Dissolution - CJ Sansom

58%
21.03.15

A well-researched historical whodunnit but troubling in terms of its depiction of women. It's pretty clear from early on that (spoiler!) the untrustworthy yet strangely attractive maid 'dunnit' and that only monks, not nuns, are the worst affected by losing their livelihoods. Other female characters are entirely marginal. Nobody comes out of it very well, but the author's approach made me an uncomfortable reader.

The Norfolk Mystery - Ian Sansom

48%
03.03.15

Monica in my reading group warned me that this was boring. I thought, how can it possibly be boring? It's about my local area! But she was right.

(Though it takes some audacity to start a series with each book set in a different English county. I wonder how far he'll get?)

The Case of the Missing Books - Ian Sansom

47%
06.08.08

Bad in a different way to the Coelho. Not pretentious - quote the opposite - but written too much with an eye to conversion into a Sunday evening family drama series. Underdeveloped characters, and too many of them, and an unpleasant 'anti-hero'. At least it only took 3 or 4 hours to read so not too much time wasted.