My Review (5 stars out of 5) In West Auckland, County Durham, in 1872, Mary Ann Cotton was arrested and charged with the murder of her stepson. Married four times and supposedly having borne twelve children, she was found guilty and hanged in Durham Goal. Charting the details of the trials and claims she may…
Month: August 2024
‘Ripley Under Ground’ by Patricia Highsmith
My Review (3 stars out of 5) A team of art fraudsters at the Buckmaster Gallery in London plan an exhibition of work by Derwatt – a dead artist whose works they’ve been forging. Tom Ripley’s part in the scam requires him to help perpetuate the myth. Travelling to England from his home in France,…
‘Henry VIII – King and Court’ by Alison Weir
My Review (5 stars out of 5) Alison Weir’s highly researched book explodes the life of Henry VIII and that of his court. While the book does not give as thorough an accounting of the six wives (which Weir delves into in greater detail in another book), we do get the low-down on the day-to-day…
‘The Complete Raffles – 1’ by EW Hornung
My Review (3 stars out of 5) Cricket-loving and thrill-seeking A. J. Raffles and his old school pal ‘Bunny’, embark on a series of burglaries in a bid to stay financially solvent. This is the first of two collections of 16 stories, including The Ides of March, Nine Points of the Law, and The Fate…
‘I Am Legend’ by Richard Matheson
My Review (3 stars out of 5) Robert Neville believes himself to be the last living man on Earth – except, he’s not alone. It seems that the only other inhabitants of the planet have become blood-hungry vampires. Spending his days hunting and his nights locked into his fortress-like house, Neville carries out experiments, trying…
A New Way to Find Great Books Online
A little while ago, Ben Fox of Shepherd got in touch with me, asking if I’d be interested in recommending some of my favourite reads, while at the same time promoting one of my own books. The service is free for authors, so I gave it a go. Last week my page on Shepherd was…
‘The Green Viper’ by Rob Sinclair
My Review (4 stars out of 5) The Green Viper is book 4 in the James Ryker series, and the first I’ve read by this author. Following a mysterious message, Ryker sets out to track down the son of his dead boss, who has got himself embroiled in a dangerous world of drugs and gangster…
Colin Garrow 