#BookReview ‘The Sinner’s Mark’ by SW Perry @swperry_history #historical #crime

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Religious extremism, Moorish diplomacy, sedition and missing youths. In England 1600, Dr Nicholas Shelby’s elderly father is accused of distributing seditious pamphlets. The Sinner’s Mark by SW Perry is sixth in the fantastic Jackdaw Mysteries historical series. SW PerryNicholas and Bianca are happily married, living in Bankside on the south bank of the Thames, with their five-year-old son Bruno. Bianca is a talented apothecary, Nicholas attends the sick and, with misgivings, answers the occasional call of Queen Elizabeth I’s right hand man, Sir Robert Cecil. Accustomed to being ordered to undertake a distasteful task for Cecil, Nicholas is shocked to learn the reason for his summons. Sedition. Cecil has discovered that Shelby’s elderly father in Suffolk has been arrested. With Cecil’s help, Nicholas secures his father’s freedom but is disturbed by the stories of a firebrand young priest whose sermons have bewitched a local congregation. When the priest arrives in London, the pace of the story speeds up.
When Petrus Eusebius Schenk, an army acquaintance of Nicholas from his fighting days in the Low Countries, arrives at the Jackdaw, Bianca cannot warm to the man. Uneasy at Nicholas’s instant trust of the newcomer, Bianca observes contradictory behaviour. Nicholas believes she is being uncharitable about an old soldier still suffering from traumatic memories of war. When Schenk takes the Jackdaw’s tavern man Ned Monkton to listen to an evangelical new preacher, Bianca decides to investigate. What follows is a rollercoaster ride of radical puritanism, what today we would call grooming, the disappearance of young men and a conspiracy to commit treason. At this time Bianca comes into an unexpected inheritance, a small house and warehouse on the north bank of the river, where she makes an unwelcome discovery. Nicholas is called into the queen’s service again, this time as diplomat and translator during the state visit of the Morroccan ambassador. Nicholas met Muhammed al-Annuri in Marrakech seven years previously, as featured in The Saracen’s Mark, and is expected to inform Cecil of Annuri’s real expectations, something he finds difficult to do. As always when Nicholas is pushed into doing something reluctantly, or is divided between two loyalties, the story gets interesting.
A page-turning historical mystery that doesn’t disappoint, set in a time of political uncertainty as the queen approaches the end of her reign. Difficult to review without giving away critical plot points but the interventions of Will Shakespeare are welcome, as is the presence of Carib-born apothecary trainee Cachorra who proves herself a suitable, independent-minded sidekick for Bianca.
Excellent.

Here are my reviews of the  other books in the series:-
THE ANGEL’S MARK #1JACKDAWMYSTERIES
THE SERPENT’S MARK #2JACKDAWMYSTERIES
THE SARACEN’S MARK #3JACKDAWMYSTERIES
THE HERETIC’S MARK #4JACKDAWMYSTERIES
THE REBEL’S MARK #5JACKDAWMYSTERIES

If you like this, try:-
‘The Almanack’ by Martine Bailey #1TABITHAHART
‘The Blue Afternoon’ by William Boyd
‘The Glassmaker’ by Tracy Chevalier

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COMING SOON… THE NEXT BOOK I REVIEW WILL BE:- Helena Dixon

#BookReview ‘Leeward’ by Katie Daysh #historicalfiction #adventure #navalwarfare

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I’m new to historical naval fiction and wasn’t sure what to expect from Leeward by Katie Daysh, first in the Nightingale & Courtney mystery series. Life at sea is brutal, and beautiful. It is lonely, and companionable. It is exhilarating, it is terrifying. Katie Daysh1800 Antigua. For Hiram Nightingale, naval captain and veteran of the Battle of the Nile, the sea is everything. ‘The sea. The sea… Nearly everything of importance in his life had happened on the ocean.’ Horribly injured, physically and emotionally, after the famous battle of the Napoleonic Wars and grieving for his lost crew, Hiram is encouraged back to sea by his father and father-in-law who arrange a captaincy in the West Indies. Expecting a quiet commission, instead he finds himself captain of the ‘Scylla’ charged with hunting down and apprehending a mutinied ship, the ‘Ulysses.’ His mission is to chase the ‘Ulysses’ wherever she goes, even around Cape Horn into the Pacific. It soon becomes clear that Hiram hasn’t been told the real reason for his mission or why the ‘Ulysses’ crew mutinied. He is uncertain who to trust either onboard or on shore and uncertain about his own capability to do the job.
I took a while to settle into the story but after that I didn’t want to put it down. For me there is just enough nautical detail to be interesting but not so much that I started to skip sections. Naval warfare tactics are fascinating as are the politics of the region and the character clashes on board, but professionalism, talent and justice mean nothing in the face of ostentatious wealth and overwhelming greed. Nightingale becomes a detective, hunting his prey, trying to decipher the truth of the crime. He is on a nautical journey, making his peace with the sea and grieving those he lost in battle; he’s also on an emotional journey, being honest with himself about his deepest nature. The gay sub-plot complements the main storyline but doesn’t dominate. As Hiram struggles with the lonely responsibility of command, his dreams are full of flashbacks to his loss of the ‘Lion’ at the Nile, moments with his wife Louisa, and an unforgettable, unforgiveable incident in his childhood. The journey parallels throughout to Homer’s Odyssey are handled with a light touch: Hiram’s ship the ‘Scylla’ is named after Homer’s multi-headed monster, while ‘Ulysses’ is the Roman name for Odysseus.
What a surprising delight this novel is, an insight into the professionalism of the Royal Navy, a fight to catch the criminals, the ocean, the unpredictable elements and a naval trial. I’m looking forward to the next in the series, The Devil to Pay.

If you like this, try:-
‘The Silver Wolf’ by JC Harvey #1FISKARDO’SWAR
‘Nero’ by Conn Iggulden #1NERO
‘The Surfacing’ by Cormac James

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#BookReview LEEWARD by Katie Daysh https://wp.me/p2ZHJe-8Qr via @SandraDanby

COMING SOON… THE NEXT BOOK I REVIEW WILL BE:- SW Perry

#BookReview ‘The Cornish Campsite Murder’ by Fiona Leitch #crime #cosycrime

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Strictly speaking, the title of The Cornish Campsite Murder by Fiona Leitch should really be ‘Murder at a Cornish Music Festival’. This is a fun, quickly-read murder mystery involving some great named pies, a few ageing rock stars and one dead body on the beach. Fiona Leitch Seventh in the Nosey Parker cosy crime series, Jodie and fiance DCI Nathan Withers have the weekend off. Like all their friends and family, they’re heading to the local music festival where Jodie and Nathan will run a friend’s catering van, Pie Hard. Of course the pies are named after Die Hard characters. First there is Jodie’s discovery that a couple she recently catered a dinner party for are actually old rockers – Caz Harper, bass player with The Burners, was a teenage idol of Jodie’s – and that the band, now called The Burnouts, will be playing at the festival. Except the band members are squabbling amongst themselves. And then the body is found.
Nathan, off duty and cooking pies with Jodie, keeps an eye on the investigation. The victim is the former lead singer of The Burners, Lee Roskill. But did he die in a drunken or drugged fall onto the rocks, or was he attacked. Lee, it turns out, had recently accused his fellow band members and manager of cheating him out of royalties. Was he killed to keep him quiet? Jodie, unable to accept that her heroine Caz is capable of murder, is determined to unearth the truth.
This story is on all levels all about first impressions, prejudices, acceptance and open-mindedness. Assumptions are made about the band members because they are known to take drugs. Jodie isn’t keen on her mum Shirley’s new friend because Jocasta is introducing Shirley to reiki and CBD oil. Paul Dyer, the local drug dealer who wears his signature hoodie with the snake motif, must be selling dodgy pills to teenagers. Teenagers like Daisy, Jodie’s daughter, now fifteen, enjoying her first festival and all the new experiences on offer. Shirley, Daisy and Jocasta all add their suggestions about the murderer and likely motivations.
I read The Cornish Campsite Murder when I was full of flu and feeling sorry for myself, so it’s a testament to Leitch’s writing that it made me chuckle. Read in 24 hours, it is sufficiently twisty and unpredictable without being confusing. Just what I needed. And yes I was suspicious of the guilty party but only on instinct, without evidence. That’s up to Jodie and Nathan to figure out.

Here are my reviews of the first books in the Nosey Parker series:-
THE CORNISH WEDDING MURDER #1NOSEYPARKER
THE CORNISH VILLAGE MURDER #2NOSEYPARKER
THE PERFECT CORNISH MURDER #3NOSEYPARKER
A CORNISH CHRISTMAS MURDER #4NOSEYPARKER
A CORNISH RECIPE FOR MURDER #5NOSEYPARKER
A CORNISH SEASIDE MURDER #6NOSEYPARKER

If you like this, try:-
‘A Snapshot of Murder’ by Frances Brody #10KATESHACKLETON
‘Big Sky’ by Kate Atkinson #5JACKSONBRODIE
‘An Expert in Murder’ by Nicloa Upson #1JOSEPHINETEY

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COMING SOON… THE NEXT BOOK I REVIEW WILL BE:- Katie Daysh

#BookReview ‘Murder in an Irish Castle’ by @BrightVerity #cosymystery #crime

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Murder in an Irish Castle by Verity Bright is another Christmas instalment in the 1920s Lady Eleanor Swift mystery series, but with a big difference. The setting is in the west of Ireland at the remote estate inherited by Eleanor from her late Uncle Byron and never before visited. Arriving in December 1922 in the aftermath of the Irish War of Independence, snow is on the ground and the welcome is just as cold. Verity BrightAfter a long journey in the Rolls Royce, Eleanor and faithful butler Clifford find an unconscious man in an isolated lane near the estate. They seek help at the nearest building, an abbey, which is the first of many unexpected things they encounter. The behaviour of the abbess and doctor is distinctly odd. The poor man’s death, however, seems predictable.
Invited by the committee of Derrydee, the village closest to Hennelly Towers, Eleanor anticipates a warm welcome. But the house is empty, there is no staff, no food, no welcome and Miss Breen, whose name is on the invitation received by Eleanor, says she didn’t send it. This is the first in a series of denials, objections, obfuscations and lies that Eleanor and Clifford face.
I think this is the slowest start of all the titles I’ve read so far, and this is twelfth book. Perhaps the chill I feel reflects the cool welcome Ellie and Clifford receive from the locals. But ever the troupers, they make the best of it. With Gladstone and a newly adopted kitten, they settle into Hennelly Towers, make Christmas decorations, find a local hostelry for sustenance and then set about confirming the identity of the poor man and establishing the cause of his death. From day one it feels as if people are either lying to them, avoiding the truth or attempting to stop their investigations. As the story progresses, this feeling deepens. And then at 50% there’s a bombshell, and the story takes off.
The plotting is complicated and there are so many guilty-looking suspects. I guessed wrong again but was nearly right, so much so that I wanted to start reading from the beginning again to see what I missed. This is a clever, unusual storyline, deeply based in 1920s Ireland. Eleanor and Clifford are on their own. There is no help from Detective Chief Inspector Seldon, they are snowed in, without transport or telephone. And even murderers can appear friendly and smiling.
At one point Eleanor says, ‘this is definitely the most difficult of all the unpleasant matters we’ve tried to solve.’ For me this is a book of two halves, a slower beginning and a sprint to the end. Darker and creepier than the earlier books.

Read my review of other books in the Lady Eleanor Swift series:-
A VERY ENGLISH MURDER #1LADYELEANORSWIFT
DEATH AT THE DANCE #2LADYELEANORSWIFT
A WITNESS TO MURDER #3LADYELEANORSWIFT
MURDER IN THE SNOW #4LADYELEANORSWIFT
MYSTERY BY THE SEA #5LADYELEANORSWIFT
MURDER AT THE FAIR #6LADYELEANORSWIFT
A LESSON IN MURDER #7LADYELEANORSWIFT
DEATH ON A WINTER’S DAY #8LADYELEANORSWIFT
A ROYAL MURDER #9LADYELEANORSWIFT
THE FRENCH FOR MURDER #10LADYELEANORSWIFT 
DEATH DOWN THE AISLE #11LADYELEANORSWIFT

If you like this, try:-
‘Agatha Raisin and the Vicious Vet’ by MC Beaton #2AGATHARAISIN
‘A Death in the Dales’ by Frances Brody #7KATESHACKLETON
‘Murder at the Playhouse’ by Helena Dixon #3MISSUNDERHAY

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
#BookReview MURDER IN AN IRISH CASTLE by @BrightVerity https://wp.me/p2ZHJe-8r5 via @SandraDanby

COMING SOON… THE NEXT BOOK I REVIEW WILL BE:-  Fiona Leitch

#BookReview ‘The Players’ by Minette Walters #historicalfiction

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Minette Walters is such a skilled storyteller, I savour any new historical novel. The Players doesn’t disappoint. England in 1685 is in the aftermath of the Duke of Monmouth’s failed rebellion. King James II is still on the throne and in search of vengeance. Minette Walters It was unexpected and delightful to find myself in the company again of Dorset physician Lady Jayne Harrier, last seen in The Swift and the Harrier. As always, Walters takes the clinical historical facts and adds likeable, and detestable, characters that make you care and challenge your assumptions. Lord Granville, Jayne’s son Elias, is a fabulous character. A spy who operates in the shadows, a political agitator, an inventor, a man of the people. He is his mother’s son. With his mother and neighbour Althea Ettrick, a young woman with a phenomenal legal brain, they hatch a plan to thwart the king’s cruel and unjust punishment regime for the Monmouth traitors.
Thousands in the south-west are destined to be judged guilty without trial and sentenced to be hung, drawn and quartered. The king dispatches his judge with an impossible timetable of trials and hangings. Elias, Jayne and Althea set out to rescue as many as they can, recognising that not all can be saved. Their plotting, bravery, imagination and willingness to challenge the status quo is uplifting to read, though I admit at times Althea’s legal arguments left me spinning. Walters populates the Harrier and Ettrick households with a community of people who each bring something to the fight, loyal to the cause, all with a solid sense of what should be done. And when Lady Harrier dismisses everyone’s hatred of Judge Jeffreys, the ‘Hanging Judge’, and treats him when he is in extreme pain, we learn to look at the person behind the words, to look for explanations for behaviour and cruelty.
Meticulously researched. Hard to put down. This is a powerful story asking questions about justice, tolerance and forgiveness in the aftermath of war that resonate across the centuries. A sequel to The Swift and the Harrier, The Players can be read as a standalone novel.
Excellent.

Read my reviews of other historical novels by Minette Walters:-
THE LAST HOURS #1BLACKDEATH
THE TURN OF MIDNIGHT #2BLACKDEATH
THE SWIFT AND THE HARRIER

If you like this, try:-
‘The Witchfinder’s Sister’ by Beth Underdown
‘The Ashes of London’ by Andrew Taylor #1FIREOFLONDON
‘Plague Land’ by SD Sykes #1OSWALDDELACY

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#BookReview THE PLAYERS by Minette Walters https://wp.me/p2ZHJe-8JT via @SandraDanby

COMING SOON… THE NEXT BOOK I REVIEW WILL BE:- Verity Bright

#BookReview ‘Murder at the Country Club’ by Helena Dixon @NellDixon #cosymystery #crime

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Murder at the Country Club by Helena Dixon begins as hotelier and amateur detective Kitty Underhay has been invited to the luxurious Torbay Country Club with her fiance Captain Matthew Bryant. The afternoon is going beautifully until their host is found dead with an arrow in his back. Helena DixonNinth in the 1930s murdery mystery series featuring Miss Kitty Underhay, there are a lot of suspects for this crime. Possibly Sir William Winspear’s younger glamorous wife, or his put-upon sister, or his disgruntled younger brother, or the glamorous brother and sister dancers. Then there’s a second death. Someone is found dead in a swimming pool and the possibilities become even more entangled as questionable alibis and dodgy motivations are shaken.
Kitty and Matt are called in by Inspector Greville to help with the investigation. Why did the victim ask Matt for help. Who are the mysterious Russian brother and sister dancers. Does Lettice Winspear really love her much older, wealthy, husband. Was Sir William planning to change his will. And is Lettice having an affair. Is the most obvious suspect really the murderer, or the least obvious?
I have enjoyed all the Kitty Underhay books. They are entertaining, give opportunities for problem solving and are read quickly. Ongoing storylines make the next book seem enticing. As Kitty and Matt’s wedding approaches, decisions must be taken about the running of the Dolphin Hotel, where the newly-marrieds will live, and how Kitty’s grandmother can continue to help in the hotel’s management. The ever-present threat of criminal mastermind Esther Hammett means the next Kitty story, Murder on Board, promises a resolution to one of the longest-running threats in the series.

Here are my reviews of other books in the series:-
MURDER AT THE DOLPHIN HOTEL #1MISSUNDERHAY
MURDER AT ENDERLEY HALL #2MISSUNDERHAY
MURDER AT THE PLAYHOUSE #3MISSUNDERHAY
MURDER ON THE DANCE FLOOR #4MISSUNDERHAY
MURDER IN THE BELLTOWER #5MISSUNDERHAY
MURDER AT ELM HOUSE #6MISSUNDERHAY
MURDER AT THE WEDDING #7MISSUNDERHAY
MURDER IN FIRST CLASS #8MISSUNDERHAY

And my reviews of the first in a new series by Helena Dixon:-
THE SECRET DETECTIVE AGENCY #1SECRETDETECTIVEAGENCY
THE SEASIDE MURDERS #2SECRETDETECTIVEAGENCY

If you like this, try:-
‘Death comes to Marlow’ by Robert Thorogood #2MARLOWMURDERCLUB 
‘A Cornish Recipe for Murder’ by Fiona Leitch #5NOSEYPARKER
‘Agatha Raisin and the Potted Gardener’ by MC Beaton #3AGATHARAISIN

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
#BookReview MURDER AT THE COUNTRY CLUB by Helena Dixon @NellDixon https://wp.me/p2ZHJe-8K6 via @SandraDanby

COMING SOON… THE NEXT BOOK I REVIEW WILL BE:- Minette Walters

#BookReview ‘The Shadows of Men’ by Abir Mukherjee @radiomukhers #crime #historical #India #Raj

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Calcutta 1923. The Shadows of Men by Abir Mukherjee, fifth in the excellent Raj-era crime series, begins four years after the first book. A lot has happened in Calcutta since 1919, India is evolving as the power balance changes and the country edges towards the end of British rule. And the relationship between the two policemen is shifting too. Abir MukherjeeIt is significant that The Shadows of Men switches narrator back and forth between Captain Sam Wyndham and Sergeant Surendranath Banerjee, and that the first chapter begins with Suren. With Gandhi in prison, the independence movement is fighting internally, local elections have enforced divisions between Hindus and Moslims, high caste and low caste, landowners and peasants, neighbour against neighbour, gangster against gangster. Unknown to Sam, police commissioner Lord Taggart orders Suren to follow a visiting muslim politician. And then Suren is arrested for murder.
Unsure who to trust, Sam must identify the real murderer to clear Suren’s name. What follows is a search for the truth, a chase west across India from Calcutta to Bombay. At risk is not only a temporary calming in Calcutta, which is a powder keg waiting to explode, but also the fate of Indian politics. Will Suren hang for murder. Can Sam unravel the tangled clues to find who is killing who. And is there a traitor at police headquarters.
In this book, Suren is given his voice and we see for the first time the depth of his passion for his country, his pride in being a policeman, and the red lines he will not cross.
What an excellent series this is. A rollercoaster of a novel with a cliffhanger ending that was most unexpected. Next is The Burning Grounds.

Here are my reviews of the first four books in the Wyndham & Banerjee series:-
A RISING MAN #1WYNDHAM&BANERJEE
A NECESSARY EVIL #2WYNDHAM&BANERJEE
SMOKE AND ASHES #3WYNDHAM&BANERJEE
DEATH IN THE EAST #4WYNDHAM&BANERJEE 

If you like this, try:-
‘Darktown’ by Thomas Mullen
‘I Refuse’ by Per Petterson
‘The Killing Lessons’ by Saul Black

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
#BookReview THE SHADOWS OF MEN by Abir Mukherjee @radiomukhers https://wp.me/p2ZHJe-8J7 via @SandraDanby

COMING SOON… THE NEXT BOOK I REVIEW WILL BE:- Helena Dixon

Great Opening Paragraph 143… ‘Emotionally Weird’ #amreading #FirstPara

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“Inspector Jack Gannet drove into Saltsea-on-Sea along the coast road. Today’s sun (not that he believed it to be a new one every day) was already climbing merrily in the sky. It was a beautiful morning. Shame it was about to be spoilt by the Lucky Lady and her cargo – one very unlucky lady. One very dead lady. Jack Gannet sighed, this job didn’t get any easier. Jack Gannet had been in the force longer than he cared to remember. He was a straight-forward, old-fashioned kind of detective. He had no strange tics or eccentricities –  he didn’t do crosswords, he wasn’t Belgian, he certainly wasn’t a woman. He was a man suited to his profession. What he wasn’t, was happy. He didn’t want to be dealing with a dead body on a glorious morning like this. Especially not on an empty stomach.”
Kate AtkinsonFrom ‘Emotionally Weird’ by Kate Atkinson

Read my reviews of these other novels by Kate Atkinson:-
A GOD IN RUINS
LIFE AFTER LIFE
SHRINES OF GAIETY
TRANSCRIPTION
BIG SKY #5JACKSONBRODIE
DEATH AT THE SIGN OF THE ROOK #6JACKSONBRODIE

… and these short stories:-
NORMAL RULES DON’T APPLY

Try one of these #FirstParas & discover a new author:-
‘Personal’ by Lee Child
‘Such a Long Journey’ by Rohinton Mistry
‘Perfume’ by Patrick Süskind

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#Books #FirstPara EMOTIONALLY WEIRD by Kate Atkinson https://wp.me/p2ZHJe-7V7 via @SandraDanby

#BookReview ‘Peace and Love’ by JC Harvey @JCollissHarvey #historical

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Peace and Love by JC Harvey is third in the Jack Fiskardo historical adventure series but is a step aside from Jack’s story. It takes place in another century, telling the tale of the grandson of one of Jack’s rogues. I didn’t know what to expect, it is charming and short; only 125 pages. JC HarveyIn Uppsala province, Sweden in 1720, Magnus, the grandson of Jack Fiskardo’s youthful ensign, Karl-Christian von Lindeborg, is high-born, rich and alone. His bones ache. He is an old soldier with no place in the world. He drifts around his empty castle as day merges into day, emotionally shuttered to those around him. And then into his life with a bang arrives a ward, a young girl, the grand-daughter of his childhood teacher, Dr Excelsior, recently deceased. Magnus, who has never interracted with children, takes Elise into his castle, tells her she is safe and then forgets about her. Elise finds a place with the staff but feels adrift. Both know the situation is unsatisfactory, neither knows how to change it. Until one night, Elise sleepwalks and the two shy, introverted people begin to talk.
When the count’s sister arrives at the remote castle for a visit, she tells him Elise needs proper parenting as she is approaching marriageable age. And so Elise returns to Uppsala with Margrit and everything changes. The count’s life is empty again, without purpose. ‘And he missed her. No sooner was he accustomed to her than she was gone. He missed her more than if he had known her all her life; precisely because she had been plucked away when he had hardly come to know her at all.’
Peace and Love is a charming, unexpected step aside from the tales of Jack Fiskardo. There is a fleeting mention of Jack, a louring portrait in a long gallery, surrounded by his fellow fighters.
Next in the series is The Wanton Road.

Here are my reviews of the Jack Fiskardo series:-
THE SILVER WOLF #1FISKARDO’SWAR
THE DEAD MEN #2FISKARDO’SWAR

If you like this, try:-
‘Rush Oh!’ by Shirley Barrett
‘Orphans of the Carnival’ by Carol Birch
‘At the Edge of the Orchard’ by Tracy Chevalier

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
#BookReview PEACE AND LOVE by JC Harvey @JCollissHarvey https://wp.me/p2ZHJe-8IH via @SandraDanby

COMING SOON… THE NEXT BOOK I REVIEW WILL BE:- Abir Mukherjee

#BookReview ‘Tell Me Everything’ by Elizabeth Strout @LizStrout #contemporary

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Tell Me Everything by Elizabeth Strout is about stories. Stories of people and the lives they lead. Stories of lost love, of childhood misadventures, affairs, strange occurrences, emotions, hate, regret. Set in Crosby, Maine, the stories told by so many characters familiar from other Strout books happen in parallel, they intersect, some are fleeting and unrelated to anything else. Elizabeth StroutThe spine of the story centres on Bob Burgess and his occasional conversations with Lucy Barton. In the way that friends do, they talk about family problems, difficulty with a brother, with a son, with a partner. They share vulnerabilities, many of which can be traced to childhood and still resonate today though Bob and Lucy are now in their sixties. They try to figure out human nature, if people mean what they say, what is thought but not said, why people are loyal or disloyal, how a child can love a parent but not like them, of the differing nature of grief. Lucy says, ‘…people just live their lives with no real knowledge of anybody …My point is that every person on this earth is so complicated, and we match up for a moment – or maybe a lifetime – with somebody because we feel that we are connected to them. And we are. But we’re not in a certain way, because nobody can go into the crevices of another’s mind, even the person can’t go into the crevices of their own mind.’
We see Olive Kitteridge in her care home, telling stories to Lucy and Lucy returning the favour. We also see Olive’s loneliness, critically at the news that her only friend in the home, Isabelle, is moving to the west coast. Bob takes on a murder case, defending a local man Matt Beach accused of murdering his elderly mother. Matt, something of a strange loner, turns out to be a secret painter of real talent, painting portraits that Bob thinks should be in a New York gallery. In the absence of another suspect, Matt appears guilty to the police who don’t know him.
Of course people don’t tell each other everything, some secrets are eventually shared, others remain hidden, even between partners some things are never told. So is Lucy right, is it impossible to ever truly know another person? Like all Strout’s Maine titles, Tell Me Everything can be read as a standalone novel or as companion to the other books. I did start reading and wonder, is this more of the same. But Strout’s writing and characterisation is bewitching in its truth, its honesty and its realism, so I quickly became lost in the stories.

Read my reviews of these other books by Elizabeth Strout:-
AMY & ISABELLE
ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE
LUCY BY THE SEA
MY NAME IS LUCY BARTON
OH WILLIAM!
OLIVE KITTERIDGE
OLIVE, AGAIN

If you like this, try:-
‘Old God’s Time’ by Sebastian Barry
‘Smash all the Windows’ by Jane Davis
‘Offshore by Penelope Fitzgerald

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
#BookReview TELL ME EVERYTHING by Elizabeth Strout @LizStrout https://wp.me/p2ZHJe-8Ho via @SandraDanby

COMING SOON… THE NEXT BOOK I REVIEW WILL BE:- JC Harvey