A disappointment for me in the end. The story of Manson, a black Scottish football player and manager and solver of crimes in and around the game. The gags are good, but he fails to convince me that this guy is real. Even if he does get to shag all the beautiful women in the book, who throw themselves at him, this is more Bond than reality. I liked January Transfer but I’m not sure if I’ll bother with the one in between. About a missing French footballer returning to Guadelope before joining Barca from PSV. He writes well always, but one recurring character too many?

Thank heaven I found something finally by him I wasn’t crazy about. This is about a writer who writes what is about to happen. A little too cute and fantasy for me.

On I-Pad Impeccable and reliable as ever.

Sadly the mystery seems to be why anyone would bother to write a book about her…

On I-Pad For the second time. Magnificently written telling of the fall of Montezuma and the Aztec Empire in the face of the implacable Cortez. 150 men and 16 cavaliers, four cannon… Outrageous manipulation of will, diplomacy and determination. I am still avidly reading this beautifully written book first published in 1842. Of course he cannot from his time period entirely show that the Aztec Gods were just as weird as the Spaniards, but he can at least suggest it, and his prose is to die for. And what a story. Shameful, reprehensible, but world changing and it happened.

The latest in this wonderful series from Penguin. In his short novella world the drama always comes from characters. Their pride, their greed, their fears. Nothing much happens except internally as Maigret tries to understand what really happened by the reactions of those around. Here once again he is involved in small town politics, where the rich and powerful close ranks at all costs. As usual he out waits them.

On I-Pad Recent volume of short stories. He is just so great. I am still reading this. Savouring them, and saving them, like the best chocolates in the box. You’ve been good, now you can have another.

On I-Pad Interesting. Gripping. And at times downright weird. A huge work, with great ambitions most of which it achieves.

Recommended by a friend and absolutely fabulous. A brilliant telling of what happened in and to St. Malo and its inhabitants, and its occupiers, at the end of World War Two. A beautifully woven tale. A masterpiece. A must read.

And thank h. Philip Kerr came through and redeemed himself at the last whistle with another Bernie Gunther novel. I loved it, and it is amazing how cleverly he works real people into his stories, which accounts for their quirky reality. Here Somerset Maugham plays a big role, really?, yes and also Anthony Blunt. Good fun.

A magnificent read. A wonderful 800 page biography of Napoleon, elegantly written, with excellent analysis of the battles and the campaigns, terminating in the Longwood House on St. Helena from stomach cancer. Often self-deluding, and frequently aggrandising, this is a fair minded account of the life of a great military man, and civil leader, who nevertheless spilt more French blood than anyone before or since, and lost almost 2 million dead in his sixty battles. France has still not recovered from his effects on the population. A perfect book for the beach….