** I WAS GIVEN THIS BOOK FOR MY READING PLEASURE **
Copy received through Netgalley

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Murder in the Dark, by Simon R. Green
Ishmael Jones, 06
★★★★☆

192 Pages
1st person, single character POV
Themes: murder, science fiction, aliens, secret organisations, forced proximity
Triggers: mentions of gore, violence and supernatural beings
Genre: Contemporary, Murder Mystery, Science Fiction, Crime


Murder in the Dark is the sixth thrilling mystery in the Ishmael Jones series and it certainly packs a punch! I think it might be one of the best of the series so far, because it fed us so much information while making it really hard to figure out who the bad guy was.

Ishmael and Penny are called to an archaeological dig at Brassknocker Hill, where an archaeological team have uncovered an odd hole in the side of a hill, almost like a cave opening except that it's an impenetrable darkness. After an archaeologist disappears into the hole, never to be seen again, Ishmael is sent to protect the carefully chosen team who are taking over from the archaeologists to investigate the phenomenon, only for him to find the team full of conflicting theories ranging from extraterrestrial spy holes to tunnels between worlds that would allow an alien invasion.
There are also a whole host of legends and scary stories revolving around the area to muddy the waters.

The team in charge were chosen by the Colonel and the Professor. The Coloner brought in Professor Sharon Bellman because she has some theoretical background in the field of dimensional doorways. She was tasked with choosing the rest of the team, all based on who could be convinced – threatened, in some cases, or desperate enough in others – to drop everything for an immediate investigation.

Professor Sharon Bellman is in charge, the eldest of the group. Robert May, Ellie Garland, Paul Osborne, Terry Crane and Michael Lee are all young scholars with exemplary careers and experience in varying fields that could be of use. They all have their own secrets, their own agendas, and their own theories about what's going on, but none of them appreciate the Government getting involved.
Surprisingly, this is the first time that Black Heir and the Organisation have worked together, sharing resources. By the time Ishmael arrives, they've already lost one person, sacrificing animals and technology to the hole that have never returned or given them a clue to what is happening.

The story is uniquely interesting for the fact that you never know whether the monster is human or alien right to the end, and although I had my theories, I was never certain of anything and neither was Ishmael. But most importantly, we finally get a huge connection to his past, to what he used to be, and what the future might hold for him, which I've been waiting for all this time!

As a mystery, it had a decent amount of suspects, a lot of local legends, and some serious tech to investigate the situation, so that we actually had too much important to cloud the issue instead of illuminating the problem. I loved how Ishmael and Penny stuck together through thick and thin, but that Penny wasn't afraid to admit when things were getting out of hand or to challenge Ishmael's decisions. As usual, she was a force to be reckoned with, but it was also really interesting to see Ishmael being limited in his abilities by the situation, unable to hone his superior senses.

The plot was well paced, clever and all the characters were really well explored so that we felt like we knew everyone to the point where the twists were even more surprising for it.

There’s an uncanny, unnatural hole in the fabric of the universe, and it’s up to an almost-but-not-quite-completely human to close this extremely dangerous door in the space-time continuum.

In a nutshell, that’s the premise of Murder in the Dark, this sixth book in the Ishmael Jones urban fantasy/paranormal/SF series.

What’s even weirder is that, at least so far, it’s also the plot of The Scavenger Door, the book I’m currently listening to. Considering that I started Murder in the Dark because I wanted to keep on reading Scavenger Door but couldn’t for a variety of reasons, I was really surprised to discover that I sorta/kinda was anyway.

The Ishmael Jones series exists at an uncanny crossroads between urban fantasy, paranormal and science fiction. The SFnal element is Ishmael himself. He’s an alien who crash landed his spaceship on Earth in the early 1960s. His ship did its level best to transform him into a human, but it glitched a few of the details. He hasn’t aged a day since he crashed. And he doesn’t remember a thing about his life before the crash. Both of these “glitches” come into play a bit in this story.

The stories in this series, for the most part, have been a play on the old country house murders. Ishmael met his romantic and investigative partner Penny Belcourt in the first book in the series, The Dark Side of the Road, when Ishmael was sent by his mysterious and secretive employers, The Organization, to look into the eerie and uncanny goings on at the country house where Penny lived with her parents. Penny was the sole survivor of that investigation.

In fact, most of Ishmael and Penny’s investigations turn out that way, the way that Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None turned out. Ishmael and Penny manage to walk away, but seldom do many – or sometimes any – of the people they are sent in to save. Even though they always manage to solve the original mystery.

Ishmael is starting to get a bit of survivor’s guilt over that fact.

But this story is a bit off of Ishmael and Penny’s beaten path, as they are sent in to secure a hole in the side of a hill in a seriously remote bit of countryside. No country houses in sight. Just a hole that swallows up everything that gets a bit too close – including one of the archaeologists that found it in the first place.

The Organization has sent a team of crackerjack scientists to investigate the unnatural hole, and sent Ishmael and Penny to keep the scientists safe while they investigate. When they arrive, both Ishmael and Penny believe that they are there to keep the scientists safe from the hole, and the hole safe from the scientists – along with anyone else who might happen to wander by.

It doesn’t take long for both of them to figure out that their real job is keeping the scientists safe from themselves – and each other.

Escape Rating B+: This was the right book at the right time, and not just for its surprising resemblance to The Scavenger Door. After yesterday’s terrific book, I was looking for something that also had a high snark quotient, and this author has always been good for that, no matter which of his many, many sandboxes he happens to be playing in at the time. And I was looking forward to swiftly sinking into a world that I already knew, and the Ishmael Jones series certainly has that box ticked off as well.

Last but not least, because I love this series and this author, I was hoping that this entry in the series would redeem the previous book, Into the Thinnest of Air, because that one didn’t quite live up to my expectations. But Murder in the Dark, even though it went to a different locale than the series usually does, was just a much better book.

All of the above being said, this is the sixth book in an ongoing series. I’m not certain that you need to have read them ALL to get stuck into this one, but reading at least the series opener, The Dark Side of the Road, would probably help a lot. Also it’s very good if you like creepy country house mysteries with even creepier monsters hiding in the shadows.

There are three mysteries in the dark in this story. One is the mystery that brings Ishmael and Penny into the picture, the mystery of the mystery of the unnatural hole. Who or what created it? What is it? Where does it go? What is its purpose?

The second mystery seems like it’s part of the first, at least at first. Who or what is killing the scientists?

And then there’s that third mystery, the one that lies behind the entire series. Who was Ishmael Jones before he became Ishmael Jones? Where did he come from? Why was he near Earth? How did he crash?

Ishmael has learned very few answers to those questions about himself. But he has learned that he really doesn’t want to know. Whoever he was and wherever he came from, right here and right now he’s exactly where he belongs, with Penny.

What’s surprising about those three mysteries is that they are not neatly tied up with a single bow. Rather, they are individually tied with separate bows, no matter how much someone tries to make it seem like the hole is responsible for the murders, possibly via the agency of someone who is a blast from Ishmael’s unremembered past.

The thing that makes this series work is that in spite of any supernatural or extraterrestrial red herrings that may appear while Ishmael and Penny are desperately trying to figure out who’s bumping off the people they’re supposed to save, the reality turns out to be that the biggest, baddest and deadliest monsters in any setting are human. The evil that people are capable of doing to each other is much, much scarier than any mythical beast or raygun toting alien. That in the end the most horrible monsters are just people doing bad things because they’re selfish and greedy. And it’s that grounding in human monsters and human evil that keep the whole thing from flying over the top, jumping the shark, and landing in a cesspit full of slime monsters.

This is a series that when I’m in the mood for it, I’m really in the mood for it and nothing else will do. So I’ll be back with Ishamel Jones and Penny Belcourt in Till Sudden Death Do Us Part the next time I need a story with the creep factor on high and the snark turned up to eleven.

Ishmael Jones and Penny have been sent to the wilds of Somerset where a team of 5 scientists are investigating a strange hole that appeared near an archeological dig. After one of the team descends into the hole with fatal consequences, Ishmael and Penny have to determine if this was happenstance or murder. As is usual in these books, more bodies pile up before the mystery is solved. But this one has a bit of a spanner in the works when a being from Ishmael Jones's past makes a play. It will be interesting how this will affect future books in this series. Now, I just need to catch up with more recent books!

"Dark" as in Mysterious, Sinister, Dark Hole

My favorite Simon Green is the Nightside series, but since that's been over for a while Ishmael Jones has been a fine replacement for John Taylor. That said, the Jones books seemed to me to be getting repetitive, both in terms of narrative and plotting. Adding Penny gave the series an old school Steed/Emma Peel Avengers feel, but still.

This book, though, has renewed my faith. Yes, Ishmael's slightly angsty interior monologues and narrative can still get repetitive, (within the book and from book to book), but this time around it's all in service to a decent plot and a fine, weird setting. Ishmael and Penny are stuck in the middle of a countryside nowhere with a small group of scientists camped around a mysterious alienish black hole to ?. As the characters are picked off one by one our heroes have to solve a number of mysteries. There are loads of developments and revelations that bode well for the series as a whole.

So, this was a fine and entertaining entry into the series, (it's number six I believe), and it will keep me tuned in to Ishmael's further adventures.

(Please note that I received a free ecopy of this book without a review requirement, or any influence regarding review content should I choose to post a review. Apart from that I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book.)r or the publisher of this book.)

OK so what was Ishmael???? I kept hoping all the way through the book that there would be a big reveal and even though he sort of went home it still didn’t really tell you anything. Not sure if it was frustrating or brilliant! I know that I will now have to look out for any other books that include him, so in that respect it was brilliant. It was a complete who dunit and I never guessed what the truth would be. The story was very well written and a page turner.

Ishmael Jones and Penny Belcourt travel deep into the English countryside to investigate the sudden appearance of a black hole that has suddenly appeared at an archaeological dig. One of the archaeologists has fallen in and never came back out. Two rival secret operations, Black Hole (Ishmael used to work for them) and The Organization (for whom Ishmael now works) have combined forces to find out what is happening. As Ishmael and Penny investigate, members of the reconnaissance team continue to disappear until it is just Penny and Ishmael left, with two others. Ishmael has determined that one of the two remaining members is a murderer. But who and why? And where does this hole lead? Always an entertaining read.

I've been reading Simon R Green's books for about three decades now (seriously, I started with Blue Moon Rising, back in 1989). Trying to keep up with his output is almost impossible.

Lately, I've been sucked into two of his current series: the Ghost Finders series (which I think of a contemporary fantasy version of the TV show Scorpion) and the Ishmael Jones series (which leans more in the Cthulhu direction, with a touch of the British TV show The Avengers).

The most recent book in the Ishmael Jones series is Murder in the Dark, the sixth in the series. In this one, Ishmael and his partner Penny have been dispatched to an isolated country location where a mysterious hole to... someplace has been found. One of the scientists studying the hole has died under mysterious circumstances, and they are supposed to figure out who did it and why. Oh, and maybe whether the hole is a danger beyond the general location it already is in.

But once they get there, they end up stranded with no way out, and people are dying one by one. In order to figure out who the killer is, they first have to figure out the origin of the hole, and where it is a passage to. Oh, and how might it tie in to Ishmael's distant past, which even he cannot remember

For a book that covers less than 24 hours, the tension builds nicely, and it starts to look like no one is going to survive. And as I am sucked along, I can't wait to see what happens next for our investigators.

While you don't have to read the entire series before tackling this book, I do recommend that you read the first book in the series, if only to get the origin of this partnership.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for letting me read this

In the latest Ishmael Jones mystery, he and Penny take off in her vintage car for the countryside where a black hole has appeared on a lonely hillside. They are to supervise/protect scientists studying this unknown phenomenon. The disappearance of an archaeologist on a nearby dig precipitated this entire intervention and he wants to prevent any further “losses.”

Once again, Simon Green has completely captured my attention and interest with an Ishmael Jones story. There are differences of setting, character types, and even in Ishmael himself in this outing, as he is challenged by the situation, other people and total unknowns. How can he protect people who doubt the need to be protected? And who — or what— is the threat and the black hole? I recommend you check this out but don’t read this first. Start earlier in the series.

A copy of this book was provided by the publisher through NetGalley in return for an honest review

Simon Green presents Ishmael Jones, investigator for the Organization into the dark supernatural side of the world, in the novella Murder in the Dark. He and Penny his partner are sent to a brooding hole, an archaeological site, into which things vanish and never return. The archaeological team is trying to solve the mystery but people start to die; no one can identify why. The team can't leave. Ishmael has to use his human and alien strengths to fine out who is responsible. Horror and suspense at its best.

EXCERPT: 'It makes you wonder if there’s anything left out there,' said Paul, his voice eerily calm. 'If the world has just gone away, or the dark has eaten everything up . . . If we're all that's left now, alone in the night.'

ABOUT THIS BOOK: The sudden appearance of a sinister black hole in the English countryside leads to a baffling murder investigation for Ishmael Jones.

"The past is England's dreaming, and not all of it sleeps soundly..."

Ishmael Jones and his partner Penny have been despatched to assist a group of scientists who are investigating a mysterious black hole which has appeared on a Somerset hillside. Could it really be a doorway to another dimension, an opening into another world?

When one of the scientists disappears into the hole — with fatal consequences — Ishmael must prove whether it was an accident — or murder. But with no clues, no witnesses and no apparent motive, he has little to go on. Is there an alien predator at large, or is an all-too-human killer responsible? Only one thing is certain: if Ishmael does not uncover the truth in time, more deaths will follow...

MY THOUGHTS: This is the second book that I have read and enjoyed in this very different series. I am not an alien/sci-fi aficionado, but I love this quirky series!

The books are quick reads, entertaining and, although they nudge the boundaries of believability a little, mostly plausible. This is an excellent blend of many genres - and it works! Beautifully!

The main characters complement each other, and the peripheral characters all have purpose and are solid additions to the plot. I never knew where the author was taking me, but it was a very enjoyable journey, and one that I made in one sitting.

I have not read the whole series, nor the first book, but it hasn't impacted on my enjoyment or understanding whatsoever. I will be reading more in this series.

😊😊😊😊

THE AUTHOR: Simon Richard Green is a British science fiction and fantasy-author. He holds a degree in Modern English and American Literature from the University of Leicester. His first publication was in 1979.

His Deathstalker series is partly a parody of the usual space-opera of the 1950s, told with sovereign disregard of the rules of probability, while being at the same time extremely bloodthirsty.

DISCLOSURE: Thank you to Severn House Publishers via Netgalley for providing a digital ARC of Murder in the Dark by Simon R. Green for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions.

Please refer to my Goodreads.com profile page or the about page on sandysbookaday.wordpress.com for an explanation of my rating system. This review and others are also published on my blog sandysbookaday.wordpress.com https://sandysbookaday.wordpress.com/...

I’m not sure at what point I began to see the funny side of this adventure, but when I did, there was a fair amount that set me quietly chuckling. Green’s dark humour is more apparent and gory in his Deathstalker series, but I found this version more enjoyable.

If you are looking for foot-to-the-floor action adventure, then you’ll be disappointed. Apart from the body count, which rises alongside the tension as Ishmael tries to work out exactly who or what is annihilating the wretched team of scientists stuck on the hill on a dark, dark night, there isn’t a lot that actually happens. Think of a locked room mystery in the middle of the English countryside. However, there are plenty of possible suspects – including what may or may not be emerging from that creepy hole – and lots of enjoyable character clashes and conflicts, which Green writes very well. The bonus for those who have followed the series, is that during this investigation we get to know a bit more about Jones’ shadowy past and hints that it might be catching up with him.

One of the joys of this series is his relationship with Penny, his girlfriend and dauntless sidekick – it’s rare to find a truly happy couple in these sorts of adventures and I hope it stays that way. Their snarky exchanges and domestic bickering about Penny’s driving and lack of cooking skills somehow helps to highlight just how weird it’s all got – and won’t it be nice to get back to normality…

Highly recommended if you like a bit of humour thrown in with the paranormal shenanigans – and the bonus is that this is the sort of series that you can jump in anywhere without losing too much of the context. While I obtained an arc of Murder in the Dark from Netgalley, the opinions I have expressed are unbiased and my own.
8/10

I have been a fan of this author since I first started reading his Nightside series. When this series came up, I was very excited and dived right in. We are now at the sixth book, and I am on the fence about it. Don’t get me wrong: this book is well-written, has an interesting plot, has great characters (for the most part), and it moves along quickly (just like the previous books in the series). So, what’s my hesitation? Every book is starting to feel a little too much the same. I enjoy myself every single time, but still, sometimes I think these books are little too predictable based on the formula of the ones before it. So, my conclusion? These are great books, but just don’t expect something different every time; expect the same theme and you’ll pass the time very quickly with a great book. Penny and Ishmael are interesting characters, and I hope based on something that happened at the end of this book, we get to learn even more about Ishmael. Recommend! I received a complimentary copy of this, and I voluntarily left a review.

This book actually takes to readers away from the usual creepy haunted house/mansion etc theme. Instead, there is a hole. Yes sir, a killing hole! I always enjoy these books although, the very best of the Ismael Jones book is the brilliant DEAD MAN WALKING. Could be that it was the very first I read in the series or just something with the book's story that truly captivated me. Or both.

MURDER IN THE DARK takes our paranormal crime-fighting duo Ismael and Penny to the lovely Somerset. Well, it would be lovely if it wasn't for the deadly hole that has appeared there. An archaeologist has already disappeared through the hole and it doesn't take long for a scientist to disappear as well.

One thing I liked about this book is that we got to learn more about Ismael Jones, this strange man. If you have read the previous books do you know what I mean. If not, well, what are you waiting for?

MURDER IN THE DARK is an enjoyable paranormal mystery book. I did feel that the very last part was the most interesting about the book, although of course, I enjoyed the whole killing hole story and who would die next...

The sixth instalment of Ishmael Jones sees our hero and Penny out of a 'locked room' mystery and outside. They are sent by the Colonel to investigate a mysterious hole which has appeared on a hillside in Somerset, where one scientist has already disappeared. Local lore tells of mysterious disappearances and of a "beast" which roams the countryside - is there something to these rumours?

It was an OK read and the humour was still there, but I felt it lacked the tension of previous outings. It seemed to be almost all conversation and very little actual investigation. It appeared to be picking up towards the end but it was all a bit of an anticlimax. I was left feeling a little disappointed with it all.

Thanks to NetGalley and publishers, Severn House, for the opportunity to review an ARC.

It's the first book I read in this series but not the first one by Simon R. Green.
I read it in one setting and I couldn't put it down.
I don't know if the genre is sci-fi, horror or paranormal thriller, I think it kept me reading feeling the growing creepiness and claustrophobia.
I loved the humour in this book as much as I loved Ishmael and Penny.
The mystery was good and the ending came as a surprise.
I look forward to reading other books in this series.
Highly recommended!
Many thanks to Severn House and Netgalley for this ARC

A new genre for me science fiction/ mystery thriller.
Ishmael Jones is not of this world and is protected by the Organisation. Ishmael and his assistant Penny are asked to act as security at a strange phenomenon. A large hole has appeared in the side of a hill and someone has disappeared down it.
At first I thought I have a mistake with this book as it is not my usual genre but I am glad to say that I was pleasantly surprised. How can people just disappear down a hole never to be seen again. Yes I know a hole.
It was a slow burner to start with, it was funny, weird and I think that this author might just turn out to be my guilty pleasure.
I would like to thank the author Simon R. Green, Severn House UK and Net.galley for giving me the opportunity to read this book in return for giving an honest review.

Strange holes that seem to defy all the laws of physics have been appearing and disappearing in the English countryside. During a scientific investigation of the most recent appearance, an archaeologist disappears into the hole and doesn't return. Now Ismael, alien (as in not of this world alien) investigator and his partner and girlfriend, Penny have been sent by his boss at The Organization to investigate while protecting the rest of the scientific team. Ismael had thought it would be easy to keep a bunch of nerdy scientists safe. Turns out, though, scientists are a competitive, not to mention unruly and rebellious bunch who don't follow instructions well. Then another scientist leaps into the hole seemingly deliberately only to have his lifeless body dragged out - there are no signs of violence but his face is 'contorted into an expression of utter terror'. On top of that, someone or something seems to be stalking the camp in the dark. And, if all this isn't enough, all links to the outside world seem to be severed. Ismael realizes that if anyone is to survive, he must solve the mystery of the hole quickly. As he delves deeper into the mystery (literally), he begins to suspect that his presence at the hole may not be an accident - it may be linked in some way to his alien origin.

Murder in the Dark by Simon R. Green is the sixth book in his Ismael Jones Mystery series but only the second one I have read. There are plenty of interesting plot twists and a nice touch of humour and I enjoyed it quite a bit. Green is able to meld different genres and make them work well together - in this case, although it is called a paranormal mystery, it is more scifi and murder mystery. Overall, a fun read with some pretty dark overtones and I recommend it to fans of this or his other series.

<i>Thanks to Netgalley and Severn House Publishers for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review</i>

This is the second book I've read of the adventures of Ishmael Jones and his partner Penny Balcourt, however, I'm afraid, although this is OK, I didn't find it as gripping as my previous read, book 5 in this ongoing series.

It's an unusual premise, as, Ishmael is not human and works for a strange government group called 'The Organisation' it's quite 'X Files' in it's telling and I really like the writing style of Simon R Green, he manages to balance really well, humour and excitement and so, despite me not enjoying this as much as the previous book, it's still a good read.

Thanks to Netgalley and Severn House for the opportunity to receive an ARC in exchange for this honest review.

Ishmael Jones and his partner Penny Balcourt are on another case. This time, a strange black hole has opened up in a hillside in Somerset. A group of scientists have been sent to examine and study the phenomena. Jones has been called in because an archaeologist fell into the hole and disappeared. Upon arrival, they find that communication outside the site is limited to one phone call per day from the mysterious organization that sent them there. No cell phones. No radio communication. And only limited internet. They understand very little about the pitch dark, strange hole they are here to study or about why everything surrounding their work is so secret. What's the truth about the absolute darkness on an isolated hillside?

I love the Ishmael Jones series! Ishmael reminds me of an alien, much more spooky, Fox Mulder. Working for a mysterious government group called The Organization, Ishmael and Penny investigate all things alien, supernatural and downright dangerous. The stories are dark, strange and suspenseful. Murder in the Dark is the 6th book in this series. Simon Green tells a great spooky story. This series has never let me down. I like the shorter length of these novels. I can get in a great supernatural fix without a lot of extra fluff. Green jumps right into the action, sending Ishmael and Penny off to all corners of the world to investigate all sorts of strange, warped and usually top secret happenings. I like how the two main characters compliment each other. Where one is weak, the other is strong. They make a great team. Ishmael's background story is eerie in itself, which really makes the character perfect for this type of series.

Murder in the Dark is an awesome addition to this series. I'm definitely going to keep reading. I like Simon Green's writing style. I still miss The Nightside series, but this new series is equally as enjoyable for me. I can't wait to find out what sort of trouble they will be in next! This is one series I would love to see made into a television series or even movies. It would have to be done true to Green's writing though. I don't want another Dresden Files debacle. I hate it when I get so excited about a film adaptation of a favorite series, only to discover they totally mangled the plot or characterizations!! Do it right, or leave it alone.

Although it isn't completely necessary to read this series in order, to get the full background of characters and past events, it's probably best to start at the beginning rather than hopping in at book six. But, this story would be enjoyable even without all the background on The Organization and Ishmael & Penny.

Great addition to this series! I look forward to their next adventure!

**I voluntarily read an advanced readers copy of this book from Severn House via NetGalley. All opinions expressed are entirely my own.**

Another science fiction/mystery title in the Ishmael Jones series. These are sort of a guilty pleasure for me, along the lines of the old horror movies I watched as a teen. Ishmael and his intrepid girlfriend Penny investigate paranormal "problems" for the mysterious Organization, and this time are tasked to protect a group investigating the disappearance of an archaeologist into a "hole," which may be a portal into another dimension. Of course, their success as protection is somewhat limited, but that's a great deal of the fun, along the lines of shouting at the movie or TV screen, "No, don't go into the basement!" Most of the characters are purely supporting cast, but frankly, the whole point is Ishmael, and the reader learns more about his past in this volume. Good fun!

Many thanks to Severn House and NetGalley for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest opinion.