Blogging Anniversary - 10 years

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A while ago I checked when I did my first blog post, in order to celebrate with an anniversary post. Well, that day came and went without any reaction from me. Better late than never, so here a reminder of my very first blog post from 24 October 2012.  The book was New Finnish Grammar  by Diego Marani. Marani is an Italian novelist, translator and newspaper columnist. While working as a translator for the European Union he invented a language ‘Europanto’ which is a mixture of languages and based on the common practice of word-borrowing usage of many EU languages. It was a suitable book to start with, being a book about letters, languages and memories. With a beautiful prose, the novel went directly to my heart.  "One night at Trieste in September 1943 a seriously wounded soldier is found on the quay. The doctor, of a newly arrived German hospital ship, Pietri Friari gives the unconscious soldier medical assistance. His new patient has no documents or anything that can ide...
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A Man Of Some Repute by Elizabeth Edmondson

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This is an audio book I downloaded without knowing too much about it. However, the introduction sounded like something I would like. 
"Selchester Castle in 1953 sits quiet and near-empty, its corridors echoing with glories of the past. Or so it seems to intelligence officer Hugo Hawksworth, wounded on a secret mission and now reluctantly assuming an altogether less perilous role at Selchester. The Castle’s faded grandeur hides a web of secrets and scandals—the Earl has been missing for seven years, lost without a trace since the night he left his guests and walked out into a blizzard. When a skeleton is uncovered beneath the flagstones of the Old Chapel, the police produce a suspect and declare the case closed.
Hugo is not convinced. With the help of the spirited Freya Wryton, the Earl’s niece, he is drawn back into active service, and the ancient town of Selchester is dragged into the intrigues and conspiracies of the Cold War era. With a touch of Downton Abbey, a whisper of Agatha Christie and a nod to Le Carré, A Man of Some Repute is the first book in this delightfully classic and witty murder mystery series."
Definitely a little bit of Agatha Christie in it, but much more witty and funny. It was a perfect book to listen too (maybe I will become more positive to audio books?!). The narrator, Michael Page, was absolutely fantastic. He changed his voice and dialect according to the person who spoke (and there were many persons involved). It was almost like sitting in the theatre and see it all in front of you. The mystery is slowly told and developing in front of you.  The characters were such a delight, from Hugo to his 13-year-old sister Georgia, who is far ahead of her age. They temporarily settle in at the castle and Hugo gets a secret mission. Georgia keeps her eyes and ears open.

It is 1953, war memories are still fresh, as is the defection of Philby, Burgess and Maclean. Authorities are suffering from a little bit of paranoia. The mystery of the Earl's disappearance gets and answer when his corps is unexpectedly found. There are only a small group of people suspected. The Earl seems to have had only enemies, including his two children. Is it convenient for the police to blame it all on his son, who died during the war? Maybe a little bit too convenient?

Elizabeth Edmondson also wrote under other names (Aston and Pewsey as surnames). When she studied she fell in love with Jane Austen and has written two series connected to her; Darcy series and Darcy Novellas, and other series not connected to Austen. This book belong to "A Very English Mystery Series, which include another three books. Can't wait to dig into them as well. A really, true, traditionally, slowly developed murder mystery of which there are few today. And so funny you laugh out loud sometimes. It is probably, for a foreigner like me, the perception of the very English life.

Comments

  1. Emma at Words And Peace / France Book Tours6 February 2019 at 19:14

    I was curious and checked. She wrote this in 2015 it looks like. I thought it was much older. And she passed away after writing #2!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Lisbeth 7 February 2019 at 11:55

      Yes, it seems she wrote two books and a novella (A Youthful Indiscretion) and her son, Anselm Audley, also a writer, finished the third one, A Matter Of Loyalty, from her notes. I found the first book a very nice read, so will read the others as well in this series.
      Have you read anything by her?

      Delete

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