#booklook — Public Fediverse posts

#MurderEveryMonday Cover with a Zoo animal Elephants can Remember: Is it good?

I know, I know: my choice to this #MurderEveryMonday is probably again too obvious, but it also gives me the opportunity to talk about this book. Check Kate’s blog to know more about the hashtag.

Agatha Christie was 82 years old when she wrote Elephants Can Remember. This is the last novel she wrote with Poirot as the detective and it was published in November of 1972. Poirot’s Early Cases (1974) and Curtain (1975), both published afterwords, were written in the 1920s and 1930s, for the short stories, and for the last case of Poirot in the 1940s, the book being kept unpublished in a bank vault.

Even at the time of publication, the book received some less kind reviews, with some pointing out inconsistencies about times and ages, which quite frankly could (and should) have been avoided by the editors and publisher of the book. Still, many today consider this a lesser work, but I find several reasons to like it.

The book starts with Mrs. Ariadne Oliver going to a literary luncheon. Oliver is the alter-ego of Agatha Christie: she likes apples, she is always trying hair styles, writes crime fiction, and complains about her Finn detective, lamenting inventing him, since she doesn’t know anything about Finland. It’s always a delight to have her as a character in a book. In the first chapter, Mrs. Oliver tell us about her problems with making speeches, the questions people always ask her, the letters she receives from her readers, and how she tries to deal with all of this. And I found this a delight because it seems clear we’re given a glimpse of something Christie also struggled with and knew first hand.

At that lunch, a woman asks Mrs. Oliver if she is the godmother of Celia Ravenscroft and after corroboration, the woman continues: “Did her mother kill her father or was it the father who killed the mother?”.

And I still remember, when I first read this book (which is more than I can say for so many other books), I was as puzzled as Mrs. Oliver. I mean, why would it matter if it was the father or the mother? Why would it be so important to know? But this also tell us something about the beliefs and obsessions of the people in the past (in this case, in the 1970s). I think Agatha Christie was more observant than a talkative person, and because of that she noticed things more. And I love her books have these snippets she took from her observations: it can be something she heard someone saying, or it can be something being discussed in a newspaper, some new advance in science, something she remembers her family doing when she was a child, etc.

This is also a book about a murder in the past and deals with the people’s memory (the elephants), sometimes people remember certain things, but not others, or they remember things differently. And it’s Poirot job to make sense of all this.

I didn’t re-read this one for some time now, but I remember liking it. And now that I’ve talked about what I liked about it, I’ll be re-reading it again shortly. So, tell me, did you read Elephants Can Remember? Did you like it or not? And why?

#MurderEveryMonday Cover with a Zoo animal Elephants can Remember: Is it good?

I know, I know: my choice to this #MurderEveryMonday is probably again too obvious, but it also gives me the opportunity to talk about this book. Check Kate’s blog to know more about the hashtag.

Agatha Christie was 82 years old when she wrote Elephants Can Remember. This is the last novel she wrote with Poirot as the detective and it was published in November of 1972. Poirot’s Early Cases (1974) and Curtain (1975), both published afterwords, were written in the 1920s and 1930s, for the short stories, and for the last case of Poirot in the 1940s, the book being kept unpublished in a bank vault.

Even at the time of publication, the book received some less kind reviews, with some pointing out inconsistencies about times and ages, which quite frankly could (and should) have been avoided by the editors and publisher of the book. Still, many today consider this a lesser work, but I find several reasons to like it.

The book starts with Mrs. Ariadne Oliver going to a literary luncheon. Oliver is the alter-ego of Agatha Christie: she likes apples, she is always trying hair styles, writes crime fiction, and complains about her Finn detective, lamenting inventing him, since she doesn’t know anything about Finland. It’s always a delight to have her as a character in a book. In the first chapter, Mrs. Oliver tell us about her problems with making speeches, the questions people always ask her, the letters she receives from her readers, and how she tries to deal with all of this. And I found this a delight because it seems clear we’re given a glimpse of something Christie also struggled with and knew first hand.

At that lunch, a woman asks Mrs. Oliver if she is the godmother of Celia Ravenscroft and after corroboration, the woman continues: “Did her mother kill her father or was it the father who killed the mother?”.

And I still remember, when I first read this book (which is more than I can say for so many other books), I was as puzzled as Mrs. Oliver. I mean, why would it matter if it was the father or the mother? Why would it be so important to know? But this also tell us something about the beliefs and obsessions of the people in the past (in this case, in the 1970s). I think Agatha Christie was more observant than a talkative person, and because of that she noticed things more. And I love her books have these snippets she took from her observations: it can be something she heard someone saying, or it can be something being discussed in a newspaper, some new advance in science, something she remembers her family doing when she was a child, etc.

This is also a book about a murder in the past and deals with the people’s memory (the elephants), sometimes people remember certain things, but not others, or they remember things differently. And it’s Poirot job to make sense of all this.

I didn’t re-read this one for some time now, but I remember liking it. And now that I’ve talked about what I liked about it, I’ll be re-reading it again shortly. So, tell me, did you read Elephants Can Remember? Did you like it or not? And why?

#MurderEveryMonday Cover with a Zoo animal Elephants can Remember: Is it good?

I know, I know: my choice to this #MurderEveryMonday is probably again too obvious, but it also gives me the opportunity to talk about this book. Check Kate’s blog to know more about the hashtag.

Agatha Christie was 82 years old when she wrote Elephants Can Remember. This is the last novel she wrote with Poirot as the detective and it was published in November of 1972. Poirot’s Early Cases (1974) and Curtain (1975), both published afterwords, were written in the 1920s and 1930s, for the short stories, and for the last case of Poirot in the 1940s, the book being kept unpublished in a bank vault.

Even at the time of publication, the book received some less kind reviews, with some pointing out inconsistencies about times and ages, which quite frankly could (and should) have been avoided by the editors and publisher of the book. Still, many today consider this a lesser work, but I find several reasons to like it.

The book starts with Mrs. Ariadne Oliver going to a literary luncheon. Oliver is the alter-ego of Agatha Christie: she likes apples, she is always trying hair styles, writes crime fiction, and complains about her Finn detective, lamenting inventing him, since she doesn’t know anything about Finland. It’s always a delight to have her as a character in a book. In the first chapter, Mrs. Oliver tell us about her problems with making speeches, the questions people always ask her, the letters she receives from her readers, and how she tries to deal with all of this. And I found this a delight because it seems clear we’re given a glimpse of something Christie also struggled with and knew first hand.

At that lunch, a woman asks Mrs. Oliver if she is the godmother of Celia Ravenscroft and after corroboration, the woman continues: “Did her mother kill her father or was it the father who killed the mother?”.

And I still remember, when I first read this book (which is more than I can say for so many other books), I was as puzzled as Mrs. Oliver. I mean, why would it matter if it was the father or the mother? Why would it be so important to know? But this also tell us something about the beliefs and obsessions of the people in the past (in this case, in the 1970s). I think Agatha Christie was more observant than a talkative person, and because of that she noticed things more. And I love her books have these snippets she took from her observations: it can be something she heard someone saying, or it can be something being discussed in a newspaper, some new advance in science, something she remembers her family doing when she was a child, etc.

This is also a book about a murder in the past and deals with the people’s memory (the elephants), sometimes people remember certain things, but not others, or they remember things differently. And it’s Poirot job to make sense of all this.

I didn’t re-read this one for some time now, but I remember liking it. And now that I’ve talked about what I liked about it, I’ll be re-reading it again shortly. So, tell me, did you read Elephants Can Remember? Did you like it or not? And why?

#MurderEveryMonday Cover with a Zoo animal Elephants can Remember: Is it good?

I know, I know: my choice to this #MurderEveryMonday is probably again too obvious, but it also gives me the opportunity to talk about this book. Check Kate’s blog to know more about the hashtag.

Agatha Christie was 82 years old when she wrote Elephants Can Remember. This is the last novel she wrote with Poirot as the detective and it was published in November of 1972. Poirot’s Early Cases (1974) and Curtain (1975), both published afterwords, were written in the 1920s and 1930s, for the short stories, and for the last case of Poirot in the 1940s, the book being kept unpublished in a bank vault.

Even at the time of publication, the book received some less kind reviews, with some pointing out inconsistencies about times and ages, which quite frankly could (and should) have been avoided by the editors and publisher of the book. Still, many today consider this a lesser work, but I find several reasons to like it.

The book starts with Mrs. Ariadne Oliver going to a literary luncheon. Oliver is the alter-ego of Agatha Christie: she likes apples, she is always trying hair styles, writes crime fiction, and complains about her Finn detective, lamenting inventing him, since she doesn’t know anything about Finland. It’s always a delight to have her as a character in a book. In the first chapter, Mrs. Oliver tell us about her problems with making speeches, the questions people always ask her, the letters she receives from her readers, and how she tries to deal with all of this. And I found this a delight because it seems clear we’re given a glimpse of something Christie also struggled with and knew first hand.

At that lunch, a woman asks Mrs. Oliver if she is the godmother of Celia Ravenscroft and after corroboration, the woman continues: “Did her mother kill her father or was it the father who killed the mother?”.

And I still remember, when I first read this book (which is more than I can say for so many other books), I was as puzzled as Mrs. Oliver. I mean, why would it matter if it was the father or the mother? Why would it be so important to know? But this also tell us something about the beliefs and obsessions of the people in the past (in this case, in the 1970s). I think Agatha Christie was more observant than a talkative person, and because of that she noticed things more. And I love her books have these snippets she took from her observations: it can be something she heard someone saying, or it can be something being discussed in a newspaper, some new advance in science, something she remembers her family doing when she was a child, etc.

This is also a book about a murder in the past and deals with the people’s memory (the elephants), sometimes people remember certain things, but not others, or they remember things differently. And it’s Poirot job to make sense of all this.

I didn’t re-read this one for some time now, but I remember liking it. And now that I’ve talked about what I liked about it, I’ll be re-reading it again shortly. So, tell me, did you read Elephants Can Remember? Did you like it or not? And why?

#MurderEveryMonday Cover with a Zoo animal Elephants can Remember: Is it good?

I know, I know: my choice to this #MurderEveryMonday is probably again too obvious, but it also gives me the opportunity to talk about this book. Check Kate’s blog to know more about the hashtag.

Agatha Christie was 82 years old when she wrote Elephants Can Remember. This is the last novel she wrote with Poirot as the detective and it was published in November of 1972. Poirot’s Early Cases (1974) and Curtain (1975), both published afterwords, were written in the 1920s and 1930s, for the short stories, and for the last case of Poirot in the 1940s, the book being kept unpublished in a bank vault.

Even at the time of publication, the book received some less kind reviews, with some pointing out inconsistencies about times and ages, which quite frankly could (and should) have been avoided by the editors and publisher of the book. Still, many today consider this a lesser work, but I find several reasons to like it.

The book starts with Mrs. Ariadne Oliver going to a literary luncheon. Oliver is the alter-ego of Agatha Christie: she likes apples, she is always trying hair styles, writes crime fiction, and complains about her Finn detective, lamenting inventing him, since she doesn’t know anything about Finland. It’s always a delight to have her as a character in a book. In the first chapter, Mrs. Oliver tell us about her problems with making speeches, the questions people always ask her, the letters she receives from her readers, and how she tries to deal with all of this. And I found this a delight because it seems clear we’re given a glimpse of something Christie also struggled with and knew first hand.

At that lunch, a woman asks Mrs. Oliver if she is the godmother of Celia Ravenscroft and after corroboration, the woman continues: “Did her mother kill her father or was it the father who killed the mother?”.

And I still remember, when I first read this book (which is more than I can say for so many other books), I was as puzzled as Mrs. Oliver. I mean, why would it matter if it was the father or the mother? Why would it be so important to know? But this also tell us something about the beliefs and obsessions of the people in the past (in this case, in the 1970s). I think Agatha Christie was more observant than a talkative person, and because of that she noticed things more. And I love her books have these snippets she took from her observations: it can be something she heard someone saying, or it can be something being discussed in a newspaper, some new advance in science, something she remembers her family doing when she was a child, etc.

This is also a book about a murder in the past and deals with the people’s memory (the elephants), sometimes people remember certain things, but not others, or they remember things differently. And it’s Poirot job to make sense of all this.

I didn’t re-read this one for some time now, but I remember liking it. And now that I’ve talked about what I liked about it, I’ll be re-reading it again shortly. So, tell me, did you read Elephants Can Remember? Did you like it or not? And why?

#MurderEveryMonday Cover with a series sleuth

For today’s #MurderEvryMonday I decided to start with Miss Marple, here with The Mirror Crack’d from Side to Side and A Crime is Announced (a favorite).

Then, we continue with Lord Peter Wimsey (also a favorite). The Portuguese edition being the short story collection Lord Peter Views the Body.

And finally a depiction of Father Brown.

It’s quite interesting to see how characters are depicted in book covers and how/if they differ from our own imagination.

If you want to know more about #MurderEveryMonday check Kate Jackson’s blog, see the next themes, and share your covers using the hashtag.

#MurderEveryMonday Crime fiction cover with a village on

For today’s #MurderEveryMonday I’m sharing a cover of a book I want to read, Murder before Evensong, the first in the Canon Clement series, and a book I’ve read before (one of my 2023 favorite reads). Serpents in Eden is a short story collection with both known crime fiction authors and others less known, with extra points for the introduction by Martin Edwards. By the way, if you want to read the 1948 article The Guilty Vicarage – Notes on the detective story, by an addict by W. H. Auden, you can do so here.

Happy Birthday, Anthony Trollope! It’s Weekend, Let’s Read! & A New Series by Katie Lumsden

Anthony Trollope was born on this day in 1815. I’ve only read five novels and a short story collection. I’m on the fifth volume of Chronicles of Barsetshire and I’m loving it so much that my recommendation for this weekend goes for the first volume in the series.

The Warden – Read or download at Project Gutenberg, if you have a Kobo, I recommend the Standard Ebooks version. Librivox also has three versions in audiobook, if you prefer. It’s the smallest of the series and maybe not the most loved, but I do recommend starting with it.

If you like satirical dystopian, you can go for The Fixed Period, that I recommended before.

Katie Lumsden is making a new series about Trollope, after reading all the 47 novels and the first episode (10 Reasons to Read Anthony Trollope) is out now on her YouTube channel. I watched it yesterday and it was a delight. And although I didn’t read much Trollope yet, I can relate with all these reasons (just from the Barsetshire Chronicles).

Happy World Book Day 2026!

As a celebration of World Book Day, I finished creating itens in Wikidata for all the books and editions by Dean Street Press that I have by Elizabeth Fair. There’s a seventh one, but it seems it is more difficult to get.

This is also part of #EveryBookItsReader Wikimedia campaign, which I talked here before (you can still join in). I’m linking here the rest of the itens I created, so if you know more info about them, please go there and add it and/or correct if you see something wrong.

Landscape in Sunlight – The work and the edition

The Native Heath – The work and the edition

Seaview House – The work and the edition

The Mingham Air – The work and the edition

The Marble Staircase – The work and the edition

Elizabeth Fair has already a page on Wikipedia, if you want to improve it.

#MurderEveryMonday Crime fiction title with an evaluative adjective

When Kate reminded us of this week’s #MurderEveryMonday theme, my first thought was for H. R. F. Keating because I had noticed a pattern in some of his books:

• The Bad Detective
• The Good Detective
• The Soft Detective
• The Rich Detective

These are standalone’s and I never read anything by Keating, but I’m curious about his writing. He was president of the Detection Club between 1985 and 2000. I do have two related books in my immediate TBR: Agatha Christie: First Lady of Crime, essays edited by him, and The Verdict of Us All – edited by Peter Lovesey, a collection of short stories by The Detection Club’s members in honour of Keating’s 80th birthday, which include before each work a memory or contact these writers had of H.R.F. Keating.

#MurderEveryMonday Crime fiction title with an evaluative adjective

When Kate reminded us of this week’s #MurderEveryMonday theme, my first thought was for H. R. F. Keating because I had noticed a pattern in some of his books:

• The Bad Detective
• The Good Detective
• The Soft Detective
• The Rich Detective

These are standalone’s and I never read anything by Keating, but I’m curious about his writing. He was president of the Detection Club between 1985 and 2000. I do have two related books in my immediate TBR: Agatha Christie: First Lady of Crime, essays edited by him, and The Verdict of Us All – edited by Peter Lovesey, a collection of short stories by The Detection Club’s members in honour of Keating’s 80th birthday, which include before each work a memory or contact these writers had of H.R.F. Keating.

#MurderEveryMonday Crime fiction title with an evaluative adjective

When Kate reminded us of this week’s #MurderEveryMonday theme, my first thought was for H. R. F. Keating because I had noticed a pattern in some of his books:

• The Bad Detective
• The Good Detective
• The Soft Detective
• The Rich Detective

These are standalone’s and I never read anything by Keating, but I’m curious about his writing. He was president of the Detection Club between 1985 and 2000. I do have two related books in my immediate TBR: Agatha Christie: First Lady of Crime, essays edited by him, and The Verdict of Us All – edited by Peter Lovesey, a collection of short stories by The Detection Club’s members in honour of Keating’s 80th birthday, which include before each work a memory or contact these writers had of H.R.F. Keating.

#MurderEveryMonday Crime fiction title with an evaluative adjective

When Kate reminded us of this week’s #MurderEveryMonday theme, my first thought was for H. R. F. Keating because I had noticed a pattern in some of his books:

• The Bad Detective
• The Good Detective
• The Soft Detective
• The Rich Detective

These are standalone’s and I never read anything by Keating, but I’m curious about his writing. He was president of the Detection Club between 1985 and 2000. I do have two related books in my immediate TBR: Agatha Christie: First Lady of Crime, essays edited by him, and The Verdict of Us All – edited by Peter Lovesey, a collection of short stories by The Detection Club’s members in honour of Keating’s 80th birthday, which include before each work a memory or contact these writers had of H.R.F. Keating.

#MurderEveryMonday Crime fiction title with an evaluative adjective

When Kate reminded us of this week’s #MurderEveryMonday theme, my first thought was for H. R. F. Keating because I had noticed a pattern in some of his books:

• The Bad Detective
• The Good Detective
• The Soft Detective
• The Rich Detective

These are standalone’s and I never read anything by Keating, but I’m curious about his writing. He was president of the Detection Club between 1985 and 2000. I do have two related books in my immediate TBR: Agatha Christie: First Lady of Crime, essays edited by him, and The Verdict of Us All – edited by Peter Lovesey, a collection of short stories by The Detection Club’s members in honour of Keating’s 80th birthday, which include before each work a memory or contact these writers had of H.R.F. Keating.

#MurderEveryMonday A special edition

Today’s #MurderEveryMonday is a title with a word that starts with the letter Q. I’m hoping I can use the title in Portuguese for this one, because it is the perfect excuse to tell you about a special edition, that is not much known.

The book chosen is The Floating Admiral, which title was translated to Portuguese as Quem Matou o Almirante?

The story was written by the members of The Detection Club and in a round-robin format, meaning each author would write a chapter to continue the story without knowing how it would go. The publishers of the Colecção Vampiro, a book collection I’ve been talking about in this blog, decided to published this book when the collection reached 500 volumes in March of 1989. But besides the regular edition that follows the design of the other volumes in the collection, they also decided to publish a special limited and numbered edition in a totally different design. This is bigger book, it’s a paperback, but has a dust jacket with the title and the logo (the bat) of the collection embossed in. It is also printed in a much better and thicker paper. Both volumes have a list of all the titles published in the collection up to number 500 and their date of publication (I’m always forgetting this resource!).

#BookLook #books #ColecçãoVampiro #CrimeFiction #readings #TheDetectionClub

It’s Weekend, Let’s Read: Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen

Pride and Prejudice was first published on 28th of January of 1813 and is one of my (and so many others) favorite novels of all time. If you never read it, do not go thinking it is a love story. Well, it’s kind of, but it’s so much more: It’s a comedy of manners and social criticism.

“I must confess that I think her as delightful a creature as ever appeared in print, and how I shall be able to tolerate those who do not like her at least I do not know.“
Jane Austen in a letter to her sister Cassandra on the 29th of January of 1823

Elizabeth Bennet is one of my favourite characters: she is intelligent, witty, has no problems to recognise she was mistaken, but also she embodies women independence and resistance. We can see this when she decides to walk to Netherfield, instead of waiting for the carriage, to check on her sister or, when in Rosings, Elizabeth is playing the piano and says to Mr. Darcy:

“My fingers,” said Elizabeth, “do not move over this instrument in the masterly manner which I see so many women’s do. They have not the same force or rapidity, and do not produce the same expression. But then I have always supposed it to be my own fault—because I would not take the trouble of practising. It is not that I do not believe my fingers as capable as any other woman’s of superior execution.”

There are many editions of Pride & Prejudice, some with introductions or annotated that give more insights on the text, but if you want to read it right now, head over to Project Gutenberg that has the edition with the illustrations by Hugh Thomson. You can read it or download it here.

#BookLook #books #ClassicBooks #JaneAusten #Policiais #PrideAndPrejudice #readings

Extra comfort for election day #reading

Today is election day in Portugal and the future seems quite dark, asking for extra comfort and minimising anxiety.

I’ve been re-reading Dorothy L. Sayers’ Lord Peter, which is who one thinks is a good friend. The books are also funny and, most important,  things are cleared and end well (considering this is crime fiction :-)).

I started this re-read last year and after the first volume, read other books (I’m doing the same re-read with Austen and the Brontes), but after reading the second in the series, I can’t put them down and I’m starting the next as soon as I finish one. I’m now almost at the end of The unpleasantness at the Bellona Club and have the next in order of publication ready, which is Lord Peter views the body (12 short stories).

I’m also adding a spicy rooibos hot tea (it’s so cold here, both outside and inside!) and watching/listening one of the lovely Ali channels (go there and check both of her YouTube channels, I find her content so comforting!) while I’m reading.

#BookSeries #BookLook #ClassicCrimeFiction #DorothyLSayers #LordPeterWimsey #reading

Extra comfort for election day #reading

Today is election day in Portugal and the future seems quite dark, asking for extra comfort and minimising anxiety.

I’ve been re-reading Dorothy L. Sayers’ Lord Peter, which is who one thinks is a good friend. The books are also funny and, most important,  things are cleared and end well (considering this is crime fiction :-)).

I started this re-read last year and after the first volume, read other books (I’m doing the same re-read with Austen and the Brontes), but after reading the second in the series, I can’t put them down and I’m starting the next as soon as I finish one. I’m now almost at the end of The unpleasantness at the Bellona Club and have the next in order of publication ready, which is Lord Peter views the body (12 short stories).

I’m also adding a spicy rooibos hot tea (it’s so cold here, both outside and inside!) and watching/listening one of the lovely Ali channels (go there and check both of her YouTube channels, I find her content so comforting!) while I’m reading.

#BookSeries #BookLook #ClassicCrimeFiction #DorothyLSayers #LordPeterWimsey #reading

Extra comfort for election day #reading

Today is election day in Portugal and the future seems quite dark, asking for extra comfort and minimising anxiety.

I’ve been re-reading Dorothy L. Sayers’ Lord Peter, which is who one thinks is a good friend. The books are also funny and, most important,  things are cleared and end well (considering this is crime fiction :-)).

I started this re-read last year and after the first volume, read other books (I’m doing the same re-read with Austen and the Brontes), but after reading the second in the series, I can’t put them down and I’m starting the next as soon as I finish one. I’m now almost at the end of The unpleasantness at the Bellona Club and have the next in order of publication ready, which is Lord Peter views the body (12 short stories).

I’m also adding a spicy rooibos hot tea (it’s so cold here, both outside and inside!) and watching/listening one of the lovely Ali channels (go there and check both of her YouTube channels, I find her content so comforting!) while I’m reading.

#BookSeries #BookLook #ClassicCrimeFiction #DorothyLSayers #LordPeterWimsey #reading

Extra comfort for election day #reading

Today is election day in Portugal and the future seems quite dark, asking for extra comfort and minimising anxiety.

I’ve been re-reading Dorothy L. Sayers’ Lord Peter, which is who one thinks is a good friend. The books are also funny and, most important,  things are cleared and end well (considering this is crime fiction :-)).

I started this re-read last year and after the first volume, read other books (I’m doing the same re-read with Austen and the Brontes), but after reading the second in the series, I can’t put them down and I’m starting the next as soon as I finish one. I’m now almost at the end of The unpleasantness at the Bellona Club and have the next in order of publication ready, which is Lord Peter views the body (12 short stories).

I’m also adding a spicy rooibos hot tea (it’s so cold here, both outside and inside!) and watching/listening one of the lovely Ali channels (go there and check both of her YouTube channels, I find her content so comforting!) while I’m reading.

#BookSeries #BookLook #ClassicCrimeFiction #DorothyLSayers #LordPeterWimsey #reading

Extra comfort for election day #reading

Today is election day in Portugal and the future seems quite dark, asking for extra comfort and minimising anxiety.

I’ve been re-reading Dorothy L. Sayers’ Lord Peter, which is who one thinks is a good friend. The books are also funny and, most important,  things are cleared and end well (considering this is crime fiction :-)).

I started this re-read last year and after the first volume, read other books (I’m doing the same re-read with Austen and the Brontes), but after reading the second in the series, I can’t put them down and I’m starting the next as soon as I finish one. I’m now almost at the end of The unpleasantness at the Bellona Club and have the next in order of publication ready, which is Lord Peter views the body (12 short stories).

I’m also adding a spicy rooibos hot tea (it’s so cold here, both outside and inside!) and watching/listening one of the lovely Ali channels (go there and check both of her YouTube channels, I find her content so comforting!) while I’m reading.

#BookSeries #BookLook #ClassicCrimeFiction #DorothyLSayers #LordPeterWimsey #reading

#MurderEveryMonday Crime Fiction Novel made into a film

For today’s #MurderEveryMonday I’m choosing two of my favourite book adaptations into a film:

• Witness for the Prosecution by Billy Wilder (with Marlene Dietrich) from 1957
• And Then There Were None by Rene Clair from 1945

Check Kate’s blog to know more about the hashtag and share your covers.

#BookLook #books #ColecçãoVampiro #CrimeFiction #livros #MurderEveryMonday #Policiais #readings

Happy #PublicDomain Day 2026 – Crime Fiction Edition

We celebrate Public Domain Day every 1st of January. Although copyright is important, Public Domain is paramount for creativity and access: not only Public Domain constitutes an important pool from where new authors can create new works, but also is an opportunity to publish long forgotten works. I’m considering the copyright term as life + 70 years, since that is the copyright term in Portugal and in most of European countries.

Cyril Alington (1872- 1955) – List of works at Wikipedia

Joseph Jefferson Farjeon (1883 – 1955) – List of works at Wikipedia

Benjamin Hawkins Dean (1892 – 1955) – List of works at GADetection

Elisabeth Sanxay Holding (1889–1955) – List of works at Wikipedia

Horace Annesley Vachell (1861 – 1955) – List of works at GADetection

Jean Fiolle (1884 – 1955) – One only crime fiction work, reference at Wikipedia (in French)

W. H. Eemlandt (1889 – 1955) – List of works at Wikipedia (in Dutch)

#BookLook #books #CrimeFiction #livros #publicDomain #readings

#MurderEveryMonday title hints to something not visible

Today’s #MurderEveryMonday is a “crime fiction title which hints that something has disappeared or is not visible”.

I went through my shelves and the majority of books I could find were about someone disappearing, instead of something, but I decided to go with it.

My first thought went to The Invisible Host by Gwen Bristol and Bruce Manning, published in 1930, with a close setting where people start dying. Later, Agatha Christie worked the same idea for And Then There Were None. Loved both books, and I thank Dean Street Press (check the link to see their crime fiction titles) to republished the Host so we could read it today. Do you know other books with a similar idea? Let me know in the comments, I would love to read them.

My second thought was The Moving Toyshop by Edmund Crispin because while maybe “moving” doesn’t hint to a disappearance, the blurb at the back is very clear: this toyshop vanishes during the night. How and why would a toyshop vanish? Read the book, it’s a good one and the Oxford Professor Gervase Fen is on the case. It’s also the only book that hints at something instead of someone.

Then, I thought of “Poirot loses a Client” (the book in the middle, same title both in Portuguese and American English). Mainly because this Christie Portuguese publisher used already made translations from Brazil, back in the 1950/60s, probably cheaper than to get a translation from scratch, and I also have this idea that Brazil would use the American editions to translate, maybe because they were closer and was easier to negotiate with the American publishers than with the UK ones. But this one is the UK’s Dumb’s Witness. And it reminded me that John Curran published in his Secret Notebooks, for the first time, a similar short story that was later found in Agatha Christie papers, called The Incident of the Dog’s Ball (albeit the culprit is different).

You know I love Poirot, but it does seem he’s a little bit careless sometimes with this thing of loosing clients. And while the titles don’t hint at it, it also happens in the short stories A Cornish Mystery and How does Your Garden Grow?, both from the Poirot’s Early Cases (first book in the photo) and also in the novel Murder on the Links.

Someone engages Poirot to look into or do something and then, they’re gone. Where did his clients go or why? I’m not spilling it. Read the books :-)

Finally, I found The Phantom Lady by William Irish that starts with a man talking to a woman in a bar, without catching her name. When he returns home something happens and then he needs to find the woman of the bar to do something, but she vanished.

The Raymond Chandler one is translated as A Woman was Lost, and is in fact Farewell, My Lovely. With Chandler, I’m never sure if I know Philip Marlowe (the detective) from the movies, the old time radio shows, or the books. This is the melancholic, cynic, private eye, whiskey, guns, and the femme fatale. If you like the sub-genre hardboiled, Chandler is always a good option.

#BookLook #books #ColecçãoVampiro #CrimeFiction #livros #MurderEveryMonday #Policiais

It’s Weekend, Let’s Read: Anthony Trollope’s Christmas Stories #PublicDomain #Books

You know I have been reading the Barset Novels (loving them) and I have also read recently The Fixed Period (loved it), so my recommendation for this weekend is again works by Anthony Trollope that I intend to read and you can also read right here, right now.

According with the The Trollope Society, Anthony Trollope has eight stories related to Christmas and I’m making a list here and try to find them online so you can also read them.

• Catherine Carmichael; Or Three Years Running
  I only found this story in a pdf format which is not very good to read on a mobile or ereader so last year I transformed the pdf into an epub, corrected the typos, and made it available here, where you can read it on the browser or choose to download the epub format.

• Christmas At Thompson Hall
• Christmas Day At Kirkby Cottage
• The Mistletoe Bough
• The Two Generals
• The Two Heroines of Plumplington
• The Widow’s Mite
  These six works can be found at Standard Ebooks. You can download the whole ebook here or go through the table of contents and choose the stories you want to read directly on the browser. The only story that is not a short story is The Two Heroines… that has around 100 pages

• Not if I Know it
  I couldn’t find this short available online without restrictions, I will be continuing my search and update this post accordingly. If you know where we can find it online and accessible by anyone, do add it in the comments. Trollope’s works are in public domain.

The book in the photo does not have three of the stories: Catherine Carmichael; The Two Heroines of Plumplington; The Widow’s Mite.

#AmReading #AnthonyTrollope #BookLook #books #ChristmasBooks #ChristmasShortStories #livros #publicDomain #readings #ShortStories

Jane Austen 250th Anniversary

Today marks 250 years from Jane Austen‘s birth. She one of my all time favourite writers. Because her work is in public domain you can read all her books right now from Project Gutenberg. If you want to read them in order of publication, you can follow this post on this blog.

Happy birthday, Jane!

#BookLook #books #JaneAusten #livros #publicDomain #readings

#MurderEveryMonday Crime fiction with a clock on the cover

For today’s #MurderEveryMonday I found many clocks on the cover. The Verdict of Us All was a recent second hand find. These are short stories by members of The Detection Club in honour of HRF Keating. I have a list of The Detection Club works here and I’m determined to read them all. The problem is it is quite difficult to find some of the older titles so I was really happy to find this one. I’m saving it to read at the end of the year.

Thrones, Dominations is one of the books Jill Patton Walsh wrote to continue the Lord Peter Wimsey books by Dorothy L. Sayers. I’ve read these books a long time ago, but I think I liked them. I’m re-reading Sayers books by publication order and will get to these again.

The only thing I know about Joel Townsley Rogers (The stopped Clock in the photo) is that he is an American writer.

The Case of the Buried Clock by Erle Stanley Gardner is a Perry Mason one. Can’t remember if I read this one, but I always liked his books.

Finally, in this series with clock on the cover and clock on the title (both in English and in Portuguese), I found The Talking Clock by Frank Gruber. I associate Gruber with the American hard-boiled crime fiction., so not very curious to read it.

I had to add some Agatha Christie’s. The Clocks (in an English and Portuguese edition) is not very well known, but it’s an example of Hercule Point being challenged to solve a murder from his armchair, as he sometimes claims it is possible.

I also add The Seven Dials Mystery (The Mystery of the Seven Clocks in Portuguese) because clocks play a role in the story and with The Mystery of Chimneys, from which it gets some characters, including Superintendent Battle, have a special space in my favourite shelves.

From these, I can recommend Christie’s The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, probably and rightly one of the most known Christie’s Poirot books. I also like Ellery Queen (Sherlock Holmes against Jack the Ripper, Portuguese title of A Study in Terror) and Edgar Wallace (Room 13).

Never read Magdalen Nabb. The book, Some Bitter Taste, occurs in Florence, Italy, and I could give it a go.

One of the things I like more about this hashtag is that not only I find books by others sharing their covers, but sometimes I find authors I didn’t know I had in my collections. Anders Bodelsen was a Danish writer and since I usually tend to read British writers, I’m putting this Think of a Number on my TBR.

If you want to share your covers, go to Kate Jackson’s blog to know the themes for each Monday here. Share them on your blog or social media of your choice and don’t forget to put the hashtag #MurderEveryMonday.

#BookLook #books #ColecçãoVampiro #CrimeFiction #livros #Policiais

#MurderEveryMonday “the man” or “the woman” in the title

Today’s #MurderEveryMonday theme is “the men” or “the woman” in the title. I went through the Portuguese collection Vampiro to find all the titles. We have more men than women. I’m considering the titles in Portuguese, and when different I will write the original title. Also all the titles in Portuguese have “the man” (o homem) or “the woman” (a mulher) as you can see from the photos, but when translating the Portuguese titles into English we must change the order of the words, so it makes sense.

• The powerful man – Michael Spillane (original title: The Deep)
• The man in the bed number 10 – Mary R. Rinehart (original title: The man in lower 10) – read it and liked it
• The sinister man – Edgar Wallace – read and liked it
• Maigret and the man from the bench – Georges Simenon (Maigret et L’Homme du banc) – favourite cover by the artist Lima de Freitas, not sure if I read this one, but usually like Simenon and recommend
• The shadow man – Dashiell Hammett (original title: The thin man)
• Maigret and the man with two women – Georges Simenon (original title: Liberty Bar)
• Maigret and the solitary men – Georges Simenon (original title: Maigret et L’Homme tout seul)

The man in the brown suit and The man in lower 10 were the first titles I remember could do for today’s hashtag. This book by Agatha Christie is not her usually murder mystery, but it is more on the side of adventure novels and I also like she borrowed from her trip with the British Empire Expedition.

There is less “the woman” in the collection.

• Maigret and the vanished woman – Georges Simenon (original title: Chez les flamands)
• The quiet woman – Harry Carmichael (I have read this author as Hartley Howard and liked it, I’m curious about this one. Real name: Leopold Ognall)
• The phantom woman – William Irish (original title: The phantom lady. Read this one a long time ago and liked it)
• The woman that was not missed – Dorothy Simpson (original title: Dead and gone. Can’t remember if I ever read Simpson, although the name rings a bell).

Back to your covers. If you want to participate in #MurderEveryMonday check Kate’s post here.

#AgathaChristie #BookLook #books #classicCrime #ColecçãoVampiro #CrimeFiction #GeorgesSimenon #MurderEveryMonday #readings

#MurderEveryMonday Cover with a bus

For today’s #MurderEveryMonday cover of a crime fiction book with a bus, I didn’t have many covers, but thought London would never disappoint and it didn’t!

The Portuguese edition is At Betram’s Hotel, a Miss Marple book by Agatha Christie, which I love and have been re-reading over the years. The title is translated to Portuguese as “Mystery in Luxury Hotel” and in this one Miss Marple goes to Bertram’s, an hotel she stayed in when she was 14 years old with her aunt and uncle. Bertram’s seems to have stopped in time. Again, Miss Marple gathers her down to earth wisdom and acute observation to solve the mystery.

Janet Morgan, the official biographer of Christie, uses correspondence between Agatha Christie and her literary agent, Edmund Cork, to argue Bertram’s seems to have been modelled after the Flemings Mayfair Hotel.

I also loved Gilbert’s book, with its writing and its setting in a law firm and an original way of hiding a corpse, that would never have crossed my mind.

#MurderEveryMonday is an hashtag created by Kate Jackson from Cross Examining Crime and anyone can participate via their social networks. Kate in on Twitter and Instagram, and you can find the themes of each Monday in her blog here. She recently opened up a Patreon, so if you can support her, you can go here and see the extras you can get.

Besides Twitter and Instagram, I also have been participating on my Mastodon and Bluesky, but I find those types of social are more ephemerous, so I thought I would try using this blog.

#AgathaChristie #BookLook #books #ColecçãoVampiro #CrimeFiction #MichaelGilbert #MurderEveryMonday #Policiais #readings

It’s Weekend, Let’s read: Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery

““Oh, Marilla,” she exclaimed one Saturday morning, coming dancing in with her arms full of gorgeous boughs, “I’m so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers. It would be terrible if we just skipped from September to November, wouldn’t it? Look at these maple branches. Don’t they give you a thrill—several thrills? I’m going to decorate my room with them.””

A favorite season asks for a favorite reading. The ‘ber months are indeed my favorites and I wouldn’t want to skip any of them.

You can read Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery right here, right now from Project Gutenberg.

Have a wonderful and nature colorful weekend!

#AnneOfGreenGables #bookCollection #BookLook #books #livros #publicDomain #readings

It’s Weekend, Let’s read: Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery

““Oh, Marilla,” she exclaimed one Saturday morning, coming dancing in with her arms full of gorgeous boughs, “I’m so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers. It would be terrible if we just skipped from September to November, wouldn’t it? Look at these maple branches. Don’t they give you a thrill—several thrills? I’m going to decorate my room with them.””

A favorite season asks for a favorite reading. The ‘ber months are indeed my favorites and I wouldn’t want to skip any of them.

You can read Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery right here, right now from Project Gutenberg.

Have a wonderful and nature colorful weekend!

#AnneOfGreenGables #bookCollection #BookLook #books #livros #publicDomain #readings

It’s Weekend, Let’s read: Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery

““Oh, Marilla,” she exclaimed one Saturday morning, coming dancing in with her arms full of gorgeous boughs, “I’m so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers. It would be terrible if we just skipped from September to November, wouldn’t it? Look at these maple branches. Don’t they give you a thrill—several thrills? I’m going to decorate my room with them.””

A favorite season asks for a favorite reading. The ‘ber months are indeed my favorites and I wouldn’t want to skip any of them.

You can read Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery right here, right now from Project Gutenberg.

Have a wonderful and nature colorful weekend!

#AnneOfGreenGables #bookCollection #BookLook #books #livros #publicDomain #readings

It’s Weekend, Let’s read: Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery

““Oh, Marilla,” she exclaimed one Saturday morning, coming dancing in with her arms full of gorgeous boughs, “I’m so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers. It would be terrible if we just skipped from September to November, wouldn’t it? Look at these maple branches. Don’t they give you a thrill—several thrills? I’m going to decorate my room with them.””

A favorite season asks for a favorite reading. The ‘ber months are indeed my favorites and I wouldn’t want to skip any of them.

You can read Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery right here, right now from Project Gutenberg.

Have a wonderful and nature colorful weekend!

#AnneOfGreenGables #bookCollection #BookLook #books #livros #publicDomain #readings

It’s Weekend, Let’s read: Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery

““Oh, Marilla,” she exclaimed one Saturday morning, coming dancing in with her arms full of gorgeous boughs, “I’m so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers. It would be terrible if we just skipped from September to November, wouldn’t it? Look at these maple branches. Don’t they give you a thrill—several thrills? I’m going to decorate my room with them.””

A favorite season asks for a favorite reading. The ‘ber months are indeed my favorites and I wouldn’t want to skip any of them.

You can read Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery right here, right now from Project Gutenberg.

Have a wonderful and nature colorful weekend!

#AnneOfGreenGables #bookCollection #BookLook #books #livros #publicDomain #readings

Agatha Christie’s 135th Birthday

A post to mark the 135th birthday anniversary of Agatha Christie. If you want a peek at the official centenary book (pictured), I made a short video. I believe it’s possible to still find it second hand.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/VCtWMNgkC44

#AgathaChristie #BookLook #books #CrimeFiction #readings

Food and plants from books

Gina from Babs Beloved Books shared recently (on Instagram) a book haul and specifically the book The Anne of Green Gables Treasure. I remembered making one of the recipes of this book. Spoiler alert: the shortbread is delicious. Around the same time, I also made the raspberry cordial, but it’s not in this book, I must have found the recipe elsewhere online.

I’d never had shortbread or raspberry cordial before and at the time it was not something you could buy at the store in Portugal. This also made me think that sometimes I make recipes because I want to know how they taste.

That was the case of orange marmalade. The first time I read about it there was no mention of orange, but a character in A pocket full of rye by Agatha Christie takes a spoon of marmalade from a jar and spreads it on a toast. And this was strange for me, because here we slice the marmalade, it’s not easily spreadable. And we don’t make marmalade from oranges, but from quinces. And of course, Paddington also loves orange marmalade. Are there other literary references?

So I decided to give it a go and see how it would taste. I found several recipes online, but after making it some times I changed it a little bit. I use less sugar, but I sterilise the jars before and boiled them until vacuum after filling them. I also make it at the beginning of the year when oranges are not sweet. I shared the recipe on this blog before, if you want to take a look, but in Portuguese.

Another recipe is Madeira cake. I can’t recall a literary reference, but I read many United Kingdom authors, and this is a cake that was much used in 19th century in the UK. The fact is that it got my attention: Madeira is a Portuguese island and indeed has a tradicional cake, but nothing like this one. Searching a little more, I found that the cake is called Madeira because it used to be served with a glass of Madeira wine (which is indeed from Madeira island). I also shared the recipe before here (also in Portuguese), I can’t tell where I got it (maybe BBC Good Food?). I usually take recipes, make them a few times, and if they’re good than share them, but by that time, I really can’t tell where I got them and most of the times I’ve change them anyway (recipes do not have copyright, phew!).

Then there were sweet peas. I have heard about them and their strong scent, but never saw any. Mrs. Dalloway had them in bowls “tinged violet, snow white, pale—as if it were the evening and girls in muslin frocks came out to pick sweet peas and roses after the superb summer’s day”. So when I saw seeds in a store I decided to give them a grow, some came out and they do have a lovely scent.

Now, tell me: do you also make recipes or sow plants that you read about to know how they taste, look, or for their scent? If you shared them before, put the link in the comments so I can read them, or share the recipe in the comments.

#BookLook #books #fiction #MadeiraCake #OrangeMarmalade #readings #Recipes #RecipesFromBooks #SweetPeas #VirginiaWoolf

It’s Weekend, Let’s Read: The Secret Garden #ProjectGutenberg #PublicDomain

Today I’m sharing a book that it is widely known, but I never read it, can you believe it? The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett.

The story is about Mary Lennox that is sent to live with her uncle in a manor house in the Yorkshire Moors. There’s a locked walled garden and a secret about it (not a spoiler, it’s in the title).

You can download an illustrated edition from Project Gutenberg right here, right now.

If you are also going through a hell of a heatwave like we’re having, maybe reading about a garden helps. Have a wonderful and relaxed weekend full of reading.

#BookLook #books #ClassicBooks #FrancesHodgsonBurnett #readings #TheSecretGarden #WeekendReadings

Bookish Crochet: ereader cover

I’ve made an ereader sleeve in crochet before (you can check my post here), but with wool, not very comfortable for Summer, so I decided to make another one in cotton.

Recently, I was looking at patterns for wash or dish cloths (a good way to reduced plastic at home, just make sure the yarn is 100% cotton) and found the Cottage pattern by Sarah from Rich Textures Crochet on YouTube. It’s an easy and quick, but beautiful pattern that uses a puff stitch, giving some padding to the ereader. You can make it in a square or rectangle and any size, you’ll just need the foundation cord to be a multiple of 3 + 2. Check Sarah’s video, she guides you through the whole process and if you prefer written patterns, you can go to Sarah’s website here.

So, I thought if I made two, then I could stitch them together and had a sleeve for the ereader.

It fits perfectly, but I probably should have made one or two more rows so I could sew a button. I can still add a strap if I feel it needs it, but for now the ereader doesn’t come off by its own. Sarah adds a stunning border with a picot, but I thought I would sew them with a simple crochet.

#BookLook #books #Crafts #Crochet #ereader #ereaderCover #ereaderSleeve #Technology

It’s Friday, Let’s Read: catalogs & books

Last month, Allie Alvis (Book Historia on social media, check her website) shared two catalogs, from the Winterthur Library, that anyone can access at Internet Archive.

One is an illustrated catalog on revolving bookcases:

Danner’s revolving book cases (1884?)

I started to search for “bookcases” at Internet Archive between 1890 and 1910 and you can also go down that rabbit hole: you’ll find long gone patents about the construction of bookshelves and even magazines with advice, like Work. If you don’t restrict by date, you can also find manuals you can borrow to also learn how to build bookcases (didn’t find a revolving one, though). From here to writing desks, like the ones used in Jane Austen’s time, and reading stands is a small step. This is quite dangerous since soon enough you’ll be thinking about buying some wood and DIY.

The other is precisely a catalog of reading stands (we now have them for ereaders, with remote control):

Holloway reading stand and dictionary holder (1892?)

And since we’re talking about books and bookcases, I’m adding to the pile two books from Project Gutenberg you can read right here, right now:

Gossip in the library by Edmund Gosse (1891). LibriVox also has the audiobook and you can read about Gosse at Wikipedia. In this collection of essays, Gosse goes through several books to talk about libraries and book collectors. You can also head to Internet Archive to check some of those books like The Herbal or General History of Plants (1633).

“Such a man is liable to great temptations. He is brought face to face with that enemy of his species, the borrower, and dares not speak with him in the gate. If he had a book-plate he would say, “Oh! certainly I will lend you this volume, if it has not my book-plate in it; of course, one makes a rule never to lend a book that has.” He would say this, and feign to look inside the volume, knowing right well that this safeguard against the borrower is there already. To have a book-plate gives a collector great serenity and self-confidence.” – Edmund Gosse

The private library, what we do know, what we don’t know, what we ought to know about our books by Arthur L. Humphreys (1897)

And I must say this is a favorite: Humphreys goes through all the aspects of creating a library. From what is a good edition to the art of reading, but also talks about the care of books and their classification, without forgetting bookcases: “The chief faults of bookcases arise from their being designed and made by men who have never used a book.”

Have a wonderful reading weekend!

#ArthurLHumphreys #BookCollectors #Bookcases #BookLook #books #Bookshelves #catalogs #EdmundGosse #fiction #libraries #Library #OldBooks #PrivateLibrary #publicDomain #reading #ReadingStands #revolvingBookcases #writing

#BookReview Dear Miss Lake by A. J. Pearce (out 3rd of July)

This is the fourth and last instalment of Dear Mrs. Bird series, by A. J. Pearce, that is set during the World War II in the UK.

I have been reading the series since the first book, when Emily wants to be a war correspondent and finds herself working for a “problems/advice column” in a women’s magazine. It was a delight to be with these beloved characters again.

In this book (as in the others), you will cry, and you will laugh, but for me the most important is that it will also seed hope in your heart. I loved how the characters get together to solve problems, in an horrible circumstance like a war, and really help each other. Not only because that’s how literally you solve problems, but looking at our times that’s something we also need to re-learn urgently.

Pearce consulted women’s magazines from that era and interviewed women that still remembered the war time and that research work shows. Both in language and writing style, but also in the characterisation of the personages: you will be easily attached to them. I was very impressed by a scene where soldiers ask the reporter to print their name in the magazine, so their families knew they were alive: in the 60s/70s my country sent soldiers to a war and we have tv recordings of soldiers forming a queue to the camera to say Merry Christmas so their families back home could see them. So journalists and journalism also had this function.

I also found very insightful how the government was interest and worried about what woman magazines would publish and how our characters reacted and deal with those pressures.

I think you can read this book as a standalone, but I really recommend to get the four volumes and start from the beginning. I know, and understand, many readers are sad this is the last book, but I’m hoping Pearce has more stories to tell and more characters for us to attach to.

(I was given an ARC from NetGalley).

#readings #books #BookLook #BookReview #BookReviews #fiction #AJPearce #WWII #historicalFiction

#BookReview The Piazza Murders by Michael Jecks (out 1st July)

The third instalment of The Art of Murder is out on 1st of July and takes you to Italy.

Nick Morris is an artist and amateur sleuth. This time he goes to Italy to teach a course to a group of people that decided to take the art retreat. Of course, there are murders, which Morris starts to investigate. At the same time there is a literary festival in the city with authors and publicists getting involved, meaning that you get themes about books, publishers, and publishing industry, which I never say no to 🙂 (you also get themes about pens, drawing, painting, as expected :-)).

Each of the people in the art group is different and has their own story, specific situation, reasons for being there, and I liked the way we get to know them throughout the first part.

I found the descriptions of the place and Italian atmosphere (monuments, buildings, cafes, streets) stunning. I was quite impressed how easy it was to imerse myself into the place, and in this sense it was perfect for an “escapism reading” which I love.

It was a quick read, I wanted to know what would happen next and there are several twists and turns, including one of my favorites: when a character views a certain situation in a certain angle and we, the readers, start to suspect it is exactly the opposite and makes us want to warn/tell that character. I always find this type of scene quite satisfying in a book, maybe because it’s a time when we know a little more than the characters? I didn’t guess the murderer, though, which is good. Although, now that I think of it, the author gives you a hint in the beginning, but skillfully turns you away from it 🙂

Albeit in a series, I think the book reads as a standalone. It also made me want to read the first two, it seeems the second in the series has a manor house in the English countryside, which is one of my favorite settings for murder.

Michael Jecks is a member of The Detection Club and you can check his website for info on his other books here, he also has a YouTube channel, where he talks about his books, but also about all forms of stationery, and which I really recommend following.

The Piazza Murders is published by Severn House and it will be out on 1st of July.

(I got an ARC from NetGalley).

#BookReview #BookReviews #BookLook #books #CrimeFiction #DetectiveFiction #fiction #ItalianSetting #Italy #MichaelJecks #Mystery #NewBook #readings #TheArtOfMurder

It’s Friday, Let’s Read: Three Men in a Boat (To Say Nothing of the Dog)

Three Men in a Boat (To Say Nothing of the Dog) by Jerome K. Jerome follows three friends (and their dog) in a boating trip on the Thames, full of adventures and misadventures and much humour. If you need a lighthearted, funny reading, it’s this one.

You can read it right now whatever the device you’re using by downloading the book at Project Gutenberg.

#BookLook #books #JeromeKJerome #livros #publicDomain #readings #Thames #Victorian #VictorianLiterature

100 years today of Mrs. Dalloway and you can read it right now thanks to Project Gutenberg and Librivox

Mrs. Dalloway (Wikipedia link) by Virginia Woolf was published on 14 May 1925.

You can read the book on Project Gutenberg or if you prefer audio on Librivox.

The book originated from two short stories, and you can also find the finished one, Mrs Dalloway in Bond Street, at Gutenberg.

#BookLook #books #Classics #literature #London #Mrs #MrsDalloway #publicDomain #readings #VirginiaWoolf

Bookish crochet

One of my favourite crochet things to do is a granny square, I thing they are really versatile. They are quick to make, and then you can joined them together in what form you want. One can make a cover for a mobile phone, using a thicker yarn we can make a cover for a tablet, or a paper book cover.

But sometimes, at the end of the day, one is a little bit tired to follow a more complex pattern, so recently I try a more simple approach: making a chain with the wanted size, and then making double crochets on the back loop of the previous row, which gives it some texture.

I’ve tried fingerless gloves, a sleeve for an ereader, and a sleeve for books or notebooks to which I added a pocket. And it’s really simple: you just need to know how to make a chain, a double crochet, and a simple crochet (to join it).

#BookCover #BookSleeves #BookLook #books #Crafts #Crochet #diy #grannySquares #livros #PhoneSleeve