A Maigret Christmas by Georges Simenon

translated by David Coward

review by Maryom

Madame Maigret is hoping for a quiet Christmas Day, spent peacefully at home with her husband, with no interruptions from his police work. She's out of luck! Inspector Maigret is barely up, and certainly not properly dressed, before two women from the opposite apartment block arrive with a tale of a man, dressed up as Father Christmas, having visited the daughter of one of them in the night. Whether or not he believes in Santa, Maigret immediately suspects something fishy is afoot, and sets out to investigate the matter, while barely moving from the comfort of his armchair.

This story featuring Georges Simenon's most famous character, Inspector Maigret, is one of a collection of three, all set in Paris at Christmas - the perfect read for a quiet moment (if there is such a thing) after Christmas Day dinner. For long-term fans of Maigret, it's a little festive gem. For those less familiar, it works as an introduction to the Inspector, his police team, and personal life; I was particularly impressed with how much of the Maigrets' family life was explored in such a short story without stealing the show from the investigation. A few words here and there from the author, and I felt like I knew this couple intimately.
The mystery itself is probably not all that complex, but after all this is a short story, not a full-length novel which has time for more false trails and diversions, and it makes an enjoyable festive crime read.


Maryom's review - 4.5 stars 
Publisher - Penguin Classics 
Genre - crime, Christmas 

The Vanishing Box by Elly Griffiths

review by Maryom

"Christmas 1953. Max Mephisto and his daughter Ruby are headlining Brighton Hippodrome, an achievement only slightly marred by the less-than-savoury support act: a tableau show of naked 'living statues'. This might appear to have nothing in common with DI Edgar Stephens' investigation into the death of a quiet flowerseller, but if there's one thing the old comrades have learned it's that, in Brighton, the line between art and life - and death - is all too easily blurred..."

This fourth Stephens and Mephisto mystery takes the reader to a snowy 1950s Brighton, where, as always when these two old army comrades are together, the glamour of theatre life rubs shoulders with murder. In her boarding-house room, Lily Burtenshaw's body is found, posed to resemble a famous painting of an historical event. Only nineteen years old, Lily was a quiet, shy girl, who worked at a local flowershop, but the positioning of her dead body bears a resemblance to the 'tableaux' presented by the 'living statues' act currently engaged at the Hippodrome Theatre. Surely there couldn't be a connection between them? Maybe Lily was mistakenly killed by someone who assumed she was one of the female performers temporarily staying at the same boarding-house? It's a disturbing, unlikely crime for Brighton, and the leads uncovered by DI Edgar Stephens seem to take him only to blind alleys. Max meanwhile has been befriended by one of the 'living statues', an unlikely move given their respective ages, and one which he treats with a degree of scepticism, but maybe this young, attractive woman can shed light on the identity of Lily's murderer ...

Elly Griffiths has again transported the reader back to a time which feels like it ought to be gentler and more innocent - after all, it snows for Christmas - but seems more to balance on a knife-edge between glamorous and sordid - the (almost) nude performers are only allowed if they stand rigidly still, complying with a ruling which deems them 'artistic' rather than 'rude'. Human nature being what it is though, particularly in crime novels, someone always finds themselves driven to murder.

After an excess of psychological thrillers and domestic noir, I'm finding myself increasingly drawn back to the whodunnit school of crime fiction - perhaps because it's presented more as a puzzle to solve. Someone is murdered, the police, perhaps with the assistance of an interested 'bystander' such as Miss Marple or Max Mephisto, set about finding the culprit, and, after a number of dead ends and red herrings, find him or her. That's not to say there isn't tension, but it's not the over the top nerve-racking suspense of a psychological thriller. Elly Griffiths' stories fit me perfectly, whether the Ruth Galloway series mixing archaeology and murder in modern-day Norfolk, or this Stephens and Mephisto '50s set series.
There's a nice balance between the two aspects of the story - the crime-solving and the personal lives of the 'regular' characters - which makes this possible to read as a stand-alone novel while it fits into a longer story-arc of the characters personal lives - and much as in the Ruth Galloway series, it's difficult to anticipate which route those lives will take.

Maryom's review - 4.5 stars 
Publisher - Quercus 
Genre - adult historical crime

I Killed Father Christmas by Anthony McGowan

illustrated by Chris Riddell

review by Maryom

Jo-Jo has annoyed his dad with an enormous list of  presents he wants for Christmas, and now his dad and mum are arguing. Despite hiding under his pillow, Jo-Jo can't avoid hearing them, especially when his mum says "You've killed Christmas". Although she's talking to his dad, Jo-Jo knows it's all his fault, and, with Father Christmas dead, it's up to him to make amends. He can't travel all round the world, but wearing his mum's red coat, and laden with pillowcases filled with old toys, Jo-Jo sets out to bring Christmas to his street at least.

 Anthony McGowan's words and Chris Riddell's illustrations join to bring this delightful, heart-warming seasonal story to life. While reminding us that Christmas is about loving and sharing, rather than the quantity or expense of the presents we receive, it's a fun read rather than an over-sentimental, cloying one.

One of Barrington Stoke's Little Gem series, it comes with all those dyslexia-friendly features you'd expect - cream paper, easy-to-read font, lots of pictures, and short, punchy sentences - but you'll probably be so wrapped up in the story that you won't notice them.

It's a perfect stocking-filler for young, capable readers, or a story you might choose to read to a younger child. Don't overlook the end-papers, though - there are Christmassy cracker-style jokes at the front, and a maze puzzle - can Jo-Jo and Father Christmas reach the parcels and deliver them? - at the back  ... and it explains how Father Christmas gets all those presents down all the chimneys.



Publisher - Barrington Stoke
Genre - children's picture book, early read, dyslexia friendly, 5-9, 

Year One by Nora Roberts

review by Maryom

Out shooting pheasants in the Scottish countryside, businessman Ross MacLeod inadvertently lets loose a deadly virus. Spreading at an alarming rate, it's barely any time before millions are dead, and the survivors struggling to hold the world together. The story follows three separate groups who leave New York, heading for the perceived 'safety' of less populated areas, trying to re-establish their lives there. So far, it's your average apocalypse tale, but there's a twist. Some of the survivors suddenly find themselves gifted with uncanny abilities - to see the future in a person's touch, or to move people and things, for example. Of course, these gifts don't pass un-noted - there are rumours of governmental, scientific or military departments imprisoning them to investigate and harness these talents, and lynch mobs roam the countryside looking to kill them. There's hope though for the survivors, particularly in the shape of three babies born at the height of the plague, and another conceived then.

Now, I'm generally up for a good apocalypse - from Twenty Eight Days Later or I Am Legend to Shaun of the Dead - and yes, they do generally all follow a pattern, with a group of lucky survivors struggling to re-build civilisation (or grab a pint down the Winchester) despite all the forces ranged against them, but Year One just didn't work for me. In part it was too similar to many novels that have gone before; on the other hand, the sudden appearance of paranormal abilities and the whole mystical aspect rather turned me off. I think if you've read /seen less apocalyptic fiction you'd find it more compelling, but as it followed the tried and trusted tropes associated with such stories, it failed to hold my interest. The ending too I found a bit of a  let-down - a lot of sub-lots abandoned as the novel followed one story-line, but these others may be re-visited as Year One is the first book of a planned trilogy. For my money, I'd go for Station Eleven by Emily StJohn Mandel or Micheal F Russell's Lie of the Land

Maryom's review -  3 stars
Publisher - Piatkus (Little, Brown)
Genre - adult post-apocalyptic fiction

Coldmaker by Daniel A Cohen

review by Maryom

 In a world which is blazing hot, cold falls from the sky at night to be collected by the slave-class Jadans and used by the Nobles. One class live in luxury; the other in desperate need. The balance kept by a religion which reinforces the Jadans lower status.  In the city of Paphos though, things are changing. A young Jadan boy, Micah, has a knack for 'tinkering', making objects from salvaged rubbish. One night, out hunting for useful scraps, he sees an odd girl - a Jadan from her appearance, though not bent in submission as he and everyone he knows is, but walking tall and straight, as if she had as much right to as the Nobles. Is she in some way linked to the signs of rebellion appearing throughout the city? From his first glimpse of her, Micah's life certainly begins to change.

Coldmaker is a brilliant book. Well-drawn characters, a story-line which doesn't follow the expected path, gruelling heat that you can almost feel, and excellent world-building - for me, the stand-out feature of the book.
Firstly there are the weird climatic conditions that plague Paphos. I must admit I'd at first imagined the Cold that falls at night to be something like hail, but it turns out to be a more complex thing, capable of being stored in its natural state, kept as treasure, or used for both cooling water, buildings, and gardens, and powering the inventions that Micah makes.
Then there's the class system. The Nobles are in charge; the Jadans kept like slaves. A lot of dystopian novels have a similar set-up of a ruling class virtually enslaving the rest of the population, and I often wonder why the 'slaves' don't rebel. The clever bit here is the invention of a religious system in which the Jadans are considered the cause of the annihilating heat, therefore always 'unworthy' of the benefits of the Cold, and permanently subservient to the Nobles. Punishment is random and brutal, but, indoctrinated from an early age, the Jadans fear worse if they rebel. Micah has to take a psychological leap to understand that he won't be struck down for challenging the status quo, and I found his development fascinating.
At the same time, it's a compelling adventure, full of danger and tension, which doesn't pan out quite as I think you'd expect.


Crossing the boundaries of adult and young adult fiction, this is an excellent read for anyone looking for a new dystopian 'fix'.

Maryom's review - 4.5 stars
Publisher - Harper Collins (Harper Voyager)
Genre - YA/adult dystopian fantasy 

Class Murder by Leigh Russell

Review by The Mole

"With so many potential victims to choose from, there would be many deaths. He was spoiled for choice, really, but he was determined to take his time and select his targets carefully. Only by controlling his feelings could he maintain his success. He smiled to himself. If he was clever, he would never have to stop. And he was clever. He was very clever. Far too clever to be caught."

First of all, a confession. For the first time I have missed a Geraldine Steel out of the series so her current situation came as a surprise to me.

Demoted for the rest of her career and sent north to a new area she is once again working with Ian Peterson. A girl is murdered and the crime scene is clinically clean leaving the police almost nothing to go on. The case struggles on when a second murder is committed in the small rural area but there is almost nothing to link the crimes together. With the size of the population the only link seems far too tenuous to be substantial. Then the press find the link and start to make a story out of it. Then there is a third murder...

Russell has really returned to her roots with this story. We enter the head of the murderer without finding out 'why' and learn his cold, psychopathic thinking - and hating him more each time. Rooting for Steel and Peterson but we find Peterson wants to play 100% by the rules and do everything that's expected of him while Steel pushes her neck further and further out to the point...

Does their previous friendship have any real meaning anymore? Is Steel really now alone hundreds of miles from home?

Russell at her very best and Steel crying out to be turned into a TV series. I loved this book as much as any of the previous 8 out of 9 that I've read. I really can't wait for number 11.

Publisher - No Exit Press
Genre - Adult Crime Thriller