Out of Order Book Club

"Never judge a book by its cover", isn't that the old saying?  Well, on the final episode of our first season, I'll be looking at a book that I absolutely judged by it's cover - 'The Wizard of Whitechapel'.  A jaunty cover and the word 'Whitechapel' certainly set off a mix of alarm bells and curiosity in my brain.  In this episode, I'll be looking at a mash up of Arthurian legends and sci fi (with a splash of Victorian serial killer).  It isn't a spoiler to say that the contents of the book did not in any way reflect what was happening on the cover, and I go off on many tangents about Hallie Rubenhold's 'The Fi...

It's the penultimate episode of season one, and it's a longer episode than usual. We're looking at two books from the prolific children's author Enid Blyton and her series The Famous Five.  In this episode, Mal takes a look at the themes of freedom and bloody awful parenting and how much Dick is ill-served in one book vs. another. There are lashings of other stuff too!

Note: For some reason, I keep calling a character called 'Lou' Joe all the way through this, I don't know why, it's so embedded in all of this episode rerecording did not feel like an option! My apologies to anyone who remembers Lou/Joe and feels I am disrespectin...

In this week's episode, we'll be taking a look at the award winning 'Wash this Blood Clean from my Hand' by Fred Vargas translated by Sian Reynolds. It was originally published in France in 2004, and translated in 2007. In this episode, Mal will take a look at how deceptive first impressions can be, will wonder whether you need to spend time with a detective right from the start so you can recognise if he is having an epiphany or just "a bit of a moment", and how going a little deeper in your usual your research can cause a bit...

In this bitesize episode, we'll be taking a look at 'Rosy and John' by Pierre Lemaitre and translated by Frank Wynne. Earlier this season I took a look at 'Alex' from the Camille Verhoeven trilogy that's when I 'discovered' that this novella existed. This means in this episode we will be taking a look at where this book sits as the fourth book in a trilogy (!), and what that means in practice and whether it makes sense! In addition, we'll think about whether it provides any fresh insights into Camille Verhoeven and if this time Camille can be the...

In this week's episode, we'll be looking at 'Queen B' by Juno Dawson. It's the prequel to the Sunday Times Bestselling Her Majesty's Royal Coven series. In this podcast, we'll ask whether dipping into a prequel after reading only one book in a trilogy is an advantage, a disadvantage or it doesn't matter. In addition, we'll look at the themes of revenge and how the persecution of these Tudor witches matches attacks on trans communities in 2025. Finally, Mal takes time to recommend visiting Haworth and Hebden Bridge if you're in the vicinity. It's a busy episode!

Content...

In this week's episode, we'll be looking at 'Death Shall Overcome' by Emma Lathen. Emma Lathen was the creation of two writers: Martha Henissart and Mary Jane Latsis. This episode involves me discovering who this "Agatha Christie of Wall Street" was, and dealing with the fact that the key sleuth/hero is the Vice President of Sloan Guaranty Trust. This shows how much times have changed since a Wall Street hero seems unimaginable at this point in time.

Content Warning: I'll be looking at the themes of racism within this book which directly deals with that topic...

In this episode, we'll be arriving very late to an epic story by looking at the fifth and final book in the Sir Benfro series, 'The Obsidian Throne' by J. D. Oswald.

I am a person who reads more crime fiction than fantasy, so it may seem strange to dive into Oswald's fantasy epic rather than his McLean crime series. However, that's all part of the fun of being an 'out of order' reader. This episode will take you through a short rant about which McLean novels are in my local library, then on to how much...

Welcome to the first bitesize edition of Out of Order Book Club! It's about half the size of our usual podcast and the aim is to take a quick look at a book that has been recommended from a listener, a book that came up in a previous podcast or a book that has been suggested in real life.

In this bitesize edition, I'll be taking a look at 'Save the Cat' by Blake Snyder, as this was recommended by multiple authors at a crime writing festival earlier this year. In this episode, I will focus on...

This week's podcast looks at 'Smoke and Ashes' by Abir Mukherjee, the third book in the very successful Wyndham and Bannerjee series. In fact, the sixth book in the series comes out next month, so it seems like a good time to visit this series as an 'out of order' reader.

In this episode, Mal sees connections between the events and themes in this book and 2025. Plus, she goes off on a tangent about the content of her history lessons at school, gets a little obsessed (confused?) with how much research is involved in writing a historical...

This week, I'll be looking at 'The Loo Sanction' by Trevanian. In this episode, I probably say the word 'smut' a little too much, I wonder why a 'spoof of a spoof' can have a contemplative ending and I think the language on the first page is full of pretentious sexual imagery even though it is a death scene. (Let's not consider what that says about me!)

I'd never heard of Trevanian (real name: Rodney William Whitaker) until I picked this book up on a charity bookshelf either this year, which is a huge surprise since he...

In this episode, we'll be looking at 'Full Dark House' by Christopher Fowler from the Bryant and May series. "Why would you choose the first book in this series to focus on?" I hear you ask (or perhaps not.) Well, Christopher Fowler himself suggested that this was not the greatest place to start if you wanted to read or understand the later books and various characters. In this episode, Mal will dip into Christopher Fowler's blog for the reason why he believed this, and she'll take pleasure in the fact she has very few pronunciation issues.

You...

Welcome to the fourth episode of Out of Order Book Club. In this episode, Mal will be looking at 'I Only Killed Him Once' by New York Times bestselling author Adam Christopher. This is the third book in his LA Trilogy about Ray Electromatic. In this episode, Mal has a problem pronouncing 'tarmacadam', uses the phrase 'ruthlessly efficient' a bit too much, feels a strong connection as an 'out of order' reader with Ray and questions whether she is an 'aspiring writer' or just thinking about being one.

Podcast content: Some swearing

You can find...

Welcome to the third episode of Out of Order Book Club. In this episode, we will focus on 'The Witch of Lagg' by Ann Pilling. This is the third book in the four book 'Dark Powers' series. Join Mal as she decides not to insult anyone from Scotland by ignoring the phonetic spelling of the Scottish dialogue, goes down a bit of rabbit hole of left and right brain creativity, wonders why she had more stomach for horror as a child than as an adult and asks whether parenting in children's books has improved over time.

Note...

Welcome to the second episode of Out of Order Book Club. This week we take a look at 'Alex' written by Pierre LaMaitre and translated by Frank Wynne. In this episode, Mal will have her memory tested by the twists and turns in 'Alex', will apologise again (and again) for her poor pronunciation skills, and will constantly change her mind about the themes in the book.

Podcast content: Some swearing, mention (but no description) of violence against women

You can find Mal on Blue Sky: @outoforderbookclub.bsky.social

Useful links and sources for...

Welcome to the first episode of Out of Order Book Club. This is our first season, and we're starting strong with Betrayals by the prolific Canadian author Kelley Armstrong. This is the 4th book in the Cainsville series. In this episode, Mal potentially offends many Welsh speakers with her pronunication, she faces down her problem with love triangles and she learns to be a little less anal about genres.

Podcast content: Some swearing, mention (but no description) of sex, mention (but no description) of violence against women

This is where you can find Mal on...

Welcome to the Out of Order Book Club where we take on the pleasure or the challenge of reading book series out of order. Each week we'll choose a random book from a random series and see if it really matters where a story begins.