Goodreads: Hardcastle's Quartet by Graham Ison
Blurb: Accident . . . or murder? Detective Inspector Hardcastle’s seemingly simple investigation turns more complicated, in his latest case
June 1918. A patrolling constable discovers the body of Georgina Cheney, wife of a naval commander, in the basement area of a house in Westminster. At first it is thought to be suicide or even a tragic accident. But as Divisional Detective Inspector Ernest Hardcastle of the A or Whitehall Division of the Metropolitan Police begins to investigate – ably assisted by Detective Sergeant Charles Marriott – they soon discover a different story. It is clear that the woman was murdered, and revelations about the victim’s previous life in Malta arouse Hardcastle’s interest.
But things are destined to get even more complicated for Hardcastle, when he is assigned two further murder cases by Detective Chief Inspector Frederick Wensley, head of the CID at New Scotland Yard. Could they be connected? This may be a puzzle too tricky even for Hardcastle to solve . . .
My Thoughts: This mystery was really a delightful surprise. This is a nice straightforward police procedural set during World War I. There's no real angst or heavy emotion - just curmudgeonly DDI Hardcastle, his hardworking staff, and a complex and entertaining mystery. I loved the dynamic between all the characters and seeing them unravel the complicated threads of the mystery. This is definitely a series I'd really like to read more of and will definitely be on the lookout for more books in this series and by this author while I'm book shopping. My Rating: Really Liked It! (4.25 Stars)
Goodreads: Brought to Book by Anthea Fraser
Blurb: Mystery and intrigue with a decidedly literary bent, from the bestselling crime writer When successful biographer Rona Parish is asked to write the life-story of a bestselling author, recently deceased, she is intrigued - to say the least. After all, Theo Harvey led a very colourful life, and died in mysterious circumstances. But Rona's husband Max is wary and, it soon becomes apparent, with good reason...As Rona begins to delve into Theo Harvey's life and death, and to interview his friends and family - some more willing than others - she realises that she has taken on a poisoned chalice.My Thoughts: This is the first book in the Rona Parish series and focuses on her doing the setup for a biography of a polarizing recently deceased author -and it's apparently a book someone doesn't want to see published. I liked Rona and thought her relationship with her husband was interesting. I did guess a pretty big part of the setup but there were some surprising twists. My main issue with the book was that I couldn't stand Rona's twin sister Lindsey and she got way more page time than I would have liked. She's really just a truly awful person and I inwardly groaned every time she appeared on the page. The pacing was a little slow as well. The mystery is solid with some good twists but I'm not sure that I'm motivated to read more in the series. My Rating: Liked It (3 Stars)