Weekly Wrap Up (September 24)

Last Sunday we had a family trip to the cinema to watch Victoria and Abdul, a fascinating film but one that turned my stomach early on in the scenes of Dame Judi Dench wolfing the food down at a banquet.

On Monday I managed to take part in the Book Fairies and Goodreads #hideabookday and left four books at key places in St Helier at 9 am. When I went to check at lunchtime all had been picked up so I’m hoping the finders enjoyed them.

This Week on the Blog

My week started with a Question and Answer session with Ray Britain the pen name for a former Police Officer who has turned his hand to writing crime fiction. His first book The Last Thread was published last Sunday, 17 September 2017.

On Tuesday She Did It by Mel Sherratt was published and my review was posted the same day to mark publication of this psychological thriller.

My This Week in Books featured the authors Helen FitzGerald, Dee Gordon and Kate Moretti 

I was delighted to finally publish my review of fellow blogger, Margot Kinberg’s book Past Tense which I actually read in June. Margot’s incredible knowledge of crime fiction translates into being able to write a fine mystery too.

My review of My Last Confession by Helen FitzGerald was posted on Friday taking my Mount TBR up to 24 books read and reviewed that were bought prior to 1 January 2017.

It was a huge honour to be asked to contribute to the blog tour to celebrate the 2017 Ngaio Marsh Awards with my review of David Hastings non-fiction book The Many Deaths of Mary Dobie, a true-crime book that also examines the politics between the Maori tribes and the settles in 1880 New Zealand.

This Time Last Year…

I was reading the second in Sarah Ward’s Francis Sadler series, A Deadly Thaw, set in the fictional town of Bampton in Derbyshire. Her trademark easy to read yet fiendishly complex plots are a delight and this book has us meeting a woman convicted of the murder of her husband, in the marital bed no less, only for him to turn up alive following her release from prison twelve years later! The author isn’t content to provide a brilliant plot, she also creates realistic characters no matter whether they are a main mover and shaker or provide a supporting role. As I write this short summary, I’m getting more impatient to read my copy of the third in the series, A Patient Fury which was recently published.

You can read my full review of A Deadly Thaw here or click on the book cover.

Blurb

Autumn 2004
In Bampton, Derbyshire, Lena Fisher is arrested for suffocating her husband, Andrew.

Spring 2016

A year after Lena’s release from prison, Andrew is found dead in a disused mortuary.
Who was the man Lena killed twelve years ago, and who committed the second murder? When Lena disappears, her sister, Kat, sets out to follow a trail of clues delivered by a mysterious teenage boy. Kat must uncover the truth – before there’s another death . . . Amazon

Stacking the Shelves

Three-Martini Lunch by Suzanne Rindell has been on my wishlist since I fell in love with The Other Typist earlier this year and so when it was offered at a bargain price my resolve melted away like the ice in a nice martini!

Blurb

Back in those days My Old Man was king of what they called the three-martini lunch. This meant that in dimly lit steakhouses all over Manhattan my father made bold, impetuous deals over gin and oysters. That was how it was done.’

Cliff Nelson, the privileged son of a New York publishing house editor, is slumming it around Greenwich village in 1958, enjoying the booze, drugs and the idea that he’s the next Kerouac.

Fresh-faced Eden Katz arrives in New York with the ultimate ambition to become an editor, but she’s shocked at the stumbling blocks she encounters.

Miles Tillman, a black publishing house messenger boy, is an aspiring writer who feels he straddles various worlds and belongs to none.

Their choices, concealments and betrayals ripple outwards leaving none of them unchanged. Amazon

NetGalley provided temptation with the proven skills of Elly Griffiths and her latest in the Stephens and Mephisto mystery series – The Vanishing Box

Blurb

What do a murdered Brighton flowerseller, the death of Cleopatra and a nude tableau show have in common? One thing’s for sure – it could be the most dangerous case yet for Stephens and Mephisto.

Christmas 1953. Max Mephisto and his daughter Ruby are headlining Brighton Hippodrome, an achievement only slightly marred by the less-than-savoury support act: a tableau show of naked ‘living statues’. This might appear to have nothing in common with DI Edgar Stephens’ investigation into the death of a quiet flowerseller, but if there’s one thing the old comrades have learned it’s that, in Brighton, the line between art and life – and death – is all too easily blurred…

The fourth book in the Stephens and Mephisto mystery from the author of the bestselling Dr Ruth Galloway series. NetGalley

I was also lucky to be approved for Verdict of Twelve by Raymond Postgate, A British Library Crime Classic published by Poisoned Pen Press. which I have been eying up ever since seeing it feature on other blogs – what can my willpower is weak!

Blurb

A woman is on trial for her life, accused of murder. The twelve members of the jury each carry their own secret burden of guilt and prejudice which could affect the outcome.

In this extraordinary crime novel, we follow the trial through the eyes of the jurors as they hear the evidence and try to reach a unanimous verdict. Will they find the defendant guilty, or not guilty? And will the jurors’ decision be the correct one?

Since its first publication in 1940, Verdict of Twelve has been widely hailed as a classic of British crime writing. This edition offers a new generation of readers the chance to find out why so many leading commentators have admired the novel for so long. NetGalley

What have you found to read this week? Any of these take your fancy?

Since my last post I’ve read 2 books, and gained 3
So I now have a total of 180
Physical Books – 100
Kindle Books – 60
NetGalley Books – 20