Welcome to my world. My name is Tony Berry, writer and editor (and lifelong pedant) with five crime fiction books and two memoirs to my name. Also running addict, failed chef, theatre 'luvvie' and dedicated cruciverbalist
Diction: a person’s way of pronouncing words Such a simplistic (and I do mean simplistic) definition of a word with so many shades of meaning. And one that is widely open to a plethora of subtle differences. Surely the emphasis should be less on the speaker’s way of pronunciation and much more on the clarity of what pours forth from their mouth. There are almost limitless ways of pronouncing a word. Factors include whether it is in the speaker’s native vocabulary plus their level of education, and hence, familiarity, with the word at issue. But no matter how much all…
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YOU never know where you’ll end up with author Ann Cleeves. An ongoing anticipatory game for crime fiction fans is guessing where her next book will take us. Or rather, which of her characters will be leading our way. Maybe dour Jimmy Perez will be donning his monkey jacket to…
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WHERE does one depart the scene and the other step on to the trail? This is the fascinating additional poser sure to tease readers of The Dark Remains, another welcome addition to the rapidly expanding Scottish noir section of my bookshelves. As the cover exclaims, two highly noteworthy names share…
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SUDDENLY I am delving into my memory bank, reliving how it was to take that nerve-racking walk from West to East across Berlin’s no-man’s-land of Checkpoint Charlie. An instant recall sparked after inexplicably waiting two decades to open a book fully intended to be read when it made its spectacular…
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So many books, so little time WITH more hours being expended on reducing the Bedside Reading Pile (BRP) even less time is free to deal with those consigned to the Books For Review (BFR) category. The BRP pile climbs relentlessly higher, while the BFR queue grows longer and longer. Far…
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MEMORIES never fade of taking the terrifying walk over the divide that once existed between East and West Germany . Trigger-ready guards at your back; trigger-ready guards ahead. One wrong move, however innocent or accidental, and . . . It didn’t bear thinking about. But, nevertheless, you did. Think about it. Every step of the way; and beyond, always looking for followers, watchers, anyone whose presence could be queried. The brain made a rapid recall of all those stories of would-be escapists from the East who failed to make it across the desolate divide. Those who had been dragged back,…
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