“A Summer Shadow” by H.L. Marsay

The summer is unusually and rather miserably hot for York in northern England. Detective Chief Inspector John Shadow of the York Police is attending a cricket game. Cricket happens to be about the only sport he enjoys watching. And being outside has the advantage of catching whatever cool breezes might unexpectedly arise. His detective sergeant, Jimmy Chang, is there as well. 

And the during a break in the game, the elderly man who’d been serving as scorekeeper is discovered dead in the scorekeeper’s shed. And rather gruesomely murdered, in fact. At first glance, Shadow wonders who could possibly have wanted to kill an elderly man who was simply keeping score.

 

 H L Marsay

As Shadow and Chang will learn in A Summer Shadow, the ninth DCI John Shadow mystery by H L Marsay, the list of suspects is longer than one might initially think. It turns out that the man, a retired city planning officer, had something of a habit of expecting bribes from developers, and then, after retirement, expecting payment from people he was blackmailing. It almost becomes a case of who isn’t on the list of suspects.

 

It’s a fast-paced, entertaining story, with enough twists and turns to keep a slalom skier on constant alert. The case takes on an entirely different turn when a skeleton is discovered in the basement of the former newspaper building – and it might possibly be related to the death of the cricket scorekeeper.

 

A member of the Crime Writers Association, Marsay lives with her family in the city of York in England. She’s also published The Secrets of Hartwell trilogy and The Lady in Blue mysteries. 

 

A Summer Shadow shares a number of characteristics with its eight predecessors – a DCI who is curmudgeonly on a good day, an irrepressible detective sergeant who keeps his bubbly charm intact no matter what his boss throws at him, and a stop at one if not several York restaurants. It’s great fun.

 

Related: 

A Long Shadow by H L Marsay.

A Viking’s Shadow by H L Marsay.

A Ghostly Shadow by H L Marsay.

 A Roman Shadow by H.L. Marsay.

A Forgotten Shadow by H L Marsay.

A Christmas Shadow by H L Marsay.

A Stolen Shadow by H.L. Marsay.

A Saxon Shadow by H L Marsay.

Betrayal at the Old Hall by H L Marsay.

 

Some Monday Readings

 

Calvin Coolidge, Christianity, & the American Founding – Nathaniel Urban at The Imaginative Conservative.

 

Why did police handcuff Henry Nowak? – Andrew Tettenborn at The Spectator.

 

Soiled Work – Adam Gustine at Comment Magazine.

 

Ground Zero in the Reading Crisis – Joel Miller at Miller’s Book Review.

 

Whistler in Wapping – Spitalfields Life.

“Betrayal at the Old Hall” by H.L. Marsay

I’ve read, and enjoyed, the eight Detective Chief Inspector John Shadow mysteries by British writer H L Marsay. Set largely in the city of York, they’re intriguing stories amplified through the often-comical interactions of the dour Shadow and his detective sergeant, Jimmy Chang. 

Marsay has also written four mystery novels in the Secrets of Hartwell series. The first is Betrayal at the Old Hall, also set in York but in the small town of Hartwell near the moors of north York. The series is less a police procedural and more of “murder club,” with four friends unexpectedly working together to solve several crimes, which may turn out to be related.

 

Lady Lucy Hanley is the youngish owner of Hartwell Hall, trying to raise her young son alone after her husband’s disappearance a year before. The hall is in desperate need of repair, and Lucy is flirting with renting it out for various events, like weddings, receptions, and movie sets. Her best friend is Rachel Foxton, a teacher in the local school and the second member of the quartet.

 

H L Marsay

Meera Kuman is the town’s new doctor, and she’s arrived with her young son to get away from her husband, his family, and her own family. And the fourth member is Jo Ormond, a former London police detective busted down to detective sergeant after a case gone awry.

 

Each of the four has personal baggage. Each is discovering a romantic interest. Lucy learns she’s being stalked. When a murder occurs, the four find themselves tracking down a killer and possibly facing danger. And their own secrets begin to unravel as well.

 

Betrayal at the Old Hall is a relatively lighthearted mystery, despite the presence of murder. It’s somewhat easy to see that the next three mysteries will like each focus on a different member of the investigating quartet.

 

A member of the Crime Writers Association, Marsay lives with her family in the city of York in England. In addition to the John Shadow mysteries, she’s also published The Lady in Blue mysteries. 

 

Related: 

A Long Shadow by H L Marsay.

A Viking’s Shadow by H L Marsay.

A Ghostly Shadow by H L Marsay.

 A Roman Shadow by H.L. Marsay.

A Forgotten Shadow by H L Marsay.

A Christmas Shadow by H L Marsay.

A Stolen Shadow by H.L. Marsay.

A Saxon Shadow by H L Marsay.

 

Some Monday Readings

 

Britain: Rallying round the flag – Owen Polley at The Critic Magazine.

 

I Hated Novak Djokovic. Now I’m Rooting for Him – Uri Berliner at The Free Press.

 

Notes on the Greatest Night in Pop – Ian Leslie at The Ruffian. 

 

Will at center of legal battle over Shakespeare’s home unearthed after 150 years – Caroline Davies at The Guardian.

 

Open Sesame! Translators Unlock Words and Worlds – Joel Miller at Miller’s Book Review.

 

“A Saxon Shadow” by H L Marsay

DCI John Shadow of the York police is back with a new case to solve, and it may be his most perplexing yet. As he muses to himself, the real difficulty in a case like this one is separating what matters from what doesn’t matter. 

A series of thefts, break-ins, and vandalism seem to have one thing in common – they’re connected to Saxon history. A legend exists concerning King Alfred’s Hoard – supposedly he buried a stash of gold and golden objects when fleeing a Viking army. Two long-time friends, Kenelm Underhill and Lance Debenham, have grown up trying to find that hoard, following in the footsteps of Kenelm’s father. A fragment of a map has been found in an attic trunk, and Kenelm believes he may be on to the hoard at last. 

 

But then he’s killed in his study. And Shadow and his DS Jimmy Chang found themselves overwhelmed with too much information and way too many suspects – a housekeeper who doted on the dead man, a brother preparing to run off with the not-grieving widow, the friend who felt cut off, the friend’s sister who supports herself in criminal ways, the local minister who was up to his eyeballs in Saxon lore, and the security guard at the pet food mill owned by Kenelm and his family. 

 

H L Marsay

It's not just a matter of sifting the important from the trivial; it’s a matter of eliminating what doesn’t figure into the case at all.

 

A Saxon Shadow is the eighth DCI John Shadow mystery by H L Marsay. It’s more complex than any of its predecessors, requiring a fairly close reading to keep track of the numerous characters (and suspects) and all of the possible motives feeding into the crime. 

 

The eight DCI John Shadow series are all set in York, and they share a number of features in common: a curmudgeonly DCI, his irrepressibly cheerful sergeant, a culinary tour of the city restaurants, café, and pubs (some of which actually exist), and an introduction to York’s colorful history and present. A member of the Crime Writers Association, Marsay lives with her family in the city of York in England. She’s also published The Secrets of Hartwell trilogy and The Lady in Blue mysteries. 

 

Related: 

 

A Long Shadow by H L Marsay.

 

A Viking’s Shadow by H L Marsay.

 

A Ghostly Shadow by H L Marsay.

 

A Roman Shadow by H.L. Marsay.

 

A Forgotten Shadow by H L Marsay.

 

A Christmas Shadow by H L Marsay.

 

A Stolen Shadow by H.L. Marsay.

 

Some Monday Readings

 

On Charles Dickens’s Unfinished Murder Mystery – Olivia Rutigliano at CrimeReads.

 

Redefining ‘Academic Excellence’ Will Not Save Colleges – Jeffrey Polet at Acton Institute.

 

Helene: the haves and the have-nots – Brian Miller at Notes from an East Tennessee Farmer.

 

The Hurricane Speech Panic is Here – Matt Taibbi at Racket News. 

 

"A Stolen Shadow" by H L Marsay

Detective Chief Inspector John Shadow is back. There was a strong possibility that H L Marsay might stop the DCI John Shadow stories, when, at the end of A Christmas Shadow, the DCI left for an extended visit to Italy with the family of his long-deceased (and only) love. But, in A Stolen Shadow, he returns, as curmudgeonly as ever, just in time for a new case. 

While they’re investigating the theft of a ceremonial sword, Jimmy Chang, Shadow’s enthusiastic detective sergeant, convinces his boss to attend a pantomime of Snow White. In England, pantomimes are traditionally staged after Christmas, based on a fairy tale or similar story, and involved slapstick comedy, musical numbers, jokes, and audience participation.

 

Shadow reluctantly goes along. In the middle of the performance, the leading man (Prince charming) is poisoned. It’s supposed to be part of the story, but the man is really poisoned and dies on stage. His business partner, a woman, was supposed to be in the performance as well, but she was a no-show, her place taken by the understudy. She’s later found dead.

 

H L Marsay

As Shadow and Chang get deeper into the case, they soon discover that the suspect list is long and keeps growing. And way too many people had motive, opportunity, and means.

 

A Stolen Shadow is just as entertaining as its predecessors, with the bonus of knowing that DCI John Shadow is officially back and, we hope, for a long series of stories.

 

Marsay is the author of seven mystery novels in the DCI John Shadow series. Set in York, the characteristic features of each of the stories are a curmudgeonly DCI, his irrepressibly cheerful sergeant, a culinary tour of the city restaurants, café, and pubs (some of which actually exist), and an introduction to York’s colorful history and present. A member of the Crime Writers Association, she lives with her family in the city of York in England. 

 

Related: 

 

A Long Shadow by H L Marsay.

 

A Viking’s Shadow by H L Marsay.

 

A Ghostly Shadow by H L Marsay.

 

A Roman Shadow by H.L. Marsay.

 

A Forgotten Shadow by H L Marsay.

 

A Christmas Shadow by H L Marsay.

Some Thursday Readings

 

How Walmart, Delta, Chevron and Starbucks are Using AI to monitor employee messages – Hayden Field at CNBC.

 

The spectre of the past – J.S. Barnes at The Critic Magazine on the “Great English Ghost Story.” 

 

Sherlock Holmes, That Enigma We Know So Well – Laurie King at CrimeReads.

“A Christmas Shadow” by H.L. Marsay

It’s the Advent season, a few weeks before Christmas. Detective Chief Inspector John Shadow finds himself, rather grumpily, at an Advent worship service at York Minster. He’s with friends and colleagues; his assistant, Detective Sergeant Jimmy Chang, is getting married in a few days to the assistant medical examiner.  

The Minster has a new dean, a woman, which hasn’t set well with some in the York community; the dean’s been receiving hate mail. At the reception following the service, she collapses after drinking some wine; her husband recognizes an allergic reaction to nuts and uses the EpiPen he always keeps nearby. The dean recovers, but DCI Shadow also noticed something off about the wine.

 

The wine itself is something that is personally painful for Shadow. It’s made the family of the girl he loved and lost in a pedestrian traffic fatality decades earlier. Shadow never married; he was never even much interested in relationships at all after the death of his fiancée. He’d left London after her death and moved to York; he still lives in the boat they shared.

 

He and DS Chang investigate where the wine came from – a relatively new shop run by two young men who seem to know little about the wine business. Then a young woman from Slovenia who worked at the shop as a cleaner is found dead, the investigation of watered down or fake wine became a murder inquiry. And this one seems to have ties to organized crime.

 

H L Marsay

A Christmas Shadow is the sixth and, so far, last in the DCI John Shadow series by British author H L Marsay. It has all the elements of its predecessors – an interesting mystery, a DCI who likes his food (he eats out a lot), an overly enthusiastic assistant who often drives Shadow to distraction, and an abundance of suspects. It also has more of the back story on Shadow’s ill-fated romance, with his former fiancee’s younger brother coming to York to help deal with what is happening with his wine. And there’s a hint of a future mystery, with Shadow accepting the brother’s invitation to spend Christmas in Italy with his family.

 

Marsay is the author of six mystery novels in the DCI John Shadow series. Set in York, the characteristic features of each of the stories are a curmudgeonly DCI, his irrepressibly cheerful sergeant, a culinary tour of the city restaurants, café, and pubs (some of which actually exist), and an introduction to York’s colorful history and present. A member of the Crime Writers Association, she lives with her family in the city of York in England. 

 

Related: 

 

A Long Shadow by H L Marsay.

 

A Viking’s Shadow by H L Marsay.

 

A Ghostly Shadow by H L Marsay.

 

A Roman Shadow by H.L. Marsay.

 

A Forgotten Shadow by H L Marsay.

"A Forgotten Shadow" by H L Marsay

For once, a crime calls Detective Chief Inspector John Shadow and his sergeant Jimmy Chang out of the city of York, into the Yorkshire countryside. A member of the local duke’s shooting party had been killed, but not apparently, by anyone the man was hunting with. A co-owner (with his wife of the stables that manage the duke’s racehorses, there seems to be no apparent motive. 

Then another man, a stable yard worker, is killed. He’s struck by a policeman, Shadow’s closest friend on the force, in what looks like an accident – the man had too much to drink, fell down in the road by the pub, and was struck when the policeman drove by. But as the autopsy shows, the victim had already been hot on the back of the head. 

 

And it’s a sensitive case, as Shadow’s chief constable keeps reminding him. Wealthy and titled people are involved, not to mention the local member of Parliament who was part of the hunting party. The Chief constable would prefer a nice, clean solution that doesn’t involved the duke or his extended family. 

 

H L Marsay

But Shadow will do the job he faces. And the fact that his own policeman father as killed in the same area and with something like the same weapon more than 50 years before complicates the case for the DCI.

 

A Forgotten Shadow is the fifth DCI John Shadow mystery novel by British author H L Marsay. It’s a story filled with an unsolved crime, the Irish troubles of the 1980s and 1990s, horse racing, old (but not forgotten) tunnels, and a case that looks almost unsolvable. It’s a fast, entertaining read, with even a hint of possible romance for our detective.

 

Marsay is the author of six mystery novels in the DCI John Shadow series. Set in York, the characteristic features of each of the stories are a curmudgeonly DCI, his irrepressibly cheerful sergeant, a culinary tour of the city restaurants, café, and pubs (some of which actually exist), and an introduction to York’s colorful history and present. A member of the Crime Writers Association, she lives with her family in the city of York in England.

 

Related: 

 

A Long Shadow by H L Marsay.

 

A Viking’s Shadow by H L Marsay.

 

A Ghostly Shadow by H L Marsay.

 

A Roman Shadow by H.L. Marsay.

“A Roman Shadow” by H L Marsay

Detective Chief Inspector John Shadow and his sergeant Jimmy Chang are asked to visit a museum in York dedicated to Roman antiquities. Someone seems to have stolen valuable Roman coins and replaced them with fakes. The museum staff isn’t sure when this might have happened; it could have been anytime during the previous eight months. 

Sgt. Chang also seems to be acting weirdly, and Shadow is half afraid he’s getting ready to dump his girlfriend, the coroner the police prefer over the chief coroner. Added to the mix is a missing Chinese tourist, a young girl who had joined a tour of Britain late and who now seems to have disappeared. And this is in top of a previously reported missing Chinese girl. What’s even stranger is that both girls have the same passport name.

 

Shadow suspects that all these crimes – the theft of the coins, the missing girls – may be linked. A reseller of chocolates may be involved. Someone at the museum may be involved. But everyone, including Shadow, thinks Shadow is off on this suspicion.

 

H L Marsay

A Roman Shadow is the fourth mystery novel in the DCI John Shadow series by British author H L Marsay. It has all the hallmarks of its predecessors, a well-written mystery, a curmudgeonly chief detective, plenty of references to restaurants in York (Shadow, who lives on a boat, dines out for most meals), an overly enthusiastic detective sergeant, and a way of tying a number of disparate narrative streams together.

 

Marsay is the author of six mystery novels in the DCI John Shadow series. Set in York, the characteristic features of each of the stories are a curmudgeonly DCI, his irrepressibly cheerful sergeant, a culinary tour of the city restaurants, café, and pubs (some of which actually exist), and an introduction to York’s colorful history and present. A member of the Crime Writers Association, she lives with her family in the city of York in England.

 

 

Related: 

 

A Long Shadow by H L Marsay.

 

A Viking’s Shadow by H L Marsay.

 

A Ghostly Shadow by H L Marsay.

 

"A Ghostly Shadow" by H L Marsay

What are called “ghost walk tours” are popular with tourists in many British studies, and those in the city of York has more than its fair share. And with Halloween approaching, it seems difficult not to find a customed Dick Turpin, Guy Fawkes, Richard III, and other famous and infamous people associated with York leading a group of tourists around the city’s medieval heart. 

All is not well with the tour leaders, however. Two newcomers from Oxford seem to be siphoning customers from the others. And someone is stealing batches of brochures from tourist information racks and tearing down posters from city walls and bulletin boards.

 

Detective Chief Inspector John Shadow has his own problems. An off-site training seminar has left a skeleton crew at police headquarters, and he and his No. 2 Sgt. Jimmy Chang are having to investigate crimes normally left to other teams. Shadow is consequently in a grumpy mood; but as his sergeant will cheerfully point out, his boss is almost always in a grumpy mood.

 

H L Marsay

The ghost tour walk business gets turned upside down when two of the leaders – the pair from Oxford – are murdered one after the other. As Shadow and Chang investigate, they uncover professional jealousy and old-fashioned revenge are among the motives possibly lurking in the case. 

 

A Ghostly Shadow is the third in the DCI John Shadow series by British author H L Marsay. Set in York, the characteristic features of each of the stories are a curmudgeonly DCI, his irrepressibly cheerful sergeant, a culinary tour of the city restaurants, café, and pubs (some of which actually exist), and an introduction to York’s colorful history and present. A Ghostly Shadow is no exception, and a few developments – like Shadow cat sitting the pet of one of the victims – adds a good dose of hilarity to the story, as does how two forensic specialists set the DCI’s desk on fire.

 

Marsay is the author of six mystery novels in the DCI John Shadow series. A member of the Crime Writers Association, she lives with her family in the city of York in England.

 

Related: 

 

A Long Shadow by H.L. Marsay.

 

A Viking’s Shadow by H L Marsay.

"A Viking's Shadow" by H L Marsay

It’s the annual Viking celebration in York, and Detective Chief Inspector John Shadow is aggravated that the parades and exhibitions are preventing him from getting to his favorite restaurants. Middle-aged, unmarried, and very set in his ways, Shadow lives near city center on a houseboat on the River Ouse; his meals are typically at local restaurants. 

The celebration’s Viking king is found dead in the “king’s hall.” The man is a local businessman who promotes all things Viking, having found a treasure hoard on property he owned, a hard that made him rather rich. Then the body of the young woman is was in a relationship with is found in her psychic reading tent. As Shadow and his team come to learn, the man may have had his philanthropies and good deeds, but there were lots of reasons someone might have killed him. But the death of the young woman looks more like revenge on the dead man.

 

Suspects abound – the former wife of the dead man, a local Viking fan whom he cheated, and even his own children. Few people seemed to have loved or even liked the Viking king. 

 

H L Marsay

The Viking’s Shadow by British mystery writer H L Marsay is the second novel in the DCI John Shadow series. It’s a classic mystery story wrapped around the often prickly personality of Shadow. Marsay is also beginning to incorporate some of the back story for her detective as well as developing the personal stories of the people on his team.

 

Marsay is the author of six mystery novels in the DCI John Shadow series. A member of the Crime Writers Association, she lives with her family in the city of York in England.

 

As I read about Shadow’s various meals, I began to get suspicious that these restaurants may be actual places in York. A quick online search confirmed my suspicions. So not only does The Viking’s Shadow provide an interesting mystery, but it’s also something of a culinary guide to the city of York.

 

Related: 

 

A Long Shadow by H.L. Marsay.

"A Long Shadow" by H L Marsay

I love mysteries, and especially British mysteries, and it’s always fun to discover a new writer and a new series. 

John Shadow is the detective chief inspector for the city of York. Middle-aged, unmarried, and something of a curmudgeon, he is extremely set in his ways. He doesn’t like to drive, he eats most of his meals at a set group of restaurants and doesn’t like interruptions while he’s eating, and he lives on a boat docked along the Ouse River.

 

Street cleaners find a body of a young woman in a doorway; she’d been living at a refuge called The Haven. The autopsy shows she’d been poisoned – the cyanide delivered in a bottle of vodka. Within days, two more people, both homeless, are found dead from the same cause. Someone is giving people bottles of poisoned vodka. 

 

H L Marsay

Then a skeleton is discovered in an abandoned tunnel under museum park and near the river. While local archaeologists had hoped it was a find within their domain, the skeleton turns out to be that of a young woman from 32 years before – a friend of several people connected to the recent murders who was believed to have drowned. The examination of the skeleton shows she’d been murdered from blows to the head.

 

In A Long Shadow by H L Marsay, DCI Shadow and his team have to sort through past and present, old and new motives, and old and new passions to learn what has been happening to homeless people, and what happened to a teenager more than three decades ago. The story has a lot of details and angles (not to mention walking tours of central York) that have to be managed, and Marsay does that very well indeed. It’s a thoroughly enjoyable story.

 

Marsay is the author of six mystery novels in the DCI John Shadow series. A member of the Crime Writers Association, she lives with her family in the city of York in England.