Reading in February - part one

 

I'm adding in books this month that I read before Christmas but could not, for various reasons, review till now, so there are so many that I'm dividing the list in two! It's alphabetical, so there is no distinction between the two lists. Bit more variety than usual!

Other editions

S.J. Bennet, The Windsor Knot: This is a witty book with H.M. the Queen as a subtle investigator, moving behind the scenes to solve a murder in Windsor Castle with the help of her assistant private secretary, Rozie. I don’t know what the Queen herself might think of it but it is certainly written with affection and tremendous humour. I may well look out for the next one.

Tom Binnie, The Painter and the Sea: This book comes into its own when the narrative settles in a place like Kirkcaldy or parts of the Low Countries and describes everyday life. There is a good deal of research evident and some nice little details - I enjoyed the idea of the council struggling for funds – sounds all too real! – and the kirk ‘overseeing’ the town, and the descriptions of 1730s Edinburgh really came alive.  The characters were interesting and quite well rounded – I particularly liked van Reit and his attitude to death, and the relationship between Rose and Adam Smith. I had not previously seen much of Adam Smith and David Hume fictionalised, and Hume in particular seems well fitted for it. The cover image is lovely, and the incidental portrayal of the cat is charming.

Susan Buchanan, Just One Day: A very realistic narrator given to over-achieving and seeking things to worry about, all of which she tries to control with to-do lists. I read this in two sittings and felt I was in Louisa’s world with all her stresses and emotions. The plot was intriguing though, as with real life, it had its ups and downs, and I had not expected the ending which sets things up well for a sequel.

Catherine M. Byrne, Mary Rosie’s War: This is a good yarn, set mostly on the shore of the Pentland Firth and also in various air force postings. Both physical settings and period feel are well executed - some research has gone into this but it is very naturally written. Many books of this type are simply done with one ‘romantic’ plot but this one is made more interesting by the inclusion of a sad, but ultimately satisfying, subplot that weaves in and out of the characters’ lives. The only drawback was that I thought the ending came a little too abruptly – the story could have been stretched to another book of the same length and been very enjoyable!

Susanna Clarke, Piranesi; I finished this book lateish at night and couldn’t decide if it had a message I was too stupid to decipher or was just plain mysterious. It was in some ways an easy read with charming and slightly naïve descriptions of the House, the setting, which is a very strange, ruinous place. Gradually clues appear hinting at what might be going on, and while the narrator seems pretty ignorant about the whole set-up the reader starts to realise that there is more behind the scenes. Did I enjoy it? I think so. Would I read it again? Probably not: it’s somewhat melancholic, and there’s a tragedy to it, even in its beauty.

Helen Fields, One for Sorrow: Are British post mortems really recorded in imperial measurements? A bit surprising if so. And the obnoxious Liam seemed to be straight out of New York. I didn’t enjoy this as much as others in this series, which is a shame as I really loved the earlier books – at times, unfortunately, I felt as if my feelings were being manipulated (I know writers do this all the time, that’s what a book is, but this time it felt somehow cynical), and it had a distinctly American feel, which is odd. And goodness, the criminal’s trophy wall – surely this has been over done? Nevetheless the plotting was beautiful, the structure really impressive.

Other editions

Linda Gillard, Cauldstane: This is fun, a ghost writer moving to live in a Highland castle while she helps the laird write his autobiography in the hope that it will inject a bit of cash into the dwindling family coffers. The family stories she finds are more immediate and tragic than she expects when the ghost writer meets a ghost.

Other editions

Will Harker, Silencing the Dead: You might struggle to get into this book if you hadn’t read the first in the series, but if you have and it’s a little while ago the first chapter or so is a great aide-memoire. I like some of the description – this is of a haunted rectory: ‘The overall effect was one of clutter and disorder, as if the architect had been unable to bear contemplating any single part of his design for too long.’ Scott Jericho is not a happy soul and once again tangles himself in a nasty and complicated plot here.

Sylvia Hehir, Deleted: From the cover illustration, which made me laugh, I thought at first this was chicklit, but the back material makes the book’s genre much clearer, and the brief prologue was very enticing. I did not much like the main character to start with, and found it a little hard to place her in age terms, but felt that was probably deliberate – she was at a transitional point in her life and had to grow into a better understanding of her parents. In a way this is an odd story involving young love, old resentments, and a bit of the supernatural, but ultimately it’s a satisfying read.

J.D. Kirk, Northwind: This is a spin-off from the Logan series of crime novels set in the north of Scotland, full of irreverent hilarity – don’t read if you don’t like swear words, though. Here I missed the rest of the team as Hoon, a retired, discredited senior officer, set off on his own to rescue a friend’s missing daughter in London, but it was as hilarious as the Logan series. I liked the way the plot was woven into the Logan episode, Cold as the Grave, which I happened to be reading around the same time  - had a real life feel to it but would not prevent them being enjoyed separately.

Other editions

J.D. Kirk, Colder than the Grave: The mixture of noir and daft hilarity we’ve come to expect – painful to read sometimes, but for wildly differing reasons.

Chris Longmuir, Dangerous Destiny: Quite a lot of detailed historical information has to be available to the reader right from the start of this book, which puts pressure on a writer to lecture. This is avoided here: there’s still a good deal to take in but it is layered in the narrative. The writer has opted not to go for too much language of the period and there are few challenges here for a modern reader in that sense. Enticing, exciting plot, a sound historical setting and interesting characters – what else do we need?

Other editions

Marion Macdonald, No Song in a Strange Land: A light touch brings the characters to life and the setting is good. It’s an easy, entertaining read, but not without its tragedy, written a little naively in the voice of Chrissie as she finds her way into an unexpected marriage. I enjoyed the portrayal of her rather up-and-down relationship with her husband and ultimately with her step-daughter, too, and the depiction of life in Canada, and the journeys there and back, was interesting. Details about tuberculosis, public reaction and treatment were unexpected and intriguing, particularly the women’s mutual support groups. I’d have liked to have heard more about the two little boys and their experience!

There, that's the first batch - lots of fun!

Reading in December and January

 And late even for January! Work has been very busy recently - that's my excuse.

Well, now, what have I been reading? Only about half will be visible here, as I've been lucky enough to have a stack of books to work through for a competition I've been asked to adjudicate. Some of those might appear later, once the results are safely out! Here's the non-competition stuff.

Sydney Padua, The Thrilling Adventures of Lovelace and Babbage: A graphic novel, starting with a witty historical synopsis of Charles Babbage and Ada Lovelace, then, clearly feeling that Lovelace’s short life doesn’t give enough scope for fun, postulating that their lives continued in an alternative and, inevitably, steampunk, existence. Hooray! There are loads of explanatory footnotes and references (in fact, even the endnotes have footnotes, and at one point the footnotes start arguing back), many of them very funny, even if some details have gone through an American mill and come out a bit mangled. If you don’t learn something about mathematics and computing from this then … well, you probably knew more than I did to start with. But I was impressed!

Deryn Lake, Death at the Beggar’s Opera: We continue with the extraordinarily long sentences and copious period detail here, as well as the irritating habit of calling the main character the Apothecary. There’s some good stuff about the theatre and some interesting descriptions of bits of what are now London, but I do feel as if I’m wading a bit. It took me a while to finish it as I kept going off to other things. This is one of those occasions where I've bought a box set and feel I need to work my way through it - on other occasions I've grown to enjoy the series very much through a box set, so we'll see where this one goes.

Angus MacDonald, Ardnish Was Home: A lovely bit of writing, moving between memories of Highland life (the good version, with intelligent, involved landlords) and an account of Gallipoli, from the view of a wounded soldier and the woman nursing him. The ending, though ... hm. Not so sure.

OthrAlison Joseph, The Darkening Sky: This is No.4 (according to Amazon - No.7 according to GoodReads - should check FantasticFiction) in the Sister Agnes series – hadn’t realised when I picked it up – but it’s smoothly written and I didn’t even think as I read it that I’d missed anything. An alcoholic ex-squaddy dies in a street fight after leaving a homeless shelter, but the mourners who turn up for his funeral bring more questions than answers. As Sister Agnes is also wrestling with the commitment of taking her vows, and bad news about a friend’s health. she begins to look into the matter of the man’s death. I enjoyed this from the start: Agnes is an interesting and sympathetic character and her friends, Athena and Julius, are striking, and some characters really surprise as the book goes on.

Other editions

Peter May, The Firemaker: This is the first in his China series, and I didn’t enjoy it as much as the French series (or even the Hebrides series) – while one main character grew on me, the other did not at all, which was a shame. Nevertheless it was extremely well written, of course, well plotted and with intense atmosphere and feel for place.

Pete Brassett: Rancour. I think I’ve read one of these before. They’re entertaining but a bit chaotic, and if police interviews are really as they’re depicted it’s a wonder any crime is solved. The sentences are nearly as long as Cicero’s – one goes on for half a page – and the style is idiosyncratic and occasionally hard to follow, with amazing similes. Sometimes I find the characters confusing – must be getting old. But as I say, entertaining.

Joy Ellis, Killer on the Fens: I loved the two constables being spooked on the marsh. This one felt a bit as if everything had been thrown at it but it was as enjoyable as the others.

Joy Ellis, Stalker on the Fens: a dramatic opening with a massive road traffic accident minutes from where our two main characters are. It’s just a background bit of information, though, for the rest of the plot, which is an intriguing tale of the death of an alternative therapist. I didn’t think when I picked up the first book that I would have enjoyed reading to the end of the fifth, but I have – these books have a definite charm and the characters grow well.

Myra Duffy, The House at Ettrick Bay: I loathed Simon on sight but the situation was fairly interesting – a friend unexpectedly inheriting a large and delapidated house on Bute with an archaeological (the word always pulls me in) dig about to start just outside. The plot is linked with the history of the place though not, perhaps, the way one might at first think. The descriptions of the island were very enticing!

T.G. Campbell, The Case of the Curious Client: The historical detail is absolutely comprehensive and persuasive here but we’re straight into the action with a strange set of people, an artist, an incompetent and clumsy journalist and a laid-back Canadian doctor in Victorian London. It’s not quite clear why they volunteer together to investigate crimes and their leader, Miss Trent, is a very odd character for the time. I wasn’t sure about the Americanisms and the accents – they seemed a bit muddled to my cloth ears – but I was prepared to push through by that time and enjoy the ride, and the charm of the book increases as it goes along.

Barbara Stevenson, Where the Ocean meets the Sky: This collection of short stories (one of them pushing novella-length) is completely mad in a wonderful way. There are operatic owls, sailor cats, creepy churchyards, imaginary islands and an enchanted library book … each story is unexpected and spins with its own warped logic – a really entertaining read.

Shamini Flint, Inspector Singhy Investigates: A Deadly Cambodian Crime Spree: This looks like a cosy but it certainly doesn’t start that way, with a youngster watching a father’s death under the Khmer Rouge. The setting, a war crimes tribunal, was familiar and well set up, though the one I’ve visited in Africa was less complicated and aggrandised. The Singaporean police detective, Singh, was intriguing and entertaining to spend time with, and I liked his temporary Cambodian sidekick with her own sad history. The plot flips and flops back and forth and comes to a surprising conclusion. If you want a similar setting and a quirky crime series, I’d recommend Colin Cotterill’s Dr. Siri Paboun series set in Laos.

Nicola Clifford, No Refuge: This looks like a dark book but starts more like a cosy crime, though watch out. The author has disregarded the golden rule – don’t kill the dog/cat! In the first few pages we have a dead dog, and incidentally a murder, in a Welsh village. The heroine, with a police boyfriend, is journalist Stacey, always trying to make a joke of things and often getting it wrong. She’s one of those local reporters who uses her friends to get information and sticks her nose in everywhere, so it took me a while to warm to her though I did like the setting in rural Wales. To the heroine’s credit, she’s good at the outdoors – knows what to wear and how the wildlife behave, and it was that that began to win me over. I also liked the fact that we get to see what the police are doing, too – it’s not just the view from a reporter. In the end this was an exciting read and I’d go back for more.

Ian Simpson, Murder in Court Three: This is not the first in this series but I didn’t feel that mattered too much – the story stands well on its own. Set amongst the noblesse de la robe of Edinburgh, the author’s own experience of the legal profession shines through and the cast of characters is broad and interesting. It’s another traditional murder mystery, and the plot is satisfying.

Not a bad couple of months' reading, all in all! I'm pacing myself on one or two series, James Oswald's and J.D. Kirk's, so as not to rush through them.

And what am I doing? Very, very little, if I'm honest. I'm supposed to be plotting (should really have started writing) a kind of follow-up to The Slaughter of Leith Hall, a follow-up in the sense that Charlie Robb is probably going to be the main character, but it's set twenty-one years later. I've had a lot to deal with recently, and I hope that's the only reason I haven't really got going with it, and not that it's just a dud!

The Bear is released!

 

The Bear at Midnight is out today! And if you're expecting a newsletter and haven't received it, email contact@kellascatpress.co.uk and let us know!

November's reading

I was reading a heap of books for a competition I'd been asked to adjudicate this month, and I can't review them till the judging is public (if even then!) so this is just the frills of reading, so to speak.

Cecilia Peartree, TheChristmas Catastrophe: It’s great to be back in Pitkirtly again, with Amaryllis taking another step towards humanity by sort of acquiring a cat, albeit briefly. The Petrellis at the Italian restaurant take a starring role and for this part of the plot it’s useful to have read the preceding books – but then that’s the joy of this series, growing to know the characters and their eccentricities, the doughnuts, Dave’s aversion to Fiat Pandas, the dogs, the local dignitaries and their secrets ... As usual Christopher the archivist treads bewildered through the whole thing and Amaryllis believes she’s in control. Wonderful.

Terry Pratchett, Wings: This is the third in the children’s Bromeliad series about a race of nomes that live in a department store – only in this book they have managed to travel on Concorde and venture as far as Florida to see the space shuttle take off. Packed with loads of Pratchett-style wit and wry reflections on life, this is very funny, though I still prefer some of his adult series. It's the first Pratchett I've read in a while and I enjoyed it.

Elly Griffiths, The NightHawks: So good to get back to Ruth and her life and friends! I loved the portrayal of her as reluctant head of department, dealing with her new staff, and the dig was fascinating. These are such enjoyable books, like visiting old friends: hope they keep coming.

Jack Benton, The Man by theSea: A good spooky read for this time of the year: mysterious deaths on a beach, investigated by a man who is a ‘practising alcoholic’, ex-soldier and ex-con.

Nikki Copleston, The Promiseof Salvation: In some ways this leads on from the previous book in the series, but there’s plenty of information given to allow it to be read as a standalone (or to remind anyone who has left it a while between books!). I like the lead investigator, Lincoln, and his tentative relationship with his librarian friend, and this continues here. The police team investigates, on and off as cases are taken from them and reassigned, the discovery of a missing child’s skeleton, an assault at a country club and the murder of an earl’s uncle, with the tempting possibilities of links between these cases and some interesting ties to events thirty odd years in the past. The complex plot – with an additional mystery elsewhere – heads up several blind alleys and has the reader occasionally yelling ‘No! Not that!’ before it all becomes beautifully resolved. A very enjoyable read.

Mel Jolly, Becoming FutureYou: There are those at whom this book is aimed with needlepoint accuracy, those who please everyone before themselves and don’t realise that this is doing them no good. (I’m not saying that there are not those who please everyone before themselves and blossom, this is just not specifically for them). However, I think most human beings would derive some benefit from this book which is not promising success with shiny gold sequins on, but success in becoming the best of the person you’re happiest being. It comes with a workbook that makes you examine lots of superficially simple questions that actually can take some answering, questions regarding other people’s expectations of you (useful and not), goals you have abandoned and why, dreams that you don’t think you can follow. Some bits are challenging – you can make this as deep as you like, digging over dreams half-forgotten and remembering why they were abandoned – and some bits are great fun, like creating the character Superhuman You (there’s a free downloadable workbook with space for all these questions and answers) who has all the characteristics you choose for them, regardless of your current skills and talents (and looks!). There’s a very helpful chapter on confirmation bias when it comes to believing bad things about ourselves.

Joy Ellis, Hunted on theFens: The plots are stretching the bounds of credibility, but these are enjoyable reads. My main petty gripe with this one was Joseph complaining about his daughter wanting to save the planet, then the daughter driving (not using public transport) from Exeter to Edinburgh for an interview with a big company in the city. Not much planet-saving going on there. A petty gripe, indeed. Still, as I say, entertaining reads – I certainly don’t regret buying a box set.

Yvonne Vincent, Losers’ Club: Set aside the setting of a non-existent island off the coast of Aberdeenshire and this is an entertaining cosy comic crime with a variety of bad language, sold in aid of a cetacean charity.

And meanwhile ... it almost looks as if The Bear at Midnight will be out soon, if not before Christmas then shortly after!

Death strikes the hall at Buckquoy, and when Thorfinn has to appoint a new leader there, bitter rivalries emerge. Then a woman dies, and matters turn serious. When accusations hit close to home, Ketil and his old friend Sigrid must find out who the killer is, if only to defend themselves in the teeth of even more devastating news.

October's books

 It's been another horribly busy month - with sadly very little writing done. But that seems to be changing now and life is looking slightly more under control, so here is the very short list of what I managed to slump over in October!

Alison Leary, Beach Cat Blues: Oh, it’s good to be back in this world of Aubrey’s, where there are suspicious goings-on in a nursing home and a private school. Aubrey is beautifully written and I still maintain these are not cosy – there’s far too much of the real world in them, and not all cats are sweet and fluffy.

David Pearson, A Fatal Liaison: I found this a bit pedestrian, but perhaps it just didn't hit my mood. Burke, the main investigator, is an unsympathetic character and his sergeant, Moore, is a bit whingey. There was nothing much to mark this out in terms of originality, quality of writing, humour or charm, though it was perfectly readable. Some of the police procedure seemed a bit lackadaisical – why did they not talk to the victim’s daughter, or look into his and his wife’s bank details earlier? Never mind keeping an eye on some of the potential suspects to prevent absconding. It sort of worked in the end.

M.W. Craven, Dead Ground: Engrossing from the start with another blindsider played by Tilly before she and Poe head off to the kingdom of MI5 for a new case. As usual several things seem to be going on all of which wind up into one satisfying conclusion, and our intrepid heroes are as dysfunctional, in the most functional way, as ever. One of the books for which I leave my 10% at a time rule and just read straight through – excellent.

Joy Ellis, Shadow Over the Fens: This is a complex double case and the main characters are developing nicely – as is the understated but clearly deep love of the Fens.

There, see? That didn't take long!

I'm still (still!) working on The Bear at Midnight, but the end is sort of in sight with a decent pair of binoculars. Maybe by Christmas? Then, if my addled brain will co-operate, there's a sequel to The Slaughter of Leith Hall and the next Murray to write. It has a tentative plan and everything! well, sort of. Or I could just retire ...

Reading in August and September - when there was time ...

 It's a low count for books read over the last two months, but that's not to say I didn't appreciate them! I'll only put up the first cover this month as I am, as usual, running to catch up with myself - apologies to all those cover artists I'm missing out!

Here's a quick summary:

Trevor Wood, The Man on theStreet: Written from the point of view of a homeless ex-naval man in Newcastle, this is a thoroughly enjoyable thriller-whodunit with interesting and likeable characters and an authentic feel to the setting. A book that lingers - must get the sequel.

The Ice Killer, RossGreenwood: I love Mrs. Chan. I’d like her to come and work with me, but I’d also be incredibly reassured to think that every police station has a Mrs. Chan on their payrole – preferably high up on it. Otherwise this is cleverly written and appealing, the narrative alternating between the police activities and a woman named Ellen, who is finding out more about her past and how it is dramatically affecting her present.

Jason Vail, Missing: After a bit of trouble of his own, Steven Attebrook goes looking for the children of his old friend Harry, and ends up with another missing person case along the way and a little problem with warring armies. Odd Americanisms like ‘teamster’ crop up, but in general this feels quite British and is as usual entertaining, though I felt the political history weigh a little more heavily in this (with the occasional paragraph of explanation of military allegiances and manoeuvres). Though it has a satisfactory ending in itself, it is also setting up the plot for the next book to which I shall, as usual, look forward.

Jim Napier, Legacy: St. Gregory’s is a junior Oxbridge college on the loose round about where University College London is situated (or SOAS or SEES, so it could be any of them). It has the usual collection of scholarly misfits and a few interesting students, foreshadowed by a poignant preface. When a mature student goes under a bus suspicion goes about amongst the staff, while McDermott, an alumnus of St. Gregory’s, hopes it will not fall on his old tutor. This has a very traditional feel to it with some subplot to do with McDermott’s family and personal life and an enjoyable relationship between him and his subordinates.

Stuart McBride, TheCoffin-maker’s Garden: I’ve tried the Ash Henderson series before and not enjoyed it as much as the Logan McCrae ones, but I liked the sound of the premise of this one so thought I would give it a go. The fictional setting, Oldcastle, is thoroughly grim, but in this one at least the characters get to go out and about a bit and there is some humour. Still, I didn’t feel it drew me in completely – I was able to leave it for several nights at a time. It’s certainly gritty, but in the end I enjoyed it. I’m not sure I’ll be rushing to get another one in this series, but who knows?

Joy Ellis, Crime on the Fens: I found the beginning of this very unappealing, and left it for a few months before a desire to tidy up my Kindle drew me back to give it another go. And then it caught me, for the most part: the main characters are interesting and I enjoyed the relationship between them, and gradually the team behind them came to life. It’s a shame that there’s a lot of wandering punctuation and some poor editing that pulls you out of the story. I also found a few aspects of character development a bit unbelievable, but I could warm to these books, I think. I have a set of five so I hope the rest are enjoyable!

John Gaspard, The Bullet Catch: Quite an entertaining mystery with a magician as the detective, looking into protecting an old school friend who fears being shot in the course of making a film, and another old school friend suspected of murdering her husband. There’s a great deal about the lives of stage magicians and their tricks here which makes for an interesting read, though I think there’s nothing to worry the Magic Circle. I think it’s the first in a series and if someone threw the next one in front of me I’d be happy enough to read it.

Deryn Lake, John Rawlings Investigates – Death in the Dark Walk: This is set in the mid 18^th century in London, and is not immediately gripping, though that may be my fault as I lost track of the book for a while. It seems to be a rule that any book set in this period and place must feature Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens, and that indeed is where the murder takes place. The book is soaked in period detail, sometimes to its detriment, and I found the habit of calling the main character the Apothecary (particularly when he hadn’t really established himself as one just yet) a bit irritating. John Fielding is convincing as the real-life magistrate, and I quite enjoyed meeting other real historical characters in the course of the investigation. It was fairly easy to guess who the murderer might be but it still made quite an entertaining read – I have four in a box set and hope they settle down a bit as the series continues.

Well, there we are - and I'm already reading the next Deryn Lake and Joy Ellis. Meanwhile I'm two-thirds of the way through The Bear at Midnight, Orkneyinga 4, which I really should have finished two weeks ago. Never mind ...

Orkney Viking Week and Ballater Bike Festival

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!