I get a newsletter from Blackwell’s, the bookstore in Oxford, every Saturday morning. This past Saturday the subject line was “666 books published this week”. Looking around Whodunit? I felt as if they had all been delivered here. There were so many books not to mention a large stack of Advanced Reader’s Copies (ARCs) that had arrived while I was away. Anyway, I did manage to unearth some things that I wanted to read.
The first was Death at the Savoy, by Canadian writers Ron Base and Prudence Emery. The Savoy is the hotel in London and the book is set in 1968. I really enjoyed reading it. The characters were engaging, and the plot moved along not getting bogged down in scene setting as sometimes happens in books set in an earlier period. (in stock, trade paper $18.85) A perfect book for a relaxing afternoon, or morning or evening for that matter.
In the stack of ARCs I quickly found the third title in Richard Osman’s Thursday Murder Club series. The Bullet That Missed will not be released until September 20th (Hardcover $35) but the second title The Man Who Died Twice came out in trade paper this past Tuesday (in stock $$23). This has been a very popular series and sold millions of copies worldwide. I think that when the first one was released in the UK the fact that the author was a television personality may have helped to start the sales, but the book just took off and so did the subsequent title. It is an excellent series. If we have not already sold you a copy you might look at it next time you are in.
Another ARC that I read from my stack was Val McDermid’s 1989. This is the second title in her Allie Burns series. (Releases October hardcover $39.50). This is a very different read from the Osman, Allie Burns is an investigative journalist. The first title 1979 deals with among other issues the very divisive miner’s strikes. (In stock hard cover $39.95. Releases in trade paper October $23.95). 1989 deals with the issues of HIV/AIDS and drug use and the failure of particularly the Scottish authorities to deal with them in an effective manner. This is also the time of the newspaper wars in the United Kingdom where the owners seemed to be at perpetual war with their employees, journalists, and printers. Burns is not immune to this and her owner (made clear it is not Rupert Murdoch although I think it could be based on Robert Maxwell) is patently not a very nice man.
I found a new tv series last Sunday, Murder in Provence. The series is based on M.L. Longworth’s Verlaque and Bonnet series. It is beautiful to watch. The series made by British ITV was obviously filmed in and around Aix-en-Provence. Well worth watching if you can find.
Susie Steiner (1971-2022)
Susie Steiner, author of the Manon Bradshaw series, died on July 3rd. She had suffered from retinitis pigmentosa, a hereditary disease, which resulted in the loss her sight. She had overcome this challenge and her first crime novel Missing Presumed was published in 2016. In 2019 she was diagnosed with a brain tumour.