OK, July was a tad busier than usual when it came to reading. A week in the middle of beautiful isolation on the Ardnamurchan peninsula surrounding by sea and sheep was exactly the holiday that I needed – and it meant that I read a ridiculous amount of books over the week. So it makes this month’s Puzzly is going to be a bit tricky as that’s a lot to choose from…

Right, off we go. The books in question were:

• Death In The Clouds by Agatha Christie – you know this one, murder on a plane, Belgian chap sorts it out. Not the best…
• The Ice Axe Murders by Glyn Carr – Mont Blanc’s turn for the location of a murder for Sir Abercrombie Lewker to sort out. Not the best, to be honest, but still a good way ahead of most.
• A Thief’s Justice by Douglas Skelton – the second Jonas Flynt title, an excellent historical thriller.
• A Game Of Lies by Clare Mackintosh – the second Ffion Lloyd mystery and a demonstration of how to continue a series. Excellent.
• Death On The Line by Cecil M Wills – a good title from a variable classic mystery author.
• The Siren’s Call by Paul Halter – a decent enough Halter title, but it suffers again from his “everything and the kitchen sink” approach.
• The Demon Archer by Paul Doherty – no locked room in sight, but a murderous archer on the rampage for Hugh Corbett to sort out.
• The Field Of Blood by Paul Doherty – no locked room here either, but one of the weakest Athelstan titles.
• Suddenly At His Residence by Christianna Brand – a classic mystery with two impossible crimes for the price of one.
• The Mysterious Mr Badman by W F Harvey – an interesting premise for this classic crime story that is more thriller than whodunnit.
• Lost Graves by S A Dunphy – mysterious deaths in the woods in this second entry into a series with a strong opener.
• The Clearing by Simon Toyne – mysterious deaths in the woods in this second entry into a series with a strong opener.
• In The Blink Of An Eye by Jo Callaghan – an original premise paired with a clever thriller. Definitely worth your time.
• The ABC Murders by Agatha Christie – oh, come on! You must have read this one…
• Death In Print by G M Malliet – A good classic-style mystery, but with a slightly disappointing resolution.
• The Final Days Of Abbot Montrose by Sven Elvestad – a translation of a book from 1907 and a jolly interesting one too…
• Crime In Kensington by Christopher St John Sprigg – an top-notch classic mystery. Devoid of any bells and whistles, a good mystery tale, well told.
• The Trap by Catherine Ryan Howard – a very dark and compelling thriller, verging on a horror story at times…

Eighteen books – not quite the record of a month, but very pleasing. Thank goodness I didn’t go away for a fortnight.

OK, in a rush, so best of the month? I think I said it last time I read it, but obviously it should be The ABC Murders but everyone’s read that one…

I’ve been banging on for a while about second books in a series struggling recently – two of this month’s books exemplify that, where continuing a series when the opener (The Last Party – also excellent) heavily plays into the personal life of the protagonist, isn’t easy. Clare Mackintosh, however, with A Game Of Lies, shows how to do it – an excellent mystery novel that continues to evolve the lives of the protagonists. So congratulations, Clare, it’s that book that takes the Puzzly. Honourably mentions, though, to In The Blink Of An Eye and The Trap.