Three recently read books are given short reviews here, at the end of April. Rumpole and the Primrose Path by John Mortimer All of the Rumpole books are excellent. They follow “an old Bailey hack” as he navigates defending clients accused of a variety of crimes. He staunchly believes in the adhering to the principle of everyone is innocent until proved guilty by a … Continue reading →
Gallows View is the first book in the Inspector Banks series by Peter Robinson. There are 28 mystery books and they have won a number of awards in the period from 1987 to 2023. All of the stories take place in Eastvale, a fictional city in the Yorkshire Dales. Banks moved there from London for a quieter life, but with the number of murders … Continue reading →
There are times when I struggle with trying to finish a book. My general rule is to read the first third then decide whether to continue or not. there are a number of reasons to abandon a book. It can be uninteresting (to me). It can have poor writing. It can move interminably slowly. It may use literary gimmicks. It may be a … Continue reading →
Sidetracked is a novel in the Wallander series by Henning Mankell, translated from Swedish. The Ystad police force investigates a series of murders, seemingly unrelated. The author injects chapters seen from the killer’s perspective, limited in detail to keep the reader interested. Wallander and his team go down a number of avenues, all “sidetracks” without narrowing down a suspect. At the same time, Wallander is … Continue reading →
An Event in Autumn is a novella in the Wallander series, Nordic noir crime stories by Henning Mankell. In this story Wallender is aging and wondering how to end his career as a detective and where he will live. He looks at a suitable home, but as we checks out the back yard, he finds a hand sticking up out of the ground. This is … Continue reading →
Rumpole and the Angel of Death is a 1995 book of short stories, part of the Rumpole of the Bailey series. There are six mysteries, featuring Horace Rumpole, a barrister who takes on “hopeless” cases, legal aid clients, and anyone needing legal representation for a fair and just trial. These stories raise discussions on animal protection, human rights, gender awareness, euthanasia, and racism. … Continue reading →
Elephants Can Remember is a mystery novel by Agatha Christie featuring Hercule Poirot and recurring character Ariadne Oliver (a novelist). It was the last Agatha Christie book written about either character. The detectives are trying to solve an older mystery of the deaths of two people, which had been proclaimed a double suicide. The task is to find out what really happened, but how … Continue reading →
Brooklyn is a novel about a working-class girl from Ireland who emigrates to New York to find work in the 1950s. A priest sponsors her, supporting her travel across the ocean, finding a place to stay in a women’s boarding house, and securing a position in a retail store in Brooklyn. We are introduced to Eilis Lacey, a clever and industrious young woman who goes … Continue reading →
The Mysterious Affair at Styles was Agatha Christie’s first book. She wrote in on a dare in 1916 and tried to get it published, unsuccessfully until 1919. It was then releases in serial format with 18 parts. It was not published as a full book until 1920. In the book we are first introduced to Hastings, the narrator of the story and to the Belgian detective … Continue reading →
The House on the Cerulean Sea is a fantasy about an orphanage of very unusual magical children. Each of the children are interesting and unique characters and this could have been the central part of the story, but it is a tale of redemption, compassion, and humanity as seen through the lead character, Linus Baker. As a worn-out case worker he arrives on the island with … Continue reading →
