He welcomed over 50 members to the meeting, which went on to unanimously vote in Ken Fisher as the new president. Ken is no stranger to the job, having previously served as president from 2010 to 2012.

The meeting was followed by a superb buffet provided by Maureen Palmer and her team of helpers.

Rebus novels have so far been translated into 22 languages worldwide and remain best sellers across the globe to an army of followers who eagerly gobble up every baleful twist and turn of the intricate and carefully-crafted tales.

In A House Of Lies

by Ian Rankin

A MISSING PRIVATE investigator is found, locked in a car hidden deep in the woods. Worse still – both for his family and the police – is that his body was in an area that had already been searched.

Detective Inspector Siobhan Clarke is part of a new inquiry, combing through the mistakes of the original case. There were always suspicions over how the investigation was handled and now – after a decade without answers – it’s time for the truth.

Every officer involved must be questioned, and it seems everyone on the case has something to hide, and everything to lose.

But there is one man who knows where the trail may lead – and that it could be the end of him. That man is John Rebus.

Dead Man’s Gift

by Simon Kernick

PART ONE IN A SERIES of three novels, sub-titled respectively Yesterday, Last Night and Today, sees MP Tim Horton’s seven-year-old son abducted by a gang of ruthless kidnappers, leaving behind the child’s brutally murdered nanny.

The gang’s demands are simple: the MP must sacrifice his own life to save his son’s. Enter ex-soldier Scope, British writer Kernick’s character who specialises in extracting people from impossible situations.

The Music Shop

by Rachel Joyce

FRANK OWNS A MUSIC shop. It’s 1988 and the shop is jam-packed with records of every speed, size and genre. Classical, jazz, punk – as long as it’s vinyl he sells it.

Then into his life walks Isle Brauchmann. Isle asks Frank to teach her about music.

His instinct is to turn and run. And yet he is drawn to this strangely still, mysterious woman with her pea-green coat and her eyes black as vinyl.

But Isle is not what she seems. And Frank has old wounds that threaten to reopen and a past he will never leave behind

Look For Me

by Lisa Gardner

A FAMILY HOME has become a crime scene. Four of them – mother, step-father, daughter, son – have been savagely murdered.

The fifth, the eldest daughter, is missing. Did she escape? Or is her absence evidence of something much more sinister?

Detective D.D. Warren is on the case, as is survivor-turned-avenger Flora Dane. Together they must make sense of the clues left behind by a 16-year-old girl who, as victim or suspect, is silently pleading, ‘Look for me.’

DVD CORNER

Striking Out

Series One, DS444

WHEN DUBLIN-BASED solicitor Tara Rafferty discovers that her fiancé and fellow solicitor, Eric has been cheating on her with a colleague, she breaks up with him, quits her job at the prestigious law firm were they worked together, and begins accepting clients out of a makeshift office in the back of a cafe.

With the help of Ray her street-smart client-turned-assistant, private detective Meg Riley and friend and mentor Senior Counsel Vincent Pike, Tara takes on a series of cases that often put her against her former colleagues and the influential families of the legal establishment she is trying to leave behind.

Cain heads the star-studded cast of big-name Brits, including Tom Courtenay, Michael Gambon, Jim Broadbent, Ray Winstone, Charlie Cox, Paul Whitehouse and Francesca Annis.

Caine stars as one-time notorious thief Brian Reader, now retired but still dreaming of pulling off one final ‘big job’.

To that end, he recruits a gang of fellow retired criminals to plot robbery on a previously unprecedented scale at the Hatton Garden Safe Deposit.

Posing as maintenance workers, the gang managed to escape with over £200 million worth of jewels.

All Library film screenings start at 2pm sharp and admission is strictly limited to Library members only. There is no admission fee, though traditional refreshments, including ice cream, will be on sale during the intermission.

To get a flavour for this darkly comedic tale, take a look at the trailer below

Once the business has been enacted, a buffet and refreshments will follow..

This year we will be welcoming back past president Ken Fisher as our new President. This will need to be ratified at the AGM.

We look forward to your attendance and your support.

FOR OUR NEXT Library talk, we are happy to be welcoming back Ramon Michan, whose fascinating talk on tourism in Puerto de la Cruz in the 1960s was so well received.

This time round his topic will be Tenerife, a Paradise for Walkers; you can be assured of a most interesting afternoon and, as ever, his talk will be followed by a buffet and refreshments. Admission is €8 and you can book a place at the Treasurer’s desk.

Alongside them are a delightful tale set in Dublin that grew out of a Facebook page created by the authors, Emer Mclysaght and Sarah Breen and the latest offering from that doyen of the legal thriller, John Gresham.

Our DVD corner features the highly-charged political thriller, Bodyguard, a definite candidate for anyone’s must-see list.

The Tattooist of Auschwitz

by Heather Morris

IN 1942, LALE SOKOLOV arrived in Auschwitz-Birkenau. He was given the job of tattooing the prisoners marked for survival – scratching numbers into his fellow victims’ arms in indelible ink to create what would become one of the most potent symbols of the Holocaust.

Waiting in line to be tattooed, terrified and shaking, was a young girl. For Lale – a dandy, a Jack-the-lad, a bit of a chancer – it was love at first sight. And he was determined not only to survive himself, but to ensure this woman, Gita, did too.

So begins one of the most life-affirming, courageous, unforgettable and human stories of the Holocaust – the love story of the Tattooist of Auschwitz.

Oh My God What A Complete Aisling

by Emer Mclysaght & Sarah Breen

LIVING ‘DOWN HOME’ with Mammy and Daddy, Aisling commutes to her pensionable job in Dublin and stays two nights a week with her boyfriend of seven years, John.

But she wants more. She wants a ring on her finger. She wants the hen night with the Willy straws. She wants the big house with the utility room of her dreams.

When a week in Tenerife doesn’t result in a proposal, Aisling decides she’s had enough. It’s time for a change. A new start, a love triangle (well, more of a square) and some home truths force Aisling out of her comfort zone and into a life she never imagined.

The Rooster Bar

by John Grisham

THEY DREAMED OF CHANGING the world. Instead they’re facing a mountain of debt and no hope of a future. Mark, Todd and Zola are starting to realise it’s not even worth graduating from law school.

They’re better off hanging out at The Rooster Bar, plotting how to dodge the loan sharks. But maybe there’s another way. Maybe they know enough about the law to pass as lawyers.

Because it turns out the crooked hedge fund billionaire who owns their law school also runs the bank that arranged their student loans. And it’s time justice was served. Even if that means taking on the FBI…

DVD Corner

Bodyguard

DS440

IF YOU MISSED this series on television it really is a must see. Set in and around the corridors of power, Bodyguard tells the story of David Budd (Richard Madden), a heroic but volatile war veteran now working as a Specialist Protection Officer for the Royalty and Special Protection branch of London’s Metropolitan Police Force.

When he is assigned to protect the ambitious and powerful Home Secretary Julia Montague (Keeley Hawkes), Budd finds himself torn between his duty and his beliefs. Responsible for her safety, could he become her biggest threat.

This heart-warming tale brings all the Winnie-the-Pooh to life in real-action animation as Christopher Robin (Ewan McGregor), now a family man living in London, gets to share more adventures with his childhood playmates and along the way get an understanding of the important things in life.

As with all our film screenings, the lights go down at 2pm sharp. Admission to all Film Club showings is strictly for Library members only. There is no admission fee, though traditional refreshments, including ice cream, will be on sale during the intermission.

To get a flavour for this delightful story, take a look at the trailer below

Then there’s the latest from the prolific pen of that master of the spy story, John Le Carre, a tangled tale of families by Joanna Nadin and a sparkling debut novel from Sarah Haywood.

Reservoir 13

by Jon McGregor

MIDWINTER IN THE EARLY YEARS of this century. A teenage girl on holiday has gone missing in the hills at the heart of England.

The villagers are called up to join in the search, fanning out across the moors as the police set up roadblocks and a crowd of news reporters descends on their usually quiet home.

The search for the missing girl goes on, but so does everyday life. As it must.

The Word Is Murder

by Anthony Horowitz

ONE BRIGHT SPRING MORNING in London, Diana Cowper – the wealthy mother of a famous actor – enters a funeral parlour. She is there to plan her own service. Six hours later she is found dead, strangled with a curtain cord in her own home.

Enter disgraced police detective Daniel Hawthorne, a brilliant, eccentric investigator who’s as quick with an insult as he is to crack a case. Hawthorne needs a ghost writer to document his life; a Watson to his Holmes. He chooses Anthony Horowitz.

Drawn in against his will, Horowitz soon finds himself at the centre of a story he cannot control. Hawthorne is brusque, temperamental and annoying but even so his latest case with its many twists and turns proves irresistible.

The writer and the detective form an unusual partnership. At the same time, it soon becomes clear that Hawthorne is hiding some dark secrets of his own.

Orange Blossom Days

by Patricia Scanlan

IN A BEAUTIFUL SOUTHERN Spanish town where the sea sparkles and orange blossoms scent the air, the gates of a brand new apartment complex, La Joys de Andalucia, glide open to welcome the new owners.

Anna and Austen McDonald, an Irish couple, are preparing to enjoy retirement to the full. But the demands of family cause problems they have never foreseen and shake their marriage to the core.

Sally-Ann Connolly Cooper, a fiesty Texan mother of two young teenagers, is recovering from her husband’s betrayal. La Joya becomes a place of solace for Sally-Ann in more ways than one.

Eduardo de la Frente, a haughty Madrileno, has set out with single-minded determination to become El President of the complex’s management committee. But pride comes before a fall.

Jetta Sauer Perez, a sophisticated German who aspires to have her very own apartment in La Joya, works hard to reach her goal. Then the unthinkable happens.

A Legacy Of Spies

by John Le Carre

PETER GUILLAM, former disciple of George Smiley in the British Secret Service, has long retired to Brittany when a letter arrives, summoning him to London. The reason? Cold War ghosts have come back to haunt him.

Intelligence operations that were once the toast of the Service are to be dissected by a generation with no memory of the Berlin War. Somebody must pay for innocent blood spilt in the name of the greater good…

The Queen Of Bloody Everything

by Joanna Nadin

AS EDIE JONES LIES IN BED on the 14th floor of a hospital in Cambridge, her daughter Dido tells their story, starting with the day everything changed. That was the day six-year-old Dido Met the handsome Tom Trevelyan, his precocious sister, Harry, and their mother, Angela.

The day Dido fell in love with a family combo, very different from her own. Because the Trevelyans are exactly the kind of family Dido dreams of – normal. And Dido’s mother Edie doesn’t do normal. In fact, as Dido learns the hard way, normal is the one thing Edie can never be…

The Cactus

by Sarah Haywood

SUSAN GREEN IS A PRICKLY, independent woman who has everything just the way she wants it. At forty-five, she thinks her life is perfect: a London flat for one, a job that fulfills her passion for logic, and a personal arrangement that provides cultural and other – more intimate – benefits.

There’s no room for messy, emotional relationships. Yet following the loss of her mother and, implausibly, the prospect of becoming a mother herself, Susan’s life is about to become somewhat messier.

This sparkling debut novel packs a real emotional punch, with a heroine who is both exasperating and delightful.

DVD Corner

Innocent

DS442

AFTER SEVEN YEARS in a high security prison David Collins’s conviction for the murder of his wife is overturned due to a technicality, or as his lawyer puts it an “appalling miscarriage of justice”.

Able to start his life again and begin to rebuild relationships with his family and friends, David vows to regain custody of his children and bring the guilty to justice.

As a new investigation is launched, dark secrets of abuse, affairs and money troubles rise to the surface. From jealous sisters to disgruntled lovers, these secrets rip fragile relationships apart at the seams. But one question remains: is David Collins truly innocent?

Vanity Fair

DF11E

IN A WORLD WHERE everyone is striving for what is not worth having, orphan Becky Sharp sets out to claw her way to the top of English society. Written by Gwyneth Hughes, Vanity Fair is a new adaptation of William Makepeace Thackery’s 19th century literary classic.

Set against the backdrop of the Napoleonic Wars, Becky’s story of villainy, crime, merriment, lovemaking, jilting, laughing, cheating, fighting and dancing takes her all the way to the court of King George IV, via the Battle of Waterloo, breaking hearts and losing fortunes as she goes.

Find it in our Classics section.

The Runner

by Peter May

THE SUFFERER: A prodigious Chinese swimmer kills himself on the eve of the Beijing Olympics. Days later, a champion weightlifter suffers a fatal heart attack prior to competition.

The Listener: Detective Li Yan senses a conspiracy surrounding the fatalities, and finds a female athlete willing to talk. But she will only trust one person: Li’s fiancée, Margaret Campbell.

The Runner: When Campbell’s contact herself vanishes, the gun is fired on a race against time. And Li must now outrun, and outwit, an enemy bent on pushing him beyond endurance.

The American Girl

by Rachael English

IT’S BOSTON IN 1968 and Rose Moroney is 17, smart, spirited – and pregnant. She wants to marry her boyfriend. Her ambitious parents have other plans. She is sent to Ireland, their birthplace, to deliver her daughter in a mother and baby home – and part with her against her will.

In Dublin in 2013, Martha Sheehan’s life has come undone. Her marriage is over and her husband has moved on with unsettling speed. Under pressure from her teenage daughter, she starts looking for the woman who gave her up for adoption more than 40 years before.

As her search leads her to the heart of long-buried family secrets, old flame Paudie Carmody – now a well-known broadcaster – re-enters the frame.

Only Child

by Rhiannon Child

THEY ALL WENT to school that Tuesday like normal. Not all of them went home… When the unthinkable happens, Zach is at school. Huddled in a cloakroom with his classmates and teacher, he is too young to understand that life will never be the same again.

Afterwards, the once close-knit community is left reeling. Zach’s dad retreats. His mum sets out to seek revenge. Zach, scared, lost and confused, disappears into his super-secret hideout to try to make sense of things. Nothing feels right – until he listens to his heart… But can he show the grown-ups how to love again?

DVD Corner

Victoria Season Two

DS364B

THIS LANDMARK ACCOUNT of the life of one of history’s greatest monarchs continues as the Queen faces the very modern challenges of balancing a growing family with her marriage to Prince Albert and her work as ruler of the most powerful nation on earth.

As Victoria’s reign continues into the 1840s there are constitutional crises and scandals at court, trips to France and Scotland, the devastating Irish Potato Famine and political machinations ending in tragedy. As the saga unfolds over vital moments in history, the Queen and Prince Albert must meet each public challenge while confronting profound personal changes.

The English Library has been granted the prestigious Paco Afonso Award for Multicultural Visibility. The award is one of five presented annually by the Spanish Socialist party, the PSOE (Partido Socialista Obrero Español), in memory of the much-loved Francisco Javier Afonso Carrillo, mayor of Puerto de la Cruz from 1979 until his untimely death in 1984.

Members of the Library committee are pictured above receiving the award from the PSOE representatives (centre).

Paco Afonso, as he was better known locally, tragically lost his life on September 11th, 1984, when he, as civil governor of the province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, together with his driver and local volunteer firefighters, became caught up in a fire storm in La Gomera while fighting forest fires ravaging the island.

In all, 20 people died in the tragedy, one of the worst fire-related disasters in Spanish history. The victims became trapped on an exposed ridge near Roque Agando, the landmark rock formation in La Gomera’s mountains above the village of La Laja, when the wind suddenly changed direction and they were surrounded by intense heat and flames.

He became mayor of Puerto at the age of 31 in the first democratic municipal elections in Spain following the death of General Franco, commanding 62 per cent of the votes cast. It was the beginning of a political career that promised so much until it was cut short five years later.

In addition to being mayor of his home town, he served as president of the Commonwealth of the Valley of La Orotava, and was a member of the Provisional Canary Islands Parliament. In July 1983 he was appointed civil governor the province of Tenerife.

He is remembered as a young politician who was honest, hardworking and with a deep respect for and love of the people he represented.

An old school friend who had grown up with Paco told a local newspaper how on the day of the 1981 Spanish coup d’etat attempt he and Paco were having lunch together when his driver came up and said: “Don Francisco, the civil guards have entered the Congress.”

The friend told Paco that if he wanted to, he could take refuge in his parents house, just in case. But Paco politely refused the offer, saying he wanted to be with his people in Puerto.

He added: “Paco had something special in dealing with others. He was affable, intelligent, quick. His socialism was not of this world. He was tolerant, understanding and friendly.”

Two representatives of the POSE, Domingo Perera and Marco Antonio Gonzalez, formally presented the award at a gathering at the LIbrary on November 23rd.

The Muticultural Visibility award is aimed at rewarding those who work for the integration of other cultures, invigorating the social, plural and diverse fabric of the municipality.

Other awards are made by the PSOE in the fields of Equality, Culture. Social Work, and the Promotion of Puerto.

The Library has a huge collection of DVDs, with something to cater for all tastes. We even have a children’s section to help you entertain the grandchildren when they come to stay.

All DVDs are catalogued and separated into sections to help you find one to suit. A list of newly-added titles is also available to help you choose and if there’s a particular film, TV series or documentary you wish to see then one of our volunteers can easily check our database to see if what you want is in our collection.

The Bletchley Circle San Francisco

DS441

SET DURING THE THRILLING social change of the mid-1950s. The lives of four remarkable women are captured as they navigate the challenges, rekindle their capacities and seek justice.

Two who were brilliant codebreakers at Bletchley during WWII and their American counterparts join forces in San Francisco to solve a string of grisly murders using their extraordinary intelligence and breathtaking genius for decryption.

The four women do all in their power to uncover and stop a killer.

Unforgotten, Series Three

DS314B

WHEN HUMAN REMAINS are found on the central reservation of a motorway near London, Cassie (Nicola Walker) and Sunny (Sanjeev Bhaskar) are the detectives called in to investigate.

Dogged work leads the team to a 16-year-old girl who went missing on the eve of the millennium.

Cassie’s compassion makes her determined to correct the mistakes made by the original investigating team – whatever the cost to herself.

Bodyguard

DS440

SET IN AND AROUND the corridors of power, Bodyguard tells the story of David Budd (Richard Madden), a heroic but volatile war veteran now working as a Specialist Protection Officer for the Royalty and Special Protection Branch (RaSP) of London’s Metropolitan Police Service.

When he is assigned to protect the ambitious and powerful Home Secretary Julia Montague (Keeley Hawkes), Budd finds himself torn between his duty and his beliefs. Responsible for her safety, could he become her biggest threat.

On Chesil Beach

DV1259

IT IS SUMMER 1962, and England is still a year away from huge social changes. Beatlemania, the sexual revolution and the Swinging Sixties.

Newlyweds Florence and Edward are honeymooning on the dramatic coastline of Chesil Beach. But underlying tensions between the young couple surface and cast unexpected shadows over their long anticipated wedding night.

A tender story which shows how the entire course of a life can be changed simply by a gesture not made or a word not spoken.

Innocent

DS442

AFTER SEVEN YEARS in a high security prison David Collins’s conviction for the murder of his wife is overturned due to a technicality, or as his lawyer puts it an “appalling miscarriage of justice”. Able to start his life again and begin to rebuild relationships with his family and friends, David vows to regain custody of his children and bring the guilty to justice.

As a new investigation is launched, dark secrets of abuse, affairs and money troubles rise to the surface. From jealous sisters to disgruntled lovers, these secrets rip fragile relationships apart at the seams. But one question remains: is David Collins truly innocent?

Vanity Fair

DF11E

IN A WORLD WHERE everyone is striving for what is not worth having, orphan Becky Sharp sets out to claw her way to the top of English society. Written by Gwyneth Hughes, Vanity Fair is a new adaptation of William Makepeace Thackery’s 19th century literary classic.

Set against the backdrop of the Napoleonic Wars, Becky’s story of villainy, crime, merriment, lovemaking, jilting, laughing, cheating, fighting and dancing takes her all the way to the court of King George IV, via the Battle of Waterloo, breaking hearts and losing fortunes as she goes.