18 February 2023

Deep in the forest a page turner lures its readers in

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What makes a good page turner? Anyone seeking the answer needs only to devour the final fifty or so pages of Bad Apples. Allow yourself to be drawn in – which is a hands down certainty in itself – and you will be turning pages with increasing rapidity, helpless to resist. Desperate to know the… Continue Reading

18 February 2023

Deep in the forest a page turner lures its readers in

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What makes a good page turner? Anyone seeking the answer needs only to devour the final fifty or so pages of Bad Apples. Allow yourself to be drawn in – which is a hands down certainty in itself – and you will be turning pages with increasing rapidity, helpless to resist. Desperate to know the… Continue Reading

22 January 2023

A crime fiction tease from start to finish of sex worker thriller

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A tease of a tale

Author Adele Parks is a tease. Relentlessly so. At least, judging by One Last Secret (paperback, HQ/Harper Collins, 2022) it seems she simply can’t help herself. She never stops. Just when you think you know what is going on, she drops another bombshell and lures you into reading on . . . and on …. Continue Reading

1 November 2022

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

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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,… Continue Reading

11 May 2022

Editing cutbacks unfair to writers and readers

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memoir

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… Continue Reading

2 December 2021

Snowbound Siberia, oligarchs and shamans

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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… Continue Reading

30 November 2021

Trigger-happy woke brigade way off target

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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… Continue Reading

28 October 2021

Teen waif a heart-breaker hero of gripping crime tale

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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… Continue Reading

29 September 2021

Bad night’s good for thrill-seeking readers

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IT is one of those titles that says it all. Well, almost. The cover picture of menacing clouds hanging low over the French capital leaves little room for doubt about the content within. Everything is explained in five short words: A Long Night in Paris. And not one of gaiety and revelry such as those… Continue Reading

8 August 2021

Saddened by surgeon stalker’s nasty story

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STARTING a previously unread book is a journey into the unknown, but one full of hope and expectation. Perhaps it’s sparked by an intriguing review, or an enthusiastic word of mouth recommendation. Maybe fellow book bloggers – at least those with no axe to grind or promoters to please – have heaped praise on the… Continue Reading

19 July 2021

Mystery fun with criminals, bishops and barristers

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FOR those of a certain age (i.e. anyone born in the last century) one word will be sufficient to evoke fond memories of unmissable criminal court dramas. A reminder of tantalisingly clever tales rich in humour, wry comment and a panoply of credible and almost loveable rogues. And that word is Rumpole. Horace Rumpole, barrister…. Continue Reading

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