Karen

I know, what on earth - bridge dwelling monsters, magical toasties, a caffeine-addicted dog, ducks, deadly brewers, superpowered DJs, raging florists, ALL OUT OF LEEDS (book 1) and TROUBLE BREWING IN HARROGATE (book 2), and this reader. Not a match made in heaven. But it's not always about personal taste, and somewhere there will be readers going ... oooo, who is writing this sort of right up my country lane style paranormal cosy fiction?

Kim M. Watt has a number of series along these lines, these being the first 2 books in the DI Adams set, which as at the date of this review has 3.5 entries in it. They are sort of police procedurals, with a hefty dose of overt humour and ... well magic. (Did I mention that the dog, in this case a black dog called Dandy is also invisible. It's not completely weird, Adams can see him). More of this review on my website...

I know, what on earth - bridge dwelling monsters, magical toasties, a caffeine-addicted dog, ducks, deadly brewers, superpowered DJs, raging florists, ALL OUT OF LEEDS (book 1) and TROUBLE BREWING IN HARROGATE (book 2), and this reader. Not a match made in heaven. But it's not always about personal taste, and somewhere there will be readers going ... oooo, who is writing this sort of right up my country lane style paranormal cosy fiction?

Kim M. Watt has a number of series along these lines, these being the first 2 books in the DI Adams set, which as at the date of this review has 3.5 entries in it. They are sort of police procedurals, with a hefty dose of overt humour and ... well magic. (Did I mention that the dog, in this case a black dog called Dandy is also invisible. It's not completely weird, Adams can see him). More of this review on my website...

The Beaufort Scales Mysteries are another paranormal cosy series from Kim M. Watt - this time with dragons. And tea and cakes, a dodgy water supply, endless rain, a water sprite called Nellie who has vanished, a battalion of furious geese (that one I can get behind, got one of those myself) and a wellness guru.

I mean a wellness guru shows up and you know you're in trouble, unless you've got a dragon who is more than prepared to step in I guess.

You get the picture, this is another series for those that like their crime on the fluffy, crazy side, with hefty doses of tea, cakes, paranormal goings on, water sprites, arch humour, and dragons....

Oh and a bit of a concentration of ladies of "a certain age". Being somewhere in that category myself now I'm not sure whether the recognition is appreciated, or I should take the time to point out that not all of us get to that age, and insist on going fluffy and cosy. Some of us are still listening to heavy metal and punk music and actively engaged in a lot of pointed swearing and glaring.

I started listening to the audio of this series when it was available at the library, and I felt like something quintessentially "British". These fit that bill perfectly, with central police inspector Stephen Ramsay a laconic, feeling slightly rumpled, divorced cop, new to the area, the force and living on his own in the middle of nowhere. As well as trying to solve murders, he's trying to sort his life out and figure out how to work with a subordinate who seems to resent him, or at least they haven't yet found a way of connecting.

In this example, Alice Parry, seemingly popular, committed to causes in her local village, is murdered in her own backyard on a bitterly cold St David's Eve, in the middle of the night. Only her backyard is a bit unusual, as is her house, and her family relationships with two much loved nephews who are seemingly devoted to her. Except when she's interfering in their complicated personal lives, and, it turns out, her popularity is slightly tainted. Being helpful and deeply devoted to local causes, sometimes can come across as meddling and all is not as serene as it seems on the face of it in Heppleburn.

Nicely done, with a dose of the detective's personal life thrown in to balance against the personal lives of the suspects and the victim. Easy to listen to, with a good narrator's voice, this one is the second in the Inspector Simon Ramsay series.

A polarising book, it almost feels like that's a given these days with anyone who makes it onto a Booker list of any kind, there is a dark streak to the humour, and an unflinching attempt at something unsympathetic in many ways, anonymous and disassociating for a reader - connection with the narrator of this story will be hard fought for, and all the more rewarding if you achieve it. More of this review on my website.

One day I will finally understand how it is that I can find a book in a series intriguing (DEAD CAT BOUNCE in this case), and then completely and utterly miss the existence of the second novel. I mean there's catching the miss and there's waiting 7 or so years to notice the miss...

Anyway, I've finally managed to notice and DEAD HEAT arrived just in time for a short break to catch up on some reading so I bumped it up the list and sat down to revisit Darren Glass, who really does seem to have gotten his act together well and truly. If you don't include being bumped out of Canberra to Jervis Bay, and playing second fiddle to senior Intelligence Officers from the Royal Australian Navy, then there's a bit of dare doing on motorbikes in Central Australia, a couple of dead Royal Australian Navy operators, some drones, a dead Aboriginal woman, a dead Navy sailor, an attack on a highly secure Naval Base, some nukes, a booby trapped culvert, a constantly going missing Aboriginal woman, a Land Rights / come bikie conspiracy, blown up boats, shark attacks, and ... well a lot. It's busy this one. Engaging, complicated, and very very busy.

More on this and the earlier book, DEAD CAT BOUNCE on my website.

At it's heart, this is a police procedural series, built on great characterisations, with a central theme of the affects of crime that ripple outwards in this community of proud First Nations peoples. There is great strength in the glimpses the novels provide into a way of life, and thinking that is different, and yet not. The novels are built around people from an unfairly oppressed culture who have found pride in who they are, where they came from, and where they are going. Full review of this and the earlier two novels in the series on my website.

LIKE A BULLET is the third novel in The Paperback Sleuth series from author Andrew Cartmel, also known for his Vinyl Detective Series. Having now read one from each of these, the overriding aspect of these novels is a slightly over the top humour that is going to be perfect for some readers. And confuse and possibly annoy the hell out of others.

There are, apparently, also a lot of crossovers of characters in both series, so whilst it's not completely necessary to have read any of the earlier books from either set, it would perhaps help a little to have read some of the earlier Paperback Sleuth ones, because the central character here, Cordelia, is someone to be going on with.

The idea behind the series is that Cordelia specialises in tracking down rare paperback novels for fans who have a lot of money and no idea / desire to do the job themselves. She has special contacts and ways and means of finding these little gems, starting out combing charity shops and jumble sales, but not above a spot of nefarious dealings and burglary to get her hands on her much desired prizes. All of which seems to always come with a hefty dose of wrong target, very big bother, when it comes to parting owners from their much prized books. And some quite surprising ill-gotten gains along the way.

To be fair, it's all a bit of high-silly fun, and some of the supporting cast, like her landlord Edwin and his dog, are lovely characters. Cordelia, on the other hand, is a more tricky undertaking, bordering on unlikeable, which will mean that new to the series readers might be wondering just who she thinks she is. But remembering this is high humour, almost farce, that humour will either work. Or not. For this reader it kind of did, and then it all got a bit too much, and two one armed men and a few seriously silly names later, and I was mildly annoyed, and more than a bit confused by how or why or how anyone would want to spend any time at all with a bibliophile who is mostly just in it for the cash. Although, to be fair, she's not above a very decent gesture if you're in this book to the end.

Definitely one for fans of a very tongue in cheek brand of humour, with hefty doses of farce and some very uncomfortably understandable threats on the life of The Paperback Sleuth.