Category: week in books

Book of the Week, Christmas books, detective, historical, mystery, new releases

Book of the Week: Murder on the Royal Crescent

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As I said yesterday I started my new Christmas book reading last week and it’s only fair that this should be today’s BotW because a) it came out last week, b) it’s really good and c) it’s the follow up to D is for Death which was also a BotW. Yes that was only a pick in April and it’s a sequel so I’m breaking two of my own rules (about repeats and sequels) to post this but it was my favourite thing I read last week so I don’t care!

Cover of Murder on the Royal Crescent

It’s December 1936 and while the rest of the country is consumed with the abdication of Edward VIII, Dora Wildwood is in Bath where a death has happened on the twentieth anniversary of an earlier murder. In 1916 Daisy Palmer was found dead on Royal Crescent and now someone else is dead in front of the house where Daisy’s increasingly eccentric fiancé still lives on the Crescent. Dora discovers that the Georgian houses are a broiling mass of family rivalries and dodgy antiques dealings as well as a wall of silence about what actually happens to Daisy. Oh and there’s a massive schism between people who like the Brontes and the ones who like Austen. Can Dora work out what on earth is going on?

We are a year or more on from the events of D is for Death and this is largely set away from the London Library where that book is set and where Dora still works (when she’s not trying to set up her detective agency) so I don’t think you need to have read that book to enjoy this one, and although reading this first will spoil some of the events of the first book you definitely don’t need to have read that one to enjoy this. In my review of that first book I described it as a historical mystery romp and Dora as a delightfully quirky heroine and all of that is still true but she’s also gained a bit of maturity and experience. The mystery is good – but the portrayal of Bath is brilliant. Townson lives there and she’s made it a real character in the book which is lovely. Sometimes you read a book and the setting feels a bit generic – like it could be anywhere – but this is not one of those books. It’s not as Christmas-Christmas as some of the other festive releases, but it is Christmassy – so if you’re looking to get your festive reading underway it would be a good choice.

My copy came from NetGalley, but this one is out now in hardback and should be fairly easy to get hold of in physical copy. And of course it’s in Kindle and Kobo too.

Happy Reading!

books, stats, week in books, The pile

The Week in Books: October 26 – November 1

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A three theatre-trip week as I mentioned yesterday and the list reflects that somewhat. I’ve also read my first of this year’s new Christmas books – I’m not averse to reading Christmas-set books at any time of year, but I’m not normally so early with the new festive releases. So I’ll take that as a win for the week. All the usual start of the month stuff is coming up this week, and it is a quieter week so hopefully next week’s list will be a bit better.

Read:

Murder on Royal Crescent by Harriet F Townson*

Death at Victoria Dock by Kerry Greenwood

As You Like It by William Shakespeare

Lion in the Valley by Elizabeth Peters

A Carol and a Killing by Rev Richard Coles

The Murders of Richard III by Elizabeth Peters

Started:

Beware the Trains by Edmund Crispin

Still reading:

N/a

Four books bought – two at Main Character and two while we were in Stratford on Saturday. One ebook as well.

Bonus social post: since I posted my review yesterday the RSC has posted a snippet of As You Like it in the forest of Arden so now you too can marvel at the set (and at the performances)

Bonus picture: The first show I saw last week was at a new to me venue – the Emerald which is under a bridge on the Embankment. I liked the retro vibes of the theatre, but that was about it.

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

Book of the Week

Book of the Week: Apparently Sir Cameron Needs to Die

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It’s Tuesday and whilst this isn’t a book with ghosts and ghouls, it does have dragons and elves, which I think makes it Halloween-y enough to be on theme for this week. And it was definitely the book that I have the most to say about of the ones that I read last week!

Sir Cameron is *technically* a knight, but he’s spent his whole career turning up just after the battle has happened and avoiding any chance that he might get killed, after all he’s just too handsome to die right? The battle against the mad sorcerer Merulo has been going on for years but a new prophecy has just been handed down by the church and it’s bad news for Sir Cameron: the only way to defeat Merulo is for Cameron to die. He’s (understandably) not keen on that idea, so runs away to throw himself on the mercy of the only person who doesn’t want him dead: Merulo. Merulo is less than pleased with this development: Cameron is vain, spoilt and attention seeking, but turning him into a vulture is entertaining. This is just the start of a voyage of discovery for Cameron but will he make it through alive? And will Merulo – because Cameron is getting strangely invested in the sorcerer’s survival…

I cannot adequately describe how bonkers this book is. Cameron getting turned into a vulture is only a small portion of the madness. It is totally, totally ridiculous and isn’t taking itself too seriously. It opens really strongly, and although I don’t think it quite carries through that promise, it’s still a fun read. It’s got a concussed elf as a (vengeful) side character and it keeps adding new twists and turns. And I think that’s where the problem is: it’s trying to do too much – the Amazon blurb includes the phrase “genre-bending” which doesn’t even begin to cover it really and it means it doesn’t quite do everything (anything?) as satisfyingly as you would like. I wasn’t sure how it was going to manage to resolve everything satisfactorily and I definitely didn’t expect how it did end, but it was a page turning way to pass some time on a wet and windy weekend.

I bought this one at Mr B’s Emporium so it is in some shops at least (and hasn’t spent too long on the pile in the grand scheme of things) but it’s also on Kindle and Kobo although I would wait for a price drop given the issues that I mention above – and the fact that is has really quite mixed reviews on Goodreads which suggest that other people had a bit less tolerance for it than I did! It has got a great cover though.

Happy Reading!

books, stats, The pile, week in books

The Week in Books: October 19 – October 25

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We are now in Peak Halloween season, so I’ve got a week of appropriate content lined up for you. But before we get to that, here’s the list from this week, and you may notice that I’ve finally given up on the third Simon Snow book. I’ve tried, and I’ve tried, but I can’t get into it, it’s feeling like a chore to try and read it and I’ve been trying for so long with so little success that it’s making me feel bad about myself. Maybe I’ll come back around to it, maybe I won’t but for now it’s off the list and gone. The rest of the list is a bit audiobook heavy – lots of wandering around listening to audiobooks last weeks – combined with the PHP outage which seemed to slow down the flow of podcasts for a few days. I’ve got three theatre trips this week (!), so we’ll see what that does to the reading…

Read:

Murder at the Ritz by Jim Eldridge

Ruddy Gore by Kerry Greenwood

The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club by Dorothy L Sayers

The Long Game by Rachel Reid

Away with the Fairies by Kerry Greenwood

An Inkling of Death by Anna Beer*

The Mummy Case by Elizabeth Peters

Apparently Sir Cameron Needs to Die by Greer Stothers

Started:

The Murders of Richard III by Elizabeth Peters

Murder on Royal Crescent by Harriet F Townson*

Still reading:

N/a

Two books and one ebook

Bonus picture: Halloween cakes spotted out and about in Soho

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

Book of the Week

Book of the Week: The Seventh Sinner

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Here we are with another book on the week – and it’s yet another mystery novel!

This time it’s the first book in an Elizabeth Peter series that I haven’t previously read – The Seventh Sinner is the first to feature librarian Jacqueline Kirby. Written in the 1970s, this is set in Rome and our main character is Jean, a student in the city on a fellowship and along with her friends waiting to see if their work has been enough to secure a further year’s funding. She’s been having a great time in Italy – right up until the point where she finds one of the members of her group bleeding to death in a catacomb. And then the accidents start – or is someone actually trying to kill Jean. With the help of Jacqueline, can she stay alive to finish her studies?

This is quite of its time, but it’s an atmospheric mystery in a great setting with a some of the humour that you might expect if you’ve read the Vicky Bliss which started at a similar time or her historical Amelia Peabody books. If you’ve read or are used to reading books from the seventies it’ll probably work for you. I really enjoyed it and as you know from Books Incoming I’ve got the next two to read in the series already

Happy Reading!

books, stats, The pile, week in books

The Week in Books: October 12 – October 18

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Happy Monday everyone. Back to earth with a bump and a much shorter list this week. And I’ve got a busy week coming so no guarantee that I’ll be able to do any different this week. Hey ho.

Read:

The Shippers by Katherine Center

Three of Hearts by Katie Cotugno

Back to You by Ann Liang

Death of an Englishman by Anna Beer

Take a Chance, Sasha Sinclair by Ashley Herring Blake

Seventh Sinner by Elizabeth Peters

Started:

Murder at the Ritz by Jim Eldridge

Still reading:

Any Way the Wind Blows by Rainbow Rowell

One book and one ebook

Bonus picture: I was going to post another picture of my view from the commute which is now pitch black but luckily I have something more cheerful…

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

Book of the Week, Book previews, historical, mystery, new releases, previews

Book of the Week: The Shadows of Kensington Gore

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This is a slight cheat again this week but for a different reason than the last two weeks have been. I did read this last week – but it’s not out until next Thursday so that’s where the rule breaking occurs. But as I always say, I make the rules so I’m allowed to do what I want about them in the end. It was my favourite thing I read last week though so it totally deserves this spot.

I really enjoyed The Murder at Worlds End and so I was looking forward to this follow up – and I was not disappointed. Stephen and Miss Decima are now in London, installed in a mansion block near the Royal Albert Hall. Miss Decima is and running a detective agency from it. But all the cases she is getting are household pilfering and she’s is getting bored. Stephen is finding is feet in a new neighbourhood and is growing frustrated that he’s not as involved in the detecting as he was hoping – and that he’s running the whole household on his own and having books thrown at him when he’s not doing things as quickly as Decima wants him to. But all this changes when they go to a Suffragette meeting ahead of the Coronation and Stephen is first on the scene of a murder. This also means he’s the police’s prime suspect – and so he and Miss Decima are back on the case again.

The atmosphere of pre-Coronation London is great – and so is the portrayal of the various factions within the movement for women’s suffrage. Too often this can get flattened to just the suffragettes, but this has got the peaceful and the militant factions in the thick of it – as well as all the various movements trying to prevent women from getting the vote. It’s also got the working class – or more accurate the servants class view, all of which makes for an intriguing mystery to solve. It’s also funny – Stephen’s antics as he tries to find his place in the neighbourhood are great, as is Decima and her various foibles. The body count is fairly high – but it manages to balance the light and the shade really well. Miss Decima hasn’t changed her character since the first book and so she’s as cantankerous and difficult as ever – and the book is trying hard not to soften her into fluffy old lady, which must be a temptation given the rest of the genre.

I raced through this and I really hope that there is a third book coming because this showed that there is plenty of material for mining in London for these two.

My copy came from NetGalley and as I said it’s out on the 22nd so you can pre-order it now if you’re desperate to read it after this rave review. Here are the Kindle and Kobo links. It’a a hardback release but should be fairly easy to find in the stores when it does come out – Waterstones have a signed version for preorder which is usually a good sign for availability and I’ve seen Murder at Worlds End all over the place since it came out last year. There’s an audiobook too – which looks like it might be dual narration between Joe Jameson and Juliet Stevenson which would be fun.

Happy Reading!

books, stats, The pile, week in books

The Week in Books: October 5 – October 11

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So here’s the thing… I’ve been on holiday. And I was on holiday this time last week is true. So today’s list is huge. In fact the holiday list in general is massive and I’m pretty pleased with myself because my goal was to read some non fiction (done) and to try and make progress on the NetGalley list (done). And I know what I’m picking for tomorrow too, so I will break the streak of writing about books I finished on Monday! This week I’m back down to earth with a bump so we’ll see what happens to the list now, but I think we already know it’s going to be *much* shorter.

Read:

Julia at the Drive-In by Rainbow Rowell

The Final Problem by Arturo Perez-Reverte

Murder at Canterbury Cathedral by Jim Eldridge

Regime Change by Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan

Winter Breakage by David Levithan

The Price of Admission by Dustin Thao

The Spy and the Snake by M J Rowbotham*

Lord Peter Views the Body by Dorothy L Sayers

The Shadows of Kensington Gore by Ross Montgomery*

Death in the Dressing Room by Simon Brett

The Bloodshed in the Bookshop by Simon Brett

Miss Hortense and the Last Rites by Mel Pennant*

Pride, Prejudice and Peril by Jessica Bull*

Started:

Take a Chance, Sasha Sinclair by Ashley Herring Blake

Still reading:

Any Way the Wind Blows by Rainbow Rowell

Eight ebooks bought (offers post writing does tend to do that to me), one pre-order put in and another pre-order turned up. I’m expecting another pre-order this week so we already know there’ll be at least one book on next week’s list.

Bonus picture: a picture from (nearly) the top of Teide, the third highest volcano in the world. There was sand from the Sahara in the air so we couldn’t see as far as you usually can, but we still got all the effects of being 3,500m above sea level…

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

Book of the Week, mystery

Book of the Week: The Final Problem

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Yes, yes, yes, I know. I’m doing a book I finished on Monday again. But I have reasons: I’m carrying on two themes – it’s Sherlock Holmes related following on from the new Lady Sherlock coming out last week and it’s also translated – this time from Spanish. So there’s method to my madness.

It’s 1960 and in Greece bad weather has stranded tourists on the island of Utakos where they are staying in the only hotel. Then one of them is found dead in a beach cabana. It looks like suicide but one of the guests Basil Ormond – an out of work actor who is best known for playing Sherlock Holmes in a series of movies – thinks that it may be murder. The police can’t get to the island because of the weather and the other guests depute him to investigate because of his experience playing the detective on the big screen. Can he find the killer before the police arrive – or before the killer strikes again?

This is billed as inspired by Agatha Christie and Sherlock Holmes and I think that’s pretty accurate. It’s got a clever mystery, an interesting group of characters and it’s got a really nice style about it – I don’t know how much of that is the translator Frances Riddle vs Arturo Pérez-Reverte himself but it makes for a good reading experience. I didn’t have the killer worked out – which is also good – and once it was revealed I thought it was really neatly done.

Pérez-Reverte is a long established author in Spanish – I’ve seen him on the book shelves when I’ve been browsing on holidays in Spain – and upon looking on amazon it looks like an other series of his about a Spanish D’Artagnan type may also be available in English but I’ve certainly never seen them in shops the way I have this one over the last few months. If you like a classic crime novel this is worth a look, and I enjoyed it enough that I’ll be keeping my eyes open for more of his books – and if this does well may be we will get some more of them in English.

It’s on offer for 99p on Kindle and Kobo at the moment, and as I said it should be fairly easy to find in the shops too.

Happy Reading!

books, stats, The pile, week in books

The Week in Books: September 28 – October 4

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Considering how big the finished list is, I really shouldn’t have added a book to the still reading pile, and yet I did. I got distracted and forgot about it until Sunday. And I’m in a bit of a situation for tomorrow too because I did that thing again last week. When will I learn? (Ed: never!) Anyway, let’s see if I can fix that this week coming…

Read:

A Game of Cat and Killer by Jiro Akagawa*

Unnatural Death by Dorothy L Sayers

Murder on the Cornish Train by J M Hall*

Alan Opts Out by Courtney Maum*

The Voices of the Dead by Nicola Upson*

Puzzles of the Parish edited by Martin Edwards

The Gentleman’s Book of Vice by Jess Everlee*

Take Six Girls by Laura Thompson

A Murder at Midnight by Ellie Alexander

Started:

Julia at the Drive-In by Rainbow Rowell

Pride, Prejudice and Peril by Jessica Bull*

Still reading:

The Final Problem by Arturo Perez-Reverte

Any Way the Wind Blows by Rainbow Rowell

Two books and one ebook

Bonus picture: as I started the week by picking a book I finished on Monday as my BotW I’m carrying on the cat theme with a picture of this kitty, spotted in my neighbourhood.

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