Catching up on reviews.
44. The Agency for Scandal - Laura Wood
YA romance. Isobel Stanhope has to rescue her family from ruin by picking locks for a shadowy all-female agency, The Aviary, who use their skills to help women suffering at the hands of cruel husbands and sex traffickers. Along the way she falls in love with a handsome duke. That's pretty much it. It was a nice bedtime read, as it has zero tension or jeopardy.
45. Mrs Harris Goes to Paris
After reading a sample I was sceptical about this one. My working class heart chafed against what looked like a middle class American patronising a London cleaning lady. Gallico or his publishers seem to have clocked this, as at some point in its journey they dropped the original "Mrs 'Arris" from the title. I was hoping this would be in the same vein as Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day, but it just came across as patronising mansplaining about how women will do anything for a nice frock.
46. Material Girls - Kathleen Stock
Recommend this for an overview of the gender-critical side of the current debate. Part of the problem, of course, is that there really shouldn’t be any sides – as Stock is at pains to point out, GC feminists are as concerned as anyone about the welfare of children and young people.
47. Maigret and the Informer - Georges Simenon
A late Maigret, from the 70s, and more tightly plotted than the earlier ones. I’ve come to love the descriptions of the Maigrets’ domestic situations. Not sure Mrs Maigret gets a very good deal, what with her husband spending so much time at work, but they are a cosy middle-aged couple and their domestic set-up is comforting to read about.
48. The Haunted Hotel - Wilkie Collins
Collins goes all Grand Guignol and it’s a lot of fun.
49. Gig - Simon Armitage
Collection of writings, mostly about music but also about life on the road as a poet. Frequently very funny. In terms of music I have a surprising amount in common with SA and I was a trip down a very specific, Northern-indie band memory lane for me.
50. Rooftoppers - Katherine Rundell
Children’s book about an orphan who takes to the rooftops of Paris to search for her mother, who was supposedly lost in a shipwreck. Lovely as ever, and a beautifully poignant ending.
51. The Chase - Ava Glass
Oh my god, where to start with this. The story: Emma Makepeace, daughter of a Russian spy but brought up in the UK, joins the security services straight from the Army and is mentored by Charles Ripley. Her first major operation is to bring in the son of a Russian defector who very much doesn’t want to play ball. He happens to be a paedeatric oncologist with melting brown eyes (of course) who likes to entertain his patients with story sessions (he has time for this, why wouldn’t he). They somehow take twelve or more hours to get from St Thomas’s Hospital to Millbank, which even with a Russian kill team on your tail is a bit slow. That’s the bare outline, but this has more holes than Switzerland’s entire annual production of Emmental, which had me shouting every couple of pages “BUT THAT WOULDN’T HAPPEN! THEY WOULD JUST GET A BUS/RUN THROUGH THE PARK/WEAR A DISGUISE!” Much of the chase across London is based on the fact that cabs have hackable cameras in the rear cab whereas ring doorbells don’t exist at all. Having said all that, the second instalment in the series is available to preorder for 99p and I’ve signed up just for the laughs.