Louisa Luna, The Janes, well written but very grim, C+
Alan Johnson, The Late Train To Gipsy Hill – very disappointing given the acclaim, it was very ploddily written, D
Patricia Wentworth, Spotlight, pretty good, B
T M Logan, The Daughter, OK, C+
R A J Walling, Murder At The Keyhole, not brilliant, C
Sally Smith, A Case Of Mice and Murder, slow start but improved, B
Shelby van Pelt, Remarkably Bright Creatures, A bit dull to start with but5 developed with charm, B
Colm Toibin, Long Island, wonderful, A
Jess Lourey, September Mourn, pretty good, B+
Joan Cockin, Curiosity Killed The Cat, quite good, B
Lesley Kara, The Rumour, pretty good, B
Georgette Heyer, Footsteps In The Dark, OK, but not as good as her historical novels, B-; reread, Friday’s Child, A
Clare Chambers, Shy Creatures, quite good, B+
Clifford Whiting, The Case Of The Michaelmas Goose, not bad, B
Dana Stabenow, A Taint In The Blood, very good, A

Liane Moriarty, The Last Anniversary, so much better than the TV version, B+
Simon Brett, Major Bricket and the Circus Corpse, light but entertaining, B
Louise Penny, The Grey Wolf,, readable, but a largely pointless plot which would have been unnecessary had the main character just answered the phone in chapter 1, B-
Jess Lourey, Knee High By The Fourth Of July, OK, B
Heyer reread, The Grand Sophy, a delight, A+; Bath Tangle, good but main characters not very likeable, A; Cotillion, a delight, A+
Mark Hayden, The Thirteenth Witch – good intro to a new series, A-

Genevieve Cogman, Elusive, excellent, A
Natasha Pulley, The Watchmaker Of Filigree Street - very well written, but I didn’t feel completely engaged by the characters, A-
Anthony Horowitz, Close To Death, good, A-
Holly Jackson, The Reappearance Of Rachel Price, very good, A
Benjamin Stevenson Everyone This Christmas Has A Secret, dull, B-
Agatha Christie, The Mirror Crack’d From Side To Side – good, A-
Charlie Holmberg, Magic Bitter Magic Sweet – very good, B+
Heyer reread, The Reluctant Widow – an underrated pleasure, A; Sprig Muslin, A
Christobel Kent, The Summer House – a bit depressing, C
Dana Stabenow, A Grave Denied – excellent, A
Jennifer Lynn Barnes, Little White Lies, quite good, B
Alice Bell, Displeasure Island, enjoyable, A-
Caroline Lea, Prize Women, very well written, a bit depressing. A-
Jess Lourey, May Day – quite good, B
Joanne Harris, Broken Light – not keen, C
Jodi Taylor, A Bachelor Establishment – delightful, A

Kate Ellis, The Marriage Hearse – pretty good, B
Andrzej Sapkowski, The Last Wish – rather disappointing, it had its moments of harm but overall felt bitty and cliché’d, with underdeveloped characters, and not very well written either, but perhaps that was the translation, C
Alice Clark-Platts, The Cove – OK, C+
Sarah Hilary, Black Thorn, well written but depressing with unlikeable characters, C
Agatha Christie, Towards Zero – rather different from the book, but it was very good, A-
Caroline Corcoran, What Happened On Floor 34, OK, C+
Louisa Bennet, Monty And Me, a bit silly, C
Heyer reread, Devil’s Cub, A; The Talisman Ring, A+
Catriona Innes, The Matchmaker – OK, C
Shereen Vedam, The Coven At Callington – pretty good, B+
Sam Blake, Little Bones, not bad, B-
Vanessa Savage, The Night They Vanished – decent, B
Katarina Johnson Thompson, Unbroken, great memoir, A
Pip Williams, The Dictionary Of Lost Words – a bit disappointing, B-
Hannah Dennison, Death Of A Diva At Honeychurch Hall, not bad, B-

Jodi Taylor, The Ballad of Smallhope and Pennyroyal, excellent, A
Alex Pine, The Christmas Killer, not bad, B
Ann Patchett, Tom Lake, lovely, A
Helen Cooper, The Couple In The Photo, pretty good thriller, B
Fergus Butler-Gallie, Priests De La Resistance – magnificent and inspiring, A+
Heyer reread, The Black Moth
Noel Streatfeild, The Winter Is Past – a bit dull as an actual story, but interesting aspects of a contemporary reaction to WWII, B-
Linwood Barclay, Bad Luck – pretty good, B+

Nigel Balchin, Sundry Creditors, slightly depressing period piece, B
Lisa Scottoline, Most Wanted – a bit glib, B-
Caz Frear, Shed No Tears – very good, but author misunderstands US immigration system, A-
Sarah Brooks, The Cautious Traveller’s Guide To The Wastelands, excellent, A
Jane Dunn, The Marriage Season – very good, B+
Fiona Gibson, Pedigree Mum – well written but formulaic, B-
Fiona Cummins, The Neighbour, a bit grim, C
Joshilyn Jackson, Mother May I – excellent, A
Jonathan and Jesse Kellerman ,The Lost Coast, pretty good, A-
Ruth Ware, One Perfect Couple – very good, A
Agatha Christie, Mrs McGinty’s Dead, enjoyable puzzle, A
Jilly Cooper, Bella, predictable but quite fun, B
Sarah Smersh, She Come By It Natural - brilliant, A

Sarah Blake, The Visitors’ Book, superb, A
Jilly Cooper, Prudence, quite fun, B
Egidio Ivetic, history of the Adriatic: A Sea And Its Civilisation, superb regional history, but a few infelicities in the translation, A
Charmaine Harris, Sleep Like A Baby, enjoyable, B+
Christine Mangan, The Continental Affair, pretty good, B
Harry Bingham, The Dead House, very good, A
Robin Stevens, The Minustry Of Unladylike Activity, very good, A
Jules Verne, Mathias Sandorf, a bit silly at times but a good action packed read, would make a good film or TV series, A-
Ruth Ware, Zero Days, brilliant nonstop thriller, A+
Lois McMaster Bujold, Masquerade In Lodi, charming, A
Dorothy Gilman, Mrs Pollifax and the Hong Kong Buddha, good, B+
Ann Bridge, Illyrian Spring, excellent and atmospheric, A
Simon Cleave, Last Night At Villa Lucia, OK but impossible for a teenage girl to be in school in England in early August especially in 2021 lol, C
Catherine Fox, The Company Of Heaven, nice, B+
M J Trow, Maxwell’s Point, not his best, C
Lisa Scottoline, The Truth About The Devlins, pretty good, B+
Genevieve Cogman, The Untold Story, good finale, B+
Richard Coles, Murder At The Monastery, very good, A
Karen Baugh Menuhin, The Curse Of Braeburn Castle, not very good, although her animals are very real, C
Leigh Bardugo, Hell Bent, OK but went on a bit, B-
Andrea Camilleri, The Voice Of The Violin, good, B+
Erin Kelly, The House Of Mirrors, pretty good, B+
Benedict Jacka, Risen, excellent finale, A
Rhys Bowen, God Rest Ye Royal Gentlemen, good but I should have saved it for Christmas, B+
Mick Herron, Real tigers, good, B+
Kate Saunders, The Mystery Of The Sorrowful Maiden, excellent, A
Michael Wood, Outside Looking In, a bit grim, B-
Dana Stabenow, So Sure Of Death, good, B+
Claire Douglas, The Wrong Sister, very good, A-
T M Logan, The Dream Home, pretty good, B+
Sophie Irwin, A Lady’s Guide To Scandal, not as good as the first one but quite enjoyable, however there is no way the settlement fund could be taken from Eliza under her husband’s will at the start, B+
Julia Spencer Fleming, A Fountain Filled With Blood, excellent, and adorable Bernese to boot, with a really exciting finale, A

Kate Saunders, A Drop Of Golden Sun, delightful, A
C S Lewis reread, The Voyage Of The Dawn Treader; The Silver Chair, The Last Battle
Meeti Shroff-Shah, A Matrimonial Murder – very entertaining, I really enjoyed this, A
Kwasi Kwarteng, Ghosts Of Empire – quite interesting, B
Emma O’Donaghue, The Lotterys Plus One – the characters were endlessly irritating, D
Susan Elizabeth Phillips, When Stars Collide – predictable romance but quite enjoyable, B
Val McDermid, Trick Of The Dark, very good, although a bit unlikely at times, B+
Holly Jackson, Good Girl Bad Blood, very good, B+

Leigh Bardugo, Ninth House, very good, A
Diana Pullein Thompson, I Wanted A Pony, enjoyable in a retro way, B
Jenny Lecoat, The Girl From The Channel Islands - very good indeed, gripping and well researched, A
Kate Simantis, Freeze, pretty solid thriller, B
Anne Glenconner, Murder On Mustique, pretty good, but rather name droppy, B
Carrie Vaughn, Refuge Of Dragons, quite good but very slight, B-
C S Lewis reread, The Magician’s Nephew; The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe; The Horse And His Boy
Jilly Cooper, Emily – terribly dated and distinctly questionable but somehow a guilty pleasure
Holly Black, The Stolen Heir, good, but not as engaging as its predecessors, B
Shari Lapena, Everyone Here Is Lying, excellent, A
Val McDermid, Past Lying, maybe a bit self indulgent writery, a bit Horowitz lite, but pretty good, A-

Peter Robinson, Not Dark Yet, OK – B
Hannah Rothschild, High Time, quite good, B-
Margot Bennett, Someone From The Past, nice period piece, B
Jane Smiley, A Dangerous Business, short but believable and well researched and written, A-
Michael Gilbert, The Country House Burglar, very enjoyable 1950s crime, A
David Eddings reread, Demon Lord Of Karanda, B
Eleni Kyriacou, The Unspeakable Crimes of Zina Pavlou, based on a true story- I enjoyed the period feel, B+
Jim Butcher, Warriorborn – realised ¾ of the way through that I had actually read this before, but it was OK, B
Rob Rinder, The Trial – I expected arch black comedy but this was surprisingly gritty and clearly very well rooted in the author’s past legal practice, although not sure I entirely bought the final twist, A-
Alice Feeney, His And Hers, rather implausible, C
Christobel Kent, The Loving Husband, OK, B-
Celia Walden The Square, poor, D
Joanna Nadin, The Double Life of Daisy Hemmings, quite a good read if not all that believable, B