The Flatshare

Finished May 22

The Flatshare by Beth O'Leary

This is the first novel in a series that is also called The Flatshare. The female main character, Tiffy Moore, has been staying at her ex-boyfriend's apartment even after their breakup, but a recent encounter has convinced her that it is time to make a clean break, including paying him the rent money she owes. With her debt situation, she can't afford much, so she enters into an unusual situation.

Leon, a hospice nurse has financial obligations we only gradually learn the details of, and things are tight for him. Because he works nights, he comes up with the idea of renting his apartment, including his bed for all except for 9-6 on weekdays. He plans to spend his weekends at his girlfriend Kay's place. 

When his work requires him to stay late on the day he is scheduled to meet Tiffy to see if they feel comfortable to move forward with the shared space agreement, Kay goes in his place and gives her approval.

The two develop a routine where they leave sticky notes for each other asking questions and giving answers as well as letting each other know things. Sometimes there are a lot of notes around until one of them does a clearout of them. Through these notes they begin to get to know each other, learning each other's stories, and getting a sense of who their flatmate is. 

Leon is a person who really cares about people, from his family to his patients, and we see him go beyond what is expected when he thinks it makes a difference. We begin to see the bigger picture, as we learn about their romantic and family relationships, their friendships, and the way they approach life and community. The characters have depth and the plotlines are interesting and move the story forward nicely. A very enjoyable read. 

Miss Aldridge Regrets

Finished April 23

Miss Aldridge Regrets by Louise Hare

This is the first book in an historical mystery series called A Canary Club Mystery. The time is 1936 and Lena Aldridge is singing at a basement club in Soho, London. Lena's father, Alfie, brought her up in the world of music. Alfie was a black piano player from the U.S. who had migrated to England and made a life there. He has died recently and Lena is still grieving.  He never talked about her mother, but because Lena is white passing, she believes that her mother was white. Lena's best friend from childhood, Maggie, is married to Tommy, the owner of the club, but things haven't been going well in their relationship and Tommy has told Maggie he plans to leave her with nothing and marry his current young mistress. 

Recently someone came to blackmail Maggie and gave Tommy incriminating photographs that he can use against Maggie, something she has confessed to Lena about, while also telling her that the photos were a setup. So when Maggie turns up at the club that night, Lena is worried that something bad is going to happen. 

When the evening ends with Tommy dead, she knows she was right and she is placed right in the middle of it all. Earlier that day, a man named Charlie Bacon had appeared at Lena's rooming house, claiming to represent a man named Bennie Walker who had been a friend of her dad's back in the U.S. Lena has never heard her father mention the name, but Bennie apparently feels bad for the falling out between them and has done well, and wants to give Lena a leading role in his new Broadway musical to make amends. Lena isn't sure, but her new circumstances with Tommy's death convince her to take advantage of the opportunity to make a fresh start. 

Much of the book takes place on the Queen Mary, as Lena and Charlie make passage to New York. They are in first class courtesy of Charlie's employer and their seating places them at a table otherwise composed of a wealthy American family and the people that work for them, the Parkers. The patriarch, Francis, is in a wheelchair and obviously unwell. Other family members include his daughter Eliza, her husband Jack, their children Frankie, a young man, and Carrie, a teenager, Francis's nurse Daisy and his attending doctor, Dr. Wilding. 

Out on the deck taking air one evening, Lena encounters black bandleader Will Goodman, and is at first taken aback when he clearly identifies her as mixed race. But she feels a connection and wants someone she can be more herself with, and begins to make friends with him, and join him in below deck socializing. 

When Francis suddenly dies at dinner one night, Lena knows he has died the same way Tommy did, and she worries that someone will connect her to both deaths. As things escalate and she becomes more involved with the family, she begins to think that someone is framing her for the crimes. But why?

I enjoyed this novel, the plot and the main character. Lena hasn't lived an easy life, but she also hasn't taken her life firmly into her own hands even now. The social environment of the time and the place is brought alive, with the elements of class and race. I'd definitely be interested in reading more in the series. 

The Left-Handed Booksellers of London

Finished November 16

The Left-Handed Booksellers of London by Garth Nix

This novel adds an element of fantasy to our own world. The time is 1983 and Susan Arkshaw, who has lived in the country with her mother has decided to take the time before she starts at art school to look for her father. She doesn't have much to go on. She has a few names, including one who sent holiday cards to her mom and her regularly. She starts with this, a man named Frank Thringley in London. She senses right off that he isn't her father and that things are quite right and determines to leave after staying the night. But during the night she wakes to find that someone has turned Frank to dust by the prick of a silver hairpin. She surprises the man, Merlin and threatens him with the police, but soon finds herself following him out the window as they both flee something else that threatens. 

As she learns of strange creatures such the Shuck, as the two walk through the night, they share their stories. She learns about the booksellers and the differences between the right-handed and the left-handed in skill set, and how they police the interaction between the mythic levels of the Old World and the reality of the human world. They are soon rescued by the police, and Susan is provided with a room in a safe house and finds herself a job. 

As she renews her acquaintance with Merlin, and meets his twin sister, she gradually gets to learn more about the strange elements of the world she hadn't been aware of before and finds herself involved to an extent she didn't expect. 

I really enjoy Garth Nix and his stories, and this one not only has great fantasy elements, but also lots of humour. There is also an attraction between Susan and Merlin and others also notice. I definitely found this novel hard to put down, and I'm interested in reading more of this series. 

A London Year

Finished November 9

A London Year: 365 Days of City Life in Diaries, Journals and Letters compiled by Travis Elborough and Nick Rennison

This collection is fascinating, giving glimpses of life in London from the 16th century to the 21st century. The collection includes journalists, actors, nobility, royalty, writers, poets, musicians and many more. The subjects range widely from food and housing to entertainments, money, sex, friendship, society, geography, architecture, and politics. The length also varies, from single sentences to multiple pages, although most are a paragraph or two. 

The book is arranged by the days of the year, with some days having only one entry while others have several. I enjoyed trying to guess the rough year of the entry by the subject and language before looking to see it. I tended to read a month in a sitting, thinking about the time of year, and researching a little if I wasn't familiar with the diarist or writer. The compilers included occasional notes to explain some references to people or events they thought needed additional explanation.

A fascinating look at a city through the eyes of residents and visitors.

The King's Evil

Finished September 29

The King's Evil by Andrew Taylor

This is the third book in the series set in the time of Charles II. James Marwood is a clerk to Joseph Williamson, who is in charge of the Royal Gazette and Undersecretary of State to Lord Arlington, but also clerk to the Board of the Red Cloth, which takes precedence and to which duties he is called by Lord William Chaffinch, Keeper of the King's Private Closet. 

Catherine (Cat) Lovett is the daughter of one of Cromwell's followers, and is in hiding, posing as Jane Hakesby, a draughtsman and maid to Simon Hakesby, surveyor and architect. His firm has several projects underway, including work at the Earl of Clarendon's large home. 

James is informed by Lady Quincy, a woman he has previously been in contact with, that Jane's cousin, Edward claims he has discovered her identity, and asked to warn her. 

James and Cat have been involved in incidents before and have a sometimes helpful, sometimes antagonistic relationship. Cat is smart, capable, and not one to give in to fear lightly. She refuses to leave Simon as their is much work to do. 

When James is called to Chaffinch and asked to undertake an confidential investigation on the king's warrant into a death at Clarendon's estate, he finds himself involved in both Cat's life and a larger conspiracy. Not sure who to trust, he uses the increasing reputation he has along with the help and contacts of his two servants to follow the clues he discovers. 

The title of this novel refers to scrofula, a disease that showed in swellings on the skin, particularly on the neck. It was often called the King's Evil as a ceremony involving recitations and touching by the king was said to cure it. This plays a role in the plot of the novel. 

Here we see James' discretion and abilities begin to be known by the higher levels of the court, something that makes it harder for him to operate without being noticed. 

I enjoy this series of novels, for both the historical elements and the intrigue in the plot. I also like some of the architectural details that are brought up through Cat's role. 

The Story Collector

Finished July 24

The Story Collector by Iris Costello

This story has three narrators in three different timelines. In 1915 London, Katarina has taken over the bakery started by her parents after they emigrated from Germany. But with the beginning of the Great War, public sentiment turns against her as a representative of the country England is at war with, and when rioters attack, she is lucky to escape with her life. Helped by an English friend, she ends up taking over an abandoned restaurant in a different part of the city, and calls herself Kat, changing her clothing style and acting like a good English woman. She still worries about her brother, who she argued with before her troubles, and who left for the continent. She also worries about her secrets being revealed. Kat has another skill besides baking, divination. She has read the Tarot from a young age, and senses spirits. She begins doing this again to help bring hope to the women she serves. 

In 1918, German nurse Miriam is serving in a prisoner-of-war camp and besides her medical work assists a fellow German doing language research. He is recording as many English speakers as he can, documenting the variation in language use. One of the soldiers admitted to the camp is mute. He never speaks, and no one knows his name. They call him Prisoner X. When Miriam is attacked on her way back to her room one evening, Prisoner X intervenes and she appreciates his help. They begin to grow close, but he is in danger due to his actions, and the Germans are sensing the end of the war isn't far away.

In the present day, Edie is grieving the violent death of her beloved husband, and decides to spend some time alone in Cornwall at the family cottage that once belonged to her great grandmother. As she begins some renovations on the cottage, she discovers a wooden chest with mysterious contents. When strange events begin to happen, she feels wary, worried about violence following her from London. But she continues to dig for the truth even as she begins a new art commission. 

As these three stories begin to converge in interesting ways, we see how secrets can take generations to come to light, and how the resiliency of all these women serves them well. 

A very enjoyable read. 

Skin Deep

Finished March 17

Skin Deep by Peter Dickinson

This is the first book in a series, featuring DS James (Jimmy) Pibble. I read the third book about thirty-five years ago, but don't remember much about it. This book, first published in 1968, is set in London, in a Victorian terrace house occupied by a small tribe of people from New Guinea. The book doesn't age all that well, in my opinion. 

The name they call themselves is Ku, and they are now using it as a last name. They came here after World War II, during which the rest of their tribe and the missionary and his wife who lived in their village were killed by the Japanese. The organizer of them here is Eve Ku, the daughter of the missionaries, who married one of the tribe, and went on to get to get a doctorate in anthropology based on her study of their customs and beliefs. Outside of her and her husband Paul, an artist, who have their own room, and the chief, who has his own room, the men and women live separately in large rooms they refer to as tents. 

Dr. Ku describes them as primitive compared to other New Guinea tribes. Their rituals and behaviours are described with detail as they arise in the novel. 

The story begins with the murder of their chief Aaron. He is an elderly man in poor health, but the death is obviously through violence, and since they keep their house door locked, and the death is outside of the actions expected from any tribe member, they are at a loss as to who would have done it.

As Pibble digs into the case, he takes in a lot of information on the tribe's activities, and even attends some of their ceremonies. 

All of the tribe members speak or understand English to some degree, some of them very well, and they have biblical names, presumable given to them by the missionary. They speak to each other in their own language, and are close to a couple who have a flat next door, as the man came into their lives back in the war. 

Some of the way the police and their neighbours talk about them uses language and attitudes that we find offensive now, but that was more commonly used at time of the writing of the book. It was an odd book to me, and I couldn't help wondering whether the author researched New Guinea culture or made it up. With the primitive beliefs and habits of the tribe juxtaposed against the educated speech of Eve and Paul, it just felt off. 

The Twilight Garden

Finished December 30

The Twilight Garden by Sara Nisha Adams

This novel is about community, human connection, and the healing properties of nature. Winston lives with his partner Lewis in a house in London that shares a garden with its neighbour. For a long time the neighbouring house was empty, but a woman, Bernice and her young son Sebastian have bought the house, renovated it, and moved in. The shared garden is neglected, and Winston has primarily used it to sit outside in an old wooden chair, smoke and think. Bernice thinks his chair is in a dangerous state of disrepair, disapproves of his smoking and seems to look down upon him. He has dubbed her the Queen of Sheba. 

The Winston starts to get enveloped through his mailbox, addressed to the young man at Number 79, and they contain old pictures and clippings of the garden and the two women who made it a community haven, Maya and Alma. Winston has fond memories of his mother and her garden, and begins to get inspired to bring the neglected space back to life. As he does so, he connects with young Sebastian and eventually with Bernice as well. 

Winston quit his job in a bank that he didn't enjoy and as a stop-gap began working in the local corner shop, that Sal and Angela own. He has become part of their family and spends time with them. Lewis and he met while he was working in the bank and Lewis has gone up through the ranks. Lately, he has worked late, including weekends, and Winston feels more alone. He is also missing other relationships, and has been pulling himself away from other people, so the gardening provides not only solace, but also a different means of connecting with him. 

Bernice is divorced from a very controlling man, and she has also retreated into herself, with the exception of her son. She has always dreamed of having a home with a garden and feels possessive of the space, and also protective of Sebastian. The forced sharing of the space is something she fights against initially, and we see her gradually open herself to new relationships and experiences. 

As we learn the story of the garden and the people that created it, we also see the current community and how Lewis and Bernice open themselves up again to happiness. A very enjoyable read. 

Twice in a Blue Moon

Finished October 18

Twice in a Blue Moon by Christina Lauren

This book is told in two short time periods fourteen years apart, in chronological order. When Tate Jones is eighteen, her grandmother takes her to London for a much anticipated trip. Her grandmother and mother run a cafe in a small California town. Her grandmother has planned their days out, cramming in as much as she can from museums and galleries to plays. 

On their first day, they meet Sam and Luther, a grandson-grandfather pair from Vermont, who are also on a much anticipated visit. Sam is a little older than Tate, at twenty-one. The four get along well, and do some things together, but Sam and Tate connect more strongly, and after once unplanned meeting in the hotel's courtyard late in the evening, Tate is sneaking out after her grandmother falls asleep to meet Sam. They lie in the grass, look at the stars, and share personal information. Some of Tate's sharing includes things very few people know about her, but she is sure that she can trust Sam with her dreams and sorrows. Sam lets her know that he is worried about Luther's health, and about his grandmother Roberta, who doesn't enjoy air travel, and who stayed home. 

The connection ends abruptly when Sam and Luther leave without goodbyes. The next day, Tate is swarmed by media as she exits the hotel for the day, and her grandmother quickly calls in assistance. With the media knowing things that she's told Sam, including her father's identity as a Hollywood film star, Tate is both sad and mad at the betrayal. 

Fourteen years later, Tate is now an actor herself, and has signed on to a movie where her father also appears in a supporting role. When Sam appears on set, she is shocked, and doesn't know how to react. She needs to talk to him, but she finds her emotions confusing. The tension is already high as Tate and her father haven't had much of a relationship over the years, despite what the media has been told. 

The story is all told from Tate's viewpoint, and while I could relate to the ease of falling in love as a susceptible young woman in her situation, the adult Tate is more controlled and less relatable. The story also lacks the humorous banter that usually appears in Christina Lauren romances, and has a more serious feel to it.

It was an enjoyable read, but not one of this author pair's best. 

When You Are Mine

Finished October 10

When You Are Mine by Michael Robotham

This tense, fast-moving novel takes place in London, where Philomena (Phil) McCarthy is an officer of the Metropolitan Police. She is also the only child of a man known to be the leader in a family of criminals. She had not realized that growing up, but has estranged herself from her father as an adult. A significant birthday is coming up for him, and Phil's stepmother has been trying very hard to get her to come to the birthday party.

In the course of her job, Phil attends an apartment after a neighbour calls to report a domestic. She finds a young woman, Tempe, with obvious signs of trauma, and a man who threatens her and uses his own police standing to try to get her to back off. When she forges ahead, she finds herself ostracized, put on desk duty, with her camera footage taken and not uploaded as would be standard. As she befriends Tempe, she finds her hard to disengage from.

Phil is living with her partner Henry who is divorced and has a young son, Archie. They are planning to be married soon, but are having difficulty finding a venue. Tempe proves resourceful in not only getting a venue, but assisting with all the other wedding tasks. She calls herself a wedding planned, but doesn't seem to have any online footprint. Meanwhile, Tempe's former partner, Darren Goodall, is a decorated police officer, one who was deemed a hero in a previous major police incident. He is also married with two young children. 

As Tempe learns more about networks within the police force working against her, and researches more about Darren's past, she finds that her father's connections may prove useful to her. 

This is a novel which will have you worried for the main character, tense about the situations that she gets herself into, and dismayed at the havoc it takes on her personal and professional life. A book that will have you in his clutches more and more as you get into it. 

Kiss Me First

Finished September 7

Kiss Me First by Lottie Moggach

I found this novel hard to classify into a genre. The narrator is Leila, a young woman who has felt that she doesn't fit in most of her life. She was raised by her mother, but her mother was diagnosed with MS, and died when Leila was a young woman. 

The book begins with an online conversation she has with a woman called Tess, which she describes as the last conversation that she would have with her. 

The next section is dated in August 2011 where Leila is at a commune in Spain. She is living in a tent and has gone there looking for Tess. While she is there she has decided to "write an account of everything that has happened'. And that is what this novel's structure is. As a reader, I felt a bit like I'd come into the middle of a story, as Leila talks about people she's interacted with and describes her life and the situation that she entered into with Tess.

Leila hadn't gone to college, and the two made a plan for her future together. Leila would do online training for computer coding and they would sell the house and buy an apartment for her to live in when it came time for her to live by herself. 

One thing that Leila was interested in was philosophy, and she found her way to a site called Red Pill where she discussed philosophical questions. There she interacted with a man called Adrian who offered her a job he calls "Project Tess" where she will get to know Tess, a woman who wants to disappear from her life, so that Leila can interact with people Tess knows later once Tess is gone. Tess is a little older than Leila, but still a young woman, and as Leila lays out her interactions with Adrian and with Tess, we get a sense of the unusual situation that this is. 

To me, Leila seemed bright in some areas of her life, but very naive in others. She also seems to have a lack of emotions at times when it would be normal to show emotion. 

As the story unfolds, and we see Leila's business-like and organized approach to this job, we get a sense of what her own life is like and how she has trouble connecting with people in real life. 

A strange and intriguing look inside someone else's head. Some have labeled the book as mystery or suspense, and I can see aspects of that, but it is also a sort of dark character study of the narrator as we get to know so much about her and how she thinks. 

The Book of Dreams

Finished July 12

The Book of Dreams by Nina George

This novel was a definite page-turner for me. It in hard to pin down exactly what type of novel it is in terms of genre. It definitely has elements of magic realism in it, but also some coming of age elements, a touch of mystery, and romance. It is a novel that had me feeling a lot of different emotions as well. 

The story follows four people and we are allowed into the thoughts of three of them. The book begins with Henri Skinner, a journalist who grew famous as a war reporter and then moved into more biographical work, telling the stories of people from all corners of the world. 

In one particularly dangerous situation in Sudan, he used his body to protect the female photographer who was in the same vehicle as he was. In the aftermath, she took a photo the reverberates over time, and the two came together to create a child, Sam. 

Sam is now almost fourteen, but his mother has discouraged contact with Henri, but Sam invites him to a Father-Son day at his school. Henri is on his way there, when he stops on a bridge to look at the river and witnesses, with three other people, a young girl falling off a boat. Henri jumps in to save her, and brings her to shore, but is then in an accident, and ends up unconscious in the hospital. 

Sam begins to visit him there, hoping he will survive and they will get to know each other. Along with Sam, in visiting Henri is Eddie Tomlin, a former lover of Henri that he has named as the person to determine medical issues if he isn't able to. She is forced to revisit their relationship and the deep love she has for Henri. 

Sam also discovers a twelve-year-old girl, Madelyn Zeidler, a dancer who is a patient in the same neurological care area as Henri, and once he knows how she came to be there, he tries his best to help her find her way back to life. 

Sam is a synesthete, and his abilities allow him to connect to people's emotions and presence in unique ways, making him a considerate and thoughtful observer and participant in people's lives. 

We get to see Eddie's memories of her time with Henri, and we also get to see Henri's memories of his life, from his work, to his childhood traumas, to his longing for a connection with his son. While in a coma, Henri experiences different versions of his life, struggling to choose which one is real, and showing us feelings that he never expressed to those he cared for. 

We also see how Sam is managing his life to make room for his father and Madelyn, and how he feels an outsider in his own family. 

Along the way are doctors and nurses, each with their individual characteristics, round out the story in interesting ways. 

I really loved this book, and I found it released some of the feelings I had been carrying with me recently. 

In the afterward, the author talks about how this book is the third book in her writing that has been shaped by her experiences of death and dying, mourning and surviving. I found this quite interesting. 

The Fire Court

Finished June 10

The Fire Court by Andrew Taylor

This is the second book in the series that started with The Ashes of London, which I read nearly eight years ago. At the center of the book are two characters from the earlier book. One of them is James Marwood, clerk for Mr. Williamson, the Under-Secretary of State to Lord Arlington. He is also clerk to the Board of Red Cloth, which is attached to the Groom of the Stool's department, run by Mr. Chiffinch. This serving of two masters sometimes puts him in a difficult situation. He is also worried about his father, who well healthy in body is falling into dementia, and James has hired Margaret and her brother Sam as servants to assist in managing his father as well as his new house in Infirmary Close in Savoy. 

The other character that is key here and played a role in the previous book is Catherine (Cat) Lovett, now going by the name of Jane Hakesby, and acting as both servant to and cousin of Simon Hakesby, an architect and draughtsman. Hakesby also employs a draughtsman, Brennan, who has come to him only recently. Jane feels wary of him, and feels him watching her, but can't pin down why she feels uneasy. Hakesby has health issues that sometimes make him weak.

The third character that we see closely is Lady Jemima Limbury, wife of Sir Philip Limbury and daughter of Sir George Syre. She also sometimes has health issues and also seems worried about what her husband has been up to and what debts he has accrued. She knows that her family money is one of the reasons that he married her, but she also longs for his love, and to bear the grandson her father so desperately wants. 

At the center of the story is a piece of land that was destroyed in the Great Fire of London, and which will soon be coming up as a case in The Fire Court. This court has been set up by the king to be as impartial as possible, judging each case on its own merits, with none of the decisions subject to become precedents in future cases. The court is working to decide cases quickly, trying to be as fair as possible to both the owners of the properties as well as leaseholders. The overall aim is to rebuild The City as quickly as possible.

In his position, Mr. Hakesby often comes before the court, or sits in on decisions that affect clients of his. Jane often takes notes, using shorthand, as well as working as a draughtsman for him. 

When Marwood's father gets out of the house on his own one day and tells a confusing story of his adventures, Marwood at first dismisses it as a delusion of dementia, but when his father dies in an accident the next day, he begins his own investigations, going on clues from his father's ramblings. 

This will draw all the players' stories together in an interesting, often suspenseful series of encounters. 

I like both Marwood and Lovett/Hakesby. Both are passionate, curious, and sometimes impulsive in their actions, but they also want to serve justice and be fair to others no matter their rank. 

I really enjoyed this followup to the first book, and look forward to seeing further tales of the central characters in the following books in the Marwood and Lovett series. 

The Husbands

Finished June 6

The Husbands by Holly Gramazio

This book completely captivated me. 

Lauren returns to her flat one evening, after a hen's night for her best friend's upcoming wedding, and finds a strange man in her home. She lives alone, and doesn't have a boyfriend. The man claims to be her husband Michael, and when she looks more closely, she finds changes to he home: different paint on some walls, some different pictures, new furniture and other changes. When she looks at her phone, she finds him in her address book, and sees pictures showing that they've been together for years. She tries to figure out what has happened that she doesn't remember any of this, and when Michael goes to the attic to change a light bulb, a different man emerges, with her flat changed again in a different way. She soon finds that a trip to the attic brings a different man and as she examines her feelings and relationships, she gradually makes the connection with these changes as trying to find someone or something better instead of just living the life she has. 

It's a really interesting idea, and I liked where she went with it. Sometimes her job changed as well, and that created interesting situations. 

The husbands are a real mix, but she gradually realizes that they are all possible matches for her, each showing some aspect that she likes in a partner. It also illuminated how a woman can be drawn into a relationship for one of those aspects and find that another aspect makes the match unacceptable. A couple of the men that appear as husbands are downright scary in their own way, which makes this even more believable. 

I couldn't put this book down, reading it in a single day. Such a good, interesting, and thought-provoking novel. 

The Invisible Library

Finished May 21

The Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman

This book starts a series, and is a fantasy book with an interesting, for me at least, focus. The library of the title is a place that exists between worlds, as a kind of gateway. It takes up a lot of space, and has multiple rooms, all filled with shelves of books, with nooks where computers exist, for looking things up, writing reports, communicating with others, etc. That's pretty interesting as a construct for me. The idea of nearly endless books is fascinating. The library collects books from different worlds to strengthen the connection with those worlds. The senior librarians determine what books to collect and send junior librarians, like the central character here, Irene, out to get them. 

The worlds are different versions of our world. Sometimes only slightly different, sometimes vastly different. The library tries to keep things in balance. Too much technology can result in a tightly ordered world with no creativity. Too much magic can result in a world of chaos. The world that Irene and the trainee that is assigned to her, a man named Kai, is leaning towards chaos. 

We get a sense of what can happen as Irene finished up a case as the book opens, using her skills and her knowledge of the special Library language to control things. This glimpse is intriguing. 

They arrive in an alternate London through a gate inside an office in the British Library. The book they are seeking is rare and, when they arrive, has already been stolen by someone. The person, a vampire in this case, that bought it recently was killed. They soon discover that they are not the only ones seeking the book, a book of tales by Grimm, and that one of those is a fae. 

The mix of magic and reality is done well, and some of the elements of attack are unexpected, consisting of creatures that we normally don't think of as in the context they appear in, or that fit the context by attack in unexpected ways. 

There is also the idea of dragons as creatures on the side of good. The dragons are on the side of order not magic, and have their own abilities in doing this. There is also an element of peer rivalry between Irene and another librarian, which influences the plotline. 

A book that had me engrossed and amused at the same time. I liked the touches of humour that existed within the book, and the underlying tensions between some characters that were attracted to each other. All together a fun read. 

Iona Iverson's Rules for Commuting

Finished May 7

Iona Iverson's Rules for Commuting by Clare Pooley

This gem of a novel follows a group of people who commute by train into London with Hampton Court being the other end of the line. They interact with each other as each faces work and life issues and get help in figuring out next steps. We see their stories from each person's viewpoint, and I really enjoyed how we noticed different things from seeing them from different eyes. This also lets us see the personal thoughts, concerns, and dilemmas they face. Each chapter tells you who the narrator is, the time, and the train location. 

The title character Iona is in her late fifties, flamboyant, opinionated, and proudly lesbian. She works as an advice columnist for a women's magazine, but is facing agism issues at her work, and dealing with a life challenge that is revealed later in the story. She has given nicknames to other commuters that she sees regularly and we find out their stories as they begin to interact with her. She also goes almost everywhere with her French bulldog Lulu. She also carries a bag that seems to contain just what is needed for any occasion. In the mornings it is a flask of tea, a cup and saucer, mail, and her iPad. In the evenings it is a glass and a flask of premixed gin and tonic, along with lemon slices

Smart-But-Sexist-Manspreader is an investment banker who dresses in bespoke suits ands has an arrogant attitude, but when he (Piers) almost dies in front of her on the train, a friendship gradually begins. Up until now, he has thought of Iona as Crazy Dog Lady. He is a man who is having a life crisis but still loves playing with numbers. 

Sitting next to Piers during the near-death incident is Impossibly-Pretty-Bookworm, a woman in her twenties who dresses well but not conservatively and is always reading a book. She is Emmie and works for an advertising agency. She also lives with a man Toby, that we see only briefly. She also begins getting occasional anonymous hateful messages that target her confidence. 

Coming to the rescue of Piers is Mr.-Too-Good-to-Be-True, otherwise known as Sanjay, a nurse. Sanjay has thought fondly of Iona as Rainbow Lady. Sanjay thinks of Emmie as Girl-on-the-Train and is working up to approaching her to ask her out. Sanjay suffers from anxiety, but tries to hide it from others. One of his ways to distract himself from an episode of anxiety is to recite the periodic table in order. 

Also coming into the story is Martha, a teenager struggling with fitting in and discovering her own identity. Her arrival is also a scene stealer as she vomits on Piers' computer. She has done something that creates a personal issue for her and needs help figuring a way to change her image. She also needs help in math. She thinks of Iona as Magic-Handbag-Lady. 

David enters the picture when his wife leaves a note in his lunch that has him wondering how to fix the situation. Iona, naturally offers assistance, helping him to plan an approach to this challenge in his life. 

I loved how Pooley brings the characters to life through their stories, and I found myself liking all of them as I knew them better. 

A fantastic read. 

The Man I Never Met

Finished April 8

The Man I Never Met by Elle Cook

This contemporary romance has a fun and intriguing plotline, with some side plots that also provide interest. The main story is told around Hannah, who lives in London and works in marketing. She lives in a two bedroom flat with a garden that she loves, and is friends with her older landlady Joan who lives next door. Her best friend Miranda used to live there with her until she moved in with her boyfriend. Hannah is close to both of them and goes out for dinner regularly with the couple. She has a weekend tradition with Joan where they exchange greetings and coffee over the fence with Joan provided different flavours or Nespresso and then they rate them. 

As the book opens, Hannah gets a phone call from the U.S. that turns out to be a wrong number. The man who called, Davey, is calling for a job interview. After a short conversation, they both express interest in talking again, and soon begin texting and more. He gets the job and they discuss his move to London, and she helps with his questions and such, and it's fun to watch the relationship develop. Until suddenly things don't go so well. Davey doesn't arrive on the flight he said he'd be on, and it takes time for Hannah to find out why. 

There are other things going on in Hannah's life. She has a planned winter vacation to Thailand coming up with a friend, and is also preparing for Miranda's wedding in a few months. And Joan is also dating and sharing her experiences. 

I liked the characters and the vulnerability that many of them had. I liked seeing the different relationships that Hannah has: a close bond with her parents, her close friendship with Miranda and her boyfriend Paul, her friendship with Joan, as well as her friendship with George. 

There are a lot of emotional ups and downs in the book, and plots that keep me wanting to know more. 

I liked seeing Hannah's development in her professional life as well. 

An enjoyable read with some depth to the stories. Reading the note at the back of the book about how this story came to be was an extra element that made it even better. 

The Downstairs Neighbour

Finished January 25

The Downstairs Neighbour by Helen Cooper

This novel has a mystery that develops soon after the book opens and soon becomes the focus of the main story of the book, taking place in the present. There is another story from 25 years earlier that pops up now and again and it takes some time to see exactly how that story relates to the present day one.

The title is also intriguing, because it is unclear exactly who it pertains to. 

In a house in a London suburb, Paul and Steph live with their teenage daughter Freya on the top two floors. There are a close family, and Freya spends time with both her parents as well as with the family as a whole. Paul is an ex-cop and a data analyst, but he doesn't talk much about his previous career. Steph works in the first class lounge at Heathrow airport, making sure everything there runs smoothly. Freya is a popular and energetic teenager. 

Below them, on the ground floor, Emma lives. Emma owns her own vintage store, where she sells clothing, jewellery and other personal and decorative items. Things haven't been going well lately, and she has closed up shop, and has a deal to sell the shop very soon. She has a hamster named Gilbert, and his nocturnal activity has led her to move his cage to the cupboard underneath the stairs going up to her neighbours. She has discovered that when she is in there she can hear, fairly clearly, conversations going on upstairs. Emma is also waiting to hear from someone, a man named Zeb, that we don't learn much about until later in the story.

Below her, in the basement flat live Chris and his wife Vicky. Chris is a driving instructor, and teaches many of the young people in the area, including Freya. Vicky is a nurse. It seems that they are growing apart lately, although it isn't entirely clear why. 

One evening Emma senses unusual activity and soon hears that Freya hasn't come home from school. No one seems to have heard from her and she isn't answering her mobile. When the police ask Paul and Steph whether either of them have enemies, it seems that maybe they don't know as much about each other as they thought. Emma and Chris get drawn into the investigation too, through contact with Freya and an unknown person who seems to be sending a message to someone in the building. 

In the part of the story twenty-five years earlier, teenage Kate is worried about her mom. It's only been the two of them for a long time, but now her mom has a boyfriend, Nick, and she seems a lot quieter than before. The two of them often stop talking when Kate enters the room. When she sees bruises on her mom she gets scared and isn't sure what to do. So she calls a cousin, who's also a friend, for advice. 

As the two stories slowly unfold, there is a tense feel to both stories as we wonder what will happen, and the secrets that so many people have gradually get revealed. 

This is not a fast-moving story. But it is one that has you turning the pages, wanting to find out more. As we learn more about the different people, they become more and more interesting and imperfect. A fascinating story with long trails to the past. 

Before the Murders

Finished September 18

Before the Murders by Patricia McLinn

This is a novella that takes place before the first book in the Caught Dead in Wyoming series that I recently read, Spin Off. The novella takes place in London and includes the main character from the Caught Dead in Wyoming series, E.L (Elizabeth). Danniher, and the main characters in the Secret Sleuth series, Sheila Mackey and her great aunt Kit. 

Elizabeth has come to London a few days before a journalism assignment for some relaxation and spots Sheila in the hotel bar. Kit and Sheila are in town doing some research for a future book. When a young woman approaches them looking for help locating a family heirloom, they find themselves intrigued and agree to help locate a secret tunnel where the item was supposedly stashed. Kit also has an ulterior motive that has to do with her own past, and with ensuring that Sheila's secret isn't revealed in the wrong way. 

This was a fun read and I liked the plot. The three main characters were all appealing, although Sheila wasn't as fully drawn here as the others. 

The Lost Ticket

Finished June 21

The Lost Ticket by Freya Sampson

This charming novel begins with a scene from 1962 and an encounter on a London bus between Frank, a young man and an unnamed female art student. She gives him a phone number, written on her bus ticket, and he gives her the book he's been struggling to get into, and they agree to meet later that week. But when he gets home, he finds he's lost the ticket, and they never meet.

The story then jumps to the present, in spring 2022, with Libby Nichols, who has come to London to stay with her older married sister Rebecca getting on the 88 bus in London. She encounters an older man, Frank, who is struck by her red hair, and they have a conversation, where he encourages her to return to the art she used to love. 

Libby tells her story to Rebecca, and thus to us, that her boyfriend of eight years took her to a fancy restaurant to break up with her and take some time apart. Libby agreed to move out for a while to give him time to figure out what he wanted, and she's ended up here. Rebecca's nanny has had to go home suddenly to take care of a family member, and Libby agrees to look after Hector, her sister's son while she's staying there. 

Libby tries doing art on the bus, and finds herself angrily accosted by her chosen subject, and when she meets Frank again, she finds out about the girl he's been searching for for years, and how she changed his life. Libby decides to help him try to find this woman, and begins a social media and flyer campaign to put the story out. As she does, she finds herself making new friends, and thinking harder about what she wants in her life. But she also discovers that some things can't be planned and have to be dealt with as they happen. 

This is a feel-good novel of relationships, families, and chance encounters that are life-changing. A great read.