Urgh. I’m feeling completely stuffed up with cold at the moment, and concentration is in short supply. Looks like I managed to write the last post without too much rambling, but I am going to keep this one short. It’s book of the month time, with ten books to take a quick re-look at to decide who’s going to get this month’s Puzzly.

Last month, we also had a Film Of The Month, so why not do it again? Who needs the Oscars? Anyway the film of the month is the same as last month, the massively overlooked Mary Poppins Returns (as I went to see it again). It is rather wonderful.

But back to the books – they were:

• And Death Came Too By Richard Hull – not his best work. I’m a bit worried that I’ve read all his good stuff, so I’ll be taking a break from Hull for a while.
• A Poisonous Journey by Malia Zaidi – a promising start for a series. Not perfect by any means, but a good start.
• The Lost Man by Jane Harper – another strong character-driven thriller/mystery.
• He Should Have Died Hereafter by Cyril Hare – the author’s final work and perfectly fine, if not great.
• The Taking Of Annie Thorne by C J Tudor – very effective twisty thriller with a supernatural thread.
• Never Tell by Lisa Gardner – well-constructed mystery-thriller with strong lead characters driving the action.
• Dead Man’s Lane by Kate Ellis – one of the strongest entries in one of my favourite series.
• Death Takes A Detour by Miles Burton – interesting late Burton title, but with a weak ending.
• A Testament To Murder by Vivian Conroy – ambitious but flawed Golden Age homage.
• The Case Of The Seven Bells by Christopher Bush – entertaining mystery with Ludovic Travers playing private detective.

Not a bad haul for the shortest month, but which takes home the Puzzly? Well, The Taking Of Annie Thorne and Never Tell would have come close, but Kate really outdid herself with Dead Man’s Lane. I was a little concerned that with the Albert Lincoln trilogy being some of her finest work, that the Wesley Peterson series might suffer, but this is one of the finest books in the series to date. So yet another Puzzly to Kate Ellis – congratulations.