An evening with Elly Griffiths

(photo from https://ellygriffiths.co.uk/)

Last week, Chris and I went to hear Elly Griffiths talking about her books. I have read the previous nine in the Ruth Galloway series (murder mystery with a forensic archaeologist set in Norfolk) and have been lent one from another series (1950s murder mystery series set in Brighton, I think) too.  She read an excerpt from Dark Angel, the tenth in the Ruth Galloway series and said that she was already working on number eleven in the series, The Stone Circle.

(image from Amazon)

She also spoke about a standalone book, to be published in November 2018, called The Stranger Diaries.

(image from Amazon)

This sounds right up my street - here's the description:
'Clare Cassidy is no stranger to murder.  As a literature teacher specialising in the Gothic writer RM Holland, she teaches a short course on it every year.  Then Clare's life and work collide tragically when one of her colleagues is found dead, a line from an RM Holland story by her body.  The investigating police detective is convinced the writer's works somehow hold the key to the case.

Not knowing who to trust, and afraid that the killer is someone she knows, Clare confides her darkest suspicions and fears about the case to her journal.  Then one day she notices some other writing in the diary.  Writing that isn't hers...'
Sounds good!
Elly Griffiths told us that she liked Wilkie Collins (a kindred spirit - well, I really like The Woman in White and The Moonstone, although I haven't read any other of his novels) and mentioned the part where Count Fosco writes in Marian's diary in The Woman in White as the inspiration for this part in her story.  She was very entertaining, enthusiastic and erudite, so I would recommend going to see her if she is in your direction.

The Moonstone - my verdict!

Wilkie Collins (photo from Wikipedia)

Having finished The Moonstone, I am now in a position to deliver my verdict on it. (This will probably upset my sister, who still absolutely hates this book.) I absolutely loved it! It had me gripped, trying to work out what happened from the clues given and I have to say, being surprised by the outcome. My curiosity kept pulling me back to it at any spare moment and I finished it with a big sigh of satisfaction. The characters are beautifully drawn and their individual voices come through their retelling of the parts of the story they were involved in. Yes, opium/laudanum does have a part to play, but as Wilkie Collins himself was an addict, the descriptions of the hallucinations suffered by one of the characters are very believable, as well as the effects of withdrawal. He obviously knew what he was talking about. All the elements of a good story are there - humour in the writing, themes of love, betrayal, suicide, murder, theft, deftly woven together, with the odd red herring and twists and turns thrown in for good measure.

The characters are a joy and deserve a few words to themselves. The hero and heroine are, of course, central to the plot, but for me it is some of the others who deserve to take centre stage. Gabriel Betteredge, the stout old family steward, who has overcome many difficult situations in his life by turning to his pipe and tobacco and reading Robinson Crusoe (and judging people accordingly if they haven't read the book), Miss Drusilla Clack, who obligingly leaves improving Christian tracts in people's houses in the vain hope that the reader may be saved, and Ezra Jennings, a mysterious man with a mysterious past. I mustn't forget Sergeant Cuff, a dogged and intelligent man who almost solves the mystery and is certainly one jump ahead of most, although he would rather be tending and growing roses and even Gooseberry, a boy with protruding eyes, who proves to be a worthy detective himself and who Sergeant Cuff thinks could go far in the police force. How could the reader fail to be delighted with this cast list?

I think that my sister read the book when she was too young - reading reviews on amazon, some other people had similar problems. However, I thoroughly enjoyed it and was totally engrossed, just as I was with The Woman in White (one of my all time favourites). For these two books, the stories and the amazing characters he brought to life, I say, "Bravo and thank you, Mr Collins!"

More reading

Here is the latest book (apart from Moonshine by Victoria Clayton) I have on my reading list. I was inspired to rush out and buy it this morning (from a charity shop) after hearing the first part of a new radio adaptation of it on Radio 4 yesterday. I love 'The Woman in White' by the same author so am expecting good things from this one - described as one of the first detective novels. Both the books seem to have the story narrated by several different characters which encourages the reader to put the various parts together to make the whole. Although this can be frustrating, it is also exciting and I can remember being so involved in The Woman in White that I found it hard to tear myself away and come back to the real world. I hope I have a similar experience with this one.
The story centres around a cursed diamond which has been stolen from a statue in India and has been given to a young lady on her 18th birthday. However, she has put it away and overnight, it has been stolen again. Enter Sergeant Cuff, who has the unenviable task of solving the mystery.
My eldest sister hates this book with a vengeance (I'm not quite sure why, unless it is to do with having to read it at school as an exam book) and I am taking this as an added incentive to read it. If it is like the radio dramatisation, it will be great!
The information below is from the Radio 4 iplayer site.
"Doug Lucie's dramatisation of Wilkie Collins' detective masterpiece from 1868, starring Eleanor Bron as Lady Verinder and Kenneth Cranham as Sergeant Cuff, Paul Rhys as Franklin Blake and narrated by Steve Hodson as Betteridge.
Described by T.S. Eliot as the first and best of English Detective novels, The Moonstone, involves a huge diamond stolen from the forehead of an Indian deity, plundered in a siege and finally given to Rachel Verinder on her eighteenth birthday. It is said to carry a curse and mysteriously disappears on the night of the celebrations.
Are the Indian jugglers who were at the house earlier to blame? Why are they hanging around the property with a little boy they appear to be able to hypnotise? When the local police get nowhere, one of the new detective police is called for from London, and quickly finds a clue, but what is it going to tell him? Has the curse of the Moonstone brought with it suspicion and superstition to poison the happy Verinder household on the Yorkshire coast?
Cast: Lady Verinder ..... Eleanor Bron Rachel Verinder ..... Jasmine Hyde Betteridge ..... Steve Hodson Franklin Blake ..... Paul Rhys Sergeant Cuff ..... Kenneth Cranham John Herncastle ..... Stephen Critchlow Rosanna Spearman ..... Alison Pettitt Godfrey Ablewhite ..... Mark Straker Penelope ..... Clare Corbett Mr Murthwaite ..... Paul Battacharjee Khan/Indian..... Narinder Samra Housemaid ..... Carolyn Pickles Boy ..... Alex Miller
Recorded on location by Lucinda Mason Brown Original Music by David Chilton Dramatised by Doug Lucie
Producer: Janet Whitaker A Goldhawk Essential production for BBC Radio 4."

If all this has whetted your appetite, the link to episode one on iplayer is below:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00xp2cs/Classic_Serial_The_Moonstone_Episode_1/
Enjoy!