Don't know what century I'm in at the moment!
If you're near Ballater this coming weekend I'll have a stall somewhere on the Green on Saturday for the Ballater Mountain Bike Festival - come and say hello!
And if you're anywhere online, Orkney Viking Week is part online and part live, and I'll be doing an online talk and reading next Thursday, 16th, at 7p.m. BST - there'll be an exclusive reading from the new book and a cover reveal!
Some variety this month and some tremendously enjoyable books, including something spooky, something Biblical, something teenage and something romantic. Read on!
Reyna Favis, Soul Search: We hit the ground running here with someone trying to escape the ghost of a small boy, a spirit determined to do damage. The story revolves around Fia, who sees dead people and is with something like Mountain Rescue, working in the woods. There’s a good deal of technical detail about these rescues which is interesting in itself, but the main theme is how Fia, tutored by Cam, comes to terms with the spirit world and her responsibilities towards the people she sees. It feels a bit episodic at first but the plot is neatly drawn together into one investigation, and with its resolution we’re set up for the series. I normally read in 10% chunks but I’m ready to be carried away by any one book – this was indeed a book that carried me away.
Carmen Radtke, Let SleepingMurder Lie: I think this is a stand-alone from the author of the Alyssa Chalmers
and the Jack and Frances series, both of which are terrific. It’s a romantic
murder mystery, more trad than cosy, set in an English village with a strong
heroine in Eve, half-American half-English wanderer, who decides to solve a
five-year-old murder mystery. It’s a well-paced, entertaining read with amusing
but not stereotyped side characters and a satisfying ending. I just felt like
taking Eve aside, though, and explaining curry to her. You can’t generalise:
there is a curry for everyone, even Eve.
Hazel Prior, Ellie and theHarpmaker: Well, we’re straight in here as Ellie meets the harpmaker in the
first couple of pages. The harpmaker, is awkward, literal, and apparently a
loner. Ellie is ambiguous, but he gives her a harp. Immediately, as she tries
to explain this odd act to her husband, we want to read on. I loved the rich
descriptions of nature on Exmoor, even as I agonised over Ellie’s marriage and
Dan’s relationships.
M.W. Craven, Short Cut: A
small book of short stories featuring Tilly Bradshaw and Washington Poe in
lockdown – very amusing.
William Savage, The ReluctantHeir: it’s a while since I read one of these Adam Bascom books and I find he is
now a baronet, but no less keen to investigate mysterious deaths. I enjoy
reading about Adam and his wife and other associates (particularly his mother),
but this seemed to need another read-through as there were several places where
tenses seemed not to follow on properly, and other continuity issues. But I
liked the sensitivity to social differences and responsibilities, the niceties
of behaviour and relationships.
Zara Altair, The Roman Heir: I seem to be
reading lots of books with Heir in the title these days. This one starts with
some awkward language, sentences that stumble and stagger a bit. It is a
novella and it could do with a better edit, though the sense of period and
place is good (the later Roman period and Ostia rather than Rome, so a little
unusual for a Roman book) despite Americanisms like calling the Mediterranean
the ‘ocean’.
Paula Gooder, Phoebe: Gooder’s
academic works on Christianity, particularly on the New Testament, are noted
for their friendly, approachable tone and this comes into its own here in a
novelised version of the visit of Phoebe, a wealthy deacon mentioned in Paul’s
letter to the Romans, to Rome. Gooder invents her story but places it in her
own scholarly studies of the Roman world at the time and peoples it with likeable,
interesting, essentially human characters. Perhaps not a natural novelist,
Gooder nevertheless tells a good story with charm. The last 30% of the book –
in which, in fact, Gooder is quite happy to admit that she is not a novelist –
gives a quantity of fascinating background information and scholarly sources on
which she based her story.
Paula Gooder, Everyday God:
With reference to ‘ordinary time’, those sections of the church year when we
are neither celebrating nor working towards celebration, this is a book in
praise of the ordinary and of the God who is with us as much, or even more, in
the everyday as He is in tragedy or in grand worship. Gooder encourages us to
learn to see God in the normal patterns of life, or in asides to that life, and
having seen Him to hear what He is asking us to do. In the same way, she tells
us that God is also happy with ordinary people – He does not need us to be
extraordinary as He can do that for us, for His purpose. This is a very
heartening book, written in an easy style, taking examples from the Bible and
chatting over them in a familiar and friendly way.
Matt Dickinson, Lie, Kill,Walk Away: This is a teen novel (is that YA?) with alternating narratives by
Becca and Joe, and inspired by the death of government scientist David Kelly
some years ago. Joe is a graffiti artist with a youth offending record, while
Becca already has an offer from Cambridge based on her A levels aged fifteen.
When Becca’s father, a government scientist, is found in an apparent suicide
attempt, Becca’s life becomes more complicated. The style is immediate and
urgent and the two main characters are very likeable straightaway: both have
suffered tragedies in their young lives and are coping as best they can. And
they’re bright – bright enough to do that sensible thing that so many
characters fail to do in books when they discover some momentous secret: they
keep it to themselves and don’t rush up and tell the bad guys what they’ve
discovered. Hooray! Some good questions asked here, what killing and
radicalisation really does to you, and under what circumstances might
radicalisation be more likely to work. And a very exciting story.
Lesley Krier, The First TimeEver: I thought I had read the first in this series (Baby’s Got Blue Eyes) and
had been intending for some time to go back and read more – and when I finally
did, in this box set, I found I’d missed the first two, including this one. It’s a great start,
with a firearms officer shooting a man dead for the first time (entirely in the
course of his duties), then building his character – and what a great character
Ted Darling is. My main problem with these books is that the titles set off
earworms all the time!
Lesley Krier, Two Little Boys:
A stressful subject at the centre of this story, organised child abuse, which
is particularly difficult for the hero Ted Darling. It’s interesting and
touching to see the effect the case has on the police team as individuals, and
we really run with the police here in their ups and downs trying to solve the
mystery. Mind you, it feels very realistic – though I particularly liked the
scene where Ted drives with a ranting suspect in the back while his senior
officer repairs his jacket.
Lesley Krier, When I’m Old and
Grey: This one begins with a surprise visit from someone in Ted’s past and a
possible mystery to solve. I do like the way the team develops through this
series, particularly Steve and Maurice. This may have been my favourite so far
– I liked the plant toxins and the pace of the investigation, and as for the
fiery Jez, she was the perfect candidate for the Ted-as-manager treatment!
And in terms of writing - well, I'm about a fifth of the way through the fourth Orkneyinga Murder, cover to be revealed at the Orkney Viking Festival in September (I'll be Zooming, not in person, sadly, but I'm hoping to do a reading from the new book, if I've written enough!).
A smallish but varied selection last month:
Julie Anderson, Plague: A very
London start, heading down into a part of the Underground being refurbished,
where a burial chamber and informal ossuary has been found. The plot circles
around Westminster and particularly the House of Lords, and the route of the
Tyburn river, where a small organisation is gratifying the fantasies of
important visitors to London. Cassie is trying to revive her own career while
stepping warily around the upper echelons of the Civil Service. It’s an
exciting thriller, though I thought that the plague element of it was lost and
I had hoped for more about the historical features under London’s streets, not
just the Tyburn. Still, it’s quite a good start for a series and I liked the
setting, much of which is familiar to me.
Cecilia Peartree, The Heiress is not at Home: This is a companion series to the Missing Heirs series, and
very much in the same lines. The action has moved to Dorset, where a young lady
is very sensibly fleeing an unwelcome attempt to marry her off as a financial
settlement. The plots are lively but more in the manner of a Georgette Heyer
than a murder. Yet there is political action here as well as the ever present
threat of smugglers – riots in Lyme Regis! This is another very intelligent and
amusing read from this author.
Cecilia Peartree, The Identity Illusion: Darn it, every time one of these books comes out I can’t resist
dropping everything and heading back to Pitkirtly! This time Amaryllis’ sister
makes an appearance, causing confusion and chaos in a manner that Amaryllis
herself would be perfectly happy with. And is Christopher developing a
backbone? And what is happening in the museum? Goodness, Pitkirtly might be the
crime capital of Fife but the population feel like my dearest friends!
David Penny, The Red Hill: Good atmosphere
from the start, in 15th century Granada under the Sultan. A British
man is his surgeon, and the sultan asks him to investigate a series of maimings
and killings in the palace. It’s a bit repetitious – could have done with an
edit, really – and the hero is not as bright as everyone thinks he is - there are a couple of points where he's just too busy to hear what the useful informant has to tell him - but the sense of place is really spot-on and the end sets up the
series well.
M.J. Trow, Maxwell’s House: A
knowing, brisk beginning with a dead girl in a murky, deserted house. The
descriptions of schools and their management are amusing, but bitter, and the
constant mimicry of actors and comedians is a little overdone. I preferred his
Kit Marlowe series. But this has its interest, too, and when the teacher who is
trying to take responsibility and find out more about the murders of his pupils
is at risk of arrest for those murders, the plot becomes more sinister. Can the
police, with their curiously dull senior officer, actually be trusted? Can the
teacher? Or is that senior officer sharper than he seems?
Delia Owens, Where the CrawdadsSing: As this book progressed I became more and more reluctant to read it. It
begins miserably and improves, which usually leads to a disaster. I shan’t say
whether or not that disaster happens – I did cry, I’ll say that much – but certainly
this is a beautifully written book with a deep feeling for the marshes where it
is set, so that you can hear the birds and smell the damp vegetation and feel
the sea breeze. I’m glad I read it.
Peter May, ExtraordinaryPeople: The first in the Enzo MacLeod series set in Paris and other parts of
France. This is a real puzzle book, and an exciting chase with interesting
characters, though you have to suspend quite a bit of disbelief for the plot. I
had read May’s Lewis trilogy some time ago and found it quite hard to take
entirely seriously, though they were well-written too. I then abandoned him for
some years until I saw him interviewed at Granite Noir this year and found him
very entertaining, so on the strength of that I bought this and the first in
the China series.
Letters to a DiminishedChurch, Dorothy L. Sayers: Goodness, this could have been written last week,
instead of just after the Second World War. Sayers is knowledgeable and witty,
and can take us from the Apostles’ Creed to crime fiction to T.S. Eliot with
ease and purpose, and you find yourself nodding and agreeing with all of it.
Though there are excursions elsewhere, the main theme running through the book
is human creativity, how it reflects that of God and how it is essential for
our happiness and fulfilment in our spiritual life, whatever that life may be.
The context of industrialisation, global crisis, economic struggles and
celebrity culture are very familiar to us. My only regret is that this edition,
which includes questions for discussion groups, also incorporates both American
spellings and some odd, probably spellcheck related, errors I’m sure Sayers
herself would have winced at.
Dale Carnegie, How to Win Friends andInfluence People: If you took out all the business-related anecdotes about Mr.
Smith from Delaware winning the contract for the diagonal steam traps from the
intractable tycoon after attending the classes on winning friends, this book
would be about a quarter of its size. But they are gently amusing, mostly, and
they do reinforce the author’s simple points – be nice to people, imagine what
they might want, remember their names and help them, and you will win the game.
It’s a very American book – there are methods recommended that would come
across as quite creepy in the U.K. – nevertheless, its advice is sound and
given in an innocent, guileless fashion that negates my cynicism. And having
heard of it for years, I was pleased finally to give it a read, even if there was
only so much I could take of Mr. Smith’s business triumphs in one sitting.
And aside from reading, what am I up to? I'm waiting to be given access to an archive for some research for a new book that I can't really start until that happens, and toying with the idea of Orkneyinga 4. Only toying, though, so far!
June has been hectic so far, and as so often I'm a little late with what I read in May! Some good stuff, though: read on.
Brian Caves, A LongWay from Home: This is set in 1960s Florida, which is not a time or place that I much enjoy reading about. Nevertheless I felt the atmosphere was just right, the heat and the light and the racism spot on. I was reminded of Donna Tartt’s second book The Little Friend. A good complex plot that lulls you into thinking you know all the answers, then spinning you off again to further mystery.
The last three in the box set I began in April:
Faith Martin, Murder of the
Bride: Another entertaining read, this time edging into more rural Oxfordshire
and dark doings in a cow byre. There’s a new boss for the team with secrets of
his own, and a surprising, and tragic, ending – and plenty to think about for
the next book.
Faith Martin, Murder in the
Village: This time it’s a dead politician amongst the wealthy inhabitants of a
picturesque Oxfordshire village, but that murder is wound about with the
secrets concealed by Hillary’s new boss and the ongoing relationship between
her sergeant and a senior officer. The three lines are well-entwined, along
with the problems of dealing with the aftermath of Hillary’s late corrupt
husband – there are solutions, but there is still an overhanging detail at the
end that makes one want to read on.
Faith Martin, Murder in the
Family: The fifth in the box set, and another entertaining read. It scrabbles a
little quickly towards the finish, and there are clearly going to be major
changes in Hillary’s team. On the whole I found this an easily read,
interesting series, not too challenging, sometimes very thought-provoking, and
with enough charm to make me want to read some more.
Issy Brooke, Murder at MondialCastle: This begins with the curious note to the reader that it is written in
British English – clearly anticipating an American audience. I felt for a
British reader this aroused expectations of good grammar, and for the most part
this was what I found (there are some lapses, and some modern phrases, and I
was a bit surprised to find that every one of the earl’s daughters was married
to a range of husbands, but these things can happen. Grouse hunting, rather
than grouse shooting, was a novelty for me). It’s set in the 1890s (though it feels earlier), and kept my interest fairly well, setting itself up for the start of a series.
Vaseem Khan, Midnight atMalabar House: Persis is the first female detective in the Bombay police force,
in this prickly novel set just after Partition. Persis herself, brought up in a
bookshop, is socially awkward and professionally ambitious. The writing is of
high quality (though I wasn’t sure about an onion skin unravelling) and there
is a great deal of interest about the political situation and recent history,
the ambiguities of a recently-liberated country and its relationship with its
late overlords. Some of the plot reviews are a bit repetitious and there were a
few bits I didn’t feel were fully explained, but I liked the Christie-esque gathering
of the suspects at the end and the overall explanation.
Sarah Woodbury, The GoodKnight: The first in the Gareth and Gwen series, this started off a bit stilted
and disjointed, and had a few modern phrases and American usages that jarred. I
wanted to like it, having seen it around for a while, and I enjoy both
mediaeval murder mysteries and Welsh ones, but I found it hard to get into and
I’m not wholly sure why. I'm sure it has plenty of enthusiastic fans.
False Value, Ben Aaronovitch:
It’s hard to come up with an interesting review for a book later on in this
kind of series. To say ‘the mixture as before’ makes it sound dull, which this
is not: Peter is in a different job and is expecting to become a father very
shortly, but already he’s tangled in a plot with multiple references to the
Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and (at the beginning) odd, confusing time
jumps. Lots of laughs, some scary stuff, and a bit more about Nightingale’s
history, as well as Lovelace and Babbage – a great mixture, as always.
The Power of Meow, David
Michie: The author of The Dalai Lama’s Cat continues here with a light-hearted
study of meditation in the life of HHC herself, His Holiness’ Cat. This is
written from the point of view of someone who knows cats very well and is immersed in the life of Dharamsala, locals and incomers alike.
Michael Campling, A Study in Stone: Interesting
and relatively gentle crime novel set in Exeter and surroundings, with Dan, a
man staying in the area who resents not being in London, working with his new
neighbour, a retired teacher and countryman. Dan is borderline aggressive while
Alan is more laid-back and this does not immediately go for a good working
relationship. They are accidentally but irresistibly investigating an odd
inscription and a hundred-year-old mystery. It’s quite gentle but realistic and
the characters are well-drawn. And there’s an archive in it – though that was a
bit odd, as I’ve never known an archive yet where they know exactly how many
documents they have, or keep them in sealed drawers. But who knows? The book
works well.
This looks like fun!
All Ray
wanted was to have some fun. Little did she know that what began as a harmless
midnight adventure would soon end up being the most terrifying night of her
life.
Shuttling
back and forth between the States and whichever obscure Indian town her civil
servant father was transferred to, Atreya ‘Ray’ Sen’s life has always been on
the move. When she comes down to sleepy old Visakhapatnam and befriends Mira,
Ray hopes she could be a successful means of whiling away her summer. When Mira
invites her to a late-night adventure with Mira’s boyfriend and his pals, Ray
jumps at the chance for some excitement. When one of the boys suggests they
take a detour to one of Vizag’s most famous haunted houses, the night takes a
turn for the dark. The spirit of a mean old man seems to be following them,
killing them off one by one.
A
near-death experience reveals to Ray that she is the only one who can bring
peace to him. Now, Ray must race against time to find a way to save her family
and friends, or else the once-peaceful town of Vizag would witness a bloodbath
like never before.
An old
Victorian mansion with a dark history … a spirit with a vengeance … a girl with no
memory of her past …
Will Ray
be able to stop the killings in time? Or will she be left with no friends and
no family yet again?
Book Links:
Goodreads * Amazon.in * Amazon.com
Real Life Incident that inspired Insincerely Yours
In the words of Stephen King, we make up horrors to
cope with the real ones. But what if the horrors written are a part of reality?
What if the tale is written not just as fiction, but as a memoir to the
unexplained that occurred years ago, yet bears fresh imprints in mind?
When I sat down to write this story, I had to
resurrect memories from my college days, from that fateful night, when my friends
and I had decided to have our own little late-night adventure. Back then, we
were just stupid college freshmen who didn’t have a care in the world, who
would go lengths for cheap thrills from the world of the supernatural. Here, I
bring you the real-life story that inspired me to write Insincerely
Yours.
Our night started on the cliché note of being cold
and stormy. We had found our source for horror stories: our friend Vishnu.
Vishnu would always keep us at the edge of our seats with his storytelling, and
that evening was no different. We had assembled in a circle around him, drinks
in our hands, when he started telling us about the legendary haunted house that
stood proud just off the path to the beach in Vizag. As the story goes, the
house belonged to a retired colonel and his family. They kept to themselves,
but the neighbors often complained of yelling and fighting coming in the
evenings. One night, the house fell silent, and the neighbors saw an eerie glow
emanate from the windowpanes. When they went over in the morning to check, they
found that the Colonel’s family had disappeared overnight. The house was still
as is, sans the family that had once lived in it. Nobody knows where they went,
and the watchman claimed he never saw anyone leave the house. Their mysterious
disappearance gave rise to the stories that the house is haunted.
Scoffing
at his words, my friends and I decided to check it out for ourselves. So off we
went, Shreya, Swetank, Vishnu and I, on a drunken midnight visit to the famous
haunted house. The house had a sinister look to it, with the front lawn
stretching before us, coated with dried grass, exactly how I chose to describe
in the book. Inside, the house looked like someone had lived here years ago,
and had suddenly just chosen to walk out. The place oozed with a cold vibe, and
I wasn’t the only one who felt it. We decided to explore the house a little,
and each room creeped us out a little more than the next. Most of the
belongings of the house had turned to debris owing to a cyclone that had
wreaked havoc in Vizag a year ago, but there was one room that had managed to
stay intact. Intrigued, we stepped in bravely, and immediately, we felt
helpless. It was like the place had sucked the happiness out of our lives as a
blanket of depression descended on us. We saw muddy footprints going towards
the bathroom, and opened the door to find the room painted in vantablack, the
darkest color known to humanity, often the sign of evil. The room started
feeling like it was sucking the energy out of us, slowly as it grew. Swetank,
being the most sensible of us, insisted we get some fresh air at the balcony we
had seen on our way into the room. At the balcony, we felt the sudden weight
the room had given us lift off us, and we slowly relaxed into conversation. In
the entire time we were in that house, I kept getting this feeling that someone
was watching us. As we were talking, I felt something move from the corner of
my eye, and turned towards the balcony door, where I saw five shadows. Four was
of us standing in the balcony, but one was coming from inside the house. As I
turned around quickly to see if anyone else had noticed, I saw Swetank looking
pale as a sheet. We saw the shadow stay for a few seconds, and it suddenly
disappeared, vanishing. At this point, Swetank and I ushered the other two out
of the house, and made a run for it. All we knew was that the old Victorian
mansion housed something that was pure evil, so dark that even one hour in that
place had left us feeling soulless for days after. Swetank and I promised then
and there that we would never meddle with forces outside of our control ever
again, but as you all know, promises are meant to be broken.
About the Author:
Manasi on
the Web:
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So if that person is still paying attention to this blog, I don't know how to reply directly to you but the answer to the question is this: the only information given about the cover image is that it is copyright The British Library - sorry!
Hippolyta Napier was hoping for good tenants for her new cottage, but the first resident is already dead. Who was he? Why was he there? And will the disappearance of a fitness instructor and the strange activities of a new bride offer any clue to the mystery?
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Corrupted-Blood-Hippolyta-Napier-Book-ebook/dp/B0938C8HNJ
Enjoy!
