Out & About Summer 2021

Out&About leisure

BOOKS

Summertime is always an excuse for lying in the shade and immersing yourself in a good read. GERALDINE GARDNER picks a couple of page turners that should go down well with an ice cold beer or a glass of Pimm’s by your side. Happy reading!

A merican Dirt by Jeanine Cummins is about the issue of thousands of migrants attempting to get across the Mexico-US border, albeit in a dramatic and, in the US at least, controversial way. I’ll come back to the controversy later. The tension is there in bucket loads – from the opening scene of a family massacre to the nail-biting moments as a mother and her son make their way across Mexico – there is barely a chance to catch breath. Lydia will protect her son at all costs from the drug baron who is hunting them down. You will cheer her on as she faces a series of obstacles, including having to take the decision to jump onto a moving train – La Bestia – and trusting her son to manage the same. Sometimes you just want an easy read that holds your attention and The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman ticks that box. The book has topped the best-sellers’ lists, the film rights have been snapped up by Stephen Spielberg and a sequel is to be published soon. The premise is quirkily British. Four elderly residents of a retirement village form a club to look at past unsolved cases and try to work out whodunnit. When a murder happens on their doorstep, the sleuths

Beware La Bestia

where the controversy comes in.

In the US, American Dirt went from hero to zero within a very short space of time. The publishers promoted it heavily, the film rights were snapped up (it will make a great edge-of-your-seat movie) and Oprah selected it for her book club. Unfortunately, this exposure highlighted the fact that the author was not Mexican and the literati jumped on it as a typical example of white authors appropriating other cultures. But ultimately the book stands up as a page turner and although it doesn’t give as gritty a picture of the migrant plight as some would like, it did make me want to go and find out more, which is surely some way to understanding the situation. Immerse yourself in the antics of wily Elizabeth, observant Joyce and the versatile Ron and Ibrahim as they run rings around the professionals following their own lines of enquiry. In the same vein, I would also recommend The Postscript Murders by Elly Griffiths – another group of disparate individuals intent on solving a case, ahead of the police – in fact, between you and me, I preferred these characters and found them more engaging. It would be intriguing to see the two groups get together in a joint investigation.

It’s another tense moment in a book which seeks to expose the desperate measures to which some people are driven, some of whom we meet and get to know along the way. But Lydia is not your average migrant looking for a better life. Before she had to flee, she ran a bookshop, her husband was a noted journalist and they lived a comfortable life. One of the regular customers to her shop was Javier, who engaged her in intellectual conversation. Unfortunately, Javier is also in charge of a drug cartel. The story that plays out between them is another layer within the book that ultimately drives the action.

During her escape with her son, Lydia discovers a lot about herself, her courage and about others who risk their lives to reach the US. It is also an education for the reader – for this one at least. I really had no idea how vast the terrain is that needs to be crossed to get to the US and how dangerous the various methods are, but this is

Tea and cake with a splash of murder

are on the case and set out to solve the crime, with the unwitting help of the

inspector in charge. Shades of Miss Marple, with a pinch of Midsomer madness.

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