Book reviews by country: England

For my series this summer, I am providing selections of book reviews by country. Either the author is from the country named in the post, or the book is set there.

 England, I am slightly ashamed to say, has a collection of 92 reviews. I suppose it is my own country, but it is a bit of a shameful number when I think about the very small quantity of books I've reviewed that are by authors from elsewhere. Or maybe it is a more crime-ridden place than some other regions? 

I can't really summarise 92 books in this post (!) but here are one or two snippets from my reviews:

"Jack rises to every challenge with wit, insight and vulgarity, often sleeping at his desk fully clothed for a couple of hours before facing the next crisis - as well as failing to stem the usual flood of urgent admin from the ghastly Superintendent Mullett." (A Killing Frost by R. D. Wingfield)

"The plot is both solid and satisfying: sharp without being cynical, funny without drifting into pastiche, and serious without being stodgy. Most readers will probably be surprised by the final twist, owing to some crafty red herrings." (The Arsenic Labyrinth by Martin Edwards)

"The plotting is excellent, dovetailing perfectly with the excitingly tense World War Two background. The constant personal frustrations of Stratton and Diana, as the truths they separately uncover are suppressed for the "greater good" or for the war effort, or for the retrospectively quaint (but no doubt accurate) imperative to preserve the status quo of the class structure, make the book far deeper than a genre novel.(Stratton's War by Laura Wilson)."

My England reviews.

Comments

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This is a daunting list. But don't feel badly. I've read mostly U.S.-published books; it's kind of hard not to do this. Probably most readers do the same thing.
However, you have given me homework here. This, in addition to "The Janus Stone" arriving (I loved Griffiths' first book). Will made a list from your reviews.

[Maxine]

Thanks, Kathy. I can't recall if you have read Martin Edwards yet, but if not, I think you would like his lake district series (starting with The Coffin Stone).

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Thanks for that information. I was wondering about him. I will try him. (Although this is not England-related, I am reading Camilleri's "August Heat," which is my first by him and I found your review and another of "The Wings of the Sphinx," and based on that, it's going on my soon TBR pile.)

[Maxine]

I love those Camilleri books. I've just finished a Brazilian book, and see from the end-notes that the next in the series is called "December Heat". I wonder how many books have the title "Month heat" (or "Anything heat" eg Dead Heat - different kind of heat of course ;-) ). I've also been seeing quite a few Sphinxes recently..fascinating creatures.

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Speaking of "heat," a U.S. author, Brenda Novak, has published "White Heat," "Body Heat," and another heat-related book.

[Maxine]

And, not to forget, "The Big Heat".