that people are interested in Margaret and want to take her away from Rose, so she starts to hide in the poor areas and underworld of the city. At the same time, we get introduced to Norris Marshall who studies medicine at Boston Medical College. As a poor student he finances his studies by digging up bodies from graves and selling them for medical research. The other students,mostly from rich families, look down at him. Than murders start to happen, and Norris always seems to be near when the murders happens. The college is under pressure to suspend him. He will cross paths with Rose who can give him an alibi and they will come together to discover a secret which will link back to Julie and the skeleton in present day Massachusetts.
This book was a true page turner for me. What will remain in my memory is the dreadful medical conditions at that time (many medications were yet to be discovered and hygiene standards of course nowhere near as to what we know). The hospital and all those women who gave birth deteriorating and dying from childbed fever - something which, as we now know, was mainly caused by poor hygiene standards during delivery and would be easily treatable now, but caused many maternal deaths at that time. Gerritsen describes the smell of death and the devastation in the hospital vividly and I felt myself shudder at the thought. (We easily forget that it is not that long time ago and what difference the good medical care makes to our lives!)
The other thing which will stay in my mind is the business with the dead bodies, the body stealing which was apparently not exactly uncommon, as it was very difficult for medical colleges to get the bodies to do their training / investigations - medical science as we know it was only starting up.
Rose is a very likeable character and I started to feel for her straight away. Norris is a bit of a different story and in fact, I was not quite sure about him right until the end (without wanting to give too much away) - this is of course how Gerritsen manages to create the tension for us.
You will love this book if you love a good mystery and are interested in the history of medicine.
About the author:
24 May 2014
Title
|
Sister
|
Author
| Rosamund Lupton |
Publisher
| Piatkus |
Publication Date
|
2 Sep 2010
|
Pages
| 358 |
Genre
| Crime, Psychological |
Blurb:
Nothing can break the bond between sisters… When Beatrice gets a frantic call in the middle of Sunday lunch to say that her younger sister Tess is missing, she boards the first flight home to London. But as she learns about the circumstances surrounding Tess's disappearance, she is stunned to discover how little she actually knows of her sister's life - and unprepared for the terrifying truths she must now face.
The police, Beatrice's fiancé and even their mother accept they have lost Tess, but Beatrice refuses to give up on her. She embarks on a dangerous journey to discover the truth, no matter the cost.
My review:
If you love crime and psychological thriller with a good twist, give this book a try. I loved it and it left me pondering at the end for a while.
Beatrice and Tess are very different. Whereas Beatrice is somewhat more settled with a good job abroad and a finance, her much younger sister Tess is an artist, bohemian, erratic. But the two are close and Beatrice looks out for her younger sister even after moving to the US and the two sister exchange long and intimate letters.
I don't think I will give a major plot away when I reveal that Tess sadly gets found dead, in a toilet in Hyde Park. But her sister Bee (as Tess had always called her) can't believe what the police is saying - that Tess committed suicide, brought on by postnatal depression and the death of her baby shortly after birth. Bee is more than shocked - she didn't even know Tess was pregnant and can't believe Tess would not have told her. She is convinced that Tess was murdered and sets out to find out the truth. Bee continues to live in Tess' s flat in London and even takes up a job in the same cafe where Tess worked to get to find out as much as possible. And it doesn't take long before Bee discovers that Tess had an affair with her married professor who made it clear he was not interested in the baby. And there is more. Bee also finds out that Tess, as a carrier for Cystic Fibrosis, took park in a medical research program on unborn babies, and the more Bee looks into it, the more this research doesn't sound right. Tess was also followed by an obsessed fellow student. And there is a masked stalker. Or is he one of the others and just wanted to scare Tess?
The book is written with Beatrice as the narrator, in the form of a letter she writes to Tess. In a way, it is a good old-fashioned 'who-dunnit', with a lot in between to keep you completely entertained. I kept guessing and couldn't figure it out, and I certainly couldn't have guessed the ending.
This will be a great book to read with friends / in a book club do discuss afterwards to see what each of you thought, and I bet you get different opinions, especially on the ending. I'm still undecided!
This was Lupton's debut novel which should establish her within the genre of psychological crime thrillers.
Author Bio
Rosamund Lupton read English Literature at Cambridge University. After a variety of jobs in London, including copywriting and reviewing for the Literary Review, she was a winner of Carlton Television's new writers' competition and was selected by the BBC for a place on their new writers' course. She was also invited to join the Royal Court Theatre's writers group. Before becoming a novelist, she was a script-writer for television and film, writing original screenplays. She lives in London with her husband, two children and Tango, a large ginger cat. (From the publisher.)
10 May 2014
Title
|
Gone Girl
|
Author
| Gillian Flynn |
Publisher
| Phoenix |
Publication Date
|
03 Jan 2013
|
Pages
| 515 |
Genre
| Novel, crime, mystery |
Blurb:From Goodreads:
On a warm summer morning in North Carthage, Missouri, it is Nick and Amy Dunne’s fifth wedding anniversary. Presents are being wrapped and reservations are being made when Nick’s clever and beautiful wife disappears. Husband-of-the-Year Nick isn’t doing himself any favors with cringe-worthy daydreams about the slope and shape of his wife’s head, but passages from Amy's diary reveal the alpha-girl perfectionist could have put anyone dangerously on edge. Under mounting pressure from the police and the media—as well as Amy’s fiercely doting parents—the town golden boy parades an endless series of lies, deceits, and inappropriate behavior. Nick is oddly evasive, and he’s definitely bitter—but is he really a killer?
My review:
It is clearly from the beginning that Nick and Amy's marriage is not exactly 'two lovebirds dedicated to each other'. The initial passion between them seems to be replaced with frustration with each other quite soon. When both lose their jobs in NYC and Nick's mother becomes terminally ill, they both move to Nick's old hometown in Missouri where Nick opens a bar. New York born and bred Amy finds it hard to adjust. On their 5th wedding anniversary, Nick leave the house in the morning and when being called back by a neighbour, finds Amy gone and it looks like a struggle took place, with overturned furniture and the kitchen cleaned of blood, lots of blood. With no sign of Amy, the police increasingly suspect Nick and all signs seem to point at him.
The story is told from Nick's point of view, and also from diary entries from Amy, going back to the beginning of their relationship. Nick certainly is no angel, but I found Amy even more disturbing. Her parents are book authors who wrote a children's book series called 'Amazing Amy' which they say is not directly based on their Amy, but it clearly is the golden child they wanted. Amazing Amy continues with her violin lesson and becomes a champion, real life Amy given up on violin lessons. Amazing Amy always does everything right. Real Amy is well known because of the books and people are stalking her, or are they? Or is it just Amy attention seeking?
It was a real page-turner, I read the book within 48 hrs. You never know who is lying and who is telling the truth. Unlike some readers, I did like the ending. It is always a bit difficult to review a book which is really popular and has already been reviewed and talked about so many times. It is difficult to say more without putting major spoilers in, but if you have friends who read the book, this is a brilliant one to discuss and see what your friends think.
(Small) Spoiler
I read only a few reviews about this book before (No major spoilers in those reviews) but what did spoil the reading experience slightly for me was that it said everywhere: 'there is a big twist half-way into the book.' That's why I constantly expected the story to change and was waiting for it, and, quite honestly, almost knew what was going to happen. I wish I could have just read it without reading anything about it before. Maybe the peril of a seasoned reader...
Anything I didn't like?
I did had a bit of trouble getting into it the first 2 chapters or so - but I would urge you to stay with it! It will grip you eventually. Also, the cover is a bit unimaginative?
I purchased this book as paperback. This review is entirely my own opinion.
29 March 2014
Title
|
Book of the Dead
|
Author
| Patricia Cornwell |
Publisher
| BCA |
Publication Date
|
2007
|
Pages
| 387 |
Genre
| crime |
A Kay Scarpetta Novel
This is the 15th Scarpetta Novel. Once again, Cornwell does what she does best, taking Forensic Pathologist Scarpetta to solve a murder.
From the blurb:
The 'Book of the Dead' is the morgue log. The ledger in which all cases are entered by hand. For Kay Scarpetta, however, it is about to have a new meaning.
Fresh from her bruising battle with a psychopath in Florida, Scarpetta decides it's time for a change of pace. Moving to the historic city of Charleston, South Carolina, she opens a unique private forensic pathology practice, one in which she and her colleagues offer expert crime scene investigations and autopsies to communities lacking local access to competent death investigation and modern technology. It seems like an ideal situation, until the murders and other violent deaths begin.
A woman is ritualistically murdered in her multi-million-dollar beach home. the body of an abused young boy is found dumped in a desolate march. A sixteen-year-old tennis star is found nude and mutilated near Piazza Navona in Rome.
Scarpetta has dealt with many brutal and unusual crimes before, but never a string of them as baffling, or as terrifying as the ones before her now. Before she is through, that book of dead will contain many more names - and the pen may be poised to write her own.
For fans of this genre, this is a must read - the same schemata as always, with the forensic pathologist Scarpetta investigating violent and unusual murders which seem to follow her, and this is interwoven with the personal life of Scarpetta and those close to her, particularly her niece Lucy (nice to see a gay character). A host of characters who all play their part, including the mad psychiatrist Dr Self and creepy funeral directors who have stuff to hide. Part of the appeal of series like this who have been running for a long time and with many books is the familiarity. You know what you are going to get. If you are expecting something new and revolutionary here - don't. The book kept me hooked though and guessing 'whodunnit' to the end. Cornwell certainly knowns how to create suspense.
One thing you may need to be aware of is that there is child abuse / child murder in this book, which can be hard to stomach at times (some direct descriptions of the bodies). So if this upsets you, you may want to approach with caution. I suspect that if you do read this kind of novel you may be ok with this sort of thing but I thought I give this little warning.
Oh, and we actually really do have a handwritten log in our mortuary of the bodies coming in…. It's mainly a log to say when they came in, in what fridge, any clothing/jewellery and than it gets 'crossed out' when the body gets clearance from the Coroner to leave. I don't think we call it the book of dead though.
Oh, and we actually really do have a handwritten log in our mortuary of the bodies coming in…. It's mainly a log to say when they came in, in what fridge, any clothing/jewellery and than it gets 'crossed out' when the body gets clearance from the Coroner to leave. I don't think we call it the book of dead though.
20 March 2014
Title
| Trace |
Author
| Patricia Cornwell |
Publisher
| Spere |
First Published
|
04 November 2010
|
Pages
| 460 |
Genre
| Crime, pathology |
There is something comforting about a Kay Scarpetta novel, as you know exactly what you are going to get, and let's face it, not many can do a pathologist at work solving a mystery quite like Patricia Cornwell. I know that she puts a lot of research into her her work. As I work in a mortuary environment with pathologists myself, I can truly tell you that her technical descriptions are mostly really accurate. The only major difference to 'real life' as I know it for pathologists is that they don't really investigate the death, but are just there to establish the cause of death … but hey, we do enjoy Scarpetta doing it all.
This is the 13th (!!) of the Scarpetta novels about Medical Examiner Dr Kay Scarpetta.
From the Blurb:
Five years after being sacked as Chief Medical Examiner, Dr Kay Scarpetta returns to Richmond, Virginia as Consultant Pathologist in the mysterious death of a teenage girl. Gilly Paulsson's death has stumped the best in the business. There is no obvious cause, nothing suspicious except for the fact that Gilly shouldn't be dead. Then Scarpetta uncovers trace evidence: Gilly Paulsson was murdered. But why?
Five years after being sacked as Chief Medical Examiner, Dr Kay Scarpetta returns to Richmond, Virginia as Consultant Pathologist in the mysterious death of a teenage girl. Gilly Paulsson's death has stumped the best in the business. There is no obvious cause, nothing suspicious except for the fact that Gilly shouldn't be dead. Then Scarpetta uncovers trace evidence: Gilly Paulsson was murdered. But why?
Scarpetta's niece, Lucy Farinelli, doesn't want her aunt to get involved and she also has trouble of her own. One of her operatives has been attacked in her home. And whoever attacked her has left clear evidence of his presence. It's as if he deliberately left traces.
For Scarpetta, what began as a forensic puzzle expands into a larger, for more alarming picture. But still the vital pieces are missing. Who is the person tightening the web around her and her loved ones? Revenge is stamped all over this one…
Maybe not one the most life-changing and breathtaking books, but still a page-turner and certainly can be read independently even if you never read a Kay Scarpetta novel before. In fact, I did read the first 3 I think, and another one in the middle, and than this one.
8 March 2014
Title
| The Bone Collector |
Author
| Jeffery Deaver |
Publisher
| Hodder |
Publication Date
|
1997
|
Pages
| 436 |
Genre
| Crime, Psychological, detective story, forensic science |
Mini Review
A good old detective and 'whodunnit' story with a twist.
Lincoln Rhyme is a Forensic Criminalist. He also happens to be a quadriplegic. Rhyme doesn't see much purpose in life. Once the head of NYPD Forensics, he is now bed bound and can only lift as much as finger.
Enter Amelia Sachs, a young NYDP Patrol Officer who is called to attend a potential crime scene by some train tracks. Amelia is observant and intuitive and thus finds bones sticking out of the ground - a finger belonging to businessman who had taken a cab with a co-worker a few days earlier. And the co-worker is still missing.
The two homicide detectives who are investigating the murder and desperately looking for the missing person call upon Rhyme. Hearing about how the finger was found, Rhyme wants to speak to Amelia.
As the murders starts to get more odd, a great working relationship and deep friendship starts to develop between Rhyme and Amelia. And the hunt for the killer - whose setup of the killings seem to get more and more bizarre and gruesome - starts to get personal. This is not for the faint-hearted and the descriptions of the murders and the crime scenes are graphic.
Rhyme and Amelia proved so popular that Deaver started a series with those two as the main investigators.
This book has been turned into a successful movie starring Denzel Washington as Rhyme and Angelia Jolie as Amelia Sachs. What a great pair and I enjoyed the movie just as much, even though I knew the story by then.
13 February 2014
Title
|
Fingersmith
|
Author
| Sarah Waters |
Publisher
| Riverhead Trade |
Publication Date
|
01 October 2002
|
Pages
| 582 |
Genre
| Crime fiction, historical fiction |
A colleague recommended Sarah Waters to me, and this is the book I picked up in the book shop. I can't remember why I chose this title, but just that I thought 'Ok, I'll give it a go. Historical fiction (even if with a twist, as here), in my opinion, can be a bit hit and miss and can quickly turn into a history lesson which is fine if this is what you are after. Not so this book which entertained me from the first page.
The book is separated in three parts. In part one, we get introduced to Sue who is an orphan young woman, living in Victorian London with Mrs Sucksby who brought her up. Now Mrs Sucksby has many orphans under her wing in a Fagan-style operation who work as 'Fingersmith's' = petty thieves. Richard 'Gentleman' Rives arrives at Mrs Sucksby's to propose a scam, and Sue is told that she will have to assist 'Gentleman' who wants to seduce wealthy heiress Maud Lilley and marry her for money, than declare her insane and commit her to an asylum to claim her money. So 'gentleman' sets Sue up to work as a maid with Maud who lives with her uncle in a secluded country home. Maud is kept in the house by her uncle and she helps him compile and take care of his library. The two women are of similar age and slowly, an attraction and passion starts to develop between those two. But Sue is, of course, too aware that she has been sent here to scam Maud and can't help but think: is she doing the right thing?
If you have not read the book and don't know anything further about it, I would very much urge you not to read full reviews of the book if you want to enjoy it fully. The reason is that, from Part 2, the story completely turns on it's head and many things are not like they seem (including the library of Maud's uncle). It took me so much by surprise, I could't believe what I was reading. And that's why I deliberately will not tell you anything else about where this story goes. I can almost guarantee that you won't be able to put it down. I went out straight after and bought all the other Sarah Water's which were available. Yes, you could say I'm a fan. :)
About the Author (taken from Amazon)
Biography
Sarah Waters was born in Wales in 1966 and lives in London. Author of Tipping the Velvet, Affinity, Fingersmith and The Night Watch, her most recent book is The Little Stranger. All of her books have attracted prizes: she won a Betty Trask Award, the Somerset Maugham Award and was twice shortlisted for the Mail on Sunday/John Llewellyn Rhys Prize. Fingersmith and The Night Watch were both shortlisted for the Man Booker and Orange prizes, and Fingersmith won the CWA Ellis Peters Dagger Award for Historical Crime Fiction and the South Bank Show Award for Literature. Tipping the Velvet, Affinity and Fingersmith have all been adapted for television.
31 January 2014
Title
|
I See You
|
Author
| Gregg Hurwitz |
Publisher
| Spere |
Publication Date
|
11 June 2009
|
Pages
| 416 |
Genre
| Thriller, Suspense, Crime |
Drew wakes up in a hospital bed. A detective is standing over him with a crime scene photo - a particularly gruesome photo, showing the blooding dead body of a woman. And than his world falls to pieces, as the detective tells him that he is in hospital recovering from a brain haemorrhage, and that whilst suffering a seizure brought on by the haemorrhage he murdered his ex-finacee. His current girlfriend does not want to know him any more. Drew does not know any more what to believe, and cannot even trust himself. Did he or didn't he do it? He sets out to solve himself what 's happened by writing everything down in a story. But whatever he tries to find out more information, he gets the feeling that someone is trying to frame him.
In retrospect, this was the first book I ever received for review (knowing nothing about book reviews at the time0. My husband was working in a big chain books store at the time, and this book was given to the employees as a 'new author's book'. DH is not too much into crime fiction, so gave it to me. Well, I really did enjoy it. Some of the reviews on Amazon are not too good, stating it is too confusing, but I did not think this to be the case. I did find it an engaging read, and yes, it drags a bit at the beginning and speeds up towards the middle/end,but isn't that true for many books. As with many of my favourite books, the main protagonist is , once again, a writer. Writers write about what they know best - writing. But here we have a good plot and also a surprise ending. What more could I want from a good, entertaining read.
22 January 2014
Title
|
The Profession of Violence - The Rise and Fall of the Kray Twins
|
Author
| John Pearson |
Publisher
| HarperCollins |
Publication Date
|
09 Jan 1995
|
Pages
| 336 |
Genre
| true crime, biography |
When I first came to the UK in 1993 I moved to East London (Walthamstow) and lived in the area (Walthamstow and Leytonstone) for the next 10 years. In October 2000 I saw the burial procession of Reggie Kray through Walthamstow. As I am not native to the area, I didn't really know anything about the Kray brothers, so when I saw this book in a charity shop I thought it would be good to 'educate' myself on those two. I like to read 'real-life- crime stories in general.
The Kray twins were 'the original East End villains', ruling London's East End of the 1950's and 60's . Born in 1933 in Hoxton, East London, from an early age, they were involved in armed robberies, arson, protection rackets, violent assaults including torture and finally, murders. The book outlines their early life including information on their parents and grandparents and their rise through the ranks of the criminals of London's East End. There were many things I didn't know - not having read a lot about them before - e.g. that Ronnie suffered from paranoid schizophrenia, Ronnie being bisexual which he was apparently quite open about and despite general hostility in society towars gays at the time, he was accepted within the criminal world as such.
The book very much keeps to the facts without being judgemental, which I prefer in 'real-life' crime books, thus completely overcoming the devide opinion about the Kray twins - vicious villans or glamourous gangsters.
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