The Templar’s Quest by C. M. Palov

As I started to read I realised this was the first book in the series written by this author. The main character Caedmon Asquith is being introduced in this book. The story begins in America where a former black ops soldier, Finn is now working a desk job. He gets visited by CID officers who are making inquiries about the murders of his old team mates who were tortured and killed. The weapon found was his combat knife. While being interviewed in his office he gets a text message telling him to go to the French Embassy party and await a meeting which could clear him off the potential murder charge. He has no choice but to evade the officers and rush out to keep this appointment. He wants to find out and avenge the murder of his friends and teams mates.

Since he cannot take his car he gets into a car which stopped to drop someone. This is a young lady, Kate, he has seen around the department and feels he should be able to get a lift. In fact he invites her to go with him to the French Embassy party in return for the lift. The man he meets there tells him he wants the artefact that Finn took from Afghanistan on his last black ops mission. In return they would provide him with the proof that he was innocent of the murders and be handsomely paid for the artefact. What is the artefact and why is it so important? Who are the people behind this Frenchman willing to go to such lengths to get their hands on this particular artefact? But before Finn can get any useful information, except that the Dark Angel killed his friends, out of the Frenchman, he commits suicide. At the same time, Kate who had followed him walks in and thinks Finn has something to do with the death.

They run from the embassy and Kate insists she is going home and keep out of whatever is going on with Finn. But it seems that someone is bent on silencing her and uses this threat to get the artefact from Finn. The information they get from pinching the Frenchman’s laptop send them surreptitiously racing to France. The artefact has some symbols on it and Kate suggests that they go see an old friend Caedmon Asquith for a translation. It seems this artefact is an important map to unearth a grail stone from the Knights Templars’ treasure. It is hold the key to the lost science of the ancient Egyptians. There is a lot of historical information regarding the Knights Templars and their fascination with the Egyptian science. It can get very intense and trifle dry reading this history. It is very tempting to skim through it rather than concentrate on the details; however, the detail is necessary to understand the importance of the artefact and what the so called treasure is about. The people after it are attempting to harness the powers of the lost science to change the world as we know it. Yes, it did seem fanciful but not entirely impossible when the final details of what they intend to do are revealed.

The assassin is now after all three and to this end kidnap Kate. Finn is very disheartened and offers to give the artefact in return for Kate…but now it appears they are not willing to negotiate. How are the two men going to save Kate? How are they going to stop the potential from happening? Will Caedmon manage to keep it together without the regular gin and tonics that he has been consuming? They do not have any weapons to help them. The team of Caedmon and Finn appears to be a good one as Finn’s strength is his skills of fighting and Caedmon’s strength is knowledge. Some may consider the plot to be very farfetched but the story moves well and the action is more or less constant. A thought comes to mind that how come in movies and books the main character manages the feat, be it finding an artefact hidden for centuries or a murderer from a cold case, with such ease? It was an enjoyable read and I am eager to read the third book of the series. I will see if I can find any more books by this author.

Force 10 from Navarone by Alistair MacLean

This is the sequel to Guns of Navarone and also been made into a movie. As usual I must say that the book is so much more exciting to read. It is still set in the time of the World War 2 but in the region of former Yugoslavia. Just as Mallory, Miller and Andrea finish the mission to blow up the guns of Navarone and are on the ship for the return journey they get a message from their boss saying they are urgently needed. This means returning to the island of Navarone to pick up Andrea who they had left behind.

They are to be parachuted into Yugoslavia on the side of the Partisans who were fighting for liberation from the Germans. The politics of the place as well as its geography always leave me feeling lost for some reason but the idea is that Mallory, Miller and Andrea along with 3 commandos are to go and rescue the 4 people sent in earlier and to find out where the leak was as the Germans got hold of the information of their arrival and captured them as they landed. Along with that they had to convince the Germans that the Partisans were expecting an attack from a certain place. Mallory however has been briefed separately and so it leaves one wondering what the real agenda is?

They land and are immediately picked up by a group of soldiers and after going some way they find that it is the Germans who have captured them. Mallory and his group immediately pretend that they were happy as they were runaways from Italy. They would help the Germans in getting the information they want from the Partisans. The young commandos are not entirely happy as they have not been given any information and keep questioning their orders. They trek through the snow and mountainous terrain to reach the partisans and return with the information. Their guides are a blind man and his sister who move about without any fear as people are generally fearful of this blind singing minstrel.

They have found out where the men they have come to rescue are being held and capture the German commander and his next in command to help them reach the prisoners. So how will they escape from the country? The story seems to be coming to an end and you are still midway through the novel. It is then you find out what exactly is the mission. Will the impossible task ever be achieved? But then if anyone can achieve the impossible it is this team. I think the phrase ‘mission impossible’ actually applies to the Guns of Navarone and Force 10 from Navarone. How will they cope with the enemy chasing behind them and need for speed as well as highly difficult task in the dead of night and occasional bright moonlight which is not really helpful? Will they be able to save the boxed Partisans from the German tank and artillery divisions’ assault?

This is a wonderful story and as per usual the writing of Alistair MacLean is superb. The story grips you and does not give you a chance to breathe. It rushes headlong but has lighter moments with the usual dry humour to stop it being too intense. The wonderful description allows you to ‘see’ the places in your mind’s eye clearly. The central characters are heroes of this war and they are modest just doing their job which just elevates them into a league of their own. I would thoroughly recommend this book to anyone who loves to read thrillers and mysteries.

Murder in the Raw by C S Challinor

This is the second book in the series of Rex Graves Mysteries. Since I was impressed by the first book I was eager to read the second one. This time the setting is in a Caribbean island. Rex has been asked to go over by a couple who had bought that hotel where the first book was set. They want him to solve the mystery of the disappearance of a young woman they knew.

There were a few people staying at this resort of the rich and this lady was an actress and wife of a wealthy older man who was also managing her career. There was no trace of her and the police were not doing much except for just initial inquiries. There is a good thread of humour as Rex finds out that this is a naturist resort only when he is in flight. The vision of his musing of what it would be to try remembering the French grammar while in the buff were certainly amusing. It a small island and easy to travel around in borrowed jeep or resort vehicles. He spent a fair amount of time in the day gathering information from all the guests and also doing some sightseeing. The only evidence found was a gold anklet and a torn piece of white wrap with a little blood on it. Most of the people think she has been drowned or eaten by sharks or abducted.  However, there has been no word for ransom if she has been kidnapped.

There was also the mobile phone of the husband found on the beach where the anklet and the scrap of cloth were found. The hotel manager has been hiding something which eventually he shows to Rex – a photograph from that mobile phone showing one of the guests. What was that person doing on the beach at that time of the night? He also sets up a meeting with the owner of the resort and finds he does not like the man at all. He says he was at his club on the day the lady disappeared and so while flowing that alibi up Rex find that the reputation of the owner is not totally pristine.

He gets a friend to dig up more information about this owner and look into his links to a series of murders in Amsterdam. One family had a good alibi and another couple who had been out the whole day and spent the evening in their cabin, while others all identify they were at the birthday bash of one of the guests. One of the guests used to be seen going riding with the lady in question and there was some talk that they might be having an affair although he denies it. He is helpful to Rex by lending his jeep or picking him up from another island when he needs to get back in a hurry.  The husband has no alibi and no explanation as to how his mobile was on the beach. The others while having opportunity appeared to have no motive. If the body was not found then there was no crime.

So where was the young lady? Did her husband kill her in a jealous rage? Did that owner actually manage to kill this young lady even though he had an alibi? Who was killing young ladies in a similar fashion to those murders in Europe? Amidst all this investigation Rex is worrying about what has happened to his girlfriend who was out in Iraq. How was he going to handle meeting up with Helen who he had shared some chemistry with in the last investigation? The romance will blossom or not?

Another easy read and enjoyable as it is a good mix of humour, mystery and romance. It is not a heavy tomb and so the story moves on but still gives the impression of being leisurely progress. There are a couple of totally unexpected turns in the plot which add to the interest and the element of mystery.

Christmas is Murder by C S Challinor

C S Challinor is another new author for me. I liked the synopsis and decided to read the book. A murder mystery by a new author sounded just right when I was getting a little bored. I had a quick look on the internet and found that this is the first book by this author in her series called Rex Graves Mysteries.

The central character is of course Rex Graves who is a QC in Scotland. He is invited to spend Christmas at a hotel owned by his mother’s friend. This is a small hotel and the people staying her during the Christmas holiday are few. In the first chapter one of the guest, an old gentleman, dies and authorities cannot come as the snow is coming down fast and this is a remote place. However, there is nothing suspicious at the time and so while the rest of the guests are sad they are more concerned about being snowed in. Rex arrives after walking 2 miles from the station in the snow. One of the guests takes him aside after being introduced and informs him that the death of the old man was suspicious as there was frothing around his mouth.

This information and after talking to the owner Rex feels he has to investigate as the police will not be able to reach the hotel yet. The next day there is yet another death, this time seemingly by accident. What can this mean? Is there a killer loose and if so who is it from among them? Will there be more people dying? What is the connection between the people who have died? Why would anyone want to kill these people? The snow does not stop Rex from skiing over to the village and visiting the police station and the pub. Does this mean someone from outside could have come and committed the murder? But how can that be possible as no stranger was seen in the vicinity. Also will anything come of this instant attraction between Rex and a fellow guest?

The momentum of the story is well maintained and the time span covered by the story is of around 4 days. Mighty fine sleuthing by Rex to solve the mystery in such a short time. It has the shades of Agatha Christie and the author is well aware of this as the characters in the story refer to their situation as akin to that in ‘And then There Were None’. There is also an oblique reference to Murder on the Orient Express. However, the writing style is easy to read and not too similar to that of Agatha Christie. I would say that Agatha Christie is more of an inspiration for the author. I certainly will read the rest of her books and put up reviews as well. Enjoy reading this author with mysteries set in  modern times.