January 2012 Archives

I don't know why I do it. Every time I plough through one of Elizabeth Chadwick's historical novels I get irritated by the deliberate use of words and phrases (presumably) unearthed in this season's research (my bête noires from in this particular novel are: solar plexus and dapifer) and the mediaeval Mills and Boon plot.

No More!

Amazon.co.uk link: To Defy A King - Elizabeth Chadwick

A slow read.

Set in a fictional Devon seaside town, King of the Badgers starts with the abduction of a local girl with echoes of Shannon Matthews, and ends with her release. In between we follow the lives of, amongst others, London escapees/retirees, snobbish middle class academics living beyond their means, and the open and hidden the gay scene on sea.

Amazon.co.uk link: King of the Badgers - Philip Hensher

Deftly connecting characters from previous novels in the Shardlake series to Henry VIII's futile final war against the French and the sinking of the Mary Rose.

Smashing.

Amazon.co.uk link: Heartstone - C J Sansom