It’s not slowing down this brand new year of ours, is it? How the heck have we got to the fourth week of January already? And what the heck am I doing with my life? Apparently the answer to that is catching up on about four years of missed TV but that’s another story … Yesterday was apparently Squirrel Appreciation Day (today as I write this) so here are some squirrels across the years.
A New York squirrel practicing a meditation balancing pose (top left). Top right is a St James Park squirrel looking for some nosh. The rest are London and Shropshire squirrels doing what squirrels do.
Finally remembered to watch the final few episodes of Reacher S2 on Friday/Saturday, which led to further Prime TV offerings, namely Good Omens , (still with the bookish link obvs). Both seasons completed in one day meant I haven’t done as well as I’d hoped on the reading front but I’m okay with that. Less okay with the fact that I’m on two days worth of Management training at work, starting today, so lord knows how functional my brain will be at the end of it. We’ll see.
Training woes aside though, what a week for books! Orders, subscriptions and some lovely book post have made this TV binge watching bookworm very happy. A huge thank you to Karen Sullivan at Orenda Books for sending me ARC copies of The Descent by Paul E. Hardisty (29 Feb), and The Kitchen by Simone Buchholz (11 Apr). A massive thanks also to Louise Jensen who kindly sent me a copy of her brand new psychological thriller, The Intruders , (11 Apr). Some very exciting reading days ahead.
L-R: The Descent; The Kitchen; The Intruders
I also received my Orenda Books subscription for January, this time Halfway House by Helen Fitzgerald and The Guests by Agnes Ravatn. Add on my Goldsboro Books order of their signed and numbered copies of Dead Sweet by Katrín Júlíusdóttir.
L-R: Halfway House; The Guests; Dead Sweet
And … I ordered a couple of books as well. The Goldsboro Books edition of The Shadow Network by Tony Kent (15 Feb), and Christie Barlow’s The Vintage Flower Van On Love Heart Lane (23 May). And I succumbed to one last minute Netgalley title – Ten Seconds by Robert Gold (14 Mar). I love this series and cannot wait to see what Ben Harper is mixed up in this time. Thanks Little Brown!
L-R: The Shadow Network (Goldsboro Books edition); The Vintage Flower Van on Love Heart Lane; Ten Seconds
Books I have read
Every Trick In The Book by Bernard O’Keeffe (15 Feb)
‘When the body of Alex Ballantyne is found in Barnes Pond the police are baffled. Who could want to kill the newly retired teacher? Investigations bring them to St Jude’s, the prestigious private school where Ballantyne taught, and to the discovery that Ballantyne had been blackmailing several of his colleagues. Sex. Money. Drugs. It seems that Ballantyne knew all about his victims’ secrets, and they were prepared to pay to buy his silence. Is one of the St Jude’s staff the killer? And, if so, which one? DI Moriarty’s on the case and he’s soon discovering that nothing is quite as it seems.’
So runs the blurb of ‘Schooled in Murder’, a crime novel written by Ben Joseph, who is found dead in Barnes Pond the morning after giving a talk as part of the Barnes Book Festival.
DI Garibaldi and his team are shocked to discover that the writer has been killed in exactly the same place, and in exactly the same way, as the victim in ‘Schooled in Murder’.
When they look at the novel they see more connections with real life. Ben Joseph is the pseudonym of Liam Allerton who, like the victim in his novel, is a retired teacher. And he taught at St Mark’s, a school very similar to St Jude’s, the school in his novel.
But is that where the similarities end? How much of Allerton’s own life, and the lives of those he knew, had he put into his novel? And could the clue to the killer’s identity lie in its pages.
A Country Wedding Murder by Katie Gayle (13 Mar)
The joyous crowd applauds as the happy couple strides down the aisle. This Cotswolds country wedding has everything – friends and family, beautiful flowers and… murder? When Julia Bird’s ex-husband Peter and his lovely partner Christopher decide to get married in Berrywick, Julia is delighted – after all, who doesn’t love a country wedding? Little does Julia know that normally calm and collected Christopher will turn into a full-on Groomzilla – and that by the end of the night, someone will end up dead. The morning after the big day, the jolly nuptial mood turns grim when Julia discovers the lifeless body of the caterer, Desmond. Someone locked him in the cold truck and the poor man froze to death. Now looking for a murderer, all eyes are on Christopher who, mid-tantrum, had publicly threatened to kill him. Convinced that Christopher is innocent, Julia vows to find the real culprit. Julia soon discovers Desmond had a long list of enemies as she races against the clock to clear Christopher’s name. Could his death be the work of the respected wedding planner who was heard exchanging choice words with the victim? Or perhaps it was his wife – ‘til death do them part – who didn’t shed a single tear at his funeral? But just when Julia thinks she’s cracked the case, her prime suspect is found dead with a knife in their back. Can Julia find the murderer before they strike again?
Squeaky Clean by Callum McSorley
Half the Glasgow copshop think DI Alison McCoist is bent. The other half just think she’s a fuck-up.
No one thinks much at all about carwash employee Davey Burnet, until one day he takes the wrong customer’s motor for a ride.
One kidnapping later, he’s officially part of Glasgow’s criminal underworld, working for a psychopath who enjoys playing games like ‘Keep Yer Kneecaps’ with any poor bastard who crosses him.
Can Davey escape from the gang’s clutches with his kneecaps and life intact? Perhaps this polis Ally McCoist who keeps nosing around the carwash could help. That’s if she doesn’t get herself killed first.
I’m happy enough with three books. Not bad for a busy week … Busy enough on the blog last week too – recap below:
#Review – The Trials of Marjorie Crowe – C.S. Robertson #Review – Murder On Lake Garda – Tom Hindle #Review – Killing Jericho – William Hussey #Review – Halfway House – Helen Fitzgerald #Review – Munich Wolf – Rory Clements
The week ahead sees us sharing a bunch more reviews, with just the one blog tour on Tuesday, The Guests by Agnes Ravatn.
Cover of The Guests
And that’s my lot. Hope you all have a great week full of books. I’m back to reviewing duty (for a change) but determined to keep up with the books read as much as possible this year so that I’m under less pressure. At leat that’s the theory.
Happy reading all.
Jen x
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