Review: A LONG SHADOW, H.L. Marsay

• 
  This edition on Kindle (Amazon.com)
  
• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B08D6JR8FC
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Tule Publishing (May 13, 2021)
• Print length ‏ : ‎ 148 pages
• Chief Inspector Shadow #1
  

Synopsis (Amazon.com)

Old sins cast long shadows…

When the bodies of a young, homeless girl and a girl who disappeared thirty years ago are found on the same day, residents in the historic city of York are aghast. It seems unlikely the two cases are related, and yet some of the same players knew both victims. As Detective Chief Inspector John Shadow and his eager new partner, Sergeant Jimmy Chang, dive into their investigation, they uncover a complicated web of pop stars, pub owners, shopkeepers and old school friends who each have something to hide.

John Shadow is a man of contradictions. A solitary figure who shuns company, but is a keen observer of all he meets. A lover of good food, but whose fridge is almost always empty. He prefers to work alone and is perpetually trying to dodge his partner, who’s full of energy, modern ideas and theories.

But as the two men gradually learn to work together to solve the case, it’s clear that the past is never as far away as you think.

My Take

A new contemporary police procedural series set in York, a new pair of detectives to get to know.  I enjoyed this first outing. The plot came together well towards the end, the characters were well drawn and the scenario believable. Detective Chief Inspector Shadow is a bit curmudgeonly, his offsider Jimmy Chang a "modern boy", technologically-savvy, and keen to make an impression. There are two pathologists who appear frequently and contrast well with each other.

I have been to York a few times and enjoyed walking around the city.

This was a relatively easy read, and really a novella in length, and I will be reading #2 in the series.

My rating: 4.4

About the author
H L Marsay has always loved reading detective stories and promised herself that some day, she would write one too. “A Long Shadow” is the first book in her Chief Inspector Shadow series. Fortunately, living in York, a city full of history and mystery, she is never short of inspiration. When she isn’t coming up with new ways to bump people off, she enjoys red wine, dark chocolate and blue cheese – not necessarily together!
On the rare occasions when it isn’t raining in North Yorkshire, she can be found tramping across the windswept moors with the five men in her life - two sons, two dogs and one husband!

From Fantastic Fiction - the series so far

Chief Inspector Shadow Mystery
   1. A Long Shadow (2021)
   2. A Viking's Shadow (2021)
   3. A Ghostly Shadow (2021)
   4. A Roman Shadow (2022)

Review: A SHORT HISTORY OF THE WORLD ACCORDING TO SHEEP, Sally Coulthard

• 
  This edition on Kindle (Amazon.com)
  
• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B08CP7LLT2
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Apollo (August 6, 2020)
• Print length ‏ : ‎ 237 pages 

Synopsis  (Amazon.com)

From the plains of ancient Mesopotamia to the vast sheep farms of modern-day Australia, sheep have been central to the human story. Since our Neolithic ancestors' first forays into sheep-rearing nearly 11,000 years ago, these remarkable animals have fed us, clothed us, changed our diet and language and financed the conquest of large swathes of the earth.

Sally Coulthard weaves this fascinating story into a vivid and colourful tapestry of engaging anecdotes and extraordinary ovine facts, whose multiple strands celebrate just how pivotal these woolly animals are to almost every aspect of human society and culture.

My Take

This was a very entertaining, and at the same time easy, read. And of course not my usual crime fiction.

Who knew there would be so many aspects of our relationship with sheep to consider: from how they were originally tamed, to the properties that make wool so useful,  how long we have been relieving sheep of their woolly coats, and then the employment that sheep have sponsored in the human race, the importance they have had economically and socially speaking, the role they have played in the history countries all over the world? 

Each chapter is entertaining with myriad anecdotes. For those who want the serious stuff of history there are scores of references to follow up. I just enjoyed the stories.

Highly recommended.

My rating: 4.6

About the author
Bestselling author and columnist Sally Coulthard has spent the last two decades writing about her favourite things – nature, history and craft. Many of her books delve into the traditions of rural life – from artisans to agriculture – the people, plants and creatures who make the countryside tick.

Sally’s work often weaves together different disciplines, pulling threads from social history, anthropology, archaeology, design and nature writing to bring her diverse subjects to life.

After studying Archaeology and Anthropology at Oxford, and a brief stint working in factual television production, Sally moved back to her beloved Yorkshire, married a gardener and set up a smallholding; it’s from there, surrounded by her family and other animals, that Sally writes from a shed in the old orchard.

Her books have covered a wide range of themes – from native bees and hedgehogs to folklore and the history of rural buildings. The countryside remains a constant source of inspiration – whether it’s barn owls or earthworms – and many of Sally’s books share her love of native wildlife and sustainable living.

Sally also writes a column for Country Living magazine, A Good Life, in which she reveals the triumphs and disasters of growing her own fruit and vegetables, and keeping an unruly gaggle of livestock including Soay sheep, runner ducks and hens.

Sally’s written over twenty-five non-fiction books. Her titles have been translated into a dozen languages and many of her more recent publications are also available as audiobooks

Review: THE RIVER MOUTH, Karen Herbert

• 
  This edition an e-book on Libby made available through my local library
  
• ISBN: 9781760990466
• Pages: 256
• Publication year: 2021
• Publisher: Fremantle Press

Synopsis (publisher) 

Fifteen-year-old Darren Davies is found facedown in the Weymouth River with a gunshot wound to his chest. The killer is never found.

Ten years later, his mother receives a visit from the local police. Sandra’s best friend has been found dead on a remote Pilbara road. And Barbara’s DNA matches the DNA found under Darren’s fingernails. 

When the investigation into her son’s murder is reopened, Sandra begins to question what she knew about her best friend. As she digs, she discovers that there are many secrets in her small town, and that her murdered son had secrets too.

My Take

The setting of this novel is a small coastal town on the West Australian coast at the mouth of the Weymouth River some days south of the Pilbara. There are two major timelines. The novel has several narrators including Darren, his friends Colin and Tim, and Darren's mother Sandra. The combination of the timelines and the various narrative voices give the story considerable complexity.

The narration starts with Sandra, and what she knows, ten years after her son was killed and few days after her best friend's body has been found in the Pilbara. Chapter 2 is narrated by Colin and begins a count down 25 days before Darren died. From there we flit backwards and forwards from the past to the present. The reader is often left to deduce which timeline we are on, and I did find that confusing at times, although we do know who the narrator is. There is a lot for the reader to unravel, but that is part of the pleasure of the book, so I am not going to explain everything here. At times the author attempts to see things through the eyes of the three boys, and at times reflects their lack of understanding of what is happening in the adult world around them.

Sandra thinks she has moved on since Darren's death, but there are questions she has never asked and answers she has never sought.

I thought there were hints that various of the characters may have indigenous background but perhaps I missed out on picking up on when that was more clearly stated.

The final resolution to who killed Darren, and why, seems to come out of left field, but there were hints among all the red herrings.

So here is another new author to watch!

My rating: 4.4

About the author
Karen Herbert spent her childhood in Geraldton on the midwest coast of Australia, attending local schools before moving to Perth to study at the University of Western Australia where she attained a Bachelor of Commerce with First Class Honours. She also holds a Master of Science in Applied Psychology. Karen has worked in aged care, disability services, higher education, Indigenous land management, social housing and the public sector, and is a graduate member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. She is a Board Member of The Intelife Group, a Board Observer at Advocare, and President of the Fellowship of Australian Writers (WA). Karen lives in Perth, Western Australia with her husband, Ross, and the occasional fledgling.

Review: MURDER AT MONK'S BARN, Cecil Waye

• 
  this edition from Amazon on Kindle
• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B08PG19931
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Dean Street Press (February 1, 2021)
  
• Originally published 1931
• Print length ‏ : ‎ 219 pages
• The 'Perrins, Private Investigators' Mysteries Book 1'
  

Synopsis  (Amazon on Kindle)

Burden, who had served in the war, and had considerable experience of death in its violent forms, took a pace forward. He saw at once that Mr. Wynter was beyond mortal aid.

Gregory Wynter is shot dead through the window of his dressing room. There is no apparent motive for the crime, and it seems impossible for the murderer to have escaped before the police arrive. The dead man's brother, Austin, enlists the help of Christopher and Vivienne Perrins, a brother-and-sister team of private investigators.

In this classic puzzler, the Perrins piece together the complex relationships within the Wynter household and beyond. What they discover leads surprisingly to romance, not to mention the unravelling of an "impossible" murder which also involves a box of poisoned chocolates . . .

Murder at Monk's Barn was originally published in 1931. This new edition features an introduction by crime fiction historian Tony Medawar.

My Take

This novel from a prolific writer who used a number of pseudonyms has a surprisingly modern feel to it. Private investigators Christopher and Vivienne Perrins are commissioned by Austin Wynter to investigate the murder of his brother, shot through the head while shaving. He is concerned that the local police have arrested the wrong man and that a miscarriage of justice will occur.

The private investigators try to focus on those who had the motive and opportunity to commit the crime and they agree that the suspect that the police have in custody is the wrong person. However the evidence seems to point towards their own client, and after a second murder occurs, he is arrested.

This is a really well constructed classic "who-dunnit" and is an enjoyable read. It is the beginning of a series of 4, all of which have been republished recently. The introduction by Tony Medawar made interesting reading.

My rating: 4.4

About The Author
Cecil Waye was a pseudonym of Cecil John Charles Street (1884-1964), who, after a distinguished career in the British army, became a prolific writer of detective novels. He produced two long series of novels; one under the name of John Rhode featuring the forensic scientist Dr. Priestley, and another under the name of Miles Burton. As Cecil Waye, Street also produced four mysteries in the early thirties: Murder at Monk’s Barn, The Figure of Eight, The End of the Chase
and The Prime Minister’s Pencil.

Review: A NARROW DOOR, Joanne Harris

• 
  this edition published by Orion Books 2021
  
• ISBN 978-1-4091-7082-2
• 436 pages
• author website
• resources from the author 
  

Synopsis (publisher)

Now I'm in charge, the gates are my gates. The rules are my rules.

It's an incendiary moment for St Oswald's school. For the first time in its history, a headmistress is in power, the gates opening to girls.

Rebecca Buckfast has spilled blood to reach this position. Barely forty, she is just starting to reap the harvest of her ambition. As the new regime takes on the old guard, the ground shifts. And with it, the remains of a body are discovered.

But Rebecca is here to make her mark. She'll bury the past so deep it will evade even her own memory, just like she has done before. After all...

You can't keep a good woman down. 

My Take

From the author:
Like the two previous books, A NARROW DOOR is written as a dialogue between two first-person narrators; a kind of chess game between Roy Straitley (the White King) and in this case, Rebecca Price/Buckfast (The Black Queen). The adversarial structure remains, but in this case, the relationship between the two opponents is more cordial – for some part of the journey, at least, their interests are aligned.

This was a challenging read. If you look at the list below, you will see that it is some time since I read the previous book in the series, and I remember finding that a challenging read because of the distance between it and the previous title. My memory is not what it was...

However the structure of A NARROW DOOR, plus its length, also makes it a challenging read. There are a number of time frames - mainly 1971 when Rebecca Price was 5 years old and her brother Connor disappeared; 1989 when Rebecca becomes a Supply teacher at King Henry's Grammar School for Boys; 2006 when Rebecca becomes the principal of St. Oswald's Academy. Narratives alternate between time frames, and sometimes it is up to the reader to decide who the narrator is.

Events are seen mainly through the eyes of Rebecca and Roy Straitley who in 2006 has been a master at St Oswald's for 30 years. But neither of them are particularly reliable narrators. When her brother disappeared she saw things with a child's eyes, and did not always understand what was happening.

Rebecca has fought hard to get to where she is: the new Headmaster of St. Oswald's. She does not intend to stay for long - just long enough to bring girls into the mix, as well as uncover what happened to her older brother over 30 years earlier. Rebecca has her own impression of what happened to him, and who was responsible, but even so she has to change her interpretation of the events more than once, and the final conclusion comes even as a surprise to her.

My rating: 4.8

I've also read

4.5, blueeyedboy
4.6, DIFFERENT CLASS

From Fantastic Fiction

Malbry
   1. Blueeyedboy (2010)
   2. Gentlemen and Players (2005)
   3. Different Class (2016)
   4. A Narrow Door (2021)

review: A QUESTION OF DEATH, Kerry Greenwood

• 
  This edition published by Allen&Unwin Australia 2007
  
• ISBN 978-1-74175-363-9
• 258 pages

Synopsis (publisher)

The Honourable Phryne Fisher--she of the Lulu bob, green eyes, Cupid's Bow lips, and diamant' garters--is the 1920s' most elegant and irrepressible sleuth. 

This sparkling collection of Phryne short stories and other Phryne miscellany--including Phryne's favourite shoes and hats, delicious cocktail recipes, and her best tips for discouraging unwanted admirers-- forms a gorgeously collectable treat for all Phryne fans. 

Lavishly illustrated with divine color illustrations by Beth Norling, A Question of Death will bring joy to the hearts of Phryne Fisher fans everywhere. 

My Take

I mainly read this for the short stories, none of which I had read elsewhere. The short glossary at the back also told me a few things that I didn't know.

Set  in 1928, this anthology was published between #16 and #17 in the Phryne Fisher series (#16 was set on Christmas Eve 1928) There are currently 22 books in the series, with #22 due to be published in May 2022. I haven't read all of them by any means (although more than I have listed below) and so I think I should look for more this year.

Kerry Greenwood has written another 35 books outside this series (see the list at Fantastic Fiction), including some historical non-fiction, and several books for young adults.

There are 13 short stories in A QUESTION OF DEATH, some better than others, but mostly entertaining.

There is an interesting prelude by the author at the front of the anthology in which she says Phryne Fisher is her favourite heroine.

My rating: 4.5

I've also read

MURDER ON A MIDSUMMER NIGHT - #17
TRICK OR TREAT
FORBIDDEN FRUIT
4.3, DEAD MAN'S CHEST -#18
4.4, COOKING THE BOOKS
4.3, TAMAM SHUD
4.8, UNNATURAL HABITS - #19
4.3, MURDER AND MENDELSSOHN - #18

Phryne Fisher series (from Fantastic Fiction)
   1. Cocaine Blues (1989)
     aka Death by Misadventure and Miss Phryne Fisher Investigates
   2. Flying Too High (1990)
   3. Murder on the Ballarat Train (1991)
   4. Death at Victoria Dock (1992)
   5. The Green Mill Murder (1993)
   6. Blood and Circuses (1994)
   7. Ruddy Gore (1995)
   8. Urn Burial (1996)
   9. Raisins and Almonds (1999)
   10. Death Before Wicket (1999)
   11. Away with the Fairies (2001)
   12. Murder in Montparnasse (2002)
   13. The Castlemaine Murders (2003)
   14. Queen of the Flowers (2004)
   15. Death By Water (2005)
   16. Murder in the Dark (2006)
   17. Murder on a Midsummer Night (2008)
   18. Dead Man's Chest (2010)
   19. Unnatural Habits (2013)
   20. Murder and Mendelssohn (2013)
   21. Death in Daylesford (2021)
   A Question of Death (2007)
   The Lady with the Gun Asks the Questions (2022)

Summary for 2021

Here is a summary of what I achieved through my reading challenges in 2021.

Covid-19 and the consequent lock downs here in South Australia made it a funny year, reading wise. I should point out that I really don't use the challenges to push myself so much as monitor what I am reading.

First of all I didn't read as many books as I had expected to. In the nick of time, yesterday I completed my 100th book for the year. I had originally set my sights on 120, and then in November, and as late as early December, I revised my aim down to 95, but read more than I had thought I would, and got to 100. To be honest that is my lowest total for some years. However, I have been keeping these totals since 1975, and since then I have read 4408 books, mostly but not exclusively crime fiction.

Of that 100 books, 56 were by British authors, 28 by Australian authors, 6 by American authors, so you can see where my reading preferences lie.

Over half the books I read were e-books, and one third of them were "new to me" authors. In some cases I went on to read #2 and #3 in a series.

I re-read 11 Agatha Christie titles, mainly Miss Marple and Poirot books. In 2022 I am going to re-read some stand-alone titles.  

Non-crime fiction, and translated titles didn't get much of a look in this year.

My local library remains my greatest source of books, either in paperback form or as e-books (Libby).

Recommendations for what to read come mainly from the reading groups that I belong to, so in a sense they are already pre-selected. I only occasionally browse book shelves either in a book shop or at the library.

I will probably use a similar system for "accounting for" what I read in the coming year, but may simplify it a bit. Below is the summary of my reading. You will find the books listed at https://paradise-mysteries.blogspot.com/p/2021-reading-challenges.html

• 2021 Good Reads Reading Challenge. I have set my challenge at 95. Currently: 100
  
• Good Reads A-Z of titles: Currently: 18
• Agatha Christie Reading Challenge Completed in 2014, titles read in 2021: 11
• USA Fiction Challenge So far 29/51, this year: 6
• 2021 Aussie Author Reading Challenge: aiming for 20: currently 28
• 2021 Australian Women Writers Challenge: aiming for 20. Currently 15
• British Books Challenge 2021 currently 56
• 2021 Ebook Reading Challenge currently 55
• New to me authors - a personal challenge currently 33
• Not crime fiction - a personal challenge currently 2
  
• Nordic reading challenge - a personal challenge, currently 1
• New Zealand reading challenge -again a personal challenge. currently 3
• Translated crime fiction - a personal challenge that will overlap with many of the other reading challenges that I have undertaken. currently 4
• Snagged through the Library currently: 56
• Audio books: currently: 2
• 2021 Historical Reading Challenge. Currently: 12