Review: The Lonely Lake Killings

The Lonely Lake Killings by Wes Markin
My rating: 4 of 5 stars



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I've slipped this one from five stars (on the previous book) to four stars for this one. There are some things that were acceptable in the first book of the series, but that are now getting a bit ridiculous. The Chief Constable appears to be the first person told about a murder and she contacts the SIO (a DCI in this case) directly and the Chief Constable visits the crime scenes and gets involved in the day-to-day investigations. There are apparently no other ranks between the DCI and the Chief Constable. There are also assumptions made by the characters which officers of their experience would not make. Sounds pretty damning eh? Well, I'm glad to say that overall IMHO, the plot and the emergence of the characters' back stories easily help this book to a four star review rating. Am intrigued to know where they go from here.

Review: The Viaduct Killings

The Viaduct Killings by Wes Markin
My rating: 5 of 5 stars



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A new series from a great author. He has found a nice way to bring one of his favourite characters to a new location. His new characters are slightly less extreme that those in his previous books and this is all to the good, since they are just that little bit ore believable. This is not to say that they don't also have their quirks. Indeed there are some wonderful back stories that are carefully being unfolded. I finished this book in only two days and for me that only happens when it's too good to put down. I'm looking forward to seeing what happens next.

Review: Suicide Thursday

Suicide Thursday by Will Carver
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

If there is a common theme running through Will Carver's books, it's that there is no common theme (OK in this one he did reuse his computer company DoTrue from Psychopaths Anonymous, but we can forgive him that). His characters always seem weird, yet there is always just enough there for you to believe in them. It's a fine line that he is a master of navigating. Unlike the other books of his that I have read, I didn't have a central question that I was waiting to see answered. Instead I found myself wondering where the book was taking me. At the end was a twist, but when it came, I didn't really care that mush about it. So far this may sound a rather lacklustre review, why the 4 stars? Well having read the book, what with it being a Will Carver book, one tends to think back over what has just been read. For me, it's at that stage when all those observations from life start to percolate through my mind and I realise that I've been taken on a very intriguing journey. If you haven't read any Will Carver yet, then you really should do.

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Review: The Moose Paradox

The Moose Paradox by Antti Tuomainen
My rating: 3 of 5 stars



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I received this book as a pre-release copy for review. For this reason, I had not read the previous book in the series. Whilst this book is OK as a stand-alone story, it's fairy short on introductions of the characters themselves. I get the feeling that it would be far better to have read the previous book (The Rabbit Factor) first. The main protagonist, Henri Koskinen, has a very exacting character and a way of thinking that I have sympathy with, because I can tend to think in similar ways, although not anywhere near to the extremes that he does. But this is where I have a problem. When creating such a character, it is beholden on the author to uphold the ethos of said character. If the author makes a mistake that the character would not, it spoils the  belief in the character. Unfortunately there are a few such mistakes, which belie the character of the main protagonist. Whilst overall it was a reasonable story, the errors kept knocking me out of it.