Category: week in books

books, stats, The pile, week in books

The Week in Books: June 30 – July 6

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Happy Monday everyone. I feel like every week I say that it’s been a busy week but this week really has been. And I’m on a work trip at the moment, so it’s only going to get busier. What can you do. I haven’t made much progress at all on the two new books I started last week because I had so many nights away from home and didn’t take them with me.

Read:

Knit, Purl, Die by Anne Canadeo

Murder Must Advertise by Dorothy L Sayers

The Yellow Rambutan Tree by Ovidia Yu

Cooking the Books by Kerry Greenwood

Dear Miss Lake by A J Pearce*

We Three Queens by Rhys Bowen

Murder by Moonlight by Julie Mulhern

Started:

The Spirit Killers by Hugh Morrison

Still reading:

Finders Keepers by Sarah Adler

Six Sweets Under by Sarah Fox

A Schooling in Murder by Andrew Taylor*

Abdication by Juliet Nicolson

Two books bought, one pre-order arrived.

Bonus picture: a fashion show being set up on my route to work. Or at least I assume that’s what it is!

*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, first in series, historical, mystery

Book of the Week: Death and the Conjurer

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Another mystery book this week, this time a new to me author writing mysteries set in the 1930s.

In Death and the Conjurer, a celebrity psychiatrist is found murdered in his study – but the door was locked and there seems to have been no way for anyone to have committed the crime. The Scotland Yard detective calls in magician turned sleuth Joseph Spector to help solve a seemingly impossible murder.

And this really does seem to be an impossible one. The solution when it comes is clever and well worked out and as the book says the clues are there, even if I didn’t believe it when the book said that! Inspector Flint and Spector are a good duo – they both have their strengths so it feels like a pretty equal relationship rather than a stupid cop and a brilliant amateur. It’s also the first of three so there are two more for me to read now too.

This one is in Kindle unlimited at the moment and so if you’ve got a membership it’s worth a look.

Happy Reading!

books, stats, The pile, week in books

The Week in Books: June 23 – June 29

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Hello from the heatwave. It’s so hot. And Britain isn’t built for this heat. It’s making it very hard to concentrate on anything. Oh and I did two shows last week – one was The Frogs, the less said about the other the better! I’ve got another super busy week this week and it’s only going to get hotter, so who knows what this list will look like next week…

Read:

Five Red Herrings by Dorothy L Sayers

Sorry for the Dead by Nicola Upson

The Dead of Winter by Nicola Upson

Death and the Conjurer by Tom Mead

Fear of Frying by Jill Churchill

Have His Carcase by Dorothy L Sayers

The Chow Maniac by Vivian Chien

Started:

Finders Keepers by Sarah Adler

Six Sweets Under by Sarah Fox

Still reading:

Knit, Purl, Die by Anne Canadeo

A Schooling in Murder by Andrew Taylor*

Abdication by Juliet Nicolson

One ebook bought, one actual book bought, one preorder arrived.

Bonus picture: more Miffy!

*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, reviews

Book of the Week: Helle and Death

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It’s Tuesday and I’m back with another murder mystery for my book of the Week pick. And it’s a wintery one despite the fact that it’s a heatwave here. Does reading a book about cold weather make you feel better or worse in situations about this? Who knows. Anyway.

The set up here is that Torben Helle and a group of his university friends have been invited for a reunion by the most successful of their group, a man who because super rich after his invention took off. They haven’t really spent time together as a group in the ten years since they graduated but in snowy Northumbria they reassemble. The morning after their arrival they are snowed in and their host is dead in his bed. One of them must of done it – but who? Torben and his knowledge of Golden Age murder mysteries (and his closest friends in the group) set out to solve the crime.

As we all know at this point, I love a murder mystery – and I especially love a country house murder mystery so this was right up my street. The pacing is a little slow, but I liked the characters and the idea of a group of previously close friends brought back together. I saw a few of the twists coming, but I was ultimately pretty satisfied with the way that it all worked out. And I loved all the references to classic murder mysteries – because of course loads of them were books that I’ve read (some of them read multiple times!).

My copy came via NetGalley (yes, I know, I know, I know) but it’s out now in Kindle and Kobo. I’ve seen the sequel in the shops and would definitely give it a read to see if the pacing improves when there isn’t so much heavy lifting to do in the set up.

Happy Reading

books, stats, The pile, week in books

The Week in Books: June 16 – June 22

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A really, really busy week. A trip to the theatre, plus the arrival of series 2 of America’s Sweethearts plus a busy weekend means not as much progress on some of the long runners as I would have liked, but I did get one more off the list. Also it’s been so hot and it’s so hard to concentrate (and to sleep) when it’s that muggy. Fingers crossed that it’s warm but not humid this week…

Read:

Helle and Death by Oskar Jensen*

Strong Poison by Dorothy L Sayers

Forbidden Fruit by Kerry Greenwood

The Listeners by Maggie Stiefvater*

Death and the Decorator by Simon Brett

A Wild Rose by Fiona Davis

The Forgotten Chapter by Pam Jenoff

Started:

Knit, Purl, Die by Anne Canadeo

Still reading:

A Schooling in Murder by Andrew Taylor*

Sorry for the Dead by Nicola Upson

Abdication by Juliet Nicolson

Three books and one ebook bought.

Bonus picture: Summer in full bloom in Bloomsbury

*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: A Murder for Miss Hortense

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I previewed this one last week as it came out – and I’ve since finished it so I’m coming back around to give a review because it is a really great set up and a really nice read.

Cover of A Murder for Miss Hortense

And so the set up: Miss Hortense is a retired nurse who lives in a Birmingham suburb after coming to the UK from Jamaica in 1960. When a body turns up in the home of one of her acquaintances, she is drawn into investigating. She’s pretty fearless – she’s had to be to survive more than three decades in nursing and living in an area that wasn’t exactly welcoming when she first arrived. A lot of the signs point to a connection to the Pardner network, which she was instrumental in setting up back in the 1960s soon after her arrival when the Jamaican community were struggling to get help from banks. But she left the pardner under a cloud years ago. For years Miss Hortense has been at the centre of the community, she knows all the histories and a lot of secrets but the investigation leads her into areas she would rather not think about, and dangers that she thought she had put behind her.

I really enjoyed this – Miss Hortense is very independent and self-reliant, and somewhat abrasive at times, but she makes for a fascinating lens to look at a very tight-knit community that is hiding plenty of secrets. I really liked the language and the also the fact that it has a different setting to so many murder mysteries and doesn’t info dump you with stuff, it expects you to be smart enough to figure things out already or go and find out. I went off down a rabbit hole about pardner schemes because I had never heard of them before, which was fascinating, but it’s also such a great (and realistic) device to be causing tension in a community. I read this in less than a day, and would happily return to the world of Miss Hortense – and I hope that there is a sequel. She’s certainly well placed to be able to investigate something else…

My copy came from NetGalley, but this is out now on Kindle and Kobo and in hardback. I will be keeping an eye out in the bookshops to see if I can spot it in person so to speak.

Happy Reading!

books, stats, The pile, week in books

The Week in Books: June 9 – June 15

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So I got two long runners off the list, but at the cost of not finishing two more that I started last week. So the Still reading list remains at four. Just not the same four. Other than that, I’ve been trying to pick my reading from the NetGalley lists because that’s one backlog I really should be trying to get down and that I can do when away from home, and I’ve got all sorts of genres on there so I really should be able to find something to suit my mood there.

Read:

Death on the Prowl by Ann Granger

A Murder for Miss Hortense by Mel Pennant*

The Sweet Dove Died by Barbara Pym

A Body at the Book Fair by Ellie Alexander*

Iced in Iowa by Patti Benning

Wish You Were Here by Jess K Hardy*

Trick or Treat by Kerry Greenwood

Started:

Helle and Death by Oskar Jensen*

Still reading:

A Schooling in Murder by Andrew Taylor*

Sorry for the Dead by Nicola Upson

The Listeners by Maggie Stiefvater*

Abdication by Juliet Nicolson

Two books bought at a book fair.

Bonus picture: filming happening in Fitzroy Square on Thursday afternoon.

*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, books, cozy crime, crime

Book of the Week: Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers

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So a bit of a strange one this week – because I started this literal years ago and couldn’t get into it, gave up and then came back to it this weekend, started again and read it all in evening. So here we are.

Vera Wong is the 60-year-old proprietor of a tea shop. She likes to match make and meddle in her son’s life. But one day she finds a dead body in her shop and switches her focus to finding out who killed him – because she doesn’t think the police are trying hard enough. But it turns out that she likes her chief suspects a lot more than the victim and soon it’s all getting a bit messy.

So as I said, I didn’t get into this first time around at all and it did take a while to get into it the second time too. But I really liked Julia and Emma when they arrived and the effect that Vera had on their lives and that’s where I started to get into it and after that something clicked. The solution is clever and something I hadn’t spotted as well.

I do have a bit of a mixed record with Sutanto – I liked Dial A for Aunties, but didn’t enjoy the sequel and haven’t read the third yet, although I probably will for the sake of completeness because I am that person. There is a sequel to this, but given my prior experience who knows what I might make of that!

My copy of this one came from NetGalley an eon ago, but it should be fairly easy to get hold of if you want to – I’ve seen it in paperback in the big bookshops and of course it’s on Kindle and Kobo.

Happy Reading!

books, stats, The pile, week in books

The Week in Books: June 2 – June 8

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It’s June and we’ve been down to the seaside, so of course there were flash floods. British summertime everyone. Anyway, on the reading front I finished the Mitchell and Markby reread and then had to figure out what to read next. Which turned out to be more murder mysteries. I mean it almost always does turn out to be more murder mysteries at the moment, it just depends on what type.

Read:

That Way Murder Lies by Ann Granger

These Old Shades by Georgette Heyer

Nine Lessons by Nicola Upson

Deadly Company by Ann Granger

The Mirror Crack’d from Side to Side by Agatha Christie

Copper Script by K J Charles

Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q Sutanto*

Started:

A Schooling in Murder by Andrew Taylor*

Sorry for the Dead by Nicola Upson

Still reading:

The Listeners by Maggie Stiefvater*

The Sweet Dove Died by Barbara Pym

Wish You Were Here by Jess K Hardy*

Abdication by Juliet Nicolson

One bought, one preorder arrived – the new Taylor Jenkins Reid.

Bonus picture: Bournemouth pier in June…

*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, detective, mystery

Book of the Week: Swan Song

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After a break last week for a book that wasn’t strictly a mystery, this week I’m firmly back in the mystery world – not just with today’s pick but with basically everything in tomorrow’s Quick Reviews too. Because basically almost everything I haven’t already told you about from last month is murder mystery because that’s the sort of month it was, and June continues the same way (I finished this on Sunday!)

The Second World War is over, and on Oxford preparations are underway for the first postwar production of Wagner’s Die Meistersinger. It is not a happy company because one of the singers, Edwin Shorthouse, was already unpopular before he started throwing his weight around and behaving badly at rehearsals. So when he is found dead, few of the company are upset, until it starts to look like it may be murder and not a suicide and one of their number may be responsible. Gervase Fen has a challenge on his hands.

I am slowly (and out of order) working my way through Edmund Crispin’s series about the eccentric Oxford Don, and this is a really good one. I love a theatre-set mystery and this is a perplexing locked room puzzle, and those are always good too. This has a dash of the absurd about it as well as the eccentricities of Fen and it’s very easy to read and the solution fits with that.

This is available in all the usual ways including Kindle and Kobo and there have been enough recent editions that you maybe able to pick it up second hand too.

Happy Reading!