Review of "Consolation: A Constable Paul Hirschhausen Novel" by Gary Disher

This review was first posted on Mystery and Suspense. Check it out for features, interviews, and reviews. https://www.mysteryandsuspense.com/re... In this third book in the Paul Hirschhausen series, the police constable deals with cases ranging from underwear theft to men on the run. The book works fine as a standalone. When Constable Paul Hirschhausen (Hirsch) is assigned to maintain law and order in the South Australian town of Tiverton, he makes it his business to learn about the area. Hirsch spends months walking the streets, driving the roads, meeting the citizens, noting residents who need help now and again, identifying petty criminals who bear watching, and so on. Hirsch believes the job of a country policeman is to be prepared, and to be friend and counselor - as well as law enforcement officer - to everyone. Hirsch's patch isn't a hotbed of criminal activity, but the constable still gets a steady stream of calls that require a police response. We follow Hirsch as he goes about his day to day activities - protecting people, maintaining peace, and capturing wrongdoers. Hirsch's first stop is the home of an elderly woman whose underwear was nicked from her clothesline. It seems a snowdropper has been stealing lingerie from senior ladies all over the region. Hirsch decides to mark the undies of older women, to try to nab the perpetrator. ***** A teacher called Clara Ogilvie, who monitors home-schooled children, fears an eleven-year-old girl named Lydia Jarmyn is being neglected. Hirsch checks into the allegations and makes a shocking discovery. ***** A primary school administrator phones to say a man called Leon Ayliffe is in the principal's office making a disturbance. When Hirsch arrives at the school he learns that Leon, a local sheep farmer, has an array of grievances: a stock agent named Adrian Quinlan owes Leon money; Leon couldn't pay his daughter Chloe's school fees; and the principal embarrassed Chloe as a result. Hirsch settles Leon down and agrees to look into the allegations against Quinlan, which opens a whole other kettle of fish. ***** The aforementioned Leon Ayliffe gets in trouble again when Environment Protection Officer Andrew Eyre reports him for illegally clearing land. Hirsch, his boss Sergeant Hilary Brandl, and Officer Eyre confront Leon, which ends up with two people badly injured and Leon and his son armed and on the run. ***** An elderly woman named Maggie Groote is approached by silver-tongued Irishmen who arrange to fix her (perfectly fine) roof. This scam leads to even bigger trouble when Maggie goes to the bank to get money for the crooks, and is told her account has been drained. Hirsch investigates the Irish swindlers as well as Maggie's missing money. ***** In Hirsch's private life he spends time with his teacher girlfriend Wendy and her daughter Katie. Everything is going well until Wendy's colleague, Clara Ogilvie, develops a crush on Hirsch and starts texting, calling, and stalking him. Hirsch doesn't know how to handle the situation and it affects his private and professional life. All this leads to an explosive and exciting climax. Hirsch's perambulations give us a palpable sense of the geography and atmosphere of rugged South Australia. We also get a feel for the arctic winter. I could almost feel the frostbite in my own toes as Hirsch worked in his freezing police station with a useless little bar heater. This is an engaging novel that depicts the work of a rural police officer in a gripping and realistic way. Thanks to Netgalley, the author (Garry Disher), and the publisher (Text Publishing) for a copy of the book. Rating: 3.5 stars

Review of "Brilliance: Book One of the Brilliance Saga" by Marcus Sakey

This is the first book in the 'Brilliance Saga', about exceptionally gifted people being targeted by government agencies. (Sound familiar? 😊)

****

Beginning in the 1980s, a small percentage of humans with unusual abilities began to be born.



These people - called brilliants or abnorms - cause fear in average people, who are concerned about what the brilliants might do. An abnorm called Erik Epstein, for example, uses his stock market savviness to amass a fortune of 300 billion dollars.



This causes stock exchanges to close, creating havoc among investors and businesses. One abnorm is a human lie detector,



another moves so surreptitiously that she seems to appear out of thin air.



Regular people are afraid that brilliants might band together to take over the country.

To subdue people's anxiety, the United States government develops new programs to deal with abnorms. Gifted children, for example, are separated from their families and sent to special Academies - where they're given new names and brainwashed into distrusting their own kind.



And Congress is trying to pass a law that requires all abnorms to have a 'chip' inserted close to the carotid artery - so they can be tracked at all times. (Shades of Nazi Germany!)

Some brilliants - who abhor these policies - become terrorists. The most ruthless terrorist is John Smith, who supervises the slaughter of 73 patrons (including children) in an upscale Washington, DC restaurant and perpetrates deadly bombings.



To combat the abnorm terrorists, the government creates an agency called the Department of Analysis and Response (DAR) - whose mission is to hunt down and kill dangerous brilliants. One of the leading DAR agents is himself an abnorm - named Nick Cooper - whose ability to read body language lets him know exactly what a person is about to do. This gives Nick a big advantage in hostile situations, and he has tracked down and assassinated many abnorm criminals and extremists.



Nick is also a divorced father with two children that he dearly loves. Ironically, Nick just discovered that his four-year-old daughter is a high-level abnorm whose abilities have attracted attention.



Thus, the little girl is about to be tested by authorities, and will undoubtedly be sent to an Academy. Nick and his ex-wife - who have an amicable relationship - don't want this to happen.

After another massive bombing - which kills over a thousand people - Nick makes a hush-hush deal with his supervisor, Drew Peters.



Peters will announce that Nick is responsible for the bombing, and Nick will go on the run. DAR agents won't be in on the deception, and will attempt to hunt Nick down. As a result, Nick will acquire street cred that helps him infiltrate Smith's inner circle and (hopefully) kill the terrorist.



In return for Smith's demise, Nick's young daughter won't be tested and won't go to an Academy.

In his undercover role Nick teams up with a beautiful 'fellow extremist' named Shannon Azzi, which leads to some interesting developments and a few surprising twists. That's about all I can say without giving too much away.



The premise of the story - that authorities want to control (or eliminate) 'exceptional' people - is interesting, but not especially original. The same kind of theme is seen in X-men, Heroes, and numerous superhero tales. Still, the abnorms in 'Brilliance' are unique because their abilities are generally associated with mental superiority rather than the ability to fly, become invisible, shoot lightning out of their fingers, etc.

There's a nice mix of characters in the story, including different kinds of brilliants, various DAR executives, Nick's DAR partner, the principal of an Academy, Nick's ex-wife, and more. Some characters are good guys, some not.....and it's not always obvious who's who. In fact Nick comes off as quite a hypocrite, wanting his daughter to be treated differently than other abnorms.



I enjoyed the book, which held my interest and led to a compelling climax. Recommended for science fiction fans.

Rating: 3 stars

Review of "Murder in the East End: A Kat Holloway Novel of Suspense" by Jennifer Ashley

This review was first posted on Mystery and Suspense. Check it out for features, interviews, and reviews.
https://www.mysteryandsuspense.com/re...


In this 4th book in the 'Kat Holloway' series, the cook/amateur sleuth searches for several missing children. The book works fine as a standalone.



In the late 1880s, Mrs. Kat Holloway is employed as a cook for the Bywaters, a wealthy London family. Kat is a single mother whose daughter Grace lives with kindly people called the Milburns, whom Kat visits on her days out.



Kat also has a special friend named Daniel McAdam, who works as a deliveryman, but is really an undercover agent who helps the police.



Kat and Daniel have warm feelings for each another, but circumstances prevent a serious romance.

One morning Daniel and his foster brother, vicar Errol Fielding, ask for Kat's help.



Fielding, who's on the Board of Governors of London's Foundling Hospital orphanage, has learned that several of the children are missing. Moreover, a caregiver named Nurse Betts, who was terribly worried about the missing orphans, has vanished as well.

Kat visits the Foundling Hospital, where the matron tells her there's been a misunderstanding.



The matron says the children aren't missing, they've been sent to good homes, and the addresses can be found in the Board of Governors' records. Vicar Fielding checks out the supposed addresses and reports there are no houses there. To double check, Kat looks for the addresses herself, and - at one site - observes a new brewery being built. Moreover, thugs guarding the street won't let Kat pass, rough her up, and chase her away.



All this raises suspicions that something bad happened to the children, and Kat, Daniel, and the vicar fear the orphans may have been sold to a brothel. If so, there's a conspiracy at play, one that includes at least one member of the Board of Governors as well as Foundling Hospital staff.

Finding missing persons is a job for the police, but Kat can help by reaching out to her 'downstairs' connections, such as cooks, maids, butlers, footmen, cleaners, etc., who know what's going on in the places they work.



Kat also gets assistance from three upper class women and a gentleman.

Kat's friend Lady Cynthia is the resident niece of Kat's employers, Mr. and Mrs. Bywater.



Mrs. Bywater frequently invites eligible bachelors to tea, dinner, or parties, in hopes Cynthia will choose a man to marry. For her part, Cynthia isn't interested in matrimony. She likes to wear trousers, visit Mrs. Holloway in the kitchen, and socialize with her progressive friends, Lady Roberta;



Miss Townsend;



and Mr. Thanos, a professor and mathematician.



When Cynthia hears about the missing orphans she's eager to help, and her associates assist as well. With the gentry's help, Kat is able to get information that's useful to the investigation.

The story is enriched by additional characters, including kitchen assistant Tess; maid Elsie;



housekeeper Mrs. Redfern; butler Mr. Davis;



and James, who's Daniel's son.



One of the book's most colorful characters is Bessie, a former foundling who's not about to be pushed around by anyone.



The book provides a peek at Victorian England, which had some odd amusements. For instance, wealthy patrons could visit the Foundling Hospital on Sundays to watch the orphans eat dinner, like animals in a zoo.

The story provides mouth-watering descriptions of Kat's dishes, including things like roasted duck with boiled potatoes;



lobster risolles;



rhubarb tarts;



apple charlotte;



Maid of Honor tarts;



petit fours; and more.



The dishes sound delicious and remind me of the The Great British Baking Show, where the contestants actually made some of these pastries. 🙂

There's plenty of suspense and action in this historical cozy, and the 'upstairs-downstairs' scenario provides a fascinating glimpse of a faded aristocratic culture.

Rating: 3.5 stars

Review of "Confessions on the 7:45: A Novel of Suspense" by Lisa Unger

 

Working mom Selena Murphy commutes to her New York City job by train.....

.....leaving her two young boys in the care of a 25-year-old nanny called Geneva. Geneva is a wonderful caregiver - fun, capable and nurturing - and the boys love her in return.



Selena was very satisfied with the children's caregiver until last week, when Geneva was caught on the nanny cam, having sex with Selena's husband Graham.



Selena's unsure what to do. Graham's never been the ideal husband but he's a good father.



Moreover, the kids are very attached to Geneva, and would be bewildered and upset by her sudden departure.

Selena's mulling this over in her mind when she boards the 7:45 train to return home from her work in the city. Selena's seatmate, an attractive woman who introduces herself as Martha, strikes up a conversation, and confesses she's sleeping with her married boss.



Selena gets the urge to reciprocate confidences, and admits she suspects her husband is being unfaithful with the nanny.

Martha produces some mini-bottles of vodka, and she and Selena drink and chat as they travel home.



Before the women part Martha makes an odd remark. Referring to Selena's nanny, Martha says, “Maybe she’ll disappear and you can just pretend it never happened." Selena is discomfited by the comment, and - though she didn't divulge the ACTUAL situation at home - wishes she hadn't said anything to the stranger.



In any case, Selena has other things on her mind. After further thought, Selena confronts Graham with the evidence of his adultery. She tells him he has to fire Geneva and leave the home until she decides on her next steps.



The next day, even before she's fired, Geneva doesn't show up for work. Before long detectives arrive at Selena and Graham's front door, saying Geneva's sister reported her missing.



Selena tries to rationalize this, thinking maybe Geneva went off with a man she just met. Nevertheless, Selena is VERY uneasy, and her anxiety is exacerbated when she starts getting friendly little texts from Martha, though she never gave Martha her phone number.

The detectives' return to question Selena and Graham again and again, and Selena finds herself melting down with worry.



Selena adores her sons, loves Graham despite his faults, and wants everything to 'go away.' But that's easier said than done.

There are several important women in the book, whose connection becomes clear as the story unfolds. The women include Anne - an investment firm employee who's having an affair with her boss;



Pearl - a 15-year-old girl who wears thick glasses, likes to read, and helps out in her mother's bookstore;



and Selena's mother - who stayed with her cheating husband too long, for the sake of the children.



The book is an imaginative page turner featuring murder, blackmail, wicked men, deceitful women, helpful friends, caring mothers, and more. Highly recommended to fans of suspense novels.

Rating: 4 stars