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Agent Running in the Field (by John le Carré)

Nat is put out to pasture in a local London spy centre (The Haven – a complete misnomer) by his “friends” in Head Office much to his chagrin. Spies, like author John le Carré, refuse to grow old gracefully! This is John le Carré at the top of his game.

Nat has many connections, friends and associates in the spy world; some are established and friendly who owe him! However, in London British HQ is…

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#John le Carré

The Guardians (by John Grisham)

I have been rather disappointed in recent novels by John Grisham, so “The Guardians” was a pleasant surprise. The Guardians is bang in form, and back to the strengths of his earlier novels.

The “Law is an Ass” seems an appropriate cliche. The book is based on some true events, and illustrates the ease that justice is not served in the USA particularly for ethnic minorities. The novel castigates…

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#John Grisham

The Thursday Murder Club (by Richard Osman)

This is the Richard Osman of Pointless (and other TV quizzes and Chat shows) so you can expect an off-beat novel! You will not be disappointed – there are plenty of pithy observations, and tangential quips which are off the wall in typical Osman style. His characters, primarily located at a top-end care complex, offer the full spectrum of behaviour and customs. His quirky humour is a constant…

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#Richard Osman

The Truants (by Kate Weinberg)

Lorna once asked: “What is it about an unsolved mystery that captures us so that makes us lean forward looking for an answer?”

At the heart of this mystery is Agatha Christie. There are references to her and her novels throughout the story. I am not familiar with Agatha Christie novels! Does she have heroes and anti-heroes? Probably not. Lorna a charismatic “Prof” at a British University is the…

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#Kate Weinberg

Moonflower Murders (by Anthony Horowitz)

It is pleasing when a Publishing House contacts you to review a book. In this case Random House UK, Cornerstone to review Anthony Horowitz’s latest novel. You do feel some pressure to review positively! Unfortunately, I was extremely disappointed.

James Bond it is not! It is a gentle mystery that plods along without really grabbing attention. It starts off quite encouragingly with an ex…

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#Anthony Horowitz

Winning with Investment Trusts!

Investing in the Stock Market

Investing in the stock marketcan be a risky business. However, over the long term the performance has been good. For example, over the last year the FTSE is up 2.29% (August 2018) – not brilliant and hardly better than sticking your capital in a safe Bank Account. The picture is much more encouraging over 5 and 10 yrs at 17.42 and 54.20% respectively. Of course, we…

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#consistent returns #Investment Trust

Double Agent (by Tom Brady)

How to publish a successful novel? Choose a celebrity – tick. Choose a popular theme: spy thriller with a mole – tick. What can go wrong?

Tom Brady is a successful newscaster, journalist, author and generally nice guy. He has intimate knowledge of politicians and royalty so the intrigue, immoral behaviour and scandals described in the novel may have a hint of truth!

The espionage and political…

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Share Investment Opportunities and Free Shares

Share Investment Opportunities

Share or stock investments contribute significantly to my financial lifestyle in retirement. So investing opportunities need to be safe and secure – despite Covid19 issues! I have a SIPP with Hargreaves Lansdown, ISA portfolio with iWeb, and now a new ISA portfolio with Trading212(free share – more later!). The HL Sipp is used to withdraw monthly income, iWeb is…

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#diy investing #share #Share Investment Opportunities #stocks

Consistent Dividend or Growth - a conundrum?

Consistent Dividend or Growth – a conundrum?

In the article “How to Live Well in Retirement?“, I favoured a dividend approach with some growth stocks to beat inflationary effects. Of course, this is just one strategy to provide a monthly income. Alternatively, you might favour a more conservative approach to growth with some dividends. If you are not a stock picker, then a more comfortable approach is to rely on fund or investment trust…

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#dividends #funds #investment trusts

How to Live Well in Retirement? Top Portfolio!

How many of us have thought about Retirement Income planning, planned ahead and invested in pensions and savings for a wealthy retirement (sorry senior Gap Years)? Not too many for sure! So how do you STRETCH savings and investments for possibly 30 plus years? First I am not a financial advisor so please don’t think this retirement income planning is advice – just a personal opinion!!

I have the…

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#aic #dividend #funds #income #investment trusts #ISAs #portfolio #shares #yield

The Birdwatcher (by William Shaw)

The Birdwatcher (by William Shaw) a tense crime thriller based in Dungeness. Don't miss this one.

I am beginning to be a big fan of William Shaw! I recently read his Salt Lane novel, and got the bug. Salt Lane features DS Alexandra Cupidi and her daughter. So The Birdwatcher is a prequel to Salt Lane? OK, the main character is Police Sergeant William South but Cupidi and her daughter especially feature in this novel. Do you need to read The Birdwatcherbefore tackling the start of a trilogy…

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Absolute Proof (by Peter James)

I am a fan of the Inspector Grace novels set in Brighton and eagerly await each new novel. Peter is quite prolific and often writes stand-alone novels – unfortunately, I find these variable in quality. I recently read Dan Brown’s Origin, and thoroughly enjoyed his tale which tackles “Where do we come from” and “Where are we going?”. Anyhow, I was looking forward to seeing how Peter approaches his…

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#Peter James

Frederick Forsyth The Fox Review

Many famous authors have a successful formula – Dan Brown comes to mind – and Fredrick Forsyth is another with a well-established formula. It all started with his book about the assassination attempt on General de Gaulle. Today so many books seem formulaic – perhaps they have all been to the same Creative Writing course.

Frederick Forsyth is noted for his…

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#Frederick Forsyth

The Last Lie (by Alex Lake)

This is the latest psychological thriller by Sunday Times best-selling author Alex Lake. He is the best selling author of AFTER ANNA, KILLING KATE AND COPYCAT.

Claire Daniels comes with a healthy pedigree of rich parents. The mother has died but her father will do anything for Claire. Her life is good – friends, career, lovely home, property in France but she is desperate for a baby to make…

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#Alex Lake

Salt Lane (by William Shaw)

Came across Shaw at a speaker event at the Firle Vintage Fayre. The plot sounded interesting and as it was located in area close by it seemed worth investigating

The plot is centred around Romney Marsh and Dungeness – places we know well. He captures the remoteness but beauty well. His lead detective has recently transferred from the Met, and she has quite a back history with former…

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The Parisians (by Marius Gabriel)

The novel is set in World War II and in 1940 the Nazis have occupied Paris and taken over the Ritz for their senior officers and mistresses.

The cast of characters includes an American Olivia Olsen, working as a chambermaid, the famous Coco Chanel and Arletty, one of France’s best-loved actresses. Hitler’s right-hand man moves into the hotel and makes Olivia his favourite. Olivia sees an…

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#Marius Gabriel

Dark and Sacred Story (by Michael Connelly)

I am an avid reader of Michael Connelly, and look forward to every new novel. It seems that Bosch is gradually taking a lower profile as he passes into retirement. Renee Ballard is the new focus, and although there is room for new plots for cold cases featuring Bosch and Ballard – perhaps Bosch is tiring and beginning to make mistakes?

This cold case investigates the death of fifteen-year-old…

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#Michael Connelly

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