Six Against the Yard is another of the wonderful Detection Club compilations that have been reprinted in recent years. This one features six authors - Margery Allingham, Dorothy L Sayers, Anthony Berkeley, Ronald Knox, Freeman Wills Croft & Russell Thorndike - who each attempt to create an unsolvable murder. A real life policeman, ex-Superintendent Cornish of the CID, attempts to work out what happened in each case. There's also an essay by Agatha Christie about the unsolved Croydon mystery where several members of a family were poisoned with arsenic.
The Novel Cure : an A-Z of literary remedies by Ella Berthoud & Susan Elderkin - a book to dip in to as it has suggestions for what to read according to your mood. So, if you're a Daddy's girl, in need of a good cry, feeling tired & emotional, not taking enough risks or wishing you were a superhero, there's a book for you.
Bertie's Guide to Life and Mothers by Alexander McCall Smith - the latest Scotland Street book. Lovely!
Dorothea's War by Dorothea Crewdson - the WWI diary of a nurse edited by her nephew. I'm looking forward to reading this for my Remembrance reading in November.
Bosworth : the birth of the Tudors by Chris Skidmore - I listened to a fascinating podcast from BBC History Magazine about this book. Skidmore actually ends with the battle, beginning his story with the birth of Henry Tudor & his life in exile. After reading Thomas Penn's excellent biography of Henry, The Winter King, I'm keen to read this. The account of the battle has also been informed by the recent discovery of Richard III's remains & the evidence of his final moments & burial. The discovery happened just as the author was completing his first draft.
Worlds of Arthur : facts and fictions of the Dark Ages by Guy Halsall - I find Arthur endlessly fascinating. Did he exist? What's the historical, archaeological & literary evidence? I'm always ready to read another theory.
Band of Angels : the forgotten world of early Christian women by Kate Cooper - I read a review of this book & was immediately interested as it's a subject & a period I know very little about. There were several women who were important in the spread of Christianity in the early years of the 1st & 2nd centuries. They were subsequently written out of the story as the Church become dominated by men although they are still there in the Gospels & other historical documents.
