And that’s another week gone bye byes. How is time moving so quickly? This year is passing by in the blink of an eye and I still can’t make up my mind if this is a good or a bad thing. Nothing much happening this week as it was a full on work week, which also meant my reading slowed down a lot as I ended most days exhausted. Heavy duty data manipulation will do that to you. Didn’t manage as many morning walks, partly due to the weather and partly due to the fact we’re hitting that stage where sun rise is just a fraction later than I’d like it. I think this may be my last week, so I need to switch to afternoon walks or really long weekend walks to make up for it. Speaking of long weekend walks, we managed a brisk (ish – give or take stops for pictures, coffee and duck pics) five miler yesterday, so that was nice, even if the spitty rain made it a little damp to begin with too.
One highlight of the week is that we also managed to book hotel and tickets for Bloody Scotland next month so we are taking the plunge and going festivalling. All being well, anyway. The line up is awesome, including a live stream broadcasts featuring all the festival favourites including The Fun Lovin’ Crime Writers, plus special video link up broadcasts with Andrew and Lee Child, Karin Slaughter, Kathy Reichs, Linwood Barclay and Stephen King! Yes. That Stephen King. Even if you can’t get to Stirling, it’s worth checking out the festival pages as they have gone hybrid so all of the various panels can also be watched online.
It has been a slow reading week, but I think I made up for it with book post and book buys. Some bits of preordered bookage arrived in the week, my Orenda Books subscription box from Berts Books, this month Awais Khan’s No Honour and The Great Silence by Doug Johnstone. I also received my signed copy of A Corruption of Blood by Ambrose Parry. Three books from Netgalley – The Lost by Simon Beckett with it’s very lovely swing adorned cover; The Village by Caroline Mitchell and Many Deadly Returns a short story collection from the Murder Squad team.
Book buy wise, I may well have gone to town, but a lot of them are short stories or novellas, or were on offer, so they barely count as expenditure … 😉 I absolutely loved reading The Dark Remains last week and so I just had to buy the first three Laidlaw books to go with it. It’s the law, right? Well, any which way you look at it, Laidlaw, The Papers of Tony Veitch, Strange Loyalties no reside on my kindle and as all three were on offer, I’d have been a fool to pass them up anyway. Say whatever else you like about me – I am no fool. Well, most of the time anyway …
I may have got a bit order happy on Saturday evening with 8 new books and one preorder completed in the space of a few minutes. These are mostly short stories, so it’s okay. They will get read. I can do short stories in my lunch hours, no bother. Two have already been devoured. Too Good To be True by Ann Cleeves; Fox Five Reloaded by Zoë Sharp; Off Shore by Ann Cleeves; The Motive by Khurrum Rahman; Darkness Rising by A.A. Dhand; Bullseye by David Baldacci; Cleaning The Gold by Karin Slaughter and Lee Child and Exit by Belinda Bauer. I also preordered a Jeffery Deaver short story, A Perfect Plan. Phew. Lovely jubbly.
As far as I can reasonably remember, that’s it for this week? Plenty to be going on with though, don’t you think?
Books I have read
The Man Who Died Twice by Richard Osman
It’s the following Thursday.
Elizabeth has received a letter from an old colleague, a man with whom she has a long history. He’s made a big mistake, and he needs her help. His story involves stolen diamonds, a violent mobster, and a very real threat to his life.
As bodies start piling up, Elizabeth enlists Joyce, Ibrahim and Ron in the hunt for a ruthless murderer. And if they find the diamonds too? Well, wouldn’t that be a bonus?
But this time they are up against an enemy who wouldn’t bat an eyelid at knocking off four septuagenarians. Can The Thursday Murder Club find the killer (and the diamonds) before the killer finds them?
A Carrion Death by Michael Stanley
A stunning crime novel set against a backdrop of poachers, witch doctors, diamond smugglers and corruption.
They find the first body near a waterhole considered magical by the local bush people. A string of clues suggests that the victim was murdered and his identity hidden.
For Assistant Superintendent David Kubu Bengu, it’s obvious from the start that sinister forces are at work. A convivial figure on the surface, Kubu is a clever and resourceful lawman, well-versed in Botswana’s deadliest secrets.
As he follows a blood-soaked trail he uncovers a chain of crimes linked to the most powerful figures in the country -influential enemies who will stop at nothing to remove those who stand in their way…
Too Good To Be True by Ann Cleeves
Too Good To Be True is a gripping Quick Read from Ann Cleeves, featuring Detective Inspector Jimmy Perez from the bestselling Shetland series.
When young teacher Anna Blackwell is found dead in her home, the police think her death was suicide or a tragic accident. After all, Stonebridge is a quiet country village in the Scottish Borders, where murders just don’t happen.
But Detective Inspector Jimmy Perez soon arrives from far-away Shetland when his ex-wife, Sarah, asks him to look into the case. The local gossips are saying that her new husband, Tom, was having an affair with Anna. Could Tom have been involved with her death? Sarah refuses to believe it – but needs proof.
Anna had been a teacher. She must have loved kids. Would she kill herself knowing there was nobody to look after her daughter? She had seemed happier than ever before she died. And to Perez, this suggests not suicide, but murder . . .
Cleaning the Gold by Karin Slaughter and Lee Child
Jack Reacher and Will Trent
Twice the action
Twice the drama
Double the trouble
Will Trent is undercover at Fort Knox. His assignment: to investigate a twenty-two-year-old murder. His suspect’s name: Jack Reacher.
Jack Reacher is in Fort Knox on his own mission: to bring down a dangerous criminal ring operating at the heart of America’s military. Except now Will Trent is on the scene.
But there’s a bigger conspiracy at play – one that neither the special agent nor the ex-military cop could have anticipated. And the only option is for Jack Reacher and Will Trent to team up and play nicely. If they can…
Probably not as impressive as it looks as two are short stories, less than a hundred pages each, but I have really been struggling with energy this week and something had to give. Turns out is was reading. Oh well. A busy week on the blog – round up below.
#Review – Chasing the Boogeyman – Richard Chizmar
#Review – A Corruption of Blood – Ambrose Parry
#Review – A Line To Kill – Anthony Horowitz
#Review – The Source – Sarah Sultoon
#Review – The Wedding Party – Tammy Cohen
#Review – 1979 – Val McDermid
We’re pretty busy on the blog again this week with another very full week. It’s all a bit blog tour crazy this week with reviews of Camp Death by Jim Ody; No Honour by Awais Khan; Resilience by Bogdan Hrib; Murder In The Village by Lisa Cutts; The War Child by Renita D’Silva; Missing by Erin Kinsley and Ouija by Zoe-Lee O’Farrell. Yeah – pretty full on, I know, and they’re nearly all from me too … No wonder I’m knackered lol.
So that’s it for this week. I’m back to the books, hoping to read at least three this week – wish me luck. Have a fabulous week all.
Jen x
Jen Med's Book Reviews 