Hobbies and Crafts

Enjoy your free read Vera.
I read a lot in my week away almost 6 books. The last of which was on Kindle Sea of Dreams by Fiona Valpy. I know you don't like her books Vera and I admit I have found some are better thhan others. But I really loved this one, it is a love story of more than one part but beautifully written based from Edinburgh to France at war back to Edinburgh and finally France again.from 1938 to 2014. I also read and enjoyed Dilly Court The Swan Maid, JD Kirk an isolated incident (good book bad language), Claire douglas Do not disturb a bit scary, James Patterson Step on a Crack The unexpected death of America's first lady, Tim Weaver Chasing the dead a David Raker (Investigator) story A woman's son is dead and buried then she 'saw' him on the street.

I seem to have several books on the go at once. On my kindle I've been rereading The Chronicles of St Mary's books. It's a few years since I read most of them and then it was a bit piecemeal. I was surprised at how much I had forgotten and reading one after the other at the moment I'm getting more of a flow to the back stories of the various characters.

I finished The Missing Family by Tim Weaver and thoroughly enjoyed it. I've just borrowed The Last Goodbye from the Libby app and that's on my IPad. It's another in the series featuring David Raker, a missing persons investigator. I need to start that soon so I can be sure of finishing it before its due date. I know there are other people waiting for it so I won't be able to renew it.

I'm also part way through A Season for the Dead by David Hewson. This features Nic Costa, a detective with the Rome police. There are several plots that will clearly all tie up together at the end. The Vatican is involved and, of course, they are a separate state and don't come under the jurisdiction of the Italian police so there are complications there. It's a bit gruesome in places - I didn't really need to know how to skin a person - but I am enjoying it. I might have to leave this book to get the Tim Weaver one read as I know I will be able to renew this one on Libby.

I have not read either of those Tim weaver books Vera so will look out for them, I dio like his books

I like the David Raker books but have no idea how far I have got with them.

I am currently reading, and thoroughly enjoying, DeadMan’s Creek by Chris Hammer.

It is the second in a series but can be read as a stand-alone and is much better than the previous. There are slight connections to another series but you wouldn’t necessarily spot that.

Have also read the Nic Costa books.

Chris Hammer is not an author I have come across. I will keep an eye out for him on our charity book stall and in charity shops.
I have just finished The Lincoln Lawyer and really enjoyed it. Reading and Ann Cleeves book that has been on my book shelf for ages now and it is quite good so far. (The Heron's Cry set in North Devon).

I’ve finished both the David Hewson book, Season for the Dead, and Tim Weaver’s The Last Goodbye and enjoyed them both. I thought The Last Goodbye was better than The Missing Family, the earlier Tim Weaver book I read. It seemed to flow better.

I haven’t come across Chris Hammer before so will look out for him, or is Chris a her?

Not sure what I shall read next. I’ve got 3 unread DI Ridpath books by M J Lee plus a couple of other unread books on my kindle and a Peter Robinson book in hardback. That’s one of the Alan Banks series.

Following up on my last post The Herons Cry was really good I enjoyed it.

Reading a Rob Rinder book at the moment, it is ok, not as gritty as some but he I’d obviously very knowledgeable with aspects of law.

I like Ann Cleves’s Matthew Venn series too Ann. I think there are 4 books, or possibly 5, with The Heron’s Cry being no. 2. I’ve read the first 3 and enjoyed them all. While all Cleves’ books are murder mysteries, her settings and main characters of Jimmy Perez, Vera and Matthew Venn are all so different.

Vera just read Ann Cleeves Burial of ghosts but was not that impressed with that one.

Ann, I thought I had read Burial of Ghosts but couldn't remember what it was about so I had to look it up. As soon as I saw a bit about the plot the story came back to me but I'm blowed if I can remember exactly how it ended. My memory is getting very bad these days. I agree with you. I didn't think much of it either. Apparently it was one of her earlier books and it was republished when she became famous.

Well I have only read one book since that one but I am blowed if I can remember anything about it without looking it up.

The Peter Robinson book I mentioned was Standing in the Shadows, one of the Alan Banks series. When I started reading it I realised I had read it before but I couldn't remember much of the detail so I read it again. A skeleton is dug up on an architectural dig but has clearly only been there a few years. The book is about finding out who he is, how he died and how the different characters are involved. It's very good if you like police procedural/detection type books.

I've also recently read Where the Silence Calls by M J Lee, number 3 in the D I Ridpath series. Ridpath is a policeman attached to the Coroners Office. He is a bit of a maverick and in this book investigates a number of deaths by the same gruesome method. I have read some of the later books in the series as the stories are stand-alone, though of course there are references to his back history.

The final one I have just read is Hard Time by Jodi Taylor which is no 2 in her Time Police series. Again I have read some later books in this series. These are a bit of a spin off from her Chronicles of St Mary's books and are pure fantasy so wouldn't suit everyone's taste but I love them.

Now I have to decide whether to start another D I Ridpath book - I have 2 unread on my kindle - or whether to go for something a bit more serious. When we were at Felbrigg Hall last week I bought a biography of Catherine of Braganza, wife of Charles II. If they are well written I like these accounts of the women in history and I don't know much at all about Catherine so perhaps I'll have a go at that next.

I have recently read standing in the shadow, it was quite good but for me a bit too much on the procedures

I like the Ridpsth books. They are a bit different with him being pulled between the coroners office and the police.

I’m saving the latest one on my zipsd for my holiday in a couple of weeks.

I’m currently waiting for OH to finish a library book - The Wake. By Yrsa Sigurdaardotti. She’s Icelandic and has written a number of books.

I’ve finished the Icelandic book, always a difficult read - it doesn’t have a flow, but always intriguing and I want to get to the outcome.

I’ve now started the latest Dr Rhonda McLeod book ( by Lin Anderson). Always a good read. The first few chapters are in Orkney and I can picture the places she goes to as I have visited there. No idea of anything when she gets back to Glasgow.

I Have not read any icelandic books, nor have I been to Iceland glad you finished it and enjoyed it.

This morning at our exchange monthly book stall I managed to pick up (she always encourages uus to take 6 books for the month) Two tim Weaver and Two Lee child's books plus one Ann Cleeves and one Val McDermid so some good reads to look forward to.

I haven't read any books by Icelandic authors either.I somehow imagine they might be a difficult read but I've no evidence for that.

You've got a good selection of books there Ann and they should keep you going till the next monthly book exchange.

I read the book on Catherine of Braganza that I had picked up in a National Trust Bookshop. It was called Wife to Charles II and was by Hilda Lewis. I had thought it was a straightforward biography, then I saw it described as an historical novel so thought it might be on the lines of Philippa Gregory's books but it didn't seem to fall into that category either. It seemed to be a factual portrayal of her life, and particularly her marriage to Charles II and the politics of the time, but conversations and meetings between various characters must have been imagined However I enjoyed it as I knew so little about her.

My next read was MJ Lee's When The Night Ends, book 8 in the DI Ridpath series. After a death in custody which has been investigated by the relevant police authorities Ridpath is asked by the Coroner to carry out his own investigation and try to get to the truth of how this man really came to die in a police cell. There is the usual tension between being a serving police officer with the Manchester force and being the Coroner's Officer who is investigating the actions of his own police force. I do like the Ridpath books and this one didn't disappoint.

My next book was a complete change. It was Odd Boy Out by Gyles Brandreth and is an autobiography, mostly of his earlier years, though later events get mentioned. I just picked it up from a book shelf in the local community centre. I do quite like Gyles Brandreth and there is no doubt he is a clever man and achieved a lot. However, he is a bit of a name dropper and every famous person he mentions is introduced with the words "my friend so and so", which I found a bit irritating.

I am currently reading a library book on my iPad, The Medici Murders by David Hewson but I am finding it hard to get into for some reason. I've had it a week and only read 35 pages. Arnold Clover is a widowed, retired archivist living in Venice who has been called upon to help solve the murder of someone he knew at college years ago. The deceased is about to reveal something new about the Medici family and is murdered at the same spot as one of the Medici men in the 16th Century. I am sure it will be a good book if I can just manage to get going with it.

In tandem with this I am re-reading Claire Tomalin's biography of Samuel Pepys. This is from my own bookshelf but I first read it several years ago.

That is quite a tally of books and authors Vera, none of which I have read. I will look out for the Ridpath books as they might appear on the book stall.
I do like Giles Brandreth, he, as you say, is a name dropper. I wonder why such an intelligent man feels that is necessary for his importance..

I rarely have two books on the go but I guess you choose both very different from the other.

I hope Tabitha and her OH are ok. We have not heard from her for a while

Ann, I am often reading a library book on my iPad but, if I am not sleeping and decide to read in the middle of the night, I prefer either my kindle or a physical book. I can stay laying down on my side and read with those. I can't lay down with the iPad as the print keeps moving around and during the night it's sometimes too cold to sit up in bed. So I sometimes have 2 books on the go, one to read sitting up and one to read laying down.