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The Edge of Darkness by Vaseem Khan

I have been following the exploits of Persis Wadia, India’s first female detective, since she was introduced in the first book in the series, Midnight at Malabar House. Persis is a detective with attitude and an amazing capacity for enduring and recovering from physical attacks while investigating murders. I am beginning to have serious concerns for her health especially since reading the sixth thriller in the series, The Edge of Darkness.

The inspector has been exiled from her home in Bombay to the wild and mountainous Naga Hills district for deliberately ignoring orders. Isolated from her father and her team at Malabar House, apart from her boss who arrived just before her, Persis is also grieving for her forensic scientist colleague/lover, Archie Blackfinch, who is in a coma in a Bombay hospital.

As India prepares for its first post-Independence election, tensions run high especially with the Naga people who seek self-government. For safety Persis is sent to stay in the heavily guarded Victoria Hotel – a colonial-era building which has seen much better days and has few, mostly foreign guests. Her career has nose-dived and Persis is despondent. Then a prominent politician staying in the hotel is brutally murdered in his locked room and Persis must solve the mystery before the political situation explodes…

Well if ever there was a protagonist who exposed herself to the most extreme danger, then Persis is she. How she survives is almost beyond belief. However her powers of detection and deduction, intelligence and sense of justice are never impaired. Vaseem Khan has created a character to be reckoned with. I just fear for her future!

The writing is taut and the narrative races from scene to scene, barely a breath between them. Attention to detail and the interweaving of Indian history into the narrative is second to none. If you love historical crime and a locked room scenario you’ll adore this book, which could be read as a standalone but why would you deprive yourself of the previous books.

The Edge of Darkness by Vaseem Khan is published by Hodder & Stoughton and is available in hardback, £22 from bookshops and £17.19 from Amazon . Paperback due September 2026.

Improper by Ray Clark

This is the twelfth book In Ray Clark’s IMP… series featuring DI Stewart Gardener and DS Sean Reilly, set in and around Leeds. I have enjoyed each one.

In Improper, Clark’s detective is faced with his most challenging case yet. A young actress, Sonia Markham, is found dead in her luxury apartment by her flat-mate and best friend, Jodie Thomson. To all intents and purposes, it looks like and open and shut case: death by natural causes. However something doesn’t feel right and Gardener is determined to go with his gut feeling and keep the case open. Jodie points the DI’s interest in the direction of a well-known drug dealer. But does she have her own agenda? And if so, what? And who is the mystery man Sonia was seen kissing in a nightclub?

If you like police procedurals, Ray Clark’s series is for you. Perfectly plotted with great attention to detail, characterisation and backstory, DI Gardener’s meticulous investigation reveals far more than he and his colleagues could ever have expected – building to an explosive and chilling climax worthy of the best of thrillers! 

Although a series, the books can be read as standalones. Published by The Book Folk and available from bookshops and Amazon .

The Key to the Island House by Amanda Lees

An amazing feat of weaving history, mystery and romance into an utterly compelling narrative. Heartbroken by the death of her fiancé in a hit-and-run accident, soon after the demise of Nadia the beloved great aunt who had brought her up after the death of her parents, Sophie travels to Cairo, to see the house left to her by Nadia. The only clue to its importance – it saved Nadia’s life and was where she had met the love of her life, Tom.

As Sophie discovers the secrets and endeavours to work out the clues and codes left by her aunt, her own life is under threat by unknown enemies. Her fate is inextricably linked to what happened to her aunt during the war and Ben’s death. As various people offer help and support, including Josh whose own family has ties to Nadia, whom can she trust? Whom did Nadia trust?

Lees’ characters are brilliantly drawn, and the dual time-line is pitch perfect. Edge of your seat scenes and dramatic incidents in 1942 and the present day combine to keep the reader totally gripped.

Amanda Lees evokes the sights, sounds and smells of Cairo during WW11 with masterful brushstrokes. Her research must have been meticulous and I have nothing but admiration for her diligence and creativity in this brilliant book.

Published by Bookouture, September 2015 and available from bookshops and Amazon.

Murder in the Lady Chapel

Murder in the Lady Chapel is the sixth book in the Hannah Weybridge series.

“All that is now hidden will some day come to light. If you have ears, listen! And be sure to put into practice what you hear.” Mark 4, verse 22

A chorister is found dying in the Lady Chapel when the Reverend Peter Savage is about to begin morning prayers. It’s a suspicious death and no one seems to know much about the victim. The vicar implores Hannah Weybridge to find out what she can.

Little did the journalist know that this investigation would have her joining the choir in preparation for the Christmas services or that her daughter, Elizabeth, would be so enchanted by the church.

Hannah soon discovers that the deceased, Daniel Lyons, seems to be a man without a history and that’s suspicious in itself. Apparently, an insurance fraud investigator, he leaves no records: even his landlady knows little about him.

But, as Hannah discovers, someone does know him – and he was definitely not who he seemed to be…

And while she investigates, someone is trying to intimidate Hannah in a series of seemingly unconnected ways. The past as well as the present haunts her. Will she be able to solve the mystery before Christmas is ruined?

Murder in the Lady Chapel is available in bookshops and libraries (sometimes you need to order) and online from Blackwell’s with a £1 discount and free delivery.

Ebooks and paperbacks are also available from Amazon, the former is free on Kindle Unlimited.

Urban Fox Books

Urban Fox Books is the new imprint I have created to reprint my Hannah Weybridge crime thriller series and in preparation for the launch of book six – Murder in the Lady Chapel – on 21 November, 2023

The series so far Includes:

Dancers in the Wind

Death’s Silent Judgement

Songs of Innocents

Perdition’s Child

Stage Call

All are available on Amazon as paperbacks and ebooks, the latter are free with Kindle Unlimited.

The series is available to order from bookshops and online from Blackwell’s with free delivery and £1 discount,

Killer Bodies by Heleen Kist

I love a locked room murder mystery and Heleen Kist has aced it with her latest novel, Killer Bodies, choosing as the setting a private gym for residents of an exclusive Edinburgh apartment block. One of the receptionists, Evie, has an amazing talent for drawing manga type graphics depicting ways she’d kill off those who use the gym and irritate her… She shares her thoughts with Mrs M the only resident she has any time for and who isn’t a gym user…

On her birthday Evie is called in to work as the other receptionist is apparently sick. Most of the residents have received a notification that the gym will be closed for repairs – apart from six who all turn up. Evie has a reason to dislike all of them except S the newest resident… When one of them keels over on an exercise bike, Evie puts her first aid training to the test but to no avail and to make matters immeasurably worse the phones aren’t working, there’s no internet access and the gym doors are all locked. When another resident collapses, Evie realises the deaths resemble her drawings. Is she being framed or will she be a victim?

If you like dark humour mixed with your murder you’ve got the right book! A bonus is the drawings throughout the book. Kist has a cast of rather unlikeable – if not downright despicable – characters and you will be on the edge of your seat wondering who will be next as the body count rises and tempers fray.

So who is behind all these deaths? Heleen Kist creates intriguing twists and turns to keep you guessing right until the end as you try to work out how characters die and why. Read carefully and pick up the clues as you proceed but beware of red herrings and unreliable narratives.

Killer bodies is available as an ebook and paperback on Amazon.

Thirty Days of Darkness by Jenny Lund Madsen

As soon a I read that Jenny Lund Madsen is an acclaimed scriptwriter – her work includes the international hit, Follow the Money, which is one of my favourites – I knew I was in for a treat with her début literary thriller, Thirty Days of Darkness translated by Megan E. Turney. Indeed Thirty Days of Darkness won the Harald Mogensen Prize for Best Danish Crime Novel of the year and was shortlisted for the coveted Glass Key Award.

This novel is a dark but sometimes humorous narrative following the trials of Danish literary novelist Hannah Krause-Bendix who, having taken up the challenge to write a popular crime novel in a month, finds herself in a small town in Iceland where two days after her arrival a murder takes place – or at least a suspicious death. The victim is the nephew of her host, Ella, who speaks neither Danish or English but manages to communicate a little via writing the latter – after a fashion. The limited hours of of daylight and the haunting landscape play a major role in creating mood and motivation.

Never having had a bad review for her literary works, and contemptuous of genre fiction, Hannah searches desperately for a plot. Could she use the unfolding drama in the small town? Maybe if she follows the clues it will inspire her? She gives little thought to the sensitivities of those involved and if she were staying in an Airbnb should wouldn’t receive any accolades as a guest. Ella is amazingly forgiving until Hannah breaks into her host’s locked study! What was she thinking? Actually she was looking for alcohol – something she relies on more than she’d care to admit.

In fact her quest for drinks leads her to the “local” where she meets to local police officer (the town only has one), Viktor and then his wife. The bar owner is a source of the town’s recent history and the personalities involved. But another regular, an enigmatic woman with a slobbering dog is less forthcoming. Hannah is determined to discover the truth about what happened and her sense of superiority makes her impervious to reason thus putting herself and others at risk.

Jenny Lund Madsen has created a spider’s web of a plot that leaves her rather unlikeable protagonist at risk. Hannah does have some redeeming features as you will discover as the author plays with our expectations and pulls the strings of our emotions. As the plot gathers momentum and the dangers accumulate, the breathtaking dénouement of what is the first in a series, is explosive. I’m intrigued to know what Hannah does next.

Thirty Days of Darkness is published by Orenda Books and is available online and from bookshops.

The Midnight News by Jo Baker

What a jewel of a book, this is. Set during the London Blitz it encompasses love, friendship and dysfunctional family relationships as well as treachery and death.

Charlotte Richmond, daughter of an MP, has a dull job as a typist, and lives in digs, refusing an allowance from her father. At twenty she has already suffered the loss of her mother when she was a young girl and her beloved brother never returned from France. Sharing gin and confidences with her best friend Elena keeps her sane, but when she dies in an air raid her fragility intensifies. Only the sight of a young man who feeds the birds amidst the rubble of the Blitz brings an unexpected joy into her life. But then she is haunted by the deaths of two more friends and the sense that she herself is being stalked intensifies… In her grief and suspicion, Charlotte becomes increasingly vulnerable not knowing whom to trust or if she can rely on her own instincts.

This is a superbly written story, which grips the reader from the beginning. The evocative descriptions of a city under attack witnessed from a very personal viewpoint add a poignancy to the historical perspective that is at times heart-breaking and terrifying. Jo Baker has created characters who will linger in your mind and the present tense narrative keeps you totally immersed in their dangerous journey.

Jo Baker is an acclaimed author of seven previous novels including the Sunday Times bestselling Longbourn. The Midnight News is published by Phoenix Books, an imprint of The Orion Group.

The Forgetting by Hannah Beckerman

Imagine waking up, not knowing where you are and having no memory. This is Anna’s plight. Even Stephen who claims to be her husband is a stranger to her. Where she lives in London does not feel like home. Apparently she has no job but was a librarian. No friends contact her. Her parents are dead. There is something strange about her marriage but she has no reference points. Stephen controls everything – for her own protection. She is lost in a sea of unknowns.

In Bristol Livvy, newly married to Dominic and looking forward to returning to work after six months maternity leave, is thrown by the unexpected arrival of Dominic’s estranged mother. Why is she stalking her daughter-in-law and what really happened in Dominic’s childhood? Livvy’s own close family is concerned when the couple decides to move to London for Dominic’s new job while Livvy has to give up the promotion she had longed for.

This is domestic suspense at its best. The Forgetting will grip you from start to explosive finish. It is an exquisitely written narrative of coersive behaviour. Two women’s stories brilliantly balanced: Anna’s in the first person; Livvy’s in the third. Two professional women, one determined to further her career, the other has no idea what the future holds until she can remember her past. The narratives are juxtapositioned until their two worlds collide with dramatic results.

This is Hannah Beckerman’s fourth novel and she handles her subject matter with an assured confidence. Highly recommended.

Published by Lake Union Publishing, available from Amazon.

The Lost Man Of Bombay by Vaseem Khan

The Lost Man of Bombay is the third in the Malabar House series set in Bombay 1950, featuring the intrepid Inspector Persis Wadia.

The discovery of the body of a white man found frozen in the foothills of near Dehra Dun plus two new murders of Europeans within days of each other grips the imagination of the city. As the first – and only – female police inspector, Persis Wadia has her work cut out for her. Not everyone is happy with the results of her research. Her investigation links the three deaths but she is missing vital clues, hindered by misogynist Inspector Oberoi, and aided by Met Police criminologist, Archie Blackfinch. As she fights the mutual attraction between her and Archie, she puts her own life on the line before resolving the mystery. 

With a deft hand, Khan recreates the world of India, post partition and British rule, in which the first female police inspector fights her own demons and prejudices. The balance of the personal and political is masterfully handled, perfectly interwoven in the intricate plot involving religious hypocrisy, family dilemmas, racial tensions and historical wrongs. If, like me, you enjoy solving clues and codes, you’ll love this series. The vibrancy of the city, the interplay of cultures and perfect characterisation make for a fascinating read.

The Lost Man of Bombay is published in hardback, paperback and ebook by Hodder & Stoughton. The previous two titles are Midnight at Malabar House – Winner of the CWA Historical Dagger 2021 – and The Dying Day.

Vaseem Khan was born in Newham but spent ten years working in India as a management consultant. As well as the Malabar House series, he is the author of the Baby Ganesh Agency series, of which the first book, The Unexpected Inheritance of Inspector Chopra was a Times bestseller, translated into 15 languages.