Have a cuppa with pride, not prejudice
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Have a cuppa with pride, not prejudice

NEARLY choked on my afternoon cuppa. Spluttered and dribbled before disaster was eventually averted. Yorkshire’s finest it was, too. You know, the brew that guy with the accent as broad as the Dales is forever chuntering on about. Seems that the much adored novelist and regular tea drinker Jane Austen (pictured) has fallen foul of…

Disher sets gold standard for Outback crime
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Disher sets gold standard for Outback crime

WHEN trawling through the innumerable Facebook pages devoted to crime fiction it seems as if Australia has resumed its status of more than two hundred years ago; a distant, unknown, almost unheard of land in danger of falling off the edge of the world. And this was before Covid-19 persuaded its dithering ensemble of state…

When saying you are ‘fine’ is open to question
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When saying you are ‘fine’ is open to question

A BOOK obtained by an accidental encounter; a volume I had never considered in the several years since it first appeared in 2017 and won the Costa First Novel Award. Not even as an impulse buy while browsing bookshop shelves. This intriguing, mesmerising and continually delightful tale was plucked from a box of unwanted items…

Benched! Meghan’s woeful paean to mediocrity
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Benched! Meghan’s woeful paean to mediocrity

FAME is a wonderful thing; it overrides ability in so many fields of endeavour. But nowhere more so than in the world of publishing. There the principle is simple: names sell. Celebrity is everything. Much to the chagrin of authors who have spent years honing their craft. Facebook “likes”, Instagram followers, Twitter retweets; these are…

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Relentless slow burn to a love story’s climax

IN the words of advice so often given, it was time to “get out more”; extend my horizons. Not physically, but in more mentally stimulating terms. Specifically, to broaden the reading experience, to redress the balance of genres ingested in my reading time. A glance at my bookshelves provided ample proof; without going into great…

Vera does high tension without blood and gore
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Vera does high tension without blood and gore

COMPARISONS are inevitable when books are transported from page to screen. Especially between the leading characters as they are read and as they are seen. An author’s descriptions enable us to build our personal bank of images as we move through the chapters. Fleshing out the bare bones we are given at the start until…

Back stories reveal spooks’ messy histories
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Back stories reveal spooks’ messy histories

CONSIDERING his prolific output and the frequency of publication, crime writer supreme Mick Herron remained off my radar for an inexplicably long time. Years, in fact. During which time he published numerous much-praised books and won several prestigious awards. How I managed to miss him – or perhaps simply ignore him – I have no…

Bromo, book six – an extract
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Bromo, book six – an extract

‘Morning, can I help you?’ The receptionist smiled her greeting. ‘I hope so. At least you look as if you want to.’ A clumsy compliment, Bromo chided himself. But well meant. ‘Makes a refreshing change to where I come from,’ he hurried to explain. ‘Tyllmouth must do strange things to people. So relaxed and slow-going.’…