#MiniReviewMonday | #BookReviews | 24/09/2018

Never has a quote been so relevant to EVERY book worm around the globe (and further!). SO many books, but so little time! The same can also be said for book bloggers. We read that many books so we can share them with our audience, but we find ourselves short of time to write all our thoughts down in a comprehensive review.

This brings us nicely to ‘Mini Review Monday’. A place where, to compliment our current content, we can share with you some of our initial thoughts on books we have been reading over the last week 🙂

 
THE NIGHT AT THE CROSSROADS (Maigret #7) by Georges Simenon

“She came forward, the outlines of her figure blurred in the half-light. She came forward like a film star, or rather like the ideal woman in an adolescent’s dream. ‘I gather you wish to talk to me, Inspector . . . but first of all please sit down . . .’ Her accent was more pronounced than Carl’s. Her voice sang, dropping on the last syllable of the longer words.”

Maigret has been interrogating Carl Andersen for seventeen hours without a confession. He’s either innocent or a very good liar. So why was the body of a diamond merchant found at his isolated mansion? Why is his sister always shut away in her room? And why does everyone at Three Widows Crossroads have something to hide?

These are short little novels, with medium size chapters. So for me a fairly quick read and ideal for taking on a day out.

These little stories can be read as standalones if preferred, nor do they have to be read in order if it is not desired.

Whilst I had already seen the televised episode of this with Rowan Atkinson, and did remember the basic storyline it was fun to read the novel as opposed to have it all play out on the television screen.

I found this a fast paced book, which still kept me guessing right until the very end.

Another brilliant and intriguing investigation by Maigret.

[K]

 
THE BEAUTIFUL DEAD by Belinda Bauer

There’s no safety in numbers . . .

Eve Singer needs death. With her career as a TV crime reporter flagging, she’ll do anything to satisfy her ghoulish audience.

The killer needs death too. He even advertises his macabre public performances, where he hopes to show the whole world the beauty of dying.

When he contacts Eve, she welcomes the chance to be first with the news from every gory scene. Until she realizes that the killer has two obsessions.

One is public murder.

And the other one is her . . .

This was the first novel I’ve read by this author but definitely won’t be my last.

This was a fast paced book which I found I struggled to put down. I warmed to the main character Eve’s personality, and disliked the smarmy Guy, the problems of juggling her journalism job with an incredibly tetchy boss and her homelife, when a serial killer is thrown into the mix. Each death by this killer was a surprise and I found myself rooting for Eve to solve the case right up until the climatic end.

Whilst I don’t want to give too much away and spoil the story for new readers, I would definitely recommend this book to those that like a good crime thriller. So much so I have actually passed this book onto my Mum to read as she likes this genre.

You will not be disappointed!

[K]

TRAITOR’S BLOOD (Civil War Chronicles #1) by Michael Arnold

Traitor’s Blood, the first in The Civil War Chronicles, Michael Arnold’s acclaimed series of historical thrillers, sees battle-scarred hero Captain Stryker, ‘the Sharpe of the Civil War’, confront his nemesis. ‘Stands in comparison with the best of Cornwell’ Yorkshire Post

Once seen in the heat of battle, Captain Stryker is never forgotten. A hardened veteran of the wars in the Low Countries, he has come home to England to seek revenge on the man who left him for dead and scarred him for life.

Stryker is driven by loyalty rather than conviction to serve King Charles’s cause. He has no truck with aristocracy, preferring the company of a handful of trusted men, including sometime actor Lancelot Forreseter and his foul-mouthed sergeant, Skellen. But when the existence of a dangerous spy at the heart of the Royalist establishment is discovered, it is Stryker whom Prince Rupert chooses to capture the man before he realises the game is up.

Lightly armed and with only a handful of men, Stryker must journey across a country riven by bitterness and beset by marauding bands of soldiers in a race against time. But unbeknown to Stryker, someone else is also closing in on his quarry, someone whom Stryker has sworn to kill: Captain Eli Makepeace, his nemesis, the man who nearly destroyed him . . .

Being part of one of the Civil War towns (Newark), I have taken an interest in this particular point in history.

I wasn’t sure what to expect from this novel but I really enjoyed it, the story is set around Captain Striker and his companions giving the battles and skirmishes from their point of view (in this one it includes the battle of Edgehill) Whilst trying to complete his special mission he has been given.

I found I was rooting for the good guys, disliking the bad and wondering how they were going to get out of the scrapes they found themselves in. The action was well described and non stop, where pretty much no one got away unscathed. And the storyline I felt was well paced and thought out.

Definitely looking forward to reading the next in the series. Ideal for those that like military or historical action stories.

[K]

 
Have you read any of our mini reviews this week?

Let us know in the comments!