It’s Tokyo, 1931. An economic depression is on, and times are desperate. Farmers sell their daughters into prostitution. Crime gangs are flourishing. Resentment is growing against the zaibatsu, the top corporate and banking czars. The Japanese army has staged an incident in Manchuria in China, prompted followed by a military invasion. Assassinations, and plots, are becoming common. Democratic government seems on life support.
Inspector Kenji Aizawa of the Tokyo police has his hands full. He’s also something of an odd duck – he believes in democracy and enforcing the law, regardless of status and position. His boss, unfortunately, is not of the same persuasion.
Aizawa receives an anonymous phone call from a woman, saying that Baron Onishi, an aristocrat widely believed to be the next prime minister, will be assassinated. The inspector acts on the tip and foils the killing. But circumstances allow the would-be assassin to be released, and the baron is still under threat. More anonymous phone calls follow.
Matthew Legare
The voice on the other end of the phone belongs to Reiko Watanabe, a geisha who’s also the mistress of a fascist writer plotting to overthrow the government. The baron is only one target; the aim is to establish a fascist regime in Japan.
Shadows of Tokyoby Matthew Legare is the story of Inspector Aizawa and Reiko the geisha, and the intense work they do to try to keep Japan from falling into fascism. The story has more action scenes than a Japanese (or American) video game, including narrow escapes from death for both the hero and heroine. And the tale is saturated with the history of Japan as the run-up to World War II begins.
Legare has written three novels in the Aizawa / Watanabe series: Shadows of Tokyo, Smoke Over Tokyo, and Treason in Tokyo. He’s also published An American Putsch, set in New York City in the 1930s, and Shanghai Twilight, set in the same time period. His web site includes a blog, where he reviews suspense novels and historical books about Japan, China, Korea, and the World War II period.
One of the appeals of Shadows of Tokyo is that Inspector Aizawa makes mistakes, and sometimes those mistakes should have been obvious. He tends to go off on his own, without proper backup, but then he’s in the predicament of never knowing when his backup might shoot him in the back. But he’s human, with human failings, and he’s pitted himself against the pull toward dictatorship. And he loves his city.
A retired postal worker is found dead in his meticulously kept garden. His daughter and grandchildren have lived with him for a few years after the death of her husband. And she is failing fast with cancer.
The Thames Valley Police Force at Kidlington near Oxford is still reeling from the sniper death of a beloved superintendent. Detective Inspector Hillary Greene was there when it happened, as a group walked out of headquarters into the parking garage. She’s now back after two months leave, and she’s dealing with her own problems with the death, this new murder case, and the superintendent’s pregnant widow, herself a police officer, deciding to undertake her own investigation into her husband’s death.
They all know who the murderer is. The problem is that they have zero evidence. The suspect’s house is being watched. No one thinks he’s finished. And then he slips away without anyone realizing he’s gone.
Faith Martin
Murder in the Garden is the ninth novel in the DI Hillary Greene series by British author Faith Martin. Its predecessor, Murder in the Mansion, turned into a riveting edge-of-your-seat suspense thriller – and this one follows in the same vein. It requires a close read to keep track of several narrative threads happening at the same time, but your careful reading is well rewarded. It’s a gem of a mystery novel.
In addition to the DI Hillary Greene novels, Martin (a pen name for Jacquie Walton) has also published the Ryder and Loveday novels as well as the Jenny Sterling mysteries. Under the name Joyce Cato, she has published several non-series detective stories. Both Cato and Martin are also pen names for Walton. (Walton has another pen name as well – Maxine Barry, under which she wrote 14 romance novels.) A native of Oxford, she lives in a village in Oxfordshire.
Beatrice Stubbs, a detective with Scotland Yard, has been recovering for the past year from a suicide attempt. She takes medication for bipolar disorder, and her condition now seems under control. Her boss thinks the time has come for her to take charge of an investigation.
Nd it may not be a case at all. In Switzerland, a businessman associated with an unsavory business has committed suicide, leaving not note. The circumstances are so similar to another suicide in Liechtenstein that an investigation is warranted. And Stubbs will be working with a Swiss detective and a rather international team from Europol.
The reader knows what Stubbs and her team don’t know. These are not suicides but well-planned murders. There are more like six or seven of them than two. And the one thing they all have in common is Antonella D’Arcy, head of an investment firm in Zurich. The victims did business with her, knew her, played polo with her, or had some other connection.
JJ Marsh
The team makes progress, but it’s slow. Interpol, which is funding the investigation, wants results like yesterday. But as the team makes headway, they don’t realize that one of their own may also be the killer’s target.
Behind Closed Doors is the first of 13 Beatrice Stubbs police thriller novels by JJ Marsh. It includes a heavy emphasis on the setting (you learn a lot about Zurich) and the plodding but ultimately successful aspects of police investigatory procedure. And Marsh throws in enough team tension to keep the internal workings interesting.
In addition to the Beaturice Stubbs series, Marsh has also published three novels in the Run and Hide series and three standalone novels. She has degrees in English Literature and Theatre Studies, and has worked as an actor, teacher, writer, director, editor, journalist, and Cultural trainer. She lives in Switzerland and also blogs at her web site.
Behind Closed Doors is a tension-building, thriller of a suspense novel, grounded in police procedure and with characters reflecting their national homelands (even in a Euro-type environment).
Miranda has turned 50, and she’s having something of a mid-life crisis. Happily married to Ben and living in a home she loves in Seattle, her two children are grown and both recently moved away. She’s considering returning to the art she loved in her youth but keeps putting it off. Her husband and her friends offer advice; it’s well-meaning but leaves her dissatisfied. A visit to drop a donation off at a homeless shelter for teens leaves her confused after sharp words from one of the girls there.
She loves her garden. And she loves the garden house, a small two-story structure her kids used for play and parties. But it’s empty, not unlike what she feels about her life.
She begins to have dreams about threatened children. There’s a boy and a girl, and they’re both in danger. Miranda (and Ben, when she tells him) writes them off as a response to the anxiety and dissatisfaction she’s feeling. But the dreams continue.
When a young professor rents the garden house for two months, Miranda doesn’t at first know whether to be pleased or not. She likes William Priestly, and he’s a quiet, keep-to-himself tenant. But her dreams come to be associated with him, and Miranda worries that something is clearly wrong.
Linda Mahkovec
The Garden House by Linda Mahkovec is a slowly building suspense story that avoids becoming a super-charged thriller. I’d call it “quiet suspense,” one that raises questions about dreams, personal crises, and how the past controls our lives.
Mahkovec is the author of seven novels in the Christmastime Series, set during the World War II period, and two short story collections, Seven Tales of Love and The Dreams of Youth. She’s currently working on her next book, The Tower: A Small Town Tale of Dreams. A native Midwesterner, she holds a Ph.D. degree in Victorian literature and lives in New York City.
The Garden House tells a realistic story of a woman dealing with significant changes in her life, unsure as to what direction she should go, overlaid with dreams of danger involving children.
Charles Holborne, World War II hero, Cambridge graduate, and now a London barrister, grew up in London’s East End as Charlie Horowitz, son of a Jewish tailor, would-be boxer, and a young man unafraid to use his fists. With a growing defense practice spilling over to other attorneys in his chambers, Charles finds himself in an odd position. He’s being asked to prosecute a case for the Crown, and at first the solicitor bringing the case to him won’t tell him the name of the person being scrutinized for possible wrongdoing.
The person turns out to be a high court judge. The crime is the murder of his wife, whose body has just been found submerged in a lake. She disappeared more than a decade before. The woman flaunted her affairs with a succession of men, she treated their children shabbily at best, and she alienated virtually everyone who came into contact with her. The judge had borne her infidelities for years; what could have made him kill her at that particular time?
The home where the crime likely occurred had been sold to other people, but the police tear it apart, looking for evidence of murder. And they find it. The judge is charged, and the parties proceed to trial. Charles’s life becomes a bit more complicated when a man from his past recognizes him as someone who likely beat his friend to death during the London Blitz. And the man tries his hand at blackmail.
Simon Michael
The Waxwork Corpse by Simon Michael is the fifth in the Charles Holborne mystery and suspense series, and it’s a fascinating turn for the London barrister. As the trial is set to begin, his father moves in with him, separating from Charles’s mother after decades of marriage. Charles has been estranged from his family; they’re observant Jews and he likes nothing better than a bacon sandwich. Cut off from the family for marrying a Gentile wife, a reconciliation has only recently been brought about. But things still are tense.
The author manages all of these threads expertly, winding them through each other so skillfully that the story seems less a mystery novel and more like literary fiction.
Michael is the author of five novels in the Charles Holborne series, with a sixth set to be published in November. He studied law at Kings College, London University and was called to the Bar in 1978. He worked primarily in the field of criminal law until the late 1990s, when he focused his practice on clinical negligence. He began writing in the 1980s and resumed it when he retired from legal practice.
The Waxwork Corpse is likely the best mystery in the Charles Holborne series, and that’s saying a lot, giving the quality of the stories that preceded it.
Josh Baker and his best friend Eddie are 14, and they’ve grown up together in the Kanawha River Valley of West Virginia. There is nothing they love better, well, almost nothing, than to fish. A close second might be camping out in the woods.
It is by fishing one day that the boys discover an old-fashioned milk can, with a sealed lid. It’s sealed pretty strongly, but it eventually gives way before two determined boys. And inside the can they find a sketch made on old animal skin, accompanied by writing with some of the letters missing or faded.
What they can make out are the words “Southern Jewel.” They have a friend working at the library who agrees to help with some of the research; Josh has something of a crush on the “older woman” (she’s 17). Slowly but surely they begin to unravel what the map is about – a train robbery from more than a century earlier, rumors of Confederate gold, and the deaths of five railroad employees. The boys soon realize they’re on the verge of one of the greatest dreams for any kid – a hunt for long-forgotten treasure.
The problem is, several other people are just as interested. And someone is going to let nothing stand his way, including two young teenaged boys.
Steve Kittner
River Rocks: A West Virginia Adventure Novel by Steve Kittner is the story of Josh, Eddie, their friends, and their enemies, all on the hunt for gold from the old Confederacy. The story is aimed at the middle grades, but it’s a fun read for almost any age from 10 and up. It’s not only a mystery and suspense story; it’s also a coming-of-age story that strikes similar chords for any of us who were once teenagers. Which is all of us.
Kittner was born and raised along the Elk River in West Virginia, and the story reflects a number of his own growing-up experiences in the river valley and forests of the area. River Rocks is the first in a series, the others being What Lies in the Hills, What Lies in the Sea, and What Lies the Keys. He’s also written several stories for young children. He and his family live in Florida.
For those of us who grew up with woods nearby, a river (no matter how large or small), and the imagination to invent stories and mysteries almost out of whole cloth, River Rocks is an entertaining tale with a touch of childhood nostalgia. And it has a nail-biting, cliffhanger of an ending.
ReadingCorrupted, the fourth in the Charles Holborne suspense series bySimon Michael, created a sense of “this sounds vaguely familiar.” The story is partially about a scandal that happens with UK politicians in the 1960s. But there have been so many scandals involving British (and American) politicians that I wrote off the sense of familiarity as likely due to something I reads in the newspaper. But when I reached the end of the story, I discovered that Michael based this story on real events and real people, even going so far as to use the real names for some of the characters.
I was right. I had read about it in the newspaper. That’s why it seemed so familiar.
It’s the mid-1960s. Holborne, a World War II hero and a Cambridge graduate, is a highly successful barrister. He works for a law chambers that handles mostly criminal cases, and his success in both defending and prosecuting criminal cases makes him something of a “rain man” for his colleagues. But several of them would still like to see him gone. They don’t like his reputation, and they don’t like the fact that, before he was Charles Holborne, he was Charles Horowitz, an East End Jewish boy who knew a lot of rough-and-tumble days.
A “rent boy” Holborne helped in a previous story shows up at his office with 100 pounds, asking him to take on the case of a 15-year-old boy accused of murder. The usual process is to go to a solicitor first, who then contacts a barrister, so Holborne has to do some quick stepping to get the procedure worked out correctly. The boy charged with the crime seems completely resigned to his fate, and only gradually does Holborne draw him out into explaining what happened.
Simon Michael
What Holborne learns is that his ongoing collective nemesis, the gangster Kray Twins, are involved, and they want the boy dead. The boy knows way too much about two members of Parliament, one Conservative and one Labour, and if his story goes public it will bring down the government.
Corrupted weaves a story that grabs you by the throat and won’t let go.
Michael is the author of five novels in the Charles Holborne series, with a sixth set to be published in November. He studied law at Kings College, London University and was called to the Bar in 1978. He worked primarily in the field of criminal law until the late 1990s, when he focused his practice on clinical negligence. He began writing in the 1980s and resumed it when he retired from legal practice.
The author’s knowledge of the law informs the courtroom scenes, as it has in the previous novels. Watching the back-and-forth and the brilliant work done by Holborne before the judges is simply captivating. Corrupted joins the previous Charles Holborne novels as an outstanding suspense novel.
Attorney Eric Ward is back, embroiled in a new murder mystery. The Newcastle lawyer is watching his marriage falling apart; he’s on the moral hook with the local police inspector; he’s estranged from his usual source of information, who doesn’t quite trust like he used to; and he has his hands full with his latest clients, a group of villagers opposing a toxic waste site and a rather sleazy sort who makes a living investigating people’s trash cans and selling what he finds to the highest bidder. A journalist is trying to glean information from him and offers something in return – information about the attorney who may be replacing Eric in his wife’s affections.
Swirl all that together, with a good dose of personal guilt from the previous story (The Marriage Murder), and you’ve got a good story. Add an explosion and fire at the waste site, the body nearby of the sleazy information collector, and pressure from the police to gather information, and you’ve got something better than a good story – a fast-paced suspense novel that you don’t want to put down.
Roy Lewis
The Wasteful Murder by British author Roy Lewis was originally published in Britain in 2001 as The Nightwalker and has been reissued by Joffe Books, which is republishing two of the Roy Lewis series of mystery novels. It’s a humdinger of a story, undergirded by Lewis’s own in-depth understanding of general and maritime law – and the professional jealousies and rivalries that often accompanied it.
Lewis is the author of some 60 other mysteries, novels, and short story collections. His Inspector Crow series includes A Lover Too Many, Murder in the Mine, The Woods Murder, Error of Judgment, and Murder for Money, among others. The Eric Ward series, of which The Sedleigh Hall Murder is the first (and originally published as A Certain Blindness in 1981), includes 17 novels. The Arnold Landon series is comprised of 22 novels. Lewis lives in northern England.
I can’t recommend the Eric Ward mysteries too highly. Eleven books so far, and each one is an excellent story.
Adam Blumer is the author of three Christian suspense novels: Fatal Illusions (Meaningful Suspense Press); its sequel, The Tenth Plague (Kirkdale Press); and Kill Order (Lighthouse Publishing of the Carolinas). A print journalism major in college, he works full-time from home as a book editor after serving in editorial roles for more than 20 years (Adam was the editor for my first two novels, Dancing Priest and A Light Shining). He lives in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula with his wife, Kim, and his daughters, Laura and Julia.
And he has a new book – Kill Order. Here’s the summary:
“When he sleeps, the forgotten terrors of the past come alive.
“Grammy-winning pianist Landon Jeffers’s brain cancer has given him only a few years to live. But when he sleeps, the forgotten terrors of his past torment him. When he wakes, shameful memories come rushing back. Desperate for answers, Jeffers discovers that a brain implant intended to treat his cancer is really a device to control him, forcing him to commit terrible crimes. Now he’s being manipulated by an evil crime syndicate and a crooked cop.
“What if free will isn’t? What if your every move is predestined? If you kill, are you guilty of murder?”
Here’s what Adam has to say about his writing journey, writing fiction, his faith, and Kill Order.
Tell me about your writing journey. How did you get started?
I’ve loved to write stories since I was a kid and studied novel writing in college. I completed five unpublished novels, mostly for youth, before I began Fatal Illusions, my first published novel, in the spring of 2002 in conjunction with a Writer's Digest correspondence course on novel writing. In January 2006, literary agent Steve Laube, a well-known and respected voice in Christian fiction, responded enthusiastically to my book proposal and asked to see the entire manuscript. Of course, I was on cloud nine. Though he ultimately declined to represent me, he kindly gave me eight suggestions on how to make the novel publishable.
My first novel is Fatal Illusions (Meaningful Suspense Press). The sequel is The Tenth Plague (Kirkdale Press). Both are available as paperbacks and e-books.
What inspired you to write Kill Order?
My dad, Larry, passed away from brain cancer in 2011, and several aspects of his cancer journey kicked off the initial story idea. One key detail involved a medical procedure. The doctors agreed to remove as much of my dad’s brain tumor as possible and replace it with medicinal wafers intended to fight the existing cancer. My mind began playing the what-if game. What if the doctor implanted something else, something that could monitor or even control my dad’s life? The story’s premise grew from there.
When did you realize your calling to create words on paper to share with the world?
Adam Blumer
When I was a child, I began writing wildly imaginative pirate and fantasy stories. My first handwritten story was a fantastical tale about Captain Kidd’s spyglass. In high school, I also wrote and finished an unpublished novel called Down with the Ship. It’s such an Agatha Christie copycat that I laugh whenever I peruse it, but emulation is how a lot of authors get to be where they are today. Those were the early projects that inspired me to take novel writing seriously. When I won a high school award for creative writing, I wondered if God wanted to do more with my love for fiction. In college I won more writing awards, and though I studied journalism, I took as many creative writing courses as possible. God opened doors from there, and I’ve never lost my love for fiction writing.
Do you have a favorite Bible verse?
Isaiah 41:10 says, “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand” (ESV). I’ve always loved this verse, and my wife and I included it in our wedding ceremony.
If you could, what advice would you give to your younger self?
Writing the story is only half of the project. The other half is finding out what readers like to read, crafting the story for them by following publishing standards, and writing the story to the best of your ability. Then remember that publishers can take a very long to decide whether they want your work. Don’t get discouraged. Just keep going and waiting.
What is the hardest part of the creative process of writing?
I rarely have difficulty coming up with story ideas and even an engaging premise, but getting from the beginning to the ending is a circuitous path that can sometimes come to dead ends. The hardest part of novel writing is choosing the right path that comes out at the right ending. There are so many moving pieces and critical decisions along the way that the writer can become paralyzed, overcome by too many choices. If you’re an indecisive person, you’ll never succeed as a novelist.
What do you read for fun?
Authors write what they like to read. When I was a kid, I devoured Hardy Boys books—yes, even my sister’s collection of Nancy Drew. While growing up, I read Agatha Christie, Arthur Conan Doyle, C. S. Lewis, J. R. R. Tolkien, Terry Brooks, Ray Bradbury, and Madeleine L’Engle. Eventually I gravitated to suspense fiction by authors like Frank Peretti, Terri Blackstock, and Mary Higgins Clark. I grew weary of whodunits and preferred suspense novels. I like novels that grab me around the throat, keep the pages turning, and never let go until the final period. Suspense novels filled with plenty of action and conflict captivate me like no other books I read, though I also have a fondness for good literature, fantasy, history, biography, true crime, and science fiction.
What was the hardest part about writing Kill Order? How long does it typically take you to write your novels?
The ending was tough to write. While I’m typically an organized plotter, I took off the training wheels on this one and let the story glide where it and the characters wanted to go. The journey became fun but scary. I had the premise and some plot developments in place, but how the story concluded took more work than I expected.
I typically take at least a couple of years of evenings and weekends for the actual writing of the book. But that doesn’t count the time needed to shop the novel around through my agent and then wait on a publisher before and after the contract; the publishing wheel turns much more slowly than most readers realize. I wish I could write more quickly than that, but that’s the reality for me, since this isn’t my full-time gig.
Your branding on your website is for “meaningful suspense.” What inspired you to write these kinds of thrillers and suspense novels? Also, what inspired your “clean fiction guarantee”?
I began reading Christian novels in junior high and soon gravitated to suspense. Back in the day, an inspirational thread was a staple in Christian fiction, and I believe a Christian novel can do more than simply entertain. These days many authors are leaning toward writing clean, moral stories but avoiding overt Christian content. I’m a believer that the inspirational content should stay (hence “meaningful suspense”). Books can encourage and even challenge readers’ thinking while taking them on a roller coaster of a ride. The “clean fiction guarantee” came about due to the rise of objectionable content in some Christian fiction. My fans were expressing disappointment to me due to content issues when they tried books by some Christian authors. I felt it was time to declare where I stood, and many readers have appreciated my guarantee.
Where is your favorite place to write?
I’ve been blessed with a wonderful home office. Though I often like to write in other locations, this is by far my favorite place. I can close the door, shut out life’s distractions, pray, and become immersed in my story. Now and then, if I need a break, I can glance out the window and delight in God’s creation.
What are you reading at the moment, and who are a few of your favorite authors?
I’m currently enjoying Mind Games by Nancy Mehl. I especially enjoy a good thriller, whether Christian or secular. Some of my favorite authors are Steven James, Terri Blackstock, Frank Peretti, Ted Dekker, and Brandilyn Collins. I like how they weave story threads together and craft their scenes in ways that keeps the plot moving forward. Their books are great examples of what works in suspense writing. I learn so much simply by reading their novels.
What is the best part of your author’s life?
I love hearing from readers who went to work tired because they stayed up too late finishing one of my novels. If I kept them immersed in my story and entertained, that’s a score in my book.
Do you have any new writing projects on the horizon?
I’m almost finished with the first draft of the sequel to Kill Order and hope to have something ready for my agent sometime this fall.
What’s one unusual fact about you?
When I was a kid, for a while I wanted to be a ventriloquist and had a “dummy” named Andy. But then I got braces and could no longer talk through my teeth like I used to. Andy sadly went into storage.
What are your three biggest frustrations about the writing business?
First, the amount of time each book requires from start to finish. Included in this is the long wait time from publishers. Second, the continually changing rules in writing and publishing. Just when you think you know what publishers are looking for, your agent tells you something else. Third, book marketing. One cannot guarantee sales. I wish a book release was like the movie Field of Dreams. “Build it, and they will come.” If only it were that easy. There is almost an equal amount of work in just promoting the book.
What excites you the most about the creative process?
I get most excited about the creative process when a plot development I never saw coming unexpectedly presents itself, taking the story in a new but stronger direction. This epiphany has happened to me several times.
Diana Hunter is something of a brain. Entering college at 16, she’s less interested in dating and far more interested in computers and science. Her mother works at a hospital and her father is a police detective for the Vancouver Police Department. Her father tends to be over-protective of his daughter.
In Hunted, the prequel for the Diana Hunter suspense series by Alison Golden, Diane’s life turns upside down in a matter of a few months. Her mother commits suicide at work; at least, that’s what the police investigation determines. There’s even a suicide note. Her father gradually comes to understand that this was no suicide, and he and a colleague quietly begin to investigate on their own. Soon they are booth killed in a shootout; the assailants are unknown. This story provides the background for what happens in the next several books in the series – and why Diana became involved in law enforcement.
Choppedis three stories down the road from Hunted. Several years have passed; Diana has moved from the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) to the Vancouver Police Department, where she works as a consultant. She’s partnered with detective Peter Hopkinson, and despite her longstanding commitment to no romantic involvement with colleagues, she’s finding herself increasingly attracted.
Alison Golden
Hunter and Hopkinson are called to a murder scene. A headless dead body has been found and a surgical mask is in the victim’s pocket. The missing head is not a sign, but the surgical mask certainly is. Hunter’s old nemesis the Surgeon has resurfaced, and it looks like he’s up to old tricks, including targeting of Hunter herself. The crime has links into international terrorism and a possible assassination plot. Hunter figures the only way to smoke out the Surgeon is to use herself as bait. It works.
Golden has three mystery and suspense series involving signature detectives. The Diana Hunter series is set in Vancouver; the series includes Hunted, Snatched, Stolen, Chopped, and Exposed. The Rev. Annabelle Dixon series is set in Cornwall. And the Inspector David Graham series is set on Jersey, one of the Channel Islands. The last two are officially “cozy mysteries,” which translates as minimal violence and any romantic interest will not involve graphic sex.
Things happen in the Diana Hunter series – and fast. The stories are action-packed, sometimes so action-packed that close reading is required to keep track of everything. But they’re highly entertaining suspense stories, with a very self-sufficient woman detective at the center.
