Judith Lennox - Before the Storm

I borrowed this book on the recommendation of New Books Magazine. A high quality magazine dedicated for book groups and readers. It was very highly rated.

I must say I found it rather slow, and a bit light weight. It is not quite a family saga but at the same time not as weighty as usual historical fiction. The book tracks a family from 1909 until about 1942. It is a shame that we know the 'secret' from fairly early on and so spend the novel waiting for the bombshell to drop. It is peopled with a huge cast and it may be why the book appears light as we do not go behind the surface of many of the characters. I personally would not have thought there was a lot to interest a reading group but then I could be wrong.

I enjoyed the book and think it would make a great book to take on holiday or to bed when you have flu, engrossing but not too demanding...........

Barbara Ewing - Rosetta

I just loved this book. It was one of those novels that you find yourself putting down at intervals as you just don't want it to end. It is beautifully written, and is a sweeping powerful story set in the late 17th and early 18th century. The setting goes from England, to France, to India and to Egypt.

This novel really does address the issue of the status, or lack ot it, of women and children at this time. It looks at the hypocrisy of the so called society of the time, and the lengths that some women had to go to to obtain freedom. The backdrop of the Napoleonic era is well handled and interesting, and of course you cannot forget the Hieroglyphs.

A very satisfying book that you can get totally immersed in. It will also be an excellent choice for a reading group as there is much within it to discuss.

Gaynor Arnold - Girl in a Blue Dress

This book was nominated for the Booker Prize this year. I accept that is well written and well researched but beyond that I just did not get the point of the novel. It is a thinly disguised Biography of the wife of Charles Dickens, and so for me it was something and nothing. Why was it not a biography? Or if this was too limiting why was it not a factionalised account of their marriage. In this book I just kept asking myself, now was this true for Dickens or was it not? It was a great distraction. I would have preferred not to have been told that is was based on Dickens and then I could have read it as a fictional novel. Having said that it might be a good book for a reading group for just this reason. It also raises issues with women in society at that time, and the relationship the public has to fame and the famous.

Kylie Fitzpatrick - The Ninth Stone

Now this is as cracking novel. This can reallistically be called atmospheric. With a nod in the direction of Wilkie Collins here we have a true Victorian mystery novel. We have diamonds, India, dissolute Maharajahs, Kali, the back streets of London, opium, need I say more, immerse yourself and enjoy an indulgent read. This novel draws you in and goes in unexpected directions. I loved it.

Nicola Upson - An Expert in Murder

I had high hopes for this book, a murder mystery set in the 1930's. Unusually the heroine of the book is a real person the crime writer Josephine Tey. However although promising to be a richly atmospheric novel, I am afraid I found it rather dull. The characters were too thinly drawn to be of interest, perhaps because the book runs to a little under 300 pages and there are so many of them. Disappointing.

Kate Ellis - Seeking the Dead

Kate Ellis is the author of the highly readable Wesley Peterson series, see below. I was really interested to see what she would do here. This novel is set in North Yorkshire. Once again there is a link to history and also a supernatural element. I really enjoyed it. There is enough here to appeal to most crime genre lovers. I think DI Joe Plantagenet is going to be a character with some mileage.

Here we have mystery, serial killing and once again the opportunity to put our detecting skills into practice. I shall be looking out for the second in the series with anticipation

Phil Rickman - To Dream of the Dead

Readers of this blog will know that I am a a big fan of Phil Rickman. I eagerly wait his new book every year. This book can be read as a stand- a -lone but would be much more effective if read as part of the series. We now know the characters of the village so well, that there is a big emotional investment in their lives, with each new novel.
In this one, the village of Ledwardine prepares itself for flooding just as Christmas is arriving. Merrily Watkins our Diocesan exorcist and resident vicar is battling religious fundamentalists of various extremities, while also supporting her daughter Jane and lover Lol.
Throw into the mix a famous TV archaeologist intent on capitalising on Jane's find, and over enthusiastic developers intent on building over the site and we are all set for an engrossing read.
These are rich, intelligent crime novels with a bit of the supernatural thrown in. When I pick one up I know that I will be unable to put it down and will be reading late into the night. This book lived up to my expectations and now I have to wait another year for the next.......... :(