Looking back at the last December Roundup, I can see that I have yet again picked up the same authors at this time of year. By the time December comes around I am normally full to the brim with Christmas Reading and therefore need to delve into something else.
The something else seems to have come in the form of murder and cosy crime. Merryn Allingham – Murder at St. Saviour’s is the next in the series of books and these are a wonderful way to distract from a busy brain. With it’s chocolate box type village it seems impossible for murders to take place.
Further along in the series and I know with more to come (I checked with the author) is Helena Dixon – Murder at the Charity Ball. Kitty Underhay is nearing her marriage, her father has returned from abroad and the family is gathering around. Trouble is a body is found a week before the wedding and it all seems a bit too close to home. Set at Christmas so a perfect read for this time of year, it was quite nice to see some threads tied up within the novel as we obviously move ahead to the next era for Kitty and Matt.
Ending a series is always saddening and I felt this with Jessica Fellowes – The Mitford Secret, these have been wonderful historically rich books about the Mitford Sisters as well as the society and world around them during the inter war years and into the Second World War. I look forward to seeing where the author may go next.
I saw Katy Watson – The Three Dahlias on another blog, apologies but I cannot remember who’s but it sounded intriguing and was still available on netgalley so I took a risk. This was a lovely book, full of fun characters and a mystery to solve as well. It looks like we might be seeing more of Dahlia Lively again in future.
For future reading, I was invited to read the first chapter of the new AJ.Pearce novel Mrs Porter Calling. I don’t normally like reading first chapters at the end of books or samples, mainly because I am either so captured I am grumpy that the book does not continue. Or I will forget what I learn in the first chapter when I get round to reading the whole book! I have not added this to my list of books read in 2022, as I didn’t think it should count, even if it might have brought me nearer to the target for the year.
Joanna Rees – The Sister Returns is the final book in this trilogy which takes you across Europe and the Atlantic Ocean. Rich in period detail, this is a proper saga to get swept up in and is worth reading all three in one go, if at all possible. That said it was easy enough to pick up the threads and immerse myself in this story.
Immersing yourself in a plot or a place is always reassuring when reading novels and it is always a pleasure to pick up the next in a series of books with Christie Barlow – The Hidden Secrets of Bumblebee Cottage. Back to Heartcross and Love Heart Lane to learn more about the area and the old and new characters with their own stories to tell. A series which if it was on television would be a continuing drama and one I would always tune in for, gentle and filled with warmth. I cannot wait for the next episode.
In a world of unknowns it is sometimes certainty which is needed and I simply picked up the latest Cathy Bramley – Merrily Ever After without giving it much thought or reading the blurb,. Plunging right in I was taken back to last year’s Christmas novel and found I was with familiar characters and got to share more of their story. What a Christmas present!
Books can take you away and no more so than Jo Thomas – Keeping a Christmas Promise which whisked me away to Iceland and the Northern Lights, somewhere I could experience without getting too cold in the process.
That was December. In fact that was 2022. I need to have a look back on what I have read this year before I do my round up post for that, so please do pop back to see what stood out for me and perhaps what didn’t!
The Book Jotter 