Random Jottings

Coming up - Books on my list

I am currently taking a look at upcoming publications and have seen some titles that have sparked my interest. As you know, prior to and after my operation, my reading spark seemed to have taken a nap and it is only just now coming back to life. So here are some authors and titles that have been ordered, bought or just thinking about.

Richard Armitage - Geneva.  I know nothing about this book but it has had good reviews and a good “buzz” in the book world.  Of course a lot of this has to do with the fact that Richard Armitage is a well known actor, appearing in the film of The Hobbit, the BBC series Spooks and others.  My introduction to him was the BBC dramatisation of Mrs Gaskell’s North and South in which he played a dark and brooding mill owner, John Thornton.  Oh be still my beating heart.  The final scene in that particular adaptation has reduced many of us to a quivering wreck.

Note: my copy has arrived. It is written in the present tense.............

I mistrust “slebs” who write books as I often wonder if they actually wrote them and also feel they have a distinct advantation when it comes to publicity, but I suppose if you have got it then use it. (I note Shirley Ballas the Head Judge on Strictly Come Dancing has just had a thriller published. She admits she did not write it but had “the idea”)……

Val McDermid - Karen Pirie Past Lying.   I have read all of Val’s books and have enjoyed them all but the Karen Pirie series are my favourite.  There was a tv adaptation of the first book shown last year which was very well done and dramatic though there were a few changes, in my view unnecessary, in order to tick a few diversity boxes.  However, they did not alter the thrust and pace of the story and I found it gripping. I gather a second book is being filmed as it was such a success so I will be keeping an eye out for that.

Note: I see it has Now a Major TV Series on the cover.  Why is it never a Minor TV series?

Rick Stein - Simple Suppers.  I do not buy Celebrity Chef cook books as most of them contain recipes out of reach of most of us from the point of view of time and ingredients. However, I have read excerpts from Simple Suppers and as far as I can see they appear straightforward and easy to do so I have ordered a copy and see how I get on.  I gather Mr Stein has had health problems which has made him evaluate his cooking and this book is the result. I have noticed this in several Sleb books that such a scare has made them re-evaluate their thoughts on food.   Makes you wonder why they did not do this in the first place. Ah, well.

Jane Marguerite Tippett - Once a King.  When researching another matter this author stumbled upon private notes and memorandum written by the Duke of Windsor during the ghost written memoirs The Heart has its Reasons.  The book was very sanitised and of its time, unlike recent Royal publications.  Charles Murphy, the ghost writer, was not overly enamoured of either the Duke or the Duchess and there were many arguments and delays, many of them due to the laziness of the Duke to actually do any work.   Now, it seems these unpublished papers have been found.  It is sub titled the Lost Memoir when, as far as I can see, it is his notes. According to an article I read about this just a few days ago the author feels that this will show that the Duke was a really hard working royal with modern ideas to update the monarchy and was a man ahead of his time.

The article also said that the publication of these papers would be a best seller and cause a sensation and propel Ms Tippett to the forefront of historical biographers.  I have ordered a copy as I have the dubious distinction of having read every book on the Abdication that I could lay my hands on.  It will take a great deal to make me change my mind about the character of the former Edward VIII.   When asked about the Duke's sympathetic leanings towards Hitler and the Nazis the response from the author was that he was 'unwise'.

We shall see.

Hunting the Falcon: Henry VIII, Anne Boleyn and the Marriage that shook Europe - John Guy and Julia Fox

I wonder why this eternal fascination with Henry VIII and his wives? OK having a lot might have something to do with it but each Queen was so different and though one would like to think that love had something to do with it (in the case of Boleyn certainly), there were political reasons also in play.   I have not read any Tudor history for a while and this recently published title has garnered good reviews.   I have it on my list.

Michael Connelly - Resurrection Walk.   I love the Connelly books and have read the lot. The  Harry Bosch books are well worth reading and if you have not yet done so, you have a treat in store. Set in Los Angeles the books chart the career of Bosch so do read them in order.  He also has a series of books about The Lincoln Lawyer, Mick Haller, which I also enjoy mainly for the cut and thrust of the court room scenes. I have read all of those too and this new title is due in November. I have pre-ordered.

Note: there is a movie The Lincoln Lawyer which is excellent and Netflix have recently produced two series based on the books.  Both the movie and the series use a mixture of the stories but they are done very well indeed.

I hope some of these might interest you as well.  Looking forward to exploring some of these and it is good to have my reading mojo back.

The Man in the Brown Suit - Agatha Christie

Some of my favourite Christies are her stand alone novels, no Poirot or Miss Marple or the annoying Tommy and Tuppence, many of which are relatively unknown.

I love The Man in the Brown Suit. This was published in 1922 and features an intrepid young heroine, Anne Beddingfield, an orphan in search of adventure one of whose favourite pasttimes was watching the Perils of Pauline.  There is a Master Criminal, known as 'The Colonel' a beautiful Russian actress determined to bring him down, stolen diamonds, a victim under a Tube train and a dead body of a glamorous woman found in the country house of Sir Eustace Pedlar.  

I do love these various covers....

The hunt is up for the Man in the Brown Suit seen at the murder scene and also near the area of the Tube where that death occurred. A piece of paper is found by Anne which the police missed finding (naturally) at the murder scene with a mysterious date on it and the name Kilmorden Castle.   This turns out to be a cruise ship leaving in a few days and with gay abandon Anne decides to blue her entire inheritence on a ticket.

In the middle of the night a handsome man bursts into her cabin, he has been shot and, as all good heroines do, instead of screaming for help she hides him and promptly falls in love with him.

"For the first time I took in the details of his appearance. The close cropped dark head, the lean jaw, the scar on his brown cheek, the curious light grey eyes that looked into mine with a sense of reckless mockery hard to describe. There was something dangerous about him"

So we have a real mix here of dashing hero and plucky heroine, a sinister criminal mastermind and somebody determined to kill off our hero, the Man in the Brown Suit, because as we all know he did not do the murders and is destined to marry Anne and live happily ever after.

One of my favouite characters in this book is Sir Eustace Pedler, on his way to South Africa to view conditions there and report back to the government. He is large and lazy and tries to avoid work as much as possible and he supplies a great deal of humour in the narrative.

"The only costume that fitted me for the fancy dress dinner was that of a Teddy Bear.I don't mind playing bears with some nice young girls on a winter;s evening in England, but it is hardly an ideal costume for the Equator. However, I created a great deal of merriment.....dancing was a hot affair. I danced twice with Anne Beddingfiled and she had to pretend she liked it. I danced once with Mrs Blair who didn't trouble to pretend and I victimised various other damsels whose appearance struck me favourably"

This is a John Buchanesque ripping yarn and tremendous fun from start to finish. I love these early books of Christie and if you are not familiar with this title please do seek it out.

I can also recommend They Came to Baghdad which I am currently reading and Destination Unknown all of which have Somebody seeking World Domination. Tremendous fun and I always get the feeling when reading these that Dame Agatha had enormous fun writing them.

The Body at Rookery Barn - Kate Hardy

Kate Hardy writes for Mills & Boon and a few years ago she, along with other guests, came to the Felixstowe Book Festival and we had a delightful session discussing romance.  She has now turned her talents to what is called nowadays “cosy crime”.   I often wonder what makes up a cosy crime and I think it is a murder that takes place in a village, preferably delightful and enchanting where one would think nothing awful would happen. But as we know from Miss Marple in her village of St. Mary Mead there is wickedness everywhere.

I have to say straight away I simply loved The Body at Rookery Barn.  Kate was kind enough to send it to me when I was recovering from my hip operation, for which many thanks, and it was just what I needed and cheered me up no end.

Georgina, our heroine, is a fairly recent widow and has moved to Little Wenborough in the country to make a new beginning and new friends.   She has a barn near her house which she rents out as a holiday cottage and one morning she goes over to clean out after her latest tenant has left.

She is just about to open the door when she hears a voice ‘I really wouldn’t go in there if I were you’,  Georgina could not see who it was, there was nobody there and the courtyard by the barn is empty. ‘I mean it, don’t go in. Call the police and the ambulance’

Puzzled by this seemingly disembodied voice Georgina comes to the conclusion that it must be her new hearing aids and she is picking up a local station so ignoring it she enters the barn to clear up and finds the body of Roland Garnett, a Classics lecturer who had been staying there for the last three weeks working on his book.

‘I did tell you not to open the door’ the voice said again.   By now Georgina feared she was being watched and when the voice told her to call 999 she got annoyed and asked that this mysterious person show themselves. After calling the police she is then told to put the kettle on and make some tea as she has had a shock.

The case is handled by Inspector Colin Bradshaw who had transferred from London to Norfolk for the usual reasons that seem to dog fictional detectives, divorce, drinking etc and he was determined to do everything by the book.  

Roland Garnett had not been the most likeable of individuals being demanding and full of endless complaints.  Wifi was slow, mobile phone signal spotty, no takeaway deliveries and the oven did not work. When a friend of Georgina, who was a cook and delivered food for him refused to return on further occasions it became clear he was a bit of a pest around women.   At first Bradshaw is suspicious of Georgina as he discovers that Professor Garnett was poisoned, with a dinner delivered by Georgina herself. But as the investigation continues and more is learnt about the lecturer the circle of suspects widens.

Now I am going to stop here because if I write further I am going to give away a lot of details and a surprise which I do not want to do.

Main question is – who is the owner of the voice talking to Georgina that only she can here and how is she connected to the house where she lives?   I found this part of the book delightful and witty and also rather touching.

As I said earlier, I found this book utterly delightful.   Witty, amusing, full of interesting characters who live in the village and then we have Colin who sounds rather attractive and it is clear there is a spark between him and Georgina...

If you want to found out who dun it and who is the owner of the voice, then please do get hold of a copy of this book.   I understand it is the start of a series and I cannot wait for the next one.