Aline Tenpleton

Lamb to the Slaughter

Detective: Marjorie Fleming
Setting:     Galloway
Time:        Current
Genre       Scots Police Procedural

This the fourth of Templeton's, Flaming novels is nicely crafted with puzzling leads and a neat final twist. A dead sheep is dumped in the courtyard of a small town craft centre. The land owner, who may or may not be about to sell the location to a large supermarket chain, is shot at close range with a shotgun on his doorstep. Is there a link, and if so what? And who will benefit from the murdered man's will. The final arrest comes as a surprise, but there's a twist beyond that.

In the backplot Fleming has to cope with the problems of having a teenage daughter and the death of her father, while within her team there is romance and duplicity.

Rating A

Aline Templeton's Website

Previously Read
Cold in the Earth
The Darkness and the Deep
Lying Dead

Dana Stabenow

The Singing of the Dead

Private Investigator: Kate Shugak
Time                        Current
Setting:                    Alaska

Yet another of the Kate Shugak novels. Eleventh in the series. Shugak is hired as a security guard for an candidate in the Alaskan House of Representatives following the receipt of threatening letters to the candidate. The story is paralled by one set in the late 1890's to 1915 during the Gold Rush era concerning the career and ultimately murder of a prostitute who tries to better herself.  

In the Shugak series Stabenow mostly concerns herself with the plight of native Alaskans (Shugak is an Aleut). In this novel between the sub and main plots Stebenow explores the origins of the sate's Anglo population making the point that most of the state's "aristocracy" can be traced back to prostitutes who married well. 

It is whether of not there are skeleton's in the family cupboard of both Shugak's employer and her opponent that drives much of the plot especially after a researcher who has been asked to check into backgrounds is murdered.

In terms of the backplot ARC, Shugak is still coming to terms with the murder of her partner and reconciling herself to the responsibility of looking after his 14 year old sn.

Rating A

Dana Stabenow's web site

Previously read
A Cold Day for Murder
A Fatal Flaw
Dead in the Water
A Cold Blooded Business 
Whisper to the Blood
A Night too Dark
Though Not Dead
Restless in the Grave

Sara Blaedel

Blue Blood
(Also published as "Call me Princess")

Detective: Louise Rick
Time:        Current
Setting:     Copenhagen
Genre:       Scandi Noir

This is the second of Blaedel's Louise Rick novels. It concerns a brutal rape of a young woman  and dwells a lot on the consequences for the victim before there is a second rape, this time resulting in the death of the victim.In order to trace the perpetrator Rick is drawn into exploring the world of internet dating which takes her dangerously close to the villain. At the same time Rick's best friend, a journalist is trying to exploit the problems of the original victim and unwittingly exposes her to further danger.

The background story of Rick's problems with her partner are a little drawn out and slow the pace of the story.

Rating B+

Sara Blaedel's website

Torquil MacLeod

Meet me in Malmo

Detective: Anita Sundstrum
Time:       2008
Setting    Malmo, Sweden
Genre:    Scandi Noir

This is heralded as the first in the Detective Inspector Anita Sundstrum series. An English journalist arrives in Malmo to interview a university contemporary who is now a Swedish celebrity only to walk into his flat to find the film star wife murdered. Until the discovery of the body the pace is slow but it speeds up after this. There are a number of possible leads until the crime is solved and there is a final last page twist. 

Sundstrum is part of a team of detectives with differing personalities, including the almost inevitable over-bearing boss although he can be supportive  of Sundstrum's insights and pursuit of her own theories.

A promising start to the sequence

A

Torquil McLeod's Website

Aline Templeton

Lying Dead

Detective: Inspector Marjorie Fleming
Time:        Present
Setting:      Galloway
Genre       Scots Rural Police Procedural

This is the third of the Marjorie Fleming novels. The plot opens with a prisoner released on licence discovering and moving a  woman's body before he could be incorrectly accused of killing her. At the same time there are libertine goings on amongst the boating set at a wealthy yacht club on the cost nearby. The initial evidence is that the murder victim is from Manchester. However it is eastablished that the murder victim has local links and her previous colourful past opens up a new range of suspects. The obnoxious detective Jon Kingsley, who was introduced in the previous novel, plays a significant role.  Well crafted. Lots of half leads and  an unexpected twist at the end.

Amongst developing themes is Fleming's difficult  relationship with the Stevenson family who were impoverished by the foot and mouth epidemic and will not forgive her for her nforcement role as a police officer during the culling. Another theme in the back story is that of Fleming's father developng dementia and the struggle to come to 

Ailine Templeton's web site

Rating A+

Previously read
The Darkness and the Deep
Cold in the earth

Ann Cleeves

The Shetland Quartet
           Raven Black
           White Nights
           Red Bones
           Blue Lightning

Detective: Inspector Jimmy Parez
Time:        Present
Location   Shetland Islands
Genre        Scots Noir

For novels in the sequence, which I read in quick succession. Set in various locations around the Shetland Isles the stories are nicely constructed, each with a good twist towards the end, while giving an interesting insight into life in this remote part of the United Kingdom. Jimmy Parez is a local lad, descended from an Armada survivor in tue with the crofting traditions of the area.

The back story involves his developng romance with an artist incomer although the story ends in tragedy.

Rating A+

Ann Cleeves Website

Quentin Bates

Winterlude

Detective:Detective Sergeant Gunhilder Gisladottir
Time            Present
Setting:      Iceland; Reykjavik
Genre:        Scandi Noir

This is the fourth of Bates' "Gunni" Gisladottir novels although much of the investigative work in this one is carried out by her assistant Helgi, following up leads in his home village. Interestingly in the first two books Gunni is based in a small town away from the capital and the gets transferred to th city. Hasaving done that ates' seems to feel the need to set his plot back in rural Iceland.

Essentially its a well crafted but simple plot. An ex-con, freed early from his sentence for killing a child in a road accident is found battered to death in a warehouse he owns in Reykavik. The most likely perpetrator, the child's father, has a cast iron alibi as he was at sea at the time of the murder. However he has three brothers living in Helgi's small home town. Did one of them do it and if so which?

Rating A-

Quentin Bates' Blog

Previously Read Novels in the Series
Frozen assets (1)
Cold Comfort (2)