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09/12/2012

Mariella Frostrup talks to India Knight about her hilarious new novel 'Mutton', and to MC Beaton about her latest Agatha Raisin murder mystery 'Hiss and Hers'.

Mariella Frostrup talks to India Knight about her hilarious new novel "Mutton" featuring 46 year old heroine Clara Hutt and her encounters with the opposite sex. Clara Hutt has appeared in two previous novels by India Knight, "My Life On A Plate" and "Comfort and Joy." In this novel Clara is struggling with her appearance after meeting a long lost school friend who looks like a radiant 34 year old. She considers the botox route too, but comments that a consultation with Doctor Halliday, is like "horse inspections when people force their mouths open to pronounce on the quality of their teeth, and pick their hooves up to examine their feet." A book which explores the cattle market world of cosmetic surgery.

M C Beaton proves that age is no bar to high achievement for women: now aged 76 this year sees the publication of the 23rd novel in the Agatha Raisin Murder Mystery series - "Hiss and Hers"- and she has become the second most borrowed adult crime author from libraries nationwide. She discusses the secret of her success and why she keeps on writing.

James Patterson beat M C Beaton for the top spot as the most borrowed author from public libraries, but what else are library users reading and how does it vary across the country? Dorcas Taylor, Director of Workquake, from East Riding Library Service and Annie Bell, Readership Development Officer, from Edinburgh Library Service reveal what their readers are enjoying locally with some surprising run-away successes. What are the rest of us missing out on?

Producer: Hilary Dunn.

Available now

28 minutes

Last on

Thu 13 Dec 2012 15:30

What does your public library mean to you and your family?

Read the Opening Chapter of Mutton by India Knight

Get ahead with Mariella’s next book Flight Behaviour by Barbara Kingsolver

BOOKLIST

Mutton – India Knight

Publisher: Fig Tree

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Hiss and Hers – M C Beaton

Publisher: Constable

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Popular local authors most frequently borrowed from the library:

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EDINBURGH:

Brighton Belle: A Mirabelle Bevan Mystery – Sarah Sheridan

Publisher: Polygon An Imprint of Birlinn Limited

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The White Lie – Andrea Gillies

Publisher: Short Books Ltd

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Richard Holloway – Leaving Alexandria: A Memoir of Faith and Doubt

Publisher: Canongate Books Ltd

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EAST RIDING OF YORKSHIRE:

The Innkeeper's Daughter – Val Wood

Publisher: Bantam Press

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The Little Village School – Gervaise Phinn

Publisher: Hodder Paperbacks

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Up Beat and Down Dale: Life and Crimes in the Yorkshire Countryside – Mike Pannett

Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton

Broadcasts

  • Sun 9 Dec 2012 16:00
  • Thu 13 Dec 2012 15:30

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