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I’ve been saving this one for now because it wouldn’t do to post two exhibitions at once, even though we did rush from one to the other on the same day. The British Library isn’t far from the British Museum, so we hurried up there to have a look at their display, an A-Z of crime fiction which runs until 12 May. Below are some heavily-edited highlights.

This manuscript of a Holmes story suggests that Conan Doyle was a much neater and more decisive...

Sorry it’s been a little quiet around here lately. I’m currently racing to tidy up a manuscript that’s going to the new editor tomorrow. This basically consists of tweaking things that made sense when I wrote them, and scowling at all the queries flagged up in the margin (to which I still don’t know the answers).

Never mind: t������’s still 18 hours for inspiration to strike.

I love the British Museum more every time I visit.

Pompeii and Herculaneum were destroyed by the same volcano AD 79, in but in different ways, so that different kinds of things survived in the buried wreckage. Now the British Museum has cleverly put items from the two together to give a vivid picture of Roman life in these towns, which were unusual only in the horrifying way in which they died.

Husband and I have been to both sites in the past but most of what we saw yesterday was new to us, la...

Having seen what they look like, you’ll be pleased to hear they won’t be dropping by to collect. Instead authors , and will be walking the length of Hadrian’s Wall this April (yes, dressed like that) and they’re on the hunt for sponsors*.

All the money they raise will go to two excellent causes - and If you want to join in without getting the blisters, s where you do it.

*UPDATE, 9 April �� o...

Huge thanks to everyone who came to Ilfracombe Library on Thursday to enjoy drinks and nibbles and witness the strange sight of an author draped in pseudo-Roman clothes (well, it was World Book Day, when you are allowed to dress up). Ilfracombe’s library is perched on a hill overlooking a dramatic rocky beach and must have.

This is not one of them:

Obviously it would have been better to have some shots of the audience (they were there, honestly) but...

I’ll be deep in the Celtic heartlands to celebrate World Book Day this Thursday, taking Ruso and Tilla to . Dug the Iron Age Man (not a character, but a facial reconstruction) will be there too. There will be an element of suspense to the proceedings, for me if not for everyone else, as I foolishly said I would dress up in Roman Lady kit and am now wondering whether I will get through the evening without falling over it.

To find out, join us at 6.30 pm. Tickets are £2 and you...

made alarming reading this week. Others have replied far more cogently than I could, so if you want a proper response, in the Guardian is a good place to start.

Still, if Deary’s comments re-ignite the debate about public libraries, it won’t be a bad thing. We need to continue that debate while there is still a service to discuss. What we’re currently suffering is a haphazard dismantling of a fragmented service as small local ba...

(I’m guessing that if you’ve got past the title of this piece, you have the sort of constitution that will cope with the rest. You have been warned!)

Mosaic from Nimes

��Say the word and he’ll produce a fish out of a sow’s belly, a pigeon out of the lard, a turtle dove out of the ham, and a fowl out of the knuckle.��*

In the light of boast about his cook, I’ve been consulting one or two ancient sources to see if the entrepreneurs who’ve sold us horsemeat masquerading as beef might fin...

Apologies to anyone who might have been trying to browse the ‘Books�� page in the last hour or so. While attempting to type in a review of SEMPER FIDELIS I realised that parts of the page seemed to have gone for a wander since I last aligned them.

Unfortunately sorting out this kind of thing seems to be like trying to stuff an octopus into a string bag. You get one part straight and something else goes unexpectedly awry. The only way to find out which of the octopus’s legs is currently hanging...

…and thank you for visiting.

I’m the author of a series of mysteries featuring Roman Army medic and reluctant sleuth, Gaius Petreius Ruso.

His latest adventure, SEMPER FIDELIS, had just been published in the USA and Canada , and the audiobook, read by Simon Vance, has just been released. ‘Fraid there is no news on the official UK publication date yet but I’m hoping it won’t be far behind. However I’m told imports are available��

So, what’s it about?

Ruso, back with the 20th Legion, is doing his be...