Every now and then a story pops up in the press about a teacher who has had an affair with a pupil and is (rightly) jailed for their abuse of trust. Less often the papers fall over themselves with puritanical excitement when a teacher and pupil actually run away together…
Publisher Interview: Karen Sullivan
1 September 2015 by Leave a Comment
This month I’m going to have a bit of a spotlight on a fabulous new British publisher, Orenda Books. I’ll be reviewing and giving away The Defenceless by Kati Hiekkapelto, and reviewing How to Be Brave by Louise Beech. I’m starting this month with an interview with Karen Sullivan, the woman behind the books…
Crimson Tide
27 August 2015 by Leave a Comment
A submarine, as brilliantly portrayed in J.S. Law’s cracking novel Tenacity, is a fabulous setting for a tense and claustrophobic thriller. There’s limited space, a small group of people and no escape. Throw in highly trained military officers, nuclear weapons
A Proper Family Adventure
24 August 2015 by Leave a Comment
I have a wonderful friend who works in the cruise industry who has occasionally invited me to join him on the ocean waves. For one reason or another I’ve not yet been able to take him up on the offer, even though I’ve always wanted to experience a cruise holiday…
The Art Of Baking Blind
21 August 2015 by Leave a Comment
It’s that time of year again – Wednesday nights are sacrosanct and anyone who dares to whisper a hint of spoiler is shunned from my social circle. The Great British Bake-Off is back and I’m in baked goods heaven. The success of Bake-Off…
The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
19 August 2015 by Leave a Comment
One of the films I’ve enjoyed most in the past few years is The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. The story of a group of old people who go to live in India was genuinely heart-warming and blessed with a fabulous cast of the best of British acting talent including Dames Judi Dench and Maggie Smith…
A Colder War
18 August 2015 by Leave a Comment
While I’ve read a lot of crime novels over the years, I’m much less experienced with spy fiction. I’ve read Casino Royale, but no other Bond book and I’m sure I must have read a couple by John Le Carre at some point, but other than The Constant Gardener I don’t have any recollection of them…
The Great Village Show
10 August 2015 by Leave a Comment
I’ve been reading a lot of crime and literary fiction recently but decided as it’s summer that it’s time to lighten up a bit with some sunny, happy reading. I’ve got a few books that look fabulous on my to-be-read pile including A Proper Family Adventure, The Art of Baking Blind…
A Killing Moon
7 August 2015 by Leave a Comment
There are some cities in the UK which make perfect settings for gritty crime thrillers – Edinburgh with its dark closes, Belfast and its sectarian divide and troubled past, my home town of Glasgow with its (now mostly outdated) reputation for hardmen fighting deprivation…
Blackfish
6 August 2015 by
As you’ll know if you follow me on Twitter, I’m passionate about animal welfare. It’s one of the issues that I regularly have a good old rant about – hunting with hounds, the use of animals in shops, cruelty to pets and of course keeping wild animals in captivity…