This is a great mix of interesting questions and serious attempts to answer them, but in an amusing and fun way.

This is a wonderful book. Theoretically it‘s about upheavals and changes to a whole world, but really it‘s about friendship and family, and the problems and misunderstandings that are part and parcel of relationships.

This is a fantasy set in a basically Edwardian second world, with magic and the fae. Hetta, who ran away to the big city as a teenager, comes back to her home after her father's death for the funeral, and the magic ceremony to choose the new Lord of Stariel, with her cousin Jack expected to be chosen. However things don't go to plan.

I really enjoyed this. I liked Hetta and her family. There's also mysteries to be solved and hints of romance.

I found this delightful. For me, I think one of the attractions was the very low-key domestic nature of it. Rather than world-saving adventures, this is about Mabs trying to fix her home, and keep her kid safe. There just happens to be a guy who can turn into a wolf! There was a lovely sense of community and friendship too. I hope that there will be more to come in this series...

This was great! It‘s part of the Dominion of the Fallen setting featuring Fallen Angels in a ruined Paris. However, this novella takes place in a Dragon Kingdom in the Seine, after the main trilogy. In it Thuan and Asmodeus end up trying to solve a murder while visiting Thuan‘s relations over Tet.

I really loved this, from the relationship between the more diplomatic Thuan and the “murder first” Asmodeus, to the Vietnamese inspired setting.

The premise of this book is a little unusual, as the author himself is part of the book. In it, is asked by an ex-policeman now consultant to write a book about one of his cases, leading him (the author) to play a Watson-like role in the book.

The presence of the author-as-character is a bit off-putting in some ways, but this is still an interesting mystery. The consultant Hawthorne also takes a bit of getting used to, as he is pretty abrasive.

Philocles is a Greek playwright who stumbles over a body outside his home in Athens. He then gets caught up in a political conspiracy, while also trying to ensure that the play he‘s been working does well at the Dionysus festival.

This is a great mystery set in Ancient Greece, with a nice sense of time and place. The obvious research doesn‘t stand out, but informs the characters and plot. I will be definitely reading the next one.

I‘ve just started this, and am so far intrigued. The fact that I‘m reading the French edition is slowing me down a bit though!

This is set some time after the earlier Deverry series, but one of the things I appreciated was the sense that the world had changed, technology had advanced, and there were different cultural and political attitudes. Too many fantasy worlds feel static for centuries.

This is definitely the first book in a trilogy, so there isn‘t a tied off ending. I look forward to the next two books in the series!

This is another brilliant book by Ursula Vernon in her guise as T. Kingfisher. It‘s basically a MG book, but is quite dark. (It‘s also suitable for adults though!) It features Mona, a 14 year-old baker‘s apprentice and minor wizard, who gets pulled into a difficult situation after she finds a body in the bakery one morning. Unlike most books about adventures though, there is more of a sense of how it feels to be dragged into saving the day.

I‘m not normally a big fan of paranormal romances, but I trusted the author (AKA C.E. Murphy), and am glad I did.

It features Shifters, focussing in this case on Garius, a Bear Shifter. This is a fun book with interesting characters. Some of the mythology of the Shifters is explained, but there are still hints of a mysteries still to be revealed.

I am looking forward to Gladiator Cheetah, the sequel!

This is the second book about Sam Wyndham, working for the police in Calcutta in the 1920s during the days of the British Raj. However, this one is mostly focused in one of the smaller princedoms rather than Calcutta.

These are interesting books, both from as historical fiction, and as mysteries. Captain Wyndham is far from a perfect hero (he‘s a morphine addict among other things), but he does see the abuses that are happening around him.

I really love the cover of this, looking forward to reading it!

A new Deverry book! And a new series, set hundreds of years after the earlier ones.

This is the second book I‘ve read recently featuring a Protestant working for the Garda Síochána (police) in Ireland during the Emergency (WW2). This can‘t be a very large subgenre, can it?

Adam returns to his family in Ireland 10 years after he disappeared and shortly afterwards his father is killed falling off a yacht. What happened to Adam, and how did his father die?

The book features the 6 children, all of whom having a reason to kill their father, and has lots of twists as turns as the stories are revealed. To be honest, none of the characters were all that likeable, but the story was unput-downable.

This is the 15th book about Kaylin Neya, a member of the Hawks (police force in the city of Elantra) and her increasing group of found family. This is definitely not a good entry point to the series, as while (almost) ever book is a complete story, they build on each other.
I was happy that this one was a less “Cohort“ centered book, and that instead some of the Dragons were focused on. It‘s also interesting to see Kaylin‘s growth over the series.

Mahit Dzmare is sent to the Teixcalaani empire to replace the dead former ambassador from her station. She now has to not only navigate Teixcalaani politics, but also discover how her predecessor died.

I really liked this. It reminded me in some ways of Ann Leckie‘s Imperial Radch books in terms of style. It‘s part murder mystery, part space opera, part political novel, blending all into an interesting conversation about what I and we mean.

More Kate Shugak and Mutt! It‘s always great when a new Kate Shugak book comes out, and this one didn‘t disappoint me. It‘s probably not a great one to start with, as it does feature a certain amount of backstory from previous books.

Interesting premise - what if the two British princesses were sent to nearby neutral Ireland during WW2?

Megan is an American limo driver, living in Dublin, when one of her clients dies suddenly. She gets drawn into finding out what happened, as it initially looks like it may be food poisoning contracted at her friend‘s restaurant.

The mystery definitely kept me interested, and the use of an American as a main character meant that it was possible for her to “explain“ Irishisms without annoying Irish people (like me) Great descriptions of Dublin too.

One of the concepts of this series is that it frequently features a famous Irish historical crime, but fictionalises it - changing the location, date and victims. This time it was the La Mancha murders which happened in Malahide in 1926.

Part of a series about Stefan Gillespie, a Guard (Irish policeman) during the Emergency (as WW2 was called in Ireland). He‘s investigating several cases in Ireland, but his duties also lead him to Berlin.

This is an interesting series, set in Ireland (and various other countries) during the 30‘s and 40‘s. Part historical fiction, part thriller, part detective fiction. Stefan is a pretty sympathetic character too.

I‘m reading this for a book club, as it‘s a bit outside my usual genres. Not quite sure yet of my feelings about it.

Daisy Mason goes missing during a family party, and it is up to DI Adam Fawley and his team to find her, and work out what has happened. It‘s full of twists and turns, and introduces an interesting cast of characters. The book does switch around a bit between characters and points of view, but it is generally easy enough to follow who is who. It also features newspaper articles and twitter threads in a way I‘ve not seen before.

This is part of a series about Clara Gamadge, itself a continuation of the Henry Gamadge mysteries by Elizabeth Daly. Clara Gamadge is now a widow in her late sixties, and has got involved in solving mysteries.

This one features a quite convoluted plot, with Clara waking up in hospital after being poisoned.

This is part of the Alpennia series, but is in a way more of a companion volume than part of the main series. Rather than centering around the upper and middle classes like the previous books, Floodtide is about Roz, a laundry maid, and the story interweaves with the other books as Roz joins the household of Margerit Sovitre.
I really liked it, but I‘m not sure how well it would work as a stand-alone, or as an entry point to the series.

I‘m really enjoying this so far, as it seems to be at least a “science fiction of manners“.

This, like most of D.E. Stevenson‘s books, has a lovely gentleness about it. It‘s about Caroline Dering, a widow living in a small town with her two daughters just after WW2. Her son, James, is still in Malaya though due to come home. It features various romances, both failed and successful, of both Caroline and her ch8ldren.

The second of the Inspector Redfyre books, set in 1920s Cambridge. This features links to the Boer War, and a Cambridge College.

I loved this for both its story and language. It‘s set in Colonial Malaysia, but features Chinese mythology, related to the afterlife. A young woman has been asked to become a Ghost Bride - to marry the recently dead son of another more well off family. Despite her refusal, she finds herself dreaming of the world of ghosts, and is forced to try and free herself from the attentions of the denizens of the afterlife.

This is a fascinating look at the Renewable Heating Incentive (RHI) scandal in Northern Ireland, featuring both cock-ups and possible corruption . I‘d only a rough overview of the issue (Cash for Ash) but this explains it all in its full detail. Definitely recommended.

Recommended during one of the panels at Dublin 2019

I‘ve liked the Bess Crawford series, but I generally prefer the authors' other series featuring Inspector Rutledge. (Part of that is that it‘s always a bit contrived to try and get a nurse involved in mysteries.)

A Forgotten Place is set mostly in Wales where Bess has gone to check on one of her former patients. While the setting was intriguing , and I did like some of the characters, I wasn‘t particularly interested in the central mystery.

This is an interesting space opera, that deserves to be better known. It is part mystery - what is the background of the mindwiped Oathbreaker Rafe?

Both the science fictional aspects and the mystery are engaging with interesting characters.

A prequel novella to the Jani Kilian series, featuring an incident in her life on the run.

A good account of the UK‘s relationship with the rest of Europe since WW2, explaining some of the reasons for Brexit.

First in a new series set around Barnstaple in Devon. I‘ve read (and liked) most if not all of Ann Cleese‘s previous books, so I wasn‘t surprised to enjoy this one as well.