Berwick’s Elizabethan Ramparts

Posted on May 18, 2013 by Margaret

Following on from last Saturday’s Saturday Snapshots here are a few more photos of Berwick-upon-Tweed, which is the northernmost town in England. It’s a Border town that changed hands between England and Scotland 14 times until it finally became part of England in 1482. It’s a walled town; the original medieval walls were built in the 13th century and the Elizabethan Ramparts, dating from 1558 are virtually intact.

The fortifications replaced the medieval wall on the North and East sides of the town. The photo above shows part of the Elizabethan wall that is now the boundary wall of a car park.

Below are two photos of sections of the walls:

The photo below shows a Russian cannon, captured in the Crimea. Before the Second World War this part of part of the walls was once bristling with artillery. All that remains now is this cannon which was brought back as one of the trophies at the end of the Crimean War (1854-56). The top of the barrel of the gun is embossed with the double-headed eagle emblem of the Russian Tzar.

For more Saturday Snapshots see Alyce’s blog At Home With Books.

Book Beginnings

Posted on May 17, 2013 by Margaret

Peaches for Monsieur Le Curé: I really shouldn’t be reading this book yet as I’m still reading Joanne Harris’s The Lollipop Shoes, the book that precedes Peaches for Monsieur Le Curé, but I just had to see how it starts.

This is the beginning (and the whole of Chapter One):

Someone once told me that, in France alone, a quarter of a million letters are delivered every year to the dead.

What she didn’t tell me is that sometimes the dead write back.

Well, that seemed so familiar – and it is because here is the opening sentence of The Lollipop Shoes:

It is a relatively little-known fact that, over the course of a single year, about twenty million letters are delivered to the dead.

I’ve had The Lollipop Shoes for nearly five years and have only just got round to reading it. I bought it when it came out in hardback because I’d loved reading Chocolat and wanted to read more about Vianne Rocher – my post on Chocolat explains my love of this book. So far, though, it just doesn’t have the same enchantment as Chocolat and it’s giving me uneasy feelings. I don’t want to say too much just yet as I’ve only read half the book – but one of the characters is definitely not ‘nice’, she’s dangerous and devious, out to change Vianne’s world.

In fact, when I first looked at The Lollipop Shoes I found I didn’t want to read it – it’s so different in mood from Chocolat. So it went back on the shelf until this week, when I read Christine’s review of Peaches for Monsieur Le Curé and I knew it was time to read Joanne Harris’s books. It sounds as though Peaches for Monsieur Le Curé is just as enjoyable as Chocolat and maybe not quite so dark as The Lollipop Shoes, because she wrote: ‘it’s the kind of novel I’ll turn to on a grey day, when the world seems against me, and I want my spirits lifting without having to think too deeply about anything’.

For more Book Beginnings on Friday see Gilion’s blog Rose City Reader.

Murder in the Mews by Agatha Christie

Posted on May 16, 2013 by Margaret

I don’t usually find short stories as satisfying as novels, but the stories in Murder in the Mews are good, mainly, I think, because with one exception they are novellas, longer than the average short stories. The collection was first published in 1937.

There are four stories about crimes solved by Hercule Poirot:

Murder in the Mews – at first it looks as though a young widow, Mrs Allen has committed suicide, but as the doctor pointed out the pistol is in her right hand and the wound was close to her head just above the left ear, so it’s obvious that someone else shot her and tried to make it look like suicide. The plot is tightly constructed, with a few red herrings to misguide Poirot and Inspector Japp and a moral question at the end. The book begins on Guy Fawkes Day and I like this conversation between Poirot and Inspector Japp:

(J): ‘Don’t suppose many of those kids really know who Guy Fawkes was.’

(P): ‘And soon, doubtless, there will be confusion of thought. Is it in honour or in execration that on the fifth of November the feux d’artifice are sent up? To blow up an English Parliament, was it a sin or a noble deed?’

Japp chuckled. ‘Some people would say undoubtedly the latter.’ (page 7)

The Incredible Theft – Poirot is called in to investigate the theft of top secret plans of a new bomber from the home of a Cabinet Minister, Lord Mayfield, where a number of guests are gathered for a house party: Mrs Vanderlyn is an American siren who had formed friendships with ‘a European party’ (this was written in 1936). Air Marshall Sir George Carrington wonders why she is there. Lady Julia Carrington, Sir George’s wife is a keen bridge player, who has ‘the most frightful overdraft’ and their son Reggie, fancies the French maid. Also present are Mrs Macatta MP, and Mr Carlile, Lord Mayfield’s private secretary. This is perhaps the weakest story in the collection.

Dead Man’s Mirror – a conventional murder mystery. Sir Gervase Chevenix-Gore is found dead in his locked study, shot through the head. The bullet had shattered the mirror on the wall behind his desk. Again it looks like suicide, but the question is why he should kill himself. Poirot considers it’s all wrong psychologically – Sir Gervase was known as The Bold Bad Baronet, with a huge ego, much like Poirot, considering himself to be a man of great importance. This is another story, complicated by family relationships. Things of interest I noted are that Poirot studies the footprints in the garden outside the study, Mr Satterthwaite (seen in later stories) makes an appearance, and on a personal note I wondered if this was Agatha Christie’s cynical view of divorce?

I can’t see it makes a ha’p'orth of difference who you marry nowadays. Divorce is so easy. If you’re not hitting it off, nothing is easier than to cut the tangle and start again. (page 115)

Triangle at Rhodes – although this is the shortest story, not my preferred length, I think this is the best one in the book. It’s similar to her later book Evil Under the Sun in that it is about a love triangle and a crime of passion. Poirot is on holiday in Rhodes and observes the jealousy and passion between two couples as he sits in the sun on the beach. He foresees trouble ahead and is worried as he traces a triangle in the sand. There aren’t many people on holiday there and he wonders if he is imagining things , reproaching himself for being ‘crime-minded‘. But he is not wrong and Valentine Chantry, a famous beauty, married to a commander in the navy, a strong, silent man, is murdered.

These stories demonstrate some of Agatha Christie’s plot elements and endings – the locked room murder, the murderer conceals the motive, Poirot foresees murder, the clues (often odd clues) are there hidden or in plain sight, there are red herrings and bluffs, chance remarks that have significance, and the final denouement, explaining the solution to the mystery.

The Classics Spin

Posted on May 14, 2013 by Margaret

The Classics Club Spin

Pick twenty unread books from your list. This could be five you are dreading/hesitant to read, five you can’t WAIT to read, five you are neutral about, and five free choice.
Number them from one to twenty.
On Monday a number will be drawn.
That’s the book to read by July 1.

I decided the simplest list way to do this was to choose books from different centuries, which gave me three sections and for the final five I’ve listed five really long books. These are all books I want to read but I am hesitant about some of them, especially some of the longer books – even some of the books not included in the ‘Long books’ section are long too! I’m really hoping for a shorter book.

The first five are 17th & 18th century, the second group are 19th century, the third 20th century and the last five are ‘Long books’.

Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra 1605
A Journal of the Plague Year by Daniel Defoe 1722
Moll Flanders by Daniel Defoe 1722
Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift 1726
Lady Susan, The Watsons, Sanditon by Jane Austen poss 1794 first pub 1871
Barnaby Rudge by Charles Dickens 1841
Mary Barton by Elizabeth Gaskell 1848
Barchester Towers (Barsetshire Chronicles, 2) by Anthony Trollope 1857
The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot 1860
Lorna Doone: A Romance of Exmoor by R D Blackmore 1869
Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton 1911
The Voyage Out by Virginia Woolf 1915
Out of Africa – Isak Dinesen 1937
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee 1960
Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez 1985
Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell 1936
Of Human Bondage by W. Somerset Maugham 1915
No Name by Wilkie Collins 1862
The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas 1844
Parade’s End by Ford Maddox Ford 1924 – 28

The Frozen Shroud by Martin Edwards

Posted on May 13, 2013 by Margaret

The Frozen Shroud is the sixth book in Martin Edwards’s Lake District Mystery series. I’ve enjoyed the previous five, featuring historian Daniel Kind and DCI Hannah Scarlett, head of the Cold Case Review Team and this one is no exception; it kept me guessing almost to the end.

The Frozen Shroud begins at Halloween in Ravenbank, an isolated community on the shores of Ullswater. At Ravenbank Hall, Miriam Park tells Shenagh Moss the ghost story of the Faceless Woman, Gertrude Smith who was murdered on Hallowe’en, just before the First World War. She was found, battered to death, her face reduced to a pulp and covered with a woollen blanket like a shroud. Her murderer wasn’t hanged and the story goes that her tormented spirit walks down Ravenbank Lane on Hallowe’en. Later that night Shenagh goes missing and is found, battered to death and with her face covered by a rough woollen blanket.

Five years later, Daniel Kind sets out to discover more about Gertrude Smith’s murder when a third murder occurs on Hallowe’en; another young woman with her face shrouded from view. This time it’s Hannah’s best friend Terri Poynton, who was at a Hallowe’en party at the Hall. Is it the same killer or a copycat murder? DCI Fern Larter investigates this latest murder and because it looks as though there are connections with Shenagh’s murder, Hannah reopens that case. She and Daniel work together once more to discover the truth.

In Martin Edward’s books, the characters are all so alive, the settings so vividly described and the plots so intricate and compelling. I love all the historical and literary references he uses, weaving them seamlessly into the books, and then there is the ongoing friendship between Daniel and Hannah – both Daniel’s sister and Hannah’s friends keep insisting they’re right for each other.

I think each book can be read on its own, but it helps to fully understand the characters’ relationships if you read them in order. The earlier books are as follows (linked to Fantastic Fiction):

1. The Coffin Trail (2004)
2. The Cipher Garden (2005)
3. The Arsenic Labyrinth (2007)
4. The Serpent Pool (2010)
5. The Hanging Wood (2011)
6. The Frozen Shroud (2013)

The Frozen Shroud is available in the USA in both hardback and paperback, published by Poisoned Pen Press. I received my copy from Maryglenn McCombs Book Publicity.

In the UK the hardback, published by Allison & Busby will be released in June this year.

This is my contribution to Kerrie’s Crime Fiction Alphabet 2013 for the letter F. To take part your post MUST be related to either the first letter of a book’s title, the first letter of an author’s first name, or the first letter of the author’s surname, or even maybe a crime fiction “topic”. But above all, it has to be crime fiction.

I’ve taken part in all of Kerrie’s previous Crime Fiction Alphabets but this is my first one for this series. I decided to contribute when the books I’ve read or am reading coincide with the letter of the week. Actually this book could equally as well be for the letter E too.

Book Notes: Daisy Dalrymple

Posted on May 12, 2013 by Margaret

I’ve now read the first three books in Carola Dunn’s Daisy Dalrymple series – all borrowed from the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library. I wrote about the first book Death at Wentwater Court in this post. It’s a typical country house murder mystery.

I’ve recently read the second and third books, The Winter Garden Mystery, another country house murder mystery and Requiem for a Mezzo. These are quick, light, easy and enjoyable to read, not requiring much brain power to work out who did the murders. They provide an interesting glimpse of life in the 1920s..

The Winter Garden Mystery, first published in 1995.

Set in 1923 Daisy is visiting Occles Hall in Cheshire, the home of her school friend Bobbie, to write an article for the Town and Country magazine and discovers a corpse buried in the Winter Garden. It’s the body of Grace Moss, the blacksmith’s daughter and parlour maid at the Hall. She had gone missing three months earlier.The under-gardener is arrested. Daisy convinced of his innocence contacts Detective Inspector Alex Fletcher of Scotland Yard and their relationship develops as they set about discovering the murderer.

Requiem for a Mezzo, first published in 1996.

In this book Daisy and DI Alex Fletcher are at the Albert Hall watching a performance of Verdi’s Requiem in which her neighbour, Bettina Westlea is singing , until she drops dead, apparently from cyanide poisoning. Alex reluctantly lets Daisy help with the investigation into her murder.

Bettina had made many enemies and it surfaces that there are several possible motives and suspects. Daisy has a knack of getting people to talk to her, but I did find this just a little repetitive as Alex tried to stop her involvement. However, this didn’t detract from their continuing relationship.

Saturday Snapshot: Berwick Castle

Posted on May 11, 2013 by Margaret

There is little left of Berwick Castle. Ruins are almost as enticing as libraries and bookshops to me. If there are any of these in an area I love to go and explore, so it’s amazing that after living near Berwick-upon-Tweed for over three years the most I’ve seen of Berwick Castle is the view of a wall from Berwick Railway Station. It was the building of the railway that caused the Castle’s final destruction when in 1847 substantial parts of the Castle were demolished to make way for the Station! Apparently the walls were so thick they had to use gunpowder to reduce them to rubble.

We were in Berwick on Wednesday; it was a dismal afternoon as rain blew in from the North Sea, not ideal for taking photos, especially on a camera phone. I’ll go back another day, when the sun is out, to take more photos.

The photo below shows the approach to the Castle ruins from Coronation Park above the River Tweed. The Park was created to celebrate the coronation of George VI in 1937. The area at the top of the Park was known as Gallows Knowe. It was the place of public executions in Berwick, the last being in 1823 – maybe the very place where we stood to take photos.

The Castle was first recorded in 1160, probably built by King David I of Scotland, and was completely rebuilt by Edward I of England, after he captured it in 1296, with a strong circuit of walls, towers and turrets, including royal apartments, a great hall and a chapel. Berwick- upon-Tweed is the most northerly town in England. a border town that changed hands between England and Scotland many times until 1482 when it was retaken from Scotland.

The photo below shows the castle mound, and the remains of the castle walls, including a rounded gun tower . On the right of the photo the White Walls are visible – this was a battlemented wall that still runs from the corner of the castle down to the River Tweed. It was built to defend the river approach to the castle and town around 1297 – 1298. Also, just about visible on the extreme right of the photo is the Royal Border Bridge carrying the railway line into Berwick Station.

The next photo (below) shows more detail of the Bridge and White Walls.

For more Saturday Snapshots see Alyce’s blog At Home With Books.

Lost in the Stacks

Posted on May 11, 2013 by Margaret

Danielle who writes one of my favourite book blogs, A Work in Progress, asked me to contribute to her ‘Lost in the Stacks: Home Edition‘ series this week. I love writing about books and looking at other people’s bookshelves so I was delighted to take part. Danielle’s post includes photos of my books and shelves along with my answers to her questions.

If you’d like to see more have a look at this post.

Classics Club May Meme

Posted on May 8, 2013 by Margaret

I recently joined the The Classics Club. Each month there is a meme – a question to answer and this is my first one.

Tell us about the classic book(s) you’re reading this month. You can post about what you’re looking forward to reading in May, or post thoughts-in-progress on your current read(s).

I’ve just started to read A Man of Property the first book in the Forsyte Saga by John Galsworthy, a book I’ve been meaning to read for some years. My copy contains this first novel plus Indian Summer of a Forsyte. It begins in June 1886 with an ‘at home’ at the house of old Jolyon Forsyte to celebrate the engagement of Miss June Forsyte, old Jolyon’s granddaughter, to Mr Philip Bosinney, an architect. The rest of the family all attend and are introduced to the reader, explaining their relationships. There is a family tree at the beginning of the book that helps me to understand who they all are.

I watched the first TV dramatisation of The Forsyte Saga way back in 1967 and the later production in 2002, so I know the story – or at least I remember the gist of it and can visualise Damien Lewis as Soames Forsyte and Gina McKee as Irene (I even remember Nyree Dawn Porter as Irene!)

I think the sequence of books in the Saga is a little confusing, so I’ve listed the books to clarify the sequence for myself:

The first trilogy, comprising:

A Man of Property published in 1906 followed by Indian Summer of a Forsyte: a short interlude, published in 1918 (I have this book, which is the version shown above).
In Chancery published in 1920 and another short interlude: Awakening (1920) – I don’t have this.
To Let published in 1921 - I don’t have this.

A Modern Comedy, written between 1924 and 1928. I have these books in one volume, called The Forsyte Saga Volume Two comprising:

The White Monkey (1924)
The Sliver Spoon (1926)
Swan Song (1928)

But there are also Two Forsyte Interludes: A Silent Wooing / Passers By (1928)
On Forsyte Change (1930), which I don’t own.

And a further trilogy called End of the Chapter (I don’t own this), comprising:

Maid in Waiting (1932)
Flowering Wilderness (1933)
Over the River (1933)

I think I’ve got that sorted out now!

Balthazar Jones and the Tower of London Zoo by Julia Stuart

Posted on May 7, 2013 by Margaret

It’s been a while (2010) since I bought Balthazar Jones and the Tower of London Zoo and I was pleased when I finally got round to reading it to find that I enjoyed this quirky book, at times comical and at times poignant. It’s a mix of historical facts and odd characters, set in the present day at the Tower of London, but with a strangely old-fashioned feel to it. It’s the story of Beefeater Balthazar Jones and his wife Hebe, who live in the Salt Tower. Hebe works at London Underground’s Lost Property Office, full of weird and wonderful things.

It begins:

Standing on the battlements in his pyjamas, Balthazar Jones looked out across the Thames where Henry III’s polar bear had once fished for salmon while tied to a rope. The Beefeater failed to notice the cold that pierced his dressing gown with deadly precision, or the wretched damp that crept round his ankles. Placing his frozen hands on the ancient parapet, he tilted his head back, and inhaled the night. There it was again.

The undeniable aroma had fluttered past his capacious nostrils several hours earlier as he lay sleeping in the Tower of London, his home for the last eight years.

The Queen has decided that all the animals that have been given to her as gifts are to be moved from London Zoo to the Tower of London. This wasn’t a new idea as the ‘man from the palace’ explained to Balthazar Jones that animals had been kept at the Tower from the 13th century until the 1830s and the menagerie had been an immensely popular tourist attraction. The Queen is anxious not to offend the foreign rulers who have sent her the exotic animals and Balthazar, a collector of rare raindrops and the owner of a very ancient tortoise, is charged with taking care of them in the new royal menagerie at the Tower.

The supporting characters include the Reverend Septimus Drew, who writes erotica under the pen name Vivienne Ventress – he is in love, although he can’t bring himself to tell her, with Ruby Dore, the landlady of the Tower tavern, the Rack and Ruin, whose canary refuses to sing. There are the other Beefeaters, the Chief Yeoman Warder and the Ravenmaster who hates the intrusion of the Queen’s animals, which include an Etruscan shrew, a Komodo dragon, howler monkeys and a King of Saxony bird of paradise.

It’s not all eccentric characters and bizarre situations, there’s love and sorrow intermingled. Balthazar and Hebe had a son, Milo who died young and they are both still mourning his death. Balthazar, though is tormented by a terrible secret, which he can’t reveal to Hebe. Since Milo’s death they have drifted apart and Balthazar is devastated when Hebe leaves him. Will they get back together? What is his secret and will he tell Hebe?

By the end of this book I was thoroughly absorbed into the world of the Tower of London, with all the irritations of living within circular walls, and the Lost Property Office of London’s Underground, where strange things were left such as a magician’s box used to saw glamorous assistants in two and a wooden box containing the remains of Clementine Perkins. And, I wonder, do all the Beefeaters really have a ‘ruthless specimen of fungus that flourished on the back of their knees‘ as a result of the rain and ‘the damp from their abominable lodgings.‘?

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