The Incendiary's Trail by James McCreet

The popularity of the Victorian detective story can be traced back to the great Arthur Conan Doyle and his creation Sherlock Holmes. True, the way had been signposted by Wilkie Collins and Edgar Allan Poe but it was Doyle's genius to make the fogs and ill-lit side streets of the capital of the world's greatest Empire part of the story. Other writers have tried to emulate this wonderful trick, Raymond Chandler in Los Angeles or Caleb Carr in nineteenth century New York, but no other backdrop can create the atmosphere of menace that the mention of Whitechapel or the docklands of Bermondsey or Limehouse can bring to a story. Over the years many have trodden in Doyle's footsteps with varying degrees of success now Mr James McCreet steps up for this most challenging task and I am glad to say that he makes a fair fist of it. I have always tried to keep my little pieces from being "spoilers" and giving away too much of a story and so I will merely give a brief outline. The Metropolitan Police are being hounded by the Press for their inability to clamp down on crime and the murder of a young woman from a "freak show" gives their critics a sensation that they can exploit. The Commisioner is pursuaded to let Scotland Yard use a criminal to catch the murderer but all the officers concerned know that this is a desparate stratagem with their careers or even their liberty at stake. Mr McCreet builds this into an enthralling narrative which kept this reader glued to the page long past his bedtime. I look forward to his next excursion.

Soldier of Sidon by Gene Wolfe

The Soldier of Sidon is Latro the Phoenecian or is he Lucius the Roman or someone else entirely? No one really knows including himself. Every night he forgets what has happened the previous day ( my wife says that I have the same problem) and so has to write down all his actions and thoughts in the evening and these writings form the book. This is, in fact, the third novel that Wolfe has written about this man and in this style. The first, Soldier of the Mist, I read in 1988 and the next, Soldier of Arete, in 1991 and it was not until 2006 that he published this volume which will not be the last judging by the ending. Latro/Lucius is in Egypt brought there by Muslak a ships captain who says that he owes him his life. Muslak buys them two young women from the Temple of Hathor (my kind of religion!) and they sail down the Nile to sell their cargo of hides. At this time Egypt is part of the Persian Empire and the Satrap hires them to explore the Nile to it's source. Latro, we discover, is a renowned soldier and his faulty memory retains his fighting skills and the languages he has learned in the past whilst wiping out everything else. I must admit that I am not usualy into this kind of whimsical fantasy and it is a tribute to the writing skill of Gene Wolfe that I have swallowed this whole. I am sure that another volume is in the offing and I just hope that we do have to wait another fifteen years for it as I may not last that long.

Pirate Latitudes by Michael Crichton

The late Michael Crichton moved out of his usual sphere with this attempt at a swashbuckling historical adventure a la Rafael Sabatini. More comfortable on his usual ground of research based science fiction he has produced a run-of -the-mill, if very competant and acceptable, tale of sea-doggery but it is not up to the very high standard we gratefully came to expect from him. Am I alone in thinking this a sad farewell to such a brilliant and entertaining writer.

Last of the Amazons by Steven Pressfield

This ai another of Steven Pressfield's constructions of research and imagination held together by the cement of a wonderful narrative flow. Set circa 1250 BC in the Athens of Theseus, slayer of the Minotaur and creator of the template for modern politics ( yes, he is the one to blame) it tells the story of his voyage to the land of the fierce warrior women known to us as the Amazons and one of the first great culture clashes of recorded history. The city dwelling, sea roving Athenians are instinctively distrusted by the free-wheeling, range riding Amazons and when Theseus and the warrior Queen Antiope fall in love and elope their desire for revenge outweighs all other matters. Raising a huge army they invade Attica and beseige the vastly outnumbered Athenians. They fail and depart from the pages of history except as brief references in Homer and Plutarch and are now regarded as myth and legend rather than fact. Pressfield spares us nothing in the telling of the brutal battles that are fought hand-to-hand with a blood chilling savagery. No Geneva Conventions in those days! He creates a cast of fully rounded characters and through them tells a story of love and hate, blood and tragedy that ranks with the most dramatic tales of the Classical world. As far as I am aware Mr Pressfield has published nothing since "The Afghan Campaign" , surely we are due another of his splendid historical novels soon!

Target by Simon Kernick

As readers of this blog will have noticed my taste runs to stories set in previous eras, in fact I usualy avoid modern thrillers as their brutality and vulgarity are most off-putting to me. Target by Simon Kernick has plenty of brutality and a good ration of vulgarity but it is a tribute to his writing that I found myself carried along by this story despite this. Writer Rob Fallon meets the attractive ex-girlfriend of his mate Dom and ends up back at her flat when two thugs break in snatch the girl and try to kill him. He escapes by mere chance but when he brings the police back to the flat it has been cleaned up and everyone denies that anything has happened. This is followed by a more that usualy realistic investigation which kept me "glued to the page" as they say. A real good 'un.

The Winter Garden Mystery by Carola Dunn

This is, I think, chronologicaly the second of Miss Dunn's detective stories featuring the Honorable Daisy Dalrymple and Detective Chief Inspector Fletcher of Scotland Yard. Daisy, in pursuit of her work as a feature writer for Town and Country magazine, is invited to Occles Hall in Cheshire and whilst being given a tour of the grounds her inquisitivness leads to the discovery of the body of a missing parlour maid. Shocked by the casual nature of the investigation carried out by the local police she phones DCI Fletcher whom she had met during "The Death at Wentwater Court". The duo pursue the murderer down all the usual blind alleys until an unusualy violent conclusion is reached. Another excellent mystery from Miss Dunn which I thoroughly enjoyed.

My Lives by Edmund White

This autobiography may not have been intended as a celebration of the "life outrageous" but White's uninhibited descriptions of his sexual adventures would shock many readers even in this day and age. For myself I found his delight in retailing his every encounter at first amusing then boring and finaly irritating. Mr White has lead an interesting life and writes well and has produced a large body of work, both fiction and non-fiction, which has gained him many admirers. After reading this book I admit that my own opinion of him is ambiguous.

Death of a Wine Merchant by David Dickinson

Question: What do you do if a member of your familly is found shot dead and another member is found holding the gun and refusing to give an explanation?
Answer: Send for Lord Francis Powerscourt and all will be revealed.
This is the ninth Powerscourt investigation by David Dickinson and like all the others it is very well plotted, highly imaginative and excellently written. I will not spoil the enjoyment for potential readers by detailing the action but simply say that if you like Victorian/Edwardian detective stories you will love Lord Francis Powerscourt.

Order in Chaos by Jack Whyte

The third and final volume of Jack Whyte's Templar trilogy charts the demise of the Order at the hands of the French King Phillip the Fourth and his evil chancellor William de Nogaret. Warned by sympathisers at the French Court Jacques de Molay, Grand Master of the Order, sends William Sinclair to the naval base at La Rochelle to remove as much of the Order's treasure as possible aboard the Order's ships. Forming an alliance with the beleagured Robert Bruce he founds a community on the Isle of Arran. As the years pass the hope that the Pope would intervene on their behalf is dashed and William, as acting Grand Master, frees the remaining knights from their vows allowing them to marry. After leading his knights in support of Robert Bruce at the battle of Bannock Burn William takes his people to find a new life in the Americas. Do I detect here the basis of a new series of novels? No bad thing!

Execution Dock by Anne Perry

Execution Dock is the sixteenth in Anne Perry's series of investigations by William Monk. Formerly a Private Investigator he is now Commander of the River Police, a unit independant of the Metropolitan Police Force. As the story opens he is in hot pursuit of Jericho Phillips, a pornographer and owner of a boy brothel, who has murdered one of his boys who attempted to run away. Phillips is brought to trial but found not guilty after a clever defence by Sir Oliver Rathbone, a friend of Monk, and another regular character in the series. Monk is determined to bring Phillips to justice and Miss Perry weaves his quest into an enthralling story.One slight grumble. Perhaps a little less of the high-minded philosophising and moralising would make a more pleasing narrative.

The Montmartre Investigation by Claude Izner

Set in 1891 this is the third in chronological order in the highly entertaining Victor Legris mysteries. In between running a fashionable bookshop and looking after his beautiful Russian mistress, Tasha, Victor solves murders and this one begins with the body of a young woman found at a Montmartre crossroads. The same day a single red shoe is delivered to Victor's shop by a goatherd!! Accompanied by his assistant Jojo, driven to distraction by Tasha, introduced to the nightlife of the Moulin Rouge by a journalist turned cancan dancer Victor pursues the killer. As with the previous novels Claude Izner gives us more than an whodunnit, this is a marvellous tour of Belle-Epoque Paris in the company of a fascinating cast of characters. Full marks also to translators Lorenza Garcia and Isabel Reid.