Reading from March to June!

 Life has really, really been getting in the way of posting! But I have been reading, and in order not to fling everything at you all at once, I'll post in three lots (unless something stops me!)

So here are the first ten - I'm sure I've read more than this but it's all so disorganised that I have no idea any more ...

Marsali Taylor, An Imposter in Shetland: With an excursion to St. Kilda, this is an excellent installment in the Cass series. A social influencer has arrived and then vanishes, but to what extent did she really exist? And who has she harmed in the process? Very enjoyable, as is the domestic life of Cass and Gavin and the cats.

Lydia Travers, Death at the Highland Loch: This is a bit of a jolly jape as Lady Poppy Proudfoot investigates the murder of a bookie’s runner on the estate of her new friend Constance. This is definitely a cosy in that we don’t get to care a jot about the victim, and Lady Poppy goes round ogling the police inspector and defying him in equal measure. Young Gregor needs a clip around the ear – apart from his outright cheek, any child of that class speaking that much Scots at that period would have been sent to bed with no supper for a fortnight, never mind being allowed to sit up and dine with the grown-ups. I liked Constance’s back story and poor Isla who appeared and disappeared again – I hope she returns in future books. All in all, an amusing read.

Olga Wojtas, Miss Blaine’s Prefect and theUncharted Island: As usual, our heroine blunders gloriously around the scene misunderstanding almost everything, from the intelligence of the parrot to the identity of the murderer, while at the same time lecturing us on every possible subject from northern European linguistics to unarmed combat – with the possible exception of sheep. Another hilarious episode in this series.

Eva St. John: Fire in the Flint: Bish is now the U.N. Ambassador to Norwich, a rather uncertain position which no one really seems to want her to have. She still remains a detective in the Norwich police force and therefore investigates local smuggling and the murder of a notable merchant at a formal ball. Still trying to identify the rogue practitioner and come to terms with her past and her present, she does her best – but there are sequels to come.

Harriet Steel, Trouble in Nuala: A charming start – it’s nice to see a happy marriage for a detective! This one, though, must have some difficulties, as it’s a mixed marriage – a Sri Lankan policeman and his English teacher wife in the 1930s. De Silva has a delicate path to tread when there are complaints against a British planter and a hothead Indian-named lawyer takes an interest. This is a very gentle book though of course there are some nasty things in the background. I look forward to finding out more about the De Silvas and his police colleagues.

Jim Kelly The Water Clock: I love the interwar books by this author, and some of the haunting atmosphere of those is carried over into these more contemporary ones (written in the 1970s). The investigator is a journalist on a minor local paper, trying to sort out the discovery of bones connected with a long-ago petrol station robbery, while at the same time doing his best to find out more about the incident that caused his wife to be left in a coma. Culminating in a night of stormy floods, this is a well-paced book though it takes a while, I found, to be fully behind the main character. But I loved all the dry little sarcastic comments.

Jim Kelly, The Fire Baby: The first odd thing about this book for me was that it was the second I picked up in the course of one evening with a character in it called Bracken – this one is Bill, the other one Bob. Not exactly a common name. This deals with the aftermath of a tragic plane crash in 1976 in the Fens – one of the few survivors is now dying of cancer in the same ward as Dryden’s coma-bound wife, and wants to make sure that some secrets do not die with her.

Jodi Taylor, Out of Time: This Time Police episode gets extra marks for having a mobile library called BookyMcBookface (presumably after the Orkney one), splendid librarians, and the ongoing professional relationship between Commander Hay and Captain Farenden, who reminds me more and more of Bernard in Yes, Minister. There are some truly horrific scenes in this one but also some great laughs, and as always I read it far too fast.

Carmen Radtke, Ghosts and Grimoires: If you follow this author’s Genie & the Ghost series as well as the Willowmere one, you’ll enjoy this crossover where Genie and Adriana appear in Bex’s world to solve a puzzle to the benefit of all concerned. The crow is a bit disturbing, but otherwise this is another jolly mystery for Bex and Cosmo. Very enjoyable.

Laura Shepherd-Robinson, The Art of a Lie: One of the shortlist for the CWA Historical Dagger, this is set in Georgian London and concerns a recently widowed confectioner and Henry Fielding’s investigation into her husband’s murder. When a handsome gentleman comes into her shop and introduces her to the concept of iced cream, her life changes radically – he offers to help her reclaim money she did not even know her husband had, which will help her save her threatened business. And I don’t know what else I can say without giving away too much of this very clever switchback of a plot that really had me on the edge of my seat, wondering what would come crashing to the ground first. There are a few slightly anachronistic phrases which made me stop, but otherwise this is an excellent read.

There, that's the first ten! More to follow.