I have spent the last three days in 2015 (Possible Ink Black Heart spoilers!)

[Valdera]

And it’s been so nice, I am a bit sad that the next one will probably take us into Trump and Brexit land and everything that follows.

It was nice to not have bizarre politics in the background!

The whole book was fascinating, I thought. A real mirror into online behaviour.

I love the way she blends political fact and fiction in her books.

In one of the early ones she referred to the Prime Minister being in trouble for calling a voter a bigot, which was obviously Gordon Brown who she is friends with in real life.

I thought the way she handled it in Lethal White was really masterful, given the backdrop of the Olympics and the way she weaved the fact that there was a coalition government into the plot whilst making the ministers fictional and not apparently based on real people, but nonetheless quite believable. I did think Jasper Chiswell had elements of Boris Johnson about him, but Boris Johnson wasn't an MP in 2012 and there are quite a few eccentric Tory MPs who could have served as inspiration.

Did she mention the Scottish independence referendum in Troubled Blood? I can't remember now?

Anyway, I'm sure she'll have a few comments to make about the 2015 onwards era!

@babyjellyfish Did she mention the Scottish independence referendum in Troubled Blood? I can't remember now?

I think so, mostly as a lead in to the talk about Cornish independence?

It is interesting how she uses real events, like Charlie Hebdo at the beginning of IBH. So I guess good to see what she makes of it all. I just enjoyed being back in a world with no Brexit, no Trump, no covid, none of the current current affairs.

Though maybe she won’t get that much further, time wise - were there only going to be 7 books? So next one is the last?

I heard there were going to be 10 but I'm not sure.

With detective fiction I don't think there needs to be a set number as long as you still have ideas. It's not like there is an overall arc which makes it impossible to continue once you've finished. But you need to know when you've run out of steam and bring it to an end before it's lost its magic. I think the fact that they are so long will help with that though.

I don't think she will be able to resist a little bit of Brexit and Trump!

I absolutely loved this book.

The newer characters are really good. Pat and her fruit cakes really cracked me up.

I also loved it. Finished it last night.

I happened across a spoiler on twitter when I was about 200 pages in. It was posted as a (twattishly) political act to attempt to disenagge her readership or affect sales as some sort of 'punishment' for her opinions.

It didn't spoil a thing. The plot is so skilful, the characters so vivid and the potential for so many of them to bear grudges, have motives or opportunity and to hide behind their online identities that taking any spoilers with a pinch of salt didn't affect my enjoyment or the outcome.

There are a few false flags, it's a complex plot and I whooped in joy and gasped in shock on a couple of occasions.

She can't be cancelled and she can't be spoilered either!

Come over to the what we're reading board and join the discussion there!