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Thursday November 30, 2023
Books in November
- Queen & Country by Alan Judd [Read by John Telfer ]
This is a "Charles Thoroughgood novel", though I have not read any of the earlier ones. [I have to admit I was looking for A Fine Madness which was in a 2021 round-up of recommended reading - and which is a "faction" account of the death of Christopher Marlow - but failed to find it in audio book form so...]
Charles is now retired but called in to help the secret service put a stop to mysterious deaths of defectors in the UK. It's an excellent story in the more traditional spy genre providing thrills and interesting espionage capers in foreign lands. Here are the author's own words about it: "My aim was to produce a taut, focussed novel with contemporary reference and a little more physical action than I usually put in - as well as, of course, the underlying ethical questions for Charles which are made clear at the end. It was written during lockdown before - unfortunately - Ukraine.".
In the same interview, the author says he's a friend of Mick Herron with this delightful recommendation: "....a most original and amusing take on the spy genre, nothing to do with reality, of course - as Mick well knows - but that doesn't matter in the least. He writes well, they work, and they're deservedly very popular...". Judd also recommends - as do I - Andrew Taylor's Ashes of London series "... of espionage novels in that turbulent but (nowadays) curiously neglected period of English history...". - The Crossing Places by Elly Griffiths [Read by Jane McDowell]
This is the first in an excellent series of mystery novels featuring Dr Ruth Galloway, a forensic archaeologist teaching at the University of North Norfolk. It was written in 2009, and the author has recently rounded off the stories after a total of 15 novels.
The plot is intriguing with our heroine demonstrating her high degree of professional skill in identifying some long-buried bones - and ending in a suitably high degree of jeopardy for a thrilling climax on the wild and inhospitable salt marshes of the area.
The characters are well-described, and the books have attracted a considerable fan base who are all invested in the outcome of Ruth's love life and her stop/start relationship with the local police inspector. That aspect is reminiscent of Andrew Taylor's Lydmouth stories, though Ruth and Harry do not develop their rather back to front relationship in quite the same way.
Rob was completely fascinated by the description of the local (non-fictional) archeology; he looked up all the info about the "Crossing Place" - Seahenge on Holme Beach - (and then went on to consume the entire series).
In the authors own words again: "[her husband] mentioned that prehistoric man had thought that marshland was sacred. Because it's neither land nor sea, but something in-between, they saw it as a kind of bridge to the afterlife. Neither land nor sea, neither life nor death. As he said these words the entire plot of The Crossing Places appeared, full formed, in my head."
Posted by Christina at 3:29 PM. Category: Books of the Month
