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Saturday August 31, 2013

Books in August

  • Don't Look Back by Karin Fossum BOM-DontLookBack.jpg
    My first venture into an Inspector Sejer book, and it delighted me from the first - having not so much a surprise ending as a surprise beginning. And I can't say more without spoiling the surprise (beginning).
    The end was pretty good as well - one of those simple solutions where there was all the evidence given to you but still a "whodunnit" nonetheless.
    I have seen mixed reviews about lack of characterisation, which may be true, but I felt it was a good detective story.

  • Drawing Conclusions by Donna Leon BOM-DrawingConclusions.jpg
    I'm a great fan of Donna Leon and I enjoyed this book - but the ending really surprised me. Not in terms of the plot but in terms of abruptness. I thought the last chapter must have been missing. Having said that - it was more "arty" to end as she does but I felt I needed some cosy rounding off - after all that hard work investigating and so on. - which makes me feel rather dull-witted!

  • Fifth Witness by Michael Connelly [read by John Chancer] BOM-FifthWitness.jpg
    What can I say? Another great read.
    Maybe a bit heavy on the courtroom detail - the whole plot turning on courtroom tactics, but .... can't stop myself using banal prose like "really good".
    There is also a wonderful twist at the end - again all the evidence there before you, but not seen until the author chooses.

  • Busy Body by M C Beaton [read by Penelope Keith] BOM-BusyBody.jpg
    Another cheerful book with all our old friends present and correct.
    We start and end with the Carsley Ladies (joint meeting); like the village itself, it's a real caricature - but - as is often the case - utterly recognisable for anyone living in a village or belonging to any kind of club or society.
    Hating to admit it but I do empathise with Agatha's complicated relationships with her male friends, and her constant search for the perfect man. However, unlike Agatha, I am convinced that when you meet an appealing and yet unattached man of mature years that it is no accident that he is unattached. Not implying a sinister reason - but there will be a reason.

  • Bone Bed by Patricia Cornwell BOM-BoneBed.jpg
    I'm all Scapetta-ed out.
    Well - not really of course.
    We are back into more conventional mad serial killer territory here and back in my comfort zone. Well "not really" to that one as well - but I prefer the politics, anti-Scarpetta conspiracies, and military involvement to be incidental to the plot and not fundamental to it.
    So this offering much more to my taste.
    I found it most interesting to see an interview with Cornwell on ITV's "Crime Thriller Club". The latter is little more than a publicity blurb for the awards of the same name but lots of fun with Mark Billingham in full support for the "this prestigeous" (!) event.

  • PhilipJackson.jpg From BBC Radio 4 Extra I enjoyed recordings of a dramatisation of Terry Pratchett's Night Watch with Philip Jackson* as Sam Vimes, and an original dramatisation of Laurie King's The Beekeeper's Apprentice with James Fox as a very appropriate Sherlock - still sharp but perhaps a little weary.
    * ...Philip Jackson who will always be Inspector Japp to me - and yet what a really skilled actor he is. I have seen him in many roles outside Poirot, (in which he was brilliant - aided by a delightful script "swipe me!"), and he is always utterly convincing with no distracting shades of Japp peeping through.

Posted by Christina at 2:48 PM. Category: Books of the Month

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