Deep Cover by Leigh Russell

Review by The Mole

The body of a sex worker is found in woodland where she may have fallen and died accidentally but all may not be as it seems. When the team get together to start to look at the evidence Ian Peterson is missing and no-one will say where he's gone although Geraldine's boss clearly has an idea. It becomes apparent that the sex worker's death is suspicious and the hunt is on but the criminal has been very careful. When a second - seemingly unrelated - victim is discovered there is difficulty in finding if, and how, these two cases are linked, and, of course, finding the person or persons responsible.

The reader learns that Ian has gone under cover with the drug squad in London as his face is not known in the London area. Under very close support Ian tries to get in the confidences of the leaders of the drug gang but quickly throws his script away to execute his own agenda - he didn't put his life on the line for the drug squad!

For me the Ian Peterson side of the story (and the two stories could almost be two separate books) just didn't work well BUT was cleverly executed by Russell none the less. It felt too rushed, too sweet and not enough time elapsed in the plot.

BUT, on the other side - the Geraldine Steel side of the story is probably (in my opinion) Russell's best story yet and it's not like there's been a bad one.

Really enjoyed this for the Geraldine Steel side at least and would recommend to any crime story fans. 

Publisher - No Exit Press
Genre - Adult fiction, crime

Matilda Windsor is Coming Home by Anne Goodwin

Matilda Windsor was locked away as a teenager, condemned to a life in a psychiatric institution without any proper diagnosis. Over the decades she's made her own little world at the home, imagining it as a grand house or hotel, and explaining away the nurses as 'staff'; maids to serve tea, or butlers to keep undesirables out.

But it's now the early 1990s, and with the introduction of 'care in the community' all is set to change. A new social worker, Janice, is determined that Matilda deserves a chance to experience life 'outside', and, whatever others think, is prepared to bend the rules to make that happen.

Henry, Matilda's much younger brother has been waiting most of his life for his glamorous sister to return to the family home. This waiting has put his life on hold. The family home is too big for him alone, but he daren't move just in case his sister returns one day. 

From these three points of view, Anne Goodwin weaves a story of heartbreak and mischances, in the course of which Matilda and Henry cross paths so many times without actually knowing. Would one casual meeting have changed things? 

Matilda's tale is a sad but seemingly all too frequent one - that young girls who couldn't quite explain their pregnancy, and produce a young man to make everything right by marrying them, were hustled away to the confines of a psychiatric institution, and then somehow just forgotten.  Henry, too, is a victim of sorts. He can't commit to a relationship, or move on with his life, because of that overwhelming feeling that one day his sister will return and things will be just as they always were.

Among this tragedy, Janice appears as a comedy character. She dresses in a colourful, flamboyant way  which makes Matilda think of a circus girl. She squabbles and jostles for importance with her fellow social workers, trying to get her plans accepted even when they're not for the best. She may be well-meaning but she's definitely inexperienced and I was left feeling Matilda deserved someone more capable on her side.

Lean, Fall, Stand by Jon McGregor

Robert 'Doc' Wright has years, almost a lifetime, of experience in Antarctic field work, spending months there at a time. Then one day things go horribly wrong. What should have been an easy, fun excursion, merely to take photographs, turns nasty when an unexpected storm blows up, cutting visibility and communications, and disaster strikes. One of the men dies, and Doc suffers a stroke. He is the only one who can say for certain what went wrong, but he's now in a position where he can't put even the simplest ideas into words.

This latest novel from Jon McGregor takes the reader from a situation where men are fighting for survival in Antarctic wastes to a different kind of fight for the return of normality and the ability to express oneself. 

The story is split into three parts, relating to the three words that make up the title; the incident in Antarctica, Anna's trip to South America to visit Robert in hospital and organise his return to Britain, and the beginning of Robert's recovery. I hadn't quite understood the nature of the story from the blurb, and found it a rather difficult read for personal reasons; family members have suffered strokes and some of it is a little close to home. Having said that I found this a perceptive insight into how the stroke victim themselves must find the strange new world they find themselves trapped in. 

Something that I would have liked to see explored further was the relationships between Doc and his wife, Anna. There's a hint that their marriage, while seeming fine on the surface, is not as solid as it might be, and that their relationship depended on them leading very separate lives. Now, not only are they forced together, but Anna has to abandon her work to become a carer (not really part of the story here but I felt the automatic assumption that his wife would drop everything to help was worth more consideration. Would Robert have done it if their roles were reversed? Would medical staff/social services etc even have expected it if their roles were reversed?) These thoughts are really by-the-by though. I'm not always a fan of McGregor's work but this is an intimate and moving account of  a man reduced to an almost child-like dependence and inability to express himself, and his slow recovery from that state. One of his best.

 

Meet Me In Another Life by Catriona Silvey

Thora and Santi accidentally meet in Cologne, and feel something that immediately draws them to each other. It might not be the first time they've met, and it certainly isn't the last. Over numerous lives they meet again. Sometimes they're roughly the same age, sometimes one is old enough to be the other's parent or teacher. Each time they're drawn back to the same places in and around Cologne, particularly the old clocktower. Gradually they become aware of the things that repeat from one life to the next. What they need, with increasing urgency, is to find out what it all means, and why this is happening.

It's an ingenious concept - a sort of mash-up between Groundhog Day and Star Trek - and although readable enough in some way or other it didn't really grab me. The telling is a little slow at first, as we get to see Thora and Santi meet up in life after life, but despite this repetition, and seeing them in different situations and different relationships to each other, I never really felt I knew them - and therefore didn't really care how their story worked out.

This Fragile Earth by Susannah Wise

In a not-too-distant future, Signy, Matthew and their six year old son, Jed, live in London, in a world that's become increasingly dependent on technology. Drones have replaced bees, and policemen. Robots replaced waitresses and doctors. 

Then one day that technology starts to fail. At first it's small things - something wrong with their phones, or a drone behaving strangely - but soon it feels like the world is crumbling around them. Power and water are cut, and people are worried, confused, angry. As things go from bad to worse, Signy and Matthew decide to leave London, and head for the village where her parents live. Surely in the countryside things will be better? The first hurdle is to get there - without electricity there's no way to recharge the car and traffic is jamming the roads - but Signy is determined that come what may she will get Jed to safety- if such a thing can still be found.

In some ways the premise and plot here are familiar; civilisation is falling apart, and the only way to survive is to leave the city and head to the country where life is 'simpler'. Along the way there are obstacles to overcome, fellow travelers who you may or may not trust, and armed troops who may help - or not. It's different maybe (though there are slight shades of Josh Malerman's Bird Box) in that the main character is a woman, desperately trying to protect her child. Despite all the vaguely familiar tropes it is definitely gripping stuff, with plenty of tension, and a strong but relatable female main character. You'll definitely find yourself  siding with Signy against all that gets thrown at her. 

Just occasionally I wondered about the accuracy of incidents - how quickly the freezer defrosts, or how many miles Signy and Jed could travel in a day - and I wasn't quite convinced by the ending - things felt a little too easily explained away - but none of this really detracted from the book as a whole.  

Still Life by Sarah Winman

In 1944 as the Allies advance north through Italy, a young British soldier Ulysses Temper meets Evelyn Skinner, a 60-something art historian helping to identify and salvage paintings hidden from, or damaged by, the war. Whether it's down to fate or the magic of Italy who can say, but the two form an immediate connection, and a night talking with Evelyn about art, Florence, and love, shapes Ulysses' life.

Returning to London after the war, Ulysses finds it grim, drab, and lacking, though he's not sure how or why. Fate, or Italy, steps in again, and changes the lives of Ulysses and his friends in ways they couldn't have imagined.

Still Life is one of those rare books that are an absolute joy to read. The story moves from war-torn Italy, through the next three decades as Ulysses and his 'family' create a new life in Italy, which is almost washed away by the temperamental force of the river Arno, and then loops back to Evelyn's time in Italy as a young woman when she met EM Forster, and a cast of immediately recognisable characters, in a pensione run by a Cockney landlady. Through it all runs the belief than here in Florence it's possible to live life as it should be lived, filled with passion and love. Here, against a backdrop of art and Medieval streets, food and wine, which nourish body and soul, there's a feeling of standing on the threshold of something momentous. 

I just loved everything about this. It left me with a warm fuzzy feeling, like being wrapped in a warm blanket, or bathing in a big 'tub of love', which is Elizabeth von Arnim's description of Italy rather than Forster's, but which seems totally appropriate. 

Threadneedle by Cari Thomas

 

Anna has always been told by her aunt that magic is a dangerous, sinful thing, that it was responsible for the death of her parents, and that it should never be used. Anna's now a teenager and although she shows little ability for magic, when she turns seventeen the little magic she does possess will be 'bound' to prevent its use. 

Then Selene, an old friend of both Anna's aunt and mother, arrives in London, accompanied by her daughter Effie, and a curious young man, a friend of the family, named Attis. Where Anna's aunt is severe and strict, Selene is charismatic and full of life - and more to the point she believes magic should be used to enjoy life to the full. She, Effie and Attis open Anna's eyes to a different side of the magical world (and perhaps the world in general), one full of fun. At school Effie and Attis discover other witches mixing unrecognised among the students, and set up a coven, drawing Anna into their disruptive plans.

At first it's all fun, but the coven's actions take a dark, destructive turn and Anna begins to wonder if her aunt was maybe right all along - that magic is a curse and shouldn't be practised at all. 

Threadneedle is the first book in great new urban fantasy series. Although aimed perhaps mainly at YA readers, with its share of teenage rebellion, and the school culture of 'Queen Bee' cliques, the style and its thread of dark, twisted family secrets to engage older readers. It's easy to sympthise with Anna and her desire for a more fun-filled life (whether than involves magic or not) but at the same time there's a distinct feeling that Effie and Attis will just lure her into trouble. And as events unfold, it's clear that neither her aunt nor Selene are quite as Anna sees them. I thoroughly enjoyed it.