The Act of Roger Murgatroyd - Gilbert Adair

Rating: ✫✫

This book is an interesting one. It was passed onto me because I'm a big fan of Agatha Christie's books, and this is, for want of a better word, a parody. The Act of Roger Murgatroyd is clearly a play on The Murder of Roger Ackroyd. I was intrigued to say the least, and not quite sure what to expect. I wondered  at first if this was going to be the same story as in The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, with the same premise and the same characters, but with twists that aren't in the original novel. It turns out this is actually an entirely new novel, with the title and a few subtle references being the only direct link to Christie's work.

I enjoyed this book, if only for those little references. It was a very straightforward story, with a range of typical characters you'd normally find in crime fiction, including a detective who is brought in spontaneously. There's also plenty of backstory to pad the plot out. However, I'm not sure I would have enjoyed this book if I wasn't a fan of Christie. I imagine I would have found it rather a dull plot, with the only excitement coming from fictional sleuth Evadne's dialogue. It was a fun book with some merits, but I can't imagine I'll ever read it again.

✼

It's the Christmas holidays, and Colonel ffolkes and his wife Mary are hosting a number of house guests at their country home. The Colonel's daughter, Selina, brings with her two guests of her own: Don Duckworth, and Raymond Gentry, who soon rubs each and every one of the other guests up the wrong way. Early the next morning, Gentry is found in the attic, murdered.

With a lot of heavy snow, Colonel ffolkes relies on the aid of local, retired Chief Inspector, Trubshawe. With Evadne Mount, a crime writer, also staying at the house, Trubshawe soon finds he has met his match, and the pair investigate the murder in their own, very different ways.

*spoiler alert*

The Hypnotist's Love Story - Liane Moriarty

Rating: ✫✫✫

It's been a little while since I read this book. I read most of it on the way home from my holiday in Geneva (which, fyi, was absolutely gorgeous), but what with going back to work and having a zillion commitments, I'm only now getting round to writing this post.

I remember the story, but I don't remember the ins and outs as well as I thought I would. I've found that this tends to happen for one of two reasons:

1) The book is so easy to read that you race through it so fast that you can't remember the details - it's all more of a general blur.

2) There isn't an awful lot to the story, and you struggle to remember the significant plot points.

Which one is true of this book, you ask?

Actually, the answer is both of them.

The Story

Ellen thinks she's finally met the man of her dreams in widower, Patrick. He's handsome, kind, assertive, and a good father to his son, Jack.

There's just one downside: Patrick has a stalker.

His ex-girlfriend, Saskia, to be exact. Saskia follows the new couple everywhere, and it starts to put a strain on the relationship.

Meanwhile, Ellen's business as a hypnotherapist continues as normal. Until she thinks one of her clients may be more than just that...

*spoiler alert*

Vampire Academy (Series) - Richelle Mead

Rating: ✫✫✫✫

When I originally heard of the Vampire Academy series, I wasn’t that thrilled about it. I did honestly think that it was just another vampire series. I then came across the film, and watched it on a whim, because I couldn’t find anything else to watch. How glad I am that I did.

I really liked this series. It was an entirely new world to get engrossed in, and I love being able to disappear into a different world. There was an awful lot of detail that Richelle Mead created, and I think it was done really effectively. The characters were endearing and varied, and the story was fast-paced and intriguing. Sadly, what let the series down was that the latter half just didn’t seem to be as carefully planned out as the first half. The first half had me riveted, excited, and eager to read it. When making my way through the second half I often found myself disappointed. The ending, although good, was not great. There were too many loose ends, and some of the characters were dropped too easily from their stories in order to wrap things up quickly. I wish these elements of the series had been different. However, I cannot take away from Mead just how much I loved these books. The story, the characters, the entire dhampir world; all were wonderful

Rose Hathaway is a dhampir – half human, half vampire. She attends St. Vladimir’s Academy, where she trains every day to become a guardian to the moroi. Moroi are vampires. Good vampires, who are just as alive as humans. Dhampirs protect the moroi from evil vampires – the strigoi.

Rose’s best friend Lissa is a royal moroi, and with that territory comes consistent danger. Attending St. Vladimir’s, and training with her intense mentor Dimitri, Rose attempts to protect Lissa from the danger she faces, leading to an interesting and often tragic life for them both.

*spoiler alert*

Christmas Book Haul 2017

I'm struggling to believe that another Christmas has come and gone, and we're now into 2018! But one thing I can be sure of every year is that Christmas will bring me another huge pile of books to get stuck into - and I'm pleased to say 2017 was no different.

A big pile of bright and shiny new books = justification for a book haul post!

I'm just going to go through all of the new books I received for Christmas, and discuss which ones I've been waiting a long time to own, which I'm most excited to read, and generally just which ones I'm intrigued by.

There is such a wide range of genres and styles in the pile, and a large amount of Christmas-themed books. But hey, there's nothing wrong with a mixed bag.