Archive | January 2026

Mangled English by Gervase Phinn

Jan10

Hilarious & Full Of Riches

Mangled English by Gervase Phinn is a small comprehensive book looking at the English language in all its’ complex beauty. This is highly amusing as we read about the blunders and gaffs when words are used wrongly.

There is much humour when different dialects connect. “A Southern woman became a teacher at a Bradford school… left her classroom in search of a dustbin… ‘Where’s the bin?’ she enquired. ‘Ah’ve bin t’toilet, if it’s owt to do wi’ thee’ came the blunt reply.”

We learn the origins of some of the English terms for the misuse of words, such as malapropisms. Some examples given are: “He’s a wolf in cheap clothing.” As well as: “He had to go to the solicitor to sign a Happy David.”

Children often cause us to chuckle: “’What is the total?… And what is the remainder?’ the teacher asked. ‘The remainder, miss, is the animal what pulls Santa’s sleigh.’”

Sometimes people just mishear words. “Surely Good Mrs Murphey shall follow me all the days of my life.” And one that made me snigger: “Use a bum St Bernard to heat the test tube.”

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A Lesson In Cruelty by Harriet Tyce

Jan10

Absolutely Superb – Down The Rabbit Hole

A Lesson In Cruelty by Harriet Tyce is a superb contemporary psychological suspense that I just could not put down.

The author has created a marvellous plotline that is extremely well executed. We witness lives that intersect. People in the wrong places at the wrong time become embroiled in a story that is not of their own making.

We witness a broken criminal justice system. A character, guilty of hubris, believes he knows better.

Like moths to the flame, women are drawn to a weak-willed man who ultimately loves no one but himself.

A character is drowning in guilt. She does not believe that she deserves kindness. “She remembers his words in the cell, that’s tough, a kinder judge than she’s ever been to herself.” It is hard for her to trust anyone, especially those who are kind.

Guilt is the bed fellow of loss. “The past is a different country… All those hours spent in pursuit of her career, time robbed from her family, from everything that really mattered.” Only when everything is gone, does a character realise what was really important.

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Voices From The Dead by Tony Bassett

Jan10

Highly Entertaining

Voices From The Dead by Tony Bassett is a marvellous contemporary crime novel that I really enjoyed. It is the eighth book in the Detectives Roy & Roscoe series but can be read as a stand-alone. I enjoyed meeting up with familiar faces as once more, the Central England police force is taxed with solving a double murder.

Tony Bassett has created a fabulous plotline with small branches sprouting from the main trunk. The reader is thrown the same crumbs as the detectives as we all try to guess the perpetrator. I fell for a few red herrings along the way.

All the characters were well drawn and realistic. The villains were definitely shady. The police force was relentless in its’ pursuit of justice.

Characters’ lives had inter-connected with others over the years. There were definitely some shady characters to contend with.

I thoroughly enjoyed Voices From The Dead. It was a highly entertaining novel that kept me glued and guessing.

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The Yorkshire Minster Killings by Wes Markin

Jan10

The Line Between Them

The York Minster Killings by Wes Markin is a powerful and compelling contemporary novel that I thoroughly enjoyed. It is the seventh book in The Yorkshire Murders series but can be read as a stand-alone. I recommend reading the books in numerical order for the continuity of stories and for character progression.

I enjoyed meeting up with familiar faces that I have known from the start.

The leading detective is hard-working, loyal and able to empathise with others. The line between him and the perpetrator is blurred as their lives have similar stories but they have very different trajectories. Both are dads struggling with loss. “You are not the only one drowning in this… You’re not the only one who wakes up expecting to hear her voice.”

We witness that loss totally consumes. He “understood that loss. The kind that burned your world down.” One minute you are a dad, the next a grieving father. There is no manual. You just have to work through it however you can. Your choices will have consequences and you must own them. “Desperation and the choices people made when the world stopped listening.” A silent world propels a character to make darker and ever darker choices.

There is the need for support for the grieving, but they fell beneath the cracks. “How we treat desperate people. It matters.” The lead protagonist is invisible and ignored. His action, however, cannot be ignored.

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