December 2016: Favourite Reads

Happy January! If there is such a thing. I hope everyone had a lovely New Year and are now not too depressed about going back to work tomorrow.

I read a lot of books in December; with work winding down, the holidays and the generally rubbish weather, I've had a lot of time to hibernate under a duvet with a book. This is my list of favourite reads from December. It's quite a mixed bag this month; the usual crime fiction, but also quite a few new releases and a classic thrown in.

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

There's not much to say about this book that hasn't already been said, but I've tried to ramble on a bit in my review. I read A Christmas Carol every December and it puts me in a rather festive mood. It's been a lighter alternative to the load of crime fiction that I've been reading.

Vera Stanhope series by Ann Cleeves

I mentioned in November's Favourites that I had read some of the Vera Stanhope series by Ann Cleeves, and I finished the rest off in December. I read them completely out of order but they stand alone well. I really love this series, it's the right level of dark without being depressing, it has an injection of comedy without taking away from the story and has wonderful and realistic character dynamics. I think my favourite is, just, Silent Voices (#4) where Vera investigates the murder of a woman in the steam room of her gym.

Sparkling Cyanide by Agatha Christie

I read Sparkling Cyanide at the very beginning of the month and it seems like an age ago now, I had to read the blurb to remind me. This is a Colonel Race book, and I haven't read any of them before; in my opinion he's not a touch on Poirot or Miss Marple yet it was still an enjoyable mystery. As the name would suggest there is something deadly in the drink of beautiful Rosemary Barton, but was it suicide or murder (take a wild guess).

The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden

I recently reviewed The Bear and The Nightingale so you can read that for more details. Katherine Arden's Russian tale was a really great winter read and something different from my usual crime fiction. It's based on Russian folklore and focuses on Vasya, a high born girl with a strong will and hidden powers. The beauty of this book is in the detail and description of Russia; its freezing winters and family folklore. The story is slow to start, but keep going and The Bear and the Nightingale is very rewarding. It will be published on January 12th.

Miss Treadway & the Field of Stars by Miranda Emmerson

I won't go into too much detail on this book as I'm due to review it in the next few days, before its January 12th release. Miss Treadway & the Field of Stars really surprised me; it starts of like a cosy Christie-esque mystery and goes in a completely different direction. It's a great mystery set in 1960s London and it draws on the change happening at that time and also the prejudices that were still very much alive.

Have you read any of these books?I'd love to hear what you think.

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