The Long Siesta by Nick Sweet

review by Maryom

It's summer in Seville in 1998 and Chief Inspector Velasquez of the Homicide Team seems to have a serial killer on his hands. The first victim is an elderly priest found murdered in bizarre circumstances, and a rather too obvious trail leads to an "escort agency" and junky Ramon Ochoa. Then a second priest is found dead in the river, an attempt is made on Ochoa's life, and a third victim is found, this time a Russian gangster. The first two deaths certainly seem related, but what would a Russian gangster have to do with two Spanish priests?

Nordic Noir is cold and chilling, but this thriller set in Spain is the opposite, filled with scorching heat. There are trails leading this way and that  - suspicions about the priest's activities during the Civil War, the involvement of Russian Mafia gangs, a love-lorn man wishing to free his girlfriend from the brothels run by the Russians, and Inspector Velasquez's personal battle with heroin addiction - all of which keep the reader guessing about which way the story will move next.

You expect a certain level of blood and gore within a crime novel - and as regards the human victims this was less distressing and brutal than I've read elsewhere, but something I really disliked was the bullfighting. Ok this is a part of Spanish culture, and had a role within the plot, but I found the whole sequence distasteful in this regard not one for you if you're squeamish.

Maryom's review - 3 stars
Publisher -  Grey Cells Press
Genre - adult fiction, crime

Five and a Half Tons by John Bayliss

Review by The Mole

Springer is a private detective in a small seaside resort. Not a very good one. Private detective that is, although the resort is not one of the top ones either. It's the 1960s and he's short of money, but not short on debt so when a case of a missing wife comes his way he leaps at the chance. She almost finds herself and when Springer goes to break the news his client starts shooting at him from an upstairs window and then shoots himself.

And this is just the start of the story.

Springer reminds me very much of Douglas Adams's Dirk Gently in that neither has any real ability (and Springer is told this by just about everyone he meets) and both find the solutions, given time, throw themselves at the detectives. And while the humour is not as overt as Adams it is most certainly there and adds to the enjoyment of the book.

The underlying plot gradually does present itself to Springer and in doing so I found it to be well rounded and most enjoyable. Just a couple of niggles though...

There are pictures inside at various intervals and, while I am no expert, I found them to be a distraction and irrelevant and wondered "Why?". And the other was the proof reading was of a much lower standard than I would expect to find in a final print edition. Now I do read a lot of proofs that have "proof" splattered on them so you expect errors to be picked up but with ebooks it's a lot less obvious what stage this version is at.

That aside... I loved this book and wish Springer every success in his chosen career - even if everyone in the book seems to doubt him!

Publisher - Grey Cells Press
Genre - Adult Crime

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