A trio of mystery novels – Todd, Tursten & James

I have to admit that I found myself reading even more mystery novels than usual during this year of pandemic stress. Somehow I have no problem with the death and deceit found in a mystery novel – it is just like opera – we know that all who die will come out for a curtain call at the end.

A Hanging at Dawn is really a long short story, or novella, in the Bess Crawford series by Charles Todd. This book fills in the background to the series, taking place years before the Great War. This is the time of Bess Crawford’s childhood in India when her father commanded a Regiment, and Simon Brandon was a young soldier. This little book was a delight to read – as I await the next instalment in the Bess Crawford series, An Irish Hostage which will be released in July.

I also read the 5th in the Inspector Irene Huss Investigation series, The Golden Calf. I am slowly doling out the books in this terrific series, reading only one every month or so to make them last. This instalment involves an investigation into the murder of a very wealthy man, and as more and more bodies accumulate the detectives find themselves with an investigation into the lives of a group of people who made a great deal of money in the dot.com and investment banking world – and lost it all. Or, did they? Did some, or one, pocket millions. And, who will be left alive at the end of this killing spree?

Then, a series new to me. Though I’ve stocked Peter James over the years I had never read one until recently. There is now a popular ITV series and the novels have all been re-released. I began with the first, Dead Simple, published in 2005. This is Detective Superintendent Roy Grace’s first case and our introduction to Roy and his colleagues who are investigating a fatal traffic accident, and the disappearance of a man thought to have been with the victims – but is nowhere to be found, days before his wedding. 

Roy Grace is a man in his late 30s, he drives an aging Alfa Romeo, and is thinking that now, many years after his wife went missing, that he really should be thinking of the future without her. Dead Simple seemed a little too simple at first but the story was intriguing and got better as it progressed, until the end – with twists and double twists – when of course all is revealed!