The ninth book in the fabulous Sam Tay series was published less than 2 weeks ago, on July 17 2025, and is yet another cracking good read. Bangkok’s intelligence circles have received whispered intel that an assassin may be targeting a high-profile upcoming ASEAN meeting in the city. A gunman …
The one drawback about randomly taking a book off the shelves on a rainy day when you’re holidaying in a friend’s house…is that you might unwittingly pick up a book that is part of a series… Guilty as charged. I curled up quite happily with The Collectors, while the rain …
I deliberately “saved up” this latest Inspector Tay novel for my just-concluded high altitude trekking trip, thinking it would help me while away any bad-weather afternoons, if we were confined to camp. But – thankfully – the weather was fine, so instead I devoured this book tucked into my sleeping …
This fascinating biography of Elizabeth Hawley, a Kathmandu-based American woman, is an absolutely riveting read. Elizabeth Hawley was an avowed non-climber who was, nevertheless, the ultimate authority and arbiter on all things Himalayan climbing and mountaineering. For decades she interviewed climbers as they passed though Kathmandu, grilling them in detail …
“Evie Porter has everything a nice, Southern girl could want: a perfect, doting boyfriend, a house with a white picket fence and a garden, a fancy group of friends. The only catch: Evie Porter doesn’t exist.“ I’m not plot-spoiling here, by the way – this is the blurb on the …
Am I allowed to start a review by loudly berating myself for having only just now discovered Jean Hanff Korelitz, a sublimely talented writer? Consider it done. But I made up for lost time by devouring this amazing book in record time and am ordering Ms Korelitz’s other books as …
This is a book about exercise, without in the least being a book about how to exercise. This is not a “to do” book, but rather a fascinating exploration of the science and the biology behind exercise. In the writer’s own words: “…this book is as much for exercise enthusiasts …
Disclosure time. On our first outing to a bookshop since lockdown in March, I was quite clearly not concentrating properly. As I excitedly browsed real books, as opposed to online shopping, I thought I heard the bookshop owner say “The latest from John Grisham”. My husband heard “The latest Camino …
For those of you who might, inexplicably, not already be fans of the middle-aged, perpetually grumpy Samuel Tay, late of the Singapore CID – you’re in for a treat in Mr. Needham’s latest book. Although Sam is retired – he was pretty much eased out of the force – he …
