Ashley Dyer's Blog, page 2

I so enjoyed this Shelf Indulgence read! Greta Vinet Seville, E-Discovery and Deputy General Counsel at the international law firm of Coarse & Cotton, finds herself on the run after absconding with the data she needs to conduct an investigation into her own law company. She enlists an off-the-books, rag-tag ‘legal team’ including a genius litigation technology professional, a possibly psychopathic summer associate, an investigative reporter, a classical art restorer, Gret...

The multilayered narrative in this Shelf Indulgence choice was so rewarding. In a dual narrative and timeline, American violinist, Julia, discovers Incendio, an old unpublished waltz, while in Venice. From the instant she plays it, the music has a sinister impact on her life, putting her in fear of her three-year-old daughter. The second storyline follows Jewish Venetian luthier and composer, Lorenzo, during Mussolini’s rise. When Lorenzo is asked to practise a duet with ...

Set in a suburban hive (yes, a beehive) this is a simple yet captivating story, in the tradition of Duncton Wood and Watership Down. This Shelf Indulgence choice was recommended to me by a biology undergraduate who was so enthralled by the novel that he based his entire final year project on hive behaviour. The Bees follows Flora 717, a humble sanitation worker bee, as she rises through the ranks.

Flora survives human threats and religious purges, evading the machinati...

This novel was recommended to me by two people within five minutes of each other. Nothing is certain, however, and one of the reasons I’m somewhat resistant to the current literary sensations is because they so often disappoint. Rest assured: Luckiest Girl Alive is as good as its hype. Compelling and harrowing, this tense debut also had some very funny moments. Ani is a twenty-something social climber, writing for a top fashion magazine, engaged to the man of her dreams, ...

One of the joys of being invited to speak at writing conferences is being introduced to books I wouldn’t normally read. Young adult fiction is not often on my reading list, and The Boy Who Flew is one of those serendipitous Shelf Indulgence finds. Athan Wilde dreams of flight. When his friend, Mr Chen, is murdered, Athan must rescue the flying machine they were building together and stop it falling into the wrong hands. The machine could be worth a lot – perhaps even enou...

It’s rare that I read books as soon as they’re released, but I interviewed Sharon Bolton for the release of The Craftsman in 2018, so this Shelf Indulgence review was bang up to date at the time!

The Craftsman opens in August 1999, the hottest day of the year. Assistant Commissioner Florence Lovelady attends the burial of Larry Glassbrook, a coffin-maker. He’s also the convicted serial killer whom she arrested thirty years earlier. A master carpenter and funeral direct...

Jane Eyre was essential secondary school reading in my day, but times change. So why does it high on the list of my Shelf Indulgence favourites? Why should 21st century readers want to read about an orphan girl growing up in early Victorian times? Dear Reader, read on . . .

Of its time, Jane Eyre was daring, innovative, and even contentious. The first section was among the earliest written from a child’s viewpoint, and Brontë completely immerses the reader in Ja...

This Shelf Indulgence review focuses on Fatal Inheritance by Rachel Rhys (a pen name of Tammy Cohen). The novel begins in post-war London. Eve Forrester, raised by a mother who seemingly disapproves of her very existence, has escaped into a loveless marriage to an overbearing prig, and is now living a dismal life in a grey suburb. But the arrival of a solicitor’s letter changes all that – for Eve has come into an inheritance from a wealthy stranger, and the nature of the ...

The subject of this Shelf Indulgence review was first published in 1999.  A Little Death presents the reader with a triple murder on page two, and then leaves no room for speculation: we are told quite firmly at the outset that one of the three must have shot the others and then committed suicide. It is a testament to Laura Wilson’s storytelling skills that she not only keeps our interest but winds up the intrigue so that this book is hard to put down.

The narrative un...

This Shelf Indulgence review of Hallucinations, by Oliver Sacks, came out of my research for one of the Ashley Dyer novels. Sacks, a professor of neurology, turns his exceptional eye on the phenomenon in this fascinating book. Covering aspects as diverse as epileptic seizures, Out of Body experiences, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), migraine auras and the weirdness of coming to face-to-face with your doppelganger, Sacks explains that hallucinations are far f...