New Additions at BooksPlease

I’ve acquired a mixed batch of  books recently, some old and some new- one very new, not yet published actually, a review copy of The Dance of Love by Angela Young (publication date 31 July).  I’m looking forward to reading it very soon. I read her first book Speaking of Love in 2007 – now available on Kindle.

The Dance of Love is set against the backdrop of the Edwardian age, moving from the ballrooms of London to the grand houses of Scotland and Devon, and there is a link to the tragedy of the Titanic.

Another new book is Casting the Net by Pam Rhodes, which came to me from the publishers via LibraryThing’s Early Reviewers Programme. This is described on the back cover as ‘light and amusing’, a ‘social comedy’ but dealing with issues of faith, family and friendship. It’s the second book in The Dunbridge Chronicles. I haven’t read anything by Pam Rhodes, but remember seeing her on Songs of Praise. It promises to be a bit different from the usual books I read.

Then there are some library books:

A Trick of the Light by David Ashton, a Scottish actor and writer – a new-to-me author, but it turns out he has written for film, television, theatre and radio. This book is crime fiction – an Inspector McLevy Mystery – set in Edinburgh in 1881, where a vicious murder has been discovered. It features a young Arthur Conan Doyle who has recently graduated from medical school.

Burial of Ghosts by Ann Cleeves – not a Vera or a Shetland book, but a stand-alone book in which Lizzie Bartholomew, running away from her past goes on holiday to Morocco where she has a brief affair. She returns to England only to find her nightmares are far from over.

The Man Who Smiled by Henning Mankell. I’ve probably watched the TV version of this book with Kenneth Branagh as Kurt Wallender because the synopsis does sound familiar, but I often prefer books to theirTV versions so I borrowed the book anyway. It was the title as much as anything that attracted me – Wallender is not known for his cheery disposition!

And finally in a different genre again The Roundabout Man by Clare Morrall (another new-to-me author). I think I’ve read about this book on some book blogs. The idea of a man living on a roundabout in a caravan seemed funny and quirky, and reading the blurb it promises to be a suspenseful tale too as the man (Quinn) is forced to confront his past.