The "I am currently reading" thread

[rachelmum 11]

Liane Moriarty - Nine Perfect Strangers 

[mikeG 16]

'I Talk Too Much'.  Francis Rossi's autobiography. Excellent.

[taxman 12]

The Silence of the Girls by Pat Barker.

 

A retelling of the Trojan War from the perspective of Achilles' bed slave.

 

A gripping read so far.

[feargal 21]

Just read The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood. I've not seen any of the TV series, but thought the book was fantastic. Horribly relevant ATM too.   I'm looking forward to the sequel which Atwood says will be set 15 years after the end of the first book.

 

On to Anthony Horowitz "Magpie Murders" next. 

[metalman 21]

Some good ones I've read recently: 

 

The crime of the century by Anthony Abbot - one of his Thatcher Colt detective stories from the 1930s, with the set up in this case based on the real-life Hall-Mills murder. I really enjoy these - nice complex plots and they move at a good pace - they deserve to be better known than they are, but they're pretty hard to track down these days, could definitely do with a reprint.

 

Do evil in return by Margaret Millar. Independent-minded woman doctor gradually caught up in a web of extra-marital affairs, extortion and murder. This early Millar owes a bit to the Had-I-But-Known school of Mary Roberts Rinehart and so on, but just when you think she's made the solution too obvious, she pulls it out of a hat. Excellent.

 

The professional by Robert B. Parker. The series of Spenser private eye novels ran for a long time and settling into one of the later ones is a bit like settling into a comfy armchair, but they're all cracking reads if you like his style of telling it mainly with dialogue (which means you can actually whizz through one in a few hours).

 

Now I'm half way through Jess Castle and the Eyeballs of Death by M. B. Vincent. I want to like it, but so far the writing style is putting me off, it's as though it's aimed at people with ADHD. 

[mikeG 16]

'Who Goes Home?'  -  Roy Hattersley.

[Lex Luthor 10]

The Man With No Face - Peter May

 

[Dales 10]

I am currently reading 'Unnatural Causes' written by a forensic pathologist called Dr Richard Shepherd.  Not my usual kind of book but I am enjoying it.

[lectrolove 10]

Recently finished Wakenhyrst by Michelle Paver, a tale of murder and madness set in the Fens in Edwardian times. A great read and very, well ... Fenny would be the word I suppose.  Dank air, rotting vegetation and eels. Lots of eels.

 

Just started The Places In Between by Rory Stewart, a chronicle of his walk across Afghanistan. Good so far.

[Gormenghast 58]

Just read the opening part of Philomena. Horrendous treatment of unmarried mothers and their children. 

[ChrisIB 11]

Blind eye, Stuart Macbride
Snappy dialog and characterization but intertwined with a desensitizing level of violence, 9/10

[metalman 21]

Skinhead by Richard Allen. Recently the 1970s series Public Eye was repeated on Talking Pictures TV and before every episode was a warning that because it was made in the 1970s, it may contain outdated attitudes and language that viewers might find offensive. Anybody who was in the slightest bit offended by Public Eye certainly ought to stay well away from this then because central character Joe Hawkins has outdated attitudes and language aplenty, as he beats up opposing football fans, black people, hippies, coppers and anyone else he can find, as well as having a bit of underage sex. Despite once being found in every school satchel in the country in the early 1970s, this dreadfully written pile of toss now fetches ridiculous prices on eBay. It was, as they say, of its time. See here for a resume of the whole sordid series: https://nostalgiacentral.com/pop-culture/fads/richard-allen-books/ 

 

Blotto and Twinks and the Ex-King's Daughter by Simon Brett. Simon Brett has written some really enjoyable detective stories, such as the Fethering series, but this isn't one of them. Too daft for words even if it is played for laughs.

 

Bookworm by Lucy Mangan. Now this is more like it - an entertaining nostalgic romp through the books of her childhood. If you're a bookworm too, and especially if you're female, recommended.

 

Now just started Wolf to the Slaughter by Ruth Rendell, another early Inspector Wexford story.

Edited August 23, 2019 by metalman