Random Jottings

Brit tec - home grown crime

I am getting really tired of January and the cold weather. Winter seems to have gone on for a long time this year.  I have been in Cambridge this week for a couple of days and the driving there was hampered by road works and the return journey not much fun as ice on the roads. So I have been hunkering down and reading a lot of crime, as per.

The Brutal Tide - Kate Rhodes.   This is the latest in the Ben Kitto series set on the Scilly Isles.  I really enjoy Kate's writing and loved her Alice Quintin books (if you have not read them may I recommend you do) and I keep pestering her for more despite the fact she is now writing a new series. Hope springs eternal.

A gangland mobster Craig Travis is dying in hospital and he is determined that he will get even with those who helped put him away. His daughter, who he adores and who sees no wrong in him, sets out to seek revenge on his behalf and a killing spree begins. Ben Kitto is on her list but she has to seek out a way to get to him.

At the same time Ben has discovered a skeleton which is unearthed during construction works and it links back to events some twenty years earlier.

The two stores run parrallel to each other and while one was predictible, (I won't say anything) the danger Ben is in keeps us on our toes and is very exciting. Really enjoyed it.

Showstopper - Peter Lovesey. The latest Peter Diamond detective story and I really love this series. I felt this was a slow burner and not as immediate as some of his other titles, and at the start when retirement was mentioned, I panicked. No this series cannot end but by the last page I felt reassured....

There appears to be be a jinx on a popular television series and while these are dismissed as just bad luck with the tabloids building it up, the mysterious disappearance of a member of fthe crew some years earlier has never been solved.

If you have not read any of the Diamond series then, once again, I can recomment that you do. Immensely readable and fun, with a dash of tragedy thrown in, I loved them all. 

Tana Collins - the Inspector Jim Carruthers series.   I received an offer from Amazon to read these, five of them in total, for the astounding sum of 99p on Kindle. Mad. But I bought them thinking if I did not like them then I was hardly out of pocket.

Well, I DID like them and spent a happy week reading all of them, Robbing the Dead, Care to Die, Mark of the Devil, Dark is the Day and Deep Water.   Inspector Carruthers is divorced from his wife (is there any other kind of DI in crime fiction) who is living in Scotland as he moved up there in an attempt to save his marriage. It did not work but Jim finds he loves living in a coastal town in Scotland.  He crosses swords with his boss (again this seems the norm in most crime stories. Peter Diamond has the same problem).   I am sure somewhere in the UK there is a DC Super who does not worry about budgets all the time. At least I hope so.

If I say to you that the writing is nice and tidy and clean you might get the impression that I am damning with faint praise, but I am not.  Flowery and over decorated prose is not for me. I like my stories and narrative lean and mean and Tana Collins fulfills this in spades as far as I am concerned.   Another recommendation and I do hope there are more.

I have also discovered another series, again courtesy of a 99p offer from Amazon. This is a cunning ploy because they lure you in and hope you will then go and buy the rest. I fall for it every time. This series features a female DI, Zoe Finch and the author is Rachel McLean. Just embarking on the second one and, yes, have bought more and will keep me going for a bit. Will let you know how I get on.

Two other things to mention.  A year or so ago, Dean Street Press, reprinted a series of detective stories by Moray Dalton of whom I had never heard. But as this publishing house seems to produce an endless list of books all of which I want, I got hold of them, read them and loved them.  Please do check them out and I am delighted to hear that in March this year more are arriving.

British Library Crime Classics continue to come up with the goods as well. Not all of them are to my taste but most of them are. After reading one of their reprints by Freeman Wills Croft I then went on to hunt down all his titles. It turned out to be quite expensive....

So two arrived this week, Death of Mr Dodsley by John Ferguson which is classified as a London Bibliomystery, A murder in a bookshop. Perfect.

Death of an Author - E C R Lorac. This title has been out of print since 1935 so kudos to the BritLib for giving us the chance of reading and enjoying. E C R Lorac is about my favourite of all the newly rediscovered authors they have published and I am going to save this up for a bit and just enjoy the anticipation.

And I have to mention yet again, Jane Casey and her wonderful detective stories featuring Maeve and Josh.  I have just reread them all and now that I know the characters well found that going right back to the beginning was a real treat.   They are simply brilliant.

Jane has also written stand alone title, The Killing Kind which is equally gripping and, I gather it is going to be made into a tv series.  Cannot wait.

OK well loads of recommends for you. Do let me know if you read or have read any of them, and let me know what you think.

 

From my Shelves 1 - Miss Hargreaves by Frank Baker

My project for 2023 is getting under way. I am selecting a book from my shelves that has been there for some time and dusting it off and writing about it.   I thought I might do one a month, but I already have a selection of ten so I may up the ante a bit.

First up is Miss Hargreaves by Frank Baker.  This title was recommended to me by Simon Thomas whose blog is http://www.stuckinabook.com.  I have known Simon for years ever since we were members at one time of an online book discussion group, and though I am old enough to be his mother (actually grandmother as well which is a tad dispiriting), we are of like minds when it comes to literature and whenever Simon loves a book, then I know I will too. He currently edits the British Library Series of Women Writers which is well worth checking out. 

Miss Hargreaves is created by Norman and his friend Henry, when they are looking at an exceedingly ghastly church in Ireland in the pouring rain and decide to cheer themselves up a bit and have a laugh at the expense of the Ancient of Days showing them around,  and they invent her on the spur of the moment.

".... and what is your friend's name?'

'Miss Hargreaves'

It seemed to me there was a sort of stirring of air in the church, like - like what?  Rather like someone opening a very old umbrella.  I looked round sharply, but couldn't see anything unusual. A ray of feeble sun had broken through the dark clouds and was shining down on the dust in the galleries.

I realised I was trembling"

When he and Henry then send an letter to Miss Hargreaves at an imaginary address and invite her to visit any time she is free, that is an end of what they both regard as a good joke.  But then Miss Hargreaves writes accepting their invitation and to their utter horror, turns up complete with cockatoo and hip bath, little extras they had added to their description in order to add a little verisimilitude.

Then the fun starts.  Norman is horrified, scared and angry in turn as Miss Hargreaves proceeds to take over his life, his friends and his family.  His father,  a man of deep understanding of his son's flights of imagination as he is very similar himself, is the only person who believes in how Miss Hargreaves came to be, but he too begins to fall under her spell, and it is at this stage of the book that Miss Hargreaves who, up to now has been endearingly eccentric, begins to assume a slightly menacing aspect. 

Norman knows he has to rid himself of her by destroying his creation and to prevent her total power over him, but he has come to love her and he is in turmoil at what he knows he has to do.  In the end, he and Henry travel back to the church in Lusk, whence she was created, in order to bring the situation to an end.

"Immediately, where there had been that old lady there was now only a greenish darkness, broken faintly by a dusty light from some great windows.  Her voice died away, far away, echoing deep and long into space, vibrant at first then then thinner.....I opened my eyes.  The wind that had been roaring round the roof, suddenly stopped.  Henry and I lowered our heads as if by mutual understanding. We both knew that she had gone from us"

Frank Baker is a writer I know nothing about, except what I have read in the introduction to Miss Hargreave but here is a link to the Wikipedia page with more information. Miss Hargreaves was his most successful novel and was adapted for the stage in 1952 with Dame Margaret Rutherford in the leading role.  Talk about perfect casting!  Just wish there was a film somewhere of that particular performance. 

I have an out of print copy published by Tarturus Press which I bought some years ago. The front cover uses what appears to be a photogaph of the aforementioned Margaret Rutherford. Bloomsbury reprinted it and it is available on Kindle and in paperback. I have also checked Abe Books and they have several affordable copies.

Miss Hargreaves is a fascinating story.  It is hilarious and witty, sharply written and with great style, but Frank Baker is also wonderful at creating atmosphere and suddenly a paragraph of sheer beauty will catch your eye and make you realise that he is more than just a writer of fun and froth (not that I would describe Miss H in this way, rest assured).  Just look at this:

"The times when I really loved the Cathedral were weekdays when you could look right down the great nave, seeing perhaps only one tripper creeping from pillar to pillar with a guidebook, a vigilant verger stalking him and ready to net him if he so much as sneezed.

In winter you'd see nothing at all except the light from one gas-globe plunged smokily into the remote and vast darkness of the nave roof.  Then you really felt that Evensong and the Cathedral meant something.  Heralded by old Dyack and his pitch-pipe, Tallis in the Dorian Mode would float down the aisles; a motet by William Byrd weaves its intricate pattern upon the dark silence. At such times I believe we all felt a relationship to the great roof that soared away above us and to the wonderful old monks and people who'd built it all, and wrote that glorious music, centuries ago"

See what I mean?

If this has caught your attention then do try and get hold of a copy and if any of you have already read it I would love to hear your thoughts.

2023 The Year Ahead

I have decided it was time to get a grip once more when it comes to blogging. I think it is easy to blame Covid and lockdown for a lot but I honestly feel that over the last two to three years many of us have felt tired and dispirited. I know I have and it has been a bit of a struggle to stay positive and to post here on Random Jottings. I did think of giving it up as it was all an effort and I was not enjoying it any more, but it has become a part of my life and I would miss it so on I go.

I have been doing this for seventeen years now which I find hard to believe and Random has gone through many stages.  Started quietly and blogs were new and rather looked down upon by writers and publishers. I remember reading a hugely scornful article about bloggers in the Guardian the writer of whom seemed to take umbrage at the idea that the plebs might have something to say about books. Of course, this changed and now book bloggers are valued.

I used to get masses of books dropping through my letter box for reading and review, some of which were, quite frankly, pretty dire but there were plenty of gems and discoveries to be had.  These days more up to date reviewers and readers have taken over and I do not get as many as I used to which I am happy about. It was sometimes a worry. Now I just write about books I enjoy whether they be recent or or not and that is the way to go.   

In 2022 I was absent for a while as my daughter was over from Australia for the summer. We had not seen her for three years and so I abandoned serious blogging to spend time with her. It was a wonderful time and the whole family reconnected in a beautiful way and we are all the better for it. I found myself doing more and getting out more and feeling stimulated and full of an enjoyment I had not felt for a long time and I liked it.

So my plan for 2023 is to do more.  I have joined a gym, some four months ago now, and swim at least twice a week and this has helped enormously with my arthritis and well being. I have decided to book concerts and events, if I go on my own so be it. I have a train pass for us Oldies to enable me to go to London when i feel like it. I have booked into a concert in March to hear my favourite opera singer, Bryn Terfel, doing a Wagner concert.  Also a concert with a conductor John Wilson, who over the past seven or eight years, has had a special orchestra playing music from Hollywood and the shows. So I have tickets for one of his next autumn.   And last week, after dithering and delaying I booked a holiday to go to Salzburg and Vienna.  So it is all systems go.

I have already mentioned that I intend to take down a book from my library shelves, be it old or new, and write about it and I have already compiled a list of several so that will be my theme for the year, as well as recent reads.

As always, I am delighted and pleased to have such loyal followers who have stuck with me through thick and think. Thank you everyone. It means a lot and I wish you all a Happy New Year.

Elaine

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