Imagine any prime minister of recent times having regular trysts with a woman many years their junior and expecting no one to breathe a word. Or a love-lorn prime minister taking his paramour for regular cosy drives in the official limousine, with its blacked out windows, without a hint of a whisper beyond their inner…
Since when did it become compulsory to have a mobile phone? Why is it almost universally assumed that I am the owner of such an annoying and unwanted device? Without warning or reason it has become almost mandatory that I not only possess this accursed accessory but that I carry it with me at all…
To see the name of crime fiction favourite Jo Nesbo shouting at us from a book’s cover is generally enough to persuade us to cough up the required cover price. No waiting for the cheaper paperback edition or shopping around but an immediate done deal. Instant gratification is guaranteed. But not on this occasion. Instead, the…
Reading cosy crime at bedtime is better than any narcotic; a sure cure for insomnia. But sometimes the level of cosiness irritates rather than calms. Frustration with plot, characters or dialogue wakens rather than lulls, and sleep becomes a forlorn hope. Maybe it is a case of “you can have too much of a good thing.”…
A recent trip into the chemistry lab surprised and delighted with the discovery that it held a formula for joy. It produced the recipe (pictured left) for sheer undiluted pleasure, as well as moments of laugh-out-loud comic interludes. Thankfully there was no need this time for the white coat and protective goggles demanded by Health…
A click of the mouse was all it took to reveal that thinking is no longer needed. Henceforth I can safely leave such a stressful activity in the efficient hands of AI. With Artificial Intelligence taking care of my thought processes I can stop creasing my brow and pacing the room in frustration as I…
Somewhere along the way I seem to have lost out on the many advantages LinkedIn claims to offer. Several years of membership and I am none the wiser. It’s like being admitted to one of those exclusive London clubs and being allowed to enter no further that the lobby. Am I wearing the wrong tie?…
We have given birth. And it was almost pain-free. Certainly devoid of screaming and wailing in the delivery room. Mind you, doing the major part of it remotely probably helped. We are, however, talking not of humankind, but in techno terms. Our corporate flag is being waved from a totally new look website. And this…
Why would anyone want to risk living in the outwardly charming British village of Midsommer? The number of bizarre and sudden deaths that beset its residents must be an estate agent’s nightmare. The ultimate hard sell. Charming 18th century cottage for sale, all bloodstains removed, two previous owners shot, two knifed, one poisoned and another…
There has always been a leisurely air about Guido Brunetti’s approach to crime. In Give Unto Others his creator dips him even deeper into the realm of the soporfic. Better than a warming cup of camomile tea. More digestible than a tab or two of valerian. It’s dreamtime in Venice. Give Unto Others documents the…