Welcome to Litsy!

Latest Karen Pirie was good fun. Set in lockdown a librarian at the national archives links a crime writers manuscript to the disappearance of a young woman. With lots of nods and winks to the Scottish crime writing community, I think val macdermid enjoyed making the villains fellow crime writers. I enjoy the characters in the series, + it also still feels strange remembering lockdown. Hopefully, a new one soon + maybe a further TV adaptation

#unpopularopinion I just can‘t get into this one. The personal lives of the detectives feel like needless distractions. I don‘t care about the case. I know it can‘t be as easy a solve as the current set up, so there has to be a big twist coming, but I find that I simple don‘t care. Plus, I almost cried when I saw how much of the book I had left to listen to. That‘s never a good sign.

#bookreport
With the exception of two, all the “finished “books were in various stages of reading in other words. I didn‘t read them all this week.
Currently reading: Starting audiobook,Crocodile on the Sandbank #blameitonlitsy, #SebastianStCyr mystery, #libraryfind #poetry #nunlit #serieslove2024

Edinburgh is in total lockdown due to Covid-19.DS Jason Murray gets an unexpected phone call from a librarian who finds a chilling unfinished manuscript in the archival material of a dead author,Jake Stein.The manuscript has eerie parallels to the real life disappearance of a EU student,Lara Hardie one year earlier.DCI Karen Pirie & her team of the Historic Cases Unit decide to investigate.Also highlighted are personal challenges for the 3 team 🔽

I tore through this book in two days. It was a visceral reminder of the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic: although the world seems to have moved on, we must not forget how terrifying those early days were and how little we knew about the virus (and we don't know that much more now, especially about long Covid). The details were just right and accurate. I liked too that each squad member got some airtime in the story.

Love the characters in these stories. Great writing . Love the descriptions of one of my favourite cities, Edinburgh. Only criticism, I thought the ending a little too drawn out. Looking forward to the next one. Glad the Karen Pirie character has been picked up as a TV series. Long may she live and Daisy too.

The new book in the Karen Pirie series is another excellent read, although a very different book. This is set at the height of the lockdown and that makes the job of investigating a cold case much more difficult. I love how Val McDermid managed this with great aplomb. I‘ve fallen more in love with this series as it has progressed.

Surprise Book Mail is awesome. 🥳