The CriminOlly Plain Dealer #7

A really mixed reading week for me, with 3 books that disappointed. Not represented here, but I am A really mixed reading week for me, with 3 books that disappointed. Not represented here, but I am continuing to listen to the hugely long audiobook of ‘Shogun’ by James Clavell which is keeping me entertained.

This is also the week that Amazon finally announced a colour eink Kindle. It feels like they’ve done the bare minimum they had to, even after I told them exactly what they should do (see below). I am interested to see how the device compares to the competition in reviews though.

Cheerio!

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Books I’ve Read This Week

Small G: A Summer Idyll by Patricia Highsmith

My least favourite Highsmith so far. I just really failed to connect with the characters and story. So much so that I really have nothing to say about. I didn’t aggressively dislike it, it just really left no impression at all on me.

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Associate Professor Akira Takatsuki’s Conjecture: Folklore Studies by Mikage Sawamura

The concept is decent (a university professor and a student who can detect when people are lying) investigate urban legends and local folklore, but I found this light novel failed to really engage me. There are really 3 separate stories here. The first introduces the characters. The second (my favourite) is a standard “case”. The third explores the professor’s identity a bit more and takes things in what I thought was an unnecessary direction. Some of the ideas are enjoyably creepy and the two main characters are fun, but overall this was a miss for me.

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Occult Detective Magazine Mythos Special 2

I always have a good time with ‘Occult Detective Magazine’ and this second ‘Mythos Special’ was no exception. Collecting a bunch of enjoyable horror stories that range from the downright creepy to enjoyable pulp adventures to the wonderfully humorous, it’s an issue that will amuse and delight fans of the occult detective genre. These Mythos Specials focus on stories that draw inspiration from established works – in this case Lovecraft and The King in Yellow are well represented.

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In the Blink of an Eye by Jo Callaghan

In the Blink of an Eye has a lot going for it. A topical concept (AI – in this case an old school detective partnered with an AI as part of a pilot scheme), decent characters and an easy reading prose style.
It definitely kept me turning the pages. It’s amusing and moving at times, as well as being suspenseful. Unfortunately it fails on 2 of the things that really matter. It’s not a terribly good mystery novel, with a load of huge coincidences and solution no one could deduce. And it doesn’t have anything interesting to say about AI either.

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This week’s videos

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