The Lie – Helen Dunmore**
Writerly writer writing about the First World War, but others have done it better.
Northanger Abbey – Val MacDiarmid
One of a series of updates of Jane Austen – insubstantial – Catherine Morland’s Gothic novels become modern day vampires but the complexities of marriage among the upper classes doesn't translate easily to the present day setting
A Room with a View – EM Forster
Set in 1908 Lucy is a New Woman learning to break through Edwardian convention and be true to herself in an atmosphere of repression and overwrought emotion .
More Dandy Gilvers;
Dandy Gilver and a Bothersome Number of Corpses - Catriona McPherson
Dandy as a teacher in a girl’s school – quite touching in a very silly way
Bury Her Deep – Catriona McPherson
Set among witches in Fife – as silly as it sounds
The Winter Ground – Catriona McPherson
A resting circus is an excellent setting
After the Armistice Ball – Catriona McPherson
First in the series and the tone is not quite even
The Burry Man’s Day – Catriona McPherson
I was amazed that I’d never heard of the Burry Man – set in South Queensferry and very good fun
Dandy Gilver and the Reek of Red Herrings – Catriona McPherson
Set among the fisherfolk of Gaimrie in the North East – lots of local and historical interest although the most ridiculous plot yet involving taxidermy and a dissected corpse in a herring barrel
Love Story with Murders - Harry Bingham
A police procedural with a detective who for one is not a middle aged male divorcee - Fiona Griffiths is young. Welsh & mentally ill. Well written and tightly plotted – not that common in crime thriller
Dead Girl Walking – Christopher Brookmyre
Really disappointing installment of the long running Jack Parlabane series– a thriller which needs three chapters of exposition at the end really needed a better plot. His recent Jasmine Sharp novels are much better.
Black Eyed Blonde - Benjamin Black
Atmospheric pastiche Philip Marlowe novel – very well done, no false notes
The House of Silk – Anthony Horowitz
Pastiche of Sherlock Holmes is suitably dark but not as convincing as the Moriarty book
After I’m Gone – Laura Lippmann
Shifts in time between the 1960s, 1980s and present day Baltimore can’t help disguise a duff plot (woman disappears – no one cares) an uninvolving cast and an extremely clichéd cop character
The Way of the Panda – Henry Nicholls
China’s political animal – an overview of panda history, biology and use as a diplomatic bargaining chip. Interesting but feels like a magazine article with heavy padding.
To Rise again at a Decent Hour – Joshua Ferris
A book about an insomniac dentist , but funnier and more insightful than that sounds
