Books - November 2025
Nov. 27th, 2025 01:21 pmMaisie Dobbs by Jacqueline Winspear
The runner up for the Shedunnit book club read of historical novel by modern author. It looked interesting, and the time period of just after WWI should have been of interest, but the book spent a lot of time showing Maisie Dobbs' background in great detail, which, together with some very clunky explanations, put me off. The actual mystery was interesting and well solved, but not worth all the pages that needed reading.
The Retired Assassin's Guide to Country Gardening by Naomi Kuttner
I forget who recommended this, but it was excellent. Great fun, with a well plotted mystery. There's a retired assassin, ghosts, and a cat, together with several other plot twists. And it's set in Aotearoa New Zealand. Not serious but definitely fun!
Brueghel - the Complete Paintings by Jurgen Muller
My review is here
Unseen Academicals by Terry Pratchett
The wizards need to create a football team, with the usual confusion and creativity. The Librarian plays in goal. I've enjoyed reading several Discworld novels this year, and this one was a good way to finish.
N or M? by Agatha Christie
More of a spy thriller than a straight murder mystery. Tommy and Tuppence are deemed too old to make a useful contribution to the war (the book was written in 1941), but then Tommy is asked to help seek out a spy, and Tuppence gets herself involved. Christie's prejudices, which are greater than I think the war justified, are very apparent. And I guessed one of the plot points.
Crime in the City: The 2002 Crime Writers' Association Anthology edited by Martin Edwards
This year I bought a number of anthologies cheap, which I shall be reading over the coming year. This was the first. It does make me wonder how many of these writers will still be read in another 20 years.
Life in Secrets: The Story of Vera Atkins and the Lost Agents of SOE by Sarah Helm
The role of the SOE agents in France and the discovery of their fates was interesting, although the unnecessary loss of life was appalling. Vera Atkins turned out to be an unappealing character and I really wasn't interested in her background, especially given her share in the responsibility for the deaths, which she doesn't appeared to have accepted.
In addition, but not counted in the total, I read (twice):
Always Remember: The Boy, the Mole, the Fox, the Horse and the Storm by Charlie Mackesy
I remain the Mole!


