Fading air fryer fervour sends gadget to the cooling rack
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Fading air fryer fervour sends gadget to the cooling rack

CAN’T help wondering how many of the doubtless thousands of air fryers bought in the Christmas shopping madness will end up discarded, re-gifted  or otherwise dumped. This must surely be the most useless bit of kitchen gadgetry ever. Over-publicised, over-promoted and  oversold it is destined for the dump once reality bites. As commented on here…

Book reviewers need to get out from Between the Covers
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Book reviewers need to get out from Between the Covers

It’s time for members of the BBC’s weekly book discussion group to emerge from Between The Covers and broaden their field of vision. Doing so might change their outdated and somewhat snobbish attitudes to the vast world of crime fiction. Even put some excitement and joy into their studiously serious lives. This tired old viewpoint…

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Crime tale thrills along worldwide tourist trails

Crime is universal; not a corner of the globe is immune from the dastardly deeds of  its perpetrators. It may not always be as “brutal” as reporters and headline writers around the world seemingly wish us to believe. In many cases (white collar and cyber crime come quickly to mind), not a drop of blood…

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The more the merrier as twenty-five thousand heads COP it sweet

TWENTY-FIVE thousand? Really? Did I read that correctly? Surely someone with stuttering fingers has been clicking the head-counter at Sharm-al-Sheikh. Or perhaps Rishi has seconded a number-cruncher from the Treasury (you know how good they are with numbers) to lend a hand with collating the stats at Cop27. Whatever the answer, it seems staggering beyond…

‘New’ Nordic noir discovery goes to top of the genre
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‘New’ Nordic noir discovery goes to top of the genre

Apologies for the long silence on the book review front. There’s no real excuse apart from being busy editing other writers’ books. This means scant time or energy remains for more reading at the end of a busy day. And the hillock of books for review is fast becoming a high tor. So much easier,…

Storm-tossed Cornish romance merits more than spellcheck
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Storm-tossed Cornish romance merits more than spellcheck

PERSONAL reasons had me well disposed in favour of this book well before turning a page. It was something I was silently rooting for, willing it to success. Thus the disappointment that descended well before reaching the thrilling finale was all the deeper and saddening. It was, in the words of a phrase rarely heard…

memoir
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Editing cutbacks unfair to writers and readers

WITH Covid and staff shortages becoming the default excuse for poor service and faulty products it is sad to see the malaise spreading to the world of publishing. Errors there are so visible and so irritating to readers. For publishers they are so difficult and costly  to correct.  In specialist areas, editing shortfalls can bring…