A Beautiful Family, by Jennifer Trevelyan.

 

            The long Christmas break is looming and a Wellington family is squabbling about where to get accommodation for their traditional holiday.  In previous years they have always gone somewhere remote, away from the crowds;  now (surprisingly) Mum wants to go ‘where there are people’, a complete change from her usual preference.  Dad reluctantly books a bach at her choice of venue a couple of hours up the coast;  he’s not really bothered where they go as long as he has a change of scene, which is a rest in itself.  Their two daughters are happy, too – Vanessa is fifteen and ready to experience what the world has to offer but is hampered by her 10 year-old sister, the narrator of this lovely story, a very shrewd and observant chronicler of events, but hardly experienced in life to  know the importance of what she is seeing.

            And little sister sees a great deal, especially when she chums up with Kahu, a 12 year-old Maori boy who is staying with his uncle, a local fisherman.  Firstly, they are both fascinated by the sad tale of a young girl around their own age who disappeared, believed drowned, and they spend a lot of time near a memorial her grieving mother has constructed on the beach;  they decide to pass the time when not swimming or getting sunburnt to look for clues as to the poor child’s presumed end.  Sadly, they both see a lot more than they wanted to know, and the friendship ends when little sister’s prized possession, a Sony Walkman her dad brought back for her on one of his trips goes missing and she mistakenly accuses one of Kahu’s cousins of taking it. 

            Which means that she’s now lonelier than ever, because big sister Vanessa is intent of breaking every behavioural rule in the book and, despite being grounded numerous times, sneaks expertly out their bedroom window to do who-knows-what.  And who is that creepy old guy who lives in the two-story place next door?  The little sister doesn’t like the way he looks at her – he gives her the creeps, but he wangles a dinner invite to their house just the same.  This Christmas break is starting to turn into an exercise in will-power to stay the distance.

            And Jennifer Trevelyan stays the distance too, building suspense beautifully and gradually, all thanks to her resourceful little heroine – whose name is not revealed until two thirds of the way through the story (which is why I haven’t named her – I’m no spoiler!).  Yes, they are a beautiful family, as the title says, but oh, the secrets the keep!  FIVE STARS.   

            The long Christmas break is looming and a Wellington family is squabbling about where to get accommodation for their traditional holiday.  In previous years they have always gone somewhere remote, away from the crowds;  now (surprisingly) Mum wants to go ‘where there are people’, a complete change from her usual preference.  Dad reluctantly books a bach at her choice of venue a couple of hours up the coast;  he’s not really bothered where they go as long as he has a change of scene, which is a rest in itself.  Their two daughters are happy, too – Vanessa is fifteen and ready to experience what the world has to offer but is hampered by her 10 year-old sister, the narrator of this lovely story, a very shrewd and observant chronicler of events, but hardly experienced in life to  know the importance of what she is seeing.

            And little sister sees a great deal, especially when she chums up with Kahu, a 12 year-old Maori boy who is staying with his uncle, a local fisherman.  Firstly, they are both fascinated by the sad tale of a young girl around their own age who disappeared, believed drowned, and they spend a lot of time near a memorial her grieving mother has constructed on the beach;  they decide to pass the time when not swimming or getting sunburnt to look for clues as to the poor child’s presumed end.  Sadly, they both see a lot more than they wanted to know, and the friendship ends when little sister’s prized possession, a Sony Walkman her dad brought back for her on one of his trips goes missing and she mistakenly accuses one of Kahu’s cousins of taking it. 

            Which means that she’s now lonelier than ever, because big sister Vanessa is intent of breaking every behavioural rule in the book and, despite being grounded numerous times, sneaks expertly out their bedroom window to do who-knows-what.  And who is that creepy old guy who lives in the two-story place next door?  The little sister doesn’t like the way he looks at her – he gives her the creeps, but he wangles a dinner invite to their house just the same.  This Christmas break is starting to turn into an exercise in will-power to stay the distance.

            And Jennifer Trevelyan stays the distance too, building suspense beautifully and gradually, all thanks to her resourceful little heroine – whose name is not revealed until two thirds of the way through the story (which is why I haven’t named her – I’m no spoiler!).  Yes, they are a beautiful family, as the title says, but oh, the secrets the keep!  FIVE STARS.   

            The long Christmas break is looming and a Wellington family is squabbling about where to get accommodation for their traditional holiday.  In previous years they have always gone somewhere remote, away from the crowds;  now (surprisingly) Mum wants to go ‘where there are people’, a complete change from her usual preference.  Dad reluctantly books a bach at her choice of venue a couple of hours up the coast;  he’s not really bothered where they go as long as he has a change of scene, which is a rest in itself.  Their two daughters are happy, too – Vanessa is fifteen and ready to experience what the world has to offer but is hampered by her 10 year-old sister, the narrator of this lovely story, a very shrewd and observant chronicler of events, but hardly experienced in life to  know the importance of what she is seeing.

            And little sister sees a great deal, especially when she chums up with Kahu, a 12 year-old Maori boy who is staying with his uncle, a local fisherman.  Firstly, they are both fascinated by the sad tale of a young girl around their own age who disappeared, believed drowned, and they spend a lot of time near a memorial her grieving mother has constructed on the beach;  they decide to pass the time when not swimming or getting sunburnt to look for clues as to the poor child’s presumed end.  Sadly, they both see a lot more than they wanted to know, and the friendship ends when little sister’s prized possession, a Sony Walkman her dad brought back for her on one of his trips goes missing and she mistakenly accuses one of Kahu’s cousins of taking it. 

            Which means that she’s now lonelier than ever, because big sister Vanessa is intent of breaking every behavioural rule in the book and, despite being grounded numerous times, sneaks expertly out their bedroom window to do who-knows-what.  And who is that creepy old guy who lives in the two-story place next door?  The little sister doesn’t like the way he looks at her – he gives her the creeps, but he wangles a dinner invite to their house just the same.  This Christmas break is starting to turn into an exercise in will-power to stay the distance.

            And Jennifer Trevelyan stays the distance too, building suspense beautifully and gradually, all thanks to her resourceful little heroine – whose name is not revealed until two thirds of the way through the story (which is why I haven’t named her – I’m no spoiler!).  Yes, they are a beautiful family, as the title says, but oh, the secrets the keep!  FIVE STARS.   

 

King of Ashes, by S. A. Cosby.

 

            I hate starting any review by saying ‘He’s Done it again!’  But it’s true – S. A. Cosby has produced yet another story that explodes off the page, a mixture of horrific violence and heartbreaking familial affection and an entirely believable chain of events which culminate in a drama of Shakespearean dimensions.  I have already started wondering what will happen to the protagonists, but Cosby (so far) has not introduced former characters into his marvellous fiction, so I shall just have to keep wondering.

            Roman Carruthers is a financial adviser to the rich, famous, and those who also like to keep a low profile.  He’s based in Atlanta, is very good at his job and really, life doesn’t get much better for a well-educated Black man with the gift of knowing the many paths money can take to increase its size.  Life is pretty satisfactory – until he gets a call from his sister in Jefferson Run, a rundown city in Virginia:  can he come home because their Daddy has been grievously injured in a Hit and Run.  Dante, their younger brother is being worse than useless – she needs Roman’s help, even for a short while, to run the family business which is a Crematory disposing of ‘cremains’ for those funeral homes who don’t have such facilities. 

            Roman can hardly say No;  his father put him through college to give him his glittering qualifications, but is dismayed to find when he reaches home that Dante is the author of all this misfortune, having decided with a loser friend to set himself up as a drug dealer – but sampling the product became more important, and the gangsters he got said product from want their money and  what could come have arranged his Daddy’s Hit and Run.  They are just about the Baddest gangsters in the State and are proud of it – why, they even have dogs who enjoy human flesh, as they showed Roman one night so that he would know they weren’t kidding.

            Sweet reason will hardly prevail against such killers, so Roman has to appeal to their greed:  they won’t touch him or his siblings while he’s making them money – he hopes.  But will his beloved family survive this terrible time – will Roman?  They have all kept a huge secret from each other for many years, but they always had the bedrock of their affection for each other to justify the reason.  Will that love survive?

            Yes, S. A. Cosby has truly done it again – compelled us to hang on to every page with its myriad characters so superbly realised, and to ask how much a man profits if he becomes King of the Ashes but loses everything else.  SIX STARS.   

 

 

In a Place of Darkness, by Stuart MacBride.

 

            Angus MacVicar, on his first day on the job as a newly-promoted Detective Constable, is fizzing with anticipation and enthusiasm, especially as a serial-killer seems to be targeting his Scottish home city of Oldcastle. In fact, the murders are so similar in their brutality and deviousness that a renowned FBI forensic psychologist has been called in to give his esteemed advice – Oldcastle will be famous!  Or infamous, depending upon how you look at such things.  Regardless, it’s a new day for Angus, and it gets even better when he learns that he will be meeting the FBI Expert at the Airport and accompanying him to his very posh(for Oldcastle) hotel, then to meet all of Angus’s BigWig bosses.

            In an ideal world.  The first shock for Angus is that Dr Jonathan Fife suffers from a form of dwarfism and is 4ft 5inches tall. As Angus is pushing 6’6” he feels somehow at a disadvantage:  surely someone could have let him know! But what would such knowledge gain?  That’s right:  sweet FA.  And Dr Fife is not thrilled to be in Bonnie Scotland, either, in fact he hates everything about it:  the weather (always raining), the food, the accents, the dead-loss policing, and the complete lack of computer skills employed by so-called police experts.  No wonder this guy is literally getting away with murder every time – it’s almost impossible not to!  The Press have baptised the killer The Fortnight Killer because a new horribly tortured body has turned up every two weeks and the corpse’s partner disappears, never to be seen again:  surely Dr Fife with all his expertise could contribute valuable insights, instead of bitching and moaning about everything, to the extent that Angus has been delegated as his Minder and driver and Anything Else You’d Like, Sir, because Angus is lowly.  And new. 

            And getting very sick of sarcastic, loudmouth little shortarses – until he realises that behind all the bluster and smartassery is a mind like a steel trap, keenly analytical and not afraid to follow investigative paths which initially seem to lead nowhere – until they reveal all at the end of the tunnel.

            And it goes without saying that death waits at the end of the tunnel, too, unless the unlikely Dynamic Duo of MacVicar and Fife can change the outcome, in the best tradition of all of MacBride’s excellent crime novels. He is superb at combining dark humour and violence;  his characters are all entirely credible, and he writes of his environment with affection and honesty.  (it never stops raining!)  And it would be great if these two singular characters are the start of a new series – sure hope so!  FIVE STARS.       

 

Fangs for Nothing, by Steffanie Holmes.

 

            Lord Alaric Valerian has a problem:  his imperious mother is coming to visit his castle and will be appalled at the mess his various artistic endeavours have created;  his butler Reginald advises him to employ for a short time one  of those 21^st century ‘unclutterers’ who managed to ruthlessly weed out what one doesn’t need and tastefully display what one does.  The only snag with that plan is that Lord Alaric has been a vampire for several hundred years – he sleeps during the day and stays awake all night.  He literally cannot stand sunlight; it’s liable to burn him to a very unattractive frazzle, so working with the human Unclutterer will present myriad different problems – but none so dire as his mother’s reaction to his hoarding addiction:  she wants to hold a ball at the castle, inviting all the others of their kind (their numbers are higher than you would think, in fact one vampire property entrepreneur has started developing a very exclusive enclave in the village adjoining Alaric’s castle) and her rage would be incendiary if she saw it buried in all his clutter. 

            So.  A human Unclutterer it is.  Enter Winifred Preston, Unclutterer Supreme, with the scars to prove it:  her mother is a Hoarder with a PHD in rubbish;  consequently, Winnie is obsessively neat and a champion at discarding that which is unnecessary to one’s immediate environment:  she’s the girl for the job, alright – until she meets her future boss unexpectedly and in awkward circumstances, as he chivalrously helps her ward off a creep at the local pub:  a kiss is exchanged and the groundwork is laid for Red Hot Romance.

            Well, of course it is!  This is a Cozy Vampire Romance, after all, but what fun it is keeping up with all the great characters, especially the Nevermore Book Club et al, a group of ladies whom Winnie befriends as much to find out info about her new employer (who keeps very odd hours!) as to make new friends.  It takes Winnie some time before she realises what kind of unique person Alaric actually is, and by that time she is totally enamoured of him (he’s not just astoundingly handsome;  he also has a heart of gold – and a sense of humour!)  She can’t go wrong.  Except that his mum doesn’t like her and there have been several attacks on the locals lately, causing much fear and concern:  are they random one-offs, or is there a serial killer operating in the village?

            No-one is any the wiser at story’s end, so all Ms Holmes’s fans (and they are legion) are fervently hoping there will be a book two – the sooner the better – especially as Ms Holmes is a great successor to all the Vampire authors who came before her - and she’s very, very funny.  And don’t we need fun to distract us in our reading these days!  FIVE STARS.

 

The Listeners, by Maggie Stiefvater.

 

            December 7^th, 1941:  the American Naval Base at Hawaii’s Pearl Harbour has been bombed by the Japanese and, whether American citizens like it or not, they are now fighting in the Second World War.  What to do with the Axis Diplomats and their families and staff members who have enjoyed very comfortable residency as their country’s representatives up until now:  Germany, Italy and the Japanese legation are not allowed to ‘go home’, however much citizens would want them to, for American diplomats in the Axis countries have been similarly detained but in the interests of strict neutrality, Swiss diplomats make certain that each country’s representatives are treated fairly, right down to the books they are permitted to read weekly (one each) – and how many newspapers they can see weekly (one each). 

            The State Department is in charge of all the day-to-day logistics and has recruited several FBI Special Agents to ‘assist’, a euphemism for spying and listening-in wherever possible to various conversations in various languages;  to say that their destination – a luxurious West Virginia mountain hotel – will be onerous and boring is utter nonsense, especially when the G-men encounter the attractive and always obliging staff:  yes, this is definitely an assignment with a difference, but!

            War has intruded on the Avallon, the beautiful Appalachian hotel selected to house all the fine enemy diplomats, and Manager June Hudson must be host to all three hundred of them, a task that doesn’t faze her for her training by the Gilfoyle family who own the hotel has been extensive and thorough;  she expects the minimum of trouble from her illustrious guests and in the main they fulfil her expectations – until the 10 year-old daughter of one of the German diplomats has a screaming fit one day and is quickly sedated by one of his friends.  It is later revealed that the little girl will be euthanized when she returns to Germany, as is usual with anyone with mental problems. Or anyone with a disability.  Something must be done, and soon, for the detainees are expecting to be sent back to their various countries by the State Department, just as soon as their own representatives are sent home.

            Yes, something must be done, but what?  And when?

Ms Stiefvater has a beautiful writing style, revealing gradual facts about her characters rather than too much information too quickly;  her love for the area of which she writes is palpable and makes one wish that we could all revel in such unspoiled beauty.  She also doesn’t hold back on the poverty and sadness that ruled mountain people’s lives at that time and her many and varied characters are all a pleasure to meet – even the bad guys!  And there are many of them, many who steadfastly look away, too – the ‘Nothing-to-do-with Me ‘ club.  It’s up to June to change their minds.  FIVE STARS.  

 

 

The Summer Guests, by Tess Geritsen.

 

            Summer guests:  a euphemism for the thousands of summer visitors that pour into the state of Maine every year when the weather warms up, and acting-police-chief Jo Thibodeau expects the usual minor dust-ups with the vacation crowds that descend on the little town of Purity – traffic offences, offensive behaviour, drunkenness;  the usual, except on a larger scale.  Well, she’s ready for the ‘guests’ in Ms Gerritsen’s second book of the Martini Club series, but she’s still not ready to welcome into her confidence the members of the Martini Club, a group of retired CIA intelligence officers – with nothing better to do than meddle with perfectly legitimate investigations and seemingly always arriving at conclusions ( and destinations!) before she does.  It does absolutely nothing for her confidence to be upstaged – especially when a young girl, a summer guest goes missing, and all evidence points to an elderly man who gave her a lift back to her house by Maiden Pond.  Luther Yount doesn’t seem to have a water-tight alibi either, seemingly evasive about his destination.  Case solved, except that the young girl is still missing.

            Unfortunately for Jo, Luther is the admired and trusted neighbour of Maggie Bird, chicken farmer and former crack CIA agent:  if Jo will only bend the rules a little and allow her to see Luther in his holding cell, she’s pretty sure she’ll find out what really happened.  Which she does, and it’s not long before events require a search of Maiden Pond, revealing a woman’s skeleton which has been there for a considerable time.

            Suddenly, in the space of a week, Jo’s Summer Guest schedule has been blitzed:  she is forced to rely on the doubtful services of a State Detective with whom she does not get along, (he doesn’t believe that women can function in positions of responsibility) and whether she likes it or not, she realises that the Martini Club, for all their pretence at suggesting lofty titles for their ‘Book Club’ – which seems to be an excuse to consume copious amounts of alcohol – they also have a far-reaching recall of their former talents.     

            Ms Gerritsen keeps the action moving along at a satisfyingly furious pace with plenty of plot twists and turns, and her minor characters are, as always, beautifully drawn – and she knows her environment so well, as she and her husband had medical practices in Maine before she became a full-time writer:  everything has the ring of authenticity here, and The Summer Guest’s Unputdownability score is 100%.  FIVE STARS.   

 

The Girl in Cell A, by Vaseem Khan.

         

          Orianna Negi is the notorious dweller of Cell A, convicted at 17 of killing her wealthy father – because she was found unconscious by his body, next to  a shotgun that had blown his head nearly off.  Her fingerprints were all over the weapon and gunshot residue was on her clothes.  An open-and-shut case – but was it?  The advent of the internet, chat shows, podcasts et al has made her a celebrity, because she doesn’t remember the actual crime;  she has perfect recall up until the killing itself, but not a single memory exists of The Deed:  now she is 35 and eligible for parole after a lot of counselling to see if she is ready to deal with the outside world – and she is, for Orianna is convinced she didn’t kill her father (even though he deserved it!) and wants to return to Eden Falls, the small town where she grew up to prove her innocence once and for all.

            Unsurprisingly, she encounters a lot of hostility:  the good townspeople of Eden Falls don’t want a convicted murderer in their midst, particularly one of her pedigree – her mother was housekeeper to the Wyclerc family, the local mine owners and major employers of the area;  she had a reputation as the local girl to go to for a good time – which one of the Wyclerc sons availed himself of every now and then, until the inevitable happened, followed by Orianna’s birth and lonely upbringing in the Big House.  She had no knowledge of her father’s identity until the day he died – but everyone else in the family knows, including her grandfather Amos, who didn’t acknowledge the family relationship until she returned to Eden Falls to such hatred that he insists that for her own safety she stay in the Big House – no longer run by Orianna’s mother who has since died in mysterious circumstances – ‘Accidental Death’ is the official term, but Orianna wants no help from anybody, particularly a family that ignored and rejected her.  She’ll take her chances without them, and expose who really murdered her worthless father.

            This is Vaseem Khan’s first psychological thriller, as he tells us at the end of the book;  it’s the first set outside India, first first-person narrative – so many firsts, but what a success!  Plot twists and turns come thick and fast, and all the characters are completely convincing, in fact it’s hard to believe that he hasn’t a long list of thrillers to his name, such is his ease in the genre.  My only grizzle is that you’ll need strong wrists to read this;  it stretches to 574 pages – not easy for late-night ‘My God, what’s going to happen next!’ readers (me), but totally worth all the yawns the next day.  FIVE STARS.