Published: March 3rd 2022 Publisher: Head of Zeus Genre: Suspense, Fantasy Fiction, Travel Literature, Adventure Fiction, Book Series, Fantasy Series Format: Paperback, Kindle, Audiobook
This is a few days late but I’m finally sharing my review for the suspenseful second book in the Pantheon trilogy. Thank you to Jade at Head of Zeus for the invitation to take part and the gifted ARC.
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SYNOPSIS:
The second in an action-packed adventure thriller series, where modern-day recruits compete in an ancient fight to the death in the streets of Edinburgh.
New Season. New Rules. Same deadly game…
The Pantheon Games are the biggest underground event in the world, followed by millions online. New recruits must leave behind their twenty-first century lives and vie for dominance in a gruelling battle to the death armed only with ancient weapons – and their wits.
Last season’s new recruits Tyler and Lana have lived to fight another day, but now they face a series of even more lethal clashes before the Grand Battle that will end the Season.
It’s survival of the fittest, in the most brutal fashion imaginable. Lana must face the demons of her past, and Tyler has the mother of all targets on his back.
This action-packed adventure thriller is perfect for fans of Pierce Brown’s Red Rising, Battle Royale and The Running Man.
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MY REVIEW:
“Battle is terror. The wait is worse.”
The Pantheon Games are the world’s biggest underground events. Bankrolled by the elite, they are watched by millions online as the chosen competitors embark on life or death battles armed with only ancient weapons. Tyler and Lana – now known as Punnr and Calder – are new recruits to Edinburgh’s Valhalla Horde and are gearing up for their first blood season. It begins with the blood nights and culminates in the Grand Battle, a brutal war between Scotland’s two warring factions that is the most dangerous of Pantheon’s year. Can the pair survive to fight another year? Or will they fall.
In the second of C.F. Barrington’s Pantheon trilogy he again merges fantasy and reality to create a world that is believable and addictive. The book opens with the stats of both Hordes and then succinctly catches you up on the events of book one with a section titled ‘What has come before’. This was a brilliant idea to include as this is a complex and layered world filled with an array of characters. I still found myself getting a little confused at times due to the huge amount of detail that is needed to explain Pantheon’s rules but it didn’t last long and I was soon back on tenterhooks as the riveting action occurred. In the background of the games is the ongoing search for Morgan, Tyler’s sister, who was part of Valahlla’s rival Horde. This parallel storyline provides added tension and mystery to the story as well as increased risk to Tyler and the others who are trying to track Morgan down. Some of those high up in Pantheon risk losing their position should she be found and reveal what she knows meaning Tyler and the others are fighting against not only their sworn enemies but those in their own ranks who will do anything to silence those who pose a threat to their position.
There are a multitude of great characters from heroes you can root for to villains you love to hate. I enjoyed being back with them, particularly the ones familiar from book one, and enjoyed seeing how they and their relationships developed in this instalment. Tyler/Punnr is a great protagonist and I loved his friendship with Brante, his blossoming relationship with Lana/Calder, and the brotherly bond he shares with Oliver. I was completely invested and worrying about Tyler would be affected should he lose any of these people just added to the tension. I thought there was a good balance of character study and action, allowing the reader to feel a real connection with the many characters while also being full of suspense.
The Blood Isles is an addictive and entertaining read that you will enjoy even if, like me, this isn’t your usual genre. And that ending! I thought my heart would beat out of my chest and am going to be counting down to book three after that climatic cliffhanger!
Rating: ✮✮✮✮✰
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MEET THE AUTHOR:
C F Barrington spent twenty years intending to write a novel, but found life kept getting in the way. Instead, his career took him into major gift fundraising, leading teams in organisations as varied as Oxford University, the National Trust and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds.
Published: March 3rd 2022 Publisher: HarperCollins UK Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Women Sleuths, Literary Fiction Format: Hardcover, Kindle, Audiobook
Welcome to my stop on the blog tour for this tense and twisty thriller. Thank you to Anne at Random Things Tours for the invitation to take part and Harper Collins for the gifted copy of the book.
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SYNOPSIS:
Welcome to No.12 rue des Amants
A beautiful old apartment block, far from the glittering lights of the Eiffel Tower and the bustling banks of the Seine. Where nothing goes unseen, and everyone has a story to unlock.
The watchful concierge The scorned lover The prying journalist The naïve student The unwanted guest
There was a murder here last night. A mystery lies behind the door of apartment three.
Who holds the key?
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MY REVIEW:
“The gate clangs shut behind the girl. She thinks she’s staying in a normal apartment building. A place that follows ordinary rules. she has no idea what she has got herself into here”
Welcome to No. 12 rue des Amants. A beautiful apartment building in the heart of Paris whose residents are all hiding dark secrets. Secrets one of them is willing to kill to keep. But who holds the key to unlocking the mystery of Ben’s murder? And can his sister, Jess, find it before they silence her too?
The Paris Apartment is a complex, tangled web full of crazy twists and turns that keeps you guessing. It starts off with high levels of mystery as Jess arrives to stay with her brother, Ben, only to find his apartment empty and his wallet and keys left behind. No one in the building wants to talk to her and they all seem to want her to leave, making her suspicious of what they might be hiding. But despite their best efforts to conceal the truth of what happened that night, they slowly drop small clues that Jess pieces together to solve the cryptic puzzle of what happened to her brother. The pace slowed a little in the middle but the dramatic finale was a worthy reward, my jaw hitting the floor when the full picture finally emerged.
“It’s not her fault she made the mistake of coming to this place. That’s the worst part. She’s probably not even a bad person. But I know I am.”
Each of the residents narrate the story alongside Jess which heightens the tension for the reader and allows us a peek inside the minds of the strange, elusive characters living at No 12 rue des Amants. Each character is richly drawn, flawed and nuanced, with Sophie standing out as a particularly strong character whose allure I found hard to resist. I liked that just like the other Jess was a complex character with a past that’s shrouded in mystery. She was easy to root for and she was definitely the most likeable of all the characters. I was intrigued by how everyone in the building seems to blame Ben for things going wrong there; what could he possibly have done that was so bad? As their secrets are slowly revealed we discover just how intricately woven the residents of this building are and begin to understand this strange, unnerving place.
A cunningly crafted thriller that sizzles with suspense, this is another spectacular novel from Ms. Foley that I highly recommend.
Rating ✮✮✮✮✰:
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MEET THE AUTHOR:
Lucy Foley is the No.1 Sunday Times bestselling author of The Hunting Party and The Guest List, with two and a half million copies sold worldwide. Lucy’s thrillers have also hit the New York Times and the Irish Times bestseller lists, been shortlisted for the Crime & Thriller Book of the Year Award at the British Book Awards, selected as one of The Times and Sunday Times Crime Books of the Year, and The Guest List was a Reese’s Book Club choice. Lucy’s novels have been translated into multiple languages and her journalism has appeared in publications such as Sunday Times Style, Grazia, ES Magazine, Vogue US, Elle, Tatler, Marie Claire and more.
Published: October 25th, 2022 Publisher: Thomas & Mercer Genre: Psychological Thriller, Literary Fiction, Suspense, Thriller Format: Paperback, Kindle
Thank you to John Marrs for sending me this early copy of the book to review.
SYNOPSIS:
In this chilling novel from bestselling author John Marrs, a young couple’s house hides terrible secrets―and not all of them are confined to the past.
Mia and Finn are busy turning a derelict house into their dream home when Mia unexpectedly falls pregnant. But just when they think the house is ready, Mia discovers a chilling message scored into a skirting board: I WILL SAVE THEM FROM THE ATTIC. Following the clue up into the eaves, the couple make a gruesome discovery: their dream home was once a house of horrors.
In the wake of their traumatic discovery, the baby arrives and Mia can’t shake her fixation with the monstrous crimes that happened right above them. Haunted by the terrible things she saw and desperate to find answers, her obsession pulls her ever further from her husband.
Secrecy shrouds the mystery of the attic, but when shards of a dark truth start to emerge, Mia realises the danger is terrifyingly present. She is prepared to do anything to protect her family―but is it already too late?
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MY REVIEW:
“You feel the last bit of breath leaving their body. You’re looking into their eyes. A person in that situation is God.”
Ted Bundy
When a book opens with a quote from a notorious, sadistic serial killer you know it’s going to be awildride. From the first page I had shivers down my spine and was on the edge of my seat, full of anticipation at the promise of such a chilling tale.
Mia and Finn’s new house is a dilapidated two-storey detached Victorian house on an ordinary street. It’s a house you’d never really notice but for the young couple this house is a promise of a better future. But what they don’t yet know is that it is also a place harbouring dark secrets. Secrets that the person who is quietly watching them knows. The truth finally begins to emerge after the couple make a gruesome attic in the attic that haunts Mia and leaves her desperate to uncover the truth of what happened in the house. But someone else will do anything to keep it from being uncovered. The only question is, which of them will succeed?
“He isn’t the first to be caught in their web and he won’t be the last. Most of them beg for mercy but they are all wasting their time. There will be no change of heart because there never is. No one under this roof believes in compassion. Empathy is an alien emotion here. “
OMG! What the f#@% did I just read?! Deliciously dark, marvellously menacing and totally twisted, I am slightly terrified of John Marrs after reading this; though I would love to peek inside his mind to know how he came up with what is his darkest book yet. I’ve been a big fan of Marrs’ books since I first read The One upon its release in 2017, and with every book he just gets better. He truly is the king of the twisted psychological thriller. Everything about his books makes my thriller-loving heart sing as he holds me hostage, my heart pounding as I read with baited breath as he drops clues like breadcrumbs to build the suspense. Every time you think all the twists have been revealed and you have it all figured out he will pull the rug from under you and turn the world upside down. It’s a never-ending maze of secrets, lies and murder. Twist after twist that makes your jaw drop and your head spin. And I can’t get enough of it.
This story makes even the most messed-up and crazy family you know seem sane. By giving each of them a voice we are able to really get inside their minds and discover who they are. I felt most drawn to Mia, my heart going out to her in particular after the events at the end of part one. I also really enjoyed the play on the traditional awful mother-in-law trope. Debbie is detestable for so many reasons and I admit I was team Mia from the start. But it is the mystery narrator who I felt was most powerfully written. Though they are clearly a killer with a warped moral code, they are utterly fascinating. Through flashbacks to their childhood we learn that they are a creation of their horrific experiences, my heart breaking for what they endured and witnessed. Writing a one-dimensional villain is easy, but it takes true talent such as that possessed by Marrs to craft such a mesmerising yet chilling portrayal of a disturbed individual who is both repulsive yet sympathetic.
“To some, I’m a saviour, but to others, I’m a monster. I know what my work has been about, all the souls I’ve saved from torment. It’s part of the bargain that I can never share my role with the world. There’d be no hope of them understanding. Blinkered as they are, I could only be a monster. “
But who was our mysterious villain? I enjoyed trying to piece the clues together to work out the answer but the clever red herrings left by the author led me to also suspect the innocent at times. Even when I’d guessed correctly I discovered there were yet more crazy antics to come as this person toyed with their victims further and prolonged their torment with glee. When and how would it end? I had no idea. But I don’t think I could have guessed what was in store even with infinite opportunities.
Keep It In The Family is my new favourite John Marrs book. And I think it will be yours too after you read this dark, sinister and mind-blowing tale. Just buckle yourself in and enjoy the ride.
Rating: ✮✮✮✮✮
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MEET THE AUTHOR:
John Marrs is an author and former journalist based in London and Northamptonshire. After spending his career interviewing celebrities from the worlds of television, film and music for numerous national newspapers and magazines, he is now a full-time author. His books include No1 bestseller and Netflix series The One, The Passengers, award winning What Lies Between Us and The Good Samaritan.
Today is my stop on the blog tour for this gripping thriller. Thank you to Bookouture for the invitation to take part and the eBook ARC.
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SYNOPSIS:
Five-year-old Cally waits in her pretty pink bedroom for the sound of the front door opening and her mother’s sweet voice in the hall. But when the doorbell finally rings, and Cally creeps out of bed to peer through the banister, a large man in uniform is all she sees. Her mother is missing…
Teacher Annabel Braddock was last seen drinking at the local pub with her best friend, Jennifer. Witnesses saw tears running down her cheeks, and friends say she was having problems with a colleague at work, and that her marriage had broken down.
But as the two women hugged goodbye, neither noticed the car speeding towards them. As the dust settled, Jennifer lay unconscious on the ground and Annabel was nowhere to be seen. She’d never abandon her little girl, so did someone snatch her?
As family crowd around Jennifer’s hospital bed, hoping she’ll wake up, police visit Annabel’s home and her inconsolable daughter, Cally, tells them she had seen a man outside staring into her room as she climbed into bed that evening. Was it her childish imagination, or had someone been watching Annabel’s home?
When Jennifer finally opens her eyes and tells the police what happened that night, it’s clear there are plenty of people with a reason to harm Annabel. With an unpredictable husband, a colleague who denies harassing her and a neighbour who seems to know her every move, could she be in imminent danger? As the hours turn to days, will little Cally ever see her precious mother again? Or will she be next?
If you love fast-paced, gripping crime thrillers that keep you up all night, you’ll be completely addicted to One Girl Missing. Perfect for fans of Angela Marsons, Cara Hunter and Clare Mackintosh.
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MY REVIEW:
Best friends Annabel and Jennifer are hugging each other goodbye at the end of a girls night out when a car speeds towards them. Jennifer is left unconscious on the ground and Annabel is nowhere to be seen, only her bag and spots of her blood left behind. Detective Gina Harte and her team are called in and as they investigate it soon becomes clear that there are multiple people who might want to harm Annabel. But can they figure it out and find Annabel before it’s too late?
The eleventh instalment in Carla Kovach’s Gina Harte series is another compelling thriller. There are numerous suspects in this case, each with a valid motive, and they are all on the run: a cheating husband, his young girlfriend who was also the family childminder, an angry father, a teenage pupil with a crush, a colleague she was rumoured to be seeing and a friendly neighbour. But who took Annabel? I was sure it was each of them at one point or another and even wondered if some of them were working together. It is a tangled web of suspicion that is full of so many twists and turns I thought I’d get book whiplash! But was my final choice the real culprit? Or had Ms. Kovach duped me again with her red herrings?
One of the things I love most about reading a series is coming back to the familiar, much-loved characters and I was glad to be back with Gina and her team. Gina is dealing with emotional turmoil after seeing Briggs out with another woman. Is this the end of her relationship? And the whole team face heartache as they wait to learn if one of their own will survive, Jacob being particularly tortured as he hopes the love of his life pulls through. The new characters were well written as always. I felt a real bond with Annabel and could feel her terror as she’s held captive and wonders if she will ever see her young daughter, Cally, again. And it was Cally, along with teenage student Omar, who went right to my heart in this book. They were such great characters who it was impossible not to feel for. I was rooting for them, especially as young Omar takes it upon himself to save Annabel himself in order to keep her secrets.
Dark, suspenseful, gripping and action-packed, One Girl Missing is another riveting thriller from Ms. Kovach. Fans of this genre will love not only this book, but the whole series and I recommend them both highly.
Rating: ✮✮✮✮✰
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MEET THE AUTHOR:
Carla started writing more seriously ten years ago after having flirted with musical theatre and occasional writing in her youth.
Since then she has written & produced several stage plays, has four self-published books, has acted in several independent films and is currently in the final stages of production of her feature horror film, Penny for the Guy.
She now writes full time as well as co-owning a film, photography & video production company located in the heart of Redditch town centre.
Welcome to April’s anticipated treasures. There are new releases from authors I love as well as excitingdebuts and some of my most anticipated of the year such as Elektra, Lessons in Chemistry, The No-Show, Nobody But Us, First Born and Theatre of Marvels. It’s an incredible month and I had a hard time narrowing it down to the twenty-eight on this list. Yes, twenty-eight books. I think that is the most I’ve included on an Anticipated Treasures list but I just couldn’t bring myself to take any of these off the list. So, without further ado, here are the thirty books I’m most excited about being released in April:
Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
Published: April 5th Publisher: Doubleday Genre: Humorous Fiction
SYNOPSIS: Chemist Elizabeth Zott is not your average woman. In fact, Elizabeth Zott would be the first to point out that there is no such thing.
But it’s the early 1960s and her all-male team at Hastings Research Institute take a very unscientific view of equality. Except for one: Calvin Evans, the lonely, brilliant, Nobel-prize nominated grudge-holder who falls in love with – of all things – her mind. True chemistry results.
Like science, life is unpredictable. Which is why a few years later, Elizabeth Zott finds herself not only a single mother, but the reluctant star of America’s most beloved cooking show, Supper at Six. Elizabeth’s unusual approach to cooking (‘combine one tablespoon acetic acid with a pinch of sodium chloride’) proves revolutionary. But as her following grows, not everyone is happy. Because as it turns out, Elizabeth Zott isn’t just teaching women to cook. She’s daring them to change the status quo. Meet the unconventional, uncompromising Elizabeth Zott.
Published: April 7th Publisher: Virago Genre: Biography, Autobiography
SYNOPSIS: I am in a bar in Brooklyn listening to two men, my friends, discuss whether or not my life was worth living.
So begins Chloé Cooper Jones’s bold account of moving through the world in a body that looks different than most. Born with a rare congenital condition called sacral agenesis, she must contend not only with her own physical pain, but the emotional discomfort of others.
It is only when she unexpectedly becomes a mother that she confronts the demand to live life fully, propelling her on a journey across the globe, reclaiming the spaces she’d been denied, and denied herself.
From Roman sculptures to a Beyoncé concert, from a tennis tournament to the Cambodian Killing Fields, Jones interrogates the myths of beauty with spiky intelligence, aesthetic philosophy, love and humor, inviting us to find a new way of seeing.
Published: April 12th Publisher: Quercus Genre: Contemporary Romance, Romance Novel
SYNOPSIS: The funny, heart-breaking and uplifting new novel from the bestselling author of The Flatshare
Three women. Three dates. One missing man…
8.52 a.m. Siobhan is looking forward to her breakfast date with Joseph. She was surprised when he suggested it – she normally sees him late at night in her hotel room. Breakfast on Valentine’s Day surely means something … so where is he?
2.43 p.m. Miranda’s hoping that a Valentine’s Day lunch with Carter will be the perfect way to celebrate her new job. It’s a fresh start and a sign that her life is falling into place: she’s been dating Carter for five months now and things are getting serious. But why hasn’t he shown up?
6.30 p.m. Joseph Carter agreed to be Jane’s fake boyfriend at an engagement party. They’ve not known each other long but their friendship is fast becoming the brightest part of her new life in Winchester. Joseph promised to save Jane tonight. But he’s not here…
Meet Joseph Carter. That is, if you can find him.
The No-Show is the brilliantly funny, heart-breaking and joyful new novel from Beth O’Leary about dating, and waiting, and the ways love can find us. An utterly extraordinary tearjerker of a book, this is O’Leary’s most ambitious novel yet.
SYNOPSIS: *** From the acclaimed author of THE LAST THING TO BURN comes a new thriller about identity, rivalry and deceit. ***
THE LAST THING A TWIN EXPECTS IS TO BE ALONE … Molly lives a quiet, contained life in London. Naturally risk averse, she gains comfort from security and structure. Every day the same.
Her identical twin Katie is her exact opposite: gregarious and spontaneous. They used to be inseparable, until Katie moved to New York a year ago. Molly still speaks to her daily without fail.
But when Molly learns that Katie has died suddenly in New York, she is thrown into unfamiliar territory. Katie is part of her DNA. As terrifying as it is, she must go there and find out what happened. As she tracks her twin’s last movements, cracks begin to emerge. Nothing is what it seems. And a web of deceit is closing around her.
Delivering the same intensity of pace and storytelling that made THE LAST THING TO BURN a word-of-mouth sensation, FIRST BORN will surprise, shock and enthral.
Published: April 14th Publisher: Pan Macmillan Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Suspense, Domestic Fiction, Crime Fiction Police Procedural
SYNOPSIS: Into the Dark is the new dark and gripping crime thriller from Fiona Cummins about revenge, greed, ambition and the true cost of friendship.
THE PLACE: Seawings, a beautiful Art Deco home overlooking the sweep of the bay in Midtown-on-Sea.
THE CRIME: The gilded Holden family – Piper and Gray and their two teenage children, Riva and Artie – has vanished from the house without a trace.
THE DETECTIVE: DS Saul Anguish, brilliant but with a dark past, treads the narrow line between light and shade.
One late autumn morning, Piper’s best friend arrives at Seawings to discover an eerie scene – the kettle is still warm, all the family’s phones are charging on the worktop, the cars are in the garage. But the house is deserted.
In fifteen-year-old Riva Holden’s bedroom, scrawled across the mirror in blood, are three words:
Published: April 14th Publisher: The Borough Press Genre: Historical Fiction, Historical Romance
SYNOPSIS: THE AERIALISTS is a rich historical novel based on the true story of Louisa Maud Evans, a fourteen-year old girl who died during the Great Exhibition in Cardiff, 1896, and whose demise – tumbling 8,000 feet into the Bristol Channel – captured the imagination of the city.
Paris, 1891 Laura is living on the streets, far from the American Prairies where she was born. When aerialists Ena and August Gaudron, believing Laura to be English, decide to rescue her, she soon finds herself ensconced in the family hot air balloon business, and offered the chance to learn how to fly.
Cardiff, 1896 The Gaudrons accept an invitation to be part of the Cardiff Fine Art, Industrial and Maritime Exhibition, presenting a show of balloon ascents and parachute descents. Late one night, a young girl, Grace Parry, knocks on the door. She is desperate to fly, whatever the cost.
As Grace’s dreams begin to take wing, can Laura be the one to keep her grounded? Histories real and invented intertwine as the novel explores the many risky ways girls are expected to perform.
Published: April 14th Publisher: Trapeze Genre: New Adult Fiction, Coming-of-Age Story, Urban Fiction
SYNOPSIS: ‘This isn’t a book you read, but a book you step into . . . mesmerising’ Emma Gannon
Since the death of her best friend Grace, twenty-six-year-old Eve has learned to keep everything and everyone at arm’s length. Safe in her detachment, she scrapes along waiting tables and cleaning her shared flat in exchange for cheap rent, finding solace in her small routines.
But when a chance encounter at work brings her past thundering into her present, Eve becomes consumed by painful memories of Grace. And soon her precariously maintained life begins to unravel: she loses her job, gets thrown out of her flat, and risks pushing away the one decent man who cares about her.
Taking up life-modelling to pay the bills, Eve lays bare her body but keeps hidden the mounting chaos inside her head. When her self-destructive urges spiral out of control, she’s forced to confront the traumatic event that changed the course of her life, and to finally face her grief and guilt.
Perfect for fans of Sally Rooney’s Conversations with Friends, Raven Leilani’s Luster, and Ottessa Moshfegh’s My Year of Rest and Relaxation.
Published: April 14th Publisher: Weidenfeld & Nicolson Genre: Literary Fiction, Psychological Fiction, Lesbian Literature
SYNOPSIS: We join San in 1970s rural South Korea, a young girl ostracised from her community. She meets a girl called Namae, and they become friends until one afternoon changes everything. Following a moment of physical intimacy in a minari field, Namae violently rejects San, setting her on a troubling path of quashed desire and isolation.
We next meet San, aged twenty-two, as she starts a job in a flower shop. There, we are introduced to a colourful cast of characters, including the shop’s mute owner, the other florist Su-ae, and the customers that include a sexually aggressive businessman and a photographer, who San develops an obsession for. Throughout, San’s moment with Namae lingers in the back of her mind.
A story of desire and violence about a young woman who everyone forgot, VIOLETS is a captivating and sensual read, full of tragedy but also beauty in its lush, vibrant prose.
Published: April 14th Publisher: Orenda Genre: Mystery, Thriller
SYNOPSIS: Scarred by their pasts, Jenna and Luke fall in love, brimming with hope for a rosy future. But someone has been watching, with chilling plans for revenge … An emotive, twisty, disturbing new psychological thriller by the critically acclaimed author of A Suitable Lie and In the Absence of Miracles.
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Jenna is trying to rebuild her life after a series of disastrous relationships.
Luke is struggling to provide a safe, loving home for his deceased partner’s young son, following a devastating tragedy.
When Jenna and Luke meet and fall in love, they are certain they can achieve the stability and happiness they both desperately need.
And yet, someone is watching.
Someone who has been scarred by past events.
Someone who will stop at nothing to get revenge…
Dark, unsettling and immensely moving, Quicksand of Memory is a chilling reminder that we are not only punished for our sins, but by them, and that memories left to blacken and sharpen over time are the perfect breeding ground for obsession, and murder…
SYNOPSIS: It’s New Year’s Eve and the stage is set for a lavish party in one of Edinburgh’s best postcodes. It’s a moment for old friends to set the past to rights – and move on.
The night sky is alive with fireworks and the champagne is flowing. But the celebration fails to materialise.
Because someone at this party is going to die tonight.
Midnight approaches and the countdown begins – but it seems one of the guests doesn’t want a resolution.
Published: April 14th Publisher: HQ Genre: Romance Novel, Magical Realism, Fantasy Fiction, Contemporary Romance
SYNOPSIS: A brand new timeless romance with a sprinkling of magic from the Number One Sunday Times bestselling author – coming April 2022
If you knew how your love story ends, would you dare to begin?
From the outside, Lorelai is an ordinary young woman with a normal life. She loves reading, she works at the local cinema and she adores living with her best friend. But she carries a painful burden, something she’s kept hidden for years; whenever she kisses someone on the lips, she sees how they are going to die.
Lorelai has never known if she’s seeing what was always meant to be, or if her kiss is the thing that decides their destiny. And so, she hasn’t kissed anyone since she was eighteen.
Then she meets Grayson. Sweet, clever, funny Grayson. And for the first time in years she yearns for a man’s kiss. But she can’t…or can she? And if she does, should she try to intervene and change what she sees?
Spellbinding, magical and utterly original, With This Kiss is one love story you will never forget.
Published: April 14th Publisher: Pan Macmillan Genre: Contemporary Romance, Romance Novel, Medical Fiction, Domestic Fiction
SYNOPSIS: Jessica Jackson has hit all the milestones for turning 30 – the career, the loving boyfriend and a cosy London flat they share with their cat. But a shock diagnosis of breast cancer turns Jess’s world upside down, and her contented life implodes with it.
Around her, her friends’ lives continue to follow the script, with the big white weddings and the baby scans. With her own future so uncertain, the only thing Jess is sure of is that she’s being left behind.
In the midst of it all, she meets Annabel, an enigmatic twenty-seven year old with incurable cancer. But while Annabel may not have long left, she understands much more about living than anyone Jess has ever met. And she’s determined to show Jess how to make every day count . . .
Frank, funny and poignant, Single Bald Female by Laura Price is a completely unforgettable story of love and friendship.
Published: April 14th Publisher: Picador Genre: Literary Fiction
SYNOPSIS: When a mother allows her thirty-something daughter to move into her apartment, she wants for her what many mothers might say they want for their child: a steady income, and, even better, a good husband with a good job with whom to start a family.
But when Green turns up with her girlfriend, Lane, in tow, her mother is unprepared and unwilling to welcome Lane into her home. In fact, she can barely bring herself to be civil. Having centred her life on her husband and child, her daughter’s definition of family is not one she can accept. Her daughter’s involvement in a case of unfair dismissal involving gay colleagues from the university where she works is similarly strange to her.
And yet when the care home where she works insists that she lower her standard of care for an elderly dementia patient who has no family, who travelled the world as a successful diplomat, who chose not to have children, Green’s mother cannot accept it. Why should not having chosen a traditional life mean that your life is worth nothing at all?
In Concerning My Daughter, translated from Korean by Jamie Chang, Kim Hye-jin lays bare our most universal fears on ageing, death, and isolation, to offer finally a paean to love in all its forms.
Published: April 14th Publisher: Bloomsbury Genre: Historical Fiction, Domestic Fiction
SYNOPSIS: One by one, she undid each event, each decision, each choice. If Davy had remembered to put on a coat. If Seamie McGeown had not found himself alone on a dark street. If Michael Agnew had not walked through the door of the pub on a quiet night in February in his white shirt.
There is nothing special about the day Cushla meets Michael, a married man from Belfast, in the pub owned by her family. But here, love is never far from violence, and this encounter will change both of their lives forever.
As people get up each morning and go to work, school, church or the pub, the daily news rolls in of another car bomb exploded, another man beaten, killed or left for dead. In the class Cushla teaches, the vocabulary of seven-year-old children now includes phrases like ‘petrol bomb’ and ‘rubber bullets’. And as she is forced to tread lines she never thought she would cross, tensions in the town are escalating, threatening to destroy all she is working to hold together.
Tender and shocking, Trespasses is an unforgettable debut of people trying to live ordinary lives in extraordinary times.
Breakneck Point by T. Orr Munroe (CSI Ally Dymond Series Book 1)
Published: April 14th Publisher: HQ Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Suspense, Crime Fiction, Police Procedural, Crime Series
SYNOPSIS: A gripping new crime series for fans of Val McDermid, Jane Casey, Cara Hunter and Mare of Easttown
CSI Ally Dymond’s commitment to justice has cost her a place on the major investigations team. After exposing corruption in the ranks, she’s stuck working petty crimes on the sleepy North Devon coast.
Then the body of nineteen-year-old Janie Warren turns up in the seaside town of Bidecombe, and Ally’s expert skills are suddenly back in demand.
But when the evidence she discovers contradicts the lead detective’s theory, nobody wants to listen to the CSI who landed their colleagues in prison.
Time is running out to catch a killer no one is looking for – no one except Ally. What she doesn’t know is that he’s watching, from her side of the crime scene tape, waiting for the moment to strike.
Published: April 14th Publisher: Welbeck Genre: Historical Fiction, Thriller
SYNOPSIS: A young journalist embroiled in an international art scandal centred around a Nazi-looted masterpiece, forcing the ultimate showdown between passion and possession, lovers and liars, history and truth.
After talking her way into a job, rising young journalist Jules Roth is given an unusual assignment: locate a painting stolen by the Nazis more than 75 years earlier. The painting? None other than legendary artist Ernst Engel’s most famous work, Woman on Fire. World-renowned shoe designer Ellis Baum wants this portrait of a mysterious woman for deeply personal reasons, but Jules doesn’t have much time; the famous designer is dying.
Meanwhile, in Europe, provocative and powerful Margaux de Laurent also searches for the painting. Heir to her art collector family’s millions, Margaux is a cunning gallerist who gets everything she wants. The only thing standing in her way is Jules. Yet Jules has resources of her own, including Adam Baum, Ellis’s grandson. A recovering addict and artist in his own right, Adam was once in Margaux’s clutches, and he’ll do anything to help Jules locate the painting before Margaux.
A thrilling tale of secrets, love, and sacrifice, Woman on Fire tells the story of a remarkable woman and an exquisite work of art that burns bright, moving through hands, hearts, and history.
Published: April 14th Publisher: Oneworld Publications Genre: Literary Fiction
SYNOPSIS: A Vulture ‘Book We Can’t Wait to Read in 2022’
From the 2014 Caine Prize winner comes an astonishing new novel, riven through with mystery and magic, about a daughter’s quest to save her mother
The Manor Mabel Brown looms high over Mapeli Town, its rickety gate flanked by stone angels with severed heads, its yard full of tangled thorns and wildflowers. Inside these ramshackle walls lives Ayosa, twelve years old and the loneliest girl in the world.
With her mother prone to frequent disappearances, Ayosa’s only companions are the ghosts and spirits who wander through her Kenyan village. She craves escape, but more than that she longs for the love of her fearsome mother, Nabumbo Promise.
When a new friend arrives in the shape of Mbiu, Ayosa is forced to choose between protecting her mama and seizing a life of her own.
Okwiri Oduor’s stunningly original debut novel sings with Kenyan folklore and myth as it traces the fragile, intoxicating bond between a mother and daughter like no other.
SYNOPSIS: An exciting and equally lyrical new retelling from Jennifer Saint, the Sunday Times bestselling author of ARIADNE
The House of Atreus is cursed. A bloodline tainted by a generational cycle of violence and vengeance. This is the story of three women, their fates inextricably tied to this curse, and the fickle nature of men and gods.
Clytemnestra The sister of Helen, wife of Agamemnon – her hopes of averting the curse are dashed when her sister is taken to Troy by the feckless Paris. Her husband raises a great army against them and determines to win, whatever the cost.
Cassandra Princess of Troy, and cursed by Apollo to see the future but never to be believed when she speaks of it. She is powerless in her knowledge that the city will fall.
Elektra The youngest daughter of Clytemnestra and Agamemnon, Elektra is horrified by the bloodletting of her kin. But can she escape the curse, or is her own destiny also bound by violence?
SYNOPSIS: Behind the spectacle there are always secrets.
Unruly crowds descend on Crillick’s Variety Theatre. A black, British actress, Zillah, is headlining tonight. An orphan from the slums of St Giles, her rise to stardom is her ticket out – to be gawped and gazed at is a price she’s willing to pay.
Rising up the echelons of society is everything Zillah has ever dreamed of. But when a new stage act disappears, Zillah is haunted by a feeling that something is amiss. Is the woman in danger?
Her pursuit of the truth takes her into the underbelly of the city – from gas-lit streets to the sumptuous parlours of Mayfair – as she seeks the help of notorious criminals from her past and finds herself torn between two powerful admirers.
Caught in a labyrinth of dangerous truths, will Zillah face ruin – or will she be the maker of her fate?
A deliciously immersive tale, Theatre of Marvels whisks you on an unforgettable journey across Victorian London in this bold exploration of race, class and gothic spectacle.
Published: April 28th Publisher: Picador Genre: Science Fiction, Contemporary Horror, Time Travel Fiction
SYNOPSIS: The award-winning author of Station Eleven returns with a story of time travel that precisely captures the reality of our current moment . . .
In 1912, eighteen-year-old Edwin St. Andrew crosses the Atlantic, exiled from English polite society. In British Columbia, he enters the forest, spellbound by the beauty of the Canadian wilderness, and for a split second all is darkness, the notes of a violin echoing unnaturally through the air. The experience shocks him to his core.
Two centuries later Olive Llewelyn, a famous writer, is traveling all over Earth, far away from her home in the second moon colony. Within the text of Olive’s bestselling novel lies a strange passage: a man plays his violin for change in the echoing corridor of an airship terminal as the trees of a forest rise around him.
When Gaspery-Jacques Roberts, a detective in the black-skied Night City, is hired to investigate an anomaly in time, he uncovers a series of lives upended: the exiled son of an aristocrat driven to madness, a writer trapped far from home as a pandemic ravages Earth, and a childhood friend from the Night City who, like Gaspery himself, has glimpsed the chance to do something extraordinary that will disrupt the timeline of the universe.
Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel is a novel that investigates the idea of parallel worlds and possibilities, that plays with the very line along which time should run. Perceptive and poignant about art, and love, and what we must do to survive, it is incredibly compelling.
Published: April 28th Publisher: Michael Joseph Genre: Historical Thriller, Gothic Romance, Psychological Thriller, Domestic Fiction, Coming-of-Age Story
SYNOPSIS: Lauren, Kat and Flora are half-sisters who share a famous artist father – and a terrible secret.
Over the years they’ve lived wildly different lives, but their father has unexpectedly summoned them to Rock Point, the cliff house where they once sat for his most celebrated painting Girls and Birdcage.
Rock Point is a beautiful, windswept place, thick with secrets and electrically charged with the catastrophic events of a summer twenty years before, the day of the total solar eclipse. It’s the first time they’ve dared return.
When the sisters arrive, it is clear that someone is determined not to let the past lie. Someone who is watching their every move. Who remembers the girls in the painting, and what they did. . .
Set on the rugged Cornish coast, The Birdcage is a twisty, spellbinding novel with unforgettable characters who must piece together their family’s darkest secrets.
Lena Aldridge is wondering if life has passed her by. The dazzling theatre career she hoped for hasn’t worked out. Instead, she’s stuck singing in a sticky-floored basement club in Soho and her married lover has just left her. She has nothing to look forward to until a stranger offers her the chance of a lifetime: a starring role on Broadway and a first-class ticket on the Queen Mary bound for New York.
After a murder at the club, the timing couldn’t be better and Lena jumps at the chance to escape England. Until death follows her onto the ship and she realises that her greatest performance has already begun.
Because someone is making manoeuvres behind the scenes, and there’s only one thing on their mind…
MURDER
Miss Aldridge Regrets is the exquisite new novel from Louise Hare. A brilliant murder mystery, it also explores class, race and pre-WWII politics, and will leave readers reeling from the beauty and power of it.
SYNOPSIS: Award-winning historical novelist and playwright John Spurling draws on his lifelong love and knowledge of Classical Greek drama and poetry to reanimate, with vivid wit and zest, five great male–female pairings of Greek myth.
The Greek myths, refined by the great poets and playwrights of Ancient Greece, distil the essence of human life: its brief span, its pride, courage and insecurity, its anxious relationship with the natural world – earth, sea and sky, represented by powerful gods and monsters.
Taking inspiration from the incomparably beautiful and intense poetry of Homer, Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides, Spurling – a lifelong classicist and an award-winning playwright and historical novelist – spins five more myths for contemporary readers. These captivating tales centre on male-female pairs – Prometheus and Pandora, Jason and the sorceress Medea, Oedipus and his daughter Antigone, Achilles and his mother Thetis, Odysseus and Penelope – that destroyed dynasties, raised and felled heroes, and sealed the fates of men.
SYNOPSIS: A dark house filled with darker secrets…
Winter 1954, and in a dilapidated apartment in Brooklyn, Sam Cooper realises that she has nothing left. Her mother is dead, she has no prospects, and she cannot afford the rent. But as she goes through her mother’s things, Sam finds a stack of hidden letters that reveal a family and an inheritance that she never knew she had, three thousand miles away in Yorkshire.
Begars Abbey is a crumbling pile, inhabited only by Lady Cooper, Sam’s ailing grandmother, and a handful of servants. Sam cannot understand why her mother kept its very existence a secret, but her newly discovered diaries offer a glimpse of a young girl growing increasingly terrified. As is Sam herself.
Built on the foundations of an old convent, Begars moves and sings with the biting wind. Her grandmother cannot speak, and a shadowy woman moves along the corridors at night. There are dark places in the hidden tunnels beneath Begars. And they will not give up their secrets easily…
A chilling read that will keep you turning the pages late into the night, Begars Abbey is a must-read for fans of Laura Purcell and W.C. Ryan.
Published: April 28th Publisher: HarperCollins UK Genre: Crime Thriller, Erotic Suspense, Humorous Fiction
SYNOPSIS: “Guilty Women’s already stamped it’s razor sharp, blood stained stiletto heel firmly in the lead to be 2022’s ‘book of the year.” The Daily Mirror
Can they get away with murder?
On a beautiful island off the English coast, four TV actresses gather. Their fifth member is missing – and only they know why she was killed. As the secret between them threatens to come out, tensions on set run high. The women are determined that the show must go on – no matter what it costs. But one of them is on the edge of telling the truth – and no show in the world could survive this scandal…
All of the women have something to hide – but the question is, are they all guilty?
The cast of RUTHLESS WOMEN is back – but this time they’re in trouble…
Dimple Pennington knew of her half siblings, but she didn’t really know them. Five people who don’t have anything in common except for faint memories of being driven through Brixton in their dad’s gold jeep, and some pretty complex abandonment issues.
Dimple has bigger things to think about. She’s thirty, and her life isn’t really going anywhere. An aspiring lifestyle influencer with a terrible and wayward boyfriend, Dimple’s life has shrunk to the size of a phone screen. And despite a small but loyal following, she’s never felt more alone.
That is, until a catastrophic event brings her half siblings Nikisha, Danny, Lizzie and Prynce crashing back into her life. And when they’re all forced to reconnect with Cyril Pennington, the absent father they never really knew, things get even more complicated.
From the Sunday Times bestselling author of QUEENIE comes a propulsive story of heart, humour, homecoming, and about the truest meaning of family you can get when your dad loves his jeep more than he loves his children.
Published: April 18th Publisher: Pan Macmillan Genre: Historical Fiction
SYNOPSIS: Two children trapped in the same attic, almost a century apart, bound by a secret.
1907: Twelve-year-old Celestine spends most of his time locked in an attic room of a large house by the sea. Taken from his homeland and treated as an unpaid servant, he dreams of his family in Africa even if, as the years pass, he struggles to remember his mother’s face, and sometimes his real name . . .
Decades later, Lowra, a young orphan girl born into wealth and privilege, will find herself banished to the same attic. Lying under the floorboards of the room is an old porcelain doll, an unusual beaded claw necklace and, most curiously, a sentence etched on the wall behind an old cupboard, written in an unidentifiable language. Artefacts that will offer her a strange kind of comfort, and lead her to believe that she was not the first child to be imprisoned there . . .
Lola Jaye has created a hauntingly powerful, emotionally charged and unique dual-narrative novel about family secrets, love and loss, identity and belonging, seen through the lens of Black British History in The Attic Child.
Published: March 3rd 2022 Publisher: Apollo Genre: Historical Fiction, Suspense, Thriller, Historical Romance, Psychological Fiction, Coming-of-Age Story Format: Hardcover, Kindle, Audiobook
Welcome to my stop on the blog tour for this mesmerising and haunting tale. Thank you to Head of Zeus for the invitation to take part and the gifted copy of the book.
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SYNOPSIS:
Part ghost story, part novel of suspense The Marsh House is the haunting second novel from the author of The Night of the Flood where two women, separated by decades, are drawn together by one, mysterious house on the North Norfolk coast.
December, 1962. Desperate to create a happy Christmas for her young daughter, Franny, after a disastrous year, Malorie rents a remote house on the Norfolk coast. But once there, the strained silence between them feels louder than ever. As Malorie digs for decorations in the attic, she comes across the notebooks of the teenaged Rosemary, who lived in the house thirty years before. Trapped inside by a blizzard, and with long days and nights ahead of her, Malorie begins to read. Though she knows she needs to focus on the present, she finds herself inexorably drawn into the past…
July, 1931. Rosemary lives in the Marsh House with her austere father, surrounded by unspoken truths and rumours. So when the glamorous Lafferty family moves to the village, she succumbs easily to their charm. Dazzled by the beautiful Hilda and her dashing brother, Franklin, Rosemary fails to see the danger that lurks beneath their bright façades…
As Malorie reads Rosemary’s diary, past and present begin to merge in this moving story of mothers and daughters, family obligation and deeply buried secrets.
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MY REVIEW:
“No-one had lived in the house for years afore they arrived last winter. Not since all that fuss in thirty-four… I weren’t surprised to see her though. Oh, no, it was her all right. We’d been waiting for her.”
OMG. This book! I expected it to be good after hearing so much praise for Zoe Somerville’s debut novel, but I was unprepared for the chilling gothic masterpiece that lurked between these pages. I inhaled this book in one sitting, staying up until 3am in a desperate need for answers. It was totally worth it and I have no doubt that this will make it into my top books of the year when December rolls around.
December 1962. Malorie has rented a remote house on the Norfolk coast hoping to create a magical and memorable Christmas for her daughter Franny after a difficult year. Known as The Marsh House, its eerie atmosphere looms over them from the moment they cross the threshold. While looking for Christmas decorations in the attic they come across an old suitcase filled with papers and notebooks. Upon closer inspection, Malorie discovers that the notebooks are the diaries of Rosemary Wright, a teenage girl who lived at the house thirty years earlier. Curiosity taking over, Malorie begins to read and becomes fixated on the mysterious past of this young girl. But what secrets are waiting to be uncovered inside Rosemary’s diaries?
“I knew she’d found something and what she’d be looking for. She wanted evidence. Proof. Facts. As if it would all be there for her and she could lay it all out and it would make sense. But it’s never as simple as that. The graves are elsewhere. The bones are dust. It’s not graves that tell you a history, a story of a life. That’s much harder to find, but if you know where to look, you can find it. It will reveal itself.”
The Marsh House is literary gothic fiction at its best. The perfect combination of lyrical prose, page turning plot, chilling atmosphere and gripping tension, thishaunting tale had me on the edge of my seat from beginning to end. Creepily claustrophobic and almost dreamlike in places, there is a sense of the otherworldly about it. The snow storm adds to the sense of isolation and increases the fear when strange and inexplicable occurrences begin to make Marlorie question her own sanity. Zoe Somerivlle is a gifted storyteller and the style of this book was spot on for me. I loved the short, cryptic chapters from an unknown narrator who is watching Malorie and Franny and Rosemary’s diary was an inspired choice that brought Rosemary alive and allowed us to connect with her. Just like Malorie I was enthralled anddesperate to know what happened next in her story. The story moves between the two timelines smoothly, punctuated by the short chapters from the mysterious narrator that sent shivers down my spineeach time they appeared. There was no chance of me putting this book down until I had all the answers.
Malorie and Rosemary are great narrators who capture the imagination and hold you in the palm of their hand as the story unfolds. They are fascinating, flawed and real, a whole world of heartbreak, fear, regret and guilt to be found in these women. And their internal conflict and pain is told so vividly that I could feel it in my own soul. From the start we know Malorie believes there to be a connection between her father and Marsh House so I spent the book looking for clues and trying to guess how he might be connected. I had my theories, one of which was correct, but what I loved is how the author creates just enough doubt to make you second guess and not feel sure until the moment just before the big reveal, adding to the mystery and suspense.
“There was something rotten that had been hiding in front of her and it was revealing itself.”
Mesmerising, chilling and immersive, this is a clear your schedule and read it in one sitting kind of book. An easy five stars from me, I can’t recommend it highly enough. I will be reading Zoe’s first book as soon as possible and am excited to watch this talented author’s star undoubtedly rise.
Rating: ✮✮✮✮✮
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MEET THE AUTHOR:
Zoë Somerville is originally from Norfolk, but has settled with her husband and children in the West Country. She works as an English teacher. Zoë began her debut novel, The Night of the Flood on the Bath Spa Creative Writing MA in 2016. It was published in September 2020. Her second novel, The Marsh House, a ghost story and mystery is published in March 2022. She is currently writing her third novel.
Welcome to my stop on the blog tour for this phenomenal and unflinching debut. Thank you to Anne at Random Things Tours for the invitation to take part and Mantle for the gifted ARC.
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SYNOPSIS:
Picked as one of Stylist magazine’s ‘Fiction Books You Can’t Miss in 2022’
Fortune favours the brave in Lizzie Pook’s mesmerising debut novel, Moonlight and the Pearler’s Daughter
1886, BANNIN BAY, AUSTRALIA.
The Brightwell family has sailed from England to make their new home in Western Australia. Ten-year-old Eliza knows little of what awaits them on these shores beyond shining pearls and shells like soup plates – the things her father has promised will make their fortune.
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Ten years later and Charles Brightwell, now the bay’s most prolific pearler, goes missing from his ship while out at sea. Whispers from the townsfolk suggest mutiny and murder, but headstrong Eliza, convinced there is more to the story, refuses to believe her father is dead, and it falls to her to ask the questions no one else dares consider.
But in a town teeming with corruption, prejudice and blackmail, Eliza soon learns that the truth can cost more than pearls, and she must decide just how much she is willing to pay – and how far she is willing to go – to find it . . .
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MY REVIEW:
Fortune waits at the bottom of the ocean for reckless souls who push themselves, and others, to the limits to seek it.
Let me start by addressing the obvious: this is a GORGEOUS book. Possibly the most beautiful proof I’ve ever had. And I was delighted to discover that the book inside is every bit as spectacular as its shiny, iridescent cover. An exquisite treasure that is much the eponymous pearl; something silky, beautiful and rare crafted from grit, salt, meat and hard labour.
It opens in 1886 as 10-year-old Eliza Brightwell steps off the ship with her family to begin a new life in Bannin Bay, Western Australia. They have crossed the ocean to pursue her father Charles’ dreams of making his fortune in pearling. The story then jumps forward ten years. The Brightwells now own a fleet of pearl luggers and 20-year-old Eliza is awaiting the return of her father and brother from their latest journey at sea. But when the lugger returns, only her brother, Thomas, comes with it. Their father has disappeared at sea and is feared dead. But Eliza refuses to give up hope, embarking on her own search for truth and asking the questions no one else dares.
“It is quieter now, the guilt. But it is there, always, the ghost of something forever in the throat.”
Lizzie Pook has crafted a magnificent debut novel that is simply unforgettable. I was completely immersed in this book thanks to her smooth, velvety prose, captivating storytelling and evocative imagery. I felt like I could feel the hot sun beating down on me and held my own breath in anticipation alongside Eliza as she conducted her tireless search. I loved that I had no idea where the story was headed, the tension overflowing as the mystery deepened. Told in dual timelines the story moves smoothly between 1886 and 1896, giving us glimpses into the family’s history that could help solve the puzzle of Charles’ disappearance. The author has based this story on real Australian history and some of the characters are inspired by real historical figures, something I think shines through to make this a truly honest and bold piece of historical fiction.
Eliza is a memorable and compelling protagonist. A fierce, strong, tenacious, independent and adventurous new heroine, she is also an early feminist who doesn’t see why she shouldn’t be afforded the same rights as men. She rallies against the cultural roles she is expected to fulfil, determined to carve her own path whatever others might think. It was clear she is very close to her father and you feel her heartache and desperation on every page. I was rooting for her to find the answers she needed, even if I often worried that she wouldn’t get the positive outcome she believed in.
“A European is not often punished for his transgressions in Bannin Bay, particularly if those transgressions result in the spilling of native blood.”
Life in Bannin Bay is much harder than the Brightwells anticipated. It is a dirty, unforgiving environment filled with deadly flora and fauna. The sun is scorching, the sea treacherous, and the air ripe with the scent of salt, sweat and decay. And as we meet the townspeople we soon discover that it is also a place of rivalry, corruption and danger. There are an abundance of shady and criminal characters and Eliza must be careful at every turn. The author captures the time perfectly, shining a light on the horrific racist treatment of the aboriginals who were enslaved, brutalised, abducted, sold and even murdered. The pearl industry was rife with their abuse as they were forced to become divers. Even pregnant women weren’t safe as they were seen as preferential divers due to their apparent increased lung capacity. Death was sadly common and families were torn apart by the many injustices white settlers subjected them to.
Atmospheric, poignant, vibrant and unflinching, Moonlight and the Pearler’s Daughter is a phenomenal debut that I know will stay with me. Lizzy Pook is an outstanding new talent and I can’t wait to read what she writes next. It will certainly be an auto-buy for me.
Go read this book!
Rating: ✮✮✮✮✮
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MEET THE AUTHOR:
Lizzie is an award-winning writer and journalist. She began her career in women’s magazines, covering everything from cognitive enhancing drugs to conspiracy theorists. In 2015 she moved into travel journalism, reporting for publications such as Condé Nast Traveller, Rough Guides, Lonely Planet and The Sunday Times.
Her assignments have taken her to some of the most remote parts of the world, from the uninhabited east coast of Greenland in search of roaming polar bears, to the haunting mountains of the trans-Himalayas to track endangered snow leopards. She was inspired to write Moonlight and the Pearler’s Daughter, her debut novel, after spending time in north-western Australia researching the dangerous and fascinating pearl-diving industry. The book will be published in February 2022 by Penguin Random House (Australia and New Zealand), March 2022 by Mantle/Pan Macmillan (UK), and in June 2022 by Simon & Schuster (US and Canada).
Welcome to my stop on the blog tour for this magnificent and haunting gothic mystery. Thank you to Alex at Orion for the invitation to take part and ARC.
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SYNOPSIS:
Paris, 1750.
In the midst of an icy winter, as birds fall frozen from the sky, chambermaid Madeleine Chastel arrives at the home of the city’s celebrated clockmaker and his clever, unworldly daughter.
Madeleine is hiding a dark past, and a dangerous purpose: to discover the truth of the clockmaker’s experiments and record his every move, in exchange for her own chance of freedom.
For as children quietly vanish from the Parisian streets, rumours are swirling that the clockmaker’s intricate mechanical creations, bejewelled birds and silver spiders, are more than they seem.
And soon Madeleine fears that she has stumbled upon an even greater conspiracy. One which might reach to the very heart of Versailles…
A intoxicating story of obsession, illusion and the price of freedom.
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MY REVIEW:
“She knew then that the clockmaker might not be simply strange. He might well be something much worse.”
Paris, 1750. Madeleine Casteel arrives at the home of Doctor Maximillian Reinhart, a clockmaker who is the talk of the city thanks to his strange and unique creations. She has been tasked with spying on Reinhart’s every move in exchange for her own freedom. But Madeleine soon finds that she may have stumbled upon a secret much darker than she imagined. A secret that may go to the heart of Versailles and put her life in danger.
“She was tired of being told she was worth less than nothing by men who did nothing themselves.”
Macabre, haunting and suspenseful, this twisted gothic tale was everything I could have hoped for and more. A story cloaked in the syrupy blackness of a sinister mystery, this is a much darker tale than I expected. A story of a maid, a clockmaker, a King, a Courtesan and missing children. It has something for everyone: true crime mixed with historical fiction, a dash of mystery and a sprinkle of feminism. The addition of French language amongst the prose was a coupe de genie that perfected this magnificent and original tale.
My love for historical fiction is no secret and one of my favourite things about it is how much I learn while being entertained. I know relatively little about the time and place this story is set in but the author’s meticulous research and evocative imagery transported me back to the bleak streets of 18th Century Paris so vividly that I could see the buildings leaning into one another, and the beggars in the shadows, hear the horses as they pulled their carriages full of passengers and smell the filth. It was a time of corruption when humanity was forsaken in favour of wealth and power. Men would use their position to control women, a theme that runs throughout the story as we see our three female narrators at the mercy of men with power no matter their position in society and feel powerless to change it.
“Those things he makes, whatever it is he calls them – look at them closely. They’re impossible things, made with dark magic.”
I love when a talented author takes an outlandish idea and runs with it successfully, which is what Anna Mazzola has done with this book. Automata is a fascinating topic and through King Louis IV’s obsession with death, automata and reanimation and the fictitious Doctor Reinhart, the author explores how these astounding yet bizarre creations were both revered and feared, their ability to seemingly defy the laws of nature leading to whispers of witchcraft and black magic. Combined with the mention of how children are quietly vanishing from the streets of Paris that is slowly dripped into the story this creates a chilling air of suspicion, menace and fear that hovers over every page.
Richly drawn, exquisitely told and intricately woven, The Clockwork Girl kept me guessing until the final pages, giving up its twisted secrets slowly, my heart racing in breathless anticipation as I read. A spellbinding and unique story that I would highly recommend.
Rating: ✮✮✮✮✰
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MEET THE AUTHOR:
Anna is a writer of historical thrillers and Gothic fiction. Her novels explore the impact of crime and injustice.
Her debut novel, The Unseeing, is based on the life of a real woman called Sarah Gale who was convicted of aiding a murder in London in 1837. It won an Edgar Allan Poe Award in the US and was nominated for the Historical Writers’ Association’s Debut Crown in the UK.
Her second novel, The Story Keeper, is out now. It follows a folklorist’s assistant as she searches out dark fairytales and stolen girls on the Isle of Skye in 1857. The Story Keeper was nominated for the Highland Book Prize.
Her third novel, The Clockwork Girl, set in Paris in 1750 and based partly on the story of the vanishing children of Paris, will be published by Orion in March 2022. She is currently working on her fourth novel, a ghost story set in Fascist Italy.
As well as novels, Anna writes short stories. She is an accomplished public speaker and regularly speaks at and chairs literary events.
Anna is also a human rights and criminal justice solicitor, working with victims of crime. She lives in Camberwell, South London, with her family, a snake, a lizard and a cat.
Welcome to my stop on the blog tour for this lively and entertaining romp. Thank you to Bookouture for the invitation to take part and the eBook ARC.
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SYNOPSIS:
At the royal boat race there are beautiful barges, plenty of bunting, a handsome prince and… is that a body in the water? Lady Swift is on the case!
Spring, 1923. One-time adventurer and now amateur sleuth Lady Eleanor Swift is attending the annual royal regatta with her new pal Tipsy Fitzroy. Tipsy has Eleanor trussed up like a debutante in a new dress, determined to turn her into a proper society lady. Even Eleanor’s favourite companion, Gladstone the bulldog, has a new outfit for the occasion.
But the sparkling prize-giving ceremony is interrupted when the devilishly handsome host gulps his glass of champagne on stage and collapses to the floor. The victim is none other than the king’s cousin, Lord Xander Taylor-Howard. He was rumoured to be entangled in a rather dubious gambling ring, but did someone kill him instead of collecting his debt? Or was this simply an ill-timed tragic accident? Either way, a right royal scandal is afoot…
Sir Percival, the head of the royal police, asks Eleanor for her help investigating. He’d do anything to keep the story under wraps. She knows it will get her into hot water with a certain dapper Detective Seldon, but she’s determined to see justice done. However, as she digs deeper, she learns Lord Taylor-Howard was hiding more than one murky secret. It isn’t until she takes a closer look at the unfortunate royal’s shattered champagne flute that she stumbles upon just the clue she needs. But can she reel in the killer before her ship is sunk too?
A warm and witty 1920s mystery that cozy fans will just adore. Addictive reading for fans of T E Kinsey, Lee Strauss and Agatha Christie.
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MY REVIEW:
We’re back for another fun romp with my favourite aristocratic amateur sleuth. For the ninth instalment in their Lady Eleanor Swift series, Verity Bright transport us back to Spring 1923 and the annual royal regatta, which Eleanor is attending with her new friend, Tipsy Fitzroy. Tipsy is determined to turn Eleanor into a ‘proper’ Lady and find her a suitable man at the event. But all thoughts of love and propriety are swiftly forgotten when Lord Xander Taylor-Howard, a minor member of the royal family, collapses at the prize-giving ceremony. Though initially reluctant, Eleanor soon finds herself drawn into the investigation into Xander’s death, trying to identify the suspect and avoid a royal scandal. But someone doesn’t appreciate Eleanor’s investigations and once again she finds herself in danger…
I have come to view this series as a real comfort read and it was the beginning of my journey into reading cosy mysteries, which I’d always previously thought would be too tame for my dark crime-loving soul. The characters are a delight and I love the relationship between Lady Eleanor and her butler Clifford. This witty crime-solving duo never fails to entertain me while keeping me glued to their latest mystery. I am also deeply invested in her burgeoning romance with Chief Inspector Hugh Sleddon, which I’m hoping will head towards the happily-ever-after they deserve.
Once again I was glued to the pages as Eleanor finds herself embroiled in yet another murder investigation. The poor woman can’t seem to go anywhere without a dead body turning up! This time she’s doing it for King and country as she tries to help avoid a royal scandal after the poisoning of a maverick minor royal. Xander was charming but left a trail of potential scandal behind him, leaving a myriad of possible killers and motives. It’s a tangled web to unravel, but if anyone can do it it’s Eleanor and Clifford. I loved how much this story twisted and turned, taking me by surprise and revealing truths I never even considered.
If you’re looking for a murder mystery that is also lively, witty and uplifting then pick up this book.
Rating: ✮✮✮✮✰
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MEET THE AUTHOR:
Confident woman at office with laptop computer, mobile phone, and schedule notebook.Gradients, Blending tool, Clipping mask is used.
Verity Bright is the pseudonym for a husband-and-wife writing partnership that has spanned a quarter of a century. Starting out writing high-end travel articles and books, they published everything from self-improvement to humour, before embarking on their first historical mystery. They are the authors of the fabulous Lady Eleanor Swift Mystery series, set in the 1920s.
Welcome to my stop on the blog tour for this addictive psychological thriller. Thank you to Bookouture for the invitation to take part and the eBook ARC.
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SYNOPSIS:
She doesn’t know I’m there, watching her in the mirror. She slides her hand under her blouse. And then I see something impossible. She isn’t pregnant…
She bursts into my life like a storm, and nothing is the same again. She seems so perfect, with her lilting laugh and her beautiful face. One by one, I watch as my friends fall under her spell.
Only I seem to suspect something. Only I see that her smiles don’t reach her cold, furious eyes. And when I’m accused of things I didn’t do, when my home is vandalized, I know she’s behind it. But she only lets her mask slip when no one is looking, so if I say anything, I’ll look crazy.
So when the baby shower comes around I’m there, sitting on a velvet sofa in a posh hotel room, surrounded by balloons. We share gifts, we pour small glasses of champagne, and she beams, her bump just visible under her bright red shirt.
But that afternoon, I finally learn the unbelievable truth.
There is no baby…
A stunningly twisty story of toxic female friendships, guilt and lies from S.E. Lynes, author of the no.1 bestseller The Housewarming. If you like Lisa Jewell, Gillian Flynn and Paula Hawkins, you’ll be glued to The Baby Shower.
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MY REVIEW:
WHAT. A. BOOK! S.E. Lynes has proven herself to be the psychological thriller master with this tense, mind-blowing and crazy book. It was so addictive that I read half of it in one sitting and would have read the whole thing if it hadn’t have been 2am and my eyes were betraying me.
It begins with a woman waking up in hospital after a car accident. Though in pain she is full of rage towards another woman who she needs to find before the woman finds her. Only one of them can leave the hospital alive and she’s determined it will be her. I was full of questions: who is this other woman? What did she do? And why does one of them have to die? From there the story moves between timelines, shifting from the hospital to events leading up to the crash, telling a story of lies, betrayal and toxic female friendship that will have you on the edge of your seat from beginning to end.
The story is told by multiple narrators but it was Jane who resonated most with me. Over the course of the story we see her whole world get turned upside down and it all begins when Lexie Lane is brought into her close friendship group by Jane’s best friend, Sophie. Sophie thinks Lexie is golden and doesn’t see the callous and spiteful things she does to push her and Jane apart, instead choosing to believe her lies and turn away from the person she’s been closest to for years. Jane’s heartache through all of this is palpable. She is shocked that her best friend doesn’t believe her and that another grown woman seems intent on wrecking her life for no apparent reason. You feel her internal struggle to believe it is even happening herself and her pain as she wonders why. Her heartache is compounded by her early menopause and infertility, especially in the face of Sophie and Lexie’s pregnancies. Having been through infertility myself, I know that pain of longing for something so much that it hurts and being happy yet also jealous when it happens for those you love. It is powerfully but sensitively written and really pulls you close to Jane while wondering what on earth Sophie is thinking.
Lexie is a fantastic villain who is brilliantly written. She is friendly and charming when she chooses, a facade that masks her true character, which is sly, calculating, cruel and manipulative. The game she’s playing is so obvious to the reader and I immediately sided with Jane, yet I could also see why Sophie liked her and found it hard to believe she was doing such terrible things. But I think it ultimately says more about Sophie when she refused to listen to Jane’s side of things than it did about Lexie. After all, you can’t turn a true friend against someone with lies. I think this will resonate with so many of us as I think most of us have unfortunately experienced thesetoxic kinds of female friendships at some point in our lives and will recognise someone we knew in Lexie’s character.
Brimming with tension and foreboding, The Baby Shower is a compelling, twisty and surprising psychological thriller that will make you feel all the feelings. Trust me when I tell you this is a book not to be missed.
Rating: ✮✮✮✮.5
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MEET THE AUTHOR:
Former BBC Producer, S.E. Lynes is the Amazon best selling author of ‘intelligent and haunting’, ‘beautifully written’ psychological thrillers, VALENTINA, MOTHER, THE PACT, THE PROPOSAL, THE WOMEN, THE LIES WE HIDE, CAN YOU SEE HER? and her latest novel, THE HOUSEWARMING, available for pre-order NOW.
After completing her MA, Lynes taught creative writing at Richmond Adult Community College for over ten years. She now combines writing, mentoring and lecturing.
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