Tom Hindle

I rather liked it. The overall style of this novel reminds me a bit of Stuart Turton, but the plot is more down to earth and less spooky. Many of the characters are from the well-worn Agatha Christie stock, but they fit together well, although admittedly I have read more imaginative sketches of an artistic community. The end of the book is wrenching and unsettling, but Hindle carefully developed the sense of foreboding and an attentive reader should have seen that one coming!

My biggest beef is that the detectives start out by believing Blake’s story rather uncritically. They sort of have to, because this sets up the rest of the events to unroll, but rationally they ought to be a lot more suspicious of it. And the shipboard setting of the great SS Endeavour is a bit of an illogical dreamland, though develops a nice atmosphere. From there onwards, it is a bit lacking in the quality that a traditional detective story should have—a rational sequence of events.

What makes it still interesting is that the book takes the traditional stock charac ter of detective fiction, the naive sidekick who asks all the questions on behalf of the reader, and imaginatively warps and twists the concept.… (altro)

The wedding of a lifestyle influencer and a rich hedge fund manager in a castle on Lake Garda is a glamorous event. For both families, however, there are secrets that are about to be revealed. Robyn is an outsider and not welcomed by her boyfriend's family but when two murders happen she believes that she can use logic to get to the truth.

I do like Hindle's books, they are true to their antecedents as modernised 'Golden Age' detective novels but with a modern twist. Here it is the 'locked room' plot, guests on an isolated island, with the variety of backstories and hence motives. It seems odd to say but this is a light novel that skips along very happily. Bizarrely it is a fun read!… (altro)

This book recreates the atmosphere of the golden age mystery, with a murder occurring in a hotel that has been more or less cut off from the rest of the world because of the sudden onset of a violent storm. It offers an additional twist in that the events take place during a staged murder event held on New Year’s Eve.

The scene is set with references to the nearby lighthouse, which has been the subject of conflicting planning applications, and to two separate deaths from years ago. It soon emerges that, for a variety of reasons, much of the population of the local town, and virtually all of the people attending the murder party, has reason to resent the prospective developer. Surprise, surprise! Who should turn out to be the last arrival for the party than the developer himself.

As a long-time crime fiction junkie, I enjoyed this novel, although I think it was all a bit too contrived, and I felt that the characterisation was a bit weak, with no cliché knowingly overlooked. I also worked out who the murderer was very early on which, while gratifying to my never sated vanity, is probably not a good sign.… (altro)

It's a darkish whodunit murder mystery story set on a British transatlantic liner in 1924. A ship's officer and a dodgy Scotland Yard detective investigate the suspicious death of an elderly art dealer. There's plenty of intrigue over missing art with several red herrings. The plot gets confused by the addition of a secondary storyline that acts as a motivating force for the ship's officer, but unfortunately it is never resolved. (Is there a sequel in the works to deal with this?). The shipboard setting and a cast of dodgy passengers add depth to a busy trope-filled story. There's a surprising twist at the end to bring the story to a bittersweet conclusion.
Recommended reading.… (altro)