Wandering the world

I've now read the complete saga of Marian Keyes's Walsh family as it stands at the time of writing this post. Each book tells the story of one of the five sisters in the family: Claire, Rachel, Maggie, Anna and Helen. There is a second novel featuring Rachel as the protagonist and a second Anna story. Marian Keyes is an acquired taste and may not appeal to everyone. She is a hugely successful Irish novelist and non-fiction writer although best known for her 'chick lit', a lab

I picked up The resemblance at my local library having not previously heard of author, Lauren Nossett. The premise and setting intrigued me, given my own academic background. I was interested to read this debut novel from an academic-turned-novelist with a PhD in German literature. The resemblance | Published November 2022 | Read October 2023 The novel is set on the University of Georgia Athens campus, where Detective Marlitt Kaplan, whose mother is a professor of German at t

During a 10-week work break in 2023 I had the opportunity to read more than usual. I used my time to delve into some biographical and historical accounts of WW2 and its aftermath. This period in history holds a special interest for me, largely due to my ongoing desire to understand human behaviour and how people deal with unfathomable situations. I don't usually read non-fiction as I prefer the escapism of fiction. There's enough reality in front of me, particularly with so m

The Paris Agent is the second historical fiction I have read by Australian author, Kelly Rimmer. See my post on The German wife for more by the author. I preferred the German story to the Paris one. Read on for more of my thoughts. The Paris agent | Published July 2023 | Read September 2023 The Paris agent covers a part of history that fascinates me, that being the years following the Second World War and how survivors dealt with their experiences. The book is set in 1970s

The no-show is the second novel I read by Beth O'Leary. If you love British humour and quirky people but there are serious subjects tackled in the books, Beth O'Leary is for you! Before reading The no-show, I read The road trip . See also my post on the other three books in O'Leary's current catalogue. The no show | Published April 2022 | Read September 2023 On the surface The no-show is about three women - strangers - who are dating the same man, Joseph Carter. They are al

First off, I am a huge fan of Scandinavian crime novels and Nordic noir television shows. I love the gritty, macabre and gruesome plotting and the backdrop of the harsh Scandinavian landscapes. I've read several books by Camilla Lackberg in her Fjallbacka detective series, so I was excited to see a new series from her, this time in collaboration with Henrik Fexeus. Trapped sets the scene for the series, introducing Stockholm detective, Mina Dabiri, and celebrity mentalist, V

The road trip was my first outing with English author, Beth O'Leary. I confess to diving into the book with no knowledge of the author or her other works. Judging a book by its cover, I was expecting something fun and feelgood, a story told with typical British humour. There ARE lots of funny moments, but the book tackles serious and confronting subjects. As I've come to see with all of O'Leary's books, the covers don't really match the contents. The tone of this one is quite

The bone hacker is number 22 in the Temperance Brennan series, the books that inspired the TV series, Bones. Tempe is a forensic anthropologist who works out of both Montreal and North Carolina for their respective Chief Medical Examiner bureaus. Like Jonathan Kellerman's child psychology background, Kathy Reich's expertise shines through in the novels. Dr Reichs is a forensic anthropologist for the CME bureaus featured in the books, and one of only fifty forensic anthropolo

At the time of publishing this post, there are 28 books in the Detective Inspector Wesley Peterson series, by Kate Ellis. The series began in 1998 and Ellis is still churning them out. I'll keep updating this post with reviews as I work my way through the catalogue. The series follows DI Peterson's cases in a clever interweaving of the past and present, where the modern day crime draws parallels or is somehow connected to history. Wesley's archaeologist friend, Dr Neil Watso

Claire McGowan grew up in a small village in Northern Ireland. She earned a degree in English and French from Oxford then moved to London to work in the charity sector. Her first novel was published in 2012 and she has been writing full time ever since. I'm a huge fan of McGowan's Paula Maguire series and I've read all six books, published from 2013 until the series wrapped up in 2018. Paula Maguire is a forensic psychologist, and those books combine strong characterisation,

I've read a few books by Alafair Burke, a law professor and daughter of crime writer, James Lee Burke. I find the legal stuff in the...

Never greener is the first novel by Ruth Jones, a Welsh TV actor and writer, known mostly for the hit show, Gavin and Stacey . You can read my review of Jones's other two novels published to date here. Never greener | Published April 2018 | Read March 2022 In Never greener, Kate and Callum rekindle their steamy relationship 17 years after their first connection that almost destroys both of them. In the process, they cheat on their respective partners and generally go about t

I'd never heard of author Robyn Harding when I picked up The arrangement at my local library. The premise sounded interesting! Let's see what I thought of the novel... The arrangement | Published July 2019 | Read April 2022 The arrangement explores the world of sugar babes, where women are paid companions of (usually older) wealthy men. Natalie finds herself in this world as a struggling student in New York. The premise for the novel had me intrigued. I like the way the auth

Michael Robotham is one of my favourite authors. I have read everything he has written to date, some books multiple times. I would have no hesitation in claiming that he is one of the most skilled storytellers I have ever read. His writing style draws me in, and his astute observations on humanity and society that are interwoven into his stories never fail to make me stop and think. This post started out as a review of Bombproof, one of four Robotham standalones written to da

This post reviews two novels by British author, Libby Page. Page's stories are a break from my usual psychological crime and thriller fare and a nice palate cleanser for those gritty reads. They are charming and joyous. While a rather romanticised view of the world, Page's novels do make you feel good about people. Sometimes that's just what is needed. I read The lido and The island home towards the end of the pandemic when my faith in humanity was severely tested. That migh

I love Kate Atkinson's writing, and her 2022 outing, Shrines of gaiety , is another great addition to her stable of historical novels. Kate Atkinson always writes interesting and complex characters whom she expertly weaves into plots within plots with typical dry British humour and a strong sense of the time period. Shrines of gaiety | Published September 2022 | Read August 2023 Shrines of gaiety is set in 1920s London. The action centres around ruthless matriarch and owner o

Wild abandon is the second novel by Australian author, Emily Bitto, who has a doctorate in creative writing. Her debut novel, The strays, won the 2015 Stella Prize for Australian women's writing. I tried hard to like Wild abandon as it's based on real events. Read on to see why I didn't... Wild abandon | Published September 2021 | Read August 2023 The story takes its inspiration from real life events: In 2011, a Vietnam veteran kept a (perfectly legal) menagerie of wild anima

On the surface, Sarah Turnbull's adventures in Almost French make for an entertaining read. The book recounts Sarah's experiences as Australian journalist in France with her eventual husband Frederic, a lawyer she met in Bucharest only briefly before joining him in Paris. Sarah faces plenty of challenges in her bid to orient herself in a new place and continue her career as a freelance journalist. Almost French | Published January 2003 | Read August 2023 Sarah's cultural miss

I'm not normally a reader of historical romances, but The woman at the front piqued my interest. It tells the story of a female doctor's experiences as a civilian treating the wounded on the front lines during WW1. The woman at the Front | Published September 2021 | Read August 2023 Eleanor Atherton graduates in the top percentage of her class in 1917 but her desire to practise medicine and serve in the war is squashed at every turn. The prevailing attitude is that women can

I've almost finished reading the entire Kinsey Millhone alphabet series by the late Sue Grafton. Each book is named after a letter of the alphabet and covers one of PI Kinsey's cases. Kinsey lives in the small fictional Californian town of Santa Teresa in the 1980s. She's one of my favourite book characters: independent, brave, and resourceful but also introverted and kind of dysfunctional. I find Kinsey intriguing and relatable, fleshed out by the cast of enduring eccentric