New Review for Undivulged Crimes

My thanks to Ian Thomson for his comprehensive and enthusiastic review of Undivulged Crimes which appears on his website, on Goodreads, and on his LinkedIn page.

If anyone hasn't discovered Ian's short stories and novels, you can find them here. His perception, wisdom and spleen are wittily set out on every page.

We eagerly await his forthcoming novel, A Dish of Apricots.

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First Lines

First lines are first impressions Teachers of creative writing are always bleating about the importance of first lines. They're not wrong, but a first line isn't make-or-break. Many excellent novels have indifferent first lines, but their significance is often created by the fact that they are the opening lines of great books; they are not great books because they have killer opening lines. Consider the first line of Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities . it rambles on for 119 words, and demonstrates that Dickens had no understanding of the semi-colon. Most people can only remember the first dozen words; show-offs know the first two dozen. Dickens was being paid by the word, and was a master at turning one good idea into a whole chapter. (Don't misunderstand me: A Tale of Two Cities is one of my favourite books.) First lines are like book titles. They can take a while for the writer to feel satisfied with them, but often, they don't really matter. When asked what he...

Spirit of the North: One Knock for Yes!

Ian Thomson ’ s Northern Trilogy (beginning with The Northern Elements and Northern Flames ) weaves history, nostalgia, and autobiography into highly engaging and thought-provoking tales. Spirit of the North is no different in that, but it is different. The plot looks at three episodes of spiritualism, two relatively harmless, and one with serious consequences. While the first two are reminiscent of Agatha Christiesque table-turning, the third involves murder. This is the one that leads to a serious investigation by Tom Catlow with his childhood friend, Will Melling, playing Watson. Readers met these two mischievous friends in The Northern Elements . Tom is a retired police Senior Scientific Officer (Forensics) and Will a former sports journalist. Now to fill their time, Tom and Will investigate another very old case while continuing their friendship with teasing and banter. The third main character is long-dead. Cornelius Pickup, was a successful businessman, kind employer, a...

Currrently reading - July 2018

I don't know if it's age, but I now tend to have several books on the go at once. Here's what I'm reading now: 1. Repeat - A J Kohler's time-shift love story but, oh, so much more. Carefully thought-out, logically plotted and readily readable, is Kohler's longest novel so far, and his subject well suits the larger canvas. See the homepage for links. 2. Neverworld Wake - Marisha Pessl. Pessl's third book is, she says, aimed at the teen market, but, like similar titles by Carlos Ruiz Zafon, adult readers will enjoy this, too. This is also a time-slip story, and like Special Projects in Calamity Physics and Night Film , a dark tale that explores personal fears and relationships in extraordinary circumstances. Re-reads 3. Jacob Have I Loved - Katherine Patterson. I read this when I was teaching in Maryland. It was one of the books that students seemed to like. It's a coming of age story about a girl who lives on an island in Chesapeake Bay with...

A J Lattimer & Co. - Michael Reidy

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