Home

Weblog (home)

Knitalong

Pattern of
the Month

On the Needles
(...and Off the Needles)

Stitchcraft

Vintage
Patterns

About the
Idle Hands

« The Favourite | Main | When We Have Sufficiently Tortured Each Other »

Thursday January 31, 2019

Books in January

  • Watchman by Ian Rankin [Read by Tom Cotcher]
    BOM-Watchman.jpg Miles is a spy who wants nothing more than a quiet life looking into other people's lives. He does not work in the field and doesn't want to. However, to redeem himself after a couple of spectacular failures, he is sent on a "simple mission" to Ireland; however, he finds himself set up as a bit of a patsy, which causes him to go on the run.
    This is one of Rankin's earliest works from 1988 which was re-released in 2004 with an introduction by Rankin discussing his early writing style. I think this stands up well and indeed it seems the only objection of more critical readers is the lack of Rebus.

  • The Killing Habit by Mark Billingham
    BOM-TheKillingHabit.jpg In line with Connelly and Rankin, Billingham (may I call you Mark?) has introduced us to a new character in the shape of Nicola Tanner. In the case of all authors, whose original detectives are true rule-breaking "characters", the brief for these newbies are that they be as different as possible from their previous creations* - and probably younger since these fictional detectives age with their authors (except notably VI and Kinsey Millhone). Naturally this results in some resistance from their diehard fans. So - in line with .... etc - in this book the laddish Thorne and the anal Tanner work together, which has the effect of complementing each other so that they appear to live in a more complete personality landscape.
    O - I almost forgot - the plot's good too. Starting with a (topical) spate of cat killings in London, which Thorne is disgusted at being roped in to investigate.
    [* Connelly is probably an exception here - he has created many memorable characters over the years and they have usually crossed paths with one another in various books - although when Bosch works with Haller, we get to see how fundamentally different they are.].

  • Deadly Decisions by Kathy Reichs [Read by Lorelei King]
    BOM-DeadlyDecisions.jpg This is the third Temperance Brennan book which was first published in 2000. The "theme" is outlaw bikers and gangs - and after bystanders are caught in crossfire Tempe joins a Special Operations Unit. As usual, there's a lot of forensic detail as well as the "skeleton found in the woods" which inevitably turns out to be related, and an annoying relative who gets sucked in.
    There is a fair degree of critical comment from readers, though on the whole I don't think they would have caused Reichs much angst - but it did make me laugh that some of it was complaining about how different this was from the TV series Bones, (which first aired in 2005 and I note is described as a comedy-drama), as if these were books based on the series.

  • JeremyClyde.jpg When In Rome
    Set in the 1970s, Ngaio Marsh's gentleman detective, Roderick Alleyn travels incognito among a group of tourists visiting Rome. He is on the trail of a drugs syndicate, but soon he is involved in blackmail and murder.
    Dramatised in 2003 by Michael Bakewell, and directed by Enyd Williams.
    I've been a fan of Jeremy Clyde since I first saw him in the 1980s in a stage production of Design for Living (with Maureen Lipman and Simon Jones), and I always look out for him in his too-many-to-mention character TV appearances.

  • TheGamesAfoot.jpg The Game's Afoot
    First broadcast in 2008, this was an absolute delight for me. Sherlock Holmes enthusiast, Nick Utechin chooses portrayals of Holmes on radio (if not a contradiction in terms) across the decades. This is 3 hours long, including some rarer recordings of Holmes and Watson in action:
    • The Adventure of the Speckled Band (17/05/1945)
      Stars Cedric Hardwicke and Finlay Curry
    • The Red-Headed League (19/10/1954)
      Stars Ralph Richardson and John Gielgud
    • The Boscombe Valley Mystery (12/12/1966)
      Carleton Hobbs and Norman Shelley
    • The Return of Sherlock Holmes: The Solitary Cyclist (17/03/1993)
      Stars Clive Merrison and Michael Williams
    • The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: The Abergavenny Murder (18/05/2004)
      Stars Clive Merrison and Andrew Sachs as Watson (both perfect)
      [These were new series adventures written by Bert Coules as a (very good) pastiche of Doyle's work; 16 episodes aired between 2002 and 2010. Each of the stories is based on a throwaway reference from an actual Doyle short story or novel. This programme includes an interview with Bert Coules]

Posted by Christina at 12:22 AM. Category: Books of the Month

Comments