Grantchester Grind (Published in 1995) - At a college - Authored by Tom Sharpe

Also known as A Porterhouse Chronicle, Grantchester Grind is a sequel of Porterhouse Blue. Released in 1995, the book is written by Tom Sharpe, who has yet again created a hilariously absurd story, which seems to start out simple and blows out of proportion. Born in 1928, and having completed his education at Pembroke College, Cambridge, Tom Sharpe has a good idea of the workings of such institutions and thus how to create a novel which has a ring of authenticity to it.
This book, like its prequel, is also based in a fictitious college, called Porterhouse, which is shown to be not only one of the best colleges in Cambridge, but also one of the most conservative ones. While the first novel, Porterhouse Blue was a standalone book, this novel has used references from the previous one.
The book opens with a simple plot and mostly the same characters as its predecessor, with a few new entries. Skullion, previously, the Head Porter at the College, is now Master, due to a chain of seriously ridiculous events, which have led to him murdering the previous Master, Sir Godber Evans, accidentally of course! However, Skullion too is frail after a stroke. Knowing he might not last very long, the others start to look for someone to replace him, when the time comes, from among the alumni.




Also, the college is in dire financial straits. The solutions to this problem gradually reveal themselves. First solution (laced with complications) comes in the form of Lady Mary, the widow of Sir Evans. She believes her husband was murdered. Though her beliefs and what the staff at Porterhouse wants to believe are two very different things. When she realizes no one is willing to take her seriously, or else is turning a blind eye to her convictions, she decides to plant an agent of hers in the form of a Fellow, by anonymously sending 6 million pounds to the Sir Godber Evans Memorial Fellowship. Her agent has one task only, to find out who killed her husband.
Even though the book is not a mystery novel, all the characters definitely behave that way, what with their vested interests and half-truths. Another financial messiah comes in the form of Edgar Hartang, the leading head of a big American media company, by the name of Transworld Television Productions. But Hartang, like Lady Mary, has some other plans up his sleeve. He wants to create a front for his money laundering business. And unfortunately for the Porterhouse College, they seem to be his most preferred option.
The team of Transworld Television Productions convinces the college to let them shoot a documentary there. And in their over-zealous excitement they damage a part of the chapel, and Porterhouse, demands they pay for the damages, subsequently upsetting Hartang’s money laundering plans. Eventually, an alcoholic by the name of Lord Jeremy Pimpole is appointed as the Master of Porterhouse.
Like Porterhouse Blue, this book too lives up to its reputation. It is funny, witty and full of misunderstandings, drunken admissions, and sexual ideas. In typical Tom Sharpe style, he creates a plot so simple and characters so ordinary, that when he takes them and twists them up, he creates a novel so absurd and out-there that as a reader, it might be easier to assume the events to be true!

Come to Grief - By Dick Francis - Released in 1995

John Sidney Halley or Sid Halley makes his last appearance after three books, in Come To Grief (other books - Odds Against, Whip in Hand, Under Orders). A former jockey turned PI, he seems physically unassuming, and that he has a prosthetic hand is something that no one would ever notice.

It is this façade that manages to keep under wraps the brilliant mind he has for espionage, computer hacking, even martial arts - he is never found wanting in danger. But there is a fun side to him as well - like the gambling machine he keeps in his room; he is sensitive as well, gifting a poor cancer-ridden child a fish to keep her company.

Working with horses since he was fifteen, he won championships, however he also tragically crippled his left hand - it was further damaged by a villainous character, and resulted in its amputation. Although he never seems to grudge the accident openly, he does feel bitter within about his loss.

Sid’s friendship with Ellis Quint, also a former jockey, is his solace. Ellis is now a well known chat show host with a huge fan following. On the other hand, he also befriends Rachel, who is suffering from leukemia. She has lost her thorough-bred Silverboy, who was mercilessly mutilated - this gives the child nightmares.


Unbeknownst to Sid, Ellis has a dirty secret; he enjoys torturing and mutilating animals, as a cover up, it is Quint himself who sheds light on these horrific acts, making it known that the killings happen around the full moon. The animals’ front left hooves are amputated, repeatedly on a full moon, for months together - Sid bizarrely mirrors this with loss of his own  left hand.

Sid Halley steps in, and the facts are horrifying, he must implicate his best friend in this crime - and as a result, the media, police and community are all up in arms against Halley, given Quint’s popularity. He must quell his own doubts about the kind of man Ellis is, the fact that the two are like brothers and best of friends - he has an uphill task convincing even himself of his friend’s crime! The only thing that keeps him going is his friendship for Rachel and the many owners whose blameless horses have borne the brunt of sheer cruelty.

As a result of all the bloodshed, Sid has nightmares about his ghost limb, and the hand he has left. Despite attempts made on his life, he fights to bring the perpetrator to justice. The book opens with a court scene, where the trial of Ellis Quint is about to begin. The chief witness for prosecution is Sid, testifying against his friend. All the events are in flashback.

Sid has a strong case built up against Quint, but the law prevents him from discussing the case with the media or in public, since it is sub judice. Taking advantage of his silence, yellow journalism has a field day, especially vicious in its treatment is a tabloid called The Pump. Sid traces its vitriolic outburst against him, back to a relationship between Ellis and tabloid’s owner, a business tycoon. And then there is a horrific scene where Sid is caught and in danger of being killed.

The novel won an Edgar  and Silver Dagger for Francis, a must read, though best avoided by adolescents!

Self-Defense (published in 1995) - Authored by Jonathan Kellerman

We meet Alex Delaware in his ninth adventure - along with Milo Sturgis, LAPD detective and friend. Although Dr. Delaware does not see private clients anymore, he has made an exception for Ms. Lucy Lowell, at the behest of Milo, a juror on a case involving a brutal serial killer that he was assigned to. Lucy has a history of being tormented by nightmare with a recurrent theme - a young child of four alone in a dark forest, privy to a strange act - a sleeping woman being carried away by three men. She has a past that is marred by abandonment and emotional abuse, as a twenty five year old, she lives with these scars, that have resurfaced and are beginning to cloud her ability to remain lucid.
Her father, once a celebrated author - Mr. Bayard Lowell is now a cripple, discontented with life. He’d enjoyed his laurels while they lasted, once the novelty of popularity faded, Bayard chose to open ‘Sanctum’- a retreat for artists and writers, who lived off ‘free love’ in the 1970s. The retreat is now an abandoned and rundown, ramshackle structure.
Although Lucy seems to have no memory of her time spent there, her half brother Ken recalls the summer when Bayard’s kids from both his marriages, came over to the Sanctum. On further investigation, it is revealed that a young woman called Karen Best had gone missing from the retreat; she was a waitress at a restaurant not far from Sanctum. Lucy’s dream may have its roots in that she had witnessed her father and two other men carrying Karen’s body into the woods.

Relief for the reader is at hand, though, for amidst all this chaotic investigating and gore - Lucy becomes infatuated with our suave Detective Sturgis, creating a few blushing moments - not for her, but him! As for Alex and Robin, the two are house hunting, and find a nook in Malibu, affordable, thanks to the recession, with the French bulldog, who was rescued by Delaware in ‘Bad Love.’

The sub plot is interesting as well - the trial of Job Shwandt has captured the attention of everyone, including Gothic-types who think he’s god; the man is on trial for a series of killings in which he brutally ripped his victims to shreds. The worst had been the case of Carrie Fielding, a ten year old girl from Brentwood. She was kidnapped, raped, strangled and mutilated. Milo stepped in and took over the case thereafter, bringing the perpetrator to book. He is picked up by the police, who find a mummified hand (not Carrie’s) in the glove compartment.

As Shwandt’s trial progresses, so does Lucy’s nightmare, which is now taking over reality, she starts to believe that she has an insight into the details of the crime scene: how he defecated into holes that he bore into the victim’s body, lacerating them and dishonoring the once live person in the most horrific manner imaginable. The book is longish, compared to Kellerman’s other works, with fifty chapters in all; in spite of the time travelling, it makes an interesting read, and gives an in depth view of the ‘70s.