Connolly Readathon

What happens when two book bloggers get chatting on Social Media about a long established series of crime thrillers?

To be honest that’s practically a daily occurrence…the author gets a few Twitter/X notifications and with a bit of luck that chat will be seen by a few hundred people and some of them may be sufficienty intruged to seek out books by the author in question. Word of mouth is probably the very best way to get new reading recommendations. As bloggers, booksellers, booktokers and passionate readers we try to find the best ways to share our booklove with anyone who will listen.

However, sometimes a random chat about books can become something more, it can grow and evolve and eventually it could even become a readathon. That’s exactly what happened when my very good friend Raven Crime Reads and I started a random chat about the Charlie Parker novels by John Connolly. Raven has already put the backstory together and you can see her explanation around what a #ConnollyReadathon entails: https://ravencrimereads.wordpress.com/2024/05/10/come-join-the-connollyreadathon-revisiting-charlie-parker-jconnollybooks-grabthisbook-hodderbooks /

I’ve not mentioned the readathon here on the blog yet but for the last four months I have been fully immersed in the dark world of Charlie Parker and I’ve listened to the first four novels in the series. When I reached the end of the fourth book I felt it was the end of a natural story arc and decided it was time to put my thoughts down about those first novels and prepare for September’s listen: The Black Angel

Introducing Charlie “Bird” Parker is the first novel in the series; Every Dead Thing. In this story readers will meet Parker and we will find him at his very lowest point – he’s a police officer but drinks heavily and his drinking has impacted upon his relationship with his wife and young daughter. On returning home from the pub late one evening, Parker finds the bodies of his wife and child – both murdered in the most brutal fashion.

The event sends Parker into a spiral which will ulitmately see him leaving the police and making a vow to find justice for his slain family. At this stage it is worth explaining some of the more distincive elements of a John Connolly novel so you fully understand what these books bring into your library. They are dark, graphic, chilling and involved. But they are also packed with a dry humour, firm friendships, lots of musical references and gripping tension and unexpected twists and turns. Connolly’s writing style is detailed and descriptive and readers will get lots of background information on places, events and historical incidents. I’ve been enjoying the books on audio so I’m always getting the full story (unusual for a skim reader like myself) and it really emphasises the depth of the narrative.

Parker is joined on his quest to find justice by two unusual companions. Angel and Louis are a couple. Angel is an over the top extrovert with awful dress sense and very accompished burglary skills. Louis is the total opposite. An imposing black man, immaculate dress sense, who can loom and intimidate with ease yet also make himself nearly invisible and move with the stealth of a mouse – helpful for a man who kills for a living.

That’s the key players on the side of the “good guys” but John Connolly brings the big guns when it comes to his villains – the word EVIL should feature heavily.

In Every Dead Thing Parker discovers his family were killed by a mysterious figure who goes by the name of The Travelling Man. The Travelling Man and his actions will loom large over the first four books and it becomes apparent he’s had a long and uninterrupted journey before he crosses paths with Charlie, Angel and Louis. During the course of the novel the reader will discover Charlie Parker can see the spirits of the departed. He is visited by the dead, can interact with them and they will give (often cryptic or frustrating) guidance which will influence how Parker conducts his investigations.

The first book sets the benchmark for what will follow. It was gripping listening and I grudged the time I had to pause my audiobook, particularly as the story was reaching a concusion.

But all good things do come to an end. Fortunately on a ConnollyReadathon the next book is just a few days away and from Every Dead Thing we move along to Dark Hollow. While each book can be read as a stand alone mystery there are elements of the Parker backstory which will filter through into current events in the latest read.

Dark Hollow opens with an escape – an elderly resident is trying to escape her care home, seemingly terrified at the prospect of being found by a figure who is generally considered to be a character of local myth or legend. The takes the most extreme actions to get away from her residential home.

In this story we learn more about Charlie Parker, he has moved to live in the house which he grew up in (with his mother and grandfather) and the New England chill and rural setting is not to the liking of Louis and Angel when they come visiting. Events of Every Dead Thing do hang over Dark Hollow too, particularly the implications it had on Charlie’s relationship with Rachel Wolfe (a profiler introduced in Every Dead Thing who entered into a relationship with Charlie during the first book).

In moving back to his old childhood home Charlie will meet old friends and also some people he would prefer to avoid. But the key theme in this book is an overlap with crimes Charlie’s grandfather investigated when he was a cop several decades earlier. It’s another dark take on the evil of men and how it can connect to a missing girl. But the telling is great reading and I remembered why I first became hooked on these books over twenty years ago.

Book Three: The Killing Kind is where I felt the shackles really come off and Connelly gives the readers a particularly nasty enemy for Charlie, Angel and Louis to contend with. In this book is Mr Pudd. A grotesque man who has an extremely unhealth obsession with recluse spiders and other dangerous insects. This story is guaranteed to make your skin crawl but some of that crawling skin may actually be shivers running up and down your spine.

Religious sects from days gone by and a student who dies when she asks too many questions about a modern preacher are what draws Parker’s attention. He is engaged by a high profile politician to look into the death of the student (the daughter of one of his former business partners) but as Charlie starts to ask tricky questions he discovers there are a lot of people who don’t want him to find the answers.

With my hand on my heart I can say The Killing Kind is a novel I can clearly remember enjoying more than two decades after I first read it. Some of the scenes in this book have lurked in the dark corners of my memory and imagination far longer than I’d ever have expected. You’ll never look at spiders in quite the same way once you put this book down.

Pudd casts a long shadow as do some of the characters he worked with. Which takes us into The White Road.

I finished The White Road just this week and it is the book of the first four which seemed to connect most with Charlie’s ability to see things/people/spirits that nobody else can see. It is also a book where Louis and Angel get more of a chance to shine. Events in The Killing Kind have put the pair under a greater strain, not in their relationship but they seem weakened by what has passed and Angel is determined there is a price to be paid for ***spoilers*** in The Killing Kind.

We also get to hear the backstory of Louis and Angel in The White Road, both men have clearly been shaped by the lives they led and although they are around to help Charlie in his latest investigation they also have some personal business to attend to.

The White Road in the title is a key part of this story and I love how some phrases carry through to different books (indeed we wee Black Angels in this book which give name to book five). But there’s no White Road to guide Charlie in this book – an old friend has reached out to Charlie asking him to come South to help find evidence to clear a black man from the charge of murdering his white girlfriend. The girl was the daughter of a local businessman (a big player in town) and his family has connections to the KKK and White Supremacy groups. There is more than one type of evil rearing its head in this novel and once again Charlie will need to be constantly on guard to stay alive.

When I reache the end of The White Road I had a huge feeling of satisfaction. There are still some plots which I can see will continue into forthcoming books but I also felt some of the threads from the first four books had been tied off and should not unravel any further. But in the world of Charlie Parker dead does not mean final so I remain prepared for the unexpected.

I’d love if you joined Raven and me on our #ConnollyReadathon. We are aiming for a book a month and September is The Dark Angel but we’d just be happy to hear from anyone who is discovering these books for the first time or who has also been inspired by our reading marathon to revisit the stories too.

Category: Audiobook, From The Bookshelf | Comments Off

August 26

Banquet of Beggars – Chris Lloyd

In Paris 1940, survival means sacrifice. Like most in the city, Detective Eddie Giral has already lost so much under Occupation: the people he once loved, the job he once believed in.

And his latest investigation into the murder of a black-marketeer has made it clearer than ever: Eddie is no longer just catching criminals. He’s working for them. Because when a German trader is the next to die, the authorities decide it’s innocent civilians who will pay the price – unless Eddie can find the killer in time.

As hunger grows, tensions rise and a fierce rebellion brews, Eddie will tread a dark path between doing whatever it takes to live with the enemy… and also with himself.

My thanks to the publishers for a review copy of Banquet of Beggars which I received through Netgalley.

“collaborator”

noun

disapproving

a person who works with an enemy who has taken control of their country

Collaborator is a word Eddie Giral is hearing far too often. It is shouted at him, hissed at him and muttered about him behind his back. It is not a word which Eddie accepts. He is a Paris cop, he is doing the job he’s always done and is trying to do it to the best of his ability. But the citizens of Paris are increasingly distrustful of Eddie as it is 1940 and Paris is under German control. If Eddie is trying to enforce the law then the assumption is that he is working alongside the Germans and that makes him a collaborator with their oppressor, this means people are less likely to trust him and his ability to do his job will also be severely impacted.

An inability to gather information is a major hinderance to Eddie as his role is very much to keep his German “boss”, Major Hochstetter, informed of various aspects of criminal activity within the city. Eddie’s actual boss within the French police is Inspector Dax. Both Dax and Hochstetter have an interest in Black Market activity within Paris. As the city residents approach the second Christmas under occupation there is an increasing shortage of many types of staples and this means black market trading is rife.

Banquet of Beggars opens with Eddie, not above the law in some instances, trying to join a large queue of hopeful shoppers who have had word a supply of butter may be available. The source of the rumour (and the source of the butter) are somewhat vague and there’s real doubt any butter which does materialise will be legally obtained but Eddie’s happy to take the chance and overlook any grey legal areas. Unfortunately for Eddie his shopping is going to be interrupted by the discovery of a body but with hindsight he realises he may have moved a bit closer to gathering important information about the Paris Black Market. The body Eddie will find certainly has some connection to illegal trading – not least because someone has stuffed some butter into the corpse’s mouth. And that’s not the most unexpected thing he finds at the crime scene!

Tasked with finding more about the illegal traders in the city Eddie is frustrated to find his office space is to be shared with a new administrative assistant and also with his colleague Detective Boniface. Even during wartime and in the midst of personal drama and challenging work commitments it’s somewhat reassuring to see just how frustrated Eddie can be when having to deal with workplace disruptions and losing some of his precious desk space.

What I particularly love about Chris Lloyd’s Eddie Giral books is how Paris springs to life around the police, the soldiers and even the surly bar staff who Eddie delights in winding up. These books are not simply a crime story they are accompanied by a fascinating insight into the social history of Parisians during the 40’s. Aspects of their life are woven into the plot so we can see how they coped with rationing, increasing fear at the Gestapo’s “techniques” for gathering information, travel when there are fuel shortages and even how they choose to socialise. The depth of the world Chris Lloyd spins around his characters is an absolute treat for readers – small wonder he has won the HWA Gold Crown for Best Historical Fiction.

Eddie Giral is a man with a raft of problems. To be fair, however, many of these problems come from Eddie’s own sardonic nature and his inability to keep the inside thoughts unspoken. His personal life is in turmoil as he has to keep his relationship secret from the authorities – Germans are not accepting of black women at this time and Eddie cannot afford to have Major Hochstetter discover a potential weakness in Eddie’s life which Hochstetter could exploit. This is equally true of Eddie’s son who has fled the city and Eddie doesn’t know if his son is safe or even if he is alive.

Beggars Banquet zips along at a very enjoyable pace. Eddie’s investigations into the Black Market trading gets waylaid by the appointment of a new judge who seems intent on making an example of two foolish small-time crooks by sentencing them to death by guillotine despite a lack of any real evidence. Eddie has known the crooks (brothers) for many years and is doing his best to prove their innocence despite the judge ignoring any attempts to see justice done – it will please the Germans that action is seen to be taken. Eddie has also been asked to help secure the release of a young French protestor who got caught up in an anti-German event – this is more tricky for Eddie as she is being held by the Gestapo and Eddie will need Hochstetter’s help to secure her freedom. But Hochstetter isn’t interested in helping Eddie.

It’s a glorious sequence of dilemma, drama and a swinging shift in power dynamics. Chris Lloyd keeps many plates spinning through the whole book and just as it looks like everything will come crashing down around the ears of Eddie Giral, well perhaps something does…

Crime fiction in a wartime setting – the Eddie Giral novels should not be missed. Essential reading.

Banquet of Beggars is published by Orion and is available in hardback, digital and audiobook format. You can order a copy here: https://www.waterstones.com/book/banquet-of-beggars/chris-lloyd/9781409190356?_gl=1*9urw77*_up*MQ..*_ga*MTMxNTIwODkyMC4xNzI0NzAzMjky*_ga_P4C39TQPV3*MTcyNDcwMzI5MS4xLjEuMTcyNDcwMzUzMy4wLjAuMA..

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August 25

Bloody Scotland 2024 – Friday 13th Fright Night

The countdown is on – Bloody Scotland 2024 is now so close we can almost touch it. Each year a huge number of the very best crime writers and contributors head to Stirling in the middle of September (collectively crossing their fingers the weather will be fair) and entertain us across three days with their insight, inspiration and investigative skills. The panels are diverse and will be funny, informative, sobering or educational but they always entertain.

This year there is another dazzling array of talent on show and for visitors to the Bloody Scotland festival the usual dilemma around which panels you need to attend. As we count down the days towards Friday 13th September and the commencment of Bloody Scotland 2024 a number of bookbloggers will share their thoughts on the festival and highlight the panels they are most excited to see. I have the honour of kicking things off today and making my “most anticipated” selection was a bit of a no-brainer as one panel immediately drew my attention as I perused the programme: Friday 13th Fright Night with Stuart Neville, Ben Aaronovich and JD Oswald.

I’m a firm believer in allowing crime stories to deviate from the vices and evils of the human race. I’m aware many readers will opt not to pick up a crime story if they believe there are fantasy or supernatural elements to the book – while I fully respect their decision I do feel it only fair to point out they are missing out on some of the very best crime novels in print today. Why be tied down with a more conventional solution when a supernatural twist to a tale opens up so many more possibilities?

Which leads me nicely to the Fright Night Friday 13th panel at this year’s festival. The very fact we have panels on Friday 13th September sets up the wonderful opportunity to bring some chills into our reading.

And so to the panel…first name to catch my eye was a former Decades contributor JD Oswald. James’s Tony McLean novels and the Constant Fairchild books are firm favourites of mine and I always enjoy any opportunity to hear James speaking about his writing.

Broken Ghosts is due to be published in the very near future under the name JD Oswald and the intriguing title has already grabbed my attention. I’m hoping for the chance to pick up a copy at the event.

I’m also very much looking forward to hearing Ben Aaronovitch. Last year I was one of the contributors to the Bloody Scotland Book Club and I suggested we read the first Rivers of London novel. I loved revisiting a story I’d previously enjoyed but the high point of our chat was when one of my fellow contributors confessed she’d not have considered reading the book due to the supernatural elements…she loved it and was seeking out more of Ben’s books. Which takes me back to my introduction – so many great books can be missed if you exclude a supernatural element from your reading.

And the third member of this chilling trio…Stuart Neville.

I have a self-imposed reading deadline ahead of this panel as I’ve just bought Blood Like Mine by Stuart Neville. In the lead up to publication day of Blood Like Mine I’d seen nothing but praise for this book from authors and bloggers so I nabbed myself a copy and I’ve intentionally avoided reading the blurb and ANY spoilers…I’m going in cold and I can’t wait!

You can’t forget Friday 13th so kick of your Bloody Scotland in the chilling Fright Night panel.

Tickets for all the events at Bloody Scotland can be purchased directly from the festival website at http://bloodyscotland.com

If you want to take in the Fright Night Chills of Friday 13th then here’s the link you need: https://bloodyscotland.com/friday-13th-fright-night-stuart-neville-ben-aaronovitch-and-jd-oswald/#more

Keep your eyes peeled over the next couple of weeks as the Bloody Scotland Blog Tour visits all these wonderful bloggers and they share details of the panels and guests they are most excited to see:

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August 19

Decades: Compiling the Ultimate Library with Luke Deckard

Welcome back to the Decades Library and the opportunity to add five highly recommended new titles to your TBR. I say “new titles” yet the five books which have been recommended by my guest curator this week are actually all over forty years old. Indeed one was actually published in 1940 so it is more accurate to say five books which are new to the Decades Library, if not actually “new” to some readers.

The Decades Library, should this be your first visit, is a collection of unmissable and much loved books which have been recommended to me by the guest curators who have joined me here at Grab This Book. I set the challenge of filling a brand new library (no books on the shelves) and ask my guests to help me assemble the very best library of books which visitors to the library could enjoy. My guests are set just two rules when nominating the books they feel should be added to my Ultimate Library (the Decades Library):

1 – Choose ANY Five Books
2 – You May Only Select One Book Per Decade From Five Consecutive Decades.

I’m closing in on the one hundreth Decades post so please do take time to browse the rest of the site and take in some of the previous recommendations you may have missed. You may also find some book reviews during your browsing – a happy accident should you read one of those too.

Enough from me, time to pass you over to the care of my guest this week. It is with real pleasure I welcome Luke Deckard to the Decades Library…

Luke Deckard is the author of BAD BLOOD, a 1920s hard-boiled thriller set in Edinburgh now available at AMAZON UK and AMAZON US. He is also the creator and co-host of the film noir podcast MEAN STREETS, a weekly show dedicated to investigating the best, worst and forgotten movies of the genre. Find Luke on Twitter/X or on his website!

Amazon UK

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Bad-Blood-Logan-Bishop-Thriller-ebook/dp/B0D69CBWKL/ref=sr_1_6?crid=1Z6CYQC4CADO2&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.s1ftWd2JKB6R3cwM0E_Xijcda6sCzj2ktYfLFNwor5C9YyrGpeMpjxNtSkpqAJsg-KQ2M2WTNy0FbnuyPMCBs-lpT-bYpDDmirymC-pu9pqTW9QSLJL3lHa9wZvFKg-rRxw1h2-jr-gJ8U1GQxblpWWysq5oUsnXAsV1P4ERFxBQuSbN6oLP0ZFTy5slqweItfKTwKGjKp3mO8ExzVcSLjW2ZNrih7TFKD9b_YBbFs4-6FoX05AU0RaWtPfAjh0KyHVB99Zghp6wUBF5wvajbANqW7xmfVb8TeIqbHesl6A.hiw5lMyzsn1F1K1pm305tDcUWZHvZtEv_obSj8mCh2I&dib_tag=se&keywords=bad+blood&qid=1721746792&sprefix=bad+bloo%2Caps%2C81&sr=8-6

Amazon US

https://www.amazon.com/Bad-Blood-Logan-Bishop-Thriller-ebook/dp/B0D69CBWKL/ref=sr_1_6?crid=1Z6CYQC4CADO2&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.s1ftWd2JKB6R3cwM0E_Xijcda6sCzj2ktYfLFNwor5C9YyrGpeMpjxNtSkpqAJsg-KQ2M2WTNy0FbnuyPMCBs-lpT-bYpDDmirymC-pu9pqTW9QSLJL3lHa9wZvFKg-rRxw1h2-jr-gJ8U1GQxblpWWysq5oUsnXAsV1P4ERFxBQuSbN6oLP0ZFTy5slqweItfKTwKGjKp3mO8ExzVcSLjW2ZNrih7TFKD9b_YBbFs4-6FoX05AU0RaWtPfAjh0KyHVB99Zghp6wUBF5wvajbANqW7xmfVb8TeIqbHesl6A.hiw5lMyzsn1F1K1pm305tDcUWZHvZtEv_obSj8mCh2I&dib_tag=se&keywords=bad+blood&qid=1721746792&sprefix=bad+bloo%2Caps%2C81&sr=8-6

WEBSITE:

lukedeckard.com

TWITTER:

https://x.com/LukeWritesCrime

Podcast:

Mean Streets The Film Noir Podcast

https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/luke-deckard

DECADES

1940

Farewell, My Lovely – Raymond Chandler

Book Quote:

“This was the time to leave, to go far away. So I pushed the door open and stepped quietly in.” – Philip Marlowe.

It’s hard to beat Chandler. There’s hardly a crime thriller today that isn’t somehow inspired or influenced by him. Farewell, My Lovely has always been my favourite of his novels, even more so than The Big Sleep. Unlike “Sleep,” Chandler didn’t write “Farewell” by Frankensteining several short stories. It’s easy to read “Farewell” for what it is: a hard-boiled thriller with numerous quotable lines, but the novel is an onion—layered and complex. Here, Chandler presents a slickly plotted story, a much darker and meaner L.A., and a stronger and more brutal social commentary about city-wide/police corruption.

1950

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe – C S Lewis

Book Quote:

“Bless me, what do they teach them at these schools.” – The Professor.

I wanted to include a children’s book in my list. I can’t think of a better one than The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. It is the first book I really remember from my childhood. It ignited my imagination as a kid. It’s fantastic and terrifying. I have always loved the professor and his rattling about what they teach in school these days. The clash between the professor’s open mind and Peter’s, Susan’s, and Edmund’s desperation to be adults and logical is pure magic on the page. Children’s books are often far more layered and rich than given credit, and this is no exception! Also, anyone sitting down to read the Narnia books for the first time should not read them chronologically, which is how they are published today, but in publication order. The door to Narnia starts with the Wardrobe.

1961

Thunderball – Ian Fleming

Book Quote: “What’s the good of other people’s opinions? Animals don’t consult each other about other animals. They look and sniff and feel.”

Book Bond is very different to cinematic Bond. At least until you get to Casino Royale (2006). I didn’t read Fleming until my twenties for that very reason. I liked the exaggerated, swinging silliness and gadgets of the films. As a reader, you approach Bond at your own risk. When I finally turned to Book Bond, I was captivated. For whatever reason, I didn’t start at the beginning; I read Thunderball, which is my second favourite Connery film; From Russia With Love being my first. I quickly realised that while cinematic Bond was a hero, Book Bond is Britain’s anti-hero. He may do heroic things and save the day but Bond isn’t a ‘good guy.’ This often isn’t discussed or acknowledged. There’s truthfully nothing honourable about him. He’ll die for the Crown, but he is a sad, repressed alcoholic with nothing to lose, which makes him dangerous. And you can see that on every page. It also makes him a terribly interesting character to read. Not because he’s someone to aspire to be like but to see how far he’ll go for Britain.

1975

The Wrong Case – James Crumley

Book Quote: “This is the great American West. Where men came to get away from laws…You can murder your spouse and the lover in a fit, preferably of passion, and the maximum sentence is five years.”

I picked up The Wrong Case in Edinburgh’s Waterstones around 2018. I was on the hunt for something tough and gritty and splashed on the back cover was a quote from Ian Rankin that read: “As sweetly profane a poet as American Noir could have asked for.” And boy, he isn’t wrong. Crumley took the hard-boiled genre somewhere darker, nastier, and more real than anyone before him. He could wax lyrical like Chandler, be tough like Spillane, but never feel cheap or comic-book-like. His detective, Milo, is one of the few fictional private detectives who you believe suffer the trauma of war; in Milo’s case, the Vietnam War. Crumley expertly tackled the disillusionment and seedy, sweaty corruption of the 70s. Read him and you’ll never be the same!

1980

Looking for Rachel Wallace – Robert B Parker

Book Quote: “And I will always remember that you cried.” – Rachel Wallace

Robert B Parker is my favourite author in the hard-boiled genre, and Looking for Rachel Wallace is my number one Parker book. Parker’s genius was his ability to tackle sociopolitical issues head-on without preaching and offer multiple perspectives without necessarily making one side good or bad/right or wrong. Life is complicated, and so are his stories. Despite his novels being short, they are packed with complex, three-dimensional characters. The beauty of Looking For Rachel Wallace is how Parker explores two people on different sides of the political spectrum and how they come together, respect each other, and build a genuine friendship. This is one of the few crime fiction novels that I would dare call important. Seek it out. You won’t regret it.

Huge thanks to Luke for these excellent recommendations. My frequent returns to the Decades Library are a constant reminder of the thousands of books which have brought joy to readers over the years and a regular reminder to me of how few books I’ve actually read during my 50 years on this planet. I’ve only read Thunderball from Luke’s selections so I clearly need to do even more catching up – my TBR is braced for impact.

If you are in the Manchester area this week you can meet Luke along with Emma Talon and, former Decades Curator, Chris Lloyd at Manchester Central Library. The chat kicks off at 6pm on Thursday 22nd August in the Manchester Central Library.

DECADES WILL RETURN

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August 9

Decades: Compiling the Ultimate Library with Syd Moore

Welcome to a very special Decades selection. Special because the fabulous Syd Moore has brought some wonderfully wyrd books into the Decades Library but also because this week sees me complete my own fifty year span. It’s a landmark birthday week for me and I love that I will get to share more great book recommendations which I hope will swell your TBR to a dangerous level.

As ever I will do a very quick recap to explain my Ultimate Library and why I refer to it as my Decades Library. Back in January 2021 I was contemplating the immense challenge a librarian would face if they were given a brand new library and were tasked with filling all the empty shelves with the very best books. Which titles would the librarian choose? Which titles would I choose? Would they look to add classic titles or seek out newer books?

I realised that I could not begin to take on a task of that magnitude as my own reading preferences would be too narrow. So I decided to ask other booklovers which books they would add to the Ultimate Library. Over the last three years I have added several hundred books to the Library shelves, all selected by my guests (authors, publishers, bloggers and journalists) and I do believe we are curating an amazing selection of books.

Why do I call my Ultimate Library the Decades Library? Each time I ask someone to select books to be added to the Library shelves I ask them to follow two rules:

1 – You Can Select ANY five Books
2 – You May Only Select One Book Per Decade From Five Consecutive Decades (a fifty year publication span).

My Decades Library.

Okay, it is time to take my customary step back and pass control over to my guest curator…

Syd Moore here, reporting for action. If you aren’t familiar with my work, Starburst Magazine has described my writing as ‘Dennis Wheatley meets Caitlin Moran.’ Most of my novels and short stories are indeed flavoured with the occult, witch trials, secret or forgotten histories, and often populated with firmly feminist characters.

The Grand Illusion, my latest offering, focuses on how the British Secret Service exploited the Nazi’s obsession with the occult. It proved quite a challenge to create an independent female protagonist, full of feist, in the world of 1940 before the f-word had even been invented. However, as I researched, I discovered that many young women called into the war effort actually found the work liberating. So when the Security Service approach Daphne Devine and her boss, The Grand Mystique, they are spirited away from treading the boards of London’s theatreland and sent off for training, where they must use their resources and skills in illusion to pull off an operation created to repel the German invasion of the British Isles. As a result, Daphne, like most of us faced with a huge challenge, grows in confidence and self-knowledge into a formidable force of her own.

As with my other novels this is also based on what is thought to be a real event.

With my Dennis Wheatley and Caitlin Moran tendencies I don’t think anyone will be surprised by my eclectic choice of books for Decades.

I hope you enjoy them.

DECADES

1930s

The Sea Priestess by Dione Fortune (1938)

Dione Fortune, aka Violet Mary Firth, was an occultist and writer who founded the ‘Fraternity of the Inner Light’. This was an esoteric society born out of the more famous Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn whose members included W.B. Yeats, Aleister Crowley, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Algernon Blackwood, amongst other luminaries.

The Sea Priestess is very much a novel that demonstrates Dione Fortune’s beliefs. It features the disillusioned and unfulfilled Wilfred Maxwell, who meets Vivien Le Fay Morgan, a magical practitioner of an esoteric sect. Vivien introduces Wilfred to ancient rituals and esoteric practices connected to the sea and lunar magic, all of which produce a powerful spiritual awakening. The novel had a huge impact on me when I read it in my twenties, blending the esoteric with excellent storytelling. Sadly, I’m not sure it’s the kind of thing that would be published today. The eagle eyed can spot Fortune come to life once more in a brief cameo in The Grand Illusion.

1940s

‘The Lottery’ by Shirley Jackson (1948)

Not a novel but a short story. Set in a small and isolated village where an annual ritual takes place, ‘The Lottery’ is an early piece of folk horror. Succinct but bone chilling, it explores themes of pagan tradition, irrationalism versus thought and logic, and the human propensity for violence. Yep, its dark. The story is well known and in fact inspired one of my own in The Twelve Even Stranger Days of Christmas. Recently there has been a revival of interest in Jackson’s work probably due to the biopic ‘Shirley’, released in 2020, which starred Elisabeth Moss in the title role. It is definitely worth watching if you enjoy the wyrd and spooky.

1950s

The Daughter of Time by Joesphine Tey (1951)

Alan Grant, a police officer, is laid up in hospital with a broken leg. When his friend, Marta, visits him with a series of pictures and postcards one of them sparks an intense curiosity in Grant. It is a portrait of the much maligned king, Richard III, who has historically been cast as the villain in the murder of the princes in the tower. Grant decides to investigate their mysterious disappearance like a crime and comes to some startling conclusions.

I read this book at the age of thirteen and it really stuck in my mind. To my surprise the historical research was not boring. I enjoyed the way Grant delved into the past with help from those around him and how readers learnt about the myths and legends that were constructed around Richard after his death. It was a lesson in how History’s winners tend to shape the past and shed light on methods with which one might unpick the narratives they spin. For these, as I have discovered in my own research, tell only half the story.

1960s

The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov (1966)

Bulgakov’s magnum opus was written sometime between 1928 and 1940. It is one of the most imaginative novels I have ever come across and features the Devil descending (or ascending according to your own belief systems) onto Bulgakov’s contemporary Moscow. He is accompanied by a huge talking cat called Behemoth, a vampire, a strange valet, and an assassin, all of whom misbehave with hilarious and absurd results. The subplots are many: one weaves through the love story of the ‘Master’ of the title, a writer, and his lover, Margarita. Another, full of pathos, features a tormented Pontius Pilot labouring over the verdict passed on a young Jewish preacher. It is mad, funny, joyous and horrifying. The language and imagery are truly exceptional. But, as the book satirised Russian society at the time, it was not published until the 1960s and only serialised. Even then it was censored.

Bulgakov was heavily criticised for his works during his lifetime and sadly died in 1940 without seeing the global success that his novel would become. Today his book is thought to be one of the best novels of the Twentieth Century.

I have taught it to M.A. students who have mixed reactions – some of them love it, but others find it hard work. Personally, I think it’s a masterpiece which explores the enduring themes of good and evil, corruption and the triumph of love in difficult times.

1970s

Misty Annual 1979

Misty was a comic that came out in the 70s and 80s. It was a kind of Tales of the Unexpected for young and teenage girls, though boys loved it too. I used to wait avidly behind the front door when I knew it was about to be delivered and would devour the publication each week, meeting one of my similarly obsessed friends to discuss the ins and outs of the various storylines. At the time, these tales filled both of us with a sense of mystery and awe, ranging across subjects that would now be categorised as ‘horror’. Psychokinesis, clairvoyancy, ghosts, witches, curses, werewolves, karma, time slips, precognition and legends of old – all of these unsuitable topics for children filled its deliciously ghastly pages. I’m surprised that my parents allowed me to read it!

A couple of years ago, when I moved house, I came across my Misty 1980 annual and found a piece on the Witchfinder General. I had no memory of reading it but clearly must have done as there was Marmite smeared on the bottom of a page which contained a tiny fingerprint similar to that on my right index finger! In 2012 my book Witch Hunt was published, all about the same despicable man. Though I don’t think I had ever been consciously aware of it, the seeds of my career and the style of my books had clearly been planted back, whilst I sat on the doormat and flicked through its splendidly dark (and Marmite stained) pages.

After reading Syd’s selections I reaslied what an important part Annuals played in my childhood reading. I would always get an Annual for my Christmas (usually The Beano or Whizzer and Chips) but for the rest of the year I would scour jumble sales or second hand bookshops trying to find old annuals from the 70s and 80s…I would read them over and over again. I am delighted Syd has brought Misty into the Decades Library and all five selections are brilliant additions to the Decades Library. Syd, thank you!

DECADES WILL RETURN

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