As expected, last week was chaotic, with absolutely no updates posted, one ailing pig plus a now ailing cat, as well as the new cat who is ... overactive, and two elderly dogs who insist on not being quite right. Now we've got bird flu on our minds.
Finished off:
A Plot to Die for by Ardal O'Hanlan (listening)
The Picasso Ransom by A.T. Prewett (yes I know wasn't on any portent lists but it shouted at me - and was good fun!)
Started on:
Parrot Heaven by Jessica Howland Kany (FINALLY! enjoying this one)
The Mysterious Affair of Judith Potts by Robert Thorogood (listening)
A Plot to Die For
The first in a mystery series from the much-loved Irish actor, writer and comedian, for readers who enjoy the warmth of Graham Norton and the mystery of Death in Paradise , all wrapped up in one small Irish town.
When beloved celebrity gardener Finn O’Leary returns to his hometown of Abbeyford in Ireland to care for his aging mother, he is naturally roped into the Tidy Towns committee.
The Tidy Towns is a competition fanatically fought over by every town and village in the land. And for his best friend’s sister, Aoife, it’s a competition she’s determined to win. With everyone’s favourite gardener on board, she is sure that this year Abbeyford will take home the prize. But Finn’s not been back long when an alto-baritone at his mother’s choir practice drops dead during a rendition of ‘What the World Needs Now’.
With more at stake than just winning Tidy Towns, Finn soon finds himself trying to solve a murder – or two. For one of his many qualities is that people tend to confide in him…
With his mother, her carer and Aoife in tow, Finn sets out to discover just who has brought murder to Abbeyford.
Parrot Heaven
BDTH! The Foveaux Fisherman Facebook page posts this acronym to advise Rakiura Stewart Islanders to ‘batten down the hatches’ before severe weather events.
New Zealand’s southernmost librarian Maudie Sanderson reckons this warning could be applied to her life in general these days.
Haunted by a parrot and falsely accused of soliciting d**k pics, Maudie navigates a minefield of rabbit holes and mental health crises as she struggles to be a fit and proper person in a pandemic-hungover world. Sidelined by buggered knees, the avid runner needs projects to maintain sanity.
Island life keeps her busy. Maudie is drawn into an axe cult, scraps with the preschool teacher, discusses The Epic of Gilgamesh in a jailhouse book club, and mis-manages a community astronomy course. When a shocking crime wreaks havoc on her family, she dons her deerstalker cap and dives into the investigation.
All the while, Maudie feels a growing kinship with the ancient desert king Gilgamesh, as the words from 5,000-year-old clay tablets guide her through life’s myriad of mysteries.
The Picasso Ransom
'Can we try escaping just a little slower?'
Fact: In 1986, Picasso's Weeping Woman was stolen from the National Gallery of Victoria. To this day, the culprits have never been identified.
Here's what happened.
Maybe.
Phoebe is about to turn 70, and has grown sick of retirement. She enrols in an evening art course, where she befriends fellow retirees Eva and Dave. They also happen to be studying across the road from a two-million-dollar Picasso.
The trio make a promising start, only to find that the school is to be closed due to arts cuts implemented by a blundering government minister. The protests of a student activist group - under 30s only - fall on deaf ears.
The Mysterious Affair of Judith Potts
Someone is killing celebrities in Marlow! When footballer Gary Wise and thriller writer Tony Sexton are found dead, Judith, Suzie, and Becks (AKA The Marlow Murder Club) must untangle a web of blackmail and scandal to find the killer. But with their friend and police contact, DI Malik, suspended from duty, and Judith’s own past catching up with her, The Marlow Murder Club find themselves on their own for the first time ever.
With suspects piling up like tabloid headlines, and someone threatening to expose Judith’s secrets, the pressure is on for The Marlow Murder Club in more ways than one … Can they find the killer and help Judith in time, or will this be the end of The Marlow Murder Club?
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