Tag Archives: mystery

Book Review We Solve Murders

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We Solve Murders by Richard Osman

Combining the heart and humour of The Thursday Murder Club with a puzzling international mystery, welcome to the blockbusting new series from the biggest new fiction author of the decade, Richard Osman.

Steve Wheeler is enjoying retired life. He still does the odd bit of investigation work, but he prefers the pub quiz and afternoons at home with his cat Trouble. His days of adventure are over – that’s his daughter-in-law Amy’s business now.

Amy Wheeler thinks adrenaline is good for the soul, which makes being a private security officer to billionaires the perfect job. She’s currently on a remote island keeping world-famous author Rosie D’Antonio alive. Then a dead body, a bag of money and a killer with their sights on Amy have her sending Steve an SOS . . .

As a breakneck race around the world begins, can they stay one step ahead of a deadly enemy?

Comments

This book was well received by our readers. Described mostly as a very enjoyable read.

The comparison was invariably made to Richard Osmans previous series The Thursday Murder Club. All of our readers enjoyed that series.

The key characters were very liked by the group, fun characters 

A key criticism by many was that there were too many characters, often with cliched development.

It was almost necessary to keep a list of the characters to follow the story. The story was also too convoluted for some readers, destinations were all over the place and the reasoning seemed unnecessary and often unbelievably outlandish.

There were, however, many good giggle moments and emotionally warm relationship portrayals between key characters.

We felt it was almost written with a TV series in mind!

A recommended read for readers who are looking for  a light, fun story.

Read by MJ Readers Book Group

Picture You Dead Book Review

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Picture you dead by Peter James

Summary

Harry and Freya, an ordinary couple, dreamed for years of finding something priceless buried amongst the tat in a car boot sale.

It was a dream they knew in their hearts would never come true – until the day it did…

They buy the drab portrait for a few pounds, for its beautiful frame, planning to cut the painting out. Then studying it back at home there seems to be another picture beneath, of a stunning landscape. Could it be a long-lost masterpiece from 1770? If genuine, it could be worth millions.

One collector is certain it is genuine. Someone who uses any method he can to get want he wants and will stop at nothing.

Detective Superintendent Roy Grace finds himself plunged into an unfamiliar and rarefied world of fine art. Outwardly it appears respectable, gentlemanly, above reproach. But beneath the veneer, he rapidly finds that greed, deception and violence walk hand-in-hand. And Harry and Freya Kipling are about to discover that their dream is turning into their worst nightmare. . .

Comments

This is a well plotted story with a range of interesting characters. As this is the 18th book in the Roy Grace series, some of the characters were familiar to those who had read previous titles in the series and whilst this was not essential to reading this story, it seemed to make a difference to understanding the existing relationships between many of the police.

A missing art masterpiece, which could be worth millions, is found by chance at a car boot sale. This sets off a wild ride into the art world where we meet a master forger, a reclusive art collector and some very unsavoury characters who are dealing in the darkest corners of the art world.

Detective Roy Grace and his team become engaged in tracking down the miscreants in the convoluted plot and ultimately, things are tidily brought together.

The writing has a ‘televisual’ style but some of us found it to be a very long read which we felt could have been condensed.

6.5/10

Read by Dundas Readers