To kick off 2024 in a suitable literary fashion, the ILP team started the year with our annual Reading Week.
Reading Week is a much-loved ILP January team tradition which gives us an invaluable opportunity to fully explore our fast-growing library of literary works across all genres to find exciting new opportunities.
Below are a few highlights of the team’s recommendations from our 2024 Reading Week:
Betty by Georges Simenon
“She wasn’t sad. She had long gone beyond sadness,” writes Georges Simenon in this 1961 psychological thriller. Unmoored after losing everything in a divorce, Betty finds herself with wet shoes and ripped stockings, wandering aimlessly through the bars of Versailles. Drunk, incapable, and on the brink of being assaulted by a ranting, drug-addicted physician, Betty is saved by Laure, a widow from Lyons. Laure takes Betty back to the hotel where she lives and nurses her back to health in the room adjoining hers. It’s in this quiet place that revelations begin to pile, and where the truth about Betty’s dark past emerges.
Find out more about Georges Simenon here.
Duplicate Death by Georgette Heyer
Georgette Heyer uses her signature wit and talent for characterisation in this genial murder mystery – think Bridgerton meets Poirot. When a selection of London’s elite attend a Bridge party in a desirable Mayfair townhouse, the soirée takes an alarming turn when a bachelor is found murdered in the boudoir. Chief Inspector Hemingway, renowned for dealing with his investigations with self-described flair, has his work cut out for him with this double murder mystery set in London’s post-WWII ‘High Society’.
Find out more about Georgette Heyer here.
Epitaph for a Spy by Eric Ambler
This early novel from Ambler is a gripping read, full of tension and intrigue, and is a great introduction to see the original master of the genre develop his unique voice. Joseph Vadassy, a language teacher, is holidaying in the South of France when he is accused by the police of spying on local naval installations. To clear his name, Joseph must spy on the other guests at his resort to find the real criminal. Ambler uses the remote setting of this thriller to increase the suspense, but also to create situations of confusion, leading to many memorable, tension-filled moments between guests that are gripping, revealing and funny.
Find out more about Eric Ambler here.
Colour Scheme by Ngaio Marsh
A classic whodunnint story in an unusual location, this novel is set during WWII at a thermal spa on the North Island of New Zealand, complete with hot springs and mud pool baths. The spa is also located near a Maori reservation and sacred ground, and legends of buried treasure abound. The enchanting backdrop of New Zealand and insight into fascinating Maori culture add depth and colour to this intriguing murder mystery and its motley cast of characters – one of which just happens to be Marsh’s well-known gentleman detective, Chief Inspector Roderick Alleyn, although he arrives in disguise…
Find out more about Ngaio Marsh here.
