Simon Mason (1)Rezensionen

Loved this and the first in the series. Can't wait for the third one, out in July. Very different complementary lead characters. Great fun!

One of the books I enjoyed most last year was [A Killing in November], which introduced two Detective Inspectors called Wilkins, both working on the Oxfordshire Constabulary. One, Ray Wilkins, is suave, well educated and tipped for great things. He is from a Nigerian family and grew up in relative affluence in leafy West London before going to oxford university and following a smooth path into the police force as one of the fast tracked leaders of the future. His namesake, Ryan Wilkins, was raised in a dysfunctional family, and has serious problems with authority, although his considerable native wit took him to the top his cohort in police training.

At the beginning of this novel, set a few months later, Ryan has left the force and is working as a night security guard at a van hire firm, while Ray has continued his steady progress and is still being groomed for future greatness. Their paths cross again after Ray is appointed Senior Investigating officer in the case of the abduction of a young girl while Ryan encounters a former schoolfriend who dies very shortly afterwards.

The contrast between the two protagonists could easily fall prey to rampant cliché, but Simon mason manages the story adroitly, and avoids that pitfall. The plots are well constructed, and cohere effectively, and the two contrasting characters are very deftly drawn. While the stories are set in oxford (which always appeals to me, anyway), any similarity with the slightly rarefied air of the Chief inspector Morse stories ends there.

Although I dislike the practice of inserting the opening chapters of the author’s next book at the end of editions (having been caught out too often thinking I still had thirty or forty pages left – enough to sustain me for the journey home – only to find that the story ends just three or four pages later) I was pleased to see that there will be at least one more volume in this series.

Really excellent. I love Ryan and especially Ryan Junior. The plot twisted and turned, and thank goodness for 'diversity bollocks'. I felt poor Diane could have been given a few joys in the novel - we saw her almost entirely from Ray's perspective, which did her no favours. Don't they have any friends/family members who could cheer her up?

Former police detective Ryan Wilkins is working as a night watchman when a former school mate appears in distress and then is killed minutes later. No-one is interested in the death except Ryan. At the same time a young girl is kidnapped from outside her nursery. Everyone is interested in this. The two cases bring Ryan and his former partner together and Ryan possibly has a chance of redemption.
I missed the first book in the series but this more than made up for it. There is a clever plot here and a nice juxtaposition between the two leads, so far so good for a police procedural. However some aspects grated. I like the fact that the black character is middle-class and educated whereas as the white character is 'trailer trash' but, after explaining that the service is a graduate one, it is then made clear that one character has little education. I also found it really annoying that the two had the same surname!

If you disregard the unlikelihood of Ryan ever having been promoted to DI in the first place (let alone by the age of 27), and the improbability that a murder case would be worked by two DIs, a civilian support worker and no one else, then this is a fantastic read. I loved Ray and Ryan and enjoyed every word. Looking forward to the next one.

I bought this book largely on the basis of a couple of highly favourable reviews I read in the newspapers, which flagged it up for a fresh take on the police procedural novel. Of course, one has heard that about several books before: sometimes deservedly; sometimes less so.

On this occasion the reviews that I read were spot on. It revolves around a murder in Barnabas Hall, one of Oxford’s oldest colleges, with the victim found in the Provost’s lodgings. The first policeman on the scene is Detective Inspector Ryan Wilkins. Although he had grown up in one of the poorer areas of the city, this is his first day on duty, having just been transferred in from the Wiltshire Constabulary. His attendance there is a mistake. The call should have gone to his near namesake, Detective Inspector Raymond ‘Ray’ Wilkins, Ray could not be more different from Ryan. He is African-Caribbean, from a prosperous West London suburb, and is a graduate from one of Oxford’s colleges (although not Barnabas Hall). The clash of cultures between a streetwise copper who has made it despite, rather than because of, his origins with someone who has been picked up for the fast track and has already acquired the support of senior officers is fairly standard, but Mason puts some additional twists on it.

The plot is also strong, and stands up on its own right, rather than simply as a vehicle for the contrast between the two Inspector Wilkins. Although this has only just been published in hardback, the edition I read also featured the first two chapters from the next instalment, to which I am already eagerly looking forward.

Garvie Smith spends most of his time staring into space until one of his classmates is murdered. He dated Chloe Dow briefly and didn't really like her much, but he feels the need to solve her murder. His mother has tried everything to get Garvie to take school seriously, but for Garvie, school is boring; however, the murder case has caught his interest. Detective Inspector Singh has been assigned to the case and he doesn't want Garvie involved, but Garvie is the only one who seems to be coming up with any leads. There are plenty of suspects, but everyone seems to have an alibi, so it's up to Garvie to find out what really happened.

Running Girl is labeled as a young adult mystery, but the only things that are young adult about the book are the characters. All of the themes and ideas involved are very adult; including, drug use, cigarette smoking, gambling, rape, and suicide. The mystery is very complex with many different clues and suspects, but the characters are not really well-developed. DI Singh is young and religiously devout, but that is all we really know about him. Garvie is intelligent and bored, but we don't ever get a sense of why he doesn't seem to care about anything until the murder. Overall, this is a well-plotted mystery, but not very enjoyable to read.

Divided by genre and supported by an index, this guide is easy to use, browse through and consult. There's a good variety of international authors, although still quite anglo-centric, with suggested translations, suggestions of similar reads and movies if the novel was set to the screen. There are definitions, summaries and the list of novels for more prolific authors.
One cannot read all novels (nor would one want to) and this helps makes discerning choices based on interests and tastes. It certainly allowed me to add to my must-read list and set aside others while still having an idea about the novels I know I'll never read.

Garvie Smith has a high IQ but he is bored with life, school and family. Then his ex-girlfriend's body is found and Garvie finds himself using his considerable powers of deduction to help the detective on the case, DI Singh whether he wants the help or not.

Great murder mystery for older readers set in the poorer areas of England with true to life scenarios, characters and language.

Datei vorhanden, nicht gehört v. Andreas

Scrappy but loving Brit family

1st of 2017! A slow-boiling mystery with a deliciously teen sleuth. As is usually the case with me & mysteries, I didn't love the slow pacing, the gradual coming together of clues, as much as a traditional mystery fan might. Plus, the whodunnit was not unpredictable — though the how was pretty cool. Still, the writing was great, with depth and insight, presenting characters of humor & resolve that kept pulling me in, despite myself.

Really good read. Borrowed this as I liked the look of 'kid got shot' which local library service hasn't got yet, but they did have this. Mr Mason is potentially on to a winner here I think and I look forward to more Garvie Smith novels. I really want my son to read it....

Humphhh - I thought I was well-read until I came across this world view..

This book was a little 'younger' than I would normally venture into with my reading, but actually I'm really glad I did because it was fantastic! It is a sweet story about eleven year-old Martha, who looks after her house and her little brother Tug every day because her dad is never at home. Meanwhile HE is becoming more and more 'strange', doing reckless things and being silly all the time, to the point where even Tug is unimpressed. As it turns out, he has been steadily descending into alcoholism since their mother died - and things are about to reach crisis point...

It's certainly a serious subject, but as in Jacqueline Wilson's books, it is woven together with cheerier subplots (mostly about filmmaking - the children make their own movies with their friends), and it is handled with a lightness of touch that saves it ever getting too much for a young reader to handle. Things DO get bad - their lives are turned upside down by their father's illness - and there are some terribly poignant moments, but the novel shows the whole family working through their issues and ultimately reaching a happy ending. There is a truckload of wonderful humour to temper even the darkest of moments, and I have to say, the children are a delight: Mason nails their voices and little quirks so precisely, it's a joy to read. I particularly liked little Tug (who is always hungry, especially for pies) and Martha's flamboyant diva friend Marcus! And Martha is such a wonderful character to root for. She's like all my favourite young literary heroines rolled into one - a little Matilda, a little Anne Shirley, a little Jo March, a little Sara Crewe...

I think this would be a great book for older children and tweenage readers, and while I was reading it I was also struck by how good it would be for reading aloud in the classroom. There's plenty to discuss in terms of the more mature themes, but also plenty of giggle-out-loud crowd-pleasing moments as well (Tug is one of the funniest characters I've come across in AGES!). All in all, I'd highly recommend it - though parents might want to read it first to be sure their kids will be able to comprehend and handle the more graphic elements of the alcoholism storyline.½

I thought this book was very good. However, I really wanted to alert people to something I am concerned about. The cover is quite misleading regarding the contents of the book. The cover is a cute, comic style rendering of a girl looking slightly perturbed at her father and younger brother, who are enjoying a pleasant night-time picnic. However, in the book the girl, Martha, age 11, is valiantly trying to hold her family together while her father descends deeper and deeper into severe alcoholism after the death of his wife. Martha cooks, cleans, takes care of her younger brother, and tries to keep Social Services from learning how serious the situation is in order that she and her brother Tug won't be taken from their father. In one scene, the children come home to find their father passed out on the floor in a mess of his vomit and urine. They strip him down and clean him up (after rolling him away from the mess) and watch over him until he wakes two days later. Nevertheless, she can't stop his decline and ultimately is in a serious car accident with him when he is driving drunk. The two children are taken to their grandparents' home (the parents of their dead mother) and a court order is placed against the father. The grandmother is particularly severe and unpleasant because she believes in unyielding rules and firmness with children, and while Martha is actually relieved to have someone adult in charge finally, Tug acts out. By the end the father has completed 6 months of rehab and is doing much better, though the grandmother and Martha still distrust that he can stay sober.

This is a thoughtful book that faces a very real and disturbing problem head on. I do wish, though, that the cover were more reflective of its contents. There will be patrons (I work in a library) who will take this book out based on the cover and receive an eye-opening surprise inside.½

Perfect size for the shelf behind the dunny. The "recommended translations" of non-english books is very helpful.

I don't know where I picked up this book, but the blurb on the front cover reckons it is 'One of the great comic creations of recent times' this is from the Observer newspaper and there are other glowing comments from The Sunday Times and Time Out. I looked on LT to find that only four other people have it in their libraries with no evidence of anyone having read it. Perhaps it is an undiscovered gem a real diamond in the rough; I started reading with anticipation.

The hero; Dudley the fantasist of the novel is in a deadend job in publishing in Oxford. He discovers his wife is having an affair and he finds it difficult to get out of bed in the morning. he has recently struck up a friendship with the morose Martin who he vaguely remembers from schooldays. Martin has been nominated for one of the advertising Oscars in New York and asks Dudley to accompany him. They fly to New where they meet Belle LaRose who will look after the pair for a week of publicity interviews culminating in the Oscar awards.

Dudley is not quite 'One of the great comic creations of recent times' (1994), especially as the author fails to elicit in me any sympathy for him. He stumbles through life with a vain hope of being successful and his only talent appears to be an ability to tell stories and to talk loquaciously about anything and everything. He soon finds out that his friend Martin is a sociopath and the trip to America brings out the worst in him. The novel takes on a darker feel as Martin soon becomes uncontrollable and purloins Dudley's razor.

The writing is witty and it kept me amused. There is plenty of healthy cynicism about the advertising industry and Dudley's wanderings in Central Park have a touch of underlying menace to them. The darker turn the book takes is handled well with Dudley managing to appear less and less connected to reality.
I think that Simon Mason struggles too hard at times to make the wit flow and overdoes it on occasions:

"Ask not for whom the car alarm whoops, it whoops for thee" is perhaps one of the worst witticisms in the book but there are others.

Not an undiscovered gem but not a bad read. The writing is for the most part intelligent and the novel builds towards its climax. I even laughed out loud a couple of times.

Covering just over 200 great novels, you can argue til the cows come home about the editor's choices - who was left out, why this novel and not that, etc, etc, etc. List books about books are entirely subjective, but can take you in totally different directions.
This book is split into 12 genres and has a world-wide breadth to it, and pleasingly for each book in translation (of which there are many), a suggested translator is given. For each novel a suggestion for further reading is given, plus the best film/TV adaptations where appropriate.
Some of the choices are not the obvious ones - for instance we don't have a Maigret book for George Simenon, but 'Dirty snow' about a teenage killer, although Maigret does merit his own sidebar.
Some of the genres used are the normal ones, but often with a twist - so we have 'Crime and punishment'; also 'Rites of passage', and 'Making it'; my favourite was 'A sense of place'.
The test I have of these catalogues is how many books I buy from it - I've already ordered half a dozen.
A great book to dip into and feed your bibliomania!

The adventures and misadventures of the four members of the Quigley family--Mum, Dad, Lucy, and Will. There are 3 sequels, all equally hilarious.