Bethlehem Road by Anne Perry

I reread this book recently and I enjoyed it just as much as the first time. It is one of Anne Perry's Inspector Pitt series and it deals with the police investigation into the murder of three members of parliament on Westminster Bridge. Each man was found with his throat cut and tied to a lamp post and in each case the murderer had been able to vanish unnoticed from the scene laving the police struggling to find a motive. The general feeling was that it must be an anarchist plot or perhaps the work of a mad man, as the plot developed a tragic and deeply personal motive was revealed.

Anne Perry tackles very uncomfortable issues in her books and she vividly describes the social issues of the time. This book developed my understanding the injustice of the time regarding the treatment of women and for the first time I understood that the fight for women's suffrage was about far more than just getting the vote. It is a haunting story and the issues it raised will not easily be forgotten.

Crooked House

I have had the children on holiday from school for the last couple of weeks, so I needed a bit of easy reading that I could pick up and put down whenever I needed a few minutes distraction. What could be better than a nice murder mystery (I had a few murderous thoughts of my own last week!) so I decided to see what Agatha Christie had to offer. I have read and reread all her Poirot and Miss Marple books but I have never thought of reading any of her other work. I thought perhaps I wouldn't like it, but I read Crooked House and I was soon engrossed in the plot. It is dated and it is hard to believe that such an unattractive selection of characters could have lived together for so long, but somehow none of that mattered. I had my suspicions about the murderer, but still the book produced a sudden and unexpected twist at the end. I enjoyed it, it is a good holiday read and it has made me want to revisit my old friend Hercule Poirot so I am now reading Five Little Pigs.

A Necessary End - Peter Robinson

I read A Necessary End last week. I had never read anything by Peter Robinson before, but I bought this book because it was part of an offer. I usually like crime stories, and it is always nice to discover a different author, so I had high hopes of this book. I found it hard going at first, but gradually I became interested in the plot and wanted to read on. I thought it was a very male book, the characters were somewhat stereotyped and not especially attractive, but the plot did have edge and the outcome mattered more than I expected. The novel clearly evoked the world of about 20 years ago, there was a grubby and brutal but very recognisable aspect to the plot. It is a book that leaves you asking who was really the victim? I don't think Peter Robinson will become one of my favourite authors, but I will certainly read more of his books.

The Suspicions of Mr Whicher by Kate Summerscale

This book was serialised on the radio and by chance I caught the first installment and I was so taken with it that I had to buy the book. It looks at the investigation of a brutal country house murder of a three year old boy in 1860. The author had access to the original police documents which are held in the national archives and she was able to follow the suspicions and enquiries of Jack Whicher of Scotland Yard who was brought in to solve the murder. The author presents the account in the way that events unfolded at the time, she creates tension and atmosphere as it becomes clear that one of the occupants of the house must have killed the boy, perhaps one of his parents or even a sibling? It is interesting to find out how the press and the public responded at the time and it provides a snapshot of 1860 attitudes and social history. Jack Whicher did not solve the murder and it his career was damaged by his failure. Subsequently there was a conviction but was the real murderer ever caught? This is a facinating book and a very good read.

Asta's Book by Barbara Vine

I rarely read book reviews but I came across a review for this book when leafing through an old magazine and it made me curious enough to buy the book. It is an extraordinary book that moves effortlessly between the past and the present. It spans almost all of the twentieth century and almost all the main characters are dead. The narrator Asta’s granddaughter inherits diaries written by Asta and made famous by Asta's daughter. Asta and her husband Rasmus came from Denmark to settle in England in the early years of the new century (1905) and her diary records the loneliness and isolation of an immigrant. Asta is strong proud and passionate, but she has to face many painful losses. The book is really about identity and loss of identity. It works on several levels Asta feels she has lost her sons when they become too English and like so many mothers of the time her worse fears become reality and she does lose them. Some of the pages of her diary are acutely sad, some are mundane and some are unbelievably arrogant, but hidden among it all Asta may have the solution to an unsolved disappearance. It is a wonderful, clever book with a twist in the tale.