by Georges Simenon
A man turns up at Maigret's house and claims he is planning to kill his wife and her lover who have gradually taken over his house and painting and decorating business. Then he disappears and Maigret senses something is not right. A sad story with an interesting ending 8/10
by Salman Rushdie
A collection of short five short stories, two of which have been published before in the New Yorker, They all deal with ageing and the passage of time in some form or other. My favourite by far was a ghost story called Late. It deals with an author who has been made an honorary fellow of some oxbridge college who wakes up dead one morning. The others were all enjoyable with characteristic humour and satire. I was not so keen on the last story which was about the importance and changing of language. Having just read Julian Barnes it is difficult not to wonder whether this is Rushdie's last book. 7/10
by Julian Barnes
His final book-or so he tells us at the start, but can you trust a novelist?
This book seems part novel, part memoir and reflections on the end of life or at least it's later years, Where one begins and the other ends is hard to tell but this makes it no less enjoyable. His observations are sometimes very funny, other times moving but always(or nearly always) interesting. It was a good read 9/10
by Daniel Defoe
A difficult read in many ways with its racist approach to the depiction of Friday and it's over the top preaching of the protestant world view, not to mention the depiction of slavery, but I was glad to read it. I wouldn't call it a great novel-but seven hundred editions and numerous spin offs would suggest I am wrong-but it was full of adventure. Crusoe is not that likeable but you are desperate to know how he gets out of the hole he has largely dug for himself. An interesting reflection of it's time. 5/10
by Georges Simenon
An unusual murder in a family of "good" people gets Maigret frustrated and having to dig into the family history to understand the case. 7/10
by Jonathan Coe
A very enjoyable read part murder mystery, part piss take of the conservative party and far right as they went through the Liz Truss fiasco. A good holiday read 7/10
by Georges Simenon
Maigret is fed up with a change in the judicial organisation which has seen the examining magistrate getting more involved and controlling, so while supposedly investigating some jewellery heists Maigret gets sidetracked by a murder of a burglar he has known for thirty years. 8/10
by Janwillem van de Wetering
Seventh novel in a series I probably started twenty years ago. The main characters are two zany Amsterdam cops called Grijpstra and deGier who are very different but look out for each other and occasionally play music together.
This one involved a murder with no corpse and a corpse with no murder and a tenuous link between the two cases. Very enjoyable 8/10
by Ali Smith
A companion to Gliff which was published last year this book doesn't follow on but playfully references the previous book along the way.
It was an amusing read playing with language and perspectives throughout while still managing to make sensible comments on subjects like war and education.
I didn't really get the ending but rated the book and would probably read again. 8/10
