Month: May 2019

Perfect Crime

~ Caitlin Marion Dermidy ~ Leave a comment

‘Perfect Crime’ by Helen Fields is the 5th instalment in the DI Callanach Series. It focuses on Luc as he continues his life as a detective in Scotland whilst being haunted by his past.

I love this series anyway as it is well written with great characters in my favourite genre and this instalment was no different. I enjoyed seeing the comradery between the officers at MIT and how these relationships have evolved throughout the series.

The characters are realistic and are not represented as perfect and the best police officer. They have their fair share of problems and we get to see them cope with this. I really like Callanach and Turner but in this book I felt myself becoming frustrated with their relationship. They want to be more than friends but it doesn’t quite happen. Maybe this was the writers intention and if so it worked but I just wanted something to happen between them! I like to see other characters like Tripp and lively make an appearance where we get to see them evolve as they spend more time in MIT.

You get to see MIT investigate a series of suspicious ‘suicides’ and as more and more deaths occur we see them work through the all the outcomes. I like to read these parts of the book as much as the personal stories of the characters as I find it provides a balance between the excitement and the sincere.

It is well structured and well written and engaging. I read this book pretty quickly as I couldn’t put the book down. I wanted to continue to read more and more to see what happens next.

I would highly recommend this book and the series as you will get the chance to see the characters evolve and develop. ( although I would say that you don’t have to)There is also another instalment due to be released in 2020 and I also can’t wait to read that!

Many thanks, Caitlin x

(PS please comment if you have ever read these books or have any other recommendations. )

TV Shows that were based on books!

~ Caitlin Marion Dermidy ~ 2 Comments

I have previously written about films that were based on books but after finding out a book that I have read was being turned into a TV series I thought I would make a list of some of the ones available.

  • ‘A Song of Ice and Fire’ series by George R.R. Martin. The very famous series ‘Game of Thrones’ were based on these books.
  • ‘A Series of Unfortunate Events’ by Lemony Snicket is now a popular TV Series
  • ‘Orange is the new Black’ is also based on a book that was written by Piper Kerman
  • ‘Sherlock Holmes’ by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle has many different adaptions including a popular TV Series.
  • The Handmaids Tale is based on a book of the same name by Margaret Atwood in 1985
  • ‘Outlander’ was the inspiration for the TV series of the same name which has proved to be very popular

And the reason I decided to write this list was after I read that ‘The Power’ by Naomi Alderman was being turned into a TV Series. It will be a 10 part adaptation that has been green-lit by Amazon. I am really excited to see how this book will be adapted onto the screen and fingers crossed it will work!

Many thanks, Caitlin Dermidy

(PS please comment any other series that are based on a book or your opinion of ‘The Power’ being adapted for TV

Twice a week to once

~ Caitlin Marion Dermidy ~ Leave a comment

Not really a blog post but I though that I would let you all know that from now on I will be posting a blog once a week instead of twice.

I have made this decision as I am going to have a busy summer with a time difference to contend with. I also sometimes can struggle to find blog inspiration when I am posting two days apart

I will now be posting on a Friday only.

Many thanks, Caitlin X

(PS please comment how you feel about this change and if you are a blogger what your posting schedule is like)

Song of the Dead, Douglas Lindsay

~ Caitlin Marion Dermidy ~ 1 Comment

Song of the Dead by Douglas Lindsay is a crime fiction novel that is the first installment of the DI Westphall series. It follows DI Westphall as he investigates a strange case. What happens when a man who died 12 years ago walks into a police station in Estonia? As the case unravels DI Westphall begins to realize the amount of secrets that led to this mysterious case.

The book is set in the Scottish Highlands and features scenes in various places around Scotland and in Estonia. I enjoy reading books that are set in Scotland as I often feel I can relate to them more being Scottish myself.

The idea of someone who was declared dead 12 years prior walks into an Estonian police station with only half his organs seems unbelievable but Douglas Lindsay writes it in such a way that it is completely plausible. The book is structured well with fairly short chapters which I prefer to huge long sections!

I enjoyed this book and I would like to read the next one. I felt the characters were likable and the main Character being realistic. DI Westphall seems to live in the land of the living and the dead but this seems normal for him. He used to work for the Secret Service but due to a fear of flying he decided to leave and work as a DI in Scotland. I ofund this fear to be a good part of the character as often in crime novels the policeman is portrayed to be this intelligent, brave man that is scared of nothing. This help to make him seem more human and real.

The book makes you think about possible connections and outcomes of the case alongside DI Westphall and I believe that this therefore engages you in the book. You want to read on and find out exactly what happened all those years ago. I found the book quite atmospheric even although it is a crime fiction novel.

There is a good balance between the investigation and the characters which I really enjoyed as I could learn more about the case whilst becoming invested in the characters themselves.

Overall, I would highly recommend this book especially if you enjoy reading crime fiction. It is gripping and immersive and keeps you reading till you have finished the book. I am definatly putting the secong installment on my ‘To Be Read’ list!

Many thanks, Caitlin x

(PS please feel free to comment if you have ever read this book or have any other crime fiction recommendations)

What puts me off a book

~ Caitlin Marion Dermidy ~ Leave a comment

When browsing in store or online there is always that book that you pick up but immediately out back. These are my reasons :

  1. I tend to put books back if the are set far in the past unless it has an amazing story. There is something about books set hundreds of years ago that I just don’t really enjoy .
  2. When the book cover is a film poster. It always puts me off as therefore I imagine the characters as the actors
  3. When the font is hard to read. If I can’t read the title then I probably won’t buy it.
  4. If the cover features a person’s face because as I said before I quite like to imagine what the character looks like using the descriptions myself
  5. If the summary doesn’t interest me (an obvious one)

Many thanks, Caitlin X

(PS please comment why you wouldn’t pick up a book)

Why do I blog?

~ Caitlin Marion Dermidy ~ Leave a comment

I started to blog purely because I wanted to share my love for books and that still stays the same.

I love sharing what I have read and my opinions on them. Hopefully my words could inspire others to take up reading or read a certain book.

I love to read book blogs and it inspires me to not only wrote but to explore new genres and authors.

I currently blog twice a week but in June I will probable be making it once a week. I often struggle to think of the second post of the week as it is only two days later and I likely haven’t finished another book .

I love to write blog posts and I don’t get hung up on the number of views and reads.

If I was to say anything it would be that. Don’t look at the numbers and worry about them. Write for yourself. If only one person reads it then that’s good. If no one does it’s fine it allows you to express yourself.

Many thanks, Caitlin X

(PS please comment if you have a blog or would like to have one )

Book Haul

~ Caitlin Marion Dermidy ~ 1 Comment

I recently took a trip to the book shop and bought some more books!

The first book I picked up was ‘Perfect Crime’ by Helen Fields. I already knew that I wanted this one as I love the series. It is the latest book in the DI Callanach series and if you have read my previous books you know I love this series. It follows Callanach and Turner as they investigate a crime and search for the perpetrator across Edinburgh.

The second book I picked up was ‘I’ll be gone in dark’ by Michelle McNamara. It is a true crime novel that follows one woman’s obsessive search for the Golden State Killer. I picked this up so I could explore another genre which I imagine I will like!

The last book I bought was ‘The book of Hidden Things’ by Francesco Dimitri. This author is well known but tends to write in his native language and this was debit novel that was written in English. This looks at 4 Friends who make a pack to meet up once a year at the same spot , when one of them doesn’t turn up they try to figure what has happened. Whilst they do this they uncover many secret things.

Many thanks, Caitlin X

(PS please comment if you have ever read any of these books)