The Dead House by Harry Bingham

Harry Bingham’s detective series featuring DS Fiona Griffiths just keeps getting better. What is so striking about it is the author’s ability to come up with new and interesting crimes, without throwing at the reader yet another creepy serial killer.

Perhaps this is down to the nature of his sleuth. Fiona Griffiths has Cotard’s Syndrome, a mental illness that causes the patient to believe they are dead. Fiona has had a lot of therapy, so she can now function reasonably well on ‘planet normal’. She’s also highly trained in martial arts and is never happier than when taking risks.

When Fiona is called to investigate a body found in a remote Welsh village, she finds a young woman laid out in a churchyard outbuilding, surrounded by candles and dressed in a light summer frock unsuitable for the chilly October night. Fiona resists the urge to phone in the scene of crime experts, wanting to spend a little time with her discovery.

She soon spots that the girl has had plastic surgery and yet her legs are unshaven, her fingernails clipped, not filed. When a post-mortem indicates the body has died from natural causes, Fiona ignores her superiors and continues to investigate, and with local copper, DI Burnett, keen on the idea of promotion, uncovers a link with a secluded monastery.

The two make an interesting team and the case will throw them into some dangerous situations, as they close in on an organised crime ring. And surely there’s a connection to Bethan Williams, a teenager who disappeared only a few miles away.

There is certainly plenty here to keep the plot humming along, and narrated from inside Fiona’s head, you are right there with her weird and sudden decisions. The story uncovers one of the most unusual crimes I have ever come across – prepare to be surprised - and of course it is down to the wire whether Fiona will nail the baddies and live to tell the tale. Which is as it should be.

The Dead House is another top read in what is turning out to be one of the more compelling crime series around. Don’t miss it.

Posted by JAM

Catalogue link: The Dead House

The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl by Ryan North and Erica Henderson

This book is pure silliness. Seriously, don’t go in to it expecting too much and you’ll be just fine. Squirrel Girl is ‘nutty’ and ‘upbeat’ (not my words – that’s how the comic describes her), but she is also a whole lot of fun. The artwork is cute, the whole tone is light-hearted cheese, and honestly, I have no idea how a girl whose power is being able to communicate with squirrels could possibly make her a ‘superhero’, but the comic is silly enough that I just don’t care.

Plus, most of the leading ladies in comics are far too serious most of the time (Wonder Woman I’m looking at you), so it’s nice when there is one on the complete opposite side of the scale, even if she is so quirky and optimistic that I would probably punch her in real life if I ever had to have a conversation with her before my morning coffee.

But embrace the nuttiness and you’ll do just fine. Seriously, there are times when it is just plain ridiculous. But in a totally fun way. All you really need to know going in to the comic is this - Squirrel Girl: ‘Eats Nuts, Kicks Butts’.

Posted by Sas
 

Catalogue link: The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl, Vol. 1: Squirrel Power

The Glittering Court by Richelle Mead

While most of my recommendations have been contemporary fiction, I will admit that fantasy (especially period fantasy) is my first love when it comes to reading. Vampire Academy author Richelle Meads' latest book is everything that I love about that particular genre.

The Glittering Court follows Adelaide, who may belong to the upper-class and spends her time at fabulous parties being waited on hand and foot, but she finds the uptight rules of her life, and of her expected marriage, to be too much to handle. Instead she runs away to the Glittering Court, and a chance to re-invent her life in the wild, newly conquered country of Adoria.

I will admit that this is very much a romance story, set in a world similar to the upper classes of England, with Adoria being their version of the newly colonized America. But it is a very enjoyable romance, with a strong female lead who knows her mind and what she wants, and refuses to let people stand in her way. She finds love, and makes close friends, and even meets a couple of pirates along the way. The only thing about the book that I didn’t like was that it is the first in a series, so now I have to wait who knows how long to find out what happens next.

Posted by Sas

Catalogue link: The Glittering Court

What Charlotte Brontë Heroine are you?