Several years back I bought 12 Peter Robinson books in a 2nd-hand shop and read them all one after the other. I've been reading the rest as they appear - roughly one a year. With a couple of exceptions, they all feature Inspector Banks and they all take place in the north of England. Straightforward …
Kensuke’s Kingdom
This isn’t my favourite Michael Morpurgo book, but I do marvel at the way he sets everything up so quickly – parents setting off on a round-the-world sailing voyage; the first months of that voyage; and then the storm that strands our young hero alone on a Pacific island. You’re pulled instantly into the story, …
The Rest of Us Just Live Here
Years ago back in school, I knew a boy who started every book he read by skipping the first ten pages. ‘They’re always boring,’ he explained. ‘The story doesn’t get going until at least page 10.’ I felt a little bit like that when I began this, with its opening that consists of a group …
Finders Keepers & End of Watch
Everything I said about Mr Mercedes applies to its two follow-ups: the characters are likeable, the story-lines are interesting. But, as with Mr Mercedes, there doesn’t seem to be much urgency. I finished them both because I was curious as to the outcome, not because I had to find out what happened next. I kept …
