June 2022 | Page 44

BookTalk

Book Talk with Smiffs book & card store , Nerja

This month ’ s BookTalk has a bit of a theme ... all the books are written by local authors . What a lot of very talented residents we have !
Tilting at windmills by Henry Murphy . Mark had never thought of retiring . Barristers don ’ t retire . However , his 64th birthday was fast approaching . ‘ When I ’ m 64 ’ and all that , and , beneath the wig and gown , he had always had a desire to write . Time was running out . It ’ s now or never . He – rather he and his wife , Helen – decided they would take a year out . Like their children had , only later .
They quickly ruled out the West of Ireland and the Wild Atlantic Way . For obvious reasons . And opted instead for a pueblo blanco in Andalucía . Mark could write his bestseller there . A white-washed house in a white-washed village in the mountains of Andalucía . What more could an aspiring author want ?
He lost no time in getting down to it . A writing room without a view and a typewriter . And no interruptions . Everything went splendidly for a day or two , when fate intervened . Followed by weeks of slow progress while he negotiated surgery and the intricacies of plot .
In May , Mark carried out a quarterly review . Radical changes were called for and implemented . Ruthlessly . Beginning with telling Helen he couldn ’ t come home for her birthday . Summer came and went , and so did Helen . Deadlines loomed . Would Mark do it ? Would he achieve his New Year ’ s resolution : One Year , One Novel ?
From the author of the Dermot McNamara series , An Eye on the Whiplash , Brief Cases and A Night at the Inns , comes a hilarious new novel which will ring familiar to anyone who has ever thought there is a book within them . Henry Murphy is a barrister and writer . He is the author of a number of shortstory collections , including An Eye on the Whiplash ( 1997 ), Brief Cases ( 2000 ) and A Night at the Inns ( 2008 ).
Orgiva - A chancers guide to Rural Spain by Andy Bailey . After nearly 20 years of observing and integrating the story is out ! A memoir , a gamble , two books in one . An insight to life in rural Spain . Encompassing religion , agriculture , gambling and raising a family under the towering snow-covered
mountains of the Sierra Nevada in southern Spain . Andy , the ex-Cornish Farm Manager , rugby player and inseminator , moves his family from Somerset to a remote mountainous region in Andalucía . A gamble , a stumble in the dark . Not being able to converse in English that well let alone in Spanish , the giant step is taken . The first visit to Órgiva convinces the family in only three days that a return holiday would be a chance worth taking . The result , the purchase of a holiday letting business and the change of life that leads to other opportunities of diversification .
How did a Cornishman end up on a fresh March night with his head up the Virgin ’ s cloak parading the effigy around the town for eight hours , with the equivalent of World War Two exploding through the darkness ? A question answered within .
Darkness in Cordoba by Paul Bradley . On Palm Sunday , the body of an eminent priest is discovered in the magnificent Cathedral of Córdoba . An elderly man is found squatting on the stone floor gazing intently at the corpse . All he would say is three words in Spanish . “ Sólo hablo árabe – I only speak Arabic .”
The local police are convinced the Arab murdered the priest , but the bishop is adamant that he is not guilty . In this fifth standalone book of the Andalusian Mystery Series , Detective Inspector Leon Prado with interpreters ’ ex-British soldier Phillip Armitage , and American videographer Amanda Salisbury are ordered to take over the investigation . Their appointment stirs bitter resentment among the Córdoba force , city officials , and religious brotherhoods who conspire to obstruct their inquiries . Prado and team discover the unexplained death masks a darker and more sinister secret , a secret that must be uncovered before it ’ s too late .
Life ’ s a Peach by Steve Askham . Extraordinary fruity business you didn ’ t know that you NEED to know ... If you want to be absolutely fascinating round the dinner table , this is the book for you : Why is a passion fruit called a passion fruit ? How come a pineapple is a group of berries ? ( Yes , you read that right !) Which fruit hosts an insect which has the biggest penis to body size ratio in the entire animal kingdom ? Do you know how to force a
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