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Oct 26, 20231 min read
1100. Adele Parks - Just Between Us
A library book from P. I found this difficult to follow until, after finishing, I discovered in the author’s afterword, that it is part...
Jul 13, 20231 min read
1078. Torrey Peters - Detransition Baby
Featured on Radio 4’s ‘A Good Read’, a novel about transsexuals in New York. There were points of interest but the subject didn’t really...
Oct 28, 20221 min read
1025. David Palin - Let The Game Commence
Re-read this again, but nothing much to add. Good but puzzling. Get this from Waterstones
Oct 22, 20221 min read
1023. David Palin - Let The Game Commence
I like David’s books and have read this twice, as it was a difficult first read with a lot of characters living in Merryking Close (and...
Oct 1, 20221 min read
1017. Shelby Van Pelt - Remarkably Bright Creatures
Quite enjoyed this, but insubstantial. Tova, an elderly Swedish widow, works as cleaner in an aquarium and develops a relationship with...
Jul 26, 20221 min read
999. David Palin - This Changed Everything
Re-read this and it is very good. Character and motivation of Claire Treloggan very interesting and challenging. Nothing much to add. Get...
May 9, 20221 min read
975. Anne Perry - A Truth To Lie For
This was pretty low grade, despite being described as ‘reminiscent of Graham Greene’. I don’t think so. A quasi-espionage thriller set...
Feb 10, 20221 min read
944. Peter Papathanasiou - The Stoning
A new genre to me – ‘outback noir’; The Dry might fall into this category. An apparent murder in a grim town in the Australian outback,...
Jan 17, 20221 min read
934. Mary Paulson-Ellis - Emily Noble's Disgrace
This is very different, quite difficult and very good. A book about a boarding house in Portabello, Edinburgh, really throughout the 20th...
Dec 21, 20211 min read
925. David Palin - The Armistice Killer
Read this again, as I had a completely rubbishy library book. Much better on a 2nd read as the plot was less opaque, and the...
Nov 27, 20211 min read
918. Anne Perry - Three Debts Paid
Not sure I would read any more of these. A Daniel Pitt novel from ‘The New York Times Bestselling Author’. Readable but dull. Set in...
Nov 3, 20211 min read
913. David Palin - The Armistice Killer
I enjoyed this with some caveats. The character of Logan is better portrayed than in no.911 and the impact of his prosopagnosia comes out...
Oct 24, 20211 min read
911. David Palin - This Changed Everthing
Definitely worth another read. A complex and at times bewildering thriller, which is difficult to do justice to without revealing the...
Oct 22, 20211 min read
910. David Palin - The Half-Torn Page
A gothic novel set in17th century Germany involving witches and daemonic possession, so not entirely my cup of tea. I found it pretty...
Oct 21, 20211 min read
909. David Palin - This Changed Everything
Didn’t like the title, so not a good start! Very opaque, but quite a good thriller once I had (just about) worked out the plot! Worth...
Aug 21, 20211 min read
886. Charlotte Philby - The Second Woman
I didn’t think much of this; following the plot(s) with all the time shifts was pretty hard work. The third part of a trilogy (might have...
Apr 12, 20211 min read
855. Richard Powers - The Overstory
I am not reading very well at the moment, but this is a long and difficult book. About trees. It is cleverly structured – Part 1 'Roots'...
Sep 11, 20201 min read
813. Tim Parks - Medici Money
P recommended this; it didn’t do a lot for me. A bit of 15th century Italian history, (no nation state, just cities always at war with...
Jun 19, 20201 min read
792. Leonardo Padura -Havana Black
The last of the quartet. Young rock & roll Cuba vs its past. You do learn implicitly about Cuban history; the wealthy upper/middle class...
Jun 7, 20201 min read
788. Sara Paretsky - Deadlock
I think what I said at 786 above is correct; these books do seem to me to be quite structurally and thematically repetitive. We again...