Pam Baddeley > Recent Status Updates

Finding this rather a slog though better than another police novel I read recently. Can't relate to the characters. All a bit too cliched though appreciate this was written in the 90s. The writer was too detailed about the technology which makes it more dated than e.g. Rebus novels written in the 90s.

Loving it still, with the interaction of the protagonist and her unsuppressable verve, nerve, and scientific accumen in dealing with the adults in the drama. Only her rather cruel elder sisters can faze her.

Really enjoying this tale which has a great viewpoint in the intelligent 11 year old Flavia who sees everything with a clear eyed shrewd judgment.

Interesting tale from the POV of an imaginative scientific 11 year old girl in 1950. So far, a couple have turned up who run a puppet show, and it seems the man is abusing the woman. Not going to end well I'm sure. This is apparently book 2 in a series which I assume is told from the child's POV.

or so. Hmm...the minor character of the unpleasant film director is now the protagonist. The protagonist of Bones of the Moon is in the story, and that book was a best selling autobiography in the fictional world!

or so. Lucy resumes her friendship with the boy she knew when they were 5 or so, roaming the countryside and gathering fossils from the beach. The vicar has the idea of reviving the traditional Horn Dance to attract tourists. There's a hint this will somehow revive the Wild Hunt with all that goes with it.

or so. Finding this a bit slow and boring. A character from the last book turned up for a while and referenced the last book's protagonist, but don't think it's connected otherwise. This protagonist has powers and a man has died mysteriously.

Cullen has known Danny for years and he is a best friend so it's natural that she writes to him when depressed after an abortion. Danny comes back from abroad and eventually confesses he has loved her for years. Knowing Carroll, this usually means he'll turn out to be a mask creature hiding something murderous!

So far hints of the Wild Hunt. Lucy returns to her aunt's house in Somerset for a holiday after five years' absence. Perhaps reading this as an adult is why it was obvious to me, long before she met them again, that the friends she remembered would have developed other interests and have nothing in common with her

As before, I'm finding the historical sections really interesting, the contemporary setting not so much. But I can see that the usage of the drug to switch between is starting to have adverse health effects on the protagonist.

Having a dip in and out of this book, only reading the biogs of witers who interest me or who I've read in the past.

Mainly psychoanalytical articles on famous people and a bit 'dry'. Most interesting so far was the one on Jung and the role of the unconscious in creativity.

or so. Continues to be a real page turner with the body count mounting. More secrets and hidden agendas, and no real sign of who could be responsible.

An intense page-turning read so far. Lots of mystery and also darkness. Very different from the author's later cozy crime series.

Already lots of fun. I have a feeling that the terrible aunt is a witch and has possibly turned her long suffering live-in servant into the cat that keeps coming round. And could that be why her neighbours are bullying the protagonist and her mother and brother into looking after the awful aunt - because they are scared she will turn her wrath on them?

Certainly wasn't expecting that. This cozy crime novel lulled me into a state where I was wondering what the connection could be between the bunch of flowers Simmy delivered near the start, the murder of another old lady nearby, and the two characters in the coffee shop when - whoosh! Didn't expect that to happen to the protagonist-investigator in this genre!

or thereabouts - finished part 1 anyway. The feeling is growing ....

Not enjoying this as much as volume 2. Have a nasty feeling that Akkarin is being set up to be a romantic hero/love interest.

or so. On second story in the book. Found the first rather slow and not terribly interesting. Second is better as it's about gods and goddesses who are actually technologically advanced people posted to primitive planets to guide their development, not always for the better.

or thereabouts. A lot of the book has been about the character moving from place to place in the city to elude capture by the magicians. The more interesting bits are the chapters with the magicians themselves. Now she has finally been captured and is being trained and having to face a dilemma because of the villain, so it may be picking up pace for the end.

Finally the PCU have been closed down by their arch enemy, but discovery of a headless body in the King's Cross area, being redeveloped for the 2012 Olympics among other things, persuades their Home Office superiors to grant a temporary stay of execution, imposing ridiculous conditions - solve it by the end of next week, in grotty accommodation and no access to police databases etc.

Quite a page turning action read most of the time, but lacking much development of any other than the 3 viewpoint characters. Also, a lot of similarities to LOTR, even alluded to early in the story when two of the children are attacked by a sentient tree.

Unusual fantasy from the POV of a slightly myopic 18 year old boy in a society where a selection is held each year for someone to take on a ceremonial role of Shepherd at the temple, and how he deals with his boredom and alienation once he is chosen.

All three strands are proceeding - four if you count the everpresent closing of the unit subplot - fairly much as expected. The sociopath is closing in, M & B are trapped in the snow in their car with other motorists, and Longbright is trying to investigate the murder with long distance phone input from the senior tecs.

So far we have three developing threads: a woman and son escaping an abusive husband but becoming involved with a matricidal sociopath, B &M off on a jaunt and about to be lost in snow in the middle of nowhere, and a murder at the PCU. The background threat of unit closure is getting a bit tiresome.

Early days so far with the fourth Bryant and May, set just after the events in The Water Room, so "present day". So far, the unit boss has written a vitriolic letter to his new superior, which serves as a massive info dump for those not familiar with the series, and Bryant has caused a near riot giving a talk to a posh boys' school. No sign of the actual murder mystery yet.

An interesting idea, a natural history of dragons, written as if they have become a modern day problem.

Enjoying it so far; some very bizarre murders set against the backdrop of the impending 3-day week in early 70s London.

Still really enjoying this despite Fowler breaking all the 'rules' that writers today are told to obey, for example, he tells back story things about characters a lot, and constantly head hops in scenes. Somehow it works and adds to the charm. Another mysterious murder and strange goings on are keeping the suspense nicely ticking over.

Taking a fair while to read as the print is quite small despite its being a slim book. Ideas are interesting and some are quite tropical, but it is dragging a bit.