My June Reads
What a hot and busy month June was! Somehow, though, I managed to read five books, despite feeling like a wrung-out dishcloth for most of the month and having no energy to concentrate on anything much.
This time around there was quite a mixture of cosy crime, classic literature, and non-fiction. It’s the first month I can remember when I didn’t read a romance novel - although there was actually romance in varying degrees in all but the non-fiction book.
As usual, I won’t rate these books individually, but I will say that I privately gave them all a positive rating, which is another win for me!
So, let’s have a look at what I read in June.
Crooked House by Agatha Christie
(The June choice for the Read Christie 2025 challenge)
A wealthy Greek businessman is found dead at his London home…
The Leonides were one big happy family living in a sprawling, ramshackle mansion. That was until the head of the household, Aristide, was murdered with a fatal barbiturate injection.
Suspicion naturally falls on the old man’s young widow, fifty years his junior. But the murderer has reckoned without the tenacity of Charles Hayward, fiance of the late millionare’s granddaughter…
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South Riding by Winifred Holtby
(The seventh book in my Book Bingo Challenge ticked: Read a classic novel)
In post-war Yorkshire, having hope is the only way to survive in the Depression...
Sarah Burton has worked hard to make something of herself and when she returns to her hometown she is interviewed for the position of headmistress, accepting the job with high hopes for transforming the school. However morale is low and the country is in a depression after the First World War.
School shows are put on and the girls are encouraged but everyone is concerned about how to help the pupils make something of their lives. Class codes are strongly regarded and Sarah, having overcome her own modest beginnings, is disgusted by the power held by highly regarded sporting farmer Robert Carne of Maythorpe Hall.
Yet privately Carne is deeply troubled and Sarah is curious about this man despite her initial reservations. Carne’s daughter Midge undoubtedly receives special treatment and Sarah, in a rage, does something awful. One of Sarah’s favourites, however, is Lydia Holly. She is from a rough and deprived part of Yorkshire with a terribly ill mother but is also incredibly gifted.
In South Riding we see human ills which affect all walks of life as a tightly knit community works towards resolution in this classic novel of Yorkshire life by Winifred Holtby.
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The People Along the Sand by Jan Crowther
Spurn Head is a 3 -mile sand and shingle peninsula stretching between the North Sea and the River Humber.
The peninsula first developed after the retreat of the last Ice Age. Over the centuries it has changed and breached several times. Most well known was the 1849 breach, in which the peninsula became a string of islands. Chalk revetments and a series of groynes hold Spurn in place, but it is now living on borrowed time.
Spurn is home to the Humber Lifeboat, the only resident full-time lifeboat station in Britain. Established in 1810, the lifeboat and its various crews have been involved in numerous dangerous rescues. Lighthouses have been located on Spurn for over 500 years, the last being built in 1895. It shone out over Spurn for 90 years until, in 1985, modern technology made it redundant; it is still an attractive feature of the peninsula.
Spurn Point has played an important role in the defence of Britain. During the Napoleonic Wars a battery with barracks was established there. In 1915, Spurn Fort was established on the Point, whilst at the mouth of the estuary Bull Sands Fort and Haile Sands Fort were erected on sand banks. At Kilnsea Godwin Battery was built. In the Second World War, too, Spurn played an important role in home defence.
In 1959, Spurn was sold to the Yorkshire Naturalists' Trust for the creation of a nature reserve, but it is still possible to see searchlight emplacements, the remains of an engine room and two gun emplacements. Bull Sands Fort and Haile Sands Fort still stand like sentinels at the mouth of the Humber.
Spurn Head's unique landscape, with its distinctive flora and fauna, has attracted naturalists since the early 19th century. After the Second World War, the Spurn Bird Observatory was born. In 1996, Spurn became a National Nature Reserve.
The emphasis of this beautifully illustrated book is on how people have interacted with the unique landscape over time, showing bravery and resourcefulness. This absorbing book is the first general study of the area and fills an important gap for local historians.
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Parties, Pavlova and Poison by Daisy James
A brand new cosy mystery set in the picturesque Devonshire village of Little Sweeting where murder, mayhem and macarons are all on the menu.
Welcome to the Waddling Duck Café!
As Lottie Chadwick serves glasses of tangy lemonade and ice-cold prosecco at her summer garden party, she couldn’t be happier. The Waddling Duck Café, with its lavender-coloured façade and matching bunting, is a roaring success and has given Lottie a chance to escape the heartbreak of losing her much-loved job as a food stylist for a celebrity chef in London.
But then disaster strikes when popstar-in-the-making Sasha Richards is found dead in her holiday lodge after the party. Now all eyes are on Lottie…have her famous mini apricot pavlovas poisoned her most high-profile guest? Or is someone else trying to damage Sasha’s chance of stardom?
If Lottie wants to save her picture-perfect life, and the reputation of the Waddling Duck Café, she’s going to have to get to the bottom of the mystery…and fast! Will it be a piece of cake, or will the culprit escape their just desserts?
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A Gift for Maisie Bloom by Jessie Cahalin
You’re not supposed to fall in love when investigating your aunt’s disappearance.
When Maisie Bloom inherits her aunt’s cottage in Yorkshire, life is perfect, including her two love interests. But when mysterious mail and blog posts arrive, she discovers Aunt Ada was investigating the disappearance of a prolific author in Paris. Was it murder? Soon Maisie is hot on the trail.
But can you sleuth in Paris without falling in love?
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I hope you find something among these that you’d like to read. See you next month for my July reads.
Happy reading.
