Colin Garrow's Blog, page 8
August 22, 2024
‘Mary Ann Cotton – Dark Angel’ by Martin Connolly
My Review (5 stars out of 5) In West Auckland, County Durham, in 1872, Mary Ann Cotton was arrested and charged with the murder of her stepson. Married four times and supposedly having borne twelve children, she was found guilty and hanged in Durham Goal. Charting the details of the trials and claims she may…
August 19, 2024
‘Ripley Under Ground’ by Patricia Highsmith
My Review (3 stars out of 5) A team of art fraudsters at the Buckmaster Gallery in London plan an exhibition of work by Derwatt – a dead artist whose works they’ve been forging. Tom Ripley’s part in the scam requires him to help perpetuate the myth. Travelling to England from his home in France,…
August 18, 2024
‘Henry VIII – King and Court’ by Alison Weir
My Review (5 stars out of 5) Alison Weir’s highly researched book explodes the life of Henry VIII and that of his court. While the book does not give as thorough an accounting of the six wives (which Weir delves into in greater detail in another book), we do get the low-down on the day-to-day…
August 10, 2024
‘The Complete Raffles – 1’ by EW Hornung
My Review (3 stars out of 5) Cricket-loving and thrill-seeking A. J. Raffles and his old school pal ‘Bunny’, embark on a series of burglaries in a bid to stay financially solvent. This is the first of two collections of 16 stories, including The Ides of March, Nine Points of the Law, and The Fate…
‘I Am Legend’ by Richard Matheson
My Review (3 stars out of 5) Robert Neville believes himself to be the last living man on Earth – except, he’s not alone. It seems that the only other inhabitants of the planet have become blood-hungry vampires. Spending his days hunting and his nights locked into his fortress-like house, Neville carries out experiments, trying…
A New Way to Find Great Books Online
A little while ago, Ben Fox of Shepherd got in touch with me, asking if I’d be interested in recommending some of my favourite reads, while at the same time promoting one of my own books. The service is free for authors, so I gave it a go. Last week my page on Shepherd was…
August 4, 2024
‘The Green Viper’ by Rob Sinclair
Welcome to my stop on the blog tour for The Green Viper, via Rachel at Rachel’s Random Resources. Blurb Ex-intelligence agent James Ryker receives a coded message through a secret drop point, a means of communication known only to him and one other person. The problem is, that other person is his ex-boss, Mackie… and…
July 21, 2024
‘A Very Important Teapot’ by Steve Sheppard
My Review (3 stars out of 5) Out of work and out of money, Dawson pursues the woman of his dreams – Rachel Whyte. But Rachel is otherwise engaged to someone who isn’t out of work and money. Then a job offer drops into Dawson’s lap which involves Australia, the underworld, the police and various…
‘The Lost Queen’ by Carol McGrath
Welcome to my stop on the Blog Tour for The Lost Queen, via Rachel at Rachel’s Random Resources Blurb 1191 and the Third Crusade is underway . . .It is 1191 and King Richard the Lionheart is on crusade to pitch battle against Saladin and liberate the city of Jerusalem and her lands. His mother,…
July 20, 2024
‘The Shadow of Death’ by Philip E Ginsburg
My Review (5 stars out of 5) (Audiobook) During the 1980s, a killer stabbed six women in the Connecticut River Valley, between New Hampshire and Vermont. Despite rigorous investigations, the murderer has never been caught. Author Philip E. Ginsburg reveals the pioneering forensic methods police and FBI agents used to track the killer. The only…
