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
MUCH joy tempered by bouts of shock and sadness. Such is the lot of family historians everywhere. Something I can well attest to after recent foraging in the foliage of my family tree. Anyone joining this global corps of addicts soon learns that tracking down their ancestors is a long plodding journey. One beset by more highs and lows than ever experienced by the most stubbornly loyal Man United fan. Exciting moments of discovery, and troughs of gloom when trails lead nowhere. Now, thanks to the recent long-awaited release of the 1921 Census of England and Wales, the odds of…
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EMERGENCY service workers are well known for their macabre sense of humour; for having a giggle with the gore. It is, as they will attest, the only way they can cope with the scenes that daily confront them. The dead and dying, the mortally mangled, bodies broken almost beyond repair.
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THE annual conundrum is upon us. As the calendar flips over from December 31 to January 1, the perennial question remains to puzzle us. We step across the threshold from 2021 into 2022 with still no satisfactory answer. We may be bleary-eyed, hungover and half-awake; or euphoric, full of good…
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BOUGHT a couple of bottles of alcohol-free wine. One a bubbly, the other labelled as a Merlot. Friends and dearly beloveds familiar with my past indiscretions might be worried about my sanity on hearing this news. Wondering if this statement is another piece of fiction. Or whether years of running…
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SHOCKS galore can await those delving into their family history; a fact frequently demonstrated by the fascinating TV series Who Do You Think You Are? The constant theme is that of surprise. The program has a well established record in shattering strongly held beliefs in one’s lineage. Much that was…
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IT has been a while – far too long, in fact – since I was last in the moody company of Arkady Renko, the rebellious investigator who is a perennial thorn in the side of Moscow prosecutor, the devious Zurin. Back then, in 1981, Arkady’s creator, Martin Cruz Smith, was announcing his arrival on the crime-writing scene with the gripping Gorky Park. Smith achieved instant success; the book quickly became a well-deserved bestseller. And, as its main protagonist, Arkady Renko joined the worldwide ranks of crime fighters who never let the bad guys win. Even in Russia. In those days…
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