The Yellow Villa

This book by Amanda Hampson is about relationships. Ben and Mia Tiller purchase a house near the village of Cordes-sur-Ciel in southern France. They hope that the move from Australia to live in this village will help them resurrect their marriage. The discovery that Mia is unable to have a child has led to a period of depression. Although this is a character driven novel the history of the Tillers' house and its location are important to the the development of the story.

Mia speaks fluent French but Ben has the disadvantage of only knowing a few words. However Ben works in IT and can therefore work from home while Mia, an art teacher, struggles to understand what she really wants to do.  Meanwhile Dominic and Susannah Harrington, an older English couple, attempt to befriend the newcomers. But are the Harringtons who they say they are and why does the rest of the ex-pat community refuse to have anything to do with them? Gradually the truth is revealed. An enjoyable reading experience.

At the back of the book is a list of discussion points for book circles.

Secrets, scandals and karma - Better Reading
Cordes-sur-Ciel

The making of Martin Sparrow

Former convict, Martin Sparrow, is now free and is attempting to farm a piece of land on the banks of the Hawkesbury River. Then in 1806 a series of floods destroys his land. Sparrow needs to decide whether to start again or to attempt to make a new start elsewhere. There are rumours of a new community, free from the control of the convict settlement, on the other side of the mountains. But although a number of people have searched for the path, no one returns who has been successful.

This is historian Peter Cochrane's second novel set in colonial New South Wales. He provides graphic descriptions of the rugged environment in which settlers attempt to establish new lives, the relationships between the settlers and the natives who regularly visit the area and the attempts of Sydney, via the military, to control what the settlers can, or cannot, do. This is largely an environment of every person for himself. Consequently it is difficult to know who you can trust.

Although the novel primarily details the challenges faced by Martin Sparrow it also includes sections providing descriptions of the lives of other characters on the Hawkesbury. This is a cruel world in which many will fail but some may succeed.

A list of useful sources relating to the history of the colony at this time is included at the back of the book.

The making of Martin Sparrow - review - Sydney Morning Herald 20 July 2018

Two one three

Another short story by Denzil Meyrick, this time about the first murder case that Jim Daley, a young police constable, worked on. Characters that appear in the DCI Daley series are introduced including Brian Scott, John Donald and Ian Burns.

Daley is on patrol when he discovers the body of a young woman in a building. When DCI Burns arrives on the scene, with Detective Constable Scott, Burns invites the young police constable to assist with the investigation. Jim and Brian then team up to investigate some of the leads which suggest that this death is one of a series of murders of prostitutes. When Sergeant Donald objects to Daley's secondment to the crime team, DCI Banks intervenes.

This short story provides a good introduction to the books that make up the DCI Daley series as well as to the character of Jim Daley in his younger days. The story also appears in a complilation of stories by Denzil Meyrick, One Last Dram Before Midnight.

Boneland

The Weirdstone of Brisingamen (published 1960) and The Moon of Gomrath (published 1963)  transported Susan and Colin and the reader into a world of magic, folklore and adventure. In 2012 Alan Garner published a follow-up book, though not really a sequel, in the series, Boneland. The first two books were published as books for children but Boneland is a novel written for adults.    

Two parallel stories are told in this short novel. Colin, now a professor of astronomy working at Jodrell Bank observatory, cannot remember events in his life before he was thirteen. However he does know that his sister went missing many years ago and that he must find her. The second story concerns the Watcher who is also on a quest to save his world.

Colin is referred to a psychotherapist, Meg, to help him resolve his irrational behaviour and attempt to understand the flash backs he is experiencing. Colin must learn to overcome his outbreaks of fear and sense of guilt before being able to contemplate a 'normal' life. Meanwhile The Watcher continues to seek for The Woman whose presence will keep the sky and stars in place.

In many ways this book reads as a poem as it describes the world of both Colin and The Watcher as they struggle in their quests. Like other Garner books mythology and fantasy are intertwined within the story but this novel also includes sections on science as Colin tries to rationalise his fears and feelings. The environment and history of this part of Cheshire also feature in the stories.

I read this book in one sitting and suspect that it is one that could be read a number of times with new discoveries in each reading.

Boneland (Literature) - tvtropes
Boneland by Alan Garner - PaperKnife
Boneland by Alan Garner - Review - Daily Telegraph 23 August 2012
Boneland by Alan Garner - Review by Ursula Le Guin - The Guardian 29 August 2012

Well of the Winds

Number 5 in the DCI Daley series, the story recounted in Well of the Winds by Denzil Meyrick is set both at the end of the Second World War in 1945 and in the present (2016).

The postman on the island of Gairsay attempts to deliver a parcel however he discovers that the house is empty with no sign of the inhabitants. When the police are called in to investigate they discover not only an empty house but a mystery in the cellar dating back to activities during the war. Who really were the members of the Bremner family and why had they suddenly disappeared?   

Later DCI Daley comes across a journal written by Inspector Urquhart in 1945 in which he discovers a story with repercussions for  Kinloch and Gairsay years later. Suspicions grow when Special Branch officers arrive to take over the case suggesting that a cover-up is in progress. Undaunted, Jim Daley, Brian Scott and Carrie Symington decide to continue their investigations into the disappearance of the Bremner family and subsequent murders. What starts out as a possible local crime develops into a story with possible international consequences. Another Denzil Meyrick book that is hard to put down.                    

Career of evil

This is the third Cormoran Strike novel by Robert Galbraith about private investigator, Cormoran Strike, and his assistant, Robin Ellacott.

When Robin arrives at the office she is met by a courier delivering a parcel with her name on it. She was expecting a parcel containing items for her forthcoming wedding - she did not expect a woman's severed leg. So begins this story of violence committed by someone from Cormoran's past who wants to destroy, at the very least, Cormoran's reputation. When Cormoran contacts the police he gives them the names of four possible suspects to investigate. As you would expect, Cormoran and Robin also investigate the case. Robin insists on still working while Cormoran tries to protect her from an unknown killer who continues to commit his brutal crimes.

The book is also a study of relationships between the characters - the working relationship between  Cormoran and Robin,  Robin's relationship with her finance, Matthew and Cormoran's relationship with Elin.

The story unfolds through the viewpoint of Cormoran and Robin plus, from time to time, the perpetrator of the crimes. Throughout the book there are references to the music of the group, Blue Oyster Cult.

Once I started reading the book I wanted to just keep reading it. It is just as well that I have now retired from work giving me more time to read!

Single End

A short story written in 2016 about a time preceding the DCI Daley series. Set in Glasgow in 1989 DC Brian Scott has been summoned to Strathclyde Police Headquarters to see DCI Dines. He is issued with orders to communicate with Frank MacDougall, a former school friend, and James Machie, leaders of crime in the area. Reluctantly he agrees with dire consequences. His friend DC Jim Daley is concerned when his friend, Brian, disappears and investigates. Another tale of police corruption in high places. a theme which is continued in the first books of the DCI Daley crime series.

This short story also appears in a compilation of stories by Denzil Meyrick, One Last Dram before Midnight.