20th June 2026

Ava and Luke's second mystery box from their dad's attic contains a wealth of leftover documents from a deadly 1983 school trip to the Natural History Museum in London.

As usual with Janice Hallett's novels, we're told the story through messages and documents, rather than a prose narrative. And so we learn things naturally as the characters at the time chose to document them.

It's a clever story with lots of threads that gradually unravel and reveal the story to the reader. The only thing that felt a bit weak to me was the wrap up at the end, which felt like it could have been longer and more dramatically presented.

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20th June 2026

Not my usual choice of reading matter, but I've been enjoying listening to John Green's various podcasts, so thought it worth a try.

It's a mix of emotion, history, and a tiny bit of science as Green tells the story of Tuberculosis in humanity, entwined with the story of his Sierra Leonean friend Henry's experience with the disease.

The book is structured into well-sized chapters which fit into a short reading episode, and allow for regular breaks to avoid the nature of the content overwhelming the reader. I found that this meant I could read one chapter at a time and intersperse them with reading something much much lighter.

I've learnt a lot from this about tuberculosis, but also global politics and economics. There's a lot to think about and I think it'll be sitting in my mind for a long time to come.

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13th June 2026

The long-awaited sequel to Bored Gay Wereworlf sees our favourite former title character and his friends move to London, to help look for a missing person.

It took me a little bit to get back into things and remember where we were, but once I'd got into the flow the narrative floated me along in a delightful funny and serious look at the world from an urban fantasy perspective. In this sense it's doing what sci-fi always has and should be able to do, engage with an entertaining story while shining a light back on the real world.

My suspension of disbelief did struggle at a couple of points, and these are nothing to do with the plot, but instead just locations that the author chose for the characters to hang out. Both times were in real food-related chains, and both times they weren't realistic - one in terms of how the characters behave there, and both in terms of what the characters ordered. This was worse the second time, because there was a heavy point made of characters eating something which is so totally not what's on the menu of that establishment.

That gripe aside, I enjoyed a fun romp of an investigation, characters learning from D&D, actual character development, mystery, new characters, and even action scenes, which aren't usually my thing in novels.

Hoping for a book three!

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6th June 2026

An excellent second mystery for the early 20th century barrister and his police constable friend.

I was a bit dubious whether my interest in this series would survive a second book, and early on I didn't think it was going to, but as the story progressed it became more and more gripping and I found myself racing through to the end.

There are some elements of the plot that are quite uncomfortable from a 2020s point of view, particularly issues which are seem in almost entirely the opposite light now, 125 years after the novel is set. This adds a surprising sense of historical realism.

I'm left in two minds over whether or not I'll pick up the third book when it comes out.

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30th May 2026

Bob's back with a standalone third novel, where we meet recently-redundant bathroom-furniture salesman Matt as he gets drawn into a series of complex situations.

In style and tone, it's remarkably similar to Mortimer's previous novels. It almost feels in places like it wants to be a sequel about the same character, but the plot didn't work, so he's been recast. It's very much more of the same in a new setting.

I love how utterly random it can be, while still maintaining a totally plausible plotline throughout and all the pieces coming together in the end. It's artfully constructed to tell the story in a fantastic way.

I've really enjoyed another story from Bob Mortimer - it's like the ones he tells on TV but that just keeps going.

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30th May 2026

The double-Os are back for the third entry in Kim Sherwood's trilogy, and there's so much going on it's hard to know where to start.

It's an intricate plot weaving together threads of many characters. There's a lot of reliance I found on remembering what happened in the first two books, and that is not always my strong suit, so in places I was stumbling a bit. Once that's past though it's a fast paced novel that feels very movie-like as well as being traditional Bond style.

There's so many references to pick up on, and as a long-time fan it is a bit weird in places seeing a Bond novel that's updated to be set now but still making references to things from the original novels and films, with everything having been time shifted in his backstory. And yet that still makes it a lot of fun.

I've really enjoyed this trilogy, and am a bit sad that we probably won't see most of these characters again. But James Bond, of course, will return.

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23rd May 2026

A new Janice Hallett novel is always a delight. Once against presented in 'found footage' form, we read the text messages and emails between a group of publicans and pub quiz regulars as their habits are threatened by suspected quiz cheats. And of course a suspicious death.

I love these books, and find them so incredibly readable. I made it through this one in just three days (aided by long train journeys) as it's so compelling and flows so easily.

The plot is enrapturing, particularly as a pub-quiz-goer myself and recognising many of the tropes presented. But there's so much to notice and so much to learn about the characters and their relationships.

I've read enough of these now to start to spot some of the clues as they are revealled, but I never guessed where the overall story was going to go.

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