There is a Light that Never Goes Out - David M Barnett

 54%

03.12.23

This was quite sweet and earnest and it didn't actively annoy me. It was rather unrealistic, of course, and both main characters acted (or not) on assumptions with no evidence to back them up, with the 'baddie' not actually being convincingly bad, at least until he was ramped up at the end. As I read it on my Kindle, so didn't really see the cover, I thought it was written by a woman right up until the acknowledgements, but that probably says more about my assumptions than the story/writing style itself.

The Carer - Deborah Moggach

 59%

16.10.22

The beautiful cover is probably the most memorable thing about this story. Fluently written by an experienced author, yes, but... the characters were clearly supposed to be complex but they weren't, and certainly none of them were sympathetic - it was just more rich people drama. Admittedly, I didn't see the double twist coming but the rest of the book bent itself into unlikely knots trying to explain it - and the lack of introspection that followed from the apparently intelligent characters just didn't ring true.

Interestingly, I gave Tulip Fever, the only other Moggach novel I've read, the same score 19 years ago.

Rubbernecker - Belinda Bauer

70%
20.05.20

This was an easy yet clever read, both quirky and thought-provoking, funny and dark. And set, in part, at Cardiff Uni, where I spent some time many years ago. I even knew a dental student who dissected heads in the very anatomy lab described in the story. I'll definitely search out more by this author (overlooking the slightly scrappy character-driven narrative structure).

Dead Man's Ransom - Ellis Peters

51%
27.03.17

Who shot the sheriff? Well, no-one because it's 1141. But who suffocated him? Who cares? Cadfael will find out and the lovers will be together. Utterly forgettable, unfortunately.

A Morbid Taste for Bones - Ellis Peters

68%
28.10.15

I don't know how I've managed to avoid reading a Cadfael mystery until now - perhaps I thought I already had as my mum still has numerous copies and of course it's impossible not to picture Derek Jacobi with a tonsure. Perhaps they're a little outdated now - short on introspection and graphic unpleasantness and long on entertaining, well-researched, character-driven stories. I read it in about 3 sittings and have already got the next from the library.