June is here! And, thankfully, May is over.

Regular readers will know that I’ve been spending a lot of time driving up and down the motorway to see my ill Dad. No easy way to say this, but thankfully for him, his struggles are over, and in a mostly peaceful and pain-free way. I’m already missing him massively, obviously, but I’m glad for him and my Mum that his suffering is over.

So that’s one reason why I’ve only read seven books this month (yes, I said “only”, that’s way down for me). There are others – abandoning a few titles when they weren’t clicking for me, one of which took me to the halfway point when I realised that I just didn’t care about any of the characters – that’s one reason. And let’s be honest, the new Legend of Zelda game hasn’t helped in the reading stakes, although it’s been perfectly timed when I need something to escape to.

But you’re not here to listen to me bang on about the goings-on in Hyrule, you’re here to get a recommendation for my book of the month. So here we go…

The books in question were:

• Death Of An Author by E C R Lorac – the most reclusive author in the country disappears. Is the woman who posed as said author guilty? Or are they, in fact, the author in question? Not a Lorac title that clicked for me but others disagree.
• Death Invades The Meeting by John Rhode – one of Rhode’s “spot the murder method” titles, let down a little by a nebulous ending.
• Sepulchre Street by Martin Edwards – first rate mystery-thriller set in the time of the Golden Age (but not a Golden Age pastiche)
• Murder In The Gallowgate by Daniel Sellers – a slice of tartan noir, a good central plot but not convinced by at least one subplot. A primising start.
• Falconer And The Face Of God by Ian Morson – a decent enough historical mystery, if a little disjointed.
• The Expectant Detectives by Kat Ailes – a surprisingly entertaining, genuinely funny and well-constructed mystery novel.
• Death’s Old Sweet Song by Jonathan Stagge – great fun, despite the sleuths’ inability to protect the potential victims. Well worth your time if you find a copy.

So, Book of the Month? Down to one of two – The Expectant Detectives and Sepulchre Street. Books miles apart in terms of style but both, at the core, embracing the classic mystery style.

At this point, I’ve written the concluding paragraph about five times, each time changing the winner, so stuff it, it’s a joint Puzzly this time – congratulations Martin and Kat. Already looking forward to the next book in each series.

Next month, I’m off to Alibis In The Archive, so I’ll be taking a look at some books from some of the speakers. Then I’ve got a bundle of new titles to look at as well – hopefully I’ll have time to fit them all in!