It’s been nearly two months since I bought myself a Kindle, so I think it’s time to share my thoughts on the device and at the same time give a few recommendations as to bargains that can be snapped up for it.
The Kindle comes in two varieties currently – the 3G + Keyboard device and the Wi-Fi smaller one without a keyboard. I’ve got the second one while my good lady wife Mrs Puzzledoctor has the larger one, so I’ll say a little about that one as well. So, was it a worthwhile investment?
Ten years ago, Emma Beswick left her lodgings in the Lake District and vanished without trace. In the present, a mysterious individual, Guy, returns to the Lakes after a ten year absence – and feels compelled to call a local journalist with a simple message – that Emma Beswick will not be found alive. Enter DCI Hannah Scarlett, in charge of the Cumbrian police cold case division, who re-opens the Beswick case. The investigation leads them to the so-called Arsenic Labyrinth, a series of caves caused by the ill-fated mining of arsenic. But what lies within the caves is not what anyone suspects…
This is the third book in the Lake District Mysteries – I reviewed The Cipher Garden a while ago, and I read the first book, The Coffin Trail before the blog began. I picked this book up – well, sort of, I got it for my Kindle – a) because Martin Edwards will shortly be appearing at my local bookshop, and b) because I loved The Cipher Garden and The Coffin Trail. So, will this be three in a row?
First published 1903, The Adventure of the Solitary Cyclist is the fourth story in the third collection of short stories, The Return of Sherlock Holmes.
During an excavation of an Elizabethan merchant’s house, archaeologist Neil Watson discovers the bones of a new-born baby. His old friend Wesley Peterson, newly arrived in Tradmouth CID, finds parallels with one of his cases – the disappearance without a trace of a local toddler from his garden. Elsewhere, the body of a young woman is found with her face bashed in beyond recognition. As the investigation proceeds, more and more parallels between the present and the past become apparent…
This is the first of the Wesley Peterson novels by Kate Ellis – see this post as to why I’m reviewing it now. Well, beyond the fact that I’ve reviewed both An Unhallowed Grave and The Jackal Man from the same series and enjoyed them both. But first books can be tricky things… you’ve got to set up your cast as well as telling a story that makes you want to come back for more. So, does this series opener leave you wanting to come back for more?
Regular readers may recall my ramblings about supporting local bookshops – time for an update. For anyone living in the North-West, particularly in Merseyside, I can heartily recommend Formby Books. Tucked into the back of the card shop Derbyshires, it could be easy to miss if you didn’t know it was there, but its crime fiction shows an applaudable range of titles – despite being only two sets of shelves, there is more variety here than in many a chain bookshop.
Also, I should point out to you, especially if you’re local, that on March 15th, Kate Ellis and Martin Edwards will both be making an appearance at Formby Books to talk about their work. Why should that interest you? Well, read on.
“Let us see, Mr Clever Poirot, just how clever you can be.”
Poirot’s old compatriot Hastings has returned from Argentina, but when visiting his old friend, a message is delivered, signed ABC, warning of a murder in Andover on the 21st. Needless to say, soon Alice Ascher is found dead. Betty Barnard in Bexhill-on-Sea soon follows. Poirot is the master of deduction when it comes to solving carefully planned crimes – but can he catch a homicidal maniac before he strikes again?
Written in 1936, this is the eleventh book to feature Poirot. It was also the first Agatha Christie book that I ever read – probably the first “adult” mystery novel in fact, so it’s safe to say that it had a positive effect on me – otherwise I wouldn’t be writing this blog. I picked this one up again as I recently re-read Cat of Many Tails by Ellery Queen – the joint review of which will be appearing on At The Scene of the Crime and the notion of the serial killer verses the classic detective is an obvious parallel. So, does Hercule’s outing stand the test of time?
Fever (yes, that’s his name) has a university job in the folklore department (yes, they do exist), but, when the department closes, he heads back to his Georgia hometown. The son of a magician and a stripper (stick with it), he left town, intending never to return. But when he comes home to find a body on the porch of his cabin and a wall of silence from the locals, he is impelled to investigate the crime, along with his Shakespeare-quoting university colleague and an old school friend turned deputy.
Philip DePoy is, to date, the writer of six Fever Devlin stories, five Flap (yes, that’s his name too) Tucker novels and a stand-alone novel, The King James Conspiracy. This was recommended to me by John from the Pretty Sinister blog as a possibility for Georgia in my Mystery Tour of the USA. To quote John:
“The books featuring Fever Devlin by Philip DePoy are very different, too. He’s a folklorist who stumbles upon puzzling mysteries involving stolen artifacts, missing people, and sometimes murder, in the course of his unusual research into the storytelling of the Appalachian people in the hills surrounding the college town where he lives and workd. Really under-appreciated books. Very American books that could only be set in that state.”
So, is this another successful stop in my tour? Let’s see.
