The Murder Bag – Tony Parsons

Crime Fiction
3*’s

This is the first of a new series by the former journalist and lad-lit writer Tony Parsons.

Starting with a prologue set in 1988 the story opens with a pack of boys and one young girl in a basement. The boys, all wealthy and attending a nearby public school have their fun and continue with their lives. The story then switches giving us a little bit of background to Detective Max Wolfe, a single father to Scout and co-parent to their dog Stan.

With Max Wolfe newly joining the murder squad at 27 Saville Row, London, he is launched straight into an investigation, the victim a banker found with his throat slit and the picture of him and his schoolmates which sits on his desk is splattered with his blood.

The book starts at a cracking pace with the bodies quickly mounting but this soon falters with a fairly predictable plot being hampered by the author’s research. Tony Parson’s was a little too keen to demonstrate his knowledge which didn’t always blend seamlessly into the plot. While the reader is treated to an explanation of a procedure or a bit of history the story seemed to sputter to a halt and although I did learn that the Imperial War Museum used to be Bedlam, and other interesting facts, it was too obvious I was being told something. In addition to this, I also struggled to engage with any of the characters, particularly Max Wolfe. Like many fictional Detectives he demonstrates his caring side away from work, his dialogue with his daughter is touching at time with the author tracking back to his previous genre detailing family life, however there was no real depth in his other relationships. Not with his colleagues, his superiors or the victim’s families. In fact I am struggling to describe any defining characteristics so if they were there I missed them.

This is an undemanding read, quite brutal but not up to the billing of being the next Peter James in this humble reader’s opinion.

I received my copy of this book through Amazon Vine and this review expresses my honest opinion

WWW Wednesday (June 18)

Hosted by Miz B at Should be Reading
To play along, just answer the following three (3) questions…
• What are you currently reading?
• What did you recently finish reading?
• What do you think you’ll read next?

I am currently reading The Murder Bag by Tony Parsons, the first in a new crime series featuring Detective Max Wolfe. This book has started with a shocking event, with the first death following shortly afterwards. I’m expecting the overall body count to be quite high.

Blurb

Twenty years ago seven rich, privileged students became friends at their exclusive private school, Potter’s Field. Now they have started dying in the most violent way imaginable.
Detective Max Wolfe has recently arrived in the Homicide division of London’s West End Central, 27 Savile Row.
Soon he is following the bloody trail from the backstreets and bright lights of the city, to the darkest corners of the internet and all the way to the corridors of power.
As the bodies pile up, Max finds the killer’s reach getting closer to everything – and everyone – he loves.
Soon he is fighting not only for justice, but for his own life …Amazon

I have just finished reading The Summer Guest by Emma Hannigan, a book billed for fans of Maeve Binchy.

Click on the book cover to see if I agree

My next read is going to be The Third Wife by Lisa Jewell, an author I love, and having seen the first review of this book today, I know I’m in for a treat!

Blurb

In the early hours of an April morning, Maya stumbles into the path of an oncoming bus.
A tragic accident? Or suicide?
Her grief-stricken husband, Adrian, is determined to find out.
Maya had a job she enjoyed; she had friends. They’d been in love.
She even got on with his two previous wives and their children. In fact, they’d all been one big happy family.
But before long Adrian starts to identify the dark cracks in his perfect life.
Because everyone has secrets.
And secrets have consequences.
Some of which can be devastating. Amazon

What are you reading this week?

Teaser Tuesday (June 17)

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read

• Open to a random page

• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page

their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to

My Teaser this week is from The Murder Bag by Tony Parsons

Blurb

Twenty years ago seven rich, privileged students became friends at their exclusive private school, Potter’s Field. Now they have started dying in the most violent way imaginable.
Detective Max Wolfe has recently arrived in the Homicide division of London’s West End Central, 27 Savile Row.
Soon he is following the bloody trail from the backstreets and bright lights of the city, to the darkest corners of the internet and all the way to the corridors of power.
As the bodies pile up, Max finds the killer’s reach getting closer to everything – and everyone – he loves.
Soon he is fighting not only for justice, but for his own life ..Goodreads

My Teaser

We slipped into our breakfast routine. Toast for Scout. Porridge for me. Nature’s Menu dog food for Stan. After carrying her plate to the sink, Scout went off to brush her teeth. That had been one of her mother’s rules – teeth are brushed after the meal, not before, and we really did our best to stick to her rules.

Please leave your links to your teaser in the comment box below.

 

Friday Finds (May 30)

Hosted by Should be Reading

FRIDAY FINDS showcases the books you ‘found’ and added to your To Be Read (TBR) list… whether you found them online, or in a bookstore, or in the library — wherever! (they aren’t necessarily books you purchased).

So, come on — share with us your FRIDAY FINDS!

There has been an intervention in this house and apparently I am only allowed to have five new books a month or I have a forfeit. I haven’t agreed to this proposal and since I get my books in both formats and from different sources I’m not sure how the counting is going to work….

I have nothing from NetGalley to share this week which has helped bring my percentage of reviewed to approved items to an all time high of 79.7%!

I did however manage to bag myself a copy of The Kill by Jane Casey from Amazon Vine (thank you for the heads up FictionFan) which has been pushed right to the top of the pile right against my scheduling but I simply can’t wait to read this, the fifth, book in the Maeve Kerrigan series

Blurb

COP KILLER STRIKES AGAIN!
The tabloid headlines are lurid but accurate. A killer is terrorising London but this time it is the police who are the targets. And Maeve Kerrigan and her boss Josh Derwent are clueless as to why.
But it will only be a matter of time before the murderer selects his next victim. Amazon

While I was browsing I also managed to select a copy of The Murder Bag by Tony Parsons as another crime fiction author is just what I need to add to my TBR.

Blurb

Twenty years ago seven rich, privileged students became friends at their exclusive private school, Potter’s Field. Now they have started dying in the most violent way imaginable.
Detective Max Wolfe has recently arrived in the Homicide division of London’s West End Central, 27 Savile Row.
Soon he is following the bloody trail from the backstreets and bright lights of the city, to the darkest corners of the internet and all the way to the corridors of power.
As the bodies pile up, Max finds the killer’s reach getting closer to everything – and everyone – he loves.
Soon he is fighting not only for justice, but for his own life .. Goodreads

I was delighted to discover that Ruth Rendell has a new book out, The Girl Next Door, due to be published 14 August 2014, which I simply can’t resist. Not only is the subject a historical crime the setting is in Loughton, Essex, an area I visited regularly as a child.

When the bones of two severed hands are discovered in a box, an investigation into a long buried crime of passion begins. And a group of friends, who played together as children, begin to question their past.
‘For Woody, anger was cold. Cold and slow. But once it had started it mounted gradually and he could think of nothing else. He knew he couldn’t stay alive while those two were alive. Instead of sleeping, he lay awake in the dark and saw those hands. Anita’s narrow white hand with the long nails painted pastel pink, the man’s brown hand equally shapely, the fingers slightly splayed.’
Before the advent of the Second World War, beneath the green meadows of Lough ton, Essex, a dark network of tunnels has been dug. A group of children discover them. They play there. It becomes their secret place.
Seventy years on, the world has changed. Developers have altered the rural landscape. Friends from a half-emembered world have married, died, grown sick, moved on or disappeared.
Work on a new house called Warlock uncovers a grisly secret, buried a lifetime ago, and a weary detective, more preoccupied with current crimes, must investigate a possible case of murder. Amazon

I came across a great review of Before The Fall by Juliet West on the blog  A Lover Of Books , another World War I story for the anniversary of the start of the Great War, this has been added (but not yet purchased) to the TBR.

Click on the book cover to read A Lover of Books Review

Last up this week is a kindle bargain (I know I this is a habit I thought I’d cracked) for 99p I now have a copy of the first in the Aector McAvoy series Dark Winter by David Mark as I really did enjoy Sorrow Bound , the third in this series earlier this year.

Blurb

McAvoy lets his mind drift back to the chaos and bloodshed in the square. To that moment when the masked man appeared from the doorway of the church and looked into his eyes.
‘Is there anything distinctive, Sarge?’ asks Nielsen.
‘Yes’, he says, with the sudden sense that memory is important.
‘There were tears in his eyes.’
DS Aector McAvoy is a man with a troubled past. His unwavering belief in justice has made him an outsider in the police force he serves.
When three seemingly unconnected people are brutally murdered in the weeks before Christmas, the police must work quickly to stop more deaths. It is only McAvoy who can see the connection between the victims. A killer is playing God – and McAvoy must find a way to stop the deadly game. Goodreads

Have you found any good books to read this week?