Urquhart is chasing 75 books for the year, despite a late start

Hello, everyone.
I know that I am painfully late to this party, but I thought it was better late than never.
My name is James, and i live and work in London. I have worked in a variety of government departments over the last forty years, and now work in parliamentary engagement, trying to strengthen MPs' awareness of the nature, scope and impact of my department's work.
Reading is my escape and safe haven.

Welcome! Never too late to start.

Welcome - sounds an interesting job!

>2 drneutron:, >3 SandDune:, Thanks, Jim, Rhian.

I am looking forward to collecting loads of book bullets for interesting reads.

Books read so far in 2026:



Pages read in 2026:

01. Guilty by Definition by Susie Dent.

I thought that this novel was super, but then it does seem to encompass a range of subjects very close to my heart.

As one would expect from Susie Dent, the book is strewn throughout with glorious brief apostrophes giving a potted history of the development of a word (some unusual, but also for many commonly used in daily speech). These are beautifully informative, without ever seeming intrusive. The story is also full of Shakespearean allusions, which pulls it deeply into one of my particularly cherished areas, and is set in and around Oxford, so all the principal locations were familiar to me and evoked a lot of fond memories.

The story combines a mystery with a sort of academic treasure hunt. The main protagonists work in the Clarendon English Dictionary (obviously representing the Oxford English Dictionary with which Susie Dent has been so long associated). Their work entails considering potential new entries to the dictionary, or additions to existing definitions, many of which are flagged up to them by keen members of the public.

Among the regular flow of correspondence that they have to manage comes a letter from someone calling themselves ‘Chorus’, offering cryptic hints about a mystery connected with the Dictionary. Further investigation suggests that it may relate to the disappearance a decade previously of the sister of one of the team, who had also herself worked on the Dictionary. Further messages ensue, and the mystery deepens.

What struck me most notably about this book was the deftness with which Dent manages the story. This is, I believe, her first novel, but she delivers a complex plot and very plausible and empathetic characters with the nonchalance of a novelist of long-established standing.

I think that this will be a strong contender for my favourite novel of the year, and I am already confident that I will be re-reading it before long.

I used to be meticulous about reviewing all of the books i read, but have rather fallen out of the habit. I will try to resume, but in the meantime, i will add the other books that i have read since the start of July.

02. Between the Waves* by Tom McTague.

This was a fascinating account of the United Kingdom's engagement with, and eventual painful departure from, the European Union, reaching back to the end of the Second World War when the first steps to form the bloc were undertaken. I remember us joining what was then known as the 'Common Market' back in the early 1970s, and even participated in a debate at school at the time of the 1975 referendum which came down on the side of staying in. British politics has been riven ever since the outcome of the second referendum in 2016, and shows little sign of healing in the foreseeable future - as a consequence, this account trod heavily on some delicate corns, but set the history out in a very clear and readily accessible manner.

03. The Shadow Step by Mark Billingham.

This book offered a welcome return for Detective Sergeant Declan Miller, the unorthodox Blackpool copper who spends much of his free time in the pursuance of ballroom dancing.

While there is an offbeat humour to these books, reminiscent of (although delivered in a more accomplished manner than) the recent novels by Simon Mason featuring Ryan Wilkins), Billingham, being a seasoned artist of the contemporary crime novel, does not allow the comedy to compromise a strong and plausible plot.

04. Icarus 17 by Charles Cumming.

When John le Carre died a few years ago, several names were mentioned as the possible successor to him as the leading writer of the literary espionage novel. Charles Cumming is certainly one of the leading characters. True, he does not have le Carre’s purple prose, but then who does? It always struck me that when people spoke of le Carre as the greatest writer of spy fiction, they were rather missing the point – he was simply one of the greatest writers of his generation, in any genre.

Anyway, turning back to Charles Cumming, this book is the fourth to feature Lachlan ‘Lockie’ Kite, now a senior figure in Box 88, a secret espionage agency of whose existence even most of the officers of MI5, MI6 and the CIA are ignorant. This novel picks up absolutely immediately from the cliff-hanging conclusion of the previous volume, Kennedy 35. No time is wasted with scene-setting – the reader is pitched right into the midst of a developing situation.

The main body of the novel follows Lockie as he goes rather off piste in an attempt to find the son of an old friend who appears to have disappeared while on a post-graduation gap year in Europe. All sorts of unforeseen complications arise, and Lockie finds himself more deeply involved than he had expected.

I don’t want to risk letting inadvertent spoilers slip out, so won’t say any more about the plot. The book is presented with all Cumming’s customary skill, and he maintains the tension at high pitch throughout. Kite has always been an essentially empathetic character, and that continues here. This series could continue for a long way – with four books already, there is no sign that it is losing any momentum.

05. The Venetian Redemption by Philip Gwynne Jones.

Over the last few years I have become a great fan of Philip Gwynne Jones, and his very entertaining novels set in Venice. His protagonist, Nathan Sutherland, who when not solving suspicious murders acts as the Honorary British Consul to the city, is self-effacing and very empathetic. He also owns one of my favourite literary cats – the petulant Gramsci, whose surliness has become an accepted aspect of all of the books.

Once again Nathan finds himself embroiled in the murder of a British citizen in Venice, although on this occasion the victim was a resident rather than a tourist or other temporary visitor.

I won’t attempt much more of a synopsis. The story works very well, and gives Jones the opportunity to deliver more of his wonderful vignettes about Venetian life, and appetising descriptions of some sumptuous meals.

06. Union Jack by Val McDermid.

This is the fourth of Val McDermid’s books following Lindsay Gordon, formerly a crime reporter based in Glasgow. As the book opens, she is flying back to the UK, having moved to California with her partner who runs a successful medical practice there catering primarily to AIDS/HIV patients. Her partner has academic conventions to attend, so Lindsay, who now lecture in the principles of journalism, has taken the opportunity to attend (as an observer) the annual conference of her old trade union, which is taking place out of term time at Sheffield University.

Emotions are running high in the union as the membership has widely divided views about how it should best contend with the threat of job cuts attendant upon computerisation of the presses. There are also concerns about some previous agreements reached with newspaper publishers, with many members feeling that they have been sold out by some of the union’s senior executives. Against this background, the newly-elected general secretary falls to his death from a tenth-floor room in one of the halls of residence, which had, as it happens been assigned to Lindsay herself. Unable to shed her investigative experience, Lindsay starts delving for the truth, but finds herself digging up unwelcome memories from a previous conference at which she had been a delegate.

While this lacks the polish of McDermid’s recent novels (which is hardly surprising given that she has accrued another thirty-plus years’ experience in the interim), it is still a very accomplished crime story. I like Lindsay Gordon as a character, and assume that much of her persona is based upon McDermid’s own career.

07. Ratking by Michael Dibdin.

This was the first novel in Michael Dibdin’s series featuring the jaded and cynical Venetian policeman, Aurelio Zen. Set in the 1980s, the novel lies in the shadow of the wave of political kidnappings and assassinations from the previous decade, with frequent references to the case of Aldo Moro in particular. Moro was a former prime minister of Italy who was abducted and then murdered by members of the terrorist faction, The Red Brigade.

A businessman at the head of an electronics firm has been kidnapped in Perugia. A ransom has been demanded, but it is not clear whether the family has paid up. Their lawyer has been negotiating with the kidnappers, but the hostage remains missing. A local tycoon, and friend of the victim, exerts pressure on the authorities, which results in Zen being despatched to Perugia, apparently as an expert on such crimes, to oversee the attempts of the local police force to resolve the issue.

Naturally enough, being sent from Rome in such a manner, ostensibly to take over the investigation serves to ensure that Zen is as unwelcome as possible, and he is ostracised by the local force. He also finds the members of the missing man’s family strangely uncooperative.

The story was developed effectively, although I did feel that it seemed to close very suddenly, as if the author either lost interest, or was being pressed to meet a short and immoveable deadline.

08. The Kill Switch by Robert Peston.

This was an entertaining although slightly implausible (I hope) political thriller.

Gil Peck, the political journalist who featured in Peston's previous two novels, has established an influential podcast, which he co-hosts with his domestic partner who is political editor of the Financial Chronicle, one of the leading broadsheet newspapers (presumably meant to suggest the Financial Times). As the novel opens, they are waiting for an hour-long conversation with the current Prime Minister. Unfortunately things go significantly awry!

The books moves at a terrific pace, and exerts a strong pull on the reader's attention. I did consider some aspects a little too far-fetched, although as they related to the potential to abuse AI, a subject of which I am abjectly and lamentably ignorant, there may well have been an element of hope being father to the thought in my incredulity.

>11 UrquhartBell: I’m also quite a fan of Philip Gwynne Jones. I lived in Italy myself for about a year in the dim and distant past and I enjoy the way in which his love for Venice comes over without overly romanticising the place (as many British and American writers tend to do). Funnily enough, I remembered Nathan’s love of a spritz when I was drinking several Campari Spritz last week on holiday, something I haven’t drunk for about 40 years!

Welcome to the group, James.

>13 UrquhartBell: I always thought the Aurelio Zen series good but a bit patchy. Dibdin himself passed away far too soon.

>15 SandDune: I am very sorry to say that I have never been to Venice, nor indeed to Italy at all, but I have read a lot of fiction by British or American authors set there. I enjoyed the early novels by Donna Leon, although I became rather impatient with Brunetti’s family. I think that she also made a mistake by not having her characters ageing in real time.

I also have a taste for an afternoon or evening spritz - what could be more civilised!

>16 PaulCranswick: Thank you, Paul. I agree both about Dibdin’s patchiness - when he was in mid-season form he could write excellent novels, but he was subject to quite alarming losses of form - and that he died far too soon. Having quickly looked him up, I was appalled to see that it was as long ago as 2007.

I thought The Last Sherlock Holmes Story, which might even have been his debut, was wonderful: a very clever twist on the genre. I enjoyed his novel about the Brownings, too - was it A Full Rich Death.

>18 UrquhartBell: Yes, Jame, I remember being equally enthralled and appalled by the twists in The Last Sherlock Holmes Story. I do miss my fix of his books and never really knowing what you will get for your troubles.

One of my last projects in the UK before relocating to Malaysia in 1994 was the then New Magistrates Court in Leicester. I am a construction professional (contracts, time and money essentially) and one week in late April 1994 I physically carried the wages to the team of workers on site. I left to go to Malaysia and the following week my replacement was relieved of the salaries at knifepoint, poor chap.

Hi James

I really like crime fiction although I also like a few other genres. I need to write more reviews of what I read sooner, before I forget too much.

>19 PaulCranswick: That was a lucky escape, although obviously pretty devastating for your successor. The ‘payroll blag’ used to be a staple of criminal activity, now rendered more or less obsolete because of the always universal use of BACS or similar bank transfer systems.
When I worked in a chemical factory as a student vacation job, all the staff were paid weekly in cash on a Thursday afternoon, but fortunately we were never targeted for such a raid.

09. Very Good Jeeves by P. G. Wodehouse.

I have never been a great fan of short stories – I feel that they always leave one feeling a bit short-changes, and the pleasure generated seldom seems to repay the effort expended in reading them. Of course, that is a sweeping statement, and I recognise the proliferation of writers acknowledged as masters of the format.

I enjoyed this collection of short stories featuring Bertie Wooster and his wily, resourceful gentleman’s gentleman, Jeeves, although I suspect that this book may exemplify my views on the genre. There were some amusing scenes, but the short story precludes Wodehouse from developing the beautiful intricacy of the plots of his novels. As a consequence, I felt that this volume was more a series of episodes, and proved somewhat unsatisfying.

There is, of course, Wodehouse’s beautiful prose, although I felt that even that was not present in the same glorious manner as found in the great Jeeves novels, such as Right Ho, Jeeves, or The Code of the Woosters. Perhaps I am missing the point, and those novels were better simply because they were written later, with Wodehouse having had a little longer to read mid-season form.

I did enjoy the chance to read about some of the events fleeting references to which have become staples in the canon, such as Bertie’s mishap when attempting to spear Tuppy Glossop’s hot water bottle. And there is a limit to how churlish one can be about a book that is as gently humorous as this.

>22 UrquhartBell: I have grown to appreciate the short story form more over the years to be honest, James, and I do think that the Jeeves stories lend themselves to the format especially well. I do get your point though that sometimes an especially well drawn short story can leave you short changed and wishing for more, much more.

>23 PaulCranswick: The short story has also been hugely remunerative for many writers. I seem to recall reading that Scott Fitzgerald only earned not much more than a pittance from his novels, but his short stories earned him immense amounts. I suspect that the Pat Hobby stories were, in effect, subsidising The Great Gatsby and Tender is the Night, so I am very grateful to them for that.

>24 UrquhartBell: I just looked up F Scott Fitgzerald. In fact, his first two novels were quite successful commercially at the time though they're much less read than #3 The Great Gatsby, initially a commercial flop and #4 Tender is the Night but he and his wife's lifestyle was extravagant, and he was drinking heavily, and he wrote and sold a lot of short stories partly to support that life style. His contemporary Ernest Hemingway also published lots of short stories as part of trying to make his name as a professional writer.

However, both these writers and many others are examples of writers who are better known for their novels. I have a thick volume of stories by Tennessee Williams who is best known for his plays. I suspect that Fitzgerald and Hemingway's short stories weren't improved by their alcohol consumption.

I got into short stories through doing a course on the short story at university - it was the only option on offer in the tiny Comparative Literature section of Manchester's French Department at the time, though the reading list included collections in English and French, and a collection each of stories in English translation from Spanish and Russian. There was a choice to take an exam or write my dissertation on this subject. I chose the latter, abandoned the reading list for a chosen theme and started to collect a wide variety of single author volumes and anthologies. I now try to include a collection or anthology in my current reading.