Random Jottings

The Outsider - Jane Casey

I have long been an admirer of the Maeve Kerrigan books by Jane Casey and have read them all, one by one, as they were published. While I thoroughly enjoyed the first three or four in the series, I think they gained impetus with the introduction of DI Josh Derwent who immediately created a chemistry with Maeve which made the books even better than they were.

On the surface Josh is the very epitome of a Male Chauvenistic Pig with his attitude and sneering but dig underneath and you will find there lurks a softer, caring person who covers up his feedlings with a tough exterior.  

This book, The Outsider, takes place in the time between The Cutting Place and The Close and tells the story of Rob, an ex-lover of Maeve who left her with no reason, leaving her bereft. He manages to let her know some time later that he has had to go undercover, but the hurt of his betrayal had cut deep.  The Outsider is his story.

Rob comes upon a car crash and rushe to help the victim, administering first aid and saving his life. It is then we discover that the person who he is following is a powerful criminal whose family he is trying to infiltrate and this accident gives him the perfect opportunity to do so.

Being undercover and watching every single move, every word said and every action taken, with the sure knowledge that he is being watched for signs that will make him distrusted, is nerve wracking and dangerous.  The family is dysfunctional, cruel and unfeeling and Rob has to witness an abused wife who he is unable to help and to also be careful not to respond to the overtures being made to him by the daughter of the house.

Without giving too much of the plot away, Rob ends up being interrogated in a police station by Maeve and Josh and has a chance to see her again.  They seem to reignite their relationship for one brief night but it is clear that Maeve no longer trusts or loves him and is still recovering from the trauma she endured in The Cutting Room.

As with all Jane Casey's books I have to sit down and devote an afternoon to reading straight through as they are gripping and exciting and so well written with a never flagging narrative drive.   This one plugs gaps in the story of Maeve and Josh and also gives an understanding of where Maeve is mentally in The Close.

If you have yet to read this series, and I strongly recommend that you do, I think it best if they are read in order as over time the relationship between Maeve and Josh grows and changes and, quite frankly, if they do not get together soon I am going to scream with frustration...

Another winner from Jane Casey. Simply terrifix

PS Please note this is an ebook only. The next Maeve/Josh book is out in March 2024.

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.

 

Current Books - Part two

OK here is a round up of my current reading having got through a shedload of slightly disappointing reads.

After the Romanovs - Helen Rappaport. I am a great fan of Helen's books, I have most of them on my shelves and as well as being impeccably researched, they are also immensely readable and she has the knack of making you want to keep turning the pages. Not all historians manage this. I can think of a few whose books have been a chore but never here.

This is the story of Russian Exiles in Paris between the Wars. I have just started it so cannot give a full review yet, but my goodness it is interesting.  As the blurb says "former princes could be found driving taxi cabs................talented intellectuals, artists, poets ....eked out a living at menial jobs while others found success"

A simply gorgeous cover as well which I always find adds to the pleasure of owning and reading and this book is top of my pile at the moment.

I have long been a fan of Jane Casey the creator of the Maeve Kerrigan series of crime novels and she has a new one out next year, The Close. I was lucky enough to be able to read it ahead of publication and thoroughly enjoyed it.   It is available for pre-order.

The first in this series, The Burning, was written in 2016 and so if you decide to try them you will have a lot to look forward to.   They can be read on their own but the relationship between Maeve and Josh Derwent, her colleague and boss, is fascinating and it is interesting to watch it grow.   I have now decided to re-read them all from the beginning as I freely admit that I have forgotten details so this week I read The Burning and was hooked in once more.   I know what I will be doing over the next few weeks.

As it is near Christmas time I have hauled out my copy of A Christmas Carol by Dickens and have it waiting as I always re-read it at this time of year. I never tire of it. I have about six editions and each year I read a different one. I have yet to choose for for 2022.    Also to hand is the Pickwick Papers. For years I put off reading this, I am not quite sure why, but it did not appeal. And then one day I decided to try it when a lovely new paperback edition was sent to me by Oxford University Press, and I simply loved it. There are the odd passages that I do find not as amusing as I would wish, but there are also moments of sheer laugh out loud fun and I did laugh.   We always think of Dickens at Christmas (well at least I do) and the chapter of Christmas at Dingley Dell is simply wonderful.

I am finding these days that I am reading less and less of what is called 'literary fiction' in some quarters, ie modern novels. This is not something that has crept up on me over the advancing years. I have always found current writing of little interest to me. Why I know not and yes, I will agree with any argument you may put forward that I am missing out, but I am really not bothered now.  I tried so many times to read the Booker list and other lauded books and, while I admired Attwood hugely, and some of A S Byatt and other luminaries, I found their oeuvre challenging and admirable, but I cannot say I have ever felt any desire to re-read any of them. So I have now come to terms with my lack of intellect and happily read books from Dean Street Press, Persephone, and similar publishing houses, and also gobble up as much crime as I can. The British Library Crime Classics series is wonderful as I have mentioned so many times and keep me going.

I have been having a sort out of books recently and have got rid of a shedload. Before you throw up your hands in horror I was very strict and asked myself honestly was I going to read this again and if the answer was no, then out it went. I have sold a lot and the local hospice shop which has a wonderful book section has benefited from several bags full. I still have several shelves to do and the interesting thing is finding stuff I had forgotten I owned and duplicates too and realise that I have plenty to keep me going.

In 2023 I have decided to take a book off my shelves, whether it be in print or not, and write about it. I shall make a resolution, early I know but never mind, to do this each month and I ask you all to keep me up to the mark.

So that is something planned for next year but I must not get ahead of myself....

2021 Reading - Part one

A bleak dreary day today and I am sitting here with a rug over my knees and a hotwater bottle at my back as I ache all over. I always do after a busy time. Christmas was stressful in that right up to the last few minutes of Christmas Eve I did not know whether I was going to see the family or not as they had had Covid and we were taking tests like mad. Finally all negative on the Day so slung everything in the car and off I went.

So now all quiet and a bit of music in the background and musing on my reading year. Not a vintage one as, along with many of you I suspect, life had got in the way and my resding has been of the light variety. Of course you may belong to those who have finally ready Proust, Tolstoy and Dostoevsky in lockdown and if you have please don't tell me as it will make me feel inferior...

Glancing at my list it is no surprise that detective stories form the main bulk of my reading. I re-read all of the Bill Slider books by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles and can really recommend them. The mysteries are excellent, the writing witty and funny and the characters are warm, clever and lovable. Best to read in order as there is a story line relating to Slider's private life which develops throughout the series.   I love them and looking forward to the next one in 2022.

Kate Rhodes - her Alice Quentin series are my favourites but she also has a new character, Ben Kitto, and these stories are set in the Scilly Isles.  Still hoping we will get another Alice novel but these are also immennsely readable and so well written.

 

I re-read all the Peter Diamond books by Peter Lovesey set in Bath and love them. The main character is lovable though difficult and grumpy and knowing Bath fairly well helps place them. There are over 20 of them so if you want a nice new series then try them. Again, best read in order.

Jane Casey - I have read and loved all her Maeve Kerrigan books and am madly in love with her male protagonist, Josh Derwent, who is all man and simply gorgeous with it and if the author does not get them together soon I shall burst.   A new book by this author this year and though not a Kerrigan book "sob" was excellent and exciting. The Killing Kind, a stand alone but oh so looking forward to the next Maeve. If you have not read this series you have a treat instore but do read them in order.

E C R Lorac - a Golden Age crime writer and a new discovery by the excellent British Library Classic Crime series all of which I manage to get my mitts on as the BritLib send them to me. A huge selection of authors, not all of whom I get on with, but most of them are well worth reading. Along with Lorac, who also writes as Carol Carnac, I am working my way through Freeman Wills Croft who I love for his detail and minutaie.

Loads of re-reads this year and one of the best was the series of books about the Carey family by Ronald Welch and published by Slightly Foxed. I have written about them before and simply love them.

I discoverd the Malmo mysteries by Torquil McLeod. Scandi-noir and enjoyable.

I have also been reading a huge amount of chick-lit though I really dislike that description. Romantic fiction would be better. A huge amount of snobbery surrounds this genre and I can never understand why. Yes some of them are a bit meh, but that is not confined to romance alone.  Milly Johnson, whose I wish it could be Christmas Every Day I reviewed recently, is lovely and yes sentimental at times, but also funny and witty. Jenny Colgan is my current binge read with a heap of them sitting on my To be Read shelf.  I tend to avoid titles such as The Little Beach Tree Bakery and the Christmas Bookshop but one of my regular visitors recommended her and so I tried one and have since been thoroughly enjoying them.

Not a huge amount of non fiction this year but will be writing about those I have enjoyed in the next post.

2020 Reading - Part 2

I have just realised the days are moving quickly and I will soon be in 2021 before I talk about my reading this year. So here goes with the second lot.

The Crown in Crisis; the Countdown to the Abdication by Alexander Larman.   This is one of the best, if not the best, of all the books I have read about the Abdication and believe me, I have read the lot.   I reviewed it here

Lady in Waiting - Anne Glenconner.   A brilliantly witty book. Lady Glenconner sounds a redoubtable personalilty, the kind of lady you would find running the WI, opening village Fetes, chivvying you along in the kindest way. I found myself warming to her.  A close friend of Princess Margaret who I always felt got a vicious press. I am sure she was not the easiest person around but the acts of kindness and the support she gave her friend Anne showed another side to her.  Lady Glenconner had two children die and one gravely injured in a car crash and she spent months by his side helping him recover.  She also seemed to be married to a total lunatic.  Great read.

Agatha Christie's Poirot - Mark Aldridge.   I have reviewed this here and it is a book that every Christie lover should have on their shelves.  Brilliant.

Double Lives - Helen McCarthy. Of course this is going to make my list because the author as well as producing a brilliant book, is my daughter. Four years hard slog and lockdown stymied everything.   It has garnered excellent reviews and I am so proud of her.

I have had a canter through my reading list and have to mention the following authors whose books I always read with great enjoyment:

Jane Casey - her Maeve Kerrigan books are excellent. Gripping police work and the relationship between Maeve and the gorgeously sexy Josh is tantalising. So looking forward to the next one.

Linda Castillo - her crime novels are set in Amish country and I have read them all.  I cannot help but feel that there is a similarity to Midsomer Murders in that there is an enormous amount of death and destruction in a small area. Anne Cleve stopped writing her books set in Shetland as she felt she could not bump off any more of the inhabitants....but the Castillo books are well worth a read.

Jane Thynne - her Clara Vine books are simply wonderful and I gather a new one is on the horizon but in the meantime may I urge you to read The Words I Never Wrote.   I raved about it earlier this year but it had only been published in the US.  Now it is due in the UK and worth every penny. Here is my review

Moray Dalton - a Golden Age detective writer and a new discovery for me. Published by Dean Street Press I can highly recommend them. I gather there are more in the offing.

E C R Lorac and Carol Carnac - yes they are the same person and the detective novels are published by British Library publishing in their Classic Crime series.   I have discovered many new unknown writers through this series and Lorac is one of my favourite of these - the other being Freeman Wills Croft.

Peter Lovesey - the Peter Diamond detective series set in Bath. I forgot to mention them in my first post. A re-read and simply terrific.

Elizabeth von Arnim - I am going to embark on a re-read in 2021 but would mention here that the British Library, yes those great peeps again, published Father, one of her relatively unfamiliar works this year and has more in the pipeline. Keep an eye out for them.

So I think that is that. I have read far less this year or rather I have not noted down all the titles I read, as I usually do, because I have read such casual stuff that half the time I have forgotten it as soon as it is closed.   My brain went walk about in 2020 and I am pretty sure that I am not alone in that.

I have a few interesting books lined up for the next few weeks. One, a biography of Cary Grant which was fascinating, is due to be published in 2021 so will leave reviewing until we have left this year behind.

I am not sure 2021 is shaping up to be any better at the moment, but thank heavens for books and reading. I simply cannot fathom how those who do not read survive, I really don't.

Looking forward to a good reading year and lots of lovely comments from you all which I really appreciate. Thank you.

Reading round up - a Crime week

I really do not know where the time goes. I make up my mind to post a bit more regularly and then find with Easter and the family and grandchildren a week has gone by again. My apologies so I am doing a catch up.

I cannot say I have read anything earth shattering over the last week.No Booker, nothing of huge literary standards but all very enjoyable.   My last post was on Michael Gilbert, two more classics from the British Library, which I really liked.  There are a lot more to track down and this is why I am enjoying this series as it gives me authors to read which I had hitherto ignored.

I do love a good crime story as you know by now and a few years back I read Unwanted by Kristina Ohlsson, another scandi mystery writer and enjoyed it very much.  Good tight plotting and characterisation. Then I did not read any more, I am at a loss to know why, I have a feeling I just forgot her name which sounds a bit careless of me. Anyway, I read The Disappeared and suddenly realised Oh this is the writer who I liked. This story features Detective Inspector Alex Recht and investigator Frederika Bergman - there are five so far with these two central characters - the body of a young woman is discovered and turns out to be that of a missing student who vanished five years ago. Further investigation unearths more bodies and it is clear that somebody has been using it as a burying ground for years.

I then did my usual when I find an author I liked and binge read and got hold of The Chosen. A pre-school teacher is shot dead in front of parents and children at the Jewish School in Stockholm. A few hours later two Jewish boys go missing on their way to tennis practice.  Not a straightforward case as it gradually becomes clear that the deaths of these children have their roots in an incident in Israel some years earlier.

Both of these titles are intricate, sometimes a bit too intricate you have to concentrate, but the writing is excellent and I found them unputdownable. I have downloaded another two so more goodies to come.

I then turned to my To Be Read heap and fished out a Harry Hole story by Jo Nesbo - The Leopard.  I thought I had read all the Hole books but this one had passed me by and I was pleased to pick this up for £1 at a charity shop. Big, fat and, I have to admit, a bit grisly, it kept me occupied for a day.  I like Harry, he reminds me a bit of another Harry in the Michael Connelly books featuring Bosch, but as I said they are a bit grisly. The murders can be a bit visceral and described in some detail. 

A serial killer is on the loose (I must say the number of serial killers around in books these days is a bit worrying) and kills in a pretty revolting manner. I will not go into detail.  Harry Hole is hiding out in Hong Kong drinking himself into oblivion and trying to get away from his memories of his last case (The Snowman).  His old boss sends somebody to bring him back to help solve the murders.  Harry immediately comes up against Bellman, an old adversary, who is trying to merge police forces and head them up and politics starts to get in the way of the investigation.

Note:  this happens in so many detective stories I am sometimes surprised anything gets solved at all.

The Moor - L J Ross.  This is No 12 in the series featuring the rather gorgeous DI Ryan. The novels are set in the North of England and they are well plotted and fairly rattle along.  At the end of each story there is a cliff hanger so you have to get the next one to find out what happens. As the author writes them pretty quickly you do not have to hang around too long which is just as well.  I have downloaded all of these onto my Kindle as they are published and then settle down with a cuppa and do not move until I have read the latest.  If you read these, and I do hope you will, I think it is best if you read them in order as they are linked.

Cruel Acts - Jane Casey. The latest in the Maeve Kerrigan series which I have read since they started. There has been a gap since the last one as I gather the author moved publishers but it was worth the wait.

Leo Stone is a ruthless killer – or the victim of a miscarriage of justice. A year ago, he was convicted of the murder of two women and sentenced to life in prison. But now he’s free, and according to him, he's innocent. DS Maeve Kerrigan and DI Josh Derwent are determined to put Stone back behind bars where he belongs, but the more Maeve finds out, the less convinced she is of his guilt.  Then another woman disappears in similar circumstances. Is there a copycat killer, or have they been wrong about Stone from the start?

The thing I love about these books, apart from the excellent writing and the plotting, is the relationship between Maeve and Josh. From book One they have butted heads and argued and fought but they have each other's backs and, quite frankly, it is clear that there are strong feelings there. Jane Casey is teasing her readers but they are getting closer and closer and I cannot wait to see what happens.

I also read the latest Stephanie Plum book by Janet Evanovich about which nothing needs to be said because they are all the same and I love them.

ok that is it for now. I will try and get back a bit quicker next time.

 

Let the Dead Speak- Jane Casey

This is the seventh in the series featuring Maeve Kerrigan and they continue to get better and better. I liked the first two, then I loved the next two, then I was totally hooked and adored the last two.  

This was sent to me by Jane Casey's wonderful publishers who always indulge my importuning and wheedling for books and I am perennially grateful to them.  In Let the Dead Speak Maeve is now  newly promoted  which means that she is now superior in grade to her partner, Josh Derwent. Josh is an Unreconstructed Male - he is rude, sexist, abrasive, takes no prisoners and puts the back up of their boss Una Burt who would love to see the back of him but he manages to checkmate her every maneouvre to be rid of him.   He is also a softie underneath, not that he allows anybody to know this, except perhaps Maeve and their relationship has developed beautifully over the series. I love him.

So the story. Eighteen year old Chloe Emery returns to her West London home after cutting short her weekend with her father and stepmother. She arrives and finds the house covered in blood and Kate, her mother, gone. There is no sign of a body yet everything points to a murder having taken place.

There are some seriously creepy people living in this road including a member of a religious sect with his cowed wife and teenager daughter who was friends with Chloe and clearly is hiding something.  A suspected murderer lives up the road - all signs point to him committing this earlier crime but no evidence to prove it.   Then it appears that Kate, the presumed victim, has been entertaining male callers while her daughter is away and the list of suspects widens.

I am not going to go into the in and outs and twists and turns of this terrific book as I do not want to give even the slightest hint of who dunnit and no wish to spoil it for you. It is multilayered, intricate plotting (you will need to have your wits about you) and, as ever, though the murder is the reason for the story, it is the relationship between Maeve and Josh that fascinates. He clearly cares for her and she for him, though she was dumped rather nastily by a previous partner and is pretty wary of getting involved and she would rather die than admit that she feels anything.   But we readers are not fooled....

Oh and do not fail to read to the very last word on the very last page. Once you have read this then you will know why I am telling you this.

Great stuff and my only complaint is that Jane Casey only produces one book a year. Surely she can manage two?

2015 Reading and Random Book of the Year

Finally able to spend some time on writing a post. I have had a difficult time recently and then Christmas took over and I am currently at home trying to regain some peace of mind and have a rest.   I am sorry that Random has had to take a back seat but my brain was so scrambled I needed to leave you on your own for a bit. Anyway, I am now hoping to get back to some kind of normality and to that end have gone through my reading list to choose my books of the year.

They are in no particular order. Where there is a link to a review I have inserted it - hopefully the links will work though in my current state there is no guarantee...

A War of Flowers - Jane Thynne. Set in pre-war Berlin this series about a British actress spy in the heart of the  High Command gets better and better

Sophie and the Sibyl - Patricia Duncker. Stunning book about George Eliot. I was lucky enough to attend a talk given by the author at Bloomsbury and to meet her. She was great.

Death of Anton and Quick Curtain - Alan Melville. Two from the wonderful British Library Classic Crime series. Both witty and amusing and great fun.

Crooked House - Agatha Christie. I re-read a lot of Dame A this year and this title is, in my opinion, one of her best. It is stand alone, no Hercule or Miss Marple and it has a chilling ending.

After the Fire - Jane Casey, Latest in the Maeve Kerrigan police series. After a slow start this series gets more and more compulsive. Excellent stuff with a real male chauvinistic pig of a police officer who has a soft heart underneath it all and is totally sexy and gorgeous.

Watchmaker of Filigree Street - Natasha Pulley. A magical book. Another winner from Bloomsbury.

The Last Waltz - the Strauss Dynasty by John Suchet.  Loved this book. A big glossy glam book which not only looks good but is beautifully written by one of my favourite Classic FM presenters.

London War Notes - Mollie Panter Downes. Published by Persephone and a must for everyone who has read her One Fine Day. Wonderfully captivating and full of the daily minutiae of life during the war. Full of pathos, bravery and wit.

Road to Little Dribbling - Bill Bryson. Another journey through Great Britain twenty years after Notes from a Small Island. I read this with tears of laughter streaming down my face and had to have regular breaks to allow my ribs to recover and stop aching. Priceless.

Charlotte Bronte - Claire Harman. Do we need another biography of Charlotte was my reaction to this title. Well, as an avid Bronte Maniac I can assure you that this is a simply terrific book to add to the long list of those written about this endlessly fascinating family. I have not had time to review this fully but take it from me, it is wonderful and reinforces my view that Emily was a selfish pain in the butt Anne is still shamefully underrated and Charlotte must have been a very difficult employee indeed.

Mistresses of Cliveden - Natalie Livingstone. I am currently reading this but am adding it to this list as it is hugely enjoyable and totally readable. I will write more in the New Year but this is social history at its most intriguing.

The Carey family novels by Ronald Welch. I read all of these as a teenager and was delighted when Slightly Foxed decided to reprint the entire series. It is ongoing and I have them all and reading my way through them. I am putting them here on my list of Books of the Year as they are a must purchase. The story of the Carey family starting with the Crusades and coming up to the First World War.  Go and order the lot. I have spoken.

AND my book of the year for 2015 is a clear winner. The Golden Age of Murder by Martin Edwards. A simply marvellous exploration of the lives of the authors who churned out an endless stream of murder and mystery books in the 1930s. We have all heard of Christie, Sayers, Marsh and those well known names but Martin Edwards in what is obviously a labour of love, brings lesser known and forgotten authors back to our attention. I loved every word of it and am simply delighted to say that Martin will be speaking about this title at the Felixstowe Book Festival in 2016, alongside Rob Davies from the British Library who is responsible for their Classic Crime series of titles. An event not to be missed by all crime aficionados.

Before I close I have to mention the reissue of several adult titles by Richmal Crompton. These are e-books published by Bello, the eprint arm of Pan Macmillan. Engrossing, immensely readable and highly recommended by me. Tracking down books by Richmal Crompton has always been difficult, I have about thirty old battered editions I have found in various second hand bookshops over the years, but they are expensive and some of them have been elusive to say the least. So thrilled to bits that Bello has produced several and will be doing more in the future. Do keep an eye out for them.

In between these books listed I have read loads of other brilliant books and fun books and sloppy books and some downright awful books (yes James Patterson I am referring to you) and have enjoyed them all in varying degrees.

I already have my eye on various titles due to be published next year and pre-orders in and grovelling emails to publishers sent. Lots to look forward to.

Hope to be back before the year ends but as I am hoping to fit in a visit to Star Wars in the next day or so, I am making no promises.

May the Reading Force be with you.

 

After the Fire - Jane Casey

I remember after I had read the first title by this author, The Missing, I posted that I had enjoyed it but felt the ending was a bit rushed and not very believable. I then received an email from Jane Casey thanking me for my review though it  'made me wince a bit'.  Of course, I was then stricken with guilt and so glad the following year when her second title came out and I loved it and was able to give it a glowing review. I know critics in papers and seasoned reviewers are there to criticise and are qualified to do so, but as a book blogger I want to write about books I have really enjoyed and would like others to read. Hence, no negative reviews here (there has been the odd one when I have really disliked a book but they are very few) and no chance of anything bad being said about After the Fire by Jane Casey.

It is a cracking read and once more we meet Maeve Kerrigan and her partner Josh Derwent. I admit to a bit of a crush on Josh. He is an unreconstructed male, chauvinistic and sarcastic but over the series, though he won't admit it, he has softened towards Maeve and cares for her.  In After the Fire Maeve is close to a breakdown as her stalker has not given up his relentless pursuit and seems to know where she is and what she is doing at all times. She is being kept from going over the edge by Josh in his own brusque way.

She certainly needs her wits about her after two bodies are found in an 11th floor flat after a fire has ripped through a North London tower block.  But the third body is that of a controversial MP, Geoff Armstrong who, trapped by the fire, preferred to jump to his death than be discovered in such a place. And, indeed, the police want to know what this right wing politician was doing in this deprived estate.

Narrative drive is excellent and keeps the reader on the edge of their seat. As Jane is married to a criminal barrister she has access to inside knowledge into the world of urban crime and her police procedural details are spot on.  This is a simply terrific book with lots of twists and turns, culminating in a face off with Maeve's faceless stalker; we also see a softer side to Josh and another character, Una Birt, not one of Derwent's greatest fans, but a good detective who Maeve is beginning to appreciate and it will keep you turning the pages until the very end.

Great read and I am so hoping that Josh and Maeve get together as her boyfriend has dumped her and left her bereft. She is far too good for him but when I tweeted Jane about the possibility of a future relationship, she said that she had lots of readers saying Don't do it!   Ah well...

If I was giving stars then this is a definite Five Star read.

Already looking forward to the next one.

Contrasting Detectives

A few years ago I read a debut detective novel by Jane Casey which I enjoyed until the last third when I thought it got rather silly and rushed. I reviewed the book and said this in my post and then Jane got in touch with me and I felt horrid about my comments. She was delightful about it all and her replies are attached to this earlier review of mine which you can find here.

Well since then she has written a series of novels about DC Maeve Kerrigan and they get better and better. If you read these, and I hope you do, then I recommend that you start at the very beginning ('a very good place to start'..) as the development of the characters runs through all the stories and a lot of back information which is relevant to the later books is given.

In her latest The Kill, there is a cop killer on the loose terrorising London and Maeve and her abrasive partner and boss, Josh Derwent, do not have a clue, literally, as to why.   I simply cannot tell you any more than this without going into detail and spoiling the plot and the story and I would hate to do that as it is her best so far in my humble and I could not put it down until the final page.   I realised that somewhere along the line I had missed out on the previous title, The Stranger you Know, could not work out why and was very cross about this. Wifi in Robin Hood'a Bay, where I was staying, was patchy to say the least and I could not get a signal to download to my Kindle. Lo and behold, later on in the day when I was rummaging in the local bookshop I came across a copy of the book I wanted and fell upon it with cries of joy.

In this story women, vulnerable and lonely women, are being preyed upon and murdered and it seems the killer has no difficulty getting close to them. His profile and evidence left at the scene and the style of the murders seems to point the finger of suspicion at DI Derwent, Maeve's colleague with whom she has an abrasive relationship.    Lots of plot twists and ins and outs and I was delighted to have two super books featuring these characters to read.   I am loving the relationship between Maeve and Josh and looking forward very much to the next story and the next case.

And now for something completely different. The latest in the Grantchester Mysteries, Sidney Chambers and the Problem of Evil by James Runcie.   You could not find a bigger contrast in style and content after the tension and thrills of the two Jane Casey books.   I think the best way to describe the pace of this series as 'ambulatory', there is no rush, no hurry, all is discovered and sorted out in a quiet, understated way, no mad stabbings or frenzied killings. Makes Miss Marple look positively skittish.

Each book contains four or five short stories, or long short stories if you know what I mean and I think this is an excellent way to present them. Rather feel there is not enough weight for a full length novel. In the latest
we are reaching the Sixties, Sidney is married to Hildegarde, he is happy in his marriage and leading a quiet life.(Have to admit I am not too keen on Hildegarde, feel he should have married Amanda).  But we know that things will happen and first up we have a serial killer targeting clergy (and yes I said these are gentle books, even a serial killer does not seem to ruffle the surface); disappearance of a painting; a drowning on a film shoot which is not an accident and a baby stolen from a hospital.

Much though I enjoyed this book my attention did begin to wander after a while as I felt the narrative was verging on the aimless at times, something I found with the First Ladies Detective Agency series. Yes, taking one's time and being philosophical and thoughtful is ok but occasionally you want something, anything,to happen.

This is a series of six books set in post war England and coming up to date and in order to place them there are references to the Beatles, President Kennedy etc just to remind us where we are and this can become a tad annoying at times.    Also a sneaky thought crept into my mind when I read the first title, to whit that this would make a perfect TV series. Did the author have this in mind?  Six books with four adaptable mysteries in each, three filmed at a time, eight series ready to go.   Cynical moi? yes I know but no surprise that there is indeed a series in the offing and gather it is being filmed in the ever amenable Oxford. Just hope that Sidney did not bang into Hathaway and Lewis who are also filming at the moment.

Yes I enjoyed Sidney Chambers and The Problem of Evil but in a very muted way. On a sunny day in the garden with a glass of something cool to hand they are very enjoyable.  

Actually, correction, you need a cup of tea and a scone....