by Simone Buchholz
The third novel featuring prosecutor Chastity Riley in Hamburg.
A man is killed in a car fire in Hamburg. He turns out to be part of a middle east mafia family based in Bremen and worse, was in love with a girl from a rival family. Romeo and Juliet for the 21st century? Is this family warfare or is something else going on? Another quirky chapter in an intriguing crime series 8/10
by Sara Mesa
A woman turns up from the City to a small village in the middle of nowhere, trying to escape her past.
She has one guy who tries to befriend her but who is almost too friendly. Throw in a creepy landlord, annoying neighbours and a man who makes an unusual proposition to her and the tension is never that far away. 8/10
by Georges Simenon
A seemingly gentle, respectable man is found murdered in a Paris alleyway.
However, he had another side to him.
Intriguing story amid a wet and soggy Paris. 8/10
by Simone Buchholz
The second book featuring Chastity Riley, the Hamburg based public prosecutor.
Men from a certain media company start turning up in cages badly beaten up. The links take the case back to a school in Bavaria and a complicated past. Quirky 7/10
by Mark Twain
Described by many as the great American novel and still taught widely in their schools I came to this novel as a result of wanting to read James by Percival Everett.
The story of adventures down the river is fun and full of farce at times but the portrayal of slaves and the continuous use of the N-word came as a shock and made reading the book difficult. The entry into the story of Tom Sawyer at the end of the book was disappointing and undermined the tension that had been building before. For me I can think of many better American novels-it seems very much of its time. 6/10
by Salman Rushdie
A look back on a horrific knife attack that cost Rushdie the sight in one eye and multiple stab wounds that nearly cost him his life. The book is mesmerising in places and although it went a bit flat for me when he started an imaginary conversation with his attacker, it did sort of make sense.
I assume it was all true but he is such a good story teller that you feel in the middle of a plot of some novel at times. Enjoyable is probably the wrong word to say how I found this book. Fascinating works better 9/10
by George Simenon
Book 40 in the Maigret series and somebody steals a gun that Maigret has been given as a memento of his visit to the US. It leads to another murder and a visit to London, and he gets his revolver back unused. 7/10
