Written by Victoria Blake Read by Trudy Harris,Julie Maisey
Blake, Victoria - Sam Falconer 01 - Bloodless Shadow (Trudy Harris)
Victoria Blake's debut novel introduces Samantha Falconer, a private eye whose personal life is every bit as fascinating as her cases.
When she left Oxford, Sam Falconer thought she had put the ghosts of her past behind her. But, while working in London as a P.I., she is summoned home by her brother to investigate the disappearance of a young woman-and confront the trauma she's tried so hard to forget. The closer she gets to Oxford, the more uneasy she becomes. Then, out of the blue, Sam receives a letter from a man who's been dead for 28 years-her father.
As Sam copes with emotional chaos and investigates her case, she finds that every trail leads back to the university. But academia is stingy with its secrets, and its pursuit of truth is limited by a self-protective instinct that could turn lethal at any moment.
Blake, Victoria - Sam Falconer 02 - Cutting Blades (Julie Maisey)
Sam Falconer, private investigator and judo champion, is asked by her brother, Mark, an English don at St Barnabas College, Oxford, and rowing coach, Tom King, to investigate the disappearance of Harry Cameron, who has vanished without a trace from Oxford University. Harry is one of the most gifted rowers King has ever seen, and he is depending on Harry to lead his crew to victory in the trials of the Oxford University Boat Club. While Sam is beginning her investigation, she has a feeling of being watched. This is confirmed when her father, who she was told had been killed when she was a child, appears asking for her help. He had been a member of a team for the British SAS and had been a part of the assassination of more than 40 Irish IRA members. Now he wants to make this information public and seeks redemption. The government is, of course, doing its best to suppress this information by eliminating the team. Sam is plagued by nightmares from her youth and is seeking help from therapist, Reg Ellison. With her partner, Allan, Sam finds secrets in Harry's family and discovers Harry's identical twin, David. This is a case of "the good brother and the bad brother." It is up to Sam to find Harry before he becomes too emersed in his brother's misdeeds. She must also resolve the problem with her father, which also has endangered her relations with her mother and brother.
This is as much a psychological study of the principal character, Sam, as it is a mystery. The search for Harry and its consequences are suspenseful. But Sam's problems are involved and intriguing, and are treated in depth and with understanding.. There are interesting side trips into the art of judo and the sport of rowing at Oxford with its rivalries and competitions. The atmospheres of both Oxford and London are realistically portrayed.
Blake, Victoria - Sam Falconer 03 - Skin and Blister (Trudy Harris)
When a student is found dead in his rooms at St Barnabas College, Oxford, it looks nothing more than an unfortunate suicide. A week later, when Sam Falconer's brother disappears, Sam begins to see a disturbing connection between the events. Then her mother receives a Catholic mass card, announcing that a funeral mass is to be said for their son. Sam begins desperately trying to trace her brother's last movements, attempting to locate the mysterious man he'd spent time with in the days before his disappearance. Behind it all is the nagging fear it could be connected to her father and the murders he committed in Northern Ireland in the seventies. As the trail leads from Oxford to Iraq and back to the troubles in Ireland, Sam learns just how strong blood ties can be ...
Blake, Victoria -Sam Falconer 04 - Jumping the Cracks (Trudy Harris)
Oxford: the city of dreaming spires and lofty knowledge. Or so they say. But for private investigator Sam Falconer, it seems to be a place of sin and secrets. And now she's come back home to set up a branch of her detective agency, she's about to turn up even more trouble, which all seems to lead back to a strange museum and its grisly collection of shrunken heads and demonic masks. In JUMPING THE CRACKS, Victoria Blake takes us deeper yet into Sam's psyche. As Sam tries to unravel the mysteries of her latest case, Sam realises she must face her own demons as well as those at the museum. A taut mix of classic crime, modern noir and psychological drama, this is contemporary British crime on sharp form.
