When I wrote my first Top Ten Crime Writers article one of the names I included was Quentin Jardine, creator of Edinburgh cop Bob Skinner. I adored the first few books in the Skinner series. Skinner’s Rules and Skinner’s Festival are among the best Scottish crime fiction I’ve ever read…
A Black Bear Killer in Castaway County
17 November 2014 by Leave a Comment
Sherriff Dell Hinton returns with a fresh case to trouble his generally quite quiet and amiable life. Three people have been shot at a truck stop in an apparent robbery gone wrong. Two are dead, a third is in a coma and the community is shocked by such a brutal crime in their midst…
R.I.P.D
18 August 2014 by Leave a Comment
One of the criticisms I have to take on board as a reviewer is that I can be a little generous with my scoring. And I hold my hands up to that. I’m a relatively positive person. I like films and books, I go into the cinema or pick up a book because I want to enjoy the time that I spend with the stories being told…
Beauty
25 June 2014 by 3 Comments
We’re just over 8 months in our new house and have built a summer house in the back garden, it’s a fabulous place – big and airy and with a fridge full of white wine and a speaker for music. This is my new happy place and I will happily forego a holiday this year to spend time in the garden reading…
Black Lake
24 June 2014 by Leave a Comment
One of the things that I particularly enjoy during the summer is visiting Stately Homes and Gardens. I love wandering round the houses and taking a glimpse into Britain’s past. I imagine the lives of the aristocratic families who lived in the house for generations, the parties that took place…
The Long Fall
19 June 2014 by Leave a Comment
It’s now the middle of June and, against all expectations, the weather is improving and we could even say that summer is coming. It’s the time of year when thoughts turn to beaches, holidays and relaxation. And there’s no better way to relax than with a book which takes you away from your own life and to far away lands. Julia Crouch’s thriller The Long Fall…
The Axeman’s Jazz
11 June 2014 by Leave a Comment
There are some cities across the world which hold a certain fascination for many people – London, Paris, Rome, New York, Venice for example all conjure up very specific images which are burned into our collective consciousness. To that list I would also add New Orleans…
Struck by Genius
2 June 2014 by Leave a Comment
Before I start this review I have to declare an interest – I hate Maths. Hated it at school and still break out in a cold sweat if anyone expects me to do anything maths related. This isn’t some sort of false vanity – I got 8% in my Higher Prelim. I am bad at Maths, I don’t understand it…
Fan
30 April 2014 by Leave a Comment
when I received a copy of Fan by Danny Rhodes I was a little bit sceptical. It’s a book about football, what possible interest would it be to me? How foolish I was – yes, there’s football, a lot of football, but this is far from a story about football…
The Grand Budapest Hotel
13 April 2014 by Leave a Comment
Normally I like to go and see films the week that they are released. It’s good for getting reviews up while the film is fresh in everyone’s minds and it means that I don’t have to actively avoid spoilers. It’s not always possible and the past month or so has been a bit of a nightmare in terms of getting to the cinema so I’m only now catching up with some recent releases…