Books of 2015

Forty-eight  of the 192 books I read in 2015 merited five stars; a further fifty-five, four stars – evidence of a very good year’s reading. Of those five stars, thirteen were re-reads (including early Poldark and Denise Mina’s Alex Morrow) and only fourteen in the crime/thriller genre; three each by Tana French and John Lawton plus a further two by Mark O'Sullivan.

The year seemed dominated by new-to-me writers, and although 'never-heard of' does not apply to James Baldwin or L P Hartley, I'd not known Jennifer Johnson nor read J L Carr's  'A Month in the Country', or David Constantine, Glen Doig, Jenny Fagan, Elizabeth Harrower, Gene Kerrigan or David Malouf

Top six Crime/thriller books (roughly in order)

Scott, Manda  No Good Deed

Genuinely, ever-windingly tense, near-unputdownable and astonishingly vivid in the power of its characterisation. 'Remarkable thriller' indeed. 

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Staincliffe, Cath Letters to my Daughter’s killer

Stunning', as Ann Cleeves is quoted as saying on the front cover, is the only word for this. It begins with an intensity that is exhausting then the depiction of the corrosive effects of hatred, alongside the daily drag of bed-wet sheets and a bitchy workmate is powerful and convincing.

French, Tana  The Likeness (Dublin Murder Squad, #2)

For the compulsion of its story, the voice of the narrator, this deserves thrice times five stars: I could not put it down. Five stars too for the writing, the characterisation, the dialogue and the scene-setting

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O'Sullivan, Mark Crocodile Tears

A rivetingly original character in DI Leo Woods, fully supported by his fellow detectives. A convoluted plot, solved by much discussion and many cul-de-sacs, many marvellous metaphors and lovely, individual writing.

Lawton, John Lily of the Field

Addictive as crack' it says on the cover, and though I've never tried crack, John Lawton's writing certainly has me addicted, and high as a kite with each reading.
                                               

Bingham, Harry The Strange Death of Fiona Griffiths (Fiona Griffiths, #3)

Fiona Griffiths has to be one of the most fascinating individuals in today's crime writing, her illness making more plausible her more irrational decisions and behaviour. The depth, breadth and application of research is lightly applied, the whole of it a thoroughly entertaining and absorbing tale.

Top seven non-crime books (in no especial order)

Duncan, Glen  Love Remains

This, as an exploration into the inner selves and relationship of two people - Nicholas and Chloe - is astonishing in its ability to entrap the reader into shocked, throat-aching suspense, and to force them to ask questions of their own understanding of what love is, exactly.

Fleming, Will Le Central Reservation

I cannot imagine this novel landing on any publisher's desk and being greeted with anything but delighted applause, so fresh, unique and appealing it seems, And I am far from someone who would go in search of a ghost story. Equally, I admit to ignorance of the dreadful effect of the slaughter of cattle on farmers, which brought as much of a lump to my throat as did the tribulations of Holly

Hartley, L.P. The Go-Between

Expectations were high, and this, in its gripping, insightful readability, surpassed them.No idea why I didn't read it decades ago.

Johnston, Jennifer How Many Miles to Babylon?

A vivid, poignant and very well-observed tale of a male friendship operating under differences of class and rank. For once, the authors' endorsements on the cover "fresh and moving", "brilliant masterpiece" and "truly heartbreaking" do not exaggerate. 

                                              

McIlvanney, William  Docherty

It's a very long time since a book brought me to tears, but this did twice over. As stark a portrait, beautifully told, of a working man's life and philosophy as you'll ever expect to find.

Ralph, Anna  Before I Knew Him

Skilfully evokes the misunderstandings of adolescent relationships, the fear and the desire to be understood. Easy to read, not because the writing is simplistic but because it says what is necessary.

Winton, Tim Eyrie

Possibly even better than 'Dirt Road' which is my most regularly re-read of Tim Winton's novels. Desperate, full of disparate incidents, not all of which are explained or explainable. The beginning chapters, heavy with sharply-described observations. Then the dialogue kicked in, like reading tangled barbed wire. And all characters achingly, painfully human in their indecision and inability as they attempt to make sense of their lives. A book I finished with my heart beating double time and my throat aching