5 September 2024

How cosy can cosy crime become?

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Cosy crime book cover

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.”… Continue Reading

12 August 2024

Tabloid scandals ready-made for a modern Becky Sharp

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Tabloid scandals book cover

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… Continue Reading

7 August 2024

Chemistry provides formula for joy

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A recent trip into the chemistry lab surprised and delighted with the discovery that it held a formula for joy. It produced the recipe (pictured left) for sheer undiluted pleasure, as well as moments of laugh-out-loud comic interludes. Thankfully there was no need this time for the white coat and protective goggles demanded by Health… Continue Reading

4 August 2024

Thinking no longer needed thanks to AI

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Can I write something for you?

A click of the mouse was all it took to reveal that thinking is no longer needed. Henceforth I can safely leave such a stressful activity in the efficient hands of AI. With Artificial Intelligence taking care of my thought processes I can stop creasing my brow and pacing the room in frustration as I… Continue Reading

31 July 2024

LinkedIn or lost out?

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Somewhere along the way I seem to have lost out on the many advantages LinkedIn claims to offer. Several years of membership and I am none the wiser. It’s like being admitted to one of those exclusive London clubs and being allowed to enter no further that the lobby. Am I wearing the wrong tie?… Continue Reading

24 July 2024

Love-lorn pathos behind the Wall

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IF there is one book you must read this year it is . . . No. Stop right there. But many reviewers fail to do so. They burble on, telling us what we must read. They do so without knowing a jot about our likes and dislikes, our preferred reading genre or life experiences that… Continue Reading

21 July 2024

Putting on a fresh face

We have given birth. And it was almost pain-free. Certainly devoid of screaming and wailing in the delivery room. Mind you, doing the major part of it remotely probably helped. We are, however, talking not of humankind, but in techno terms. Our corporate flag is being waved from a totally new look website. And this… Continue Reading

2 April 2023

Midsommer faces Canadian rival for murder frequency

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Why would anyone want to risk living in the outwardly charming British village of Midsommer? The number of bizarre and sudden deaths that beset its residents must be an estate agent’s nightmare. The ultimate hard sell. Charming 18th century cottage for sale, all bloodstains removed, two previous owners shot, two knifed, one poisoned and another… Continue Reading

11 March 2023

Crime so cosy that it makes an excellent nightcap

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There has always been a leisurely air about Guido Brunetti’s approach to crime. In Give Unto Others his creator dips him even deeper into the realm of the soporfic. Better than a warming cup of camomile tea. More digestible than a tab or two of valerian. It’s dreamtime in Venice. Give Unto Others documents the… Continue Reading

3 March 2023

BOGOF value in two-author tartan noir mystery thriller

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There is a new game afoot among crime fiction afficionados. Especially those who believe there’s nothing to match the rapidly expanding sector known as tartan noir. It is called Spot the Join. Or Find the Seam. Even Detect the Author. Or any of the many possible similar phrases. My own variation on this theme is… Continue Reading

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