The Crimson Road - A. G. Slatter

I seem to be in a fantasy sort of mood at the moment, maybe because I've had a run of pretty decent luck with fantasy novels that have been engaging to read and suitably distracting from real life. This is the first Slatter I've read but I'm quite tempted to try more.

The Crimson Road is a vampire novel with shades of Buffy about it. Violet Zennor has been trained to be fighter since childhood when her mother died giving birth to a still born son, her immensely rich father preparing her for something. 

The book opens with his death and Violet's hope that she can be free of the control he has exerted over her life to date. Unfortunately not. Hedrek Zennor made a particularly ill-judged bargain on the night his wife died and after a number of assassins come after her,, and her loved ones, Violet realises that she doesn't really have a choice when it comes to fixing the mess he made. 

If it wasn't for some fairly graphic violence and descriptions of abuse that Hedrek inflicted on Violet this could be a young adult novel - 20 year old girl sets out to save the world picking up found family on her quest. As it is, it's got genuinely dark moments that verge on horror and a convincingly gothic atmosphere to compliment the world building. 

If there's a fault it's that the timeline doesn't always make complete sense when it comes to the Vampires (called Leech lords here). There is a prophecy, and a lot seems to happen in a relatively short decade compared to the many hundreds of years that some of the Leech lords have been around for. This book takes place in the same world as Slatter's earlier novels - it works fine as a standalone, but possibly if I'd read them all my timeline niggles would be settled.

Overall I really enjoyed this, there were intriguing ideas in the lore building and Violet is a complex heroine who succeeds because of the help she finds along the way, mostly from other women. She stays alive because her enemies underestimate her and how much help she can muster, but it does feel that there's real jepordy along the way. I've been disappointed by books from bigger names (Alice Christina Henry and V E Schwab - but I've only tried one of each and might well be missing out on the really good stuff) working in the same sort of area - this book had whatever it was that I felt was missing for me in those. For good gothic times you could do a lot worse than The Crimson Road.

The Wycherleys - Annaliese Avery

 I've not given up on this little bit of the internet, but life does seem to have other plans for my time right now. Bear with.

I read The Wycherleys as it's the first teen/young adult book of the month work has showcased and I was curious to see what was going to set the tone. I'm mostly impressed with what I found. Billed as Bridgerton with witches - but honestly, better than that sounds. I'm not sure if it's strictly accurate to say it's aimed at the younger end of the age range, but it's absolutely fair to say it's age appropriate from 12 up, and younger if your reader doesn't mind a little bit of kissing. 

On the plus side, you get a sweet romance, likeable main characters, excellent friendships, nice sibling relationships, an intriguing set up for a continuing series, and an excellent adventure that feels complete enough in itself despite the plans for a series. 

On the downside, there's a lot of repetition, which I absolutely do not understand. You could cut 50 pages worth of the same couple of points being made over and over to end up with a standout introduction to historical fantasy, a genre that would work as well for an adult looking for some cosy fantasy as it would for a younger reader looking for romantic fantasy. The  plot is not particularly original (okay, it's very predictable) but it's handled more than well enough for that not to matter. 

The setting is a sort of alternative regency period, there are a couple of historical references, and a Princess regent Georgianna who is aware of the magical world - the state harnesses it, but not entirely approving of it. The action mostly takes place in magical areas of London where different customs and manners prevail - it nicely avoids the need to get bogged down in detail and makes potential anachronisms irrelevant. Fun details include the witching world being a matriarchy where children take their mothers names - and an interesting arrangement whereby witches need to be tethered to another witch, but that tether doesn't have to involve a romantic element, and it's frequently same sex.

This means lots of blended families, and an implicit acceptance of queer relationships even if they're not specifically explored. It's the kind of ambiguity I'd have liked to see more of in books when I was a teen, and like now - a space full of possibilities rather than certainties. 

Overall there's a lot to like here - and maybe the best thing I can say about it is that after reading Tik Tok phenomenon Fourth Wing in a similar spirit, I find I want to see what happens next to the Wycherleys, I have not read any more Rebecca Yarros.  

Why Shoot a Butler - Georgette Heyer

I know it;s been a while, the last month seems to have been a blur of working, sleeping, and appointments. Or hospital phone appointments not happening and the hours it takes to try and get through to the right department in an attempt to find out what happened. I don't know how the switchboard turned gynecology at the general to radiology at the royal but they did. The answer phone I landed with didn't state department, but I can testify to a very diligent radiologist who has followed up my message several times.

That wasn't the only wrong hospital or department I've been put through to, just the most helpful and possibly best staffed. It's all added to a feeling of despondency to match the fatigue which is probably related to the medical issue I'm trying to get an answer for and on it goes in an increasingly exhausting circle. 

I have at least managed a bit of reading even if it hasn't been in a very organised sort of way, but at the moment something feels better than nothing so... 

"Why Shoot a Butler" was a choice for an online Georgette Heyer reading group where we spend an hour or so on Sunday evening discussing 3 chapters of the chosen book a week via Signal. The group originated on twitter back in lock down, and whilst it's only a small core of what we once were the closed nature of the group and a now long standing acquaintance means we can be very open with opinions. 

I wanted to do a crime novel and hosted this readalong, "Why Shoot a Butler" was a popular choice of title, and it had been long enough since I read it for me to have forgotten it entirely. I read through once, quickly, to check for anything very old-fashioned and thought ot stood up well enough. 

Then we read slowly together, and the flaws really stood out. I'd never really accepted that Heyer's detective fiction just isn't as good as her romances, but this one just isn't as good. There are flashes of the things we all love about her, but the plotting and pacing is uneven, the characters often unconvincing, and in the case of the hero downright annoying most of the time. It's not a terrible book, and compares reasonably well enough with plenty of contemporary efforts, but it lacks whatever spark make her romances sparkle. 

Thank goodness then for a group who were kind enough to stick with it and share criticisms in a constructive way - if I didn't love the book I did at least love laughing about it with like minded readers. There's also a definite value to be had out of looking at a favourite author trying to do something different and only partially succeeding at it. For anyone who loves vintage crime this is enjoyable enough read at a gallop, which is presumably how it was intended to be consumed, but definitely not the best Heyer around. 

Pagans - James Alistair Henry

I haven't done as much reading as I mean to on holiday - I never do, but I have finished Pagans, which I really loved. It's a mash-up of alternative history, urban fantasy, and police procedural, so not my usual kind of book choice, though not entirely unusual either and it delivered on all levels. 

Britain is a global back water - I guess on a par with one of the less fortunate Balkan countries now, maybe a little bit more depressed. Christianity never got a strong hold on the west and the Norman conquest didn't happen. The global super power is a pan African alliance, much of Southern Europe is a caliphate, America was never colonised... Britain itself is still 3 countries - Scotland is an independent Nordic country, the east of England is ruled by the dominant and more wealthy Saxons, the west is tribal Celtic.

On the eve of another summit to unify the three nations, a Celtic diplomat is found nailed to a tree—crucified. Detective Inspector Drustan is sent from the west to work with Captain Aedith Mercia, a Saxon princess as well as policewoman (or reeve). Two cops. One Killer. Hundreds of Gods, as the strapline would have it. 

It's a brutal kind of world, though not precisely a dystopia (depending on your view of London, which might be considered dystopian at the best of times). The whodunnit element is decent if not spectacular, the relationships between the various characters are more interesting, with plenty of scope for more a series, the alternative history is really good fun. 

Henry has an excellent pedigree as a comedy writer, he uses it well here both in his world building and in the way relationship he forges between Aedith and Drustan who bounce off each other nicely. There are political parallels and points that can be drawn from this reimagined history if you want to, but expertly balanced against the comedic possibilities of the world building so I never felt it was heavy handed with the morals. 

There is quite a bit of violence or mention of violence, though it's seldom graphic in the details. If that doesn't bother you I highly recommend this. It's intriguing, provocative, and overall really good fun. 

The Shetland Way - Marianne Brown

March has been a month of recuperation and minor disaster - my purse was either lost or stolen, but either way, cards were used fraudulently and it;a been a massive pain to sort out, though god bless my bank who both alerted me to the issue and made it as easy as possible to fix. 

Meanwhile I haven't managed to finish many books, although I've started quantities of them. I'm struggling to stay awake in the evening and concentrate beyond work at all in the aftermath of whatever infection made the end of February so miserable. Things are starting to come together again though, and today I finished The Shetland Way which I have been reading for weeks. 

I enjoyed The Shetland Way but I also think it's a bit of a mess of a book, one that can't quite decide what it wants to be. Marianne Brown is the daughter of the late potter Bill Brown (I have one of his herring gull jugs and wish I'd bought a few more pieces whilst I could). Her parents split whilst she was quite young, and her relationship with her father was obviously not a straight forward one. In 2019 he became ill, his funeral was in Shetland not long before lockdown started, Marianne, her husband and young child ended up staying for 8 months rather than the few weeks they had planned. home is normally in Devon. 

During that period of grieving and lockdown Marianne is re-evaluating her father, reconnecting with family in Shetland and starts to learn more about the Viking Energy wind farm, a divisive project that continues to be a contentious issue in Shetland and is conveniently not much talked about elsewhere. Marrianne is an environmental journalist, pre publication at least this book was billed as being more about the effect the windfarm has had on the islands; in fact it's much more of a biography framed against the development of the islands, and this is where I think it falls down. It's trying very hard to do two different things, and the one that feels important - the discussion about how we produce energy in the future comes off second best. 

Marianne tries hard to be neutral and she's broadly sympathetic to the people who see the windfarm as a negative but it's also clear that she's broadly in favour. What could, and possibly should have been the central question of the book - if not here than where? is raised but not addressed. One of the final chapters touches on racism in the islands, my impression reading it was that it's a justification for change, but the experience of 1 person isn't enough to make a point. 

There is a growing body of evidence for the negative impacts that wind farms have on health, and this really is an issue in Shetland where inevitably given the long narrow nature of the islands the windfarm gets closer to houses than guidelines suggest. We need green energy, but if we're to change how we live we really need to live with the means of production and not ship it off somewhere out of sight and out of mind for the majority. Change won't happen whilst ot feels like business as usual.  

Bees & Honey - Steve Minshall and Rachel de Thample

Thank god for antibiotics - after almost 4 weeks of feeling like crap I'm sort of human again. I vaguely remember a time when cold and flu type bugs didn't floor me, and that however snotty I was, I could at least still read a book. I can't do that anymore. I sleep, and when I can stay awake long enough, I go back to work, come home, and sleep again, hence the lengthy absence from posting.

I saw this book at work yesterday and pounced on it with an enthusiasm and energy that definitely heralded a return to full health though. It's been a long wait for a new River Cottage handbook, the last one came out in 2020 (there has been the not quite a handbook guide to Christmas in between), and I'm wondering if Bees & Honey has had a considerable rewrite at some stage in the intervening years.

It differs from the previous books in that it does not assume you want to keep bees or even to eat honey if you're vegan (the chicken book definitely assumes you want chickens), and it strongly suggests that keeping bees might not be the best thing you can do to help them. What we can all do, even if a window box is the only option, is plant better and understand more. It might make sense to create bee friendly habitats for wild species that you wouldn't take honey from and instead buy good quality local honey, use less of it, and appreciate it more.

The recipe element of the book takes a less is more approach on how to use honey and honey products, which I like. Honey is a strong flavour that needs to be treated with respect and a light hand, and I will admit I'm particularly curious about the not quite a recipe that's a spoon of honey with black coffee. There could be a lot of fun to be had finding the perfect bean and blossom matches. 

Overall, it's the combination of information about bees, bee related products, and what's good to eat or should be left alone (pollen, bees need it more than we do) and how to make a better world for bees which makes this book so good. And if it's bee-keeping you really want there's all the information you could need to start down that road too. 

I have loved this series from the outset, Handbook number 2 (Preserves, Pam Corbin 2008) came in the first flush of my enthusiasm for making my own jam and Marmalade, Handbook number 3 (Bread by Daniel Stevens 2009) taught me how to make all sorts of breads and is still my go to guide. They are consistently useful and inspiring - I hope there will be more to come, or at least one more to round out the numbers at 20 volumes. I have a lot of cookbooks, but nothing else comes close to this series in looking at food holistically. 

Murder As A Fine Art - Carol Carnac

I absolutely loved this one from The British Library Crime Classics series - it speaks directly to several of my interests and turned out to be an excellent mystery with really delightful characters - so all boxes duly ticked. 

As a bonus, I learnt quite a bit about the architect Decimus Burton (I suppose if you have 10 children it's acceptable to start numbering them?). there were so many real artists names being thrown about that despite not initially believing in Decimus I looked him up, and not only real but prolific and important. The way the building feels like a living character in this book is very much one of its charms. 

That the victim is done to death by an outsize Canova bust of an extremely unattractive Earl is another winning point. The building and victim belong to the Ministry of Fine Arts, the Minister for Fine Arts is Humphry David and he's a delightful character too - one who does not believe in the use of his department or the validity of much of the art it holds. 

The mystery and its solution are fun as well as clever, but I'd suggest the best reason to read this is for its gentle arguments about modern art which run through the whole plot. There are characters who are pretentious about it; and ignorant in equal measure. Characters who admit they don't understand it but strive to, and characters who come to see something where previously they had not. It's an intelligent and thoughtful process that reveals an ingenious scam, enjoys a few jokes, and feels remarkably timeless. 

Bath Tangle - Georgette Heyer

I have a gross cold which has done nothing for my weekend plans (spend time with husband, catch a bunch of comedy festival gigs, finish some of the many books I've read 3/4s of and then abandoned). I think I might be in the process of finally learning the patience to sweat onions properly - I'm craving onion soup with lots of garlic, but it doesn't feel like much of an achievement when it;s as much as I can concentrate on. 

The Georgette Heyer Readalong that was such a lockdown lifeline has partly migrated to Signal as a chat group, but we have recently resurrected the group read with Bath Tangle - 3 chapters a week with an hour or so chatting on the night and then the odd opinion shared throughout the week. It's a really good format for a dozen or so people to slowly read and discuss a book. We know each other well enough to be open to a range of disagreements on characters. We also all love Georgette Heyer's books even if we don't love all of her books equally which helps keep things friendly. 

Bath Tangle was nobody's favourite going in and probably isn't going out either, but I enjoyed the slow read much more than I expected to and like the book more for it. It opens at a funeral with 2 young women waiting for the men to join them. The younger of the two turns out to be a late Earl's widow, the other his daughter. The Earl we swiftly concluded was a bit dodgy, first for marrying a woman younger than his daughter, and secondly for leaving his 25-year-old daughter's financial future tied up in the hands of her ex-fiance. 

What follows is a book that has a whole lot of characters trying their best not to hurt each other, financially controlled by one another, scared of various mothers, and overall demonstrating how vulnerable women's lives were to the men around them. It was written in 1955 when a woman wouldn't have been able to get a mortgage, or any kind of bank loan without a male guarantor and would still have been expected to leave work when she married. 

The emotional entanglements continue to complicate themselves (In Bath) very much in the manner of a drawing room comedy - and this would make an excellent stage play, before suddenly resolving in mostly satisfactory ways. We all agreed that we didn't think much of the main characters, but that their often appalling behavior was all too easy to believe in - and that's the genius of Heyer. Every character feels fleshed out and feasible. When they behave badly we understand why, we also get a fun dissection of how not everyone is suited - one woman's hero might be another villain.

Given the relatively limited education and employment options for a lot of girls even in the 1950s, as well as the social stigma of divorce it's interesting to see Heyer's evident distaste for marriage between very young women and much older, richer men. Yes, they offer financial and social security, but there's a cost. 

A Death In The Parish - The Reverend Richard Coles

My connectivity issues persist and as Norton has decided not to let my laptop connect to any open networks I can't even head out to a café to post which somewhat ups the pressure to get a new network provider. All very annoying.

Something I am looking forward to though is the next Richard Coles coming out in paperback next week. I'm late to Canon Daniel Clement - which is hardly a deterrent to enthusiasm. The mood of 'A Death in the Parish' is distinctly different to 'Murder Before Evensong' and I'm curious to see where Coles will take us next. 'A Death in the Parish' definitely feels more personal, impossible to say if Canon Clement is closer to Reverend Coles or not, but the murders here are both closer to home (Daniel's home) and less important to the heart of the book - it's characters.

I have read elsewhere that Audrey is closely based on Coles' own mother - impossible to doubt if you remember his tweets about her, and this has to be why Audrey is a creation of near genius. She is the perfect mix of impossibly frustrating and absolutely plausible. As a reader you have to love her, not least because her writer so clearly does and makes her irresistible in the process. 

The stakes between Daniel and Neil are raised by a growing friendship, something deeper, and then betrayal - and this also is beautifully handled. I loved the first book for the way it reminded me of E M Delafield's Diary of a Provincial Lady, I find more Barbara Pym here, and much more Richard Coles, he's definitely settling into his fiction style in this one. 

There's not much else I can say about a relatively high profile series that's still also relatively new - other than read it if you haven't already! 

The Scandalous Confessions of Lydia Bennet, Witch - Melinda Taub

I didn't mean to take such a long break but I lost wifi for a few days and then went to stay with mum, who has working wifi, but I forgot my laptop (and to bring a sample half dozen of the best sausages you could ever find - sold on Leicester market by a very nice butcher). We've been celebrating her 75th birthday. 

For my own sanity, I've not been paying much attention to what's happening in America and I'm very close to deleting twitter/x - the stumbling block is that I'm in charge of the work account so can't completely ignore it. This is part of a more general quandary regarding social media. Facebook is annoying but it's still the best way to keep in touch with older family members. I mostly like Insta but the adverts and rubbish are becoming overwhelming and the ethics of all of it are questionable. And yet, it's all such a part of modern life that cutting any of it off feels as difficult as getting rid of online banking, I would manage but it would be massively more complicated. 

All of this is feeding into a desire to read books that are essentially comforting. Lydia Bennet, Witch fitted the bill nicely. I do not as a rule like it when people mess around with Jane Austen, but this was very much the exception that worked for me. Melinda Taub obviously knows her Austen, she captures Lydias's voice perfectly - or maybe more precisely I could hear Julia Sawalha's voice from the 90s Pride and Prejudice, but I'll take it. 

The combination of affection for and knowledge of Austen along with taking minor characters and giving them a whole other magical life is a winning one in this instance. So is the minimum of smut - there's a smidgen of romance between Lydia and Whickham - a literal demon here, and Kitty who is really a cat, and Denny - but it's very much the sweet kind rather than the explicit kind. 

Picking out the bits that are Austen from the bits that are not is fun, there are a number of side characters from P&P plus one from Sanditon. There's enough consideration of slavery and women's position in society to give the plot a bit of weight, and Taub thinks Mr Bennet is a terrible father, on which point she's absolutely correct. 

This won't be for everyone, but if you like a little fantasy in the mix it's a good time.