Havana Sleeping, Martin Davies, ISBN 9780340980477 (Hodder) BD5 for Gulf Weekly Book Club members
Havana in the 1850s is a city as dangerous as it is exotic. The murder of a humble night watchman at the British Consulate seems to worry neither the Consul nor the police. But one person cared for the old man.
The enigmatic courtesan Leonarda will not rest until she understands the mystery of his death.
In wintry England, George Backhouse is plucked from obscurity in the Foreign Office and given an unexpected promotion. His task: to travel to Cuba and take a stand against the illegal slave trade still flourishing there.
But Havana is a tinderbox of intrigue. As the great powers of the region conspire against each other with increasing ruthlessness for control of the island, Backhouse comes to see that the most innocent of actions could spark a devastating war.
To protect their interests, the powers-that-be in Whitehall are prepared to turn a blind eye to many things.
Leonarda will not, and what of George Backhouse?
Read it now in paperback
The Golem of Hollywood, Jonathan & Jesse Kellerman, ISBN 9781472226808 (Headline) BD4 for Gulf Weekly Book Club members
From masters of suspense Jonathan Kellerman, the No 1 New York Times-bestselling author, and Jesse Kellerman, comes this psychological thriller with a mythological bent.
A burned-out LA detective, Jacob Lev, a woman of mystery who is far more than she seems and a grotesque, ancient monster (hell-bound on a mission of retribution) collide in this remarkable novel to create a chilling tale.
The legend of the Golem of Prague has endured through the ages – a creature fashioned by a 16th Century rabbi to protect his congregation, now lying dormant in the garret of a synagogue.
But the Golem is dormant no longer and in the Hollywood Hills is a grisly murder scene. There is no corpse, only an unidentified head lying on the floor of an empty house. Burnt into the kitchen counter nearby is a single word, the Hebrew for ‘justice’.
So, for Detective Jacob Lev the mystery of how he spent last night pales in comparison to the one he’s about to be called upon to solve.
My favourite read of the week
Theft of Life, Sabine Durrant, ISBN 9781444762488 (Hodder) BD4.500 for Gulf Weekly Book Club members
When the body of a West Indies planter is found pegged out in the grounds of St Paul’s Cathedral in 1781, suspicion abounds.
But talk is not only of the man’s death. His past brings a tide of fear directly to Harriet Westerman’s door where William Geddings, senior footman, knows more than he is prepared to confess.
As Harriet and her friend anatomist Gabriel Crowther begin to investigate, however, they find the answer is not that simple as they find themselves drawn in to the dark and destructive world of Britain’s slave trade.
Together, they negotiate the interests of the British government, the secrets of the plantation owners and a network of alliances stretching across the Atlantic. And, they must confront the uncomfortable truth that some people are willing to do great evil when they believe their cause to be just.
Should you like well-written historical fiction, I strongly recommend Robertson to you as a possible future favourite author as she has written several other books featuring Harriet Westerman (think of an historical Mrs Marple) set in the 1780s.
Oprah Winfrey once described Westerman as ‘one of the most appealing female characters to ever appear in historical fiction’. Praise indeed.
