There was a time when I was an avid reader Terry Pratchett’s Discworld  novels, but no longer. It could be that I’m getting older and more discerning, but while there is plenty of evidence for the former, there is very little for the latter. Whatever the cause, I no longer buy the latest Pratchett as soon as it is released in paperback and I just happened to pick up Snuff: (Discworld Novel 39) while I was perusing the shelves of our local library.

Snuff is typical of the later Discworld books in that it lacks the joyous anarchy and playfulness that used to typify the series and at times it becomes rather preachy. It isn’t a bad book. The story is entertaining enough and serves well enough as bed time reading. However, it has nothing of the profundity of the opening chapter of Reaper Man or the sheer lunacy of Soul Music.

At his best, Terry Pratchett is a comic genius; I still return to read the earlier Discworld novels from time to time. I don’t suppose I’ll ever bother to pick up Snuff again.

This isn’t the best novel I’ve read, but it is rather pleasing and well worth investing in if you have to spend a night in a Catholic guest house in Africa with a group of teenagers on the next floor creating mayhem and a Pentecostal pastor in the next room praying and singing in a loud voice all night.

Basically, it is a series of linked narratives about a group of people who are connected by the fact that they live and work in the same London street. The stories move along enough to keep you reading and you do feel connected enough to some of the characters that you want to know what happens to them. I’m not sure that I’d pay the current Kindle price to read it, but Capital is worth getting hold of if it comes on offer again.

I write about mission and theology and I muse about Bible translation, but when push comes to shove, my real field of expertise is detective novels. I’ve read lots of Agatha Christie (clever mysteries, dreadful characterization) a fair bit of Simenon (amazing characters, boring mysteries – and in French), all of the Morse books, the whole of P.D. James detective oeuvre and so it goes on. I know my Frost from my Marlowe  and my Lindley from my Havers. I even have more than a nodding acquaintance with Ngaio Marsh and Margery Allingham And I read Nordic thrillers before they were noir or à la mode.

I don’t say this to boast, nor to indicate that I have too much time on my hands (I’m a fast reader), simply to establish my credentials as one who knows his crime fiction. You can trust me, when I speak of this genre. And the thing you should trust me saying is that Peter Robinson’s Inspector Banks novels are the pick of the crop.

Set in the Yorkshire Dales, these books have excellent, believable characters, who grow from novel to  novel. I don’t know if the details about police work are accurate, but they certainly sound as though they are and add a ring of authenticity to the books. The stories are well constructed and satisfying. I have never finished a Banks’ book without wanting to start another one immediately. The problem with Watching the Dark is that it is the latest one in the series and I’ve read all of the others. Don’t let that put you off, Watching the Dark is a terrific novel and well worth a read, but if you’ve never read anything by Robinson, I’d start with Gallows View the first book in the series.

if you only exposure to Inspector Banks is the TV series, don’t be put off – read the books.

As for me, I can’t wait for the next one to come out.

A few years ago, I found myself spending a few days in a hospital in Northern-Thailand. I wasn’t ill, but there was some concern that I was and it took three days to work it all out. While I was there, some kind friends loaned me some copies of the Shardlake books by C.J. Samson. They were just the thing for a well bloke who was confined to a hospital bed. Good characters, an inventive setting and just a touch of humour to lighten the suspense.

So, when I saw another book by the same author; Winter in Madrid was available for next to nothing on Kindle, I bought it without hesitation. It’s a love story/mystery set in Spain at the time of the Civil War and Second World War and for 20p it wasn’t a bad buy. I can’t say I found it gripping, but it was pleasant enough bed-time reading. If you are looking for something good to get your teeth into, there are better books out there, but if you want an innocuous story that won’t threaten either your blood pressure or your bank balance, give this one a go.

Raven Black (Shetland Quartet 1) by Ann Cleeves is a thoroughly enjoyable murder mystery with an excellent couple of twists right at the end. If you like a good whodunnit, you won’t be disappointed (especially at the current low price that they Kindle edition is selling for).

The book is set on the Shetland Isles (as the subtitle implies) but there isn’t a great deal of sense of place or atmosphere about it. With a little tweaking, any rural location could have served just as well; I wouldn’t read for insight into Shetland life. But, if you are looking for a good novel to read in bed or to while away the hours on a long flight, you won’t go far wrong with this.

Will I read the rest of the quartet? Probably not at full price, but if I can find them in the library or if the price is reduced, I wouldn’t hesitate.

From now on, I’ll try to remember to signal all posts about books with the introduction Books I’ve Read,  it might make it easier to find them.

For some reason, I didn’t seem to get as much reading done as usual on holiday this year. At a later date, I’ll have some comments on the serious books that I read, but let’s kick off with some fiction.

I have long been a great fan of P. D James books, but I have to admit that the The Private Patient was somewhat of a disappointment. It feels to me that the the great lady is finally running out of steam and that there is less depth to her characters and plotting than we are used to. If, like me, you are a fan of the Adam Dalgleish mysteries, you will want to read this one, but if you have never read a P. D. James book before, don’t start with this one; get hold of P.D. James, A Taste For Death (Adam Dalgliesh Mystery).

I’ve not made a habit of looking out for Reginald Hill’s Dalziel and Pascoe novels, but I seem to have read a good few over the years and generally found them enjoyable. Midnight Fugue has to be one of the best of Hill’s books. They mystery is tightly plotted and there are one or two excellent ‘laugh out loud’ moments. If you only know Dalziel and Pascoe from the BBC TV series then you really should read the books – they are far better.

I came across a copy of Stig Larsson’s The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Millennium Trilogy) in a gift shop in Grasmere, on sale for five quid. There has been quite a bit of buzz about Larsson’s books, but I’d never read one, so I thought I’d give it a go. It is an excellent novel, the characters were well drawn and the plot is tense and gripping. On the other hand, there are no particularly pleasant characters in the book and some of the seamier aspects of the story are pretty nasty. On balance, I enjoyed it and I’ll probably read the others in the series, but I have to issue a strong caveat emptor with this one. Not everyone who reads Kouya Chronicle will feel comfortable with Stig Larsson.