Well, August is done and dusted, it’s time for me to really start thinking about school again – just kidding, that’s been on my mind for a while – but before all that, it’s time for the reading roundup and the Puzzly – my Book of the Month.

It’s been a very odd month, bookwise. All but three of these were read in the first half of the month. I suppose then exam results kicked in at school and my time for reading just disappeared. Having said that, there were also three books that were started but not finished. Two of them were attempts to champion the modern “for fans of Agatha” books, but they were, quite frankly, shite. Another was a more serious take on the same genre – female protagonist, set in the twenties – but while this was much better written, it was also very dull. And I don’t have the attention span for dull at the moment. Hence not finished, not reviewed. I rather wish I had read at least one of them properly, as what I had read of it really deserved a critical analysis/kicking (delete as appropriate) but I didn’t, so it wouldn’t be fair. Who knows, maybe the middle third redeemed the crap beginning and ending…

Anyway, on to the good stuff…

• Under Lock And Skeleton Key by Gigi Pandian – a good modern locked room mystery, albeit with a cosy dressing.
• Death Of A Lesser God by Vaseem Khan – the latest Malabar House mystery, one of the strongest in the series to date.
• How To Survive A Classic Crime Novel by Kate Jackson – not a mystery, but an informative and funny trip through the genre.
• A Hundred Thousand Dragons by Dolores Gordon-Smith – more of a thriller than a mystery for this outing for Jack Haldean, including some crucial back story.
• Kidnap Castle by Showell Styles – definitely a thriller in this pre-Glyn Carr outing for Sir Abercrombie Lewker.
• The Death Of Laurence Vining by Alan Thomas – a really interesting early locked room mystery, with some clever stuff. Needs to be reprinted.
• The Killing Place by Kate Ellis – the latest Wesley Peterson mystery, maintaining the excellent standard of the whole series.
• Who She Was by Tony Parsons – a psychodrama rather than a mystery. Good, but not my thing.
• He Who Whispers by John Dickson Carr – a stone-cold classic according to 99% of mystery reviewers.
• The Alarm Of The Black Cat by Dolores Hitchens – the curse of Book Club strikes again…
• Three Card Murder by J L Blackhurst – another modern locked room mystery – three actually – in an interesting style.
• 77 North by D L Marshall – John Tyler is back, so expect lots of guns, vehicles and a murder inside a locked bunker…

So, Book of the Month? I always try and go for a new release, and it’s awfully hard to ignore He Who Whispers. I’d also include Laurence Vining on the shortlist, but you’re not going to find a copy of it, so that’d be rude.

Probably the most enticing books this month were The Killing Place, 77 North and Three Card Murder. Well, I’ve given the Puzzly to Kate Ellis and D L Marshall before, so congratulations to J L Blackhurst for what looks to be the start of a potentially fascinating series. Yes, you have to question the lengths the murderer has to go to on the off-chance of SPOILER, but overlook that and you’ve got a really fun and clever mystery novel. A promising start.

Next month, more new releases, some of which are from old favourites – but who will they be?