Silent on the Moor – Deanna Raybourn

Am really looking forward to more of these mock-Victorian intrigues – a good first-person narrative with an entertaining and engaging voice, combined with a rather dashing foil in the form of part-gypsy Nicholas Brisbane made for something I couldn’t put down.

Silent in the Sanctuary – Deanna Raybourn

See above, really, but with a windswept setting and underground mines.

The Tunnel Behind the Waterfall – William Corlett

The third in the quartet of books about William, Mary and Alice, who go to stay with their uncle Jack at Golden Valley only to pick up where they left off with the alchemist magus who haunts the house in various guises. Above-average by a long shot, and Quercus tells me that I am quite like Phoebe.

The Door in the Tree – William Corlett

Second of this quartet; found this one a bit draggy, perhaps because of the animal-baiting theme, which slightly put me off, but overall a good sequel and v. necessary if you’re going for the whole lot, of course.

Poison Study – Maria V. Snyder

Hadn’t heard of this one before, but bought it when given money to spend on books at Chrimbly; if you’re familiar with Trudi Canavan’s Dark Magician trilogy (the first of which is here) and enjoyed those, then this one is probably a safe bet. There are I think three of them, but I’ve only read the first thus far; if I come across the others for a suitably paltry sum, I’d probably buy them too.

What Angels Fear – C. S. Harris

Another mock-Victorian murder thriller effort, which I enjoyed apart from the gratingly anachronistic phrases which popped up with alarming frequency; of course, predictably, I can’t call any to mind, but it was the equivalent of an English duke of nineteenth-century origins telling his friends that he figured he’d go get a beer now. Spoiled the effect for me, and sort of jolted me out of the book’s world, without wishing to sound wanky, which was a shame, because I quite liked the lead character.

Raising Our Children, Raising Ourselves – Naomi Aldort

The usual hippy parenting stuff that I go in for – lots of strategies for better communication without resorting to parental strictures, and some useful ideas about it all being a two-way street.

The Ninth Stone – Kylie Fitzpatrick

Despite rubbishy reviews on Amazon, gave this one a bash with that Chrimbly money; I found it entertaining, despite worrying that one of the younger characters might not last out the book (I hate things where children get bumped off or whatever; I am officially an old softy). Did wish that one of the main characters hadn’t died so early on; thought it might have worked better had she lived, but hey. The idea of stones as part of a spiritual connection to the gods and goddesses of the unseen world was fascinating, as was the idea of differently coloured diamonds; I had no idea such things exist (if indeed they do).

The Mesmerist – Barbara Ewing

Oooh, see above for my having problems with things where children are hurt/killed. But still, a v. g. read which I sat up stupidly late reading.

The Iron Horse – Edward Marston

Pretty tripe-ish, and, although it wasn’t the story’s fault, this edition was full of typos – literally dozens of them – which made for a distracting read.

Pilgrim’s Rest – Patricia Wentworth

Really liked this 1940s sleuthing stuff – haven’t come across them before, but shall try to do so again.

The Angel’s Game – Carlos Ruiz Zafón

Hoovered this up, but finished it feeling oddly unsatisfied. I think I just missed something in it, fundamentally, and was left thinking, ‘wait… what just happened?’ Zafón does a very good line in quietly disturbing, impending-doom-type scenarios, to judge from this and the first of his that I read (The Shadow of the Wind), though I now wonder if he can do otherwise, and the murky streets of Barcelona made for an excellent backdrop to this dark fairytale.

Magic Study – Maria V. Snyder

Second installment of this ‘Study’ malarky; enjoyable enough, though as with the Dark Magic whatsits to which I compared it above, I found myself missing the first setting, and the relationship between our heroine and her chap was for the most part missing, which, it having been a major feature of the first book, seemed a little frustrating. I’ll probably read the third one, that said.

The Day of the Triffids – John Wyndham

I love the way Wyndham writes; his prose is ridiculously easy to get through, and he sucks me into each world of his creation with ease and speed each time I read something of his; this one was no exception. You may have seen film versions of this, but nothing beats the original for the sheer sinisterness of the original concept.

Chocky – John Wyndham

See above, basically, but, for me at least, minus the sinisterness, other than in relation to the kidnapping towards the end.

Their Eyes Were Watching God – Zora Neale Hurston

I found the phonetic language a bit distracting here – I get the approach, in that it certainly gave a strong impression of the ways in which these characters use language, and how they relate to it, but I still found it difficult to read, and that distracted me from the actual plot initially. Despite this, I enjoyed reading this one (and I’m not really a Modern American Significants kind of reader, as my normal superficial nonsense will show); for me, though, Alice Walker’s The Temple of My Familiar remains the winner in this area (and yes, I am aware that I’ve just shoveled vast swathes of unrelated fiction into one little pigeonhole; I’ve been committing such atrocities against literature of all shapes and sizes for years, so I’m not about to stop now).

The Law and the Lady – Wilkie Collins

I love Wilkie Collins. Full stop. He is great. For Victorian mystery whatsits, you just can’t beat him, and I prefer him to Dickens. *ducks* This was another humdinger – lots of intrigue and whatsit, and a rather personable first-person narrator to boot.

Her Fearful Symmetry – Audrey Niffenegger

I couldn’t put this down, much to my surprise – the concept of it didn’t hook me in in the way that The Time-Traveller’s Wife did, but it grew on me, little by little, as I realised what was coming. I particularly liked Niffenegger’s handling of the boredom of death, and the realisation that, actually, this might be it, in terms of excitement, was both exhilarating and depressing. I do wish, though, that she could write an unalloyed happy ending. Go on, go on, go on. Etc.

Crow Stone – Jenni Mills

A bit of a slow-burn, this one, but I found the blending of past and present quite enticing, and the archaeological bits about Mithras were interesting as I’d come across something academic about Mithraism just the other week. Odd, that. The subplot’s conclusion was a tad on the inevitable side, but I enjoyed its unfolding nonetheless.

The Lost Stradivarius – J. Meade Faulkner

Could’ve sworn I’d already read this, but my brain thinks not, on closer encounter. Good Victorian mystery with more than a hint of sinister occult activity, but I did find the conclusion a little weak, not least because you don’t really get the dénouement I’d thought was coming; it does do a good line in ‘oooh, but it must be… that!’ encounters, but there wasn’t really the progression I’d hoped for, meaning I finished it feeling a little unsatisfied. Conan Doyle’s Lot 249 does this better, in my view.

Will You Be There? – Guillaume Musso

Time-travel doohicky where the protagonist goes back in time to revisit the love of his life, only to end up being pressurised into telling his past self things which affect his future self. Er. Or something like that. Passed the time well enough, but didn’t suck me in in quite the way that the Audrey Niffenegger version did, probably because I read that first.

Goodnight Sweet Prince – David Dickinson

Another nineteenth-century murder mystery thing, this time with a royal emphasis as a fictional son of the Prince of Wales is murdered because of his debauched lifestyle. I quite liked the investigator, Francis Powerscourt, but found the story ultimately rather lack-lustre, from the obvious corridors-of-power scenario to the gentle romance between Powerscourt and Lady Lucy. It wasn’t bad, but that’s damning with faint praise, really, isn’t it?

The Keeper of Secrets – Judith Cutler

And yet another murder of a Victorian nature, though this one’s written style is much more in-keeping with, say, Wilkie Collins at least insofar as the narrative goes. That said, while I thought it was quite hooking-in to start with, by the middle of the book I was skimming and in the end I skipped a couple of chapters to read the ending, which didn’t surprise me. The style – which seemed pretty good in terms of period detailing and the approach to vocabulary (none of the dodgy anachronisms I’ve found distracting in other modern ‘Victorian’ novels) promised more than it delivered, somehow.

Given that we’re nearing the end of April now, I look back over what I’ve read thus far this year and it seems to me that, just as I go through phases of reading young adult fiction of the variety in which Garth Nix specialises before I get really, really sick of it all and long for something completely different, perhaps the time is ripe for a shift from Victorian mysteries. I seem to keep happening upon them in the library; it’s not entirely intentional, but I like the period, so I go for the novels. The trouble is that so few of them are genuinely outstanding… So, next time I’m choosing, I’m going to try to choose something completely random, and away from the normal pattern.

Caravaggio’s Angel - Ruth Braddon

I pretty much agree with the review posted on Amazon – interesting but under-developed setting, and a plot for people who are interested in the art perhaps more than the literature. Don’t think I’d read another of this series, as I didn’t find the narrator a sufficiently fascinating character.

Gaudy Night – Dorothy L. Sayers

Liked this, though now realise I should have read a few of the earlier ones first, as I sort of got the happy ending bit without the lead-up to it. However, might go back and rootle some of the earlier offerings out now, given that I liked both Harriet Vane and Peter Wimsey. Made a pleasant change from the Victorian stuff I’ve been going for, and I enjoyed the setting and contextualisation.

Espresso Tales - Alexander McCall Smith

Pelagia and the Black Monk - Boris Akunin

The Coronation – Boris Akunin

When Will There Be Good News – Kate Atkinson

The Secret History – Donna Tartt

Unexpected Tales – Roald Dahl

The Lost Art of Gratitude – Alexander McCall Smith

Firethorn – Sarah Micklem

The Conjuror’s Bird – Martin Davies

The Quincunx – Charles Palliser

The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar, and Six More – Roald Dahl

The Children’s Year – C. Fynes-Clinton, M. Rowling and S. Cooper

The Crock of Gold – James Stephens

Adrian Mole: The Wilderness Years – Sue Townsend

The Affair of the Mutilated Mink Coat – James Anderson

Dead to the World – Charlaine Harris

Soulless – Gail Carriger

Festivals, Family and Food – Diana Carey and Judy Large

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo – Stieg Larsson

The Girl Who Played with Fire

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets’ Nest

The Gardens of the Dead – William Broderick

The Sixth Lamentation – William Broderick

206 Bones – Kathy Reichs

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas – John Boyne

Winterworld - Patrick McCabe

Right Ho, Jeeves – P. G. Wodehouse

The House of the Spirits – Isabel Allende