All the Reviews

Raising Steam, Terry Pratchett

"To the consternation of the patrician, Lord Vetinari, a new invention has arrived in Ankh-Morpork - a great clanging monster of a machine that harnesses the power of all the elements: earth, air, fire and water. This being Ankh-Morpork, it's soon drawing astonished crowds, some of whom caught the zeitgeist early and arrive armed with notepads and very sensible rainwear."

Layers upon layers, comedy with a dark edge, observational commentary, society skewering, these are all the things I take with me from every Discworld novel, and in this second to last ever outing, it's ... Read Review

Snuff, Terry Pratchett

Discworld Number 39, Ankh-Morpork City Watch Number 8 and Sam Vimes goes on a holiday. As unlikely a scenario as you could possibly expect, especially when the holiday is in the country - balls, teas, nights that are quiet, except for the birds screaming. None of which is particularly conducive to relaxation for a man who regards relaxation as somewhat akin to death. Luckily he manages to find a body, a case, anything to distract him from Lady Sybill's imposed ban on bacon sandwiches. And that birdsong.

We head into some very dark subject matter with SNUFF - racism and ... Read Review

Fromage, Sally Scott

I have no idea how this happens, but here I was, reading FROMAGE by Sally Scott, and I suddenly realised... shoes again. Another heroine on the "slightly ditzy side" that's obsessed with shoes. It's so not my comfort zone, although I was looking for something on the lighter, silly side, and, well mission accomplished, aside from the multiple deaths and the constant threat from lurking blokes.

As the blurb puts it, Alex Grant is enjoying the last eating / lying on the beach / doing nothing days of her Croatian summer holiday when she runs into old school friend Marie ... Read Review

Retribution, Christina O'Reilly

Following on from INTO THE VOID, RETRIBUTION continues to feature DSS Archie Baldrick and DC Ben Travers - in this outing, investigating the death of a very mysterious woman indeed. After Lucy is found dead on the beach, finding out who she is, or anything about her is the most tricky part of the investigation, she's obviously been hiding something but whether or not that has any part of why she's been murdered is very difficult to ascertain. She seems to have no family or friends, no obvious past, and no easily identified motivations for wanting her dead.

Both of the ... Read Review

Thud!, Terry Pratchett

Followers of the Discworld series will be aware that the Battle of Koom Valley looms large. It's referenced frequently in the Ankh-Morpork Watch sub-section of the series, and it's all about the relationship between the trolls and the dwarfs. As it says in the blurb - "That was where the trolls ambushed the dwarfs, or the dwarfs ambushed the trolls. It was far away. It was a long time ago." But it's always there bubbling along under the surface and if Commander Sam Vimes doesn't sort out the murder of just one dwarf, it's all going to kick off again, right on his doorstep, and ... Read Review

Crimechurch, Michael Botur

A brutal novel full of horrible people doing horrible things, leaving themselves no obvious path forward or out, CRIMECHURCH isn't going to be to everyone's taste. So dark, so populated by downtrodden, desperate people I'm not even sure you could call this noir - there's something breathtaking, relentless, unapologetic about the pace here that kind of doesn't feel noirish - it just, well, feels desperate.

The title is obviously a reference to Christchurch, and it's more than a bit startling for a non-New Zealand reader to think that a city renowned for its beauty (and ... Read Review

The Security, Scott Butler

The Security (firm) are a highly specialised team of personal bodyguards, renowned as the best in the business. Until their clients' personal lives start to be exposed, leaving the team trying to protect themselves, while trying to find out who it is that knows a lot of their own secrets, let alone those of their clients. THE SECURITY (novel) is about what happens to the rich and famous when their secrets leak, it's also about what happens to such a highly specialised firm, who rely on their reputation, when they appear to be the only link between the affected clients.

... Read Review

The Spy Who Came In From the Cold, John Le Carre

Number 3 in the George Smiley series, probably the best known of the lot, just before listening to the audio of this we watched the Richard Burton / Claire Bloom movie version again after discovering  it on one of the streaming service subscriptions in one of those late night, can't be bothered going to bed hunts for something to distract.

Here this series definitely heads into espionage thriller territory, away from the slightly more crime thriller stylings of the first two. Having said that, this is thoughtful, considered, introspective espionage thriller, not just ... Read Review

Death Count, S.L. Beaumont

The first in a series flagged as the Kat Munroe thrillers, DEATH COUNT introduces Forensic Accountant Kat. She's renowned in that role, one of the best at chasing down fraud, identity theft, scams, money laundering and illegal money making schemes. She also lives with the shock and life changing consequences of serious injury, after losing a hand in a car accident, her boyfriend at the time drunk, driving the car which injured Kat so badly, and killed her friend. There are aspects of that crash and this case which intertwine unexpectedly for Kat and for DS Adam Jackson - a man with ... Read Review