Dead Like You (Roy Grace 6)

by Peter James

From the Back Cover...
 

Don't imagine for one moment that I'm not watching you . . .

The Metropole Hotel, Brighton. After a heady New Year's Eve ball, a woman is brutally raped as she returns to her room. A week later, another woman is attacked. Both victims' shoes are taken by the offender.

Detective Superintendent Roy Grace soon realizes that these new cases bear remarkable similarities to an unsolved series of crimes in the city, back in 1997. The perpetrator had been dubbed 'Shoe Man' and was believed to have raped four women before murdering his fifth victim and vanishing. Could this be a copycat, or has Shoe Man resurfaced?

When more women are assaulted, Grace becomes increasingly certain that he is dealing with the same man. And that by delving back into the past ? a time in which Grace and his now missing wife Sandy had appeared happy together ? he may find the key to unlocking the current mystery.

Soon Grace and his team will find themselves in a desperate race against the clock to identify and save the life of the new fifth victim. . .

Dead Tomorrow (Roy Grace 5)

by Peter James

Product Description

IN AN EVIL WORLD, EVERYTHING IS FOR SALE . . .

The body of a missing teenager is dredged from the seabed off the Sussex coast, missing vital organs. Soon after, a further two more bodies are found . . .

Caitlin Beckett, a fifteen-year-old in Brighton will die if she does not receive an urgent transplant. When the health system threatens to let her down her mother takes drastic action and goes to an online broker in black-market organs. The broker can provide what she wants, but it will come at a price.

As Superintendent Roy Grace investigates the recovered bodies, he unearths the trail of a gang of child traffickers operating from Eastern Europe. Soon Grace and his team will find themselves in a race against time to save the life of a young street kid, while a desperate mother will stop at nothing to save her daughter's life . . .

Dead Man's Footsteps (Roy Grace 4)

by Peter James

Editorial Reviews

Tense, beautifully paced and excellent on police atmosphere and procedure. (The Times)

A real page-turner and the cliffhanging conclusion left me eagerly awaiting DS Grace's next outing. (Daily Express)
 



From the Back Cover
FROM THE ASHES OF MASS DESTRUCTION . . .

Amid the tragic unfolding mayhem of the morning of 9/11, failed Brighton businessman and ne'er-do-well Ronnie Wilson sees the chance of a lifeline: to shed his debts, disappear and reinvent himself in another country.

Six years later the discovery of the skeletal remains of a woman's body in a storm drain in Brighton leads Detective Superintendent Roy Grace on an enquiry spanning the globe, and into a desperate race against time to save the life of a woman being hunted down like an animal in the streets and alleys of Brighton.

'A real page-turner'
 Daily Express

 

'Tense, beautifully paced and excellent on police atmosphere and procedure'

The Times

'Summer wouldn't be summer without an unmissable Peter James Novel'

Daily Mail


Visit his website at www.peterjames.com

Not Dead Enough (Roy Grace 3)

By Peter James

APPEARANCES CAN BE DECEPTIVE, BUT THE TRUTH CAN BE DANGEROUS . . .

On the night Brian Bishop murdered his wife, he was sixty miles away, asleep in bed. At least that's the way it looks to Detective Superintendent Roy Grace, who is called in to investigate the death of beautiful socialite, Katie Bishop.

Roy Grace soon starts to come to the conclusion that Bishop has performed the apparently impossible feat of being in two places at once. Has someone stolen his identity or is he simply a very clever liar?

As Roy Grace digs deeper behind the facade of the Bishops' outwardly respectable lives, it becomes clear that everything is not at all as it first seemed. Then he digs just a little too far, and suddenly the fragile stability of his own troubled world is facing destruction . . .

'Packed with sharp dialogue, an appealing cast and vivid cameos of the more sinister face of Brighton'

Looking Good Dead (Roy Grace 2)

by Peter James

Product Description

One single act of kindess becomes an endless reign of terror...

Tom Bryce did what any decent person would do. But within hours of picking up the CD that had been left behind on the train seat next to him, and attempting to return it to its owner, he is the sole witness to a vicious murder. Then his young family are threatened with their lives if he goes to the police. But supported by his wife, Kellie, he bravely makes a statement to the murder enquiry team headed by Detective Superintendent Roy Grace, a man with demons of his own to contend with.

And from that moment the killing of the Bryce family becomes a mere formality - and a grisly attraction. Notice of Kellie and Tom's deaths has already been posted on the internet. You can log on and see them on a website. They are looking good dead.

'Full of gripping twists and turns' - Guardian.
'Another brilliant novel set in the city of Brighton & Hove' - Robert Bovington

BUY IT!  http://astore.amazon.co.uk/spanisimpres-21/detail/1447262492
 

Dead Simple - the 1st Roy Grace thriller by Peter James

One of my favourite authors grew up in the same town as me - Brighton & Hove, England - "Dead Simple" was the first of his "Roy Grace" novels.

synopsis (from Amazon.co.uk)...

It was meant to be a harmless stag-night prank. A few hours later Michael Harrison has disappeared and his friends are dead.
With only three days to the wedding, Detective Superintendent Roy Grace - a man haunted by the shadow of his own missing wife - is contacted by Michael's beautiful, distraught fiancee, Ashley Harper. Grace discovers that the one man who ought to know Michael Harrison's whereabouts is saying nothing. But then he has a lot more to gain than anyone realizes, For one man's disaster is another man's fortune.
 ...The stunning first novel in the number-one bestselling Roy Grace series.

BUY FROM AMAZON: http://astore.amazon.co.uk/spanisimpres-21/detail/1447262484

Robert Bovington

Ghosts of Spain by Giles Tremlett

 

Click on book cover
to purchase the book

 On 10 April 2006, Clive P L Young wrote a review on Amazon...

"An indispensable introduction to the complex politics and fast-shifting culture of Spain over the last thirty years, Ghosts of Spain presents an engaging and highly readable account of the country's remarkable transition from stagnant authoritarianism to vigorous democracy. 

The opening chapters on the partly hidden legacy of the Civil War and Francoism are quite outstanding as Tremlett gives reasons for Spain's extraordinary lack of either reconciliation or recrimination. 

Recent scandals and the often-related construction and tourist booms are smartly handled and the detour to the heart of flamenco is genuinely moving. 

The author is much less sure-footed on the chapters on Basque and Catalan nationalism, revealing an unfortunate and disappointingly clichéd Madrid metropolitan bias. Although the book also suffers from what seems to have been hasty editing, the recompense is Tremlett's a fine journalistic sensitivity for place and people and a genuine love for his subject."

Robert Bovington wrote...

"I have also read Giles Tremlett's 'Ghosts of Spain' and can reiterate Mr Young's sentiments". "The book is a good account of recent Spanish history and captures the essence of Spain instead of the "rose-tinted spectacles" view of the popular 'Costas'."

other blogs by Robert Bovington:

"Photographs of Spain"	http://bovingtonphotosofspain.blogspot.com/
"Spanish Impressions"	http://bobbovington.blogspot.com/
"postcards from Spain"	http://bovington-posts.blogspot.com/
"you couldn't make it up!"	http://bovingtonycmitup.blogspot.com/
"a grumpy old man in Spain"	http://grumpybobbov.blogspot.com/
"Spanish Expressions"	http://spanishsayingsbovington.blogspot.com/
"Spanish Art"	http://bovingtonspanishart.blogspot.com/
"Books About Spain"	http://bovingtonbooks.blogspot.com/

Spanish Matters

by Robert Bovington

Bob and Diane have made the life-changing decision to retire to sunny Andalucía. Instead of lazing on the beach they explore the countryside of their adopted country. They visit 'pueblos blancos' in the Alpujarras. They enjoy the wonderful scenery of Andalusia.

On one such journey to the medieval city of Ronda they discover the spectacular Sierra de las Nieves - a biosphere reserve. This type of encounter is to be repeated throughout their expeditions. 

Ronda © Robert Bovington

 They experience the stark beauty of the Tavernas desert; the enchanting Palmeral of Elche; the grandeur of the Sierra Nevada and the fantastically diverse landscapes of the Cabo de Gata with its unique flora and fauna.

On their journeys they explore the culture and customs of the Andalucian people - tapas, fiestas, music, soccer, bad driving, noisy Spaniards. 

In short, Bob and Diane have fallen in love with their newly adopted country and are looking forward to visiting other areas of Spain and learning the language properly because Spanish matters!

click on book to order a copy

As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning by Laurie Lee

A Review by Robert Bovington

click on image to purchase book

As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning (1969) is an autobiographical account of an epic journey around Spain in the nineteen thirties. It is 1934 and Laurie Lee, the author, is a young man. He leaves the security of his Cotswold home to embark on an adventure. 

Initially he travels to London and ekes out an existence by playing the violin and by labouring on a London building site. He decides to go to Spain. It seems a rash decision because the young lad’s choice of destination is based on the fact that he knows a phrase of Spanish - "¿Puede por favor dame un vaso de agua?” – “Will you please give me a glass of water?” 

For a year, he tramps through Spain, from Vigo in the north to Almuñécar on the south coast. 

During this voyage, he experiences a country that ranges from utter desolation to extreme beauty. He manages to eat by earning a few pesetas playing his violin. He sleeps at night in his blanket under an open sky or in a cheap, rough posada though occasionally he is rewarded with the warm and generous hospitality of poor village people that he meets along the way. 

Laurie Lee provides the reader with a vivid account of life in Spain during the bleak years leading up to the Spanish Civil War. 

I enjoy reading travel books, especially those about Spain. “As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning” is as good as any I have read even though many of the places he visits – Vigo, Valladolid, Cádiz, Tarifa – are described as squalid, dark, decrepit, acrid, and scruffy. Even Seville is both “dazzling and squalid” according to the author. He does praise some of the places he visits - Toro, Segovia, Toledo – who wouldn’t! However, Lee’s descriptions of the places and peoples that he has encountered are couched in an extremely well written and sometimes poetic prose. 

Laurie Lee must have been a good communicator. If we are to believe that he only had one phrase of Spanish then he did extremely well communicating with the people on his travels. His first port of call was Vigo and, I suspect that in July 1935, the ordinary people of that city would have spoken Galician. He would no doubt acquire more words of Spanish as he travelled through Spain but in Córdoba, Seville, Cádiz, Algeciras, Málaga and his final destination, Almuñecar, he would have encountered the Andaluz dialect. A novice in Castilian Spanish might experience some difficulty in understanding the spoken word of the ordinary people of Andalusia. 

I enjoyed this book very much. I would recommend “As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning” as a thoroughly good read.

Robert Bovington May 2015

Other blogs by Robert Bovington:

"Photographs of Spain"	http://bovingtonphotosofspain.blogspot.com/
"Spanish Impressions"	http://bobbovington.blogspot.com/
"postcards from Spain"	http://bovington-posts.blogspot.com/
"you couldn't make it up!"	http://bovingtonycmitup.blogspot.com/
"a grumpy old man in Spain"	http://grumpybobbov.blogspot.com/
"Spanish Expressions"	http://spanishsayingsbovington.blogspot.com/
"Spanish Art"	http://bovingtonspanishart.blogspot.com/
"Books About Spain"	http://bovingtonbooks.blogspot.com/

Castilian Days by John Hay

I enjoyed this book. Unlike many travel books about Spain, it was not all about cathedrals, churches and castles.

BUY NOW!

American John Milton Hay was more famous as a statesman than as an author – amongst other things he was the 37th Secretary of State. He had also performed the role of private secretary to Abraham Lincoln and one of his publications “Abraham Lincoln: A History” which he co-wrote with John G. Nicolay was published in 1890.

“Castilian Days” was first published in 1875, though my copy was the Holiday Edition of 1903, recently launched in Kindle e-book format by Project Gutenberg.

The book is a good balance between people and places. The first part of the book is dedicated to the habits and customs of the ordinary people of Castile in the late 19th century. This is followed by a vivid description of the bullfight – a bit too vivid for my liking. Hay describes all the gory details, which includes horses being gored to death – old horses that have been worked to (near) death in the intense heat of summer and the bitter cold of winter. So, if you are squeamish, miss that chapter.

The remainder of the book is less morbid. These final chapters are mostly about some of the “must see” sights of this area of Spain – Madrid’s Prado, Segovia, Toledo, the Escorial and Cervantes hometown of Alcalá de Henares.

The author does include some background history of the places he visits and provides the reader with a balanced account of these locations – sometimes with enthusiasm but with the occasional averse comment.

There is also a chapter about holidays and fiestas.

Unless I am mistaken, there is no mention of the year in which John Hay undertook his journey around Castile. It must have been between 1873 and 1874 because he writes of the country being a republic. Despite the fact that the book is set over a century ago, many of the descriptions applied to the Spanish people and places, in my mind, still hold true today.

Robert Bovington

PS a cheaper version of the book is also available...

 

“Familiar Spanish Travels” by William Dean Howells

A review by Robert Bovington

In October 1911, American William Dean Howells travelled to Spain. The author wrote about his experiences in “Familiar Spanish Travels”.

As an avid reader of books about Spain, I have mixed feelings about this book. Certainly, I did not enjoy it as much as other books that I have read on the subject. I found Howells’ literary style too verbose. I wonder whether the author thought: “Why use two or three pithy adjectives when two or three pages of text will do the same job!”

He describes with great detail the strangers that he encounters on his travels, yet often provides little detail on the principal sights. Many of Howells’ sentences are inordinately long – 40, 50 words or more! Yet, despite his longwinded descriptions, Howells manages to convey his thoughts to the reader in both a poetic and an extremely descriptive manner. The reader can easily imagine the bleakness of the Meseta and the “insurpassably dirty and dangerous” gipsy quarters of Granada and Seville. 

Howells certainly was not, what we today call, politically correct. He frequently describes some of the Spanish women as fat. Nor did the author view his surroundings with rose tinted spectacles. He mentions bad breakfasts; freezing hotels, cold rainy streets and “the thick and noisome stench” of Cervantes former home in Valladolid. But he waxed lyrical about a great deal of his experiences too: the incomparable grandeur of Burgos Cathedral; the glorious masterpiece that is Murillo’s “Vision of St Anthony”; the unparalleled beauty of the Alhambra and the magnificent structure that is the Puente Nuevo in Ronda are shortened versions of just some of his descriptions.

I know people’s tastes are different but what really surprised me was the author’s likes and dislikes regarding the places he visited. He did not like Córdoba but, to be fair, it was raining during his visit and he described the houses as “wet and chill”. However, he was also disappointed in that city’s beautiful Mezquita. Yet he really liked Algeciras! 

Certainly, from the author’s text, I gathered that he preferred ‘people watching’ to visiting the famous sights, which probably explains the imbalance between his descriptions of people and his accounts of the places visited. But, then, the whole expedition was unbalanced. He spent only half an hour in Toledo’s magnificent Cathedral and not much longer in the Mezquita, yet he visited Seville Cathedral every day during his fortnight’s stay! He appears to have enjoyed Madrid, especially the Prado and he was greatly taken with Granada though, more for the views from within and without the Alhambra than for the wonderful Arabic architecture. He preferred the Palace of Charles V to the Nasrid Palaces in that magnificent monument to the Moors rule in Spain.

Notwithstanding the author’s idiosyncrasies, “Familiar Spanish Travels” will probably be an enjoyable read for those readers who wish to partake of a “warts and all” commentary of life in early 20th century Spain.

Robert Bovington

21 May 2015

1913 hard cover

1923 reproduction

Kindle

"Photographs of Spain"	http://bovingtonphotosofspain.blogspot.com/
"Spanish Impressions"	http://bobbovington.blogspot.com/
"postcards from Spain"	http://bovington-posts.blogspot.com/
"you couldn't make it up!"	http://bovingtonycmitup.blogspot.com/
"a grumpy old man in Spain"	http://grumpybobbov.blogspot.com/
"Spanish Expressions"	http://spanishsayingsbovington.blogspot.com/
"Spanish Art"	http://bovingtonspanishart.blogspot.com/
"Books About Spain"	http://bovingtonbooks.blogspot.com/

The Girl Who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson

"The Girl Who Played With Fire" - review

There ought be a health warning with this book - I found it so enjoyable, I couldn't put it down and I therefore sat reading all day instead of going for a walk. 

I really enjoyed "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" and couldn't wait to start reading the sequel. In my opinion, this second book of the "Millennium Trilogy" is even better. 

 
 
We get to know more of the enigmatic Lisbeth Salander who is wanted by the police in connection with some brutal murders. Of course, our heroine (if we can call someone that has been labelled a raving, sociopathic, murdering, satanist, lesbian a heroine) is eventually found to be innocent of the crimes. More than that, we get to understand more of why Lisbeth is the way she is. 

There are other interesting characters, both good and evil including the other main character from the first book, journalist Mikael Blomkvist. 

This book is full of excitement and twists and turns and I can't wait to read the third book in the trilogy. What a shame that the author Stieg Larsson died before writing further books. I'd love to read more about Lisbeth Salander!

I hope you enjoyed this review.

You may prefer to buy the complete trilogy...




 

 p.s. I would also recommend the DVD....





 View all my reviews 

other blogs by Robert Bovington:
 

"Photographs of Spain"	http://bovingtonphotosofspain.blogspot.com/
"Spanish Impressions"	http://bobbovington.blogspot.com/
"postcards from Spain"	http://bovington-posts.blogspot.com/
"you couldn't make it up!"	http://bovingtonycmitup.blogspot.com/
"a grumpy old man in Spain"	http://grumpybobbov.blogspot.com/
"Spanish Expressions"	http://spanishsayingsbovington.blogspot.com/
"Spanish Art"	http://bovingtonspanishart.blogspot.com/
"Books About Spain"	http://bovingtonbooks.blogspot.com/

Adam Bede by George Eliot

George Eliot's "Adam Bede" is a delightful read and is a tale of simple country folk in an early nineteenth century rural community. 

The main character is carpenter Adam Bede - a strong, righteous man who cares for his aging mother. He does have a weakness - he's in love with vain but beautiful Hetty Sorrel. Unfortunately for Adam, the young Hetty is deluded into thinking that the flirtatious attentions of Captain Donnithorne may lead to marriage.

 

It is not just a story about a love triangle featuring seduction, murder, and retribution. It is a leisurely novel featuring many interesting characters that include Adam's brother Seth Bede; Methodist preacher Dinah Morris; Hetty's uncle and aunt, the Poysers and their brood of children; Reverend Irwine, the local Anglican minister and teacher Bartle Massey.

At times, George Eliot diverts the reader from the main plot of the story to describe the activities of the locals in their day-to-day life. The author provides the reader with vivid descriptions of the people; their drinking and harvest parties and particularly the landscapes as the seasons unfold. Occasionally, the novel is difficult to follow when the author slips into the 19th century rural dialect but overall the book is an exceedingly good read.

Robert Bovington

February 2011

Elizabeth is Missing!

Sunday Times Top Five Bestseller Elizabeth is Missing is the stunning, smash-hit debut novel from new author Emma Healey

Winner of the Costa First Novel Award 2014

Shortlisted for National Book Awards Popular Fiction Book 2014

Shortlisted for National Book Awards New Writer of the Year 2014

Longlisted for the Dylan Thomas Prize 2014

Longlisted for the Baileys Prize for Women's Fiction 2015






PURCHASE "Elizabeth is Missing"


more blogs by Robert Bovington...

"Spanish Impressions"	http://bobbovington.blogspot.com/
"postcards from Spain"	http://bovington-posts.blogspot.com/
"you couldn't make it up!"	http://bovingtonycmitup.blogspot.com/
"a grumpy old man in Spain"	http://grumpybobbov.blogspot.com/
"bits and bobs"	http://bovingtonbitsandblogs.blogspot.com/
"Spanish Expressions"	http://spanishsayingsbovington.blogspot.com/
"Spanish Art"	http://bovingtonspanishart.blogspot.com/
"Books About Spain"	http://bovingtonbooks.blogspot.com/

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