September is never a good month for my reading, and 2020 is no exception. To be honest, it’s been a pretty crappy month all round… general distraction lurks around every corner, people who can’t follow simple rules for the good of the many (I know there are plenty of complicated rules, but there are some simple ones too)… generally feeling pretty meh at the moment. If only there were some books coming out soon… you know, like ten long lost mystery classics from an author who was cruelly overlooked at the time but is now finding popularity in the modern age. That’d be nice, wouldn’t it?

But in the meantime, rather than looking forward (yay, mostly), let’s look back at September’s reading.

• The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman – a book full of great characters with an emotional heart to it. No clueing at all, but a very satisfying read. Think Simon Brett… only better.
• The Treason Of The Ghosts by Paul Doherty – my version of comfort reading, a re-read of a great historical mystery.
• Ruin Beach by Kate Rhodes – the second in the Scilly Isles series. Didn’t grab me as much as the first, but still a good read.
• The Devil’s Due by Bonnie MacBird – a decent Holmes pastiche, with Holmes up against a serial killer who is working their way through the alphabet for an unconvincing reason…
• Death Of A Shipbuilder by L C Tyler – another historical, the latest John Grey title, with Grey investigating the… oh, you guessed.
• Death Comes Hot by Michael Jecks – odd title, but a really fun read. A great entry in the historical-murder-farce canon.
• Murder At Eight Bells by Ernest McReay – the only book by the author, and that’s not a bad thing. It’s not terrible, but it has the most obvious villain ever, despite getting the feel from the author that they think they are being really clever…
• The Ghosts’ High Noon by John Dickson Carr – much closer to his worst than to his best…

So, Book of the Month. Well, I’m making it a tie this month, as I can’t separate them. Yes, it’s two of my favourite authors, both friends of the blog., so no big surprises, but they produced exactly what I needed to read when things were feeling pretty crappy. Both books were a ray of sunshine that were a great demonstration of the power of a good book. And they are both damn good books – namely Death Comes Hot and Death Of A Shipbuilder. Congrats, Mike and Len. And thank you.

Next month, let’s try and get things back on track. Oh, and the rest of you – wear a mask and don’t be a selfish prat. It’s not hard…