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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23rd May 2026

In this new Star Trek Picard novel, set somewhere between the many epilogues to the series, we get to visit Seven, Raffi, Crusher, Guinan, and Picard and a host of other familiar characters as they're drawn into a mysterious plot to change time.

It's a fun trip around the Next Gen era as the time travel plot device gets used to revisit some big moments from the canon and see them from new perspectives, all while taking part in a thiller-style investigation, and learn more about some of the occasional guest aliens.

It feels nicely episodic, which fits the feel of Picard season 3 - small chunks that make up a big story - and that means it moves at a decent pace throughout as we flow through each.

I did feel like the climax suffered a little though - perhaps my reading pace picked up toward the end - and this felt a little bit flat to me.

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17th May 2026

The Dahlia's return for a mystery in London's West End - two as the stars of neighbouring plays and the third as a national treasure who uses her status to her advantage repeatedly in this setting.

As always, it's a fun outing, with a novel setting for the now-familiar characters, continuing to explore their backgrounds, their relationships, and their crime-solving abilities. I like how we can see them developing as well as dealing with what the plot throws at them - it feels like real people rather than perfect heroes.

I'm impressed by how freqently these books appear, and really happy that we have such a reliable series to read.

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9th May 2026

The eighth book, on second reading 16 years later, has the feeling of being about moving the chesspieces around the board to get them ready for the next bit of exciting play.

Structurally, we spend a chunk of chapters with each grouping of characters, rather than their stories being interspersed throughout. This provides good focus in a long tale and probably reduces confusion, but does mean if you're trapped as a reader in a part you enjoy less, you might struggle to get to the bit you really want.

On my previous reading I commented on barely believable coincidences, but I think that's not so troublesome this time round - one of the well-established concepts by this point of the story is that the trio of Rand, Perrin, and Mat have a magic to them which causes coincidences. On reflection, that's quite a genius bit of worldbuilding from Jordan to have right from the start and run through the series to justify all sorts of things.

It's not the greatest story as a standalone book, and from memory marks the point where the books became more functional and formulaic. That said there's some bits I strongly remember that still haven't arrived and are only being hinted at, so I'm keen to see them arrive in the next couple of books.

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26th April 2026

I picked this up expecting a comic crime caper of some sort. It's not not that, but it's also not really that either in a way that I felt I could continue reading. I got to around page 150.

It's the story of three main characters who meet on/after a train journey in the 70s, all of whom are telling it in first person from the perspective of their older self 50 years later. The chapters rotate through the different narrators in turn. One is an inept actor, one a police officer, and one a contract killer. Two of the three felt unlikable, and that wasn't sufficiently balanced out by the third.

I just struggled to get into it. The narrative never felt like it was going anywhere fun or interesting. The characters almost all felt like victims of circumstance, but not in a way that seemed comedic.

Eventually I had to give up and move on to something I was going to enjoy more.

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19th April 2026

I picked this up having read and enjoyed Hays' previous novel, although with a little trepidation as it's not my usual choice of genre.

I was absolutely hooked and raced through it over the course of a weekend (aided by two long train journeys). The story is gripping, the characters compelling, and the mystery itching to be solved.

Some of the twists I saw coming, but many of them were surprises.

That said, it probably is darker than what I'd normally choose to read and I'm definitely on the lookout now for something different to distract me instead.

While I've given it the full five stars, I'm not sure that means I'll keep reading more by Hays - I'm happier in a lighter world of fiction.

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19th April 2026

Ex-Nun Nora Breen heads to the coast to follow up on her dream of being a detective when her friend seemingly disappears.

I enjoyed this mnystery - it makes a good use of the period and setting, and introduces a rich variety of characters and scenarios to explore. The main character is particularly compelling and we're drip fed her background and motivation throughout.

It is however quite dark in places, and I think I was expecting something a little lighter.

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