Tears of the Giraffe (No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency #2) by Alexander McCall Smith

Following on the brilliant The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, Tears of the Giraffe charts the further adventures of Precious Ramotswe, Botswana's only - and finest - female private detective.

It's going to take all her intuition and eminent sensibility for Precious to crack her hardest cas yet: the decade-old disappearance of an American on the edge of the Kalahari. And if that wasn't enough, there are plenty of matters closer to home to concern her: her highly talented secretary, Mma Makutsi, eager to be promoted to detective; the unscrupulous maid of her husband-to-be, the wonderful Mr J. L. B. Matekoni; and the sudden - and unexpected increase to her family by not one, but two. 

The second book in the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency is just as great as the first one. The characters stayed true to who they are and Botswana was shown in the same light. I can see why this book series is so popular. 

Read my review on Goodreads

The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency (No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency #1) by Alexander McCall Smith

“Our heads may be small, but they are as full of memories as the sky may sometimes be full of swarming bees, thousands and thousands of memories, of smells, of places, of little things that happened to us and which come back, unexpectedly, to remind us who we are. And who am I?” 

Mma Ramotswe is the proud proprietor of the finest ladies detective agency in all Botswana (also the only one). When clients come along, whether it is to enquire after a missing spouse or establish the identity of a long-lost father, it is not The Principles of Private Detection that helps her to solve cases, but old-fashioned common sense and a warm-hearted understanding of human fallibility - especially that of men.

This book had a little bit of everything - humour, wit, smarts, mystery, love - and I loved it.

Despite the name and the blurb, it is a story that is as much about everyday life in Botswana as much as it is about solving mysteries. Each chapter offered insights in to life in Africa, both past and present.

Mia Ramotswe is a very endearing character who isn't easily fooled and isn't afraid to say it like it is. 

Easy to read but still intelligent.

Read my review on Goodreads

The Silkworm (Cormoran Strike #2) by Robert Galbraith (Pseudonym), J.K. Rowling

Private investigator Cormoran Strike returns in a new mystery from Robert Galbraith, author of the #1 international bestseller The Cuckoo's Calling.

When novelist Owen Quine goes missing, his wife calls in private detective Cormoran Strike. At first, Mrs. Quine just thinks her husband has gone off by himself for a few days—as he has done before—and she wants Strike to find him and bring him home.

But as Strike investigates, it becomes clear that there is more to Quine's disappearance than his wife realizes. The novelist has just completed a manuscript featuring poisonous pen-portraits of almost everyone he knows. If the novel were to be published, it would ruin lives—meaning that there are a lot of people who might want him silenced.

When Quine is found brutally murdered under bizarre circumstances, it becomes a race against time to understand the motivation of a ruthless killer, a killer unlike any Strike has encountered before…

I found this book just as hard to put down as The Cuckoo's Calling. The subject was quite gory at times but it was so cleverly written that it didn't phase me or seem out of place at all. It so easy to get immersed in what was happening that I felt like I was travelling around London.  

The only thing that I found negative was that the references back to the first book were slightly irritating. I understand why they were there, but it still got annoying. I did like the book quotes at the top of each new chapter though.

The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins

Rachel takes the same commuter train every morning. Every day she rattles down the track, flashes past a stretch of cozy suburban homes, and stops at the signal that allows her to daily watch the same couple breakfasting on their deck. She’s even started to feel like she knows them. “Jess and Jason,” she calls them. Their life—as she sees it—is perfect. Not unlike the life she recently lost.

And then she sees something shocking. It’s only a minute until the train moves on, but it’s enough. Now everything’s changed. Unable to keep it to herself, Rachel offers what she knows to the police, and becomes inextricably entwined in what happens next, as well as in the lives of everyone involved. Has she done more harm than good?

A compulsively readable, emotionally immersive, Hitchcockian thriller that draws comparisons to Gone Girl, The Silent Wife, or Before I Go to Sleep, this is an electrifying debut embraced by readers across markets and categories. 

Its interesting what sort of assumptions we make about other peoples lives, just based on little pieces of information we see or overhear. This book is a perfect example of that, and how those assumptions can protects us, or get us in to trouble.

This story had a great pace, was easy to read and suspenseful, although I wasn't completely shocked by the ending. 

The characters were well written and they evolved really well once more of the detail came out.

A great read and one that wasn't easy to put down. 

I Am the Messenger by Markus Zusak

protect the diamonds
survive the clubs
dig deep through the spades
feel the hearts

…

“You can kill a man with those words.
No gun. 
No bullets. 
Just words and a girl.” 
Ed Kennedy is an underage cabdriver without much of a future. He's pathetic at playing cards, hopelessly in love with his best friend, Audrey, and utterly devoted to his coffee-drinking dog, the Doorman. His life is one of peaceful routine and incompetence until he inadvertently stops a bank robbery.

That's when the first ace arrives in the mail.

That's when Ed becomes the messenger.

Chosen to care, he makes his way through town helping and hurting (when necessary) until only one question remains: Who's behind Ed's mission?

I found it really hard to make my mind up on my final opinion of this book. Part of me thinks I should wait a couple of days before trying to write this review, but I don't have enough time to ponder too long, and I'm keen to move on to my next book…

I really liked the characters and the overall theme of the book. 

It was an interesting idea, being delivered mystery cards that help out strangers, but I found a few of them a bit too wishy washy - the message wasn't that clear and I expected something more from the outcome. The characters felt ''gritty' but I found that a nice change from the sparkly heroes in other thrillers, it made them feel a bit more real life.

I think the two areas where I come unstuck is the flow of the writing, and the ending. I can't put my finger on it, but something just didn't work for me and when I finished it, I just felt a little underwhelmed. The writing is very lyrical, so maybe I'm missing something as nearly every other reviewer has raved about it, but the final 2 sentences just really annoyed me.

Overall, I'm glad I read it - I have a feeling it will be one of those books that linger in the back of my mind for a little while while I keep trying to figure out how I feel about it. It's a smallish book, it only took me a few days to read, so if you aren't happy with it then at least you wouldn't have wasted too much time on it anyway.

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

On a warm summer morning in North Carthage, Missouri, it is Nick and Amy Dunne's fifth wedding anniversary. Presents are being wrapped and reservations are being made when Nick's clever and beautiful wife disappears from their rented McMansion on the Mississippi River. Husband-of-the-Year Nick isn't doing himself any favors with cringe-worthy daydreams about the slope and shape of his wife's head, but passages from Amy's diary reveal the alpha-girl perfectionist could have put anyone dangerously on edge. Under mounting pressure from the police and the media--as well as Amy's fiercely doting parents--the town golden boy parades an endless series of lies, deceits, and inappropriate behavior. Nick is oddly evasive, and he's definitely bitter--but is he really a killer? 
As the cops close in, every couple in town is soon wondering how well they know the one that they love. With his twin sister, Margo, at his side, Nick stands by his innocence. Trouble is, if Nick didn't do it, where is that beautiful wife? And what was in that silvery gift box hidden in the back of her bedroom closet?

For me, this book was very unpredictable - it moved so fast I didn't even really have time to guess what was going to happen, and I loved that it kept it's momentum right to the very last page.

The ending was very ambiguous (particularly the very last paragraph!) which leaves me to think 1) this might have been done deliberately to leave room for a sequel???! or 2) just goes to show that Amy's and her scheming, manipulative, overactive mind hasn't changed at all. I loved that it was left with a big question mark at the end to keep you thinking, rather than tying everything up with a neat little bow. 

I can't wait to go see the movie now to see how it plays out on screen.

The Wedding Gift - Kathleen McKenna

Leann wasn’t good enough for her upper-crust in-laws, so they gave her the mansion none of them wanted. Years ago, something or someone in the house killed Leann’s brother. Will its violent secrets kill her next?“ . . . a spine-electrifying supernatural tale where a huge Southern States mansion contains one of the most terrifying, violent and indeed psychopathic ghosts to haunt any town. It is also a murder mystery—why did Robina Willets apparently kill all five of her young children, and her husband, before stabbing herself to death? And, if you are in the camp of believing that 'Justice . . . just is not,' then this will have you frothing at the mouth with righteous social fury.

Getting this book on sale from Amazon (Kindle) for 99c, I had low expectations as surely they wouldn't be practically GIVING away a book if it was really any good, right??

So I was pleasantly  surprised to discover that not only was the book actually pretty good, I was fast becoming hooked to it!

My first thought was that I wasn't going to be able to finish reading it as I thought I would find the Southern style dialogue too distracting, but now looking back after I have finished reading it I can see how this actually added to the magic of the story. 

You may be forgiven from thinking that this is going to be a story about love, which isn't strictly untrue, but there is so much drama and mystery going on that I didn't expect. 

I can't really comment on whether the characters a true to form in those parts as I have never experienced this part of America first hand, but I do know that I didn't find them ridiculous or frustrating like some other reviewers did. 

I would definitely recommend this book for those who like both love stories or murder mysteries, all in all a great read.