Bookwitch

The trouble with unputdownable books is that you may have to anyway. I could have read Sophie Hannah’s third crime novel The Point of Rescue in one sitting, had it not been for so-called normal life which had to be fitted in.

The kind of life that Sally has, except her children are still young . She desperately needs to get away for a while, and does so in an unusual manner, which in turn leads to a lot of complications and involvement in a murder case. I’ve heard Sophie’s background story to Sally’s predicament, which only makes it feel even more real.

Sophie describes life in modern Britain spot on, and she writes about it with great humour. Getting your children into the right school, decorating with Laura Ashley, saving Venice. It’s all there. In years to come you could use Sophie’s world as a perfect example of the lives many of us lead here and now. She just spices it up with a dash of gruesome murder here and there.

What makes Sophie’s crime novels different, at least to me, is the use of a regular group of police officers, combined with a first person experience of the crime in the story. It’s good to meet someone new in each book, and to see everything from their perspective, while having continuity in the detective department.

There’s more romance there, and I love the way Sophie goes about this. They aren’t really my kind of people, but they’ve grown on me. Some negative attitudes and lots of swearing is really much more romantic than whispered sweet nothings or swooning heroines. I can’t wait to read more.

I couldn’t work out “who did it”, and I was happy not to. It’s comforting - well, maybe more convenient - to sit down and just read and enjoy the ride.