December's reading

 Some books started in November and finished in December - see if there's anything you fancy! There seems to be a generous helping of paranormal and / or cosy this month - I think it's the reading equivalent of hygge.

Carmen Radtke, Heartbreak and Hexes: This village is thick with magic, so if the paranormal is your thing blended with cosy crime, walk straight in. The wry humour doesn’t go amiss, either, so these are the kind of book it’s easy to curl up with when the world outside is a bit too grim. My favourite line: “The plot has thickened so much, it would stick to the pot if you flipped it over.”

M.C. Mackay, The Ballochbrae Book Club: Quite a few characters to take in over the first few chapters, but they all begin to make sense fairly quickly. This is set around Ballater in the fictional village of Ballochbrae and feels authentic, though occasionally it reads like a guidebook. The characters are more memorable than the plot, but perhaps this new series will find its feet quickly.

Aline Templeton, Night and Silence: Another standalone with the complex, realistic characterisation I’ve come to expect from Aline Templeton. There are quite a few characters in this one, including a number of ex-lovers of the unlikeable victim, Willow, a nurse with a sideline in blackmail. Several others are people one would not wish to spend time with, but Cordiner’s wife and son, as well as Cordiner himself, are a bit more likeable and there is plenty going on to keep our interest and sympathy. This is a tight little community but not close-knit, and the tensions between the various people are brilliantly observed.

Nikki Coplestone, Directions for Murder: The next Jeff Lincoln book with a well-designed plot with lots of intriguing, inter-connected characters in a very realistic setting. A few of them needed their come-uppance and not everyone gets it, but it’s still a very satisfying read and Jeff himself, a realistic and likeable detective, is setting off on the next stage of his life, which is great.

A Case of the Claws: Classic Tales of Feline Crime: A pretty little book containing four crime mysteries for cat lovers, by Catherine Aird, Edmund Crispin, Patricia Highsmith and Ellis Peters. This makes a nice little gift, but also a quick and amusing read. The actual cover is great!

Kura Jane Carpenter, Pride and Prejudice and Mice: This absolutely charming little book is very well grounded in the original Jane Austen novel, but with mice as the main characters, as the delightful illustrations show. I gather there’s a colour version planned, but for now the paperback is a joy, with a wit that I’m sure Austen herself would have relished.

Aline Templeton, Death in the Black Isle: I really struggled with the first part of this, because I didn’t want Oriole so put upon, and I didn’t want Perry to succeed, and I didn’t want the trees cut down, and I found it quite upsetting. And I’m still not sure about Cat. Then the first recognised murder occurred, and we were off. As usual the characters were well drawn and the setting very realistic, and Murray is coming into her own very well.

J.D. Kirk, First Among the Dead: This is a novella set in the early career of Tyler Neish, including his first meeting with Hoon. It’s entertaining, of course, but also touching, and very nicely plotted with all the usual laughs.

Jodi Taylor, Murder at Martingale Manor: A Christie-esque murder mystery novella solved by our time travelling holiday makers, Max and Leon – beautifully done, as ever.

Sarah Beth Durst, The Spell Shop: Not my usual fare, but recommended to me as a feel-good read (and I do seem to be reading a few of those just now!). The main characters are a severely reclusive librarian from a library of magic books, and her sentient and rather independent spider plant, Caz. Fleeing from some uprising in their city, they retreat to her long-abandoned childhood home and try to make a new life for themselves, while struggling to ignore their helpful and hunky new neighbour. The fact that they have smuggled (rescued) a few crates of spell books with them, at a time when magic that has helped the locals survive has been restricted to official city-use only, gives them something to do, even if it results in a singing tree and a frolicking cactus. This is very amusing, with some mild and entertaining peril and a happy ending – great fun.

Sarah Beth Durst, The Enchanted Greenhouse: Well, who doesn’t want an enchanted greenhouse? This spins off with a minor character who was only mentioned in The Spell Shop, a librarian in disgrace for casting the spell that made the spider plant, Caz, sentient. Once again, a feel-good romance with magic and plants, and lots of fun. I think I'd agree with others, though, who say they didn't feel the romantic chemistry quite so much in this one.

Val McDermid, The Mermaids Singing: I read this in a day on a couple of railway journeys and came out of it … pretty disgusted at the torture stuff, but very pleased with the plotting and writing, on the whole, though I had guessed a fair bit of the solution. I prefer McDermid’s Karen Pirie series by some distance, as well as some of her stand-alones. These are too dark for me, really. But I've always loved the poem the title comes from!

And what am I up to? I'm working on a couple of things at the moment, one being one of those projects that looks all bright and shiny but might never see the light of day, and the other being research for the next Dr. Robert Wilson book, the sequel to The Business in Blandyce. I've let myself in for quite a bit of reading for this series as he crosses Europe - this one will be set in Paris, so still within my linguistic abilities. Not sure what I'm going to do further east! There isn't even a working title yet, so watch this (rather blank) space ...

A few books read in November

I'm not sure how I only read these few books in November! It felt like more, but then there was a fair bit of driving done here and there which is an annoying waste of good reading time. Still, here we are: 

A Right Cozy Historical Crime: Obviously I’m in this, but it’s a good read, nevertheless! My particular favourites: Olga Wojtas’ chilling story, Gareth Williams’ clever Cambridge setting, Meg Woodward’s mediaeval tournament, Sheena MacLeod’s Highland big hoose mystery, and Barbara Stevenson’s story from her Stone Age Orkney series (prize at least for the oldest historical setting! These are great young adult books which she writes as B.K. Bruce), as well as Lisa Harkrader’s entertaining tale set round a school play. A lovely variety, and very entertaining. It was fun launching this during Book Week Scotland in a bookshop in Montrose.

J.M. Prior, Tea Time Tales: Not a book, this, but zines – an A3 piece of paper folded to A6 to contain a short story, with artwork, just long enough for a short bus journey or work tea break. The ones I bought from Jane’s beautifully written and well-produced selection were ‘Eradicating Parasites’ (deeply disturbing – that’s going to stay with me!), ‘Liam Patterson’s Cause for Concern’ (spooky but touching), and ‘Starry, Starry Night’ (a slow-build chill with a tragic feel). They would also make lovely stocking-fillers or quick little gifts for a busy book-lover. It’s a clever idea and Jane is so talented – take a look at her website at https://www.miscellanyjane.com/zine-catalogue.

Carmen Radkte, Death under Palm Trees: This is a slightly different setting for this series, with Frances and Jack, and Uncle Sal, all pretending to be someone they are not in a grand Riviera villa in order to root out someone stealing state secrets. When death intervenes it’s hard to know who is on which side, but it’s fun finding out!

Aline Templeton, Death at St. Abb’s Head: Really good local conspiracy which turns out to be a proper whodunnit, with, as always, a great sense of place and interesting characters. I’m not sure how I feel about the Cat business, but it looks as if her mother is the redeeming feature here – let’s see how it goes, but oh! poor Livvy!

Aline Templeton, Shades of Death: One of those useless, unmemorable titles possibly suggested by a publisher. Separate from the Kelso Strang series, this starts with a body in a cave and a woman subjected to coercive control, so if you’re the kind of person who likes trigger warnings, there are two to be getting on with. The quotation, if you know your Flanders & Swan, is from Gerard de Nerval and not Baudelaire, but that’s me being picky (and a show-off!). The mystery is a good one and the ending very satisfying, with the proper consequences.

Rhys Dylan, The Light Remains: A particularly enjoyable episode in this series. I love the dry humour of the ‘stairwell of conversation’ and the organs for transplant box, as well as the close relationships between the team. Two dysfunctional families feature in this one, one of them including the misjudged national rugby hero whose death precipitates the case. Evan also has concerns regarding his colleague Jess and her daughter, which I hope will be resolved in a satisfactory fashion in some following book.

And finally, The Shadowed Blade, Hippolyta 8, is out - out in paperback, and the Kindle version on pre-order. It's taken ages!!

Hope you find some good Christmas reading!

October's book

I find that at the end of October I'm halfway through several books, which will have to wait till next month's blogpost! And I'm afraid there's not a lot of variety here as I continued with a series I had not met until September, and am thoroughly enjoying. Anyway, take a look!

Cecilia Peartree, An Unsweetened Revenge: The twenty-ninth in the Pitkirtly series sneaked out under my radar a few months ago, and once I found it I plunged straight in. Though Christopher is away (we do get some chapters on what he’s up to, poor chap), the gentle council satire is alive and kicking, and I loved ’the computer screen, which currently displayed a West Fife Council screensaver with a carousel of images of recent road-mending projects.’ The plot itself is a little darker than usual, but of course all is well in the end and the people of Pitkirtly can carry on being as quietly mad as ever.

Natalie Jayne Clark, The Malt Whisky Murders: I found the initial premise, that two women would conceal the fact they’d found several bodies in whisky barrels in their newly bought distillery just because it would affect their business launch, very difficult. All right, maybe there are people like that, but I don’t necessarily want to spend time with them. However, the story improved tremendously and there’s a real sense of knowledge of the whisky industry, too, which works well. Eventually I came to see that the way the narrator reacted to the bodies is part of her own character, and by then I was already involved in the investigation. I could see the who, but not necessarily the why, which was presented at the end in a fairly convincing way, in the context, even if it fell a little flat. I’ll be interested to see what she writes next.

T.G. Reid, Bloodwater Falls: a few odd words like kneeled and shined, and a lot of wandering speechmarks, but really I enjoyed this. The tension over his son and ex-wife is a good layer, and though I spotted the killer quite quickly it was an interesting read.

Tormod Cockburn, The Ice Covenant: All gloves are off now and Gill is definitely on a supernatural mission, guarded by an angel-like biker. Nevertheless, he has to get on with his career and though the reader knows a little more about the angel, Gill is still an archaeologist at heart, taking on a rescue dig around Killiecrankie. Meanwhile, on the alarming mountain of Ben Macdui (which I for one never want to climb), there has been a discovery of quantities of human teeth, deposited, or strewn, over several decades. The answer to that mystery is just as disturbing as the discovery.

Aline Templeton, Death in Caithness: Once again, the setting in the Flow Country was very well portrayed and I very much enjoyed the continued relationship between Murray and Strang. The local DI was maybe a little overdone but he was still horribly entertaining and well due his come-uppance, and though I spotted the murderer early on, I still very much enjoyed the read. I’ll certainly carry on with this series for now.

Aline Templeton, Death in the Borders: And again the setting is good and the intrigue of the reclusive writer is well done. I did like ‘The music made satisfying patterns in his head’ – I could relate to that. The weather is a key part in the plot and Murray and Strang continue to bounce off each other. A very satisfying mystery, and I’m afraid I’ve already bought the next one – doesn’t often happen that a series grabs me this way.

Aline Templeton, Death in Inverbeg: All right, yes, another one. Another thing about them is that the characters are very well drawn and layered – I find my sympathies unexpectedly engaged by people I’d previously thought horrible – but again this one has a fine sense of place. What fun to travel around Scotland setting murder mysteries in different places!

And where am I? Not Inverbeg, anyway - I've left Ballater for a week as I finally managed to finish the first draft of The Shadowed Blade! Now I'm taking a break before going back for the first big edit. 

September's reading

A bit of variety this month, and some really excellent reads - hope you find something to your taste! 

P.G. Wodehouse, Meet Mr. Mulliner: I do like a bit of Wodehouse and I picked up two in a giveaway. I hadn’t read any Mr. Mulliner ones before, and the general theme is how all members of the Mulliner family are both clever and fortunate, and everything works out for them in the end in illustration of Mr. Mulliner’s own theories of life. I particularly liked the one where the young man is locked under the stairs by his old nanny, but the last one is also very good, where a writer of dark crime fiction inherits a house from a romantic novelist and finds its atmosphere affecting his own writing, with almost disastrous results. Very witty, and a good, cheering, episodic read.

Patricia Finney, Do We NotBleed?: I very much enjoy this author’s Sir Robert Carey series, and Sir Robert’s name appears in this book – as does Shakespeare’s, or Bald Will. The period setting is very natural and the main character’s problems switching back and forth between appearing as a widowed, scarred woman and the woman’s ‘brother’ are both realistic and funny, and you can just see Shakespeare taking notes. Nevertheless, the murders are tragic and horrific.

Barbara Stevenson, The Clockmaker of Perth: The lead character of this book, indeed the eponymous character, is wonderfully horrible – a man who has locked his first wife in an asylum and pretended she is dead, is having an affair with a second woman with whom he is plotting to kill the first wife, and living with a third woman who believes herself lawfully married to him – and then takes up with a fourth woman masquerading as his shop assistant. The stress of building a clock to fit inside a fantastical casing for a grand Perth hotel, along with other events both tragic and happy, begins to knock him over the edge, and his carefully constructed life starts to fall apart. Ironically, the only woman he seems to care for and respect in this whole shambles is his first wife. Will he find redemption there, or will he get everything his selfish, self-centredness deserves?

Irina Shapiro, The Highgate Cemetery Murder: American spellings and emphasis (not to mention a boy called Hank, which is possibly fine in a Jason Vail book but not in a Victorian one), and a bit of a misunderstanding of the 1832 Anatomy Act. Hyoid is Greek, not Latin. I wish people would not confuse envision and envisage. But the atmosphere is good and the sense of period is quite convincing so far, aside from the American usages.

Lexi Revellian, Remix: I had not read one of this Lexi’s books for years, but her Ice Diaries had stuck with me along with a couple of very funny books. This one drew me in quickly and the heroine is a maker and mender of rocking horses, which has to be a first for me for a mystery. I enjoyed the fairly gentle thriller with its humour and romance – and it’s made me want to read more of Lexi’s quite mixed oeuvre.

Marty Wingate, A Body on the Doorstep: Homburg? Why did she go to the front door as a servant? And more Americanisms, many of them class-related, though the main character began to grow a little on me. The police activity is rather American, too – when a body is found, they hear distant sirens (not bells) and several police vehicles turn up, rather than a bobby and maybe one car with an inspector. I didn't care much about most of the characters, but it made a reasonable light read.

David Gatward, Death Springs: The next in the Gordy Haig series, and I think it’s finding its feet nicely. There are some good twists and turns here and just a touch of the supernatural, and though I haven’t yet warmed to the team here as much as to the one in Yorkshire, it’s coming along.

Rhys Dylan, No One Near: Thoroughly readable next installment in this series, as Christmas looms and the team try to fit in an investigation of a particularly nasty murder around it.

Aline Templeton, Death on Skye: I really enjoyed this. It’s a new writer to me and I can’t work out (a) how I came across her and (b) how I haven’t come across her before. I’ve read a few other books set on Skye but this one somehow brought the place across to me more than the other ones did. The characters were nicely judged, sometimes easy to sympathise with, sometimes easy to detest, sometimes both together. For once I bought the next in series straight away – looking forward to it.

Andrew James Greig, The Bone Clock: I’m not sure what it was that put me off this one, as I’ve enjoyed other books by the same author. Eventually I made myself go back to it, and was drawn in to a good mystery. Unfortunately again there’s the well-worn trope of brutal nuns hiding the bodies, and I was a little muddled over the minister who seemed to be a priest or vice versa – don’t meddle with the church if you can’t get the terms right! But the characters were quite well drawn. It was a little confusing to read two books concurrently where the main detective was recently widowed, but that’s my own fault and I just had to get on with it. I wasn’t really convinced by the cover-up for some minor peer and his cronies, though, nor by the confusion of Sir Reginald and Lord Lagan – which was he? And really, the peers with money these days tend to be the non-hereditary ones. However, in the end the solution was fairly satisfying and most of the clues had been laid out for the reader.

Abir Mukharjee, Hunted: What a superb book. It’s not my kind of read, an American terrorist thriller, but once I got into it it was very hard to put it down and I found I was thinking about it even when not reading it. It’s a twisty, turny kind of plot and in places very emotional – two parents who have ‘mislaid’ children who have apparently joined an Islamic terrorist plot join forces, and are in turn suspected by the FBI of being terrorists themselves. The FBI agent goes through a journey of her own before the end, trying to work out who to trust and how to cope with her family who seem to love her despite her. Jump in, pay attention and enjoy.

Val McDermid, How the Dead Speak: I’ve leapt to a later episode in this odd series, but enjoyed it better than some of the earlier ones I’ve read. There are a few threads here but they are all quite enticing, though the old one of abusive nuns is perhaps a bit overdone (that’s not to say it didn’t happen in real life in some instances, but it has become a well-worn feature in crime fiction). Very well written, as always, with complex characters and, in the end, an interesting plot.

Progress of my own? Well, a little. This book, The Shadowed Blade, should have been finished at the end of September, but it isn't. But I haven't given up yet, and the cover is due this week!

July and August reading

 There, I was so excited at the idea of going on holiday in August that I completely forgot to post about July's reading! So (if No.3 Cat permits, since he's trying to sit on my lap and stop me) here, in no particular order, are the books I read over the two months.

Marti M. McNair, Island of Ruin: This is really a YA dystopian fiction and starts with the discovery of an old woman apparently dead on a beach. The setting is a strange community on an island after some disaster, and the world-building is swift but effective – decontamination, communal living, strict regimes to protect the community. The main character is tantalised by glimpses of what the world is like beyond their little community, and alarmed at the prospect of being drugged, like everyone else, to quell emotions once she reaches puberty. A rebel, she gets into plenty of trouble in the course of the book, and the ending is well set up to lead on to the next in the series.

Brian Bilston, Diary of a Somebody: This is a novel by the well-known social media poet (I suppose one could call him – I certainly first came across him on Facebook), though at first it does seem like the actual diary of a year he challenged himself to write a poem a day. How much this is really based on real life I’m not sure: the narrator is a divorced loser, failing in his relationship with his teenage son, overwhelmed by the positivity of his ex-wife’s new partner, fading out of his paid employment, not reading the books for his book club and in misery at his poetry club where his arch rival is striding towards literary stardom. As one would expect from his poetry, this is funny and witty, with all kinds of literary references and, it turns out in the end, an actual plot, when the arch rival vanishes and Brian is clearly up to something in his garden shed. A light read that’s great fun and can lead you down a few erudite rabbit holes.

Kate Ellis, The Burial Circle: I very much enjoy this series where there’s always an archaeological element and a double time line of some kind. In this one there’s the additional factor of an old case in the area, a body being found from a decade before. The way the various threads are woven together is very clever, and even though I picked up on a fair few of them the final solution was still a very interesting, character-driven conclusion. My only complaint was that the old letters represented in the text were in a font I found quite difficult to read, and I’m someone who will happily plunge into centuries-old manuscripts.

Marsali Taylor, Death in a Shetland Lane: I’m just trying to catch up on the ones I’ve missed in this series as I became confused when some of them changed their titles (thank you, www.fantasticfiction.com for getting me back on the right track!). Another excellent plot with engaging characters.

Barbara Erskine, The Story Spinner: I have loved this author for years and was delighted to find another book by her. She weaves history, thriller and the supernatural together in plots that seem totally grounded in the present day, and her writing is really compelling as she lures you in. Yes, there are some really rambling sentences, and yes, I did yell at the main character and the police now and again as she put herself in danger and they once more chased the baddie without catching him, but it’s a great yarn, all the same.

T.G. Reid, Dark is the Grave: I had started this some years ago but couldn’t get past the beginning which I found a bit much. However, this time I persevered, and enjoyed it – a good solid police procedural with a satisfying plot and a team it was interesting to spend time with. I hope to be back for another one.

Wes Markin, Forgotten Bones: Another policeman constrained to work with someone on the spectrum, and with domestic problems of his own. I haven’t quite warmed to Frank yet, though I might well give him another chance. The plot was reasonable enough, starting with the discovery of old bones in a suitcase in Whitby and working out from that several threads where different characters receive their come-uppance. I felt the setting didn’t get the outing it perhaps deserved and I was never quite sure where we were. Perhaps just me – I’ll try again. I disliked the chapter headings intensely, though.

J.D. Kirk, A Rock and a Hard Place: The suspense brought on by Logan’s incapacity at the beginning of this book is agonising! Will he come back to work at full strength, or won’t he? The team are as wonderful as ever and the plot is pleasantly convoluted, and there’s the usual out-loud laughter and terrible groans – excellent read.

Hilary Pugh, The Laird of Drumlychtoun: My first by this author and I might well go and look at another one. I couldn’t quite fathom the main character, but I quite enjoyed the plot – a missing ring supposed to affect the fate of a landed family near Dundee, resulting in various family relationships rearranging themselves. The whole thing was – I’m not sure – oddly paced? But it kept going and I did keep returning to it.

Val McDermid, The Torment of Others: This is my first Tony Hill / Carol Jordan book, and for some reason I'm approaching with care, perhaps because I'm never very happy with something that’s been televised (not that I watched it). As it turned out, while I found the relationship between Hill and Jordan a curious one, the plot itself was grim. I’m not sure I enjoyed it as such, though I’m pleased it was resolved in the end. I’d acquired a number of Val McDermids in one go and as a result of reading this, as it turned out, out of order, I’m going to give the previous one straight to the charity shop without reading it. I will, however, try another Hill / Jordan one – I just felt the plot of the previous one was touched on too much in this one for me to be able to read it with any kind of interest.

Alex Walters, Nothing Left of Me: Another intelligent standalone from this author, one of the few where I will pre-order a new book on sight, without reading the blurb! I love his Alec Mackay and Annie Delamere series, but his standalones are equally good. My favourite may be Winterman, set in the 1940s. Nothing Left of Me is the story of a newly-ex police officer retreating to the Highlands for a bit of peace and quiet, only to find that there are plenty of problems there, too – but are they local or have they followed him? I very much liked the main character, a narrator who is far from omniscient, and there are some nice little references to some current real-life situations as we go along – maybe even closer to the bone than the author expected.

Jodi Taylor, Killing Time: This Time Police episode, with Team Weird still very much dysfunctional, is based around the ‘true’ story of the Zanetti Train, which apparently vanished in a tunnel near Milan in 1911. This is quite traumatic and a very emotional read in places, and I really wasn’t sure how it would turn out, but as always there’s a laugh and a joke as we go – the rapid-hardening string was particularly amusing!

Alex Mackay, Late Checkout: My first in the Kenny Murrain series, avoided so far because I’m not so interested in the setting. It feels as if a number of Scottish crime writers depart from Scotland at points and gravitate towards Manchester, which does not appeal so much to me. However, this one, with its sympathetic main character and his strange second sight, is one I’ll come back to. A series of nasty murders in hotel rooms leads to extreme danger for Murrain's colleague, but what is the link between them?

Jason Vail, The Abbot’s Last Supper: Now, it’s unfortunate that the author mentions a spinning wheel in the first few pages, for it’s very unlikely that there was one in use in an ordinary house in 13^th century England, and I’m the kind of pedant who would look that up. This author’s work can sometimes head too much into the politics of the time for me, but The Abbot’s Last Supper is one of the kind that suits me better, a more domestic murder.

Carmen Radtke, Axes and Alchemy: This series is getting into its stride already, and I’m beginning to feel I know the community in Willowmere rather better. The setting is delightfully cosy, despite its occasional murder. Cosmo is wonderful, very feline. I’ll maybe need a few more episodes if this is going to win my heart over from Genie and the Ghost, but it’s very charming!

Alison O’Leary, Home CatBlues: A nasty poison pen writer is making life miserable around Jeremy’s school, and then it goes too far. These are charming books where the very normal cats (not talking or magical, though that can be fun, too) lead the usual cat-lives, parallel to humans, and humans and cats see the plot unfold side by side.

Now, confession time: the new Hippolyta, The Shadowed Blade, is going incredibly slowly. Every time I think 'Oh! That's it, that's the solution!' it bounces along for about three chapters, then deflates again - or maybe it's me!

But I think it's time I got the message, and went to feed No.3 Cat. He has been remarkably patient while I've been doing this!