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Madeleine's Book Log - ongoing


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Got quite a haul over the weekend:

 

from Amazon:

 

Murder on the Run by Lesley Cookman

Cragside by L J Ross

 

And in a bookshop:

 

The Chalk Pit by Elly Griffiths (latest Ruth Galloway, yay)

Last Seen Alive by Clare Douglas

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The Ivy Tree by Mary Stewart - this is another enjoyable mystery, this time set in Northumberland near Hadrian's Wall. Mary Grey is visiting the wall when a young man approaches her, telling her that she is the image of his cousin Annabel, who ran away several years ago and is now presumed dead. Eventually they realise they are distantly related, but later when Mary is back in the café where she works she becomes aware of a woman who comes in every day and sits and stares at her. When she confronts the woman, she admits that she is the half sister of the man, Con, and is also interested in Mary for her resemblance to Annabel, mainly because their grandfather is very ill, and looks likely to leave their large house and estate to another cousin, Julie, who doesn't want it and lives in London. If Mary could impersonate Annabel and get the old man to change his will so that she inherits, well.... you can guess the rest. Naturally there would be something in it for her, and after much thought and several "training sessions" from Lisa she finally arrives at Whitescar in the guise of "Annabel". There's one major twist in this, which I did suspect, and although it dragged a bit in the middle, once the twist was revealed the second part was much more gripping. Enjoyable if a bit predictable! 7.5/10

Holy Island by L J Ross - this is the first in a series of crime novels (6 so far) also set in Northumberland, and almost entirely set on Holy Island, which gives it a slight locked room/country house feeling. When 2 young women, and then one of the local coastguards, are found dead in ritualistic settings, it looks like there is a serial killer around, and given the island's isolation, it has to be one of the locals. Detective chief Inspector Ryan, who has suffered a trauma of his own, is now living on the island and as a local is heading up the case, with his house being turned into a temporary police station. Another young woman, Anna Taylor, whose sister turns out to be one of the victims, is brought in to help as she is an expert on rituals, and no prizes for guessing what happens between her and Ryan. However their relationship is fairly convincing, and both are likeable, if flawed characters (and yes Ryan is quite a hunk ;) and both are in increasing danger as the investigation progresses. A good introduction to the series, with a great, atmospheric setting. 8/10

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That's okay. I have low standards when it comes to thrillers - even though I frequently come away with three star ratings of them and pointing out flaws, I still actually enjoy reading them :lol:

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Yes they can be tacky but enjoyable!

 

Just got "The Black Friar" by S G MacLean (2nd in the Damian Seeker historical crime series, set during Oliver Cromwell's "reign")

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The Chalk Pit by Elly Griffiths - unbelievably, this is the 9th book in the Ruth Galloway series, and as usual it starts with the discovery of some bones in a "secret" tunnel under the city of Norwich, found when a local architect has a survey done with a plan to build an underground restaurant. His plans are seriously thrown out when Ruth reveals that the bones are probably only about 10 years old, therefore work has to stop as it could possibly be a murder victim. Then 2 homeless men are stabbed to death, one on the steps of the police station, and women start to go missing, including one who is the partner of one of the police team investigating the cases. This was another enjoyable read, with Ruth's daughter Kate now growing up, and more developments in Ruth's already complicated private life. 7.5/10

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Crowner's Quest by Bernard Knight - this is the 3rd in the Crowner John series, and again is a highly enjoyable tale set in late 12th century Exeter, where Christmas is put on hold after an elderly priest is found hanged. Initially suicide is suspected, but then John notices some suspicious features on the body which lead him to suspect murder, and duly finds himself being involved in a land feud, and also having his colourful love life dragged through the mud and, most worryingly of all, he's hauled off to prison on a trumped up charge of assault. But help comes from an unexpected quarter, which turns out to be rather touching. This is a solid mediaeval crime novel, set against the background of a country which is becoming increasingly disillusioned at having to keep paying out ransoms for it's absentee king (Richard I), whilst a rebellious attempt to put the King's brother, John, on the throne also seems to be brewing, and keeps John busy as well as all his other cases, and trying to stay on the right side of his brother-in-law, who also happens to be the sheriff, and who is highly ambitious and would love to see John fall. But there's quite a bit of humour too, with some amusing, albeit awkward scenes, between John and his wife. 7.5/10

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The Dry by Jane Harper - this is the debut novel by a journalist, and is set in the small town of Kinnewara, which has been sweltering under a relentless heatwave and subsequent drought for nearly 2 years. Aaron Falk, who left the town after an incident during his teens, for which he took a lot of the blame, returns for the funeral of his best friend Luke, who reportedly shot his wife and son, and then himself. Aaron is now a cop, but is mainly involved with fraud and other financial crime, but finds himself drawn into finding out what really happened to his friend, and also finally laying to rest the ghosts of all those years ago. Some of the locals aren't that thrilled to see him either, but with the help of the local policeman, he gradually unravels the truth. I enjoyed this, it was very well-written, despite the story not being very original, and the characters were vividly drawn, although some of them were a little bit cliched. And the book became more gripping as the truth was slowly revealed. A very promising debut. 8/10


The Hanging Tree by Ben Aaronovitch - the 6th in the Peter Grant series, and just as amusing as the earlier instalments, with Peter becoming involved in the "demi-monde" yet again, this time following the investigation of an accidental drugs overdose. Lots of dry humour, and some good action scenes. And we finally learn more about the Faceless Man. Not sure where the title comes from though, as the titular tree is only mentioned very briefly, and doesn't play much of a part in the story. 7.5/10

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I've seen a few people talking about The Dry, and it's on my wishlist. Glad to hear you enjoyed it :)

 

I also just noticed you bought Last Seen Alive - I recently bought that too. It has really good reviews!

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Every time I've been in Waterstone's recently they've asked if I'd read The Dry, think it was one of their books of the month in July and they seemed to really be pushing it.  I enjoyed it but I don't think it's particularly original (although the ending is different to the usual confrontation that this type of book has).

 

yes LSA has good reviews, I have her previous one too which was also well received.

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The Muse by Jessie Burton - this is the eagerly awaited second novel by the author of The Miniaturist, and is very different, although there are still tragic overtones. It's a dual time-frame, and the more recent part is set in 1967, when a young woman emigrates from Trinidad to London. First Odelle finds work in a shoe shop, which she hates, but eventually she gets a job on the reception desk of an art gallery, which she loves. One day a young man, Lawrie, walks in with a painting which his mother had left to him (the only thing she left to him in fact) and the gallery owner believes it belongs to a lost Spanish artist, who disappeared mysteriously during the Spanish Civil War. So the other part of the book tells the story of the painting, and the artist, who became involved with the Schloss family, who fled Austria for the Spanish countryside near Malaga. Mr Schloss was an art dealer, but it's his daughter Olive who is the main focus here. It was an enjoyable story, although I felt it took a while to get going, and I think I would have preferred a continuous narrative, despite the fact that I love dual time frames, but none of the characters felt fully developed, and none of them were very likeable (especially Mr and Mrs Schloss), but it was very beautifully written, and I'd recommend it to anyone who likes literary fiction. Can't wait to see what the author does next! 8/10

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Hi Madeleine I agree with what you are saying here I too felt they could have delved a bit deeper into the characters with lots of things left unsaid.  But as I said I did enjoy it and would certainly read it again at some point.

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The Cruellest Month by Louise Penny - 3rd in the Inspector Gamache series, and this time the investigation centres around the death of a newish resident in Three Pines (if it's so idyllic why do people keep getting killed ;) ) at a séance held at Hadley House, which holds terrible memories for everyone, including Gamache. At first it's thought the death was from a heart attack, but then a herbal substance, which has banned after several people died after using it as a slimming aid, is found in the woman's body. It turns out that many in the village didn't like this seemingly perfect woman, and the secret might lie in her past. Meanwhile Gamache finds his own past coming back to haunt him, as the press seem to be doing their best to discredit him, but he and his team soldier on, determined to find out the killer's identity. This was another, enjoyable, solid mystery, although Gamache does seem to be a bit too perfect and saintly. I would work for him though! This is definitely the Canadian equivalent of the UK's Midsomer Murders. 8/10

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Ashes of London by Andrew Taylor - 1st in a new series of Shardlake-style historical crime novels set in London as the Great Fire burns, and a body is found in the ruins which later turns out to be a murder victim. Then another body turns up with the same MO, and James Marwood, whose father is a regicide who has been pardoned, and is now suffering from dementia, is ordered to find the killer. Running parallel to this is the story of a young woman, Cat Lovett, whose father is also a traitor, and who is determined to stop at nothing for her freedom. Her path often crosses that of Marwood and he is not quite sure what to make of her. She's definitely an anti-hero, I wasn't sure what to make of her either and found the ending slightly ambiguous. This was a solid read but I did find it a bit convoluted and hard to follow at times. However it was a promising start to a new series, but Shardlake is way out in front at the moment. 7/10

A Death at Fountains Abbey by Antonia Hodgson - 3rd in the Thomas Hawkins series and another hugely enjoyable read. This time Tom (and later Kitty) is sent out of London up to Yorkshire, to try to retrieve a ledger from John Aislabie, one of the men involved in the disastrous south Sea Bubble debacle (think of a historical Bernie Madoff/ Ponzi scheme financial collapse) who is believed to have a list of all the men who may have known that the scheme was about to collapse and sold their shares at a fantastic profit just in time. Many people hate Aislabie, and he's been receiving some terrifying threats, but seems more pre-occupied with a woman who is claiming to be his daughter, who as supposedly killed as a toddler when his London house was burnt down by a servant to try to cover up a theft. Several people think she is simply a gold-digging impostor, but she is only one of many people around who are behaving a bit oddly, and Tom has his work cut out trying to find out what is going on, and when things turn to murder after one of Aislabie's most trusted servants is brutally killed, it looks like everyone is in danger. I thoroughly enjoyed this, it's very entertaining with some thrilling moments, and Tom and Kitty are as likeable and irascible as ever, and although it's quite dark at times, there is also some nice humour, and some sympathetic characters; I particularly liked Judith, who is married to Aislabie and who Tom takes quite a shine to (especially when he sees her riding in, horrors, trousers!) and even Aislabie himself isn't a really bad man. 8/10

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Quite a haul in Waterstone's yesterday:

 

Thin Air - Michelle Paver
The Third Nero - Lindsey Davis
The Executioner of St Paul's - Susanna Gregory
The Travelling Bag - Susan Hill

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7 hours ago, Madeleine said:

Quite a haul in Waterstone's yesterday:

 

Thin Air - Michelle Paver
The Third Nero - Lindsey Davis
The Executioner of St Paul's - Susanna Gregory
The Travelling Bag - Susan Hill

 

Ooh, Susan Hill. Have you see Jacob`s Room is full of books, the follow up to Howard`s End is on the landing ? :)

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