On Secret Service East Of Constantinople. Peter Hopkirk. (John Murray) 1994

A gripping and fascinating history of the attempts by Germany to launch a Holy War in Central Asia as part of its World War 1 strategy. The intention was to create a war that would spill into British India and place intolerable pressure on the British Empire. The subtitle for the book is "The Plot to Bring Down the British Empire". It could have been as easily titled "The Plots to Carve Out a New Empire I Central Asia by Germany and Turkey".
The story is an astonishing one taking place before technology had completely transformed travel and spying, when remote regions were genuinely isolated and the crumbling Ottoman Empire was a pot of riches for whoever could grab them and hold on to them. The region had a long history of secret warfare and espionage as the Great Game between Russia and British India was played out. This game only came to a close in the face of the mutual threat from Germany and Turkey. The Kaiser had an explicit plan to foment a Holy War by the Muslim population in Central Asia against both Britain and Russia, this Holy War would be lead by the Ottoman Sultan, the political and religious leader of Muslim population. Hidden inside this plan was another plan to replace Russia and Britain as the imperial power in the region, gaining the riches of the the Caucasus and India.
The plan was to use a limited number of German soldiers, diplomats and spies armed with some gold, more propaganda and a lot of promises to maneuver Turkey into a declaration of Holy War against the infidels. This would unleash the muslin population into a war that would be funded by the gold seized from Russian and, chiefly, British banks in the region. This would be a very cot effective war if the plans were realized. Peter Hopkirk describes how the plans were made, the move and counter move made across the region, the desperate and frequently confused actions of Germany, Britain and  Russia, before and after the revolution, collided and intertwined.
At its hear this is a story of a number of incredibly brave men from Germany and Britain who fought a secret war against each other. It is a flat out adventure story with daring escapes, endurance, luck and heart stopping courage that grips the reader like a vise. Without technology these men, they were nearly all men though the incredible courage of the women caught up in the wars, massacres and revolutions is fully acknowledged, had to rely on their wits to save themselves and complete their missions.
Peter Hopkirk manages to balance the wider picture of the war across the globe with the details of the struggles in the region, placing the individual stories within a wider context. The results of the actions of that time are still very relevant today, the fantastically cavalier way that the Allies disposed of the the countries in the region, carving them up for their own benefit post war without any reference to the people who lived there is still bearing bitter fruit today.
This is wonderful narrative history, the sweep and dash of the events are told with clarity and a due appreciation for the astonishing people involved.

Dark Side. Belinda Bauer. Bantam Press. (2011)

A superb crime story, as cold and griping as the bleak winter Exmoor landscape that the story is set in. Belinda Bauer has located the battered skull beneath the skin of the English village murder story. A severely disabled, elderly lady is murdered in the small village of Shipcott in midwinter. PC Jonas Holly, the village policeman is quickly sidelined by the investigative team sent to handle the case. The abrasive Detective Chief Inspector Marvel finds Jonas a considerable nuisance and deals with him as such. A second murder places everyone in the village under significant pressure and the investigative team and Jonas in particular. The plot uncoils steadily, the reveals are cunning staged and the conclusion is wholly unforgiving and satisfying.
Belinda Bauer takes the basic structure of the English village murder mystery , the way the community knows everything except what it does not wish to know, the comfort of familiarity and the suffocating closeness of knowing everyone and uses them to amplify the force of the savage story. The cast are varied and bursting with life, the smallest walk on part is so finely drawn that they insist on the readers attention, without ever upsetting the balance of the narrative. PC Jonas Holly is a great leading character, he is not a moss covered village bobby, he returned to Shipcott for a deeply serious reason, the failing health of his wife. The murders in the village are a considerable burden to him, both on a personal and a professional level. That such events could happen on his watch is pressure enough, being very publicly excluded from the investigation adds severely to it. It forces him to act to regain and retain his position within the village, the community expect something from him that he struggles to provide.
The lead investigator, DCI Marvel should be a walking cliche, an abrasive double outsider, transferred from London to the local force and an outsider to the village, he is abrasive, enraged and frustrated. He avoids all the obvious pitfalls he seems set up for and emerges as as gripping and deeply unlikable person in his own rounded right. He gets a deeply satisfying and viciously sardonic treatment from Belinda Bauer and deserves all of it, in particular the happy unfairness meted out to him at the end.
The astonishing skill with which the plot threads are woven and twisted up to the last words of the book is a joy to read. The reader is reminded that justice is a freezing cold process that does not encompass mercy in any way. This is a superb book, very strongly recommended.

The House of Silk. Anthony Horowitz. Orion Books Ltd. (2011)

A superb Sherlock Holmes story, it captures the spirit of the originals and uses the required details in a fresh and very enjoyable way. While London is in the grip of a savage winter, a client comes to 221B Baker street with a strange story. He is being stalked by a scar faced man, a man he can identify, a man who is a grave threat to him and his family. Holmes is very interested in the case and agrees to investigate. As he does so he hears of the House of Silk, a mysterious,very powerful, and clearly criminal organisation. Holmes is very explicitly warned against any further inquiries in the House of Silk, which naturally encourages him to delve even deeper.  Holmes and Watson find themselves in very considerable danger, from unexpected sources as the investigation unfolds. The reveals are superbly staged, Holmes is as brilliant and unexpected as he should be. The secret of the House of Silk is ugly enough to support the plot and the superb loop the story takes at its conclusion is sharp, bitter and utterly fitting.
Anthony Horowitz has accomplished a very difficult feat, he has written a true Sherlock Holmes book that Arthur Conan Doyle would never have written. From the wonderful opening that sets the stage for one story that cleverly becomes another before the satisfying resolution, the structure of the story never fails. The set pieces are staged with great flair, they effortlessly showcase Holmes' brilliance and his love of the dramatic. The cast are a nicely judged mixture of new and old, they play together with force and tremendous vigor. Mycroft Holmes features  as does Inspector Lestrade and Professor Moriarty, all of them are given fresh opportunities and are far from stale replicas of the originals. In particular Inspector Lestrade is given a chance to be the competent, professional police officer he is away from Holmes' withering gaze.
The new cast members are a salty and engaging series of villains, they are careful, vindictive and powerful. The threads that bind them and the force of their motives are well shaded and sorted, they act to be a convincing threat to Holmes, something that is very difficult to do. The rules of the genre dictate that Holmes cannot fail completely in a truly serious matter, the game is largely about how he wins. In this case Anthony Horowitz give the game a subtle and very effective tweaking that does not damage or undermine it, it is a very engaging variation.
This highly engaging book is a deeply satisfying pleasure.

Rupert. 1970 Annual. Alfred Bestall Writer and Artist. Classic Media Distribution/Express Newspapers (2011)

Vintage nostalgia, beautifully packaged, this re-print is a a pleasure in its own right as well as for the effortless way it conjures with a never-never past. Rupert the Bear is a very long running strip in the Daily Express newspaper and a clever decision by someone has ensured that it has retained it popularity through the decades. Rupert has never changed in content nor format, the strip long ceased being old-fashioned and simply became itself. There are four large panels per page, each panel has a small caption which are are simple rhyming couplets, the lower half of the page has an extended text narrative for the action in the panels. In addition each page has a descriptive title. The simple and direct design of the pages means that the pages are neither cluttered nor crowded, they give the reader multiple options on how to read it without tripping each other up.
Rupert is a human like white bear who always wears yellow check trousers, a red jumper and a yellow check scarf, his friend, like Bill Badger, Edward Trunk are the same. They have safe but exciting adventures with inventors, magicians and bandits.
The context is a wonderful never-time, what was imagined the best possible childhood would look like early in the 20th century when the strip was launched. Looking it it today the unspoken attitudes of the creators and readers are vividly clear. There are no ethnic characters in the cast beyond a Chinese magician and his daughter, certainly no one with a dark skin. This is a very English, genteel and supremely middle class world. This is the very factor that should render it stale or vapid if not frankly offensive, yet it is the essential element that keeps it fresh and attractive. Rupert ceased having the slightest relevance or connection to the real world a long time ago, it is a museum piece in the truest sense. It is a call from another time and a window into another era. It retains it complete sincerity, a picture of the exciting, friend filled, adventurous childhood that many have dreamed of and desired.
Alfred Bestall's wonderful art is the heart of Rupert and it a joy to read, the panels are spaced widely enough on the page that each one is considered by itself as well as part of the progression of the story. Each one is carefully balanced with the need to convey the story and to stand individual attention. The details are simple and telling, they give a great physical context to the action. In particular I love the landscapes that Rupert and his friends move through, the shades of green and the variety of the ground is a delight.
The stories are nicely varied, neatly structured and engaging. Rupert is placed in enough danger or trouble to be interesting, the resolution comes from his kindness and courage, a return home to safety and friends is inevitable.
The pleasure of this book is to see again a long, golden afternoon of mystical childhood which never fades, where adventure is always around the corner just waiting for you.

Thicker Than Water. Mike Carey. Orbit Books (2009)

An highly entertaining, very well structured and very dark fantasy. Felix Castor is a freelance exorcist in an England where ghosts, werewolves, zombies and demons are part of the population. Felix is taken to a crime scene where he discovers that his name was written in blood by a victim of a very savage murder. This becomes a bigger problem when Felix reveals that he knew the victim and that he had tried to kill Felix when they were children. Under suspicion for the murder Felix has to investigate to clear himself. The trail leads to the Sailsbury estate where something very nasty indeed in brewing. The trouble on the estate had attracted the attention of a violent and militant Catholic group, The Anathemata. As Felix continues to investigate the trial leads back to his own family past in Liverpool and a web of secrets and lies. The action is fast and very well set up, the reveals are superb, the cast engaging and the story thread very cleverly knotted together. The climax is savage and fitting, no one is left unpunished.
One of the great pleasures of the book is the way Mike Carey uses his premise about the supernatural invading the world and becoming a, nearly normal, part of reality and everyday life. This accommodation lets him drive the story forward as a very noir thriller with a supernatural cast without having to break the genre conventions to do so. Felix is a great leading man, he is trying to do his best and do the right thing in a world where that has lost a great deal of meaning. He is not a superhero in any sense, he does have a strong talent which causes him as much trouble as it solves for others. He is willing and able to act, make mistakes and just ultimately do what has to be done. With a supporting cast featuring a demon who lives for sex and blood and a zombie property developer, the standard police officer who is a wary ally of Felix has to work hard not be simply be a cliche. Mike Carey gives him a genuine spark of life and the relationship between the two rings true.
The opening incident of the book appears to be a freewheeling sub plot that is woven into the main plot with a cunning ferocity that is matched only by the bitter story that lies behind the activities on the Sailsbury and the murder victim. The supernatural elements are not window dressing on a excellent noir thriller, they are woven into the fabric of the story so that they give it extra bite and severity.
This is a great read, Mike Carey is a very skillful writer who has created a gripping blend of ideas that could work against each other, in fact they combine seamlessly to add weight and texture to a cold and griping story.

Outrage. Arnaldur Indridason. Anna Yates (Translation). Harvill Secker (2011)

A gripping and slow burning crime story that slowly releases its terrible secrets. A man is found murdered in his apartment, there is no sign of a break in, the victim was wearing a t-shirt that did not appear to belong to him and there was a woman's shawl under the bed. Detective Elinborg leads the investigation which very rapidly goes nowhere. The victim was extremely secretive and there were no witnesses. When Elinborg does find a possible witness she is very unreliable. Still a line of investigation that includes the rape of a woman and the disappearance of a young woman many years before starts to emerge. A suspect is identified and the case heads for a bitter and dark conclusion.
The story is very skillfully paced and structured, the story threads lop and flow across each other until they are carefully and sharply woven together. The reveals are very well staged and the dark undercurrent come to the surface in a very satisfactory way. The investigation is orderly, logical and very determined. The final unraveling  is done with considerable and quiet force.
Arnaldur Indridason  does a number of unexpected things in this story, he gives the victims of sexual assault a chance to be fully rounded characters rather than be locked into victim hood. They have been battered by the appalling crime they were subjected to, they are not defined by it. This care for the person is equally evident with Detective Elinborg, she is pressed hard by her job and the demands that it makes on her. She has a credibly mixed home life with a loving husband and some strife with one of her sons. She is never the cliche of a hard worn police officer, she is doubtful and dedicated, trying to make the correct decisions. She also has a strong professional care and strength, she is open minded enough to trap an elusive and vital clue.The rest of the cast are given the same care and attention and as the coils of the plot tighten around themselves respond in credible and engaging ways.
The murder victim remains a shadow at the heart of the book until the investigation starts to stir up long hidden actions and he starts to come into dreadful focus. The final portion of the book is a triumph of storytelling as the past is dragged into the present and the dangling threads are tied up. Arnaldur Indridason has an unflinching eye for responses to evil, they way that it can be easier to look away and pretend and then how maintaining the pretense becomes and end in itself. This is a very unsettling and engrossing book, a pleasure to read. The translation is transparent, there Icelandic context is vivid and direct, there is no sense that it is being filtered in anyway.

A Certain Justice. P.D. James.Penguin Books (1997)

This is a beautifully constructed and engaging crime novel. Venetia Aldridge successfully defends a man against a murder charge. She is poised for another professional advance when her daughter reveals that she has become engaged to the man Venetia has defended, a man Venetia believes to be a murderer. As Venetia tries to prevent the engagement she is found murdered in her office. Commander Adam Dalgliesh investigates the death and discovers that there are multiple suspects and motives. The plot reveals are perfectly staged and the slow, cold unwinding of the story is gripping. The final revelations are stark and satisfying.
This is a purposefully unhurried book; the set up for the murder of Venetia Aldridge is long and extensive. It creates a vivid picture of a proud, compelling and very unpleasant character. Venetia is never monstrous in her dealings, she is hard and unflinching, lacking in any human sympathy to cloak her cold brilliance. When she turns to others for help she reaps a bitter harvest, which does not spare anyone. Her male colleagues are as unsympathetic as Venetia, they have a mixture of small cowardice in them, which her presence magnifies and makes them look shabby by comparison.
P.D. James has written a wonderful modern version of a revengers tale, where the revenge, initially appearing justified becomes a greater outrage than the first offence. With a stubbornly flinty character like Venetia Aldridge, this is a very considerable feat. The plot slowly becomes clear through the investigation of the police team and the terrible consequences of revenge become clear. The cast are wonderfully realised, they are, for the most part, unlikeable, they all possess a clear vigour and individual life. They are not shadows or puppets, they move across each other with force and weight. The impact of the many crimes in the story is forceful and vivid. Written with a tightly controlled ferocity, this sharply and sourly satisfying book is a great read.