Love over Scotland by Alexander McCall Smith

Love Over Scotland by Alexander McCall Smith
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 3 days

Pages - 355

Publisher - Abacus

Source - Bought

Blurb from Goodreads

'Love Over Scotland' revolves around the many colourful characters that come and go at No 44 Scotland Street. It features the stalwart Tory chartered surveyor, the pushy mother, and the Italian-speaking prodigy, Bertie.


My Review

If you haven't read the previous books you could start here but best to go back and get to know the characters and what has transpired before this. We find some of our characters pretty much where we left off. Poor Bertie is still terrorised by his bossy mother, now pregnant but still focused on all of the best for Bertie. This time getting him into trials for music with teenagers and bringing yet more embarrassment yet maybe a wee bit of freedom neither of them seen coming.

Domenica is on her travels and fully reliant on her guide to get the information from the small community and life of the pirates for her writing. However the question of what happened to the last anthropologist before her pops up and is Domenica safe? Will she ever get back to Scotland street and does she even want to?

We catch up with Angus and Clive, Big Lou and the love of her life, Matthew still has his feeling for Pat, Pat is moving onto her next phase in life and meeting trouble along the way. And we are introduced to Antonia, a new character taking over Domenica's place whilst she is away, yet another character who is a bit of a belter.

Bertie was probably my fave throughout this one, I do like to know what is going on with the others but I found Bertie's troubles and unintentional bringing about trouble. Plus this time we see a wee but more character from his dad and less of his psychotherapist. I do enjoy the series and seeing what is in store next for the characters. There was an uncomfortable scene with the dog but thankfully it was a very small part but I didn't see the need for it, maybe it will come up again or be revealed in further books? Or maybe I just missed the point, 3/5 for me this time.

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The Art of Dying by Ambrose Parry

The Art of Dying by Ambrose Parry
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 1 day

Pages - 416

Publisher - Canongate Books

Source - Netgalley

Blurb from Goodreads

Edinburgh, 1850. Despite being at the forefront of modern medicine, hordes of patients are dying all across the city, with doctors finding their remedies powerless. But it is not just the deaths that dismay the esteemed Dr James Simpson - a whispering campaign seeks to blame him for the death of a patient in suspicious circumstances.

Simpson's protégé Will Raven and former housemaid Sarah Fisher are determined to clear their patron's name. But with Raven battling against the dark side of his own nature, and Sarah endeavouring to expand her own medical knowledge beyond what society deems acceptable for a woman, the pair struggle to understand the cause of the deaths.

Will and Sarah must unite and plunge into Edinburgh's deadliest streets to clear Simpson's name. But soon they discover that the true cause of these deaths has evaded suspicion purely because it is so unthinkable.


My Review

Let me start off saying this is book two in a series, I didn't realise and I don't think I have been hampered by not reading book one. There are a few throwbacks and brief recaps of things that happened with book one so you can get away with starting with this one, if starting mid series doesn't make you twitchy.

The time is 1850, the place is Edinburgh and as is nature, people are dying. However some of them are not as should be and one well respected doctor, doctor Simpson, one of the patients was his. With a smear campaign kicking off and whispers of wrongful death of this patient, his understudy Will Raven reluctantly looks into the case and finds more than he bargained for. Will is prompted into action by Sarah, once a house maid to Doctor Simpson, now married to a doctor herself, Sarah has always been interested in medicine. At a time when women should be seen and not heard, married and tied to the sink, Sarah has always been supported and encouraged by doctor Simpson so she has a dual interest in the case.

The book has quite a few layers to it, Will and Sarah have a past, Sarah is now married, Will is very career focused and being involved with a house maid, for him, would negatively impact his career. Yet now he is back, Sarah is in a very different social standing and Will is having to battle his actions and consequences. Investigating who would have it out for doctor Simpson, the mysterious deaths and one of my fave things about this book, medicine back then! Add to all that we get wee snippets from the killer, an insight into their mind and what they are doing, I think when this is done well it really adds to a story. I do like a book is woven with historical facts, considering I never used to bother with historical fiction I do find myself enjoying them more as I get older. I also like books where you learn stuff as you go coupled with the fact is it set somewhere I have visited! Medicine itself is always evolving, practices changing, attitudes and procedures so I do like when you read of things past and then go off to read more in depth around X subject. I liked this one so much I will be buying book one and looking out eagerly for the next in the series, 4.5/5 for me this time. If you like murder mystery, medicine, books in the past, relationships and investigation this one will tick all the boxes for you!

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And that's a wrap - Edinburgh book festival

This is later than I meant to post, the festival finished last week then me and the o/h went on a wee mini roadtrip and seen some family.





This was my first ever book festival, it won't be my last, if you have been following the blog you will have seen the coverage of the days I went to and events I attended.


I went through to see Denzil Meyrick who was sharing the stage with Kjell Ola Dahl, the event chaired by Philip Ardagh. I was hoping to meet up with a fellow Crime Book Club member but I missed her, I did meet the beautiful Mary from Live and Deadly blog and Karen from Orenda Books lovely ladies and very welcoming.





Denzil comes to the stage with a dram of whisky and took a wee live video of the audience (full room guys, pow!) before we begin. Kjell writes Nordic Noir, police procedural "The Oslo detectives" and is from Norway. Kjell's novels are now translated in english and available to buy (what are you waiting for). Kjell finds it inspiring to explore differences in his writing, classes, politics, oil, money, society and what people are affected by. Kjell has a very quiet manner, soft spoken but you find yourself leaning forward, taking in every word, whilst his volume is low his words/vibes are loud and riveting.





Denzil started writing when he was ill and didn't expect much to come of it. After a bit of a palaver with another publisher he was rescued by Polygon and the rest is history. He writes about Daley and a wee place called Kinloch (really Campbeltown) a unique place in Scotland that has a sense of 50s or 60, an otherness and means a lot to him, everyone should visit. Denzil has an ease and jokey manner making everyone at ease and was a good combo with Kjell's quieter presence. Denzil spoke about his career (he used to be a police officer) and how different things are now compared to then (he joined in the 80s) and how policing is different in the city compared to small towns. His books are all police investigation, murder, relationships, dynamics of the team and people with a bit of swearing and infused with Scottish banter.





Kjell's book brings in a lot of artifacts, important folklore and likes to play with the idea "you don't know everything", he enjoys mysteries himself. Denzil likes to bring a bit of humour into his books and engages with his fans on Twitter and Facebook, we may also be getting a Brian Scott twitter feed, how awesome would that be! Kjell is on social media, you can find him on Twitter and read about him on Orenda's website, he is on Facebook and Instagram. Talking of social media he admits he doesn't sell himself on there as he feels a bit of shame in it. He is such a nice well spoken man and whilst you all know I am not a fan of translated novels, after listening to him and recommended by both Mary and Karen I have bought his newest book "The Ice Swimmer" this is part of a series but I am assured I can read it not having read the others. Bargain price too and only brought out this year. Denzil's new book "The Relentless Tide" is out in two days, 6th of September but available to pre order now. I have jst read book one, I have all of his books waiting and cannot wait to get stuck in. Book one is Whisky from small glasses, fantastic opening to a series so if you haven't read him yet series grab a copy and then catch up with the others for the new book coming.





Friendship with other writers seems to be important to both writers, Kjell talks of a big group meet up with other crime writers at least once a year and at events like this, he feels he learns a lot from them. Denzil regales us with a meeting just before the event with Ian Rankin, a quick turn and some spillage of bodily fluid, whats happens at the festival stays at the festival, no one was hurt lol! He has a laugh about the ego maniacs that are authors, Douglas Skelton was in the audience and got a special nod for that then tells how he is limited in meetings due to his health issues. His next book, the one he is writing next, will see Daley visit some health issues and will be drawing from his own personal experiences. Humour aside, discussing juts how bad things got for him, facing his own mortality and his wonderful wife by his side. What a man! So much positivity and humour in the face of what would have been a terrifying time


An hour was just not long enough to listen to these gents, I would have happily sat there all day. I came away with a few books, some gifted, some bought and two new totebags (like I need more of either!).





Trying to get the perfect shot is never easy when you have a kitty cat, let alone a diva like Princess Trixie.





It took a few attempts (more than ten photographs) before I came to the realisation that if I wanted a proper piccy I would need to wait til miss paws was asleep, so I did.





A fantastic festival, the staff were lovely, helpful and couldn't have done anything better. I had a wee sample of the food and you know how much of a fussy riot I am, lovely. Everything else I addressed in my original post so if you haven't been to a festival but holding back, please check it out. I cannot wait til the next and aim to go to as many other book events as I can, book people are the best!

Author events - my first day at the book festival

So yesterday saw me going to my first ever book festival, if you have considered going but held back as you don't know what to expect, cost etc and haven't already, check out my post covering it. Todays post is about the three events I went to see.





First up was Sarah Moss & Fiona Mozley. Fiona's debut novel is "Elmet" it took her three years to write the book, her PHD is currently on hold and she works in a book store. Sarah is Glasgow born, has a few books under her belt, currently teaches and is considering her next book which may be non fiction. Both books use teenage protagonsists, Fiona's characters claimed land and see nothing wrong with using it to live on, one father and two children, personal limits and family loyalty. Elmet was described as Hansel and Gretel meets the Godfather, now if that isn't an inviting description I don't know what is. Sarah's her lead male is obsessed with the iron age, he is a cruel and vicious man who loves his wife. Sarah also didn't want to write a book that had objectification/titillation however shows a monster of a man who is capable of love whilst having horrendous and violent tendancies toward his wife, we see it through the daughters eyes I believe. I think the main thing I certainly felt I picked up was that we have so much violence and it is easy to have a serial, cold callous evil but what is more scary is one who is very much capable of love AND so much violence. I haven't read any of these but I do intend on checking them out, both authors are new to me.








Up next was Muriel Spark's London. James Campbell and Rosemary Goring, chaired by Alan Taylor. I hadn't heard of any of these people, nor Muriel Sparks but I liked the description and wanted to check this event out. The trio worked well together, jovial, informative and some unoffensive jibes at both Glasgow and Edinburgh. The event was held in the Baillie Gillford Main theatre, comfy seats, large capacity and roving mics for when it was opened out to the audience. Despite Spark's writing various locations the stories are more about the telling than the setting.





I can't believe I hadn't heard of her before. They spoke of things she did, some of her well known stories, her autobiography and I will be buying a few myself. I think particularly those set during the war, I am enjoying reading about those types of stories at the minute. Alan Taylor reading did have some great banter and I think I would absolutely sit in another event chaired by him, all three speakers actually were very good.





My third event of the day was also in the Baillie Gifford Main Theatre but so popular the queue went around the whole circle of the venue! Author Alexander McCall Smith, author of many novels and I actually have heard of him, I have one of his books on my tbrm but haven't read him yet. Affectionately called Sandy, the event was chaired by James Naughtie and both these gents were hillarious. If who he is as a person is channelled into his writing, I can totally understand why he has so many books and fans, I could have listened to both of them chat all evening.





The focus of the event was supposed to be on the new book "A Gathering" - title chosen by the publisher, McCall jokingly said he is happy to take the credit. The book is poems from many of his favourites and he did a reading of one, as did James and another gentleman from the states, invited by Alexander himself up to the stage however I failed to catch his name, my bad, he did chat about the new book but gave us some chat on current work and opened it up to questions from the audience. He has a huge love for Scotland and at one point said "It does break the heart" that sounds negative but it was meant in a beautiful way. You can understand why the place was packed





He has a new series coming out, scandi crime I believe it is called and it sounds absolutely hillarious. The lead character, a detective has a dog that is deaf so lip reads but only in Swedish. Both the detective and the dog are in therapy at one point and he had such fun writing it he penned it in two months. We also got a reading of a chapter he had written that morning, exclusive if you please! Soft spoken, very humble, pleasant and just seems like such a good guy, I will be digging my book out to read soon and waiting for this new series as it sounds brilliant. I will also check out the other series he has written, not like I need new authors to read but after listening to him I absolutely HAVE to read him! He is also on another night, the 23rd of August I believe, check online and if you only see one show I absolutely recommend him guys, bloody marvelous!


And just to finish off, I came home with an I <3 Edinburgh totebag, there was a wee Scotsman stall selling newspapers with a goody bag just outside the entrance to the festival. Sometimes you just HAVE to be a tourist in your own country, miss paws seems impressed by yet another totebag, lmao. If you are going to anything please let me know, if I am there on that day I would love to meet up!