Welcome to Litsy!

Sheila Gleeson confesses to killing her husband but Maeve Kerrigan is not so sure. It's her first solo case (albeit being supervised by Josh Derwent) & things aren't adding up.

This (very) short story is a fast-paced whirlwind through the case but Derwent still manages to get in a line of sexual innuendo towards Maeve whilst she is trying to recreate the murderer's position by kneeling on the Gleesons' bed. 4🌟

Ex-Detective Inspector Jess is on her way home from a night out with a former colleague & boards the train home on the London Underground. It's getting late but there are several people in the carriage so it seems safe enough, but when the train comes to an abrupt stop & the lights go out, it may not be safe after all. Especially when Jess finds the driver dead in his cabin, stabbed through the neck & all communication in the cabin cut off.

This is the one I remember the least from the 1980s TV series, I couldn't even remember the basic plot & was getting it mixed up with The Mirror Crack'd. It was a solid murder mystery that has that Christie 'je ne sais quoi' which elevates it above a 3 star. It's a quick read packed full of untrustworthy & unlikeable characters, but thankfully Miss Marple appears from the start in this one. 3.5🌟

TWs: attitudes towards mental illness, xenophobia.

2nd Nov 1952 in Croydon, Surrey & two teenagers, Derek Bentley (19) & Christopher Craig (16), tried to break into a warehouse from the rooftop. Police were called & in the ensuing minutes, one police officer was wounded & another was tragically killed. It's one of the worst examples of the British 'justice' quirk of joint felonious enterprise (continued)

From the Biblical murder of Abel by his brother Cain, assassination has been a drastic solution carried out by many of the millennia. This book takes a look at some of the pivotal assassinations which were either ordered or committed by the rulers of Greece, Rome, & Egypt, plus the less well-known Hittites & Persians to name a few. Some of them were even victims too.

23-year-old student Tadhg Kelly & his twin brother, Declan, are about to head off for a weekend getaway. Declan will be joined by his girlfriend Katie but Tadhg recently split with his boyfriend when he caught him cheating so he will be third-wheeling & not looking forward to it. As they get near to their destination they stop at a rundown petrol station for supplies & the man there is friendly until they tell him where they are headed.

It's been a while since I read this the first time, probably about 20 years. Since the film I find it really difficult not to picture Denzel Washington as Rhyme so I just went with it. I found it a really good read back then, but since I've read a lot more crime fiction now, this time it wasn't quite as good as I remember. The case & the clues were fine but I found Amelia intensely irritating for the first half of the book. (continued)