Caroline Carver - Beneath the Snow

Lisa McCall, a young research scientist, has disappeared out in the Alaskan wilderness. Lisa's sister, Abby  flies out from England to join the rescue team. Abby and Lisa have been estranged for years, driven apart by a terrible row. As soon as she arrives at the freezing outpost, Abby knows there's something wrong. Lisa's cabin has been ransacked and her research material is nowhere to be found. It emerges that Lisa was on the verge of patenting an incredible discovery - facing fierce opposition from the oil-dominated energy market. Abby knows her sister is out there somewhere, battling deep cold and raw terror, while her enemies circle. After so many years of brooding silences and explosive rows, Abby is forced to face up to the past, while her younger sister fights for a future. Abby embarks on the dangerous task of locating Lisa before someone else gets to her first. (taken from Fantastic Fiction description)


My rating 8/10

It doesn't happen very often, but where I've said (though not out loud) with authors such as Bernard Knight, Reginald Hill...and okay, okay Mike Ripley, "where have your books been all my life" finally there is another one to the list and female.  (whisper: prior to this I had not found a female crime fiction author that enthralled me to the point of thinking that was a thumping good read.  Some close, and big names, but no cigar, sorry) Who woulda thought it?  I wasn't expecting much of this story, and I don't mean to be degrading, is just that I didn't expect it to be as good as the later Back With Vengeance that I reviewed for SHOTS.  Actually, maybe it isn't.  But darn it, it is very good.  So Caroline Carver - where have your books been all my life?

Next: Ellis Peters - An Excellent Mystery (probably the last Peters for a while!)

Christopher Brookmyre - A Snowball In Hell

Do you hate reality TV and Z-list celebrities so much that you would commit mass murder - and in public?  Simon Darcourt would, albeit that he was presumed dead years before after a failed mission as "terrorist for hire".  Angelique De Xavia is called upon to trap this sadistic killer, but it becomes a lot more personal, as her parents are kidnapped, and more dangerous as she knows to get this solved she must call on her former boyfriend, who is the only suspect in a multi-million pound heist, but happens to be a bit of a magician too.


My rating: 8/10

My first encounter with Brookmyre was his latest, Pandaemonium, which I reviewed for SHOTS (clicking the link takes you to the review).  I was mighty confused by it, but where I say at the end, I may have missed the point - uh - I think I get it now.

Snowball really is an excellent story; I deliberately put it second on the reading order, as I wanted to get the nightmares out of the way first, as Pandaemonium is violent and gory.  However, Snowball is not especially - yes, most of the victims die horribly but it is up to your own imagination to visualise their deaths (that might give you nightmares.)

Brookmyre is very obviously highly intelligent, and there were times when he describes human nature in his prose (usually in the voice of Darcourt), and no matter how despicable you believe the villain to be....you think, my goodness, he is dead right.  I don't know what could disgust you more; the deaths and the motives, or the current vogue that is called in this day and age "light entertainment".

A good ending too, much better than Pandaemonium's, with everyone finding their place, even the walking wounded, and the bad guy gets his comeuppance.  There are more twists in this tale than your average large white bloomer, and just when you think you can see how it concludes, a further twist keeps you entertained and in no way frustrated.

One criticism I have of Brookmyre: my gosh, the man can waffle, with stuff that is not plot related, and at times, dare I say it...boring?  But you can skip a few lines and find something to make you think again, or send you spiraling back into the plot.  Terrific stuff.

Next:  Sarah Bower's The Needle In The Blood.

CJ Carver - Back With Vengeance

Jay MacCauley wakes up in a Russian hotel, covered in bruises, with absolutely no idea how she got there or why she is there.  Only snapshots appear in her memory of the previous 5 days, one of them devastating.  She gradually works out that she was looking for her uncle, who walked out without warning some days ago.  Jay has to piece the clues together, along with an ex-boyfriend and a mysterious MI5 agent, who has another agenda with her uncle, and an extra one with Jay.

My rating:8/10

Someone said, somewhere, that there are no decent British crime thrillers.  Hello, I've found one.  Full review on SHOTS, link posted here when it appears.

Update: Link to review is here.

Next:  A reread.  An abstract clue.  It's Christmas.