A Stranger from the Storm by William Burton McCormick

 

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You can buy Stranger from the Storm...Here

You can find out more about William Burton McCormick...Here

The Blurb...

The year is 1900. The port city of Odessa on the Black Sea is being terrorized by a brutal killer called the Specter. With five people already dead, the murderer promises more.

One family, the Karadopoulinas, run a boarding house. Sisters Tasia and Eleni feel certain the killer is a scarred, shambling Londoner who took lodging with them one night during a thunderstorm. Furtive and threatening, Henry Humble, stalks Odessa’s labyrinth of interlocking courtyards and foggy docks at night, armed with weapons and skeleton keys.

As the body count rises, so do the questions...
Who is the mysterious figure haunting the catacombs below the streets of Odessa?
Why won’t Eleni’s police constable sweetheart investigate?
Who will be the next to die?

A Victorian-style murder mystery with elements of horror, adventure, and Hitchcockian black humor. "

My Review...

A Stranger from the Storm is a novella, that is easy and quick to read. It is unusual in its setting. I haven't read many books set in Eastern Europe and none set in Odessa in 1900, so that was an enjoyable first. The American author clearly knows his way around Europe.

The plot centres around twins Eleni and Anastasia who live and work in their impoverished widowed, mother's boarding house. One night during a terrible storm a strange and mysterious man comes to stay. At the same time there is an ongoing spate of child murders in the city. Are the two connected? Eleni and Anastasia get drawn in to the sinister riddle.

False trails and red herrings abound and the plot takes a left turn mid way. The main characters all change to a greater or lesser extent throughout the book, which is far more interesting than a plethora of stable straight line characters

There is a wicked sense of humour in this enjoyable slightly macabre tale which contrast nicely along side the mist shrouded docks and impending sense of threat hanging in the air.

There is a slight whiff of Fritz Lang's "M" with Peter Lorre, Conan Doyle's Victorian era stories, Edgar Allan Poe's "Murders in the Rue Morgue" and most intriguingly the Coen brothers Fargo

A Beautifully balanced slightly creepy unusual tale in an unusual setting in an unusual era. 

Selected Quotes...

"Well, if you learned the English language from Welsh miners it's a miracle you can speak a word."

"He's got a hideous scar, Mama," whispered Eleni. Mother arranged her drenched hair, peering into the looking glass perched on the bookshelf. "Eleni, it's not the body that matters but the soul." "Well, his soul better be pretty good."

"He's so much sweeter to Mother, isn't he?" "Maybe he fancies her. What kind of name is 'Henry?'" "One of their kings." "What'd he do?" "Killed all his wives."

"Play the music, Tasia, not simply the notes."

He glanced out the window. "Well, we shouldn't feel too safe and cozy. An unsettled mind may seek new challenges, don't you think?" "That's why we bolt the doors, Mister…" "Mr. Henry Humble, at your service."

About the Author

William Burton McCormick was born in Maryland and raised in Nevada. He has lived in seven countries including Ukraine, Latvia, Estonia and Russia solely for the purpose of writing.

William graduated from Brown University with degrees in Ancient Studies and Computer Science and earned an MA in Novel Writing from the University of Manchester. He has won awards in the production of entertainment and educational software, co-owned a company to reduce junk e-mail, and worked as an executive recruiter in the Washington D.C. area.

He was elected a Hawthornden Fellow in 2013.

William's fiction has appeared in "The Saturday Evening Post," "Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine," "Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine," "Sherlock Holmes Mystery Magazine," and "Over My Dead Body!" He is a Shamus, Derringer and Claymore awards finalist and member of Mystery Writers of America, the Crime Writers Association and International Thriller Writers.

Astrid & The Girl in the Tangerine Dress by Alan Roderick

 

You can buy Astrid & The Girl in the Tangerine Dress...Here

The Blurb...

Ace Welsh Private Investigator Astrid Price is up to her neck in murder and mayhem and facing a series of seemingly unsolvable problems. Who is the elusive Girl in the Tangerine Dress and why has she disappeared? Where is the missing first ever recording of the Welsh National Anthem? And why are so many people being knifed to death?

As the sun beats down relentlessly and the Welsh Republic prepares to vote in a new government, amidst increasing tensions with England and Ireland, Astrid pounds the mean streets of the twin cities of Casnewydd and Maendy in search of answers.

In her quest for truth and justice, she encounters ‘bent coppers’, is threatened, abducted, violently attacked and survives attempts to frame herself, and her best friend and closest confidant for murder, whilst trying to decide what is the role of the Casnewydd Super Dragons in all this and last, but certainly not least, what exactly are her feelings towards the new man in her life.

The text is enhanced with eighteen of Ella J Wilding’s charming black and white drawings.

My Review...

Astrid and The Girl in the Tangerine Dress is a cosy crime set in an alternative and independent Wales.  The characters are vibrant and interesting. I feel the particular strength of the book is it's ingenious setting. The Republic of Wales is newly independent with it's own currency (the Glyndwyr) and armed forces (the Llewellyn the Last regiment being the equivalent of the SAS.) But all is not well in the new Republic  and tensions are rising with both the English and the Irish. There is a terrorist threat in "The Hammers of Edward," who want to reunite with England. That is a nice mirror image of Meibion Glyndwr.

However I feel the strength of the book maybe a also be a slight weakness. While I am a proud Welshman and man of Gwent, the Welsh references are, if anything, too numerous and may discourage a reader not familiar with the area or culture. I feel the pudding may have been over-egged or perhaps I should say there is too much halen in the cawl.

 

I like that the author draws inspiration from literature in a subtle way. The title seems similar to a Stieg Larrson novel and the plot is very similar to a famous Sherlock Holmes short story. No it's not the one with big dog.

I found the opening few paragraphs intriguing and a very good hook. The knock about comedy was enjoyable and the illustrations were an added bonus. I feel the book lends itself to a younger audience. 

As an aside, when the author switched tack from cosy crime and was in descriptive mode (e.g. opening few paragraphs of Chapter 17) I thought he was very good and couldn't help thinking what the author could do with a serious, alternate history/future  book, similar to Fatherland by Robert Harris, but set in the Republic of Wales.

A fascinating and funny look into the near future in Wales. Fans of Boyd Clack and  Satellite City will love it.

Selected Quotes...

"I had long since ceased trying to count them. Hills with names like Bryn Derwyn, Bryrn Terfel, Brynhyfryd and Bryn Meredith."

"The latest move by Mary Hopkin, our new president, was proving to be a bone of contention with many people. Basically, it meant that all 'slave names' as she insisted on calling them: Wales, Newport, Swansea etc. were effectively outlawed and banned from official usage,"

"Talk about money for old rope, this was going to be easy; I could feel in my Brecon Careg bottled water,"

"..She was wearing a tangerine dress when I saw her...

    Bloody Blackpool supporters,"

About the Author...

Born Newport, Gwent. Educated St Mary’s Primary School, Duffryn High School. Studied French and German, Bradford University, 1965 to 1969, graduating with a Joint Honours Degree in Modern Languages.

Worked at BBC Monitoring Service in Reading. Taught English in the 1970s in Remscheid (where I met librarian Božena Roš) and Ansbach, West Germany.

In 1975, completed Teaching English as a Second Language Certificate at the University College of North Wales, Bangor. Married Božena Roš in Bangor, June 14th, 1975.

Taught German, Bryn Hafren School for Girls in Barry and French and German at Caldicot Comprehensive School.

1980 won the Local History Competition organised by the Gwent Local History Society and the South Wales Argus with my History of the Welsh Language in Gwent.

Articles published in numerous publications. Written/edited fourteen non-fiction books.

Fiction: Astrid Investigates, Astrid and the Golden Lovespoons, Astrid and the Girl in the Tangerine Dress.

Finalist in the John Tripp Spoken Poetry Competition, 2004 and 2011. Read poetry in Newport, Bargoed, Bristol, Merthyr Tydfil, Neath, Penarth, Cardiff, Swansea.

Since November, 2013, organised monthly poetry nights at Newport’s Murenger House. Chairman of The Cwtsh Arts Centre in Stow Hill, Newport.

2020, published: Selected Poems, 1978-2015; Twelve Days In Intensive Care, October 21st to November 1st, 2010, A Poetic Record; After You’d Gone, Poems 2016 - 2020. Edited Božena’s Book, a collection of my wife’s writings and artwork.

The Corpse With The Granite Heart by Cathy Ace

 

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You can buy The Corpse with the Granite Heart...Here

You can visit Cathy's website...Here

The Blurb...

Welsh Canadian criminal psychologist Cait Morgan, and her retired-cop husband Bud Anderson, are in London, England, to meet their friend John Silver’s freshly minted fiancée, the daughter of a recently deceased Shakespeare aficionado, and captain of industry. The trip is supposed to be filled with art galleries, good food, and Christmas spirit. However, an untimely death at a posh dinner party threatens to send shock waves through the upper strata of London society.

My Review...

This is the 11th book in the Cait Morgan series by Cathy Ace. In this series Cait travels the world to iconic locations tripping over corpses and investigating murder. 

This book can be read as a standalone or as part of the series.

For fans of Cluedo and Agatha Christie. A locked room, or in this case a closed mansion, mystery with only a few potential killers. This is a densely layered cosy, crime who-dunnit, which takes some unpicking. Set in suburban London mansion at Christmas, the bodies fall faster than snow. The story benefits from a fairly complex plot which makes the killer not too easy to spot. (Well I didn't spot them, so that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it.) The characters will be familiar from the genre. The mis-matched twins, the old, blustering knight of the realm, the grasping, gold digger, the grim police detective et al.  

Only one thing threw me a little, and this is probably down to me being an old git and not "down with kids."The author uses the phrase mugged several times. As in "mugged a grin" or "mugged a salute." I couldn't work it out for a while. I was thinking, robbed in the street, with the threat of violence. Nope 🤔 eventually worked it out, it means to over react often in a smug/smarmy way. So there you go. Everyday's a school day. Apparently it's quite a well known thing too, these days. So its just me then....

The mansion is quite intricate with numerous rooms, outbuildings, stairs etc. The book may have benefitted from a floor plan, just to keep the locations clear. 

The author has an unusual style. It's like getting drawn into a conversation with a gossipy neighbour, and eventually becoming entangled into her world. Or when something like "Loose Women" is on TV. One minute your'e walking through the lounge and the next  you find yourself sat watching, wondering what will happen now that Simon has left Joanne with the kids and gone to shack up with that gold digger Serena Chardonnay.

Written in the first person. The protagonist is a very interesting character psychologically speaking. For one she has a propensity to say and do things to blend into her social surroundings whilst actually thinking something totally different. This duality/incongruence is not something I often come across. The only other protagonist I can think of like this is Patricia Highsmith's Talented Mr Ripley. Cait's chameleon act is very subtle and not as drastic as Ripley's but is there none the less. (see selected quotes.)

Secondly, it would appear she has some up close experience of the English Class system and definitely NOT a fan. A view with which I would have some sympathy. I could have picked several quotes to illustrate this but settled for just two (see selected quotes). Cait often uses her "think one way, act another" skill to camouflage herself in the society she dislikes intensely.

There is a section where Cait lists four characteristics of a psychopath. As I read them I thought, yep and you have at least three of them, but that doesn't make her a bad person just an effective investigator

All in all a very quotable and excellent example of the genre with a fascinating lead character. Always thinking outside the box... She would be a fantastic villain. 

Selected Quotes...

"I plastered what I hoped was a sympathetic look onto my face."

“Bella and Sasha, and Charles of course, were away at school for years,” began John. “Cheltenham and Eton, respectively.” Oh, the delights of moving in circles where the assumption is that all children go to boarding school, was what I thought. “Of course,” was what I mumbled

 "It was the first time I’d encountered the titanium mesh that binds together those who’ve endured the particular brand of cruelty and indoctrination that’s the stockin-trade of the English public school system."

"I reckon he’s overcompensating for something, though I don’t know what.” Possibly an unhappy childhood, packed off to board with the well-heeled but not necessarily super-bright? Was what I thought."

“Women have a much greater ability than men to be desperately cruel.”

"Until that moment I’d never considered a voice to be capable of slithering,"

About the Author...

Cathy Ace migrated from her native Wales to Canada at the age of 40. She is the award-winning author of the traditional Cait Morgan Mysteries featuring her Welsh Canadian criminology professor sleuth who travels the world tripping over corpses, which have now been optioned for TV. She also writes the cozier WISE Enquiries Agency Mysteries featuring a quartet of female PIs who run their business out of a Welsh stately home. Both series have been well-reviewed. Her award-winning standalone, THE WRONG BOY, is a gripping novel of psychological suspense, set in Wales, and has also been optioned for TV.

Cathy's work has won the prestigious Bony Blithe Award for best Canadian light mystery, an IPPY and an IBA Award, and has been shortlisted for an Arthur Ellis Award for Best Short Story.

Her short story "Dear George" appeared on the UK's O Level English Language syllabus and, together with another story, "Domestic Violence", has been produced for BBC Radio 4. 

The Couple at No9 by Claire Douglas

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You Can buy The Couple at No9....Here

Review by Owen Powell

The Blurb...

When Saffron Cutler and boyfriend Tom move into 9 Skelton Place, they didn't expect to find this.

Two bodies, buried under the patio over thirty years ago.

When the police launch a murder investigation, they ask to speak to the cottage's former owner - Saffy's grandmother, Rose, whose Alzheimer's clouds her memory.

But it is clear she remembers something . . .

What happened thirty years ago?
What part did her grandmother play?
And is Saffy now in danger? . . .

My Review..

Two bodies are discovered in the garden of No. 9 Skelton Place, leaving it’s recent owners – a pregnant Saffron and her boyfriend Tom in utter dismay. The police launch a murder investigation and inform the couple that those bodies have been buried in the garden for at least thirty years, and as a result will take some time to identify them. This leads Saffron and Tom, as well as some other characters we meet along the way, to launch their own investigation of sorts, unravelling the mystery of the murders that occurred in No. 9 Skelton Place all the way back in 1980. The woman at the center of that crime, Rose – Saffron’s Grandmother, still lives to this day, holding all the information they need to uncover what really happened back then. However, that information is not so simple to obtain, seeing as Rose is now suffering from Alzheimer’s. 

This book was my first foray into the mystery genre and overall I found it to be an enjoyable one. The story is very much a “slow-burn” akin to an ITV crime series, immersing you into the lives of these characters and the events they find themselves in. Being a young man of 22 years who has been subjugated to a slew of marvel movies that have rendered my attention span useless unless there’s an explosion or an epic inter-species battle involved, I was impressed that this story succeeded in keeping me intrigued throughout, which is a noteworthy feat.  

I have no real complaints with this novel, other than the fact that this genre is not particularly my domain, which is just down to personal preference. This however did not stop me from appreciating the tale being told, and indeed the way it is told. 

Each chapter is dedicated to the perspective of a particular character, offering the reader a wide array of personal angles to view this story from. The story itself does not feed you all of the information at once, rather you are fed a crumb at a time, just as the characters are. This was the hook that kept me curious, kept me theorizing and ultimately kept me wanting more. 

As the mystery unravels we encounter several unexpected twists and turns along the way, including a shocking revelation toward the end that I had no idea was coming. The characters themselves are quite believable, you can easily understand who they are as people and why they behave the way they do (With exception to Victor, who is just a pure knob) In addition to these aspects which make the story as engaging as it is, the author Claire Douglas writes in a style that is very easy to digest, making this book accessible to almost anyone. 

Overall I found The Couple at No. 9 to  be a pleasurable and intriguing read and would definitely recommend it to fans of slow-burn mystery stories. I’m not saying it could have benefited from a little bit of galactic warfare, but I’m not not saying that either. 

Selected Quotes...

"Saffy has always lived too close to the well as Lorna used to put it."

"I glance at mum in the rear view mirror. She's taken her hat off and her dark brown eyes are bright with excitement, but there's something else too, a pain that she's trying to hide. I wonder what's really going on with her and Alberto. I always get the sense that my mother is running away."

"It's obvious that having me at sixteen ruined her teenage years. Something she certainly seems to be making up for now, judging by her facebook photos"

"our memories are forever evolving, so we only remember the version of the memory we last recalled rather than the original event."

About the Author...

Claire Douglas has worked as a journalist for fifteen years, writing features for women’s magazines and newspapers, but she’s dreamed of being a novelist since the age of seven. She finally got her wish after winning Marie Claire’s Debut Novel Award for her first book, The Sisters, which became a bestseller. She lives in Bath, England, with her husband and two children.

The Chair by G.B.Williams

 

⭐⭐⭐⭐

You can buy The Chair...Here

You can follow GB Williams...Here

The blurb....

On a snowbound Cadair Idris, death comes stalking. Cobb retreated to Cadair Idris for a solitary life of peace and quiet, and to escape his dangerous past. Though that illusion starts to crumble after he and Branwen Jones, the local vet, find a mysterious RTA victim and shelter him in Cobb's home.

When elements of London's criminal underbelly reach Wales, and their presence throws the close knit community into stark relief, the chance to settle old scores could prove too tempting.

With no choice but to try and hide the RTA victim from people who want to kill him, Cobb's not sure he is ready to rejoin the world he's running from, when that means putting another woman in the firing line. Meanwhile Branwen's not sure she can face the relevation of her darkest secret.

But as they face the final showdown, a race over the snowed-in mountain, will anyone survive unscathed.

My Review...

On a  foreboding Welsh mountainside a man is hiding from the grief of his wife being murdered. He is also trying not to fall in love with the local vet and fellow mountain rescuer. A lad on the run crashes on the mountain and they conspire to aid him medically and hide him from his pursuers and the rozzers. And that's just the start.

As the hitmen roll into the village the tension ramps up. Branwen (the vet) is torn between her old flame and the enigmatic new guy, but he blows hot and cold. He thinks she doesn't want him and she thinks he doesn't want her and it's all a bit Jane Austin. 

She has a guilty secret herself, which is weighing heavily on her shoulders and her relationship with her dad is fragile at best. 

So there are numerous subplots to pique your interest. The main thread though is the Welsh high noon/Cliffhanger type ending that the whole book is leading to.

The book is a lot more racy than I thought it would be 😯! With a slight whiff of sadism/masochism.

You do have to suspend belief a little when the connections between the protagonists/antagonists begin to appear. Also when the vet explains that half the village wont talk to her because her dad was illegitimate! I'm a Welshman from a small village and if that were true the whole valley would be as silent as the grave. Still even the greatest plots suspend belief a little. I remember reading a tale of two cities and thinking "well, what are the chances of that happening." If you wanted ultra realism, well then you wouldn't be reading a book, would you.

The setting is a bonus.You can feel the hypothermia and exposure crawling through your bones. In addition in the "local village for local people" the sense of detachment from the hub bub of more populated parts is palpable.

A little cheesy in parts, but in a good way. Everyone needs a little cheesy moment now and again. I found myself cheering along with the "I'm Spartacus" moment in the pub. 

The actual hero isn't the enigmatic stranger (played in my head by James Purefoy) but our strong independent female vet (Nicole Kidman with black hair 🤷‍♂️.)

All in all an enjoyably tense countdown/ pursuit thriller in a great mountain backdrop and  with a local village setting. A cracking read.

Selected Quotes...

"He had made it his business to find out everything he could about the big hitters, and most of them stood quietly away from the microphone and the press."

"There wasn't a law against dislike, if there were Johnston would have to arrest half the village - and caution the other half."

"One tall and blonde, one shorter and dark haired? Gym muscle? Her father nodded, like many who lived and worked with people muscled by the activity of life he easily saw when someone was more pumped by static weightlifting than activity."

"Better to be at the left hand of the devil than in his path."

About the author...

G.B. Williams has finally left the world of nine to five and offices behind, swapping system design for writing and freelance editing. She writes crime fiction as G.B. William's, and has written novels, shorts and flash fiction. She  has also had some success with steam punk (writing as Abi Barden), paranormal prose and poetry. She was born in Kent grew up in Tonbridge  met and married a Welshman, and now lives in Swansea.