Sue has been reading Misadventures in the Screen Trade: How Not to Make it in the Media by Alison Cubitt.
This memoir is a delightful description of Alison’s search for a satisfactory position in television. She starts at the bottom and works her way up, but occasionally has to go back down the career ladder and accept lesser jobs in order to stay within her chosen professional arena. Sometimes she gets to meet celebrities and her enthusiasm for these occasions suggest this in itself is a reward for her. She also meets her fair share of unsavoury characters in what was a very male-dominated world at the time. Her jobs are located in many different countries, but this isn’t a travel memoir, working in media means long hours and time socializing with colleagues, not leaving much time for sight-seeing.
I really enjoyed reading about the behind the scenes aspects of a show I used to watch – The Big Breakfast. These first hand stories were absolutely fascinating, especially the time spent interviewing celebrities in LA, the pace of Alison’s life during this trip comes across as absolutely frenetic and not something I could imagine being able to sustain for any length of time.
Eventually Alison secures her dream job with Disney but before long becomes disillusioned by the company’s corporate culture. It becomes less of a dream and helps her to realize she would prefer a slower lifestyle with more autonomy. Misadventures in the Screen Trade is a very interesting and somewhat out of the ordinary memoir – highly recommended for people who are intrigued to see behind the scenes in film/television!
Book description
A young woman in a man’s world takes on the media industry. Can she hit the heights of her dreams, or will she fall flat on her face?
Sydney 1981 Alison Ripley Cubitt couldn’t wait to make her mark. Having escaped her fractured New Zealand family only to end up dying of boredom behind a Mad-Men-era reception desk, she was determined to shatter the media’s glass ceiling. Thrilled to score an unpaid television internship in London, she still needed to survive alone…
Climbing her way up the career ladder, only to fall down again, Alison’s life-changing moment finally arrived when she landed her dream job at Disney. But after a documentary presentation to the masters of animation ended in disaster, the driven young woman refused to let her march to the top miss out on a spectacular finale.
In this entertaining true tale of the reality of working in the cutthroat world of show business, Alison shares the highs-and-lows of chasing bold goals. Navigating a patriarchial industry with wit and determination, her straight-to-the-point style will have you laughing out loud, and in awe of her courage.
Misadventures in the Screen Trade is a dazzling peek into one woman’s climb from rural New Zealand to Tinseltown. If you like fiery heroines, self-deprecating humour, and insightful tales from backstage, then you’ll love this spirited memoir.
Sue has been reading Fast Fiction by Scotty Cornfield
Fast Fiction intrigued me due to its challenging premise. It is an anthology of 101 stories, each with only 101 words. Keeping to such a strict exact word count is incredibly difficult and my interest was piqued. The idea originated with a daily prompt given by the Monterey County Weekly, which the author has been undertaking for years now. He writes the prompt at the end of each story so you can see what inspired each one, which was a nice touch.
Naturally some of the stories are better than others. Some have clever puns and unexpected twists in the final few words. These were the ones I enjoyed the most. My favourite was Close Encounter with a Celebrity which had a fabulous twist. I also really liked Surgically Removed, where a medical scene was not what it first appeared to be, They Think They Know Us So Well, which is written from a dog’s perspective discussing humans with his pals and Lessons From a Grim Reaper, where one of the harbingers of death decides to rebrand himself. As you can see, the stories are very varied in their content.
These stories are so short a few can be read while having a tea break. They do not require much brain power, which was ideal, since I read them while sick with COVID when my attention span was not its best! What they are is fun and cleverly thought through. If you can think up a prompt of your own the author states he will happily include it in a future volume and credit you.
Book description
In FAST FICTION,you’ll enter a cafe where the menu is loaded with nothing but literary appetizers, designed to be quickly consumed and easily digested. You’ll meet people with secrets and others who wished they knew how to keep them; characters looking to exact revenge and others getting their just desserts when karma calls. Fans of the combo platter will see it all here, from the dark to the darkly comical; the laugh-out-loud funny to the thought-provoking; offering more twists and turns than a pretzel—more ups and downs than a soufflé.
Like the world of improv, each tale has been inspired by a prompt (a single word or a phrase) provided by readers. From those simple suggestions, the stories evolve. You’ll meet people from all walks of life, but they’ll all have at least one thing in common: Your brief encounter with them will be over in less than a minute. Welcome to FAST FICTION,where you’ll find 101 stories of exactly 101 words each. How’s that for symmetry?
Sue has been reading Murder & Mischief by Carol Hedges.
Murder and Mischief is the tenth book in the popular Victorian Detectives series by Carol Hedges, a series which has been on my radar for a couple of years now and I am glad I have finally given it a try. It is written in the present tense, which adds immediacy and a feeling that you are watching the various tableaux unfold on a stage in front of you. A raft of expertly researched historical detail and well-described sights and sounds brings each of these scenes to life:
“And always the mechanical sounds of drilling, hammering, digging, and the crash of falling masonry as the underground railway bores its way through structures that have withstood the ravages of time, but cannot stand before the workmen’s tools. While, beneath the teeming and despoiled metropolis, dark tunnels wait the trainloads of passengers, who will experience the disorientation and dislocation of travelling underneath the chaotic city above their heads.”
Despite being book 10 in a series, this is a standalone murder mystery. A dead man shows up in the grounds of a businessman’s garden, found by his sons and disguised as a snowman, wearing the top hat belonging to the homeowner, Mr Barrowclough. As shocking as this discovery is, things soon escalate alarmingly with Barrowclough receiving dead birds in the mail and culminating with him being pushed in front of a train. Enter the Victorian Detectives who this series of books is named after. Some of them are more eager to pursue the case and get down to the nitty gritty of detective work than others.
As well as the murder of Barrowclough we have a side story of two runaway children, who have escaped the wretchedness of their workhouse and come to London. These children are the extremely resourceful Flitch and Liza. Their Father was forced to journey to the USA in order to obtain work and when he returns for them, he finds his home demolished and family disappeared to the workhouse. His wife is dead and children have absconded. He asks a female Private Investigator to look for them in London since he must return in haste to America. The children have luckily fallen on their feet and have been working as artist’s models for an artist who is a member of the Transformed Brethren – an art movement of the time about which the author expertly educates her readers. There follow a number of cat and mouse chases resulting in the children getting separated from one another and a few unlikely coincidences which make the reader want to shout out in order to aid them in their escape and reconnection.
Meanwhile the murder of Barrowclough takes the detective on the case to Birmingham and allows further detailed urban description, highlighting the differences between London and this city at the time.
I thoroughly enjoyed my introduction to the Victorian Detectives series and found it to be a real page turner. I will be revisiting the series soon!
Book description
It is January, a time of year when not much crime usually happens. But when Inspector Greig is unexpectedly summoned to the opulent Hampstead residence of Mr. James William Malin Barrowclough, a rich businessman, he embarks upon one of the strangest and most bizarre investigations that he has ever been involved in.
Why has Barrowclough been targeted? What is inside the mysterious parcels that keep arriving at Hill House, and why won’t he cooperate with the police? The case will take the Scotland Yard detectives on a journey out of London and into the victim’s past, to uncover the secrets and lies that haunt his present.
Murder & Mischief is the tenth novel in the series, and in the great tradition of Charles Dickens and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, it entices the reader once again along the teeming streets and dimly gas lit thoroughfares of Victorian London, where rich and poor, friend and foe alike mix and mingle.
Sue has been listening to an audio version of The Slipper And The Tree by G. Lawrence.
The Slipper and The Tree is a retelling of the classic Cinderella fairy tale but there are many differences and unexpected twists in this fresh feminist take on an old classic.
“Witches become trees when they die.”
The existence of witches is a fact that our main character, Nion, becomes aware of when her aunt comes to visit soon after her mother is killed by her nobleman father. She has been banished to the kitchen rather than continuing a noble life as his child, since she is female and cannot be his heir. This is a brutal man’s world in which only male heirs are valued and women who cannot produce such offspring are cast aside or murdered. Nion’s mother was a witch and has now become a tree in death. A dead witch is able to design a comfortable room within their tree for the use and safety of other witches. Nion’s aunt shows her the tree that her mother has become and gives her its key.
In this version of the story there is not one ball, but three. After each ball the girls rejected by Prince Charming show their desperation to be exactly who he is looking for by mutilating their bodies. What other hope can they have in a society which only values women for their ability to procreate and provide a male heir. They have to marry well to survive at all costs.
There is much less romance in this story than in the traditional Cinderella story, which I appreciated. There is, however, plenty of magic and whimsy with spiders and vegetables who become horses and the coach almost stealing the show. The wonderfully warm and richly voiced narration of Charles Johnston makes it an enchanting story. It is easy to imagine him sitting by the fire with a book on his knees reading to a circle of enraptured children. He is an absolute pleasure to listen to and captures the relevant emotions and moods required by the different parts of the story.
Luckily Nion realizes what she must do in order to be happy for the rest of her life and there is just enough romance to enable her to have a happy ending on her terms – which is very different to the traditional ending for Cinderella.
Nion’s stepmother, who is not wicked, but is understandably jaded having acted as a kind of brood mare to three husbands intent on producing a son, is also allowed a happy ending, finally.
I really enjoyed this story and in particular the audio narration and would highly recommend it to anyone who likes an alternative take on a fairytale.
Book description
This is a tale of witches and wishes, tales and trees, stepmothers, spells and a girl who sleeps in the ashes by the fire…
But it’s not the one you know.
The Slipper and the Tree is a novella, and part of the Retold of Old Series by G. Lawrence.
Sue has been reading Irex by Carl Rackman (A book that featured on our review list a few years ago)
Irex by Carl Rackman
It is difficult to believe that this novel is a debut – Rackman’s atmospheric prose, complex characters and many-layered plot drew me in right from the start and left me wanting more right up until the tension filled final acts! In fact there was a surprising revelation right at the end which leaves open the possibility of a sequel one day.
Based on an actual historical event – the mysterious shipwreck of the sailing vessel Irex – but a fictional retelling thereof, the writing style immediately transports the reader to an earlier time period and the dialogue is both believable and ‘of its time’. The evocative descriptions add levels of menace to what is essentially an intriguing mystery: What exactly happened to cause the shipwreck and the tragic loss of lives associated with it?
“The shriek of the wind was the sound of tormented souls. It rose and fell with each gust and was answered by the groaning members of the ship itself, the lines stretched to their limit and humming a morose dirge.”
The chapters switch between two time frames, each with its own disparate cast of characters, that of the doomed maiden voyage of the Irex and a couple of months later, the inquest into what exactly happened on board this ill-fated ship to cause the deaths of most of its crew and passengers.
Rackman’s characterisation is skillful and many layered. The crew is made up of a large cast, including a hard-working and dedicated chef, boisterous youths and a surly bosun. The main point of view character, Captain Will Hutton comes across as pious, dedicated to his position, and concerned for his new ship and for the smooth running of its maiden voyage at the beginning of the story, if somewhat plagued by semi-prophetic dreams. However, some of the surviving crew claim that he lost his grip on reality just before the devastating tragedy occurred. There is also Mackie, an outgoing first mate whose description is particularly vivid:
“His head was large with meaty features, not handsome but more reminiscent of a Hereford bull.
His words rumbled like a Glasgow tram.”
Carrying only three passengers, we meet on board the beautiful young wife, Mrs Elizabeth Barstow who has enough feminine wiles to entrance anyone and manipulate them however she chooses. Is she the reason the married Captain was driven to distraction? Major Barstow is her sickly, older husband and Mr Clarence is a boorish, well-connected gentleman with a superiority complex and a particularly shocking secret identity. This was a twist I found completely unexpected, but which added a delicious threat of intimidation and jeopardy for the crew and passengers.
In the chapters detailing the inquest we meet the judge and barristers. Mr Frederick Blake, Her Majesty’s Coroner for Hampshire County, is the presiding inquisitor, a straightforward and honest man who smells something fishy – could there be a spy in his courtroom? We also meet the brave and tenacious Scottish reporter, Rennie, who Blake befriends and takes into his confidence.
Slowly the layers of intrigue are built up. Blackmail? Mutiny? Madness? Murder? All are possibilities entertained by Blake during his meticulous investigation, even as he is hampered by Matthew Thornthwaite, a suspiciously well-informed replacement for an unfortunate predecessor on the coroner’s panel. Blake immediately suspects there is more to this man than meets the eye and becomes determined to catch him out, but up against the fearsome British Establishment what little chance can he have to retain his integrity?
The story gets more and more intriguing as the clues begin to stack up in Blake’s chapters and events play out before our eyes in the Captain’s chapters. The pace of this story becomes absolutely frenetic during the perilous storms and the action ramps up accordingly.
Highly recommended for fans of mystery, tales of the high seas and well-written historical fiction in general.
Book description
In the harsh winter of December 1889, the sailing vessel Irex leaves Scotland bound for Rio de Janeiro. She carries three thousand tons of pig iron and just three passengers for what should be a routine voyage. But Captain Will Hutton discovers that one of his passengers hides a horrifying secret.
When the Irex is wrecked off the Isle of Wight six weeks later, it falls to the county coroner, Frederick Blake, to begin to unravel the events that overtook the doomed ship — but he soon finds that powerful forces within the British Establishment are working to thwart him. Locked in a race against time and the sinister agents sent to impede him, he gradually discovers that nothing aboard the Irex is what it first seemed…
Irex is an atmospheric mystery, set in a rich Victorian world, packed with intrigue, twists and colourful characters — the spellbinding first novel by Carl Rackman.
Legacy Witches is a fun, yet dark story of murderous witches, set in Salem, Massachusetts, a place I have visited on many occasions. Salem is filled with witch-related tourist attractions, but the legacy witches of the title are part of a hidden world – away from the tourism – that reaches back through history to the Salem Witch trials.
Vianna Roots managed to escape this heritage by fleeing to Boston, but now that her mother is dead she must return and deal with her legacy. She has the unusual talent of being able to see ghosts and witnesses the ‘death loop’ of her old best friend Nancy, who must have been murdered in her mother’s house and whose ghost is now stuck there along with the ghosts of Vianna’s ancestors. This mystery niggles at Vianna and she decides to stay on in Salem until she can get to the bottom of it. She has to overcome many hurdles – the house is possessed by the family’s familiar, a demon named Shuck who has yet to accept her, an old school crush, Charles, is determined to woo her but is not exactly what he seems, a HooDoo practitioner wants to force her to sell the house to him and the coven is treating her like an outcast and determined to get rid of her.
Vianna befriends another outcast, a transgender witch named Sandeen and the two of them quickly form a bond. Sandeen was a great character and one of the highlights of the book for me. I also liked Vianna. She was determined not to be bullied by the coven witches into selling them her house or by Charles into dating him when her intuition told her something wasn’t quite right.
Legacy Witches was spooky and action-packed and I enjoyed the mystery thread, a perfect read for October.
Book description
Coming from a long line of murderous witches hasn’t exactly been sunshine and rainbows for Vianna Roots. When she inherits the family’s haunted house after her mother dies, she decides flipping the rundown dump is her smartest move—but the ghosts that haunt her have a different plan.
When Vianna finds the ghost of her childhood friend Nancy, she’s drawn into the mystery surrounding her friend’s death. Her meddling attracts the attention of the oldest coven in Salem. In order to get her out of town, they make an offer on the house, but Vianna hesitates. She’s no longer sure she wants to abandon the demon familiar who possesses her home, the transgender outcast witch—who may just be the best friend she never knew she needed—and her high school crush, who now wants her in his life.
Vianna must find a way to solve the case of her murdered friend, stay out of the hands of the most powerful coven in Salem, and face the past she’s so desperately tried to run away from.
Sue Has been reading Shadow House by A R Silverberry
Shadow House by A R Silverberry
Shadow House is a fairly short novel, but it is not lacking in depth of story. I found it sucked me in almost immediately and it was very difficult to put down.
The story is set in the not too distant future on “New Earth”, a dystopian future following the breakdown of society as we know it:
“History, as taught in school, proclaimed that New Earth had sprouted from a chaotic lawless time in human history, when small bands preyed on and slaughtered each other over dwindling resources. Johari believed that part of the account. It was the next part that seemed iffy. All at once, something happened. A mutation—a new species, some people claimed—appeared, like Cro-Magnon beside the Neanderthals. This new “more advanced” group broke away from the old one and traveled to New Earth. How that was done was sketchy at best. But even today people talked about the Freedom, a mass migration of millions to a new world. And the new world they created was, so they said, superior in every way to the one they left. It was a perfect society.”
I would have liked a little more information regarding this migration. I felt the author brushed it aside somewhat, but I am hoping perhaps it will be given more explanation in the next book. Perhaps it is another mystery that the main character, Johari, will need to solve.
The major portion of Shadow House revolves around four teenagers’ time inside the House, a kind of glorified magical escape room filled with monsters and peril, which teens must enter once during their lives. Not everyone comes out again and those who do not escape are never seen again. Once inside, stairways and doors disappear, herding the four main characters to desired destinations, where they have to face their pasts and personalities and be tested in sometimes terrifying situations.
“…he had difficulty shaking off the feeling that the House would be their tomb.“
““People get out; people get out,” he told himself. And some don’t. “
However no one knows what they will discover once inside, as it is forbidden for the survivors to discuss their experiences. The House itself is described really well, it sounds like the kind of building you might cross the street to keep away from:
“The House had a curious tinge, like an early photograph, faded and discolored. It was three stories and old beyond reckoning. The paint had peeled off. The wooden walls were weathered and sun-bleached a mottled gray. He wondered why termites hadn’t consumed the whole thing long ago. The house bulged on the right to accommodate a semi-circular tower rising two stories and culminating in a conical roof. A lower gable above the front porch was ornamented with scrollwork. But it was the upper gable that arrested his attention. The woodwork was much more complex, filling the whole triangular shape of the gable. In the center was a symbol of some sort. It might have been a flaming candle, but it seemed to Johari it was more like a hand held up in warning.”
The four teens had very different characters. Johari is the main point of view character and hero of the book. He is a mixed race orphan with gorgeous features who spent his childhood being tossed from one foster family to another, never really knowing love and suffering bullying. This often ended in his getting blamed and eventually in him being saddled with a criminal record. Despite his horrible childhood, Johari is very likeable, brave, and a team player. He is a natural leader and caring – concerned for Calista’s health. He is also the love interest for another of the characters, Greta. He is determined that if one of them manages to leave then they all must. Greta is observant and makes notes in each of the rooms as they explore the House. She is kindhearted and beautiful and Johari fell in love with her at a recent party where they first met. Due to a misunderstanding caused by Brice, the ridiculously wealthy party host, they are now unsure of each other’s feelings. This leads to expertly written romantic tension between Johari and Greta and typical teen angst which the reader experiences through Johari’s inner monologue. Greta’s friend Calista is also in the House. An asthmatic, she struggles with the dusty House but retains her wit and feisty nature. She proves to be resourceful, having grabbed bread from the kitchen, which they can no longer access once they reach the attic. The fourth main character is the entitled and unlikeable Brice, who was instrumental in Johari being arrested for stealing Brice’s father’s anti-grav car, when Brice actually leant it to him. He also paid Greta’s Mom to keep her grounded at home when she would have been a useful witness in Johari’s court case. He wants Greta to fall in love with him and is jealous of her attraction to Johari.
Sentenced to elimination in his court case, Johari sees the House as the only way out. If he is able to find his way out of the House he expects that his criminal record will be cleared. Society believes that only the very best people are able to survive and in this way it rids the world of evil:
‘It purifies,’ ‘It perfects,’ ‘It protects,’ ‘It eliminates war, disease, and poverty.’
There were elements of the book which reminded me of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory or the horror movies where one by one the main characters are callously picked off. It was a very enjoyable read and I would recommend it to readers who enjoy YA thrillers or dystopian mysteries.
Book description
What Do You Do If You’re Trapped In A Nightmare …
New Earth’s Supreme Council dooms Johari Hightower to Elimination. Never mind that he’s innocent. His only hope is the House, a rite shrouded in mystery. No one says what happens inside. And those who don’t make it out are never seen again.
But what do you do if the girl you love is inside? What do you do if she’s cozy with the guy who set you up? What do you do if you’re running for your life?
Sue has been reading Bloody Spade by Brittany M Willows.
Bloody Spade by Brittany M Willows
Bloody Spade is Book 1 in the Cardplay Duology, and is a YA urban fantasy. I enjoyed this book immensely! I was initially drawn to the cover of this book, since purple is my favourite colour and I love to play card games. The figure with the cat ears was also intriguing!
The premise of the novel is that seven years ago real, powerful, dangerous magic returned to a world whose inhabitants were used to thinking of magic as cheap tricks and sleight of hand, entertainment for the masses. The new magic which reentered their world was far from tricks, however. Magic users have a varied range of abilities. Some can harness the wind, others can control light, or fire.
I loved the uniqueness of the playing card theme that ran through this novel with Cardplay being the good guys, taking on Blackjack, the shady underground organization, and with each Suit having a Keeper.
I found the world-building in Bloody Spade mostly solid, although in some places there was a little too much information given all at once, which made it hard for me to remember details, and the different levels of the realms were somewhat confusing – I am still not completely clear on the connection between the Void, the Domain, the Dreamscape and the human world and how they relate to one another.
Bloody Spade is a unique take on the age-old good versus evil theme. A fast paced novel with plenty of action, believable characters and relationships, a little romance, teenage angst, fear of rejection, of being different and fear of lack of acceptance by peers. I would recommend it to anyone who loves superhero type stories, or fans of fiction similar to that of Cassandra Clare’s novels or Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
Book description
The era of magic was once thought to be a myth, but after the Reemergence ushered forces both dark and light into the mundane world, it has since become a harsh reality. Now those affected by this strange power—a specialized group of Empowered called Jokers, known collectively as Cardplay—must protect their world from the darkness that threatens to consume it, all the while fighting for equality in a society clinging to normalcy.
But the Reemergence was only the beginning.
When another influx occurs on the seventh anniversary of that fateful event, an unfortunate encounter at ground zero lands Iori Ryone, a teenage boy in possession of a corrupt and legendary magic, in the care of recent Joker graduate Ellen Amelia Jane. From him, she learns the Reemergence may not have been the inevitable natural disaster it first seemed. Someone is trying to tear down the barrier that separates the magical realms from the mundane. The question is, can Cardplay stop them before it’s too late?
Sue has been reading Adventure Caravanning with Dogs: It Never Rains But it Paws by Jacqueline Lambert.
Adventure Caravanning With Dogs by Jacqueline Lambert
Jackie’s writing is extremely witty and clever. She makes you feel like you are travelling alongside her and Mark and their four adorable dogs, due to her chatty and engaging nature. This comes across well in her “Adventure Caravanning with Dogs” series. In the case of “It Never Rains but it Paws”, the story takes place against the backdrop of Brexit and the COVID-19 pandemic.
This is the fourth book in the series, but each one can be read as a standalone. The shortish chapters keep the story flowing as the couple and their four dogs travel around Europe. Jackie and Mark are up against a deadline to set off before Brexit happens, in order to escape the bureaucracy caused by travelling with four dogs and a caravan around Europe. They aim to travel through France and spend the ski season in Italy. Delays due to family illness cause them to panic as their deadline looms nearer,, but eventually they are off on their way! Jackie includes plenty of historical detail and background information about the places they visit to make you want to go to the locations on their trip, although possibly not during a pandemic!! Their experiences of lockdown in Italy, up a mountain in a deserted ski village with scarcely any Italian between them were eye opening.
A highly entertaining adventure!
Book description
Five years after giving up work to travel full time, Dog-ma Jacqueline (Jackie) and Dogfather Mark race against time to leave the UK before Britain exits the EU. If Brexit happens, their four Cavapoos (Cavalier/Poodle cross) Kai, Rosie, Ruby, and Lani will lose their puppy passports, and the Lambert Family will be unable to travel together. But Brexit isn’t their only obstacle. A few months into their adventure, the pandemic suddenly shatters their plans, and leaves them trapped in the epicentre of Europe’s No. 1 coronavirus hotspot.
The fourth road trip Europe adventure in author Jacqueline Lambert’s “inspirational and hilarious” series of true travel memoirs invites you to join the couple as they discover even more amazing and little-known places, this time in France and Italy. However, this isn’t just a priceless escape travel story filled with humorous mishaps and mountain adventure. The coronavirus pandemic separates the family from their loved ones at home, and leaves Jackie stranded alone during a blizzard in a remote Italian village, with Mark thousands of miles away, back in the UK.
Between terrible weather, political mayhem, and a global pandemic, Jackie and Mark try to take lessons from each hardship. Yet, even with a positive attitude, a sense of adventure, and a caravan full of loved ones, you can’t stop all the obstacles life rolls your way. These “amusing and informative” travel stories are certainly proof that It Never Rains… But It Paws!
Eat the Poor is the second supernatural detective fantasy featuring the unlikely pairing of Chief Inspector John Galbraith and the vampire, Chief Inspector Pole, following on from Something Wicked which I read andreviewed last year. This time Pole and his mysterious police department “Section S” are on the trail of a creature that has been attacking deer in Richmond Park, dogs and more recently a human. Could the offender be a werewolf?
Once again I enjoyed the unlikely camaraderie of the two main protagonists, thrown together by the unusual nature of the local murder case. They are very different characters, Pole a 500 year old strait-laced vampire with refined tastes and Galbraith a down to Earth middle-aged detective whose waistline is spreading and hair is greying, beginning to consider his next steps within the police force. Seconded to Section S for the duration of this peculiar murder case, he soon finds himself dining with Pole at his abode most nights as they go over the particulars of the case and the body count begins to rise.
In addition to this fantasy series, the author is a writer of historical fiction and he often includes historical details in the story which make it richer and lend authenticity to the world in which the story is set. The seamier side of London is to the fore here, with murder victims coming from the ranks of the serial unemployed, their bodies being unceremoniously dumped in the garbage areas of the tower blocks of the seedier neighbourhoods in which they live.
We are told fairly early on who the perpetrator of the crimes is and are then able to watch the detectives follow clues until they figure it out for themselves and the pace speeds up until the final “edge of the seat” confrontation. What happens after this confrontation, I found to be quite surprising – it was not what I expected in terms of a conclusion to the case at all. This light-hearted police procedural and its surprising ending was a breath of fresh air and since it is a novella and therefore fairly short, it was quick to get into the action of the story and to grip my attention. I particularly liked how odious the Conservative MP Christopher Garold was. Anyone following British politics lately will not find the idea of a murderous werewolf that far-fetched when it comes to the dirty little secrets of those in power:
“…though the staff were good at turning a blind eye to peculiar behaviour from MPs, the sight of a wolf strolling through the corridors of power would, he thought, be too much for them to ignore.”
Anyone who likes a detective story with a little supernatural edge should give this book a try!
Book #1 Something Wicked was previously reviewed on Goodreads by Sue.
Book description
A werewolf is on the loose in London.
Chief Inspector Pole, the vampire from the mysterious Section S, teams up once again with his human counterpart to hunt down the beast before the people of the city realise that they are threatened by creatures they have dismissed as myths.
Time is short as the werewolf kills ever more recklessly. Can Galbraith and Pole stop it before panic spreads through London?
Galbraith and Pole start their search in Pole’s extensive library of the arcane, accompanied by a couple of glasses of his excellent malt whisky. All too soon, though, they will have to take to the streets to hunt the monster by the light of the moon.
But the threat is even greater than they think, for in its human form the werewolf is terrifyingly close to the heart of government.
This is Tom Williams’ second tongue-in-cheek take on traditional creatures of darkness. Like the first Galbraith & Pole book, Something Wicked, this will appeal to fans of Ben Aaronovitch’s Rivers of London.
You never know when the forces of darkness may be released and there will be no time for reading then. Buy Eat the Poor before it’s too late.
Book reviewer and garden enthusiast. Updates from my Hampshire garden. Usually talking about books and plants. People do not forget books or flowers that touch them or excite them—they recommend them.
Book reviewer and garden enthusiast. Updates from my Hampshire garden. Usually talking about books and plants. People do not forget books or flowers that touch them or excite them—they recommend them.
Book reviewer and garden enthusiast. Updates from my Hampshire garden. Usually talking about books and plants. People do not forget books or flowers that touch them or excite them—they recommend them.
Book reviewer and garden enthusiast. Updates from my Hampshire garden. Usually talking about books and plants. People do not forget books or flowers that touch them or excite them—they recommend them.
Rosie Amber 