So, what did Oundle Crime read in April? Well, we were lucky enough to have been given copies of First Lie Wins by Ashley Elston to read and review, so at our meeting we spent quite a bit of time chatting about that, and you can read our review here.
We’d also read other books we wanted to recommend to each other, and we share these below. As always, books available from Oundle Library or on BorrowBox are marked with an asterisk.
The Island by Catherine Cooper
Set on a remote island in the Maldives, a small group of influencers, journalists and writers are attending a pre-opening get-together at a brand new, very exclusive resort. Their brief, obviously, is to help promote the place and the owners, brother and sister Henry and Ophelia, are there to greet them. It’s not long before things start to go wrong, with mishaps and accidents, and then a death. At the same time the island is cut off by a storm and the satellite connection to the mainland goes down. This is a rather standard, two timeline mystery (present day and 30-years earlier) but Freyja said both stories link together well and she thought it quite well written … an easy-to-follow plotline, no gaps in the logic and good descriptions. She gave it 3+ Stars.
The Irregular by Gerald Seymour*
Cornish Eskimo says the Jonas Meyrick novels are always good value, and this is the latest. The stories are always topical, with lots of deadpan humour, so you can’t help but enjoy the characters and the plotting. Here, Meyrick has been tasked with bringing down a kingpin drugs lord who has never been caught or convicted because he has so many police officers on his payroll. Senior officials in the Met hope that maybe one of Meyrick’s absurdly complex plans might outwit the man … and the plan is a beauty, with an ‘irregular’ called Kenny ‘Chopper’ Harris used to spring the trap. There are layers of subterfuge and complexity with different police teams vying for position, a vast shipment of heroin moving from Afghanistan to the UK, and hovering above it all and pulling the strings is Jonas Meyrick. Absorbing and amusing, Cornish Eskimo gave it 4+ Stars.
Max Craigie series by Neil Lancaster*
Northumberland Gal listened to two Max Craigie books on BorrowBox – The Devil You Know and When Shadows Fall – and she listened to them back-to-back because they were so good. Clever and unusual stories, great locations (the Highlands of Scotland) and an excellent narrator. Everyone in Oundle Crime loves Neil Lancaster’s books, so it’s good to know that listening to them as e-audiobooks is special too. Northumberland Gal gave each of these 4+ Stars.
A Change of Circumstance by Susan Hill*
Published in 2021 this is a Simon Serrailler novel that deals with drug dealing and county lines, where children and vulnerable people are groomed and exploited to move drugs around the country. Granny Weatherwax has read several of these Serrailler novels and felt she was meeting old friends, although the story is chilling and sinister. Having said that, the beautifully drawn characters and complex plot make it wonderful to read and she gave it 5 Stars.
A Lesson in Malice by Catherine Kirwan
A new author for Mo, who found this to read while she was away on holiday. It’s Book 3 in the Finn Fitzpatrick series and set in Ireland. Fitzpatrick is invited to attend at a high-profile conference and does so reluctantly. When, three days later, the body of one of the speakers is found and it’s an obvious case of murder, Finn becomes a suspect because, like the victim, she’d attended the College president’s post-conference dinner. Mo found this really difficult to put down, saying the story grabbed her from the start and there was a surprise ending as well. She’ll be looking for more by this author. 4+ Stars.
The Crossroads by C.J. Box
Book 25 in the Joe Pickett series but, unusually, Pickett is the victim in this, having been shot and left for dead at a remote crossroads. There are no witnesses, but the crossroads connects three ranches, all of which are owned by dangerous families, so it’s assumed that one of them was responsible for the ambush. While Joe fights for his life in hospital, his daughters return home to try and uncover the truth of what happened. MadDog follows this series and says this felt like a new departure, not least because Joe Pickett is out of action and the investigation is going on around him. But as usual, the descriptions of the Montana countryside are wonderful and this is a great story. She gave it 4 Stars.
What’s in a Star?
Deciding why you like an author or have enjoyed a book is, of course, entirely subjective, and everyone who comes along to meetings of Oundle Crime has different tastes. However, we do try to get some consistency in our Star ratings by using the following guidelines:
- 5 Stars: Outstanding and unforgettable. A book you can’t wait to tell others about.
- 4 Stars: A good book with an interesting, layered story that you will still remember after a month.
- 3 Stars: Not good or bad, but an average story and characters. You enjoyed reading it, but might not remember it after a month.
- 2 Stars: Poorly written, superficial and probably a bit of a yawn. Forgettable.
- 1 Star: Rubbish through and through. A book you wish you hadn’t read and don’t want to remember!
If you’d like to meet other crime fiction fans and chat about the books and authors you enjoy, why not come along to an Oundle Crime meeting? It’s relaxed and friendly, and anyone can drop in. Email join@friendsofoundlelibrary.org.uk and we’ll send you the details.