(TRIM) Dead Simple - edited by Harry Bingham - 3.5 star average

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113 pages and doesn't fit the tag of history (although the 5 star story would fit!)

This book was one of the £1 quick reads for World Book Day 2017 and is a collection of 8 short crime stories. It appealed to me because the editor (Harry Bingham) is one of my auto-buy authors - he's the creator of the Fiona Griffiths series of novels set in Cardiff.

As I was reading the stories, I made notes so I could review it properly on here, so here's a brief summary of what I made of all 8 stories.

Hardscrabble - Mark Billingham. This was the first story I've read by Billingham, and I am definitely looking into more - 4 stars.

The Funeral - Clare Mackintosh. I did not like the main character in this one and was pleased at the end result - 3 stars.

Dead Men Tell No Tales - James Oswald. Would read more of him if cheap - 3 stars. Reminded me a bit of The Signalman by Charles Dickens and An Inspector Calls by JB Priestley.

Old Tricks - Jane Casey. I already knew I liked this author, this confirmed it - 4 stars. Definitely finding more by this author!

Tell No Lies - Angela Marsons. Didn't like this one and won't be rushing out to read more - 2 stars.

The Perfect Murder - Harry Bingham. Auto-buy author for me and although Fiona isn't the main character in this story - a solid 4 stars from me.

The Night Before the Hanging - Antonia Hodgson. Another auto-buy author for me (another reason this book appealed to me), and this story fits the history tag, as it's set in the 18th century (my favourite time period to read about due to my MA). With recognisable characters from Hodgson's Thomas Hawkins series, there's really no surprise that this got 5 stars from me and is undoubtedly the best one in my opinion!

Bird in a Cage - CL Taylor. I think I may have been a bit harsh on this one after Antonia's, but this one really didn't do anything for me - 3 stars.

Cross-posted from Trim the TBR