cosy crime

Book Review – The Last Devil To Die by Richard Osman

books, reviews

Rating: 4 out of 5.

There are plenty of celebrity novels being published these days and, most of the time, they end up being disappointed. I pick up a book written by someone that I’m a fan of and I instantly regret it. That’s not the case with Richard Osman. He genuinely seems to care about writing good books and spending time on developing characters. His novels are one of the few examples of good cosy crime these days. I suspect that a lot of people think that cosy crime novels are easy but there’s a big difference between good and bad cosy crime. His novels might not be the most difficult to figure out but they’re super enjoyable. So, of course, I was looking forward to reading his fourth novel.

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Book Review – Poirot Investigates by Agatha Christie

books, reviews

Rating: 4 out of 5.

I have to admit I’ve sort of abandoned my plan to reread every Agatha Christie book. I started it ages ago and knew that it would take me ages. Not because her books take that long to read but because I didn’t want to suffer from burnout. Still, I haven’t really been keeping up with it this year. I think the last Christie book I read was back in December. Although, it’s not as if I read a great deal in 2022. I only picked up 4 of her books. Absolutely abysmal when compared to the 16 I got through in 2021. So, I’m going to try and improve this year. I’ve still got over 30 to get through so I need to get cracking. To get me started, I finally listened to an audiobook I’ve had in my library for too long. I normally like Hugh Fraser’s narration but surely David Suchet would be even better, right? At least Poriot would sound familiar.

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Bookish Post – December 2022 Reading Wrap-Up

books, wrap-up
Teacup on top of vintage books.

Number of books read: 7
Number of rereads: 0
Number of physical books: 4
Number of ebooks: 1
Number of audiobooks: 2
Number of ARCS: 0

5* reviews: 0
4.5* reviews: 0
4* reviews: 3

Not only is December over but so is 2022. I can’t believe that we’ve got through another year already. I’m currently preparing my yearly wrap-up post so that will be up next week. For now, we’ll just look back on the last month. It was a slow end to the year but there was a lot going on in December. I actually managed to get a few more in than I expected. Thanks to my Christmas holiday, I managed to up the count from a fairly unremarkable 4.

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Film Review – Glass Onion (2022)

films, reviews

Rating: 4 out of 5.

I enjoyed Knives Out but I can’t say that I was a huge fan. At least, not as big a fan as most people seemed to be. I suspect that it’s because I’m a big lover of Agata Christie, so I didn’t think Rian Johnson had done anything that revolutionary. I also didn’t think the plot was that remarkable but, again, when you’re used to the Queen of Crime, few people can live up to my expectations. What I did enjoy about the film was the characters. Particularly, Daniel Craig as Benoit Blanc. So, I was excited by the announcement of a sequel. Especially a standalone sequel that had nothing to do with the original. Could it be as good or even better than the first film? Even without Chris Evans in his sexy knitwear?

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Book Review – Hercule Poirot’s Christmas by Agatha Christie

books, reviews

Rating: 3 out of 5.

It’s been a while since I last read an Agatha Christie novel and I haven’t read anything festive this year. So, I decided to combine both in one go. I haven’t read Hercule Poirot’s Christmas for a while but I did watch the TV adaptation last year. It seemed like the best kind of book to pick up just before Christmas. At a time when there is so much going on and there’s always some distraction. I was planning to read each part on the designated day but that didn’t work out. In the end, I just smashed through it on Boxing Day. It was exactly what I needed.

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Book Review – The Bullet That Miss by Richard Osman

books, reviews

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Every time I browse the Waterstones website I stumble across another celebrity who has written a book. I blame Richard Osman. I understand that it’s not actually down to him but his success as a writer hasn’t helped. It’s as if publishers have finally realised that star power is a thing. Part of me is excited that people I like are writing books for me to read. The rest of me is slightly sad that these people are handed massive deals when other writers aren’t given a chance. After all, it doesn’t always work out. I’ve read plenty of celebrity novels that just fell flat.

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Book Review – Murder Before Evensong by Rev Richard Coles

books, reviews

Rating: 3 out of 5.

So, this week hasn’t turned out quite like I’d expected. The week started with the news that a few other guests at my friend’s wedding had got Covid. So, I madly started testing and, on Wednesday, found out that I had it too. So, instead of my normal week, I’ve been battling with exhaustion and trying to fight it off. Thankfully, it’s only like bad flu. Not what I wanted but it could have been worse. Of course, it does mean that I haven’t really done much reading. I’ve just not had the attention span. I hope this lack of energy doesn’t last. I can’t cope with just lying down all day. Plus, I’ve just pre-ordered several new books. Speaking of pre-ordering.

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Book Review – The Murder on the Links by Agatha Christie

books, reviews

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Do you remember how I had vowed to slowly make my way through all of Agatha Christie’s books by reading at least one per month? Yeah, that went out the window in recent months. So, I decided to pick one up in June. How did I decide? I went on Spotify and found the first audiobook that was in English. I also don’t think I’ve ever read this one before. If I have, it didn’t leave enough of an impression on me. As long as I didn’t need to know anything about golf then I knew I was going to alright.

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Book Review – The Windsor Knot by S. J. Bennett

books, reviews

Rating: 2 out of 5.

As you can tell from my weekly rundown, I tend to get a little excited when I buy books. I’m one of those people who will buy an entire series of books without reading a single one. There are only two books in this series so far but I bought both pretty close together. Meaning there was more pressure to enjoy the book. If I hated it, I’d just end up with a book I was never going to read.

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Bookish Post – My Problem With Contemporary Crime Novels

books, rant, rants

I’m currently reading one of the shortest books that I’ve read in a while and, considering how short my usual books tend to be, that’s saying something. Can You Ever Forgive Me? runs at under 200 pages yet I still couldn’t finish reading in time to review it. I’ll be honest, it’s been an odd week and I’ve been pretty up and down. Which has all meant that I haven’t made as much time for reading. It also didn’t help that my book club has been postponed until later this month. Now that I have no deadline I’ve lost all energy to finish it. All of which means I needed something else to write about. Thankfully, I’ve been thinking of this for a while.

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