Catherine Raynes: The White Crow and This Is Not A Game

The White Crow by Michael Robotham  

As the daughter of a London crime boss, Police Constable Philomena McCarthy walks a thin blue line keeping the two sides of her complicated life apart. 

On patrol one night she discovers a child in pyjamas, wandering alone. Taking Daisy home, Phil uncovers the aftermath of a deadly home invasion, as three miles away a prominent jeweller is found strapped to an explosive in his ransacked store. 

The crimes are linked, and all the evidence points to Phil’s father as the mastermind. 

Phil’s two worlds are colliding, trapping her in the middle of a vicious gang war that will threaten her career and everyone she loves. 

Who can she trust – the badge or her own blood? 

  

This Is Not a Game by Kelly Mullen  

Widow Mimi lives on idyllic Mackinac Island where cars are not allowed and a Gibson with three onions at the witching hour is compulsory. Her granddaughter, Addie, is getting over the heartbreak of her fiancé, Brian, dumping her and cutting her out of the deal for the brilliantly successful video game, Murderscape, they invented together (with Addie doing most of the heavy lifting). 
 
When Mimi gets an invitation from local socialite Jane Ireland--a seventysomething narcissist who is having an affair with her son-in-law--to a charity auction, it is the perfect excuse to get Addie to join her for the weekend. What Mimi isn’t telling Addie is that a blackmail threat from Jane looms over the party’s invitation. 
 
In case the scene wasn’t already set for a turbulent weekend, a big storm rolls in, trapping everyone in the mansion. And then, Jane’s body is found. Soon Mimi and Addie are caught in a dangerous game, relying on their skills (Mimi loves a crossword puzzle, and Addie is a brilliant game designer, after all) to narrow down the suspects. When another body turns up, the sleuthing pair realize someone else is playing a deadly game, and they might not survive the night. . . . 

 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:07):
You're listening to the Saturday Morning with Jack team podcast
from News Talks a be.

Speaker 2 (00:12):
Katherine Rains has heard to read recommendations for us this weekend.
Kilder Catherine, Morning Jack. Okay, two blocks to talk through.
Let's begin with The White Crow, which is by Michael Robotham,
the second in his Filamina McCarthy series.

Speaker 3 (00:28):
So, Filamina is the daughter of a notorious gangster who's
the leader of a local crime family. And she had
severed ties with her family when she became a police
constable in London, and I've had a bit of a
reconciliation or a bit of a truce when she married Henry,
who happens to be a fireman. But now it passes
about to Colyde and she's on patrol in the middle

(00:49):
of the night AND's on a three am food run
for her colleagues at the Kentish Town Police station and
she spots this child in pajamas wandering the street and
it turns out it's five year old Daisy kemp Low
and she says that she can't wake her mum, and
Filholmina goes to learn why, and then across town her
colleagues are called to a jewelry store Robbie robbery which

(01:11):
happens to net the thieves about four million pounds, and
the owner's been tied to a chair with a bomb
stretcher's chest. And there's a lot to suggest that Philamina's
family may be involved, and so before all the matters
are resolved, they're more deaths and extortion and black man
in abduction and along with this great cast of characters,
and there's lots of twists and turns and mister direction misdirection,

(01:32):
and it's a really good, brilliantly written crime fiction. And
Michael Robotam does this very well.

Speaker 2 (01:39):
Nice Okay, cool, Yeah, he's yeah, got like the first
Philammine Macarthy saw the story, I know, had a lot
of praise, a lot of people absolutely love that. So
great that he's followed it up so quickly. So that's
The White Crow by Michael Robotham. Next up, This is
Not a Game a novel by Kellie Mullen.

Speaker 3 (01:58):
So ADDIE's video game developer and she's having lots of
business and relationship conflicts and she gets this call from
her grandmother me asking her to attend a party on
Mechanic Island in Michigan. And her grandmother has been invited
to this charity auction party by a neighbor, a woman
called Jane Island, and she hates her, and there's a

(02:19):
blackmail demand that's come along with this party invitation, and
so she wants Addie to come along with her for
moral support, and so they attend and then their hostess, Jane,
turns up dead and there's a snowstorm that traps them
in the house, and Addie and her grandmother are trying
to team up to solve the murder themselves. And it's
one of those coziest locked in room mysteries. And the

(02:42):
house and guest party goes a really unique blend of
people that are weird. They're suspicious, sometimes delightful and other
times completely vile, and every character, of course, raises suspicion.
And the house is huge, and it has its own
secrets and secret passageways, and it's one of those perfect
who Done It books, and it's The book itself is
kind of atmospheric, and it's fast paced and gripping, and

(03:05):
there's plenty of humor in it, and it pulls inspiration
from the likes of those Golden age lock room mysteries.
Like Agatha Christie and it's perfect for curling up on
a Sunday afternoon and not doing too much, to be honest, bit.

Speaker 2 (03:18):
Of escapism of a weekend. We love it. Okay, cool,
thank you. This is not a game. A novel by
Kelly Mullen. Catherine's first recommendation for us the White Crow
by Michael Robotham, and both of those will be up
on the news talks he'd be website. A couple of
people on the text just asking about the bird app
that mikeyrdly recommended this morning in our travel segment. It's

(03:38):
called Merlin Bird Merlin like the Wizard Merlin Bird, but
you can find all of Mike's app recommendations on the
website as well.

Speaker 1 (03:46):
For more from Saturday Morning with Jack Tame, listen live
to news Talks he'd be from nine am Saturday, or
follow the podcast on iHeartRadio