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.

Books currently in progress . . .

Someone recommended Polly Toynbee's Hard Work to me a while back and I rummaged through my unread books and found I actually already had a copy of it! She left her comfortable life and took a flat in a run down tower block as an experiment to see what it was really like doing low paid jobs or living on benefit. It is interesting reading and she is honest enough to admit that she hadn't realised what it was really like living below the poverty line. Many people may be put off the book because of her political beliefs but I'm finding it illuminating.

Then there's Gross Misconduct: My Year of Excess in the City by Venetia Thompson which - if you can get past the bad language and the childish behaviour of many of her fellow workers - is an eye opener. It makes you realise why there are so many bullying and sex discrimination claims filed against banks and other financial organisations.

As a little light relief there's also Georgette Heyer's Bath Tangle.

Blood Harvest by S J Bolton was excellent - totally absorbing reading.

I have also just finished Echoes of the Goddess by Simon Brighton and Terry Welbourn about Goddess worship in Britain and the monuments which still exist if you know where to look for them. It also touches on witchcraft, Druids, Celtic Christianity, May Day festivals and pagan imagery in churches. I learned quite a lot from it including the apparent origins of the dance of the seven veils - Inanna's visit to the Underworld to visit her sister Erishkagal - she had to take off a garment at each of the seven gates of the underworld.

Blood Harvest

I am currently reading Blood Harvest by S J Bolton and it is very very good. Not the sort of thing you want to read late at night in the house on your own. It features a village from hell where small children disappear and everyone takes part in strange and rather nasty customs. There is a new vicar, a very interesting female psychiatrist and a family who have misguidedly built a new house bang next to a graveyard. I am saying no more at the moment but if you like crime and more than a hint of the supernatural and religious you will love this.

Awakening

Sounds as though I could have been bitten by the Twilight saga bug! I'm referring to S J Bolton's latest book Awakening which I've just finished and very scary it was too. I now know more about snakes than I ever wanted to know including some exceedingly poisonous specimens. The story features Clara a vet who much prefers animals to people because they do not judge her scarred face.

Clara must face up to her demons and help to save the tiny village from a plague of poisonous and harmless snakes. Snakes appear without warning in people's houses and one man dies apparently from a snake bite - though this is only the first of several deaths. Clara is puzzled that no one will talk about the catastrophic fire which burnt down the village church and starts to ask questions of the elderly villagers. When one of them dies she is under suspicion herself though it soon becomes clear that someone dangerous has her in their sights and the past is very much still there in the present.

This is well written novel which portrays Clara's own prickly personality and extremely effectively along with the two contrasting men she is attracted to. I could certainly do with reading more about the interesting Assistant Chief Constable - Mark. As the ending has been left very open I hope both he and Clara will feature in a later book.

I've just started reading Terry Reeve's Spirit of the Fen - set in Bungay in Suffolk. A development company wants to buy a piece of common land - known as the fen - and build 2000 houses on it. Many people oppose the plans and things start to get ugly when the District Council vote for it to go ahead. As I used to live in Suffolk and at one time drove through the town twice a day I'm finding it interesting. It is fiction but the scenery is authentic and I can identify the places he writes about. I bought the book because of its title but I'm finding it interesting in its own right.

Currently reading

I'm still reading People with a Purpose by Trevor Barnes about Teach Yourself books over the last 70 years. In total contrast I've also started reading Awakening by S J Bolton - whose Sacrifice I thought excellent some months ago.

People with a Purpose is brilliant for showing how ideas and attitudes have changed over the last 70 years. For example equal pay for equal work was just a pipe dream and considered a little stupid at that in the 1940s. On the other hand Teach Yourself Mothercraft stated quite plainly that bringing up children should be a joint effort involving both husband and wife which in the 1940s was perhaps ahead of its time.

Awakening is scary if you have a dislike of snakes. If you have a phobia then you'd be better not to read it at all. This author does suspense as well as anyone I've ever read. More when I've finished it.

Finished Sacrifice

I finally finished Sacrifice by S J Bolton and it was absolutely excellent. At times the suspense is just too painful and I found I had to have a break from it. Some reviewers have said they felt the plot was too far fetched to be credible. I don't agree. I thought it was eminently believable.

The Shetland Islands and its history and legends are cleverly woven into the convoluted plot giving an almost supernatural dimension to the story. The runes carved into the skin of the corpse which Tora uncovers at the start of the book are a masterly touch. Tora herself is a down to earth no nonsense hospital obstetrician who does not believe anything without evidence, but soon she is wondering who she can trust in the closed society she lives in. Everyone knows everyone else and is probably related to them. Even her husband and her boss belong to it whilst she feels herself to be an outsider asking awkward questions. She isn't even sure she can trust the police who appear to want to forget about the body on her land.

I felt I almost wanted to read the last few chapter with my fingers over my eyes - like you do as a child when there's something scary on television. It is one of the best books I've read for a long time and I wholeheartedly recommend it.

Still reading . . .

Sorry I don't think anyone is going to get much sense out of me until I've finished reading Sacrifice. Usually I have different books on the go on the bus and at home but this one I'm carrying around with me, reading it on the bus, in bed at night and in my lunch hour. Nothing else is getting a look in at the moment.

Normal service will be resumed as soon as possible . . . .

A better day and a brilliant book

Nothing happened today of any note so it was nice and peaceful.

The book is S J Bolton's Sacrifice. A crime/psychological thriller set in the Shetland Isles. Narrator digs up a body wrapped in linen and with its heart missing when she is digging a hole to bury her dead horse - don't ask! I'm about half way through and at this rate I shall be staying up till heaven knows what time tonight reading it. It is excellent with touches of humour which are just right. I almost can't say any more about it without spoiling the story. I feel as though I want to go around waving it in people's faces and shouting 'You must read this!!'

Have to stop now to go and carry on reading.