The Drop, Michael Connelly

A Harry Bosch story, the eleventh in the series, and one that continues the tone of the rest of the set. It's very different from the Mickey Haller novels but fans of Michael Connelly will like it.

Bosch is a detective, retired but brought back on a limited contract to work on cold cases. He's had a great deal of success in solving crimes but been far less successful in climbing the career ladder. Being kind, I'd call him a driven loner who lacks empathy. Being unkind, I'd say he was surly and arrogant. Be that as it may, there's a well-crafted book here.

Anyone Write SciFi, Fantasy Or Horror?

Competition now closed

If you or a loved one writes scifi, fantasy or horror then fame and fortune may be just a comment away. The Guardian is looking for independently published work; you can nominate your own or someone else's.

See The great sci-fi hunt for details.

Stuart MacBride: Blind Eye Review

I will say at the outset that Blind Eye isn't one for the squeamish. If you prefer people's eyeballs to stay in their sockets, look away now.

On the other hand, if you like a fast romp through the underbelly of society - and the underbelly of the Aberdeen police - this is another goodie from Stuart MacBride. It's the fifth of the Logan McCrae series. Still a DS, still battling idiots, villains and colleagues, Logan is on the trail of, well, he's not sure at first what he's on the trail of.

I'm running the village now, part 5

As you know, when I graciously agreed to run our lovely little village, I took on captaincy of the Chipping Norton Cricket Club. I've been looking at the finances and there's one payment that stands out - our annual dues to the EEC (Eton and Expats Cricket). It's quite a significant sum so I propose that we refuse to pay it.

This does mean that we'll not be able to play anybody in the league and will probably have to disband our own club, but that's the price to pay for principles (main principle being getting me re-elected).

On a personal note, we'll be having our monthly poker game next week. I'll be bluffing on hands 4, 11 and 23.