The Island of Sheep by John Buchan (1936)

This is the last of the Richard Hannay novels. The series runs: The Thirty-Nine Steps (1915), Greenmantle (1916), Mr Standfast (1919), The Three Hostages (1924), The Courts of the Morning (1929), The Island of Sheep (1936). Review by David R: The Island of the title is situated somewhere North of Scotland. Probably based on an island … Continue reading →

The Circle of the Gods by Victor Canning (1977)

In terms of date this novel shouldn’t be in our collection, but until we run out of space I am inclined to keep it! Victor Canning was a astonishingly prolific writer with a long career, from the 1930s to the 1980s. (See previous reviews of his novels Fountain Inn (1939) and Green Battlefield (1943).) In his … Continue reading →

Green Battlefield (1943) by Victor Canning

Review by John Higgins The plot of Green Battlefield can be summarised as follows: Bomber pilot Patrick Orleigh parachutes to ground when his plane is shot down over Normandy, where he is befriended by Arlenne Resant and her elderly servants, the Bonparts. A German officer arrives to billet six soldiers in her house. In the … Continue reading →

Fountain Inn (1939) by the prolific and almost forgotten Victor Canning (1911-1986)

Review by John Higgins. Victor Canning (1911-1986) wrote at an extraordinary rate at the start of his career. Fountain Inn was his twelfth book, and it appeared only five years after his first, the hugely successful Mr. Finchley Discovers his England published in 1934. If you include the short stories he was also writing at … Continue reading →