GET out and start walking. This is the advice continually given to sufferers from all manner of ills, mental and physical and everything in between. And by and large, lacing up the trainers and putting one foot in front of the other does seem to be part of the answer. Or at least an excellent…
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…
RARELY do I allow my bedtime reading to rob me of much-needed sleep. The temptation is often there but has to be resisted if next day is not to be write-off. Bit like drinking red wine; the extra glass (or two) rarely justifies the inevitable frowziness and inertia that follow. However, this latest creation of…
IT is probably tempting fate when less than two months of the twelve have passed to declare “This is my book of the year”. But that’s the way things have been since I turned the final page of Should We Stay or Should We Go and fell into several moments of deep reflection. By then, all…
EMERGENCY service workers are well known for their macabre sense of humour; for having a giggle with the gore. It is, as they will attest, the only way they can cope with the scenes that daily confront them. The dead and dying, the mortally mangled, bodies broken almost beyond repair. Situations that have to be…
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…
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…