I don't think I've read quite so much this last month - partly because we've been busy setting up the new mailing list system and the volume of three novellas you get when you sign up! (here's the link if you feel the need: https://dashboard.mailerlite.com/forms/1007729/126295472895689891/share).
But here are the books - a bit of a selection, as always!
Alison O'Leary, Sleeping Cat Blues: This is a lovely series, where the cats investigate
almost as much as the humans but in very different ways – it’s not sweet, and
it’s not magical realism, just two different perspectives on the same
investigation. The humans are very sympathetic, as they try to find the reasons
behind an attack on a journalist and links with murders in the past. If I had
any criticism to make, it’s that it ended rather abruptly.
Jasper Fforde, Shades of Grey: This is so much better than the last book
of Fforde’s I read. Witty, knowing, clever, mysterious, satirical, but based
around humans trying to deal with the world as they know it – and it’s a
strange place indeed, where all society is based on the ability to perceive
particular colours. Really interesting, and apparently the start of a series.
Mick Herron, Real Tigers: A Slow Horse is kidnapped, for very complex
reasons and with complex results. Good and interesting plot and an ending that
leaves you wondering what will happen to Slough House next.
Jason Monaghan, Byron’s Shadow: The action here is mostly set in Greece,
where Flint (and I can’t help thinking of Ruth Galloway’s cat) is wanted for a
murder that he just avoided being arrested for many years before. I preferred
the English setting of the first book, but the cat and mouse chase is good fun to read – though
if I were Lisa I’d have run a long time ago. The ending is a little deus ex
machina but it works well.
A.J. Aberford, Bodies in the Water: There’s a bit too much international
conspiracy in this for my preferred reading, and not very many likeable
characters, though the main character is sort of sympathetic if a bit
innocent-abroad. I quite liked the setting, Malta, but would have preferred
something a bit more domestic to allow me to get to know it. But the plot trots
along at a good pace – not its fault that it’s not so much my kind of thing. It
became more intriguing about 20% from the end, though.
Lesley Kelly, Death at the Plague Museum: I was reading this at the same time as Real
Tigers and had to watch as there are characters in both called Markus who like
a bit of a flutter. This is great stuff, though: a high heidyin in the
government has gone missing, just before her mandatory health check, and then
someone similarly elevated who attended a meeting with her is found dead.
Bernard and the others at HET are forced to investigate along with Police
Scotland, an unhappy alliance. There are revelations about Mona and the greater
plot, as well as a moment of glory for poor Bernard, and a cliff-hanger ending
– very enjoyable.
Anne Wedgewood, The Botanist: A clever book. We know the murderer from the start, but that does not mean we should jump to any conclusions about the murder, either the victim or the motive, or the surrounding circumstances. These are revealed very subtly, leading us down a number of garden paths. Did I like the ending? I’m not sure, and that ambiguity is also a sign of how cleverly the book twists you round!
GG Collins, Dead Editor File: A cosy mystery in an idyllic setting laid
on thick with affection – the heroine lives in an adobe house in Santa Fe with
all the original features and an Abyssinian cat, and works in a publishing
company. There are a few changes in point of view which are sometimes a bit
disconcerting, but on the whole this works very well – the characters are
entertaining and the plot is very nicely paced with an exciting ending. I very
much enjoyed this.