Mawer, Simon (2022) Ancestry. Little, Brown.
Simon Mawer brings his own family tree to life in a novelisation of his nineteenth century forebears. It is a tale of his two great-great-grandfathers, their wives and families – on his maternal side, seaman Abraham Block, and his seamstress wife, Naomi, and from the paternal, foot soldier George Mawer, and his Irish bride Annie. Life was hard and Mawer puts flesh on the bones of his ancestors by genealogical research, developing potential scenarios where there are unknowns, and by using searchable sources and inserting these documents into the narrative, with footnotes, to add credibility to the story. Educative piece of historical writing.
Rating: 3/5
Schaitkin, Alexis (2022) Elsewhere. Celadon Books.
Intrigued by the mystery of Schaitkin’s Saint X I sought out her new title. What a strange little story! Vera grows up in a cloud-covered mountain town, isolated from elsewhere, where some mothers face an ‘affliction’ and vanish. Vera’s own mother had been afflicted and she, and her peers, wonder about their own fate. When motherhood does come Vera faces the dilemma of whether to stay and mother her beloved child, or disappear too. Supposedly a provocative dystopian tale of motherhood but a total miss from my perspective.
Rating: 2/5
Ware, Ruth (2015) In a Dark, Dark Wood. Scout Press.
An upcoming movie release, and fandom for Ware’s recent works, one dark stormy night I committed to reading her debut bestseller. Nora, a reclusive crime writer, receives an unexpected invitation to a long ago friend’s hens weekend in the English countryside, with six relative strangers. Although initially reluctant Nora is curious why, after all this time, Clare wants her at her party. As the story builds, in classic Agatha Christie style, we are trapped in an isolated glass house with a murderer. Then secrets are revealed, things start to go terribly wrong, and our protagonist becomes the victim. A one sitting read full of danger and psychological suspense. Bit of fun!
Rating: 4/5
Mejia, Mindy (2023) To Catch a Storm. Atlantic Monthly.
Physicist Eve Roth is puzzled when her missing husband’s Tesla is found on fire in the midst of a rainstorm. Psychic detective Jonah Kendrick shows up shortly after claiming he has ‘seen’ her husband as a prisoner, in a barn. Eve initially rejects his psychic dream but soon the two are racing across Iowa, during an ice storm, on a deadly mission to find Eve’s husband and Jonah’s missing niece. Their investigations become increasingly desperate as they attempt to outwit some serious criminals. The start of a new series teaming a brilliant scientist and a neurotic detective with a gift. Action-packed but not entirely satisfactory.
Rating: 3/5
Mazzucato, Mariana & Rosie Collington (2023) The Big Con: How the Consulting Industry Weakens our Businesses, Infantilizes our Governments and Warps our Economies. Allen Lane.
The leading premise of the ‘Big Con’ is that many organisations, including governments, have been ‘conned’ into an over-reliance on the big consultancy firms, and so have lost not only their internal capability and capacity but also their sense of purpose and direction. The book is strongly critical of the consulting industry’s capture of anxious clients and the systematic hollowing out of organisations. It concludes that there is a need to liberate organisations by rebuilding internal capabilities so that they can once again become value creators. The immediate challenge is to scale up alternatives. And, for the industry itself a mandate for increased transparency and disclosure of conflicts of interest. Timely investigation into the powerful and opaque consulting industry.
Rating: 4/5
Galbraith, Robert (2023) The Running Grave: A Strike Novel. Sphere.
In this seventh instalment, featuring Cormoran Strike and Robin Ellacott, we are taken on a new adventure, this time involving a religious cult. Against the background of the 2016 Brexit referendum Robin goes undercover as a disciple at the Universal Humanitarian Church (UHC), a seemingly benign organisation with worthy ambitions, to rescue the neurodivergent son of a retired civil servant. However the UHC is far from the compassionate place it is touted to be, rather it’s a world of indoctrination, severe discipline, hard labour, undernourishment, coerced sex, supernatural happenings, illicit activities, and fear. JK Rowling has once again skilfully created an unforgettable and deeply satisfying epic tale, with complementary sub-plots. Riveting and immersive.
Rating: 5/5
Clarke, Lucy (2023) The Hike. HarperCollins.
Four friends meet up once a year for a group holiday. This year it is Liz’s turn to choose the destination. She chooses a strenuous hike into the wilds of Norway – on a trail with mountain peaks, forest and sea. Sounds idyllic! But waiting on the trail is danger not only from the elements and environment but also of the human kind. A year ago a woman had gone missing in mysterious circumstances now the friends have stumbled on a dark secret. Told from multiple viewpoints – the friends are each facing some crisis of their own. As peril hits will their friendship hold? An ok girls’ getaway adventure.
Rating: 3/5
Cleeves, Ann (2023) The Raging Storm. Macmillan.
When celebrity adventurer and local legend, Jem Rosco, blows into remote Greystone village the townsfolk are all abuzz. Then one day shortly after his naked body is found in an anchored dinghy in the forbidding Scully Cove. DI Matthew Venn and his team return to investigate the crime. However their work is hampered by stormy weather, and a community where the Brethren, superstition and rumour mix, making it difficult for them to get a steer on the case. Then another body is found in Scully Cove. The third mystery in Cleeves’ Two Rivers series. An atmospheric and character-driven police procedural with heart. To be continued…
Rating: 4/5
7:30 Bookclub 