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smallhobbit) wrote2022-05-31 04:15 pm
smallhobbit) wrote2022-05-31 04:15 pm
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Books - May 2022
Once again I've read 7 books this month - I'm nothing if not consistent!
The Twyford Code by Janice Hallett
The second book by Janice Hallett arrived in the library only a couple of weeks after I borrowed the first one, despite having been reserved at a different time. Again it's a rather quirky way of telling the story, this time through voice recordings of the main protagonist. It's clever, but for me the cleverness obscured the rather dubious story. She's a very popular author, so I'm probably in the minority. [F8]
Malice Aforethought by Francis Iles
Iles is a pseudonym for Anthony Berkeley. I read this as a Shedunnit catch up book. It's a classic of the genre, but I wasn't taken with the protagonist. And whereas the idea is that the reader wonders if the murderer will get away with the crime, I was hoping he wouldn't. [F9]
Grey Stones by Joss Sterling
Another library book borrowed because it featured a murder in the Cotswolds. Not a cozy crime, although part of a series, this one being set in Chipping Norton. The plot itself is convoluted and clever, but there was too much irrelevant personal relationships for my taste. I won't be reading more in the series. [F10]
Hamlet, Revenge! by Michael Innes
An early Inspector John Appleby. This seemed to be the month for clever plots, but almost too clever. I was hoping this would be a good introduction to the Appleby novels, but three plausible solutions all of which rely on tiny plot details to be proved was too much for me. [C5]
A Grave Mistake by Ngaio Marsh
The next Inspector Alleyn book. I really enjoyed this one - the plot was well constructed and the characters were fun. I had my suspicions, but they wavered. All I wanted in a whodunnit. [D5]
Miss Pinkerton by Mary Roberts Rinehart
An American crime novel within the golden age. This is the current month's Shedunnit book. It's in the 'had I but known style' which I dislike and found myself telling the narrator that she should have been more careful and try thinking for a change. As with many books I pass them onto my husband when I finish them and he read it in about two days and described it as a 'holiday read'. [E5]
The Widows of Malabar Hill by Sujata Massey
I've had this book on my TBR pile for at least a year. It's set in Bombay in 1921 and is the first of the Perveen Mistry novels. I enjoyed it, both for the setting and the story. Mistry is a female solicitor working in her father's firm and as such is able to talk to female clients who would be unable to receive representation otherwise. I definitely aim to read the next in the series, the historical details and the general atmosphere really caught my imagination. [B5]
[Letters refer to which reading list each book belongs to, nothing from List A this month as there were two last month]
The Twyford Code by Janice Hallett
The second book by Janice Hallett arrived in the library only a couple of weeks after I borrowed the first one, despite having been reserved at a different time. Again it's a rather quirky way of telling the story, this time through voice recordings of the main protagonist. It's clever, but for me the cleverness obscured the rather dubious story. She's a very popular author, so I'm probably in the minority. [F8]
Malice Aforethought by Francis Iles
Iles is a pseudonym for Anthony Berkeley. I read this as a Shedunnit catch up book. It's a classic of the genre, but I wasn't taken with the protagonist. And whereas the idea is that the reader wonders if the murderer will get away with the crime, I was hoping he wouldn't. [F9]
Grey Stones by Joss Sterling
Another library book borrowed because it featured a murder in the Cotswolds. Not a cozy crime, although part of a series, this one being set in Chipping Norton. The plot itself is convoluted and clever, but there was too much irrelevant personal relationships for my taste. I won't be reading more in the series. [F10]
Hamlet, Revenge! by Michael Innes
An early Inspector John Appleby. This seemed to be the month for clever plots, but almost too clever. I was hoping this would be a good introduction to the Appleby novels, but three plausible solutions all of which rely on tiny plot details to be proved was too much for me. [C5]
A Grave Mistake by Ngaio Marsh
The next Inspector Alleyn book. I really enjoyed this one - the plot was well constructed and the characters were fun. I had my suspicions, but they wavered. All I wanted in a whodunnit. [D5]
Miss Pinkerton by Mary Roberts Rinehart
An American crime novel within the golden age. This is the current month's Shedunnit book. It's in the 'had I but known style' which I dislike and found myself telling the narrator that she should have been more careful and try thinking for a change. As with many books I pass them onto my husband when I finish them and he read it in about two days and described it as a 'holiday read'. [E5]
The Widows of Malabar Hill by Sujata Massey
I've had this book on my TBR pile for at least a year. It's set in Bombay in 1921 and is the first of the Perveen Mistry novels. I enjoyed it, both for the setting and the story. Mistry is a female solicitor working in her father's firm and as such is able to talk to female clients who would be unable to receive representation otherwise. I definitely aim to read the next in the series, the historical details and the general atmosphere really caught my imagination. [B5]
[Letters refer to which reading list each book belongs to, nothing from List A this month as there were two last month]
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