Author: veritywilde

Journalist, armchair sports fan, book worm and show fiend. There's a sentence you don't hear too often.
bookshops

Books in the Wild: Brighton Waterstones

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I’m sure you didn’t think that I was going to do a whole week based around the seaside without giving you a bookshop visit did you? In fact it was one of the first places that we went after we arrived – as we walked past it on our way from the railway station to the seafront and of course the early visit meant I could leave the purchases at the hotel along with my rucksack so I didn’t have to carry them all around with me!

Lets start with the fact that this is a big store, over a lot of floors and they’ve got a really large selection of new hardback fiction right as you come in the door. And as ever, I’m focussing this post on the stuff that interests me – that I read and that I’ve been looking out for and not on the whole store! Brighton has got quite a distinct identity – it was the first place to elect an MP from the Green Party back in 2010, it’s got lots of students and a large LGBTQIA community so I was interested to see their book selections.

And across those new fiction shelves, as well as recent releases I’ve read and written about, like the Curtis Sittenfeld short stories collection and The Rest of Our Lives, there’s also stuff on my pile like The Three Lives of Cate Kay and books that I’ve seen reviewed in the latest edition of Literary Review like Call Me Ishmaelle and the new Katie Kitamura.

And the table next to it has got the really new stuff – like that third Magpie Murders, which I really want to read but is Very Very Big in hardback and so I’m going to have to wait for the Kindle edition to drop to a sensible price. And there’s also the new Gregory Maguire on the far left there – Elphie – where he’s returning to the world he created in Wicked although I have to say I thought he’d covered Elphaba’s childhood in that but it’s a long, long time since I (tried to) read that.

I am of course all about the crime at the moment because romance moving towards Romantasy and contemporary romance having ever younger protagonists is not really what I want right now, so here we have some mystery books. And I was impressed/horrified at how many of this lot I’ve read already – or have on the pile. ON this side I’ve read the SJ Bennet, the Richard Osman and the Anthony Horowitz and I have the Golden Spoon and Vera Wong (as previously mentioned) on the Kindle waiting to be read. I also want to read Displeasure Island which is the sequel to Grave Expectations, but haven’t bought it yet.

And on this side my hit rate is even higher: I’ve read Knife Skills for Beginners (and its sequel, A Fatal Crossing, the Grantchester, the Andrew Cartmel (which is one of the non Vinyl Detective ones), Death and Croissants, The Marlow Murder Club, the Richard Coles and the Agatha Raisin.

Even more crime here – and my hit rate is lower, but it does include one of my purchases which was of course A Case of Mice and Murder – but also Seven Lively Suspects and another Canon Clement along with a bunch of covers that look too dark for me, although I am trying to adjust my snap judgments on that front after Ruth Galloway.

And finally, this had the new Vinyl Detective which I would have bought and read if my pre-order wasn’t already at home and the final Maisie Dobbs which is now out in paperback. I was going to do the romance section, but basically, I’d read so few of them that it felt a little bit pointless. I would say I should try and change that, but we all know how big my To-Read Pile is right now so I’m not making any promises.

Have a great Saturday everyone.

detective, series

Mystery series: PI Grace Smith

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Happy Friday everyone, and to tie in with the theme this week, I’ve got a mystery series set not in Brighton but in the fictional town of Seatoun, somewhere on the south coast within easy reach of London, so you can see why it might fit my seaside-y vibes this week!

Grace is a former police officer, who left the force under something of a cloud, and who now works as a private detective in the town where she used to be a cop – trying to avoid her former colleagues as far as possible. Her career as a PI isn’t really going anywhere – and the cases she gets tend towards the mundane and the ridiculous. Less dead humans, more dead animals or missing people.

At this point it should be noted that I’ve read all but one of the five books in the series in their original late 1990s paperback form. And yes I know there’s only four in the photo (and in two different covers styles) but I couldn’t find a copy of Who Killed Marilyn Monroe on my shelves and there’s a chance I found it on the shelves at one of the hostels that I stay at. But anyway, these days they have been retitled and reissued on Kindle and that’s how I read book three. Now I read these all fairly well spaced out, so I can’t say for certain, but I didn’t notice any major re-working or rewriting between the two versions – just the radical change in title and design.

The new covers look much darker and more thriller-y than the previous ones. But don’t be deceived. Like Ruth Galloway, these are not as scary as the covers would have you expect. Obviously these are books written 20 years ago – so mobile phones are much less common and research is all done in person in archives and not on the internet – but that really works for a mystery series. And as I can remember this era from growing up – and cassette tapes machines, smoking in bars, a time before smart phones – there’s a nostalgia factor here for me too.

Only five are on Kindle at the moment, but they are all in Kindle Unlimited. One of them – with yet another different cover and the original title is available on Kobo. But I have managed to pick up most of these in second handbook shops or book exchanges so the paperbacks are not as hard to find as you might think.

Have a great weekend.

Book previews

Out Today: The Elopement

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I mentioned Jane Austen yesterday, and today I wanted to mention Gill Hornby’s new book which is the third that she’s written around Jane Austen’s family. I really enjoyed Miss Austen and Godmersham Park and I’m looking forward to reading this one. Looking at the blurb this is focusing into a family that Austen’s niece marries into and the family from Godmersham Park. I suspect this will be really easy to get hold of – the others have been and of course we’ve just had the TV adaptation of Miss Austen (which I really need to get around to watching) which may lead to increased visibility for this unofficial trilogy of Austen-adjacent novels.

books

Recommendsday: Books set in Brighton

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It’s Wednesday again and after our trip to Brighton the other week, I started thinking about books set in the seaside town – and the result is today’s Recommendsday. As I hinted yesterday, I’ve got a whole theme thing going on this week – with Brighton and 90s crime the twin things going on through the week. You’re welcome!

And the first book that features Brighton that springs to mind for me is always Georgette Heyer’s Regency Buck. I actually messaged my mum on the way down because I’d seen a sign for Cuckfield from the train and a key scene in the book takes place there. But proabably half of the book takes place during the summer that Judith Taverner and her brother Perry spend at a house on Marine Parade. We didn’t make it to Marine Parade this trip – but I did make Him Indoors walk to the Old Steine where Judith and Perry’s guardian Lord Worth lived. And of course we went to the Pavillion where there is another important moment in the plot. I first read this during my A-Level exams and I remember vividly sitting on the bus on my way home from school after an exam reading the final section and being open mouthed with shock at one of events towards the end. I can’t remember what the exam was – but I can remember where on the route I was when that happened (if you’re reading mum, I was coming around the corners with the nursery on the A508) It’s probably the book where I was most uncertain about who the heroine was going to end up with when you’re reading it first go around and that sticks with you. And yes the Waterstones in Brighton (of which more at the weekend) did have a copy although it wasn’t in a special books set in Brighton section, just the usual romance one:

It’s been a bit of a month for remembering books that I had forgotten about – which takes me to Sara Sheridan’s Mirabelle Bevan series. In the first book, Brighton Belle, it’s 1951 and Mirabelle moves to Brighton to take a job at a debt collection agency. But when a Hungarian woman the agency made a loan to turns up dead, her instincts scream that there’s more to the death than meets the eye. And things only get more mysterious as Mirabelle and her work colleague and new friend Vesta Churchill (no relation as she says) investigate. This is the first in a series that has nine books (although they aren’t all linked together after the first four if you’re looking at Amazon) and I’ve read three of them – all of which are set in Brighton although that doesn’t stay the same – and this reminded me to try and see if I can get book four – at which point I discovered that although I definitely read book one and two on Kindle (and book three from the library) none of them are on kindle any more. Which is frustrating and also weird. One and two are still on my Kindle though so that’s something.

As you all know I’ve just finished a binge of Elly Griffiths’ Dr Ruth Galloway series, but the first book of hers I read was The Zig Zag Girl which is the first in her Brighton Mysteries series. They’re set in the 1950s and feature a policeman and a magician who worked together during the war in a special unit. I’ve mentioned them before in my books set in theatres and then the quick reviews the other month and I’m four books into the seven book series, with books five and six already on the pile for when I’m ready, but I am trying to be good and space out the Elly Griffiths, not least because I need other authors to write about!

Death on the Pier by Jamie West is a murder mystery set in the theatre (now sadly gone) on Brighton Pier. Our main character is a playwright who is in town to see a production of one of his plays, only for an actress to be killed on stage in the middle of the opening night performance. Luckily the friend he is watching with is a Scotland Yard detective, so Bertie gets to (reluctantly) help with the investigation. I did have the culprit worked out before the end (and they why of it) but it was a good read and I liked the characters and so I went straight on to the sequel! There is also recent BotW The Fan Who Knew Too Much which is largely set in Brighton – including scenes of extras recreating the cult TV series running through the Pavilion Gardens.

And of course although Lizzie never goes there, Brighton is the scene of Lydia’s bad behaviour in Pride and Prejudice – so if you need an excuse for a re-read, here you are!

Happy Humpday!

Book of the Week, cozy crime, detective

Book of the Week: A Farewell to Yarns

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As you could see from the list yesterday, last week was mostly spent reading Mitchell and Markby books, but when I wasn’t reading those, I was reading another murder mystery from the early 1990s and that’s what I’m writing about today. And just to whet your appetite, I’ve got another series of a 1990s vintage coming to you on Friday. It’s like I’ve got a coherant theme happening… oh wait, I have. Two of them. Just you wait until tomorrow…

Anyway, Farewell to Yarns is the second book in a series featuring widowed single mum Jane Jeffry. It’s the run up to Christmas and as well as helping organise a church bazaar she’s got an old friend coming to visit her. Jane hasn’t seen Phyllis in years and surprised by the fact that she suddenly wants to visit her – and then is even more surprised when Phyllis turns up with a bratty son that no one knew she had. And then there’s a body and Jane can’t help but get involved in trying to figure out what happened.

Maybe it’s just the mood I’m in at the moment, but this is another really easy to read and fun (if you know what I mean) cozy murder mystery. It’s not long, but the plot is clever if slightly outlandish in places, but that doesn’t matter because if you were going to rule out slightly bonkers things in books you’d never read any cozy crime at all! Think of all those small towns with insanely high murder rates and small businesses continuing to thrive even though their owners keep stumbling across bodies on the premises. I haven’t read the first book in the series, but it didn’t matter at all because any background you need is explained in this – and it’s only the second book in the series so there aren’t too many running plots that you need to get your head around anyway.

This one is going to be harder to get hold of – I bought my copy (and another in the series) in the second hand bookshop at Baddesley Clinton and it’s not available on Kindle. But Amazon and Abebooks have copies and sensible prices, and I’m hoping that I might be able to pick up a few more in the series if I keep my eyes peeled!

Happy Reading

books, stats, The pile, week in books

The Week in Books: May 12 – May 18

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Well I said on Friday that I was on a mega-binge of Mitchell and Markby books, and you see the results of that here – in the read list and in the purchases because I had to buy them to keep reading. We had a lovely trip away at the weekend and it was a busy week at work so I’m choosing to blame that for the increasing length of the still reading list…

Read:

A Farewell to Yarns by Jill Churchill

Where Old Bones Lie by Ann Granger

Men at Arms by Terry Pratchett

A Fine Place for Death by Ann Granger

Flowers for his Funeral by Ann Granger

Masqueraders by Georgette Heyer

A Candle for a Corpse by Ann Granger

Started:

N/a

Still reading:

The Beast of Littleton Woods by T E Kinsey

Curtain Call to Murder by Julian Clary

The Sweet Dove Died by Barbara Pym

Wish You Were Here by Jess K Hardy*

Abdication by Juliet Nicolson

Cher: The Memoir Part One by Cher

Five books bought.

Bonus picture: Another photo from a sunny Sunday afternoon in the countryside. Just glorious.

*next to a book book title indicates that it came from NetGalley. ** indicates it was an advance copy from a source other than NetGalley.

bookshops, Trends

Books in the Wild: Trend Watch

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As we all know book trends swing back and forth – and things fall in and out of fashion, and wandering around bookshops you notice things changing. Over the last couple of years we’ve seen things like the change in romance covers to the illustrated ones that started with Leni Kauffman’s covers for people like Olivia Dade and Ashley Herring Blake, but now stretches to almost every romance. Some times it from reading the blurbs – and noticing that the age of the protagonists is going down and most of romance is essntially now what was New adult. Or that there are less and less historicals – even though Bridgerton is massive.

And that leads me to the point of this post: Foyles have swapped the Crime/mystery section and the sci fi fantasy section over – and now the crime is the smaller area. And yes I did count. Last time I was in here – and in fact as long as I can remember – this area above was the crime and mystery section.

It’s a straight switch – Crime is now wrapping around the outside. What’s made the difference here? Romantasy. It’s all the romantasy books I think. The romance section is still mostly contemporary and historical and they’ve put all the romantasy in here with the more traditional (so to speak) Fantasy. And there’s a really interesting article about Fantasy and Romantasy here from Reactor.

And I did have a root around and had my first sighting in the wild of the new Penguin Classic Edition of Terry Pratchett’s Night Watch. Which I nearly bought but managed to resist this time!

Have a great weekend!

series

Series Redux: Mitchell and Markby

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Given that I seem to be on a massive binge of Ann Granger’s Cotswold-set mystery series, it would be remiss of me not to do a quick reminder about them. This is a mystery series that started nearly 30 years ago, but are still a lot of fun. In fact sometimes I think I like the older series better because there is a lack of internet and mobile phones. Anyway, our duo are Meredith Mitchell and Alan Markby, who meet in the first book (which I own in paperback, hence it’s absence from the photo) when a death occurs at the house where Meredith is staying. She works for the Foreign Office and is on leave from a posting abroad, he is the policeman sent to investigate. And so it continues, with the two of them tangled up in crimes, usually fairly rural ones. I’ve got as far as the a point where Meredith is working in London but has finally bought a house in Bamford (the main town in the series) although in book seven the mystery is set away from there in a different part of the Cotswolds. The solutions are twisty and in rereading them I’m almost enjoying them more than first time because they hold up so well.

As you can see these are easy to get hold of on Kindle, although perhaps slightly harder in actual book form because it tends to be Granger’s more recent Campbell and Carter or her Victorian mysteries that you see in the shops. Have a great weekend everyone.

Book previews

Out Today: Mrs Spy

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Anyone fancy a Lady Spy novel set in the 1960s? Well this is out today and sounds intriguing. This from the blurb:

Maggie Flynn isn’t your typical 1960s mum.

She’s a spy, an unsuspecting operative for MI5, stalking London’s streets in myriad disguises. 

Widowed and balancing her clandestine career with raising a Beatles-mad teenage daughter, Maggie finds comfort and purpose in her profession – providing a connection to her late husband, whose own covert past only surfaced after his death.

It goes on to say that there’s a Russian agent and her husband’s death may have been because he was betrayed by someone on home soil. And as you can see from the cover above it’s got a “Thursday Murder Club for Spies” line on it. If I can just get over my need for comforting familiarity, this will be jumping right to the top of my list!