Madeleine's Reading Log 2023

[Madeleine]

"Murder at St Anne's" by J R Ellis - this is the 7th book in the Yorkshire crime series featuring policeman Jim Oldroyd, who this time round is investigating the murder of a female rector in her own church, in the picturesque town of Knaresborough. The church is allegedly haunted by the ghost of a mediaeval monk who was executed for heresy, and as the police have no idea what the murder weapon is, some of the locals' stubborn belief that the monk was responsible don't exactly help. There are several churchgoers who had a motive too, several weren't too happy with a female priest officiating, although they liked her as a person, and another one had financial "irregularities" which had been called into question by the murdered rector. But when another kiling occurs, the net of suspects becomes even wider, and it's up to Oldroyd and his sergeant, plus a couple of female officers who, inevitably, get to do all the "grunt" work, to come up with a credible suspect. This was an enjoyable easy read, slightly dry but very reminiscent of a "Midsomer Murders" episode. And the snowy weather - the police officers are forced to spend a rather creepy night in the church due to a blizzard - also adds to the atmosphere. 6.5/10

Loch of the Dead" by Oscar de Muriel - book number 4 in the Frey and McGray series set in late Victorian Scotland, and in this one our two heroes find themselves at a remote house on the shore of a Scottish loch, on two different cases - Frey is helping a young woman who many years ago gave birth to an illegitimate child, whose father was the brother of the house's owner; as usual, he disowned her and the child, but the houseowners, the Kolomans, arranged for her to have the child, and for a local priest to raise the boy, and they would give her a job at the house and ensure that the child was well provided for. Now the boy is of age, but the woman, Millie, has been receiving threats so asks Frey for protection. McGray meanwhile is on his way to visit a holy well on one of the loch's islands, which is meant to cure people of mental afflictions (McGray's sister is currently in a facility on Orkney) and he hopes to take some of the water to his sister. However he happens to be in Thurso, where a murder occurs - the victim is the aforementioned priest, so McGray agrees to escort the boy to meet his family. Therefore we have Frey and McGray under the same roof, and when another murder occurs they have to assume that most of the family are potential suspects - there are the parents ,their twin daughters, their wayward son, his valet, and several staff members. And that's before you get to the other family, who live on the island with the holy well, and who are even more mysterious than the Kolomans, who have some very strange interests and hobbies. It's a tremendously fast-paced story, and although the plot undoubtedly has holes if you look at it too closely, it romps along with several twists, a few gruesome events, strange goings on, and a final thrilling showdown. I stayed up long past my usual reading time as I was so engrossed, and wanted to read on, but at the same time didn't want it to end. A great rollicking read, with some humour and a bit of tragedy too, and the best book in the series so far. Watch out for those bats though! 10/10

[Madeleine]

February

"Black Run" by Antonio Manzini - this is the first in the Rocco Schiavone detective series set in the Italian ski resort of Aosta, which is where Rocco has been forcibly transferred from his beloved Rome. I've been watching the TV series based on the books but missed this episode when it was shown a couple of years ago, and I decided to read the book at the same time. The TV version kept pretty faithfully to the book, and both are highly enjoyable - if you liked Montalbano, he looks like Father Christmas compared to Rocco, who is spectacularly grumpy and has difficulty with some of his team, two of whom are spectacularly inept. Yet he does grow on you, or he did on me anyway, and gradually his past is peeled back, including his relationship with his wife Marina. In this book he's investigating the death of a local man who is run over by a snowcat, one of those huge machines which smoothes out the ski pistes after everyone has gone home for the day. But what was he doing in the middle of a deserted ski slope, and was he dead before or after the machine did so much damage? I enjoyed this, it was fast paced and has quite a lot of humour, and I look forward to reading the other 3 books in the series, although the TV show has gone on beyond the books. Rocco's team are interesting too, with 2 good-looking and highly competent officers, one who is so-so and the others who are "Laurel and Hardy" and who provide much of the humour. In a later series he also acquires a cute little dog.Like Montalbano, he's constantly at odds with the authorities, and isn't afraid to bend the rules quite often. 7.5/10

"The Postscript Murders" by Elly Griffiths - this is the 2nd novel to feature policewoman Harbinder Kaur, first seen in "The Stranger Diaries" which was originally a stand alone novel. Now it looks like Harbi, as her family call her, is getting her own series, and whilst I really like her character, sadly this book fell flat for me. It's meant to be a playful tribute to the publishing industry and authors, though if this book is anything to go by being an author is quite dangerous! It starts with an elderly woman found dead in her retirement apartment in Shoreham, on England's South coast. Nothing unusual in that, she was 90 and had a heart condition, but Natalka, her carer, is suspicious and confides her fears to her friend Benedict, an ex-monk who runs a coffee "shack" on the seafront, and one of the lady's neighbours, Edwin. And when a gun-toting stranger bursts in on the younger couple when they are in the lady's flat, sorting out her things (ie the worthless stuff that her unlikeable son didn't want), and picks up one book and walks off with it, they are convinced her death wasn't simply from old age and ill health. For Peggy, the lady in question, was a murder consultant, who advised several authors on unusual methods of murder, and both she and some of the authors have been receiving possibly threatening messages. Then one of her authors is shot dead in his home, and his elderly mother was a neighbour of Peggy's. So Harbinder is brought in to investigate, but also finds herself in competition with a team of amateur detectives, who go scampering off on a road trip to a literary festival in Aberdeen, on the tail of another author who may also be at risk. Harbinder, not surprisingly, isn't too happy at this Scooby Doo type of investigation, and when there's yet another murder she finds herself heading to Aberdeen to help out the detectives there (who she'd already helped on an earlier case). Next thing the gang of real and would-be detectives find themselves in a safe house on the Scottish coast. At this point the book really started to get on my nerves, with the police coming across as pretty daft - for example, hiding people in a safe house and then keeping watch in a police squad car kind of gives their location away, and it all takes on a rather farcical element. Although the plotting is good, and Harbi's slightly awkward but affectionate relationship with her family is well portrayed, I think this is probably the weakest of this author's books that I've read so far. I enjoyed the first book but this one is disappointing. 5/10

[Madeleine]

March

"Shiver" by Allie Reynolds - 10 years ago, several young people gathered in the mountain resort of Le Rocher in France, for a snowboarding competition - but one never came back. Now, when the missing person has finally been declared officially dead, most of the remaining group receive an invite to go to the resort again, out of season, for a reunion and to hopefully find out what really happened. But when they get there none of them is sure who actually issued the invites, and there are no staff, even the lifts are closed apart from when they take the cable car to the visitor centre where they'll be staying. Thinking that they can just get on with their trip themselves, they gather to play an Ice Breaker game, but the questions soon set the group against each other, and it soon becomes apparent that they're not the only ones staying at the supposedly deserted resort. Who is the extra guest, and how much danger are they all in? And in incoming snowstorm soon cuts them off entirely - with no radio or phones (which have disappeared) they have to rely on their own strength, and try to stop turning on each other as old grievances come to light.

This is the debut novel from this author, a former snowboarder herself, and although I didn't think it was particularly well-written (some of the dialogue is a bit cringeworthy) it's certainly a page turner. It's genuinely gripping although I thought the final reveal and last few scenes were pretty far-fetched, and most of the characters are pretty unlikeable and in some cases downright silly, so it was hard to care about what happened to them, but as a holiday thriller it works quite well. And it looks like a TV adaptation is in the works as well. 6.5/10