image courtesy of Nick Rutter

Music, perhaps in particular Opera, brings solace  and  realizing this #OperaHarmony has brought together 19 groups, set to release exciting micro-operitas from May via YouTube, reflecting how creativity can still flourish in these uncertain times.

 HI FIVE BY JOE IDE: pub by Weidenfeld and Nicholson hb £14.99 and eBook

Absolutely fascinating concept. Christiana is the daughter of the biggest arms dealer on the West Coast of the US. She is also the sole witness and major suspect in the murder of her boyfriend. But which ‘her’? For Christiana has five different personalities. So which one ‘did’ it? If it’s any.

Isaiah Quintabe is hired by the arms dealer, Angus Byrne to save Christiana. IQ determines to  interview each of the personalities and find a route map. Well, good luck with that.

I found it well plotted, written, paced… Clever. Make a good film. As I reviewer writer I admired the complexity, which is nonetheless absolutely accessible.

FORGET ME BY ANDREW EWART: pub Orion. pb, eBook and Audio.

Another novel which takes place around the mysteries of the mind. Just imagine a partner having a mysterious accident after which they remember nothing. Not about the accident, nor about you.

Would you be tempted to try an experimental treatment. It’s a risk: it might bring you back together or – raise questions as the cause of the accident is revealed. Indeed, is it even and accident? What will it mean to the couple?

This debut novel clicks along, is interesting, the pages keep turning. Give it a go. You won’t regret it.

THE REMARKABLE LIFE OF JAGO STONE BY ROB DONOVAN.  pub Unicorn hb £20

Stone wrote after a stint in clink:  Since prison … I have probably sold more paintings than any other artist in the country. 

Well, during his 18 years in prison burglar Stone found a new vocation. Painter and consequently he was a dedicated supporter of rehabilitation in prison, of which  he was the embodiment.

This biography reveals the life and times of this award winning artist. Here was a man who pushed the boundaries of conformity, and also his talent. The author Rob Donovan explains that the research became a detective story, an irony with would probably have been enjoyed by the ex-prisoner as he  criss-crossed the UK and the US,  and whose paintings found homes both sides of the Atlantic.  Have we all got an artist in us?   It’s a fascinating story, thought provoking.  You’ll enjoy it, and probably start hunting for lost Jago Stone’s.

Wedding Bells on the Home Front by Annie Clarke is launched on 14th of May.

A MADNESS OF SUNSHINE BY NALINI SINGH:  pub Gollancz  pb £14.99   ebook/audio

This sophisticated, creatively imagined novel is high on the list of excellent books  Frost Magazine recommends to enjoy during many wonderful hours of Lockdown reading.

A well crafted and compelling novel of the paranormal set in New Zealand, in particular Golden Cove. All is well in this tight knit community when trust is shattered by a happening: several ‘vanished’ bodies.

What’s happened? Who is to blame? Can they go on, and  pretend things are as they always have been in spite of their damaged trust in one ?  For years they manage, but then a young woman disappears. Without trace – again.  the situation has to be resolved, not matter what is revealed.

Beautifully written, page turning, and emotionally intelligent. Bravo.

STASI WINTER    BY DAVID YOUNG: Pub Zaffre  pb £7.99 and  eBook

Set in East Germany in 1978 …  just the period and place galvanizes interest. This novel takes place  in country where state power is absolute, law a joke, and the past re-invented to suit the supreme ‘beings’.

So, what on earth does Major Muller of the People’s Police do when faced with the death of a woman – a  which is proclaimed accidental, while every fibre of her being tells her it is not so.

If she chooses integrity over her own safety and that of her family, where will it all end? Will her stand  against  injustice solve the crime, but bring about her family’s destruction. An age old battle of integrity versus state dictats.

Page turning and tense because the situation, though imagined, is actually based on these endless choices those within the Iron Curtain had to face.

This is the final novel in the award-winning Stasi series  which I have so enjoyed. But, relax, it can also be read as a stand alone, much like the wonderful Bernie Gunther novels by Philip Kerr. Fabulous – both Young and Kerr.

LITTLE DARLINGS BY MELANIE GOLDING: pb£7.99 ebook and audio

This keep you pretty tense on your sofa, but check behind it first. An atmospheric chilling novel. I find books about children unsettling, but this might not be the case for you.

Lauren is alone on the maternity ward, having given birth to twins. She has a heightened fear of something happenings to her babies. Or is it heightened, don’t we all become fearful? But something tips the balance of imagination into something more concrete. Or is this also her imagination which has mutated to become paranoia?

Is this a fresh perspective on modern motherhood, postnatal psychosis, or is it my imagination. Arghhh. A terrifying world is steadily revealed.

Review by Annie Clarke. Author of the Home Front Girls series. Pub Penguin/Random house. ebook May 14. pb now 23rd July.

Backlash by Marnie Riches: pub Trapese. pb £8.99 ebook and audio

I am blessed with great neighbours, but this is not the situation for some others.

PI Beverley Saunders goes undercover, eager to make the most of her chance. She disguises herself as a cleaner to get within investigative distance of a really BAD lad, Anthony whose neighbours have their concerns. Can Beverley find out what is actually going on?

Tension, danger: can our ‘cleaner’ find out the truth about Anthony, with her sidekick, Doc’s, help and avoid being killed off?

A page turner, witty with a cracking pace. What’s not to like.

A Death in Medina by James von Leyden. Pub Constable. pb/ebook.

One of my favourite publishers takes us via James von Leyden to Marrakech at the start of Ramadan. It’s too hot to handle, literally, for many, including the locals. Karim Belkacem is a young detective at the commissariat, who is finding the  Ramadan  fast hard to cope with, not least because he is working himself to a frazzle, doing two jobs to pay for her sister’s wedding. To top it all, an English girl comes to him for help, whilst at the same time a Moroccan girl is found dead. This is the start of Karim’s journey into a world of predators, and secrets that lurk behind the  high walls of the medina.

An intriguing glimpse of skullduggery  in the medina of Marrakech. As we can’t travel during lockdown, take a trip to Marrrakech. It’ll be worth your while.

The Girl with the Amber Comb by Linda Finlay  pub HQ. pb eBook and audio.

Not as far as Marrakech but Somerset still has promise. It’s where I lived for years, and I found this novel evocative.

Orphaned at birth, Eliza and her grandparents live in a cottage surrounded by willow beds where she makes laundry baskets and eel traps. Then along comes Clem. Uh oh,

Clem unsettles Eliza as he tells her of his adventures along the river, and disturbs her equanimity.  Surely the grass is greener?

Then, wealthy Theo tempts her further, with the vision of a life beyond the cottage. Oh, bad mistake.

Eliza finds the dream is far from perfect, and in order to escape the horror, she runs away, but will she find her way home, and into the arms of those who really love her?

I have no intention of telling you. Give it a go…

Lockdown is not the end of the world – what would be however,  is breaking it. This would  risk not just you, but everyone with whom you come into contact.

So, how to manage in a world where the culture is to nip out if something is needed, eat out, eat takeaways, do as we wish? Where families are often far flung – and contact is by telephone or IT.

What we have to do  is depend on community; you know; that all too often long ago reality where we knew our neighbours, and shopkeepers – and everyone cared for everyone else.

But will neighbours step up to the plate? Will the community? What about the shopkeepers? Does the plate, and community even exist?

In Thirsk , a small market town, people haven’t just stepped up to the plate. They have stayed and built on it, and asked of themselves as much as their hearts  and energy could give – and then some more.

Neighbours, those young enough to be  allowed to shop, collect lists from the rest of us. They return with arms down to the floor.  Books are loaned, texts of advice and support  exchanged. Cakes, and even homemade pate are left on doorsteps, or a bottle of wine.  One of our neighbour’s knocks and leaves Magnums, chocolate covered icecream lollies for the uninitiated, and ruinous to the diet, and which, sorry but… I consider an essential.   The WI, the U3a groups continue to function in a variety of ways.

The local shops have excelled, and here I mention only those we have used. But there are others.  The wonderful community conscious shops and cafes I feature have, with great entrepreneurial  gusto turned themselves around overnight, setting up delivery services, determined that those in the community should continue to be served, and their small businesses should  survive.

The Greengrocer  at 93 Market Place Thirsk YO7 1EY is exhibiting no, not virus symptoms, but this amazing entrepreneurial spirit has responded to demand, and  the team  put together boxes for delivery, (£15 and £25) Extraordinarily fresh, I repeat fresh vegetables, fruit and eggs. Phone them, 01845 527899.

If you do not want certain vegetables or fruit, talk to them. They are always happy to help. In common with other local outlets in Thirsk, the team at The Greengrocer is working its socks off, and let’s hope this side of the business stays as thriving as it is now. I have to say, that the shop is  such a picture on the Market Square, with the fruit and vegetables displayed, and the PLANTS.

Just round the corner from the Market Place, at 1 Kirkgate, Thirsk, North Yorkshire YO7 1PQ.  01845 523212 / 07973 117354 is Johnson’s the butcher. But not just a butcher – they are so much more.  They offer an extensive  range of local meats, plain or prepared; eg Beef Stroganoff for you to cook. There are pies, game, smoked fish and ready meals, and a delicatessen.

Ever versatile  and quick to respond to changing circumstances, there is now a lockdown steak night pack with 2 sirloin steaks, 2 mushroom bakes, garlic roasting potatoes and a sauce, all this for only £16.  The speed at which the owners turned around the shop, to cater for those who couldn’t leave their homes is a testament to their determination to rise to the challenge of a community in need. As with The Greengrocer, they now have a successful and ever growing delivery arm, which serves not just Thirsk but surrounding villages. I reckon a fair bit of exhaustion runs alongside, as with all these businesses taking up position on the plate.  www.Johnsonsofthirsk.co.uk

I mentioned cafes. Well, here is Bliss cafe and Patisserie.  https://www.facebook.com/pages/Bliss-Cafe-Thirsk/     email. blisscafe@mail.com

Bliss  Cafe welcomes dogs, ours adore Jacqui, and it’s not just because of the slices of sausage they are both given on arrival. We, the grownups. don’t have slices of sausage, but we do have coffee and cake. Or breakfast, or lunch… Yet, again, at the start of lockdown,  Jacqui and her daughters turned the business around overnight and now deliver cooled, or frozen ready meals, cooked by their own fair hands. (In addition they do take-away: 9 am to 1 pm.)

Our particular favourites are Fish Pie and Beef Lasagne.  Even the dogs get a treat when the meals are left on the doorstep: a bag of sausage slices. Jacqui explained that she worried about her regulars, and wanted to make sure they were fed, so the prices are ridiculously reasonable and they leave the meals on the doorstep, and that way she can stop worrying about us.

This, guys,  is what community is all about. But these small businesses  are not just community minded, they are also enthusiastic entrepreneurs, and are endlessly finding ways to thrive in a small market town. In this way, they continue  in a positive onward sense, and, so does the community.  In Thirsk, there is a buzz, a hope, an energy.

But I’m not done yet.

The Community Works is the result of a coming together of  The Clock and Thirsk Community Care. These two charities have merged their staff, resources and services  and through Community Works they offer practical  help at all times. But during lockdown they are particularly invaluable, as they are able to offer prescription collection, and shopping for the vibrant independent, hilarious and doughty people of the area. We’ve used them, they’re fabulous. 01845 524494

I am now going to sneak another in, the Port of Lancaster Smokehouse. This was recommended to me by people from around the country,  including London and Morecombe.  So I had to try it. The fish arrived within 48 hours. Today we had salmon and cod, and we tasted the sea. We really did. Try them, I beg you. www.Lancastersmokehouse.co.uk or 01524 751493