P.J. Skinner's Blog, page 4

Galloped to the top of my TBR

Slow Horses by Mick Herron

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I really enjoyed Slow Horses. I picked it up cheap in The Works and have since bought five more in the series. Spy novels like the John Le Carre Smiley series have always been a favourite of mine and I mourned his passing. Now I have a new author to follow. Jackson Lamb is the antithesis of the normal brawny hero of Hollywood movies. He runs a branch of M15 peopled by 'failures' who for one reason or another have been removed from the main office and demoted to Slough House. They may be down but many of them long to be reinstated. I love stories where good and evil are not painted in primary colours and this complex tale of a kidnapping gone wrong is a classic of mixed motives and hidden agendas. Great.



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All the fish in the sea

Career of Evil: by Robert Galbraith | Summary & Analysis by Key Point Breakdowns

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Another cracker from JKR. I didn't enjoy this quite as much as the others because I felt like the red herrings were so numerous that you could have restocked the North Sea with them. In the end, I thought the murderer was too well hidden and this led to confusion in the end when I went 'Wait, what?' It hardly mattered though with the excellent atmospheric writing and the fraught relationships between the main characters proved to be enough distraction to disregard the muddle of clues. If you haven't tried this series, and you love a good whodunit, you're missing out.



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The Seacastle Mysteries

I moved to Worthing, on the south coast of Britain a week before lockdown in 2020. For the next two years my only real forays from my flat were my daily walks along the promenade and through the streets of Worthing. I have always wanted to try my hand at crime, but until then I felt that the Cozy genre would be too twee for me. When I contemplated the issue, I realised I liked to write exciting books with no violence or spice, (but the no swearing was annoying. Everyone swears, lets be truthful). But I am the author, why do the books have to be twee? A challenge. I love a challenge. So I wrote Deadly Return. Reviews have been spectacular and many (over 250 in 5 months). I wrote Eternal Forest and page reads shot up. Then Fatal Return and my income has doubled. I'm now writing Toxic Vows for publication in February and I'm very excited about it. I hope you will give them a go. I promise you humour, red herrings, love triangles, clues, recurring characters, fresh modern mysteries with twisted tropes. But I can't tell you whodunit. That you will have to work out for yourself. Best Wishes PJ

Crushed Silkworm

The Silkworm by Robert Galbraith

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Wonderful mystery with the added bonus of a behind the scenes lurk with some dodgy characters from the trad publishing world. Whenever an author does this, I wonder a lot about which real life characters she is ghosting. Anyway, great stuff, tricky mystery with loads of red herrings and a side order of main character angst.



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A Caged Bird

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I'm not keen on reviewing this book. It's so revered, it would feel like blasphemy to criticise it in any way. However, here it goes. For me, the narrative was disjointed and was made up of mostly unconnected vignettes. It skimmed over things I would love to have known more about (her time living in a junkyard?) while dwelling on incidents that didn't add anything to the memoir. This didn't distract from the often grotesque racism and violence she endured as a child, which made me livid with rage for her. But I couldn't understand her parent's motives from what was offered; what they actually did for a living or why they dumped their children with their grandmother when they seemed to be relatively well off. A book, although often beautifully written, which left me frustrated and unfulfilled. Then I saw there were six more volumes, and I knew I wouldn't read them. Disappointed.



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Mesmeric and Haunting

Piranesi by Susanna Clarke

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Strange, haunting, lyrical, joyful. I loved this book. It's so utterly weird that at first I doubted I would get into it. But tendrils of peculiar loveliness crept around my heart and beguiled me until I felt immersed in those odd marble halls and rushing tides of water echoing in their chambers. A spellbinding and mesmeric book. Easy 5 stars from me



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Did I mention the drugs?

Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver

My rating: 1 of 5 stars


It's hard to describe how disappointed I became as I slogged through the pages of this book. It's way too long (doesn't she have an editor?) and instead of raising up the people of Appalachia turns every single one of them into a caricature. And the drugs, the endless descriptions of doing drugs, buying drugs, thinking about drugs, drug paraphenalia, drug withdrawal, drugs, drugs, drugs, drugs, drugs. You get the picture. An unremitting stream of depression porn from start to finish. I've been afraid to read a Little Life, for the same reason, but it can't be worse then this. A wonderful story lurks in these pages, but is swamped by a tidal wave of cliches and, yes, drugs. Disappointed doesn't cover it.



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A Good Girl Guide

A Good Girl's Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


A classic whodunnit in the Agatha Christie style but mixed with teenage angst and text messaging. Apart from guessing most of the twist from the very beginning (are you supposed to?) I enjoyed this book a lot. The central character and her sidekick are believable characters and I liked the twists and turns the book took to the denouement. A good read but I'm not convinced enough to read the others.



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Fabulous, searing account of a life in STEM

Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I loved this book. I cried when I finished it, in recognition of shared pain and bewilderment at the behaviour of our male 'colleagues' in science. I started this book without knowing what to expect and I soon found myself holding my breath with admiration/horror. As a woman who worked in a male dominated industry (mining) all my life, immersing myself in the misogeny of the era felt claustrophobic and far too real. An admirable book, beautifully written and one I would love to read again, if I can face the pain.



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Please Vote for Mortal Mission

The Self-Published Science Fiction Competition 2023 is on Listopia here on Goodreads, and my book Mortal Mission is entered. For some reason, the old cover is showing, but it's the same book you enjoyed. If you read Mortal Mission, I would very much appreciate a vote. You can also vote for 4 more of your favourites too. Thank you so much.
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...