Last Date by Uwe Andreas Siebert

Last Date by Uwe Andreas Siebert
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Internet security is a hot a topic today with only just recently Ashley Madison client details being lost to the cyber thiefs. This book highlights the risks of online dating and the weaknesses of the Internet. Adrian Richter has been trying to meet the right girl but to date no success, he then meets Doreen with whom he has a great connection until she is brutally murdered, with Adrian a prime suspect. Avoiding detention by the police and with the help of his friends they start to track Doreen's killer unaware she is only one of four. This is an excellent translation from German, easy reading and fast flowing exciting story. I should warn those a little squeamish that some scenes are extremely disturbing due to their graphic content. But don't let this put you off it is minimal but I think necessary to get the message across - be safe online.

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The Collector by Anne Laure Thiéblemont

The Collector by Anne-Laure Thiéblemont
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I have read a few of Le French Book translations and all have been pretty good and this is no different, except for the ending which for me was disappointing. Marion Spicer is a private investigator within the arts and antiquities market in Paris. Inheriting a huge and prestigious collection from a father she never knew, Marion's life changes dramatically as she is plunged into murderous chaos, while she tries to find three priceless statues which are conditions of her fathers will. The writing style is easy reading and the translation excellent, as no attempt has been made to make it French by adding little words or phases to create the atmosphere, this done solely in English which I prefer. It might have been awarded four stars but the ending on its own prevented this.

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A Spy Came Home by H.N. Wake

A Spy Came Home by H.N. Wake
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book had it's attractions from the beginning - spies, politics, corruption and gun violence. A mix of subjects that for me were not going to disappoint. But after getting started I realised apart from being an entertaining book it is also very thought provoking. We all know how mad some Americans are about guns and the havoc they reek in schools, malls and theatres to name a few mass shooting locations. In the UK we are conditioned to abhor guns and their use as the laws are very restrictive on guns and their users, so when we are introduced to the Society For Guns, it is difficult to believe such an organisation even has a chance to influence government far less corrupt it. How much is fiction and how much is based on reality we do not know, but it does make you think. Once this is all mixed in with an ex CIA spy using their tradecraft to prevent the gun lobby from stopping the passing of a very important ban on assault weapons, HN Wake has delivered a very good book that not only entertains but educates as well.

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Killer Jam by Karen MacInerney

Killer Jam by Karen MacInerney
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I knew when I selected this book it was not in my normal type of murder mystery with a name like "Killer Jam" and a cover that gave the feel of the WI. I was not disappointed, it did feel like a WI baking / cooking journal with murder and fraud only as the sideline. That aside the actual storyline was okay with with standard murder induced by greed. This style is definitely going to appeal to an older female readership or Great British Bake Off fans. Lucy Resnick has retired from her job as a journalist in Houston, Texas to buy and run her grandmother's farm in Buttercup ( one of the many quaint names which tell me WI ). As she struggles to get set up in her new role of homesteader Lucy is drawn into being a suspect for the murder of a local VIP. This turns her back to her journalistic instincts and she starts to track down the killer to avoid her own incarceration. Not to spoil the book, but you do get the recipes for all the mention jams, cakes and pies at the end.

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