August reading

 Rather a mixture of books for August, but some really good ones here! See what you think.

Robert Galbraith, The Running Grave: As always, a huge book but it drew me in straight away and though I did not intend to read some of it every evening, I did. In the last twenty percent I really resented any interruptions! Horrific but compelling, with the usual strong characters often doing the wrong things for the right reasons.

K.J. Sweeney, The Body at Back Beach: This is a well-observed cosy crime set in a slightly faded harbour town in New Zealand. The main character, Helena, an older woman and pleasingly happily married to the somewhat absent academic Dave, is very sympathetic and when she finds a long-lost body she inevitably gets involved in the town’s past history to try to find out the name of the victim and the reasons for her death. The plot is nicely paced to feel real while keeping up the excitement, with a dramatic conclusion. A good debut – looking forward to more.

Hugo Rifkind, Rabbits: possibly my read of the month. Mind you, though it was recommended to me and I bought it, I put off reading it for a while because I really didn't like the cover. The narrator, Tommo (as he decides sounds best) is a lonely boy trying to fit in in the relatively posh boarding school he’s been sent to, because his mother is ill and his father is suddenly a busily successful author. One of the boys he falls in with has recently lost his brother in a shotgun accident, and the others are similarly maladjusted though some hide it better than others. As Tommo tries to negotiate his way through the usual teenage angst coupled with the unreality of his eccentric surroundings, the illness of his mother and his desperation to fit in, we’re treated to a really well observed slice of familiar and bonkers Scottish society, ineffectual parents, strange houses and habits, first jobs, outdoor pursuits and a general air of not knowing what’s going on that’s not going to have a wholly happy ending, yet it’s not at all without humour.

Simon Brett, A Nice Class of Corpse: I was lucky enough to pick up this series for something silly like 99p for eight books, and though they’d been recommended by a friend, and I knew the author from his wireless work, I was a little wary. No need: Mrs. Pargeter, widow of a kindly and generous gentleman with an interesting address book and a past history of prolonged absences at, we may assume, H.M.’s pleasure, finds herself in a genteel hotel on the south coast, seeking a place to retire quietly, and ends up investigating a couple of murders in a very entertaining, tongue-in-cheek fashion.

Simon Brett, Mrs, Presumed Dead: Mrs. Pargeter, having tired of hotel life, has bought a house in a quiet cul-de-sac of aspirational absent husbands and antisocial wives, but something is not quite right and she uses her late husband’s useful address book to help her investigate the previous house owner’s disappearance.

Tormod Cockburn, The Ness Deception: This is fun – Calum is forced to investigate the Loch Ness Monster while still clinging on to his credibility. Additionally distracted by his father’s frailty, a rather lovely scientist, and some subsea geological oddities, he risks life and limb to produce reasonable copy for his magazine and solve at least some of the mystery. Just a couple of pedantic points, though: there's an extra apostrophe in the very first line of the book description on Amazon, and, argh, a fracture and a break are the same thing!

G.R. Halliday, From the Shadows: A creepy portrayal of Wester Ross and the country between Gairloch and Inverness as a social worker seeks a boy he had been supposed to meet but who has disappeared, and police investigate another young man’s death. Michael Bach, the social worker, is a bit of a mess and the crimes are nasty. I don’t like ‘the kid’ being used so much, particularly when it’s by a parent about her child, and there’s very little lightness to balance the darkness. The plot is interesting, but I didn’t find any of the characters particularly sympathetic, which was a shame because I wanted to. Just me.

D.V. Bishop, City of Vengeance: Set in mediaeval Florence, this has a good atmosphere, a fine sense of setting, and an interesting, if not overly engaging, hero. The plot is strong and the secondary characters varied and interesting – Ruth, cousin of a bereaved daughter, though minor, was a fine inclusion. It would have been better without the constant use of merda and palle – surely mediaeval Florentines had access to more swear words than these? – but otherwise a good, if relentless, read. A bit of humour would not have gone amiss, here and there.

David Greig, Columba’s Bones: This is the tale of what happened on Iona after a Viking raid wiped out all the monks and other inhabitants, except for one young monk and the widow of the smith and, unexpectedly, one of the Vikings. It’s a witty, coarse and lovely tale by turns, quick to read but with lots to think about, including what is service to God and what is martyrdom, and what, in the end, faith is.

And what else is going on? Well, I'm working very slowly indeed on The Gowden Wifie, the second in the Alec Cattanach Second World War series - but September has now hit and there will be no time for anything!