A neighbour revived, the prodigal parcel and a Maloney review

The neighbour seemed better last night, thank goodness – his daughter decided to stay over and the situation seemed to be much calmer. Phew. Will pop round after work tonight to see how things are, but I suspect that Daughter has it all in hand. She’s great.

Oh and I thought last night’s first episode of “Mutual Friends” was pretty fabulous, apart from Keeley Hawes, who must surely have cornered the market in cold women by now … But I loved the menfolk and am, I suspect, already hooked. Being me, I particularly loved the child-hating man, who couldn’t remember the names of his friend’s children. Bliss! And actually so very true – I do always have to think about that …

Meanwhile at work, the resetting of the electricity supply has had – as far as we can tell – no ill effects and we are all functioning at optimum settings. Well, as far as we ever do (and naturally I speak only of myself here …). I have also discovered my parcel, hurrah! A process which involved ringing up the central City Link parcel service number (Lord preserve us from nonsensical automated phone systems – bring back the human voice, please ...) and being told I absolutely had to key in my parcel consignment number or nothing whatever would be done. Groan. I had no consignment number – that part of my notification was left blank. Isn’t it always the way?? Sadly, the voice system did not respond well to me yelling this fact down the phone several times. In the end I had to make up a consignment number simply to get through to the next stage, where I was told in no uncertain terms that the number I’d keyed in was incorrect but – relief! – at least it gave me the local Guildford depot number to contact, which rather begs the question as to how it knew I was ringing from Guildford … Anyway, the woman I spoke to in Guildford was incredibly nice and helpful, as well as being real (double hurrah and gosh) and I have discovered that my parcel is actually with the neighbour opposite rather than the neighbour below. The house number on the notification card was wrong then, but at least I can collect the goods tonight. Dammit it though, I know it’s not books. Of any sort. So I’m still waiting for poor old Maloney to turn up, Gawd bless ’im …

Talking of which, I received a lovely review of Maloney’s Law from Tony Judge, author of philosophical journey novel, Sirocco Express – which, strangely enough, I’m reading now so review to come!:

“Novelist and poet Anne Brooke’s novel, Maloney’s Law, introduces us to Paul Maloney, ‘a small-time private investigator from London’. Against his better judgement, he takes on a case from big-time businessman, Dominic Allen. For Maloney, the case is fraught with physical and emotional risks. Dominic is his ex-lover, and the ‘ex’ part of the equation is still the source of great pain for Maloney. With her use of a gay PI, Brooke is able to step outside the hard-bitten clichés of the genre and explore an emotional landscape denied to many other crime writers. When Maloney is upset, he cries. Yet, when he needs information vital to his new case, he breaks into a secure building and fights his way out, dodging bullets as he goes. The complexity of her main character is one of the great strengths of the novel. The reader feels his peril and his emotional turmoil when he discovers just how ruthless his ex-lover can be. Brooke adheres to one of the best traditions of the genre in the tightness and internal consistency of her plot. The details of the investigation weave an ever more intriguing spell around the reader. Her descriptions of the gruesome reprisals inflicted on Maloney, after he discovers too much, are carried off with compelling realism. His immersion in the Soho clubbing scene is also done with unflinching honesty. With writing credits that range across crime fiction, psychological thrillers, romantic comedy, fantasy and poetry, one can only wonder where Anne Brooke’s eclectic interests will take her next. On the evidence of Maloney’s Law, it will be a fascinating destination.”

Thanks so much, Tony – hugely appreciated indeed!

We’re also trying to sort out our staff rota for Saturday open days – in the end I’m having to do the morning of Saturday 6 September, which means I’ll have to jiggle around with my planned lunch with my friend in Kent on that day – I’m hoping it can become a planned tea instead, depending on her schedule. If that works out, I’ll be shattered on the Sunday though! Ah well – as I said to the boss, as I’m a mid-40s woman, I’m used to being tired anyway, so I probably won’t notice the difference. Hey ho.

Had my usual lunchtime stroll round campus and sat by the lake for a while. The worst thing is getting up to go back – really I could sit there all afternoon and be quite happy. Tonight, I’m planning to stare in a puzzled manner at Hallsfoot’s Battle for a while and then I’ll be glued to “Who Do You Think You Are?” with Jerry Springer. Apparently it’s all about the Holocaust, so it’ll be traumatic but well worth watching, I’m sure.

Today’s nice things:

1. Discovering my missing parcel
2. Speaking to a nice woman on the phone
3. Lunchtime stroll
4. The Maloney review

Anne Brooke
Anne's website