I love Roy Lewis's books. The vintage setting is lovely, as is the Yorkshire setting. Highly recommended.

Complex Case For Crow....
Murder mystery featuring Inspector Crow of Scotland Yard (previously published as 'Blood Money'). Well written with plenty of twists, a swiftly moving plot and surprises along the way. The fourth in the series to feature the rather moralistic and upstanding Inspector - who, whilst not entirely likeable, is certainly characterful - this is a thoroughly good read.

Murder for Money was a wonderful surprise. It is a fast-paced but methodical police procedural that takes place in the late 1960s. After a muck-racking journalist is found brutally murdered, Detective Inspector Crow is faced with the daunting task of ferreting out the killer. With many suspects to choose from, it won’t be an easy task.

Detective Crow is a sensible, intelligent police officer and has a fine staff as well. The plot, the characters and the mystery itself are excellent and the twists in the investigation will keep readers engaged. Even though I have not read the previous books in this series, I didn’t find this to be a disadvantage. I thoroughly enjoyed Murder for Money and plan to read more by this author.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing a copy of this book for review.

Another wonderful novel by Roy Lewis set in the days before mobile phones featuring the brutal murder of a journalist. Excellent, would recommend it to anyone who loves mysteries.

"I admire a writer who does the amount of research that's required to make a story such as this credible.

Once again Detective Crow and his straitlaced style of investigating take center stage, unraveling a deep conspiracy, and a murder with unusual twists, that baffles the mind.
A crime of opportunity or was it planned these are the puzzling things that Detective Wilson and Crow had to work out. Very intriguing, captivating and truly entertaining.

This is an entertaining police procedural murder mystery set in 1960's England.
DCI Crow and his trusty sidekick Inspector Wilson get sent to Yorkshire to look into the murder of an investigative reporter working for a sleazy gossip magazine. At first it looks like the work of a jealous boyfriend of a woman the reporter had been bedding. The inquiry expands beyond that relationship to take in blackmail, mysterious trips to Germany, a missing car found in a lake with the body of a stranger in it, Nazi war criminals, and so on.
Crow is a competent tough-as-nails cop who runs an efficient murder squad team. He's not afraid to push back against interference from his boss who orders him to back off questioning a powerful German businessman.
The story moves at a steady pace, maybe some would call it sedate. There's no psychological suspense or even any exciting car chases; it's pure procedural. A methodical connect-the-dots puzzle.
The story reflects the times, it's the cold War and WW2 is still in the English collective memory. There's no such thing as a female police officer and of course there's no DNA or mobile phones (as readers are warned at the beginning). There's a minimum of English slang and there's a glossary at the back of the book to address that.
Recommended as an easy-to-read whodunit, with several interesting red herrings.
I received my review copy of the book from the publisher via Netgalley. The comments expressed above are my own.

This book is set and written in the 1960's so you need to remember that when your reading it. That things were different back then. They didn't have everything we do and always talk the same way. This is the 4th book I believe in the however it is still just as good alone I don't know if it was it matters about the other 3 books I kind of would like to read them however. though it ended abruptly it was wonderful.

‘Murder For Money’ is the fourth book in the bestselling series featuring Detective Chief Inspector John Crow. I have read, reviewed and really enjoyed reading the previous three books and so I was excitedly looking forward to getting my hands on a copy of ‘Murder For Money’. I was not to be disappointed. I absolutely loved reading ‘Murder For Money’ but more about that in a bit.
What can I say about Detective Chief Inspector John Crow? On first sight I can well imagine that he is ever so slightly intimidating. He is tall, thin, bald and he has such a piercing gaze that even the hardest of criminals feels unsettled. Crow seems to have a gut instinct that is almost always accurate and he has an uncanny knack of being able to spot when he is being told a fib. If something doesn’t feel right to him then he won’t give up investigating until he has satisfied his own curiosity and he has investigated every possible lead. Crow is tenacious, hard working, stubborn and he doesn’t seem to care if he upsets anybody. For him the victim and the subsequent investigation comes first. I wouldn’t say that Crow is instantly likeable and in fact it has taken until now (the fourth book) for me to warm to him. Crow isn’t exactly very sociable and I would say that he has few friends, but he is fiercely loyal to and defensive of those he considers to be friends.
In my opinion ‘Murder For Money’ is very well written. The author’s writing style is such that you can’t fail to be drawn into the story and once he has you in his grip, then he doesn’t let you go. In other words, this book has plenty to keep your attention all the way through. The story hits the ground running and for me, it maintains the pace throughout. The chapters are also relatively short which is more convenient if like me, you don’t like having to break off from reading when you are only part way through a chapter.
It didn’t take me long at all to get into this book and in fact I was addicted to the story by the end of the first page. The story starts in such a way that I will remember for a long time to come. I just had to keep reading to see who the murderer was. The more I read, the more addicted to the story I became and the more I had to read on. The book isn’t particularly that long and so it didn’t take me that long to fly through it. I was most disappointed to realise that I had finished the book. I was enjoying the story, the author’s writing style and the characters so much that I just wanted the book to continue for longer than it actually did.
I loved the way in which the author described the characters. In fact the murder victim was so well described and his behaviour was so appalling that instead of asking ‘who killed the victim and why?’, the police should have asked ‘Who didn’t have a reason to kill the victim?’. That way the list of people would be a lot shorter. Charlie Rutland had annoyed so many people that there were an abundance of people who had reasons to kill him.
Reading ‘Murder For Money’ was much like being on an at times scary and unpredictable rollercoaster ride with several twists and turns along the way. On occasion, I smugly thought that I had worked who the killer was and what their motivation was only to discover that I had completely got the wrong end of the stick and it was somebody else entirely.
To conclude, it’s true to say that I very much enjoyed reading ‘Murder For Money’ and for me, it is easily the best book of the series to far. I can’t wait to read the next book in the series. Here’s hoping that we don’t have too long to wait. I would definitely recommend this author and this series to other readers. One note of warning though, readers should remember that originally this series was published during the late Sixties and the early Seventies when attitudes and circumstances were a lot different. The score on the Ginger Book Geek board is a very well deserved 5* out of 5*.

Roy Lewis brings Detective chief Inspector John Crow a new investigation. This policeman with his somewhat strange appearance seems to be able to put his suspects at ease while actually getting the truth from them to solve the crime. An intricate plot, with a very surprising twist at the end, another great read

I found this story very strange, it did not seem as good as his other books, found myself drifting in and out and not one I could read straight through

What a good story. Old Nazis never fail to intrigue me. And what a tangled web. Lovely descriptions of Yorkshire landscapes. Realistic characters, excellent writing - the author does not need swear words to make his point. Bravo.

This is a good book thank you for giving me the opportunity to read this book I will highly recommend it it was very on point characters was really good and the plot was amazing

THIS BOOK WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED AS “BLOOD MONEY.”

Yellow journalism, or the yellow press, is a type of journalism that presents little or no legitimate well-researched news and instead uses eye-catching headlines to sell more newspapers. Techniques may include exaggerations of news events, scandal-mongering, or sensationalism.

Charlie Rutland, a journalist for an unscrupulous magazine, is found brutally murdered. He wasn't a likeable man, and he had made many enemies over the years. A little blackmailing wasn't beneath him, neither was taking up with the barkeeper's wife.

During the 60's there were no smart phones, no DNA identification, nothing but sheer determination to see that justice was served for the victims of horrendous crimes.

When Crow finds a solid lead why is his superior telling Crow to drop it? Who is Dance? What organization does he represent? And why are they keeping him away from his prime suspect?

There are twists wrapped around twists and turns that keep the reader going in circles. This is a well-written suspenseful page turner that will keep you not only engaged, but riveted to the story.

Many thanks to the author / Joffe Books / Netgalley / Books n All Promotions / Jill Burkinshaw for the digital copy of this crime fiction. Opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.

Charlie Rutland, a womanising journalist, is found brutally murderer. He worked for a muck-raking gossip magazine and had many enemies. DCI Crow and DI Wilson have been given the case to solve. They have a long list of suspects: a German industrialist, a woman's jealous partner and a shady boss. Will Crow and Wilson be able to solve this case?

This book was originally published as Blood Money. I like crime stories that are set in the 1960's where they didn't have forensic evidence and the advanced technology that we have today. All they has was just basic instinct to rely on. This book is full of twist and turns. I did not guess correctly who the killer was. A well written plot that's gripping from the beginning and the pace is fast set. I like Crow and Wilson, they work well together. A thoroughly enjoyable read. This is the fourth book in this series.

I would like to thank NetGalley, Joffe Books and the author Roy Lewis for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Murder For Money, first published in 1973 as Blood Money, is the fourth novel to feature Chief Inspector John Crow of Scotland Yard’s Murder team and has thrills, spills and chills aplenty to keep the reader entertained for the duration. As is evident when we look back to the 70s, we really have moved forward in terms of technological advancement, fingerprints and DNA all of which help the police to collar a suspect. Without these reliable methods, the police must do a lot more legwork to solve a crime. It makes for a very entertaining read which is straightforward to follow and has many a surprise.

Despite this being the fourth in the series, we still know very little about the mysterious John Crow, but whereas this would usually bring forth criticism I actually found it quite refreshing as I find I'm getting tired and dissatisfied with the tropes characters in crime fiction are usually based around - issues with sobriety, family and authority and laden with emotional baggage to name but a few of those traits I regularly come across. This is a well written and plotted novel, and Crow is more intelligent than it first appears to outsiders, a bit like how Columbo would dress scruffily to lull his suspect into a false sense of security! Highly recommended.

Many thanks to Joffe Books for an ARC.

Really happy to have stumbled across this author and this series. Many thanks to Netgalley for providing a digital copy to read, my review is my honest opinion.
These days it seems harder and harder to find a good series that isn’t full of egotistic main characters who find themselves a mite too charming and sexy. Not the case with Detective John Crow , as he is fully focused on the case, A very unpleasant reporter, Charle Rutland is butally murdered and DI Crow has to unravel the many threads to the story he was investigating that led to his death. Rutland was investigating the past life of a Nazi soldier. He worked for a scandal sheet, and his unpleasant ways made him a lot of enemies, The story is set in the late 60’s early 70’s, therefore events from WWII have more recently occurred. At the time Germany is still divided, and many people have first person accounts of the war.
The story is well written, the characters well developed and the dialogue believable. I look forward to reading more in this series, and exploring other titles by this author. Highly recommended.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Joffe Books for an advance copy of Murder for Money, the fourth novel to feature Chief Inspector John Crow of Scotland Yard’s Murder team, originally published in 1973.

John Crow is sent to Yorkshire to investigate the murder of muck raking journalist, Charles Rutland who has been on assignment there. The task is not easy as Rutland, an unpleasant man with an unpleasant job, had many enemies and nobody, not even his employers, is sure exactly what he was working on.

I thoroughly enjoyed Murder for Money (originally published as Blood Money) which is a clever tale of dirty secrets and the past haunting the present. I was hooked on the plot from start to finish and it held my attention throughout. Obviously there is little in the way of forensics so the plot relies on deductive reasoning and interviewing. It’s well done and makes you realise that in those days the police had no way of proving or disproving many statements made (i.e. no CCTV or computerised systems). It gives the novel a certain innocence in some ways but makes the detectives’ suspicious minds more apparent in others. Great stuff.

As usual in these older novels there isn’t much in the way of characterisation so all we really know about John Crow is that he is a smart, uxorious man with a rather strange physical appearance. From time to time I enjoy stepping back in time to this kind of plot driven novel where I can concentrate on events and don’t have to bother with annoying characters or their dodgy motivations. It’s straightforward entertainment and this is a good example.

Murder for Money is a good read which I have no hesitation in recommending.

4 stars

Charlie Rutland works as a journalist for a tabloid called Scathe. It is a newspaper that walks a fine line between true journalism and a libelous scandal sheet. Charlie’s boss is a man who thinks himself much smarter and craftier than he really is.

When Charlie’s body is found beaten to death in his rented bungalow, DCI Crow and his partner DI Wilson are assigned the case. Crow and Wilson soon learn that Rutland was not a likeable fellow and many had reason to wish him harm.

A stolen car, a German industrialist, a woman’s jealous partner and a shady boss as well as others all play a part in the story that follows.

The identity of the murderer came as a surprise to me. It was not who I thought it was – at all. I had to chuckle at the brilliance of the twist in the plot.

This book is set in the 1960’s before the forensic advantages that we have today. The police had to rely on interviews, shoe leather and fingerprints. It makes for a very different experience than the detective stories set in the present. It is refreshing in a way. It is very well written and plotted and it flows nicely. It is a good and interesting story. While the reader strongly suspects that they know who the killer is following the police investigation is fascinating and intriguing. DCI Crow is savvy and very easy to underestimate. His casual questions are often taken at face value and their importance is overlooked. This is my second book by Roy Lewis and I liked this one better than the other book that I read. I’m very glad that I gave him another chance.

I want to thank NetGalley and Joffe Books for forwarding to me a copy of this very good book for me to read, enjoy and review.

** I couldn’t send a link because the book is not out on the GoodReads or Amazon lists yet.

Amazing story. Chief Inspector Crow sets out to find a murderer and, again,is led astray. He is so very human and his past - as was many people's at that time - was influenced by the 2nd world war. This prejudice was both a problem and a boon in solving his latest murders.