Short reviews

 

Bookshops & Bonedust by Travls Baldree is a prequel to Legends & Lattes, which I absolutely loved. And, I have to say, this one had me grinning like an idiot as well.

Viv is a young, brash Orc, just starting out as a mercenary with Rackham's Ravens when she's badly injured by the minions of necromancer the crew is chasing.

She's forced to take downtime and finds herself settling into Murk - a sleepy beachside down to rest and recuperate.

Viv doesn't take the enforced rest very well to start with, and things start to stack up for her.

Luckily, she meets some friends along the way, including Fern who owns the town's only bookstore, and Maylee, the dwarf - and romantic interest for Viv - who owns a bakery.

Unfortunately, the necromancer is still out there, and she's heading for Murk...

This was just. Lovely. I don't know how else to describe it honestly. I loved it so much.

After the book of Miss Marple short stories by modern writers didn't work out, I decided to go back to the source material. 

I picked up A Caribbean Mystery, in which Miss Marple is on holiday in the Caribbean - slightly bored if she's honest, but overall enjoying herself - when someone is murdered.

The murder - of a retired Major who's main goal seems to be boring everyone rigid with his stories - sets off an unexpected chain of events, leading to Miss Marple acting as a very unlikely Nemesis.

I haven't read this one for a few years so had forgotten whodunit. So I was entertained and surprised at the same time.

I had seen Foundryside at my library a few times, but - true confession  - the cover put me off for some reason, so I never picked it up. I *think* I saw someone on an instagram reel mention it and I though "oh, that DOES sound lik me," so I borrowed it from the library.

And it's SO good! Sancia is an escaped slave, living on the margins of a society with a very strong dividing line between the haves and the have-nots.

She survives by stealing, and she also has a secret - Sancia has a scrived plate in her head, which means she can ... talk? to things that she touches - walls, doors, windows ... 

She does a job for a fence, and steals a key. What Sancia doesn't realise is how important that key really is.

The worldbuilding is great, and Sancia is a truly compelling main character. Fantasy plus heist is one of my favourites, and this did not disappoint.