Reviews

‘I opened this book with high expectations. They have been admirably fulfilled.  Here we have a stand alone thriller about two lonely people who pursue a relationship of monthly weekends together in remote spots.  Suddenly one of these two fails to get to the rendezvous-vous and the other realises how very limited her knowledge of her  companion is . . . Gradually the reader pieces together some of the facts as an atmosphere of rising tension envelops everything. The intelligent way Jay, Lisa and others plan their actions is enjoyable and the suspense of the tale is palpable.’

- MYSTERY PEOPLE

Writing in lockdown, or Cassandra redux

Posted on Jan 19, 2021 in Cassandra James novels, Christopher Fowler, comfort reading, Elly Griffiths, Footfall, Michael Gilbert, Ngaio Marsh, Nicholas Blake, Writing in lockdown | 12 Comments

Or should that be NOT writing, or at least, not writing a great detail. Last year’s tally included two short stories and a fair amount of work on a novel, including a lot of research and a synopis. However to date I have only written about 5,000 words of that novel. Not a lot to […]

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Why I don’t want to be in a Ngaio Marsh

Why I don’t want to be in a Ngaio Marsh

Posted on Jul 12, 2020 in Agatha Christie, Dead Water, Dorothy L Sayers, False Scent, Ngaio Marsh, Overture to Death | 6 Comments

I have finished my Ngaio Marsh binge. I have not read all of them – nor do I intend to – but I have read a lot, around twenty. And a couple of things stand out. One is that by the end of my marathon read, I had a pretty good idea who the culprit […]

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Old friends

Posted on May 27, 2020 in Artists in Crime, bedsit in Birmingham, Clutch of Constables, Death and the Dancing Footman, Ngaio Marsh, Scales of Justice, Singing in the Shrouds, When in Rome | 8 Comments

I have plenty of contemporary crime novels to hand that I am looking forward to reading, and yet these days I find myself more often turning to old friends. I’ve gone back to the novels of Ngaio Marsh and have just enjoyed Singing in the Shrouds, Scales of Justice, Clutch of Constables, Death and the […]

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Ten novels set in the theatre

Posted on Oct 1, 2015 in Christopher Fowler, Donna Leon, Glen David Gold, Gwendoline Butler, Helen McCloy, Margery Allingham, Ngaio Marsh, Penelope Fitzgerald, Sarah Rayne, Simon Brett | 8 Comments

Along with my good blogfriend Moira at http://clothesinbooks.blogspot.co.uk I am posting my list of ten novels with theatrical settings. Theatres are closed communities of people engaged in a very stressful profession and so make wonderful settings – for crime novels in particular. Actors are good at lying. Deceiving people is what they do for living. And […]

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