Classic Comfort Reads… with A.J. Griffiths-Jones

The idea behind the Classic Comfort posts is that each featured writer chooses a favourite title from the classics – we’ll define ‘classic’ as pre-1940 – and a favourite comfort read, a book they always return to, for whatever reasons. As third book in each post, we’ll have one by the writer.

This week, we have A.J. Griffiths-Jones, who writes true crime, crime fiction & mysteries. She’s also one of the most supportive authors out there, so big thanks and – over to AJ!

Classic:

This is a book that has always fascinated me & I’ve read it more times than I can remember. An absolute masterpiece of the horror genre, it begins with Jonathan Harker travelling to Transylvania to help Count Dracula to purchase property in England. Using guile, charm & cunning the Count soon pulls Harker into a series of tragic blood-curdling events.

Stoker was brilliant at setting the scene & the descriptions in this work are amazing. It’s no wonder that Dracula is still read all over the world with relish.

Comfort:

The No.1 Ladies Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith is the first instalment of a brilliant series about larger-than-life amateur sleuth Precious Ramotswe. Precious is a really colourful character, solving cases with unconventional methods & a cheery disposition, whether it be hunting wayward daughters, devious conmen or philandering husbands.

I first discovered this series after a holiday in Gambia & was drawn in by the African setting. It’s one of those reads that you can pick up and chuckle over when you’re feeling down & Precious Ramotswe will warm your being like a big heartfelt hug!

Thank you, AJ! I’ve read and enjoyed a couple of AJ’s books now – she creates lovely characters, which I always enjoy. Isobel is the first book in her Mallery & Hobbs Murder Case series and like the others, it has a gorgeous, eye-catching cover image. Here’s the blurb:

As the sleepy French village of Saint Margaux eagerly awaits its new resident, in the form of pastry chef Isobel Gilyard, tongues are already wagging. A few days later, when vineyard owner Cecile Vidal is brutally murdered, fingers naturally point towards the newly arrived Englishwoman. Suspicion is not without foundation, as Isobel was seen near the murder scene, and holds some deadly secrets of her own.

As Inspector Max Mallery tackles his first case for Bordeaux police, he’s thrown a curveball in the form of Yorkshire detective Jack Hobbs who joins the team with enthusiasm and English wit. As investigators untangle a tightly woven web of clues, Isobel finds herself trapped on the wrong side of the law.

A.J. Griffiths-Jones is a full-time author, crime researcher & genealogist from Shropshire, U.K. She has travelled extensively & spent a large part of her working life in China, where she was Language Training Manager for Citibank, in Shanghai. A.J. writes across many different genres, both fiction and non-fiction, and spends her free time visiting different countries, swimming & cooking.

You can find out more about AJ and her books on her website (check out the recipes, too) on Twitter and Facebook.