Review of 'Even Dogs in the Wild' by Ian Rankin

Even Dogs in the Wild by Ian Rankin

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


An Ian Rankin novel is always worth reading. A new Rebus Rankin novel is a cause for celebration. 'Even Dogs in the Wild' is thought provoking and a grim reminder of the misuse of power.

Even though John Rebus is officially retired from the Edinburg police force he can't keep his nose out. When his old friend and colleague, now promoted to D.I.,Siobhan Clarke wants to pick his brains about a peculiar case he is happy to oblige. And soon they are involved with that old villain, Ger Cafferty, and a really complex puzzle. Criss-crossing their path is DI Malcolm Fox, Siobhan's pal, who is supposed to liaise with a Glasgow police force covert team but finds that he needs Rebus's wisdom too.

The plot twists are dizzying, the characters as 3D and 'real' as ever and the ending realistic yet satisfying. If you are not a fan start with earlier novels to get the fullest enjoyment, but this novel stands alone. Any reader who enjoys British police procedurals should really enjoy this one. It's a cracking good read.





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Review 'Coffin Road'

Coffin Road by Peter  May

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Peter May is a reliable good read. His books have pace, remarkably good plot twists, 3D characters and are not blood soaked and full of 4 letter words.

'Coffin Road' starts with a man scrambling half drowned out of the sea. He has no memory of who he is. It's a good start. The reader is hooked. Who is this man? We feel his frustrations as he seems to be able to do things and recognise things but has no idea of his own name and identity. Plot twists follow thick and fast. He turns the cottage upside down and seems to find who he is in a bundle of newspaper clippings in the attic. But when he checks up it is another false identity.

The plot is good, tight, with an important and contemporary theme. The writing is good plain English, intelligently written, and the story leaves readers with something worthwhile to think about.
I kook forward to reading more of Peter May's crime fiction and heartily recommend it as a good read.



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Review of 'The Secret Recipe for Second Chances'

The Secret Recipe for Second Chances by J.D. Barrett

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


A light-hearted amusing paranormal Australian love story. Definitely a fun read with a nice Ah! ending.

Lucy Muir has finally broken free of her cheating husband and is determined to start her own restaurant where she will be free to invent her own recipes and cook without her ex claiming the credits.
She is drawn to a closed restaurant which was the best in the city in the 80s.
What she doesn't know is that the ghost of the original chef is there and he's not going to let her get on in peace until she's helped him. Of course she falls in love with him. Read the rest yourself and have a gentle chuckle.

A pleasant read and good to find an Australian author with a sense of humour.



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The Malice of Waves by Mark Douglas-Home

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Hurray, number three in the series and another intelligent read. The author doesn't just write a murder mystery of the 'Here's a body, find the murderer' school, he looks at consequences, causes and effects. This makes for a more thoughtful read, a more complex plot and characters worth reading about.

Cal McGill is now more heavily involved with being a pure Sea Detective and finding bodies and he is employed to find the body of a teenager, Max Wheeler, who disappeared from a tiny uninhabited island 5 years earlier. This happened in the Outer Hebrides and again the islands are very much characters in the story. Mr Wheeler is obsessed with finding his son, his daughters suffer, and the island population is sick of being regarded as an evil bunch who prefer to hide a murderer rather than speak the truth. A lot of cause and effect and its consequences. The police are involved again and so Cal meets up with and works with D.S. Helen Jamieson. It's a complex plot and a good read.

Mark Douglas-Home writes well and his prose is lucid and a pleasure to read. Readers don't need to start with the first novel as each novel stands alone but it does really add to reading pleasure to see how some of the things which happen tie back to earlier stories. If you haven't tried this series and enjoy a different kind of mystery this is one not to miss.



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Book review 'Being Magdalene' by Fleur Beale

This is the third in a series about children and teenagers in a Fundamentalist Christian sect. Sounds grim? No, it is a well written, simply written book, yet Fleur Beale manages to convey the problems her MC faces without being over-dramatic, melodramatic or sensational. She is writing about the freedom to choose, but she never hammers the theme home, she just shows us poor Magdalene struggling to be a good daughter and fit in.

The Pilgrim Family have been in the Sect for all the children's lives but the restrictions have been too much for some of them. In the earlier books we see Esther and Rebecca freeing themselves, here we have an excellent example of what happens to people who try to force themselves into a mould not of their making or choosing. Living this restricted life is actually driving Magdalene into mental distress. Thank heavens her younger sister, Zillah, needs protecting and ultimately thrusts them both into the 'Worldly' world where they can actually meet their banished sisters and brothers.

A very good book for making young readers think about individual rights, about making choices and about duty and self. Recommended for all and it would be a nice book for family read aloud sessions.

Review: The Woman Who Walked Into the Sea and NB Smashwords Sale

SMASHWORDS JULY SALE IS ON. p.d.r. lindsay's STORIES ARE FREE AT SMASHWORDS FROM JULY 1ST UNTIL JULY 31ST. Go to: 




The Woman Who Walked Into the Sea by Mark Douglas-Home

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I very much enjoyed the first book in this series. The second is a good second novel but as the plot hinged around Cal drifting about avoiding making decisions about finding missing bodies it was a little less focussed.

Still a good read, nice tight writing, 3D characters and some neat twists. Cal is helping waifs and strays again and whilst he is avoiding finding children's bodies for parents. He can't see what comfort they get from seeing the drowned body of their child, and yet, here is Violet who is desperate to find her mother's.

A good book for making you think and well wroth a read. I have begged the library to buy the next one in the series.



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Review and Smashwords Sale.

SMASHWORDS JULY SALE IS ON. p.d.r. lindsay's STORIES ARE FREE AT SMASHWORDS FROM JULY 1ST UNTIL JULY 31ST. Go to:
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Grief Is the Thing with Feathers by Max Porter

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Stunning! Almost a prose poem I suppose. Helps if you know about Ted Hughes and Sylvia Plath, Poe's Raven, and the Cowbie ballads.

Ostensibly a brief piece about a young man and his young sons coping with the death of the wife/mother. It's moving, annoying, even wryly amusing in places and for those of us who know grief personally there's a lot of truth in the book.

Well worth a read if you have struggled with grief, or like prose poems, or like experimental writing.
And it really is an outstanding first 'novel?' It is called a novel but I think it goes beyond the bounds of the novel.
Just try it and see what you think.



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