It’s been a hectic couple of weeks – I’ve been on holiday, which was great fun, and moved house, not such great fun. The perfect tonic to the upheaval would be to immerse myself in a good book, so while I seek out my much cherished paperbacks amongst the packing debris, I’m delighted to welcome author Alice Castle as my guest to talk about her favourite comfort reads.
Thanks
so much for having me on your blog today, Rosie. I’ve always been a voracious
reader, disappearing into written worlds whenever I get the chance, so
narrowing down my list of comfort reads to just five has been hard. Some have
leapt onto the list, some have jostled elbows a bit with others in my subconscious
before making it to the light of day. In the end, I’ve chosen a handful which
I’ve not only truly loved but which also show my own writing passions and
enthusiasms. I hope they’ll strike a chord with others, maybe because they’re
so familiar – or maybe because they’re new and tempting.
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. There are some books that you wish you’d never opened, just so you could have the sheer pleasure of reading them for the first time all over again. Mr Darcy and I have been an item since I picked this book up as a teenager, but I can still remember the excitement when our eyes met across that crowded ballroom and he was so withering about Lizzie. Strange he ends up with her every time.
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte. Every time I re-read Jane Eyre, a differentaspect of the book resonates with me. As a teenager, Jane’s awful school experiences made mine seem a tad less grim. In my twenties, Jane’s struggle to be independent and to be taken seriously were inspiring. In my thirties, her verbal jousting with Mr Rochester started to fascinate me. And at all ages, it is hard not to be awe-struck by Charlotte Bronte’s crie de coeur: ‘Do you think, because I am poor, obscure, plain and little, I am soulless and heartless? You think wrong!’
Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier. A book which, despite the obstacle of a dull-as-ditchwater mouse as protagonist, manages to drip with toxic glamour. From the wonderfully sinister Mrs Danvers to the lingering ghost of Rebecca herself, like a whiff of stale Je Reviens in the corridors of Mandalay, we are caught in the writer’s web as she doles out information precisely when it suits her. This could not be called a relaxing read, but it is a masterclass in writing. Amongst other mysteries, we never do find out the second Mrs de Winter’s first name.
Gaudy Night by Dorothy L Sayers. There are lots of things one probably shouldn’t enjoy about DL Sayers – the snobbery, the curiously dated attitude to the sexes, the self-conscious erudition – but in Gaudy Night everything comes together in one irresistible bundle, with a romance on top like a big red ribbon. And a heroine who writes whodunits and gets to marry into the aristocracy? Say no more.
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie. People always try and knock Agatha Christie, possibly because she makes it all look so easy. But she came up with amazing plots, time and time again. Murder on the Orient Express, And Then There Were None and this book, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, are particularly brilliant examples of misdirection which are still fooling rapt readers every day. I love all her books but Roger Ackroyd has to be my favourite.
Alice Castle biography:
Before
turning to crime, Alice Castle was a UK newspaper journalist for The Daily
Express, The Times and The Daily Telegraph. Her first book, Hot Chocolate, set in Brussels and
London, was a European hit and sold out in two weeks.
Death
in Dulwich was published in September 2017 and has been a number one
best-seller in the UK, US, France, Spain and Germany. A sequel, The Girl in the
Gallery was published in December 2017 to critical acclaim and also hit the
number one spot. Calamity in Camberwell, the third book in the London Murder
Mystery series, was published in August 2018, with Homicide in Herne Hill
following in October 2018. Revenge on the Rye came out in December 2018. The
Body in Belair Park will be published on 25th June 2019. Alice is
currently working on the seventh London Murder Mystery adventure, The Slayings
in Sydenham. Once again, it will feature Beth Haldane and DI Harry York.
Alice
is also a blogger and book reviewer via her website: https://www.alicecastleauthor.com
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/alicecastleauthor/
Twitter:
https://twitter.com/DDsDiary?lang=en
Links
to buy books: http://www.myBook.to/1DeathinDulwich
http://www.MyBook.to/GirlintheGallery,
http://myBook.to/homicideinhernehill
http://myBook.to/revengeontherye
Death in Dulwich is now also available
as an audiobook: https://www.audible.com/pd/B07N1VNMLT/?source_code=AUDFPWS0223189MWT-BK-ACX0-140657&ref=acx_bty_BK_ACX0_140657_rh_us
Alice
lives in south London and is married with two children, two step-children and
two cats.
The Body in Belair Park by Alice Castle – Blurb
Beth
Haldane is on the verge of having everything she’s ever wanted. Her son is
starting secondary school, her personal life seems to have settled down – even
her pets are getting on. But then the phone rings.
It’s
Beth’s high maintenance mother, Wendy, with terrible news. Her bridge partner,
Alfie Pole, has died suddenly. While Beth, and most of Dulwich, is convinced
that Alfie has pegged out from exhaustion, thanks to playing with Wendy for
years, Beth’s mother is certain that there is foul play afoot.
Before
she knows it, Beth is plunged into her most complicated mystery yet, involving
the Dulwich Bridge Club, allotment holders, the Dulwich Open Garden set and, of
course, her long-suffering boyfriend, Metropolitan Police Detective Inspector
Harry York. The case stirs up old wounds which are much closer to home than
Beth would like. Can she come up trumps in time to stop the culprit striking
again – or does the murderer hold the winning hand this time?
A couple of my all time favourite books in this list. Thanks so much to Alice to taking part. I’m a huge fan of the London Murder Mysteries and look forward to catching up with Beth’s next adventure!
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