Mrs.Wilson's Crime Selection

Looking for some holiday reading? Why not try a crime.

1. Agatha Christie - Nemesis
Ok so all Christie is well worth a read but this Miss Marple is a classic of the Christie cannon. A dead man sends Miss Marple a letter with instructing her to investigate a crime but fails to tell her who, where and when the crime was committed.

2. Alexander McCall Smith - The No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency
A captivating read which transports you to a different pace and way of thinking. Precious Ramotswe is Botswana's only female detective. Wayward daughters, curious conmen and philandering partners are her usual fare but this time the case of a missing child proves to be far more sinister.

3. Christopher Brookmyre  - Quite Ugly One Morning
A witty, face-paced crime set in Edinburgh and the dialogue is a real joy to read. Journalist Jack Parlabane stumbles over a corpse while nursing a hellish hangover and determines to solve the murder himself.

4. Ira Levin -A Kiss Before Dying
An award winning modern classic, it's a suspenseful tale which is a thrill to read. When Dorothy falls pregnant while still in college, the fear of her family discovering the truth and disinheriting her a very real threat. However, her handsome young beau, has the answer a few pills that would mean no baby - and perhaps no Dorothy either.

5. M.C.Beaton - Death of a Gossip
Well crafted and easy to read, the Hamish Macbeth series make and excellent lazy Sunday read. This is the first in the series and sees Lochdubh's Police Sergeant - Hamish Macbeth try to solve the murder of the town's gossip who was sharing secrets about nearly everyone.

Ms Dewar suggests the Dublin Murder Squad books by Tana French - they're a series but they don't all have the same police in them so they work as stand alones or in any order.

Mrs.Kerr (pupils support) recommends David Baldacci who writes thrillers with a crime element.

Mr.Toman suggests The City and The City by China Miéville which combines weird fiction with a police procedural.

(NB: these are all from the adult fiction section)

Staff Book Club Recommendations - Crime Fiction

Looking for a good crime book to read over the summer - why not try:

- Elizabeth Peters - Crocodile on the Sandbank (Victorian - England/Egypt)
- Dorothy L. Sayers - Whose Body? (post WW1)
- Attica Locke - Pleasantville (1996 with links to 1940s)
- Kerry Greenwood - Cocaine Blues (1920s Australia)
- Orkney Twilight - Clare Carson (1980s Britain)
- The Alienist - Caleb Carr (1896 USA)
- The Murder Bag - Tony Parsons (contemporary UK)
 - Michael Chabon -The Yiddish Policemen's Union (alternate history sees Israel fail in 1948)
- Helen Callaghan - Dear Amy (contemporary UK)
- Harry Bingham - Talking to the Dead (contemporary UK)
- Tanya French - In the Woods (contemporary Ireland)

Mrs Wilson's Been Reading...

Dandy Gilver and the Proper Treatment of Blood Stains by Catriona McPherson ****

This is book five in the Dandy Gilver series, though since I totally failed to look that up before I started reading it is the first in the series I've read. The plot is self contained so there was little that was affected by this oversight, though I did wonder about Dandy's husband and Alex as it's clear there has been more of a story before the setting of this book.

Set in Edinburgh during May 1926, as workers down tools to support the coal miner strikes, Dandy takes up a job as a ladies maid to try and help a wife who fears her husband is going to kill her. However it's the apparently wicked husband who is bumped off in a locked house where the only suspects are his wife and the staff.

I do like a locked room mystery and this one was certainly diverting. I liked the characters and the little bits of history thrown in -it was interesting to find out about the 1926 strikes something I'd never been particularly aware of. Enjoyable to read, I'll be on the look out for the first book in the series.

Mrs Borthwick's been reading

A Question of Blood by Ian Rankin 3/5

A slow starter, but hard to put down near the end. Focus on Inspector Rebus as he investigates the shooting of three pupils in a school in South Queensferry.

If you like crime novels, this is the book for you!

Anna's been reading...

Ruby Redfort - Take Your Last Breath by Lauren Child

Score - 5/5

Ruby solves a mystery about mysterious happenings in the sea involving sharks!

Want to know more? Head over to rubyredfort.com

Gone by Michael Grant

"It isn't until the world collapses around you that you find out what kind of person you really are."  Looking for something exciting to read over the summer holidays? Check out the "Gone" series.

Review of Gone: In a town in southern California suddenly all the people over the age of 15 disappear and the town gets sealed off from the rest of the world. The town falls into disarray so it is up to our hero Sam to restore order to the town but fear starts to spread when some of the survivors get powers.

I think everyone should read this book because it is loads of fun to read and it has got lots of action and some very good characters.

By heat man 06    

Review of the series: The Gone series is by author Michael Grant. It is about a small town where all the adults have vanished and the kids are trapped in a small town. Every kid under 15 stays in a dome. The kids must learn how to survive. Eventually other kids come and a battle starts. The books in the series are: “Gone”, which is about kids getting used to the new world; “Hunger”, which is about the kids starving; “Lies” which is about a psychopath who died in a fire, but is back for revenge;” Plague” which is about a disease inside the Dome, which the kids must fight off; “Fear” about a monster that has been hiding in the cage out to kill every last kid; and “Light” which is about Sam the main character fighting off the monster and Drake. Everyone should read this series because it is an award winning series and some of the best books I have ever read.

By Pedro13 

 Check out the book trailer and more information about the Gone series on the Michael Grant website. If you enjoyed 'Gone', then you should  read the next books in the series: "Hunger", "Lies", "Plague", "Fear" and "Light".

Gangsta Granny by David Walliams

This book is about a boy who is passionate about plumbing, and his cabbage obsessed granny. The boy’s parents are both fanatical about ballroom dancing and send the boy to his granny’s house on a Friday night. One night when the boy is at his granny’s place, a huge secret is revealed but what could this boring woman be hiding? To find this out read the book.

I found this book interesting as it was very random and exiting.

By Chitonkimar