My Favourite Reads of 2022

As this is my last blog of the year, I thought I would share details about a few of the books I’ve enjoyed reading this year.

Murder on Port Meadow by Annie Dalon

While walking her dog through Port Meadow, Anna Hopkins discovers a body in the undergrowth. What adds to the shock is that Anna recognises the murdered victim, a recent acquaintance she was planning to meet for coffee. Two other dogwalkers arrive on the scene. The three women decide to meet up again and, when the police don’t appear to be making much progress, they decide to investigate for themselves.

I chose this book because I live near Oxford, but the descriptions are so vivid even a stranger to the city could picture it clearly.

The story line was gripping, and the characters were complex and intriguing. I couldn’t stop turning the page.

Death on Paradise Island by B.M. Allsopp

Newly recovered from a knee injury which has wrecked his rugby career, Josefa Horseman returns to Fiji to find himself promoted Detective Inspector. He is immediately sent to the exclusive Paradise Island resort to investigate the death of one of the maids whose body turns up caught on a coral reef.

I was fascinated by the whole background and Allsopp deftly deals with the idea of how people are quick to jump to assumptions about others. The characters are well-drawn, and I particularly liked his sidekick, Sargeant Susie Singh.

Dead Real by Helen H. Durrant

The novel plunges straight into action with the murder of a sixteen-year-old petty thief, Noah Crosby. Two weeks later, his decomposing body, is found in a back street on the notorious Hobfield housing estate whose residents are not prepared to speak to the police.

The case proves to be far from an easy one for the detective team. Noah was found with his expensive watch and top-of-the-range mobile still on him indicating that robbery was not the motive. The letter X was carved into his skin – the hallmark of a serial killer who operated 20 years ago and was never caught. More puzzling still was that the design of his expensive trainers had not yet been launched onto the general market.

The gruesome murder of a local market trader a short time later leads to the discovery of a racket involving the robbery of high-end goods including designer handbags and watches.

Next a bullet is fired through the window of Tom Calladine’s girlfriend Kitty’s Private Investigation business, but she refuses to talk about it even to Tom. Another murder occurs and the stolen goods appear to be linked to a major operation in another part of the country.

Fast paced with a complicated plot with plenty of twists and turns, I found it compulsive reading and read for long into the night to reach the satisfying ending.

They Disappeared by Joy Ellis

I’m a great fan of Joy Ellis and ‘They Disappeared’ did not disappoint.

The story is set in the small town of Saltern-le-Fen in the Lincolnshire Fens where the local police are faced with the unexplained disappearance of two young men from separate remote abandoned buildings. They had gone in under cover of darkness in order to photograph the properties before they fell into complete ruin. Enthusiasts of this little-known hobby include one of the police team and several ex-colleagues and friends.

Before long, another urban explorer disappears and not long after, the bodies of all three are discovered dressed in sackcloth and ashes and hanging by one ankle, in the bell tower of a ruined church. 

This is a complex story with all the twists and turns one might expect from a superb storyteller.

What was your favourite read of the year? Drop me a line in the comment box below.

And last but not least –