‘Apple Tree Yard’ by Louise Doughty tells the story of Yvonne Carmichael, a middle-aged geneticist who begins an affair with a man she meets while she is giving evidence to a Select Committee at the Houses of Parliament. It is revealed at the beginning of the book that the affair has been exposed in dramatic circumstances while Yvonne is on trial at the Old Bailey. However, even though it is clear that she is doomed from the beginning, the story behind how she became embroiled in the most serious of crimes and who her lover really is still offers many twists and turns.
Tag Archives: Crime
Apple Tree Yard by Louise Doughty
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Burial Rites by Hannah Kent
‘Burial Rites’ by Hannah Kent is a novel based on the true story of Agnes Magnúsdóttir who was convicted of murder and was the last woman to be executed in Iceland in 1830 at the age of 33. Sentenced to death along with Fridrik Sigurdsson and Sigrídur Sigga Gudmundsdóttir for killing Natan Ketilsson and his neighbour, Agnes is sent to live with District Officer Jón Jónsson, his wife Margrét and their daughters Steina and Lauga while she awaits execution. However, it is gradually revealed that her story is more complex than the original version of events presented in court. Continue reading
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The Cuckoo’s Calling by Robert Galbraith
Whether or not it was her way of sticking two fingers up at her critics, I think it was pretty clever of J. K. Rowling to publish ‘The Cuckoo’s Calling’ under the pseudonym of Robert Galbraith after receiving mixed reviews for ‘The Casual Vacancy’ last year. Interestingly, the feedback for ‘The Cuckoo’s Calling’ was unanimously positive from both critics and readers before the identity of the real author was revealed. But does it live up to the hype? Continue reading
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The Various Haunts of Men by Susan Hill
‘The Various Haunts of Men’ by Susan Hill is the first book in the Simon Serrailler series of crime novels. A series of mysterious disappearances on the Hill near the small cathedral town of Lafferton catches the attention of Detective Sergeant Freya Graffham. A middle-aged woman, a man, a young girl and a dog have all gone missing at the same spot. But what exactly happened to them all and why?
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Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
Even though I have been a book blogger for quite a while now and am generally meant to be on top of all things bookish, I have been very slow at getting round to reading the book that pretty much the entire world (no exaggeration) has been discussing for the last year or so. I got a bit fed up of my mum and my sister going into another room to talk about ‘Gone Girl’ by Gillian Flynn so I thought I had better get round to reading it so that I could join in with the conversation.
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J. K. Rowling Publishes Crime Novel Under Pseudonym
Today, I woke up to the news that J. K Rowling has published a crime novel called ‘The Cuckoo’s Calling’ under the name Robert Galbraith. Published about three months ago, the book has so far sold about 1,500 copies in hardback and tells the story of a war veteran turned private investigator. The publisher’s website confirmed that Robert Galbraith was a pseudonym but the true identity of the author has only just been revealed today. Continue reading
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Case Histories by Kate Atkinson
I have reserved ‘Life After Life’ by Kate Atkinson which is currently on order at the library, so just in case I don’t get a chance to read it before the Women’s Prize for Fiction event at the Southbank Centre in June, I thought I would read the first of the Jackson Brodie novels, ‘Case Histories’, to get a feel for Atkinson’s writing. Jackson Brodie, a former police inspector turned private investigator , is working on three apparently separate cold cases in the Cambridge area – the disappearance of a three year old girl in the 1970s, the murder of a solicitor’s daughter and another murder after a domestic incident between husband and wife. These crimes all turn out to be linked – but how? Continue reading
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Freakonomics by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner
‘Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything’ by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner explores some of the everyday mysteries of life through the prism of economics, understood in the broadest sense as the study of incentives. Economics as a subject generally doesn’t inspire much enthusiasm but here is where you might be surprised. Continue reading
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Catch Me If You Can by Frank W. Abagnale
Frank W. Abagnale Jr was one of the most notorious con-men, forgers and imposters in American history. Posing as a Pan Am airline pilot, a doctor, a lawyer and a teaching assistant at Columbia University in the 1960s, he managed to defraud millions of dollars from banks, mostly by cashing fake cheques. This semi-autobiography outlines exactly how he did it and how he managed to evade capture for so long. Continue reading
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Snowdrops by A. D. Miller
I’m a little bit slow when it comes to reading the Man Booker Prize winners and nominees. I haven’t read any of the books on this year’s shortlist yet and ‘Snowdrops’ by A. D. Miller is only the second book on last year’s shortlist that I have read so far. It tells the story of Nick Platt, a British lawyer in his thirties living in Moscow. After meeting Masha who soon becomes his girlfriend, Nick gets involved in a property deal. This being Russia, let’s just say it doesn’t go quite as planned…
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The Redbreast by Jo Nesbo
Earlier this year, I watched the first season of the TV series ‘Borgen’, a political drama set in Denmark, and got completely hooked to the point where I began to convince myself that I could speak Danish. However, with the exception of reading the Millennium Trilogy a couple of years ago, I am definitely lagging behind the rest of the world when it comes to jumping on the Scandinavian crime fiction bandwagon and this week, I tried to rectify that by reading ‘The Redbreast’ by Jo Nesbo. Continue reading
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Arthur & George by Julian Barnes
‘Arthur & George’ by Julian Barnes is a fictionalised account of the Great Wyrley Outrages case at the turn of the twentieth century in which George Edalji, a half-Indian solicitor from Staffordshire, is accused of mutilating farm animals and is later sentenced to seven years in prison. Fans of Sherlock Holmes will already know that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle played a significant role in this case by setting out to prove Edalji’s innocence. Although this miscarriage of justice has largely been forgotten over a century later, Barnes has brought the story vividly back to life and I think this book would be enjoyable for both those who have prior knowledge of the case and also for those who don’t. Continue reading
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The Devotion of Suspect X by Keigo Higashino
Touted as ‘the Japanese Steig Larsson’, Keigo Higashino manages to live up to the hype with crime thriller ‘The Devotion of Suspect X’ which is fast becoming a worldwide best-seller following its huge success in Japan. The story of how a mathematician helps his next door neighbour cover up the murder of her abusive ex-husband is not so much a whodunnit but more of a how-did-they-do-it with just as much suspense and intrigue as a more straightforward murder mystery plot. Continue reading
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