2016 books, #76-80

Splinter the silence, by Val McDermid [audiobook]. Read by Saul Reichlin. Rearsby, Leics.: Clipper, 2015.

Carol Jordan is still in exile, renovating her old barn in the Yorkshire hills. Until one night she has more than one too many, and is picked up by a traffic patrol and charged with drunk driving.  At her lowest, the only person she can think to call is Tony Hill.  But life is about to change for both of them as a result of a Home Office initiative.  Carol and Tony are back in harness, chasing a cyber-bully who seems to be driving feminists to suicide.  Another excellent book in this series.

Conclave, by Robert Harris. London: Hutchinson, 2016.

This book was completely fascinating.  I think anyone following this blog for long will know that a) I'm Catholic and b) I wasn't a fan of the last Pope; so a thriller set at a conclave which might, who knows, elect a progressive Pope was always going to be attractive.  This, in a way, reminds me of earlier John Grisham - the setup is brilliant; the characters are well-defined; there are cliffhangers all along the way; and somehow, the ending is ever so slightly disappointing.  I don't regret reading it, though.

Jeremy Hutchinson's case histories, by Thomas Grant. London: John Murray, 2016.

Recommendation from Jan - thanks!  This is the story of the cases of Jeremy Hutchinson, lawyer to the stars of iconoclasm and freedom of speech from the 1960s onwards.  The trial of George Blake, the Profumo affair, the Chatterley trial, right through to Romans in Britain and Mary Whitehouse, told in an entertaining, engaging style which puts the cases into the context of how the world was at the time. One of the books I enjoyed reading as a teenager was a history of Bernard Spilsbury's cases - this is way better. A truly excellent read.

Blacklight blue, by Peter May. Kindle edition.

The third of the Enzo novels; read it in Colmar in September.  Which was weird, because it starts in Strasbourg, which I was travelling through at the time... Enzo's daughter Kirsty is caught up in an assassination attempt, he's diagnosed with a terminal illness and his son-in-law's gym burns down, all seemingly in an attempt to stop him investigating another of the unsolved murders detailed in Roger Raffin's book.  Enzo establishes his family in a safe house, but the person looking for him is someone with many identities and who will not hesitate to kill.  This one has one heck of a twist in the tail...

The murder of Mary Russell, by Laurie R. King. London: Allison and Busby, 2016.

Mrs Hudson comes home to Sussex to find a large pool of blood on the floor, and no sign of Mary Russell.  She calls the police, and Holmes; but is aware that all the clues left point directly to her - or, in fact, to Clarissa, the woman she once was.  This is much more about Mrs Hudson than it is about Mary or Sherlock Holmes, but it's pretty fascinating for all that, and an interesting exercise in alternative back-stories...