A Murder to Die For by Stevyn Colgan

A Murder to Die ForA Murder to Die For by Stevyn Colgan

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A Murder to Die For by Stevyn Colgan is outside my usual Nordic Noir type of reading. It is an a very funny tale set in an idyllic English village. Think Agatha Christie or Midsummers Murders and you get the idea. The whole premise is set against a festival celebrating a fictional celebrating a famous but dead crime writer Agnes Crabbe. The festival is crowded Milly Cutter looks a likes Agnes Crabbe’s famous detective. There a clashes between rival Agnes Crabbe appreciation societies. Then comes the obligatory murder and gruesome it is.
A murder to Die is a delight easy to read and quite funny in parts. Lots of confusing characters and red herrings. The village is awash with wannabe amateur sleuths getting in the way of the police. It all comes to a head in the space of a weekend. The other notable feature of the book is that it was published by Unbound which is essentially a crowd funding company that helps unpublished authors.
Thoroughly enjoyed A Murder to Die For.

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The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-TimeThe Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon has to be one of my all-time favourite books. I understand that it was conceived to be a young adult book. The tale of the young man who investigates the death of his dog is fascinating.
Also the style of the narration style is great with all its emotional detachment. It’s worth reading Born on a Blue Day a memoir by Daniel Tammet on his life with Asperger’s Syndrome.
All the little details make reading this book worthwhile, the prime numbers as chapter numbers. The elaborate detail of all things such what food needs to be on the plate and what cannot touch what.
I may even read it again it was so interesting and amusing, full marks for this one.

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Where are the Sheep

Sheep

Travelling in New Zealand over the last week or so I have been struck by the lack of SHEEP. This is my first visit here and I have grown up in Australia with a steady diet of NZ sheep jokes. The jokes might more aptly be applied to Kiwis and cows which seem to greatly outnumber the sheep. So where are they? Where have all the sheep gone? Have they like many Kiwis headed to Australia???