Here are some more great books that I’ve read lately.  I would recommend these as either a good read, or as a very useful reference base.

In the reference category there is:

• The Forensic Casebook by N. Genge.  Ms Genge jumps straight into the work of a forensic investigator by pointing out the difference between the scene of the crime, and the crime scene.  From there she takes the lay reader through the various forensic (and other investigative) procedures step by step.  A thoroughly informative book including such information as blood splatter patterns (please note it is not ‘blood spatter’ as is commonly used), computer crime and even how to progress through a career path in criminal science.
• Wellington & Waterloo by Major Arthur Griffiths (with an introduction by Viscount Wolseley, K.P., Commander-in-Chief of the Army).  I doubt there are many copies of this book available.  It is extremely old and was bought at an auction.  Unfortunately some cretin has removed the front page giving the date of publication, although the printers and publishers are noted on another page.  As are many English produced reference books about Wellington, this is sycophantic to a small degree.  However this tract has the advantage of being extremely comprehensive, so that the reader learns much about the circumstances surrounding the Wellesley family fortunes, conditions in the army, and also about other notables of the time.  Wonderful reproductions of sketches, cartoons and paintings throughout.

In the pleasurable reading category, recently I’ve read:

• Victim by Gayle Wilson.  Her son has been brutally killed by a child murderer, and when the murderer walks free on a technicality, (an illegal search), she faces the murderer on the steps of the courthouse and attempts to shoot him.  From that moment on, the killer becomes obsessed with Sarah.  She is the protective, avenging mother that he has wanted for himself all his life.  Needless to say, Sarah is less than thrilled to be the object of his attentions, so she positions herself right at the centre of an operation designed to stop the murderer for good.
• Visions in Death by J.D. Robb (Nora Roberts).  This ‘In Death’ book is as terrific as the rest of the series, and this time Eve Dallas makes a friend of a psychic who says she can help Eve solve a series of rape/murders.  Eve doesn’t make friends easily, and being a strictly matter-of-fact soul, she finds it hard to believe the psychic.
• Gallant Waif by Anne Gracie.  This has been out for about seven years and is a Regency novel that I like to read time and time again.  Anne has written many Regency historicals (at present Anne is the president of the Romance Writers of Australia) but for me, Gallant Waif contains a very clever mix of pathos and humour.  Anne likes to put her characters through the wringer, so the reader is relieved when the happy ending arrives.  The reader cannot help but think, “Thank God they made it.”