A gripping historical novel of medicine & murder from bestselling author Chris Brookmyre and consultant anaesthetist Dr Marisa Haetzman, set in nineteenth-century Edinburgh
Edinburgh, 1849. Hordes of patients are dying all across the city, with doctors finding their remedies powerless. And a campaign seeks to paint Dr James Simpson, pioneer of medical chloroform, as a murderer.
#TheArtofDying @ambroseparry @cbrookmyre @blackthornbks @canongatebooks #RandomThingsTours @annecater @RandomTTours
Determined to clear Simpson’s name, his protégé Will Raven and former housemaid Sarah Fisher must plunge into Edinburgh’s deadliest streets and find out who or what is behind the deaths. Soon they discover that the cause of the deaths has evaded detection purely because it is so unthinkable.
- Contains real life characters and events, based on Marisa Haetzman’s research, including:
- Dr James Simpson, pioneer of chloroform
- An antagonist inspired by 19th-century nurse and ‘Angel of Death’ Jane Toppan
- The controversy surrounding chloroform’s introduction to obstetrics practices
- The growth of the women’s movement, which led to the formation of the
Edinburgh Seven: the first women to enrol in university in the UK
My Review
I love a book that has been thoroughly researched and The Art of Dying is certainly that. I know I would never have the patience. There will be many readers who have knowledge of Victorian medicine so it is important to get it right if you don’t want to be called out.
Dr Will Raven and Sarah Fisher are great protagonists and I love them both. At this stage I need to admit that I never read the first book – in fact I didn’t initially realise this was the second book in the series – so I didn’t know that they had history. Will is in love with Sarah but for various reasons which I will not divulge, he ran away to Europe, coming back to find that she had married Dr Archie Banks, who had no such reservations as Will. I love Archie, probably even more than Will.
But as this is a crime novel, the main plot is not their on-off romance but something far more sinister. People are dying at an enormous rate – whole families sometimes – and no-one knows what ails them. Illness appears to be sudden and death comes quickly. There appears to be no precedent for this disease. And is it just coincidence that the same nurse is the one hired to look after the victims?
As well as reading what happens in the third person, we also get glimpses into a first person narrative told from the point of view of an unknown woman. One who tells us that she is never a suspect because no-one expects a woman to be capable of such atrocities.
I absolutely loved this book. I’m not always the greatest fan of historical fiction, preferring more contemporary fodder, but this was just brilliant. My brother is into the history of medicine and I can see the fascination after reading this.
Many thanks to @annecater for inviting me to be part of #RandomThingsTours.
About the Author
Ambrose Parry is a pseudonym for a collaboration between Chris Brookmyre and Marisa Haetzman. The couple are married and live in Scotland. Chris Brookmyre is the international bestselling and multi-award-winning author of over twenty novels. Dr Marisa Haetzman is a consultant anaesthetist of twenty years’ experience, whose research for her Master’s degree in the History of Medicine uncovered the material upon which this series, which began with The Way of All Flesh, is based. The Way of All Flesh was shortlisted for the McIlvanney Prize for Scottish Crime Book of the Year and longlisted for the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award.
The Art of Dying is the second book in the series.
+ crime fiction, dark humour, Detective novel, fiction, murder, murder mystery, police drama, psycopath, review, serial killer
The Coffinmaker’s Garden by Stuart MacBride
A village on the edge…
As a massive storm batters the Scottish coast, Gordon Smith’s home is falling into the North Sea. But the crumbling headland has revealed what he’s got buried in his garden: human remains.
A house full of secrets…
With the storm still raging, it’s too dangerous to retrieve the bodies and waves are devouring the evidence. Which means no one knows how many people Smith’s already killed and how many more he’ll kill if he can’t be found and stopped.
An investigator with nothing to lose…
The media are baying for blood, the top brass are after a scapegoat, and ex-Detective Inspector Ash Henderson is done playing nice. He’s got a killer to catch, and God help anyone who gets in his way.
My Review
Here is an author who manages to find humour in the face of adversity. Well not just adversity, more like in the face of serial killers, blood, gore, torture, beatings and murder. It’s exciting, full of suspense, sometimes a bit over-the-top and unbelievable, but always enjoyable. It involves the hunt for not one but TWO serial killers – a bit like BOGOF but with more violence (except when there’s a rush in the middle-of-Lidl’s bargain aisle).
On the minus side, I was not keen on Ash’s Clint Eastwood 1970s Dirty Harry ‘Go ahead, make my day’ taking the law into your own hands style policing. It’s a bit much at times. I kept thinking you can’t DO that. It makes police corruption look acceptable.
The characters though, make this story. Ash Henderson – retired police officer (my friend Clive who left the force seven years ago says you are never an ‘ex-police officer’) – hot-headed and obviously superhuman (most of us would be dead after all the beatings) and his sidekick Dr Alice McDonald who drinks herself into a stupor most days and suffers from verbal diarrhoea. Bit like that paragraph. And breathe….
Then there’s Henry. Need I say more. Well OK. A bit like Alice, I always say more. Henry is our lovable, scruffable, fluffable wee Scotty dog. The true hero of the piece and everyone’s favourite character. Maybe not that kind of hero, but he never shirks his duty when free food is involved.
The Coffinmaker’s Garden is the third book in the Ash Henderson series, so readers of the first two will no doubt be familiar with the other police officers – Mother, one-eyed Shifty and jobsworth boss McEwan to name just three. Not having read the first two books it took a while to sort out who is who. But I did – eventually.
This is a brilliant read. And all set against the background of violent storms and the murder house disappearing into the sea. Even if you wince at times at the violence and the policing methods or lack thereof, you’ll be hooked I’m sure, like I was.
Many thanks to The Pigeonhole, the author and my fellow Pigeons for making this such an enjoyable read.
PS I quite enjoyed my 10 years working as a project manager in IT.
About the Author in his own words
“I was born in Dumbarton — no one knows why, not even my mother — and moved up to Aberdeen at the tender age of two, dragging my mother, father, and a pair of wee brothers with me. There followed a mediocre academic career, starting out in Marchburn Primary School, where my evil parents forced me to join the cub scouts (specialising in tying unnecessary knots in things and wearing shorts). Thence to Middlefield Academy for some combat recorder practice.
“Having outstayed our welcome in Heathryfold we stopped thencing and tried going hence instead. To Westhill. To a housing development built over the remains of a pig farm. Sounds a bit suspect, but that’s what the official story was when all the householders found teeth and bones coming to the surface of their neatly tended vegetable plots. Pig farm. Right… Eventually I escaped from Westhill Academy with a CSE in woodwork, a deep suspicion of authority, and itchy shins.
“Here followed an aborted attempt to study architecture at Herriot Watt in Edinburgh, which proved to be every bit as exciting and interesting as watching a badger decompose. If you’ve never tried it, I can wholly recommend giving it a go (watching mouldy badgers falling to bits, not architecture). So I gave up the life academic and went a-working offshore instead. That involved a lot of swearing as I recall. Swearing and drinking endless cups of tea. And I think I had Alpen every morning for about a year and a half. Can’t look at a bowl of the stuff now without getting the dry boak, sod how regular it keeps you. After my stint offshore I had a bash at being a graphic designer, a professional actor, failed the interview to be an undertaker, passed the interview to be a marketing company’s studio manager, a web designer, programmer, technical lead… Then last, but by all means least, finally circling the career drain by becoming a project manager for a huge IT conglomerate. Shudder.
“Anyway, while I was doing all that IT stuff, I wrote a wee book about an Aberdonian detective sergeant and his dysfunctional colleagues: Cold Granite. HarperCollins bought it, and overnight I went from a grumpy project manager caterpillar to a writing butterfly. As long as you can picture a six-foot-tall, pasty-white, bearded butterfly with no wings, that spends all its time hanging about the house in its jammies.
“I’ve been shortlisted for a bunch of things, won a couple of them (including Celebrity Mastermind), been lucky enough to have a couple of honorary doctorates conferred upon me (by the lovely Dundee and Robert Gordon universities) but my crowning achievement has to be winning the WORLD STOVIES CHAMPIONSHIP at the 2014 Huntly Hairst! How impressive is that?
“Oh, and I own a banjo now. Banjos are cool.”
+ crime fiction, Detective novel, fiction, Iceland noir, murder, murder mystery, Nordic noir, police drama, review, Scandi noir, thriller
Winterkill by by Ragnar Jónasson translated by David Warriner
Easter weekend is approaching, and snow is gently falling in Siglufjörður, the northernmost town in Iceland, as crowds of tourists arrive to visit the majestic ski slopes.
@ragnarjo #Winterkill #DarkIceland @OrendaBooks #RandomThingsTours @annecater @RandomTTours
Ari Thór Arason is now a police inspector, but he’s separated from his girlfriend, who lives in Sweden with their three-year-old son. A family reunion is planned for the holiday, but a violent blizzard is threatening and there is an unsettling chill in the air.
Three days before Easter, a nineteen-year-old local girl falls to her death from the balcony of a house on the main street. A perplexing entry in her diary suggests that this may not be an accident, and when an old man in a local nursing home writes ‘She was murdered’ again and again on the wall of his room, there is every suggestion that something more sinister lies at the heart of her death…
As the extreme weather closes in, cutting the power and access to Siglufjörður, Ari Thór must piece together the puzzle to reveal a horrible truth … one that will leave no one unscathed.
Chilling, claustrophobic and disturbing, Winterkill marks the startling conclusion to the million-copy bestselling Dark Iceland series and cements Ragnar Jónasson as one of the most exciting authors in crime fiction.
My Review
In the last few months I’ve become a real fan of Scandi Noir, or in this case Icelandic Noir, both in books and on TV in series like The Bridge and The Valhalla Murders. The latter, like Winterkill, is set in Iceland. Being an island there is something very claustrophobic about it. There is nowhere to go, it’s cold and dark for much of the year. The climate is like one of the characters – villainous, chilling and foreboding.
Of course Iceland is also a popular tourist destination, where people go to see the Northern Lights, together with the volcanoes, geysers, hot springs and lava fields. But this is not what we are seeing here. We are seeing the dark underbelly of this beautiful country. It’s hard to imagine such a small island would have any crime, but it obviously does.
Winterkill is the sixth novel in The Dark Iceland series, in which we met Ari Thór Arason, now a Police Inspector and separated from girlfriend Kristin and their young son. At no time are we given the impression that they might get back together, so we are ultimately not disappointed. In fact Ari Thór is contemplating rekindling the relationship he once had with Ugla who works at the nursing home that is embroiled in the investigation, but is there actually a connection?
Winterkill is atmospheric, full of intrigue and suspenseful. What starts as a seemingly simple investigation into a teenage suicide turns into something far more complicated. Did she jump or was she pushed. No-one knows but Ari Thór will not give up until he discovers the truth. And his search uncovers far more than he expected. An excellent read.
Many thanks to @annecater for inviting me to be part of #RandomThingsTours.
About the Author
Icelandic crime writer Ragnar Jónasson was born in Reykjavík, and currently works as a lawyer, while teaching copyright law at the Reykjavík University Law School. In the past, he’s worked in TV and radio, including as a news reporter for the Icelandic National Broadcasting Service. Before embarking on a writing career, Ragnar translated fourteen Agatha Christie novels into Icelandic, and has had several short stories published in German, English and Icelandic literary magazines. Ragnar set up the first overseas chapter of the CWA (Crime Writers’ Association) in Reykjavík, and is co-founder of the International crime-writing festival Iceland Noir. Ragnar’s debut thriller, Snowblind became an almost instant bestseller when it was published in June 2015 with Nightblind (winner of the Dead Good Reads Most Captivating Crime in Translation Award) and then Blackout, Rupture and Whiteout following soon after. To date, Ragnar Jónasson has written five novels in the Dark Iceland series, which has been optioned for TV by On the Corner. Winterkill is the sixth in the series. Ragnar lives in Reykjavík with his wife and two daughters.
Lisa is telling her daughter Katie what she can see outside. She is explaining about the people sitting on deckchairs outside their own houses. Just a couple outside each house. It’s sunny and the people are looking at the sun.
Lisa tells her about the rainbows. A4 paper stuck on the insides of windows. Katie wants to know about the colours.
Alex and Jamie meet in the street. Jamie asks Alex about his run. They talk about Katie having a scan. It’s the first time we realise that Katie is ill.
The story develops as more people come together. People who rarely spoke to each before. There is birdsong. Alex and Jamie are talking about the caterpillars in pots on the windowsill and how they are hoping for butterflies.
After everything that happened in 2020, this play shows us how we can find community in adversity. Very current and poignant. A beautiful play.
Hoping for Butterflies was written and directed by @lid_ear_kenny, who also composed and performed all the music AND edited it together.
Written by Lydia Kenny @lid_ear_kenny
With Maisie Carter @mc_combat
Danielle Lade @ladeington
Ashley Shiers
Kieran Mortell
Emmeline Braefield @ebraefield
Robert Penny @robertpenny1
About Cat on a Piano
Cat on a Piano Productions produce and edit feature films, sketches and radio plays.
Their latest project is called @Theatrephonic, a podcast of standalone radio plays and short stories performed by professional actors. You can catch Theatrephonic on Spotify and other platforms.
And if you really enjoyed Hoping for Butterflies, listen to Theatrephonic’s other plays and short stories and consider becoming a patron by clicking here…
+ abuse, child abuse, childhood, family, fiction, humour fiction, List, literature, love, review, sisters, sixties, supernatural
My 3 favourite books of 2020
It was far easier to choose my over all Top 3 than it was to choose my favourite eight from each half of the year. Why? Because once you open the floodgates it’s impossible to stop. So here goes. They are all totally different from each other, but they each hold a special place in my heart.
Image thanks to Leafy Bean Co
The Miseducation of Evie Epworth by Matson Taylor
Probably one of the reasons I loved this book so much was because it is set in my era. I was only 10 at the time, much younger than Evie, and still at Primary School, but I remember everything she talks about, from Adam Faith (I loved him – his was the first record I ever bought) to Atora Suet (still don’t know what that is but I can still see the packaging) and our Dansette record player, though ours was red.
But one of the stand-out things for me about the book is how Matson has managed to capture perfectly the ‘playful’ (his word) voice of a 16 year old girl in the sixties. Hard enough for someone like me who was there. So grab a copy and a cuppa and enjoy. With a slice of cake or a fat rascal from Betty’s of course.
For my full review click here…
Mirrorland by Carole Johnstone
Every once in a while you know you have read something special, something original, something so overwhelmingly beautiful and sad that you feel like your heart is breaking. Mirrorland is that something. Dark and unsettling, the more you read, the more you cannot imagine what the next chapter holds. It’s like holding your breath underwater, afraid to surface, yet more afraid to remain.
Catriona and Ellice lived out their childhood in a world of their own invention. A world called Mirrorland. Populated with pirates, clowns, adventurers, Belle, Mouse and The Witch, the only other child allowed into their world was Ross. That is, until the girls are found wandering, bloody and wretched at the dock, waiting for a pirate ship to take them away.
To say this book is fantastic would not do it justice. It’s just brilliant and amazing and every other adjective I can think of.
For my full review click here…
When the Music Stops by Joe Heap
When the Music Stops is so unique, so different, that it left me reeling. The story takes us through the ‘seven stages of woman’ (inspired by Shakespeare’s seven stages of man in As You Like It *) – from Ella’s life as a child in Glasgow and her first experience of losing someone close to her when she was still a child, to now, when she is old. She is on a boat. It is starting to sink and is gradually filling with water. Ella is 87 and alone apart from a baby which she discovers in a room which has been turned into a nursery. The baby is very young and needs looking after.
Towards the end I was totally overwhelmed and had to take a break or I would have started crying and not been able to stop. Writing this review made me cry. It is rare for a story to have such a profound effect on me and make me feel so happy and sad at the same time. This is one book I will definitely read again (and I almost never do that).
For my full review click here…
+ abuse, childhood, coming-of-age, crime fiction, dark humour, family, fiction, friendship, Historical fiction, humour fiction, Iceland noir, List, literature, murder, murder mystery, mystery, Psychological fiction, relationships, review, Scottish Highlands, short stories, sisters, sixties, split personality, supernatural, superstition, thriller
2020 – A Year in Books
Here is a round-up of my favourite books of 2020. Being furloughed during the first lock-down, I got used to reading far more books than in previous years and it also saw the beginning of my new ‘career’ taking part in blog tours. The following are not just from those blog tours, but also NetGalley and Pigeonhole reads. I hope 2021 has as many good books to offer (Mirrorland is not published till 2021) though hopefully not another lock-down (as I write this I am afraid we may be headed for another one tomorrow).
On Friday (New Year’s Eve) I’ll publish my Top 3 for the year.
Image thanks to Leafy Bean Co
Dreamland by Nancy Bilyeau
I just loved this book. It’s 1911 and Peggy Battenberg works in the Moonrise Bookstore in New York. But Peggy is no ordinary shop girl. She’s an heiress belonging to one of the countries richest Jewish families. Then one day, while making martinis for an eminent – if rather salacious author – and his agent, Peggy is dragged away by her Uncle David to spend the summer in New York’s illustrious and hedonistic Coney Island with her extended family.
For my full review click here…
The Illustrated Child by Polly Crosby
This book is so beautiful and sad, words cannot give it justice. Yes it’s slow at times – especially in the middle – and I guessed at some of the tragedies that do not come to light until the end, but don’t let that put you off. It’s not yet another book full of twists and turns and a shocking reveal. This is a gentle read about Romilly’s coming of age and one that will have you in tears at the end.
For my full review click here…
The Miseducation of Evie Epworth by Matson Taylor
Probably one of the reasons I loved this book so much was because it is set in my era. I was only 10 at the time, much younger than Evie, and still at Primary School, but I remember everything she talks about, from Adam Faith (I loved him – his was the first record I ever bought) to Atora Suet (still don’t know what that is but I can still see the packaging) and our Dansette record player, though ours was red.
For my full review click here…
I Am Dust by Louise Beech
Magical realism is my favourite genre, but I Am Dust is all out supernatural featuring dead crows, bad dreams, Ouija boards, strange voices and ghostly happenings. And I lapped it up. Every scene and every word. Brilliantly written, it revolves around three teenagers in 2005 who mess around with dark things they don’t understand. I can’t praise this book enough. It’s spooky and entertaining and I love the seance scenes…
For my full review click here…
The Secrets of Strangers by Charity Norman
This is such a hard book to review. It made me cry – buckets at times. It made me mad – how could ‘that’ have been allowed to happen? It made me sad many times for the wonderful, beautiful, real characters that Charity Norman has created. I loved every minute of this book.
For my full review click here…
Daughters of Cornwall by Fern Britton
I literally read this in two sessions. I wasn’t sure what to expect, this being my first Fern Britton novel, thinking it was probably a romance set in Cornwall or a bit like The Shell Seekers (though I loved that book in my thirties). How wrong I was! This is a tale of three generations of incredible women.
For my full review click here…
The Split by Sharon Bolton
This was a roller-coaster of a ride from South Georgia (where even is that?) to Cambridge and back again. At times the pace of the story leaves you breathless and winded and you have to remind yourself to breathe. By the end I needed three Yoga sessions to bring my heart rate down.
For my full review click here…
Precious You by Helen Monks Takhar
You can read this book in two different ways. You can simply regard it as another psychological thriller featuring two main female protagonists or a protagonist and an antagonist, depending on whose shoes you are standing in, but if that is all you may be disappointed. Or you can see it as something much deeper. A power struggle between two women who should have been helping and supporting each other in the male-dominated world of publishing.
Her Last Words by Kim Kelly
There is something very personal about Her Last Words. It feels as though the author has lived it and suffered it in some shape or form. Penny Katchinski, for instance is a Catholic Jew (as am I), and I don’t believe it’s incidental. I can’t imagine your hero would have that background unless you had a reason. I may be wrong of course, but it resonated with me in such a personal way.
For my full review click here…
The Cry of the Lake by Charlie Tyler
This book is absolutely stunning. I can’t praise it enough. I read about 70% of the book in one sitting. The story is intricately woven and at first I couldn’t quite work out what was going on, but then it just got better and better. The plot involves teenager Lily (who can’t speak or won’t speak) and her older sister Grace. Grace is out for revenge and we know the girls have taken on new identities, but what have they fled from and why.
For my full review click here…
Miss Benson’s Beetle by Rachel Joyce
Margery Benson and Enid Pretty are two most unlikely travelling companions. They have nothing in common. In fact Margery really doesn’t want Enid – she doesn’t even like her – but it’s all she has left after the other applicants for the job of entomologist’s assistant were a disaster. So now she is stuck with her.
Unlike my usual feast of psychological thrillers and police procedurals, this book will make you laugh and cry in equal measures, though towards the end you will probably cry and cry like I did.
For my full review click here…
Mirrorland by Carole Johnstone
Every once in a while you know you have read something special, something original, something so overwhelmingly beautiful and sad that you feel like your heart is breaking. Mirrorland is that something. Dark and unsettling, the more you read, the more you cannot imagine what the next chapter holds. It’s like holding your breath underwater, afraid to surface, yet more afraid to remain.
For my full review click here…
The Thriller Collection by Alan Gorevan
This is just so good. I only meant to start the first story and ended up reading the first two back to back until well gone midnight. If I hadn’t had to get up early I’d have read the third one straight after.
I loved all three stories – probably a toss up between the first and the last as to which is my favourite. One event in the middle one was too upsetting to put it at the top. The author might guess what I mean. I look forward to reading more of his work.
For my full review of all three stories click here…
The Creak on the Stairs by Eva Bjorg AEgisdottir Translated by Victoria Cribb
What can I say. This is just brilliant. Everything about it is exciting, chilling, scary, I could go on with a list of adjectives. It’s the perfect police procedural but there is also so much more. The Creak on the Stairs also gives us an insight into Iceland’s character, its history and the cold, often bleak weather, which create the backdrop for this thrilling story. I loved it.
For my full review click here…
When the Music Stops by Joe Heap
When the Music Stops is so unique, so different, that it left me reeling. The story takes us through the ‘seven stages of woman’ (inspired by Shakespeare’s seven stages of man in As You Like It *) – from Ella’s life as a child in Glasgow and her first experience of losing someone close to her when she was still a child, to now, when she is old. Towards the end I was totally overwhelmed and had to take a break or I would have started crying and not been able to stop. It is rare for a story to have such a profound effect on me and make me feel so happy and sad at the same time.
For my full review click here…
Swimming in the Dark by Tomasz Jedrowski
It’s six o’clock in the morning. I awoke at five and had to finish this book. So many thoughts in my head. I was compelled to get up and write this review. For me this was more than just a story. It was my heritage.
I went to Poland with my father in 1978, Reading this book brought it all back to me. Of course I cannot identify with Ludwik’s sexuality and his love for Janusz or his pain, but the sadness of the politics resonates with me. The book is so beautifully written – a love story tinged with the desperation of so many people’s plight.
To read my full review click here…
My Three Most Original Reads of 2020
The Constant Rabbit by Jasper Fforde
The Constant Rabbit is a serious insight into the human condition and how it will take another so-called ‘lower species’ (in this case rabbits) to make us realise who we really are and what we have done to this earth. It uncovers the hidden racism and the not-so-hidden hatred of anyone who is different.
For my full review click here…
Purple People by Kate Bulpitt
Should we turn criminals purple so everyone can see who they are? This book is original, hilarious, wacky and current.
For my full review click here…
Cooking for Cannibals by Rich Leder
Oh my goodness! This is like nothing I have ever read before. Hilarious, shocking, funny, dark and gross – what a ride. Not for the faint-hearted it includes murder, torture, rats, nudity, orgies, drugs, more rats, cannibalism, sex, torture and more….
For my full review click here…
It all started many years ago. In the early 1900s in America to be precise (so they say) but tea bags were not introduced to the UK until 1952. A famous year also because the old King died, Lizzie took the throne and I was born (in that order chronologically – not in order of importance).
@leafybeanco #leafybeanco
Tea bags were so easy and convenient, like tights and diesel trains. No tipping leaves down the sink and blocking it. No washing tannin-stained teapots and keeping the fancy Royal Worcester Evesham Gold for the police, your nan and the vicar. And no using tea leaves for fortune telling.
But here we have the best of both worlds. Proper tea in tea bags. Time for a tasting.
Brew-tea-full Morning – a black tea blend. Indian Assam Black Tea, Sri Lankan Black Tea and Chinese Black Tea. My first foray into the world of teas from www.leafybeancompany.com. What a delight. It tastes like TEA! We are so used to bland tea bags these days that we have forgotten what real tea tastes like.
My second tea was On a Chai High – a blend of Indian Assam Black Tea mixed with a variety of Spices (Ginger, Cinnamon, Cardamom, Black Peppercorns and Chilli). Yes Chilli in tea. I was a bit nervous. It smells lovely. It tastes even better with a slightly sharp aftertaste. Not for the faint-hearted. I added a dash of milk but you don’t have to. Maybe a bit too spicy for me in the end.
Named after Prime Minister Charles Grey, Earl Grey is often associated with the upper-classes and reserved for special occasions. However, such is its popularity, this delicious, fragrant tea has recently risen to fame as an ingredient, with Earl Grey flavoured cakes, biscuits, preserves and even gins and cocktails appearing in restaurants, recipes and supermarkets all over the UK. Duke of Earl Grey was my favourite initially, though I wouldn’t drink it every day because that would spoil the ‘treat’ when I do.
Undoubtedly my favourite now is Tea’s the Season – Leafy Bean’s Christmas Blend. It’s flavoured black tea with Cinnamon (plus Hibiscus, Apple, Cloves, Rosehip, Orange Peel, Cranberry, Vanilla, Morello Cherry, Blackberry and Lime Leaves). I love it. I make it with a touch of milk. It’s warm and a little bit spicy. Just the ticket. Cinnamon is a spice that is made from the inner bark of trees scientifically known as Cinnamomum. But did you know that Cinnamon has powerful medicinal properties, is loaded with antioxidants, has anti-inflammatory properties, can lower blood sugar levels and helps fight bacterial and fungal infections. And there’s loads more. Who would have thought.
I have also given samples to friends and family to try. In fact here is my one friend’s feedback (she’s very thorough).
THE BAGS: They look a bit like shiny triangular gauze (similar to nylon) decorations for a Christmas tree, but are they biodegradable (very important). There does seem to be enough room for the tea to brew inside the bag.
GREEN TEA: Yes, like all green teas the leaves did expand and turn green when hot water added. I found it to be a pleasantly aromatic tea.
TEA’S THE SEASON: Smelt and tasted of cloves to me (not cinnamon). Quite ‘warming’ but not something I would choose. There’s no accounting for taste and leaves (see what I did there) more for me.
My daughter-in-law on the other hand, got to try the Pure Content-mint green tea which she loved along with the Berry Nice Indeed flavoured herbal infusion which was her favourite. Because as I am not a fan of either, it wouldn’t be fair for me to review.
So if you fancy some real tea (it’s not just tea they sell by the way) head along to www.leafybeancompany.com and try some. Toodle pip!
About the Leafy Bean Co
There’s nothing more comforting than cradling a hot drink in your hands, and there’s nothing more important than knowing where it comes from. At Leafy Bean Co they are proud that their loose-leaf teas are produced in a sustainable and fair way, and that their London café bar not only serves the best food and drink, but also serves the local community.
Visit the online shop www.leafybeancompany.com for the very best in loose-leaf tea, accessories and gifts, and discover what events and activities you can take part in.
+ abuse, brothers, child abuse, childhood, family, family drama, fiction, literature, religion, review, sisters
Girl A by Abigail Dean
‘Girl A,’ she said. ‘The girl who escaped. If anyone was going to make it, it was going to be you.’
Lex Gracie doesn’t want to think about her family. She doesn’t want to think about growing up in her parents’ House of Horrors. And she doesn’t want to think about her identity as Girl A: the girl who escaped. When her mother dies in prison and leaves Lex and her siblings the family home, she can’t run from her past any longer. Together with her sister, Evie, Lex intends to turn the House of Horrors into a force for good. But first she must come to terms with her six siblings – and with the childhood they shared.
My Review
To say that I ‘enjoyed’ this book would be disingenuous. It is not a story to be enjoyed. It is sad, horrific and touching. It’s a hard and brutal read at times. Having said that it is brilliantly written – the language is exquisite – but I found it very stressful to read. I was constantly dreading what ‘Father’ might do next. Would there be no light in the darkness?
If you live near me in Gloucestershire you will no doubt remember the story of ‘Britain’s most sadistic mother’ – Eunice Spry – and the three foster children who she starved, beat, tried to drown, shoved sticks and knives down their throats and made them eat their own vomit. They were ‘tortured in the name of God.’ I met one of them in 2014. What a lovely person – I hope he has a better life than the Gracie children. Spry was jailed in 2005, after being convicted of 26 counts of child abuse. She was sentenced to 14 years, but only served seven and was released in 2014. Who would sympathise or forgive her? So why would anyone forgive Lex’s mother? I was annoyed that Bill expected Lex to visit and try to understand. At one point he says that Mother suffered too but obviously not enough to keep her out of prison.
But back to the story. I don’t understand why the children were separated after they escaped and advised not to find each other. They were each placed with a different family and treated by different doctors and psychiatrists in different ways. They had no contact with each other for years. I am not an expert so I am sure there was a good reason but it felt like something from the 1950s. Keep them apart for their own good.
Initially I wasn’t too keen. It’s all a bit depressing with no resolution in sight. How could there be? Lex is quite hard to like initially, as is Ethan. But just over half way through I became more and more engrossed until I really couldn’t put it down. It’s written from Lex’s point of view, even the stories that involve the others. Most of it is about now – Mother has died and left Lex and her siblings the house and £20,000 which Lex wants to use to build a Community Centre. But she must get the others to sign an agreement and therefore has to contact them one by one. The story of their childhood is told in flashbacks. Mother forever pregnant, Father unsuccessful in all his ventures, descending further into madness. The children moved and then home-schooled, eventually bound, chained and starved.
I read till well past midnight, leaving only the last few pages so I wouldn’t wake up having totally forgotten what I had been reading. I kept thinking of Eunice Spry’s children and hope they have fared better. I pray they are happy.
Many thanks to #NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
About the Author
Abigail Dean was born in Manchester and grew up in the Peak District. She graduated from Cambridge with a Double First in English. Formerly a Waterstones bookseller, she spent five years as a lawyer in London, and took summer 2018 off to work on Girl A ahead of her thirtieth birthday. She now works as a lawyer for Google and is writing her second novel.
+ dark humour, fantasy, fiction, folklore, humour fiction, lycanthropy, magic, review, supernatural, superstition, werewolf
The Stranger Times by by CK McDonnell
There are Dark Forces at work in our world (and in Manchester in particular) and so thank God The Stranger Times is on hand to report them. A weekly newspaper dedicated to the weird and the wonderful (but more often the weird) of modern life, it is the go-to publication for the unexplained and inexplicable . . .
At least that’s their pitch. The reality is rather less auspicious. Their editor is a drunken, foul-tempered and foul-mouthed husk of a man who thinks little (and believes less) of the publication he edits, while his staff are a ragtag group of wastrels and misfits, each with their own secrets to hide and axes to grind. And as for the assistant editor . . . well, that job is a revolving door – and it has just revolved to reveal Hannah Willis, who’s got her own set of problems.
It’s when tragedy strikes in Hannah’s first week on the job that The Stranger Times is forced to do some serious, proper, actual investigative journalism. What they discover leads them to a shocking realisation: that some of the stories they’d previously dismissed as nonsense are in fact terrifyingly, gruesomely real. Soon they come face-to-face with darker foes than they could ever have imagined. It’s one thing reporting on the unexplained and paranormal but it’s quite another being dragged into the battle between the forces of Good and Evil . . .
My Review
A bit like Terry Pratchett meets The Fortean Times, this book is at times hilarious and at times too crazy for words. To be honest I prefer the parts about the newspaper and its eccentric employees to the forces of evil as I am not really into fantasy (apart from His Dark Materials). The banter in the office though, with newcomer Hannah who left her philandering husband and burnt their house down in the process, receptionist Grace, runaway Stella, and features writers Reggie and Ox is the best part. Then of course we have the dreadful and totally bonkers editor Vincent Banecroft who shoots himself in the foot with a blunderbuss and hobbles throughout the story on a crutch.
But it’s not all funny. There’s this short, fat, slap-head (not my un-PC words) American chap called Moretti going round controlling people’s minds, turning them into Were-monsters and making them do terrible things in exchange for a ‘favour’. All very Doctor Faustus and Mephistopheles. It turns out some of these people belong to the Folk. This is ancient mythology and involves immortality and such-like. There are rules though and even the Founders (no I’m not even going to attempt to explain) must respect the Accord. In the old days the Folk used to live amongst us in harmony (kind of) but now they must hide in the shadows. Apart from throwing people off buildings that is.
If you think this all sounds a bit bonkers and far-fetched, I can assure you that this is nowhere near as bonkers as it gets. A bit too bonkers for me if I am honest but I still enjoyed it massively and often laughed out loud. The retorts and one-liners are classic.
Many thanks to The Pigeonhole, the author and my fellow Pigeons for making this such an enjoyable read.
About the Author
Irishman Caimh McDonnell is a former professional stand-up comedian and TV writer who now concentrates all of his energies on his books. Born in Limerick and raised in Dublin, he has taken the hop across the water and calls Manchester his home. His TV writing work has seen him work on some of the biggest topical comedy shows on British TV and has earned him a BAFTA nomination. These days he can be found happily writing his next book in the office in the back garden, with only his dog and his imagination for company. His book I Have Sinned has been nominated for the Kindle Storyteller Award 2019. Previously, his debut novel A Man With One of Those Faces was nominated for best novel at the 2017 CAP awards.
Carcassonne 1562: Nineteen-year-old Minou Joubert receives an anonymous letter at her father’s bookshop. Sealed with a distinctive family crest, it contains just five words: SHE KNOWS THAT YOU LIVE. But before Minou can decipher the mysterious message, a chance encounter with a young Huguenot convert, Piet Reydon, changes her destiny forever. For Piet has a dangerous mission of his own, and he will need Minou’s help if he is to get out of La Cité alive.
Toulouse: As the religious divide deepens in the Midi, and old friends become enemies, Minou and Piet both find themselves trapped in Toulouse, facing new dangers as sectarian tensions ignite across the city, the battle-lines are drawn in blood and the conspiracy darkens further. Meanwhile, as a long-hidden document threatens to resurface, the mistress of Puivert is obsessed with uncovering its secret and strengthening her power.
My Review
The only word for a book like The Burning Chambers is epic. This is a sweeping tale of love and religious conflict and burning ambition. It’s steeped in history and while I am no expert I know that a lot of research went into this novel. It is my fourth book by this author and they are all filled with a wealth of accurate historical detail.
At times I got quite stressed reading it as I was so engrossed in the story, particularly the potential fates of Minou Joubert, Piet Reydon and little Alis that I had to keep reading to make sure they were alright. I fell asleep worrying about Alis, who is a year older than one of my granddaughters, so I kept picturing her face. She doesn’t have the halo of curly dark hair though.
The description of the bloody battles between Catholic and Huguenot in Toulouse are harrowing and brutal, and it seems unbelievable that people could be so cruel. But you only have to look at somewhere today like Israel and Palestine to realise that nothing changes (just different religions) – instead they bomb each other from a distance so they don’t see the death and destruction close hand. They don’t have to wield a sword and cut someone down in the street – old, young, whoever they hate. Anyway that’s enough of my rant – just killing in the name of God makes no sense to me. OK I said I’d shut up now.
I love Minou. She is so brave. Unfortunately she is a Catholic and Piet is a Huguenot, but their opposing religions cannot be allowed to stand in the way of their love. Minou has no idea that she is an heiress and that Blanche de Bruyere, the Chatelaine of Puivert, needs her dead so she can inherit instead. Blanche is also pregnant, but the child is not that of her late husband. The father is Vidal (Monseigneur Valentin), a scheming priest and formerly a close friend of Piet, but whose unbridled ambition will take him to the position of Cardinal by any means. I’m not sure who is worse – Blanche or Vidal.
There are lots of other characters that you will grow to love, like Minou’s feisty brother Aimeric, their father Bernard, her aunt Madame Boussay, Cecile Noubert, and Berenger. All these characters are fictitious but there are others that really existed, as did the conflicts.
If I had one criticism it would be that because the book is quite long, I had forgotten what had happened earlier when I got further into the book.
Many thanks to The Pigeonhole and my fellow Pigeons for making this such an enjoyable read.
About the Author
Kate Mosse is an international bestselling author with sales of more than five million copies in 42 languages. Her fiction includes the novels Labyrinth (2005), Sepulchre (2007), The Winter Ghosts (2009), and Citadel (2012), as well as an acclaimed collection of short stories, The Mistletoe Bride & Other Haunting Tales (2013). The Taxidermist’s Daughter was published in 2014.
Kate is the Co-Founder and Chair of the Board of the Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction (previously the Orange Prize) and in June 2013, was awarded an OBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List for services to literature. She lives in Sussex.
+ abuse, anthology, crime fiction, dark humour, fiction, humour fiction, Iceland noir, List, literature, murder, mystery, politics, Psychological fiction, relationships, review, Scandi noir, thriller
My 8 favourite books of 2020 second half
Earlier this year I published my Top 8 books of the first half of 2020. These are my Top 8 books of the second half of the year. There are so many more, but I have tried to cut it down.
Her Last Words by Kim Kelly
There is something very personal about Her Last Words. It feels as though the author has lived it and suffered it in some shape or form. Penny Katchinski, for instance is a Catholic Jew (as am I), and I don’t believe it’s incidental. I can’t imagine your hero would have that background unless you had a reason. I may be wrong of course, but it resonated with me in such a personal way.
For my full review click here…
The Cry of the Lake by Charlie Tyler
This book is absolutely stunning. I can’t praise it enough. I read about 70% of the book in one sitting. The story is intricately woven and at first I couldn’t quite work out what was going on, but then it just got better and better. The plot involves teenager Lily (who can’t speak or won’t speak) and her older sister Grace. Grace is out for revenge and we know the girls have taken on new identities, but what have they fled from and why.
For my full review click here…
Miss Benson’s Beetle by Rachel Joyce
I finished this book while in the car on the way to The Vyne (a National Trust place near Basingstoke) to see my 19-month old granddaughter Clara for the first time since February – and before you comment I wasn’t driving. Needless to say I was already feeling emotional. By the end – of the book that is – I was in tears. The journey wasn’t that bad.
It is simply stunning. Unlike my usual feast of psychological thrillers and police procedurals, this book will make you laugh and cry in equal measures, though towards the end you will probably cry and cry like I did.
For my full review click here…
Mirrorland by Carole Johnstone
Every once in a while you know you have read something special, something original, something so overwhelmingly beautiful and sad that you feel like your heart is breaking. Mirrorland is that something. Dark and unsettling, the more you read, the more you cannot imagine what the next chapter holds. It’s like holding your breath underwater, afraid to surface, yet more afraid to remain.
To say this book is fantastic would not do it justice. It’s just brilliant and amazing and every other adjective I can think of.
For my full review click here…
The Thriller Collection by Alan Gorevan
This is just so good. I only meant to start the first story and ended up reading the first two back to back until well gone midnight. If I hadn’t had to get up early I’d have read the third one straight after.
I loved all three stories – probably a toss up between the first and the last as to which is my favourite. One event in the middle one was too upsetting to put it at the top. The author might guess what I mean. I look forward to reading more of his work.
For my full review of all three stories click here…
The Creak on the Stairs by Eva Bjorg AEgisdottir Translated by Victoria Cribb
What can I say. This is just brilliant. I read it over three days while visiting my son – mostly while travelling to and from (no I wasn’t driving – again see Miss Benson’s Beetle above – I often read while travelling) and at bedtime. Everything about it is exciting, chilling, scary, I could go on with a list of adjectives. It’s the perfect police procedural but there is also so much more.
The Creak on the Stairs also gives us an insight into Iceland’s character, its history and the cold, often bleak weather, which create the backdrop for this thrilling story. I loved it.
For my full review click here…
When the Music Stops by Joe Heap
When the Music Stops is so unique, so different, that it left me reeling. The story takes us through the ‘seven stages of woman’ (inspired by Shakespeare’s seven stages of man in As You Like It *) – from Ella’s life as a child in Glasgow and her first experience of losing someone close to her when she was still a child, to now, when she is old. She is on a boat. It is starting to sink and is gradually filling with water. Ella is 87 and alone apart from a baby which she discovers in a room which has been turned into a nursery. The baby is very young and needs looking after.
Towards the end I was totally overwhelmed and had to take a break or I would have started crying and not been able to stop. Writing this review made me cry. It is rare for a story to have such a profound effect on me and make me feel so happy and sad at the same time. This is one book I will definitely read again (and I almost never do that).
For my full review click here…
Swimming in the Dark by Tomasz Jedrowski
It’s six o’clock in the morning. I awoke at five and had to finish this book. So many thoughts in my head. I was compelled to get up and write this review. For me this was more than just a story. It was my heritage.
Let me explain. My father was Polish. He left in 1939 at the age of sixteen having joined the army (lying about his age as many did) to fight for freedom. He was taken prisoner to Russia and after two years escaped and came to England where he joined the RAF Polish Squadron. He was unable to return for political reasons I won’t go into. In 1978 it was safe for my father to return so I went with him.
Reading this book brought it all back to me. Of course I cannot identify with Ludwik’s sexuality and his love for Janusz or his pain, but the sadness of the politics resonates with me. The book is so beautifully written – a love story tinged with the desperation of so many people’s plight.
To read my full review click here…
My two craziest and most original books of 2020 part 2
My most original of the first half of the year was The Constant Rabbit by Jasper Fforde (takes some beating) but I struggled to have just one in the second half. So here are my two:
Purple People by Kate Bulpitt
Should we turn criminals purple so everyone can see who they are? This book is original, hilarious, wacky and current.
For my full review click here…
How could I leave this last one out!
Cooking for Cannibals by Rich Leder
Oh my goodness! This is like nothing I have ever read before. Hilarious, shocking, funny, dark and gross – what a ride. Not for the faint-hearted it includes murder, torture, rats, nudity, orgies, drugs, more rats, cannibalism, sex, torture and more….
For my full review click here…
+ abuse, fiction, folklore, haunting, horror, jealousy, murder, review, secrets, supernatural, superstition, tradition
The Burning Girls by C J Tudor
An unconventional vicar moves to a remote corner of the English countryside, only to discover a community haunted by death and disappearances both past and present–and intent on keeping its dark secrets–in this explosive, unsettling thriller from acclaimed author C. J. Tudor.
Welcome to Chapel Croft. Five hundred years ago, eight protestant martyrs were burned at the stake here. Thirty years ago, two teenage girls disappeared without a trace. And two months ago, the vicar of the local parish killed himself.
Reverend Jack Brooks, a single parent with a fifteen-year-old daughter and a heavy conscience, arrives in the village hoping to make a fresh start and find some peace. Instead, Jack finds a town mired in secrecy and a strange welcome package: an old exorcism kit and a note quoting scripture. “But there is nothing covered up that will not be revealed and hidden that will not be known.”
The more Jack and daughter Flo get acquainted with the town and its strange denizens, the deeper they are drawn into their rifts, mysteries, and suspicions. And when Flo is troubled by strange sightings in the old chapel, it becomes apparent that there are ghosts here that refuse to be laid to rest.
But uncovering the truth can be deadly in a village where everyone has something to protect, everyone has links with the village’s bloody past, and no one trusts an outsider.
My Review
Oh my God what a brilliant book. To say I couldn’t put it down is no exaggeration. Especially at the end with so many unexpected twists and reveals I’m exhausted. One in particular I NEVER guessed – or maybe I wasn’t concentrating hard enough.
Reverend Jack Brooks has been asked to leave her parish in Nottingham under a cloud and move to a remote village in East Sussex. The chapel she is taking on has a chequered history from the eight martyrs burnt at the stake 500 years ago to the mysterious suicide of the previous vicar. However, these are just some of the mysteries the small village of Chapel Croft has to offer. And Jack has more than her own share of secrets which she is determined to keep hidden.
A strange tradition in Chapel Croft is known as the ‘burning girls’ where twig effigies are thrown on a bonfire every year to ‘celebrate’ – is that the right word – the burning of the Sussex Martyrs. Apparently if you see the burning girls, they are trying to tell you something and trying to protect you.
Now those familiar with the town of Lewes, also in East Sussex, will know about the town’s tradition of holding the largest and most famous bonfire night in the UK. Every year on 5th November, it is held partly to celebrate Guy Fawkes night and partly to commemorate the memory of the seventeen Protestant martyrs from the town burned at the stake for their faith during the Marian Persecutions.
But back to the story. Jack’s daughter Flo has been forced to leave her friends behind in Nottingham and is not happy. Till she meets Lucas Wrigley – a strange boy with a neurological condition called dystonia which causes sudden twitching and involuntary movements. A perfect target for the village bullies, as is newcomer Flo.
But is Wrigley the innocent boy Flo thinks and hopes he is? Why is everyone so in awe of wealthy, farm-owner Simon Harper and why does youngest daughter Poppy turn up covered in blood? And what happened to two missing girls Joy and Merry who disappeared thirty years ago – supposedly they ran away – and were never seen again?
All this but other threads too including an abusive childhood and a killer released from prison.
There is no let up in this story. No time to relax. The excitement is incessant. I absolutely loved this book. Murder, jealousy, supernatural hauntings – just up my street.
Some of my family live in East Sussex and I didn’t recognise Lewes as a kind of flowery-dresses-and-joss-sticks middle class Glastonbury or Eastbourne as a town with grey seas. I guess it’s a matter of perception.
Many thanks to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
About the Author
C. J. Tudor was born in Salisbury and grew up in Nottingham, where she still lives with her partner and young daughter.
She left school at sixteen and has had a variety of jobs over the years, including trainee reporter, radio scriptwriter, shop assistant, ad agency copywriter and voiceover.
In the early nineties, she fell into a job as a television presenter for a show on Channel 4 called Moviewatch. Although a terrible presenter, she got to interview acting legends such as Sigourney Weaver, Michael Douglas, Emma Thompson and Robin Williams. She also annoyed Tim Robbins by asking a question about Susan Sarandon’s breasts and was extremely flattered when Robert Downey Junior showed her his chest.
While writing The Chalk Man she ran a dog-walking business, walking over twenty dogs a week as well as looking after her little girl.
She’s been writing since she was a child but only knuckled down to it properly in her thirties. Her English teacher once told her that if she ‘did not become Prime Minister or a best-selling author’ he would be ‘very disappointed.’
The Chalk Man was inspired by a tub of chalks a friend bought for her daughter’s second birthday. One afternoon they drew chalk figures all over the driveway. Later that night she opened the back door to be confronted by weird stick men everywhere. In the dark, they looked incredibly sinister. She called to her partner: ‘These chalk men look really creepy in the dark . . .’
Bookchatter@Cookiebiscuit 