Top Ten Tuesday: Freebie: Favourite Fictional Detectives

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together. Previous Top Ten Tuesday Topics August 3: Titles or Covers That Made… Continue reading Top Ten Tuesday: Freebie: Favourite Fictional Detectives

A Study in Scarlet and The Sign of Four, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

How often have I said to you that when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth?The Sign of Four, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle I often find - as I mentioned in my previous post - a post-Christmas lull in my reading. The cold dark days of January, which this year… Continue reading A Study in Scarlet and The Sign of Four, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

The Sentence is Death, Anthony Horowitz

Why do we read detective stories? It is a strange genre.  Every piece of advice is that tension and conflict are the driver of a narrative and, with this genre, unlike the thriller genre, the most significant conflict - the one which traditionally culminates in murder, as it does with this one - occurs significantly… Continue reading The Sentence is Death, Anthony Horowitz

30 Day Book Challenge: Day 11!

So moving on with this, the challenge has shifted to characters for today rather than novels with the challenge to find  A literary character you want to have dinner (or drinks) with. Can I not just ask for all of them? Not together. Obviously. I don't have enough chairs! It's my blog and my rules,… Continue reading 30 Day Book Challenge: Day 11!

Weekly Round Up: 2nd July 2018

Exciting news this week! New blog features have arrived! Well, been made. By me. I'm not sure they quite work right, but as I'm seeking access to ARCs and am signed up to NetGalley and other blogging lists, I learn that a Review Policy is required. It sounds terribly formal and... binding. But if these… Continue reading Weekly Round Up: 2nd July 2018

The Word Is Murder, Anthony Horowitz

Sometimes you want to like a book just so damn much that it feels like you're the failure when you end up not liking it. So it was for me with this novel. Now there is no doubt that Horowitz can plot a cracking crime story: Midsomer Murders, Foyle's War, Magpie Murders are all testimony… Continue reading The Word Is Murder, Anthony Horowitz

Magpie Murders, Anthony Horowitz

Detective fiction is a funny thing. The moment of most conflict and drama generally takes place outside the narrative, often before detective has been called in. The narrative arc is pretty formulaic: scenes are inspected, witnesses interviewed, discrepancies explored. And the conclusion is pretty predicable: the culprit is identified and society made safe from him… Continue reading Magpie Murders, Anthony Horowitz

Shadows of Self, Brandon Sanderson

Opening with a murderous rampage at a party held by a corrupt politician, once again, Sanderson plumbs the possibilities of his Mistborn universe in Scadriel extending the reach of the characters Waxillium Ladrian,  Wayne and Marasi, whom he had introduced in The Alloy Of Law. The feel of this novel is distinctly Industrial Revolutionary with… Continue reading Shadows of Self, Brandon Sanderson

Storm Front, Jim Butcher

literary lineage going back to Sherlock Holmes and Sam Spade and Philips Marlowe. Dresden is in that line of hardboiled detectives; however, Butcher is not a writer of the same calibre as Hammett, Chandler or Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

The House Of Silk, Anthony Horowitz

Anthony Horowitz, for me as an English teacher is almost synonymous with his teenage spy Alex Rider. Although probably with fewer helicopters, assassins and explosions. And more writing. The series is a very boy friendly, speedily paced series of novels which are one out go-to series for reluctant boy-readers. So it was with some surprise… Continue reading The House Of Silk, Anthony Horowitz

The Yard, Alex Grecian

What was this book about? Murder and a new detective in the Murder Squad of Scotland Yard. What was the detective like as a character? (Shrugs) I didn't think he was a very confident person in what he did but he was actually very good at it. How would you compare him to other detectives?… Continue reading The Yard, Alex Grecian