Vintage Crime by Martin Edwards

Each story is a hidden gem and edited by Martin Edwards.  Some are vintage others are more contemporary but they will stay in your bookshelf because good works of writing always do. I discovered new Authors, and others I had read, but the stories were new to me. I had a hard time putting this down but you will love the variety. Highly recommended...five stars...



Blurb:

Vintage Crime is a CWA anthology with a difference, celebrating members’ work over the years. The book will gather stories from the mid-1950s until the twenty-first century by great names of the past, great names of the present together with a few hidden treasures by less familiar writers. The first CWA anthology, Butcher’s Dozen, appeared in 1956, and was co-edited by Julian Symons, Michael Gilbert, and Josephine Bell. The anthology has been edited by Martin Edwards since 1996, and has yielded many award-winning and nominated stories in the UK and overseas.

This new edition includes an array of incredible and award-winning authors: Robert Barnard, Simon Brett, Liza Cody, Mat Coward, John Dickson Carr, Marjorie Eccles, Martin Edwards, Kate Ellis, Anthea Fraser, Celia Fremlin, Frances Fyfield, Michael Gilbert, Paula Gosling, Lesley Grant-Adamson, HRF Keating, Bill Knox, Peter Lovesey, Mick Herron, Michael Z. Lewin, Susan Moody, Julian Symons and Andrew Taylor.

George Bellairs has quickly become one of my favorite writers. His characters are quirky and not always pleasant but add to the story. Penelope Blow is one of those books that remind me of what a wonderful story teller does for a plot. The gentle, timid Penelope who is quite insistent about seeing Inspector Littlejohn leaves her name but the information is never received. A murder occurs...

This books was first published in 1951. Bellairs is often referred to as having dark humor in his books but it is done with a dry twist. I always enjoy his books and I think you will too...

Blurb:

In the wake of Mr William Blow’s death, his surviving relatives find themselves tangled up in family secrets and financial mystery.

So when Miss Penelope Blow suddenly dies by falling out her bedroom window, suspicions are raised.

With Scotland Yard under pressure to determine the widow’s fall was really accidental, Inspector Littlejohn is called in to get to the bottom of the case.

But the deeper Littlejohn delves into the case, the more secrets he finds.

From malice to madness, there is one possible cause. Can Littlejohn uncover the truth before another tragedy befalls the Blows?

Lowcountry Boondoggle (A Liz Talbot Mystery Book Nine)

Charleston is one of my favorite Cities, so naturally, Stella Mars would be one of my favorite fictional Islands off the Coast of it. This is the ninth book and I highly recommend it. We find out more about the former murder in Book Eight and the relationship between Nick and Liz. This series of Books has won a couple of awards, which shows shows you the high standard of Boyer, and the wonderful way you can walk all the streets and see charming buildings and delicious food. The Mystery is first rate....giving it five stars.

Blurb:

Private investigators Liz Talbot and Nate Andrews thought they’d put Darius Baker’s troubles to rest—then his recently discovered son ropes him into a hemp farm investment with his college buddies. When a beloved Charleston professor—and potential investor—is murdered, Liz and Nate discover Darius keeps the PIs on speed dial.

A shocking number of people had reasons to want the genteel, bowtie wearing, tea-drinking professor dead. Was it one of his many girlfriends or a disgruntled student? Or perhaps Murray was killed because his failure to invest meant the hemp farm trio’s dreams were going up in smoke?

Though Liz’s long-dead best friend, Colleen, warns her the stakes are far higher than Liz imagines, she is hellbent on finding the no-good killer among the bevy of suspects. But will the price of justice be more than Liz can bear?

Take a virtual vacation to Charleston in Susan M. Boyer’s latest Southern charmer, Lowcountry Boondoggle. It’s a trip you don’t want to miss.

Script for Scandal (A Lilian Frost and Edith Head mystery Book 3) by Renee Patrick

Patrick has written all the modern day effects of Film Noir, with its snappy dialogue and hints of Hollywood, in this Mystery. The friendship between Lillian and Edith Head continues in Book Three. However, the story mostly focuses on Lillian's relationship with an LAPD boyfriend, who cannily resembles a character in a Grade B Manuscript, about to be published. That Officer planned a robbery and managed to get his friend killed and then became involved with the friend's wife in the script. This is a real scandal that has hung over Gene Morrow, so did the script fit? I think I could have followed a lot better if I had read Book One and Two which I recommend you do. But the expressions of the time frame are just "swell."

I like film noirs with a lot of mystery and characters. So, the book was right up my alley, with another suspicious death adding to the background. This won't be to everyone's taste but the tidbits fed you of stars and the back production works of movies, will make it palatable. Certainly, the lines fed to Starlets with growing aspirations read well...just like in the Movies.

Blurb:

1939, Los Angeles. Lillian Frost is shocked when her friend, glamorous costume designer Edith Head, hands her the script to a new film that's about to start shooting. Streetlight Story is based on a true crime: the California Republic bank robbery of 1936. Lillian's beau, LAPD detective Gene Morrow, was one of the officers on the case; his partner, Teddy, was tragically shot dead.


It seems the scriptwriter has put Gene at the centre of a scandal, twisting fact with fiction - or has he? With Gene reluctant to talk about the case, the movie quickly becoming the hottest ticket in town, a suspicious death on the Paramount studio lot and the police reopening the investigation into Teddy's death, Lillian is determined to find answers. Can Lillian and Edith uncover the truth of what happened that fateful day and clear Gene's name?

Shredding The Evidence ( A Cookbook Nook Mystery 9) by Daryl Wood Gerber

Daryl Wood Gerber writes a delicious, food mystery, loaded with fun characters, and with a California Twist.  The Food Bowl is one of the big events of Chrystal Cove, with a lot of exotic, delicious, food and a bevy of Chefs when murder comes calling. A food Critic has been causing problems for Tito, Bailey's Husband and has been found dead. Bailey works for Jenna Hart and once again- Jenna finds herself in the midst of a murder investigation. Gerber provides a list of the characters so you can jump right in to enjoy the mystery without having read previous Books.

This ninth mystery bring us up to date with our group of  book friends. The descriptions of the town along with mouth- watering food and recipes are a huge part of the fun. I enjoy the little tidbits of jogging, tarot reading, and the titles of cook books. I can imagine how fun it would be to live in a town like this with all the little shops and multi-generational friends and relatives. If you enjoy food mysteries then you will certainly like the warmth of Gerber's writing. 


Blurb:

The Agatha Award–winning author of Sifting Through Clues returns to the Cookbook Nook, where a combative food reporter gets her just deserts . . .

The denizens of Crystal Cove are salivating over the upcoming Food Bowl Week, when local chefs offer some of their best and most imaginative creations in bite-size portions all over town. Bookstore proprietor Jenna Hart is hungry to sample as many of the delicacies as she can, but when she stumbles onto the dead body of a local food reporter and learns that her best friend’s husband is the primary suspect, she’ll have to summon the appetite for a side dish of sleuthing to prove his innocence.

Jenna knows the ambitious and aggressive reporter, who was strangled at a fitness center with her shredded restaurant reviews scattered around her, left behind a long list of potential suspects. As she begins piecing together the scant clues, she uncovers illicit ties between the victim and a local newspaper owner, a spurned would-be lover, and a host of disgruntled restaurant owners not a bit torn up by the critical reporter’s demise. And with a solution so close she can almost taste it, Jenna turns up the heat on the culprit, realizing too late that she’s the next course on the murderer’s menu . . .

Includes tasty recipes!

He'd Rather Be Dead (An Inspector Littlejohn Mystery) by George Bellairs

 George Bellairs published,"He'd Rather Be Dead," in 1945. Readers learn more about Inspector Littlejohn's method of tracking down a murderer and his gentle persistence as he checks alibi's and past lives. The holiday town holds many, dark secrets and the Residents would rather Littlejohn not know of the graft and politics that endure. Bellairs always has a dab hand in describing the people and the background in his books. It is one of the things that makes reading him so enjoyable.

WWII in Europe is going on when this Mystery is written, so that makes it particularly interesting to me. I love the Carnival atmosphere and the sidekick the Inspector inherits in Inspector Harvester. The social imbalance is of interest because England was definitely based on a class system much sterner and stricter than ours. Bellairs makes great reading if you are interested in building the background, as well as the characters. I am... so, he has become one of my favorite Authors.  Murder once started is hard to control though... will there be more?

Blurb:

The mayor of Westcome, Sir Gideon Ware, has a speciality for painting a target on his own back. Most recently, he has gained numerous enemies for transforming the quaint harbour town into a sprawling, manmade boardwalk through a series of bribes, blackmail, and backhand deals.

So when Sir Gideon Ware dies at his annual luncheon, it’s no surprise that foul play is suspected.

Inspector Littlejohn is brought in to investigate the murder, but with so many motives to sort through, the suspect list is endless. And with the Chief Constable covering up critical clues at every turn, Littlejohn is left on his own to get to the bottom of Ware’s murder.

But when a second body is found, Littlejohn’s investigation gets put on a fatal timer.

Evil By The Sea (A By the Sea Mystery Book Four) by Kathleen Bridge

Kathleen Bridge writes a Community of People we all would love to know. Liz Holt has moved home to the Indiatlantic Inn, which is a Hotel and Emporium, in Melbourne Beach, Florida that her Family owns. Dorian Starwood, with hair that contains glittery strands of metallic green, pink, and gold has been her Aunt's Psychic for over twenty years and now she is having a second, small, wedding.The Groom is Wiccan Leader, Julian Rhodes. Liz's Aunt is a double for Esmeralda in Bewitched including eye liner and curls. During the Mystical Merafest, tents are set up for Sirens by the Sea, Delicacies By the Sea, and many others but there is Murder afoot. Liz had better get busy before she ends up as the next body.

This is a lovely trip to quirky characters, psychics, incense, and a fabulous cast of characters. If I hadn't run into some of these people in Florida I might think I was in the 1970's. It makes me want to get out my beads, wear patchouli and join them. But with murder, delicious food, beautiful vistas, creative characters, a Parrot and a Ferret - the understated humor is a winner for this Mystery. Five Stars 

Blurb:

Liz Holt is bewitched, bothered, and bewildered when a wicked killer objects to a wiccan wedding . . .   

Island life can get pretty weird. Wiccan weddings, psychic brides, mermaid parades, eccentric parrots . . . Novelist Liz Holt has gotten used to it since moving back to the barrier island of Melbourne Beach, Florida, and once again working in her family's hotel and emporium, the Indialantic by the Sea. But one thing she'll never get used to is murder.

Groom-to-be and leader of the Sunshine Wiccan Society, white warlock Julian Rhodes is poisoned at his rehearsal dinner on the hotel's sightseeing cruiser. His psychic bride, Dorian Starwood, never saw it coming. An old friend of Liz's great-aunt Amelia, the celebrity psychic engages Liz to find out who intended to kill her intended. With her Macaw, Barnacle Bob, squawking "Pop Goes the Weasel" at Dorian's pet ferret, and the streets teeming with mermaids in tails, Liz has got to wade through the weirdness and cast a wide net for the killer—before she's the next one to sleep with the fishes . . .
 

Murder to Music by Margaret Newman

Margaret Newman wrote Murder to Music in 1959 as her first mystery novel. She was a prolific writer and many of her other books are published under Anne Betteridge, Margaret Potter or  Anne Melville, in which she wrote historical novels. In this mystery Detective Superintendent Simon Hudson is dating Delia Jones, and gives her a ride to a London Choral Society Meeting. The meetings are fraught with  conflict due to the Assistant Conductor, Owen Burr. He is a man who is musically talented but causes people to dislike him intensely.

The characters are a nice touch by Newman. They are very English and have gone through World War II. She has elderly women who have devoted their lives to the Chamber, ambitious young men- very talented, and two sets of couples to add romance. On the night of one of their most ambitious programs, who would ever have predicted murder? The setting is tight but I found some of the lesser characters more developed than Supt. Hudson, which did not make the mystery less interesting because the red herrings flew fast and furious. The end was a surprise to me. Four stars

Blurb:

You must have a curious taste, to love someone whom you believe to be capable of murder.’

Detective Superintendent Simon Hudson finds himself in a difficult position. Attending the Metropolitana Choir’s concert was intended to make him a supportive partner… not the head of a murder investigation. But when the conductor drops dead during the performance, Hudson winds up with a shocking list of suspects – including his girlfriend.

Unable to keep his professional and personal lives separate, Hudson finds himself embroiled in the peculiar hatreds and spiteful grudges that dominate the Metro’s managing committee. Desperate to ensure his girlfriend’s innocence, Hudson must work quickly to bring the murderer to light before it’s too late.

This melodic murder mystery, brimming with charm and wit, was first published in 1959 and was Margaret Newman’s first novel.

Murder to Music is also part of Agora Books' Uncrowned Queens of Crime series.

A Stroke of Malice (A Lady Darby Mystery Book Eight) by Anna Lee Huber

Book Eight of the Lady Darby Series has the happy couple attending a Twelfth Night Event at the Duchess of Bowmont's Castle. The elite gathering, started earlier in the day with the heralding of Trumpets while each guest drew a role to play at the Event. The evening revelry soon descends into drunkenness and fissures appear beneath the jibing, prompting Lord Edward to do a ghost tour. The guests all are led into the basement with its damp, cold and rats. But the real terror lies in the catacombs under Kirkbryde Abbey and joined at the very far corner of the Castle by an opening in the stonework. Led deeper into the underground of gray stonework, and the ghost of a monk, the story takes a bizarre twist for the guests. Who is the new body placed there... that met such violence, for the the face has been chewed by Rats. Kiera, Lady Darby decides to help the family and pursue a murderer.

I had these books recommended to me by a friend, who devoured them. I can see why... Anna Lee Huber writes with a deft touch and very eerie overtones. Who could resist all the elements of the aristocracy during the 1830's?  The parties, costumes, love affairs and as an added spice- murder, start the book in the first four chapters. The tension builds as Lady Darby and her Husband Sebastian Gage track a murderer? This story has all the makings of the great Gothics of the 1970's. Who could resist unknown corpses, rats, underground catacombs, suspicious characters, and a tense build-up leading to the last page?

Blurb:

Lady Kiera Darby and her husband Sebastian Gage are looking forward to celebrating with new friends at an exciting yearly soiree, but they soon learn that murder never takes a holiday in the latest riveting installment in this national bestselling series.

January 1832. After enjoying a delightful few weeks with her family, expectant mother Kiera and Sebastian Gage have been invited to the Duchess of Bowmontʼs Twelfth Night party in Traquair, Scotland. Though she normally avoids such fashionable, rambunctious events, Kiera is ready to join in the festive merrymaking. But upon their arrival at the opulent estate, it becomes obvious that all is not merry in their hostess’s home. The family appears to be under a great strain, and someone seems determined to cause mayhem among the guests with a series of forged notes.

Matters swiftly turn from irksome to downright deadly when the partygoers stumble upon a decomposing body in the castleʼs crypt. The corpse is thought to be the duchessʼs son-in-law who had purportedly traveled to Paris more than a month earlier. It is evident the man met with foul play, and Kiera and Gage soon realize that a ruthless murderer walks among them—and may well be a member of the duchessʼs own family. And when the investigation takes a treacherous turn, Kiera discovers just how deep the killer is willing to dig to keep their secrets from ever seeing the light of day.

Berried in the Past (A Cranberry Cove Mystery Book Five) by Peg Cochran

Peg Cochran throws you right into the mystery with a bang-up first chapter. There is a knock on the door and a woman, disheveled and stunned, claims someone is trying to kill her. She is taken back the next morning to her family home, and it is apparent that her Sister is dead and has been for several days. The writing is smooth and continuous allowing us to catch up with the back history of Monica and Greg. They are living in a small cottage owned by Monica until they build their own House and start a family.

The background is scrumptious. We have a baking area and a store which means lot of recipes and food...the air is filled with all those goodies. I love anything with cranberries so there is no problem with that. The atmosphere is icy and snowy, with winter days and a shivery, continuous, mystery. Red herrings are folded into the story as neatly as a recipe. In fact, I highly recommend you get a cup of tea and a muffin and read this on an evening you can pretend you are next to a roaring fire. This book has everything...likeable characters, mystery and great food.

Blurb:

On a night of heavy snow and bitter cold, newlyweds Monica and Greg are comfortably nestled before a warm fire when they’re roused by a late-night knock at the door. Surprised to find a troubled and confused woman on the doorstep, Monica is even more shocked when the woman vacantly utters that someone is trying to kill her. Sensing distress but not danger, Monica decides to help this mysterious woman, but her clouded recollections yield little—until she dredges up memories of her sister and a nearby home, where they find the woman’s sister, dead.

Unable to deny her own curiosity or the woman’s request for help, Monica begins digging into the suspicious death, only to discover a murky family history of valuable land, a bullying brother, an unscrupulous real estate developer, and endless rumors of good deeds met with bad blood. And when the trail of the killer begins to turn cold, Monica realizes that while the family wants to bury their sister, someone is out to bury the clues—and if Monica’s not careful, to bury her as well . . .
Includes tasty recipes!

Death Stops The Frolic by George Bellairs

This is a little different from the Inspector Littlejohn series that I love. It is an earlier book of Bellairs, first published under the name Turmoil in Zion, 1943. However, it still has the flair toward unusual names and the tendency to allow us to peek into English village life during the war years. Bellairs will always be one of my favorite Writers from the period because of his characters and the satire he sprinkles generously throughout the plot.

Start with another Bellairs though if this is your first read with the Author. I found the Story enjoyable but different from his later work. Still, a good "who dunnit" and much better than many of today's mysteries which is why I enjoy Bellairs. This Mystery is worth having in your collection as one of his stand-alone works.

Blurb:
On a joyous afternoon filled with tea and cake, something strange happens at Zion Chapel’s Anniversary Tea Party. The infamous Alderman Harbuttle is behaving uncharacteristically playful – laughing with the assembly, singing rhymes, and leading people in a rousing game of Follow-My-Leader throughout the chapel’s winding halls.

But his jubilee is cut short when the revellers find the Alderman’s murdered body in the dark recesses of the chapel, a bread knife buried to the hilt in his chest.

Superintendent Nankivell of the local police force takes up the case, and his investigation quickly stirs up sinister secrets lurking within the walls of Zion Chapel. His suspect list soon proves massive, as he learns there are many people who would be happier without the sanctimonious Alderman Harbuttle around…

Answer in the Negative by Henrietta Hamilton

Henrietta Hamilton was an English Author known for her crime-solving married couple, Johnny and Sally Heldar. Agora Publishing, has decided to reprint these books from the 1950's and this was a fabulous choice. I liked the whole environment of the Era, but in particular- drawing rooms, drinks, drizzly weather and the quirky English Characters. Set them in a book and a Photo Archives environment and I feel right at home.

The War years are over but England still has bombed-out sites and scars left in people as well. A series of nasty pranks keep getting worse and Johnny Heldar is called in...who works with his wife. They plan a siege...watching everyone in the Archive Office. Things take a turn for the worse and the unlikeliest of victims is murdered. Trying to solve this mystery and figure out whodunit was a lot of fun...but will the first murder be the last? Hamilton has a way of building clues that kept me guessing till the early hours.
4 stars good book

Blurb:
At The National Press Archives on Fleet Street, archive assistant Frank Morningside has become the recipient of nasty poison pen letters and cruel practical jokes. With Frank disliked by many, his superior Toby Lorn is concerned by the number of potential suspects. And when the nature of the letters becomes even more vulgar, things take a sinister turn.

Toby calls on his friends Sally and Johnny Heldar, two amateur sleuths, to investigate. Posing as researchers, Sally and her husband Johnny go undercover to scout out the myriad of suspects at the archive. But just as the Heldars begin to make some progress, Morningside is found dead in his office, bludgeoned by a box of glass negatives.

When another suspicious death occurs within the company, the Heldars fear they may be in over their heads.

Answer in the Negative was first published in 1959 and is part of Agora Books’ Uncrowned Queens of Crime series.

The Body in the Dumb River: A Yorkshire Mystery by George Bellairs

James Lane is found face down in a dirty, flooded area wrapped around a tree. Inspector Littlejohn has one of his more interesting cases because Jimmy was leading a double life. He had owned a shop that was unsuccessful and so he had taken to the road to earn a living. Those monies went to support a wife who considered herself much too good for him and their three Daughters. But a double life is bound to come out as will murder.

George Bellairs writes a tight plot with very defined characters in this Book. The plot has a lot of twists and turns which always makes for great reading. This is a part of English village life that moves in greed, violent temper and strong drink. The Women are particularly interesting in their whining, dis-satisfied lives trying to keep up appearances. Inspector Littlejohn has a lot on his plate when he interviews them and tries to separate who is lying from the rest of the cast of villagers.

I have become an Admirer of George Bellairs. His characters are not always attractive but they are real and convincing. They build the story often through shadowy lives. The unintended consequences are almost as prevalent if we had a cast of Oliver Twist nineteenth century models to follow. If you like older murder mysteries set in England from the 1940's to the 1960's this is a very good Author to read. Personally I do. I give this five stars and highly recommend it.

Blurb:

Mystery crime fiction written in the Golden Age of Murder
'A decent, hardworking chap, with not an enemy anywhere. People were surprised that anybody should want to kill Jim.'
But Jim has been found stabbed in the back near Ely, miles from his Yorkshire home. His body, clearly dumped in the usually silent ('dumb') river, has been discovered before the killer intended – disturbed by a torrential flood in the night.
Roused from a comfortable night's sleep Superintendent Littlejohn of Scotland Yard is soon at the scene. With any clues to the culprit's identity swept away with the surging water, Bellairs' veteran sleuth boards a train heading north to dredge up the truth of the real Jim Teasdale and to trace the mystery of this unassuming victim's murder to its source.

The Long Farewell by Michael Innes

Blurb:

Lewis Packford, the great Shakespearean scholar, was thought to have discovered a book annotated by the Bard - but there is no trace of this valuable object when Packford apparently commits suicide. Sir John Appleby finds a mixed bag of suspects at the dead man's house, who might all have a good motive for murder. The scholars and bibliophiles who were present might have been tempted by the precious document in Packford's possession. And Appleby discovers that Packford had two secret marriages, and that both of these women were at the house at the time of his death.

Review:

I loved this book. The literary illusions were fun, the characters were eccentric, intellectual and lived in a very elite environment of  rare books and mysteries. It is loaded with twists and turns with moments of wry humor interspersed. This book may not be everyone's cup of tea but for those of us that love elegant mysteries you will really enjoy it... Five Stars

Spitfire (A Livy Nash Mystery) by M.L. Huie

M. L. Huie writes a tense, gritty, knuckle- biting adventure with moments of WWII that will stay in your memory. The men and women that trained for the SOE and were parachuted into Paris while occupied...so very many of them died. It is a fascinating period of History with Women as well as Men bearing deep scars because of things they have seen. They were trained to kill in hand- to- hand combat and worked with the French Resistance.

Olivia drinks too much and works for the Paper writing a Woman's Column. She has been through what only hardened combat soldiers go through during the War and her job bores her. Mr. Fleming approaches her about joining Intelligence and from that point on this book takes off and doesn't let go. There are twists and turns and heart-break and sheer determination and you feel every emotion with her. Her flaws do not make her less likeable and the Characters twist and turns with double- cross as a main feature and trust very limited.

If you like WWII thrillers then this is the book for you. I do.This book is highly recommended. It has a proper bite and doesn't stop surprising you until the last page. Five Stars...

Blurb:

How far would you go for vengeance?

It's V-E Day 1946 in London. World War II is long over, and former spy Livy Nash is celebrating with her third drink before noon. She went to war to kill Nazis. Dropped behind enemy lines as a courier, she quickly became one of the toughest agents in France. But her war ended with betrayal and the execution of the man she loved. Now, Livy spends her days proofreading a demeaning advice column for little ladies at home, and her nights alone with black market vodka.

But everything changes when she meets the infamous Ian Fleming. The man who will create the world's most sophisticated secret agent has an agenda of his own and sends Livy back to France with one task: track down the traitor who killed the only man she ever loved. Livy jumps at the chance, heading back to Paris undercover as a journalist. But the City of Lights is teeming with spies, and Livy quickly learns just how much the game has changed. With enemies on every corner and ever-shifting alliances, she'll have to learn to fight a new war if she wants to conquer the past once and for all.

Facets of Death by Michael Stanley

Michael Stanley is the writing team of  retired Professors Michael Sears and Stanley Trollip. They clearly have a love of Botswana which is in every page of these mysteries. The fear of a Witch Doctor and his gruesome packages adds an eerie touch to the book. Their writing style is an odd mix of gentle pacing, with the unusual mix of dogged police work. All in all this adds up to a very winning combination for a mystery. 

The main Character Sgt. Kabu is working very hard to make a name for himself in this preliminary book, that provides us with his background. He has a lot to learn, but has to overcome prejudice mixed with resentment. He came straight from the University and some of his co-workers resent him for entering the Police Force that way. Kabu has some heart- warming incidents... with a girl he gets a crush on and some hard taxing from an Asst. Supervisor but he is learning and working hard.

The background of this book has a wide-scoped Afrikaan frame- with murders intertwined with Witch Doctors and the Diamond Industry. The Book's pace is very easy-going but consistent. The Police Character is named after a Hippo, which after the first snicker, I settled down with very comfortably and rooted him on. The Background is magnificent and the Character is humble and the style is easy to read. This is a prequel to the award winning series and a great addition.

Blurb:


David Bengu has always stood out from the crowd. His personality and his physique match his nickname, Kubu—Setswana for "hippopotamus"—a seemingly docile creature, but one of the deadliest in Africa. His keen mind and famous persistence have seen him rise in the Botswana CID. But how did he get his start?

His resentful new colleagues are suspicious of a detective who has entered the CID straight from university, skipping the usual beat cop phase.


Shortly after he joins the CID, the richest diamond mine in the world is robbed of 100,000 carats of diamonds in transit. The robbery is well-executed and brutal. Police immediately suspect an inside job, but there is no evidence of who it could be.
When the robbers are killed execution-style in South Africa and the diamonds are still missing, the game changes, and suspicion focuses on a witch doctor and his son. Does "Kubu" have the skill and the integrity to engineer an international trap and catch those responsible, or will the biggest risk of his life end in disaster?

e match his nickname, Kubu—Setswana for "hippopotamus"—a seemingly docile creature, but one of the deadliest in Africa. His keen mind and famous persistence have seen him rise in the Botswana CID. But how did he get his start?Inauspiciously. His resentful new colleagues are suspicious of a detective who has entered the CID straight from university, skipping the usual beat cop phase. Nearly broke, with no car or wife, Kubu has the support of his parents, but success will depend on self-reliance. He is immediately plunged into investigations at two airports.

One takes him to the airport near Gaborone where something criminal is going on in baggage claim.
The other begins at Jwaneng Airport, where a plane bursts into flames. It's the opening move in a brutal heist of stones from the world's richest diamond mine. The robbers die in a shoot-out, but the diamonds remain missing. So who masterminded the crime? Rumors of a witch doctor's involvement send the detectives down a dark path. Ultimately, new recruit Kubu finds himself engineering a risky trap. Will his first major case prove his worth—or kill his career?

Fell Murder (British Library Crime Clasics) by E.C. Lorac

Edith Caroline Rivett ,who wrote under the pseudonym E.C.R. Lorac, had a long running series with Inspector McDonald. The Author penned this during the War Years in 1944, and it has strong touches of all the hardships Britain went through. The story is set among the fells and downs of rural England, centered around a Family named Garth. They are Farmers now, but in times past- they had great wealth. They still live in the Manor House, with part of the rooms shut up, and large portions of land. The 82 year old Father is a harsh man- some say fair, but he is hot-tempered and at times cruel. The eldest son, Richard, married Mary, the Daughter of Ashthwaite, and fought with his Father over it. Twenty five years later and Richard is back hiking the countryside he loved. His wife Mary, died due to a lack of funds when something went wrong with the baby. Richard has never forgiven his Father, but, is it just coincidence that his Father is murdered after he reaches England?

He is not the only one back. Charles, who hates farming, is back from Malaya ,with no funds and bitterly resentful. Malcolm, the child of the second wife has a bad heart and is a poet and hated his Father for making fun of it. The only one who really loves farming is the only daughter and she cannot inherit the entailed land. Elizabeth is also staying there to help on the farm as a Land Girl.

E.C.R. Lorac writes a tightly- woven, mystery.The Garth's are an old family in rural England with many ties to the farming people around them. The Author has a way of making them come alive. Some are likeable- others not as much, but their lives revolve around the weather, bringing in the crops,  and helping their neighbors. The land is as much a character as the people and Lorac does not hesitate to use its beauty for both opportunity to develop characters and for murder. The story progressed in a slow- pace...building...  and I had no idea where all the red herrings would lead. But as the tension simmered I began to wonder... would this be the only murder? I am giving it five stars because I love this type of English Mystery.

Blurb:

A classic Golden Age mystery from acclaimed author E.C.R. Lorac
'...this crime is conditioned by the place. To understand the one you've got to study the other.'
The Garths had farmed their fertile acres for generations, and fine land it was with the towering hills of the Lake Country on the far horizon. Here hot-tempered Robert Garth, still hale and hearty at eighty-two, ruled Garthmere Hall with a rod of iron. Until, that is, old Garth was found dead—'dead as mutton'—in the trampled mud of the ancient outhouse.

Glowering clouds gather over the dramatic dales and fells as seasoned investigator Chief Inspector Macdonald arrives in the north country. Awaiting him are the reticent Garths and their guarded neighbors of the Lune Valley; and a battle of wits to unearth their murderous secrets.
First published in 1944, Fell Murder is a tightly-paced mystery with authentic depictions of its breathtaking locales and Second World War setting.

This edition also includes the rare E.C.R. Lorac short story 'The Live Wire'.