Going to have to be a quick Book of the Month post, so busy at work, blah, blah, too many things to do, not enough reading time, etc. You know, the usual introduction. Other things that I won’t share with you have been preying on my mind – not of any real consequence, don’t worry, but that’s the way my brain works – so probably didn’t get enough reading done. But let’s take a look at what did escape from the TBR pile in March.

The books were:

• Playing Dead by The Detection Club – a lovely tribute to Simon Brett – not the last time you’ll hear his name in this post.
• A Trial In Three Acts by Guy Morpuss – a bizarre on-stage murder leads to a trial that twists and turns all over the place. A really good read let down a little by the murderer becoming rather inevitable a bit too early.
• Everyone In The Group Chat Dies by L M Chilton – a comedy mystery with a rather uneven level of comedy, but entertaining, even if the motivations of the guilty party don’t make a lick of sense (which I think is part of the comedy… you judge if it works for you).
• Burn After Reading by Catherine Ryan Howard – another standalone mystery thriller from one of my favourite purveyors of the genre concerning a ghost writer and her client, who wants to tell his side of the story that everyone thinks he did.
• The Case Of The Gilded Lily by Erle Stanley Gardner – another tick in the box marked “reasons why I need to read more Perry Mason”. Fun and clever at the same time.
• The Ten Teacups by Carter Dickson – I’ve been harsh on this in the past, but I really enjoyed reading it this time. Still think The Judas Window is better though…
• On The Wrong Track by Steve Hockensmith – Old Red and Big Red take to the rails as they are hired as railroad detectives and the train is barely out of the station before the first body turns up.
• Nobody’s Fool by Harlan Coben – not entirely sure why Sami Kierce from Fool Me Once has reappeared, but it’s a decent thriller, even if the two plots don’t perhaps mesh as well as you might hope.
• Death In The Dressing Room by Simon Brett – a return to Fethering and Jude and Carole, and for the author, a return to the world of the UK sitcom. Very cosy and good fun.

Nine books – not too bad. As I said, I’m a bit pushed for time so close runners-up were Steve Hockensmith and Erle Stanley Gardner, but the winner of the Puzzly is the utterly charming Playing Dead by the Detection Club. Well done to each and every one of you.

Next month – I’m off to Sweden for a week (so expect blog silence for a little bit) but the plan is to carry on reading more books. Big surprise, eh?