And another week is gone. Less than a month until the big day. Yes – I am going to mention it. The ‘C’ word. In 28 days time I get to celebrate Curry Day! I’m far from traditional and, despite all my teasing throughout the year, I really don’t celebrate Christmas. Being non religious, I’m of the ‘if you like people you spend time with them and treat them throughout the year instead of waiting for one preordained day’ school of thought, so Christmas is just another day. But I do enjoy a good curry and I guess you could call it my tradition if you like. I did attempt something Christmassy last week on my day off, as Mandie and I took the train to Brum to visit the Christmas market. I’m going to asume it’s the Brexit effect, as it was nothing like it used to be and if you didn’t want a beer, a gluhwein (I’m not a drinker), a donut or a bratwurst, (or you are a teetotal, diabetic, vegetarian) it was hard to find something to appeal. We gave up in the end so went to the Kitty Cafe instead for a coffee and a piece of cake.
Cats and kittens from the Kitty Cafe and “Ozzy the Bull” in Birmingham New Street Station
Bookwise, it was a pretty quiet week until Thursday. Two lovely pre-orders arrived in the shape of The Watchmaker’s Hand by Jeffery Deaver, which had lovely gold detailing on the hardcover, and Yule Island by Johana Gustawsson, translated by David Warriner, which has a beautiful blue patterned spredge. How nice am I to me?
L-R: Yule Island with the lovely spine and spredge detail; The Watchmaker’s Hand with the gold foil head made of watch cogs on the hardcover.
I received a few books from Netgalley this week too. Like busses, you get no approvals in weeks, then four come along at once! One of the Good Guys by Araminta Hall (04 Jan); A Country Wedding Murder by Katie Gayle (13 Mar); Five Bad Deeds by Caz Freer (11 Apr); and The Trials of Marjorie Crowe by C.S. Robertson (18 Jan). I’ve already read one, and am looking forward to devouring the others over the coming weeks.
L-R: One of the Good Guys; A Country Wedding Murder; Five Bad Deeds; The Trials of Marjorie Crowe
And that is my lot for this week. It’s plenty I think.
Books I have read
A Killer In The Family by Gytha Lodge
Aisling’s two sons mean everything to her. But being estranged from her own parents, she’s always felt a piece of her is missing. Desperate to find answers, Aisling uploads her DNA to an ancestry website. She quickly gets a match. But instead of answers, she finds a detective. Aisling’s DNA is a match for a recent crime scene. And the police have three lead suspects: her father, or one of her two sons . . . Aisling would do anything for her family – but can she protect a killer?
In The Blink of an Eye by Jo Callaghan
In the UK, someone is reported missing every 90 seconds. Just gone. Vanished. In the blink of an eye. DCS Kat Frank knows all about loss. A widowed single mother, Kat is a cop who trusts her instincts. Picked to lead a pilot programme that has her paired with AIDE (Artificially Intelligent Detective Entity) Lock, Kat’s instincts come up against Lock’s logic. But when the two missing person’s cold cases they are reviewing suddenly become active, Lock is the only one who can help Kat when the case gets personal. AI versus human experience. Logic versus instinct. With lives on the line can the pair work together before someone else becomes another statistic? In the Blink of an Eye is a dazzling debut from an exciting new voice and asks us what we think it means to be human .
One of the Good Guys by Araminta Hall (04 Jan)
This is what happens when two women have had enough… Cole is the perfect husband; a romantic, supportive of his wife’s career, keen to be a hands-on dad, not a big drinker. A good guy. So when his wife leaves him, he’s floored. She was lucky to be with a man like him. Craving solitude, he accepts a job on the coast and quickly settles into his new life. Then he meets reclusive artist Lennie. And though she is quite different from the woman he’d expected, he believes he has finally found a soulmate. But as their relationship develops, two young women go missing while on a walk protesting gendered violence, right by where Cole and Lennie live. Finding themselves at the heart of a police investigation and media frenzy, Cole soon realises they don’t know each other very well at all . . . If most men say they’re one of the good guys, then why are so many women afraid to walk alone at night?
That was my lot but I’m happy enough with three books finished. I’ve had all my bookvent posts to start prepping and they take quite some time to do photos, prepare short recaps and get all the links etc. The things I do to celebrate books! Busy enough week on the blog though. Recap below:
#GuestPost – Murder on the Christmas Express – Alexandra Benedict #Review – A Class Inherited – Susie Murphy #Review – The Maid – Nita Prose #Review – The Devil’s Table – Kate Rhodes #Review – If I Die Before I Wake – Emily Koch
The week ahead is full of reviews – no tours, although Mandie is joining #TeamTennison to share her thoughts on Murder Mile by Lynda La Plante. We’re on a kind of wind down now, and reviews will stop around the end of the first week in December, although I will be sharing #bookvent posts all month, highlighting my favourite reads of 2023, including my book of the year. That all kicks off this Friday. Can you believe we’re here already?
Hope you have a lovely bookish week. I’m hoping to get another book read at least before the end of the month so wish me luck. I have so many brilliant titles in my TBR, the hardest part is picking where to start!
Happy reading folks.
Jen
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