Aah . . . the sheer joy, relief, escape, freedom and get-away-from-it-all happiness of a holiday trip. These hordes are lockdown escapees from the Australian state of Victoria queuing to “enjoy” the snowfields, as pictured by the Herald Sun. Yet again I am prompted to wonder what is the sense and point of holidays. Why all the endless fretting, tension, stress and anxiety to experience more of the same? Stay home, shut down the phones and computers . . . breathe, and relax. Isn’t that so much better?
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Baby-snatch thriller adds riddle of which author wrote which part
Two puzzles for the price of one As if one superbly twisted plot was not enough, two top crime writers have united to leave readers puzzling over who wrote what. Author credits for The Wrong Child are highlighted on the cover as MJ Arlidge and Julia Crouch. Both have long been famed as being among…
Thrills remain though we know who dunnit
The prime joy of reading crime fiction is puzzling out “who dunnit”. Yet here’s a thriller in which we know who the guilty parties are almost from the get go. And yet we are still happy to go along for the ride. Wondering where this horror journey can possibly end – and how many victims…
How cosy can cosy crime become?
Reading cosy crime at bedtime is better than any narcotic; a sure cure for insomnia. But sometimes the level of cosiness irritates rather than calms. Frustration with plot, characters or dialogue wakens rather than lulls, and sleep becomes a forlorn hope. Maybe it is a case of “you can have too much of a good thing.”…
Tabloid scandals ready-made for a modern Becky Sharp
The tabloid scandals of the UK’s recent history are prime fodder for the eponymous heroine of Becky. The chronicles of this razor-sharp young woman provide a lively modern version of Thackeray’s Vanity Fair. They offer a sparkling antidote to the millions of words spilled by these seedy events. Their framework is clearly based on those…
Thinking no longer needed thanks to AI