Paul Burston
Lockdown Bookclub – The Good Son
There aren’t many sassy, sexually-ambiguous, ten year-old, Irish first-person narrators in fiction. So thank heavens for Mickey Donnelly....
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Paul Burston
Apr 16, 20204 min read
Lockdown Bookclub – Valley of the Dolls
In the ’60s, her name was synonymous with all things hip and swinging. Her fashion sense was imitated by millions. And on the day...
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Paul Burston
Apr 15, 20203 min read
Lockdown Bookclub – Tennessee Williams, Memoirs
When Tennessee Williams’s memoirs were first published in 1975, one reviewer wrote: ‘If he has not exactly opened his heart, he has...
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Paul Burston
Apr 14, 20202 min read
Lockdown Bookclub – Erotic Lives of the Superheroes
These are queer times for superheroes. Last October, Batwoman came out as the first crime-fighting lesbian to front her own TV show....
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Paul Burston
Apr 13, 20202 min read
Lockdown Bookclub – A Place Called Winter
My last post about EM Forster and Maurice got me thinking about another much-loved, more recent read. Published in 2015 and shortlisted...
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Paul Burston
Apr 11, 20202 min read
Lockdown Bookclub – Maurice
As an isolated gay teenager growing up in South Wales, my introductions to gay literature came largely via the medium of queer pop. I...
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Paul Burston
Apr 9, 20204 min read
Lockdown Bookclub – Ziggyology
‘I never thought I’d need so many people’ - Five Years I’m writing this during the third week of lockdown and the fourth week since we...
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Paul Burston
Apr 8, 20202 min read
Lockdown Bookclub – Workin’ It!
When a book comes lavished with praise from Elton John, Tori Spelling and Vanessa Williams, you know you’re in celebrity love-in...
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Paul Burston
Apr 7, 20202 min read
Lockdown Bookclub – Who Was That Man?
Subtitled ‘A Present for Mr Oscar Wilde’, Neil Bartlett’s first book is both a testament to the legacy of Wilde and an insight into the...
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Paul Burston
Apr 6, 20202 min read
Lockdown Bookclub – My Judy Garland Life
As the title suggests, this isn’t a run-of-the-mill biography of Garland but a personal meditation on how the star shaped the author’s...
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Paul Burston
Apr 5, 20202 min read
Lockdown Bookclub – Confessions of a Pretty Lady
In 1989 I was entrusted with the role of ‘media liaison officer’ for ACT-UP London and enjoying a media liaison with a young Canadian TV...
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Paul Burston
Apr 4, 20202 min read
Lockdown Bookclub – Tales of the City
Since we went into lockdown I’ve been busy tidying my study, reorganising my bookshelves, rediscovering books I haven’t read in a while...
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review by Paul Burston
Jan 19, 20201 min read
To Close To Breathe
I know I’m late to this but I enjoyed it so much I had to post a review. In the first of a series of crime procedurals, Olivia Kiernan...
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Paul Burston
Jul 30, 20191 min read
Fact and fiction
The truth at the heart of my fiction - and possibly the only time by friend Alison Menzies has been compared to Oscar Wilde. Me in...
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Paul Burston
May 5, 20191 min read
Newcastle Noir
Yesterday I took part in my first panel event for The Closer I Get. It was at Newcastle Noir, chaired by ‘Dr Noir’ Jacky Collins, with...
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Paul Burston
Apr 23, 20191 min read
The Neighbour
Fiona Cummins established herself as a major new voice in crime fiction with her debut thriller Rattle and the follow up, The Collector....
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Paul Burston
Apr 1, 20191 min read
Worst Case Scenario
Helen FitzGerald is the queen of the arresting opening sentence. Her last novel Viral opened with the line, “I sucked twelve cocks in...
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Paul Burston
Mar 24, 20191 min read
Call Me A Liar
Call Me A Liar is quite unlike any other crime novel I’ve read. It’s not a police procedural, though at times it reminded me of the pulse...
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by Paul Burston
Mar 7, 20192 min read
Books I haven't blogged about
I'm currently proof reading my new novel 'The Closer I Get', which is published by Orenda Books on July 11 (May 11 e-book), while also...
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Paul Burston
Mar 3, 20191 min read
The Hunting Party
Lucy Foley published three historical novels before turning to the dark side. The Hunting Party is her crime debut and has a simple but...
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