Stella Gibbons "She liked Victorian novels. They were the only kind of novel you could read while eating an apple."

[TeaAndStrumpets]

I think this quote pretty well describes my literary taste these days. However the books churned out for light reading are often so dire. Who buys them? Had to bin The Thursday Murder Club, and that awful one about a very naive female whose name I have mercifully forgotten (sorry, can't recall...think she was meant to have autistic traits but it was laid on with a trowel.)

I thoroughly enjoyed Of Mice and Murder. I love Jasper Fford. I read a lot of 1930s fiction over lockdown, Angela Thirkell and also Miss Silver for light relief. There is probably a lot of Golden Age detective stuff I could read, but I have worked my way through loads of it over the years. I would really like to see what modern fiction has to offer.

What do you read which is enjoyable and doesn't annoy you? No dead children, mutilated women, etc etc.

The Shardlake mysteries by CJ Samson are perfect to read with an apple. Set in Tudor times, lots of cracking historical detail and well-plotted.

I love Daphne Du Maurier, too.

@DeciDela thank you I had wondered about the Dandy Gilver books, will add to my "recommended" list, thank you!
I liked the Ruth Galloway books and the first Harbinder Kaur books but Bleeding Heart Yard fell flat for me and I didn't finish it. On the other hand, I know many people didn't like the Brighton Mysteries but I really enjoyed them.

For a funny and quite cosy detective series I can recommend Cynthia Harrod-Eagles' Bill Slider mysteries.

Looking for this now, thank you!

Sounds ideal, and yes, I love Daphne du Maurier...her books have really stood the test of time.

As you like a detective story I'd recommend DM Greenwood's Theodora Braithwaite series. High church, upper class and horsey. A joy and very well written. 30 or so years old now.

I was on the Kindle Unlimited recommendations thread but that has gone quiet.

I have noticed that all of Harry Bingham's Fiona Griffiths books are on there. They are set in Wales, and this time the troubled cop is female (for a change!) They are engaging and fast paced.

My only warning is that Harry Bingham hasn't continued the series for a year or so, so the reader is left wanting more. There is an overarching mystery which remains unresolved. It's Lady Don't Fall Backwards all over again.

@Timeforatincture love your name! They sound like fun.

This is a very useful resource too
https://www.fadedpage.com/

@Howyoualldoworkme that looks very good, thanks!

I have the same criteria’s as you OP, but I also include that no animals must die.
I have recently enjoyed reading Elif Shafak.

May I recommend Clare Chambers who I thnk has some Barbara Pym echoes with a more modern setting. I love all her books. I detest cosy crime.

I see lots of recommendations for Clare Chambers! She’s got such a deft touch and I am always invested from the first page.

Wasn't it just?

Absolutely!

I think the first few pages of a book tell a lot. They don't have to reveal too much but you hear the writer's "voice"

Yes I was so underwhelmed, yet so many people loved it. I thought maybe it's just me, but evidently not!

May I recommend a recent discovery, the Henry Gammadge novels by Elizabeth Daly. Golden Age crime, but set in New York city among the 'cultivated' classes. Very very clever, intelligently written, with a delightful mild-mannered hero whose day job involves authenticating old books and manuscipts. Every book involves some kind of manuscript or book in a key role as part of the detection. They take a few books initially before she really hits her stride, but there are sixteen of them. I've enjoyed them so much, and am amazed they are not better known.

@kesstrel they sound amazing! Thanks for the recommendation.

I absolutely love the Robert Galbraith novels but if you really don't want gore and discomfiting ideas, I'd suggest leaving them off your list for now. The first one is fairly light but the next ones are, in parts, quite harrowing. Definitely recommend reading them at some point, but not while you're in the mood for apple eating.

I can wholeheartedly recommend Miss Benson's Beetle for your list, though, by Rachel Joyce. A marvellous old fashioned type of adventure story.

@Philodendrine Thanks for the heads up on the Galbraith, maybe I'll put off reading them at the moment. Miss Benson's Beetle sounds excellent.

I used to read all sorts of heavy, challenging stuff when I was younger but now just want to be entertained!

A lot of modern light fiction is written in the present tense which is annoying.

More irritating is that a lot of it also seems to be written as a Netflix proposal. The imagery and characters are straight out of a TV series, not real life.

Personally, I think the novel peaked in the 19th-century. One of the main reasons is that movies, TV shows, and even video games satisfy our hunger for story. I cannot think of a modern novelist who compares to Tolstoy or Dickens. 19th-century novelists were able to create whole worlds. Dickens is a world, so is Jane Austen, Dickens, Thomas Hardy, etc. But they were living in a world without screens. People had to pour all their imaginative energy into literature. There was no other outlet. To make it even worse, the woke bullies now control the literary world. Books are no longer judged (or published) based on quality/merit. All that matters is inclusivity. Harold Bloom warned about this, but no one listened.

E Nesbit wrote a book called the lark which I really enjoyed. It's like a kids book for adults, very old fashioned but completely enjoyable.

Really, really agree with this.

@Jennifershuffles thanks will seek that out!