Viewing – mostly non-fiction

 Apart from D Day and elections…

The excellent:

7 Times Larry the Cat caused mischief ***** BBC iplayer. Delightful 15 minute compilation of clips about the Downing Street cat – a great relief from wall to wall serious TV!!

And the very good:

On thin ice ****BBC iplayer. Putin v Greenpeace. The story of the activists temporarily imprisoned in Russia. Gripping, but could have been shorter. It was six short programmes over three nights so didn’t need constant ‘previously’ material.

The Fall: The Skydive Murder**** Ch 4 Really gripping. Explored both coercive control and the problems of gathering evidence.

Archaeology: A Secret History**** Ch 4. Nice look at the history of archaeology rather than just what archaeologists find!

Dead Calm**** BBC iplayer. Chilling look at how Europe, especially Greece, deals with ‘boat’ people/

Can AI Steal Your Vote? **** Ch4. Chilling experiment with floating voters who were all influenced as planned.

Deadloch Amazon Prime Video ****. Crime series set in Tasmania. Alongside the crimes being investigated there is a satirical element with a near-parody of police procedurals, feminism, small towns, etc. .

Reading

The five star excellent ones:

The Queen’s Shadow by Chloe Garner***** I’m still enjoying the series and am impressed at the amount of ‘philosophy’ appears in Stasia’s thoughts and conversations. Stasia needs to protect the princess but thing go badly wrong and she has to hide in Cazia, a sort of artists’ colony. The Pixies’ Rebellion. *****More problems for Stasia and the guard. A lot of great culture clash discussion and also in depth exploration of how relationships can work whilst both parties retain independence.

To dream of the dead by Phil Rickman.***** Good as ever.  Floods, a dismembered councillor, digs in Hereford and Ledwardine. Frannie and Annie get together in this one. Then The Secrets of Pain***** which is very complicated and not my favourite but still gets five stars. SAS, Romans (Mithraism), cock fighting, Frannie injured, migrant workers. Three horrific murders, linked but not by the same murderers. The House of Susan Lulham. **** Novella expanded from a short story. I think it suffers from the lack of the usual supporting cast but is still a good read.

Negative Exposure by Jackson Marsh ***** Someone is blackmailing Silas and things get difficult when everyone retreats to the country in view of a flu epidemic. The Clearwater Inheritance***** All characters now have satisfactory backgrounds and I can re-read the Larkspur Mysteries which I enjoyed first time around but will have more depth now.  1892**** is a novella, set after the Larkspur series, which clarifies the background stories of some of the minor characters. I enjoyed it, because of the explanations, but was less impressed by the structure which was a kind of homage to the Canterbury Tales.

In the Dragon’s Lair by Joy Lynn Fielding. ***** More dragon shifters, and again, just enough drama and potential drama to counteract the sweetness of the romance. A delightful story set in Bath. Rufus’ brother Nate meets Alex, of the Cornish dragons, while they both try to work out what is going on in the Fortesque banking family. .

And the other highly recommended:

The Claws of Winter by Nazri Noor**** Another series I’m enjoying though it’s much lighter. Jack and Xander have to rescue the fairy queen – perhaps… I love Noor’s world building. The sex scenes on the other hand seem a little unnecessary at times. I think this is the last in the series but quite hope for more.

Skeleton Crew by Jordan Castillo Price**** I always enjoy reading about Vic and Jacob. This time they’re trapped in the basement of the research building during a freak storm.

Human Rights: Robot Wrongs by Susie Alegre**** Quite good discussion, by a human rights lawyer, of the perils of AI or rather the people who invent and spread it. A bit repetitive at times.

Midlife in Gretna Green by Linzi Day**** An endearing heroine and some fresh and well explained magic in this delightful story. No romance, just magic and drama. Painting the Blues in Gretna Green****. Lovely sequel – the mix of magic with modern technology is fascinating. Will continue with the series – the characters are great.