There is nothing more satisfying than reading a book while sipping a hot cup of tea.
My to-be-reviewed pile for 2022 is long and toppling over. Before I forget all about the books, here are just a couple of lines about nine of them. So in no particular order: Death of a Hollow Man (1987): I had enjoyed Caroline Graham's The Killings at Badger's Drift, the first in her Inspector Barnaby's … Continue reading Crammed together: Nine Books
Napoleon 'Bony' Bonaparte, born to a White father and an Australian Aboriginal woman, had been on my wishlist for a long time. I was curious to read a 'mixed-race' protagonist when the detectives were, for the most part, propah British gentlemen. So when the 1929 club approached and I saw that Bony's debut was in … Continue reading #1929 Club: The Barrakee Mystery by Arthur Upfield and The Patient in Room 18 by Mignon G. Eberhart
Agatha Bunson is a woman troubled. A cleanliness freak (or suffering from OCD as the new stuff of fizzyatry would diagnose it), she just can't stand her sloppy, dirty cook, Em. The only thing is that she can't throw Em or the general handyman Fred out as her father's will stipulates that she has to … Continue reading Fizzyatry: The Black Dream by Conyth Little (1953)
Grennel and Crammond (I think they have first names too but they never registered and I am too bored to look them up) are two collectors but while Crammond is someone who is generally interested in the antique artifacts that come his way as a way of increasing his knowledge, Grennel is a fence who … Continue reading Black Magic: The Hand of Doom by J.M. Walsh (1927)
He seemed like a grim facade that half hides and half reveals the ruin behind. The Modstone detective agency receives an unusual caller. Lord Barbury wants to enter into politics but fears that his wife is having an affair with Stephen Crawley, a labour MP. He wants the agency (which is known for its integrity … Continue reading Debut: Murder in Bostall by Paul McGuire (1931)
I am in love with old, dusty books but sometimes am seduced by shiny new books. Here are brief notes on such books, all barring one read this year: Asylum by Madeleine Roux (2013) I must admit that this novel is not meant for somebody of my age. Had I been a young teenager, I'd … Continue reading New Books
This post contains spoilers (including the name of the murderer) for the mystery so please don't read it unless you have read the book/ you are not bothered about having it spoiled. The question that perplexed me after finishing the book, the first in the Verity Birdwood (Birdy) series is how could a book that … Continue reading Spoilers: Grim Pickings by Jennifer Rowe (1991)
The Cry by Helen FitzgeraldMy rating: 1 of 5 stars Do people really like such books? Peopled with unsympathetic character; alternating narrative by hysterical women; it being thrust down our throats that in an extra-marital relationship, the man is the villain - not the wife, not the mistress who, poor things, are nothing but victims … Continue reading Waste of Time: The Cry by Helen Fitzgerald
Shares in Murder by Judah WatenMy rating: 4 of 5 stars An impressive police procedural with a twist in the end. The police men investigating the murder of a woman, the reporters covering the case, the criminals associated with the case, all want to have their pound of flesh from the murder. Realistic and gritty.First … Continue reading Review: Shares in Murder
a hot cup of pleasure 