Faith, Fiction, Friends: Eric Ward mysteries

Showing posts with label Eric Ward mysteries. Show all posts

Thursday, April 22, 2021

"The Zodiac Murder" by Roy Lewis

Attorney Eric Ward finds himself in one of the most gruesome mysteries yet.

Ward and his colleague Sharon Owen are defending a man charged with being the “Zodiac Killer.” Three women have been tortured and murdered. But the evidence assembled by the police is sketchy, and how the police identified and captured the defendant is sufficient for the judge to throw the case out. No forensic evidence tied the man to the killings; what little there was could have been planted by police. Even the place of death has never been found.

Ward and Owen are more than professional colleagues; they are increasing involved romantically. As a favor, Owen asks Ward to represent in settling a family trust dispute involving a cousin. And both Ward and Owen have their hands full warding off journalist, including a struggling one who wants to write a book about the murders.

Public opinion is outraged. So is police opinion. The Newcastle police learn that the former defendant plans to stay in the area, and Detective Chief Inspector Charlie Spate is put in charge of the team that will track the man’s every movement. Spate is on watch when he has to choose between helping his colleague/girlfriend Elaine Start get home after a drunken party with friends or stay and keep an eye on the suspected killer. He opts to help his girlfriend; and the killer disappears. Then there’s another murder.

Roy Lewis

The Zodiac Murder by British author Roy Lewis is the 17^th of 18 mystery novels in the Eric Ward series. Originally published as Design for Murder in 2010, it has all the hallmarks of its predecessors – a gripping story, solid plotting, and well-drawn characters. It also has both Ward and Owen making some really stupid and potentially fatal decisions.

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.

The Farming Murder by Roy Lewis.

The Quayside Murder by Roy Lewis.

The Diamond Murder by Roy Lewis.

The Geordie Murder by Roy Lewis.

The Shipping Murder by Roy Lewis.

The City of London Murder by Roy Lewis.

The Apartment Murder by Roy Lewis.

The Spanish Villa Murder by Roy Lewis.

The Marriage Murder by Roy Lewis.

A Cotswolds Murder by Roy Lewis.

The Wasteful Murder by Roy Lewis.

The Phantom Murder by Roy Lewis.

The Slaughterhouse Murder by Roy Lewis.

The Tattoo Murder by Roy Lewis.

The Football Murder by Roy Lewis.

The Tutankhamen Murder by Roy Lewis.

Thursday, March 4, 2021

“The Football Murder” by Roy Lewis

It begins with a setup involving the police. A minor crook needs to be dealt with; a source gets Detective Chief Inspector Charlie Spate involved. At a racetrack, drugs are planted on Dieter Barschel, a one-time football (soccer) player whose best days are long behind him. Spate, transferred from London to Newcastle, is not above dipping himself into cooperation with villains and hanging out with known prostitutes. This time, these activities will bite him.

At the preliminary hearing, Barschel’s attorney, Eric Ward, makes short work of Spate on the witness stand. The Crown prosecutor is forced to drop the case. Spate is more than furious; he’s now in political hot water with his boss who’d like nothing better than to boot him out the door.

Barschel asks Ward for a place to lie low; Eric finds an old, abandoned house on the estate of his former wife, Ann. Then Ward is approached by a young woman claiming to be a reporter, desperate to interview Barschel. When Ward brings her to the house, they find Barschel dead from a shotgun blast. The so-called reporter soon finds herself the victim of a hit-and-run. Ward and Spate, who dislike each other on a good day, soon find themselves having to work together to learn what’s really going on. And it’s far more sinister than anyone realizes.

Roy Lewis

The Football Murder is the fifteenth Eric Ward mystery by British author Roy Lewis. First published in 2006 under the title of Death Squad, it’s been republished along with the other mysteries in the series by Joffe Books. It’s a fast-paced story, taking twists and turns in almost every chapter to keep the attention focused and usually riveted.

The Farming Murder by Roy Lewis.

The Quayside Murder by Roy Lewis.

The Diamond Murder by Roy Lewis.

The Geordie Murder by Roy Lewis.

The Shipping Murder by Roy Lewis.

The City of London Murder by Roy Lewis.

The Apartment Murder by Roy Lewis.

The Spanish Villa Murder by Roy Lewis.

The Marriage Murder by Roy Lewis.

A Cotswolds Murder by Roy Lewis.

The Wasteful Murder by Roy Lewis.

The Phantom Murder by Roy Lewis.

The Slaughterhouse Murder by Roy Lewis.

The Tattoo Murder by Roy Lewis.

Thursday, January 28, 2021

"The Tattoo Murder" by Roy Lewis

Eric Ward is back. After a diminished role in The Slaughterhouse Murder by Roy Lewis, the former police detective turned attorney has a starring role in The Tattoo Murder.

Ward is retained by what at first appears a casual acquaintance at a bankers’ dinner. An executive with a merchant banking firm in Newcastle is worried about an investment in a major development project in the city. One of the key people involved in the project is another attorney, Jason Sullivan. Sullivan is the attorney and lover of Ward’s ex-wife and one of the reasons why they were divorced.

If Sullivan is involved, then it’s likely his ex-wife’s business is one of the investors in the project. Complicating everything is that Sullivan seems to be missing; his project accountant is nearly beside himself with concern about being held responsible for certain investments made with money for the development project. And Sullivan is at the center of it all.

Ward, after a somewhat angry meeting with his ex-wife, heads off to the northern French coast, where Sullivan is likely to be, where he meets an attractive woman who works for the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, who’s also looking for Sullivan. Sullivan has a painting, a painting looted from the Rijksmuseum during the Nazi occupation. The museum wants the painting back and is willing to pay for it.

Roy Lewis

Then the middleman who is supposed to be arranging the meeting with Sullivan is found dead by hanging. It looks like suicide, but it will turn out to be murder.

In The Tattoo Murder, Ward finds himself dealing with Nazi art, an ex-wife’s lover, missing funds, and rising gangland tensions – and that’s only for a start. The story moves quickly, requiring (and deserving) a close reading to keep track of all the plot developments and characters’ motives.