Book of the Month time, and my word, it’s been a rubbish month. Not for reading, although the amount was low (for me) again, just general health concerns, none major, just annoying enough to be a constant distraction. Things seem to be turning a corner, thankfully, so hopefully next month we’ll get back on track. And we’ll have a new kitchen – nothing to do with the blog, just really pleased that it’s finally happening.

But it’s the fourth of November (at least) I hear you cry, why so long before the Book of the Month? Well, I’ve been away on a short break to Devon. Had a lovely time – here’s some pictures of Beacon Cove, where Agatha Christie used to go swimming…

Bookwise, it was an eight book month for me. Those books were:

The Merchant Murderers by Michael Jecks – a very enjoyable historical caper, much more of a story about several crimes than a whodunit, but that element is there too.

Death In The Thirteenth Dose by Belton Cobb – not the book to convince anyone that Cobb is the next Brian Flynn…

Death On Gokumon Island by Seishi Yokomizo – an interesting mystery (ignore comparisons to And Then There Were None, it’s nothing like it) although it’s all just a bit too odd for me.

The Plague Court Murders by Carter Dickson – a book I enjoyed even more on its second reading that on its first, way back in the distant past. The debut of Sir Henry Merrivale and available in the American Mystery Classics range.

A Fatal Crossing by Tom Hindle – billed as a homage to Christie, but again the comparison is wrong. There are two stories going on at the same time, although one only becomes clear at the end. It works well, but the suspects could have been more interesting.

Feet Of Clay by Terry Pratchett – golems, werewolves and vampires abound in this fun Discworld tale with a proper, if a bit obvious, mystery going on.

Murder On The Matterhorn by Glyn Carr – the second Abercrombie Lewker mystery, vaguely findable in a reprint from Ramble House, and a mystery that is right out of the Christie playbook.

The Sharp Quillet by Brian Flynn – one of the recent five reprints of Books 31-35 of the Anthony Bathurst mysteries, and an immensely readable book at that.

Book of the month? Blimey, it’s a tricky one. Very tempted by The Sharp Quillet, although the impossible feat committed by the murderer bothers me a bit. Ah, you know what, it’s been an age since I solved a classic mystery properly and felt clever doing so, so Book of the Month, for giving me that pleasure, goes to Murder On The Matterhorn. So Glyn Carr takes the Puzzly for two months in a row, but alas his fifteen Lewker books are long out of print. Maybe I’ll have to try and do something about that…

Next month, some new mysteries from, among others, Jeri Westerson and Chris McGeorge, and some classics from Carter Dickson, Christianna Brand and, um, Christianna Brand. And some other stuff, obviously…