Books for August

It's been a busy month again and now we're into Crazy September, my annual galloping panic. But here are last month's reads - some really good ones here! Amazon are not helping, though: I used to arrange my Kindle into collections like 'Currently reading' and 'For review', but now this apparently doesn't work any more, so if I miss something for review I must apologise.

Elizabeth Bailey, The Gilded Shroud: The first in the Lady Fan series of Georgian crime novels. I had not read these before as for some reason I had thought they were set in Japan! Not that I have anything against books set in Japan (I’ve read a few) but they hadn’t particularly drawn my attention till I ‘met’ the author in a Facebook group. So here I am, belatedly. And while I’m on timing, I’m really glad I didn’t read these when I was starting out, or I might have lost heart altogether. This was a very well-written, well-drawn book. If I had any criticism to make it was that the description of the various entrances to the house where the murder took place lost me completely, but I loved Ottilia and the Dowager, and the cleverly-depicted period.

Valerie Keogh, No Past Forgiven: This starts with lots of little cases and some hope for Mike and Edel. It feels bitty until they head off to Clare Island and get involved in a local case. There has to be some suspension of disbelief at the way Edel is constantly allowed to attend crime scenes and interviews, but once past that it’s a good, interesting plot, with an ending that spins us on to the next book.

Shani Struthers, Rise to Me: I had forgotten how much I had enjoyed the first one in this series, set in East Sussex where I lived for a while, and I was a bit cross with myself for leaving it so long before going back for the second one. Nevertheless it was an easy catch-up, and a good, exciting plot all rounded off nicely at the end.

Peter Boland, The Beach HutMurders: Despite my mild misgivings about the first in the series (or rather, the author’s comments about it), I thoroughly enjoyed the second outing for the charity shop detectives. Each plays nicely to their own strengths and they pick up some useful friends along the way in this atmospheric cosy. I thought I had guessed the means of murder, but I was still not quite right, and certainly didn’t spot the killer!

Rhys Dylan, Suffer the Dead: If nothing else, I’m seriously impressed by the MC’s ability to converse on his mobile while opening one of those little tubs of UHT milk in hotel bedrooms. One handed? Wow! But it’s another entertaining, scary and tragic episode in the lives of the team, transported to North Wales for this particular book. The portrayal of rural life and the threat of rural crime was well done.

J.D. Kirk: In Service of Death: As always, we have pathos, bathos, humour and violence in an adroit mix here, and Hoon, too. Hang on to your hats – it’s the usual terrific ride. Only misgiving is the use of the Commando memorial on the cover - it didn't feel quite right to me.

Catriona Keith, The Devil and Daniel Singer: I don’t like books written in the present tense, though at least this is first person narrative which makes it slightly more credible. The presentation, too, is not wholly conventional, and there are many things about it I did not like or found awkward. I was wary about a particular sect being picked out in the book description and thought the author might be getting herself into trouble, and apart from the setting there was little in the description that appealed to me about the book. So there – this book was not setting out to attract me. Yet I was caught at once by the quality of some of the writing and the two main characters, who are distinct and in one case well-drawn. This still needs editing, but it is an unexpectedly interesting read. Expensive for a first e-book from an unknown author, though: £5.99.

Alex Walters, Old Evils: The fourth Annie Delamere book. This is an author whose books I’ll buy as soon as I see there’s a new one, and I had the good fortune to attend a workshop he ran at Cromarty last year. Here’s a plot that unfolds leaf by leaf, all the leaves neatly joined, with strong, interesting characters and enough over-arching plot to sustain interest book by book. Looking forward to the next one.

Anna Penrose, Dead Winter Bones: I’ve been looking forward to this and it did not disappoint. Mal is a terrific main character, and what a good plot! Apparently the third is on its way, which is great news.

Also this month I'm going to make mention of a new online magazine, Writers' Narrative, a packed production full of interest for writers in any genre. Regular features such as best libraries, writing groups, independent bookshops and so on are mixed in with interviews and articles - the second edition focussed particularly on marketing, always a tough subject with authors! At present it's a free publication - maybe time to sign up! writersnarrative@gmail.com.

And what am I doing? Apart from trying to stay on the horse's back as I gallop through September, I'm still writing the first in the Robert Wilson series, now called The Business in Blandyce - there's a cover and everything! And I'm over 3/5 through the first draft. Coming up is a visit to Orkney with a talk at the Orkney Viking Festival, and with a view to writing (yes, I know, it's been a while) No. 5 in the Orkneyinga Vikings series!!! Don't hold your breath - there's only the ghost of a plot so far, but the hope and intention are there. Fingers crossed!

Reading for June and July

 Two months' worth again - I lost track of the dates and decided just to plough on!

Marsali Taylor, Death from a Shetland Cliff: I love this series, so it was great to be back with Cass who pretends, for various reasons, to be a maid to an elderly woman. When the relatives gather around the woman and one of them dies, it’s hard to know if someone’s after the inheritance or hiding a family secret. A good traditional puzzle here, and a satisfying conclusion.

Valerie Keogh, No Obvious Cause: It’s been a while since I read the first in this series, though I enjoyed it. It was good to reacquaint myself with Garda Sergeant West, a pleasant man, and his sidekick Pete Andrews. This was an interesting little plot involving Guyanese vegetables. I’ve bought the set of six, and am looking forward to the rest.

David Hewson, The Medici Murders: I was recommended this for its portrayal of an archivist – hm, a rather odd, pretentious archivist, more interested in archival theory than the practicalities of the job. However, the setting is attractive – Venice, with a plot involving papers relating to a murder amongst the Medici. The portrayal of a popular television ‘historian’ is quite amusing, if rather bitter (which fits the characters). All the characters are two-dimensional, though. The idea that the Italian for ‘history’ is the same as the Italian for ‘story’ holds true for several languages and is not unique to Venice. I was not convinced that the police, in a hurry to solve a murder, would call in this pedantic (ironic, since I’m being pedantic enough myself) little man to help out. His knowledge of Venice, after only three months there, seems ambitious, and he is a very specific kind of archivist, I should say. Still, it was an interesting read – not sure I’ll be rushing to read another one.

Jodi Taylor, No Time Like the Past: In the usual slightly episodic style this rackets along, drawing all the episodes together in an exciting climax, with some very important progress in the whole overarching plot of the series. Best read in order – or just best read.

Phil Rickman, The Magus of Hay: it’s a while since I read one of these, and though I really enjoy them I remember the last one dragging a bit – perhaps because I wasn’t so much in the mood at the time. This one I took to almost straightaway, with its Hay-on-Wye book town setting. Very interesting background and a good plot, so I’m back on track!

David W. Robinson, The Filey Connection: The lead character in this, Joe, is a bad-tempered café owner with a track record of solving minor local crimes. When an acquaintance, known as ‘Knickers Off’, is killed in apparent hit-and-run, he is quick to step in and interpret it as murder, even though he’s busy organising the local Third Age weekend by the sea. I didn’t much like Joe – he’s unnecessarily rude – but his sidekicks are good. Lots of twists and turns, and one or two difficult to follow steps, but on the whole a satisfying read.

T.A. Belshaw, Murder at the Mill: Set in early 1939 in a snowy town in Kent, the plot revolves around the murder, at a clothing factory, of Wandering Handsley, the slimy son of the owner. Amy, one of the machinists, soon hooks up with Bodkin, the police detective, to investigate. This is a rather chirpy, cheery book, with some nice period detail but a few errors, calling Bodkin ‘Detective’, for example, anachronistic speech and lots of wandering punctuation. You have to suspend disbelief a bit to allow young Amy quite such free rein in the investigation, and there are more divorced couples than I would have expected in the 1930s working class, but it’s entertaining stuff.

Andrew James Greig, A Song of Winter: Quite a scary setting in a climate crisis way – Finlay and Jess with their children and dog have to go into hiding as Finlay is involved in discovering a major climate event about to hit Scotland. Government conspiracies to conceal the crisis to avoid greater catastrophe provides another plot line. I’d expected better of the grammar, for some reason – I’m sure the editing in general was better in the previous book I’d read by him – but the plot is certainly gripping.

Mary W. Clark, A TangledWeb: This is a biography of Mata Hari, Dutchwoman and self-styled exotic dancer and courtesan, who in 1917 was accused of spying for Germany, condemned and shot by the French. It’s immensely detailed and interesting, with a lengthy epilogue debating the possible truths of the case. Mata Hari does not come across as very intelligent and certainly ends as a pathetic figure, and the selection of photographs included emphasises that.

Rachel Abbot, No More Lies: The lovely Tom is back, solving a case that has its origins in a group of friends and their last night together before heading off to university and other points. This one I did solve, but that doesn't detract from the quality of this series - excellent suspense.

David Gatward, Blood Sport: did I review this before? This had me on tenterhooks because of the potential animal cruelty involved, but it's a good strong plot that I almost solved but not quite! These really need to be read in order for best impact.

David Gatward, Cold Sanctuary: A grim start to this, not necessarily because of the manner of the death but because of the relationship between parents and grown-up son. I was relieved when the usual team appeared, and while there were some real upsets along the way it was another terrific read.

And another Gatward, One BadTurn: This one gets extra points for referring to Local Hero, one of my favourite films, as well as a good portrayal of PTSD for one of the team. 

And where am I? Well, I'm nearly a quarter of the way through the first book in the new series  - no proper title yet, and going slowly as there's lots of research to be done along the way.

A Day for Death and newsletter

 A Day for Death, Hippolyta VII, is out today!

So, too, is the Ballater Bugle, so if you were expecting a copy and it hasn't arrived, let us know. It's coming from a gmail address as there are still some issues with the normal address, but incoming emails seem to be fine!

May's reading

 Late again! It's almost traditional. But here's what I read in May:

Lynda Wilcox: A Traitor at Tower Bridge: A painter (of Tower Bridge, not a landscape artist) turns up dead, and Lady Eleanor is obliged to go south of the river to investigate amongst a class of whom she knows little. A very good yarn, with interesting characters and a strong sense of the period.

Cecilia Peartree, Rights and Wrongs: The next Max Falconer book, dealing with animal rights and Max's obscure museum. As usual the secondary characters are fascinating and amusing, just as much as the main ones, making for an entertaining read and a growing feeling of coming home to a new book.

Wendy Percival, Blood-Tied: This is the first in the Esme Quentin series, a genealogical mystery series. I had previously, some time ago, read a short story in the series and had always meant to come back to it: Esme is a gentle but determined character with a mysterious past and a scarred face, and the mystery here involves her own family, a sister that turns out not quite to be a sister and a connexion with the local landed gentry that is not all it seems.

Violet Moller, The Map of Knowledge: This readable account of the transmission of classical learning, mathematics, medicine and astronomy, in the ancient world is scholarly and informative. It conjures up vivid pictures of, in turn, Alexandria, Baghdad, Cordoba, Toledo, Salerno, Palermo, and Venice, their origins and how they came to play a part in the history of knowledge. There is a touch of the formula about each chapter: she begins with a specific incident, a human touch, in each place, that demonstrates the status of the city, then goes on to explain its history, its rise to greatness, its relationship with previous cities, and what happened afterwards, but the accounts of both places and people are fascinating. I perhaps don’t altogether sympathise with her enthusiasm over Lucretius’ De Rerum Natura, however. About a third of the book is actually bibliography and footnotes, so don’t go expecting extra cities after 1500!

Ross Greenwood, Death on Cromer Beach: A shocking start and an unusual leading detective, Ashley, who may have the almost standard troubled background but is somehow very real. There’s a good deal of talking but the pace is good and the plot interesting, the results, it appears, of a beach tragedy years before where a teenager died. A very satisfactory start to a new series.

Ed James, The Turning of our Bones: The start of a new series here, as a London police detective returns home to the Scottish Borders to pursue a serial killer. This did not have the instant appeal of the Scott Cullen series for me, but I preferred it to the one book I’ve read of James’ London series: like the Barnett book below, it took a while to grow on me, and in the end I might well read another.

Andrew Barnett, Death Warning: A while since I read one of these, and it took me a good bit to get into it again. Eddie is a fully-paid-up member of the awkward squad, and there seemed to be a plethora of unlikeable characters throughout the book. Slowly it worked its charm on me and as always I did enjoy it.

David Gatward, Restless Dead: A terrible car accident and some sheep rustling closer to home involve the team in an investigation where it seems even the supernatural might be to blame. An intriguing plot, which edges over into the next book. This really is a very enjoyable series. I carried on to Death's Requiem and am now in the middle of the next one - the team here is very appealing, even when the crime is nasty.

Rhys Dylan, Ice Cold Malice and Caution Death at Work: Another series that is picking me up and carrying me off, this time set in Wales, but as with David Gatward the team is the draw here, a cast of characters with whom one wants to spend time. Well plotted, too!

Elly Griffiths, The Last Remains: Maybe I'm alone in not feeling I needed a resolution to the Ruth/Nelson relationship (I've never been that keen on Nelson, though I like Ruth tremendously). But this was as satisfying as the other books in the series and the author has hinted that there might eventually be a return! In the meantime, she has the Harbinder Kaur series to enjoy (and the 1950s one, too, though it's less my thing). 

Moray Dalton, Death in the Dark: This was a surprisingly charming little mystery starring a circus performer who, for the purposes of investigation, goes to stay in a private zoo. It's a bit oddly paced, and the guilty party is fairly obvious, but I liked the feel of the book and enjoyed it.

And what else? Hippolyta VII, A Day for Death, is available for preorder now (printed version almost ready), and I'm in the midst of research for another book, set in (probably) 1816 ...

Hippolyta VII - A Day for Death

 I know, I know, I should be blogging about what I read in May! Later.

But today A Day for Death is available for preorder! Paperback to follow shortly.

Lady Northland is setting up a charitable clothing society, but charity is far from the thoughts of some of her neighbours. By the time someone dies, it’s hard to tell who the murderer is or whom they might have intended to kill – but when another body is found Hippolyta Napier cannot resist trying to help, and in the process try to solve her own problems.

A Day for Death

April's books - a lighter month

 Not sure why I haven't read quite so many books in April, but here they are: 

V.E.H. Masters, The Castilians: I read The Conversos, second in the series, first, so to an extent I knew the plot of this one. It’s extremely well-written, told from the point of view mostly of Bethia, daughter of a merchant in St. Andrews in anxious political times, sixteenth century Scotland. Her brother Will has been instrumental in the assassination of Cardinal Beaton at the Castle. The historical detail is handled very adeptly as in The Conversos, and the action is varied and well-paced. The covers are really lovely!

Lynda Wilcox, A Burglary in Belgravia: I haven’t read one of these for a while but settled in with great pleasure to refamiliarise myself with Lady Eleanor Bakewell and her intelligent maid. Jewels have been stolen in Belgravia, and then a rich man is shot in the theatre, and we’re off on another well-envisaged adventure in 1920s London. The tone is light but the setting is very realistic, with touches of humour – most enjoyable.

John Holland, The Light at the Bottom of the Garden: This is a strange little novella, written in a slightly naive style, part police investigation, part romance, part paranormal mystery set in rural Australia.

Ambrose Parry, A Corruption of Blood: This is a good series, though often the writers stray into anachronistic language. This particular book gathers in a number of real life events and people with some considerable skill, and Victorian Edinburgh is quite well portrayed. Delighted to see a reference to the sadly messed-up Jessie King, putative baby-farmer and actually pathetic creature, about whom I wrote an article some time ago (and even appeared on Women’s Hour!).

A.S. Byatt, Possession: My first book by this author. I picked this one up because I needed a ‘romance’ for a book challenge, and this caught my eye as potentially intelligent and mysterious. The work involved in this is impressive – Byatt has invented a whole poet and his circle, along with some of their work, for a modern group of academics to investigate and research. The characters are wonderfully and sometimes awfully drawn (one of the main characters has a radically self-destructive girlfriend who seems doomed from the start, and another is a painful Victorian poetess), and the locations are equally richly described, from the damp basement flat to the mostly disused manor house in winter. The plot is intriguing, too. There is, however, a whole exchange of awful letters between two Victorian poets that could be cut to ribbons, as far as I’m concerned – I’m obviously a lost soul in this. They were so dreadful that in the end I couldn’t stand it any more and did what I rarely (almost never) do in a book, and skipped past them. Skilfully written pastiche, but oh, so dreadful and so apparently pointless! There were also a few points where, let’s say, I would have edited differently. I’ve recently watched Three Thousand Years of Longing, also apparently based on an A.S. Byatt short story, and I think perhaps that she and I are not on the same wavelength. However, if she has brought revenge on the hideous, mad, Cropper by the end of the book I shall be content.

  

David Gatward, Shooting Season: Lovely instalment in this series set in the Yorkshire Dales - a good juicy plot and more team development, and a love for the local landscape shining through.

Angela Thirkell, Northbridge Rectory: Another gentle and sometimes rather biting read set during the Second World War in Barsetshire. I wouldn't want too many of these in a row but they're great to turn to when you're in the mood for a little sarcastic pleasure.

So there we are. And where am I? I am sitting with my back to the printed-out draft of Hippolyta Seven, dreading looking at it. But it needs to be edited. Definitely. Maybe tomorrow.