Colin Watson - Lonelyheart 4122

Rating: 5/5

Review:
A real pleasure

I absolutely loved Lonelyheart 4122.  It is the fourth of Watson's Flaxborough mysteries and for me is the best so far.

The redoubtable Inspector Purbright is concerned about the apparent disappearance of two local women, both of whom have used a local lonely hearts agency.  As investigations continue we also meet Miss Lucy Teatime, a wonderful character of uncertain past and infinite resource who arrives in Flaxborough and also registers with the agency. 

What follows is a small masterpiece of witty, inventive storytelling.  Watson writes superbly and it feels as though he's hit his stride by this stage; his style is still dryly funny and very acute in its observations and characterisation but slightly more fluid and relaxed than in the first three books, so that I was carried along without effort and with huge enjoyment.  At about 150 pages, the book is also gratifyingly concise and feels like a perfectly crafted little gem.

If you haven't discovered Colin Watson yet, do try him.  He's been a truly joyous discovery for me and I can wholeheartedly recommend Lonelyheart 4122.

(My thanks to Farrago for an ARC via NetGalley.)

Lucy Mangan - Bookworm

Rating: 5/5

Review:
A delight

I found Bookworm a delight.  It's a book about the joy of childhood reading, probably more so that about the books themselves, and I think Lucy Mangan captures the experience of being a bookish child beautifully.

I'm about 20 years older than Mangan, but I know a lot of the books she talks about and I think she talks about them and their effect with real love, humaity and understanding - including that thing about books you were supposed to like but didn't. I always felt as though I had some dreadful flaw because I didn't much like Babar or Swallows & Amazons, for example, so it's lovely to have an ally.

There's some very shrewd (and very readable) analysis as well as capturing the experience so well.  For example, there's a great section on the appeal of Enid Blyton and of the problematic side of her books.  You don’t have to agree with what Mangan says (although I largely do) to appreciate the clarity and insight of the points she makes.  She is very good at remembering the child's point of view as well as having a balanced, humane adult perspective and a sensible notion of children's ability to survive and gain from what some adults may think they need to be protected against. 

And, by the way, she's very funny.

Obviously, there are overlaps between my childhood reading and Mangan's, just as there are many books she read that I didn't and vice versa, and most readers will find the same.  I still found that I enjoyed much of what she writes about the books I don't know, although I did indulge in a bit of judicious skimming here and there.  She writes with such engaging enthusiasm and wit that it's all a pleasure to read – and anyway, someone who loves The Phantom Tollbooth as much as I do is plainly sound to the core.

In short, if you loved reading as a child, I think you'll love Bookworm as I did.  Very warmly recommended.

(My thanks to Vintage for an ARC via NetGalley.)

Robert Crais - The Monkey's Raincoat

Rating: 4/5

Review:
Very enjoyable

I enjoyed The Monkey's Raincoat very much.  It is the first Robert Crais that I have read, but it definitely won't be the last.

Written and set in 1987, The Monkey's Raincoat introduces us to Elvis Cole, an LA private detective and his partner, the near-silent and entirely deadly Joe Pike.  Narrated in the first person by Cole, he takes a job to find a missing husband and his nine-year-old son, which becomes embroiled in drugs, Hollywood sleaze and organised crime.  It's just about plausible (other than the huge body count without any noticeable consequences) and it's an entertaining, well written story.  Cole is an engaging narrator with a penchant for a wisecrack (he even quotes Raymond Chandler at one point, so we can see where he's coming from) and the plot is well-paced and constructed with an exciting (and very violent) climax.

Highbrow Literature, this ain't, but it's a very well written, readable book which kept me hooked and left me wanting to read more in the series.  What more could you want? 

Terry Pratchett - Going Postal

Rating: 5/5

Review:
Still brilliant

This was one of my favourite Pratchetts when I first read it and re-reading now just confirms how brilliant it is.  It's a great story, it's full of remarkable character insight presented with great humour and compassion and it is amazingly clear-sighted about finance and industrial rapacity.  And it is, of course, very funny.

In short, it's Terry Pratchett at his absolute best – and not much more need be said, I think.  Very warmly recommended.

Christopher Fowler - Hall Of Mirrors

Rating: 4/5

Review:
An entertaining read

I enjoyed Hall Of Mirrors.  It is the first Bryant and May book I have read; it works fine as a stand-alone novel, but I suspect that there are quite a few running gags and references which I'd have picked up better if I had read some of the previous ones.

It is 1969 and, following a major debacle while in pursuit of a suspect, Arthur and John are sent to a crumbling stately home in Kent to guard a threatened witness in a forthcoming high-profile trial.  A good deal of chaos ensues, including a number of deaths, and an Agatha Christie-like mystery develops. 

It's a very well written tale and Christopher Fowler has a lot of fun both recreating and sometimes tweaking the nose of the Golden Age country-house mysteries.  There is some genuine humour and the period is very well evoked, while the story itself is actually a pretty decent puzzle with two engaging protagonists and an enjoyable cast of characters.

If I have a gripe, it is that at 400 pages the book is too long and did begin to drag on a bit, but it's an enjoyable, entertaining read with some good social history underpinning it.  Recommended.

(My thanks to Doubleday for an ARC via NetGalley.)

Colin Watson - Hopjoy Was Here

Rating: 4/5

Review: 
Another enjoyable instalment

I am coming to love this series and Hopjoy Was Here, the third, is another good one.  This time Purbright and his team investigate a possible acid-bath murder, as agents of National Security hover because one of their own may be the victim.  It's a well told, quite twisty tale, but as always it is Colin Watson's writing which is the really enjoyable thing.

Watson has a dry, sardonic take on things, illustrated by this lovely little example as Purbright calls to interview a neighbour of the house which is the crime scene: "Mrs Alice Sayers celebrated the installation of a police inspector in her drawing-room by serving a jug of hot milk and water delicately tinctured with coffee essence..."  The book is full of such amusing and penetrating little nuggets of characterisation, including a very enjoyable satire of self-important spies, while the plot moves on at a fairly leisurely pace - which is just fine by me.

My sole reservation is that women are treated with almost universal contempt, and there are some observations about their sexuality among other things which border on the offensive.  Even allowing for the prevailing attitudes of the period, I did find this uncomfortable.  However, there is so much else to enjoy here that I can still warmly recommend the book.

(My thanks to Farrago for an ARC via NetGalley.)

Kevin Powers - A Shout In The Ruins

Rating: 3/5

Review:
Disappointing

Like so many others, I thought Kevin Powers's The Yellow Birds was quite exceptionally good.  Sadly, A Shout In The Ruins isn't nearly of the same quality.  There is a lot of Powers's lyrical and sometimes very beautiful writing, but as a novel I found it very disappointing.

The story cuts between time periods (seemingly almost compulsory for new novels at the moment) around the Civil War and the early 50s, both in Virginia.  The stories are…well…confusing, to be honest.  There are illustrations of the cruelty of the slave era and depictions of the characters who both suffered and imposed that suffering, and there is also a pretty good evocation of its legacy in the era of segregation.  Both of these still have relevance today and it should form a powerful indictment of racism in modern society, but for me it was too mannered in structure, too disjointed and too full of disparate characters to have the necessary coherence.  I also felt that after books like The Underground Railroad, Days Without End and The Sellout (to name just a few) it was treading well-worn ground without adding much.

I'm sorry to be critical of an author I respect greatly, but that's the truth of it.  It was well written and it certainly wasn't terrible, but it just didn't engage me and I didn't think I'd gained much from reading it.  Only a very qualified recommendation from me, I'm afraid.

(My thanks to Sceptre for an ARC via NetGalley.)