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by Jo Casebourne

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The Unexpected Inheritance of Inspector Chopra

I listened to The Unexpected Inheritance of Inspector Chopra by Vaseem Khan a few months ago, having very much enjoyed his Malabar House series (see my blogs on City of Destruction, Midnight at Malabar House, Dying Day, The Lost Man of Bombay and Death of a Lesser God), and thoroughly enjoyed it. The last thing retired Inspector Chopra
June 3, 2026June 3, 2026

Books of the Year 2025

I read more books than I ever have in a year in 2025 – 70 in all, instead of my usual around 50. Having said that I don’t have the strength of feeling on stand-out favourites that I have some years, but nevertheless I had some very enjoyable reading this year, so here goes with
December 30, 2025December 30, 2025

Shrines of Gaiety

I always look forward to the latest novel by Kate Atkinson (see my previous blogs) and last year was given Shrines of Gaiety for my birthday and finally got a chance to read it in May. It is set in a London reeling from the First World War, one where everyone is keen to forget
October 3, 2024October 3, 2024

The Running Grave

I haven’t read for months and to get going again I treated myself in December to The Running Grave by Robert Galbraith, the latest in the Cormoran Strike detective fiction series (see my previous blogs on the rest of the series so far: The Ink Black Heart, Lethal White, Career of Evil, The Silkworm, The Cuckoo’s Calling and Troubled Blood). The series
April 12, 2024August 15, 2024

Supercharged Teams

I am always on the lookout for books that make work better and so was eager to read Supercharged Teams: The 30 Tools of Great Teamwork by Pam Hamilton. Its premise is that in a working world that is faster, leaner and busier than ever we forget that establishing good teamwork itself needs work. It
October 25, 2023August 15, 2024

Small Pleasures

It’s a while since I read a novel that so throughly captivated me in the way that Small Pleasures by Clare Chambers did. It is the story of Jean Swinney, a 39 year old newspaper reporter on a local Kent paper, consigned in 1957 to writing columns on gardening and recipes. She lives a life
August 1, 2023August 19, 2024

The Paper Palace

The Paper Palace by Miranda Cowley Heller was recommended to me by a friend as a well-written love triangle that I would enjoy, so I read it on holiday by the pool in April, absolutely captivated by the setting and characters. The setting is a family lake house in Cape Cod, named the Paper Palace
May 19, 2023August 19, 2024

These Are Not Gentle People

I can’t remember how I heard about These Are Not Gentle People by Andrew Harding but having long been interested in the history of South Africa and apartheid I put it on my reading list. This non-fiction book is about what happened when two black men were killed on a white-owned farm in a town
May 7, 2023August 19, 2024

Life in Five Senses

I am a big fan of Gretchen Rubin (see my blogs on Better Then Before, Happier at Home And The Happiness Project) so I pre-ordered her new book Life in Five Senses: How Exploring the Senses Got Me Out of My Head and Into the World. As someone who spends too much time in my
April 27, 2023August 19, 2024

This is the Story of a Happy Marriage

I have enjoyed reading Ann Patchett’s fiction (see my blogs on The Dutch House and Ann Patchett), so when I heard about her essay on writing, ‘The Getaway Car’, I bought the collection it is in – This is the Story of a Happy Marriage, and enjoyed reading it on the November commute. This non-fiction collection
December 7, 2022August 19, 2024

What Does Jeremy Think?

Anyone who is interested in politics, policy and the inner workings of government in the UK should read What Does Jeremy Think?: Jeremy Heywood and the Making of Modern Britain by his wife Suzanne Heywood, a biography of the most influential civil servant the country has probably ever seen. It is too soon to know how Heywood’s
July 5, 2021August 19, 2024

Michelle Obama

I couldn’t wait for Christmas to read Becoming by Michelle Obama and delighted in spending every spare minute in the first week of December enjoying it. It is a riveting read, particular if you enjoy a good political autobiography like I do (see my blogs on What Happened, Hard Choices, My Story, and Reading Politics). For
December 16, 2018August 19, 2024

A God in Ruins

A God in Ruins by Kate Atkinson is one of the best books I have read for years. It is the sequel to Life after Life which was the first Kate Atkinson book that I hadn’t enjoyed (I seem to have been in a minority of one given the overwhelmingly positive reviews), so I wasn’t
July 6, 2015August 19, 2024
The Unexpected Inheritance of Inspector Chopra
  • Colonial
June 3, 2026June 3, 2026

The Unexpected Inheritance of Inspector Chopra

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2 mins
A Family Affair
  • Fiction
May 31, 2026June 3, 2026

A Family Affair

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2 mins
Homecoming
  • Crime
May 25, 2026May 31, 2026

Homecoming

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2 mins
Kala
  • Crime
May 13, 2026May 25, 2026

Kala

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2 mins
This House of Grief
  • Crime
May 10, 2026May 13, 2026

This House of Grief

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4 mins
Kind
  • Non-fiction
April 28, 2026May 10, 2026

Kind

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5 mins
Open Water
  • Fiction
April 23, 2026April 28, 2026

Open Water

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3 mins
The Missing Letters of Mrs Bright
  • Fiction
April 13, 2026April 23, 2026

The Missing Letters of Mrs Bright

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3 mins
Bookish
  • Non-fiction
April 4, 2026April 13, 2026

Bookish

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3 mins
A Hundred Suns
  • Fiction
March 27, 2026April 4, 2026

A Hundred Suns

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2 mins
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About me

Jo Casebourne

Writer
Jo Casebourne is a historical fiction writer, a reading obsessive and book blogger. She is Chief Executive of research charity Foundations, focused on improving the lives of vulnerable children. Follow Jo on X @jocasebourne

Fiction

Crime
95 posts
Historical
123 posts
Romantic
33 posts

Non-Fiction

Biography
28 posts
Crime
15 posts
Happiness
26 posts
Historical
20 posts
Politics
21 posts
Travel
19 posts
Work
35 posts

Spotlights

Books of the Year
14 posts
Second world war
52 posts

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