Books read in July

So, I've been awol again for most of July. No particular reason, just busy with visitors, and lazy because of the almost constant heatwave we've had throughout July. A drought has been declared for much of the UK but we did actually get a little rain on Friday. Not enough, of course, but it was so nice. Thank goodness it's only 4 weeks or so to September. I feel really bad for the countries currently experiencing such awful wildfires, France, Spain, Italy, Greece, Canada, and even here in the UK there are a couple of nasty fires in the Cairngorms and Suffolk. I honestly can't wait to see the back of this summer.

I read seven books in July, hiding from the heat quite honestly, it's a brilliant thing to do when you haven't the energy to do anything else.

I started the month with The Silver Pigs by Lindsey Davis. 

 

This is book 1 of the author's Didius Falco series, set in Ancient Rome. Falco is an informer, a sort of detective in Roman times, who saves a young woman and ends up investigating the smuggling of Silver Pigs, (lead ingots) from mines in Britannia. There's a lot more to this of course, the setting and historical background were very authentic and there is high drama (Rome at night was a scary place), murder and romance. I loved it and will definitely be reading a lot more in this series.

Next was The Sunken Sailor by Patricia Moyes, book 2 in her Inspector Henry Tibbett series.

 (What a cover!) Henry and Emmy go sailing off the Suffolk coast with some friends. They hear about the death of a sailor and Henry's ears prick up. He can't resist looking into it even though he's supposed to be on holiday. What I enjoyed about this one was its delightful sense of place. The village on the Suffolk coast was gorgeous and, although I'm no sailor, the lazy sailing days sounded wonderful. The mystery wasn't bad either and I didn't guess who'd done the deed. Love this 'new to me' series.

Next, The Instruments of Darkness by John Connolly.

 This is book 21 (I know!) of Connolly's Charlie Parker series, wherein Parker takes on the case of a young mother accused, by her husband, of abducting and murdering her own child. This is more of a police procedural that many of the Parker books, but there is enough weirdness - something lurking in the woodshed in Maine - to keep me happy and, as always the writing is sublime. 

Next, A Drop of Corruption by Robert Jackson Bennett.

 This book two in the author's Shadow of the Leviathan series. It's of the fantasy/crime genre, a bit of a rare bird in my experience, and a very interesting series indeed. The detective is Ana Dalabra, a strange female who is so overwhelmed by the outside world that she mostly stays at home and lets her assistant, young Dinios Kol, go out to investigate for her and bring his information back. The civilisation on the planet is based on Ancient Rome and people are altered to give them certain skills; Dinios has a photographic memory for instance. The crime here involves a treasury officer who has disappeared and Dinios has to go beyond the edges of the empire to investigate. The world building in the series is fantastic, so is the writing, but be warned, the books are quite weird. I love them but they would not be for everyone. 

Next, Beyond the Point by Damien Boyd.

 This book 9 in the author's 'Nick Dixon' series and is one of my absolute favourite current crime series. This one involves a woman found murdered at the Hinkley Point nuclear power station in Somerset. This is a real place and because I was used to seeing it in the distance when I lived in Minehead, the setting felt nicely familiar. Brilliant mystery and, as always with Damian Boyd, superb writing, love the background story with Nick and his police woman girlfriend, Jane, and the dog, Monty. Honestly, this series can do no wrong for me. 

Next, a non-fiction, Roman Empire by Train by James Nally and Alice Roberts.

 Alice Roberts is well known in the UK for hosting TV archaeological and historical documentaries. I'm a big fan so tend to watch all of her programmes. Back in February she went around part of the Roman Empire by train, starting in Italy and finishing in Spain. Loved it - she's previously done Egypt, the Ottoman Empire and Greece - all well worth watching. This book is basically an accompaniment to the series and made for a very enjoyable read.

Last but very much not least, Murder at Gull's Nest by Jess Kid.

 It's the early 1950s and Nora Breen has just left a nunnery to go in search of a younger nun, Frieda, who did the same. She washed up in a village on the south coast of England, from where she wrote to Nora diligently until suddenly the letters stopped. Worried, Nora sets off to find her and goes to stay at the guest house where her friend was last heard of. There are some very odd people staying there but when people start to die Nora has trouble convincing the police that the deaths were anything but accidental. This is described on Goodreads as a cosy mystery, but I can't say that I agree. There's real darkness in this book involving the consequences of war, things that can happen to you when you're a child, sexuality, but also a lot of humour, Nora is very Irish and isn't afraid to let it show, and it's very well written. I love the budding relationship between Nora and Inspector Rideout, they suit each other, though I have no idea if that's the way the author will go as she progresses, because this is book one in a new series. Book two is already out but it's stupid expensive for Kindle so I'll wait for it to come down a bit. I will be getting it though as I absolutely loved this. 

So, that was my July reading. Seven books, six fiction and one non-fiction. For some reason this year, I'm not reading as much non-fiction as I do normally - only six this year so far. Oh well, it is what it is and I shall not stress on it. Of the six fiction books, I can't pick a favourite - all of them were top-notch - so I won't try, just be happy it was such a good month for reading, if not weather.

I hope you're all keeping well, coping in the heat if it's awful where you are, and finding lots of brilliant books to read. Is it September yet?