I read seven books in April.
Hope to Survive by Caroline Dunford
The second in a series but the first I’ve read – and my first Caroline Dunford book but not, I hope, the last. I much enjoyed this spy thriller and its sparky protagonist Hope Stapleford (love the punning title too). Hope, recruited for British Intelligence by her spymaster godfather, is sent to a secret base when the threat of invasion intensifies – but is everyone there on the same side? Heart-in-the-mouth stuff.
The Ink Black Heart by Robert Galbraith
Once again, Cormoran and Robin occupied me for three solid days. And once again they are investigating a very mysterious case with several suspects plus of course there is their own relationship … I could have done without quite so many comments/interaction from followers of the eponymous online game and skim-read most of them. Wouldn’t advise reading this on Kindle because of the column layout of these.
So, book six, one more to go. Can’t wait.
I spent much of my youth reading Agatha Christie. I like Poirot but if I had to choose between him and Miss Jane Marple she would win (sorry, Monsieur Hercule). Each author in this welcome collection re-imagines Agatha Christie’s gimlet-eyed old lady in their own way. They include Naomi Alderman, Lucy Foley, Elly Griffiths, Jean Kwok, Ruth Ware and Val McDermid and, among other places, they take Jane to Manhattan, on a cruise to the Far East, to California and to Oxford – and back in time for a second murder at the vicarage.
The Paris Bookseller by Kerri Maher
Novelised true story, read for bookgroup. The description line ‘A sweeping story of love, friendship and betrayal in bohemian 1920s Paris’ is a lot of keywords but misses the most important element of the book – the establishment, by American Sylvia Beach, of the English-language bookshop, Shakespeare & Co, which became known across the world. Its reincarnation in a different street under different ownership exists to this day.
At the time there were many Americans in Paris, getting away from Prohibition amongst other crackdowns on enjoyment … There was censorship elsewhere too which is why Sylvia Beach came to be the publisher of the first edition of James Joyce’s Ulysses (and what a nightmare of an author he was).
A Tidy Ending by Joanna Cannon
I was keen to read this having enjoyed her The Trouble with Goats and Sheep and Three Things About Elsie. It didn’t disappoint but I still prefer Elsie.
Linda is an unreliable narrator of what is happening around her when people start to go missing and she has her own secret to hide too.
The Book Lovers by Victoria Connelly
I enjoyed this (very) short and sweet romance between author Callie and bookshop owner Sam (and a dalliance with Leo along the way). Callie’s new home in Suffolk, Owl Cottage, sounds enchanting and with books and bookshops being a big feature of the series (this is the first title), what’s not to like? Well, I have a couple of gripes – the shortness meant the storyline felt rushed and it was a bit annoying the number of times the men Callie encountered ran/raked their fingers through their hair. Other expressions of puzzlement are available.
A House in Sicily by Daphne Phelps
Daphne Phelps inherited a house in the shadow of Mount Etna in 1947. At 34, she had led a very interesting life but, war-weary from working as psychiatric social worker, she decided, despite the many difficulties, that she would live there.
To make ends meet she took in paying guests – not any old tourists but writers such as Roald Dahl (horrible), Tennessee Williams (fun), Bertrand Russell (with whom she might have had an affair) and an endearingly eccentric American artist I’d never heard of called Henry Faulkner. I wouldn’t want him and his pet goat as house guests but I enjoyed reading about him.
Her writing is terrific, telling the reader not only about her visitors but also about her Sicilian staff and neighbours including the local mafia leader.
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