Reading as a retreat from reality

I've been so grateful to be a reader since my husband passed away, just over a month ago. Not that I wasn't before of course, but having somewhere to escape to, where reality doesn't intrude, has been a huge comfort. For a few days even books didn't help but slowly I managed to get back into a book and the author I turned to was Agatha Christie. I have no idea why but she worked for me and the couple of books I read by her were a real escape.

I'll quickly list the books I read in March with one longer review that I had already written weeks ago.

18. The Last Bookshop in London - Madeline Martin

19. A Death in the Parish - Richard Coles

So, this is book two in the author's fairly new 'Canon Clement' mystery series. A new associate vicar is on the scene, Chris Biddle. He's taking over a couple of churches in Daniel Clement's parish so Daniel will have to work with him. But it's not easy as their views on church matters are opposing, Chris being of a more fundimental bent and Daniel, not. All this has to be put to one side though when the ritualistic murder of a teenage boy is discovered on a disused airbase. Policeman and friend of Daniel's, Neil Vanloo, is brought in to investigate and Daniel, as in the first book, helps him to solve the crime. Running alongside this are a couple of other issues including an elderly woman, nearing death, being preyed on by a couple who make it their business to insinuate themselves into death-bed families like this, hoping to pick up a legacy. (I'm assuming this is a 'thing'.) I thoroughly enjoyed this second book about Daniel and his parishioners. I like his mum, Audrey, far from any perfect vicar's mother, judging by what she was up in this instalment. There is some personal stuff which took rather an unexpected twist right at the very end. A genuine 'Wut?' moment. I hesitate to call this a 'cosy' because it has a slight edge in that some of the situations feel very real and quite gritty, but they're not written in a gritty manner. Coles writes in a gentle, non-judgemental, way about human foibles and mistakes and it's actually really well done. There is plenty of humour too. I suspect some situations are based on his personal experiences or that of people he knows and I found some of his theological explanations really interesting too. I gave it five stars on Goodreads, no agonising required.  I gather the next book is based in a monastery and as I love a good monkish murder story I can't wait for that. Murder at the Monastery is out in June I think. 

20. The World's Greatest Sea Mysteries - edited by Michael and Molly Hardwicke. What it says on the tin, an anthology of mysterious happenings on sea voyages etc. Entertaining in places but not fantastic. 

21. Lending a Paw - Laurie Cass.  Book one in the author's cost mystery series: 'Bookmobile Cat Mystery'. This is set in Michigan and revolves around a mobile lending library. There's a murder and a cat and lots of books so what's not to like? I loved it.

22. The Hairy Bikers, Blood, Sweat and Tyres - Si King and Dave Myers. This is a biography of the TV British cooking duo who're household names in the UK. Particularly poignant now of course because Dave Myers died of cancer about 2 months ago. A really enjoyable biography of two lovely men.

23. Best Detective Stories of Cyril Hare. I've been reading this vintage collection for several months and can't recommend it highly enough, it has some really excellent crime short stories in it.

24. Crooked House - Agatha Christie. Terrific story about a family living in a huge house and the death of the patriarch with all the money. Who, amongst the dozens of suspects, knocked him off? Agatha Christie at her best.

25. Passenger to Frankfurt - Agatha Christie. This spy type yarn didn't work quite so well for me and is known as one of her odder books I believe. But I still enjoyed it and noted that, as they say, 'the more things change, the more they stay the same' because much of what Christie worries about in this book are things which are still worrying us now. 

So that was my March reading. Six fiction books, two non-fiction, eight books in all. Personally, one of the strangest and most unsettling months I've experienced in my life and April is not much different if I'm honest. Books continue to be the place I retreat to and so far this month I've finished just two.

Silent Creed by Alex Kava is book two in her 'Ryder Creed' K9 series of crime novels. Quite gritty and scary in its background premise of experimental labs where we have no idea what's goes on inside and what happens when one is destroyed in a landslide. Really good.

Agatha Christie: A Very Elusive Woman by Lucy Worsley. This is a really excellent biography of the iconic crime writer. Having read Christie's own autobiography I thought it might be just a rehash of that but it wasn't at all. There was a lot more comment than I expected and clearly heaps of research done. A really good read and I also highly recommend the accompanying BBC documentary Lucy Worsley made. 

My current read is this:

A cosy murder mystery set at a writing weekend for authors who write erotic fiction: the narrator is there by mistake. The setting of Tuscany is gorgeous, the writing style is gently funny, and I'm really enjoying it.

I hope you're all doing well, enjoying the spring when it's not pouring with rain, and finding lots of good books to read.

Thank you

I just wanted to thank everyone who left such heartfelt and touching messages in reply to my post last week about Peter passing away. I read them all and feel so blessed to know each and every one of you through our mutual passion for reading. I'm doing ok. The sense of unreality and disbelief is still quite overwhelming as is the 'empty chair' syndrome - 50 years is a long time to be with someone. But I'm getting there and I'm so lucky to have two wonderful daughters and grandchildren who are looking after me, I couldn't ask for better to be honest. I will be back, probably in a few weeks, in the meantime I hope to catch up on a few of your blog posts I've missed and start to comment again. I miss it and feel it might comfort me to get back to what I love and I know Peter, a keen reader like myself, would want that. 

Thanks again and take care, all of you. xxx

Personal news

I'm sure some of you have noticed that I have suddenly disappeared and am not around commenting on posts or posting myself. The reason for this is that my husband, Peter, died suddenly of a heart attack on Sunday evening. Although he did have plenty of health issues to do with his heart, lungs, diabetes etc. there was absolutely nothing to suggest this was about to happen so of course myself, my daughters and their families are in deep shock. Peter and I were married for fifty years and that's a huge chunk of your life to be with one person. He was my rock and life will never be the same again for me. Time will heal I'm sure but for a few weeks I will be away from blogging and I know you'll all understand. 

Take care, be kind to yourselves and hug your loved ones like there's no tomorrow because sometimes there isn't.

Catching up

I'm waaaay behind with my reviews - nothing new there - so I'll do one of my 'quick catch-up' posts because otherwise I'm never going to be up to date, and books that deserve talking about will not get any mention at all. Which would be a shame.

First up, Murder on Liberty Bay by Dennis Shock, which is a cosy mystery book that Margot spoke about in this video. 

Lily Pine is newly widowed, her husband, Marty, died about 12 months ago. It had always been his dearest wish to open a restaurant in the Pacific North West and to that end he had actually bought a place in the town of Poulsbo on the coast of Washington State. Now Lily feels up to going there to sort things out and actually make Marty's dream come true by getting the business going. What she doesn't bargain for is finding a dead body on the premises on her first day there. Wanting to get her business going as soon as she can, Lily gets involved in the solving of the murder and also finds herself with a couple of new admirers. So this was a fun, cosy mystery in an absolutely wonderful setting - coastal, mountains behind etc. what's not to love? I'm not the biggest cosy mystery fan, preferring my murder stories with a bit more edge, but I liked this a lot with its touch of romance, interesting characters and a plot where I had no idea until the end who had done the victim in. Recommend for cosy fans.

 

Next, Breaking Creed by Alex Kava. I'm not sure where I heard about this series but feel it has to be on Lark's blog. Anyway, this is book 1 in an 8 book series and there's also a previous series about Maggie O'Dell, an FBI agent who also features heavily in Breaking Creed.

Ryder Creed is a US army veteran who owns working dogs. He and his business partner hire them out for various jobs such as searching for drugs at airports and ports or at sea. On one such trip he takes Gracie, his Jack Russell terrier, and discovers a boat with hold full of trafficked children. Not long after, he rescues a panicked 14 year old girl at an airport and gives her shelter. What's the connection? It's not long before Maggie O'Dell, a previous associate who works with the FBI, becomes involved and Ryder and his dogs are called upon to do more than search for drugs and then walk away. I 'really' liked this first book in a new to me K9 series. It's quite hard hitting. Be warned, there's quite a bit about drug mules and it's not pleasant. A cosy this is 'not'. I liked Ryder a lot, Maggie too and the dogs were great, especially Gracie. I feel this could become a very good series and felt very lucky when I popped to the library last weekend and was able to grab the next few books. Happy Camper! 

 

Lastly, not a crime book but historical fiction this time. The Last Bookshop in London by Madeline Martin was amongst several left for me by Constance from  Staircase Wit when she visited us a couple of years ago. 

Grace Bennett has moved to London from Norfolk with her friend, Viv. It's August 1939 and everyone knows another terrible war is imminent. They move in with a friend of Grace's late mother, Mrs. Weatherford, and her son, Colin who is in his early twenties and of fighting age. Viv gets her dream job working in Harrods because she fakes a letter of recommendation. Grace's mean-spirited uncle would not give her one so Mrs. Weatherford arranges a job in a bookshop her. The owner of the bookshop, Mr. Evans, doesn't really want her there but she makes the best of it and starts to bring in changes which bring new customers. And then war with Germany is declared. I wasn't sure about this one at first. It seemed rather pedestrian. But then I got sucked into Grace's life at the bookshop, her relationships, the people who find the shop, how she 'does her bit' for the war effort and so on. The book is quite strong on the devastation of the The Blitz (if you want really strong I would recommend Life After Life by Kate Atkinson or Dear Mrs. Bird by A.J. Pearce) and what it did to people. Unimaginable for those of us lucky enough not to have lived through it. It's very much a 'found family' story, which is one of my favourite 'tropes'. To be honest, this is a 3.5 book which I upgraded to 4 because it brought me to tears a couple of times, despite the writing being a tiny bit average. One for my personal challenge of reading half a dozen 'world war' books this year.

So that's it, up to date, except that I've nearly finished another book which is A Death in the Parish, book 2 in the Reverand Richard Coles' 'Cannon Clement' series. Enjoying this a lot. Hope you're well and enjoying some good books this month.

Sharing a YT video. 'Why Read Fiction Books?'

If you have ten minutes to spare you could do a lot worse than spend it watching this excellent Youtube video from Rosamunde Bott at Books from my Bookshelf. In it she explains, very eloquently, why we should all read fiction, the joys and the benefits and what people who don't read it are missing out on. Beautifully put. 

Books read in February

Just about everyone is wondering where February went... not just the old and knackered, like me, 'everyone'. Perhaps time really is speeding up (or I read too much speculative fiction...)

Anyway. Books read in February numbered nine and these are they.

9. The Christie Curse - Victoria Abbott

10. Maiden Voyages - Sian Evans

11. Murder at the Spring Ball - Benedict Brown 

12. Dr. Thorne - Anthony Trollope

13. Northbridge Rectory - Angela Thirkell 

14. The Grand Tour - Agatha Christie.  An enjoyable recounting of the famous author's voyage around the world in 1922 to advertise the upcoming British Empire Exhibition of 1924. Interesting, but not quite as fascinating as I had hoped. Come, Tell Me How You Live and her autobiography are much better examples of her non-fiction writing in my opinion. Mind, the book is based on her letters back to her family so you perhaps wouldn't expect the same kind of writing you get in her books.

15. The Lure of Atlantis: Strange Tales of the Sunken Continent, edited by Michael Wheatley. To be reviewed. Not bad, some good stories and some average ones, as is the norm with short story collections.

16. Murder on Liberty Bay - Dennis Shock. To be reviewed, a fun, cozy mystery novella, set in Washington State and recommended by Margot Kinberg HERE.

17. Breaking Creed - Alex Kava. To be reviewed but it was 'really' good, one of a number of K9 mystery series that are prevalent at the moment. Grabbing books two and three from the library when I can.

So, quite a good reading month. Seven fiction titles, two non-fiction. There was some old-fashioned English village and stately home reading (three books) but other than that I've been right around the world and back again on boats and visited three US states - Florida, Washington state and New York state. Plus, had a good ole poke around looking for Atlantis. Can't ask for more than that. 

So much so that I can't name a favourite book this month. Just a couple were not as good as I was hoping but all the rest were top-notch. 

Current reads are these two:

Both of which are 'dip in and out of' books being slowly read on my KF. I'm really at that 'choose a new book' stage and that comes with my usual dithering and prevaricating. Too much choice. 

I hope you all find lots of brilliant books to read in March and are keeping well.

A few short reviews

Time for several short reviews to get myself caught up.

First up, Murder at the Spring Ball by Benedict Brown.

It's 1925 and Lord Edgington is a retired police detective aged 76. He lost his wife ten years ago and for that ten years he's been frozen  in time rather - a recluse in a huge mansion of a house. Waking up from this self-induced coma he decides on a magnificent ball such as the hall used to host in the old days. What he doesn't bargain for is for his sister to keel over, dead, poisoned by the champagne she couldn't wait to sample before everyone else. It's clear someone is after killing the whole family off. Lord Edgington, feeling the actual police are incompetent, sets about solving the murder himself along with the help of his teenage grandson, Christopher. This was huge fun and if you enjoy a country-house murder mystery you might like this. Lord Edgingtom is a bit autocratic but very clever and I like how he takes Christopher under his wing, believing in him when no else has time for the boy. There's a nice sense of a country mansion and a load of grasping, not very pleasant relatives, all with their own secrets of course. I'll definitely be reading on in this series as book 2, A Body at a Boarding School, is, as the title suggests, a 'school' mystery and I'm always up for one of those. 

Next, a classic, Dr. Thorne by Anthony Trollope which is the third book in his Chronicles of Barsetshire series.

Mary Thorne is Dr. Thorne's illegitimate neice and she's lived with him most of her life. Her father was the doctor's brother, Henry, her mother, Mary Scatcherd, from a rough family in the local town. Henry was not much good, and ended up being accidently killed by Mary Scatcherd's brother who went to prison for his crime. Dr. Thorne persuaded Mary to leave the baby with him and go off to America with her fiancé who wanted Mary, but not someone else's baby. Fast forward 20 years and the two live in Greshamsbury and are very friendly with the local squire. Young Mary is in fact almost part of the family and very attached to two of the daughters and the eldest son, Frank Gresham, is in love with Mary Thorne. This is Not Good. Frank's father has squandered money left, right and centre and in order to save the house and the family, Frank must marry money. Mary Thorne has none. So that's the setting for what I gather Trollope felt was his best novel. I can see why, it's beautifully written, the problems and obstacles are so engrossing to read about and I loved it. Hypocrisy is very much the theme of this book, especially around money and blood. Some of these upper crust families desperately needed money so they happily married someone rich with a trade background - perhaps not 'happily' but 'needs must' sort of thing - but heaven forbid one of them wanted to marry a delightful girl from a good family but uncertain parentage and no money. And of course the one to really suffer is not the squire's family but Mary... the details of which I won't go into because of spoilers. Trollope relates the story of Mary Thorne and Frank Gresham in an extremely engaging manner, really funny in places and I loved his authorial voice breaking in occasionally to reassure or explain. Superb, and I will read more by Trollope this year, possibly the next book in the Barsetshire series, Framley Parsonage, or one of his multitude of standalone books. I'd completely forgotten what a brillaint writer he was. 

Lastly, Northbridge Rectory by Angela Thirkell.

So, this is weird because of course I knew that Angela Thirkell set her books in Trollope's fictional Barsetshire but I didn't expect to see families from Dr. Thorne still around and getting mentions in Northbridge Rectory. This is book 10 in her series and the second book which features WW2. Verena Villars is the wife of the local rector in Northbridge. They've been there a year or so and have already settled into their new home and have a lot of friends. Officers from the services are also billeted with them and then there's the vicarage staff who bring all their various trials and tribulations to Verena. This isn't a book where a lot happens, it's about people and how they interact with each other, but unlike most of Thirkell's output this one also has to cover how people coped during the war years. I think it's definitely the funniest one I've read so far. Miss Pemberton protecting Mr. Downing, her academic lodger, who writes books about Provencal troubadoors that no one reads, from other women is hilarious. Of course he gets away, but is that what he really wants? There's Mrs. Turner and her two nieces, whose home is comfortable and welcoming but sheer bedlam. And Mr. Holden, billeted with the Villars, and who has a bad crush on Verena and keeps telling her she looks tired. The vicar is of course pretty much oblivious to all of this... This is now one of my favourites from the series. Thirkell's narrative voice is so funny it reminded me slightly of The Diary of a Provincial Lady by E.M. Delafield. I wondered where Barsetshire actually was, where Trollope had in mind, and I gather it was Somerset and possibly parts of Dorset and Wiltshire and that does indeed 'feel' right... to me anyway. 

So three good books and all authors with the potential for a 'lot' more reading this year. Can't wait.

I hope your February reading is going as well as mine?