Tag Archives: book review

#BookReview ‘Agatha Raisin and the Walkers of Dembley’ by MC Beaton #cosycrime

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Absence makes the heart grow fonder, so after a spell in London’s PR world Agatha Raisin is pleased to return to Carsley in Agatha Raisin and The Walkers of Dembley by MC Beaton. MC BeatonEverything seems the same, except she cannot shake her crush on neighbor – and detective buddy – James. James, however is concentrating on writing his history book and so in an effort to distract herself, Agatha takes up rambling. To cut a long story short, there is a murder, Agatha and James investigate, and all sorts of trouble ensues.
This series is a great example of the ‘cozy crime’ genre, involving a bitchy walking group, a miltant leader determined to challenge landowners who block access to their land, and lots of sexual crossed wires.
MC Beaton’s Agatha Raisin books are like that paint: they do what they say on the cover [or, it does what it says on the tin].

Read my reviews of other books in this series:-
AGATHA RAISIN AND THE QUICHE OF DEATH #1AGATHARAISIN
AGATHA RAISIN AND THE VICIOUS VET #2AGATHARAISIN
AGATHA RAISIN AND THE POTTED GARDENER #3AGATHARAISIN
AGATHA RAISIN AND THE MURDEROUS MARRIAGE #5AGATHARAISIN

If you like this, try:-
‘The Art of the Imperfect’ by Kate Evans #1SCARBOROUGHMYSTERIES
‘The Various Haunts of Men’ by Susan Hill #1SIMONSERRAILLER
‘The Secrets of Gaslight Lane’ by MRC Kasasian #4GOWERDETECTIVE

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#BookReview AGATHA RAISIN AND THE WALKERS OF DEMBLEY by MC Beaton http://wp.me/p5gEM4-1XH via @SandraDanby

#BookReview ‘Thin Air’ by Michelle Paver #ghosts #mystery

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1935, the Himalayas. A team arrives in Darjeeling, in preparation for climbing Kanchenjunga. A retired climber, who attempted the same climb, warns the team’s doctor to cancel the climb, or take another route. And so begins Thin Air by Michelle Paver, a tale balancing the power of nature, the vulnerability of man’s minds, and the toxic mix of superstition and arrogance. Michelle PaverIs the retired climber right, is there something bad out there? If so, what? Can the past come back to haunt you? No-one has stood on the very peak of Kanchenjunga, the locals believe it is bad luck to do so. At her website, Michelle Paver writes about her expeditions – she travels extensively to research her novels – and it shows that she has been there. Throw into the mix some bitter sibling rivalry, class snobbishness and Sherpa superstitions, and you have an atmospheric thriller which makes you really feel you are there, with them, stranded in a tent in a Himalayan blizzard.
Billed by some as a ghost story, this is more an account of psychological terror: as the mountaineers climb higher, the tension tightens. Is their bitching, sniping and forgetfulness a symptom of altitude sickness? Is the doctor hallucinating, or are his sightings a sign of a something more sinister?
I loved Paver’s previous ‘ghost/terror’ novel, Dark Matter. This is similar, the tension tightens slowly, with the turn of every page, until you cannot put the book down.

And read my reviews of other novels by Michelle Paver:-
THE OUTSIDERS #1GODS&WARRIORS
VIPER’S DAUGHTER #7WOLFBROTHER
WAKENHYRST

If you like this, try:-
‘The Wicked Cometh’ by Laura Carlin
‘A Sudden Light’ by Garth Stein
‘The House on Cold Hill’ by Peter James

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
#BookReview THIN AIR by Michelle Paver http://wp.me/p5gEM4-21Y via @SandraDanby

#BookReview ‘Angel’ by Elizabeth Taylor #historical #romance

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Angel by Elizabeth Taylor tells the story of the rise and fall of one woman. Fifteen-year old Angel Deverell has always known she was different, determined to do better in life than her mother, when she is 15 she decides she is destined to live at nearby mansion Paradise House, where her aunt works as a maid. Elizabeth TaylorAngel starts to write a novel, allowing flight to her fantasies, caring nothing for accuracies of history, detail or context.  Her publisher agrees to take on The Lady Irania with misgivings but it flies off the shelves and a new romantic novelist is born. Angel, already living the life of a grand novelist, writes a second and a third.
This book is a wonderful study of a girl’s life, a girl who doesn’t take no for an answer, who grows into a woman who finds it impossible to accept advice or guidance from anyone. She learns to ignore the insults of the critics and relish her sales figures, whilst remaining separate from her readers. Elizabeth Taylor is a novelist with an acute observational eye and in Angel she has created a monster heroine: vain, blinkered, stubborn and lacking entirely in humility, empathy or self-knowledge, she leaves a trail as she charges through life. She is certainly unlikeable, but Taylor has created a chemistry which made me want to continue reading Angel’s story.
This is a quiet novel, the storyline has no bells and whistles but it follows Angel’s life through a time of great upheaval. She is born a Victorian, becomes an Edwardian, survives the Great War, the depressed 1930s and the Second World War. As women are agitating for the vote free of the constraints of their husbands, Angel has no husband to support her or vote for her. She is an independent woman and we see her life unfurl not only in her writing, but her interactions with men and women.

Read my reviews of other books by Elizabeth Taylor:-
A VIEW OF THE HARBOUR
A WREATH OF ROSES
AT MRS LIPPINCOTE’S
IN A SUMMER SEASON
THE SLEEPING BEAUTY

If you like this, try:-
‘Brooklyn’ by Colm Tóibín
‘The Lightning Tree’ by Emily Woof
‘The Past’ by Tessa Hadley

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
#BookReview  ANGEL by Elizabeth Taylor via @SandraDanby http://wp.me/p5gEM4-1PB

#BookReview ‘Barkskins’ by Annie Proulx #historical

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This story of the North East American forests begins with two men who arrive in New France from Europe. It is 1693 and they find work wielding axes, chopping down trees. Barkskins by Annie Proulx ends in 2013 with their English, French and Indian descendants learning about the disappearance of the native trees and plants. It is a chastening story but throughout, Proulx’s descriptions of trees enable you to see and smell them. Annie ProulxProulx’s reputation precedes her: the Pulitzer Prize, Brokeback Mountain, The Shipping News etcetera. For me she is one of the classic American authors but refuses to be pigeonholed. Barkskins is a huge tome, starting with René Sel and Charles Duquet’s struggles to survive, their contrasting stories and the subsequent lives of their families. Barkskins is more the story of the forests than of the Sel and Duquet/Duke families and their subsequent timber business.
The natural world has a huge part to play in this novel. The trees breathe on every page, as the settlers fight the forests and the native Indian tribes struggle to understand the newcomers. It ticks so many boxes: indigenous culture, sea voyages, logging, trade with China, herbal remedies, Dutch merchant vessels, the plundering of nature for man’s thoughtless consumption. Each generation of the Sel and Duquet families experiences the evolution of colonial power, demand for timber for construction, war, ships and railways, and this shows us the passing centuries.
There is humour, brutality, and beautiful description of the natural world. The depth of research is clear on every page and at 736 pages, it demands patient reading. But if you allow Proulx to pull you into her stories, it is worth the commitment. But perhaps it would be more easily digestible as a trilogy of novels. There was a disproportionate amount of time spent on the lives of René Sel and Charles Duquet, while the modern-day Sels and Dukes were covered too quickly for me. At the beginning I remembered who was related to who, but as the generations passed quickly I lost track. This could easily be corrected by the addition of a family tree or character list at the front of the book. And a map.

If you like this, try:-
‘Summertime’ by Vanessa Lafaye
‘The Knife with the Ivory Handle’ by Cynthia Bruchman
‘The Last Runaway’ by Tracy Chevalier

 And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
#BookReview BARKSKINS by Annie Proulx via @SandraDanby http://wp.me/p5gEM4-24o

#BookReview ‘The Private Patient’ by PD James #crime

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Published in 2008, The Private Patient turned out to be the fourteenth and last in the Adam Dalgliesh detective series by PD James and there are flashes which make me think James knew that. It wasn’t to be her last novel, though. Death Comes to Pemberley, published in 2011, was to be her last. She died in 2014 at the age of 94. PD JamesIs The Private Patient her best Dalgliesh novel? For me, no. I think the thirteenth in the series, The Lighthouse, is the best. Other favourites are Devices and Desires and Original Sin.
The Private Patient takes a while to get going. The first few chapters tell us about the victim, Rhoda Gradwyn, who we know will die at a private clinic in Dorset. Rhoda has a facial scar which she will have removed in surgery at Cheverell Manor. The intriguing thing for me is that Rhoda tells her surgeon she has no further need for the scar, but this seemed to get buried in the explanation of Rhoda’s background and that of the staff at the Manor. Of course, once the murder happens, the story moves rapidly. This is an old-fashioned English murder story set in a private cosmetic surgery clinic where it seems everyone has something to hide. The characterization is a little clichéd, perhaps James’ use of her own background is more evident here than in earlier novels.
We get more this time about Kate Miskin which I enjoyed, more beyond her origins which James has told us about before. If James had been younger, I can quite see that she would have retired Dalgliesh and started a new series based on Miskin.

Read my reviews of the other Adam Dalgliesh mysteries:-
COVER HER FACE #1ADAMDALGLIESH
A MIND TO MURDER #2ADAMDALGLIESH
UNNATURAL CAUSES #3ADAMDALGLIESH
SHROUD FOR A NIGHTINGALE #4ADAMDALGLIESH
THE BLACK TOWER #5ADAMDALGLIESH
DEATH OF AN EXPERT WITNESS #6ADAMDALGLIESH
A TASTE FOR DEATH #7ADAMDALGLIESH
DEVICES AND DESIRES #8ADAMDALGLIESH
ORIGINAL SIN #9ADAMDALGLIESH … read the first paragraph HERE
A CERTAIN JUSTICE #10ADAMDALGLIESH
DEATH IN HOLY ORDERS #11ADAMDALGLIESH
THE MURDER ROOM #12ADAMDALGLIESH … read the first paragraph HERE
THE LIGHTHOUSE #13ADAMDALGLIESH

Here are my reviews of the two Cordelia Gray mysteries:-
AN UNSUITABLE JOB FOR A WOMAN #CGRAY1
THE SKULL BENEATH THE SKIN #CGRAY2

And two other books by PD James:-
INNOCENT BLOOD

If you like this, try:-
‘Eeny Meeny’ by MJ Arlidge #1HELENGRACE
‘The Vanished Bride’ by Bella Ellis #1BRONTEMYSTERIES
‘Due Diligence’ by DJ Harrison #1JENNYPARKER

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#BookReview THE PRIVATE PATIENT by PD James: the last Dalgliesh http://wp.me/p5gEM4-1VR via @SandraDanby

#BookReview ‘Little Boy Blue’ by MJ Arlidge @mjarlidge #crimefiction

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Little Boy Blue ends on such a cliffhanger I wanted to start reading the next straightaway. As the end approached I kept thinking ‘it won’t end like that, it can’t end like that.’ Hide and Seek, sixth in the DI Helen Grace series by MJ Arlidge, is published in September, so not too long to wait. MJ ArlidgeThis is a chilling tale, one that pulls you in and turns the pages. I’d just finished a heavy literary book and needed a contrast, this book certainly provided it. As a television writer, Matthew Arlidge certainly knows how to manage tension and the pacing of his series is managed like television episodes. So perhaps it is not a surprise that Little Boy Blue ends on such a cliffhanger that it could actually be called part one of a two-part series.
The murders – yes plural, isn’t it always? – take place in Southampton’s shady world of BDSM, the world of sexual role play, bondage, dominance and submission. The first victim is someone known to Helen Grace and her instant reaction to hide this acquaintance is at the centre of this hurtling story of murder and secrets. What sets this series apart? The character of Helen Grace is intriguing and complex, we learn more about her in each book. She has a complicated, damaged past but instead of turning to the dark side, she always strives to do the right thing.
The stories are not standalone narratives, each book ramps up the tension and intrigue from the previous novels as the twists in Helen’s complicated life, her relationship with her colleagues and the politics of policing contribute to future tension. Events described in book one become relevant in book five. To get the best out of Little Boy Blue you need to understand the back story to Helen Grace and her team.

Read my reviews other books in this series:-
EENY MEENY #1HELENGRACE
POP GOES THE WEASEL #2HELENGRACE
THE DOLL’S HOUSE #3HELENGRACE
LIAR LIAR #4HELENGRACE
HIDE AND SEEK #6HELENGRACE
LOVE ME NOT #7HELENGRACE
DOWN TO THE WOODS #8 HELENGRACE

If like this, try:-
‘The Silent and the Damned’ by Robert Wilson #2FALCÓN
‘The Blood Detective’ by Dan Waddell #1BLOODDETECTIVE
‘Blood Med’ by Jason Webster #4MAXCAMARA

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#BookReview LITTLE BOY BLUE by MJ Arlidge @mjarlidge http://wp.me/p5gEM4-1ZB via @SandraDanby

#BookReview ‘Yuki Chan in Brontë Country’ by Mick Jackson @mickwriter #contemporary

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Yuki Chan in Brontë Country by Mick Jackson is an unexpected novel. Unusual, charming, offbeat. A young Japanese tourist visits Haworth, birthplace of the Brontë sisters, though she has not read their novels. Why is she there amongst a busload of pensioners? And why, when it’s time to leave, does she do a runner and ignore phone calls from her sister? Mick JacksonThis is a novel about grief, acceptance and friendship. There are other things going on too – the science of snow, spirit photography – but basically it is a road novel. Yukiko Chan leaves Japan for England to follow in the footsteps of her mother, who died ten years previously. ‘She is like Columbo, gathering evidence.’ But, in the way of road novels, Yuki finds answers to questions about herself she had not considered, and friendship and help from unexpected quarters.
The reasons for the road trip are drip-fed, this is a slow, thoughtful book, so read it with patience. I loved it. It is touching and quirky, as is Yuki herself, from her thoughts on how airports should be designed, to plans for more revolving restaurants. And why, she puzzles, are the biscuits in the Brontë gift tins not shaped liked the three sisters?

If you like this, try:-
‘The Last Days of Rabbit Hayes’ by Anna McPartlin
‘Nora Webster’ by Colm Tóibín
‘Did You Ever Have a Family’ by Bill Clegg

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
#BookReview YUKI CHAN IN BRONTË COUNTRY by Mick Jackson @mickwriter http://wp.me/p5gEM4-22k via @SandraDanby

#BookReview ‘The Last of Us’ by Rob Ewing #dystopian #mystery

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The Last of Us by Rob Ewing is a tough and tender tale of survival of five children on a small Scottish island. Written from the perspective of Rona who is eight, it is a page-turning read about survival after the worst happens. Often a difficult read as the children have to face-up to things you wish children would never see or have to be aware of. Rob EwingRona has imaginary conversations with her Mum, who she believes will return to save her. Elizabeth, the eldest, draws on the example of her doctor parents, and tries to organize this fragile new family. Alex, the youngest, is diabetic and needs insulin shots. These three, unrelated, live together in a house of their choice. The two brothers Calum Ian and Duncan MacNeil, always on the periphery of the group, still live in their family home and often turn up for school smelling of petrol. They await the return of their fisherman father.
The children’s days are filled with routine, thanks to Elizabeth’s organization and rules. They brush their teeth, they go to school and follow the lessons which Elizabeth directs, they go ‘shopping’ in the derelict houses, marking the front doors either ‘G’ or ‘B’ depending on what they find inside. If there is a bad smell in a house, they put plastic bags on their feet and wear goggles to venture inside. Occasionally they pay their respects at the makeshift grave of the Last Adult. The children show immense courage, ingenuity and humanity in an impossible situation in which each in turn is tested.
Gradually we piece together what may have happened to the rest of the island inhabitants, sifting probable fact from the children’s fears and fantasies. The children seem to be coping, until Alex’s insulin runs out and they must venture further abroad on the island to look for medicine.

If you like this, try:-
‘In Ark’ by Lisa Devaney
‘The Queen of the Tearling’ by Erika Johansen #1TEARLING
‘The Ship’ by Antonia Honeywell

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#BookReview THE LAST OF US by Rob Ewing http://wp.me/p5gEM4-21Q via @SandraDanby

#BookReview ‘Agatha Raisin and the Potted Gardener’ by MC Beaton #cosycrime

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When a new arrival in the Cotswold village of Carsley brings competition for the attentions of James Lacey, Agatha Raisin is tempted to turn her back on her neighbour. In Agatha Raisin and the Potted Gardener by MC Beaton, she makes a reckless decision and return to London. MC BeatonAs usual in this series, Agatha’s decision-making is suspect and she gets herself deeper into trouble. But observation of James and her rival in love, Mary Fortune, at the gardening club give her hope that James is not convinced by Mary’s obvious charms although Mary seems universally loved by the rest of the village.
Another murder in Carsley gives Agatha, ably aided by James, ample opportunity for nosiness, trespassing, the making of lots of general assumptions, all tempered by common sense and observation of human nature. Sometimes Agatha seems to have a death wish when it comes to relationships, she admits she was never good at making friends, perhaps she is likeable because she is not perfect. On occasions she is rude, grumpy and arrogant.
MC Beaton’s creation – this is the third in the Agatha Raisin series – is an enjoyable well-written mystery more akin with Jessica Fletcher in Murder She Wrote, than with Miss Marple. If you want an easy read one rainy afternoon, or when you are about to board a plane, then this will suit you admirably.

Read my reviews of other books in this series:-
AGATHA RAISIN AND THE QUICHE OF DEATH #1AGATHARAISIN
AGATHA RAISIN AND THE VICIOUS VET #2AGATHARAISIN
AGATHA RAISIN AND THE WALKERS OF DEMBLEY #4AGATHARAISIN
AGATHA RAISIN AND THE MURDEROUS MARRIAGE #5AGATHARAISIN

If you like this, try:-
‘Big Sky’ by Kate Atkinson #5JACKSONBRODIE
‘The Vanished Bride’ by Bella Ellis #1BRONTEMYSTERIES
‘A Fatal Crossing’ by Tom Hindle

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
#BookReview AGATHA RAISIN AND THE POTTED GARDENER by MC Beaton http://wp.me/p5gEM4-1Wx via @SandraDanby

#BookReview ‘Somewhere Inside of Happy’ by Anna McPartlin @annamcpartlin #contemporary #grief

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Somewhere Inside of Happy by Anna McPartlin is a thoughtful book with strongly drawn characters, Irish humour and a fair amount of ripe language. And there is laughter and tears. Yet again, Irish author McPartlin tackles difficult issues. Grief – as in the superb The Last Days of Rabbit Hayes –  dementia and homophobia. Anna McPartlinThis is the story of Maisie Bean, a single mother who has fought bravely to escape a violent husband and raise her two children, Jeremy and Valerie. The story starts, on January 1, 1995, when Jeremy disappears.
Ever since his mother found the strength to leave her abusive husband, Jeremy has been the man of the family. He has been responsible, thoughtful, helpful, caring for his grandmother Bridie who suffers from dementia, keeping an eye on his younger sister Valerie. In doing so he has repressed who he is because he doesn’t really understand who he is, all he knows is that he is different.
Somewhere Inside of Happy is an examination of generalisations, assumptions and misunderstandings, how the crowd dynamic and a troublesome media can turn a whisper into fact. How a community looks the other way whilst a drug-addict father neglects his son and how gays are referred to as ‘queer’ and worse. The mirror held up to society is not a pretty one. It is a reminder to us all to be more respectful of others, to stop ourselves being unfair and condemnatory about things we do not understand. The setting is Ireland in the Nineties, not that long ago. The title of the book is actually a place within Jeremy, to where he retreats, curled up, when the outside world gets too much.
If I have one criticism, it is the Prologue set twenty years after the main story. It tells us so many things I would expect to discover through reading the book.
My favourite character? Bridie. She is drawn with such affection, a ‘game old bird’ dancing with her sixteen-year-old grandson.

Read my review of THE LAST DAYS OF RABBIT HAYES, also by Anna McPartlin.

If you like this, try:-
‘The Little Red Chairs’ by Edna O’Brien
‘Nora Webster’ by Colm Tóibín
‘Butterfly Barn’ by Karen Power

And if you’d like to share a link:
#BookReview SOMEWHERE INSIDE OF HAPPY by Anna McPartlin @annamcpartlin http://wp.me/p5gEM4-21A via @SandraDanby