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He denied he would damage Labour’s prospects by hanging on too long, saying: “My legacy is a fourth term for Labour.”. Tony Blair has conceded he will not serve a “full term” before standing down but rejected pressure from Labour MPs for him to announce his departure date. Is the killer the same individual Frank and Maureen failed to nail years before?Such is Harvey’s commanding skill that we forgive him anything – such as the book’s slowish start and a reliance on some unlikely plot contrivances. We simply relish the adept characterisation and meticulous attention to detail.Perhaps, when the third and final Elder book appears, Darkness and Light may be seen as the adagio movement in a symphony, in which the audience is allowed to relax before the accelerando of the finale.. The witnesses and suspects Elder encounters in the first part are a somewhat bland bunch, and it’s Harvey’s truly elegant writing that keeps impatience at bay.But halfway through, a change of gear screws down our attention. Elder finds echoes of a case he’d worked on with Maureen Pryor, his ex-partner The missing woman is found dead, arranged on her bed. As to the mechanics of the narrative itself, Harvey is such an old hand at this sort of thing that he doesn’t really have to try.

Has she been murdered? Elder becomes aware that the missing woman has led an active (and clandestine) sexual life, taking the risk of meeting partners via the internet. It’s familiar stuff (broken marriage, resentful grown-up daughter), but the unforced nuances have real richness.Once again, Frank is coaxed out of retirement, this time by his ex-wife, to investigate the disappearance of a friend of hers. He reads books, but nothing in particular; he isn’t, unlike Resnick, particularly keen on music (anything classical he automatically assumes is Mozart) But his private life is delineated with consummate skill. Harvey is obviously aware that there would be only so many times he could have his ex-copper riding out of the West (via the A30 or the Penzance-Paddington train) to solve a crime, interact awkwardly with ex-colleagues and try to mend fences with his daughter. After all, Harvey created (and terminated) the successful Resnick books, and knows well how to kiss goodbye before staleness sets in.
Frank Elder is a very different kettle of fish from his jazz-loving predecessor, and one of Harvey’s masterstrokes in this series is to render his hero neutral and almost colourless. If you are one of the many crime aficionados who lapped up the first outing for John Harvey’s retired cop Frank Elder, make the most of this second appearance – there will be only one more. Emma loved it and we had a wonderful holiday in New England where we went to Louisa May Alcott’s house.The Modern Library, £5.99 (ISBN: 0375756728) 10.

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte Technically this is an adult book, but I read it to Emma when she was about 10. She particularly enjoyed the first few chapters when Jane is a little girl and she’s treated badly by her aunts and her cousins and then packed off to a terrible boarding school.Penguin Classics, £5.99 (ISBN: 0140434003). All her books are wonderful, but this one with the irritable sand fairy, the Psammead, is a particular favourite.HarperCollins Children’s Books, £4.99 (ISBN: 0007196873) 9. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott I try to get every girly girl to read this one because those four sisters are so real. Everybody’s favourite is Jo, the tomboy who wants to be a writer.

It’s about a rich, but not spoilt, little girl who’s left at a boarding school when her father loses all his money. Here she has to be a maid and live in the attic, where she has a pet rat as a friend. It ends happily and is a good, girly read.Penguin Popular Classics, £2.99 (ISBN: 0140622373) 8. Five Children and It by Edith Nesbit Nesbit wrote in Edwardian times so her books are a little dated, but she has a lively style and they’re particularly good to read aloud because each chapter finishes the story within it. A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett Instead of a rags to riches story, this is a riches to rags story. And there’s the saintly cousin, Helen, who got on my nerves terribly, but my daughter thought she was wonderful.Wordsworth Editions Ltd, £1.50 (ISBN: 1853261319) 7. They really are lovely, engaging tales.Orion Children’s, £9.99 (ISBN: 1842552473 ) 6.