Oh, I Do Like To Die Beside The Seaside

Some of you will have seen my post of 15th April explaining my recent absences from the blog and my promise to do better. I should have added a caveat that things will continue to be a little erratic until the beginning of June, while I recover from all that has been going on. 

But I am still getting out and doing some stuff and last Thursday evening (23rd April), my wing woman Lynsey Linn @booksbybindu & I set off for Helensburgh for a Noir at the Bar at the seaside.

It was a beautiful, sunny evening and the view from the front of the venue, The Commodore on Helensburgh's seafront, was gorgeous. Inside, the function room was jam packed for a sold out event. It was hosted by local author Daniel Sellers, with books for sale from Daydreams Bookshop (Milngavie). All the authors were appearing free of charge, and the money raised by ticket sales was going towards Dolly Parton's Imagination Library which helps provide books to 350 pre school children in the Helensburgh area.

 

The first panel of readers were:

DV Bishop, lecturer of creative writing at Napier University and author of the Cesare Aldo series, set mainly in 16th century Italy. He read two passages, one from the first book, City of Vengeance, & one from the fifth book Carnival of Lies. (He was a late addition as George Paterson was unable to be there.)

Alex Kane, author of over ten gangland crime novels and is published by Hera books. She read from the fourth novel The Angels, set in a gentleman's club in Glasgow, featuring three women who work for a crime boss. And sticking with the theme, her piece included a dead body in the beach.

Louise Welsh, author of 11 novels, most recently The Cut Up, published by Canongate Books and has won several awards and is Professor of Creative Writing at Glasgow University. She read from The Cut Up, the third in the Rilke series

Lesley McDowell, author of four novels, most recently Love and Other Poisons, and one non fiction book Between the Sheets on the literary liaisons of mine 20th century women writers and has a PhD on the works of James Joyce. She read from Love and Other Poisons, which is set in the early 20th century and has links with Helensburgh. Her excerpt including a bit of singing!

 

All four authors were available to sign books bought from the bookshop during the break. Before the second panel we heard from a member of the Helensburgh Hub (so sorry, I didn't note her name) and her sidekick Dolly Patron about the Imagination Library and the important work it does.

The second panel of readers was:

Alex Gray, Sunday Times bestselling author of the Inspector William Lorimer series and a co founder of the Bloody Scotland Crime Writing festival. The latest book in the series, number 23, Blood on Old Stones, is out now. To keep with the death at the seaside theme, she read from the 12th book, Keep the Midnight Out

Inga Vesper moved from Germany to UK to be a carer but moved into journalism. She has written two novels and read from The Long Long Afternoon set in California 1959..

Suzy Aspley is a former journalist, and author of gothic novels featuring journalist Martha Steangeways. Winner of Bloody Scotland Pitch Pefect prize with her debut Crow Moon. The second book in series, The Bone Mother, is coming out on 7th May. Read from an Artic set thriller she's been working on but it's not published yet.

There was another pause before the final panel for comfort breaks, refilling glasses (I felt sorry for the young man behind the bar, he was run off his feet at the beginning and during the breaks) and buying books, of course, and having them signed by this batch of authors.

The final panel of readers were:

Ann Cleeve, author of 39 novels and winner of the CWA Diamond Dagger and several other awards. She is the creator of Vera Stanhope ( from TV's 'Vera'), Jimmy Perez (from 'Shetland') & Matthew Venn (from 'The Long Call'). She read from The Killing Stones, the new Jimmy Perez novel, set in Orkney, which came out in paperback last Thursday.

Caro Ramsay was born in Govan and has spent most of her life working out how to kill people. She has been shortlisted for various awards. She spends lots of time in Greggs (these were her words). She is currently working on her 19th and 20th books, and she read from Where She Lies, which is set in Oban.

Russel D McLean is writer, editor, former bookseller and general miscreant (again, his own words). Most of his books are set in Dundee including his latest one, The Friday Girl, set in 1978. Originally from Fife, he now lives in Glasgow. He read from The Friday Girl.

 

There was a final chance for book buying and signings before the evening wrapped up. It was a really fun night, and good for me to get out and about a bit. It was my first visit to Helensburgh, the sun was shining and the venue was great (although I would've appreciate a sign on the ladies loo door! Following the sign on the wall, I reached the external doors before I realised I'd made a mistake!). A lovely time, and I'm really glad I went. Do check out the authors, they're all worth a look!

Secrets from the Grave by Leigh Lewis

As I mentioned in yesterday's post this is hopefully the beginning of my slow return to regular blogging - see yesterday's post for more on that. But I love a political thriller so I'm glad to be coming back with one. Secrets from the Grave is the debut novel from retired senior civil servant Sir Leigh Lewis. But thanks to Tracy Fenton at Compulsive Readers for inviting me on the tour and to the author and publisher for my hardback review copy. 

Yesterday's post also mentioned my crochet book blanket. You'll be able to see my granny square for this book at the bottom of the post. 

The Blurb

Left-of-centre Labour Prime Minister Jack Higson has enjoyed a spectacular rise from backbencher to the highest political office in the land in just a few short years. He is popular, well-liked and supported by a loving wife. But when a prominent Spanish lawyer In Madrid asks to see the British Ambassador, and tells him a story about Higson's grandfather's time in Spain during the Spanish Civil War, Higson's world begins to unravel.

And when that story becomes linked to a skeleton in his personal life of which his wife knows nothing, Higson is suddenly faced with an existential threat to both his political career and his marriage. Over a period of just a few weeks he must make the most momentous decisions of his life. Can he be saved? Or is he the only one who can save himself?

My Review

As I mentioned above I enjoy a political thriller and looked forward to this one as the author has merged his knowledge of the world of politics with his long time interest in the Spanish Civil War to write this book. 

Prime Minister Jack Higson has always been proud of his grandfather's role in the Spanish Civil I'm War, and made much of it in his campaigning to become PM. So he is naturally concerned when it comes to light that perhaps his grandfather was not the man Jack thought he was. A small group of senior civil servants is tasked with finding out more. Meanwhile a more personal issue for the PM is mentioned and he just doesn't know what to do or who to trust. 

There are a lot of characters featured here, but the main players form a fairly small group. Key amongst them is retiree John Warren, at home caring for his sick wife,  called back into active service to help solve the Spanish mystery. An upstanding man, full of integrity, I really liked him. I loved the peak behind the scenes in the world of politics and diplomacy, and the author's insider knowledge really shine through here. The information included in the Spanish Civil War (about which I knew nothing) is interesting and enlightening, whilst never boring. 

The two storylines are both good, the Spanish one particularly, and are intertwined successfully. This is not a book that's full of action, although there is some, but that doesn't make it any less enjoyable. And there is even a hint of romance! It could perhaps have been a little shorter, and I did feel the ending was a little flat. But, overall, I found Secrets from the Grave to be an enjoyable and entertaining read, populated by interesting characters and an intriguing storyline.  

The Author

Former top civil servant, Sir Leigh Lewis, brings his personal knowledge of Whitehall, counter-terrorism and both modern-day and Civil War Spain to his first novel. Leigh remains close to his former world and features regularly in The Times' letters page.

The Secrets from the Grave granny square for my 2026 book blanket.

Hello!

Hello! I know I haven't been around very much in recent weeks and months and I must wanted to share a little bit of the reason why. But also to pledge to be better going forward.

It's been a difficult few months for me, and for my family. They are in England and I am up in Scotland so I have spent a lot of time travelling backwards and forwards due to ill health in the family, and sadly subsequent death. Twice over. So as well as dealing with grief and sadness, there have also been, and still are, many practical matters to sort out.

All of that, as I'm sure you can understand, has taken me away from not only my computer, but much of my usual day to day life. I am still 'in it' for the next few weeks, but then I will have some time to process everything, and recover. I have big plans for this year which I haven't had the chance to start working on properly yet, but aim to do so in the coming weeks and months.

One of the things I plan to do is reinvigorate this blog, and post to it much more frequently. I have not been doing many blog tours recently, mainly due to that explained above, and that will continue, at least for now. There will be some, of course, including one tomorrow, but not too many. That doesn't mean there will be no reviews though. I have been reading steadily from my own collection - I have a wall of over stuffed bookshelves and over 400 books (I think) on my Kindle, and I am trying to get through some of those. I'm trying to #beatthebacklog! I have made notes and there will be reviews in due course.

As well as being an avid reader I also love to crochet and, inspired by Alexandra Martin (instagram.com/alexandra.mmartin), I am making a book blanket for this year, with a granny square for each book I read this year, based on the colours of the book cover. The colours might not always match exactly, depending on what yarn I have available, but they'll be as close as I can get them. Don't worry if you don't know what a granny square is, I'll be sharing some of them along the way, as well as my finished blanket (although it will be early next year when it's all put together).

So, this post is both an apology for my recent absences and a promise to do better. Thank you so much for sticking with me, and here's to better days.