Berserker!

 

Growing up, Adrian Edmondson was sure (well, he wanted to believe) he was part Norse with the blood of the Vikings, and possibly the Berserkers, running through his veins. In truth, he tells of his upbringing in a strict Methodist family and of the boarding school where he was subjected to a lot of ‘sixes of the best’, dealt out by cruel school masters. 

Having raised sons of my own, my heart broke to read of a boy who wasn’t shown much love or made to feel he was anything special.  Adrian, however, had talents which refused to be submerged, and a way-out-of-the ordinary sense of humour.

Varying stages in Adrian’s life story are marked by whichever songs were popular at the time, and I know often when I hear music from a particular time I can also place where I was or what was happening then; I think it was a brilliant way to lead into each particular memory. Adrian writes as if he is speaking to the reader and even occasionally makes little interjections on the reader’s behalf to make a point clear. As can be expected from him it was a new and different way to write an autobiography, and a joy to read.

I guess it is because of having said sons in my life that I totally appreciated and found hilarious The Young Ones, Bottom and anything Adrian Edmondson and Rick Myall did. They were in a class of their own and took comedy down a new, weird and wonderful path.

Berserker! is packed with fascinating details from Adrian Edmondson’s life from insecure, desperate-to-be-cool, schoolboy to brilliant comedian, musician and actor and loving family man. What a life! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Published by Pan Macmillan 

PS: Give yourself a treat and look on youtube for Living Doll by Cliff Richard and the Young Ones. Magic!

Stop Them Dead by Peter James

 

The Roy Grace novels by Peter James never disappoint, but Stop Them Dead is an absolute standout! It deals with the abhorrent subject of the illegal puppy trade and, because it is set in England, there is also the matter of the illegal importation of unvaccinated dogs from Europe.

The many strands that come together to make this story include murder, theft, fraud, animal cruelty and, frighteningly, the potential danger to the British population from imported diseases.

Of course, the horror that is puppy farming happens in Australia as well. Our country also has strict quarantine requirements that are there to keep out insidious and even life threatening infections. A few years ago a Hollywood actress who famously smuggled her dogs into Australia had failed to understand the seriousness of quarantine laws. Stop Them Dead is a perfect example of the possible consequences of breaking them.

Roy Grace’s private life is as interesting as ever and in this story his beloved wife, Cleo, coincidentally assists with the case Roy and the team are investigating. The sub-plots are peopled with absolutely spot on characterisations, and there are the usual light touches of humour as well as a steadily building, suspense-filled, nail biting race against time. I have been reading recently about the poaching and mistreatment of endangered African animals and now this book which is about the theft and equally heartbreaking mistreatment of domestic animals in England (as in many other parts of the world). There seems to be no limit to the depths to which some human beings will descend.

At the end of each book Peter James always lists comprehensively the experts in their fields who have assisted in his research. The air of authenticity this adds to the stories makes them super enjoyable and hard to beat. In my opinion this is Peter James’s finest book ever! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Published by Pan Macmillan

Darling Girls by Sally Hepworth

 

I’m crying for these fictional girls because they have counterparts in real life as well although, of course, as Sally Hepworth points out in her Acknowledgments: “For every villain in the foster care world there are a hundred heroes working tirelessly to help these kids and fight this broken system”.

Darling Girls is the story of three girls and their foster carer. Sally Hepworth’s writing is so powerful that in spite of the sadness and anger it made me feel I was compelled to keep reading and hated having to put the book down for things like eating and sleeping and, I won’t say housework because that’s a given.

The book moves from past to present and is able to show how the girls’ lives were shaped by their childhood experiences in their foster home, Wild Meadows, a beautiful country house in the town of Port Agatha. Each page reveals something new, right up to the end. 

Holly Fairchild, the foster ‘mother’, is a sickly sweet, terrifying character (shades of “Mommy Dearest”, Joan Crawford, maybe). Brilliant Sally Hepworth packs a lot of surprises into Holly. The three girls are: perfectionist Jessica; aggressive Norah and kind, loving, self-doubting Alicia. The girls form a strong bond and think of themselves as sisters which proves essential for their survival. 

The girls, who have kept their bond into their adult years, are called  back to Wild Meadows to be interviewed by police when a body is found under the floor of the basement. 

That is the basis for this absorbing tale which I can’t recommend highly enough to lovers of good literary fiction. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Published by Pan Macmillan