Tag Archives: crime fiction

My Porridge & Cream read Susanna Beard @SusannaBeard25 #books #Pooh

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Today I’m delighted to welcome psychological crime writer Susanna Beard. Her ‘Porridge & Cream’ read is Winnie-the-Pooh by AA Milne.

“I first read this collection of stories in 1972 when I was an A-level English student at Pate’s Grammar School in Cheltenham. Our wonderful English teacher, Miss Smith – probably the only teacher in our school who inspired me — would read from it at the end of term. We would have worked hard during the term, finished our homework and our exams, and would be looking forward to the holidays. I came to see this book as the ultimate way to wind down.

Susanna Beard

Susanna’s copy of Winnie-the-Pooh

“Whenever things seem overwhelming and difficult, I pick up this book and dip into the world of Christopher Robin, Pooh et al. I’m transported into their kind, friendly, uncomplicated lives and live for a short time in the Hundred Acre Wood with them, observing nature and enjoying the company of friends. AA Milne writes with humour, compassion and simplicity, yet the stories are so insightful and the messages universal.

“I’m drawn to this book by the memory of my teacher sitting on one of our desks in front of the class, her feet on the chair, reading in her soft voice to us. We were almost adults but we were enthralled and enchanted by AA Milne’s stories. I’ve always loved the illustrations too, particularly the colour versions by EH Shepard. They’re beautiful and simple, yet so expressive.”

Susanna Beard

The current edition

Susanna’s Elevator Pitch for Winnie-the-Pooh: Winnie-The-Pooh is a bear of very little brain. He lives in the Hundred Acre Wood with his friends Christopher Robin, Piglet, Eeyore, Owl, Rabbit, Tigger, Kanga and Roo. This collection of short stories tells the tales of their friendship and their adventures.
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Susanna’s Bio
Susanna is fascinated by human relationships. She can be found people-watching wherever she goes, finding material for her writing. Her passions include animals — particularly her dogs — walking in the countryside and tennis, which clears her brain of pretty much everything. Susanna’s debut novel, Dare to Remember, was published in February 2017, and her second, The Truth Waits, launched on 1 November 2018. Both are published by Legend Press. She aims to keep writing, and never to get old.

Susanna’s links
Website
Email 
Facebook
Twitter and her publisher Legend Press

Susanna’s latest book

Susanna BeardThe Truth Waits (published 2018)
‘Bears all the hallmarks of a great thriller’
Successful businesswoman Anna stumbles across the body of a young girl on a deserted beach in Lithuania. She is compelled to uncover the story behind the tragedy, despite concern from her partner, Will. Everything points towards sex trafficking, but as she searches, her own deepest secrets start to surface.
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What is a ‘Porridge & Cream’ book? It’s the book you turn to when you need a familiar read, when you are tired, ill, or out-of-sorts, where you know the story and love it. Where reading it is like slipping on your oldest, scruffiest slippers after walking for miles. Where does the name ‘Porridge & Cream’ come from? Cat Deerborn is a character in Susan Hill’s ‘Simon Serrailler’ detective series. Cat is a hard-worked GP, a widow with two children and she struggles from day-to-day. One night, after a particularly difficult day, she needs something familiar to read. From her bookshelf she selects ‘Love in A Cold Climate’ by Nancy Mitford. Do you have a favourite read which you return to again and again? If so, please send me a message.

Discover the ‘Porridge & Cream’ books of these authors:-
Kelly Clayton’s choice is ‘Naked in Death’ by JD Robb
Linda Huber chooses ‘A Cry in the Night’ by Mary Higgins Clark
‘Camellia’ by Lesley Pearse is chosen by Helen Christmas

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
Why does psychological crime writer @SusannaBeard25 re-read WINNIE-THE-POOH by AA Milne? #books https://wp.me/p5gEM4-45w via @SandraDanby

#BookReview ‘Five Days of Fog’ by Anna Freeman #thriller #crime

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Five Days of Fog by Anna Freeman about the queen of a female crime syndicate coming out of prison reminds me of Martina Cole’s books. It is 1952 and as Florrie Palmer waits for her mother Ruby to return home, she must make a decision about the direction of her own life. Anna FreemanLondon remains in the grip of ruins from the war and Florrie is firmly embedded in the family gang, donning disguises to steal, feeling secure in the circle of women who support each other. But she also applies for a job as a telephonist, carefully practising her accent.
The action is framed by five days of fog, both physical and perceived. So dense is visibility that cars crash, chemicals cause lung infections and people are coughing up dirt. The fog offers opportunities for thieves but it also disguises the truth and lies told to each other by the gang as they face a turning point. Old lies are perpetuated, new lies told with a smile, some members are out for their own benefit; others are tired of the secrets and politicking, and just want to get back to what they do best. Freeman’s fog is based on the real Great Smog of 1952 when an anticyclone pushed down all the filth in the air from industry, motor vehicle fumes and smoke from coal fires; it was followed in 1956 by the Clean Air Act.
The Palmer women form the Cutters, a fictional women’s gang named for The New Cut, a London market where the first group of women, tired of poverty and scrubbing floors, started shoplifting. When queen Ruby comes out of jail on early release, she has TB. As jostling begins in anticipation of the crowning of a new queen, there is a potentially bigger problem risking the survival of the Cutters and the male gang, the Goddens [the Palmer girls marry Godden boys, keeping the two gangs linked by DNA]; someone is grassing them up to the police. Trust is fractured, suspicious run rife, knives are carried, somewhere there is a gun. The story is told from multiple viewpoints – Florrie, Ruby, Nell, Ted – possibly too many. Is Florrie the grass? After all, she has dreams of going straight and marrying Nell’s son Ted, her quiet second cousin. If Ruby dies, Florrie will be in line to take over as queen. Or will Ruby’s blustering be-ringed sister Maggie take over? What about Ada, Ruby’s elderly aunt? Or is Harry Godden the queenmaker? Florrie and Ted are drawn into the gang by the family’s tentacles that keep the gang strong, safe and in the family.
I finished this book with mixed feelings. I admire the writing but don’t like any of the women and don’t feel convinced by the world created, though I can’t pin down why. I continued reading through the jumble of family background and names in the first half because I was curious about the identity of the grass. For me, the book took off in the second half as Nell’s story ignites. But the star of this book for me is Freeman’s masterful use of the fog.
If you are a fan of Freeman’s debut, The Fair Fight, be prepared for something completely different.

Read my review of THE FAIR FIGHT, also by Anna Freeman.

If you like this, try:-
‘Beginnings’ by Helen Christmas #1SAMEFACEDIFFERENTPLACE
‘Hangover Square’ by Patrick Hamilton
‘Never’ by Ken Follett

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
#BookReview FIVE DAYS OF FOG by Anna Freeman https://wp.me/p5gEM4-3U7 via @SandraDanby

My Porridge & Cream read… Sue Featherstone @SueF_Writer #books #humour #chicklit

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Today I’m delighted to welcome chick lit novelist Sue Featherstone. Her ‘Porridge & Cream’ read is Sad Cypress by Agatha Christie.

“It’s hard to pin down a single Porridge & Cream read because there are a number of old favourites that fit into my comfort-read category. Georgette Heyer’s Regency novels, for instance, Noel Streatfield’s children’s stories and Josephine Tey’s whodunits. But I’m going to choose Sad Cypress by Agatha Christie, which I first read in my early teens in the late 1960s when I sneaked it off my dad’s bookcase.

Sue Featherstone

Sue’s copy

“What appealed to me then is what still appeals today – nostalgia for a bygone age, a murder mystery with lots of red herrings, and a gently unfolding love story. When it first appeared in 1933 Sad Cypress was considered ground-breaking. The murder takes place about a third of a way into the story – giving plenty of time to establish characters and plot – and Poirot doesn’t make an appearance until almost halfway through. Unusually, too, much of the drama takes place in the courtroom.

“The plot is classic Christie: wealthy heiress Elinor Carlisle is heartbroken when her fiancé Roddy breaks off their long-standing engagement to pursue Mary Gerrard, a protégé of Elinor’s recently deceased aunt. And when Mary is poisoned almost everyone, including Roddy who has known Elinor since childhood, believes she must be the murderer.

“When I grew up and left home, Sad Cypress was one of the first books on my new book shelves and my battered 1979 Pan edition is testament to multiple re-readings. Why? Because even though Poirot is a strange little fellow, Elinor’s story – a woman betrayed by the man she loved – has a timeless resonance. Will she forgive Roddy’s betrayal? Or will she find happiness with the local doctor, who has believed in her innocence throughout?

“Truly, Christie is the queen of crime fiction.”

Sue Featherstone

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Sue Featherstone’s Bio

Sue Featherstone is a Midlander, who has spent most of her life living and working in Yorkshire. Her debut novel A Falling Friend, co-authored with Susan Pape, was published by Lakewater Press in 2016 and a sequel A Forsaken Friend followed in March 2018. The pair, who have also written two journalism text books together, are currently working on the final book in their Friends trilogy. Sue was a journalist and public relations practitioner before moving into academia 20 years ago to teach news and magazine journalism at Sheffield Hallam University. Married with two grown-up daughters, she recently welcomed her first granddaughter Iris who is ‘the most beautiful baby in the whole world’. 

Sue Featherstone’s links

Blog

Twitter @SueF_Writer

Sue Featherstone’s latest book

Sue Featherstone

A Forsaken Friend is the second instalment in a Yorkshire-based trilogy that follows best friends Teri Meyer and Lee Harper as they juggle men, careers and family. Their friendship is tested when Teri discovers her ex-husband is in love with Lee. And, to make things even worse, she’s just lost her job and is running out of money. Fast. It’s not all plain sailing for Lee either. Her love life might be looking up – not that she meant to fall for Teri’s ex – but her family life is a car crash. Her Catholic mother isn’t happy she’s dating a divorced man and her father has been given some bad news about his health…Described as a warm, funny and entertaining read, A Forsaken Friend is an intelligent and sassy look at the friendship between two women on the cusp of middle age.

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What is a ‘Porridge & Cream’ book? It’s the book you turn to when you need a familiar read, when you are tired, ill, or out-of-sorts, where you know the story and love it. Where reading it is like slipping on your oldest, scruffiest slippers after walking for miles. Where does the name ‘Porridge & Cream’ come from? Cat Deerborn is a character in Susan Hill’s ‘Simon Serrailler’ detective series. Cat is a hard-worked GP, a widow with two children and she struggles from day-to-day. One night, after a particularly difficult day, she needs something familiar to read. From her bookshelf she selects ‘Love in A Cold Climate’ by Nancy Mitford. Do you have a favourite read which you return to again and again? If so, please send me a message.

Discover the ‘Porridge & Cream’ books of these authors:-

Rhoda Baxter’s choice is ‘The Nightwatch’ by Terry Pratchett

Jane Lambert chooses ‘Rebecca’ by Daphne du Maurier

‘Please Don’t Eat the Daisies’ by Jean Kerr is chosen by Carol Cooper

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:

Why does chick lit novelist @SueF_Writerre-read SAD CYPRESS by Agatha Christie? #books via @SandraDanby 

#BookReview ‘The Mystery of Three Quarters’ by @sophiehannahCB1 #crime #mystery

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I am not a great lover of continuation series, books written by a new author after the death of the much-loved originator. It seems a cynical moneymaking move and I fear it will ruin my love of the original author’s books. I grew up loving Agatha Christie and have not, until now, been tempted to read the new Poirot stories by Sophie Hannah. But about to go on holiday, feeling tired and longing for something familiar but new, I picked up The Mystery of Three Quarters. And what a delight it is. Sophie HannahThe story starts as Poirot is challenged in turn by four strangers, each accusing him of naming them as a murderer. Affronted that fraudulent letters have been sent in his name, Poirot sets out to investigate. He suspects however that the supposed victim Barnabas Pandy does not exist. But Pandy does exist, or did, for 94-year old Barnabas Pandy is dead, drowned in his bath. Told by Poirot’s police sidekick, Inspector Edward Catchpool, this is a clever and mystifying story of Pandy, his two grand-daughters, and long-buried guilt and shame.
Hannah writes with ease and I slipped seamlessly into loving and believing in her Poirot. As with all good crime fiction, I had suspicions about the identity of the murderer but only during Poirot’s customary reveal did I connect together the unpredictable clues laid so carefully throughout the novel. And as always, it is satisfying to know I had guessed correctly. At 400 printed pages The Mystery of Three Quarters is longer than Christie’s Poirot novels, which come in at under 300 pages, but I flew through it in one day. Just the ticket for a holiday read.

And here’s my review of another Sophie Hannah Poirot book:-
THE KILLINGS AT KINGFISHER HILL #4POIROT

If you like this, try:-
‘The Silent Twin’ by Caroline Mitchell
‘An Uncertain Place’ by Fred Vargas
‘A Death in the Dales’ by Kate Brody

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
#BookReview THE MYSTERY OF THREE QUARTERS by @sophiehannahCB1 https://wp.me/p5gEM4-3yD via @Sandra Danby

#BookReview ‘Down to the Woods’ by @mjarlidge #crimefiction

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One thing you know to expect from a DI Helen Grace book; the first theory and suspect she comes up with will not be the killer, usually the second one isn’t either. And you believe her each time. So just when you are wondering who the killer can possibly be, the book races to its conclusion and you never guessed it though the clues are there. Down to the Woods is the eighth in the Grace series by MJ Arlidge. He is expert at twisting, turning, somersaulting the plot and part of the fun as a reader is figuring out the puzzle he has set. MJ ArlidgeIn the New Forest, campers are disappearing from their tents and being chased through the isolated woods before being killed. I didn’t dwell on the gruesome bits; I prefer the puzzle part of crime novels, the answers are always with the people. Apart from PD James and Susan Hill, this is the series of crime novels I keep on reading. Why? Because Helen Grace is an unusual heroine; she is strong but vulnerable, confident yet quaking inside, spiky but desperate for companionship. For the moment that support comes from her team. The secondary story of her DS, Charlie Brooks, continues. Charlie’s daughter Jessie is having nightmares and the household is short on sleep, while Charlie’s husband Steve wants another baby. And there is a new DS, tall, dark, motorbike riding DS Hudson. Local reporter Emilia Garanita is pushing for the big story, overstepping the line, being a nuisance, endangering herself, as usual.
Just when I was beginning to think Helen was less of a livewire, running into danger without thinking first, when she does exactly that. Down to the Woods is perhaps a little less explosive than the earlier books, but this is now a mature crime series and Helen is 45. The challenge for Arlidge is to come up with stories that keep us guessing right until the end without relying totally on Helen. Female characters – Helen, Charlie and Emilia – are undoubtedly Arlidge’s strength and it will be interesting to see if DS Joseph Hudson joins the team on a permanent basis.
One thing disappointed me. More than any previous book, there seemed to be a lot of repetition of stuff the reader can work out for herself; of the ‘if this happens then that might be next’ sort of question. No need for the summarising.

Read my reviews other books in this series:-
EENY MEENY #1HELENGRACE
POP GOES THE WEASEL #2HELENGRACE
THE DOLL’S HOUSE #3HELENGRACE
LIAR LIAR #4HELENGRACE
LITTLE BOY BLUE #5HELENGRACE
HIDE AND SEEK #6HELENGRACE
LOVE ME NOT #7 HELENGRACE

If you like this, try:-
‘Wolf’ by Mo Hayder
‘Nightfall’ by Stephen Leather
‘Hiding the Past’ by Nathan Dylan Goodwin

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
#BookReview DOWN TO THE WOODS by @mjarlidge https://wp.me/p5gEM4-3z6 via @SandraDanby

My Porridge & Cream read: LM Milford @lmmilford #books #crimefiction

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Today I’m delighted to welcome crime writer LM Milford. Her ‘Porridge & Cream’ read is 4.50 From Paddington by Agatha Christie.

“My Porridge and Cream novel is 4.50 From Paddington by Agatha Christie. I think it may even be the first Agatha Christie book I read and began my love affair with her writing. It’s the book I pick when I’m feeling tired and want something easy to read. I almost wrote ‘simple to read’ but of course Christie’s plots are never simple. The copy I have is old and battered and I think bought from a second-hand bookshop while browsing. I couldn’t tell you exactly when I read it, but it’s probably back in my early teens and it helped me to find the writing genre where I belong. LM Milford“Miss Marple is one of my favourite characters. She looks like a fluffy old lady but underneath that outward appearance is a core of steel and a very quick brain. I love the way she solves the crime by using just her wits and her experiences of living in a quiet country village. Her knowledge of the psychology of human behaviour is what makes her so formidable. I also love Lucy Eyelesbarrow, quietly competent and determined and more than a match for the Crackenthorpe brothers (and father!).
LM Milford

“Elevator pitch for4.50 From Paddington: When Elspeth McGillicuddy sees a woman murdered on a train, she turns to her friend Miss Jane Marple for comfort. Miss Marple decides that she must find out who the woman was and what happened to her because the body was not found on the train. She works out that the body must have been dumped near Rutherford Hall and employs Lucy Eyelesbarrow to find it. Once the body has been found the race is on to find out who she was before the killer can strike again.”
Amazon

Lynne’s Bio
By day, Lynne works in PR and communications; by night (and at weekends) she writes crime fiction (as well as baking pies and chocolate brownies). In a previous life she worked as a local newspaper reporter which gave her inspiration for the story that became her first novel, A Deadly Rejection. She lives in Kent and spends far too much time on trains commuting into London for work, which does however give her time to work on plotting and writing her books.

Lynne’s links
Website
Twitter @lmmilford
Facebook 

Lynne’s latest book
LM MilfordLocal news reporter Dan Sullivan scents a story in the local council planning department and he begins to ask questions. But when his source dies in mysterious circumstances, Dan is implicated. He is quickly drawn into a world of lies, ambition and avarice as he fights to clear his name. The more he digs, the more someone tries to stop the story from ever seeing the light of day. Dan must decide what’s more important to him…the story, or his life.
Amazon

What is a ‘Porridge & Cream’ book? It’s the book you turn to when you need a familiar read, when you are tired, ill, or out-of-sorts, where you know the story and love it. Where reading it is like slipping on your oldest, scruffiest slippers after walking for miles. Where does the name ‘Porridge & Cream’ come from? Cat Deerborn is a character in Susan Hill’s ‘Simon Serrailler’ detective series. Cat is a hard-worked GP, a widow with two children and she struggles from day-to-day. One night, after a particularly difficult day, she needs something familiar to read. From her bookshelf she selects ‘Love in A Cold Climate’ by Nancy Mitford. Do you have a favourite read which you return to again and again? If so, please send me a message.

Discover the ‘Porridge & Cream’ books of these authors:-
Mary Grand’s choice is ‘It Shouldn’t Happen to a Vet’ by James Herriot
Simon Fairfax chooses ‘Heller with a Gun’ by Louis L’Amour
‘Dead Until Dark’ by Charlaine Harris is chosen by Rachel Dove

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
Why does LM Milford @lmmilford re-read 4.50 FROM PADDINGTON by Agatha Christie #books https://wp.me/p5gEM4-3QI via @SandraDanby

#BookReview ‘Dissolution’ by CJ Sansom #Tudor #detective

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Oh my goodness why have I taken so long to read the Shardlake series by CJ Sansom? I was absolutely gripped by Dissolution, first in this Tudor series of mysteries featuring Matthew Shardlake, commissioner for Thomas Cromwell. And now I want to read all the others. CJ SansomIt is 1537. Henry VIII is king and supreme head of the Church of England. A year has passed since Anne Boleyn was beheaded and her successor as queen, Jane Seymour, has just died following childbirth. Cromwell’s team of investigators, or commissioners, are reviewing every monastery across the land. The dissolution of these institutions is expected as Catholic worship is reformed and anglicised. Lawyer Shardlake is sent by Cromwell to the monastery of Scarnsea on the Sussex coast where the investigating commissioner Robin Singleton has been murdered. Cromwell wants a quick solution to the murder so he can tell the king the problem and solution at the same time, and so puts pressure on Shardlake to find the murderer within days.
Shardlake is a great central character; a hunchback, as a boy he turned to his studies when sports and girls seemed impossible. ‘My disability had come upon me when I was three, I began to stoop forward and to the right, and no brace could correct it. By the age of five I was a true hunchback, as I have remained to this day.’ At Scarnsea, Shardlake needs all his bravery and perseverance to unravel Singleton’s murder. There is only one person he can trust, his servant Mark Poer. Everyone else is a suspect. Sansom twists a variety of motives to make every person at Scarnsea a potential murderer and as the story is told totally from Shardlake’s viewpoint, we must consider each piece of new evidence with him. Everyone at the monastery knows their way of life is threatened and some monks fear the changes. But there have been sexual misdeeds in the past, drinking, gambling and, Shardlake comes to suspect, financial fraud too.
When the snow falls, Scarnsea is cut off from the outside world. Shardlake’s investigation is systematic, interviewing monks, examining correspondence, visiting the crime scene, checking financial records, considering potential scenarios. There is a creepiness about the monastery which made me shiver as Shardlake shivered, and not not just from the extreme cold. Threat is ever present, made gloomier by the adjacent marshes.
Dissolution is a terrific book. The historical setting and details are authentic; Shardlake is a compelling protagonist, caught as he is between light and shade, between what he wants to do and what he knows he should do; and the murderer is not obvious.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE ABOUT THIS BOOK AT AMAZON

And here are my reviews of other novels by CJ Sansom:-
DOMINION
DARK FIRE #2SHARDLAKE
SOVEREIGN #3SHARDLAKE
REVELATION #4SHARDLAKE
HEARTSTONE #5SHARDLAKE
LAMENTATION #6SHARDLAKE

If you like this, try:-
‘The Last Hours’ by Minette Walters
‘The Witchfinder’s Sister’ by Beth Underdown
‘The Ashes of London’ by Andrew Taylor

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
#BookReview DISSOLUTION by CJ Sansom https://wp.me/p5gEM4-3zp via @SandraDanby

#BookReview ‘The Comforts of Home’ by @susanhillwriter #crime

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Another Simon Serrailler novel by Susan Hill? I admit to excitement at this, the ninth outing for the Lafferton detective. It is three years since the eighth novel, The Soul of Discretion, and I feared Hill wanted to write about other things and there would be no more. And now, The Comforts of Home. I saved it to read on holiday, in the same way as a child I saved my favourite chocolate bar from my Christmas Selection Box. To be enjoyed at leisure. Susan HillI admit to forgetting how The Soul of Discretion ended, so the beginning was rather a shock but also fascinating. After life-changing surgery, Serrailler goes to the remote Scottish island of Taransay to convalesce. The descriptions of this bleak but beautiful place made me want to go there. He is quickly accepted by the tight-knit community where mutual support is a necessity, where consequently everyone knows everyone else’s lives in minutiae, but where you know a death is inevitable. As temporary cop-in-charge, given the local force’s short-handedness, Serrailler uncovers a secret no one had guessed.
Serrailler’s injury beings a new layer of damage to his solitary wounded soul, he would rather get up and face the day rather than sit and talk to a counsellor. One of the secrets of this successful series is the combination of crime with the family story of Simon and his sister Cat. Cat is finding locum work unsatisfying and is looking for a new challenge. Her new marriage, to Serrailler’s boss Kieran, is happy and the only shadow on the horizon is the return from France of her irascible father Richard.
Add to this mixture a local arsonist, a mother who presses for the reopening of the investigation of her daughter’s disappearance, a convicted murderer, a rookie detective constable, and Cat’s teenage son Sam who can’t decide what he wants to do with his life, and Hill delivers her clever blend of crime, detection and domestic daily life.
Excellent. A masterclass is how to write a thriller which keeps you reading, makes you love the familiar characters, never tells you what’s happening but let’s you work it out, and poses moral dilemmas.

Read my reviews of the other novels in the series:-
THE VARIOUS HAUNTS OF MEN #1SIMONSERRAILLER
THE PURE IN HEART #2SIMONSERRAILLER
THE RISK OF DARKNESS #3SIMONSERRAILLER
THE VOWS OF SILENCE #4SIMONSERRAILLER
THE SHADOWS IN THE STREET #5SIMONSERRAILLER
THE BETRAYAL OF TRUST #6SIMONSERRAILLER
A QUESTION OF IDENTITY #7SIMONSERRAILLER
THE SOUL OF DISCRETION #8SIMONSERRAILLER
THE BENEFIT OF HINDSIGHT #10SIMONSERRAILLER
A CHANGE OF CIRCUMSTANCE #11SIMONSERRAILLER

And also by Susan Hill, HOWARD’S END IS ON THE LANDING

If you like this, try:-
‘Cover Her Face’ by PD James #1ADAMDALGLIESH
‘One False Move’ by Harlan Coben
‘Wilderness’ by Campbell Hart #3ARBOGAST

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
#BookReview THE COMFORTS OF HOME by @susanhillwriter https://wp.me/p5gEM4-3yc via @SandraDanby

My Porridge & Cream read: Kelly Clayton

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Today I’m delighted to welcome crime author Kelly Clayton.  Her ‘Porridge & Cream’ read is Naked in Death by JD Robb, pen name of Nora Roberts.

“I first read Naked In Death over 15 years ago. I was reading a considerable number of books a week and was a regular visitor to the local library. I read most genres but was buried deep in a Nora Roberts phase at the time. I was searching through the Nora books when I realised I had read them all. Panic! So I kept looking along the alphabetical shelf, and almost the next author was JD Robb [Nora Roberts’ pen name for her crime series]. Kelly Clayton
The book, Naked In Death, was the first of a series and it sounded good – set slightly in the future, it followed a New York homicide detective, Eve Dallas. I borrowed it as part of that week’s haul and headed home. I was back at the library the next day for the following two books in the series. The In Death books cover crime, slight sci-fi element (but very subtle), romance, friendship, the destructive nature of humans and how the past doesn’t have to define us. Eve Dallas is a tortured kick-ass heroine with a horrific past. It’s about survival. Enter a gorgeous billionaire with a shady background and the glamour ramps up. There are now almost fifty books in the series, and I have read nearly every one.

I have re-read the original trilogy, which is Naked In Death, Glory In Death and Immortal in Death too many times to recall. I reach out for it to lose myself in a fascinating world. If I could be a fictional character, then it would be Eve, yes, even with her horrific past.  I love the characters, old friends you look forward to reconnecting with. I adore how we see Eve, damaged and mistrusting, grow and blossom but never, ever losing her most ragged edges.
I want to reread them – right now!”

Kelly Clayton’s Bio
Kelly Clayton has lived on the Channel Island of Jersey for most of her life but is originally from Scotland. She lives in a house overlooking the sea with her husband and 3 cats. Kelly is the author of the ‘Jack Le Claire Mystery’ series and, under her penname of Julia Hardy, Fortune’s Hostage.

Kelly Clayton’s links
Author website
Amazon Author page
Facebook
Twitter

Kelly Clayton’s latest book
Kelly Clayton England, 1813 Greed, deception and lust. Miss Eloise Camarthon is no ordinary debutante, she wants to live her life on her own terms. But Eloise is wealthy in her own right and a target for those with her fortune in their sights. Benedict Warrington, the Earl of Rothsea, has come to London in search of answers to a family tragedy. He meets the beguiling Eloise, and a dangerous chain of events is set in motion. Circumstances force an ultimatum, which threatens to change the course of Eloise’s future. Benedict is on the trail of a vicious murderer but finds more than he bargained for as the deaths mount up. Can he protect Eloise, or will one of them be the killer’s next victim?
‘Fortune’s Hostage’ by Julia Hardy [UK: Stanfred Publishing]

What is a ‘Porridge & Cream’ book? It’s the book you turn to when you need a familiar read, when you are tired, ill, or out-of-sorts, where you know the story and love it. Where reading it is like slipping on your oldest, scruffiest slippers after walking for miles. Where does the name ‘Porridge & Cream’ come from? Cat Deerborn is a character in Susan Hill’s ‘Simon Serrailler’ detective series. Cat is a hard-worked GP, a widow with two children and she struggles from day-to-day. One night, after a particularly difficult day, she needs something familiar to read. From her bookshelf she selects ‘Love in A Cold Climate’ by Nancy Mitford. Do you have a favourite read which you return to again and again? If so, please send me a message.

Kelly Clayton‘Naked in Death’ by JD Robb [UK: Piatkus]

Discover these ‘Porridge & Cream’ books:-
Simon Fairfax chooses ‘Heller With A Gun’ by Louis L’Amour
Caroline James re-reads ‘The Old Wives’ Tale’ by Arnold Bennett
Claire Dyer loves ‘The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society’ by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Burrows

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Why does crime writer @kellyclayton01 re-read NAKED IN DEATH by JD Robb each year? #books https://wp.me/p5gEM4-3xC via @SandraDanby

#BookReview ‘The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle’ by Stuart Turton #crime #thriller

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The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton is a whodunnit version of Groundhog Day set at a country house party. There is a twist: the Bill Murray character must live each day in a different body, a host, and solve a murder or never escape back to his normal life. I found this to be a tortuous, convoluted and mystifying plot, impossible to review without giving away clues (intentionally or not), but I will have a go. Stuart TurtonIf you like conventional detective stories which follow the rules of crime fiction, presenting a challenge to be solved, this may not be for you. If you like going on a mystery journey where nothing is as it seems, you will like it. Mysteries work when the reader has something to cling onto, to make them identify with a character, to make them care, to give them someone to root for. This story has so many unknowns I spent most of the story in a state of confusion. Like Coco Chanel dressing for the evening and then removing two elements to ensure she wasn’t over-dressed, I finished this book wishing the author had undertaken a similar cutting exercise. The solution to the murder, and the fate of the protagonist were not the elements I found most fascinating; I enjoyed the challenge faced by Aiden – if that is his true name – when he inhabits the body of a host, a stranger. The obese body but sharp mind of Lord Ravencourt; the over-excited Jonathan Derby who acts without thinking and molests the chambermaids; the beaten-up butler who knows a lot but lays in bed drifting in and out of consciousness.
The list of characters is so long – with too many similar names, Millicent/Madeline, Daniel/Donald – plus others who are simply unnamed background extras, I couldn’t remember which each one was. This is complicated by the fact that the hero – whose name might be Aiden Bishop – doesn’t know who is who either. He doesn’t know who can he trust, who has he already met at Blackheath House, and who he knew before arriving at the party – as he also has amnesia about his real identity and previous life. Two/three other people are also experiencing this mobile bodied state, and Aiden is competing with them to solve the crime. Because only one, he is told by the mysterious fancy dress Plague Doctor, will survive. Oh and there’s a mysterious footman too who may or may not be trying to kill Aiden. Oddly, none of the other time-trapped people appear in Aiden’s body.
By a quarter through I was seriously confused and becoming seriously irritated. Is this a story best read in one sitting, so you are better able to remember all the twists and obfuscations? But the book is not short, 528 pages. Or could it be that there is just too much going on? A closed room mystery, each day repeating itself, a hero with amnesia who must relive each day in a different host body and be influenced by the stranger’s body and personality, a murder that happens every night meaning the victim cannot be rescued, a competition to solve the murder in order to survive, obtuse threats from sinister unidentifiable figures, key characters introduced rather late in the game. There is no doubting the planning skills of the author but at times I did suspect he set out to wilfully confuse rather than tease the reader. I ran through various scenarios: is it a game show, is it a wind-up like Candid Camera, is Aiden the murderer and doesn’t know it, is Aiden the murderer and cleverly duping everyone?
Ambitious, overwhelming, fantastical, mysterious, I can’t help but admire the ambition of the author and the scope of his story. Hidden beneath the machinations are two serious questions: how far will a person go in order to escape an intolerable situation, and is it ever possible to escape your own past? A Marmite book: love it or hate it.

If you like this, try these:-
‘Himself’ by Jess Kidd
‘The Last of Us’ by Rob Ewing
‘Curtain Call’ by Anthony Quinn

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#BookReview THE SEVEN DEATHS OF EVELYN HARDCASTLE by Stuart Turton https://wp.me/p5gEM4-3kf via @SandraDanby