Alex Norton

Very Scandi-noir, with a suitable dark undertone, however i found the plot contrivances a little bit too contrived. I probable will return to the other ones of the series, but right now I think I will read a Val McDermid first.

I want to start the year generous and gave it a five. It is a very ambitious book that captures the Victorian era as it was - the Best and the Worst of Times. I appreciated much about the book - the historical aspects, the dialogs on translation (my long distant past at University), the celebration of etymology, the Oxford setting (lived there fortwo years), The story read easily and narrative worked. My only downsides was a proper epilogue to understand the consequences of the final act.

It is a very difficult book to classify and assign a genre, and that by itself gains kudos in my book. It will appeal to those that like historical fiction, a flourish of fantasy and possibly horror. On this one I urge you to read far better reviews to see if this is your cup of tea, but the writer is certainly a capable one.

Short, Sweet, fuzzy but not vacuous. Perfect short read for a wet and cold weekend. Make a nice change from my usual dystopian SCIFI choices...

Picked it up poping it was Hillary Mantel like in nuance, background research, and political context, but got a YA readability that I found grating. I can see why this book has fans,but it just did not click with me

Yep, I'm sufficiently geeky to enjoy this. The audible version is perfect to dip in and out. Always an interesting question, always a thoughtful response and all in the length of a short dog walk.

This one starts as rather bland and predictable “thriller” and i was starting to lose patience with it but Ellis started pulling away the layers in a timely (but somewhat foreseeable manner) but by the end of the book i credit him with getting it all to work.

I seem to really love books about Cities and looking back at my “read” list they tend to live firmly in the Fantasy category, from [b:Neverwhere 14497 Neverwhere (London Below, #1) Neil Gaiman https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1348747943l/14497.SX50.jpg 16534] to [b:The City We Became 42074525 The City We Became (Great Cities, #1) N.K. Jemisin https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1585327950l/42074525.SY75.jpg 54760675]. This book manages to superimpose two Cities on each other and blends a 1960's Berlin divided, with a sort of end of century Prague feel, with modern settings. It is a police procedural in structure but it is very imaginative and rich so that the “whodunnit” is not even really all that important. I think i will revisit this one in a few years

This is a troublesome book to rate. It definitely proved to me that I really like Mitchell's writing, in particular when he goes “insufferable Frobisher”, but unlike Bone Clocks where i felt the whole was better with the parts I was not convinced of the same after finishing this book. I actually enjoyed the movie which i watched a week after finishing the book and it did clarify many points for me.

Wanted a shortish place holder while waiting for a library book to come through and this was it. It was perfectly fine as an airport book thriller, easy reading, but i bit overly trope rich. With her background was hoping for something a it more subtle

It was very good but , personally not to the level of others. It was very descriptive and so much time was spent in creating the world I can see why others thought it should have been the start of a longer series and not a standalone.

Adrian McKinty , who's recommendations I always put on my TBR list mentioned mcRae's last book [b:Case Study 57539677 Case Study Graeme Macrae Burnet https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1616819577l/57539677.SY75.jpg 90104103], but i decided to start with this one and I'm glad i did. The brilliance of this book is McRae's ability to mimic the various voices, from semiliterate protagonist, to pompous doctor, to court newspaper. So much so I did have to make double sure this was all fiction. A historically accurate portrayal of the life of a crofter in 19th C scotland.

Simply put, he is at the top of the Genre, and getting better as the series continues.

I have been an Andy Hamilton fan for years for his work with the BBC, and it was an easy yes to help kickstart this book in UnBound. The book itself, written in longhand is easy to read but I jumped back and forth with the Spotify unabridged audio version when walking. The book is an extended love/goodbye letter to a partner that we never meet except through the pages. The writing is witty, heartfelt, interesting and not overbearing. Even the end that feels rushed is appropriate because rushed is what the protagonist is. A little jewel.

It wasn't a bad book, but i did not find it great either. Maybe I was not the intended audience, as I kept feeling it seemed to be written with more of YA crowd (no knock per se i love many YA fantasies) but it seemed that every thing was spelled out. There was a predictability about the plot that never surprised. It was a perfectly enjoyable and simple read, but it never elevated to beyond a 3* threshold.

I heard such good things about this book that i'm almost a bit disappointed that i just did not love it as much as perhaps it deserved. Took three starts to get through it and although well crafted it did npt quite resonate.

I don't know why but I kept being reminded of David Mitchell if he had decided to write a Crime novel. Atkinson has a wonderful relaxed turn of phrase and is witty without being forced that i found. Like DM, the POV tend to swirl around and sometimes i was a bit lost on catching up with names but Im sold on Kate Atkinson

I am enjoying the series but the level of depth of relish to get back to the book is not on a par with other authors

ITV is filming it first series based on Pirie and as i love McDermid's Scottish Noir so I thought it time to start this series. Karen Pirie hardly appears in this first book, coming in at the end, when the case eis now a cold case. Val is a master a re-telling 70/80s Scotland and i really enjoyed this one

Spent an afternoon in the company of Herzog narrating a story so close to his heart of persistence in the face of any logic. What really struck me was the level of disappointment Onoda must have felt on confronting his years of fighting for a Japan that, when he returned to was transformed into a consumeristic nightmare for him.

Just as Good as part 1

Not quite 4 stars. Slow deliberate exposition is not the plot's ally in this case but the writing is rich, the case complex and the characters are interesting. Probably will line up the next one

I thought the majority of the Stories merited 5 stars (The Merchant, The Truth of Fact and Omphalos above others) A bit less enamored with The Lifecycle of Software Objects, but the body of short stories are great food for thought

Back and fourth between 5 and 4 stars. I am pretty sure that book two follows a different path but i did love the characters enough to want to know how the story continues. If you like rich historical novels this is deeply satisfactory

Very solid book. If you enjoy well researched historical novels but are still character driven this will satisfy. Twist in the tail that I did not see coming