Books - July 2024
Jul. 28th, 2024 05:45 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
smallhobbit8 books this time, which includes the last week of June.
The Mistress of Bhatia House by Sujata Massey
Set in Bombay in the 1920s, this is the fourth in the Perveen Mistry series. I didn't enjoy this quite as much as the earlier books, and even by the end I wasn't sure how significant many of the events actually were, and how much was simply incidental.
Lessons in Crime edited by Martin Edwards
The next book in the British Library Crime Classics short stories, this time with a school/university theme. I enjoyed most of the stories - some more than others but most were good and I'd only read a couple before, one of which I happily reread.
Beware of the Trains by Edmund Crispin
A series of short stories all featuring Crispin's regular detective, Oxford don Gervaise Fen. All great fun and well worth reading.
The Underground Man by Ross Macdonald
Another Lew Archer novel issued by Penguin as part of their Modern Classics Crime and Espionage series, which sadly doesn't seem to be continuing. I thoroughly enjoyed the story and was caught up in the plot.
Conclave by Robert Harris
Recommended by my vicar, the story is about the conclave for the next pope and all the machinations which were going on as various senior members of the Roman Catholic clergy vied for supremacy. Highly entertaining and the ending, as with all Harris' novels was unexpected.
Watson's Choice by Gladys Mitchell
I was persuaded to read this because it wasn't supposed to be like many of Mitchell's stories, and in that there was less emphasis on Mrs Bradley than usual, which was true and that the theme was a Holmesian one. I still didn't enjoy it and felt that the Holmes' stories were plundered simply to provide the decoration for a tale of limited interest.
My Policeman by Bethan Roberts
Marion falls in love with Tom, who becomes a policeman, but at the same time Patrick is in love with him. Set in the late 1950s in Brighton, the fallout of the relationships leads to disaster. It's an interesting story, but as I felt little sympathy for any of the characters it didn't work that well for me.
The Lady Vanishes by Ethel Lina White
Originally published as 'The Wheel Turns' before becoming much better known due to the Hitchcock film, my copy was published under the newer name. I was really disappointed. I've seen the film so I knew what happened but I think the film maintained the tension much better than the book, which seemed populated with far too many irrelevant characters, and was generally unsatisfactory.
The Mistress of Bhatia House by Sujata Massey
Set in Bombay in the 1920s, this is the fourth in the Perveen Mistry series. I didn't enjoy this quite as much as the earlier books, and even by the end I wasn't sure how significant many of the events actually were, and how much was simply incidental.
Lessons in Crime edited by Martin Edwards
The next book in the British Library Crime Classics short stories, this time with a school/university theme. I enjoyed most of the stories - some more than others but most were good and I'd only read a couple before, one of which I happily reread.
Beware of the Trains by Edmund Crispin
A series of short stories all featuring Crispin's regular detective, Oxford don Gervaise Fen. All great fun and well worth reading.
The Underground Man by Ross Macdonald
Another Lew Archer novel issued by Penguin as part of their Modern Classics Crime and Espionage series, which sadly doesn't seem to be continuing. I thoroughly enjoyed the story and was caught up in the plot.
Conclave by Robert Harris
Recommended by my vicar, the story is about the conclave for the next pope and all the machinations which were going on as various senior members of the Roman Catholic clergy vied for supremacy. Highly entertaining and the ending, as with all Harris' novels was unexpected.
Watson's Choice by Gladys Mitchell
I was persuaded to read this because it wasn't supposed to be like many of Mitchell's stories, and in that there was less emphasis on Mrs Bradley than usual, which was true and that the theme was a Holmesian one. I still didn't enjoy it and felt that the Holmes' stories were plundered simply to provide the decoration for a tale of limited interest.
My Policeman by Bethan Roberts
Marion falls in love with Tom, who becomes a policeman, but at the same time Patrick is in love with him. Set in the late 1950s in Brighton, the fallout of the relationships leads to disaster. It's an interesting story, but as I felt little sympathy for any of the characters it didn't work that well for me.
The Lady Vanishes by Ethel Lina White
Originally published as 'The Wheel Turns' before becoming much better known due to the Hitchcock film, my copy was published under the newer name. I was really disappointed. I've seen the film so I knew what happened but I think the film maintained the tension much better than the book, which seemed populated with far too many irrelevant characters, and was generally unsatisfactory.
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Date: 2024-07-28 06:56 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-07-28 07:14 pm (UTC)