SL BeaumontReseñas

My fourth read from author S.L. Beaumont, The Carlswick Conspiracy is well written & fast paced, with an interesting & intriguing storyline. A good well-written romantic suspense. I can see me reading more from this author & I look forward to the next book in the series. (RIP Marley January 20, 2014 - July 24, 2018).

Stephanie Cooper is 18 years old and about to begin her studies in history at Oxford. Since she doesn't know when she will have the time again, she decides to spend her summer break with her grandmother at the old family home in Carlswick. While she is there, she meets James Knox, the lead guitarist in an indie rock band, who is also a part of a family that is involved in a seventy-year-old feud with the Coopers. Stephanie and James initially hit it off, but when she sees a painting in the library at the Knox estate that she recognizes as a piece of stolen Nazi art believed destroyed in WWII, their relationship takes a dive leading almost to rock bottom. Things go from bad to worse as she begins to suspect that James' older brother, Alex, is smuggling art, and then matters become worse when she learns that her father is also somehow involved. The Carlswick Affair is a mystery that has potential as it follows Stephanie as she investigates not just the possibility of art smuggling but also into the death of her great-aunt Sophie, seventy years earlier and is somehow related to the painting in James Knox's house. The story starts out slow but picks up pace fairly quickly. The problem that I encountered, and that lost the story a star, was with the characters mostly. As I said, the story itself was good, but would have been much better if Stephanie had been slightly older and the boyfriend, James had been more mature and if the author had had him throwing temper tantrums and sulking all over the place like he was 5-years old.

The first in a series flagged as the Kat Munroe thrillers, DEATH COUNT introduces Forensic Accountant Kat. She's renowned in that role, one of the best at chasing down fraud, identity theft, scams, money laundering and illegal money making schemes. She also lives with the shock and life changing consequences of serious injury, after losing a hand in a car accident, her boyfriend at the time drunk, driving the car which injured Kat so badly, and killed her friend. There are aspects of that crash and this case which intertwine unexpectedly for Kat and for DS Adam Jackson - a man with his own personal tragedies - and a protective streak when it comes to Kat. Not that she needs a lot of protecting, she might be disabled, but she's tough and not somebody easily threatened.

Sitting somewhere in the middle of police procedural and thriller, with a touch of personal attraction / romance built in, there was much to like about DEATH COUNT. Sure there are aspects of the personal that are a bit on the predictable side, but there was also plenty there less expected. The depiction of Kat and her disability was particularly well done with the emotional and physical fallout more than balanced by the strength she was developing as a result. There's a believable sense of foreboding and threat out of the investigation, and the way that it wove Kat and Adam's back stories together was believable and very compelling. The pace is good, and the financial crime component well developed, informative and realistic, compelling and very intriguing.

All in all, this is a series that could be just the thing for fans of police procedurals with a personal / romantic component, and definitely for anybody looking for a central protagonist working to overcome some serious physical challenges.

https://www.austcrimefiction.org/review/death-count-sl-beaumont

I will admit to having been a bit of a Brexit junkie, addicted to the podcast Brexitcast from the BBC, which meant SHADOW OF DOUBT arrived at a particularly pertinent time, set as it is in the time of Brexit, with a very interesting central premise - would the overwhelming Remain vote in Scotland push people there to an IRA like terror campaign in England.

Starting out in London, against the backdrop of big international banks, trading floors and highly specialised financial departments, there's a real sense of the friendship that close working partnerships build, that becomes something more when tragedy strikes. The corporate world of work hard / play hard with company preferred drinking holes, little laneways and dark, shadowy pubs is well depicted, and the sense of hubbub of corporate London was good. The tension switches from the pressures of work and a distant husband / home life, when a terrorist bomb is set off one evening. Central character Jessica is caught up in the bombing aftermath, then her beloved father dies, all the while her husband is absent emotionally and physically as she turns to a new work colleague for support and understanding.

When Jessica's father leaves her the key to a safe deposit box, all sorts of things start to fall into place. Husband Colin's odd work practices, her colleagues sudden involvement in her life, the bombing, the banking world, everything starts twisting together as Jessica follows the well hidden trail of clues her father left for her.

SHADOW OF DOUBT has a hefty dose of personal and romantic angst in it, and there were times when it was really hard not to want to talk some sense into a very put-upon, somewhat naive Jessica but they were fleeting, and overall SHADOW OF DOUBT is a twisty page turner of a thriller, with lots of menace. The romantic angst is not overblown, and actually quite understandable, although you do have to wonder how it is that Jessica and Colin's marriage was so devoid of curiosity. The topicality of the plot lines was well handled, and for a reader far from the Brexit action, but mildly obsessed, felt quite believable.

https://www.austcrimefiction.org/review/shadow-doubt-sl-beaumont

The 5th in the Carlswick series, THE CARLSWICK MYTHOLOGY is a young adult (at the upper end of the age range), slightly female orientated series, based around main characters Stephanie Cooper and her rock drummer boyfriend James Knox. Whilst it's not absolutely necessary to have read any of the earlier books (THE CARLSWICK AFFAIR, THE CARLSWICK TREASURE, THE CARLSWICK CONSPIRACY and THE CARLSWICK DECEPTION), it did help that I'd read the 4th book, and therefore had a bit of an inkling of these two and how their version of a rock star lifestyle works.

In this outing James has invited Stephanie to a short holiday on a small Greek island where a good friend of hers is working on an archaeological dig. Right at the end of the holiday, friend Kerry discovers stolen Syrian antiquities, the recovery of which Stephanie and James soon become involved in. As they believed they were unsuccessful in recovering them, it comes as a big surprise to all of them when James is arrested on their return to London, in possession of one of the statues, accused of theft. Meanwhile Stephanie's summer job with New Scotland Yards' Art Fraud squad is tailor-made to get her into the right circles to investigate these statues and clear James. Add in some organised crime gang activity and a lot of chasing about and this is action packed without being overly taxing, romance that's not overly cloying, and a slight lack of Mythology which didn't occur until much later.

This is a solid YA series overall. It can sometimes be a little clunky when drawing facts into play, but the characters more than make up for any slight glitches there. The central pairing of Stephanie and James is lovely - romantic without being annoying and clingy, these are two equals despite Knox's rock star persona. The interweaving of the life of an indi-musician and that of Stephanie who is more of the investigator, the thinker of the pair works well, as do the plots overall. Well worth considering if you're in the upper age reaches of YA market, and looking for something that's got action, romance and a bit of daring doing.

https://www.austcrimefiction.org/review/carlswick-mythology-sl-beaumont

The Carlswick Mysteries are a series of young adult novels (THE CARLSWICK AFFAIR, THE CARLSWICK TREASURE, THE CARLSWICK CONSPIRACY, THE CARLSWICK DECEPTION and THE CARSLWICK MYTHOLOGY), this one being the fourth in the series. There is some back-story woven into each of the books to assist readers in not needing to start from the very beginning, although my advice would be to go back to the start as there appears to be a lot that's happened between Oxford student Stephanie Cooper and her rock-star boyfriend, James.

Young adult styled, with the emphasis leaning slightly towards telling, rather than showing, the rock-star lifestyle is what's needed to bring student Stephanie into contact with a range of possible mystery scenarios. In this case, the theft of a priceless Shakesperean First folio, flinched from a stately mannor, which results in a murder, and Stephanie's meeting with a particularly attractive young cop. Lots of glamorous lifestyle, bit of romantic tension and an English country manor into the bargain, this is a series that may appeal to young adults (women in particular) looking for a spot of escapism.

https://www.austcrimefiction.org/review/carlswick-deception-sl-beaumont