Wilfred BooksBook Reviews
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Anthology #67
Deadly Remains, by Kate Ellis
Here, we are in south Devon, the stamping ground of DI Humphrey Goodman, from the popular BBC TV series Beyond Paradise [and before that, Death in Paradise, set on the fictional island of St Marie, aka Guadaloupe]; however, he is not the subject of this book: instead, it is DI Wesley Peterson, and this is the latest in a very full series of books set in this beautiful location. Wesley’s son, Michael, is now 13, and in his summer school holiday is helping Wesley’s old friend from university, Dr Neil Watson, in an archaeological dig on Dartmoor which is aiming to recover physical evidence of an aeroplane which crashed there in world war two, when it was returning from a secret mission to France. The pilot escaped, but died very soon afterwards, so he was not able to provide any reason for the inexplicable crash. When three skeletons are discovered nearby, naturally enough, the police have to be involved. At the same time, an author who mostly ghost-wrote autobiographies for celebrities and is staying in the area, is found murdered; could there be a connection, or had he discovered some potentially damaging information about the subject of his latest book, so he had to be silenced? The author interweaves the contemporary diaries of the pilot of the doomed ’plane, and a young local woman with the current-day action, and as Wesley’s enquiries progress, it becomes increasingly clear that local people in a notoriously tight-knit country community, including the present-day Lord of the Manor, might have guilty secrets in their background. Michael develops a teenage crush on a young woman helping with the dig, but is her affection towards Michael just benign guidance, or something more sinister? Also, who is the odd gentleman in the bucket hat who hangs around on the periphery of the dig? Although there is one suspect Wesley’s boss considers obvious, Wesley isn’t so sure, and the tension builds nicely before the perpetrator is revealed. The hardback I read was published in 2025 by Constable, an imprint of Little, Brown Book Group, London, ISBN 978-0-3494-4932-8.
The Hawk is Dead, by Peter James
Roy Grace is facing his toughest test yet as a detective, and he is well out of his comfort zone here, because he is called in to investigate what looks like, initially, an attempt on the life of the new queen, Camilla; the reason he is Senior Investigating Officer for the case is that the crime occurred in Sussex, specifically close to the South Portal of the Clayton tunnel, from which the royal train was due to emerge, en route to Brighton, in advance of the queen’s scheduled engagements. This schedule was upset by the derailing of the train in the tunnel, forcing all of the passengers, none of whom was killed in the incident, to walk out of the tunnel, then up an embankment to higher ground, where Sir Peregrine Greaves [the eponymous Hawk], Private Secretary to “Their Majesties”, and one of the most senior members of the royal household, was comprehensively killed by a sniper’s bullet to the head, when he was standing a few feet away from the queen. Of course, nearly everyone assumes that the queen was the intended target; from the outset, however, Grace isn’t convinced. His seniority prevents criticism, but he is aware that his investigation will need to be more than usually thorough, especially given the concern for his wife of the king, who is prepared to give an audience to Grace in person. It doesn’t take long for Grace to realise that there is a conspiracy in operation, so he must be very circumspect about whom he takes into his confidence with his evidence, including his liaison at the palace, Major General Sir Tommy Magellan-Lacey, Master of The King’s Household. One has to assume that the author’s dispensation to put dialogue in the mouths of the monarchs has been cleared officially, and he obviously has respect for the institution, including information about the charities the queen supports at the end of the book. Despite not influencing my views on the monarchy, this is an effective thriller. The hardback I read was published in 2025 by Macmillan, an imprint of Pan Macmillan, London, ISBN 978-1-5290-9006-2.
Murder on the Great Northern Railway, by Edward Marston
This is one of the latest entries in the Railway Detective series by this prolific author. The year is 1867, and a distinguished London silversmith who is nearing the end of a celebrated career has made a model in silver of the cathedral in the city of his birth, Lincoln, which he has designated as a gift to said institution; unfortunately, on the journey from King’s Cross Station, the crate containing the model is stolen at Peterborough station, and the private detective who was engaged to protect it in the guard’s van of the train is shot dead. The reason this was accomplished so easily is because there was an explosion in one of the station buildings while the train was stopped, so everybody’s attention was diverted. Normally, this would have been a matter for the local constabulary to investigate, but the Bishop of Lincoln and the Dean of the cathedral are sufficiently concerned to call in Scotland Yard, also because they know of Inspector Robert Colbeck by repute, from his previous achievements in successfully apprehending criminals who have broken the law on the English rail network. The perpetrators aren’t easy to identify initially, and the involvement in Lincoln of Colbeck’s superior, Superintendent Edward Tallis doesn’t make his job any easier; Tallis is beginning to feel that his efficiency is diminishing, so he thinks this supervision will be good for him. However, he soon realises that Colbeck is the man for the job, so he returns to London, but he does make a useful contribution there. When there are setbacks, the Bishop & Dean begin to lose confidence in Colbeck, and there is a danger that the criminals will succeed, but Colbeck pulls victory from the jaws of defeat. One minor negative aspect is that there is a concurrent plot device involving Colbeck’s wife and her somewhat entitled friend, which is drawn out unnecessarily long to fit the story’s timeline, but apart from that, this is a workmanlike thriller. The hardback I read was published in 2025 by Allison & Busby Limited, London, ISBN 978-0-7490-3222-7.
The Long Shoe, by Bob Mortimer
This is at least the second novel from this popular comedian [no list at the front of the book], the first one being The Satsuma Complex: Mortimer’s trademark left-field humour is again present here, and Satsuma is clearly a word he enjoys using. As in the previous book, the protagonist, Matt Giles is a slightly inadequate character who just wants an easy life with his girlfriend Harriet, who has a responsible position at the Crown Prosecution Service, and his cat Goodmonson, with the latter of whom he also has conversations, again repeating a trope from the previous book. Unfortunately, he has just been made redundant from his bathroom equipment salesman position, and the upset is compounded by a notice to quit their shared flat in Hither Green, London; so, when out of the blue an offer is made to him to rent cheaply an upmarket flat, which they had previously viewed — Harriet loving it but Matt dismissing it as beyond their price-range — in return for minimal caretaking duties, Matt jumps at the chance, hoping that Harriet, who has mysteriously walked away from their relationship, will find their new accommodation impossible to resist, and thereby return to him. Things do get a bit strange though, courtesy of the author’s humour, as a result of his dealings with the enigmatic owner of the apartment block and two of the current residents; and this is where the eponymous long shoe comes into the narrative. Another element in the story is Matt & Harriet’s erstwhile near-neighbour, a flirty, possibly over-sexed but rich divorcée called Carol, who enjoys breaking up married couples, just because she can, but also to alleviate boredom. As the narrative progresses, we discover Harriet’s situation, but she is unable to contact Matt, to either reassure him or confirm the break: inevitably, her plight is connected to Matt’s current activities. Aside from a repeat of my previous concern about some grammar: he frequently uses a construction which is now becoming too common, to my regret — “was stood”, or “was sat”, and I’m not familiar with an adjective, “splashy”, which he uses [it could just be his joke, of course] — the tension is built quite nicely to a satisfactory dénouement. The paperback I read was published in 2026 [2025] by Gallery Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster UK Ltd, ISBN 978-1-3985-4808-4.
#Archaeology #Brighton #CrownProsecutionService #Dartmoor #Devon #Lincoln #London #Monarchy #Peterborough #Sussex #WWII
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