Madeleine's Books Read 2022

[Madeleine]

The Sicilian Method" by Andrea Camilleri - this is the penultimate novel in the Inspector Montalbano series, the TV version was recently shown here and, whilst entertaining, it was ultimately a bit disappointing and didn't really feel "right", the book is pretty much the same, in fact the TV film was better. At times the book seems to ramble, and Montalbano is definitely having a mid life crisis, whilst his long term relationship with Livia has become pretty tedious, the way it's dealt with here seems unrealistic, and although the book dragged, the ending still felt rushed. The storyline involves Montalbano's lothario deputy, Mimi Augello, thinking he's discovered a corpse, whilst hiding from his latest lover's husband, but when he returns to the flat, there's no body. So begins the usual convoluted tale, involving a real murder too, when an avant garde theatre director gets murdered, and there are plenty of suspects, including the cast of his latest production. I hope the final book in the series is better. 5/10

[France]

I'll admit to enjoying the TV series, ridiculous as it is in places, more than the books as I've never really got on with Camillieri's style.

[Madeleine]

The Locked Room" by Elly Griffiths - this latest book in the Ruth Galloway series takes place during the start of the Covid pandemic back in March 2020, and the first lockdown. At first all is normal, Ruth is teaching as usual, her daughter has just started secondary school and DCI Nelson's wife is visiting her mother in Blackpool, along with their youngest child. The police investigate, as a matter of routine, a probable suicide, but when another supposed suicide happens, and it turns out that both women were linked to each other, the police look at some cold cases, and it looks like there might be more to these tragic deaths than they first thought. Trying to investigate a possible serial killer whilst the country is in locked down proves difficult to say the least. Meanwhile two of Ruth's students go AWOL, and it looks like one of them knew at least one of the suspected murder victims. Ruth has a mystery of her own, when she finds an old photo of her house in Norfolk amongst her mother's papers, but the photo was taken years before Ruth was even born, and considering her family were based in North London, it seems a very strange coincidence. So lots going on in this book, and whilst it was as readable as ever, it did sometimes feel as if there were too many storylines going on. I still enjoyed it though, despite the uncomfortable reminders of the first lockdown. There's a nice bit of spookiness too, with some old Norwich legends coming to the surface, and this does provide quite a lot of the book's dark humour. Would you like to share a house with a Grey lady?! 7/10

[Madeleine]

"Under a Siena Sun" by T A Williams - we first meet Dr Lucy Young in Mabenta, a small town in Africa which is caught up in a war, and she is waiting to be evacuated to safety by the UN, along with two nurses - she's a surgeon with the organisation Medecin sans Frontieres. The airlift is successful and Lucy returns to her parents' home in Devon. She's soon bored, so it's a relief when she gets the chance to go to Siena to attend her old friend's wedding - the women's mothers were at uni together, with the result being that Lucy spent many happy summer holidays in Tuscany, so the wedding is also a reunion of old friends. One of them, Bruno, asks her for help with an emergency at the clinic he runs - it's an exclusive establishment which only deals with very wealthy clients and this emergency involves an American tennis star who's accidentally shot himself. Patient duly patched up, and Lucy returns to the wedding party, but it's not long before Bruno offers her a permanent job at the clinic. Used to dealing with patients who have very little, Lucy wrestles with her conscience at dealing with unimaginably wealthy and privileged people, but she had wanted a break from MSF, and also wanted to have a place of her own, so she agrees and is soon renting a pretty house in the hills. Her new landlord turns out to be, yes the US tennis player, who at first is surly and grumpy - his career has been ruined by a knee injury, which is why he is having treatment at the clinic - but they gradually bond over food, the local history and black labradors, of which there are plenty in this book (they are one of the author's trademarks). Inevitably romance blossoms, but Lucy wrestles with the idea of living in utter luxury, whilst poor people can't afford basic medical treatment. This is all very honourable but after a while the constant references to her dilemma become tiresome, but it all works out in the end, so much so that I felt the ending felt contrived and schmaltzy, and everyone was too good to be true. If she wanted to help ordinary people so much, just get a job in the NHS! But she seems to want to have it all ways, and the solution to her dilemma wasn't entirely convincing either. However it's a nice holiday read, the descriptions of Tuscany are lovely, and there is also a lot of food involved! 6/10

[Madeleine]

"One of the Girls" by Lucy Clarke - this is yet another novel in the "a group of people go on holiday somewhere remote and one of them dies" genre! This one to be fair, is actually quite well-written and did keep me interested, it is a page turner and although all the characters have their flaws they are believable, for the most part, and the author kept me guessing right until the end, as to who doesn't make it home in one piece. There are some clever twists as secrets (and lies) all start to emerge, old resentments surface and it gradually becomes apparent that some of the group have come on the holiday for reasons other than to enjoy a hen weekend. The hen in question is Lexi, a dancer turned yoga teacher who finds herself at a villa on a small Greek island with her two best friends who she's known since school, a newer friend from her yoga class, her future sister-in-law, and the girlfriend of one of her friends. As the weekend carries on, ulterior motives start to be revealed, and everything leads to a beach party on the last night, with the group already fracturing. It's a good holiday read, and I enjoyed it and kept turning the pages as it's very easy to read, a "just one more chapter" type of book. I did think the ending, or various endings, were a little too neat though. i have a few booksby this author and she's certainly someone I would read more of. 7.5/10

[Madeleine]

"The Midnight Hour" by Elly Griffiths - this is the 6th book in what used to be called "The Stephens and Mephisto Mysteries" but has now morphed into "The Brighton Mysteries", probably because Stephens and Mephisto are pretty much supporting players in this one, with very little to do for most of the book. Instead the focus is on WDC Meg Connolly, who works in DI Stephens' team, and her immediate boss, Bob Willis, who are called in when an elderly theatrical impresario is found dead - not from old age or his health problems, but poison. Prime suspect is his wife, the glamourous former singer Verity, who seems to build a rapport with the young policewoman Meg. DI Stephens's wife, Emma, was also a policewoman until she married the DI, and they now live happily in Brighton with their 3 young children, but Emma misses her old job (women had to give up work back in those days - 1965 - when they married) and has formed a private detective agency with her journalist friend, Samantha Collins. So instead of the usual police procedural we have the 3 women at the front of the investigation. We see a lot of it through Meg's eyes, despite her job she is still quite naive and when she and Emma travel to Liverpool and Whitby she is agog at the thought of a long train journey and visiting "The North", the furthest she's ever travelled. Meg is a likeable character but at times the book felt very padded out and there were too many characters, and not enough emphasis on the original, male leads. Edgar, although the senior officer, is pretty much in the background, merely despatching his officers to interview suspects etc. Former magician Max Mephisto is in Whitby making a Dracula film, playing father to Dracula himself, who is played by an actor who is the middle son of the murdered man, who had lots of enemies, mainly due to the number of women he discarded during his heyday, not to mention several illegitimate children - yes he has left a trail of misery that's for sure! Although the book did pick up in the last quarter or so, at times I felt it dragged and I missed the interaction between the two old friends Edgar and Max. A shame as it gives the book a rather fragmented feel. Not the best in the series, though still not a bad read overall. 6.5/10

[Madeleine]

"Shadowplay" by Joseph O'Connor -   I had high hopes for this, it's ostensibly the story of how Bram Stoker came to mainland Britain, and found the inspiration for "Dracula", as well as his relationship with Henry Irving, the renowned actor and theatre manager, and Ellen Terry, one of the stars of late Victorian theatre and music.  It sounded like a great plan for a novel, but I just couldn't get into the author's writing style, the narrative jumps around, and he indulges in long lists of well, pretty much anything in a room. I was going to give it up to 100 pages, but  I gave up on page 60, when the first meeting between Stoker and Irving was written as if it were a play.  I basically lost the will to read, a shame as I'm sure it's a great book for anyone who can handle the writing style, but for me it seems a case of an established author being given free rein to be playful; he has won awards for this so good for him, but it's not for me. DNF

[lunababymoonchild]

Life is too short to read a book - regardless of what it is - that you are not enjoying. I give up mine, too

[Madeleine]

Yep I agree, normally I don't give up so quickly, I had a quick skim through and the style didn't seem to change much, so I dumped it!

[Madeleine]

 "The Doll Factory" by Elizabeth MacNeal- this novel, her debut, is set in the early 1850s, as London prepares for the Great Exhibition in the Crystal Palace in Hyde Park.  Caught up in the excitement are two of the three main characters - Iris Whittle, who with her twin sister Rose works in the doll shop of the title, sewing tiny garments and accessories for the dolls sold in the shop.  One of the two male protagonists is Silas, a taxidermist (and be warned there are some graphic descriptions) a strange loner who fixates on Iris after a brief exchange when they meet to watch the Crystal Palace being constructed. He already knows her, slightly, from the doll shop as they have a mutual acquaintance, a young lad, Albie, who delivers tiny scraps of material to the doll shop, and also dead creatures to Silas for his work, for he has an exhibit in the Great Exhibition, which he is very excited about.  The third wheel is Louis Frost, a fictitious member of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, who asks Iris to be his model in return for giving her painting and drawing lessons; at first this is all above board and respectable, but Iris is so taken with the artists that she hands in her notice at the doll shop, and takes up lodgings at a respectable boarding house for young ladies.  Inevitably she and Louis fall in love, Silas finds out and having been scorned by Iris, turns stalker, and from then on things become more sinister as we find out more about Silas, and his motives become increasingly disturbing.  The third party of the book is almost more like a crime novel, with a race against time, and although the tension is well sustained I found the ending quite abrupt, with several loose ends.  Overall I thought the book was well-written, it's very  Victorian and quite Gothic - taxidermy, laudanum! - but it is also very dark at times. I did enjoy the references to the PRB, and some of the artists do make cameo appearances, and Frost has a pet wombat who provides some light relief (in real life, the artist Rossetti really did have a wombat for a pet), but I can't honestly say I enjoyed it.  There is also a lovely poem, presumably written by the author, which alone makes the book a keeper.

7/10 (an extra point for the wombat!).

[Madeleine]

A Mask of Shadows by Oscar de Muriel - this is the 3rd book in the Frey and McGray series and was one of my Victober reads.  it's centred around the legendary production of Macbeth which starred Henry Irving and Ellen Terry, with Bram Stoker as the stage manager, but the Edinburgh version of the show is plagued with problems and after being cancelled twice, just as it's about to finally go ahead, a banshee is heard (and seen) and threats written in blood are found in and around the theatre and the city.  The threats are obviously aimed at someone involved with the production but it seems that all of them - actors, crew and theatre staff - have a reason to be fearful. Our intrepid duo investigate and only uncover more and more secrets, although initially they think that it is all a publicity stunt to drum up ticket sales, eventually even Frey has to admit that someone is in danger - but who?  cue another enjoyable romp, with some genuinely funny moments, a bit of tragedy, and even an appearance from Oscar Wilde.  The use of the real people doesn't feel forced though, and they all fit the story naturally. I did think that the book did ramble a bit though, although the last part was gripping and the eventual plot was clever, if a bit convoluted.  But this isn't a conventional murder mystery, it's more of a race against time to prevent a murder or murders.  Frey's family also appear, much to his horror - he says he would rather face down a banshee than his stepmother!  Light touches like that relieve the tension, and it's certainly a breathless finale.  7/10

[Madeleine]

Murder at the Natural History Museum by Jim Eldridge - this is the 5th in the Museum Detective series, I've read the first one but then skipped to this one as Bram Stoker is one of the supporting characters, and Oscar Wilde, Henry Irving and Ellen Terry also appear, albeit briefly, so it sort of followed on from my last read.  It starts with a dinosaur skeleton at the Natural History Museum being smashed, initially it looks like it's the result of a feud between rival fossil supply companies, with one taking umbrage at not being chosen to provide the skeleton for the museum's display.  Events take a more serious turn when an attendant is found murdered, and when it turns out the victim was a blackmailer who'd also worked for Stoker at the Lyceum Theatre the net is widened.  Our detectives are ex-policeman Daniel and Wilson and his girlfriend and business partner Abigail Weston, who help Daniel's former police colleagues with the investigation.  The suspects range from the aristocratic trustees of the museum to the cleaning staff who come in first thing in the morning before the building opens to the public each day, and even Oscar Wilde, who is currently in prison, might be involved somehow.  It was a fairly enjoyable book, though it was a little bit dry and not as strongly written as the first book.  It's still a good series though, it looks like museums are a hotbed of intrigue! 6.5/10

[Madeleine]

"The Rock" by L J Ross - this is the 18th book in the DCI Ryan series and tackles the horrible crime of human trafficking.  Normally Ryan's team concentrates on murder, so when a woman's body is found on the beach near the landmark Marsden Rock, they are called in, but the wreckage of a trawler nearby, with sets of handcuffs in it's hold, draws them into the world of sex trafficking.  They start looking into known gangs believed to be involved in these crimes, but after another death it looks like the mastermind behind it all might be closer to home.  This was more hard-hitting than the previous books, but was still a quick read, although the wrapping up of the investigation seemed a bit too cut and dried.  7.5/10

[Madeleine]

"Bambrugh" by L J Ross - this is the 19th book in the DCI Ryan series and I thought I would read it straight after the previous book so that I would be up to date with this series, as another one is due out soon. It does follow on from "The Rock" in that a character who we first meet in that book takes a much more prominent role in "Bambrugh". The later book carries on a storyline started in "The Rock" in which young policewoman Melanie Yates is trying to find out who murdered her twin sister 15 years ago, as a development in their investigation produces a link to her sister's case. In this book she takes centre stage as she becomes obsessed with finding her sister's killer, so we find out a bit more about Mel and her background, and what led up to her sister's murder, but as she becomes more and more fixed on this, her colleagues start to worry about her. Meanwhile they are busy working on a new murder case, that of an elderly lady in Bambrugh, who was initially thought to have died following a fall down the stairs (yes that old chestnut!), but when it turns out that she was very wealthy with no family, and that quite a few people might want her out of the way as she was campaigning against development in the village, the police have quite a long list of suspects to sort through. The two cases, one new and one a cold case, run alongside each other, and while the book started well enough I thought the final denouements, in both cases, wasn't very convincing, with one final reveal in particular being downright daft, and the other not very convincing. So overall slightly disappointing, and

Spoiler

Northumbria CID really need to improve their vetting procedure for new staff!

6.5/10

Edited December 1, 2022 by Madeleine

[Madeleine]

"Keeping a Christmas Promise" by Jo Thomas - this is the first of my Xmas reading challenges and was a bit disappointing, this author's books can be so-so and this one falls into that category. It starts with a flashback to 4 friends - Laura, Freya, Joanna and Meg - on a hen holiday to celebrate Meg's forthcoming wedding.  Fast forward I don't know how many years - the timeline here is slightly dodgy - but Laura has now passed away but made the other 3 promise to go and see the Northern Lights on her 40th birthday , which would have been at Xmas, which is why they are in Iceland, and set off in a snowstorm to try to find the Lights - really - 3 intelligent women would be that daft....?  Anyway the inevitable happens, they get lost, another car with an equally daft woman in it crashes into them, and they end up taking refuge at a remote farm, with the inevitable hunky farmer (who also happens to make jewellery) happy to put them up for the night, except overnight there's an avalanche, and the women are well and truly stranded.  So they join the farmer in helping to make sure the rest of the village is safe, making food - Freya is a chef who is happy to try out Icelandic recipes - and delivering the food to equally remote cottages.  Meanwhile there is a threat to the village idyll, with a large corporation wanting to build a salmon farm in it's waters.  No prizes for guessing how this all pans out, it's an OK read, very predictable and the women, especially at the beginning, are spectacularly silly.  However at least there isn't too much of this author's habit of constantly repeating her main storyline, although this does start to jar towards the end of the book.  Overall it's a harmless read, with a lovely setting, which is one of the author's trademarks. 6/10

[Madeleine]

The Christmas Bookshop by Jenny Colgan - this is the 2nd of my Christmas reads, and whilst it started off really well and at times was laugh out loud funny, after a while it drifted into fairly predictable chick lit territory.  Carmen is devastated when the department store where she's worked is forced to close down, and her sister invites her to come and stay with her in Edinburgh, help with her 3 children (she's expecting a fourth) and also to work in a failing bookshop which needs to be sold as a going concern - can she use her sales technique to reverse the shop's fortunes, especially when it's owner , Mr McCredie, doesn't even use technology.  But Carmen works her magic and as Christmas approaches, books start flying off the shelves, and a visit by a best-selling author raises it's profile even higher, and provides something of a love dilemma for Carmen, for she knows deep down that he's not really interested in her, but is tempted to have a fling with a rich and famous author just for the fun of it.  But lurking in the background is her sister's Barbie-like nanny, Skylar, who is interested not only in the author but also Oke, a Brazilian dendrologist who is lecturing at the university (that's a professor of trees) and who is everything the brash author is not, and who becomes friends with Carmen.  Throw in lots of children, a disastrous storytelling session and a mystery in Mr McCredie's past, and there's plenty going on, but it all fell a bit flat and predictable towards the end.  A pleasant read, with some lovely descriptions of Edinburgh at Christmas, but not anything really different.  6.5/10

[Madeleine]

The White Priory Murders by Carter Dickson (aka John Dickson Carr) - I just about brought this one in under the wire for 2022, well OK I read the last 20 pages after watching the fireworks on NYE, but as it's only about 40 mins into the New Year I'm counting it as a 2022 read.  It was one of my Christmas challenges (a book with snow on the cover) and is a British Library Crime Classic, and was much better than last year's dire offering.  It's a locked room mystery, or rather a locked pavilion mystery, when famous film star Marcia Tait, who is visiting England at Christmas, is found battered to death in a strange little building in the grounds of the White Priory, which is owned by the unlikeable Maurice Bohun.  His brother  John is Marcia's lover, and she was staying, supposedly secretly, at the house.  So if only a few people knew she was there, then it seems logical that the killer is one of the small company of people staying at the house.  Even more baffling is the fact that there is a set of footprints in the snow leading to the pavilion, but none leading away from it, so how was she murdered there, with the killer leaving no trace?  Enter local policeman, Masters, and, from London, amateur sleuth Sir Henry Merrivale, who is the uncle of another suspect, James Bennett, who's part of Marcia's entourage.  There are lots of red herrings, and several different suspects, plus of course another suspicious death, before we finally get the ingenius solution.  This reminded me very much of a Jonathan Creek episode, and was a fast-paced and enjoyable read, which wasn't affected too much by some of the  dated language and attitudes of the time.  H M features in some of the author's other works too.  6.5/10

[lunababymoonchild]

I read The Hollow Man many years ago (2011). Waterstones said that it was out of print but one of their branches had it in England and they sent it up just for me. I never occurred to me that he had written any more and it turns out that there are 24 Gideon Fell books alone.

[Madeleine]

Yes he was very prolific, and wrote under several different names.  Some of the Gideon Fell books have been re-issued by the British Library, Waterstones should have them or be able to get them if you want them.

[lunababymoonchild]

I'm looking into it.