Book #17 The Outrun

The Outrun by Amy Liptrot
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is a beautiful read, stark and unflinching as Amy Liptrot recounts the story of her alcoholism, how she faced her demons and has stayed 'dry' for more than two years. She returns to Orkney after more than a decade away, drawn back to the Outrun on the sheep farm where she grew up. Her father's mental illness was as much a part of her childhood as the wild, carefree existence on Orkney. In spite of this she moved to London and a hedonistic lifestyle that virtually destroyed her. Her move back to Orkney proves to be her redemption, trying to come to terms with what happened to her in London. She slowly makes the journey towards recovery from addiction.

Amy's writing has a prose-like quality that sings: "...when my heart soars. I see starlings flocking, hundreds of individual birds forming and re-forming shapes in liquid geometry, outwitting predators and following each other to find a place to roost for the night. The wind blows me from behind so strongly that I'm running and laughing".

Her honesty is often overwhelming and yet also exhilarating. Her descriptions of these Northern Isles and the small communities that live here draws me more and more to a visit. Captivating.

I loved it.

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Simon King's Shetland

Fancy a visit to Shetland? I do and I am going. Simon King's short video might help to whet your appetite....

Book #16 Shetland Diaries: Otters, Orcas, Puffins and Wonderful People

Shetland Diaries: Otters, Orcas, Puffins and Wonderful People by Simon King
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Simon King spent a year on the Shetland Islands filming and keeping a diary, accompanied by his wife Marguerite and young daughter Savannah. His main objective was to film otters, an animal for which he has a long time passion. He also filmed orcas; on one occasion seeing a large pod within metres of the boat in which he was travelling. His description of this event was breathtaking. He filmed puffins close up, gannets plunging into the sea to catch fish and the secretive storm petrel - on the Island of Mousa, one of the only locations in the UK where this sparrow sized seabird can be seen.

His enthusiasm for wildlife is infectious as he experienced Shetland through the changing seasons and discovered the wildlife and the warmth of community in these islands. I had the pleasure of meeting Simon in 2014 at the Rutland Bird Fair. He is a font of all knowledge concerning wildlife, particularly birds. Anyone who can instantly identify a marsh tit from a willow tit has my respect!

I loved this heartwarming and inspirational book, made all the more enjoyable as providing much location information for my own forthcoming trip in May to Shetland.

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Hermaness Gannets

Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) is asking for views on its plans for the future management of Britain’s most northerly National Nature Reserve (NNR) in Shetland.

The public consultation runs until 25 March inviting comments on management proposals for Hermaness NNR over the next ten years. National Nature Reserves are special places where people can enjoy the best of Scotland’s nature and Hermaness is a spectacular and wild destination exposed to the harsh North Atlantic Ocean.

The reserve hosts one of the largest seabird colonies in Europe, including internationally important populations of gannets, puffins and great skuas (bonxies). Its cliffs are of geological interest and are home to several rare plants, whilst the spectacular coastal scenery includes views of Muckle Flugga, with its famous lighthouse, and Britain’s most northerly outpost – Out Stack.

The Hermaness gannets are another great success story. The first breeding pairs were recorded on Vesta Skerry in 1917. Since then, their numbers have increased steadily at a rate of around 6% per year, which is well above the national average of 2%. Numbers now are around 16 000 pairs, with nesting sites extending along the north-west stacks and cliffs, and the Neap.

I would love to see Hermaness when Ros and I visit Shetland in May. But it would take a whole day out of our stay. By car from Lerwick follow the A970 for 17 miles then turn on to the A968 to Toft for the ferry to Yell (20 minute sea crossing). Continue on the A968 to board the Gutcher - Belmont ferry to Unst (10 minute sea crossing). Head 10 miles north through Baltasound, turning off just before Haroldswick onto the B9086 road signposted to Burrafirth and Hermaness. At the fork in the road go right to the visitor centre and straight on to the Reserve. And from the visitor centre it’s an hour’s walk across moorland to the site!

It would be worth it though....

Book #15 Too Good To Be True

Too Good To Be True by Ann Cleeves
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

It is what it is. A quick read. One of a series of short books written by bestselling writers. It is still a fast and satisfying read for regular readers and is intended to encourage more adults to discover the pleasure of reading.

Having read the entire Shetland series by Ann Cleeves I had to see how she would cope with a short story composed around her detective inspector Jimmy Perez who arrives in the Scottish Borders at the request of his ex-wife Sarah to investigate the death of Anna Blackwell, a local teacher. The police believe her death was either suicide or a tragic accident. Being a short read there is little time to develop a meaty plot and Perez solves the mystery with scant clues to go on, perhaps stretching credulity somewhat.

For all that, I enjoyed it - read in a couple of hours. I am a big fan of Ann Cleeves and Jimmy Perez. What's not to like....

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Book #14 A Kangaroo Loose in Shetland: Excerpts from a Diary

A Kangaroo Loose in Shetland: Excerpts from a Diary by Lachlan Ness
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I am infatuated with Shetland. That one word conjures up dreams of a wild, rugged and beautiful terrain. 60 degrees North, just beneath the Arctic Circle. I haven't been there - yet. Have planned a visit for many years. And will be going in May. I have a clutch of books to read about this northern archipelago. This is the first. A reverent sojourn to Yell, Unst and Fetlar by Rev. Lachlan Ness and his wife Janet.

Ness is an Australian, an ordained minister of the Presbyterian Church, now retired. Well - almost. The Church of Scotland parish of the North Isles of Shetland has been without a full-time minister for over four years; a fact that comes to the attention down in Australia of Lachlan. Why not? He lets it be known that he would be available in Shetland for a time and would do his best to help the parish finally obtain a full-time minister. His offer is accepted. Lachlan and Janet spend four blissful months in 2008 in the North Isles.

This is a heart-warming story, full of humour and occasional pathos and Lachlan paints a memorable picture of life here as he discovers the remarkable beauty that abounds in these ancient islands where he finds inspiration in the warmth, hospitality, humour, long-suffering patience, faith hope and love of the people of the North Isles.

I cannot wait to go....



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60 Degrees North

The sixtieth parallel marks a borderland between the northern and southern worlds. Wrapping itself around the lower reaches of Finland, Sweden and Norway, it crosses the tip of Greenland and the southern coast of Alaska, and slices the great expanses of Russia and Canada in half. The parallel also passes through Shetland. A visit to these Northern Isles has been on top of my bucket list for many years. Finally I have persuaded my wife Ros that a holiday here would be an adventure. Her resistance to such a trip has been weakened by watching the wonderful series 'Shetland' on ITV based on the books of Ann Cleeves (I have read the complete series). She doesn't want to show too much enthusiasm about the trip but I can see that she is looking forward to it as much as me. We start our journey north in May, on my birthday.

Our journey starts by limo from Brighton to London Heathrow from where we take a British Airways flight to Aberdeen. We then transfer to the Aberdeen ferry terminal for the Northlink ferry crossing to Lerwick on Mainland Shetland. A crossing of some 200 miles over the top of the North Sea, below the North Atlantic. These crossings are notoriously rough at times...

Lerwick is the capital of Shetland and dates back to times of Viking occupation from 500 - 1000AD.

We will spend several days on Shetland, one of the best places for birdwatching in the UK (yes, Ros is aware of this!)

Our journey back on the ferry will include a stop at Kirkwall, the capital of Orkney.

That is the plan. I hope it can be fulfilled....

Book #13 Sidney Chambers and the Problem of Evil

Sidney Chambers and the Problem of Evil by James Runcie
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Another delightful journey through the pastoral world of Canon Sidney Chambers and his good friend DI Geordie Keating in the early 1960s. James Runcie's sense of time and place is very accurate, which makes these four longer stories so enjoyable.

Sidney is settling into married life with his German bride Hildegard but things rarely stay quiet for long for our clerical detective in Grantchester. He soon attempts to stop a serial killer who has a grievance against the clergy; investigates the disappearance of a famous painting after a distracting display of nudity by a French girl in an art gallery; uncovers the fact that an 'accidental' drowning on a film shoot may not have been so accidental after all; and discovers the reason behind the theft of a baby from a hospital in the run up to Christmas, 1963.

Whilst reading these four stories I cannot help but visualise James Norton and Robson Greene in the two major rôles in "The Grantchester Mysteries" aired on ITV. The next series will commence soon. I wonder how close the scripts will follow these stories...

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Book #12 Blacklands

Blacklands by Belinda Bauer
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Having recently read The Shut Eye by Belinda Bauer (her 6th title) and thoroughly enjoying it, I bought a copy of this her first book, "Blacklands”, with which she won the CWA Gold Dagger for Crime Novel of the Year in 2010.

Much of the story is told from a child’s viewpoint, 12 year-old Steven Lamb who digs holes on Exmoor, looking for the remains of the uncle he never knew. It is widely believed that ‘Uncle Billy’ fell victim to the notorious serial killer Arnold Avery. Billy (William) disappeared aged eleven.

Bauer’s 12 year-old Steven has such a convincing voice that I really felt for the suffering of this boy in a sad family. His nan, who stands everyday at the window expecting her son to come home, his mum Lettie, who has sought solace with a number of ‘uncles’ and his younger brother Davey. The ‘lack of closure’ afflicts everyone, particularly Steven, who determines to find the body of long-lost Billy, first by digging almost at random on Exmoor and then.... by a much more dangerous stratagem. He contacts the man most likely to have been the killer.

The ability of Bauer to get under the skin of the murderer really chills the blood - I read the last 50 pages or so completely unable to put the book down. The fear created is palpable.

Bauer’s first novel is a terrific read full of menace. I loved it.

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Book #11 The Woman who Walked into the Sea

The Woman Who Walked into the Sea by Mark Douglas-Home
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Another classic and satisfying whodunit from Mark Douglas-Home, author of The Sea Detective. Cal McGill, an oceanographer, is once again the hero of this sequel and I hope that Douglas-Home intends to continue with this series.

For this book the author has invented a coastal settlement in the north of Scotland called Poltown, located not far from Ullapool. Cal finds himself in Poltown drawn there by news of a beachcomber’s find. His visit coincides with a funeral - or rather a memorial service - for Diana, whose late husband ,a lawyer, had owned the Big House. And what does any of this have to do with the woman who walked into the sea and committed suicide? Did she? Or did something more sinister take place? What part does the retired housekeeper, Mrs Anderson, play in this dark occurrence?

Violet lives in Glasgow with her four-year-old daughter. Violet was abandoned at birth, deposited on the doorstep of Raigmore Hospital. She has always hoped to find her mother. A social worker from Inverness, brings her an anonymous letter, which was sent to his office. It reveals her mother’s name and where she lived - a cottage near Poltown on the north west coast of Scotland. The social worker tells Violet that he has checked and the woman named as her mother “died the day after you were abandoned at the hospital.”

Enough to take Violet to Poltown to become embroiled in this tight-knit, suspicious community... And here the threads come together in a beautifully crafted plot in which Cal’s expertise does provide an answer to the problem of The Woman who Walked into the Sea....


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Book #10 The Shut Eye

The Shut Eye by Belinda Bauer
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I hadn’t come across Belinda Bauer before browsing through books at Waterstones I came across “The Shut Eye”. I had no idea it was her sixth thriller. What a treat I had in store! This is an exhausting, exhilarating and damned scary psychological thriller. This is a non-stop page turner that had me mesmerised.

A missing 12 year-old girl, a missing 4 year-old boy, a missing dog? Is there a connection? Does the missing boy’s mother really have an eerie sixth sense? Is that matched with the equally damaged Detective Chief Inspector John Marvel, who is close to falling off the wagon again and carries more baggage than an airport carousel?

You share the victims fears and torture, increasingly terrified as the full horror of their stark predicament is played out. Bauer creates a claustrophobic atmosphere that really got to me. Unexpected shocks abound, literally had me calling out “Oh my God! What?!”

The Shut Eye is a truly gripping, terrifying thriller - one of the best I have read for quite some time. It certainly won’t be my last book by Belinda Bauer.

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