Tuesday 24 December 2019

CRIME FICTION ALPHABET - E IS FOR..... EDINBURGH, EXCESS, ELLIS

E is for Edinburgh.......

Scotland's capital and the home of Ian Rankin's Rebus which isn't a series I have ever really got stuck into. (There's still time for me!)

20 plus books long - Knots and Crosses was the first in 1987


Once John Rebus was a Para, served in the elite SAS. Now he's an Edinburgh policeman who spends time evading his memories, missing promotion opportunities, and right now ignoring a series of crank letters. But as the murders go on happening right under his nose, Rebus cannot ignore the presence of a serial killer stalking the city streets any longer. He isn't the only detective working the case, but he is the only one with all the pieces to the puzzle and those letters keep on coming.

E is for Excess......

Victor Headley's 1993 sequel to Yardie























Things got really hot after D's arrest. The police virtually closed down Hackney for business. But the shaky truce that followed the posse's turf war, is getting shakier as Sticks dips deeper into his own supply of crack. This book is the sequel to "Yardie".


E is for Ellis.....

Warren or Ron? 

Both

Warren Ellis - Gun Machine (2013)
Warren Ellis reimagines New York City as a puzzle with the most dangerous pieces of all: guns.

After a shootout claims the life of his partner in a condemned tenement building on Pearl Street, Detective John Tallow unwittingly stumbles across an apartment stacked high with guns. When examined, each weapon leads to a different, previously unsolved murder. Someone has been killing people for 20 years or more and storing the weapons together for some inexplicable purpose.

Confronted with the sudden emergence of hundreds of unsolved homicides, Tallow soon discovers that he's walked into a veritable deal with the devil. An unholy bargain that has made possible the rise of some of Manhattan's most prominent captains of industry. A hunter who performs his deadly acts as a sacrifice to the old gods of Manhattan, who may, quite simply, be the most prolific murderer in New York City's history.


Warren Ellis's body of work has been championed by Wired for its "merciless action" and "incorruptible bravery", and steadily amassed legions of diehard fans. His newest audiobook builds on his accomplishments like never before, announcing Ellis as one of today's most daring thriller writers. This is 21st-century suspense writ large. This is Gun Machine.

























The Singing Dead is the 4th in the Johnny Ace series. Ace is a scouse PI, I think. I've not read either of the two I have in the series.


Liverpool DJ Johnny Ace finds himself sitting on a potential goldmine when he, by accident, buys a tape containing unreleased songs performed by John Lennon. However, his excitement soon fades when he finds out that the previous owner's house has been violently ransacked. As Johnny investigates his first two cases at the newly opened Ace Investigations office, the shocking discovery of a murdered body points him in the right direction. The unlucky victim is the tape's previous owner and it soon becomes apparent that the two cases are somehow linked by a very violent criminal. A criminal who could well be after him next...


Previous entries

CRIME FICTION ALPHABET - A IS FOR.... AX, ABBOTT, ABERDEEN

CRIME FICTION ALPHABET - B IS FOR ....... BOSTON, BIRD, BONES

CRIME FICTION ALPHABET - C IS FOR.........CAPE TOWN, CONFIDENCE MEN, CROSS

CRIME FICTION ALPHABET - D IS FOR ....... DETROIT, DISHER, DEAD


6 comments:

  1. Interesting choices, Col. It's my own bias, I admit, but I hope you start to get more into the Rebus series (and some of Rankin's other writing). In my opinion, he's really talented. But even if you don't, I'm glad you mentioned Edinburgh; it's a good setting for a crime novel/series.

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    1. Thanks Margot, I'll try for a special effort in 2020 for some Rebus!

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  2. Oh, man – when will I ever get the time to read all I want to read? Well, pressing on – I have a couple of Ian Rankin novels waiting in the TBR. And they have plenty of company in that mile-high stack.

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    1. Elgin, I actually picked up Knots and Crosses over Christmas, but didn't get very far. My reading spark has deserted me. Come back soon!

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  3. I have only read two of the Rebus series, but I have a lot more of them ... somewhere. I need to continue them soon. I also have had Gun Machine for years and haven't read it yet. Someday.

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    1. I think I read Ellis' Crooked Little Vein a few years back and wasn't blown away by it, but the prospect of a cheap as chips copy of this was too much to pass up. I had an aborted attempt at reading some Reusu over Christmas.

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