Books

As crime king Michael Connelly publishes his new Harry Bosch book, my take on ten of the greatest crime novels ever written. This was the hardest, and possibly most controversial, list to write – there’s no Raymond Chandler, Robert B Parker, Dorothy L Sayers, John Grisham, Mick Herron or M W Craven among others… read it and weep.No.10 The Hound of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan DoyleThe third of four Sherlock Holmes novels by Arthur Conan Doyle (most of the legendary sleuth’s exploits took short story form), 1902’s Hound of the Baskervilles must be the legendary detective’s greatest case. As gripping as the mud of Grimpen Mire where much of the action takes place, noted one critic. Even after all this time, Conan Doyle’s giant hound remains, frankly, terrifying and the Holmes books co...

Frederick Forsyth in his home in Beaconsfield (Image: Jonathan Buckmaster)Wonder aloud why it's not Sir Freddie and the journalist and author chuckles. "I've put too many official noses out of joint," he shrugs. "They've long memories and I've had that from a reliable source. 'It's not there for you Freddie, because everything would have to go before an honours committee studded with mandarins you've upset.'" So for the moment, at least, it's plain old Mr Frederick Forsyth nursing a glass of red wine in a London restaurant even more venerable than he is, sitting beneath a mural showing the late Lady Thatcher, who he hugely admired, as a knight in armour. Don't miss... Freddie Forsyth's ghost story The Shepherd finally makes it to the screen [LATEST] Frederick Forsyth was the wor...

She liked waiting for the wave more than riding the wave.Facing the cliffs, straddling the board, her hips finding the up-and­ down rhythm of the surface. Riding it like a horse, making her think about Kaupo Boy when she was a child. There was a reverence to the moment before the next set came in and it was time to dig down and paddle.She checked her watch. She could fit in one more. She’d ride it all the way in if she could. But she savoured the moment of just floating, closing her eyes and tilting her head upward. The sun was just over the cliffs now and it warmed her face.“Haven’t seen you here before.”Ballard opened her eyes. It was the guy on the One World board. An OG with no wetsuit, no leash, his skin burnished to a dark cherrywood.She braced for what she knew would come next: t...

Rick Astley opens up on his traumatic childhood in his new memoir (Image: Andy Prevezer)It's a desperately poignant way to sum up one’s childhood. “I remember being frightened all the time as a kid,” recalls Rick. He traces the trauma to a grave tragedy in the family before he was even born.It was four years earlier when his parents lost their five-year-old son David to meningitis and Rick believes his parents never recovered.“I think losing him was probably just way too traumatic to get over for either of them. I think you just learn to live with that loss. Certainly for my mum, that was a very, very hard thing to do.“My childhood was a bit odd. My dad was extreme at times and my mum was very much not there emotionally for us. I just don’t think she had anything left.”He was aged just ...

I remember bidding in a Midlands auction house for a set of old fishing flies. The price rocketed and they were eventually sold to a friend. Their value was that they had once belonged to Neville Chamberlain, the prime minister of the brolly and the ill-fated Munich Agreement.Premiership comes with many trappings, but huge stress. Few give the impression of enjoying their time at the top, or have much time to wind down, but Chamberlain apparently relaxed by fishing for trout. A true countryman, he could also identify every bird, flower and tree he saw on country walks.Writing a biography of Sir Winston Churchill in this, the 150th year of his birth, I wondered what other hobbies Britain's premiers had, although I greeted with incredulity Boris Johnson's revelation that he relaxed by mak...

A Song of Ice and Fire fans have been worried for the last few years that George RR Martin’s other projects, especially his Game of Thrones spin-off TV shows commitments, have massively slowed down his focus on finishing The Winds of Winter.And now the 75-year-old has shared just how overwhelmed he is by his mountains of work.Writing on his blog, the author shared how he’s been travelling in Europe for a month this summer and never takes his computer with him, on which he writes his books and answers his emails.He then got onto his progress with the long-delayed new Game of Thrones book and admitted he’s also been writing Fire and Blood Volume 2.Martin shared: “Nor did I find much solace in my work. Writing came hard, and though I did produce some new pages on both THE WINDS OF WINTER (...

It’s been 13 years since George RR Martin last published a book in his A Song of Ice and Fire series.The Game of Thrones TV series has come and gone in that time, with showrunners having to rely on the author’s plot outlines for the final two novels The Winds of Winter and A Dream of Spring.Five years on since the end of the hit show and the 75-year-old still hasn’t completed the next book.In his latest blog post, he addressed fan anger over the delay when writing about a chocolate model of him spotted at the Chocolate Museum in Barcelona.Martin blogged: “I find myself at a loss for words, but full of questions. Am I made of dark chocolate or milk chocolate? No idea. Am I solid chocolate, or do I have a filling? Nougat? Peanut butter? Nuts? Does the museum have a display of chocolate wr...

As 2024 dawns so do 13 years since George RR Martin published a book in his A Song of Ice and Fire series.Since A Dance with Dragons hit shelves in 2011, the Game of Thrones TV show has come and gone with the showrunners being forced to rely on the author’s plot outlines for his unwritten final two novels.The HBO hit ended five years ago come May (yes you read that correctly) and despite positive updates on progress during the pandemic lockdowns, The Winds of Winter still doesn’t have a release date.Even more painfully for ASOIAF fans, Martin’s New Year’s Eve blog post shared no update on the book, but plenty of information on other Game of Thrones side projects that are taking him away from writing the penultimate novel.The 75-year-old’s latest blog post included news that some TV spin...