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led567

led567

Joined January 2019

I love murder mysteries set in the Middle Ages, but I don‘t restrict myself to them! I do avoid anything with ‘harrowing‘ in the blurb.
review
led567
Mehso-so

Ok, but I found it a bit laboured. I read Anthony Horowitz‘s new Sherlock Holmes books first and don‘t think these stand up so well against them.

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led567

A vet would know better than to feed bread to ducks.

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led567
Pickpick

The amount of research that went into the last two books in this series in particular is impressive. Central relationship as usual gripping, and they‘re both so convincingly portrayed. Plot a bit far-fetched, but so be it. Supporting cast (now add Pat‘s husband) and subplots engaging too.

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led567
Pickpick

The central plot strand is one that a few detective series have at one point now (the first I remember it being in was Morse) and I don‘t like it as a plot device, but it‘s still a really good book, I still didn‘t guess whodunnit, and I still want to read the sequel when he‘s written it! The fact / fiction mix continues right into the acknowledgements section and still unsettles me quite a lot, which I guess is the intention!

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led567
Pickpick

I thought AH had the language and feeling of the original Holmes stories almost spot on, right down to the syntax; just a couple of jokey one-liners that weren‘t Watsonesque but were worth it. Slight shame the horror he was leading up to from the start was of the type I thought it might be, but I‘d still give this 5 stars. I didn‘t guess whodunnit - again!

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led567
Men of Bone | David Penny

I‘m at the stage where I don‘t care what happens anymore, I just want it to be over. 3/4 of the way in, though, and it started off fine, so with (according to my Kindle) 1 hr 47 mins to go, I‘ll finish it.

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led567
The Word Is Murder | Anthony Horowitz
Pickpick

It was very clever - I didn‘t get ‘whodunnit‘, though I did get some other elements - but I couldn‘t quite settle into the autobiographical first-person style, it was just a bit too weird! I stopped after a couple of pages then came back to it after I‘d read another book. One thing that needled me was that because AH is so successful, it felt like too much name-dropping. I couldn‘t feel much connection with the detective. I will read the sequel.

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led567
The Ashes of London | Andrew Taylor
Pickpick

I read the second in the series first and enjoyed it more than this, but would still recommend this. The author has woven his historical research into the narrative incredibly well without making it obvious, so it‘s very atmospheric. I‘m ambivalent about the character of Cat Lovett and can‘t warm to her, but perhaps we‘re not meant to!

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led567
Kingdom of Ash | Sarah J. Maas
Pickpick

I enjoyed this finale to a brilliant series. Sometimes it went on a bit and some of the themes were repetitious, perhaps because I‘ve read the ‘Court Of…‘ series (which I prefer, with some caveats). I wished Aelin would stop smirking! Quite how Dorian got hold of Damaris at one point distracted me. Oddly this wasn‘t my favourite of the series, but it was great to have everything come together. SJM‘s imagination + story arc over 7 books phenomenal.

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led567
Empire of Storms (UK) | Sarah J Maas

I really enjoy Sarah J Mass‘ works, but must have read them in too rapid succession, because first it got on my wick when Rhys ‘crooned‘ so much, and now Aelin keeps ‘drawling‘!

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led567
Ink Black Heart | Robert Galbraith
Pickpick

So good, hard to put down. I love the main characters, their story arc, & how the author gets inside her characters‘ heads! Knowing her awful experience with trolls I get why she focuses on these themes, & it‘s done brilliantly, just sometimes couldn‘t get the person of the author out of my mind which distracted from the fiction a bit. The research she must have done into gaming is phenomenal & it takes strength to recreate some of those tweets.

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led567
Reckoning | Sharon Kay Penman

Nearing the end of this brilliant trilogy and am torn between not wanting it to end and looking forward to it ending because it‘s getting really heart-rending now. Sharon Penman‘s brilliant and, for me, knows which lines not to cross in terms of graphic scenes.

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led567
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I‘m really enjoying this, calmly reflective and I‘m learning things. It‘s arranged by month, so I‘m reading it in that month (more or less). I don‘t think the Litsy description is of this book, though, so I‘m posting material from the cover.

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led567
Pickpick

I think this was better than the first in the series, perhaps because there were fewer strands (there was a people trafficking subplot in no. 1), or because the main character seems to have settled into shape. I hope the female detective who was in the first one is brought back in a later book. Currently reading the third book and enjoying it so far.

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led567
Holy Island | L. J. Ross
Panpan

Alarm bells rang at the start when DCI Ryan told a coastguard what the weather was going to do: the coastguard disagreed, but Ryan was right. So much in this book would just never happen, and while I like some escapism this was silly (one thing would definitely get him sacked). The plot, DCI‘s back story, and most scenes are like a teenager‘s first foray into creative writing, with murder mystery ‘must haves‘ being ticked off in due order.

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led567

I‘m going to finish this because I might as well and I‘m curious to know if it can get any worse, but it‘s complete tripe and I‘m really disappointed. I‘m from that part of the world and wanted a series set there to be a decent read, but this is full of nonsense.

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led567
Pickpick

Really good. This must be based on years, maybe decades, of research into the whole period and then the author‘s had to explain complicated issues as clearly as possible so we can understand the background to incidents in the book. Really impressive and gives a well-rounded portrait of Walsingham. I understand a lot more about the Elizabethan PR project now too! One to read again.

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led567
Pickpick

Tricky one to review because it‘s so ‘of it‘s time‘. I don‘t think I‘d give it to a child to read, and dispassionately viewed, the world of Dan and Una with their entire Kentish country estate to roam about in while enacting scenes from A Midsummer Night‘s Dream is hilarious. However, right now it‘s so unrealistically nostalgic that it‘s curiously comforting, so I liked it!

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led567
The Unforgotten | Laura Powell
Mehso-so

Listened to the audiobook. I can see why this is good - well-written, has a major unexpected plot development, and stays with you when you‘ve finished it. I just couldn‘t like it, I think because there was such unhappiness in it, it was too much for me.

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led567
The Sunday Philosophy Club | Alexander McCall Smith
Pickpick

I liked this better the second time round: first time he needled me with negative comment about my old university! I think all Alexander McCall Smith‘s books are a vehicle for his gentle observations on how society‘s changed (often not for the better). Isabel Dalhousie‘s world is rarified and it‘s hard not to be a bit jealous of her, so it‘s almost brave but honest of AMS to have her as a protagonist. Interesting he chooses women as protagonists.

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led567
Cover Her Face | P. D. James
Pickpick

Second time of reading but I couldn‘t remember who did it. Great plotting and atmosphere. Trouble for me is that the language /style is too recent to be ‘of its time‘ but instead sounds a bit uncomfortably dated, especially when James comes across as a snob! Can‘t quite explain it, so it‘s just me, not a criticism of the work. Still love Dalgleish, though.

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led567
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Settling in for the next 30 mins or so (about as long as I can manage before intermittently snoring husband makes me feel guilty because he can‘t sleep when my bedside light‘s on), not exactly the “‘Twas the Night Before Christmas” of my childhood!

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led567
Longbourn | Jo Baker
Pickpick

I really liked this, after the first chapter or so. At the beginning I thought ‘oh, not more bloody periods‘, because like many modern historical novels it went for the gritty reality approach (graphic laundry alert), but then it got better. Some really lovely prose, showing how adept use of grammar allows the author to express things more eloquently than most, but using fewer words. Wasn‘t so keen on part 3 when the scope and setting broadened.

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led567
Pickpick

Good. Wasn‘t sure at first because near the beginning some things jarred, e.g. a character called Alice ‘harrumphed‘ twice in the space of a page, so I thought perhaps the author‘s so popular she was getting complacent and the editor didn‘t want to challenge it. But turns out they were isolated incidents and otherwise it was really good. Some ace one-liners, great structure, plot and characters.

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led567
Jamaica Inn | Daphne Du Maurier
Pickpick

Great, real page-turner, atmospheric descriptions both of Cornwall and of time period. Though sometimes wasn‘t sure if author‘s habit of using simple colour adjectives was pithy or boring - brown cow, green fields, grey tor - one page had loads in close succession and it felt like overkill. Gothic and with a feisty heroine. I wonder if the ending was a bit sudden but intriguing to speculate how that would play out (avoiding spoiler!). Liked it.

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led567
Jamaica Inn | Daphne Du Maurier

Don‘t you hate it when you can see what‘s coming (at least, 99.8% sure) and the heroine can‘t? It‘s killing me!

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led567
Jamaica Inn | Daphne Du Maurier
This post contains spoilers
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Only a mini spoiler. Just thinking that I‘m glad that near the beginning of the book the male villain tells the female protagonist he‘s no interest in sexually assaulting her, and we believe him. I feel like it‘s come to be a common theme in thrillers / mysteries with female leads, either in the narrative or as back story, and it‘s a relief knowing it‘s not going to be a feature of this story. There‘s enough else that‘s horrible about villain #1!

2 likes1 stack add
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led567
The Book of Mirrors | E.O. Chirovici
Pickpick

Listened to the audiobook. I was pleasantly surprised by this, love how the author structured this, developed the characters, and played with the concept of the unreliable narrator(s); really well done.

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led567
Jamaica Inn | Daphne Du Maurier

Started this today with no preconceptions, despite having read Rebecca. So far there‘s a distinct whiff of Wuthering Heights about it.

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led567
Pickpick

Great novel, so atmospheric with lovingly crafted descriptions of the setting and weather (I wish I‘d noted examples as they struck me). Have to care for Dalgleish, he‘s so self-contained. Didn‘t guess killer. Only criticism is being supposed to feel sympathy for Fr John because he didn‘t abuse choirboys all that much, that doesn‘t sit well. There were occasions when the decade seemed further in the past than the setting. Otherwise, top notch.

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led567
Pickpick

Listened to the audiobook, very well read by Kris Dyer. Enjoyed this and its setting in the 17th century Commonwealth period, with a cast of characters (mostly) in an Essex village and the portrayal of how Royalists and Parliamentarians lived alongside each other after the War. Good use of first person narrator and I think it was deliberate that sometimes the reader saw things coming which the protagonist didn‘t. Made him quite endearing!

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led567
No Title | None
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I do love a good jigsaw and this one is excellent, of a wonderful painting (Clarence Gagnon, Laurentian Village - hadn‘t even heard of him before I saw this in shop but must Google him for photos of some of his other paintings). Also interesting shaped pieces. Just fighting with sky and snowy ground! #jigsaw

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led567
Sanctus | Simon Toyne
Pickpick

Rated this ‘pick‘ because it was a real page-turner so from that point of view a success. The author also has a great imagination and I didn‘t guess what the ‘sacrament‘ was. It was also total hogwash! Thinly veiled pop at Vatican. At beginning I could feel author writing. Not sure I ever warmed to chapters never more than 4 pages, sometimes less than 1. Don‘t think I‘ll read the sequel but I don‘t regret reading this, just wouldn‘t re-read it.

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led567

Boy am I glad to be rid of this!

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led567
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Going to start this (not exactly the title stored on Litsy, but close). Got it for 20p at charity book sale years ago. The font size is tiny! Already think I‘m not going to like it, but at least that would clear a space on my over-burdened bookshelves.

led567 70 pages to go... what a struggle! Looking forward to it all being over. 5y
4 likes1 comment
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led567
Pickpick

Outstanding. I am in awe of what this man has done, the breadth and depth of scholarship (which crosses academic disciplines), understanding and analysis, and the measured approach he has managed to take. Much of what was described made me disgusted with ‘humanity‘ but it‘s important to know about. Particularly impressed with how he communicates the ways in which people see and experience the world differently.

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led567
The Bedlam Stacks | Natasha Pulley
Pickpick

Listened to the audiobook. I liked this. Couldn‘t quite work out whether it was magical realism or a ‘Lost World‘ scenario (bit of both?). Weird, but good.

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led567
The Readymade Thief | Augustus Rose
Mehso-so

Listened to the audiobook. Not too keen, the conspiracy stuff was too ‘out there‘, not enough light parts to lift the dark, and too many coincidences. Doubt I‘d have persisted if reading hard copy instead of listening.

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led567
Pickpick

(...continued) for liking nature or being slightly ‘different‘ will get this, even if not the boiling down of animals‘ heads! I think parents of children with Asperger‘s might find it helpful. In many ways it‘s a brave book.

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led567
Pickpick

I listened to the audiobook, read by the author, and hearing it in his voice (and knowing who he is from TV) made a difference. I admit I used to find him annoying (smug) but now I know about his Asperger‘s and saw a documentary about him feel empathy, and listening to this book even more so. There are some lovely lyrical passages and searing honesty, without affectation. Those of us who even in a comparatively mild way were bullied for liking

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led567
The Assassin of Verona | Benet Brandreth
Pickpick

Listened to the audiobook. This was good, I think better than the first one, the Shakespearean quotes were more integrated into the text so seemed less mannered. The forest setting for much of the book, like the Forest of Arden etc, worked well, but with a hefty dose of reality for the modern reader (no fairies or Bottom, thank Heaven!) and relatable characters with real emotional dilemmas.

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led567
Mehso-so

Listened to the audiobook. Some parts really good, others a strange mixture in tone, veering between seeming aimed at a YA audience (with villains ending sentences with the protagonist‘s name, e.g. “You‘ll pay for this, Mallory Bright” - not an exact quote), and something much darker, with vividly described scenes of torture and sexual abuse which made me feel queasy. Some relationships nuanced, others not. Left me uncertain how to rate it.

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led567
Panpan

Listened to the audiobook while walking and working. I hated it! I suppose it hasn‘t dated well. The atmosphere was a bit like a miserable kitchen sink drama but with hysterical overwrought women carrying on like they were on the set of Dynasty. The ending‘s passé but that‘s its age. Also could really have done without Wexford saying “it makes me want to puke,” yuck.

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led567
Career of Evil | Robert Galbraith
Pickpick

I think I enjoyed this more than Silkworm. The device of having three suspects from the beginning is clever, and quite hard to pull off, making each one memorable enough that the reader can remember their back stories and what‘s going on! The author‘s depiction of settings is so good, she paints a picture in a few words. Of course the twists and turns of the relationships between Robin, Strike and Matthew are gripping too.

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led567
Aunts Aren't Gentlemen | P G Wodehouse

“To a man who has seen as much of life as I have, there is always something sinister in a book bound in limp purple leather.” Okay, you have to imagine that in Bertie Wooster‘s voice.

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led567
The Silkworm | Robert Galbraith
Pickpick

Overall I enjoyed this, love the two main characters and the writing style, very pacy. I wish some authors of detective novels weren‘t trying to outdo each other to come up with the sickest ways of murdering people, but Galbraith just about gets away with it because there‘s an element of parody, poking fun at the literary establishment. I understand what some reviewers mean re length, could have been remedied by ditching the character of Pippa.

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led567
Untitled | Unknown
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Pressie to self. Enjoyed Silkworm so wanted to buy next Robert Galbraith and couldn‘t resist browsing buy 1 get 1 half price stand, hence the other 2. I sometimes buy books on Amazon but feel a bit guilty so bought these from an actual book shop. Mind you, I also feel guilty for not borrowing books from local library, specially if I don‘t keep these (I‘ll probably give away the Val McDermid)... life‘s a mine field of guilt if you‘re me!

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led567
Mehso-so

Listened to the audiobook. I liked the setting and characters, but felt it kept building up to something that never happened. Maybe that was the point. I thought it had finished when what turned out to be part one ended and in a way it might as well have. Oddly for this genre and a female writer I didn‘t like the attitude to women and adultery, always seemed to be the woman to blame.

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led567
Pickpick

I binge-listened to the first three of these, great stuff. What some people now are calling ‘cosy crime‘ though I gather a lot of authors classed that way don‘t like the term. The setting‘s a character in itself; very tv friendly. Not convinced a restaurant owner would really manage to also run a detective agency, but never mind! Good cast of characters, stories flow well.

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led567
President Is Missing | James Patterson, Bill Clinton
Mehso-so

Listened to the Bolinda audiobook. My first James Patterson. I wasn‘t too enthused, the President was such a combination of Harrison Ford and Martin Sheen my eyes kept metaphorically rolling. Felt like a Clinton manifesto. Also wasn‘t keen on the multiple points of view. Fine to listen to while doing other things but don‘t know if I would have stuck with it if reading the hard copy.

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