Sherlock Holmes took his bottle from the corner of the mantlepiece, and his hypodermic syringe from its neat morocca-case. The Sign of the Four was my latest lucky spin for the Classics Club and my second Sherlock Holmes story. There's not a lot to be said about another Sherlock Holmes story that hasn't already been … Continue reading The Sign of the Four | Arthur Conan Doyle #CCspin
Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line attracted my attention initially thanks to the cover. That big eye seemed to follow me around everywhere I went and after a season of blue/green covers, the bright yellow stood out a mile on the bookshop bookshelf. However I made an early assumption that it was nasty crime fiction, … Continue reading Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line | Deepa Anappara #WomensPrize
When one sets out to read a book, you enter into a contract of sorts with the author. You agree to be apart of their world and to go along for the ride. As I've discussed before, we all have our own criteria by which we judge a book and whether we will pick it … Continue reading Where the Crawdads Sing | Delia Owens #USfiction
The Guggenheim Mystery is the follow up story to Siobhan Dowd's 2007 The London Eye Mystery. Dowd sadly died of cancer at the end of 2007. She had been contracted to write two Ted Spark mysteries, but other than selecting the title of book two, she died before planning any of it.The Siobhan Dowd Trust (established … Continue reading The Guggenheim Mystery by Robin Stevens
Part of the feeling of success and enjoyment that I had with this year's Readathon was mostly reading junior fiction, short stories and essays. It allowed me to switch between genres and feel that I was getting through books and pages. In previous readathons I would read through the pile of half finished books by … Continue reading Readathon Reads
During my recent blogging malaise, Maisie Dobbs kept me sane and calm. She is familiar, comfortable and cosy. Although some of the crimes are getting a little nasty now that Hitler is involved, Winspear still avoids gory details and gruesome forensic descriptions, for which I am eternally grateful! Journey to Munich is book 12 in … Continue reading Journey to Munich | Jacqueline Winspear
Sometimes the perfect book lands on your doorstep at exactly the right time. This past month or so has been pretty ordinary. The loss of a much loved family member to cancer has left us all exhausted and numb. I'm sure many of you know the drill we've been through lately. The shock, followed by … Continue reading The Murderer’s Ape | Jakob Wegelius
So I figure the only thing to do to find my words again, is to simply start writing and see what happens!During this most recent blue funk, when writing left me and reading seemed too hard, I pulled out my next Maisie Dobbs book. She has seen me through quite a few meh times already. … Continue reading Maisie Dobbs Saves the Day
I read The Fall by Australian writer Tristan Bancks as one of my recent #readathon books.Bancks has been very successful with his previous book, Two Wolves (titled On the Run in the US), winning the KOALA & YABBA Children's Choice Book Awards in 2015 as well as being shortlisted for the CBCA and Australian Prime Minister's … Continue reading The Fall by Tristan Bancks
Book 6 in a series may be an odd place to start, but Strong Poison: A Lord Wimsey Mystery made its way into my backpack for our recent holiday simply because a reading copy had become available at work just before we left & I thought it looked like a nice, easy read.It filled that … Continue reading Strong Poison by Dorothy L Sayers
Two years ago, I read, enjoyed and predicted great things for Rossell's Victorian mystery story about young Stella Montgomery.Since that time Rossell has won a slew of Australian book awards whilst a whole gaggle of young readers have been impatiently waiting for the promised follow-up book.It has been well worth the wait.Wormwood Mire is even … Continue reading Wormwood Mire by Judith Rossell
I think I can now safely say that my little trip down Trixie memory lane is done and dusted (for now!)The Gatehouse Mystery sees Trixie, Honey and Jim safely back in Sleepyside. The summer holidays are drawing to a close and we finally meet Trixie's older brothers, Brian and Mart.The mystery of the gatehouse is … Continue reading Trixie Belden #3 The Gatehouse Mystery by Julie Campbell
Fear not dear reader!I do not intend to reread and review the entire Trixie Belden series of 39 books.However I was curious to remind myself why it was that I reread some of the Trixie's many more times than some of the others.I always thought that #2 The Red Trailer Mystery was not one of … Continue reading Trixie Belden #2 The Red Trailer Mystery by Julie Campbell
My eldest niece is about to turn 10. I've been waiting for this moment for quite some time.In my tenth year, my aunt gave me two books - Trixie Belden #1 and Trixie Belden #3 (sadly #2 was not available at the time of her initial gift purchase, although I quickly rectified that with the … Continue reading TrixieBelden #1 The Secret of the Mansion by Julie Campbell
Withering-by-Sea is styled as a new mystery series for good 10+ readers who love a good Victorian melodrama.Young Stella Montgomery is an orphan being raised by her three strait-laced, much older & very unsympathetic aunts. They roam the countryside seeking health cures & tonics whilst Stella quietly does her lessons and tries to stay out … Continue reading Withering-by-Sea by Judith Rossell
bronasbooks.com 