Month: October 2018

  • Surface Go – Review

    In 2015 Microsoft released the Surface 3 and I bought one. It wasn’t the most powerful Windows PC ever. Indeed, it was very much under-powered. But it was light, portable and ran full Windows applications. I bought it to allow me to run full Windows applications when I was travelling. Although it had limited on-board…

  • For the Missing by Lina Bengtsdotter

    The search for a missing girl in rural Sweden forms the backdrop to this intelligent crime story from Lina Bengtsdotter. A teenager, Anabelle, has not returned home from a wild party in a down-at-heel town in deepest Sweden. DI Charline “Charlie” Lager and her colleague Anders have been sent to investigate. Nearly everyone involved in…

  • Where the Truth Lies by M J Lee

    Ten years ago, a junior detective accidentally captures “The Beast of Manchester.” In the present day a series of dead prostitutes in turning up on the streets of Manchester. Is there a relation between the two in this pacey police thriller? Now a Detective Inspector, Ridpath is recovering from treatment to cancer and has been…

  • The Dark Ages of Film History?

    I was recently talking to a some colleagues at work about one of my favourite films of all time, the classic Howard Hawks screwball comedy, Bringing Up Baby. Made in 1938, it stars two of Hollywood’s biggest ever stars, Kathryn Hepburn and Cary Grant, both giving terrific performances in a classic of the genre. How…

  • Localness

    Ofcom has published an update today on what it considers localness in commercial radio. The tl;dr is that it’s not very local any more. Your mileage may vary on whether this is a good thing or not. But for now, stations that provide local news regularly throughout the day, must only broadcast three hours between 6am and…

  • She Lies in Wait by Gytha Lodge

    In 1983, seven teenagers go into the wood and only six come out. Thirty years later, a body is found and DCI Sheens instantly realises it must be Aurora, the teenager who disappeared all those years ago, but who was never found. Aided by his small team, including the novice DC Hanson, we revisit the…

  • RAJAR Q3 2018

    As ever, this post is brought to you in association with RALF from DP Software and Services. I’ve used RALF for the past 9 years, and it’s my favourite RAJAR analysis tool. So I am delighted that I continue to be able to bring you this RAJAR analysis in association with RALF. For more details…

  • Epping Autumn

    A lovely autumn day meant I could both go for a cycle ride and take the drone out flying. The results are above.

  • Apple Podcasts Charts

    It appears that Apple’s podcast charts are somewhat broken. Or specifically, they had been broken for a period of time over the weekend while Apple perhaps tried a new algorithm to rank podcasts. Behind the scenes we know that various bad actors have been attempting to game the system. In the same way that you…

  • Fear by Bob Woodward and The Fifth Risk by Michael Lewis

    Like many political watchers, I’ve been equally appalled and yet addicted to watching what is going on currently in US politics. Right now there’s the dismal spectacle of Brett Kavanaugh being elected onto the US Supreme Court despite a number of serious accusations being made against him, few of which are truly being taken seriously.…

  • Love is Blind by William Boyd

    A new William Boyd novel is always to be welcomed, and as with the superb Sweet Caress from 2015, Boyd has returned to a familiar “whole life” novel. (A recent Guardian piece by Boyd explores that challenges of this form, and notes how relatively few novels of this type there are). Love is Blind tells…