With Pauline Moncrieff, The Book Circle
THE April gathering of The Book Circle was held on Wednesday, April 10 and a variety of books were shared.
Fiction
The Armour of Light - Ken Follett
The story is set in Kingsbridge, UK, in 1792.
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It is a time of great ferment, and revolutions are in the air.
The introduction of mechanised weaving machines is causing much anxiety to weavers and is threatening to upend their whole way of life.
Unemployed weavers face poverty and hunger.
We see the sharp division between the rich and poor.
While humble folk go hungry, factory owners, bishops and landowners are held in high regard, and lack for nothing.
The outside world intrudes as well, when two young men from Kingsbridge join the army and go to France to fight in The Napoleonic Wars.
The Judgement of Caesar - Steven Saylor
Historic fiction, set in Rome, featuring Gordianus the Finder, who is a spy with interesting connections.
He is hired by Caesar’s wife Calpurnia to find out who intends to assassinate Caesar.
He also talks with Cicero, and has met Cleopatra in Egypt.
The author is skilled in creating the sights and sounds of ancient Rome.
To celebrate Caesar’s victories, Triumphs are held, lasting four days, where stolen goods from vanquished groups are on display in the arena and there is free food and drink for all.
The Book of Doors - Gareth Brown
A fantasy novel.
Cassie is given a magic book that open doors to other places.
At first,we see her sheer joy in being able to visit Venice, Lyons and Paris so easily, but this delight will not last for long.
Soon very real danger emerges.
Someone else wants the book and will stop at nothing to possess it.
From a delightfully cosy beginning in a neighbourhood bookshop, the story takes some alarming turns.
A Death in Diamonds - S J Bennett
This is the fourth in the series featuring Queen Elizabeth II as a secret sleuth.
It is 1955, and the young queen suspects that there is a spy in the palace, and that someone wants her off the throne in favour of someone else.
Then there is a seemingly unrelated murder.
She teams up with Joan, a former Bletchley House codebreaker, to flush out the murderer and find the spy.
A cosy read, very entertaining.
(Also on Borrowbox)
The Accident - Fiona Lowe
There is a fatal accident in a small country town in WA, and it has far-reaching effects on life in the town.
As time passes, new truths emerge, which question the very basis of trust.
Sea Fever - Anne Cleeves
This was written in 1993, earlier than her better-known Vera series.
It features a bird-watching expedition at sea, on which one of their number goes missing.
He is discovered in the water, trapped in the bird-attracting gear, dead.
Who committed the crime, and why?
George and Molly, amateur sleuths, will attempt to find the perpetrator.
The Likeness - Tana French
This is a follow-on from In the woods, in the Dublin Murder series.
Cassie Maddox becoems involved in the murder of her ‘double’.
She agrees to go undercover as a university student, to try and discover who actually caused the death.
Faithful Place - Tana French
Undercover detective Frank Mackay has been the detective in charge of Cassie Maddox’s undercover work in The Likeness.
He comes from a dysfunctional family, and runs away from home.
Years later, the body of his former sweetheart, Rosie, is found, and Frank involves himself in the investigation.
Then someone tries to frame him for Rosie’s death, but Frank, the good detective, gets to the heart of the matter and finds the killer.
Shadow at the Door - Jo Dixon
An absorbing tale of trolling and control.
It tells a twisting story of Remi, who is trying to rebuild her life after being assaulted by a friend, and then having to deal with a messy divorce from her husband.
Unfortunately Remi’s ex won’t go away, and he and his new wife are trying to force Remi to sell her house.
He helped finance it when they divorced.
Reni struggles to make loan repayments and her business is struggling, so she rents out two spare bedrooms to women she does not know.
Are the new people friend or foe?
A gripping tale with some good plot twists.
Dark Sky - C J Box (2021)
Storm Watch - C J Box (2023)
These two books are the latest in the Joe Pickett series, now numbering 24 titles.
Joe is the game warden in Saddlestring, a small town in Wyoming, where nearly everyone hunts and owns a gun.
The climate is harsh and so are the people.
Joe is an everyman hero with a penchant for stepping into trouble, and finds himself confronting hunters, cowboy hit-men, eco-terrorists and rogue government agents, among others.
Recommended.
The Beacon - P A Thomas
This mystery is set in Byron Bay.
The editor of a local newspaper goes surfing and doesn’t return.
Was it a shark?
Then there is evidence pointing to a suspicious death, but the police don’t want to know.
Recommended.
If the Blood Should Stain the Wattle - Jackie French
Historic fiction, set in the Australia of 1975, amid the turmoil surrounding the dismissal of the Whitlam government.
It was a period of extraordinary social change and idealism.
An adroit mixture of fact and fiction.
Recommended.
Down and Out in Paris and London - George Orwell
An interesting collection of essays by this gifted writer.
Lucky Jim - Kingsley Amis
An amusing account of a young and irreverent history lecturer at a red-brick university, railing against institutional stuffiness and pretension.
Non-fiction
The Good Cop - Ron Iddles
In 25 years as a homicide detective, Ron’s conviction rate was 99 per cent.
He became known to police and criminals alike as ‘The Great Man’.
He was tough, inventive and incorruptible.
Minefields - Hugh Riminton
Over 40 years, the author has been a journalist and a foreign correspondent, often on the front line.
He has been shot at, blown up and thrown into gaol.
Rimington has always delighted in chasing the news, despite the danger, and witnessed the terrible massacre in Rwanda, where 800,000 people were murdered and Australian forces were powerless to respond.
He doesn’t do ‘humble’ at all.
Crimes of the Cross - Anne Manne
The book hit the shops and online right at Easter.
It would appear to have an appropriate Easter title.
Many Christians see Jesus’ sacrifice as a victory over sin and death.
However, the book is a factual account of how the Anglican Church in the Diocese of Newcastle protected sin and brought about the death of the innocent.
The book is hard to read, and pulls no punches.
It tells the story of Stephen Smith - his abuse by the Church, his survival, his fight for justice, and his amazing ability to forgive ‘those who sinned against him’, provided they showed remorse.
A powerful, well-written book.
Reader beware: it may trigger painful memories for some.
