The tree in our garden in mid-winter. Not this year and I think I’ve used the pic previously. However, it seems appropriate.

Viewing

I suppose I watched quite a lot but then it was winter!

Excellent

The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert*****Amazon A rewatch. Superb acting makes the very slight plot a fantastic film.

The Spiderwick Chronicles***** Amazon. Another rewatch. A children’s fantasy/semi-horror story with a lot of great animation and some thought provoking messages.

Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance most fowl***** bbc – the usual great animation and characterisation plus lots of subtle jokes about technology. This was a Christmas treat.

Treasures of Ancient Egypt***** bbc. Looking at Egyptian art as art rather than through e.g. historical/political/social/religious prism. Really interesting.

Vera***** itvx Fourteenth and final season of two episodes plus the documentary about the fourteen years. I loved this series and will be sad it’s over but the ending was very satisfactory. I think it had added appeal for me because I belong to the Northumbrian area and grew up there.

Good

Shetland Season 9**** bbc.Good, but we still miss Jimmy. Decided to go back and watch the first couple of seasons which we never saw.

Death in Paradise Christmas Special**** bbc. I really like the new DI – his mix of St. Marie background and London copper is perfect. The plot was a bit confusing. I’ve started on the main season but as husband doesn’t like it I’m finding it slow going as I’m limited to the laptop when there’s nothing on the main TV I want.

The Festive Pottery Throwdown**** All4. Celebs who have never done pottery create winter wonderlands. Fun, but not as informative or gripping as the real contest which starts again in January.

The Beatles: Eight Days a Week – The Touring Years. **** Sky Arts. Interesting look at the early years with voice-overs from all the fab four. Plus some good music!!

DI Ray Season 1**** itvx Solid crime thriller set in Birmingham (and actually filmed there) with focus on BAME officers and victims of crime.

Watchable

Moonflower Murders bbc*** The use of a book within the story and the re-use of cast members was at once clever and confusing, and I never really empathised with anyone. I also gather it was in fact a sequel to Magpie Murders though it wasn’t necessary to watch that first. (We hadn’t)

Evilside All4 *** Teenage angst, Finnish-style. Murder and mayhem in the snow.

Reading

I read quite a lot, too, and as usual will just list the books I recommend with four or five stars. It’s getting harder to inspire me to give five stars but four are quite an accolade!

Excellent

December by Phil Rickman***** A stand-alone horror/thriller that actually ties in to the Merrily series. Read alongside other members of the PR Appreciation group following the recent death of the author.

Very good

Murderers, Thieves and Velvet by Choe Garner. **** A spin off series following some of the characters from The Queen’s Chair series. I like Skite and Ella but I still prefer the main series. The novella Final Day**** intersects with both series and offers some explanations for events. Shadow Magic**** by the same author is exciting enough with some interesting philosophical discussion but the magic is difficult to follow. Battle Magic**** is similar but I am getting tired of the eighteen-year-olds. Magic Unleashed**** provides some more interesting discussion but is also tiring. I have no idea how long this series will last but I vaguely want to know what happens, at least to Valerie and Ethan. 

Murder in Shades of Blue and Green by Ripley Hayes**** Intriguing crime in an art college in north Wales. Will follow the series. Read the prequel short – Murder in Shades of Yellow. **** No surprises because I’d read the other first!

Unmasked by Kaje Harper**** Lovely glimpse of a future well after the wolves have ‘come out’ but just a novella and I wanted more!

Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett**** Excellent world building in this fantasy crime story (with a delicate mm romance/hook-up). Could have done without the constant use of titan to describe the giant enemies. (Words with serious earth history/culture association are inappropriate in other worlds.) I’d like the sequel but the price is eye-watering.

Wriggle and Sparkle by Megan Derr**** Fun fluff with a crime fighting pair of shifters – a kraken and a unicorn. The interspecies banter was hilarious. The kraken twins could shift not just form but size and gender which kept even the sex scenes fresh and mysterious.

It won’t be long by Clare London**** (on Clare’s website). Nice exploration of break up and re-finding each other.

A Knife and a Blade by Adelaide Blake. **** I nearly gave up because of disliking the protagonists but the plot contained so much culture clash and politics that I was hooked. I might even read the sequel. I also found the use of Spanish and Russian interesting in a fantasy world with magic and ‘skills’.

The usual silence by Jenny Milchman**** Intirguing novel. Arles is a psychologist with a troubled past. One of her pateints is ten year old autistic Geary. At the same time, Bea, a twelve year old girl, goes missing. Their stories merge in a dramatic and gripping way.

Unfollow by Megan Phelps-Roper**** Fascinating account of indoctrination into the family ‘cult’ of Westboro Baptist Church and how Megan (and others) eventually left. Much to ponder.

The Hanged Woman by Mark Richards and E.S.Richards**** Sadly the last in the Michael Brady series set in Whitby. Mark died last year and his daughter finished the book but does not intend to write any more in the series.

Terra Incognita by Ruth Downie**** The Roman medicus sets out for Hadrian’s new wall, taking his slave Tilla. The crime story is convoluted and satisfying.

The Turning of the Tables by KM Avery **** This continues the Beyond the Veil series and is from a new pov – Seth, who at the start of the story is a CSI technician. He meets Elliot Crane, Val Hart’s friend, when Elliot comes to Richmond to work on Ward’s new table. Their story continues in The Badger in his Burrow****

Feline Protector by Sapphire Wolf**** Kat has to find out why hybrid human/shifter students are turning up dead. As usual, she has help from Rafe and Eli, and there is a new human police detective in the team.

Fragile as Glass by Pat Henshaw**** Lovely short story in which a glass sculptor meets a rock star. Some faint paranormal elements including a scrying stone.ARC for Scott

Rode Hard and Put Away Wet by Rowan Amaris and Theo Behr.**** Bonus short following An Embrace of Citrus and Snow. There is a non-wedding ceremony followed by a sort of formal consummation. Lyrical, erotic, and worth reading if you’ve read the novel.

The Larkspur Legacy by Jackson Marsh**** Last of the Larkspur series – a re-read before I start the next batch. My least favourite of the two series to date, because of the structure. I appreciate the need for various povs since the crew were split and the timeline was difficult, but I found it vaguely irritating. Finding a Way by Jackson Marsh.**** First of the Delamere Files. The writing is just as good but the new characters including Jack, the cabbie, are less appealing so far, possibly because their stories are not as intermingled with those of the previous books.  

Herald Petrel by Strange Seawolf**** Space opera thriller with subplot of romance. ARC for Scott.

The Madonna of Bolton by Matt Cain**** Beautifully written. I didn’t like Charlie as much as the main characters of Cain’s other novels but the story was interesting and well told.

Into the Fall by Mara Miller**** I kept not opening this because it shared a title with one of RJ Scott’s books so I thought I’d read it… Depressing but fascinating account of what happens and happened when a husband goes missing.

Pining for the Prince by Rebecca Cohen**** I’m sure this was a re-read but couldn’t find previous notes etc. Still, it was good second time around. Detective agency with vampire and fae, both secretly in love with each other. Fake boyfriend trope used to good effect, and a nice mystery to solve by means of magic. Sequel on its way.

The Seven by Robyn Delvey**** Interesting CPS procedural in the aftermath of a London bombing.

Murder under Construction by Alex Henry**** A collaborative effort by authors I know. I shall be following the cases of Leon Peterson. A good first volume. Murder Underground**** is volume two and just as good. An excellent series.

No Man’s Land by Sally Malcolm **** WW1 mm romance that turned into a horror story. Very well done although I usually avoid horror. I had doubts about a HEA until the final chapter.

North Country ed Karen Lloyd**** A mixed but basically good anthology – a requested gift. Articles, poems, diary extracts, etc. all based around places I know. I shall be dipping into it again.

The Fever of the World by Phil Rickman.**** A re-read. It works as a novel but not really as part of the Merrily series. Wordsworth at Tintern plus a modern murder/suicide or maybe accident…