I read a real mixed bunch of books this week; some good, others definitely not so good!

White Nights by Ann Cleeves

The first was White Nights by Ann Cleeves, the second in her Shetland series and the last for me. This is what I wrote on Goodreads as I rated it with four stars:

Another excellent book in an excellent series. I have now read all of them to date and hope there will be another. And I would love to visit Shetland, if I were able to. Great atmospheric writing once again.

Not terribly profound or insightful, I know, but I have loved this series and can’t wait for another episode.

Silent Voices by Ann Cleeves

I read the above book as an ebook and when I finished there was another Ann Cleeves waiting for me in my library account, this time #04 from her Vera series: Silent Voices. Although Vera herself is not as attractive as Jimmy Perez in several ways, she is a fabulous character and I must admit that I think that Cleeves’ writing is even better in these books. Once again, she sets her scene so well and I recognised many of the places in Northumberland. We once visited in tumultuous rain!

The Salt Marsh by Clare Carson

The third book was definitely not a success. Sadly, Clare Carson’s The Salt Marsh irritated me so much that I simply had to stop reading it. This rarely happens for a number of reasons. Firstly, I hope that after all this time as a reader and librarian I am pretty discerning when it comes to book choice. Secondly, I have this inner voice that tells me that I should always finish what I start. Well, the inner voice should hold its peace! I obviously made a mistake in choosing this book and I must admit that other readers enjoyed it, according to the reviews on Goodreads. In my case, I became bored even with murder and mayhem going on. Bored with the annoying main character and her drug taking and stupidity. Bored with her back story. Bored with the other characters. Oh dear 😆. So, to sum up – this is a marmite book!

The Iron Castle by Angus Donald

I am now reading something completely different: Angus Donald’s The Iron Castle. This is set during the reign of King John and includes lots of battles, sieges, warfare, murder and mayhem (but more exciting murder and mayhem than the above book). Robin Hood, Alan Dale and Little John are also there, romping through the whole thing.

I will now return to the world of medieval warfare!

Best wishes,

💜💛💚❤️💙