balthazarlawson's reviews
1171 reviews

Death in High Circles by Andrea Frazer

fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.0

I continue to ask myself how on earth Harry Falconer ever became a Detective Inspector, not that you really needed one in this book. It was all over the place with so much time spent on cats, dogs, kids and family. It just didn't make sense at all with everything just going around in circles. It only got interesting towards the end, but that didn't last, as expected.

A rather unenjoyable read.

The Devil's Cave by Martin Walker

adventurous informative mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

Bruno is doing his job in St Denis while coping with his changed private life. Pamela is still in Scotland, he has to look after the horses she owns and he is coping with the death of his dog and trying to find a replacement. Into this floats the body of a naked woman in an old boat. Trying to find out what happened is not easy. He also has to deal with a planned investment in the village that seems too good to be true and a case of domestic violence. He is kept busy.

I enjoyed this read and it's good to see that things in St Denis are never smooth but somehow they all cope by coming together. I've really been enjoying this series.

The Last Dance by Mark Billingham

adventurous challenging mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

Detective Sergeant Declan Miller is returning to work following the murder of his wife. He lands a new partner, who had been his replacement, Detective Sergeant Sara Xiu, and a murder case. Two men have been found shot dead in two rooms beside one another in a hotel. The problem is, one of them is the son of a local gangster, someone Miller suspects of being involved in his wife's murder. Miller's unorthodox style and joke telling quickly puts his new partner off side but they have work together to get the case solve. All the time, his wife's ghost haunts him.

Miller is annoying and I wouldn't like to work with him, but he is smart and good at his job. In many ways if he could work on his own he would. Coping with his wife's death isn't easy but he battle through in the hope that the killer is caught. Unfortunately that case doesn't seem to be making much progress and Miller has been warned to stay away from that side of the building.

I enjoyed this refreshing new character from Mark Billingham but this is just a set up for a follow on story as the case of the dead wife is still unsolved at the end. Will that be what this series is all about?

Grave Stones by Andrea Frazer

lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

1.0

Very much the same as the rest of the books in the series, they are very much formula driven. An old woman is found dead and her much talked about jewellery is missing. But is seems everyone in the village could do with some extra cash as they all seem to be broke which doesn't make it easy for Falconer and Carmichael. But there investigation is conducted like all the others and never seems to get anywhere until a climatic end where everything is revealed. They don't do a thorough job with there investigation but still get there in the end.

The only interesting person in this book is the new DC who ends up in hospital again after being hit by a car. He is not the luckiest of people.

Her Last Tomorrow by Adam Croft

dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.0

Nick is married to Tasha and they have a daughter. It's not the happiest of marriages. Nick works from home as a writer and is left to care for his daughter a lot and Tasha feels guilty about that, but not that guilty. Then, the daughter disappears in a matter of seconds while getting ready for school and their lives are turned upside down.

Especially when Nick is give the chance to get his daughter back but is the price too high.

A psychological thriller but the characters are awful. I hated them all. I couldn't careless what happened to them. If you think too much you will see several flaws in this story and some rather illogical actions taking place. There was no need for anything that happened to have happened. 

If The Dead Rise Not by Philip Kerr

challenging informative medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

It's not where the books in this series start, but where they end that dictate the sequence. This book ended in Havana, Cuba in 1954, but it started in 1934 Berlin.

This book is in two parts, with part one set in 1934 where Bernie was working as the hotel detective at the Adlon Hotel. He encounters two guests, one Noreen Charalambides, whom he falls in love with and the other, Max Reles, who he would gladly kill. Max is an American gangster using the upcoming 1936 Olympics to make money and nothing will stand in his way. He and Bernie don't hit it off from the beginning. Noreen is an American journalist who is doing research for a story that she hopes will convince the USA to boycott the Olympics. Their worlds and motives clash, all the time Bernie is just trying to live life as best he can staying ahead of the changing laws in Germany under the new Nazi government. When they go their separate ways there is still a lot of unfinished business.

Part two of the book is set in Havana, Cuba, 1954 where Bernie is hoping to live a very quiet life below the radar and doesn't want to draw attention to himself as he is still masquerading as an Argentinian. He has a chance encounter with Noreen, now a successful writer and this changes his future. He also runs into Max who is still a gangster, not that he would ever admit that, running a hotel and casino in Havana. When Max is killed, his associates ask Bernie to find out who killed him. You don't say no to these people.

A lot of this book is a social commentary about life in Germany under the Nazis and equally about life in Cuba before the revolution. It's interesting but it's strange how one person can be associated with so many people in history, especially one trying to keep a low profile, and still be alive.

Red Earth by Tony Park

adventurous informative mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

This is set in South Africa, where a vulture researcher and an helicopter pilot are drawn into the hunt for terrorists responsible for the assassination of the USA ambassador. But they don't know about the terrorists and are only interested in saving a teenage boy and girl and a stolen baby, accused of things they didn't do. They wind up in the middle of the manhunt that takes them across South Africa trying to figure out exactly what is going on and who they can trust. Giving up being on the run isn't easy when everyone seems to want to kill you.

I enjoyed this, mostly, except for the ending. It was a twist that comes when you are dealing with spies. I'm not a bit fan of spy novels and glad there was only a small amount in this.

The Crowded Grave by Martin Walker

adventurous emotional informative mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

There is a lot happening in St Denis keeping Bruno, chief of police, busy. There is a new magistrate, animal liberation activists letting ducks and geese free to wander, a body found at an archaeological site and a high level ministerial meeting taking place that may be the target of a terrorist attack by ETA. Bruno has to weave his magic to smooth the path through all the troubles and come out on top. Except for his trouble love life, nothing seems to go right.

There is a lot of things happening but it all makes for a very enjoyable read. The characters are likeable and life in a small France village seems ideal. But there is also danger and history always seems to come back and bite you. But this just makes things even better.

Great read.

Christmas Mourning by Andrea Frazer

fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

1.0

It's Christmas and Falconer is spending the day with Carmichael and his family in the their small village. The weather turns and the village is snowed in and cut off from the rest of the world, no phones, no electricity and no way out or in. Then there is a death and they have to investigate. This is where their total ineptness as detectives is put on displayed. Procedurally they are rubbish and ultimately they don't solve the crime as someone confesses to what happened. Nothing the pair did helped in anyway with solving this case.  Eight down, six to go.

The Shards by Bret Easton Ellis

challenging dark reflective tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.0

This is a fictionalised autobiography, with the author being the main character. It could just as easily be called an alternate history novel.

Either way, I found it slow, dull and extremely repetitive. It's a long read but it didn't really need to be, it's just the author's style. It was mildly entertaining for the first 30% then I just lost interest in these characters and couldn't care less about them and what horrible things they inflicted upon themselves. All it does is highlight the downside to taking too many drugs to just get through the day.

If not for a power outage today, where I had nothing else I could do, I would still be reading this for another week.

I'm left wondering what the point is to this type of novel. Disappointed.