THE annual conundrum is upon us. As the calendar flips over from December 31 to January 1, the perennial question remains to puzzle us. We step across the threshold from 2021 into 2022 with still no satisfactory answer. We may be bleary-eyed, hungover and half-awake; or euphoric, full of good cheer and a friend to…
A HYPOTHETICAL: what would make a good Christmas gift for an avid reader of crime fiction? Faced by a pile of recent reads, I soon realised this was an almost impossible task. Too much choice; too many vying for the top spot. And such a broad range of preferences among devotees of the genre. Much…
BOUGHT a couple of bottles of alcohol-free wine. One a bubbly, the other labelled as a Merlot. Friends and dearly beloveds familiar with my past indiscretions might be worried about my sanity on hearing this news. Wondering if this statement is another piece of fiction. Or whether years of running have finally taken their toll….
SHOCKS galore can await those delving into their family history; a fact frequently demonstrated by the fascinating TV series Who Do You Think You Are? The constant theme is that of surprise. The program has a well established record in shattering strongly held beliefs in one’s lineage. Much that was firmly thought to have happened…
IT has been a while – far too long, in fact – since I was last in the moody company of Arkady Renko, the rebellious investigator who is a perennial thorn in the side of Moscow prosecutor, the devious Zurin. Back then, in 1981, Arkady’s creator, Martin Cruz Smith, was announcing his arrival on the…
WHO would have thought it? Who in their wildest imaginings would have been prepared for such a sudden assault on their mental processes? Thank goodness, therefore, for those ever-alert guardians of our sensibilities and weak spots. The do-gooders who see harm where none exists; and attach needless warnings of possible injury to the most innocent…
WAR has been declared. It has long been simmering with spasmodic outbreaks of invective hurled across the Great Grammatical Divide separating the two sides. But now it is out in the open. Apostrophe or no apostrophe, that is the question (as the greatest source of precise English would likely have defined it). It is no…
BE prepared to be afraid. Very afraid, for these are scary times. There are frighteners everywhere; and that’s not counting the heavy brigade and their standover mates. Those black-clad steroids on legs, eyes permanently hidden behind Ray Bans. The grunters and mumblers who feature so large not only in real life but also in the bloodier…
THE joys of reading are many and varied. Too many delights exist to be contained within a strictly defined list. And always they are dependent on time, place, purpose and numerous further variables. It’s a statement clearly not made to broadcast some newly discovered truth. But uttered in the hope of spreading light into dark…
A BOOK with a cover claiming the contents are “eerie, unnerving and buckets of fun” presents a puzzle before a single page is turned. Unnerving and fun? Such an odd mix. Especially for what is also billed as “a thriller”, and involves “one kidnapping, one liar, one chance”. Where are “the buckets of fun” going …