The Love Square by Laura Jane Williams. I liked Our Stop but unfortunately her next book didn’t draw me in. Maybe I wasn’t in the mood for a comedy romance.

Who Killed John Lennon? by Lesley-Ann Jones. I was very disappointed in this one, as her biography of Freddie Mercury was so good, but the writing style was so wordy and unreadable.

The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix. I thought this started off well but it got a little too gross for me and I wasn’t keen on the characters.

Final Cut by S J Watson. The latest novel from the author of Before I Go To Sleep and Second Life was an advance copy from NetGalley. I found the writing disappointing and not gripping at all.

The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern. I liked The Night Circus (although I found it too long). Sadly I couldn’t get into her next book, which I found hard going.

Here is the Beehive by Sarah Crossan. I so wanted to like this book but I found the strong language uncomfortable and couldn’t get into the verse format.

Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami. The only Murakami novels I’ve really liked so far are Norwegian Wood and Killing Commendatore. His style can be frustratingly dull sometimes.

The Guest List by Lucy Foley. The concept for this one sounded like such a page-turner but I found that it didn’t interest me, once I was reading. I suppose the wedding theme put me off.

The Babysitter by Phoebe Morgan. Having been impressed by The Girl Next Door, I mistakenly thought this one would be as gripping. I think I’m going off domestic thrillers too.

If you’ve read any of these, I hope you liked them more than I did. Particularly in these troubled times, when reading is an important escape, I want to be gripped and engaged by what I read. 

Lesley-Ann Jones begins the book with an introduction in which she describes when she and some other hacks spent the night with Freddie and his crew. The first chapter is about Queen’s fantastic Live Aid set. The rest of the book follows a mainly chronological order, from the birth of Farrokh Bulsara in Zanzibar and his education in India, to the formation of Queen and overdue chart success, to wild parties and tangled relationships, to his death and cultural legacy. There are a generous number of black and white photographs, my favourite of which shows Freddie cuddling one of his beloved cats. A timeline, discography, bibliography and index are also included. It doesn’t get any more ‘definitive’ than this.

The book is written in a journalistic style which is generally easy to read. It’s a little repetitive at times and the author has a disconcerting way of noting, right after a quote from someone, that they died [x] number of years later of [x] cause. I’m not sure that was necessary, as there is an additional ‘in memoriam’ page at the end of the book for the people who have passed away since being interviewed.

Freddie comes across as a character of contrasts. Supremely confident on stage, but shy and passive when meeting new people. Innocent and almost child-like, yet promiscuous and passionate. Kind and polite in an old-fashioned way, but demanding too. A fascinating person, one of a kind. The book also sets his life in context: the religious background he was born into, the music industry of the time, the media, gay culture, fashion, the growing awareness of AIDS. Inevitably the content becomes very sad towards the end of the book and I was left feeling so upset that Freddie the person is gone, but grateful that his immortal legacy lives on.

First published in 2011 by Hodder & Stoughton under the title Freddie Mercury. This edition was published in 2018 under a new title, to coincide with the film Bohemian Rhapsody released the same year (but does not, as far as I know, have an official connection with the film).