Chris Bridges' The Death Bed is highly dependant upon his former job as a nurse, but given my past as a regular patient, I can attest to the level of his accuracy from the point of view of a patient. Chris seems to be comfortable about writing about all things medical and a trainee nurse … Continue reading What a second novel
My latest John Grisham
With festival season largely over for the year now, any reading I do will either be related to my podcast, my own novel or purely for pleasure. This book falls in the purely for pleasure category. Ever since my early years of reading audio books, John Grisham has been one of the stalwarts of my … Continue reading My latest John Grisham
A definite planner
William Hussey's The Woman Who Wasn't There, released just before Harrogate 2026, was a surprise to me when I rearranged for the podcast around his Jericho series to discover that he'd written this book. I discovered this one day before talking to him. This was an actual advantage during the podcast, as I couldn't give … Continue reading A definite planner
Isolated Aldo
DV Bishop's Shadow of Madness is the 6th in the Cesare Aldo series. By this point in a writer's career an isolated location novel often appears in the list of books they have written. But coupled with snow and a personal journey this is a really good example of how a well planned series can … Continue reading Isolated Aldo
The Chair’s latest Book
Now that my life seems to have hit its normal stride again, I've been focussing on the books that intrigued me from my trip to the Theakston's Festival. The latest in my library being Lisa Jewell's It could have been Her. After recently reading Let him in preparation for Harrogate, I didn't think Lisa could … Continue reading The Chair’s latest Book
Dancing and Detecting
In the third Miller novel, Mark's background as a comedian has come to the fore once again. This storyline wouldn't work for Thorne as it starts off with several different comedic overtones. When somebody trips over a dog (don't worry the dog wasn't harmed) it is a rather unique opening to a book. But as … Continue reading Dancing and Detecting
The art of a child
In the ten years I've been reviewing the hardest books I've imagined I'd try to write are those within the wider sub-genre of crime fiction. Frances Crawford's A bad bad Place is a prime example of this with it's narrative split between 12 year old Janey and her grandmother Maggie, this also appeals to the … Continue reading The art of a child
Getting back into it
After 2 weeks away when reading was very difficult to concentrate on, surrounded by strangers just as uncomfortable as yourself, the latest in the series of which I've become a great fan of and cannot wait for the next one in September, seemed a perfect way of getting back into the flow of reading and … Continue reading Getting back into it
A strange week
As I started The Angel of Death I did not know how much my own life would start to reflect the book. With family relations having dementia like the main character in this book who is in the early onset, I was always aware of it but it really hit home this week after I … Continue reading A strange week
Preparing for Harrogate
With Harrogate coming up it is now the 10th year that I have visited the festival. One of the key highlights of the festival program for me has always been the debut panels, these panels have often introduced me to authors that will go on to have a very successful and varied career. But, for … Continue reading Preparing for Harrogate