(large plot shape spoiler) Every review is in some ways a story of encountering a book. In some cases, as with Dana Stabenow’s Disappearance of a Scribe, it’s actually quite a long one. A friend mentioned this book a few months ago as they were reviewing it. Me, a sucker for ancient murder mysteries, came […]
(Mild Spoilers) Wanted: One Private Eye to traipse around parts of the Roman Empire, solving local problems while taking on the Emperor’s worst missions. Duties involve pointing out interesting historical and local details for readers, acting tough while being a soft touch, general wittiness, and having a ‘lively’ romance with the glamourous and competent leading […]
(mild spoilers) Put yourself in the shoes of Marcus Didius Falco. You’ve just been bailed out of prison, stuck there by a jealous palace spy. You need to make a whopping big pile of money in order to marry your amazing patrician girlfriend, but your best hope of doing so relies on working for the […]
(mild spoilers) There is a problem when it comes to reviewing Camilleri’s Inspector Montalbano books and that is they feel so full of Sicilian culture, so focused on it, that how is someone who’s never been there meant to say what is right and wrong about it? I can tell you The Shape of Water […]
I like breaking down fiction. I say that while often raging at a culture that seems more intent on appreciating fiction in its components rather than as its whole, but I do. It’s part why I review. But with Shadows in Bronze, I see no better way to celebrate Lindsey Davis’ novel than as a […]
There’s a certain way I like to have my crime novels. I like there to be a bit of a laugh. I like seeing teams at work. I like it when they make a point of showing a small world, not just the pursuit of one crime. As such, I liked RJ Dark’s A Numbers […]
(Kind of a big series spoiler but not really) It is good to come from a family of readers. Not only will you have a never ending supply of books to steal borrow, but it will give you a list of books with memories forever attached to them. The Silver Pigs, the start of a […]
(spoilers – this is a bit of a whodunnit, and this might make it easier to work out the who) I’m going to start this one with a wee ramble and one that might actually segue into something useful. See – full disclaimer time – I know Kerry through t’internet. She’s good people. I’d say […]
Let’s start this review in the right place, namely the front page, for it is difficult to think of a more eye-catching name than Horse’s Arse. That’s why I picked this book up. Horse’s Arse is an interesting book to say the least. It’s a 70s police drama, set in a particularly malcontent piece of […]
It’s always interesting to see the directions taken in novels by those who’ve not just speculated at a life, but lived it too. What, for example, do you make of a book by a former MI5 member that throws a bunch of shade at MI6? This is probably not the most important part of the […]
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