Madeleine's Book Log 2023

[Madeleine]

sorry about that! I'm not really a big fan of so-called chick lit although some authors are better at it than others, this wasn't a bad book I just thought it was all too neatly wrapped up, though maybe that's the type of genre it's in ie nice light comfort read and there's nothing wrong with that. I do have a couple of her other books and it won't put me off reading those.

[Madeleine]

the Summer Seaside Kitchen by Jenny Colgan - another chick lit disaster for me, I've read a couple of Jenny's books and enjoyed them, and I did realise that I have read the next book in the series, which meant that, of course, I knew what was going to happen.  However that initially didn't put me off that much, but unfortunately I just found this one a bit boring, I got halfway through before ditching it which I think is more than a fair chance.  Anyway Flora is originally from the remote Scottish island of Mure, she grew up on a farm but became the first in her family to go to university and is now working in London for a law firm, where she has a hopeless crush on her obnoxious, career driven boss, Joel.  One day a lawsuit to stop a wind farm being built off the coast of Mure is taken on by the firm, and Flora is despatched to the island to try to find out exactly what is going on, and to smooth things over with the locals.  But as she hasn't been back since her mother's funeral, she's not too welcome though her dad and brothers are happy for her to cook and clean for them, which is exactly the life that her mother, much as she loved her family, didn't want for her daughter. So there are lots of digs about "posh London ways" etc, and not much really happens.  I'm afraid I just wasn't interested and of course knowing the outcome took out any suspense for me.  So unfortunately this one is a DNF.

[Madeleine]

"Murder in the Rue Dumas" by M L Longworth - after a couple of disappointing chick lit reads I've gone back to cosy crime in nice places, and this 2nd book in M L Longworth's series of crime novels set in beautiful Aix-en-Provence in southern France worked well.  When a university professor is murdered after his supposed retirement party, at which he announced he's not retiring after all, there are quite a few suspects, as there was strong competition for his post, and also for the prestigious Dumas scholarship, both of which had several contenders.  Judge Antoine Verlague has his work cut out trying to wade through the suspects as well as all the in-fighting at the university, and during the book his investigations take him further afield, up to Paris and then into Italy.  At this stage his relationship with lecturer Marine Bonnet is still in it's early stages and as a result is a bit on and off, and he has a fractious relationship with her mother, which results in some humour.  Overall I enjoyed this, it was a gentle crime tale with some lovely food descriptions and some good plot twists.  7/10

[Hayley]

On 8/30/2023 at 3:03 PM, Madeleine said:

after a couple of disappointing chick lit reads I've gone back to cosy crime in nice places

I feel like I’d enjoy some cosy crime this autumn. I’ll have to scroll back through your thread 😄. Lovely food descriptions will inevitably make me want reading snacks though.

[Madeleine]

I know, I used to get hungry reading about all the feasts in the Harry Potter books!

[Hayley]

15 hours ago, Madeleine said:

I know, I used to get hungry reading about all the feasts in the Harry Potter books!

I’ve never craved hot buttered toast as much as when I read the breakfast feast part! 

[Madeleine]

The Last Remains by Elly Griffiths - the title refers to a skeletonized body which is found hidden behind a wall in a former cafe in Kings Lynn, Norfolk, which is being renovated.  When the body is identified, the police have to go back 20 years into the past, to a group of archaeological students who were on a dig at the famous Grime's Graves (actually a network of former flint mines); as the group included Cathbad, who is a friend of Ruth and many of the police officers, including his partner Judy, it looks like a can of worms may be opened, and some prominent people will go to any lengths to stop secrets long hidden from coming out.  This is apparently the last in the Ruth Galloway series (book 15) and it looks like change is on the cards for many of the series regulars:  the archaeological department at Ruth's university is threatened with closure, not for the first time, but this time it looks like it might really happen; the relationship between Ruth and DCI Harry Nelson seems to be at a crossroads, ditto Nelson's marriage, and several people's pasts come back to haunt them.  Overall I enjoyed this book, but this series has been a bit patchy over the last few books, though this book is an improvement on some of those instalments in the series.  I found DCI Nelson's character even more unlikeable than ever in this one,and find it hard to see why so many women - Ruth and his wife to name but two - find him so appealing, he comes across as a Neanderthal boor who makes "Life on Mars" Gene Hunt look progressive!  But the ending is neat, with loose ends tied up, but there's enough to indicate that the characters have a life afterwards, so who knows if this is the last we'll hear of Ruth and co? 8/10

[Madeleine]

A Taste for Vengeance by Martin Walker - this is the 11th book in the series but my first read of this series of crime novels set in France's Perigord region, and featuring Bruno, who is the Chief of Police. When a woman fails to turn up for a cookery course, run by Bruno's ex-girlfriend (one of them anyway), and is later found murdered in the home of a local man, who is found hanged in the woods, it looks like a murder/suicide case, but then the police discover that the man wasn't who he'd been claiming to be. Their investigations go back to the dark days of the IRA, and it looks like someone from that organisation is out for vengeance. In amongst all this, Bruno coaches the local women's rugby team, helps with cookery classes and vineyard tours, and has also been promoted to chief of the overall region, so it's hard to see how he manages to find the time to do just one thing! There's an interesting cast of characters, and although I enjoyed the book overall, there was a bit too much detail in some instances, plus what I thought was an unnecessary extra plotline involving his star rugby player. But it's a popular series, and I have several others to read, and he has an adorable basset hound called Balzac, so bring on the others in the series! 7/10

[France]

I've read a couple of these, they're set not too far away from where I live. I have to admit to not being blown away by then but that might be because I've met Martin Walker and he's suave, a good speaker, undoubtedly very good at all that he does and totally up himself.

[Madeleine]

Murder before Evensong by the Rev Richard Coles - this is the first novel by this author, who is best known in the UK as keyboard player with the band The Communards, and more recently as a broadcaster (and briefly a contestant on Strictly Come Dancing!), he has now retired from the priesthood and having written several non-fiction books has now turned his hand to fiction, and this is the first in a series set in the village of Champton, and centred around it's church and rector Daniel, who lives in the rectory with his widowed mother Audrey, and two dachshunds, plus his actor brother Theo who drops in occasionally.  Apart from an argument as to whether pews should be removed from the church to make way for bathroom facilities, life is fairly calm, until one day a local historian, and cousin of the local Lord, is found, by Daniel, brutally murdered in the church.  Another murder soon follows, the village is rocked and Daniel finds himself helping the police with their inquiries, both officially and unofficially, and it looks like Daniel and the Detective Sergeant, Neil, will be forming a team for future books; the next is already out in hardback with a 3rd book to follow next year. After a slow start, once the book got going I really enjoyed it, it's generally well written although at times it's slightly over-written and a little flowery in places, plus some references went over my head, but overall this was a perfect cosy(ish) crime story fairly well told, with appealing characters and a well-thought out plot (can't say anymore for fear of spoilers) and I would read more in this series.  My slight quibble is that it took a while to establish just when the book was set, initially I assumed it was in the present, but a few cultural references eventually pointed it towards the mid to late 80s, which of course means that technology as we now know it was only just starting to make it's presence felt - he refers to expensive machines with keyboards and a screen at one point.  But some more author notes would have been useful, other than that, a promising debut. 7/10

[France]

I'm afraid I thought this was awful! My expectations might have been raised from hearing him read from it and he is a wonderful narrator but for me his prose didn't match up to his speaking voice!

[Madeleine]

Funnily enough I could almost hear him reading it.

[France]

On 10/13/2023 at 6:04 PM, Madeleine said:

Funnily enough I could almost hear him reading it.

I think if I'd listened to it I'd really have enjoyed it.  He has a wonderful voice.

[Madeleine]

"The Darker Arts" by Oscar de Muriel - my Victober read, this is the 5th in the Frey and McGray series,set mainly in late Victorian Edinburgh. This carries on from the tragic events of the previous book, with Ian Frey still recovering, now back at the family home in Gloucestershire, until he is summoned back to Edinburgh by his colleague, Adolphus McGray,who is sick with worry after his clairvoyant friend, Katerina, has been arrested on suspicion of murdering the 6 people who were taking part in a seance in a locked room - the lights went out, and Katerina woke up the next day to find herself the only person in the room, in fact the whole house, still living. As the victims have no obvious injuries or signs of intoxication of any sort, she is the prime suspect, and the duo are in a race against time to save her from the gallows,and find the real culprit. Another hugely enjoyable romp,with some nice humour, and genuine suspense. A great series, sadly only two more books to go. 8/10

 

[Madeleine]

A Witch Hunt in Whitby by Helen Cox - this is another instalment in the Kitt Hartley cosy crime series.  Kitt is a librarian who is obsessed with books, and finds herself helping her boyfriend, policeman Mal Halloran, investigate crimes, and when her friend Ruby, a medium, finds a strange mark on her front door denoting her as the so-called Vampire Killer's next victim, the case becomes even more personal, and urgent, for the police now know that they have only 11 days to find the killer, who has already claimed 3 victims, all who had the same "V" daubed on their front door, 11 days before they were murdered.  Kitt and her assistant Grace, who are also private investigators, launch their own investigation and eventually a link to Whitby becomes clear, so it's off to Whitby to meet up with the leader of a "Dracula" group.  They also discover links to another, more sinister group, and find that the answer as usual lies in the past, but time is running out as, like vampires, several of their leads seem to have gone to ground, and will they be able to find their friend before the killer?  This was another easy read, entertaining but not totally convincing, especially with a basic error like saying that Halloran has a police badge - they have warrant cards in the UK, not badges, and the author should know this by now.  There were a few other continuity errors too, which lost it a few points. But the books are readable, and the settings are lovely too.  6/10

[Madeleine]

The Whitby Murders by J R Ellis - another instalment in the Yorkshire Murders series, this continues the Halloween/Victober theme and involves a group of friends who travel to Whitby for the Goth weekend just before Halloween, and decide to take part in a Dracula-themed escape room.  One of the men seems to stab his girlfriend and escapes through the emergency exit, but the blood is real and the police launch a murder inquiry as the main suspect seems to have disappeared. Detective Jim Oldroyd is asked to help, as the lead detective on the case is a former colleague, but he has another reason for wanting to help, as his daughter Louise is one of the group of friends who was on the fateful weekend.  That's all I can say without further spoilers, but this was an enjoyable read, and although I did work out some of the clues, I didn't guess the murderer's identity.  There are several books in this series now, and they work well as cosy (ish) crimes, set mainly around Yorkshire.  7/10

[Madeleine]

Murder on the Ile Sordou by M L Longworth- this is the fourth book in the Provencal murder mystery series, and while I've enjoyed the others that I've read in this series, this one took a long time to get going, probably because it takes the two main characters, Judge Antoine Verlaque and his girlfriend, Marine Bonnet, a university lecturer, out of their usual setting of Aix-en-Provence, which means that, apart from the police investigator Paulik, most of the usual characters don't appear.  The couple are on holiday on the titular island, which is just off the coast near Marseille, and are staying at an exclusive hotel, which is re-opening after several years of inactivity.  There is a select band of guests also staying, and we are introduced to them, rather slowly, one by one, as they each get a whole chapter dedicated to their back story, ditto the hotel staff.  This dragged things somewhat and I think a lot of the back stories could have been explained in a couple of pages, instead of several pages.  Anyway eventually someone gets murdered and we're back to the usual format of a criminal investigation, with the island sealed off and the police brought over from the mainland.  Naturally everyone on the island is a suspect, and it soon becomes apparent that the answer lies in someone's past, the question is, who's past?  The book did pick up at this point but it took a long time to do so, so not bad once it finally got going with an actual story.  6/10

[Madeleine]

The Winter Garden by Heidi Swain - another book by this author which didn't really do it for me, at times I felt like skim reading it as it got a bit repetitive (similar to Jo Thomas who constantly repeats the main theme of her books).  Anyway it follows Freya, a gardener who has been living and working happily at BroadMeadows, an estate in Suffolk where she has designed and worked on the garden with the owner Eloise. However Eloise has now died and her nephew from the US comes over with big ideas for the estate, none of which Freya approves, plus she dislikes him intently and he does sound like a bit of a boor, so she hands in her notice and almost immediately lands another job at Prospect Place, another estate, this time in Norfolk, where the owner, Luke, wants to establish a winter garden to help people through the long dark days of winter.  She gets a house rent free and of course there's a hunky sculptor who has his studio nearby and is working on sculptures for the garden, no prizes for guessing what happens after the usual hiccups, and apart from a few brief bumpy moments which are dealt with pretty quickly there's nothing really to trouble anyone. It all seemed a bit too neat and everyone is so nice, or maybe I'm too cynical!  But I did find Freya rather annoying and it was all too perfect.  5/10

Edited December 25, 2023 by Madeleine