Adam Creed - Willing Flesh, John Malcolm - Circles and Squares, Michael Jecks - The Traitor of St Giles

I am somewhat behind on blogging the books, largely due to some rather shocking news I received last week, increasing the apathy, but I know me, the blog will just enter the twilight zone until I don't want to bother with it all.

All the same, I can't be bothered to do the usual format of posts, so I'm going to summarise them all in one go.



What was this about again?  Oh yeah, murdered prostitute, then another murdered prostitute and one had a pimp who was a Turk, the other a Russian, and a cop has to sort it all out, but it is oh so political and he also has problems of his own with his own doomed relationship.  Erm...zzzzzzzzzzz.  It didn't suffer the ignominy of not being finished, I stuck with it, but sorry, I literally lost the plot with this one, as it got far too convoluted...for no reason.  Oh, I'm meant to be reviewing this for SHOTS.  Oops.  My rating: 5/10.



Tim Simpson is a sorta cross between Lovejoy and a bank clerk, he finds artwork for investment.  He plans to take a risk with a rather lesser known painter who is an acquired taste.  However, it seems that someone has got in ahead of him, and he doesn't like that.  I once read a Booker prize nominee, or at least started to read it, and had the horrible thought that Malcolm's would also descend into the terrible farce the BP nominee was, as that was also based around a missing painting.  It didn't, and it was a surprisingly enjoyable read, although at times he didn't know whether to make it darkly comic or semi-serious.  My rating: 7/10.



A young man is forced to abjure the realm after confessing to the murder of his fiancee.  The family of the murdered girl are unhappy with the decision and seek justice of their own.  The morning after the man leaves, and a knight is found dead beside the headless corpse of the man, along with his two dogs, one also dead.  The Coroner is convinced that the felon killed the knight and was later lawfully executed, as he did not follow the highway.  Sir Baldwin and Simon Puttock have other ideas, and their investigation puts them in danger.  Jecks has become another firm favourite of mine, this is a cracking read.  Jecks reveals the nasty and smelly side of medieval life, and yeah, you can literally smell it at times.  Excellent characterisation, which I also love, along with the historical references from an era which I find fascinating.  My rating: 8/10.

Next: Not something I would normally read, but last time I went to the library, two of the books were completely random; one was the Malcolm, the other WEB Griffin - Double Agents.

Paul Doherty - The Season of the Hyaena

Tutankhamun is shortly to be crowned Pharaoh, legitimising his reign by marrying his half sister Ankhesenamun, the daughter of Akenhaten and Nefertiti.   However, a rebellion is afoot by those still faithful to Aten worship, seemingly led by someone claiming to be be Akenhaten.  Chief of Police Mahu, along with Horemheb and Rameses, Egypt's fearsome generals, have to crush the rebellion to ensure that Egypt can return to the safety and peace enjoyed before Akenhaten started his heresy, but Mahu senses that the affairs of Egypt are more complicated as the Royal Circle itself appears split into different factions and attitudes.

My rating: 7/10

Couldn't resist this, crime fiction set in one of my favourite eras, 18th Dynasty Egypt, is few and far between.  I don't agree with a lot of Doherty's premises, but that doesn't prevent it from being a well structured and exciting story, and he does describe the period really well.  What I didn't like was the somehow rather modern vernacular he used sometimes, which if overused can turn serious crime into comedy - and this isn't really a light-hearted story.

It's surprising that, considering that his period in time is one of the most puzzling, and has the most gaps to fill by talented authors, that there aren't similar tales.  And no-one has really completely satisfied the question about the identity of the king portrayed on Tut's middle coffin, or who was the mummy in AV 55 - Doherty has an answer to this, but is a hurried afterthought at the end, which could have been weaved into the story better.

(Late note.  Of course, this is the last of 3 in a series based on Egyptian Pharaohs, so likely the "afterthought" was actually referred to and used in the other 2.  No excuse, it is one of my big bugbears.  All the same, it is a short sub-plot and the book can be taken on its own, so I'm not changing the rating)
 
Next: Adam Creed - Willing Flesh, for SHOTS.

Susanna Gregory - The Tarnished Chalice

Suttone and Michael from Michaelhouse are to be installed in Lincoln as canons.  Matt Bartholomew, on the trail of Matilde, who has disappeared, comes along in the hope of finding some trace of her.  They arrive in a town filled with turmoil; two groups of traders are at loggerheads with each other, and already a proposed deputy to the role Suttone is to take has been found dead with the revered chalice of St Hugh in his hands.

My rating: 6/10

A question.  I wonder if Gregory was going to call her novel the Poisoned Chalice, then demurred, because Bernard Knight and Paul Doherty have novels by the same name?  Only found that out when I mis-remembered the title of the book when I typed it in Amazon.

Um.  Yes, anyway, those that know me know I waffle, with the proverbial foot shuffle, before saying something that is probably detrimental about a book which has obviously been well researched and thought out.  Well, I found this book interesting when stuff was going on, and the ending is particularly exciting, but unfortunately it was a bit of a...erhem...chore to read.  Again, the book could have been 200 pages shorter and it would still have not lost any of its charm.  Enough of Gregory, at least for a little while.

Next: Paul Doherty (co-incidence, really) - The Season of the Hyaena