I read mostly crime fiction in September 2022. I read:

• The Night Hawks by Elly Griffiths
• The Grave Tattoo by Val McDermid
• A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson
• The Mystery of Three Quarters by Sophie Hannah
• Meditations by Marcus Aurelius
• Hope to Die by Cara Hunter
• Dirty Little Secrets by Jo Spain
• Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner

My two favourite reads were A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson and Dirty Little Secrets by Jo Spain.

A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson is a YA book about a grade A student, Pippa, who is investigating a murder in her hometown for her A-level project. The murder is very close to heart as the victim, Andie, and the alleged killer, Sal, were both students at Pippa’s school. With the help of Sal’s brother, she sets out to prove that Sal was innocent, but they quickly find themselves in danger.

The book is told in narrative and in diary logs, which is quite fitting for the story. I thought it was a really clever and original take on the crime thriller genre and I look forward to reading the other two books in the series.

I loved Dirty Little Secrets by Jo Spain. A woman is found dead in her home after three months casting suspicion on all the neighbours of a gated community. The detectives soon find that every household had a reason to want to silence the victim, who has made it her business to uncover everyone’s secrets. It kept me guessing until the end and I loved the resolution.

The Grave Tattoo was also a really good book as it was all about Wordsworth and I really enjoyed the combination of a contemporary thriller with a literary mystery. It was a very unusual book, and I loved the Lake District setting which is a place I know well.

Crying in H Mart is a very moving memoir of the author’s relationship with her mother and her connection to her Korean heritage. It is a book full of food which made me want to try more Korean dishes.