IT'S A CRIME! (OR A MYSTERY...)

Beachcombing - Maggie Dana (NON-CRIME)

Beachcombing by Maggie Dana is another one from the Macmillan New Writing stable.  You could put it in the romance genre but it's more than that as it's a coming of age, in the second half of life sort of novel.  Add to that some glorious humour and a pace akin to a thriller and you have a rather engaging tale, perfect for summer reading.

Jillian Hunter, now 52, did not have the happiest of childhoods with a rather distant mother.  At 17, she was finding love with Colin, but he quickly disappeared for reasons unknown to his friends at the time.  Jill departed to the US where she married the not too suitable Richard, had two sons, renovated a beachside cottage, divorced and set up her own business.  Thirty-five years on, with her business not going too well, Colin returns into the fold of old friends and on a trip to London, Jill falls into his arms.  Literally.

My Soul to Take - Yrsa Sigurðardóttir

Continuing in the vein she so competently set with her first adult crime novel Last Rituals, Yrsa Sigurðardóttir thrills with a contemporary mystery set in her homeland of Iceland, while also paying respect to its beautiful setting and educating by again exploring its history in My Soul to Take.

Amateur sleuth, but professional lawyer Thóra Gudmundsdóttir returns with a case of commercial conveyancing gone wrong.  But oh, if it were only that simple.  Her client, Jonas Juliusson, for whom she had facilitated the purchase of land and a farmhouse just a year before, calls to say there is a defect with the property.  Thóra, unsure whether the middle-aged man had 'always been odd or whether having money had turned him eccentric' finds herself listening to claims that the property - now a hotel and New Age health spa, specialising in alternative treatments - is haunted.

Movies watched lately...

In Bruges, Mr Brooks, Burn After Reading.

In Bruges

This carries a tag line of "Shoot First.  Sightsee Later."  Yes, it's gangsters and guns in Bruges, Belgium after a shoot out in London goes wrong for two Irish hit men.  I have never seen Brendan Gleeson in anything before, but he proved to be a captivating screen presence, as was Colin Farrell.  Both managed to elicit sympathy in characters you'd prefer not to meet at the best of times.  But the biggest surprise for me was Ralph Fiennes as I've never been a fan of his.  He comes into the story when it becomes a matter of honour and needs to do a bit of dirty work himself.  It's a chilling and stunning performance.  A mix of darkness, tragedy, comedy and the surreal, expect to laugh, enjoy the setting and possibly reach for tissues.

Mr Brooks

Alerted to this one by Martin at Do You Write Under Your Own Name?  It's a serial killer story with a twist; the sort of twist that turns everything on its head.  If the psychopathic serial killer is a paranoid schizophrenic, Kevin Costner's Mr Brooks hardly ever appears without his alter ego ("voice") played by William Hurt in a very chilling performance.  His latest killing goes wrong when he is seen by someone and a little bit of bribery comes into play.  But the witness is not after money.  Oh no, he wants something else in the first of a series of original and unexpected twists.  Hot on the case is a wilful, stubborn detective played (convincingly) by Demi Moore; the detective having something to prove.  One part of the plot was a bit ludicrous, but with suspension of disbelief, further twists come into play before the end.  Mrs Brooks is played by Marg Helgenberger of CSI who was originally unrecognisable.  Has she gone under the knife recently?

Even though I was not fully convinced by Kevin Costner's performance, the movie does grab attention.  I was roasting some butternut squash to make soup when watching.  Eventually, I remembered what the smell was.  The soup never got made.

Burn After Reading

Having loved Fargo, here was another Coen brothers and Frances McDormand vehicle with the added bonus of George Clooney and John Malkovich that I couldn't resist.  It's all a bit surreal with the label spot on: "...outrageous spy comedy about murder, blackmail, sex addiction and physical fitness."  When Malkovich's character walks out of the CIA after rejecting a move/demotion, he decides to write a memoir.  The disc gets into the hands of two gym employees who attempt to blackmail him, but the disc contains some rather poor revelations which complicate matters.  McDormand plays one of the blackmailers motivated by wanting money to purchase a series of cosmetic enhancements.  Brad Pitt plays the other, in what was a revelation of a comic performance for me.  (I am probably the only woman in the world who did not really notice him in Thelma and Louise; he was just a six pack on show.)  McDormand does quirky and Malkovich does rage as beautifully as usual.  Tilda Swinton does an excellent turn as an ice cold, English, posh totty, let down wife.  Burn After reading contains scenes with excellent comic timing from an ensemble cast.  This is one I will watch again and I expect to laugh more on the second innings.

The quiet hours...

Sleep and I are not bosom mates; we are in a  fractious friendly relationship these days.  But oh, the relief of falling to sleep earlier.  And then I woke up at 02:30, not sure what the time was initially.  It was almost silent; just the distant buzz of vehicles on the distant motorway.  Until I returned to the study, switched on the lights and replied to an email.  Then, above the typing of the keys I heard the occasional rhythm of a locomotive on the nearer railway line and various sirens in the near distance.  A sign of our times?  Most likely police or ambulance services; less likely fire.

While the majority sleep at the most appropriate of times, some of us are slaves to insomnia and some of us are actually working.  This reminds me of a book I have recently received, but not yet read: More Blood, More Sweat and Another Cup of Tea from Tom Reynolds.  Reynolds works in the ambulance service and this is his second tome, telling it as it is.  I have previously worked in one aspect of the ambulance service, in the part some might decree as the "buraeucratic, red-tape side", but I have some insight on the pressures experienced and look forward to reading this book.  When it comes to red-tape, I was surprised those years ago at how legislation caused silly considerations over common sense.

Meanwhile in these quiet hours, there are others in the NHS who work too, caring for our loved ones.  Yesterday, and in another supermarket, I met an old school friend, a year or more after our first "supermarket" reunion after some 30 years.  Then, we had a chat at the end of the till that lasted about 1.5 hours; I remember she told me that I was the one who always had a book in her hands, whereas she was the "gobby one" at school.

Yesterday, she told me she had lost her father three months ago and a little of the circumstances.  It brought back memories for me.  I have had two nights, in the quiet hours, when someone in the NHS has phoned me to let me know that my father or mother was dying.  Neither time did I make it to be with them.  Death can be quick and sudden, as we all know.  Both of us, my old school friend and I appreciate and value the care from the NHS for our parents.  It goes around the clock, never failing because of the hour.

Emergency through man's inhumanity to man or the status quo of life's normal passage, I have heard no sirens in the last hour.  As 4am draws, I hear the birds again, before dawn breaks.  I first heard this when my beloved Gran died; I seemed to know and feel that she was departing.

I know the NHS comes into massive stick these days and it's right that the criticism is levied on times.  But not for those who care and work during exceptional hours of the day.  When it comes to respect, they earn it and not demand it.

My father died in a ward for rehabilitation, truth be told.  He had no chance of being rehabilitated, but the nurses looked after him well.

During these quiet hours, I raise a glass to all those in the NHS who serve and help us.  You are wonderful!

We finally have some summer in the UK, even during the Wimbledon weeks...

Yes!  My neighbours have been out walking their dogs in shorts.  (The human neighbours and not the dogs when it comes to wearing the shorts, that is...)  Could Wimbledon see a wasted investment on that roof installed?  If it does, it's more likely down to sod's law in the UK as opposed to climate change, I suspect.  The beauty of being a Brit is unpredictability and lack of foresight when the elements hold all the cards.  Even our professional forecasters sometimes get it wrong.  And on that basis, I am quietly convinced that the Wellies I so anticipated but did not need for the Hay Festival this year will come in handy for the Harrogate Crime Writing Festival.  Four weeks to go, but how to pack the paired bludgeons?   I think I need a nearer weather forecast to make my mind up.  Who is going to Harrogate this year?  Anyone? I am still going but on the most shoestringy of budgets...

The Information Officer - Mark Mills

I read and certainly enjoyed the previous novel from Mark Mills, The Savage Garden and thus, I looked forward to reading The Information Officer.  However, I will admit at the outset that I was disappointed with this one, his third novel.  (I am still to read his first novel Amagansett, later to carry a revised title in the UK of The Whaleboat House.) 

This is one of those novels that clearly divides opinion.  At the time of writing, there are 40 reviews on Amazon UK, ranging all the way through from 1 star to 5 stars.  The mode average comes in at 4 stars, so it errs onto the positive; indeed, if we take 3 stars as a sort of "sitting on the fence" indicator for which 9 people expressed that opinion, the positives then outweigh the negatives with 22 people on 4 or 5 stars and 9 people on 1 or 2 stars.  Elsewhere, Mike Ripley at Eurocrime thought the book "a good thriller", "a stunning book about human beings surviving under extreme circumstances..." and a "master-class in fluent story-telling."  Laura Wilson at The Guardian hailed the novel as "A compelling, vividly rendered slow burn of a book which culminates in an electrifying climax."  So what's the book about?  Having read the cover synopsis before reading the novel, I can say it encapsulates most of the plot of the novel, so I'll tempt you with less:

The Secret Life of France - Lucy Wadham (NON-CRIME)

Lucy Wadham's The Secret Life of France will be published by Faber & Faber on 2 July, 2009.  The author is well qualified to provide insights into France and the French as she is British but has been living there since the 1980s, having married a French man in a union that ended some twenty years later.  But she stayed in France, enjoying the culture to which she had become aquainted and accustomed, although never losing her Anglo-Saxon roots and the ability to observe objectively.  And how timely for this insight as President Sarkozy seeks a bigger profile on the world stage (think D-Day).  A recent article in Prospect Magazine is titled "Sarko the Sex Dwarf", where Wadham, borrowing from her sister's "rich vocabulary of male sexual stereotypes" is not afraid afraid to be direct and hit a nail on the head.  Indeed, The Secret Life of France is hitting quite a few nails on the head and its pages fire on many cylinders.

My interest in this book derived from the time I had the experience of working for a French company in the City.  (The lack of qualitative noun is deliberate on my part; let's just say I spent much of the time bemused, flummoxed or both.)  But I did learn a lot about French culture from French-women-abroad and it's great to see the female point of view in The Secret Life of France, because Wadham confirmed a few things I knew already, explained them in greater depth and then added more.  Much more.

Google matters are resolving, while searches can be intriguing...

Well, I stuck it out with a combination of (enforced) patience and not having a clue what to do next, the former also being a product of the latter.  But in the last 24 hours, matters seem to be resolving and random Google searches for books and other info are creeping back.  Yippee!  On what went wrong and how it is resolving is beyond my ken.

It's interesting to see emerging searches in Sitemeter as it indicates what others are working on in other parts of the world.  I've seen Mo Hayder's Pig Island searched for "crib notes" (go on, admit it, whoever you are, that's a bit lazy...) and "explain end" (this has come up many times before in various forms and has been discussed in the relevant post).  Also, probably due to the recent release of The Information Officer by Mark Mills, people in Malta are searching for info on Mills.  I recently read this one and will post on it soon.

But it's great to see the searches back, even if I was surprised at the level of return readers through their various sources.  I had no idea it was as high as it was.

No apologies for drawing your attention to this one, but it came from my blog contributor friend Chris, not me - Laurie R King's The Language of Bees.  That one seems to have disappeared off the radar.  Perhaps I could ask Dr Who to investigate?  Mari Strachan's The Earth Hums in B Flat - a book I love - is also proving tetchy in searches.  You can read more from Mari, talking about her novel, live, as it was, on Lizzy's Literary Life here.

That's me over and done with for now.  One downside in the life of moi has taken an upturn.  However, I am still looking for a job.

Blogger anonymity & what has The Times newspaper group got against it?

Earlier today there was a landmark decision in our courts when Mr Justice Eady refused to grant an order to protect the anonymity of police officer Richard Horton who is the author of a blog called NightJack.  According to The Times, Horton "began the NightJack blog in February last year" and "at one stage he attracted nearly 500,000 readers a week with his pithy observations of life on the front line of policing."  Horton won the Orwell Prize for blogs in April of this year.  (The Times claims it was for "political writing".  They seem to lack a bit of attention to detail there.)

Iain Dale interviews Margaret Thatcher, and the subject of broken upper arms

Iain Dale interviews Margaret Thatcher - well, not quite Margaret Thatcher, but someone in drag.  I have to admit that I found some of this quite funny, with some great lines on the current state of politics in the UK, e.g. on Gordon Brown getting up and smiling in the morning, "...just to get it over with"; and on Europe the Labour party needs a phrasebook to say "no" in Portuguese when negotiating; and on Mandelson we have "...here's a shiver looking for a spine to crawl down, isn't he?"; and on Cameron, he's "...a bit too friendly..." and he's "...the sort of man, you know, who would call John the Baptist, Jack..."  It's all a nice bit of satire.

Meanwhile, the real Margaret, Baroness Thatcher is recovering in hospital after a fall.  A few years

The Undutchables: An Observation of the Netherlands, Its Culture And Its Inhabitants (NON-CRIME)

The Undutchables: An Observation of the Netherlands, Its Culture And Its Inhabitants, by Colin White (Author), Laurie Boucke (Author), Rusty Haller (Illustrator), Gerald Fried (Illustrator).

Following on from a Dutch crime author, I'd like to draw your attention to this book, for it is a gem.  The fact that you find so many copies in the book shops at Schipol airport is testimony to its authenticity and accuracy.  Indeed, some say that for those arriving from abroad to work in the Netherlands, their employers either buy it for them or recommend they buy it.  (And given one aspect of Dutch culture, I suspect the latter is more prevalent.)

Thus there is a recommendation on one level, but it's also useful if visiting the country and also if you're reading Dutch authors in translation.  Why?  Because the portrayal of the culture in the fiction will be absorbed in a more effective way.  What's in the book?  Well, it's pretty comprehensive at 305 pages, 21 chapters and 3 appendices.  The chapters include the following as subject matter:

Close-Up - Esther Verhoef

Close-Up by Esther Verhoef is her first novel translated from the original Dutch into English in the UK, brought to us by Quercus.  It's one to enthusiastically include in the psychological thriller category, but with a buyer-beware sticker.  I know some prefer the bedroom door closed on their crime and thriller reading and we are heading into erotic thriller territory here.  (Albeit the bedroom is often not the location of choice...)  But you have been warned: just in case you are sensitive to such matters.  And I know that some of you may exclaim that intimate doings are not necessary to the plot.  They are with this novel: it's about a relationship, first and foremost; about moving on and finding new confidence.  Thus it's all rather key to the plot in Verhoef's Close-Up.

The 4-Play Meme (as book and crime related as possible...)

For a little light relief, I compiled my lists earlier today.  Maxine has mentioned somewhere that she prefers memes that concentrate more on the world of books, so I have tried to make this as connected as possible, including related to crime and crime fiction.  (The food bit being the most difficult!)  Here are my results:

Future developments:

Because of a problem with Google no longer recognising my posts in its searches and because I like to support authors, especially debuts and those with little to no publicity budgets, I have decided that for an interim period all future posts will also be made on another blog site at Blogger, here.  If it looks as though the issue will take some time to resolve, I will also start uploading my previous book blog posts to that site too.  Should the matter prove to be beyond my ken, and that of Typepad's Help Team, I will then consider moving over completely.  Apologies to all for the inconvenience, especially to those whose books I have covered here, where the posts no longer appear in Google searches.  If you are seeking a book I've previously covered, I suggest, for the moment, that you try using Yahoo or alltheweb.com.  (But if you've managed to land here to see this message, there is a list of books below on the right.)  Again, my apologies.

I am starting to hate Google

It has now been just over a week since Google has failed to acknowledge this blog's posts in its searches, especially for books.  I have been trying, with the help of Typepad's Help Team (thank you), to re-register the blog with Google - not that I ever registered it to start with - all to no avail to date.  Actual online help instructions from both Typepad and Google proved to be inadequate on the detail when it comes to verification of a site, particularly a Typepad blog.  How to upload a metatag or HTML file still beats me.

And this evening, I have now read on another Google page that site verification does not affect Google's crawl anyway.  Google has an online help forum, but it's not clear who does the replying and I see a few queries like mine already.  The answers don't provide me with further clue.  Google contact appears to be by telephone only, so I can't raise a query by email.

No apologies for the controversial headline above.  I'm hoping someone at Google might notice.  Only recently when I queried the number of appearances of Asda on The Apprentice someone from Wal-Mart in the US left a comment to make sure I was clear on the matter.

If any regular readers have a clue on the above, please get in touch.  I'd love to hear from you.  (The only random hits are coming via something called bing.com these days, and oddly, Google's image searches.)

If I have to move this blog's resources to another location, it will be Vox or Wordpress; definitely not Blogger, another tentacle in the Google empire.

And yes, I'm smarting.  Wouldn't you be?

UPDATE 23:34: Thanks to Typepad's help I have now managed to log in to Google Webmaster.  Now I have to try and work out what the errors are...

UPDATE 14 June 09, 14:45: Did not have much joy with the Wordpress template in the end.  Have now set up on Blogger too.

Could this be Gordon's dream team for the cabinet?

On a lighter note, after yesterday’s diatribe, let’s enter the mind of Gordon Brown and find out his dream team for the cabinet.  Not to be taken seriously.

CABINET:
Prime Minister, First Lord of the Treasury and Minister for the Civil Service
The Rt Hon Gordon Brown MP (I’m going to keep my own job, obviously.)
Leader of the House of Commons and Lord Privy Seal; Minister for Women and Equality (and deputising for the Prime Minister at PMQs)
Germaine Greer (Well, she did appear on Big Brother and she’s always stood up for women…)
First Secretary of State, Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills and Lord President of the Council
Simon Cowell (He knows how to make a bit of money, that one!)
Chancellor of the Exchequer
Carol Vorderman (For obvious reasons.)
Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs
Ant and Dec (Everyone loves them!)
Secretary of State for Justice and Lord Chancellor
Nancy Dell’Olio (She’s a lawyer, I’m told.)
Secretary of State for the Home Department
Joanna Lumley (Absolutely fab woman.)
Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Hugh Fearnley–Whittingstall (The perfect package for this role, I think.)
Secretary of State for International Development
Lenny Henry (He does great work with Comic Relief.)
Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government
David Tennant (Now there’s a man who knows how to grow communities.  He got such a fan base because of Dr Who!)
Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families
J.K.Rowling (Perfect for the job!)
Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change
Jonathon Porritt (I must be seen to be taking this one seriously.  And especially more seriously than that bloody Cameron!)
Secretary of State for Health
Jo Brand (She used to be a mental health nurse and then she turned to comedy.  They’ll be laughing and eating out of her hands when she makes announcements on every one of our ongoing incessant new initiatives.)
Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
Kenneth Branagh (Even more popular now he’s Kurt Wallander on the TV and he comes from there.  Northern Ireland that is; not Sweden.)
Leader of the House of Lords and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
Sir Alan Sugar (I must give him something to do.)
Minister for the Cabinet Office, and for the Olympics and Paymaster General
Sir Steve Redgrave (A national hero and he knows a thing or two about the Olympics.)
Secretary of State for Scotland
Billy Connolly (Popular man.)
Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
Margaret Mountford (She’s just announced she’s leaving The Apprentice and I’m sure I can persuade her to put off her PhD work for just a wee while longer.)
Chief Secretary to the Treasury
Helen Mirren (Now there’s another popular lass and national treasure.)
Secretary of State for Wales
Ruth Jones (She’ll know what’s occurrin’ and she might turn around that Barry Island crowd for me after that bloody Cameron visited there.)
Secretary of State for Defence
Katie Price (A bit of a wild card, I know, but she’s got to be in here somewhere.)
Secretary of State for Transport
Jeremy Clarkson (There’s no one more appropriate for this job.)
Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
Clare Balding (Perfect for the job: she does the horseracing and she’s been on HIGNFY.)

OTHER CABINET ATTENDEES:
Chief Whip (Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury)
Gordon Ramsay (He’ll know how to galvanise my troops.  All that SHOUTING!)
Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office
The Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu (Now, I don’t always agree with what he says, but he does talk sense and tends to pop up with pearls of wsidom in the media at the right time.  Perfect!)
Minister of State (Housing), Department for Communities and Local Government
Frank Skinner (I saw him on Question Time and he’s still Labour.  Yeay!)
Minister of State (Business), Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
Theo Paphitis (One of the BBC’s Dragons and a fantastic chap.  I’d have loved to add another woman with Deborah Meaden, but she’s a bit scarey for me.  And I’ve already got Germaine Greer on the team, which is enough for one man, surely?)
Minister of State (Science and Innovation), Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
Baroness Professor Susan Greenfield (For obvious reasons.)
Minister of State (Employment), Department for Work and Pensions
Ruth Badger (The best of the runners-up on The Apprentice.)

ATTEND CABINET WHEN THEIR MINISTERIAL RESPONSIBILITIES ARE ON THE AGENDA:
Attorney General
Fiona Shackleton (She stood up to Heather Mills! And won!)
Minister of State (Children), Department for Children, Schools and Families
Michael Rosen (Excellent man and great with kids.)
Minister of State (Regional Economic Development and Co-ordination) Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
Martin Clunes (People love him, don’t they?  And he’s just done a series touring Britain’s islands, I believe.  Perfect.)

As you can see, I am not afraid of women and I do not think of them as window dressing.  Neither am I arrogant.  So there!  Now to carry on with the important job at hand for which I am the only person in country with the competence to do so.  Actually, Germaine is scarier than Harriet so I may have to revisit that thought…

Today is the Start of a New Week...

...Let us also find it the start of a new dawn in terms of political democracy...

Let the truly guilty take their deserve and the PM act decisively...

In today's world that means no carrot again and a stick to reckon with, at last.  

Quick and easy, and then concentration on what matters most: our flailing economy.

As f0r the rest, your hope is as good as mine...

And how the hell did we get to this?  Yep: don't forget the Blair years and all they promised and did not deliver.  He's high and dry on public speaking income while the rest of us count the pennies.

They all make me sick.

Actions Speak Louder than Words and (Non-) Delivery on Promises

Forgive me the indulgence of this Saturday night rant, but I feel I must, if only to relieve my rising blood pressure.

It is only a few weeks ago, perhaps months - but then, events have moved very fast recently- that Labour grandees, indeed the Prime Minister himself told us they would concentrate on the economy.  Cue the curve ball from the Daily Telegraph in reporting on MPs' expenses in the run up to the local and European elections.  Yes, there was a flurry of activity to follow, but it wasn't in pursuing the economy's woes, it was in checking expenses and covering arses.

The system was to blame, we were told.  But so was the culture endemic in the population that used the system.  Having worked so hard in the lead to avoid the Freedom of Information Act applying to such disclosures and spending approx. £300k in legal fees in the process - again taxpayers' money - the Speaker was made a scapegoat of sorts and forced to resign.  I say "of sorts" because the debate was widened to recognise and question the very system of our democracy in parliament, corporate governance in the houses, if you will.

Gordon Brown has been promising action for some time now.  It is very slow coming.  Along the way, where he went for a knee jerk reaction he got it wrong in suggesting a system of "turn up" allowances.  Meanwhile all parties are doing their own thing in rectifying the expenses scandal as best they can and Labour has a "star chamber" to assess its own MPs' failures.  And what a crass name to call it.  But again, nothing has been swift and direct or action oriented on their part.

This weekend we saw the local election results and a cabinet reshuffle.  Labour has been decimated in the polls and the Conservatives have done well.  The potential for protest voting, which would have seen some dubious parties given some power, did not, thankfully, come through.  But it is with the reshuffle that the true nature and further proof of a lack of understanding of the electorate's thoughts  shines through.

Those who resigned at moments of most damage to their own administration have only resigned from the cabinet.  Anyone standing down as an MP on the Labour side seems to be waiting for the next election and is thus able to continue to draw a salary and claim expenses until then, even if they have been exposed as on the wrong side of the expenses interpretation.  Caroline Flint was in full support of Gordon Brown one day and the next thing we know she's resigned claiming Gordon used her only as "window dressing".  This behaviour carries the vapours of loyalty to seek promotion only.  It has the appearance of still in it for themselves.  (Ditto Alan Johnson, moving into the Home Office when he was their only hope of a credible alternative leader.)  Still concentrating on the economy then guys?  I think not.

As for the reshuffle, let's look at some of those parachuted in, in an arena where the foundations of our democratic system are questioned.  And before we start on them let's remind ourselves that:

1. We have a PM that no one ever voted on for that position, even in his own party.

2. Peter Mandelson, who twice resigned from Blair's government due to scandals, returned to government (Business Minister) from the EU, courtesy of a place in the House of Lords.  As a result of the reshuffle, he is now perceived as the Deputy Prime Minister, although I am unable to find media confirmation of this appointment on a formal basis.

Presumably due to lack of talent among the elected MPs or the need for Brown to surround himself with his loyals (suitably rewarded), we now see parachuted in/promoted:

1. Lord Adonis replaces Geoff Hoon (the part-time property developer if you believe the DT's interpretation of his expenses) at Transport.
2. Glenys Kinnock lands on further soft turf as Europe Minister (replacing the loyalty-wavering-queen Flint) within 24 hours of her completing her stint at the EU, courtesy of an elevation to the Lords to sit alongside hubby Neil.  (Well, they like to keep it in the family as we've seen before.)  Most recent reports of Mrs K's EU performance have noted that she was in the bottom 10 of all 78 UK MEPs based on her record, as well as subject to allegations by Plaid Cymru that "she had mentioned Welsh issues only twice during a decade of speeches to the Parliament in Strasbourg".

3. For some reason, Gordon Brown thinks we need an "Enterprise Tsar" - I question the need for a "Tsar" and not the need for promoting enterprise during these times - and couldn't it be tied in with a credible and existing cabinet post?  Enter Sir Alan Sugar who has been happy to accept a place in the Lords and take on the role.  This is the same Alan Sugar who heavily criticised Gordon Brown at the time of the last recession as reported on the blog Dizzy Thinks here (with full letter to the FT, at the time, disclosed).

This from a PM who is "setting out plans for a Constitutional Reform Bill" and "plans to set up a National Democratic Council to head the march for reform".  All the above are unelected.  He hasn't grasped the real picture, has he?  Democracy means choice and representation through  choice, not favours for friends in reward for loyalty and keeping the incumbent in post for as long he/she desires.

Meanwhile the focus in the media resides on the politics at parliament while the economy continues to dredge the bottom of the pool, the unemployed figures grow by day and home repossessions do the same.  It was reported on the 3rd of June that Margaret Beckett, Housing Minister was forced to admit that the government's "Mortgage Rescue Scheme", with funds of £285m had helped only TWO families to retain their homes since its inception in Jan of this year.  But when I read the small print that eventually came out, I could see that exclusions would lead to few qualifying for such support.

Are we all living on the same planet, let alone in the same country?  The division between the political class and the electorate it serves remains wide.  Very wide.  It's a bit like "sweet and sour" with no meat or veg; we are forced to taste the sour while they continue to suck up the sweet.

Today was the 65th anniversary of D-Day, a day when 130,000 allied troops landed in Normandy bringing a start to the end to the Second World War.  Even that memorial service in France was fraught with controvery in the weeks leading up to it as it was turned into a political scenario.  Sarkozy wanted to see it as a Franco-American affair.  The Queen was not invited.  Prince Charles attended.  So did Gordon Brown in the end and having seen a smidgeon of footage today, I have to feel sorry for our PM.  (He is our PM for now, after all.)  Brown seemed lost, on the periphery and not invited in.  Stumbling to latch on to someone: Obama being his choice.  Obama's wife was all there and leading in the thick of things.  Carla Bruni actually managed to look jealous at the US President's wife's ability to connect as Michelle took the arm of a Veteran.

All this says a lot about politics today.  The political classes, who seek their own ambitions need to be expired and replaced by those who value and respect service to their electorate.  Where the electorate has spoken in the council elections in England in the UK, I feel this is marker for revulsion at Labour's handling of the economy, and secondary to that, parliamentary expenses sleaze.

Let us never forget those we remember today: the (mainly) men who lost their lives or fought and survived at D-Day for the sake of freedom for their generation and future generations.  Freedom and freedom of speech is what they fought for.  The ability to live your life as you choose is what they fought for.

It would be all so fluffy and marshmallow to the men who fought for our rights, integrity and freedom, but the years have slummed politics into the mire.  We now need solid leadership, strategy, direction, pointed policies and above all, ACTION.  Let's make it now.

If Gordon can't trust it; give us a general election now please!

I don't want to hear promises of reform, I want to hear of reform.  I don't want to read of schemes to help the suffering; I want to hear of active schemes to help them that have materialised.

We live in unkown times, but throw your opinions at the gate, whatever you do.  And vote!

Simon Singh and The British Chiropractic Association

If you click on the link above you will find details of Simon Singh's situation of being sued for libel by the British Chiropractic Association.   The page includes a link for you to register your support, should you so wish.  The page starts:

The use of the English libel laws to silence critical discussion of medical practice and scientific evidence discourages debate, denies the public access to the full picture and encourages use of the courts to silence critics. The British Chiropractic Association has sued Simon Singh for libel. The scientific community would have preferred that it had defended its position about chiropractic through an open discussion in the medical literature or mainstream media.

Today Simon Singh announces that he is applying to appeal the judge's recent pre-trial ruling in this case, in conjunction with the launch of this support campaign to defend the right of the pubic to read the views of scientists and writers.

Join the campaign! In a statement published today, over 100 people from the worlds of science, journalism, publishing, comedy, literature and law have joined together to express support for Simon and call for an urgent review of English law of libel. Please help us with this campaign, sign the statement and tell everyone you know to sign it. With every additional 1000 names we will be sending the statement again to Government until there is a commitment and a timetable from the parties for the necessary legislation.

Click the link for more information.

Party at my place at 2am?

Mentioning the virtual toga launch party in the previous post reminded me of something I saw in London yesterday, on a stall selling babies' bibs in Leadenhall Market.  They were all plain white with writing embroidered on them and one said:

"Party at my place at 2am.  Bring your own bottle."

Guest Blog: Ben Kane author of The Silver Eagle (published 4 June 09)

Let's all indulge in a virtual toga party of the book launch variety.

Tomorrow, Ben Kane's second novel, The Silver Eagle (Preface) hits the shelves.  I wrote about the author a few weeks ago and invited him to guest blog at the time.  We met on an Arvon course in 2005 and he recently contacted me again to tell me his second novel was on its way as well as his second child (a girl, safely delivered and the whole family is doing well).  I suggested that Ben write about why he has a passion for the Romans and how he goes about his meticulous research to get the detail right.  His first novel, The Forgotten Legion recently went into paperback.  Read on to find out more from Ben, including his recommendation for a "One Stop Shop" on the internet "for all things Roman".  Yes.  Really.  From Ben's pen:

Home from the Hay Festival

I am now home from the Hay Festival after an enjoyable and what proved to be an exhausting week.  My thanks to those who welcomed me this year on the stewarding front - what a lovely bunch you all are!  Special thanks to Anna who provided me with a local bed on which to crash last night and to Chris who very kindly dealt with a laptop anomaly of mine and delivered a five minute tutorial on Windows Vista.  (Dearie me, I wasn't even shutting down the laptop properly.  In fact, I wasn't shutting it down at all...)  I am sure I now have a better idea of what I am doing with this laptop, although I am still some way off the 95% confidence mark.

Posts have started on the BBC site which you can read via this page.  To date, submitted are G. F. Newman (& posted) on his novel Crime and Punishment, as well as John Micklethwait on religion and his co-authored book God is Back.  Further posts will trickle through this coming week - I have a very busy couple of days to come (job interview on Tuesday) and will finish the rest at the end of the week.  Coming up are:

• Anthony Horowitz (the adult session) on screenwriting and TV work with hints on what's to come from this prolific writer.
• The Digital Rights and Wrongs event for which you need to be prepared to be enthused and not worried for once!  When it comes to the digital world both Jamie Byng of Canongate and Caroline Michel of lit agency PFD were truly inspirational, proving they are on the ball or indeed, ahead of the game.  (Almost immediately, Michel earned my respect when she uttered a phrase that put her into the Theodore Levitt school of marketing thought; something in which I firmly believe.  More later.)
• Geoff Dyer on his novel Jeff in Venice, Death in Varanasi.  Dyer was also surprised with the announcement (and presentation) at the end of his event - made by James Naughtie - that he had won this year's Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize for comic writing.
• A couple of other posts of a general nature, because you have to get a feel for the experience.

I have a word count limit for the BBC, so if anyone wishes to read a longer post for further information on G. F. Newman, the digital rights event or Anthony Horowitz, please let me know in an email or in the comments.  Further notes can be transcribed later in the week for this blog's posts.

In a total contrast to last year's mud-filled site that needed a pump out from the local emergency services on more than one occasion, this year's Hay Festival was the recipient of much glorious sun and people were devouring ice-cream; drinking water as if their kidneys might pack up soon; wearing shorts; and wearing sandals without socks, if we were lucky.  I'd love to say that it's only the men who might make the latter faux pas, but I did spot a petite woman in a sundress wearing cork platformed and high-heeled wedge sandals and... socks.  Hats were also in abundance.  We had Panamas, Tilleys, Potties and peaked-caps.

In addition to the adults there were also plenty of children having a fantastic time.  Hay Fever focuses on the children, but they also have immense fun in simple things like running and jumping on and across the walkways; trying out the deckchairs to whoops of delight and surprise when they sink into the canvas and their feet no longer touch the floor; licking ice cream (which requires intense concentration); and seeing the animals.

This is a festival not just of literature and ideas, but a whole festival of fun for all the family for which you can take in the whole week and not suffer seaside pier dysfunction/flop.

It was a great ten days and if you haven't been yet - stop putting it off!  Make it next year's main holiday.

A final note: Henning Mankell's event was cancelled and when I approached the Box Office for a ticket/return I was told this was because of health reasons.  Let's hope the master of the Wallander series of books - now also on TV in the UK - makes a speedy recovery.

Life on the road in Wales...

From last Saturday I have been at the Hay Festival approximately every other day and this will now increase to every day to the end of the Festival on Sunday.  I cannot blog about the stewarding aspect, but I will say that I am enjoying it and would recommend it to anyone.  It's great fun and you meet a wide cross-section of people.

I am able to blog about the events I attend as a paying punter and these will hopefully appear on the BBC's site, with perhaps more detail here at a later date.  I need to get writing from tomorrow morning (er, later this fine morning and after some sleep), before I head out again.  Thus far, I have been to see G. F. Newman interviewed by Marcel Berlins.  Newman is probably more familiar to all for his TV work, but he has a novel out now from Quercus titled Crime and Punishment.  The interview was interesting to say the least and "run of the mill" thoughts would not be ascribed to Newman.  He comes at conventional thoughts from another tangent entirely and good for him for making us think.  In the past, he may have also controversially visited the health service in this country, but the criminal justice system is his main focus.  And I think he came out with something at Hay that will make us all think again on something we take for granted.  Watch this space for more.

Bleed a River Deep - Brian McGilloway

Bleed a River Deep is the third in Brian McGilloway's Inspector Devlin series and it seemed a long time since I read the last one.  But not to worry, I was soon into this novel's plot and experienced timely reminders of what had gone before.

"In a safe pair of hands" applies to the author as well as the character Benedict Devlin.  McGilloway provides yet another tale full of plot twists, with Devlin wrestling his conscience as he seeks justice for the victims and takes work home with him, sometimes literally.  The prose is simple, but packs a punch when conjuring up the moment, the emotion, the person.  Take the opening paragraph, for example:

The last time I saw Leon Bradley with a gun in his hand, he was standing in our garden at home.  Only five years old and a little under three feet tall, he had a cowboy hat tipped back on his head, his hair, strands of fine spun gold, hanging in his eyes.  My younger brother, Tom, who was playing the Indian, had taken refuge in our shed, sharpening his plastic knife in preparation for a scalping.

Many of us will remember days like that one.

The Apprentice: Series 5, Episodes 8 & 9

Episode 8: Margate

Golly gosh, was this the most stressful task to date?  Practically everybody was suffering from facial spots and on You're Fired Lorraine could be seen puffing out a huge inhalation of smoke. 

This week the teams were re-branding the Kent seaside town of Margate.  They had the early morning call and were given just 30 minutes to get ready and pack an overnight bag.  Ben managed to find time to gel his hair, as you do.

The Language of Bees - Laurie R. King

Most of us can name authors whose work we anticipate so keenly that we know not whether to devour or savour a new volume.  For me, Laurie R. King fell into that category over ten years ago and now, with her 19th novel, we see the most welcome return of Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes in what turns into the most personal of their cases.
 
The Language of Bees is the follow-up to 2005's bestselling Locked Rooms.  It is 1924 and we see Russell and Holmes return to Sussex after seven months of travel through India, Japan and California.   As well as the mystery of the disappearance of an entire colony of bees from one of Holmes's hives, their homecoming is disrupted even before crossing the threshold by the unexpected reappearance of a disturbingly familiar face from the past.  Damian Adler, a talented young painter, is seeking their help in locating his missing wife and child.
 

Apologies...

...for the lack of crime fiction at the moment, but real life events have taken over.  When not seeking a job, I am immersed in the detail of what is being disclosed in respect of MP's expenses and the impact on our Parliament and democracy.  It's a shame that this boil has been allowed to fester, only to be involuntarily lanced right now, because we all know that the state of the economy is paramount in the minds and lives of so many in the UK and Europe and elsewhere, at the moment.  A bunch of self-seeking, damage limitation headless chickens is not what we need right now.  But, unfortunately, it's become part of the culture of governing and thus it's also par for the course and needs to be dealt with, with immediacy.

More on MPs' Expenses...

The DT has criticised Ken Clarke for basing "his entire political career on his financial acumen but when it comes to filling in his expenses forms, his book-keeping leaves much to be desired" and also said the "shadow business secretary had to be reminded repeatedly to submit receipts for claims running into thousands of pounds for security and cleaning at his second home in south London".

I can understand that: call it a busman's holiday.

But now, the DT also reports that LibDem MP Lembit Opik "charged taxpayers for a £40 court summons he received for the non-payment of his council tax. He will refund it."

Tax-payers should fund an MP for fines on being tardy?  That's really taking the mick.

The Apprentice: Series 5; Episode 7

Half way through the series you might expect the candidates to have learned something along the way and to exhibit this by upping the ante.  Alas, not so this week as the flashing beacon of assistance in sales just seemed to have them running in the other direction to avoid a migraine.  (But they lost it because there were definitely headaches in the Boardroom later.  And venom and wrath and spit and hellfire...)

What were the candidates tasked with?  To their disappointment the setting was not Spain or Italy, or even a flight abroad, but  a trundling up the M1 in the people carriers to the Manchester and Liverpool areas where twelve pitches of innovative products were to be reviewed.  Each team had to pick two and go on to sell these to dealers in the area over two days.  And what was that flashing beacon of assistance?  For day one of sales, Sir Alan had laid on a hardware store in Liverpool and a high-end furniture chain branch in Manchester (Heal's).  Logic and common sense might decree - to some at any rate - that selecting products that matched to the day one retailers would be of advantage.  But this was not on the radar for either of our hapless teams.

On MPs' expenses...

With more disclosures in this morning’s Daily Telegraph, it is no surprise that I have spent a good bit of today reading about MPs’ expenses.  I recently commented on Welsh monikers when I wrote about Mari Strachan’s The Earth Hums in B Flat, so I thought I’d lighten the mood a bit and apply Welsh monikers to some of the MPs.  (Quotes in italics are directly from the DT.)  Please feel free to add your own in the comments.