After reading and enjoying the first three books in the Elderwick Mysteries series, I have become familiar with the main characters.
When Constance’s van breaks down, Dr Laurel Nightingale, Albert and Maggie are only too willing to help move Constance’s Food from the Plump Tart Bakery to Elderwick Hall for a function. As they near the hall, the weather takes a turn for the worse with a storm breaking while the food is being moved into the hall.
The failure of most of the catering staff and the supplies they were due to bring, to turn up, prompts Constance to offer her help with the catering. As the guests arrive, the weather worsens, electrical power is lost, and the telephones and internet stop working. The deteriorating weather and an unexplained death prompt the Elderwick trio to try and find answers; later, it is not only the weather that traps the guests, staff and the trio in the hall. Laurel is not only trying to unravel the cause of the mysterious events at the hall but is coping with a more personal problem.
I enjoyed the book immensely; it was a quick read for me. More, please, Ms Gray.
Blackheath, during the approach to Christmas, is blighted by the murder of Caspar Campbell, a friend of the Morrigan household.
The Morrigan family home, Greenway, is due to host its first family Christmas for many years. The celebrations include the return to the family home of May Corrigan’s identical twin sister, Cass, on the insistence of Minty. Minty is May and Cass’s somewhat unconventional ninety-six-year-old mother.
Fletcher, May’s friend, is the other member of the household, apart from May’s mini Dachshunds, Bess and George. Fletcher is writing, directing and producing the village pantomime, Peter Pan.
The star of the show, a fading, predatory actor, Clarke Woolf, is playing Widow Twankey and causing Fletcher problems trying to manage Woolf’s attempted philandering.
The run-up to Christmas brings the sharing of family secrets, while May is trying to navigate her way through an acrimonious divorce.
This is a great book. I read it very quickly, putting aside things I shouldn’t have put aside to find out how the story ends. It certainly turns out to be a most curious Christmas.
I had been meaning to read some of Gina Kirkham’s work for some time, so when the opportunity presented itself to me, I grabbed it eagerly. This was to be my first acquaintance with the ladies of the Winterbottom Women’s Institute. The opportunity to become extras in an upcoming film was an opportunity too good to miss for these women. The chance to meet an attractive male actor, Flynn Phoenix and his co-star, Dana Simon, cast in the leading roles, was another attraction.
The filming is to take place in Black Abbey Towers, a building with a dark history, currently owned by the church and occupied by the Archdeacon Clement Gregory of Fallow Falls and his wife, Fiona. The Archdeacon’s wife is none too keen on the intrusion of the film-makers and their entourage. However, her husband is keen to obtain the money the film-makers will bring into the church’s coffers.
Four of the ladies of Winterbottom W.I., Ethel, Hilda, Kittie and Millie are taken on as extras. The ladies, ‘The four Wrinkled Dears’, are joined by another lady, Olive, recruited from the cast of extras, and they are soon sleuthing. At first, trying to locate a missing Housekeeper and then a murderer. With Prunella Barnes, the Winterbottom WI’s president, in the late stages of pregnancy. It was down to Bree Richards, the W.I.’s vice president, to rein in the sleuthing ladies.
The story is overshadowed by Black Abbey Towers’ dark history, and the house itself is a labyrinth of secret passages, holding even darker secrets of its own. The film crew’s very mature female stunt coordinator, Dorothy May (Dottie) Barker, plays a significant part in the action, a lady with remarkable talents.
I enjoyed this book; it was a great read and I will seek out more of Gina’s work.
It is a little while since I have read one of Tom Sharpe’s books, several years in fact, Porterhouse Blue had been serialised in the television some years ago, after watching it, I had always intended to read the book.
Porterhouse is a fictional college within Cambridge University. The city of Cambridge is largely unchanged from the late 1960s when the book was written and set within. Many of the streets that Sharpe’s characters inhabited are much as they are described in the book; I suppose this gives Porterhouse Blue a degree of familiarity to those of us who visit the city on a regular basis.
Porterhouse is a poor relation compared to its wealthier fellow colleges; Skullion its head porter manages various dubious schemes to help the finances and maintain the college in the traditional way its fellows and he regard as essential. However, it is the arrival of a new master, Sir Godber Evans, an ex government cabinet minister and former Porterhouse student, which starts a battle of wills. His intention of reforming the college and bringing it into the twentieth century, provokes a battle between the two opposing camps. The fellows and Skullion are strongly united against Godber’s planned reforms which included: female students, more concentration on academic achievement and less attention to sporting prowess. However, it is the master’s proposed installation of a contraceptive machine in the student toilets that proves the catalyst for even greater conflict.
I really enjoyed Porterhouse Blue and was laughing out loud at times, a really good read.
I’ve had an interesting week and a half. On the 27th of August, a Wednesday, I was admitted to Hinchingbrooke Hospital for a scheduled hernia repair. It was keyhole surgery, and I was discharged the same day. I spent a reasonable night at home, a little uncomfortable but nothing too worrying. The next morning, I was up early and getting one or two administrative chores out of the way and feeling quite good. However, by the evening, I wasn’t too well and brought up what appeared to be dark blood. My wife and I concluded that, as a tube had been put down my throat to help with breathing during the operation, perhaps it had caused some bleeding.
By Saturday evening, things had become worse, so I contacted the hospital, “No, it isn’t normal, dial 999.” The ambulance could only deliver me to Peterborough. Aware of the possibility of miscommunication between the two hospitals, my brother took me to Hinchingbrooke and delivered me into the welcoming arms of A&E during the early hours of Sunday morning; they were expecting me.
After a while I was wheeled into the same ward I had been admitted to the previous Wednesday. It is always difficult to get answers it seems, I was connected up to drips and given blood transfusions but apart from a doctor telling me it wasn’t a surgical problem and that I would be moved to a medical ward that was about it. The hernia repair gave me no trouble and seems to be a well executed piece of surgery. Eventually I was given an endoscopy and a diagnosis of a Hiatus Hernia. When I was able to talk to a consultant I asked him if what they had found could have accounted for such a large loss of blood, (about one and a half pints or to use the Tony Hancock scale one and a half armfuls). He assured me this was the likely cause.
While lying in bed on my back, I started to examine the ceiling of the ward I was in. Hinchingbrooke Hospital is suffering from the problems of RAAC (dodgy concrete), and they are desperately trying to rebuild it while keeping it open. The ward’s ceiling and presumably the roof above it are now supported by a grid of 203 x 203mm Universal Columns; the minimum weight of this size of column is 47kg per metre (close to a hundred weight per yard). Nearly forty years ago, when I started my metalworking business, the supply price of manufactured structural steelwork was £1000 a tonne; prices haven’t gone down in that time. It wouldn’t surprise me if the cost of the steelwork alone, supporting the roof in that ward, exceeded £20,000, not including all the installation costs. Meanwhile, within half a mile as the crow flies is the original Huntingdon County Hospital building is still there intact and over one hundred years old.
Some of the steelwork.
The ward staff were brilliant, compassionate, patient and caring. When I was asked if I would mind vacating my bed early while waiting to be collected I had no hesitation in agreeing. The chap they wheeled in looked very poorly. It was heartening to see the love of mainly, wives, daughters and granddaughters for their, husbands, dads and granddads.
Above all else the experience has given me a renewed hope for us all.
I think I have read most if not all Mr Lovesey’s, Peter Diamond books. This one is a little different to any of the others in that it features a Private Eye, Johnny Getz, (no relation to Stan Getz the jazz saxophonist). Diamond meets Johnny Getz while he is trying to enjoy a quiet drink at the end of a working week in his local. Getz is working for a new client, the daughter of an antiques’ dealer trying to trace her missing father.
Diamond reluctantly gets involved in Getz’s inquiry when with his client they investigate the break in at the shop that had prompted the hunt for the antique shop’s owner. The story is a convoluted one, entwining the world of art, high class consumerism, journalism and of course murder.
Johnny Getz the Eye in question, models himself on the fictional thirties and forties private eyes created by among others, Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett. However, the mean streets Getz pounds, are not those of forties California but the somewhat grander ones of present day Bath.
Diamond doesn’t welcome the intrusion of this reincarnation of Philip Marlowe or Sam Spade, as Getz acknowledges in his own account of events. However, eventually an uneasy alliance is formed to solve the case.
I enjoyed the story, although I found the point of view of Mr Getz a little difficult to cope with to start with. It will be interesting to see if Mr Getz turns up in future books.
A quick, absorbing and enjoyable read; well done Mr Lovesey.
My thanks goes to Philip for being part of my blog tour. I’m excited to have my first children’s book, The Secret Dragon, out this year. The book has been written for 5-7 year olds and it’s the first in the Saffy’s Secret Quest series. Publication date is 28th July but it’s available for pre-order now. Here’s a little bit about it:
The blurb
When Saffy discovers a dragon statue at the bottom of her garden, her boring summer holiday becomes full of excitement.
The statue is a real dragon called Lily. She’s from the magical world of Mandoreum, a place that’s in danger and in need of Saffy’s help.
There are clues to solve, a wicked witch to battle and secrets to be kept at all costs. Will Saffy be able to save Mandoreum before it’s too late?
Extract:
Saffy looked up at the statue – at its huge, cotton wool feet, up to its mighty scales dangling down and up into its face and row of red gums, which were looming closer and closer as the dragon bent towards her.
Suddenly, the dragon looked very fierce indeed.
Saffy put her hands over her eyes and peeked through her fingers. The dragon was still there.
Pop! Now the dragon had gone.
She looked all around. There was no sign of it. Had there really been a huge, menacing dragon leaning over her?
Author bio:
Esther
Esther has been a freelance writer for over twenty years, regularly writing articles and short stories for magazines and newspapers such as Writers’ Forum, Writing Magazine,The Guardian, Best of British, The Cat, This England, Yours and The People’s Friend.
Winner of several competitions, including those run by Writing Magazine and The Global Short Story Contest, she has also had the privilege of judging writing competitions and relished being given the role of head judge of the Writers’ Forum monthly short story competition.
Esther loves writing, but she also enjoys helping others, which she achieves in her role as a tutor for The Writers Bureau. She also runs their monthly writing club, Let’s Write.
She has had two how-to books on writing published as well as two collections of short stories. Her first children’s book is coming out in July, where she writes under the name of Esther Moonstomp.
Acts of Convenience had sat on my TBR pile for a long time. I finally lifted it off the heap last week and started reading it. The Assisted Dying Bill passing through Parliament has given the story a timeliness that perhaps an earlier read wouldn’t have.
Cassie is a nurse, used to early deaths and personal tragedy. The book charts an uneasy glimpse into an ever-increasing dystopian future where the acts of convenience are only convenient for the few wealthy enough to avoid their consequences. The story is of love, coping with adversity and a resolute determination by Cassie, not only to care for and protect her family and friends but to expose wrongdoing. The story’s Voluntary Euthanasia Bill is the first step on an ever-steeper descent on the slippery slope to a troubling future. If we hadn’t seen the decimation of the NHS and the increasing influence of the private sector, most of this story would seem complete fantasy. I sincerely hope it isn’t what it seems, a vision of the future.
If you only read one book this year make sure that this is the one, it is brilliant.
Although I visited the Indie Author Book fair, in Huntingdon, last year, it is always a different experience for a visitor than as an exhibitor. The back corner of the stage, which was the spot I was allocated, wouldn’t have been my first choice as an ideal stand position. Advised by a friend earlier who had exhibited at another show in the Commemoration Hall, I asked three weeks earlier if the extra stairs the hall possesses could be installed for the show, but I didn’t receive a reply to my email.
Henry’s critical eye.
My colleague and I arrived early, too early as it turned out to start setting up, so we unloaded the contents of our borrowed supermarket trolley back into the car and returned at the appointed hour, 9.00 am. I asked the organiser about the extra stairs but was told we couldn’t have them because they blocked a fire exit. As it transpired the organisers had been let down by their table suppliers, so it wasn’t that good a start for them either. At 9.00, we returned and moved our stuff in. Then found a larger table than had been allocated to us giving the original one to our neighbour to increase their display space. Strangely enough for a theatre setting, it was very dark on the stage, particularly so in our very remote corner. Luckily, we had some lighting with us but not enough.
Our dark corner far left before the extra stairs appeared.
In addition to my own books, Killing Time in Cambridge and the short story book Strange Times and Other Stories, I had with me books written by fellow u3a, Whittlesey Wordsmiths and those of other members: Henry Curry, my assistant, Cathy Cade, Val Fish, Wendy Fletcher and Stephen Oliver.
The warning notice on the stairs telling people that they used the stage at their own risk wasn’t conducive to encouraging much foot traffic either. At a little after midday, the second set of stairs was produced and installed in the centre of the hall, giving two points of access to the stage. Traffic then increased considerably, although that wasn’t saying a lot.
Down below the footlights
Dow below the footlights 2.
It was an interesting day, to say the least. We met some nice people, other exhibitors, and those interested in our books. Perhaps, it shouldn’t have been a surprise that there was only one exhibitor I remembered from last year’s show. We packed up and left at 4 pm; luckily, the supermarket trolley was still available. Although some books were sold, it was not a commercially worthwhile experience. Sometimes you have to buy your experience.
It isn’t unusual for human bones to be discovered during archaeological excavations, in this case, on the site of a proposed new farm shop, at Elderwick Hall, in whose grounds the discovery was made. The hall has had a long and troubled history, so finding an unknown burial wasn’t a huge surprise. However, once all of the remains had been uncovered, the questions followed, whose remains were they, how long had they been there and what was the cause of death?
Although being there when the discovery was made, Laurel tried to avoid being drawn into the inquiry. She had decided to steer clear of detective work but eventually, reluctantly, to help her friends, she succumbed to the inevitable and started with the help of Maggie and Albert, to investigate the murder.
Laurel’s fractious relationship with D.I. Coral; doesn’t help the situation, particularly, as Laurel was at the site when the remains were discovered. The story is multilayered with a glorious cast of characters, including Albert’s stroppy cockerel, Aroon, it is set in the delightfully painted East Yorkshire village of Elderwick. Who wouldn’t want to buy cakes from the Plump Tart, enjoy tea and cakes at the Pleasant Pheasant or sink a pint at the Snooty Fox?
I thoroughly enjoyed, A Storm in a Teacup, which is the third in the Elderwick Mysteries series. I read it quickly; wanting to find out how it ended, more please, Rachael.
Carol was a guest speaker at our local u3a meeting; she had been part of the team making a popular local radio program about a character living in the fens, Dennis of Grunty Fen. Carol was not only the sound recorder for the programme but she edits and illustrates books written about Dennis’s Grunty Fen. We met at an Indie Author Book Fair in Huntingdon where I bought another of the Grunty Fen books, written by Christopher South, the third in the series. Carol illustrates and edits, these books.
But enough about Huntingdon, when Carol gave her brilliant talk at our U3a meeting about Dennis of Grunty Fen, she brought books with her. In addition to the Grunty Fen books was a book of her own; Gingerbread Children. I bought my copy there and then.
. Gingerbread Children, is apart from the architecture nothing like that of Hansel and Gretel, (What about the children?), well children are involved a boy and a girl. There are witches too, not just one but lots of them and cats, together with other ‘Familiars’ but mostly cats. The story starts with the failing health of the Matriarch of The University of Nature, (The Union), with her failing health comes the question of who will succeed her. The question of succession, the building of an edible house, a gymnasium for dogs which is managed by a cat, are among just some of the remarkable events within this fantastic book. And of course, there is magic, gingerbread and lots of cake.
Gingerbread Children is one of the most unusual books, I have read but it is without doubt one of the best. Thank you Carol
Gingerbread Children is available to buy from bookshops or on Amazon.
The story is set in Inverness and the surrounding rural area of the Scottish Highlands. An escalating series of fatal road accidents on straight sections of the A9 road are beginning to interest Detective Inspector Alec Mc Kay, of Inverness’s Major Investigation Team, (MIT). He starts to think these accidents are being deliberately caused, to kill or injure the occupants of the targeted vehicles. However, there doesn’t seem to any common factor regarding the victims or connection linking them to each other. Interwoven with this investigation is a press campaign casting doubt on a twenty year old murder conviction. The murder was investigated by Detective Superintendent Rory Grant the late husband of the current head of the MIT, DCI Helena Grant. Helena Grant, is concerned that the campaign will defame the reputation of her late husband. Investigating the murder story and employed to write ghost articles for rabble rousing campaigner Iain Pennycook; is veteran free lance reporter, Craig Fairlie. The outcome is unpredictable in every respect.
This crime fiction story is fast-paced, engaging and well-told; I raced through it and will seek out other books by Mr Walters. This is an excellent book.
This book had been lurking on my TBR pile for a while, I wish now I had got to read it sooner. I met Christine at an Indie Author’s book fair in Huntingdon’s Commemoration Hall. I liked the title and being a lover of crime fiction After a brief chat with the author, bought a signed copy of “Make You Sorry.”
Detective Inspector Nick Morgan has relocated from the Met in London to the South Coast and Gullhaven Cove. He has slept overnight, downstairs in the family’s new home, Cliffside House, belonging to his mother-in-law. The family is due to move in that day, and the furniture van is on its way when Nick discovers the body of a dead teenage boy in the master bedroom on that Friday Morning. Although not due to start his new job until the following Monday, Nick finds himself thrown into the fray three days early. From this point on, a succession of bodies turn up; in the main, singly but not always. The killings seem to be linked but finding the link is difficult. The plot is twisty with the growing number of murder investigations complicated by, difficulties finding temporary accommodation, marital problems and a very troublesome interfering mother-in-law.
I enjoyed the book immensely and will be exploring other books by the same author, I’m pleased I stopped and spoke to Ms Rae Jones and bought the book.
Detective Sergeant Alex Brady is the unpopular new boy at Moorford police station. His sudden arrival following a personal, tragedy and professional misjudgment, leading to demotion, doesn’t help him settle into this new workplace. Despite the difficult relationship with most of his colleagues, the experience from a career in the tough areas of Manchester becomes an asset. A series of gruesome murders gets underway within and near the town soon after Brady’s arrival, it is then the value of Brady’s experience and sharp intellect show their worth. The murder investigation is complicated by a persistent unknown stalker, terrorising a woman living alone. Solving the murders seems a near-impossible task. Although the murders appear to follow the pattern of earlier unresolved events, no clues, are left behind by the perpetrator to these or the earlier murders.
The characters are well drawn and believable; the plot is intricate but accessible, the balance in terms of description and information is for me exactly right. I enjoyed this book immensely reading it very quickly and I found it difficult to put down. I shall seek out more books from Mr Devine.
Along with Cathy Cade, a talented fellow U3a Whittlesey Wordsmith, I have had some of my short stories published on Marsha’s Blog.
Story Chat Volume 2 is the second collection of short stories previously published on Martha’s blog. Together with each story are comments from the blogs’ followers and readers, this is the chat part.
The book is available as a paperback or on Kindle. Click on the links if you would like to buy a copy.
Story Chat started as a unique online blogging program for authors and readers. This second book includes a diverse set of original short stories by authors from almost every continent in the world. While most of the stories would fall into the category of drama at all ages from children to older adults, this collection includes sci-fi, comedy, and two non-fiction articles about the writing process. All of the selections are family-friendly, even though the topics are aimed at adult readers.
In this book, you will enjoy realistic fiction, surprise, and open endings. Halloween vampire horror stories, it might make you laugh and wonder how you could. Traveling to an alternate universe – that happens to be familiar to some of you will keep you entertained. You might find yourself stepping into another universe or two that are so bizarre you don’t know what to do with them.
Characters will bring you to tears as they bravely reach for love or face tragedy you hope no one will have to face. You will laugh at the older couple discussing booking the adventure of a nudist cruise. You will cheer for a mother and her autistic child as they surmount obstacles. One story will remind you of Toy Story or the Velveteen Rabbit. Another is an epic children’s poem with illustrations made of fondant by the talented author and her son.
This book is so much fun. Yet, it can be educational, especially for writers who constantly work to improve their craft. Each story has discussion questions that you can use if you belong to a book club or writing group.
All of us, known as Story Chatters, hope this book will make an impact on your lives.
Other Factoids about Volume II
Twenty published and previously unpublished authors from eight countries on six continents submitted short stories. Most of these stories were lighthearted family or youth drama, several comedies, coming of age, and science fiction. The stories covered relevant topics like planning vacations, managing estate assets, walking in the fog, trick or treating, solving mysteries, robbing robbers, creative solutions to autism, double-dealing, life-long companions, recycling garbage in space, and many more topics.. Most of the stories have surprise endings. Some have open endings, leaving the reader to imagine what might happen next.
Each story takes about three to five minutes to read, making it the perfect book for readers who need something to read in short spurts. The twenty-seven stories are pure entertainment, yet each probes a deeper conception to stimulate and delight thoughtful readers.
New this year are three posts on writing tips, and two poems.
Comments about Story Chat Volume II:
International Short Stories Generating Conversations:
“That sounds like a great initiative, a very interesting book. I love short stories” -Thomas
“The balance is perfect. There has been a good mixture of male and female writers from all over the world.
Five years ago nearly to the day, in August I took the Cambridge Spies Tour and enjoyed it so much I wanted not only to repeat it but share it with some of my family. As a result, four elderly men waited with others outside Great St Mary’s Church for the tour to start. Perhaps, part of a torn postcard would have made a more appropriate ticket than the downloaded and printed affair we brought with us. Particularly as our tour guide was Sophie Smiley, no relation to George, she assured us but she would say that; wouldn’t she?
As before when I went on the spies tour comments and names of people set me off researching and making further enquiries, information I have added to this report.
The Eagle Benet Street
The Eagle pub, Saint Benet’s Church and Corpus Christi College
Our first stop was outside the Eagle, Cambridge’s oldest pub, we didn’t go in but Sophie mentioned the RAF bar and the connection to Watson, Crick, Franklyn and Wilkins discovery of DNA. We then crossed the road and entered Saint Benet’s church, once everyone was settled in the pews Sophie pointed to a small window cut in the stonework looking out into the church. She said it was there so the priest could watch the worshipers from his office behind the closed door. Corpus Christi College had been built around the church by the city. The playwright and contemporary of William Shakespeare, Christopher Marlowe was a graduate of Corpus Christi and was according to some sources a spy in the service of Sir Francis Walsingham the Elizabethan spymaster. Sophie mentioned the uncertainty over Marlowe’s supposed death and whether it was staged to allow him to move incognito abroad to continue his career in espionage. Also a graduate of Corpus Christi and a man who had occupied the same room as Marlowe had was, Cedric Belfrage, he became a British/Russian Double agent. Harry Shergold the British handler of Penkovsky a Russian intelligence officer spying for the west at the time of the Cuban Missile Crisis, also graduated from Corpus Christi.
Sophie highlighted the nature of surveillance within the city, indicating that espionage was woven into the very fabric of the university and town. We moved on from the church into Free School Lane and stopped briefly outside the old Cavendish Laboratory to discuss the important discoveries made there. Behind the laboratory is the Mond building with a crocodile motif by Eric Gill incorporated into the brickwork of the building. Ernest Rutherford was given the nickname ‘Crocodile’ by a Russian scientist Peter Kapitza. I can’t remember whether Theodore Hall’s name was mentioned at the Cavendish he was an American working there post war until he retired who passed nuclear secrets to the Russians.
Pembroke College
Pembroke College
We moved on turning into Botolph Lane, stopping briefly to look at the Hangman’s house and then to look in the window of Bodies in the Bookshop. Our next stop was Pembroke College in Trumpington Street it is one of Cambridge’s oldest colleges founded in 1347 by the Countess of Pembroke. The college had an original statute that required students to report fellow students if they indulged in excessive drinking or visited disreputable houses.
Maurice Dobb studied here and went on to teach at Kings where he met Kim Philby, Dobb was thought to be involved in the recruitment of the Cambridge Five, Guy Burgess, Donald Maclean, Anthony Blunt, John Cairncross and Kim Philby. Sophie mentioned that one of Philby’s greatest acts of treachery was to disclose a list of Germans who were hoping to rebuild Germany after the war to his Russian spy masters. The list had been shown to him by another MI6 colleague, Nicholas Elliot who wasn’t a Russian double agent. Everyone named on the list given to Russia was murdered.
A former master of Pembroke was Sir Richard Dearlove, a retired chief of the SIS (MI6). Sophie told us a little about him and also about the escape through Finland of Oleg Gordievsky, a double agent supplying the British with intelligence. He was driven out of Russia in the boot of an embassy car, the wife of his driver distracted the dogs of the Russian border guards by changing her baby’s nappy on the top of the boot of the car then dropping the dirty nappy on the ground. This distracted the dogs long enough to allow them to get the all clear to cross the border into Finland. An added irony was the man in charge of the border guard at the time of Gordievsky’s escape was a certain KGB officer by the name of Vladimir Putin.
Kings College
From Pembroke College we moved on into Kings Parade until we reached the entrance of Kings College, Queen Elizabeth the first’s, spy master Francis Walsingham studied here, he is famous for discovering or possibly constructing the Babington plot that let to the execution of Mary Queen of Scots.
Kings is also where Alan Turing studied for his BA and MA, leaving in 1938 to travel to Princetown in the USA to study for his PhD. Although his work in decoding German ciphers is said to have shortened the Second World War by two years the blue plaque celebrating his life and connection with King College is placed so high on the wall it is difficult to read without the aid of a step ladder. Dilly Knox, responsible for decoding the Zimmerman telegram that helped bring the USA into the First World War and for helping set up Bletchley Park also graduated from Kings College.
Alan Turing’s Blue Plaque at Kings College
Alan Turing’s Blue Plaque.
Trinity College
Trinity College Great Gate Henry the eighth’s sword replaced with a chair leg
After Kings College we moved onto Trinity College, I know we had a look down the Senate House Passage but can’t recall now, quite how we arrived outside the gate of Trinity College.
An early cryptographer who worked for Walsingham and studied at Trinity was Thomas Phelippes responsible for deciphering the code used in the Babington Plot, used to convict Mary Queen of Scots and secure her execution. Trinity and Trinity Hall were where the Cambridge five studied, all were members of a group known as the Apostles.
Gordon Welchman, also studied here, he is credited with discovering the concept of traffic analysis which proved crucial particularly during the early part of the Second World War before the German Codes could be effectively deciphered. The method was also said to have helped track down Bin Laden.
Cambridge University Bookshop
Close up of the plaque.
We returned to Kings Parade and Great St Mary’s Church to end the tour with Sophie mentioning that although members of the Cambridge Five were disgraced and living in exile they were still receiving books and gifts from friends in Cambridge, with Sophie stopping outside the University Bookshop on our way back to mention this. We all enjoyed the tour and our guide was excellent, thank you, Sophie.
A locked room and an unresponsive guest in Dorothy Little’s, Tulip Cottage prompts Dorothy to ask her neighbours, Dr. Laurel Nightingale and Albert for help. Later the same day a famous crime author Hugh Quintrell, consults Laurel to help cure his writer’s block. However, the professional relationship he wants with Laurel is not as client and therapist but a collaborative one to solve the crime discovered at Tulip Cottage.
Elderwick, Laurel’s new home has seen a number of murders since her arrival from Somerset a few months earlier, prompting her thoughts that she may be the catalyst. Reluctantly at first together with her friends Albert and Maggie, she sets out to unravel this new mystery.
Elderwick is an ideal village with the Plump Tart Village Bakery, The Snooty Fox Pub and of course the centre of much of the cognitive action, The Pleasant Pheasant tea room. The pictures formed in the mind’s eye are something I particularly enjoyed.
With numerous twists and turns to keep me on my toes, I raced through the book very quickly. I found it an enjoyable read, more please Ms Gray.
The Master’s lodge of Downing College Cambridge, was the impressive venue for the launch of Alison Bruce’s latest book, Because She Looked Away. The launch was organised by Richard and Jon of Bodies in The Bookshop, Cambridge’s specialist crime bookshop. I was fortunate to be invited. There was a long queue of those attending to buy their signed copy.
The Master’s Lodge Downing College from the garden.
This book introduces us to a new hero, Detective Sergeant Veronica (Ronnie) Blake. Ronnie’s childhood was traumatic and so are the events that prompt her move to Cambridge. She moves in to live with her half brother, Alex and their orphaned nephew, Noah.
Ronnie joins a small team of detectives, known as the DEAD Team, at Cambridge’s Parkside police station. The unit which is under threat of disbandment, is unable to solve an outstanding unsolved case, Operation Byron. Then a list of three names is passed to the group anonymously, one of the names is that of Ronnie’s sister Jodie. With a fresh pair of eyes Ronnie, with the help of a fellow newcomer to the team Malachi, is able to help the DEAD team start to make progress with this complex enquiry.
This is an intriguing who done it, a crime novel which kept me reading at every opportunity I had. It is easy to understand why Richard, of Bodies in The Bookshop stayed up until 3.30am to finish reading it.
The all-important book signing (photo credit Alison Bruce}
I have enjoyed every book of Alison Bruce’s I have read, Because She Looked Away, is the best yet. I thought it was impossible for her writing to get any better, how do you improve on perfection? Somehow she has managed it. I’m looking forward to the next Ronnie Blake book in the series.
I have joined Cambridge University Library’s Really Popular Book Club, The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, was September’s chosen book. Unfortunately, I won’t be able to attend the Zoom meeting to discuss it. I have an unexpected journey to undertake at the same time the meeting is due to happen.
The story starts when Harold Fry receives a letter sent on behalf of a former work colleague, Queenie Hennessy. Harold hasn’t heard from Queenie in twenty years, the letter is from a hospice in Berwick on Tweed. The letter written on Queenie’s behalf, informs Harold that Queenie is suffering from terminal cancer and has very little time left. Harold writes a reply and sets out to post the letter he hesitates at the post box and then at the next one. He decides instead to walk to Berwick on Tweed to see Queenie in person.
Harold’s journey is a remarkable one, not only for the people he meets on the way some of whom and a dog walk with him but also as an examination of his past, his personality, relationships and regrets. The walk north from Kingsbridge in Devon, without preparation, proper hiking equipment a map or compass, is physically arduous, as Harold discovers. Yachting shoes are not ideally suited for a long hike, in all weathers. It was a companion walking with Harold that coined the title The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry
As Harold walks, the back story of his life, his marriage to Maureen, his childhood and his relationship with his son David, is slowly revealed. We are drawn into an emotional journey as Harold reflects on these things. It is as much a journey of self discovery for Harold as a physical journey. For myself as the reader I found it incredibly moving and like all really good books The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, will inhabit my thinking for a long time.
Laurel’s first day in her new home, wasn’t exactly ideal. The sudden death of a yet to be acquainted with neighbour can be unsettling, even for someone with Laurel’s experience. Her career had been in end of life care. As the story moves on Laurel begins to question her choice of Elderwick for her new home. However, despite the machinations of a property developer and a pocketed councillor, intent on contentiously bringing new homes and a leisure facility to the village, there are the redeeming features of an excellent village bakery, The Plump Tart, The Pleasant Pheasant Cafe and the Snooty Fox, the village pub.
It isn’t long before murders blight the ideal appearance of the village, whose history has also been darkened by that of the area’s leading family, the Hartfields, owners of Elderwick Hall, the site of the new development. Marcus Hartfield the present occupant of Elderwick Hall is the development’s prime mover.
The story is inhabited by a variety of interesting, colourful, characters both human and animal. A Little Bird Told Me, realistically details the conflicts and friendships within a small village community. However, at its core this is a crime story albeit a cosy one. The revelation at the book’s end is surprising which is as it should be.
For me it was a quick but absorbing read, well done, Ms Gray.
I am interested in Crime fiction as both a reader and writer. When I saw the exhibition, Murder by the Book at Cambridge University Library advertised, I decided to visit. The guided bus from St Ives seemed the best option for travelling to Cambridge, it was just a question of timing my journey to be late enough to use my bus pass but early enough to arrive in time for the 11 am pre-booked slot.
My route on foot, from the Round Church bus stop, planned mainly courtesy of Google maps started in St, John’s Street, which led into Trinity street followed by a left turn into Trinity Lane. A little way along Trinity Lane a right turn took me into Garret Hostel Lane the lane narrowed as it approached the Garret Hostel Bridge over the river Cam, Trinity Hall’s Jerwick Library sits more or less on the bridge on the left. Punts were moving along the river tour guides working the poles as they pointed out places of interest on the banks, to their passengers.
Guided punt tours.
The bridge heralded a change the walk was no longer flanked by buildings but after the bridge the lane was tree lined.
Garret Hostel Lane after the bridge
At the end of Garret Hostel Lane, the route took me across Queen’s Road into Burrell’s Walk. Before long I was at the gateway gazing at the imposing University Library Building and facing it to my left was Clare College.
It is difficult to show the size of the library building, if I remember correctly this tower houses the crime fiction collection. If that is the case, somewhere within lurks Arnold Lane, Marvin and of course Sylvia.
The entrance to the library
Once I was through the imposing entrance I made my way to the exhibition. The first thing I noted was a quote by PD James, one of many of hers within the collection.
P.D. James telling it like it is
The exhibition started with a chronological history of crime fiction with copies of some of the very earliest works Wilkie Collins The Lady in White and an even earlier work whose title I didn’t note.
Unsurprisingly Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes books featured prominently in early British crime writing. Slightly later came Dorothy L Sayers and of course Agatha Christie. On display were several exhibits relating to Agatha Christie, her Dictaphone which came into use when she broke her arm and her portable typewriter. However, the items relating to Agatha Christie which held most interest for me were her notebooks, a separate one for each book it seemed. That is one idea I might borrow.
Agatha Christie’s dictaphone.
I took a leisurely stroll around part 1 of the exhibition, many of the authors were familiar to me PD James, Dorothy L Sayers, Sir Athur Conan Doyle and of course, Agatha Christie but there were others unknown to me including, Martin Blake, Ellen Wilkinson, Cyril Hare, Nicholas Blake and Celia Fremlin.
Another P.D. James quote and totally accurate.
Further along were some more contemporary authors H R Keating, Ian Rankin, Ruth Rendell, Lynda La Plante and Marjory Allingham. I looked for books by Raymond Chandler but didn’t see any of his displayed, although he was based, as was his writing in America, he was an Englishman.
More contemporary crime fiction.
Having completed the circuit of part 1, I stowed my bag in the locker room and made my way upstairs to the gallery and the other parts of the exhibition to find books by authors I had met. For me, Alison Bruce’s D C Gary Goodhew, could well fit the bill as Cambridge’s iconic detective, a possible answer to Oxford’s Morse but he wasn’t elevated to this position by the powers that be. However Cambridge Blue had a well deserved prominent position as did books by Sophie Hannah and Ellie Griffiths two other authors I have had the pleasure of meeting.
On the first floor part 2 of the exhibition.
When I had seen all the exhibits I sought refreshment in the café situated on the first floor at the end of the gallery. The mistake I made was not bringing my tablet computer in with me in a clear bag I like the quiet of libraries to write in and with generous-sized desks or even in the café, this quiet place would have been ideal. However, on this occasion as I hadn’t used the clear bag for my laptop it would have to be the Central Library.
An ideal place to write.
This picture of just one of many corridors leading off in different directions and on several floors gives a glimpse of the size of the building.
I retraced my steps to Trinity Street and then made my way through the city to the Central Library, on my way along Kings Parade I came across students, well graduates now, in white trimmed black gowns together with their families emerging from a graduation ceremony. It was I am sure a proud moment for all those concerned.
A graduation, one of many in Cambridge during the summer a moment of pride for all concerned.
All in all, after a short stint of writing at the Central Library and the return trip on the guided bus, it was a great day out.
A little while back I attended an event at Niche Comics Bookshop in Huntingdon, (yes I do visit it often, they are nice people and as I lived in Huntingdon until I got married I know the area). At the event in question, a book launch, Rosie Andrews’s, Puzzle Wood, I bought The Twyford Code by Janice Hallett, however, a mystery shelf with books gift wrapped and a brief description attached attracted my attention, (Blind Date with a Book.)
What was inside.
Tenpted I parted with my five pounds, it was an absolute bargain, because there was a five pound book token wrapped in the packaging, in effect, to celebrate Independent Book Shop Week, it was a book for free.
I waited until the next morning before unwrapping my purchase. The book inside was A Shot in the Dark by Lynne Truss. I have now finished reading the book and loved it.
A Shot in the Dark by Lynne Truss
The book is written about and set in 1950s Brighton, at around and following the time of Graham Green’s Brighton Rock, of which it alludes. Newly graduated, Constable Twitten finds himself at Brighton Police Station. Twitten has been moved from police force to police force on an almost daily basis since qualifying. It soon becomes apparent that Twitten’s keen, insightful approach to policing and crime solving is an irritant to his superior officers which has seen him quickly moved on elsewhere.
Having arrived at Brighton police station then left unsupervised, Twitten leafs through recent crime reports and quickly discovers a pattern in a spate of local burglaries. When he is imprudent enough to share his thoughts with his boss, Inspector Steine, it upsets the inspector creating the possibility that Twitten will be moved on yet again. Since Steine’s famous triumph in the case of the Middle Street Massacre, he holds the opinion that there is no crime in Brighton and isn’t keen to have this view challenged, particularly by Twitten.
A Shot in the Dark, although violent, set as it is in the era of Teddy Boys and serious criminality; its approach is completely off the wall. The activities of a criminal mastermind are well hidden as is the mastermind’s identity. However, when Twitten thinks he has put all the pieces of the jigsaw together his problems are not over. Lynne Truss has assembled a colourful cast of characters including a clever charwoman, a bricklaying strong woman, a Phrenologist and other interesting characters; the story is entertaining and engaging. I’m glad I tried this blind date..
I had read only one other crime novel featuring a black hero, Reginald Hill’s, Blood Sympathy. As far as I can tell Reginald Hill was white. Blood Sympathy is set in Hill’s version of Luton England and was first published in 1985, Devil in a Blue Dress, 1990. Blood Sympathy’s, Joe Six Smith and Devil in a Blue Dress’s, Easy Rawlins have both lost their jobs forcing career changes onto them. Similarities end there.
Walter Mosley is a year younger than me, neither of us, at 72 and 73 years old respectively, were alive in 1948. Mr Mosley no doubt had family to tell him how things were then. From what I am told by friends who have visited the States more recently, the attitudes and prejudices mentioned within Devil in a Blue Dress haven’t changed much and certainly haven’t gone away.
The author has no doubt had his thinking about Los Angeles, at the time of the book coloured by contemporary literature and films made in that period. In terms of American detective crime fiction Raymond Chandler is probably a go-to point of reference, both in time and location. That most of Chandler’s novels have been made into films, with Playback the only exception, reinforces this view.
Devil in a Blue Dress, is written in the first person, that of Ezekiel Rawlins, “Easy” Rawlins, the hero. Recently unemployed, war veteran, Easy is engaged to search for a white woman Daphne Monet, who is known to frequent the coloured jazz clubs and bars of Los Angeles. Easy’s, employer, Dewitt Albright, a white man is introduced to Easy by his bar owner friend and ex boxer, Joppy.
In 1948 as many places were segregated and Albright feels he can’t search for Daphne himself, because of this colour bar existing at the time. Easy knows the places where Daphne might be found, is familiar with the people who frequent them and is of course the right skin colour to visit these places without a problem. Devil in a Blue Dress shares characteristics of US detective fiction of the period but the perspective from someone of black ethnicity is different. The body count is high, the plot is interesting the ending, unpredictable.
I thought Devil in a Blue Dress was an excellent read and I really enjoyed it.
From left to right Guy Makey, Rosie Andrews and Angela Makey (photo credit Niche Comics)
Cathy Cade and I recently attended an event at Huntingdon’s, Niche Comics Bookshop as part of the celebrations for Independent Bookshop week. I wasn’t intending to buy any books so of course I came away with two.
The Bookshop is a seventeenth building with all the quirkiness and eccentricities of something that old, the low height of the doorway into the garden is a particular problem for unwary people taller than about four foot eight.
It was in the garden that we were introduced to Rosie Andrews launching her new book The Puzzle Wood. Rosie had started life in Liverpool a child in a very large family, the third of twelve children. After she graduated from Cambridge University with a history degree, Rosie became an English teacher. Her first book The Leviathan was a best seller.
Rosie Andrews signing books in the garden.(photo credit Niche Comics)
During the question and answer session Rosie mentioned that she had been a member of a writing group near St Ives, it was there she met local author Alison Bruce, a smashing lady not only connected to Niche Comics but also someone I have met on several occasions.
My first purchase of the evening
The mystery £5 package
And this is what was inside
With wine, tea and homemade cakes on offer, not to mention cracking deals on books it was a really wonderful evening. Thank you Angela, Adam and Guy.
The Janus Stone was the purchase I made at Elly Griffiths book launch at Manea Village Hall, hosted by Niche Comics Bookshop.
Ruth Galloway’s second outing sees her conducting an archaeological survey before new flats are built on the site of a soon to be demolished Victorian house in Norwich. The house had been at one time a family home and during the 1950s a Catholic children’s home. Two children went missing from the children’s home and were never found. However, it is when a headless child’s skeleton is discovered that a murder investigation ensues; DCI Harry Nelson leads the enquiry. Ruth works with Harry to uncover the history of the skeleton and solve the events leading to the death of the child. The enquiry delves into the mystery of the missing children and the history of the soon to be demolished house.
However Ruth has problems of her own these problems complicate her relationship with Harry and exposes her to feelings about herself she hadn’t previously known. The complicated relationship between Ruth, Harry, Ruth’s colleagues and friends provides an interesting twisty plot. The story is set in Norwich and in the North Norfolk coastal salt marshes. I was engaged from start to finish, I really enjoyed this book.
I didn’t find out about this event organised by indiebookfair.com until it was too late to hire a stand for our Whittlesey Wordsmith’s writing group. However I thought it would be a good plan to visit and see what the event had to offer. I had no intention at all to buy books, I have according to my lovely wife, more than enough as it is.
Indie authors are those that often self publish their own books either individually or cooperatively with other authors. It is a great community and they, like all the authors I have met are encouraging and supportive.
A bit of a lull so I could get a photo
The hall was nicely laid out and there certainly wasn’t any space for more stalls, it was fully booked. The public seemed to like it too it was getting quite crowded as I walked around. It was a really interesting event and a chance to amble round and meet other local authors. The exhibitors catered for just about every genre, from children’s stories, to puzzle books for elderly dementia sufferers and just about any subject in between.
Even the stage was used
Browsing
A particular highlight for me was meeting Carol Carman; Carol had been the sound engineer for Dennis of Grunty Fen’s, broadcast on Radio Cambridgeshire, working with the late Pete Sayers, (Dennis) and Christopher South. The programmes, were broadcast on Radio Cambridgeshire every Sunday morning, they were what the wireless was made for. Christopher South would interview Dennis learning more about the wild world and community that is Grunty Fen. Christopher South has written four books about this intriguing community. I bought number 3 in the series from Carol.
Carol Carman with her books and those from Grunty Fen.
Close to Carol’s stall was a remarkably dressed lady M T McGuire a science fiction author, one of the panellists on the author panels I attended later in the day I didn’t catch her forename, which I know isn’t M..
M T McGuire
Niche Comics Bookshop had a stall in one corner with Angela presiding and Gill Ashby, author of the Bright Old Sparks Books in attendance.
Gill Ashby, author of Bright Old Sparks on the Niche Comics Book Shop stand.
It was great wandering around chatting to the authors and despite my resolve not to buy any books I came away with 3 in total.
Gonville and Caius College looking from Kings Parade
When I was about eleven or twelve my cousin Richard and I ventured into Cambridge on our own. The purpose of this first excursion was to buy a Meccano clockwork motor,. We boarded the double decker 151 bus at Huntingdon and set forth for a day of adventure. On that first trip we left the bus at Drummer Street before walking first to the toyshop in Mill Road. I can remember us returning via the fish and chip shop in King Street before the bus station in Drummer Street. I can’t remember anything else about the day, other that it was an enjoyable experience, it was after all, sixty years ago.
Over the next few years we would repeat the visits to this nearby city, as we grew older, it would be evening trips to the cinema or to perhaps a dance. Then we met the girls we married and the trips stopped.
The Great Gate at Gonville and Caius College Cambridge
Erlier in the month on a Friday Richard and I visited Cambridge together again, catching the Guided bus from St Ives Park and Ride.After walking from the bus station it was into Wetherspoons in Andrew Street for a quick bite to eat and a cuppa. I was writing a short piece about Gonville and Caius College and wanted some photos, so that was our next port of call. Richard had been a regular visitor to Cambridge when he was working and knows a lot more about the colleges than I do. He worked for a company hiring access platforms so would be lifting stone masons and builders often to roof level to work.
We ambled along Trinity Street then St John’s Street to the junction with Sidney Street at the Round Church. Just past Sidney Sussex College a right turn took us into Green Street and the short walk back to Trinity Street, then along Kings Parade. Since I used a photograph of The Grasshopper Clock on the cover of Killing Time in Cambridge I like to keep an eye on it. We had a good look at the Grasshopper Clock at Corpus Christi College, before making our way towards the Guildhall via Benet Street.
Corpus Christi Grasshopper Clock Cambridge
It is good to see that Rosalind Franklin’s name and a few others have been added to the blue plaque on the wall of the Eagle pub commemorating the discovery of DNA.
The New Blue Plaque at the historic Eagle Pub
The History of the Eagle
Near the Guildhall, a very curious looking statue took our eye I had noticed it before but had only given it a cursory glance. It was difficult to make out what or who it was of, I found out later after google research that the statue in Guildhall Street was of Talos by Michael Ayton. Talos was a legendary man of bronze, guardian of Minoan Crete.
Statue of Talos Guildhall Street Cambridge.
Our next destination was Norwich Street, where one of our great grandfathers had lived in 1921, it was a fair walk for two old men. On the corner of Norwich Street and Hills Road is the controversial Statue of Prince Philip, as bad as it is thought to be, it is probably slightly more lifelike than the statue of Talos.
The soon to be gone statue of the late Prince Philip
We looked at the House where Great Granddad lived then made our way via Francis Passage and Bateman Street back to Hills Road, the bus back into town saved our legs. After a coffee it was back to Drummer Street and a stroll in Christ’s Pieces, before boarding the bus back to St. Ives.
We had a great day out in Cambridge and a trip we intend to repeat in the future.
I am, as I am sure regular readers of my blog know, a Peter Lovesey fan. I am not sure if I have read all of Lovesey’s Peter Diamond books but if I haven’t, there can’t be many I’ve missed. The focus of this story is a half marathon race, ‘The Other Half’, which takes place in and around the city of Bath. Maeve Kelly’s accident with a Toby Jug prompts a series of events leading up to and intertwined with the race.
However, it is the disappearance of another female runner during the race that starts Peter Diamond’s hunt for initially her, in Bath’s underground quarries and then for a murderer. The plot is multilayered the setting in Bath as in most of Lovesey’s novels fascinating. I seem to learn something new about the city every time I read another of his books; if Mr Lovesey doesn’t help Bath with tourism then I would be very surprised.
The story involves modern slavery, people trafficking and a wealthy Russian couple, it is full of the unexpected, with twists and turns until the final conclusion reveals the remaining answers to the reader.
Sometimes I find I need to read a little of a book to find its rhythm, usually once found, the read becomes easy and the book becomes a real pleasure, this was the case for me with Death at the Auction.
The story is set in the Georgian town of Stamford, the action starts in the sales room of one of its auctioneers.
Grant’s, is a family-owned business; Felicia Grant is the unfortunate auctioneer confronted with the last-minute addition to the auction, the lot of a cupboard. However, it is the cupboard’s contents which start the search for a murderer.
Felicia finds herself drawn into the investigation. Initially she is at odds with the local police in the shape of Detective Sergeant Pettifer and Detective Inspector Heavenly but as the body count increases she eventually finds herself collaborating with them.
Stamford is somewhere local and to a degree familiar, a place I keep meaning to visit more often and for longer. It is an ideal setting for this book.
The story is well crafted and an excellent who dunnit, the outcome is unpredictable.
Elly Griffiths at Manea signing my copy of the Jason Stone.
I was a little surprised to discover that best-selling author Elly Griffiths was visiting the small nearby Fenland Village of Manea as part of her book launching tour for, ‘The Last Word’.
Norwich Cathedral was the next stop later in the day.
My first surprise on arrival at the venue was a very full car park behind the hall, it was a good sign. I had a struggle to find a parking space. After taking the last vacant chair in the hall, reserving it with my coat I bought a copy of The Jason Stone, the second in the Ruth Galloway series, Crossing Places is the first.
Niche Comics Bookshop in Huntingdon and David Learner had organised the event, Angela and Guy Makey of Niche Comics, were there, they are smashing people.
The hall was packed with enthusiastic Elly Griffiths fans. David Learner introduced Elly and asked the questions her fans wanted to hear answers to.
Elly introduced, The Last Word, her thirtieth book before reading a short tantalising extract from it. Afterwards she spoke more generally about her writing, mentioning that Elly Griffiths is not her real name but the pen name. Domenica de Rosa, her real name was deemed too far-fetched by her publishers to be used as the author. There were a lot of questions from the audience, the ones David hadn’t asked. Druids, Sea Henge, Flag Fen and Dendo Cronology were discussed in connection with The Crossing Places, the first Ruth Galloway novel.
A long queue formed for the book signing after the very interesting talk by Elly, I managed to get pole position and The Jason Stone signed. I had mentioned that I had written a book featuring time travel, she had let slip her new series would feature time travel. She signed my copy, to a fellow time traveller.
Angela Makey had made a cake it was delicious.
David Learner hoped that events like this one would put Manea on the map, I hope it does and look forward to more book tours.
While building a snowman with her two children, Harriet Smith finds the body of a man in a snow filled ditch near her isolated cottage. To be precise it was Barnie the family dog who found it.
What follows is the hunt for the identity of the body, why and how it came to be where it was found. In a way the story resembles peeling an onion as each layer is removed another lurks beneath it. Peeling this onion to reveal a murder are Detective Inspector Samantha Freeman and Detective Sergeant Jenny Newcombe.
The plot twists and turns, complicated by not only family jealousies, deceit, abuse and violence but the problem of juvenile delinquents.
The characters are well drawn the scenes well described, I read this book quickly, a real page turner. I found it to be an unusual and enjoyable read.
May Morrigan lives in her large Blackheath Home with her very elderly mother (Minty) and friend Fletcher, also known as Barbara Bouvier, the other two members of the household are May’s two miniature dachshunds, Bess and George. That is the straightforward part of the book.
The story starts at May’s bookshop when a mysterious text message appears on the phones of everyone in the bookshop. The action is non-stop from that point forward, weaving in and out of unconvential lifestyles and relationships.
Murders follow the receipt of cryptic text messages, which prompts May and her friends to try to track down the murderer.
The scenes are wonderfully set and the descriptions paint vivid pictures of the action. The characters particularly the lusty Minty are interesting and far from run of the mill.
This is the most unusual, funniest book I have read in a long time and one of the most enjoyable ever.
I am not normally tempted by historical novels; those more historical than the 1930s, that is but it was the promise of a murder mystery that swung the balance. The story is set in the early eighteenth century West Country and mainly in Bristol.
Miss Coronation Amesbury leaves her village in Wiltshire to seek her fortune in Bristol. The coach journey alone in atrocious weather is an adventure in its self. Her arrival in this bustling port city following a difficult overnight stay in Bath is not an easy one for her and a great shock after village life.
The recent horrendous murder of several young boys haunts Bristol. We follow Coronation as she looks for work in what she hopes will be her new home and her search for the perpetrator of these horrendous crimes.
The time, place and the events are beautifully painted we can see it all in our minds eye, a warts and all view of a bustling Bristol with its busy port during the era of slave trading. The story is well told and I found myself neglecting important tasks to finish the book, I struggled to put it down until I read those two final words, “The End”.
I along with two of my fellow Whittlesey Wordsmiths, Cathy Cade and Wendy Fletcher, were priveleged to have short stories published on Marsha’s blog. She has now collected short stories first shown on her blog and published them in a book which is available as a paperback and on Kindle.
Fiction relaxes and stimulates intelligent, busy people, as social media and games can’t. A professional commuting to work or waiting for the next meeting is too busy to read a long novel, but they might be looking for the next book for an after-hour reading.
Each story in the new book, Story Chat: Online Literary Conversations: Series of Short Stories and Ruminations, takes three to five minutes to read, making it the perfect book for well-educated readers who love reading fiction in short spurts. Some of the authors are just getting their literary feet wet, but many of the Story Chat authors already have published longer novels.
“Daily, we miss out on a valuable 24 minutes waiting on other people.” Patricia Murphy Irish Independent.
Everyone browses on their phone, but according to one life coach, reading is an effective way to use those minutes. Bookstores at airports, near subways, and offices where people wait carry a myriad of reading choices. Why should an intelligent reader choose Story Chat: Online Literary Conversations over a magazine or a novel?
My colleague Carmen called her quick fiction “mind candy.” Her “mind candy” came out during breaks between presentations, when she traveled, or when she needed to rest her brain.
Anthologies like this one introduce book consumers like Carmen to many authors quickly. Each story entertains yet has a deeper vein for the perceptive reader. At the end of each story are three or four quotes from previous online readers.
Online readers had this to say about Story Chat: Online Literary Conversations.
“I loved not only reading brand-new stories, but the interaction between readers was also great.”
“There was an excellent mixture of genres.”
“The balance is perfect. There is a good mixture of male and female writers from all over the world.
Story Chat stories were first published on AlwaysWrite.blog. They covered working and retired adults’ topics like dealing with dementia, bullying, nursing home care, social services, PSTD, surviving as an x-con, changing jobs, single parenting, and finding romance. Most of the stories have surprise or open endings. Some stories are realistic, while others mix in paranormal.
The first readers of these stories online were writers, social workers, librarians, lawyers, psychologists, professors, and teachers who each wrote an in-depth analysis of each short story in the comment section. The author and readers bantered back and forth online like they were sitting together in a book club host’s living room, enjoying their favorite beverage and snack. Each author left with new knowledge and a Mona Lisa smile.
Marsha Ingrao
Story Chat: Online Literary Conversations: a Series of Short Stories and Ruminations is Marsha Ingrao’s first experience as a contributing editor. Previous works include a chapter in This Is How We Grow (2023) by Yvette Prior, Images of America: Woodlake, published by Arcadia Publishing (August 13, 2015), available on Amazon. She has had a blog since 2012 with over 1,600 posts. In addition, Ingrao has had numerous poems and articles published during her twenty-five-year career as a teacher and educational consultant.
I usually get to see my brother most weekends, one Sunday he suggested we visit the SOE Barn at Tempsford.
I had been aware of the Special Operations Executive (S. O. E.) for a long while, initially from memory, by reading about the British secret services during World War Two. Until I attended a lecture as part of a Huntingdonshire History Festival in 2019 from memory, I was unaware of the very local connection to my home town Huntingdon.
The SOE had a base in Godmanchester, Farm Hall, where SOE agents were trained and housed until they were taken to Tempsford Aerodrome near Saint Neots. From Tempsford they were flown to Europe at night either to be dropped by parachute or landed in Lysander aircraft covertly. Once in Europe behind enemy lines they would undertake sabotage missions to destroy infrastructure or carry out espionage.
It was dangerous work and casualty rates were high not just among the SOE personnel but also among the airman delivering and collecting them.
I suppose that as the work of the SOE was clandestine and shrouded in secrecy it should have come as no surprise that the SOE Barn would be less than easy to find. My brother typed the Post Code into his sat nav and we started the journey from his home nearby. There were no helpful signs giving any clue as to its position before we fetched up in the village of Tempsford. A look around the village revealed no helpful signs either. The first people we asked were not local luckily a man walking his dog knew of the barn and gave us instructions on how to find it back the way we came, a pull in off the road before the railway crossing a sort of semi layby.
We passed through a metal gate and walked along a concrete path that could have been part of the perimeter track of the old aerodrome, after walking for some time with no sight of the barn it seemed that this wasn’t the way after all. We were on the point of turning back to retrace our steps when a young couple approached from behind we waited for them and asked if they knew where the barn was and for directions. They told us the path was the correct one and offered to show us where the barn was, an offer eagerly accepted.
A simple memorial outside the barn. Planted next to an Oak tree it reads in memory of the Polish Servicemen in WW2
Inside the Barn
In remembrance
The Barn was a surprise with nothing on it to mark it out there was no door and you could walk straight in. There were a few trees in the grounds with memorial plaques. Inside much of the wall space at a lower level housed wreaths and photos commemorating some of those passing through here, many of them didn’t return. After spending some time reading the material on show and looking at the photos, we left walking the half mile back to the car.
A remembrance
A quiet, sobering place, a memorial of sorts, perhaps it could be better but possibly for the people who really matter, the relatives of those who passed through Tempsford, it is enough.
After the book’s shocking start, we share the events leading up to and following a life-changing experience.
Leora is one of a very unusual pair of twins, her childhood, teenage years and the life which follows is chronicled in detail. The story gives a vivid picture of Leora, her friends, loves and family, while exploring the relationships with and between them.
In part, this is a psychological thriller, a story with elements of the paranormal, exploring a controlling relationship and the ultimate destructiveness of jealousy. However, it is Leora and Ben’s enduring love for each other, which is at the very heart of this novel.
We have to wait to the very end to see how they move forward.
I was sorry to have missed an author event with Elly Griffiths in Huntingdon organised by Niche Comics Bookshop but it did put Elly’s name on my radar. With the name Elly Griffiths lodged firmly in what passes these days as my memory, I looked in the local library. Picking up a copy there of The Crossing Places, Elly Griffith’s first novel in the Dr. Ruth Calloway series.
Elly Griffith’s, Dr Ruth Calloway is a Forensic Archaeologist, and lecturer at the North Norfolk University. she is called in to help the police when bones of a young child are discovered buried in a salt marsh, close to Ruth’s home. The man requesting her assistance is Detective Chief Inspector Harry Nelson, a man trying to solve the mystery of a child who disappeared ten years earlier. The book is well written in as much as the characters are finely drawn and believable. The landscape and the locations are described with great skill.
However, the plot could be better. This is I understand Elly Griffiths first crime novel, I will try some of her others, to see if she has addressed, what was in my opinion a serious shortcoming.
This remarkable book is a real thriller, which gradually draws you into the life of Kate and the relationship she has with her husband. The troubled relationship with her parents and siblings during childhood also form part of the plot.
The story starts when Kate’s life gradually starts to disintegrate before her, a slow-motion train crash of events that turns her world upside down. As the reality of Kate’s situation starts to unfold, the search for the truth and answers to questions that emerge during that search, kept me reading. I was always spending more time reading than I had allocated myself for the activity, other projects and important jobs were put on hold until I had finished turning the pages. Yes, it is a good read, a damn good read, well it certainly was for me. Now to get the things done, I had neglected to finish reading this book.
Although over the years I have watched several episodes of Morse on TV, this is the first of Colin Dexter’s books, (Morse’s creator), I have actually read. This crime story was adapted for TV but with a different title The Secret of Bay 5 B and from my memory it varies quite a bit from the book (note to self re-watch the Secret of Bay 5B then compare and contrast).
For a start I found Dexter’s style a little tricky but once I had found the rhythm of his writing it was an easier read. Having seen the Morse programmes on television and John Thaw’s portrayal as the man himself the picture of Morse in our minds is John Thaw’s portrayal, as is Kevin Whately’s, Lewis. If I had read the books first the TV Morse might be an intruder but there isn’t enough of a description of the man evident in the book to contradict John Thaw.
The story is convoluted and a real puzzle, the action centres on a Fancy Dress New Year’s Party in the Haworth Hotel. The disguises worn by the guest’s in the form of their costumes complicates identification and the rapid departure of guests after the event and false identities are other obstacles thrown in the path of Morse and Lewis’s investigation.
It was a good read and an interesting one. I will seek out more of Dexter’s books to read and review.
The Lady in The Van, Angela Harris as Miss Shepherd. Photo credit Stamford Shakespeare Company
Our first encounter, my wife and I’s that is, with Tolethorpe Hall and the Stamford Shakespeare Company was in 2019, when my brother in law invited us to join his family outing to watch Blithe Spirit, my son had given me a ticket as a birthday present. It was an absolutely brilliant performance, with Angela Harris excelling in the role of Madam Arcarti. Since then we have made a point of making a yearly visit except when Covid intervened.
The Lady in the Van, is based on true events, Miss Shepherd drove her van into Alan Bennett’s life during 1974 remaining there within his garden for the next 15 years. Alan Bennett’s relationship with his guest, for want of a better word and Alan would no doubt have found one, was an uneasy one. He described Miss Shepherd as a “bigoted, blinkered, cantankerous, devious, unforgiving, self-centred, rank, rude, car mad cow.” The play extracts the humour from the situation, together with a profound sadness as Bennett tries to piece together the events that led to Miss Shepherd living as a tramp in a van.
The Two Alan Bennetts Steve Cunningham 2 Paul Beasley 1. Photo credit Stamford Shakespeare Company
The production was fantastic, Paul Beasley and Steve Cunningham excelled as the two versions of Alan Bennett, both had perfected Alan Bennett’s voice and I couldn’t distinguish any difference between them. Angela Harris played Miss Shepherd brilliantly. The rest of the cast were great too making it a fully satisfying performance.
Other outstanding features of the Stamford Shakespeare Companies productions at Tolethorpe, are apart from the excellent cast, costume design and professionalism of the whole team but also the fantastic set designs and construction. This year’s set was as impressive and innovative as ever.
The stage
It was a truly wonderful night out.
If you would like to see it for yourself here is the link:
Triggered by events beyond her control Emily’s life has been changed,. In a short space of time the certainty and the structure of her existence, as she knew it suffers devastating changes. She decides to start anew and in an attempt to get her life back on track moves to Wicken, a village some distance from her previous home. There Emily rents a flat in a converted mansion, hoping to be able to rebuild her life away from Cambridge and her previous life.
A close friendship with a new neighbour, Joanne and her two young children helps Emily to start moving on. The only dark cloud is Joanne’s relationship with Matt, a relationship that causes Emily great concern for her new friend and Joanne’s children.
The tension builds as we turn the pages and race towards the unexpected ending.
The book is well written the descriptions and emotions expressed are exceptionally crafted. While we read we inhabit Emily’s, mind seeing the world through her eyes, sharing her thoughts and feeling her tension.
I am a great fan of Alison Bruce and have enjoyed everything I have read of hers, I Did it For Us is no exception, it is a remarkably good book.
I have been writing short stories ever since joining the u3a and Whittlesey Wordsmiths, arguably Cambridgeshire’s most prolific and successful writing group. My first story was from memory, Tideline, the prompt was beside the sea, strangely enough, I found the prompt tricky. When I was about three or four I ran into the sea at Clacton, before either of my parents could stop me, a kind stranger saved me from drowning. Even now I can still see the water coming over my head and the distant shoreline. My youngest daughter would have been about the same age, at the time we were paddling at Heacham, I think. She was standing close by me, nearly within touching distance, when a wave appeared out of nowhere, knocked her flat and she was dragged away, the water was nearly up to my waist when I got to her and pulled her out of the water.
There is a real mixture of genres and topics George’s stories are pretty much in the adult spectrum, mine range through children’s to detective and mystery. Three Shadrack Bones mystries are included in this collection.
I will get the Kindle version sorted out in the next day or so but if you prefer a paper copy the link to Amazon is below if you don’t live locally. If you are anywhere near Whittlesey I should have copies in stock at a discounted price next week, just add a comment and I will get back to you.
We find Megan Youngblood living in a care home, it quickly becomes apparent that she is severely disabled, unable to speak and has very little physical movement. However, her sight, hearing, sense of smell and touch, as is her brain are in good working order.
As Megan lays immobile, isolated from family, at the mercy of her carers not all of who care, she recalls her life, her career as a concert pianist in her thoughts, recounting her life’s highs and the all too frequent lows. The recurring thread is her enduring love for her childhood sweetheart Gideon. Interspersed between episodes of her autobiography, are accounts of the care Megan receives and the all too frequent lack of it. The staff are overworked, poorly regarded, under resourced and in some cases cruel. As the story moves on we learn of the relationships Megan has formed, how they progress and some end, discovering also the train of events leading to her arrival in this unsatisfactory care home. We hope desperately that at some stage Megan will find a way out of these terrible circumstances she finds herself trapped in.
It is well written book, engaging and difficult to put down. I cannot say which genre it belongs to, it combines a love story, mystery and certainly a crime story, all skilfully intertwined.
I found it a brilliant read and stayed up late one night, well just into the next morning to finish it.
On the face of it, travelling to Cambridge on a rainy day would seem an unusual choice. Apart from visiting the street where one of my Great Grandfather’s lived at the time of the 1921 census (thanks to the help of a lady in the local u3a Genealogy group) I wanted to see how the city appeared in the rain, for purposes of research. Arnold Lane keeps nudging me hoping for a return and in response I have written a couple of tentative chapters.
How was Cambridge in the rain? Wet is the answer. I got off the bus at New Square rather than Drummer Street, thinking that Greggs would give me a bit of shelter. Hopefully, the rain would die down a little over a coffee and roll. Foolishly, I had left the umbrella in the car at St Ives; I remembered it once I was on the bus.
The rain was having none of it and carried on relentlessly after I left Greggs I crossed over to Wilkos and bought a cheap brolly. Even the threat of an umbrella didn’t stop the rain. Such is the nature of research, I had once driven from Cambridge to Heacham in the rain, recording it all on my dash cam for research, my wife thought I was mad, she still does.
I found the house in Norwich Street where Great Granddad had lived, took a look at the outside and set off back to the top of the road. There was a most unusual delivery van parked up further along the road, it had four wheels was pedal powered with an electric motor to assist. I had a chat with the driver; he said it was okay in windy weather particularly if it had a full load, which surprised me, it looked very lightweight and likely to catch the wind.
Pedal-powered deliveries in Cambridge
The bus around the corner in Hills Road, delivered me to Emmanuel Street; I had a short walk to the Grand Arcade and my next destination, the Central Library. There was an exhibition of life size animated dinosaur models in the arcade, I stopped and photographed them before spending an hour writing in the library.
Pterodactyl
More Dinosaurs
Benet Street, was next on the list to visit, I wanted a look at the damaged Grasshopper Chronophage at Corpus Christi College. It is a sad sight, to see this beautiful clock stilled and the grasshopper unable to munch through the minutes.
The damaged clock
Close up of the Grasshopper clock in happier times
It was time to return home so it was back to Drummer Street and to catch the bus back to St Ives. I was saddened by the damage to the clock whose picture occupies the cover of my novel, Killing Time in Cambridge. Hopefully, it can be repaired and the grasshopper put back to work, I know Arnold hopes so too.
A beautiful, black eyed, blond woman; walks into Philip Marlowe’s office and into his life. The blond, Mrs Clare Cavendish, daughter of a fabulously rich perfume maker, hires him to find a missing man, a man who is not her husband. Will he find this man, and what is this man’s connection to the woman looking for him? It is an intriguing story seeing Marlowe tangling with the rich, famous and the criminal underworld of Los Angeles, some of the characters fall into more than one category, some of them into all three.
As long as I can remember I have been a fan of Raymond Chandler and his hero Philip Marlowe. I don’t know if my first encounter with Marlowe was in a book, watching Humphrey Bogart play him in the Big Sleep on the silver screen or Chandler’s books dramatised on Radio 4, with Ed Bishop as Marlowe. Since then, Marlowe has lurked in my subconscious.
Chandler’s style is something I admire the one line descriptions are brilliant, the plots are tangled and interesting Philip Marlowe is always in the thick of the action, there is usually a fascinating woman involved, often a femme fatale.
Poodle Springs was partly written when Chandler died, it was finished by Robert B Parker, his completion of Poodle Springs is seamless Parker wrote some other Marlowe Novels I haven’t read any these yet but they are on my “To Be Read” list.
Parker and I are not the only people who think there is more in the tank where Marlowe is concerned. I have read one or two Marlowe books by other authors; I can’t say that any I had read were anywhere near as good as Chandler’s originals. That is until I read The Black Eyed Blond; Benjamin Black’s Marlowe is a damn good likeness to Chandler’s, even when stood next to him in the bright California sun.
We can’t visit the time when Marlowe walked the mean Streets or even those Streets themselves as they were then but they seem real in our imagination as we turn the pages, both in Chandler’s originals and in Black’s, Black Eyed Blond. I hope we see some more Philip Marlowe novels from Benjamin Black.
Oliver Cromwell, ‘warts and all’ painted by Samuel Cooper painted in 1656(public domain)
Oliver Cromwell is Huntingdon’s most famous son and has been voted England’s greatest man. However it is not until very recently that Huntingdon acknowledged him as a worthy citizen of the town.
It is said that it is the victors that write the history books and although Cromwell and the Puritans won the Civil War, establishing a republic for the first time in these islands, the restoration of the monarchy was ultimately a defeat. The Monarchists were the ultimate victors and until the nineteenth century Cromwell had been painted in various shades of black. It was only when historians took a more balanced view of the Civil War and Cromwell that; the acknowledgement of Cromwell’s achievements and his contribution to our parliamentary democracy became appreciated.
The restored monarchy in a very short space of time became the model offered to and rejected by Charles the first. Had he been less arrogant and accepted what was offered by Parliament, it would have saved many lives, his own included.
Back to Cromwell, he grew up and was educated in Huntingdon, he was for a time its Member of Parliament. He fell out with the town, when it became what was known as a Rotten Borough and moved to St Ives. From the time of the restoration until recently, Huntingdon wanted little to do with his memory.
All Saints Church
Huntingdon was in Cromwell’s time a much smaller place but then as now The Market Square is flanked on one side by All Saints Church; to the right of the church facing it from across the High Street is what was the Old Grammar School, now the Cromwell Museum. The building itself was rebuilt in the nineteenth century but where it stands is where Cromwell was educated. Opposite the museum is the Falcon Inn, the headquarters of the Parliamentary forces. Standing to the left of the Falcon and directly opposite All Saints Church is the Town Hall, in Cromwell’s time an earlier building stood on the same site.
The Old Grammar School now The Cromwell Museum
One of the signs
Such was the town’s antipathy to its favourite son that it dithered and delayed about erecting a statue of statue of the man, instead Cromwell’s statue was accepted by St Ives where it still stands.
Over the years various centenary celebrations of Cromwell were shunned by Huntingdon’s town council despite their popularity with the townsfolk and visitors but things have changed.
The Falcon
Bench and litter bin
Street furniture bearing a motif of his hat, a Roundhead helmet and his signature together with commemorative information signs are in place within the market place and the surrounding streets.
Tree seat
Outside the Town Hall
Oliver, as far as Huntingdon is concerned, it seems, has come in from the cold, at last.
I have been for as long as I can remember unconvinced about the value of the British monarchy, for me the institution had about it a great negativity. Why is the best choice for part of our government; the head of state, an accident of birth?
My view of the monarchy was and still is that it is a thoroughly rotten institution, I had however reserved judgement on the individuals that comprise the sprawling costly entity that is the royal family. They seemed to be more like a group of soap opera celebrities and as time has gone on with their seemingly petty squabbles, (the ones I am aware of that is,) making headline news, more so. As I paid little heed to the individuals concerned most of the mindless tittle tattle has passed me by.
Norman Baker forensically destroys not only the institution itself but the reputations of much of the large and sprawling monarchy. He highlights tax dodging, a scandalous waste of taxpayer funds, dishonesty and hypocrisy. The idea that a part of our government can hide its activities behind a wall of secrecy, denied to other branches of the government is in itself a scandal. The Royal Family’s connections with Hitler and the far right during the thirties is something we ought to know more about, a full disclosure would be useful.
The only Royal to come out unscathed from Normal Lamb’s book is Princess Anne, although the late Queen’s reputation hasn’t suffered too badly.
However, probably one of the most unsettling things in terms of our governance, highlighted by Baker, is the Royal Consent. We are led to believe that our constitutional monarch has no influence over what legislation is debated and the royal assent, a rubber stamping exercise is proof of that. What I was not aware of together with probably most of the British public, is that before any legislation is able to be debated, it first has to receive Royal Consent. This isn’t a rubber stamping exercise; the monarch has to approve any legislation to be debated.
Consent is and has been withheld, if things included in the proposed legislation are thought to be at odds with the interests of the monarchy. There are times when legislation has been sent back to be changed before it receives royal consent if at all.
This book is well researched and referenced. It is one I recommend everyone to read whether Republican or Monarchist.
I haven’t read many children’s books in the last twenty years or so, what was a near nightly experience for me when my children were small has long past. Often or not my children would be asleep before I finished reading the chapter or story, sometimes my children would have to wake me to finish reading to them.
Peter Kim is a shy elf living with his parents in their toadstool home in Glebe Wood; we follow Peter’s adventures as he explores the wood that is his home, meeting interesting characters and the friends he makes. These friends include fairies Bella and Flossie, Harry the Hedgehog and a number of other woodland creatures.
The pictures that accompany the text are beautifully drawn by a number of different artists including the author.
Children’s stories should entertain and ideally, subtly educate in the process, this book does this, it is well written, informative and entertaining, and the chapters are the right length for bedtime reading.
This is the first book in a planned series of seasonal adventures for Peter Kim with Summer, Autumn and Winter to come. These are treats to look forward to.
I had enjoyed the Guide to Grunty Fen also by Christopher South and thought more of the same would make a useful tonic for me. I was delighted to find a copy in Huntingdon’s wonderful Niche Comics and Books.
This who’s who is a definitive guide to the notable people that have made this overlooked but remarkable area of the Cambridgeshire fens what it is today. The biographies of these inhabitants and former inhabitants are informative, making for fascinating reading. It describes the sheer diversity of talent that has and still continues to occupy this close knit community.
Amongst others we learn of Ron Flash Gordon postman and Pyloneer, Daisy Dockeridge a notable Pharmacist, any number of remarkable clergymen, among them Emmanuel Partington Vosper-Jones. Vosper-Jones, installed a gingerbread house (originally a pantomime stage prop) as a confessional later following a nervous breakdown he left the clergy to become a tobacconist.
Other notables include, inventors, philosophers, parachute knitters, educationalists and an early equal rights activist Queenie Marsden
Every page is full of interesting facts that shed a light on the lives of those residing in this under discovered corner of Cambridgeshire. I am sure it won’t be long before the casual weekend tourist, anxious to see where Dennis lived and to learn more of this remarkable community,becomes inspired to buy the corrugated iron and reclaimed building materials needed to build their very own shed. Many of them will consider employing the famous Grunty Fen Architect Niven Parr to help with the design and construction.
For those seeking a simpler more sustainable but in many ways an unusual form of life Grunty Fen seems to have a lot to offer.
With an easy bicycle commute to Ely and access to the rail network those tired of city life could do worse than move to Grunty Fen
Jill who is estranged from her husband, has moved to a seaside town to run a mobile, beachside, vegetarian, snack bar.
She is caring for her young grandson, Jack but grieving for her son, Davey, Jack’s father. As Christmas nears; the anniversary of her son’s death, Jill struggles to cope with her conflicting emotions, trying to give Jack the best possible Christmas she can while dealing with the still rawness of her grief.
I am certain this story will stay with me for a very long time. It moved me in a way that surprised me. It is beautifully written, the characters are believable and well-drawn. The end is satisfying, living up to the title
The only other book that has affected me in the same way as A Gift Called Hope; is “The Catcher in the Rye” by J D Salinger.
That I remember so much of The Catcher in the Rye after reading it just once, fifty years ago, speaks volumes.
Like Catcher in the Rye, this story is about loss and the grief that accompanies the loss of a loved one.
Reaching an accommodation with loss is a bumpy road; this book describes that journey with tenderness and humanity.
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