Out of Order Book Club

In this episode, we'll be dropping into the Skelf detective and undertaking series by taking a look at 'Living is a Problem' by Doug Johnstone. This is the sixth book in a (soon to be) seven book series following the lives and work of Dorothy, Jenny and Hannah, three generations of women who run a private investigation and funeral business. In this episode we'll be looking at what stands out and p...

This was intended to be a bitesize episode, half the size of our usual episode, but it hasn't turned out that way. In bitesize episodes, I take a look at one area of a book, a prequel or anything else that breaks the normal structure of an Out of Order Book Club episode. This (surprisingly long!) Bitesize episode just asks one question about 'The Wild Island' by (Lady) Antonia Fraser. The novel 'T...

In this week's episode, Mal takes a journey into hell with 'The Archive of the Forgotten' by A. J. Hackwith; it's a fantasy tale about the so-called Library of the Unwritten in Hell. Yes, that Hell. It's a challenging episode as I'm working out that fantasy novels, in particular, are quite challenging to read out of order. It's all about the world building, so join me as I tell you about my readin...

In this week's epsiode, we take a look at 'Alfred Hitchcock and the Three Investigators - The Mystery of the Fiery Eye' by Robert Arthur Jnr.. This was an interesting one for Mal if only because she'd never heard of this series before and the book cover didn't have an author on it, so Mal only discovered the author was Robert Arthur Jnr. after she had finished it and started planning this episode....

In the second episode of season 3, Mal will be taking a look at 'Beware, Beware' by Steph Cha. This is the second book in the Juniper Song novel trilogy. This was an interesting one for me, since I'd never heard of Steph Cha or the Juniper Song series before. This isn't necessarily weird, there are plenty of novel series out in the world I'm unaware of, but the Juniper Song trilogy is a feminist 2...

Mal begins Season 3 with a "forgotten" Golden Age crime writer - Gladys Mitchell and her novel 'Late Late in the Evening' part of her Mrs (later Dame) Bradley series. Mitchell is an author I've wanted to read for quite a while ever since I read about her existence in Christopher Fowler's 'Book of Forgotten Authors', a book every avid reader should acquaint themselves with. The creation of Mrs Brad...

In this special bonus episode of Out of Order Book Club, Mal is talking to the author Adam Christopher. He is a New York Times bestselling author, who has a ton (technical word!) of experience writing both original novels and tie ins. If you're a regular listener to Out of Order Book Club, you'll know that two of Adam Christopher's novels have appeared on this podcast ( I Only Killed Him Once in S...

In the final episode of this season, Mal will take a second visit to the Buffyverse with 'Cursed' by Mel Odom. This is a crossover tie-in between Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel. In this episode, I'll be wondering whether I actually watched Season 5 of Buffy because I didn't know about Spike and Buffy's relationship. I'll be thinking about how important outlines are when planning a tie-in. Plus...

In the penultimate episode of this season we'll be making the first of two visits to the Buffyverse with 'Coyote Moon' by John Vornholt. The Buffyverse has remained popular since the TV series finished in the the early '00s with multiple tie-ins, novelisatons and audio dramas, so we'll certainly be (lightly) touching on 'What makes something canon in the Buffyverse?' In addition, we'll think about...

In this episode, Mal will be going back to the '90s to revisit one of her first real TV addictions ('The X-Files') with 'Whirlwind' by Charles Grant. In this episode, there will be a distinction made between fans and real 'X-Philes', and a related discussion on whether the TV show itself was contradictory putting the TV show and fans at odds with each other. The episode will address the questions...

In the sixth episode of our TV tie-ins mini-season, Mal, with contributions from a 'Resident Expert' (i.e. her Mum), takes a look at a 60 year old novel - The Man From U.N.C.L.E. by Michael Avallone. This was written in the 1960s, at a time when tie-in authors couldn't immerse themselves in the world of the TV show because they probably had to watch it once a week at the same time the rest of the...

In this episode, I'll be taking a look at a novel where I know nothing/nada/nowt about the TV show, so this should be interesting! The novel is 'Darkness on the Edge of Town' by Adam Christopher, and the TV series is 'Stranger Things'. Can you understand a tie-in novel when you haven't seen one episode of the TV series? Can it work as a standalone novel and/or an entry point to the TV series? What...

In the fourth episode of this season, we're taking a look at 'Mr. Monk and the Blue Flu' by Lee Goldberg from the TV series 'Monk'. This is the first episode where the author of the novel has also written for the TV series, and I'll be using this novel to look at key ideas about fidelity and linearity in tie-in novels. In addition, I'll certainly be asking the usual Out of Order Book Club question...

In this week's episode of the the TV tie-in mini-season, we'll be taking a look at 'Shadow of the Sphinx' by Carla Jablonski, which is a Charmed novel. My knowledge of this series is based on watching a few episodes here and there when it was originally broadcast back in the late 90s and early 00s. Will it impact my understanding of the novel? Well, it is certainly a risk! If you mix that lack of...

In the second episode of this season, we'll be taking a look at a novel tied to a series Mal is legitimately a fan of - Murder, She Wrote. The TV tie-in novel we'll be looking at is 'Murder on Parade' by Jessica Fletcher and Donald Bain . Join me for a trip to Cabot Cove where we'll dealing with these questions, amongst many others: Could you read this novel without knowing anything about Murder,...

We're starting this mini-season with a bit of a bitesize (though not as bitesize as I intended!) episode laying the groundwork for the TV tie-in season. In this episode, we're not looking at any particular book but at the complex world of TV tie-in novels, and some of the challenges involved in writing them. In this episode, I will try to answer the following questions: What exactly is a TV tie-in...

In January, Out of Order Book Club will be back with a new (mini) season. I'll be dipping my toe into the water of TV tie-in novels. I hope to answer some burning questions, at least for me, about: What makes a good TV tie-in novel? Do you need to know anything about the series in order to understand what is going on? Are there any common elements in TV tie-ins? Does being a fan ruin your enjoymen...

"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...

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...

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 recogni...

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...

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 witche...

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...

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 episod...

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...