In January, I read 6 books. Not a huge start for the year but somehow, life has been rather busy!
Let's hear about them then.
1. The Oaken Throne - The Deptford Histories Robin Jarvis
I've been working my way through the Deptford Mice books after purloining them from a charity bag from my little sister. These books, all about the history of the small creatures, mainly mice and squirrels, are prequels to the Deptford Mice series. These books are EPIC! Anyone who thinks a book about mice is going to be tame is wrong- these are full of death, bloodthirsty characters, treachery and evil. They are extremely gripping but for children's books, they are pretty brutal- so many important characters die!
In this book, we meet Ysabelle who is a squirrel of noble birth. The story begins with treachery in Greenwich- the old Starwife has been poisoned by a treacherous squirrel handmaiden who is plotting with their enemies, the Bats to overthrow the squirrels so she can take over as the new Starwife. But, the silver acorn which is worn by the Starwife is given by the dying ruler to a falcon who carries to far off to woods where Ysabelle catches it. Treachery ensues in this distant colony of squirrels and it seems the ancient Pagan religion of the Rathe Siddhe is rising again. Ysabelle, together with her original sworn enemy, a bat named Vesper end up travelling together to return the Acorn to Greenwich.
I was MOST distressed by the ending- forget sanitary endings for kids where everything ends well, for it doesn't! So much death and destruction but I really cared about the main characters. The story is very compelling. There is always a twist where someone evil is in disguise and did I mention the deaths? Very addictive but quite dark!
2. Off with his head - Ngaio Marsh
A triple bill of Whodunnits had me excited. The thing I enjoy a lot about Ngaio Marsh's books is that because theatre was very important to her life, music, dance and theatre play a big part in her stories- there are always actresses and actors in her stories.
This one was very interesting because the story involves a folk Dance and folk music. A German folk traditions fanatic travels to a village called Mardian where she is perusing a rare surviving folk and Pagan tradition still practised there. But the family of the Blacksmith who carry on the tradition will not allow her to see their rehearsals or talk. She soon upsets the family but she's not the only one with a problem with the Guiser, others have grudges to bear. At the annual performance of the play, the ending where the Guiser is supposed to rise after having his head 'chopped off' is not what it should as fails to rise again and is found with his head several feet away from him. Roderick Alleyn is called in to solve this impossible crime as no one in a full audience is seen to go near the victim in the performance.
This was both interesting in terms of the music and drama and intriguing. The method of crime and reason and how it is done is extremely clever. I did enjoy the revealing of this. I guessed 'whodunnit' and how but there were still surprises for me though! It's ingenious how Alleyn figures it out!
3. Singing in the Shrouds - Ngaio Marsh
In the second book, a small cruise ship is due to leave but a girl is strangled near the boat with flowers left on her breast and the murderer is heard to sing as he walks away. It seems only a member of the ship about to leave could be responsible as all of them were off the boat at that time.
A police officer finds the body and contacts Scotland yard but not before the ship has sailed! It seems that this murder is following the same method as the 'Flower Murderer' a recent murderer who leaves his strangle victims with flowers on their breast and who sings.
Roderick Alleyn joins the crew at Southampton in cognito as a member of the company to try and unmask the killer. But, he is worried- the killer kills every 10 days so he may strike again on the cruise if they cannot unmask them.
The book is full of repugnant characters, great caricatures and some very loveable characters (I loved the priest and the young Doctor) and some very strange events occur. The finding of the killer is again very clever and I actually got it wrong who the murderer was so well done Ngaio Marsh!
Very clever and fun!
4. False Scent - Ngaio Marsh
The last of my Ngaio Marsh trilogy. In this story, an actress (yep, there's one in every book) who is very, very demanding is celebrating a big birthday. But, she is extremely jealous of any success that doesn't involve her and is growing increasingly difficult and erratic. On the eve of her birthday, it seems she has accidentally killed herself by accidentally spraying 'Slay pest' insecticide in her face. But all is not as it seems- who has killed her?
Another one which I got wrong!!! This was intriguing and done in a different way to what I thought and I liked all the drama. It was clever the way Alleyn figured out whodunnit!
5. The Mystery of the Three Quarters - Sophie Hannah/Agatha Christie
Another book by Sophie Hannah written about Hercule Poirot. This was a most intriguing mystery! 4 separate people turn up angrily at Poirot's apartment berating him for sending them letters saying he could prove that they were guilty of killing Barnaby Pandy. Some of them are not sure who he is, others not! Poirot is mystified, since he didn't send the letters, but eager to vindicate himself. Who is Barnabus Pandy? The 4th person, it appears, knew him. But he died by accident by falling asleep in the bath. It seems the 4 accusees are totally unrelated apart from one. Poirot is determined to find out whether Pandy was indeed killed and by whom. Catchpole of Scotland Yard and Poirot set out to find who sent the letters and why. I honestly wasn't sure where this book was going and it had a very clever twist at the end. It did make me think of Agatha Christie's writing as she often wrote in new and intriguing ways- i.e. not a linear storyline. This was clever, intriguing, hugely enjoyable and unpredictable!
6. DK Eyewitness Guides: Insects
Last year, to my shame, I only read two non-fiction books and both were kiddie books. I thought I should try to read a few more this year and er, started with another kiddie book! The DK Book of Insects was one I liberated from my Father-in-Law's house when clearing out. I AM intrigued by insects- Louise always has such excellent knowledge of insects that I thought I'd like to know a bit more. This was a great format book- excellent photographs, diagrams with annotations and clear, friendly information to read. I learnt a lot about insects, their classification and distinguishing features. Nice and simple for the non-fiction disliker in me!
7. Dangerous to Know - Tasha Alexander
I found one of these books at the Book sale at the Langdon Hills Nature Reserve when we visited between Christmas and New Year. I very much enjoyed the previous books in the Lady Emily series. In this book, Lady Emily and her new husband, Colin Hargreaves have taken to France to his Mother's house to allow Emily to recuperate after her shooting in Constantinople and the subsequent loss of her baby. But, it is far from restful for Emily. She happens upon the dead body of a young woman who has been strangled and battered. The woman in question has been missing from a mental asylum for 6 months. How did she get there? Emily also is finding she and her new Mother in Law are not getting on. Emily starts to question her sanity as she hears and sees the crying of a young girl. Is she going mad? And who killed the young lady. I guessed who the murderer was but not why. The whole idea was rather preposterous but in a creepy and intriguing way! I do so love the relationship between Emily and Colin!
Have you read any of these books? Are there any that you'd like to?
xx
