This is my first William Trevor novel and it will not be my last.  Well written, somewhat quirky with odd senses of foreboding and at the same time sympathy, the book engages the reader from beginning to end.

The point to keep in mind with this book is that it was written and set in 70s.  Today’s treatment of Timothy Gedge would be much different.  Today he would see as a character on the autism spectrum perhaps and his behavior explained away as caused by  a lack of appropriate therapies, neglect at home and poor social skills training.  As a teacher, first beginning the book, I had to force myself to not try to look at Timothy Gedge from my current perspective. His character is intended to be a villain, someone manipulative, someone taking prurient interest in other’s dealings, and for the most part creepy.  Prior to thinking about the time it was written, I found myself sympathizing more with Timothy, this outcasted, socially and even familially isolated child, lacking social skills and seeming to try to make connections with others.  Even the description of him wearing yellow head to toe all the time triggers thoughts of obsessive behavior.

Engaging with the book as it was written, Timothy is seen as a catalyst who wanders the town observing others and exposing secrets that the townspeople would rather not see, plausible deniability, as it were.  The other characters view Timothy as a menace, if not physically, then to their peace of mind.  Events come to a head as Timothy decides he wants to perform in a talent show and sets out, in his own way, to make it happen.  This is a book about secrets and exposing them.  It is also about how an outsider can upset the delicate balance of a social group and how people inside the group can often exhibit wilful blindness to activities around them.

  This is number 6 in the Inspector Morse series.  Morse is more reflective here, thinking of his past, perhaps lost opportunities at school and in love and even his relationship with Lewis.  The case involves a body pulled from the canal with all identifiying features removed, head, hands and even legs.  Everything points to a missing Oxford don named Browne-Smith, but the more Morse investigates the more muddied the case becomes.  Who was the body in the canal and who put him there?

This case is full of misdirections, links to the past briefly mentioned, red herrings and mistaken identity.  I definitely had to slow down my reading to follow what was happening.  There is some interesting discussion of “politics” at institutions of higher learning and the examination process.  There are also references to WWII and the repurcussions for certain characters.  A well done mystery and a really enjoying read.  I particularly liked the headings of the chapters giving you hints of what was to come.  I also appreciated getting this glimpse into the life events that have made Morse the man he is today.  A must read for Morse fans!

 I received a free ebook of this title, The Semi-Sweet Hereafter by Colette London, from NetGalley in exchange for a fair review.

This caught my eye because of the chocolate and the setting.  I think my enjoyment of this was negatively impacted because it was the third in a series and I have not read the first two.   With that in mind, I want to be as fair as possible.

The protagonist Hayden Munday Moore is wealthy heiress and chocolate expert.  The terms of her Uncle’s will, the source of her wealth, are that she travels extensively, not settling down or getting too comfortable anywhere.  She is a chocolate “fixer” of sorts, visiting producers, restaurants,  tv sets and pastry shops solving chocolate problems.  In this book, she finds herself in London, working on a chocolate fix with a small pastry shop owner/celebrity whose husband ends up murdered.  Hayden finds herself smack in the middle of the investigation, relying primarily on her bodyguard and financial advisor as her sidekicks in the investigation.  There are at least three viable suspects and theories of the crime to follow along with as Hayden investigates.

There is an attempt to develop a sense of place here, with lots of explanation of British terms and customs.  There is also discussion of chocolate and some of the issues that Hayden solves and recipes are included.

A cozy for chocolate lovers and for those interested in an overseas travel theme.

  I have watched and loved the whole Dalziel and Pascoe TV series and so now I am reading through the books.  This is book 4 in the series and was mainly Dalziel focused as Pascoe and Ellie just got married.  I really enjoyed the focus on Dalziel without the interplay with Pascoe.  The “romantic” scene was particularly well done and so in character for Dalziel.

This plot revolves around Dalziel on holiday when a flood occurs, trapping him at a country house with a family who just experienced the patriarch’s death.  The family is all at odds with one another and some of them with Dalziel.  The circumstances surrounding the death and other incidents pique his curiosity and investigative nature.  The more he digs about, the more twists, turns and deceptions he uncovers.

The books in this series have all been well written and this one is no exception.  The pacing is spot on and there is nothing extraneous here.  The characterization of Dalziel and the brief moments we see with Pascoe and even Ellie are very realistically done.  They are all portrayed as human with strengths and flaws like anyone you might meet.

Highly recommended series for English mystery lovers.

  This was one of the later Pym novels.  Published in the year of her death and set in the 70s.  It revolves around a small village, an anthropologist who is writing and studying the inhabitants, the rector and his unmarried sister and various other villagers.  The setting is appealing, as is the story.  A slice of life in this village that seems to have been left behind with its quaint sherry parties, hunger luncheons, afternoons of walking and blackberry gathering, and flower arranging debates.

Emma, the anthropologist, is first an outsider, observing village life and the inhabitants in a cool scientific manner.  She begins her adaptation to village life primarily to gain better observations for her writing, but later she becomes a true member of the community.  The rector, Tom is a widower, who rambles about the village in a rather disorganized manner.  He seems quite at odds with what to do with himself.  It is left to the women, to organize, clean, feed, supervise and maintain the social graces.  These are the same excellent women that have appeared throughout Pym’s work, here there seems to be a sense of nostalgia and yet at the same time still an acknowledgement of their importace.

The characters, story, and setting are all endearing in Pym style.  There is, in my reading, almost a wistfulness about the writing that is not present in the earlier works by Barbara Pym that I have read.  The book ends with a sense of hope for Emma and the village itself.  Utterly charming and breath of fresh air, I would definitely recommend reading A Few Green Leaves.

  I received a free ebook of The Crepes of Wrath from NetGalley in exchange for a fair review.

This is the first in a new series by Sarah Fox.  Marley has come to a small coastal Washington State town from Seattle to look after her cousin Jimmy’s business, The Flip Side Pancake House, while he recovers in the hospital.  Jimmy  is found murdered and Marley finds herself surrounded by suspects and suspicious goings on. Is Jimmy’s death tied to a string of local burglaries?  Is it related to the contents of his will?  It it due to a dispute with a real estate developer neighbor?  How about the ex-girlfriend and her shady son?  There are many possible motives and suspects to keep the reader guessing and reading.

Marley needs to solve the mystery partly to find her cousin’s murderer, but also to clear his name and protect herself.   Then, she will have decisions to make about her future and  Jimmy’s cat, Flapjack’s.   Charming setting, a well plotted mystery, and an interesting protagonist make for a good new cozy mystery read!

  This was a recommendation for me from Goodreads and so I ordered it from the library without really knowing too much about it, other than it was  Nordic Noir fiction.  I was a little shocked when I went to pick it up and found out it weighed in at almost 800 pages.  I almost put it back because the opportunity cost of reading a longer book like this, that I knew nothing about, might be too much, but I didn’t.

This was originally published as three books and has been combined into one volume, that explains the length. It is also an extremely complex tale and it needed the length to tell the whole story.  There isn’t any filler here.  Fast paced with short chapters that change time, perspective and thread of the plot.  This makes it seem like you are flying through the book.  The story begins with two women, one Sophie, a psychiatrist working with  disturbed patients in the legal system and the other Jeannette, a family legacy police officer, who starts out the tale with a case of a mummified, castrated boy.  From there, the story spreads out to encompass family members, co-workers, victims, witnesses, perpetrators and others swept along in its wake.

The storylines bob and weave occasionally crossing over before they converge.  There is very disturbing content here regarding mental illness (DID in particular), pedophilia, incest, child grooming, organized child sex trafficking, child soldiers in Sierra Leone, torture, scat references and general brutal mayhem.  Definitely not a book for the faint hearted.  The sheer number of victims is overwhelming here.

With the multiple storylines and the switching of time frames, it can be easy to get lost at points.  Adding to this is the fact that you have at least one unreliable narrator.  I can’t really say much else with out spoiling one or more of the twists, turns and red herrings.

I would recommend this for fans of dark nordic noir, who don’t mind  their thrillers landing heavily  on the gruesome side of things.  I enjoyed it and read it straight through, but I will definitely choose something lighter to read after this.

I spent a lovely evening reading these two, different but both very good reads.

Mum on the Run I bought after reading another book by Fiona Gibson that I really enjoyed, The Bookshop on Rosemary Lane.    The catalyst for this story is the Mum’s Run at a child’s school day.  Laura has a disappointing, to put it mildly, result.  This makes her reevaluate her life and her fitness level.  It doesn’t help that her husband seems to be a little too cozy with a co-worker.  The story follows Laura and Jed, her husband, and this rocky patch in their lives.  It turns out that neither is totally the good guy or the bad guy, just like in real life.  Nice developed characters and story line in this engaging quick read!

And Justice There is None, is Book 8 in the Duncan Kincaid & Gemma James series.  Well written mystery with lots of shady characters and twists and turns.  Some switching back and forth from past to present to make the all the connections between the crimes and the killer(s).  The plot is very well done and it was not until close to the end that I solved it for sure.  The romantic/family life of Duncan and Gemma takes several steps forward during this book and is a well developed subplot.  It becomes intertwined with the mystery but still has a life of its own.  I am really enjoying watching Duncan and Gemma come together over the course of several books and I look forward to reading more!

  I received a free ebook of this title, A Cornish Christmas, from NetGalley in exchange for a fair review.

I should preface this by saying that I am really a sucker for Christmas stories!   This book concerns a pregnant children’s book illustrator/author, who along with her husband has left the big city and bright lights of London behind for quiet country life in Cornwall.  As she continues to work on her books on the desk left to her by her mother, her husband sets out to become a self sustaining farmer, making jams and jellies from rather unlikely vegetables.  The couple have a history of miscarriage and infertility and are almost afraid to hope for a happy outcome of this latest pregnancy.  Throw in Ivy’s rabid mother-in-law and her mother’s ghostly visitations and there is plenty going on here to keep a reader turning the pages.

A charming Christmas ghost story that delivers a message of hope and forgiveness, not only for the holidays but any day!

  Love, love, loved this book!  Lovely setting, charming storyline, a protagonist to root for, and a modern happily ever after.  Just an all round feel good story.

The story revolves around Della, a reliable working mum, who just lost her mother after being her carer during a terminal illness.  Della is that woman.  The one who puts herself last.  She takes care of her husband, her daughter, her home, her mother and pretty much everything else that needs doing.  She goes above and beyond at her little dead end job.  She is caught up in the image of herself from childhood, as not quite enough, so she tries hard and excels at the things she does.  In quick succession, her mother dies, her daughter moves out to go to university and her husband, well…let’s just say his timing showed the “content of his character”.  The 962 cookbooks that Della inherits from her mother spur a change that has been a long time coming.  The end result is the Della that was supposed to be, a new understanding of family, and homey bookshop on Rosemary Lane.

Highly recommended especially for fans of Katie Fforde!  I will definitely be keeping an eye out for new books by Ellen Berry.