Happy St George's Day; and books

Why can't we have a Bank Holiday for St George's Day? We're falling over Bank Holidays this Easter but I still think we should have one for our national saint.

Books read:

• Death in the Physic Garden by Karen Lowe - murder and garden design. I first read this a few years ago and enjoyed it but thought I would re-read it before I read the next one featuring Fern Green - Death in the Winter Garden.


• Gently Down the Stream by Alan Hunter - murder and family secrets set in the Norfolk Broads with lots of Norfolk dialect - though nothing too incomprehensible for those not familiar with it!


• Summer of Love by Katie Fforde - good light reading. I haven't enjoyed her later books but in this one she is back on form.


• Cousin Kate by Georgette Heyer - Regency with a Gothic theme. This is the only Heyer which has ever reduced me to tears.


• The Missing Marriage by Sarah May - man goes missing off the Northumbrian coast in a kayak - but is he really dead? I found it a very confusing story with some relatively unsympathetic characters.


• The Body on the Beach by Simon Brett - the first in the Fethering series. I read it some years ago but it was still enjoyable the second time around. Touches of delicious humour and a pair of mismatched sleuths - what's not to like?

Currently reading

• The Grand Sophy by Georgette Heyer - one of her most interesting heroines in my opinion


• Death in the Winter Garden by Karen Lowe - Fern is asked to resurrect an overgrown art deco garden but the skeleton of a baby is found when the digging starts


• Death at La Fenice by Donna Leon - the first in her Guido Brunetti series set in Venice - worth more than one reading as her style is understated and I'm seeing things I missed first time round.

Happy Easter people!

More books

Recently read:

• Death of a Nag and Death of a Bore by M C Beaton - both Hamish Macbeth and good light reads with darker undertones if you choose to look for them


• Life from Scratch by Melissa Ford - this was a free e-book download and very good it was too. Rachel splits up from her husband and takes a year off from her job as a graphic designer. She starts a blog about learning to cook and makes a new life for herself. Fact or fiction? Who knows? Good reading though - set in New York.


• Lizzie Harrison Loses Control by Pippa Wright - Lizzie is in PR dealing with celebrities. She is really organised but life - in the shape of out of control celebrity Randy Jones - is about to knock her sideways. Feel good read with enough serious insights to keep you reading


• Gently Does It by Alan Hunter - the first in the Inspector George Gently police series. This one is set in a loosely disguised Norwich. I can remember my mother being a huge fan of Gently and I can see why. They are well crafted crime novels without too much violence with an interesting main character the peppermint cream eating Inspector Gently from Scotland Yard.


• The Way to a Woman's Heart by Christina Jones. Love it! Feel good women's fiction with a touch of magic set in the Berkshire countryside. It came out last year but I have been waiting for the e-book version to come down to the paper back price.

Books currently in progress

• Gently by the Shore by Alan Hunter - second in the Gently series


• Housework Blues by Danielle Raine - about why we don't like housework and how to think differently about it. This is a good example of how e-books could develop with active links to books and websites mentioned in the text.

Doesn't time fly . . .

Not sure that enjoy is the right word since too much of my time has been taken up with medical appointments of various types - only one of which was mine - my six months dental check up. Anyway - back to books M C Beaton - Death of a Charming Man, Death of a Gentle Lady - two books in the Hamish Macbeth series. Beatrice Goes to Brighton, Deborah Goes to Dover and Yvonne Goes to York - the last three volumes of the Travelling Matchmaker Series - which I really enjoyed. Light hearted early 19th century romps which could appeal to anyone who likes Georgette Heyer. S J Bolton - Now You See Me . . an atmospheric thriller about a series of murders carried out by a potential Jack the Ripper copy cat killer. Definitely kept me turning the pages and not a book to read on your own at night! Georgette Heyer - The Nonesuch - with one of my favourite heroines - Ancilla Trent and one of the most obnoxious young female characters - Tiffany - a spoilt brat heiress. Peter Lovesey - Skeleton Hill - very good crime story involving, among other things, a Civil War battle re-enactment.