Bill Bryson made his name with witty travelogues that spanned the world. But does the shtick ever get old?
Category Archives: Reviews
’The Chessmen’ is a satisfying trilogy finale
Past and present once again collide for Fin Macleod in the Outer Hebrides in this finale to Peter May’s Lewis Trilogy.
Uncovering family secrets in seaside Ireland
Her mother’s death leads Elizabeth on a journey to discover her father’s true identity and why her mother refused to talk about her life before Elizabeth was born.
Mary Roach pokes her curious mind into the laboratory & the bedroom in ‘Bonk’
How do you measure human arousal? And where does the money or the volunteers come from? Mary Roach explains in ‘Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex’
Who is the pawn in ‘The Queen’s Gambit’?
An orphan finds her sense of self in an unexpected talent for chess, but can the game also vanquish her demons?
Complicated family dynamics drive the action in ‘Bonecrack’
Neil Griffon gets more than he bargained for when he temporarily assumes management of his estranged father’s stable. Along with the horses, he has to deal with a villain whose inexperienced son wants to be an apprentice jockey — whatever the cost.
Birth and death in the midst of a pandemic
in 1918 Dublin, a young nurse works desperately to save her influenza-wracked maternity patients while trying to find some sliver of hope in the midst of so much illness and death.
Tragedy haunts a small Tasmanian town
Kieran and Mia have brought baby daughter Audrey back to their small Tasmanian hometown for the first time after years of living in Sydney, but it’s hardly a joyous homecoming. Kieran’s father Brian is suffering from dementia and the couple is back to help Verity, Kieran’s mom, pack up the house and find a nursingContinue reading “Tragedy haunts a small Tasmanian town”
A mystery within a mystery in ‘The Postscript Murders’
I didn’t know, back in 2019 when I read The Stranger Diaries by Elly Griffiths, that it was meant to be the first book in a new series. I was already a big fan of Griffiths’ series featuring forensic archaeologist Ruth Galloway, but I didn’t jibe with her other series featuring Max Mephisto, a magicianContinue reading “A mystery within a mystery in ‘The Postscript Murders’”
‘Poison in the Pen’ leads to murder in the village
Regular readers of the Miss Silver mystery series by Patricia Wentworth know that she finds the cases she ultimately solves in a variety of ways. Occasionally they just pop up wherever she happens to be and she is drawn in. Sometimes a stranger in a train carriage turns into a client in need of herContinue reading “‘Poison in the Pen’ leads to murder in the village”
