The Book Post – October

Since we last spoke, I’ve spent hours on or waiting for planes. Let me tell you, I was just a tad disappointed with the movies available on Singapore Airlines, so I read. I also read beside the pool and at stupid o’clock in the lobby so I wouldn’t disturb Sarah when my body clock refused to adjust to local time.

Anyways, without further ado, here’s what’s been on my bookshelf …

The Ghost Fields, by Elly Griffiths

The blurb:

When DCI Harry Nelson calls Ruth Galloway in to investigate a body found inside a buried fighter plane, she quickly realizes that the skeleton couldn’t possibly be the pilot. DNA tests identify the man as Fred Blackstock, a local aristocrat who had been reported dead at sea.Events are further complicated by a TV company that wants to make a film about Norfolk’s deserted air force bases, the so-called Ghost Fields, which have been partially converted into a pig farm run by one of the younger remaining Blackstocks.Then human bones are found on the farm and, as the greatest storm Norfolk has seen for decades brews in the distance, another Blackstock is attacked. Can the team outrace the rising flood to find the killer?

Another instalment in the Dr Ruth Galloway series. Enough said.

Murder In The Marais, by Cara Black

The blurb:

Aimee Leduc has always sworn she would stick to tech investigation-no criminal cases for her. Especially since her father, the late police detective, was killed in the line of duty. But when an elderly Jewish man approaches Aimee with a top-secret decoding job on behalf of a woman in his synagogue, Aimee unwittingly takes on more than she is expecting. She drops off her findings at her client’s house in the Marais, Paris’s historic Jewish quarter, and finds the woman strangled, a swastika carved on her forehead. With the help of her partner, Rene, Aimee sets out to solve this horrendous murder, but finds herself in an increasingly dangerous web of ancient secrets and buried war crimes.

The subject matter of this one (Nazi Germany, the Holocaust) is a tad darker than my usual cosy crime fare, but this accidental pickup from the library was set in Paris – which is always a good thing. If I had one teeny weeny complaint it was that some characters names were really similar which meant I had to concentrate and flip back through the pages to remind myself whether they were a good guy or a bad guy.

I’ll be keeping my eye out for more in this series.

How To Age Disgracefully, by Clare Pooley

The blurb:

Daphne knows that age is just a number. She also knows that society no longer pays her any attention – something she’s happy to exploit to help her hide a somewhat chequered past.

But finding herself alone on her 70^th birthday, with only her plants to talk to and neighbours to stalk online, she decides she needs some friends. Joining a Senior Citizen’s Social Club she’s horrified at the expectation she’ll spend her time enduring gentle crafting activities. Thankfully, the other members – including a failed actor addicted to shoplifting and a prolific yarn-bomber – agree.

After a tragic accident, the local council threaten to close the club – but they have underestimated the wrong group of pensioners…and with the help of a teenage dad and a geriatric, orphaned dog, the incongruous gang set out to prove it.

As long as their pasts don’t catch up with them first…

When I first reserved this at the library I think I was 42nd on the list – or something like that … and it was well worth the wait. Joyous, uplifting, heart-warming- all of those words on the front cover apply.

Christmas Miracles at Hedgehog Hollow, by Jessica Redland

The blurb:

It should be the most wonderful time of the year for Samantha and Josh as they prepare for the arrival of their first baby. But life at Hedgehog Hollow rarely goes to plan and the pair are faced with adversaries, old and new, and unexpected challenges to overcome.

Fizz’s job at the heart of the rescue centre is a dream come true but her personal life is more like a nightmare. With her love life a disaster and her past about to dramatically catch up with her, she needs the love and support of her Hedgehog Hollow family more than ever.

As the snow falls over Hedgehog Hollow, will Samantha and Fizz find the Christmas miracle they need to overcome their heartache and find happiness?

A lovely conclusion to this heartwarming series.

The Tea Ladies, by Amanda Hampson

The blurb:

Sydney, 1965- After a chance encounter with a stranger, tea ladies Hazel, Betty and Irene become accidental sleuths, stumbling into a world of ruthless crooks and racketeers in search of a young woman believed to be in danger.

In the meantime, Hazel’s job at Empire Fashionwear is in jeopardy. The firm has turned out the same frocks and blouses for the past twenty years and when the mini-skirt bursts onto the scene, it rocks the rag trade to its foundations. War breaks out between departments and it falls to Hazel, the quiet diplomat, to broker peace and save the firm.

When there is a murder in the building, the tea ladies draw on their wider network and put themselves in danger as they piece together clues that connect the murder to a nearby arson and a kidnapping. But if there’s one thing tea ladies can handle, it’s hot water.

This one has recently won a few Australian-based crime writing awards, and I can see why. A great read, but I didn’t enjoy it quite as much as I thought I would. That being said, I’ll still be rushing to reserve the sequel.

A Spoonful of Murder, A Pen Dipped in Poison, A Clock Stopped Dead, by J.M. Hall

Every Thursday, three retired school teachers have their ‘coffee o’clock’ sessions at the Thirsk Garden Centre café. But one fateful week, as they are catching up with a slice of cake, they bump into their ex-colleague, Topsy.

By the next Thursday, Topsy’s dead.

The last thing Liz, Thelma and Pat imagined was that they would become involved in a murder. But they know there’s more to Topsy’s death than meets the eye – and it’s down to them to prove it…

So goes the blurb in the first of this utterly delightful-wish-I’d-written-it-myself-set-in-Yorkshire series.

All three books are jointly my reads of the month.

Your turn…

Deb, Donna, Sue, and I would love you to share what you’ve been reading…the linky is below.

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