Astonishing bookshops and libraries

I'm back in Britain, acclimatising to the change in weather after a blissful holiday in Portugal, combining a stay in Lisbon with a cruise up the gorgeous River Douro. And while I was away, I enjoyed, among many other things, a visit to a contender for the title for "most beautiful bookshop in the world" and some amazing libraries.

Portugal's a country with a rich and proud history. The old empire has gone, and it's not the most prosperous place in the world, but the climate is fantastic and the local people I met were uniformly charming. They like their literature, too. While visiting the very appealing city of Porto, I discovered the ornate and unforgettable Lello bookstore. Surely there is no other bookshop in the world that can charge people three Euros just to go inside? A large part of the attraction is the shop's association with J.K.Rowling, who spent time there in her early days before achieving fame and fortune. I can see why she liked it (and why she liked Porto.) People were queuing to buy their tickets both in the morning and the afternoon when I was in the vicinity. You don't believe me? Well, here they are:

Extraordinary...

I also visited a trio of fantastic libraries during my trip. The first was at the University of Coimbra, one of the oldest and most distinguished academic institutions in the world. The library is stunning, though to protect the books, photography is not allowed. Suffice to say that it's one of the most impressive I've seen, in terms of beauty and grandeur. I was also amused by the existence of an ancient "academic prison" in the same building, which apparently was a sort of dungeon for student malefactors.

While on the Douro, we had a trip to a variety of places, including Salamanca in Spain (the Douro flows through Spain, but is not navigable beyond the border with Portugal, so you have to jump on a bus). Salamanca is breathtaking, and there is a modern public library in an architecturally spectacular setting - the photo is abov. Some people say it's the most beautiful public library in the world, and I certainly haven't seen a more stunning rival.

Another trip ended up at the Mateus Palace and its exceptional gardens, owned by the family responsible for Mateus Rose. (You can't visit Portugal without drinking quite a bit of wine and port, and some of the port in particular was of quite memorable quality.) Inside,the family's private library, which again cannot be photographed, is another sight to behold. Thousands of perfectly preserved old books. I  could have stayed there a very long time, even though I can't read Portuguese....

A New Life for Take My Breath Away

Take My Breath Away is a novel of psychological suspense that means a great deal to me, and I'm delighted that at long last, it's beginning a new life as an ebook, published by Allison & Busby. This was the novel that brought me to A&B, when David Shelley, the then editor, took a shine to my work. It was after this stand-alone book appeared that David suggested I write a new series with a rural setting. The result was the Lake District Mysteries, so I'll always be grateful to him. And he's now the editor of a promising writer called J.K. Rowling, so I hope he does as much for her career!!

The background to Take My Breath Away is that, after seven Harry Devlin novels, I was ready for a change, and to stretch my writing in a fresh direction. I wasn't (and still am not) fed up with Harry - I'd love to continue writing about him in the future, no question. But I had an idea for a one-off book that really excited me, and I was desperate to write it up.

I knew that executing the story idea would be a challenge, because of its unusual and ambitious nature, but I didn't realise quite how much of a challenge it would prove to be. The book was harder to get right than any other that I've produced, and it went through many revisions, and much cutting. David was keen that I make the story crisper and more accessible, and though this took time to achieve, I am sure his editorial advice was spot on.

The novel is set in London, and I still think the tantalising opening scenes are among the best I've written. Two storylines gradually converge, and there's a sub-text that (to my surprise) few reviewers spotted, though I was, and am, pleased with it. I hoped that this would be my "breakthrough" novel, but it wasn't to be. Reviews were very good, but sales weren't as high as for the Harry Devlin books, and certainly far below those for my Lake District Mysteries. I must admit I was disappointed, because I feel that it's at least as good as my series novels, and despite the many differences, it does have a whodunit aspect.

To this day, I remain proud of the book, and I like to think it has aged well. And you never know - perhaps its time has finally come, and lots of ebook fans will take it to their hearts! I'd love it if that happened. Take My Breath Away is certainly different from my other novels, and if any of you do give it a go, I hope you'll find it a satisfying and intriguing read.

Four: movie review

Four is a British film, described as a "psychological thriller" which came out a year or so ago. Reading a snippet about the plot, which seemed interesting (a rich man hires someone to teach a lesson to his wife's lover) I was encouraged to watch it. Unfortuntely, it took only the first few lines of dialogue for me to start worrying about the script, and from an unpromising beginning, things went from bad to worse. There are four characters, none of them appealing or credible, and the acting, though on a slightly higher level than the plotting, characterisation and dialogue, was never going to trouble the Academy Award judges. It is a short film, less than 90 minutes in all, but it felt much, much longer. 

I thought I ought to check out what other reviewers have made of this film. The Guardian said it "isnt' terrible, just confusing and boring", while Britflicks said it was "atrocious", The Times and The Sunday Times were both scathing about the dialogue. I'm sure there must be kinder reviews of the film out there somewhere, but these reactions were enough to convince me that I hadn't missed too many subtleties.

And yet. There is something that troubles me a lot about publishing a negative review. I think that, when one admires or simply enjoys a book, a play, a film or anything else, it's entirely reasonable to point out any aspects of that don't work quite as well as others. Relentlessly piling on admiring superlatives can be unsatisfactory and pointless. Balance is surely a Good Thing. But there's a potential for unkindess about castigating a work of art that one or more people have worked hard on that should surely give one pause for thought, especially in the case of a low budget film like this. Returning to yesteday's topic, if J.K. Rowling is criticised by reviewers- however unfairly - she has at least the consolation that she is one of the great best-sellers of all time, someone who will be remembered long after most of us are forgotten. I definitely have some sympathy for those who (like me) are far, far, below that level of success. Bad as I thought this film was, in the end, I only decided to publish this review because I'm interested to seek people's opinions on severely negative reviews, and whether they can ever be justified. (I'm talking about reviews where, as here, the reviewer has no personal axe to grind, not the cases much in the news recently where negative reviews have been published, sometimes anonymously, primarily to denigrate fellow writers - I can see no excuse for that practice at all.)

Anyway, this blog is not meant to have a negative slant. It's a means of sharing my pleasure in the crime genre. So as a penance, tomorrow I will write a rave review of an excellent book I've just finished and which I loved from page one to the end!

Collecting Crime

When I talked to second hand book dealers, while researching background for The Serpent Pool, I was struck by how often they mentioned the fact that decent old books have become increasingly difficult to find. I know of at least one (very good) dealer who has given up selling books simply because he couldn’t find enough items of quality. Where they have all gone to, I don’t know. Hidden in private collections, presumably.

The value of a book is largely determined by its rarity and in particular by its condition, and that of its dust wrapper. The quality of the story, oddly, seems to matter rather less. I suppose this is partly because really notable books will often be printed in such large numbers that there is no great value in any one particular copy. The more obscure the author, the more valuable the book, is a general principle. There are exceptions, though. Very often, the first book of a major writer will only be published with a small, or relatively small, print run. This was true of, say, J.K.Rowling and Ian Rankin.

I’m interested in books with intriguing inscriptions from the author. Partly, I must admit, because I have a half-formed mystery plot floating around my mind that involves such an inscription. One or two inscribed books of my own feature in the Collecting Crime page on my website.

There are a number of inscribed items in James M. Pickard’s catalogue of rare books. Two that caught my eye were co-written paperbacks from 1964, the two volumes that made up Liberal Studies: an outline Course. One of the authors and signatories was one N.C. Dexter. Much better known today as the creator of Inspector Morse…

One place where thankfully there is no shortage of second hand books is Hay-on-Wye. And as I've sorted Blogger out (for the moment, anyway) here are some pictures as promised from my recent trip.

However, given that my resident webmaster and IT guru has just left home to start his university career, it's only a question of time before my attempts to cope with technology are afflicted by various glitches. So apologies in advance for any examples of incompetence....