I’m a day late posting this week. A deliberate choice as it was HRH funeral yesterday. Whilst I am, as previously stated, no monarchist, I don’t think it hurts any of us to take a day to reflect and remember and it seemed the right thing to do to press pause on the old blog and social media for the day. She dedicated her life to our country. A day of respect is the least I can do.
I’ll be honest, seeing memorials dotted around Stirling this weekend, including at Stirling Castle where The Queen was the Colonel-in-Chief of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, really was quite moving, as was the two minutes silence before the Bloody Scotland Torchlight Procession on Thursday night. A touch strange being played in by a pipe band and then virtual silence, aside from the flickering of the flames, but very emotional nonetheless.
And it’s partly because of Bloody Scotland and having such a fabulous weekend away that I wanted to delay this post too. It’s felt a bit odd celebrating all things bookish and crime on the day of the funeral, although I’m sure Her Maj would have approved. But life, as they say, goes on, and books are the one constant should never take for granted. And I certainly do not, having had a marvellous weekend at one of the best festivals in the UK and being treated to (as well as treating myself to) some absolutely fabulous books and book post over the week. You may have to bear with me …
All I Said Was True – Imran Mahmood
The Lost Man of Bombay – Vaseem Khan
In Two Minds – Dr Sohom Das
Beyond The Tape – Dr Marie Cassidy
The Skeleton Key – Erin Kelly
Meantime – Frankie Boyle
The Twist of a Knife – Anthony Horowitz
Bloody Scotland Short Story Collection – 10th Anniversary Edition
The Death of Remembrance – Denzil Meyrick
Red As Blood – Lilja Sigurdardottir (13 Oct 2022)
The Pain Tourist – Paul Cleave (gifted by Orenda Books) 10 Nov 22
Suicide Thursday – Will Carver (gifted by Orenda Books) 24 Nov 22
The Institution – Helen Fields (proof gifted by Avon) 02 Mar 23
The Bleeding (Hardback) – Johana Gustawsson
Here Lie The Dead – JD Kirk (gifted by Author/publicist) 20 Sep 22
Marple – Twelve New Stories (Hardback)
The Bullet That Missed – Richard Osman
Rachel Amphlett’s Case Files – Book One (gifted by the author)
I purchased a few titles during the week too, as I’m nice like that. A preorder or two of So Pretty by Ronnie Turner and Crow Moon by Suzy Aspley. I also bought The Dark Tide by Simon McCleave after hearing the author talk about the book during one of the panels.
Books I have read
Four hikers enter the mountains. Only two return. But is it tragedy? Or treachery?
When sisters Cat and Ginny travel with their husbands to the idyllic Swiss Alps for a hiking holiday, it’s not just a chance to take in the stunning scenery. It’s an opportunity to reconnect with each other after years of drifting apart—and patch up marriages that are straining at the seams.
As they head into the mountains, morale is high, but as the terrain turns treacherous, cracks in the relationships start to show. With worrying signs that someone might be following them, the sun begins to set and exhaustion kicks in. Suddenly, lost high on a terrifying ridge, tensions spill over—with disastrous consequences.
When only two of the four hikers make it down from the mountain, the police press them for their story—but soon become suspicious when their accounts just don’t add up.
What really happened up on that ridge? Who are the survivors? And what secrets are they trying to hide?
Red As Blood by Lilia Sigurdardottir
When entrepreneur Flosi arrives home for dinner one night, he discovers that his house has been ransacked, and his wife Gudrun missing. A letter on the kitchen table confirms that she has been kidnapped. If Flosi doesn’t agree to pay an enormous ransom, Gudrun will be killed.
Forbidden from contacting the police, he gets in touch with Áróra, who specialises in finding hidden assets, and she, alongside her detective friend Daniel, try to get to the bottom of the case without anyone catching on.
Meanwhile, Áróra and Daniel continue the puzzling, devastating search for Áróra’s sister Ísafold, who disappeared without trace. As fog descends, in a cold and rainy Icelandic autumn, the investigation becomes increasingly dangerous, and confusing.
Chilling, twisty and unbearably tense, Red as Blood is the second instalment in the riveting, addictive An Áróra Investigation series, and everything is at stake…
Just the two books again this week, but I’m okay with that. I was at Bloody Scotland from Thursday to Sunday, with lots of other things to think about rather than just reading. I know – shocking right? Busy enough week on the blog though. Recap below:
#Review – The Mensch – Leopold Borstinski
#Review – The Santa Killer – Ross Greenwood
#Review – The Damage Done – James Oswald
#Review – The Other Side Of Night – Adam Hamdy
#Review – McIlvanney Prize Shortlist – A Corruption of Blood – Ambrose Parry
#Review – The Critic – Peter May
This week we actually join three blog tours – An Honourable Thief by Douglas Skelton today, Black Hearts by Doug Johnstone tomorrow and The Butcher and the Wren by Alaina Urquhart on Thursday. Busy, busy.
That’s it for this week but it’s probably enough. I’m hoping to actually do a bit better from a blog perspective this week, but just don’t quote me on it …
I hope you all have a great week. Normal service should resume on Monday. I hope.
Jen x
Jen Med's Book Reviews 