… suitable for the season.

Best: Dissolution, by C.J. Sansom: A well-done account of an 16th-century honest hunchbacked detective, in the service of the dastardly Thomas Cromwell, who is given the job of finding out who killed the vicar-general’s last agent in a Sussex monastery whose days are clearly numbered. The fact that he and his servant get undressed for bed all the time is vital to the plot, if I suspect historically inaccurate. The ending – answers on an e-mail if you want to know – is surprising, if improbable. (I’ll be buying the sequel.)

Not bad: Rough Trade, Dominique Manotti, a translated-from-the-French detective story/thriller hybrid set in the seemy side of Paris, with distinctly left-ish credentials, being built around the Turkish illegal workers (successful) push for residency rights in 1980.

Don’t bother: The Well of Lost Plots, Jasper Fforde: has had rave reviews and been compared to the work of Douglas Adams. It has some of the wit and none of the intelligence, reminding me of those endless Radio 4 comedy shows in which Oxbridge-type males try to demonstrate how clever they are with word games.

… suitable for the season.

Best: Dissolution, by C.J. Sansom: A well-done account of an 16th-century honest hunchbacked detective, in the service of the dastardly Thomas Cromwell, who is given the job of finding out who killed the vicar-general’s last agent in a Sussex monastery whose days are clearly numbered. The fact that he and his servant get undressed for bed all the time is vital to the plot, if I suspect historically inaccurate. The ending – answers on an e-mail if you want to know – is surprising, if improbable. (I’ll be buying the sequel.)

Not bad: Rough Trade, Dominique Manotti, a translated-from-the-French detective story/thriller hybrid set in the seemy side of Paris, with distinctly left-ish credentials, being built around the Turkish illegal workers (successful) push for residency rights in 1980.

Don’t bother: The Well of Lost Plots, Jasper Fforde: has had rave reviews and been compared to the work of Douglas Adams. It has some of the wit and none of the intelligence, reminding me of those endless Radio 4 comedy shows in which Oxbridge-type males try to demonstrate how clever they are with word games.

I spent the festive days with the family of a friend at Sevenoaks – lovely food, wine and company – and excellent presents, books and the makings of some seriously luxury baths. It was the first Christmas I’ve done in about 10 years, so quite a novelty.

I also learnt a little about the history of a town now known most as a commuter suburb of London. (It was the only place I know of in Britain where the trains were running on Boxing Day – such an odd concept there is of stopping public transport on the days when many people just have to get around.)

There’s an outline of Sevenoak’s historyhere. Most famous is Knole House, best known as the home of Vita Sackville-West, although it has plenty of other historical associations.

There are many Tudor notes in the region – it was handy for London but definitely “country” then, and from those times onwards everyone who was everyone seems to have passed through.

I spent the festive days with the family of a friend at Sevenoaks – lovely food, wine and company – and excellent presents, books and the makings of some seriously luxury baths. It was the first Christmas I’ve done in about 10 years, so quite a novelty.

I also learnt a little about the history of a town now known most as a commuter suburb of London. (It was the only place I know of in Britain where the trains were running on Boxing Day – such an odd concept there is of stopping public transport on the days when many people just have to get around.)

There’s an outline of Sevenoak’s historyhere. Most famous is Knole House, best known as the home of Vita Sackville-West, although it has plenty of other historical associations.

There are many Tudor notes in the region – it was handy for London but definitely “country” then, and from those times onwards everyone who was everyone seems to have passed through.

.flickr-photo { border: solid 2px #000000; }.flickr-yourcomment { }.flickr-frame { text-align: left; padding: 3px; }.flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; }

Austen, originally uploaded by natalieben.

… was one of Sevenoaks to-be-famous visitors, staying with her uncle, Francis Austen, at The Red House, above, in 1788.

The house dates to 1686 and between 1688 and 1734 was home to a Dr Fuller, famous for personally testing all of his remedies before he used them on his patients.

From a book of watercolours, Ann Kearn’s Sevenoaks, text by Patrick Harper, Foxprint, 1992.

.flickr-photo { border: solid 2px #000000; }.flickr-yourcomment { }.flickr-frame { text-align: left; padding: 3px; }.flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; }

Austen, originally uploaded by natalieben.

… was one of Sevenoaks to-be-famous visitors, staying with her uncle, Francis Austen, at The Red House, above, in 1788.

The house dates to 1686 and between 1688 and 1734 was home to a Dr Fuller, famous for personally testing all of his remedies before he used them on his patients.

From a book of watercolours, Ann Kearn’s Sevenoaks, text by Patrick Harper, Foxprint, 1992.