We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves by Karen Joy Fowler

A funny, thought proving tale of  animal rights and family life.

Good points:
Interesting plot twist
The narrative is both complicated and simple



Bad points:
Avoid any spoilers to get the full impact.

The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas

This is an epic novel - I feel a sense of achievement having read it .  This is an epic tale of a man seeking revenge following the ruination of his life.  However, it is more than 1200 pages long.

Good Points:
Fantastic story
 The characters are memorable, the language is brilliant, and the details of 19th-century European history are fascinating.

Bad points:

Lengh

Most of the plot is told with dialogue which is confusing

Number of characters is hard to keep track of who is who

The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton

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This is a 'who-done-it' set in the goldfields of Western New Zealand in the 1860s. 

Good Points:

Cleverly written - Eleanor Catton uses a non-linear approach, with shifting points of view which involves doubling back on a handful of crucial circumstances and events, seen from various perspectives. 

I  enjoyed the description of the frontier town lifestyle.

Negative points:

 Long - about 800 pages

The astrological content of the novel seems, and probably is, obscure and entirely irrelevant

                                                                                                                                                              

The Hollow by Agatha Christie

 
Good points:
I love Christie - everyone could have committed the murder and I simply don't know until the detective (in this case) Poirot reveals it.

This is a typlical Agatha Christie - setting large country house, servants etc.

Bad points:
Poirot looks weak in the book - he takes him nearly to the end to figure out who the murder is.
Some of the early chapters a bit rambling

Sidney Chambers and The Perils of the Night (The Grantchester Mysteries) by James Runcie

 

The second in the series which I enjoyed a little less than the first.

 Good points:

There is not a lot of action and not a lot of clues to solve these mysteries, yet still the stories manage to be engaging.

The stories are very warmly humorous, with lots of interesting digressions into maths, physics, music and cricket.

Bad points:

There was a lot more religious content this time

The Girl Who Saved the King of Sweden Jonas Jonasson

 

Good points:

This had me laughing out loud - it is delightful, quirky with plot twists, and   hilarious, absurd moments

It clearly weaves historical facts around central characters.

Bad points:

At points it felt like it dragged a little, but then I read on and loved it again

I haven't read his first novel which some reviewers view as superior so I look forward to reading that! 

Sidney Chambers and The Shadow of Death (The Grantchester Mysteries) by James Runcie

 

I came across the book whilst reading about the ITV adaptation currently being filmed in Cambridge. This the first in a promised series of six novels starting in 1953, the year of the Queen’s Coronation, and closing in 1981, the year of the wedding of Charles and Diana.

Good points:
Sidney’s charming character and the marvellous cast of characters around him - think Agatha Christie style.
 I loved the setting of the book and seeing little details like the names of the local pubs and roads that I know well.

Negative points:
It's actually a collection of mini-mysteries rather than a one mystery novel.
It lacked humour - it could have done with one eccentric character.
 The author tries to squeeze too many historical issues in his short stories which can leave them a little cluttered.