Happy Friday everyone, I’m back with another series post and this is one that may not be a surprise if you’ve been paying attention to the lists the last few weeks.
These are a series of six books set in the 1930s following a clergyman who, in book one, is on a train where someone is murdered and finds himself drawn into the investigation. And then across the course of the next few books he finds himself again drawn into mysteries and murders of various kinds.
I read the first one of these a few years back and in my BotW review I said that it was really trying to make you think it was a British Library Crime Classic. They’ve updated the cover style since then although when you get A Third Class Murder it still has the original one – as you can see from the photo. It was a standalone title at the point that I read it and there are now another five – some of which are more towards the thriller, some are more straight up murder mysteries. If you have read a lot of Golden Age crime you can spot where some of the inspiration is coming from, but they’re basically very easy to read, enjoyable 1930s set mysteries that are perhaps a little derivative but that are also missing some of the problematic attitudes and language you find in the genuine article.
All six are in Kindle Unlimited at the moment and I suspect a seventh will appear at some point – there is certainly the set up for it at the end of book six.
It’s the first Wednesday of the month, and I’m back with some quick reviews. And this is a weird one, because there wasn’t actually a lot of stuff I hadn’t written about that I had loads of stuff to say about. But there are a couple, so here I am.
The Way We All Became the Brady Bunch by Kimberly Potts
Though I’ve never really watched the actual TV series of the Brady Bunch, I am a devotee of the two mid-90s movies based on it, so I picked this (really quite heavily marked up copy) up from the Oxfam near work quite a while back and finally got around to reading it. And although it jumps around somewhat in terms of the chronology, it’s a pretty good read. I’m not sure how much new stuff you’d learn if you were a series super-fan, but as someone with a casual interest and a bit of anecdotal knowledge when it comes to anything beyond the movies, I learned a lot – particularly about the impact of being on the show on the child actors – and enjoyed it.
The Vinyl Detective: Noise Floor by Andrew Cartmell
I wanted to report back in on this one – with a heavy heart – as I flagged it when it came out because it’s actually the first time this series has disappointed me. I’d been saving it for when I needed cheering up, but actually I sort of wish I hadn’t. I had some big issues with the first book in Carmel’s new (and linked) series The Paperback Sleuth, to the point where I didn’t buy the second one, and some of the things that I didn’t like about that I also spotted in this one. Now whether that’s because I’m looking for them now because the Paperback Sleuth has rubbed me up the wrong way so much, or because writing two series has led to a diminution in quality I don’t know. There is a good plot in here somewhere, but it’s too thin in the execution and overshadowed by the way it’s written and some of the flourishes. To sum up, after reading this, I haven’t bothered to pre-order the next one (which I have been doing since the second book in the series) although I probably will still read it if I can get it for a decent price. Urgh. I hate even writing this, but I do try to be honest with you all.
Next Best Fling by Gabriella Gamez*
And this is another one I’m reporting back on because I mentioned it on release day. I usually love a fake relationship romance – but this was just not it for me. The hero and heroine have a lot of unresolved issues and it felt less like they were together because they wanted to be and more like they had bonded over their shared mutal pining for someone else. Add to that the fact there were that some issues with the ex that made it all just a bit harder and less escapist to read than I’d been hoping, and it added up to a not for me – but like How to End a Love Story, I think other people may like it more than me!
And that’s your lot – happy Wednesday and here is a clip from the Brady Bunch Movie to send you on your way…
Yes this is something of a cheat, because I finished this on Monday, but it would have been Sunday night if I hadn’t been so very tired after book conference. So here we are, and let’s hope now that I’m not scuppering myself for next week’s pick!
When an Amy Snowden marries a much younger man, her neighbours are outraged. When she then apparently kills herself a few months later, her husband then disappears. The coroner rules it suicide, but Sergeant Caleb Cluff isn’t convinced. He knows the area and Amy and thinks someone is getting away with murder. So he sets out to find out the truth about what happened to Amy, despite the disapproval of his colleagues.
This was originally published in 1960, but like the Lorac the other week it is another that is really good at conjuring the location and the people and is very atmospheric. It’s also quite creepy – as a reader you’re not in a lot of doubt about whether it was a murder at the start but it builds and builds. Yes there are some slightly dubious attitudes here, but it does all make sense within itself. This is the first in a series and I will look out for more.
This is in Kindle Unlimited at the moment, so if you don’t read on kindle you may have to buy the paperback or wait for it to cycle out of that for it to pop up on Kobo.
So it’s a short list this week because I’ve been at Book Conference and I’ve been hosting guests. Oh and the Olympics is on… But I have spent even more time than usual thinking about books, I just didn’t have time to read many!
The Hazelbourne Ladies’ Motorcycle and Flying Club by Helen Simonson*
The Cracked Mirror by Chris Brookmire*
Quite a few books bought because there was a dealer book sale and a participant book sale, and the new month has started so there are fresh kindle offers.
Bonus picture: cacti in the botanic gardens in Bristol on Saturday!
*next to a book book title indicates that it came from NetGalley. ** indicates it was an advance copy from a source other than NetGalley.
I know, I know, I try not to do theatre two weeks in a row, but both this and Hello, Dolly! are limited runs – and so I wanted to get this out as soon as possible.
This is a musical adaptation of a 1938 French movie of the same name, with music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz aka the man who wrote the music and lyrics for Wicked. The plot is pretty simple: it’s set in a French village where there are a range of petty rivalries and disputes. It has been without a baker for some weeks, and the lack of bread is driving the locals mad. The new baker arrives – Amiable, a middle aged man and his much younger and very attractive wife Genevieve (and their cat, Pompom). The villagers are shocked at the age difference between the baker and his wife, and their prying causes Genevieve to run back into their house crying. The local Marquis’s chauffeur takes a fancy to Genevieve and starts flirting, and a chain of events is set in motion.
The Baker’s Wife is a bit of a cult classic – it’s never made it to Broadway, and has a history of being well reviewed, but not finding commercial success. This production is at the Menier Chocolate Factory, an off-West End venue which has a history of producing really good productions of hard to stage musicals – the revival of Merrily We Roll Along which has just won Tonys in New York (including for Daniel Radcliffe) started at the Menier more than a decade ago (and I saw it in the West End). And this is another one that works really well. As you can see from the photo, it’s a small space, set up as the village square and the actors are right there with you and around you and it’s really immersive.
The cast is excellent too – with Clive Rowe (fresh from his run in Sister Act) as Amiable and Lucie Jones – who is now building a really strong West End resume – as Genevieve, along with Josefina Gabriele (who was also in that production of Merrily) as Denise, who is the most developed of the village characters. I’m not going to say all of the songs are massively memorable once you’ve left the show – although Meadowlark is – but it’s generally a great show at a lovely venue.
The Baker’s Wife is on at the Menier for another six or so weeks – until the 14th of September. You can get tickets through all the usual sources. And I’m very excited because in the last ten days or so the Menier has announced that they’re staging a revival of The Producers next year, and I really want to see what they do with that one.
Have a great Sunday everyone – have a video of Daniel Radcliffe, Jonathan Groff and Lindsay Mendez singing some Sondheim to send you on your way.
I’ve done it. I’ve done some clearing and there are boxes going to Book Con with me. This box is mostly Girls Own.
This has got a few things I’ve written about here, but I have written about, but that I don’t think I’ll be reading again.
And then this is mostly crime, with a touch of literary fiction and some women’s fiction. There is another box, also of girls own, but I forgot to get a phot! I’ve priced them to sell as they say with an aim of not bringing too many home with me, especially as I expect to buy a fair few…
Most read author: Probably Patti Benning again, because I read a bunch at the start of the month, but Hugh Morrison coming up fast behind at the end of the month
Books bought: One book-book, two ebooks and a preorder
Books read in 2024: 240
Books on the Goodreads to-read shelf (I don’t have copies of all of these!): 740
A pretty solid month in reading, although ending slower than it started. I was binging through one author at the start of the month, and moved on to mini-binges on a couple of others as we moved through. Not enough Netgalley reading done, which is all pretty standard stuff for me.
Bonus picture: Another picture from the Barbican Conservatory before Kiss Me Kate
*includes some short stories/novellas/comics/graphic novels – including this month!
There is a new standalone Rainbow Rowell out this week and I am excited. Slow Dance is about two friends who went to school together and who everyone thought would end up together, but whose lives took different paths after high school. Now one of them is heading to an old friend’s wedding and wondering whether the other will be there and whether she wants him to be…
Doesn’t it sound great? It came out on Tuesday on Kindle and Kobo and is out on August 8th in hardback. Rowell typically gets pretty big releases – Waterstone’s had a signed pre-order option, so I’m hoping you’ll be able to get hold of it pretty easily in stores if you want to.
Yes, it’s nearly the end of July, so we’re well over six months in to the year, but I’m here and I’m using this week’s Recommendsday to shout out my favourite books of the year so far, in no particular order.
But I’m going to start with At First Spite, Olivia Dade’s latest novel, which came out in February and which I read basically as soon as the paperback hit my doormat. It’s the first in a new series, and features a heroine who finds her self living in a tiny house between her ex-fiancé on one side and his brother on the other. If you go and read my Book of the Week review for this, you’ll see that it’s not all sunshine and roses for Athena, but it all works out beautifully. And I can’t wait for the next book in the series, which is currently called Dearly Departed, whenever it arrives.
Next up is a March release – Kate Claybourn’s The Other Side of Disappearing, which is a romance, a mystery and a road trip as two sisters travel across the US with a podcast production crew to try and find out what happened to the con-man their mum used to date. This also has a retired college football (the American kind) player – so if you’re after sporty-themed books this is another one – but I couldn’t include it in last week’s Recommendsday, because: statute of limitations, and also twice in a week would be boring!
And now an April release – Emily Henry’s Funny Story. And I ummed and ahhed about whether to include this because I feel like I’ve written so much about her over the years, but then I went back and checked my review and I read it in less than 18 hours, which is probably the quickest of any of the books on the list, so how could I leave it off? It’s another newly single heroine, who is stuck in close proximity to her ex, but more different to At First Spite than that makes it sound. It’s so good, and I would read it again today, if only I didn’t have so many other books on the go at once…
On to May, and a book that I bought in paperback after reading the kindle sample and then read immediately. I explain in my review of Summer Fridays why this is going to divide romance readers, but I loved it and I think it is closer to “a Novel” than “a romance”. Travel back to 1999 New York with Sawyer and spend the summer with her and Nick as she figures out what she’s doing with her life. If you’re about to go on holiday, this might be the perfect sun lounger read.
This was very nearly an all romance post – and indeed I’ve grouped them all together, but I wanted to include one other new release – Mona of the Manor. Yes, it’s the tenth in the Tales of the City series but I think it stands alone more easily than the other contender for this final place which was the final Maisie Dobbs novel, The Comfort of Ghosts. Mona of the Manor is a fill in of a portion of the Tales Story we haven’t seen – and as it’s in the British countryside in the 1990s it’s pretty self-contained. And it’s so much fun as Mona tries to make ends meet by turning the country house she’s inherited into a not-quite-a-hotel with the help of her adopted son.
And there you have it. My five favourite new books of the year so far. I think. But as ever, I’m a fickle thing, and who knows what will be the top five by the end of the year!
