Books to Look Forward to from Allison & Busby

Black Lies, Red Blood is by Kjell Eriksson  and is due to be published in May 2014.  Inspector Ann Lindell hasn’t had much time to enjoy her new relationship with journalist Anders Brant before he disappears without a trace and a homeless man’s body is found with Anders phone number in his pocket.  Lindell must race to find Anders and clear his name as she reaches the highly charged and fraught conclusion.

You know when you have one of those days at the office?  You spill coffee on your keyboard, the finance director goes on an expenses rampage and then, before you know it, your favourite author is murdered.  Don't you just hate when that happens?  Introducing the much-anticipated debut novel by Judith Flanders, acclaimed author of the non-fiction bestsellers A Circle of Sisters and The Victorian House.  Drawing on her past experience as editor at prestigious publishing houses, this pitch-perfect crime caper offers a witty, intelligent and entertaining glimpse into the publishing world.  When Samantha Clair decides to publish journalist Kit Lovell's tell-all book on the death of fashion designer Rodrigo Aleman, she can scarcely imagine the dangers ahead.  Cue a rollercoaster ride into the dark realms of fashion, money laundering and murder, armed with nothing but her e-reader and her trusty stock of sarcasm.  Writers Block is by Judith Flanders and is due to be published in March 2014.

A Ticket to Oblivion is by Edward Marston and is due to be published in April 2014.  Young Imogen Burnhope and her maid Rhoda board a non-stop train to Oxford to visit her Aunt Cassandra, who waits on the platform at Oxford station where the train terminates, to greet them.  Only they never arrive.  The train is searched and the coachman swears he saw them board a first-class carriage, but they seem to have vanished into thin air.  When he learns his daughter is missing, Sir Marcus Burnhope contacts Scotland Yard for help and Inspector Colbeck and Sergeant Leeming are assigned to the case.  Is it a merely a case of a runaway girl?  Or is there a more sinister, larger conspiracy at work?

1666. London is recovering from the Great Plague and mourning it's dead - The city is free at

last, like a great old bear, beaten to its knees, bloody but unbowed.  But the disease slithered out of London to wreak its evil upon other towns and cities.  The worst was over, the Pestilence gone, in search of new feeding grounds, bounteous and plentiful in the villages outside of the London.  Harry Lytle, who works for Lord Arlington's intelligence service, is sent to Essex where the plague is breeding to track down a traitor and bring him back alive.  But things get tricky when Lord Arlington's latest recruit for the mission is a man Lytle left dead.  Having learnt first-hand of Lord Arlington's barbaric cruelty, Lytle knows he can't refuse the job.  Travelling into a disease-ridden village with a murderer seems like a better option.  Hearts of Darkness is by Paul Lawrence and is due to be published in January 2014.

It is 1914 and while battles rage across Europe three empires – the Ottoman, the German and the British – fight for dominance in the Middle East.  Kingdom Lock works for the British Intelligence Service known as the White Tab and has a mission  in Persia.  He must stop a German spy from inciting jihad and rebellion among the population and from seizing control in the precious oilfields.  But to complete his task, the Australian-born Lock has not only to battle resentment and enemies on his own side, but to keep one-step ahead of the war raging around him.  Kingdom Lock is by I D Roberts and is due to be published in May 2014.

Trouble in the  Cotswolds is by Rebecca Tope and is due to be published in March 2014.  Thea Osborne hopes to spend a quiet Christmas housesitting in the picturesque village of Stanton.  Walks in the local countryside with the dogs are all the excitement she wants.  Her arrival at the village coincides with the funeral of Douglas Callender and the murder of his girlfriend the following day.  Thea finds herself thrust into the middle of another Police investigation as she unwraps motives and scandals across the village.  The arrival of Drew Slocombe is the best present Thea could receive.  Amid the bleak winter of Stanton and the murderous scandal, Thea is determined that she will survive the festive season.  Thea s interest is stirred but the onset of flu looks to prevent any sleuthing.  However, when two people show up brutally murdered the following afternoon, even when battling a fever Thea finds herself thrust into the middle of yet another Police investigation.  With the Callendar, family linked to most of the village Stanton is bursting with motives for the murders including jealousy, closures of footpaths and secret animal testing.  Thea turns to local resident Dennis Ireland for safety but Dennis, as with the other villagers, may not be as safe as first appears and Thea wonders who she can trust to help her survive the festive season.

The Venetian Venture is by Suzette Hill and is due to be published in May 2014.  Rosy Gilchrist is sent to Venice to find a rare, signed translation of Horace’s Odes by the late Dr Badger.  Rosy jumps at the change to fit some sightseeing around work, but holiday plans go on hold when she learns that there is a significant bounty prize for anyone who finds this valuable text.  Finding herself in the midst of a cat and mouse chase, Rosy’s rivals will stop at nothing, not even murder to get their hands on the book.

Fifth century of the Byzantium Empire.  Flavius Belisaurius is son of the Governor of Dorostorum City, and his father has two goals: to keep out the barbarians and to expose the deep roots of secular and ecclesiastical corruption.  Seeking to prevent a raid, the Governor enlists the help of the powerful magnate, Gaius Donatus.  Donatus's corruption is widespread but his support is crucial to win the battle.  But Donatus betrays this trust and Belisaurius Jnr witnesses the death of his father and the irretrievable tarnishing of his reputation.  With Belisaurius's life changed for good he swears vengeance on the man that betrayed his father and begins a journey from which there is no virtuous way back.  The Last Roman: Vengeance is by Jack Ludlow and is due to be published in June 2014.

Ruth Dudley Edwards Book Launch for KILLING THE EMPERORS

When Ruth Dudley Edwards has a book launch, she certainly does it in style. For the launch of Killing the Emperors, she chose the Cartoon Museum in London's Bloomsbury area. Despite London being in the grip of a winter freeze the place was filled with friends and celebs alike.

Ruth Dudley Edwards

I spotted Celia Imrie and Henry Kelly amongst the crowd. The crime world was well represented by Shelia Mitchell (Mrs HRF Keating); Denise Danks, Mike Ripley, Simon Brett, Ann Granger, Deryn Lake, NJ Cooper and Len Tyler to name but a few.

In her speech (she says she is always petrified when giving one but it doesn't come through), she told her audience how much the public was paying for some artwork which are literally pieces of shit. I kid you not, and her words. I think that is the most politest version I can give.

And here, I hand over to Mike Ripley - well a cut and paste job from his Getting Away With Murder column - because he does it better.

Susie Dunlop and Chiara of Allison & Busby flank Ruth

I Don’t Know If It’s Art, But…

For many years my old chum Ruth Dudley Edwards has used her comic ensemble cast (headed by Baroness Ida ‘Jack’ Troutbeck, Robert Amiss and the cat Plutarch) in a series of crime novels which put the satirical boot into, among other things: the House of Lords, the Northern Ireland peace talks, academic life (and death) in a Cambridge college and, of course, Americans.

Now, in Killing The Emperors, published by Allison & Busby, Ruth takes a chain saw to the world of ‘conceptual art’ allowing the wonderfully politically incorrect Baroness Troutbeck (a truly great comic character in danger of becoming a National Treasure) to spew bile and opprobrium on the heads and bank balances of just about every contemporary artist with the exception of David Hockney, who passes muster because ‘he does landscapes’ now.

Coming in for particular stick are conceptual artists who have displayed sharks in tanks, pickled lambs, unmade beds, neon signs and millions of sunflower seeds (no name; no libel suits), plus the gallery owners and rich patrons who encourage and finance the entire circus.

Baroness Troutbeck could be a gold medalist if putting both feet in the mouth whilst speaking was an Olympic sport and in Killing the Emperors she has to call on every ounce of natural invective energy in order to save herself and nine other movers-and-shakers of the modern art world kidnapped by a bankrupt Russian oligarch gone totally bonkers who is out for revenge on those who have sold him ‘art’.

The plot moves seamlessly from the sublime to the ridiculously sublime when it becomes clear that the kidnap victims are being held in a Big Brother style house and are forced to produce increasingly ridiculous pieces of modern ‘art’. Any hostage who fails to make the grade is quietly ‘evicted’, murdered and their bodies discovered in a suitably ‘artistic’ setting.

There are some great jokes in this book and even if the targets are not that difficult to hit for a satirist of Ruth’ s standing, one is left in no doubt that this is a subject close to her heart and one she has been seething about for several years.

So what next for the formidable Baroness Troutbeck? (Spoiler Alert: she survives – of course she does). How about the use of Sock Puppets, dodgy reviews and slagging-off fellow crime-writers on the internet and Twitter (whatever that is) and all the palaver of making public apologies afterwards? Surely that incestuous world must be a suitable target for Ruth’s barbed wit.

In fact I will suggest it to her the next time she takes me for a sumptuous luncheon at one of the many fine London clubs where she is a member. In fact, if memory serves, which it rarely does these days, it is coming up to twenty years since I first met Ruth Dudley Edwards in, I think, the Reform Club, where the late Sarah Caudwell introduced us and a jolly luncheon ensued.

Thankfully, there was no CCTV in those days; and surely the staff will have forgotten by now….

Where'es Ripley?

 

 

In Memoriam

31 October 1926 - 27 March 2011

H(arry) R F Keating crime fiction author best known for his Inspector Ghote mysteries has died at the age of 84. Harry as he was known was Chairman of the Crime Writers Association from 1970-1971. He was also Chairman of the Society of Authors between 1983 and 1984, President of the Detection Club 1985 –2000 and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. He was for 15 years crime fiction critic for The Times. He has written over 50 books.

Whilst he was best known for his Inspector Ghote mysteries he wrote his first novel Death and the Visiting Firemen in 1959. He also wrote a number of standalone novels as well as two other series featuring Detective Superintendent Harriet Martens and the “Detective” series, which were several novels about UK police detectives, whose human weaknesses adversely affect their work. Under the pseudonym Evelyn Hervey, Harry Keating wrote three novels in the mid eighties.

Harry wrote 26 books in the Inspector Ghote series. The first one in the series was The Perfect Murder whilst the last Inspector Ghote book is A Small Case for Inspector Ghote. Penguin are due to release in May 2011 as part of Penguin Modern Classics four Inspector Ghote Books (The Pefect Murder, Inspector Ghote Breaks an Egg, Inspector Ghote Trusts the Heart and Under a Monsoon Cloud) in new classic covers. These titles carry a new introduction by Alexander McCall Smith.

In 1988, The Perfect Murder was adapted for a film, directed by Zafar Hai and produced by Ismail Merchant.

Neil Simon turned his 1976 novel Murder by Death into a film featuring Truman Capote, Peter Falk, Alec Guinness, David Niven, Peter Sellers and Maggie Smith.

Harry also edited a number of anthologies including The Man Who…. in 1992 which was an anthology of crime stories commissioned by the Detection Club in celebration of Julian Symons’s 80th birthday. In celebration of his 80th birthday the Detection Club collaborated and produced an anthology entitled The Verdict of Us All.

As well as being a novelist he also wrote screenplays, was a reviewer and wrote a biography of Dame Agatha Christie entitled Agatha Christie: First Lady of Crime. He also wrote a number of well-known non-fiction novels on crime fiction. A number of them have become required reading as reference works.

He also won two CWA Gold Dagger awards one was for The Perfect Murder for best novel and the other was for a non-Ghote novel set in India, The Murder of the Maharajah. He also won a special Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America. In 1995 he was awarded the George N Dove for Contributions to the study of Crime Fiction and in 1996 he was awarded the Diamond Dagger from the CWA for lifetime achievement. Malice Domestic also awarded him the lifetime achievement award.

An obituary by Mike Ripley can be found in the Guardian and the Telegraph obituary can be found here.

Mike Ripley’s feature on Harry Keating for Shots ezine can be found here.

Books to look forward to from Allison and Busby

Charlie’s latest assignment looked so simple and a perfect distraction from her personal life. Protecting the naive daughter of an investment banker from the kidnappers who prey on the wealthy Long Island set should mean a round of charity auctions, luxurious parties and boutiques— and few risks for an experienced operative. But when her instincts lead Charlie to suspect an inside job, she finds out that defending a girl determined to put herself in danger is far from easy, that not everyone who mingles with the jet set is what they seem - and the idle rich can be as ruthless as any criminal. Fifth Victim is by Zoë Sharp and is due to be published in March 2011

A Mansion and its Murder is by Robert Barnard and is due to be published in Feb 2011. Sarah Jane Fearing is youngest scion of one of England’s most influential banking families. At the centre of her world stands her generous uncle Frank, the only relative to have escaped the family’s straitjacket of ponderous respectability. But while Frank’s ill-considered marriage to a coldly ambitious woman produces the family’s longed-for male heir, the parents fall to quarrels and then to murder. And Sarah is drawn inexorably into a morass that threatens the survival of the entire family.

A missing woman and an apparently accidental death of the new Head of Art are the macabre events that signal a new year at Leighford High School for Peter ‘Mad Max’ Maxwell. The suspect list is non-existent but Maxwell, researching with paper and pencil, stumbles by accident on the linchpin to the whole case and a very powerful motive for murder. M J Trow's Maxwell's Island is due to be published in January 2011.

The Law of Angels by Cassandra Clark is the third book in the Abbess of Meaux series. It is Summer, 1384 and the harvest may be promising but storm clouds of insurrection are gathering over England. John of Gaunt still refuses to step aside for his ward, the boy king Richard II. Heretics roam the land sowing sedition. A return to the bloodshed of the Great Rebellion seems certain. Hildegard of Meaux – sleuth, spy and now abbess – has founded a religious refuge but by taking in a bonded maid Hildegard has made a dangerous enemy, willing to destroying her sanctuary. Meanwhile her own history threatens to drag her into the schemes of traitors – including the ruthless Henry Bolingbroke. – The Laws of Angels is due to be published in February 2011

The year is 1861 and Constable Faro is heading back to Orkney to enjoy some home comforts, armed with a private investigation into the death of champion swimmer Dave Claydon, who drowned in mysterious circumstances. Was this an accident or is there a sinister connection with missing artefacts recovered from an Armada galleon? At Lammastide the legend of the seal king’s annual claim of a human bride becomes reality and Faro’s holiday and his original secret mission turn into a nightmare. With himself as the prime suspect in the girl’s disappearance, he is in deadly danger. The Seal King Murder is by Alanna Knight and is due to be published in January 2011.

Set in the medieval town of Shrewsbury, Frozen Charlotte is the third in the Martha Gunn' series by Priscilla Masters. When a woman arrives in A and E clutching a child in a pink blanket, Martha Gunn is not quite ready to make the discovery that the evening has in store for her. The baby is dead, and not only that, it has been mummified. Post mortem reveals the child to be a new born, deceased for over five years and, despite the mysterious woman's protestations that it is called '-poppy', most certainly a boy. As always coroner Martha Gunn reserves judgement until she is able to get to the bottom of the case. Frozen Charlotte is due to be published in January 2011.

Deception in the Cotswold’s by Rebecca Tope is due to be published in April 2011. In the wake of a series of unfortunate experiences house-sitting in the Cotswolds, Thea Osbourne, accompanied as ever by her spaniel Hepzibah, is perhaps over-optimistic about the English summertime and the possibilities of her latest assignment – house-sitting for transatlantic reptile breeder Harriet Young. However, yet again, the region’s bucolic charms prove to be more than deceptive, and Thea is thrust once more into the heart of a Cotswolds mystery.

The year is 1855, and on the Birmingham express train a criminal is being escorted to his appointment with the hangman. But the wily Jeremy Oxley, con-man, thief and murderer, has one last ace up his sleeve: a beautiful and ruthless accomplice willing to do anything to save her lover. A daring rescue is about to take place and cold-blooded murder is on the cards. This is another puzzling case for the Railway Detective Robert Colbeck and his trust deputy Victor Leeming, which will see them travelling across the UK and to New York in their attempts to capture their nemesis Oxley. Blood on the Line is by Edward Marston and is due to be published in April 2011.