Six Degrees of Separation from Yesteryear to Murder by Matchlight

Published on by Margaret1 Comment

This is a monthly link-up hosted by Kate at Books Are My Favourite and Best. This month we are starting with Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke

According to the blurb this is A traditional American woman, a “tradwife” influencer, suddenly awakens in the brutal reality of 1855—where she must unravel whether this living nightmare is an elaborate hoax, a twisted reality show, or something far more sinister in this sensational debut novel. I think I may like to read this book.

My first link is The Year Without Summer by Guinevere Glasfurd, a novel that illustrates how the impact of the extreme weather conditions affected the lives of six people. They never meet, or know each other, but their stories are intertwined throughout the book in short chapters, giving what I think is a unique look at the events of 1816. 

My second link is A Summer Bird-Cage by Margaret Drabble, a novel about dissatisfaction and not knowing what you want, about family relationships (sisterly rivalry in particular), and the nature of marriage – the cages we live within. Whilst not a lot as regards plot happens in this short novel, it contains many ideas, attitudes and character studies. And it’s beautifully written.

My third link is Nothing To Be Frightened Of by Julian Barnes, a family memoir in which he shares details about his family’s beliefs and the deaths of his parents and grandparents, of the rivalry between him and his brother, his mother’s solipsism and manipulative behaviour, his father’s seemingly passive approach to life and the difficulties of really knowing a person.

The fourth book in my chain is another book by Julian Barnes – The Sense of an Ending. It’s a novel about memory and the effect of time, about ageing, about the nature of history and literature, about nostalgia and the question of responsibility.

My fifth link is Playing With the Moon by Eliza Graham – historical fiction, capturing what life was like during the 1940s. The book deals with the power of memory, with loss, grief and bereavement. It’s also about war, the legacy of war, and of how to make sense of our lives.

My final link is also set in the 1940s – Murder by Matchlight by E C R Lorac. The setting is London in 1945, in the darkness of the blackout as the bombs are still falling. A murder takes place in almost complete darkness in Regent’s Park, witnessed by Bruce Mallaig who heard it happen and briefly saw both the victim and his assailant by the light of a struck match. It is not only darkness that shrouds the mystery – who is the victim?

The links in my chain are words in the titles, books about rivalry, books by the same author, about memory and books set in the 1940s.

Next month (August 1, 2026), we’ll start with Maggie O’Farrell’s new release, Land.

THE TBR 26 IN ’26 CHALLENGE

Published on by Margaret7 Comments

Half way through this year I have just found this challenge to read from my TBRs. It’s hosted by Gilion at her blog Rose City Reader. For full details check out her blog at the link above. Basically, it’s just read 26 books from your own TBRs. A TBR is a book that you have owned prior to January 1, 2026.

I have so many TBRs both on my physical bookshelves and on my Kindle that I really need to get down to reading more of them, so I’m hoping to read more than 26 this year – so far I’ve read 13.

The challenge runs from January 1, 2026 to December 31, 2026. You can sign up any time before December 31, 2026. Crossover with other challenges counts. Rereads count. Any genre counts as long as it is a complete book. Anything published as a book between two covers counts as a book. For example, a single story doesn’t count unless it is published as a stand-alone book, but a collection of short stories does count. If you read an omnibus that contains several “books” you can count each book separately if they were published separately in other editions.

You do not have to review the books to complete the challenge. If you do review a book, please post a link to your review on the review page here. 

When you finish, please post a link to your wrap up post with a list of the books you read and post that link on the wrap up page here. 

Quite Ugly One Evening by Chris Brookmyre

Published on by Margaret6 Comments

Abacus| 7 May 2026| 359 pages e-book| Review copy 4*

An Atlantic voyage. A family at war. A secret worth killing over.

Reporter Jack Parlabane thrives on chasing stories in unlikely places, and where could be less likely than a fan convention on a cruise liner celebrating a contentious Sixties TV series? But unlike the media family exploiting their show’s renewed relevance, he’s not there to stoke controversy: he’s there to solve a murder.

Already in deep water with his employer, Jack desperately needs a win, and solving this decades-old mystery could be it. Problem is, he’s in the middle of the Atlantic, and someone onboard has already killed once to keep their secret.

And that’s not even the tricky part. No, the tricky part is definitely the dead body locked in a stateroom with him, covered in his blood. Now Jack has to solve two murders, otherwise the only way he’s getting off this ship is in handcuffs – or in a body bag.

Quite Ugly One Evening by Chris Brookmyre is the ninth book in the Jack Parlabane series. Jack, now 60, is an investigative journalist, who finds himself in competition with his younger colleagues, grateful that he still has a job.

The first book by Chris Brookmyre I read was Quite Ugly One Morning, the first in the series. That was in 2010 and since then I have read and enjoyed more of his books, including those he’s written under the pseudonym Ambrose Parry with his wife, Marisa Haetzman. But, I haven’t read the other Jack Parlabane books. However, it wasn’t a problem and I don’t think you need to have read the other books to enjoy this one, as it does read well as a standalone.

It is a ‘locked room’ type mystery as the action takes place on a cruise liner as it crosses the Atlantic. The ship is full of fans of the Maskyn family’s 1960s TV puppet series, The Imaginators, attending a convention, symposium and 60th anniversary celebration. They are also looking to update the series as sixty years later the series is not only dated but also obviously racist in some of the puppet designs. And the family are split over a takeover bid from a billionaire, with some wanting to accept his offer and others bitterly opposed to it.

It’s also complicated, with a large cast of characters and multiple layers. It took me a while to work out who is who, as I was reading a proof copy which does not have the Maskyn family tree included in the published edition – it would have been really helpful. Jack is onboard after being approached by MI5 who want him to act as an undercover agent investigating the death of an agent, Simeon Wickham forty years earlier. MI 5 had intelligence that the Maskyns had been infiltrated by an agent of a foreign power at that time. Just who was Simeon Wickham, what was his involvement with the Maskyns and who killed him?

Right from the start of the book it appears that Jack is the main suspect for killing the man found dead in suite 1114. The first half is slow going with detailed descriptions of the layout of the ship, with Jack getting lost in the different staircases that looked the same, confused by the position and direction of the ship and not sure which deck he was on. There is a great deal of description about the TV puppet show and about the current criticism it’s attracting. However, the pace begins to speed up at about 49%, and it was a race to the end.

I thoroughly enjoyed it, murder, onboard a luxury line in the middle of the Atlantic, with a complex plot, interesting characters, social commentary, told with humour and a hint back to the Golden Age of murder mysteries.

Spell the Month in Books June 2026

Published on by Margaret8 Comments

Spell the Month in Books is a linkup hosted by Jana on Reviews From the Stacks on the first Saturday of each month. The goal is to spell the current month with the first letter of book titles, excluding articles such as ‘the’ and ‘a’ as needed. That’s all there is to it! Some months there are optional theme challenges, such as “books with an orange cover” or books of a particular genre, but for the most part, any book you want to use is fair game!

As Jana is not back on her blog yet, there is no theme for this month, so I am featuring books that spell the word June using the first letters of the book titles. These are all books that I’ve read and are linked to my posts on them.

J is for Julius by Daphne du Maurier

Julius is the life story of a ruthless man, driven by his lust for power, and his dedication to getting ‘something for nothing’. It’s a chilling tale about a man whose love for his daughter brings about his ruin. It was her third book written when she was twenty-six. It may lack that magic quality of her later books, but it is still compelling and disturbing reading, rich in detail and characterisation.

U is for Ultimate Prizes by Susan Howatch

I read this book before I began blogging, so no review. It’s the third book in the Starbridge series, six self-contained yet interconnected novels that explore the history of the Church of England through the 20th century. I loved all six books. This one is about Neville Aysgarth, archdeacon, and right-hand man of the Bishop of Starbridge, who has spent his life chasing worldly success. In 1942 he has a perfect wife, a perfect family and a perfect future in the Church of England – all ultimate prizes.Then Aysgarth meets an attractive young socialite and is soon dangerously and chaotically involved in adultery, hypocrisy and obsession.

N is for No Further Questions by Gillian McAllister

I was hooked right from the start of this book. It plunges straight into a trial as Martha sits in the courtroom listening to expert witnesses being questioned  and cross-examined about the death of her baby, Layla, just eight weeks old. Her sister Becky is accused of murdering her. Martha doesn’t want to believe Becky is guilty but as the trial proceeds, as medical and social worker witnesses as well as neighbours and a school teacher present their accounts it looks increasingly bad for Becky.This is a tense, tightly plotted book and I was gripped. I didn’t want to stop reading it and when I wasn’t reading it I was thinking about it, about the characters and their relationships, about how they had got themselves into such a terrible situation. 

E is for The Elopement by Gill Hornby

This is historical fiction about the life of Jane Austen’s niece Fanny Knight and Mary Dorothea Knatchbull, Fanny’s stepdaughter. Fanny’s father was Edward Austen, who was adopted by the wealthy Knight family. In 1820 Fanny married Sir Edward Knatchbull, a widower, with six children. Fanny and Mary Dorothea, the only daughter, had a difficult relationship right from the start. Fanny is not a warm character and Mary is reluctant to accept her as a substitute mother, but Fanny comes from a large, happy and sociable family and Fanny’s sisters become Mary’s first friends. Her aunt, Miss Cassandra Austen of Chawton, is especially kind. Her brothers are not only amusing, but handsome and charming, and when Mary and one of the Knight brothers fall in love and want to marry Fanny is not all happy.

Top Ten Tuesday: Books with Handwriting on the Cover

Published on by Margaret7 Comments

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl. For the rules see her blog.

The topic this week is Books with Handwriting on the Cover (Or fonts that look like handwriting. Titles, subtitles, covers with letters on them, etc.) These are all paperback books I own, some of which I haven’t read yet. I’ve linked those I have read to my posts on them.

I’m a bit late posting my Top Ten Tuesday, but it still is Tuesday!

The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley – I’ve avoided reading this book because of all the hype when it was first published, but maybe I should just ignore that now. It’s a murder mystery set in 1950. When a body is found in the garden Fiona, who is very nearly 11 years old, decides to do her own investigations.

Fire by L C Tyler – I’ve read a few novels set in 1666 about the Great Fire of London and this is yet another one. It’s the fourth in the John Grey Historical Mystery series. Lawyer John Grey investigates a Frenchman who admits to having started the fire together with an accomplice, whom he says he has subsequently killed.

Old Filth by Jane Gardam, which I loved. This tells the story of Sir Edward Feathers, variously known as Eddie, The Judge, Fevvers, Master of the Inner Temple and Teddy. Not a dirty old man, he is ‘spectacularly clean. You might say ostentatiously clean.’ Filth is his nickname standing for Failed In London Try Hong Kong. It’s a gentle book, full of humour and heartbreak.

Daphne du Maurier by Margaret Forster, an extremely well researched and informative account of Daphne Du Maurier’s life, taken from her letters and private papers, with personal memories of her from her children, grandchildren and friends. It is a candid account of her relationships and also an excellent source of information on Du Maurier’s method of writing and views on life.

The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell. I loved Mitchell’s book Cloud Atlas, so I’m hoping to love this one too. It is described inside the front cover thus: ‘Metaphysical thriller, meditation on mortality and chronicle of our self-devouring times, this kaleidoscopic novel crackles with the invention and wit that have made David Mitchell one of the most celebrated writers of his generation.’

Mr Mac and Me by Emma Freud, a novel about a young boy and his unlikely friendship with the Glaswegian artist Charles Rennie Mackintosh.  Freud paints a vivid portrait of a home front community during the First World War, and of a man who was one of the most brilliant and misunderstood artists of his generation. I thought this looked interesting so I bought a copy.

Him and Me by Jack Whitehall. I’ve enjoyed TV programmes with Jack and his father, Michael so I’d meant to read this book about their relationship and memories. But I haven’t started it yet.

The Heretics by Rory Clements, historical mystery, set in 1595. This is one of Clements’ John Shakespeare mysteries. I haven’t read any of them before but I have enjoyed his Tom Wilde spy mysteries.

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. Set in the Deep South of America in the 1930s. It is narrated by Scout (Jean Louise Finch) as she looks back as an adult to the Depression, the years when with her older brother, Jem, and their friend, Dill, she witnessed the trial of Tom Robinson, a black man accused of raping a white girl.

Come Tell Me How You Live by Agatha Christie Mallowan, written with love and humour. I loved this archaeological memoir, which she wrote in answer to her friends’ questions about what life was like when she accompanied her husband Max on his excavations in Syria and Iraq in the 1930s.

Why I’ve not been blogging much this year

Published on by Margaret34 Comments

This year I haven’t been very active on my blog and that is because in January I had a CT scan as part of a check up on my bowel, after an operation for colon cancer in 2023. As far as the colon was concerned it was negative, but it revealed a small left breast lesion. So I’ve had a lump removed and am currently coming to the end of a course of radiotherapy. This has meant a series of appointments taking up so much time in travelling to hospitals that I haven’t had as much time, or inclination, as usual to spend on blogging and even my reading time has been reduced. Later this month I have an appointment in Ophthalmology for an assessment for a cataract operation, which I am dreading, although I know it’s a routine outpatient procedure.