Crime and Mystery
| Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins | Another over hyped novel - was really looking forward to reading the tale of Rachel's constant train journey and what she sees from her window every day, but it became predictable and a bit rushed by the end. Sheila/June 2015 |
| Elizabeth is Missing by Emma Healey | For a first novel, this is amazing. She manages to put herself in the mind set of a person suffering from dementia - partly in this world and partly in one of her own making. The central character, Maud discovers that her friend Elizabeth is missing and the story so uncannily conveys the confusion, half memories and half truths about finding her and finding the truth about the disappearance of her sister just after the war. A very haunting and chilling tale. Sheila/March 2015 |
| I Am Pilgrim by Terry Hayes | Started off thinking, hmm not sure, not brilliantly written, not sure where it was going. About an hour in, I was hooked (for all 700 pages). The pace is perfect, the storyline intriguing (and scary) - part James Bond, part Jack Reacher. You could almost imagine the film version! Don't want to give too much away so suffice to say it's a murder and a terrorist plot with a top level intelligence operative (Pilgrim). Sometimes this type of book moves backwards and forwards so much you lose the plot, but this is woven together extremely well and you can pick it up without having to re-read the previous few pages (that's if you put it down in the first place). Loved it and hope it gets made into a film (the author is also script writer apparently). Sheila/May 2014 |
The Prisoner of Heaven by Carlos Ruiz Zafon |
This is the third in the Cemetery of Forgotten Books and although not as gripping as Shadow, it was just as enjoyable. The story revolves round Daniel Sempere's partner Fermin and mysterious book buying inscribing a book to him "for Fermin who came back from the dead and who holds the key to the future." It follows on well from the previous books, including many of the characters, but it could also be read stand alone. Will look forward to the fourth installment! Sheila/October 2013 |
The No 1 Ladies Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith |
Wasn’t sure what to expect (the tv programme had been well received). It’s a very gentle book set in Botswana and one woman’s desire to set up a detective agency. Precious Ramotswe encounters all sorts of people needing her services – wandering husbands, missing children, inept doctors – all are dealt with in her inimitable style, justice always winning out. Lovely and uplifting. Will be looking out for more. Sheila/February 2012 |
Ordinary Thunderstorms by William Boyd |
Being in the wrong place at the wrong time - witnessing a murder and being the main suspect, leads the main character Adam needing to leave everything behind and disappear completely. He ends up in an underworld of London which you think can’t possibly exist but perhaps does. It runs along similar lines to other stories of this genre and some parts of the plot seem a little implausible, but is well written and quite gripping. Sheila/October 2010 |
Girl on the Landing by Paul Torday |
Was fascinated by the difference in Paul Torday's other book, Salmon Fishing in the Yemen. Normally authors continue a similar vein, but this was totally different (more a chilling portrait of a sad marriage combined with a ghost story). Perhaps not as good as Salmon, but worth reading. Sheila/April 2009 |
The Resurrectionist by James Bradley |
The Resurrectionist follows orphan and medical apprentice Gabriel Swift as he falls into the black market of a grimy, brooding Georgian London, where law prohibits the dissection of any corpses other than those of executed murderers, and 'resurrection men' make up the supply of cadavers by fair means or foul. A well written, but difficult to get into sort of book. The story line is quite memorable although definitely grisly!! Sheila/October 2009 |
Restless by William Boyd |
This is one of the five winners of the Costa Coffee Award and also got the thumbs up from Richard and Judy, justifiably so. It's a spy story, not the James Bond variety, principally about two women, mother and daughter and what one finds out about the other, plus a guy. It's Boyd's ninth novel so not surprisingly "Restless" is well written, characters good, story good, ending good. Would make my top five. Not earth-shattering, just satisfying. Michael/June 2007 Read this on Michael's recommendation and was not disappointed. Really good story, like Boyd's style and will try and read a few more of this. Sheila/February 2008 |
Interpretation of Murder by Jed Rubenfeld |
They don't do novels in less than 500 pages these day, but Richard and Judy are right - you don't have to work at this one, it reads itself. The story is set in New York in 1909 when Freud really did visit the city and give some lectures, though there's no evidence he solved this or any other murder while he was there. You actually learn bits about Freudian theory but it's completely painless and also about Hamlet's famous soliloquy and in the end you're left wondering how a Professor of Law at Yale could know all this stuff, but it really is an enjoyable tale, very, very clever and humorously written. Did the last 300 pages in one sitting. Top of my list. Michael/May 2007 A clever story with an ending you don't anticipate, a good style that brings alive New York at the turn of the century and an interesting tale of murder and mystery for a first novel. Not perhaps as captivating as Shadow of the Wind and a little self indulgent, but an enjoyable read nonetheless. Sheila/July 2007 |
Vernon God Little by D B C Pierre |
The story of an American teenager, Vernon and the series of school boy friendships and misunderstandings that lead him to death row at an early age. Set in Texas it reminded me of Catcher in the Rye in style and language. It will be interesting to maybe re-read when my son George is that age - to see if that is really what teenagers think!!! Am undecided whether I enjoyed it (although a recommendation from David via Tracey). Sheila/August 2006 |
Bel Canto by Ann Patchett |
Purchased for me by Karen on Deb's recommendation. It spent some while on the shelf as I had the impression it would be hard work. However, what a delight to find it fascinating reading. A really unusual story about opera, terrorists and hostages over 4 months with the inevitable outcome. All the way along, you are really wanting a different end result - a happy ever after version - yet knowing that it is not going to be. Although the plot has many holes, it would make such an interesting TV/film. Well worth reading. Sheila/July 2006 |
The Lovely Bones by Alice Seebold |
Interesting perspective as the story is based on a young girl looking down from heaven watching what happens after her murder. The author was raped when she was young and this experience comes out in her writing. The book is due to be made into a film directed by Peter Jackson. Karen/August 2005 Definitely an interesting view of what heaven might be. Heard about it a lot before reading it so maybe it didn't seem as good as I expected.Read just after Time Traveler's Wife and it didn't compare as well. Sheila/January 2006 |
An Excellent Mystery by Ellis Peters |
Ellis Peters started writing the Brother Cadfael stories when she was into her sixties, and faithfully produced one each year till she died nineteen years later. "An Excellent Mystery" is the tale of a surprising and touching love, set against an authentic historical background of medieval England, unobtrusively woven into the fabric. There is a full cast of attractive characters, nicely drawn, amid an earthy sensitivity to their surroundings – the woods, the river, the herb garden – which breathes through the story. Peters doesn’t just tell you it was a long, hot summer, you feel it. When the storm finally breaks you’ve been expecting it. If she wants to give you a storm, it will be the mother and father of a storm. One can't help wanting to unravel the mystery of course, but still it’s best not to rush it. Better to savour the prose the way you drink good wine. If you want something that moves at Dan Brown speed, better stick with Dan Brown. This was the second time I read "An Excellent Mystery", and I enjoyed it even more because I wasn’t in such a hurry to know the answer – even though I’d actually forgotten how it ended. How often do you read a thriller and enjoy it even more the second time round? - Michael/January 2006 Finally got round to reading this on Michael's recommendation. I was in a hurry to get to the conclusion - so found it quite slow paced. However I did enjoy the style of writing and would have a go at reading others of this author - Sheila/July 2008 |
Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon |
Passed on by Tracey from David - and another slow starter, but was then unable to put it down. A story about a book, which the current narrative then imitates, set in Spain just after the Civil War. It reminded me of Victor Hugo's Les Miserables with the obsessive policeman and a turbulent time in history. Well recommended - Sheila/February 2006 Sheila bought this book for my boss Deb, who passed it on to me! Was reluctant at first to start reading it, thinking it sounded a little heavy. Once I started I couldn't put it down. I was completely gripped by the story and the end took me by surprise (in a similar way to Kite Runner). I thought it was quite a thriller at times, with many different twists and turns. It is high on my recommended reading list. I heard from someone that Carlos Ruiz Zafon now lives in the Bay Area. Karen/August 2006 Originally a book I wasn't going to read, but then so many people had recommended it that I felt I had to! I wasn't disappointed - it had everything that you would look for in a novel - love story, mystery, unexpected twists and turns - very enjoyable. Tracey/October 2006 |
The Tenderness of Wolves by Stef Penney |
The Tenderness of Wolves opens as a brilliant introduction to a murder mystery which then expands into a varied cast of characters - trappers, traders, half breeds and immigrants - to the point that the mystery almost fades into the background of Caulfield, an isolated community on the shores of Georgian Bay in southern Ontario in the 1860's. It's a sombre background and the author is as good on atmosphere as she is on her fascinating people; the stormy lakeside, the menacing and endless wilderness of the interior, the blinding whiteness of vast snowy wastes. The story unfolds like a trek through all of this and that's what keeps pulling you on through 450 pages. It's a good story, cleverly interwoven, always with some new discovery just round the cover. Well inside my top ten of the last year. Michael/May 2007 Enjoyed the story read on Michael's recommendation. Perhaps a little drawn out in places but a reasonable holiday read. Sheila/January 2008 |
Star of the Sea by Joseph O'Connor |
This gets past all my critical carping defences, fantastically well and cleverly written. It’s in the Kite Runner and Empress Orchid bracket, superb story with characters to love and characters to hate, a background you know little about – the Irish mid-1800’s famine – and the desperate flight to England and the US. Sounds a long way back but I knew my grandfather well and his own Dad was in the thick of it, so not so far from home for me. You think you know about famine from Ruanda, Darfur and the rest because you’ve seen it on tv. I thought I knew about the famine in Ireland. I do now, and almost wish I didn’t. Star of the Sea is the story of a group of refugees crossing the Atlantic in 26 days in a leaking old tub (of the same name), none of them exactly what they seem, and some strong stomach needed in places. Even better is that it’s a murder mystery, an Agatha Christie country house whodunit, except that it’s the wrong way round, because you know who the killer is from the beginning. It’s what you don’t know that pulls the story forward, such as who’s going to get killed and how. Big test with novels: are you glad you read it? Yes, yes, yes. Star rating. Michael/January 2007 |
