Books, Old and New

I cannot live without books. 

I've always been surrounded by books of all kind. My father, Alister William James, wrote poetry and many articles. 







I cherish his Writers and Artists Yearbook, circa 1974.



My H.G.Wells "The History of the World" volumes are falling apart but still have a place in my many bookcases. Our home always had a set of encyclopedias ( you know, the Google and search engines of the day) and we used the library often.


In 1963,  my boyfriend, (later my husband)  gave me a gift of a copy of NJAL'S SAGA. It was a Penguin Classic costing 5 shillings.

In the introduction, it claims to be the mightiest of all the Icelandic Saga's. It was written by an unknown author in the last quarter of the thirteenth century- somewhere around the year 1280. My copy is brown with age and the front cover has torn off. No, I've never read it. At seventeen I was not so interested in the middle ages. My interests were in the Beatles' latest song. But after thanking him profusely I stashed it in my bookshelf where it has languished for fifty-six years.

 I did read with great delight the latest book from 
Gail Bowen. 
 "A Darkness of the Heart"

The Queen of Canadian Crime fiction is a well-deserved title. I have read many of the Joanne Kilbourn books in this series and you will not be disappointed. As a master storyteller, the tension builds with many references to contemporary Canadian life.
I adore her husband (Joanne Kilbourn's husband) who always has a martini ready for her at the end of the day after she has been out sleuthing. She trained him well! This is Gail's 18th book in this series.


My next author is the irrepressible Ian Rankin.  His latest book in the Rebus series "In a House of Lies". The author of twenty-three books in this series alone, I was expecting Rebus to be put out to pasture. But no, he is now in retirement but still manages to interfere and get himself involved with the cops in the Leith and Gayfield Square police stations. I am always intrigued by his books as he wanders around my home town of Edinburgh and mentions many landmarks and pubs I know well. (Not the pubs so much but I know of them) Gayfield Square police station was a walk away from where I was brought up and my husband was a policeman at Leith station many years ago. This book is a trip down memory lane for me.
An award-winning author, he has done it again with a thrilling story right to the end.

Barbara Fradkin is a fixture as a  Canadian crime writer with her award-winning series featuring Inspector Green. Her new series,  the Amanda Doucette Mysteries are equally compelling. I have just finished Prisoners of Hope. The location is the beautiful Georgian Bay and the Thirty Thousand Islands area of Ontario. An intrepid amateur sleuth, a handsome RCMP boyfriend and some interesting characters make up this mystery and highlight the plight of foreign domestic workers. Oh yes, and a murder. 






The Girls Whispered Murder is the 2nd book in the Izzy Walsh Mystery series. Set in the '50s this cozy mystery is well researched for accuracy and is a fun read. We can look forward to more Izzy escapades from Lynn McPherson in the future.






While working on book three in the Dorothy Dennehy Mysteries, Liz Lindsay and I, as 
Jamie Tremain are looking forward to launching book number two Lightning Strike soon. Date to be determined. 

Check back next week for a few more books and their authors.

Slainte,

Pam