So much for my new year plans to blog more! However, here are some books. I hope to have some knitting to show later!
False charity, by Veronica Heley [audiobook]. Read by Patience Tomlinson. Whitley Bay: Soundings, 2007.
Bea Abbott returns from New Zealand newly widowed and has to decide what to do with The Abbott Agency, a business dealing with domestic crises. Her son, an MP, thinks she should sell the house to him and move to the seaside, but Bea isn't keen. While she's been away, her son has hired a secretary, Maggie, who turns out to be great at housekeeping but a dead loss in the office; Maggie in turn has brought in Oliver, an 18-year-old computer whizz who's estranged from his family. In addition, Bea's late husband has also enlisted her ex-husband, Piers, to look after her. When Coral, an old friend and long-term client, reports losses due to fraud from a party-organising company working for tsunami charities, the unlikely household investigates. Very entertainingly written and well-plotted.
The house at Sea's End, by Elly Griffiths. London: Quercus, 2011.
Ruth Galloway's baby, Kate, has now been born, and Ruth is returning to work after maternity leave. The first case she is called out on is the discovery of six bodies in a grave on the sea-coast, in an area affected by severe coastal erosion. The bodies are tied together in pairs and seem to have been executed sometime in the middle of the 20th century. What should be an archaeological puzzle suddenly becomes an active police investigation when a contemporary body washes ashore - someone is killing the witnesses to the event and those investigating. As well as an excellent plot, the relationship between Ruth, Nelson and their baby is also intriguing, and Griffiths also explores the guilt a single, working mother feels around childcare and trying to juggle two full-time jobs.
Play to kill, by P J Tracy. London: Penguin, 2010.
Another extremely good Gino and Magozzi thriller which discusses wider issues. This time, what starts off as the mildly bizarre murder of a transvestite in a wedding dress leads to a more serious problem - someone is killing people and posting the videos to YouTube. Are the murders linked, or is there some sort of group forming which is performing these killings? As with anything (knitting, for instance), there's strength in numbers out on the Web, and people encourage each other along, in this case to carry out more and more extreme killings. As ever, the Monkeewrench geeks are also involved. The characterisation and tight plotting is great, and the relationships between the various characters are lovely. A slightly odd ending to this one - I'll be intrigued as to what happens next.
Pirate king, by Laurie R King. London: Allison and Busby, 2011.
The latest of the Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes mysteries. The plot setup for this one is really bizarre - Russell is despatched to investigate a film company which is making a film about people making a film of The pirates of Penzance. To add further complication to the story, once the crew reaches Portugal they recruit pirates to play actors playing English gentlemen disguised as pirates. The absurdity of the situation isn't lost on Russell and King really does run amusingly with it, possibly at the expense of a comprehensible plot and some of Russell's usual common sense. There isn't as much interaction between Holmes and Russell as usual - Holmes only appears at least halfway through the book - but it's an enjoyable read.
Moon over Soho, by Ben Aaronovitch [audiobook]. Read by Kobna Holbrook-Smith. Oxford: Isis, 2011.
Sequel to Rivers of London; I'd been warned it wasn't as good as the first book, and it couldn't really be, because the entire setup was surprising the first time round and the author is sort of riffing on the atmosphere he's created. Which is appropriate, as someone seems to be killing jazzmen in Soho clubs. The sense of humour and absurdity in the style is carried on into this second novel, and the plot barrels along nicely. The geographic accuracy carries on, too, which is always fun - you can really follow them around the streets... One of the best elements, though, is that actions and damage are shown to have real consequences. So many times in novels, our heroes are shot, beaten up, tortured, etc., etc., and bounce back to appear in the next book with only the odd twinge to remind them. One of the main characters in the previous novel still isn't back at work, or anywhere near it, at the end of this novel, and there's a very moving final scene in this book.
Sunday, January 15, 2012
Saturday, December 31, 2011
2011 books, #126-130
Blood ties, by Lori G Armstrong. Kindle edition.
Julie Collins is a sheriff's secretary with a huge chip on her shoulder and the unsolved murder of her half-Native American half-brother hanging around her neck. Then a girl's body is found in a river, and an investigation is launched. Shortly afterwards, Julie's best high-school friend Kevin, a private investigator Julie helps out on occasion, tells her that the dead girl's family had hired him to find her. The plot twists and turns nicely and stays pretty gripping from start to finish. Julie is a bit irritating, and her choice in men is absolutely terrible, but her relationship with Kevin is interesting and makes the book more likeable than it would otherwise be. One criticism - did it have to be set in a county called Bear Butte when no other humour is derived from this??
A cold day for murder, by Dana Stabenow. Kindle edition.
Former detective Kate Shugak is a hermit of sorts, after the end of an investigation left her with a ruined voice and a huge scar on her throat - she has retired from Anchorage to her homestead a long way outside Niniltna, Alaska. However, a game warden has gone missing, and the investigator sent out from Anchorage has vanished too; the investigator was a friend and former colleague of Kate's and she reluctantly agrees to pursue the case. The cast of characters here is interesting, and the Alaskan scenery is fascinating (and very, very, very cold...) I'm hoping there are more of these.
A land of ash, by David Dalglish et al. Kindle edition.
Five authors imagine a catastrophic volcanic eruption in the Yellowstone National Park, with an eastward drift of an enormous ash cloud. A dozen or so short stories tell stories of the event, the deaths, the immediate aftermath and the struggle for survival as the ash hardens and begins to destroy buildings. There are one or two stories which make very little sense, but most of them are fascinating in the John Wyndham tradition, and show the best and worst of humanity in the face of an apocalyptic event.
The water room, by Christopher Fowler [audiobook]. Read by Tim Goodman. Rearsby, Leics.: W F Howes, 2004.
A Bryant and May mystery, and oddly the one I listened to after Rivers of London - there are many of the same elements here, with a supernatural component to the underground historical rivers of London, and a number of deaths in inexplicable circumstances. The Peculiar Crimes Squad with octogenarian detectives John May and Arthur Bryant investigate. The plot is maybe a little over-complicated in places but the relationships between Bryant and May and the other characters are beautifully written.
Flash and bones, by Kathy Reichs. London: Heinemann, 2011.
Tempe Brennan investigates a body found embedded in asphalt in a metal drum in a landfill site near a NASCAR race-track. This leads in turn to the cold missing-persons case of a young couple who were seen leaving a nearby site almost 20 years before. One of the investigators of that case is working as head of security for NASCAR, having been discredited as a policeman. It's a good Tempe case, spoiled only by some really unconvincing scenes between Tempe, her ex-husband Pete and Pete's airhead fiancée Summer, and the lack of Andrew Ryan; but if you like the plot bits of Reichs's story but get fed up with the female members of her family, this is a good one.
Julie Collins is a sheriff's secretary with a huge chip on her shoulder and the unsolved murder of her half-Native American half-brother hanging around her neck. Then a girl's body is found in a river, and an investigation is launched. Shortly afterwards, Julie's best high-school friend Kevin, a private investigator Julie helps out on occasion, tells her that the dead girl's family had hired him to find her. The plot twists and turns nicely and stays pretty gripping from start to finish. Julie is a bit irritating, and her choice in men is absolutely terrible, but her relationship with Kevin is interesting and makes the book more likeable than it would otherwise be. One criticism - did it have to be set in a county called Bear Butte when no other humour is derived from this??
A cold day for murder, by Dana Stabenow. Kindle edition.
Former detective Kate Shugak is a hermit of sorts, after the end of an investigation left her with a ruined voice and a huge scar on her throat - she has retired from Anchorage to her homestead a long way outside Niniltna, Alaska. However, a game warden has gone missing, and the investigator sent out from Anchorage has vanished too; the investigator was a friend and former colleague of Kate's and she reluctantly agrees to pursue the case. The cast of characters here is interesting, and the Alaskan scenery is fascinating (and very, very, very cold...) I'm hoping there are more of these.
A land of ash, by David Dalglish et al. Kindle edition.
Five authors imagine a catastrophic volcanic eruption in the Yellowstone National Park, with an eastward drift of an enormous ash cloud. A dozen or so short stories tell stories of the event, the deaths, the immediate aftermath and the struggle for survival as the ash hardens and begins to destroy buildings. There are one or two stories which make very little sense, but most of them are fascinating in the John Wyndham tradition, and show the best and worst of humanity in the face of an apocalyptic event.
The water room, by Christopher Fowler [audiobook]. Read by Tim Goodman. Rearsby, Leics.: W F Howes, 2004.
A Bryant and May mystery, and oddly the one I listened to after Rivers of London - there are many of the same elements here, with a supernatural component to the underground historical rivers of London, and a number of deaths in inexplicable circumstances. The Peculiar Crimes Squad with octogenarian detectives John May and Arthur Bryant investigate. The plot is maybe a little over-complicated in places but the relationships between Bryant and May and the other characters are beautifully written.
Flash and bones, by Kathy Reichs. London: Heinemann, 2011.
Tempe Brennan investigates a body found embedded in asphalt in a metal drum in a landfill site near a NASCAR race-track. This leads in turn to the cold missing-persons case of a young couple who were seen leaving a nearby site almost 20 years before. One of the investigators of that case is working as head of security for NASCAR, having been discredited as a policeman. It's a good Tempe case, spoiled only by some really unconvincing scenes between Tempe, her ex-husband Pete and Pete's airhead fiancée Summer, and the lack of Andrew Ryan; but if you like the plot bits of Reichs's story but get fed up with the female members of her family, this is a good one.
2011 books, #121-125
Snowdrops, by A D Miller. Kindle edition.
A Kniterati book club book. A confessional novel written by a Briton called Nick to his fiancée shortly before their wedding, with an account of his time in Russia in the middle years of the last decade. It's a hallucinatory story, full of oil, booze, drugs and beautiful sisters, who may or may not actually be cousins. There's a feeling of impending doom throughout the novel, and a sense of a general moral slide... Pretty compelling stuff, and really draws you in.
Tilting at windmills: how I learned to stop worrying and enjoy sport, by Andy Miller. London: Viking, 2002.
(Not the same A Miller as the first book, as far as I know!) Andy Miller hates sport. All of it. Well, very nearly all of it - he has a love of minigolf, known to most of us as crazy golf. Using minigolf as a starting point, he explores the reasons people enjoy sport, from supporting QPR to the Boat Race, tennis at Wimbledon and the British Open golf. He talks to PE teachers, leading members of the sporting authorities and proponents of sport-as-entertainment such as publicists from the World Wrestling Federation. Meanwhile, he plays in minigolf tournaments including the European finals in Riga, where the Baltic Times dubs him "the Eddie the Eagle of miniature golf". It's a slightly puzzling book, in that there is one sport Miller wants to excel in, but it's also fascinating for those of us who were just a bit useless at sport in school, but keen on following sport from our armchairs - there's an interesting window into the psychology of real competitors such as Steve Redgrave.
Rivers of London, by Ben Aaronovich [audiobook]. Read by Kobna Holbrook-Smith. Oxford: Isis, 2010.
Peter Grant is a trainee detective in the Metropolitan Police who tries to take a witness statement from someone who is dead; this brings him to the attention of Inspector Nightingale, the last wizard in England. Becoming a DC and trainee wizard simultaneously means that Peter's world becomes somewhat more complicated. There is something very horrible going on in London, and Grant and Nightingale need to follow this to the end, or die in the attempt. Thanks to Jackie for the recommendation for this - told with considerable wit and inventiveness and a huge amount of humour. I also loved the reader, who can do everything from Nigerian grandmothers to upper-class twit with facility...
Locked in, by Kerry Wilkinson. Kindle edition.
This was an interesting story - middle-aged people are being found strangled in their own, locked, homes, with no sign of who may have been able to get in and kill them. There's no obvious collection, and new DS Jessica Daniel is also being hounded by a news reporter who seems to be acquiring information before the police. The plot is really tight - the main problem seems to be Daniel herself who is just incredibly grumpy for seemingly very little reason, and also prone to jump in without thinking. It's a little difficult to admire a novel entirely when you think the main character is a little bit of a pillock.
Suicide run: three Harry Bosch stories, by Michael Connolly. Kindle edition.
Effectively a publicity trailer for the new Harry Bosch book The drop (on order from the library), these three short stories are excellent and from different periods of Bosch's history. If you have a Kindle, definitely an interesting addition to the Bosch canon, and well worth the 99p cover price.
A Kniterati book club book. A confessional novel written by a Briton called Nick to his fiancée shortly before their wedding, with an account of his time in Russia in the middle years of the last decade. It's a hallucinatory story, full of oil, booze, drugs and beautiful sisters, who may or may not actually be cousins. There's a feeling of impending doom throughout the novel, and a sense of a general moral slide... Pretty compelling stuff, and really draws you in.
Tilting at windmills: how I learned to stop worrying and enjoy sport, by Andy Miller. London: Viking, 2002.
(Not the same A Miller as the first book, as far as I know!) Andy Miller hates sport. All of it. Well, very nearly all of it - he has a love of minigolf, known to most of us as crazy golf. Using minigolf as a starting point, he explores the reasons people enjoy sport, from supporting QPR to the Boat Race, tennis at Wimbledon and the British Open golf. He talks to PE teachers, leading members of the sporting authorities and proponents of sport-as-entertainment such as publicists from the World Wrestling Federation. Meanwhile, he plays in minigolf tournaments including the European finals in Riga, where the Baltic Times dubs him "the Eddie the Eagle of miniature golf". It's a slightly puzzling book, in that there is one sport Miller wants to excel in, but it's also fascinating for those of us who were just a bit useless at sport in school, but keen on following sport from our armchairs - there's an interesting window into the psychology of real competitors such as Steve Redgrave.
Rivers of London, by Ben Aaronovich [audiobook]. Read by Kobna Holbrook-Smith. Oxford: Isis, 2010.
Peter Grant is a trainee detective in the Metropolitan Police who tries to take a witness statement from someone who is dead; this brings him to the attention of Inspector Nightingale, the last wizard in England. Becoming a DC and trainee wizard simultaneously means that Peter's world becomes somewhat more complicated. There is something very horrible going on in London, and Grant and Nightingale need to follow this to the end, or die in the attempt. Thanks to Jackie for the recommendation for this - told with considerable wit and inventiveness and a huge amount of humour. I also loved the reader, who can do everything from Nigerian grandmothers to upper-class twit with facility...
Locked in, by Kerry Wilkinson. Kindle edition.
This was an interesting story - middle-aged people are being found strangled in their own, locked, homes, with no sign of who may have been able to get in and kill them. There's no obvious collection, and new DS Jessica Daniel is also being hounded by a news reporter who seems to be acquiring information before the police. The plot is really tight - the main problem seems to be Daniel herself who is just incredibly grumpy for seemingly very little reason, and also prone to jump in without thinking. It's a little difficult to admire a novel entirely when you think the main character is a little bit of a pillock.
Suicide run: three Harry Bosch stories, by Michael Connolly. Kindle edition.
Effectively a publicity trailer for the new Harry Bosch book The drop (on order from the library), these three short stories are excellent and from different periods of Bosch's history. If you have a Kindle, definitely an interesting addition to the Bosch canon, and well worth the 99p cover price.
Thursday, December 29, 2011
When geekeries collide
I should probably be saying something about Christmas and how lovely it was. It was.
But this has it all. Neil Gaiman, "Firefly" and academic freedom. 7 minutes of glorious liberal self-righteousness. (With added Nathan Fillion and plastic dinosaurs.)
But this has it all. Neil Gaiman, "Firefly" and academic freedom. 7 minutes of glorious liberal self-righteousness. (With added Nathan Fillion and plastic dinosaurs.)
Sunday, December 18, 2011
Unilateral declaration of Christmas
I'm still not feeling particularly Christmassy - but it's the last chance I have to put up decorations even though the house isn't tidy and the presents aren't wrapped!
This year, the tree has graduated to the dining table - it's not that the Bug was destructive, but she was inclined just to lean on things persistently enough to push them off the table, and some of these ornaments are fragile, and all have a story attached to them... As this is a Flickr link, Blogger having changed (yet again) the way it posts photos) you ought to be able to click to embiggen...
Anyway, Tiny Clanger's in her heaven, and I'm off to a friend's house for dinner tonight... Merry Christmas, all!
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
2011 books, #116-120
A full dark house, by Christopher Fowler [audiobook]. Read by Tim Goodman. Rearsby, Leics.: Clipper, 2003.
I enjoyed this immensely while it was happening, but found the plot pretty confusing and the motive unclear. This may well have been due to no fault of the author though - three of the CDs, including the last one, were really badly damaged. The final disc looked as if it had been deliberately scratched... This has a dual setting in the early 2000s and in 1940, when Arthur Bryant and his partner in detection John May first meet at the fledgeling Peculiar Crimes Unit. It has a great deal of humour and period detail; I'll definitely read another, preferring to believe that it's the jumps in the recording rather than the author's skill which was at fault with this one!
The best American mystery stories 2010, edited by Lee Child. Kindle edition.
Well; if these were the best American mystery stories of last year, it wasn't a great year. There are a couple of gems - Doug Allyn's An early Christmas, Kurt Vonnegut's Ed Luby's key club and Philip Margolin's The house on Pine Terrace are excellent, but the rest were a combination of the confusing, the somewhat unpleasant, the overly gory and the just plain badly written.
Fell purpose, by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles [audiobook]. Read by Terry Wale. Whitley Bay, Tyne and Wear: Soundings, 2009.
A young girl's body is found on parkland near Wormwood Scrubs prison. Fleetingly, Slider's team believe she may have been a prostitute, but it soon turns out that Zellah Wilding was a nice girl from a strict Christian family. Trying to discover what was happening is steadily more confusing for Slider, as the more he finds out about Zellah, the less he knows. Excellent vintage Bill Slider, with all the humour and humanity you'd expect.
Open season, by C J Box. Kindle edition.
The first of the Joe Pickett novels - not available on Kindle when I started reading the series. Joe's daughter tells a tale about a monster who came into their garden the night before - when Joe goes out to reassure her, he finds the bloody body of an outfitter (professional hunter who acts as a guide to amateurs), clutching the handle of an empty cool-box with animal scratch-marks on the inside. As Joe tries to investigate the murder, all the authorities seem to be against him; he is suspended from his job, and his life and that of his family is threatened. Box always takes the theme of a good man pushed one step too far; but it's always far more interesting than that.
Betrayal, by Karin Alvtegen [audiobook]. Read by Sophie Ward. [S.l.]: BBC Audio, 2008.
When Eva discovers her husband is having an affair, she plans her revenge. Before she's able to put her plans into action, she has a one-night stand with a young man who has been keeping vigil beside his much older girlfriend, who has been in a coma for two years. There's the betrayal of the title in the story, but there's also desperation, and a growing sense of impending disaster. It's very much in the tradition of the Barbara Vine stories - damaged people coming to a seemingly inevitable collision in the dark. Not the most cheerful of reading...
Saturday, November 26, 2011
N is for... New ventures
Not mine; but I'm enjoying the reality, and the prospect, of other people's!
Made my first visit to The Sheep Shop this morning - it opened on Wednesday. And, as ever, I have what a-blogger-whose-name-I-can't-remember dubbed "camnesia" - so no photos. Picture a traditional Victorian corner shop, with windows on both sides of the corner - but painted white and full of yarn and notions, and fleece and pattern books. Lovely choice of yarns, nicely labelled; and masses of natural light to examine it in. While the shop is still a WIP (I have a lovely handwritten receipt because the till, although present, still needs programming), it has some excellent yarns, a sofa, a table, a coffee machine and a friendly proprietor (thanks for welcoming me, Sarah!). There was the soft hum of a KnitPicks podcast in the background which was just perfect - not silence, not music, knitting-relevant.
For the public transport user, the location does mean it's a little bit of a trip from the city centre (although it's only 10 minutes on a 10-minutely bus route followed by a short walk) - but if you're in a car and planning to go to the big DIY/business park just opposite, or the Tesco just down the road, it's extremely convenient. And worth the trip as a completely different alternative to anything else available in Cambridge - this is a true, modern, LYS run by someone who's net-savvy, and we really haven't had that here until now.
I'd love to reveal what I bought - but it's all destined for gift yarn for people who read this, or gifts for people who might read this! I also got some wooden 4mm KnitPro tips and some small locking stitch-markers for myself.
When I left, clutching my nice paper carrier bag, my stomach reminded me that I was 5 minutes up the road from The Wrestlers - it's been best part of a decade (and possibly more) since a red chicken curry and a pint was part of the routine on a cold Saturday lunchtime. When my ex and I were doing lots of DIY, it was part of the outing; and in fact I've been going there for more than 20 years. I love the food there; and for the amount of time I'd been away, the prices hadn't gone up as much as I'd have expected. It was lovely sitting there - with the Kindle rather than the Saturday paper; time moves on - and noting that the clientele is still half-Thai, half-geek. (I imagine there's an overlap, but it's not very obvious...) Anyone visiting the Sheep Shop, take note...
The second new venture is CJ's, a café opening on the Green , next to the SPAR which is opposite my house. It's the first caff to open in the village as far as I know (well, certainly in the 18 years I've been living here!), and they're doing breakfast and sandwiches and toasties and so on. I hope it does really well, although its opening hours mean it doesn't coincide well with when I'm around. The prospect of wandering over the road for a toastie on a lazy Saturday morning is very enticing, though... And I'm tickled pink by the idea of a local caff being named after a West Wing character. All power to Cheryl and Elaine who are distributing flyers and cards all over the village. They're offering Free Stuff on Saturday 10th December, prior to their opening on Monday 12th.
I'm slightly in awe of people trying to start up small businesses in the current climate. If you're in the general area of either of these and have the slightest interest in their stock, please pop in and spend money.
Made my first visit to The Sheep Shop this morning - it opened on Wednesday. And, as ever, I have what a-blogger-whose-name-I-can't-remember dubbed "camnesia" - so no photos. Picture a traditional Victorian corner shop, with windows on both sides of the corner - but painted white and full of yarn and notions, and fleece and pattern books. Lovely choice of yarns, nicely labelled; and masses of natural light to examine it in. While the shop is still a WIP (I have a lovely handwritten receipt because the till, although present, still needs programming), it has some excellent yarns, a sofa, a table, a coffee machine and a friendly proprietor (thanks for welcoming me, Sarah!). There was the soft hum of a KnitPicks podcast in the background which was just perfect - not silence, not music, knitting-relevant.
For the public transport user, the location does mean it's a little bit of a trip from the city centre (although it's only 10 minutes on a 10-minutely bus route followed by a short walk) - but if you're in a car and planning to go to the big DIY/business park just opposite, or the Tesco just down the road, it's extremely convenient. And worth the trip as a completely different alternative to anything else available in Cambridge - this is a true, modern, LYS run by someone who's net-savvy, and we really haven't had that here until now.
I'd love to reveal what I bought - but it's all destined for gift yarn for people who read this, or gifts for people who might read this! I also got some wooden 4mm KnitPro tips and some small locking stitch-markers for myself.
When I left, clutching my nice paper carrier bag, my stomach reminded me that I was 5 minutes up the road from The Wrestlers - it's been best part of a decade (and possibly more) since a red chicken curry and a pint was part of the routine on a cold Saturday lunchtime. When my ex and I were doing lots of DIY, it was part of the outing; and in fact I've been going there for more than 20 years. I love the food there; and for the amount of time I'd been away, the prices hadn't gone up as much as I'd have expected. It was lovely sitting there - with the Kindle rather than the Saturday paper; time moves on - and noting that the clientele is still half-Thai, half-geek. (I imagine there's an overlap, but it's not very obvious...) Anyone visiting the Sheep Shop, take note...
The second new venture is CJ's, a café opening on the Green , next to the SPAR which is opposite my house. It's the first caff to open in the village as far as I know (well, certainly in the 18 years I've been living here!), and they're doing breakfast and sandwiches and toasties and so on. I hope it does really well, although its opening hours mean it doesn't coincide well with when I'm around. The prospect of wandering over the road for a toastie on a lazy Saturday morning is very enticing, though... And I'm tickled pink by the idea of a local caff being named after a West Wing character. All power to Cheryl and Elaine who are distributing flyers and cards all over the village. They're offering Free Stuff on Saturday 10th December, prior to their opening on Monday 12th.
I'm slightly in awe of people trying to start up small businesses in the current climate. If you're in the general area of either of these and have the slightest interest in their stock, please pop in and spend money.
Saturday, November 19, 2011
2011 books, #111-115
Carved in bone, by Jefferson Bass. London: Quercus, 2008.
The first of the Body Farm novels; I was a bit worried that I'd spoiled myself by reading later books first, but there's much more to this than a case which comes up later. A corpse is found in a cave in a backwoods county of Tennessee, preserved in adipose state, and with a dog-tag around her neck. Bill Brockton is brought in to find out how she died and when, but after threats are made he becomes intrigued as to who the woman is and what her story might be. This does absolutely nothing to challenge some of the 'southern redneck' stereotypes, but many of Bass's characters tend not to lend themselves to typecasting.
No second chance, by Harlen Coben [audiobook]. Read by George Wilson. [S. l.]: Recorded Books, 2004.
This reminded me (in a good way) of Coben's other book Tell No-One. Marc Seidman wakes up in hospital to be told his wife is dead and his 6-month-old daughter Tara has been kidnapped. A ransom drop for the child fails after her grandfather involves the police, and it seems that Marc's sister Stacey was also involved. 18 months later, another ransom note is sent, and Marc and former girlfriend and FBI agent Rachel set out to try to find Tara. There are so many twists and turns in this book, particularly towards the end, that it's slightly dizzying; and I'm not completely sure how convinced I am of the eventual outcome, but it's definitely worth hopping on for the ride.
Dead man's grip, by Peter James. London: Macmillan, 2011.
The latest Roy Grace novel, and a good one. A student is hit by a white van while riding down the wrong side of the road to university, and falls under the wheels of an articulated lorry. Meanwhile, a solicitor on her way to work takes evasive action, ends up hitting a café wall and subsequently tests positive on a morning-after breathalyser. So far, so tragic - but the student is from a New York mafia family, and their rules are somewhat different. Meanwhile Grace is dealing both with Cleo having problems in pregnancy, and trying to have his long-lost wife Sandy declared dead. This all wraps up pretty satisfactorily in terms of the plots for this book, but the characters' ongoing personal circumstances are going to continue to make for good reading in future books.
Free-range knitter, by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee. Kansas City, Miss.: Andrews McMeel, 2008.
Christmas and birthday books always seem not to be read straight away - I think it's the 'having a new hardback and keeping it for best' syndrome... I started this book and for some reason put it back down in the pile, which is a shame, because it's vintage Yarn Harlot - witty, insightful and occasionally very moving. It's a bunch of short essays which talk about knitting's place in a knitter's life, bite-size pieces but there's always something which makes you want to stop and think.
Dead run, by P J Tracy. London: Penguin, 2005.
Four Corners is a pretty dead town in northern Wisconsin even before it is literally a dead town when a milk tanker full of poison gas overturns, killing all life; and Grace MacBride, Annie Belinski and Sharon Muller are heading straight into the area, on their way to help the Green Bay police. Another cracking plot, and the development of the relationships between the characters is part buddy-movie, part Stephanie Plum, and extremely touching and funny.
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