Book List

Mini Rob & Ali visited Fables book store in Crimbletown today so I could make my book list. I'm a day late this year as Rob and I are both a little under the weather. Here's the list of 8 of my favourite reads from 2024.

Homecoming by Kate Morton

My favourite book of the year from one of my favourite authors. Set in Australia it contained both the solving of a mystery in the past and the consequential impact on family relationships. I don’t want to give anything away but the solving of the mystery was gripping.

Tom Lake by Ann Patchett

My second favourite book of the year. Thanks to sk for recommending this one to me last year. Ann Patchett is another of my favourite authors (she has a book shop, what’s not to like?!) On their cherry orchard, Lara’s three daughters pester their mother to tell a story from her past about a romance with a (now) film star when they were sharing a stage in their youth. So we get Lara’s reflections and the modern day relationships between the daughters too. This book entertained me and surprised me and warmed my heart.

Bleeding Heart Yard by Elly Griffiths

Detective Harbinder Kaur and her team are based in London and this particular book caught my attention because I used to work very close to Bleeding Heart Year and ate regularly in a restaurant there. This twisty thriller will grab your attention and give you a nice little tour around parts of London as well as a mystery to solve. It is however book 3 of a series of 4 so you might prefer to start at the beginning as Harbinder’s character is in all 4 and does go on a journey. I did enjoy all 4 but the first one is a little spooky in places, you have been warned) it’s “The Stranger Diaries”.

The Square of Sevens by Laura Shepherd-Robinson

Set in Georgian times this has a touch of Bridgerton in places but the heroine has fallen on hard times for most of the book so we certainly see all sides of society. It’s all about using playing cards to tell fortunes and the obsession of one family. There’s also a family mystery and it really kept me guessing till the end.

The Figurine by Victoria Hislop

With fascinating insights into Greek history, politics and art this book takes us on a journey. If you know Hislop’s writing then you will know you will have moments where you feel like you are sitting in Greece taking it all in. Great descriptive language and always a bit of a mystery which unfolds too.

Friends of Dorothy by Sandy Toksvig

Amber and Stevie move into their dream home only to find that 80 year old Dorothy, the previous owner, has decided that she is not going anywhere. How can they evict an 80 year old, especially one as perspicacious as straight talking Dorothy. I really love Sandi Toksvig on QI and other programmes and here she writes a really enjoyable novel.

When we believed in Mermaids by Barbara O’Neal

My friend Tania recommended this author and I am really enjoying her work. This was the first one I read. Set partly in America and partly in New Zealand it is the story of a woman searching for her sister who she believed was dead until she caught a glimpse of her in the background of a news story on the TV.

We Solve Murders by Richard Osman

I’ve really enjoyed Richard’s “Thursday Murder Club” series and was very excited when I saw he’d started a new series. These has a good dose of humour as well as great characters and a fairly intricate plot and didn’t disappoint at all. I thoroughly enjoy the writing of Donald Westlake and Richard’s style reminded me a bit of Westlake’s Dortmunder novels.