July books

I read 7 books this month.

72. The Lost Luggage Porter- Andrew Martin.
I am an absolute sucker for finding historical whodunnits on a charity shop shelf- something about the font or spine means I am drawn to them.
This book took a while to get started and took me a while to warm to the chief protagonist, Jim Stringer.  The book is set in York and Jim Stringer is starting off his job as a steam detective for York station and he gets drawn into some nefarious happenings going on around the Railway station.  EVENTUALLY, the book became more exciting as Jim got involved with some thefts that were happening at the station but the murders that he seems curiously obsessed with and eventually solves, seem a little subsidiary to the book and I was surprised that this was Book 3 in the series- it didn't seem like he (Jim) knew what he was doing. I might read another if I see on on a shelf but I won't go out of my way to hunt them down.

73.  Mistletoe &Murder- Robin Stevens
Ah, this is more like it!  I adore the Murder Most Unladylike kids series of Whoddunits.  I borrowed this one from one of our year 6 girls.  Daisy and Hazel are going to spend Christmas in Cambridge with her great aunty and her brother.  To their delight, the boys from the Junior Pinkertons, Alexander and George are there too and when they feel like someone is trying to hurt a boy who is going to receive a huge inheritance in a few days, they decide to try and find out who it is- Detective Society against the Pinkertons. But then someone else is murdered!
It was great fun trying to work out who 'dun' it and it was all very ingenious! Lots of feminist issues in the 1930's came up too but in a subtle way- I always enjoy this series and this one didn't disappoint!

74.  Deeds of Darkness- Edward Marston.
Edward Marston is one of my most favourite Whodunnit writers. This is is series about the Home front detective Inspector Marmion, set during WW1.  This story is rather dark, involving a murderer who strangles a lady in the middle of a cinema-viewing of Charlie Chaplin and who audaciously commits other very public murders.  As always, there is a back plot of Marmion's daughter who is also a Police officer, who faces lots of stick as an early woman police officer and the anxieties of his son being over at the Somme.  Another captivating book with a very dark reason for murdering!

75. The Elephant's Tale- Lauren St John.
Every so often I discover an author who really delights me. Lauren St John is one of those!  This story is about a girl named Martine who lives on a nature reserve in South Africa. In this story, she discovers that when her Grandfather died, it seems he made a deal to pay some debts that means the Nature reserve will be given to a man he owed money if he died before repaying it.  It seems that there isn't much they can do. BUT, Martine is determined to help and together with her healing ability to talk to animals, after seeing a vision from Grace, her friend, it seems the answer to their problems lies in Namibia linked to an elephant named Angel who lives in their reserve. She and Ben find a way to seek the answers in the Namibian desert.
This was SUCH a beautiful heart-warming story which I really think would make children think about endangered species. I fully intend to recommend this to the children at school.

76. Magpie Murders- Anthony Horrowitz.
This is a story within a story!  We begin with an editor reading a proof of a final novel by an author Conway, who is writing is last book about Atticus Pund.  The first half of the book is the reading of that script. BUT, it seems like the book itself is part of a bigger mystery.  Without revealing too much, I did find this a good book to read if deeply unsatisfying at times- particularly the denouement which was frankly rushed and I was rather cross at it. But still, I enjoyed reading it.

77.  Howl's Moving Castle - Diane Wynne Jones
How is it that I only just read this brilliant story. I LOVE books set in fairytale/fairyland settings and this is a classic tale of a heroine who achieves more than she thought she could but in a very original way with very beguiling characters who you care about. Sophie Hatter is the oldest daughter in the land of Ingary and everyone knows that the Eldest Daughter never amounts to much.
She is accidentally put under a spell by the Witch of the waste lands and sets out to the castle of the Wizard Howl who is said to eat the hearts of girls.  She meets Califer a fire demon and an apprentice called Michael and somehow becomes part of Howl's life. She's not the only one under a spell though!
This was a deeply enjoyable book.

78.  The case of a murdered Muckraker
Yes, another whodunnit! I am nothing if not predictable! This is a book in the Daisy Dalrymple series- she is a journalist in the 1920's.  She is in New York whilst her husband advises the Bureau for INvestigation in Washington. Somehow, she witnesses a man falling down a lift shaft who she heard arguing in his room the night previously.  He is a reporter who has dished the dirt on a lot of influential people. She sees someone running from the scnee.  She decides to investigate.  I found this different from the other DD novels in that the solving of the murder is rather last minute and and a lot of the book is spent with pursuing individuals and the fact that Daisy actually sees the murder but doesn't know who the murderer is. That rendered it interesting for me because it was so different to the rest of the series so a pleasant change.   I am always fond of Daisy and her husband Alec so this gets a good rating from me.