And light relief with a stonking good yarn

But, off on another tack entirely, I finished Sacrifice by S. J. Bolton and still think it's a well-written thriller. Really entertaining, slightly over-the-top sinister tale set in a larger-than-life Shetland. There have been quite a few curly-lipped comments cos she's got details about Shetland birds etc wrong, but I think if folk get hung up stuff like that, they're rather missing the point of a good thriller. Anyone can bore us with the correct minutiae of puffin behaviour, but not everyone can write a decent yarn. I also liked the way she gave us extra coffee shops, boating clubs etc - made Shetland seem a much cosier place (despite the murder and conspiracy), and I was hoping she'd invent a decent pub for us as well. In fact I'd really like to read more books that put extraordinary tales in a Shetland setting. I remember seeing Muriel Gray speak at last year's Orange Prize seminar, and she made a plea for women to drop that old chestnut of 'write what you know', because, she said, the details of your little life are not! fascinating, no she said, women should Make Things Up More. Hear hear!
And on the subject of good yarn-spinners, I've just taken delivery of some free Steven King books for the group, so it could be that next month we're reading something completely different.