Lethal White by Robert Galbraith

‘If Strike had not arrived today, she might never have known that he wanted her back, and that she might be spared the shame, the anger, the humiliation, the hurt with which she had been racked since that awful night when he had sacked her.”

Another adventure with the sexy Cormoran Strike and his delightful associate, Robin. At the end of the last novel, we had just got over the disappointment of her actually going through with the wedding to Matthew, but things could be worse. When we re-join the story, Robin’s marriage isn’t going great — no surprises there. Thankfully, she is back at work and things are getting rather busy at Strike’s agency.

Billy Knight, a man with a history of mental illness is seeking out the (now rather famous) detectives to prove he did witness the strangulation of a baby and he wasn’t just seeing things. Next minute, the appealing detective duo are drawn into some rather fascinating political intrigues. Wealth, power and corruption abound, and Robin goes undercover at the Houses of Parliament.

As per usual Galbraith (oh we all know it is J.K, Rowling) has a way with creating characters that draw you in and make hundreds of pages fly by in a frenzied flurry. The sexual tension between these two colleagues is driving me a bit balmy at his point. I know if I was Robin, that would have been sorted long ago, dodgy leg and all!

I just love that Robin is such a good driver, it makes me want to take an advanced driving course! Does this 4^th instalment live up to the hype, in my humble opinion, it totally does.

 

5 out of 5 white horses abound.

Atlantic Black by A.S. Patrić

“The champagne falls to the deck; half-full, it pours out onto the wood with a hiss of foam. The bottle rolls along the deck, hits the railing with a hard tink of glass on metal, and rolls back to the bench—champagne bubbling out in a sparkling puddle.”

My lovely friend and fellow bibliophile, Nicki, bought me this for Christmas last year (upon my request) and I’ve only just got to reading it— My ‘to be read’ pile is enormous. Having really enjoyed the author’s award-winning novel, Black Rock White City I was exceedingly keen to sink my teeth into this one.

The action is set on the RMS Aquitania which provides a fantastic setting . How amazing it would have been to watch it being built. I digress however. This is a moving tale that sent me down to a dark, cold, place. It is deftly written and swallowed me up like the cold, unforgiving, full of mystery, intrigue and misery.

If you feel like a haunting tale and one that would certainly inspire some heated book club conversations – this one is probably right up your alley. The publishers have a fantastic reading guide available on their site to assist.

I realise I haven’t really told you too much about the protagonist, Katerina Klova, or the action or the way you can feel your shoes sliding along the wet deck and horror at the skin covered bible. No, you will just have to start reading it yourself and we can share some therapy together once you have finished

5 out of 5 devastatingly bleak books are not the answer to the post-Christmas blues.

 

The Perfect Paragon (Agatha Raisin #16) by M.C. Beaton

“They turned out to be passionate love letters from Burt. It was evident he hoped to marry her as soon as she had finished school.”

Is Mabel Smedley as perfect as she seems? Agatha’s detective agency has been hired by Mr Smedley to prove Mabel is having an affair and it’s starting to seem like hard work. When her husband is murdered the team springs to action and the usual hijinks ensue. Combine that murder with the murder of a young girl and the body count is really starting to escalate in the otherwise sleepy village. Death by weed killer, a porn producer – who knew that Carsley and its surrounds could be such a den of iniquity?

The 16^th instalment of Agatha’s adventures shows no signs of slowing down and Agatha has a couple of new hires in tow in the form of the intriguing, young, Harry Beam and of course all the familiar friends make an appearance. Naturally I read this at a cracking pace on my mobile phone again. At one point even while stuck on a normally 6 minute train trip that took an hour - thanks to Agatha I didn't lose my marbles and at least 2 murders got solved.

 

5 out of 5, but nobody is perfect.

Heavy Flow: Breaking the Curse of Menstruation by Amanda Laird

“Body literacy is an act of resistance, and self-care is too – not in the manicures and bubble-bath kind of way, but in the asserting personal boundaries way.”

I was having a particularly horrid, crampy day when I saw this new offering on #netgalley (#heavyflow) and was rewarded with a free review copy for comment. Nearing the back end of the trauma that turns at least one week of my life into a nightmare and facing the prospect of getting older and having new and other unpleasant issues to deal with, it occurs to me how little, until recently, I really understood about the whole process.

While I might not be onboard with all of the potential items mentioned in the book ( sorry I just can’t with the steaming bit- too goop-y for this one), in the most part, Laird delivers some really valuable and informative content in an easy to read manner without preaching and with a delightfully open approach. This is the kind of education we as women should be providing to young women out there.  Which bits are really which, what does what and what to expect are fundamentals that seem to be lacking in our education as a rule. Men need a better understanding too, because their education by porn these days is really letting them down.

Casting aside shame, taboos and biased information is valuable, I mean who out there bleeds blue ink unless they live in a sanitary product commercial? For more information about the book and its author check out: https://www.dundurn.com/books/Heavy-Flow . This is one hex we need to break.

5 out of 5 real facts are far more powerful.



I Have No Mouth & I Must Scream by Harlan Ellison

“He was offering a private demonstration of his etchings.”

This collection of short stories is intriguingly narrated by the author, introducing each story and providing a kind of meta story within a story. My reason for reading this particular book was that I could then tick off all six of the six most disturbing written works, a list I got from somewhere on the net and now cannot find to attribute to its source. Nevertheless, this is the first time in about a year that I've finished one of my lists on Goodreads so I am happy as the proverbial.

Back to the stories. They are great. Dark, disturbed and even more disturbing with the intros. Think a literary Black Mirror  but written in the fifties and sixties. This adds a further level of interest. Look they are short stories so I'm not about to delve to deep. My theory with short stories is that they should be read; rather than reviewed.

The title story won a Hugo Award - newsflash there's a supercomputer and I took so long to read these in fits and starts that my contribution here is minimal. Take my advice, start reading. Some of these are fantastic.


5 out of 5 short stories can have a lengthy impact.

The Monogram Murders by Sophie Hannah

“The food at Pleasant’s was almost as good as the coffee. Indeed, when he considered the two together, Poirot found it hard to believe what he knew to be the case: that everybody who worked in the kitchen here was English. Incroyable.”   

If I'm completely honest here, this has been in my to be read pile for eons. Published in 2015, it is entirely likely that it has sat the bottom of the pile until I shuffled it around a little the other day. I'm always intrigued by the idea of modern authors re-visiting an existing franchise from long ago. It can be a diabolical mess or a delightful reminiscence. Sometimes however, it can land in the enjoyable but unforgettable territory and I feel that's the land where this novel subsists.

I admit I finished this one just after Christmas (the 27th to be precise) and I'm only getting around to writing this review. I'm one of those people who admires anyone brave enough to write a novel and so I tend to score on the high side. This was good but not great and certainly not of the calibre of Agatha Christie. Nevertheless trying to imitate another celebrated author is no mean feat and Hannah gives it a red hot go.

Certainly it is a delight to spend more time with the Belgian Detective. I used to pore over Christie books as a child - the fact that I was obsessed with Agatha Christie and the films of Alfred Hitchcock is a bit strange - probably a retaliation in thought due to extreme bullying at school - who knows?

In any case, this is an interesting experiment and a mildly entertaining one.

3 out of 5, who did it when there's no butler?

Agatha Raisin and the Deadly Dance by M.C. Beaton

"Agatha was addicted to falling in love."

I'm on holidays at the moment and keen to catch up on my backlog of reading and reviewing. Naturally I've found myself, at times, stuck waiting for this and that, resorting to reading on my mobile phone. Thankfully, I could fully immerse myself in the world of Agatha Raisin once again and not suffer any sort of impatience.

Finally, Agatha is focused on opening her own detective agency - about time, I mean this is book 15! In any case, running a successful detective agency isn't quite what she expects and she is going to need help. Thankfully, her friend, Mrs Bloxby suggests she talk to her new neighbour to act as a new secretary and gets way more than she bargains for.

James Lacey is well out of the picture with Mrs Emma Comfrey, widow and retired, civil servant having overtaken his house as the new owner. Her skills as a  secretary and then sleuth are initially an asset to the fledgling agency, especially when death threats against an acquaintance of the charming Sir Charles Fraith bring new business.

The action is frenetic and at times distracting from my interest in the relationships between the characters. Nevertheless, this is a charming tale and I'm eager to dive into the next one. Mind you, Aggie needs a new love interest... stat.

5 out of 5 weddings go off with a bang.