Hello world

I've been mostly offline for a month or so, and not just because of the DDoS attack on LJ. However, I aintn't dead, and you will probably get spammed with some book log today if the new lurgy doesn't get me first. Or if I don't get sidetracked LibraryThinging the parcel of forty-something books that arrived from the Book People this week...

Book log: 66) Reginald Hill -- An April Shroud

Here's the first of July's books:

66) Reginald Hill -- An April Shroud

Fourth in the Dalziel and Pascoe series. The previous book focused on Peter Pascoe and his involvement as a witness rather than a policeman, after finding his friends murdered. This one focuses on Andy Dalziel finding himself in a similar situation. The difference here is that Dalziel finds himself amongst strangers, and it's not entirely clear for some time whether there is a crime at all, and if so what it is.

Dalziel is supposed to be going on holiday after attending Pascoe's wedding, but finds himself stranded by a flood, and invites himself to stay with the funeral party who rescue him. The newly widowed Bonnie Fielding has more troubles on her mind than the loss of her husband -- their fledgling Banqueting Hall business needs to be up and running soon, or the business, and the family, will be bankrupt. Dalziel gets entangled in what at first seems like an entertaining diversion, but when more corpses appear, he has unpleasant choices to make.

A good read in its own right, but I found it even better when I read it in sequence. This book develops Dalziel as a character, showing him as off-duty as he gets, and telling us something about him as a person as well as a policeman.

LibraryThing entry

book log: 67) Margery Allingham -- My Friend Mr Campion and other mysteries

67) Margery Allingham -- My Friend Mr Campion and other mysteries

Collection containing the novella The Case of the Late Pig, four short stories, and a short essay excerpted from a radio broadcast by Allingham.

This was my first encounter with amateur sleuth Albert Campion, as I'd not even seen the tv adaptation. It struck me as covering some of the same territory as Dorothy Sayers' Lord Peter Wimsey, although much lighter in tone. Very enjoyable light reading, but the stories didn't really stick in my memory for the most part, and I thought the solutions rather too obvious in one or two stories. I suspect that they suffered somewhat from the strictures imposed by the short story format.

LibraryThing entry

book log: 68) Alan Hunter -- Landed Gently

68) Alan Hunter -- Landed Gently

Fourth in the Inspector George Gently series, and the first that I've read. This one was first pubished in 1957, and this affects some of the background details, but doesn't make much difference in the basic plot.

Gently is invited to spend Christmas at a country house. On the train down he meets a young American from a US Air Force base, who has wangled himself an invitation to the neighbouring country house. Lt Earle has an interest in both the tapestry workshop based at Merely, and in the young woman who runs the workshop. Gently likes the man, and isn't happy to hear that he's been found dead at the bottom of the grand staircase on Christmas morning. At first glance it looks like an accident, but Gently isn't satisfied with first appearances. He soon shows that it's not an accident, and then isn't satisfied with the suspect preferred by his hosts.

For a short novel, there are a surprising number of red herrings and plot twists. The clues are there, but neatly buried in competently written distractions. I'm inclined to find some more of this police procedural series.

LibraryThing entry