Tag Archives: books

Great Opening Paragraph 72… ‘Nineteen Minutes’ #amreading #FirstPara

2 Replies

“By the time you read this, I hope to be dead.
You can’t undo something that’s happened; you can’t take back a word that’s already been said out loud. You’ll think about me and wish that you had been able to talk me out of this. You’ll try to figure out what would have been the one right thing to say, to do. I guess I should tell you, Don’t blame yourself; this isn’t your fault, but that would be a lie. We both know that I didn’t get here by myself.”
Jodi Picoult From ‘Nineteen Minutes’ by Jodi Picoult

Read the first paragraph of VANISHING ACTS and my book review of VANISHING ACTS , also by Jodi Picoult.

Try one of these #FirstParas & discover a new author:-
‘Sacred Hearts’ by Sarah Dunant
‘The L-Shaped Room’ By Lynn Reid Banks
‘Bel Canto’ by Ann Patchett

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
#Books #FirstPara NINETEEN MINUTES by @jodipicoult http://wp.me/p5gEM4-1xt via @SandraDanby

#BookReview ‘A Mind to Murder’ by PD James #crime

19 Replies

A private clinic, psychiatrists and their patients: potent territory for a crime novelist such as PD James. In A Mind to Murder, second in the Adam Dalgliesh detective series, the clinic administrator is found murdered in the basement archive, a chisel through her heart. The potential murderer must be within the clinic’s staff and as they set about analysing each other’s alibis and motives, Dalgliesh arrives from a literary party. PD JamesA classic PD James, although for me a trifle slow-moving at times as the layout and routines of the clinic are necessarily explored. James continues to establish the Dalgliesh character and world, an increasingly complex, private, intellectual thing which – even in the later books – is ever-evolving and continuously surprising.
The culprit? An early suspect I had barely considered. Dalgliesh’s task is complicated by office politics, blackmail, love affairs and ambition.

Read my reviews of the other Adam Dalgliesh mysteries:-
COVER HER FACE #1ADAMDALGLIESH
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
THE PRIVATE PATIENT #14ADAMDALGLIESH

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

And another PD James novel:-
INNOCENT BLOOD

If you like this, try:-
‘Wilderness’ by Campbell Hart #1ARBOGAST
‘An Uncertain Place’ by Fred Vargas #8COMMISSAIREADAMSBERG
‘The Killing of Polly Carter’ by Robert Thorogood #2DEATHINPARADISE

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
#BookReview A MIND TO MURDER by PD James http://wp.me/p5gEM4-1B2 via @SandraDanby 

Great Opening Paragraph 71… ‘Mara and Dann’ #amreading #FirstPara

Leave a reply

“The scene that the child, then the girl, then the young woman tried so hard to remember was clear enough in its beginnings. She had been hustled – sometimes carried, sometimes pulled along by the hand – through a dark night, nothing to be seen but stars, and then she was pushed into a room and told, Keep quiet, and the people who had brought her disappeared. She had not taken notice of their faces, what they were, she was too frightened, but they were her people, the People, she knew that. The room was nothing she had known. It was a square, built of large blocks of rock. She was inside one of the rock houses. She had seen them all her life. The rock houses were where they lived, the Rock People, not her people, who despised them. She had often see the Rock People walking along the roads, getting quickly out of the way when they saw the People; but a dislike of them that she had been taught made it hard to look much at them. She was afraid of them, and thought them ugly.”
Doris LessingFrom ‘Mara and Dann’ by Doris Lessing

Try one of these #FirstParas & discover a new author:-
‘A Bouquet of Barbed Wire’ by Andrea Newman
‘After You’d Gone’ by Maggie O’Farrell
‘Pride and Prejudice’ by Jane Austen

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
#Books #FirstPara MARA AND DANN by Doris Lessing http://wp.me/p5gEM4-1xp via @SandraDanby

#BookReview ‘The Light Years’ by Elizabeth Jane Howard #historical #WW2

9 Replies

If you haven’t read The Light Years [it is the first in a series of five], you are in for a treat. Elizabeth Jane Howard died in 2014 at the age of 90 and this prompted me to buy her series ‘The Cazalet Chronicles’. I read them on holiday, back-to-back and know I will re-read them many more times. Elizabeth Jane HowardThis is a great family saga, a glimpse of upstairs and downstairs as World War Two threatens the Cazalet family. Over the course of these five books we see the changing social geography of England through the prism of this family, the changing lives of the women and servants, wartime privations, the threat to the family timber business as they face up to the reality of fear.
Oh how I gobbled up these novels. This, the first, introduces us to the family: the patriarch William and his wife The Duchy, their three sons – Hugh, Edward and Rupert, and their wives – and daughter Rachel. As a new war threatens, the hidden wounds of the Great War have not healed and there is no appetite for another. The family gathers at the Sussex house, Home Place, which is the hub of the action. It is the summer of 1937: Hitler has annexed Austria and has his eye of Czechoslovakia.
In these tense summer days at Home Place, we meet the family via the children. Louise, daughter of Edward, the second Cazalet son, is thirteen years old and wants to play the best Shakespearean roles, she starts with Hamlet. Her mother Viola, known as Villy, leads the life expected of her, as wife and mother. “She was not unhappy – it was just that she could have been much more.” One by one we are drawn into the lives of the children, their parents, of Duchy and the Brig, all the time knowing what they don’t: that in less than two years, the ‘peace with honour’ declared by Prime Minister Chamberlain is valueless.

Read my reviews of the other books in ‘The Cazalet Chronicles’:-
MARKING TIME #2CAZALET
CONFUSION #3CAZALET
CASTING OFF  #4CAZALET
ALL CHANGE #5CAZALET

And another novel by Howard, THE LONG VIEW.

If you like this, try:-
‘Freya’ by Anthony Quinn
‘At Mrs Lippincote’s’ by Elizabeth Taylor
‘After the Bombing’ by Clare Morrall

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
#BookReview THE LIGHT YEARS by Elizabeth Jane Howard http://wp.me/p5gEM4-1Bo via @SandraDanby

#BookReview ‘Cover Her Face’ by PD James #crime

24 Replies

Can I remember a time when I didn’t know of the existence of Adam Dalgliesh? No. Cover Her Face, the first in the PD James series about the thoughtful detective, was published in 1962. So it was an interesting exercise to re-read this novel when I am so familiar with the last books in the series. How to describe the style of PD James’s detective: detection by deduction and perception. PD JamesThe Maxie family has a new parlourmaid, Sally Jupp, who is found dead in her bed. This is almost a ‘closed room’ mystery in that the murder takes place in a country house with a limited number of suspects. What is unclear is the real story of Sally, her background and how she became an unmarried mother. Is Sally a victim, or is she a manipulative young woman who twists situations and people to her advantage? And who feels most threatened by her? There are plenty of potential culprits and Dalgliesh’s summary at the end – leading up to the naming of the murderer – reminded me of Agatha Christie.
Any Dalgliesh fan will be curious to read about his first appearance. There is almost nothing inside his head here, something the later books do so well, showing us the thoughtful, tortured poet detective. Here, his character is still forming.

Read my reviews of the other Adam Dalgliesh mysteries:-
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
THE PRIVATE PATIENT #14ADAMDALGLIESH

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

And another PD James novel:-
INNOCENT BLOOD

If you like this, try:-
‘A Fatal Crossing’ by Tom Hindle
‘Business as Usual’ by EL Lindley
‘The Killing of Polly Carter’ by Robert Thorogood

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
#BookReview COVER HER FACE by PD James http://wp.me/p5gEM4-1BZ via @SandraDanby

#BookReview ‘The Doll’s House’ by MJ Arlidge @mjarlidge #crimefiction

8 Replies

Vulnerable women are disappearing and Detective Inspector Helen Grace suspects another serial killer. If so, it will be her third, and her success is causing tensions amongst her team in Southampton. In The Doll’s House, MJ Arlidge tells a taut story about girls, captured and confined in dark, dismal places. MJ ArlidgeIn the first chapter, a woman wakes in a dark cellar, and a young family on a day trip to the beach finds a body buried in the sand. This ticks so many boxes for me: the real Southampton setting, the believable Helen Grace, the police politics, Helen’s continuing relationship with fellow officer Charlie.
This is a convincing portrayal of Ruby, a troubled young woman with family issues, who wants to put things right. She was adopted and had a happy childhood, but a reunion with her birth mother sours her life and she disappears. Her mother receives only brief texts and tweets, saying she is trying to sort out her life.
This is a clever killer who keeps his victims alive beyond their grave.

Read my reviews other books in this series:-
EENY MEENY #1HELENGRACE
POP GOES THE WEASEL #2HELENGRACE
LIAR LIAR #4HELENGRACE
LITTLE BOY BLUE #5HELENGRACE
HIDE AND SEEK #6HELENGRACE
LOVE ME NOT #7HELENGRACE
DOWN TO THE WOODS #8HELENGRACE

If you like this, try:-
‘Cover her Face’ by PD James #1ADAMDALGLIESH
‘No Other Darkness’ by Sarah Hilary #2MARNIEROME
‘The Various Haunts of Men’ by Susan Hill #1SIMONSERRAILLER

And if you’d like to share a link:
#BookReview THE DOLL’S HOUSE by MJ Arlidge @mjarlidge http://wp.me/p5gEM4-1B8 via @SandraDanby

#BookReview ‘The Bone Church’ by Victoria Dougherty @vicdougherty #war #WW2

2 Replies

The Bone Church was a difficult story to get into for me, which surprised me. The premise by Victoria Dougherty seems so good – Czechoslovakia, wartime, fugitive lovers, a faked religious icon, and a plot to assassinate Josef Goebbels – the promise of which kept me reading. But I found the time shifts, the point of view shifts, and the way the action changed from paragraph to paragraph quite confusing. Assuming this was a formatting issue with my Kindle copy, I kept reading. Victoria DoughertyThe story starts in Rome in 1956 in the Vatican City with a Cardinal and a man called Felix. Then we see Magdalena and her son Ales in Czechoslovakia, a man arrives and takes away her son. Then the action switched to 1943, as Felix and Magdalena are on the run in Prague. He is a famous hockey player, a celebrity, she is a Jew. By this point, the story should have gripped me but I’m afraid it didn’t, I hadn’t read enough about the two characters to care. I think my basic problem is the way the story was told, not the actual story itself; the writing is rich with description and the author certainly knows her history. Halfway through, things started to make a little more sense though at times the plot seemed unnecessarily complicated.
The best bit? An assassination scene, involving a birthday cake, a gun, and Josef Goebbels.

If you like this, try:-
‘Life After Life’ by Kate Atkinson
‘The Little Red Chairs’ by Edna O’Brien
‘Dominion’ by CJ Sansom

And if you’d like to share a link:
#BookReview THE BONE CHURCH by Victoria Dougherty @vicdougherty http://wp.me/p5gEM4-1Bl via @SandraDanby

#BookReview ‘No Other Darkness’ by Sarah Hilary @sarah_hilary #crime

2 Replies

Amongst children’s books and tins of peaches, two bodies are found in an underground bunker. Two children, curled around each other like commas. For investigating officers DI Marnie Rome and Noah Jake, the case disturbs their own difficult childhood memories. Are they searching for a sadistic murderer, or someone who intended to hide not kill? Then it gets worse, as the plans for other forgotten bunkers are discovered. This is No Other Darkness by Sarah Hilary. Sarah HilaryThis is the first Marnie Rome book I have read, and there were things I liked and things I didn’t. I didn’t like the grotesque description of the inside of the bunker. But I did like the storyline, full of fresh ideas. It is about families: broken ones, cracked ones, and how the past affects the present. Can the past ever be forgotten? Is it possible to start again after tragedy, to have a second chance of getting it right? Or is any attempt bound to fail?
This is an underground mystery of tunnels, bunkers, sewers and dark hiding places. What is the murderer trying to hide, and who from? And what role do the mysterious preppers play? These shady people who plan in case of nuclear attack, storing food and specialist equipment should the worst actually happen.

If you like this, try:-
‘Eeny Meeny’ by MJ Arlidge #1HELENGRACE
‘Due Diligence’ by DJ Harrison #1JENNYPARKER
‘Business as Usual’ by EL Lindley #1GEORGIECONNELLY

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
#BookReview NO OTHER DARKNESS by Sarah Hilary @sarah_hilary http://wp.me/p5gEM4-1Bb via @SandraDanby

#BookReview ‘Disclaimer’ by Renee Knight #crime #thriller

Leave a reply

Catherine moves house and finds a novel which she can’t remember buying. But this is no ordinary book. It pretends to be fiction, but Catherine recognises herself as one of the characters and the story discloses a secret. “A secret she has told no-one, not even her husband and son – two people who think they know her better than anyone else.” So, Disclaimer by Renee Knight includes a novel-within-a-novel. Renee KnightThis novel explores how one secret, hidden and almost forgotten, can re-emerge 20 years later to do damage. But it is also a warning about the danger of making assumptions without all the facts. The reader makes assumptions, Catherine’s husband makes assumptions, and the writer of the novel makes assumptions.
Nothing is what it seems, in the tradition of good thrillers, and this book will make you believe first one version of the truth, and then another. Which is the real one? Is Catherine a good mother, or a bad mother?

If you like this, try:-
‘The Returned’ by Jason Mott
‘Girl Runner’ by Carrie Snyder
‘The Lightning Tree’ by Emily Woof

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

#BookReview ‘Wolf Winter’ by Cecilia Ekback #thriller

9 Replies

This book had me gripped from page one.  It is difficult to categorize: thriller, yes; beautifully-written, yes; sexually-charged, yes; ghosts and spirits, yes. Wolf Winter by Cecilia Ekback is a chilling Nordic thriller set in a bleak winter landscape deep in snow, the mutilated body of a man is found by two young girls and the ramifications reverberate throughout the winter months. Cecilia EkbackThis disparate community of families, residents and itinerant Lapps, feel threatened by something on their mountain, Blackåsen. It is a hard life for newcomer Maija and her two daughters Frederika and Dorotea. Maija’s husband leaves them for the winter to get a job on the coast, and so Maija deals with the unnamed threat in her own way, a way which some locals see as suspicious, perhaps even witchery.
The mountain is there on every page, the wind, the snow, the cold. The Swedish expression ‘wolf winter’ means two things: an unusually bitter and long winter, and the darkest time in a person’s life. Both apply to this novel. Excellent. This is Ekback’s debut novel and I look forward to the second.

If you like this, try:-
‘Burial Rites’ by Hannah Kent
‘The Killing Lessons’ by Saul Black
‘I Refuse’ by Per Petterson

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
#BookReview WOLF WINTER by Cecilia Ekback via @SandraDanby http://wp.me/p5gEM4-1Af