We went to Barter Books in Alnwick yesterday, for the first time since last October. It was absolutely packed as it was a Bank Holiday and the school holidays. There was a long queue for the Station Buffet and then a 30 minute wait after we’d ordered our food.

Despite the crowds of people I found these books and left a lot behind. :)

From the bottom to the top they are:

Execution by S J Parris, Book 6 in the Giordano Bruno series of historical thrillers.  I’ve read the second book, Prophecy which I really enjoyed. This one is set in 1586 about the Babington plot to assassinate the Protestant Queen Elizabeth I and replace her with her Catholic cousin, Mary, Queen of Scots. I vaguely remember the Babington plot from history lessons at school. I just hope I’m not going to find it’s too long

The Fallen Angel by Tracy Borman, the final book in the Frances Gorges Historical Trilogy. I have the first one, The King’s Witch, but I haven’t read it yet. On the back cover it says this can be read entirely on its own. It covers the final years of James I’s reign when his new favourite was George Villiers, later the Duke of Buckingham

The Heart Goes Last by Margaret Atwood. Charmaine sees an advertisement for a project called Positron that promises you a job, a place to live, a bed to sleep in – imagine how appealing that would be if you were working in a dive bar and living in your car. She and her husband, Stan, apply at once. The only catch is that once you’re in there, you can’t get out.

The Golden One by Elizabeth Peters, the 17th Amelia Peabody Egypt murder mystery featuring Amelia Peabody. I haven’t read any of the other books and there are 20 in total. Amelia and her family arrive at their home in Luxor to learn of a new royal tomb ransacked by thieves. Soon an even more disturbing outrage concerns the intrepid clan of archaeologists: the freshly and savagely slain corpse of a thief defiling the ancient burial site.

Trace Elements by Donna Leon, the 29th in her Commissario Brunetti Mysteries series. ‘They killed him. It was bad money.‘ A dying hospice patient gasps these cryptic words about her recently-deceased husband, who lost his life in a motorcycle accident. But what appears to be a private family tragedy turns into a bigger enigma when Brunetti discovers the victim’s ties to Venice’s water supply. With the help of Questura secretary, Elettra Sorzi, Brunetti will unveil the secret that lies behind the dying woman’s accusation – one that threatens the health of the entire region.

If you’ve read any of these books I’d love to know what you think of them.