Friday June 30th, 2023
Books in June
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Grave Expectations by Alice Bell
I loved this light-hearted mystery thriller.
Though serious enough, especially in some of the less prominent descriptions of living on the breadline, it has comic overtones (I note some describe as "hilarious") populated by a delightful set of characters. True, a certain amount of suspension of disbelief is definitely required, and some of the peripheral characters may be considered slightly two dimensional but this is outweighed by the overall enjoyable nature of the story.
Personally I loved the fact that, as well as London, the book is set in Brighton - a town (or city as it is now) very dear to my heart, and a highly suitable backdrop for a misfit group of would-be sleuths. The main protagonist Claire is flawed personality but very appealing, who earns a meagre living as a medium - and is thus regarded generally as a charlatan. During a one-off engagement at a country house, she teams up with a few members of the - mainly sceptical - family, to investigate a death. And, no, it's not as simple as asking a ghost what happened, though you would think....
By the end of the book our heroes have (along with Claire's "spirit guide") firmly developed into a "gang" and I confidently hope and expect we will see more of them in future books. - The Angel's Mark, The Serpent's Mark:, The Saracen's Mark, and The Heretic's Mark
by S.W. Perry [read by Kris Dyer]
Once again - no doubt attracted by the medieval illustration on the book cover (reminiscent of the SJ Parris books) I decided to try the Jackdaw Mysteries albeit with very low expectations - I think having been so scarred by E M Powell's "Stanton and Barling" books, I am permanently suspicious of book blurbs saying things like: "would appeal to fans of the Shardlake novels".
Anyway - enough negativity. These books are brilliant. The historical detail is a delight, and the mysteries are excellent. Everything a fan of the Shardlake series would want (assuming they can't have any more by Sansom).
As an aside - I live close to Nonsuch (which features in the books) and was driven to look up its history, as well as looking at maps, old and new.. Nothing left of the palace now, of course - except the name, which is still much used: eg for the park, school, and various local social groups.
