Death of a Busybody
by George Bellairs (John Gifford, 1942)
audiobook read by Ric Jerrom (Isis, 2017)
Bellairs often seems quite pleased with his trenchant vignettes and depictions of village life. Punching down aside, these hardly make up for a lack of substance elsewhere. The mystery is straightforward and slight, the amiable Inspector Littlejohn engaging in precious little brainwork.
Murder Must Advertise
by Dorothy Sayers (Victor Gollancz, 1933); audiobook read by Ric Jerrom (Chivers, 2012)
Sayers throws herself into the advertising world, exhibiting the same whimsical, satirical bent as her protagonist. Yet, the entire caper is laborious in the extreme. Characterisation and context are all very well, but a good 50% of this novel is utterly extraneous.
Polity Agent
by Neal Asher (Tor, 2006); audiobook read by Ric Jerrom (Macmillan, 2017)
Science fiction at its most futuristic and sweeping, yet totally lacking in heart. For all the complex characters, grand ideas and unstoppably momentous tectonic-plate plot clashes, listening to this was the aural equivalent of chewing through cardboard. Aborted at the two-fifths mark.