Eight in April

I read eight books in April.

 

V for Victory by Lissa Evans

The conclusion to the trilogy (I read Crooked Heart last month, and Old Baggage some time ago). Schoolboy Noel (except he doesn’t go to school) and his guardian, Vera, are running a boarding house and still lurching from one financial crisis to another, with the ever-present threat of being found out for Vera is not who she has to pretend to be. Noel’s parents, hitherto unknown to him, are revealed but his bond with Vera is now unassailable after such a bad beginning. A perfect conclusion, an absolute joy.

 

 

Under a Brighter Sky/A Light to Guide us Home by Dianne Haley

 

Following The Watchmaker’s  Daughter which I read in February these two books continue the gripping story of Valérie, operating in the Resistance in Switzerland, helping refugees escaping from Occupied France.

 

Birds of a Feather by Jacqueline Winspear

 

The second in the wonderful private investigator Maisie Dobbs series, set in the aftermath of the Great War. I’ve read a few of them, not in order but always a pleasure.

 

 

The Harbour Lights Mystery/The Rockpool Murder by Emylia Hall

 

The second and third titles in the Shell House Detectives series, the detectives being an unlikely duo of sixty-something widow Ally, and Jason, a young former London cop now relocated to Cornwall. Great stories and lovely writing – although I’m getting a bit weary of books written in the present tense.

 

Past Lying by Val McDermid

 

More crime; this is a Karen Petrie cold case. Karen has more time than usual to investigate the murder of a female student because it’s the first lockdown in 2020. The streets of Edinburgh are eerily quiet and one of her colleagues is grappling with the reality of the virus. The suspect is a crime writer and several actual crime writers are mentioned by name, as an in-joke I guess.

 

The Two-Headed Whale by Sandy Winterbottom

 

Read for book group; suggested by a member who, by the time we came to read it, had done what the author did and visited part of Antarctica on a sailing ship.

Sandy Winterbottom left her husband and teenage children behind in Edinburgh and embarked on this voyage, partly for the adventure, partly for respite, and as it turned out to find out more about the history of the whaling industry pertaining to Scotland (far more recent than you might think).

When she saw the grave of a teenage whaler born very near where she lives, and buried so far from home, she imagines his early life and also embarks on finding his relatives.

All these strands come together to make a fascinating (and beautifully written) read. I am the world’s worst sailor so was glad to be able to make this amazing journey vicariously.

Highly recommended.

 

 

Seven in July

I read seven books in July.

 

 

The Shell House Detectives by Emylia Hall 

Ally Bright, retired and recently widowed, and a young ex-cop, Jayden Weston, satisfactorily solve the mystery of a young man found dead at the foot of a cliff near their village on the Cornish coast. An unlikely but excellent duo of (semi-) amateur sleuths plus some lovely writing. Book 1 in a new series; would definitely read more.

 

 

Doors Open by Ian Rankin

A standalone IR title, a crime caper really – a heist of Scotland’s National Gallery pictures from its overflow store which is open once a year on Doors Open Day. Good fun, especially for Edinburghers I think.

 

 

 Fool for Love by Eloisa James

A Regency novel: ‘Lady Henrietta Maclellan longs for the romantic swirl of a London season. But as a rusticating country maiden, she has always kept her sensuous nature firmly under wraps – until she meets Simon Darby.’ Interestingly, Eloisa James is a Professor of English Literature in New York.

 

Touch not the Cat by Mary Stewart

I thought I had read all Mary Stewart’s books but this one caught my attention at the Christian Aid Book Sale this year. Not my favourite (which is Airs Above the Ground) because I wasn’t that keen on the rather supernatural element here – the family whose members can speak to each without words. But otherwise it’s vintage Mary Stewart. (I couldn't find a picture of mine – the cover isn't nearly as nice as this one.)

‘Touch not the cat bot [without] a glove’, by the way, is the motto of the Scottish Clan Chattan, to which, courtesy of my maiden name, I belong.

 

The Boy Who Loved Books by John Sutherland

A biography/memoir by the Emeritus Lord Northcliffe Professor of Modern English Literature at University College. His distinguished title and career belie his beginnings which were poor both financially and emotionally. His mother, widowed when he was a small boy, was a wonderful character but not a wonderful mother, and time spent farmed out to an unpleasant aunt in Edinburgh left him with a bad impression of the city although he did return to teach in the University.

Luckily, he discovered books. Unfortunately, he also discovered that he had a great capacity for alcohol. In the second half of the book I’d have like more about the former and less of the latter.

 

Found in a Bookshop by Stephanie Butland

I adored Lost for Words which came out in 2017 and featured Loveday Cardew, a troubled young woman whose refuge is the second-hand bookshop she works in. In Found in a Bookshop we meet her again – and now she’s inherited the shop. But, a big but – it’s 2020. No one can come in. She hits on the idea of a ‘book pharmacy’ – people can tell her, and her assistant, Kelly, what ails them emotionally and they will give a list of recommendations. Chosen titles can be posted or (cautiously) delivered.

Some customers are given more space than others such as the elderly devoted couple George and Rosemary.

For many years to come, I’ve no doubt, there will be novels set in the pandemic years. One written so close to the event has an authenticity and was a raw, perhaps understandably rather overwrought, reminder of that time. I liked it well enough (especially the books lists) but I didn’t adore it.

 

 

The Pear Affair by Judith Eagle

A delightful story aimed at the 9+ age group which, I’ll let you know, includes me ….

'When Penelope Magnificent's awful parents tell her they're taking a trip to Paris, she surprises them by begging to go along.’ 

Her ulterior motive is to look for her much-loved former au pair Perrine (‘Pear’) and there follows adventures both above and below ground in the French capital.