There’s nothing quite like reading a book set in a city when you’re in that city. (Ouch, that’s clumsily phrased, but I trust you get the gist.) For context, I’m currently in Bangkok, and have thoroughly enjoyed reading the 2nd instalment in the Sonchai Jitpleecheep series, a detective series set …
What an amazing book to kick off my 2026 reading. ”None of this is true” is gripping, more than a bit scary at times, “twisty, twisty, twisty” as one reviewer accurately put it – and truly unputdownable. There are so many twists and turns as the story progresses, forcing the …
Some things have to be celebrated and shouted from the rooftops. Like when there’s a new book from the uber-talented Jake Needham. And not only a new book, but the first in a brand new series. Yup, that’s definitely reason to cheer. “Habeus Corpus” is the first in what I …
After being very under-whelmed by the previous Cormoran Strike book (The Ink Black Heart), this 7th novel in the series was an absolute joy. As clichéd as it sounds, it was gripping. An absolute page-turner. And my faith in the wonderful J.K. Rowling (aka Robert Galbraith) was fully restored. It’s …
Sadly, I only really clocked that Stella Rimington was such an acclaimed novelist when I read her recent obituary. What a waste, not to have read her spy novels over the years, but I’ve made a start, and am hooked. ”At Risk”, her first book in the Liz Carlyle series, …
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 …
Confession time to kick off this review. I had never heard of this book, before starting on my quest to read all of Agatha Christie’s books. When I set out to read all Ms Christie’s books, some titles were very familiar. Many I had read. Others I had heard of, …
Every time I finish an Agatha Christie novel and fail to guess the outcome (i.e. every single time!) I am astonished anew at just how clever and inventive a writer she was. “Five Little Pigs” is a case in point. Obfuscation, dredging up 16 year old recollections, and still there …
It pains me to admit this, but I was a-l-m-o-s-t a bit bored by this 1937 whodunnit, the first time I’ve felt remotely like that during my ongoing quest to read all of Ms Christie’s books. There seemed to be a lack of energy, and the usual crisp creative handling …
