Ivar, Katja (2023) Trouble. Bitter Lemon Press. Helsinki, June 1953. Intrepid Finnish detective Hella Mauzer, in her third outing, is now a reluctant private investigator. When her former murder squad boss asks her to dig into the background of a member of the Finnish Secret Service she is not in a position to refuse. She… Continue reading May Picks
Tag: Recommended Reading
April Picks
Bogdanich, Walt, Michael Forsythe (2022) When McKinsey Comes to Town: The Hidden Influence of the World's Most Powerful Consulting Firm. Random House. McKinsey and Company are the most widely recognised consultancy firm in the world. McKinsey has a reputation for recruiting top talent, high level advisory to governments and corporates, being values driven and above… Continue reading April Picks
March Picks
Burr, Shelley (2022) Wake. Hachette. Nineteen years ago Mina McCreery's nine-year-old twin sister, Evelyn, went missing from their shared bedroom on an outback New South Wales sheep station. The mystery remains unsolved and the reward unclaimed. The trauma is elevated by ongoing public interest that reverberates throughout the small community of Nannine. The vanishing has… Continue reading March Picks
February Picks
Littlewood, Fran (2023) Amazing Grace Adams. M. Joseph. After being stuck in traffic gridlock Grace lets her menopausal rage take charge as she travels through London, on foot, to deliver a cake for her estranged daughter's sixteenth birthday. The story takes place over the course of a really bad day. She has become unhinged by… Continue reading February Picks
January Picks
Auletta, Ken (2022) Hollywood Ending: Harvey Weinstein and the Culture of Silence. Penguin. This meticulous portrait of all-powerful Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein reads like a brutal horror story. His significant talent and creative ability gave him unassailable power and the opportunity to lead a life of great indulgence and rapacity. His monstrous sexual appetites, bullying… Continue reading January Picks
December Picks
Kingsolver, Barbara (2022) Demon Copperhead. Faber. The problem with a novel that takes its inspiration from a celebrated classic is that you know you have to go through a lot of angst before you get to the good stuff. Damon Fields, aka Demon Copperhead, is an Appalachian David Copperfield born to a teenage single mother… Continue reading December Picks
Best Picks 2022
I'm not too sure how to describe 2022 reading wise - lots of bestsellers released from some of my fav authors, but the excitement wasn't there! Maybe the malaise of the pandemic has impacted the publishing world like it has the rest of us. Nevertheless I still found it difficult to select my top 10… Continue reading Best Picks 2022
November Picks
Strout, Elizabeth (2022) Lucy by the Sea. Viking. It is March 2020 and Covid has struck New York. Lucy Barton's ex-husband William pleads with her to go into isolation with him in Maine, where he has rented a house. As the months go by Lucy and William learn to live together again. The quiet rhythm… Continue reading November Picks
October Picks
Harper, Jane (2022) Exiles. Macmillan. Federal investigator Aaron Falk returns to solve the mystery of Kim Gillespie's disappearance at a South Australian food and wine festival. A year on, Kim's vanishing has cast a dark shadow on the small tight-knit community of Marralee where Aaron is set to become godfather to the son of his… Continue reading October Picks
September Picks
Galbraith, Robert (2022) The Ink Black Heart. Sphere. When Edie Ledwell, the co-creator of popular YouTube cartoon The Ink Black Heart, pleads with private detective Robin Ellacott to uncover the identity of Anomie, her online persecutor, Robin turns her away. Then Edie is murdered in Highgate Cemetery. Robin and her partner Cormoran Strike become embroiled… Continue reading September Picks
7:30 Bookclub 