Published January 19th, 2023 by Pan Macmillan Thriller, Suspense, Mystery, Dystopian Fiction, Science Fiction
Thank you to Pan Macmillan and Bookbreak for sending me a proof copy in exchange for an honest review.
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BOOK DESCRIPTION:
‘Clever, compelling and terrifyingly plausible’ – C. J. Tudor, author of A Sliver of Darkness
What if marriage was the law? Dare you disobey? Set in the same world as The One, now a Netflix Original Series, The Marriage Act is a dark, high-concept thriller from bestselling author John Marrs.
‘A page-turning and thought-provoking read’ – Daily Mirror
Britain. The near future. A right-wing government believes it has the answer to society’s ills – the Sanctity of Marriage Act, which actively encourages marriage as the norm, punishing those who choose to remain single.
But four couples are about to discover just how impossible relationships can be when the government is supervising every aspect of our personal lives, monitoring every word, every minor disagreement – and will use every tool in its arsenal to ensure everyone will love, honour and obey . . .
Shortlisted for the Goodreads Awards 2023.
Black Mirror meets thriller with a dash of Naomi Alderman’s The Power.
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MY REVIEW:
The Marriage Act is a pacy speculative thriller set in Britain in the near future. A right-wing government has brought into law the Sanctity of Marriage Act, actively encouraging marriage by offering benefits for those opting for a Smart Marriage and punishing those who remain single. They believe it is the answer to society’s problems. After all, what could go wrong with a system where the government monitors and controls every aspect of your relationship? Four couples are about to find out…
John Marrs is at the top of his game and can do no wrong in my eyes. Everything he writes is golden; cleverly crafted with a merciless finesse that keeps his reader on tenterhooks from start to finish. A perfect marriage of complex moral and social issues, red herrings, shocks and suspense, this is a masterclass in speculative fiction. It grabs your attention from the dark opening pages that contain a promise of secrets just waiting to be revealed. Much of this story seems far-fetched at first. But, as you read, you begin to realise that none of this is beyond the realms of possibility. Suddenly everything feels frighteningly real and the fact that I could imagine all of this happening chilled me to my core.
This is the fourth book set in The One Universe, the dystopian world that Marrs created which connects a number of his books, coming after The One, The Passengers,and The Minders.While it isn’t necessary to read these in order to follow what’s happening in this book, I highly recommend reading ALL of Marrs’ books. Now, back to The Marriage Act. Those who sign up to a Smart Marriage are monitored 24/7 by a device called an Audite. The Audite listens and records the couples conversations throughout the day, not only picking up on every word, but also their tone and the volume of their voices. This constant monitoring leads to a claustrophobic atmosphere, feelings of distrust, and people manipulating or avoiding conversations. If the Audite decides your marriage is in trouble they will send a Relationship Responder who then lives with you and helps you work on your marriage issues. In this complex and nuanced story there are many different clauses that also come along with a Smart Marriage, and as the story goes on we see the many flaws in the system.
The story is told in mixed media from multiple points of view. I listened to it on audiobook and while the narration is fantastic, it did feel very confusing at first and I struggled to keep up with the many characters and threads of the story. But that didn’t last long, and I soon lost myself in the story, devouring the book in under a day. Marrs has created a large cast of interesting characters that come from different walks of life. Some were easier to root for than others, and there were some I couldn’t stand, but all of them were compelling, flawed, relatable and real. They are people you could imagine as your friends, family or neighbours, heightening the feeling that this could all actually happen.
Ominous, tense, twisty and thought-provoking, The Marriage Act is a compulsive thriller charged with adrenaline charged with adrenaline that you won’t want to put down. Highly recommended.
Rating: ✮✮✮✮✰
*I listened to this book on Bookbeat. You can listen for two months free by clicking this link*
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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.
Published May 9th, 2024 by Orenda Books Crime Fiction, Mystery, Hardboiled, Translated Fiction
Today I’m resharing my review for this darkly atmospheric thriller as part of the paperback blog tour. Thank you to Anne at Random Things Tours for the invitation to take part and Orenda Books for the copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
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BOOK DESCRIPTION:
A snobbish Danish literary author is challenged to write a crime novel in thirty days, travelling to a small village in Iceland for inspiration, and then a body appears … an atmospheric, darkly funny, twisty debut thriller, first in an addictive new series.
‘An original and thoroughly enjoyable treat’ Guardian
‘Dark and sharp … A lot of fun’ Val McDermid
‘Witty, dark, meta, ingenious and hugely compelling. I LOVED the Icelandic setting and satirical observations’ Will Dean
‘Hilariously scathing. Satirises genre fiction while creating a first-class example of it, full of suspects, red herrings and twists … wit and originality make it a joy to read’ Mark Sanderson, The Times CRIME BOOK OF THE MONTH
**Winner of the Harald Mogensen Prize for Best Danish Crime Novel** **Shortlisted for the Glass Key Award**
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Copenhagen author Hannah is the darling of the literary community and her novels have achieved massive critical acclaim. But nobody actually reads them, and frustrated by writer’s block, Hannah has the feeling that she’s doing something wrong.
When she expresses her contempt for genre fiction, Hanna is publicly challenged to write a crime novel in thirty days. Scared that she will lose face, she accepts, and her editor sends her to Húsafjöður – a quiet, tight-knit village in Iceland, filled with colourful local characters – for inspiration.
But two days after her arrival, the body of a fisherman’s young son is pulled from the water … and what begins as a search for plot material quickly turns into a messy and dangerous investigation that threatens to uncover secrets that put everything at risk … including Hannah…
Atmospheric, dramatic and full of nerve-jangling twists and turns, Thirty Days of Darkness is a darkly funny, unsettling debut Nordic Noir thriller that marks the start of a breath-taking new series.
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MY REVIEW:
“Hannah looks up, suddenly struck by the thought that she isn’t sure if reality is serving as a blueprint for her novel, or whether her novel may end up predicting reality.”
Hannah takes her writing seriously. The sweetheart of the literary world, she agonises over every word and is dismissive of genre fiction. At a book fair she declares that genre fiction is so easy, anyone could write a book in thirty days, which she is then challenged to do by another author. Afraid to lose face, Hanmah accepts the challenge and soon finds herself on her way to a remote, tight-knitvillage in Iceland, where she will write her thriller. Two days after her arrival the discovery of a body in the water provides Hannah with the perfect plot material. But things soon spiral out of control and she finds herself immersed in a dangerous and chaotic investigation that puts her, and others, at risk.
“At the end of the day, it’s not the dead we’re interested in. It’s ourselves. The death of another forces the bereaved to reflect on their own lives. Through death, we can put everything into perspective, look at the details of one’s own life anew. And ponder in what way death may eventually come for us. “
Darkly atmospheric, twisty, original and filled with black humour, , Thirty Days of Darkness is a riveting debut that keeps you guessing from start to finish. I’m always excited about a new book from Orenda, but when I read the synopsis for this one I was even more intrigued. I loved the idea of taking some of the criticisms of genre fiction and challenging them by having a character who shares those negative ideas and daring her to prove it’s as easy as they think. I think it’s a difficult plot to pull off as it risks being cliche or a caricature of itself, but Jenny Lund Masden accomplishes it with finesse, crafting a story that is well written, compelling and has the reader on the edge of their seat. Told in short, choppy chapters that help keep the story feeling fresh, there’s an element of satire as Hannah scathingly bashes genre fiction in a book that is an outstanding illustration of why she’s so wrong.
“She looks down at her nails, flexes her fingers, as if they contain some unknown mystery. Which they do, in a way. They translate her thoughts into words, bring her soul into the world, materialise it.”
I love a flawed character so I was thrilled that Hannah isn’t your typical charming protagonist. Snarky, difficult, snobby, and not particularly likeable, she nonetheless has something about her that makes you want to keep reading, if only to see her fall flat on her face or be proven wrong. It was interesting to watch her journey of self-reflection during her time in Iceland and found her much more likeable by the end. But I was glad she never fully lost her spiky edge. Another thing I enjoyed is watching Hannah spar with her nemesis, fellow author Jorn, who is the one who set her the challenge. But I was never quite sure what to make of him and couldn’t decide if the bad feeling I got from him was genuine or had been coloured by Hannah’s opinions.
“Don’t stick your nose too deep into all this. This town has secrets that are best left alone.”
I think small towns make for a great book setting, and I loved the ominous atmosphere of this one. It’s a very secretive place and from the start Hannah is warned not to dig too deep, adding to the impending sense of danger and foreboding that crackles on every page. The residents are a colourful bunch of characters, many of whom match the strange vibe of the village and add to the menacing atmosphere. But is this because they know something, or just a case of a small town closing ranks against an outsider? I had mixed feelings but loved that this, along with the author’s brilliant writing, made it impossible for me to feel like I’d actually figured out who the antagonist was right up until the big reveal that left my jaw on the floor.
Unsettling, mysterious and suspenseful, Thirty Days of Darkness is a must-have addition to the TBR of all thriller lovers.
Rating: ✮✮✮✮✰
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MEET THE AUTHOR:
Jenny Lund Madsen is one of Denmark’s most acclaimed scriptwriters (including the international hits Rita and Follow the Money) and is known as an advocate for better representation for sexual and ethnic minorities in Danish TV and film. She recently made her debut as a playwright with the critically acclaimed Audition (Aarhus Teater) and her debut literary thriller, Thirty Days of Darkness, first in an addictive new series, won the Harald Mogensen Prize for Best Danish Crime Novel of the year and was shortlisted for the coveted Glass Key Award. She lives in Denmark with her young family.
Megan Turney is originally from the West Midlands, and after having spent several years working back and forth between the UK and the Hardanger region of Norway, she is now based in Edinburgh, working as a commercial and literary translator and editor. She was the recipient of the National Centre for Writing’s 2019 Emerging Translator Mentorship in Norwegian, and is a published science fiction critic. She holds an MA (Hons) in Scandinavian Studies and English Literature from the University of Edinburgh, as well as an MA in Translation and Interpreting Studies from the University of Manchester.
Published May 2nd, 2024 by Abacus Historical Fiction, Literary Fiction
Happy Publication Day to this haunting and mesmerising novel. Thank you to Niamh at Little Brown Book Group for the sending me a copy of the book in exchange for my honest review.
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BOOK DESCRIPTION:
‘I was blown away by this dark, enchanting story of witchcraft, power and injustice. ..nothing short of brilliant’ Mary Chamberlain Erzsébet Báthory, whose infamous place in history characterises her as the ‘Blood Countess’, was accused of the murder of over 600 peasant girls in Hungary, 1610. The Nightingale’s Castle tells the story of a woman fighting for her survival and the complicated, often cruel, household over which she presides. Praise for The Nightingale’s Castle ‘Moving, fascinating and haunting.. A mesmerising combination of gothic horror and elegant restraint’ Francesca De Tores, author of Saltblood ‘Gripping… a fascinating exploration of women’s struggle to have their truth heard’ Louise O’Neill
In 1573, Countess Erzsébet Báthory gave birth to an illegitimate child. The infant, a girl, was swiftly bundled up and handed to a local peasant family to be brought up in one of the hamlets surrounding the Castle. Many years later, 15-year-old Boróka reluctantly leaves the safety of the only home she has ever known in the foothills of the Carpathian Mountains. Trusted members of the countess’s household have been sent out to gather new serving girls, and the kindly old man who has taken care of Boróka for almost all her life knows that it is dangerous to turn them away.
Boróka struggles to find her place at Cachtice Castle: she is frightened of the countess’s reputation as an alleged murderer of young girls, and the women who run the castle are terrifyingly cruel. When plague comes into the heart of the castle, a tentative bond begins to form between Boróka and the Countess Báthory. But powerful forces are moving against a woman whose wealth poses such a threat to the king: can the countess really trust the women who are so close to her? And when the show trial begins against the infamous ‘Blood Countess’ where will Boróka’s loyalties lie?
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MY REVIEW:
“I’ve heard that the girls who go to Čachtice Castle never return.”
The Nightingale’s Castle is a mesmerising tale of witchcraft, myth, murder, power and injustice. A harmony of historical fiction, gothic horror and dark fairytale, fact and fiction seamlessly blend to tell the story of Countess Erzsébet Báthory, the woman who currently holds the Guiness World Record for being the most prolific female serial killer of all time and was believed to have murdered over six hundred girls and bathed in their blood to preserve her youth. When the Countess’s servants come to her home in the Carpathian Mountains looking for girls to work for the Countess at Čachtice Castle, 15-year-old Boróka is reluctant to leave her home and confused by her father’s insistence that she go with them. Terrified of the Countess’s fearsome reputation for allegedly murdering young servant girls and the cruel women charged with managing the servants, Boróka struggles to fit in. But things are changing and there are those who will do anything to destroy a woman whose wealth is a threat to the king. Can Countess Báthory really trust the women closest to her? And what is the truth behind the rumours of murder that surround her?
“The nightingale is still the bird of darkness and mourning, even though its song is sweet.”
Sometimes you can tell from just looking at a book that you are going to love it. This was one of those times. Haunting, luxurious and beguiling, the story between the covers is every bit as luxurious as its cover. This isn’t a story you simply read, it’s one you get lost in and has that intoxicating combination where I want to take my time to soak in every word, and never want the story to end. But, ultimately, I devoured this book whole, unable to bear being away from it for longer than necessary. I was already a fan of Sonia Velton’s writing after loving her debut Blackberry and Wild Rose, but she blew me away with this one. Evocatively told, intricately woven and complex, it is a rich tapestry laced with history, infused with malevolence and threaded with the supernatural. Velton’s meticulous research is evident on every page as she reminds us of the vulnerable and precarious position women of that time were forced to live in. Because, at the heart of this book, is a story about how dangerous it is to be a woman in a patriarchal world, of women’s fight to have their voices and truth heard, and of men abusing their power.
“The countess is impossible to predict. Her moods are like opal stones constantly shifting their colours. She is at once caustic and kind. One minute dismissive and the next, like now, if they say the wrong thing, or presume too much, they might find themselves crushed like an insect under the countess’s pointy pink-satined toe.”
Merging fact and fiction is no easy task, but Velton pulls it off with finesse. Čachtice Castle came alive around me and she breathed life into every character. Countess Erzsébet Báthory is intimidating, imperious, acerbic and self-assured. Her murderous reputation precedes her, surrounding her with a chilling air that strikes fear in many of the people she meets. Boróka is gutsy, likeable and easy to root for, and I really enjoyed her scenes with the countess. I’ve never read anything about Countess Báthory before so, like Boróka, I found myself unsure what the truth was about the countess which kept me on tenterhooks as I read. Dorka and Ilona Jó, the two women in charge of the servant girls, sent shivers down my spine and I was sure of their cruelty from the start. Ficzkó was a more complex character with his heartbreaking backstory and alarming personality ‘quirks’. But every one of them, and the many background characters, were expertly written and fascinating.
Heady, dark, unsettling and absorbing, The Nightingale’s Castle is an absolute masterpiece. It is one of my favourite books of this year and a must read for fans of gothic or historical fiction.
Rating: ✮✮✮✮✮
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MEET THE AUTHOR:
Sonia Velton has been a solicitor in Hong Kong, a Robert Schuman Scholar in Luxembourg and spent eight years being an expat Mum of three in Dubai. She now lives with her children in Kent. Her writing has been short-listed for the Lucy Cavendish Fiction Prize, long-listed for the HWA Debut Crown and optioned for film. Her new book, The Nightingale’s Castle, is a fresh look at the legend of Countess Bathory, the sixteenth century ‘Blood Countess’.
Published April 11th, 2024 by Zaffre Romantic Comedy, Humorous Fiction, Contemporary Romance
Welcome to my stop on the blog tour for this witty and uplifting rom com. Thank you to Anne from Random Things Book Tours for the invitation to take part and to Zaffre for the copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
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BOOK DESCRIPTION:
‘Laugh-out-loud, heartwarming tale’ BETH O’LEARY
Millie Chandler is known at work as the nice receptionist who got dumped by the company hotshot, and ever since then, she has vowed to keep everything to herself – her feelings, her hopes, and especially her fears.
But Millie does have an outlet: her emails. From sarcastic replies to her rude boss, rants to friends about their terrible taste in men to a five-hundred-word love declaration to her ex, who three years on, is about to marry someone else. Millie’s reality lives in her drafts until the morning she discovers that they are somehow in her sent folder. The truth is out.
As every dark secret she’s worked so hard to keep password protected is released, Millie must fix the chaos her words have caused.
Will Millie find the strength to open both her heart, and her inbox?
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MY REVIEW:
“For the last couple of years my drafts have become my diary. A confessional. A haunted crypt of unsaid things. Things I wish I could say, things I really really want to say, but don’t in pursuit of an easy life…but now it’s out there… “
It’s a fear of the modern age; accidentally sending an email or text to someone that you didn’t want them to see. In Better Left Unsent, this dreaded nightmare becomes a reality for Millie when the many draft emails she’s written as an outlet for her heartache, frustration, and rage get sent to the people she never wanted to read them. With her innermost thoughts and feeling suddenly laid bare, Millie is left humiliated and scrambling to undo the damage.
Witty, heartwarming and uplifting, this romcom was the perfect pick-me-up after some darker reads. Millie is a likeable character who was easy to relate to. As someone who often writes down my feelings as a way to get them out of my system, there are many ragey, sarcastic and heartrending notes I’ve written for my own sanity that I’d be mortified should they see the light of day so it was easy to put myself in Millie’s place and understand her toe-curling embarrassment. I would have liked to have seen more of the actual emails that were sent, such as the ones at the beginning of the book, but I loved how Lia Louis wrote the bumpy journey Millie took. The emotion leaped from the page as she attempted to mitigate the aftermath of the email disaster that affected every area of her life.
Some of the greatest shame Millie feels is from the emails she wrote while heartbroken after being dumped by Owen. We’ve all been there when you’re devastated, angry and confused, especially when they move on quickly while you’re struggling to get out of bed. It is through Millie’s relationship with Owen that Louis explores toxic relationships, emotional abuse, gaslighting and coercive control. But there is light at the end of the tunnel, and as she reflects on their broken relationship she begins to see the truth, and I loved seeing her emerge from the other side. There is also a non-toxic love interest in the form of Jack, and I loved reading their potential blossoming relationship as Ms. Louis captures the butterflies, anticipation, excitement and uncertainty that a new relationship brings.
Funny, sweet and charming, Better Left Unsent is a story that reminds us that good things can come even from what we think are the worst moments of our lives.
Rating: 📨📨📨📨
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MEET THE AUTHOR:
Lia Louis lives in the United Kingdom with her partner and three young children. Before raising a family, she worked as a freelance copywriter and proofreader. She was the 2015 winner of Elle magazine’s annual writing competition and has been a contributor for Bloomsbury’s Writers and Artist’s blog for aspiring writers.
Published April 25th, 2024 by Avon Books Thriller, Suspense, Mystery, Psychological Fiction, Crime Fiction
Today is my stop on the blog tour for the brilliant but unnerving, Profile K. Thank you to Avon Books UK for the invitation to take part and for sending me a copy of the book in exchange for my honest review.
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BOOK DESCRIPTION:
‘Truly exceptional…twists and turns that I didn’t see coming, a unique concept, and brilliant characters…simply captivating.’ JOHN MARRS
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He’s going to kill you. He just doesn’t know it yet.
Midnight Jones is an analyst trained to understand the human mind. But everything changes when, in the course of her work, she discovers Profile K’s file – because K stands for killer, and she knows that someone more dangerous than she could have ever imagined walks among them.
Midnight knows what Profile K is capable of before he even commits his first crime. But as the news rolls with the brutal murder of a local woman, no one believes what she tells them: that he is capable of so much worse.
Profile K will kill again – and, terrifyingly, Midnight realises that the moment she found his file was the moment she became his next target. Because Profile K is coming for Midnight – and the only way to escape with her life is to find him before he finds her…
The million-copy bestseller is back with a dark, terrifying journey into the mind of a psychopath that will keep you riveted until the very last page.
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MY REVIEW:
He’s going to kill you. He just doesn’t know it yet.
The Queen of the dark, nerve-shredding thriller is back. And she’s outdone herself with this one. With a tagline like the one above I knew I was in for a twisted treat. Dark, depraved, disturbing and deadly, this book took me to some deeply unsettling places in one of the best and most malevolent thrillers I’ve ever read.
Profile K is an office urban legend at Netco. Something for staff to whisper about to one another over the water cooler. But when data analyst Midnight Jones comes across a so-called Profile K she discovers someone unlike anyone she’s profiled before. This applicant is troubling and dangerous. A ticking timebomb of murderous intent walking among us. Midnight takes the profile to her superiors, only for them to dismiss her concerns and tell her to forget what she saw. But she can’t and Midnight remains haunted by what this person is capable of. And when a woman is found brutally murdered, she is sure that Profile K is behind it. How can she make people listen before he kills again?
A tableau of horror, this is a story painted in blood and violence that has malice dripping from every page. Fields sets the tone from the start with a brutal first chapter that made my blood run cold. She moves between the multiple narrators to tell the story, building an atmosphere of ominous foreboding as we peek inside the daily lives of Profile K’s victims. And it is those victims through whose eyes we see their murders, their terror and pain palpable as the monster strikes and they finally discovertheir terrible fate. This is a dark thriller-lover’s dream, filled with grisly crime scenes, heart-stopping suspense, surprising twists, and a cold-blooded killer who puts the ‘psycho’ in ‘psychological thriller’. I devoured this one whole, unable to put it down for even a moment once I’d started.
Helen Fields is an expert in writing fantastic characters that get under your skin and there are an abundance of them in this book. Forensic Psychologist Dr Connie Woolwine returns for a third time. And though she plays a crucial role, she’s a peripheral character who appears quite briefly. Our main protagonist is Midnight Jones, a brilliant character who not only has a great name but is likeable, brave, tenacious and easy to root for. She has a compelling backstory that made me furious on her behalf but I admired her selfless commitment to caring for her twin sister, Dawn. I loved the sisters’ relationship and many of their scenes together were incredibly moving. There is also a cast of fantastic background characters, with Dawn and septuagenarian Doris – a lifeline for Midnight and all-round lovely person- being my favourites. And then, there’s Profile K. This character is one of the most disturbed, savage, cruel, and remorseless killers I’ve ever read. Just thinking about him gives me chills and I was glad he didn’t narrate the murders, as the peek inside his twisted mind we got when he was contemplating or reliving them was bad enough, though his backstory did help us understand how he became this way.
Menacing, macabre, unnerving and compulsive, this is a must read for anyone who enjoys dark and twisted thrillers. Just make sure you’ve nothing planned when you start reading.
Rating: 🔪🔪🔪🔪🔪
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MEET THE AUTHOR:
Helen Fields’ first love was drama and music. From a very young age she spent all her free time acting and singing until law captured her attention as a career path. She studied law at the University of East Anglia, then went on to the Inns of Court School of Law in London.
After completing her pupillage, she joined chambers in Middle Temple where she practised criminal and family law for thirteen years. Undertaking cases that ranged from Children Act proceedings and domestic violence injunctions, to large scale drug importation and murder, Helen spent years working with the police, CPS, Social Services, expert witnesses and in Courts Martials.
After her second child was born, Helen left the Bar. Together with her husband David, she went on to run Wailing Banshee Ltd, a film production company, acting as script writer and producer.
Helen self-published two fantasy books as a way of testing herself and her writing abilities. She enjoyed the creative process so much that she began writing in a much more disciplined way, and decided to move into the traditional publishing arena through an agent.
Perfect Remains is set in Scotland, where Helen feels most at one with the world. Edinburgh and San Francisco are her two favourite cities, and she travels whenever she can.
Beyond writing, she has a passion for theatre and cinema, often boring friends and family with lengthy reviews and critiques. Taking her cue from her children, she has recently taken up karate and indoor sky diving. Helen and her husband now live in Hampshire with their three children and two dogs.
Published April 25th, 2024 by Pan Macmillan Thriller, Mystery, Crime Fiction, Women Sleuths, Literary Fiction
Welcome to my review for the unnerving and addictive Darling Girls, which is the SquadPod Book Club pick for April. Thanks to Chloe at Pan MacMillan for the copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
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ABOUT THE BOOK:
A thrilling page-turner about sisterhood, secrets, love and murder by Sally Hepworth, the New York Times bestselling author of The Soulmate and The Mother-in-Law.
It’s not just secrets buried at Wild Meadows.
For as long as they can remember, Jessica, Norah and Alicia have been told how lucky they are. Rescued from their own family tragedies, they were raised by a loving foster mother on an idyllic farming estate and given an elusive second chance for a happy family life.
But the girls’ childhood wasn’t quite the fairy tale everyone thinks it was. And when a body is discovered under the home they grew up in, the three foster sisters find themselves thrust into the spotlight as key witnesses.
It’s time for them to return home as adults. The only question is are they innocent victims or the prime suspects for murder?
With darkly comic timing and insidiously twisting plots, Sally Hepworth’s novels are guaranteed to keep you turning the pages . . .
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MY REVIEW:
“These days everyone is familiar with Wild Meadows. The media love the juxtaposition of the whimsical country estate and the atrocities that happened there.”
This month’s SquadPod Book Club pick – and this month’s 12 months, 12 countries challenge – transports us to Australia for a compelling and suspenseful story of found family, trauma, secrets and murder.
Jessica, Norah and Alicia are sisters not by blood, but by a bond forged by their shared experience living as foster sisters at Wild Meadows. They have spent their lives being told how lucky they were to be rescued from their tragic situations and raised by a loving foster mother. But nothing was as it seemed and there are more than secrets buried at Wild Meadows. And when a body is discovered buried beneath their former home, the sisters are drawn back into their murky past and the secrets they have long tried to forget…
“It was almost as if the clock had wound back twenty-five years. They were all young girls, begging to be believed. Except this time they weren’t children. This time they were going to demand to be heard.”
Darling Girls was my introduction to Sally Hepworth. And what an introduction! The bright cover of this book hides the dark, sinister and unnerving story between its covers. Hepworth explores topics such as abuse, trauma, and unhinged psyches, permeating the story with heartrending moments alongside the heart-stopping tension and shocking twists that keep you on your toes until the very last page. I was in her thrall. Unable to shake the story from my mind and when I wasn’t reading it I was thinking about it. I needed answers. I needed to know what secrets were buried at Wild Meadows. And I was sure I had it all figured out, only for my jaw to hit the floor as Hepworth sucker-punched me at the eleventh hour for a truly spectacular finale.
“Disturbing vignettes from her childhood circled in her brain—swimming pools and basements, birthday parties and horses. And fear, of course. Lots and lots of fear.”
The story is narrated by the sisters, who each have rich backstories. They came to live at Wild Meadows due to tragic family circumstances, only to find that what was supposed to be a new beginning in a home filled with love was the beginning of a nightmare. Their foster mother, Miss Fairchild, is a sadistic and cruel monster who made my blood boil and my heart broke as I read of their torment under her so-called care. Miss Fairchild is one of the best villains of this kind that I’ve read, perfectly at odds with what a loving mother is supposed to be and sending chills down my spine when she was on the page. The sisters are each very different but share a close bond that I loved. And while they are flawed in their own ways, they are sympathetically written. But the mystery of the body buried under the house lingers ominously over every page, and while I was rooting for them, I was also aware that they were hiding something. I had various predictions over the course of the book, and, I’ll be honest, I was disappointed that it wasn’t Miss Fairchild they had done in and buried under the house.
Dark, menacing and affecting, I’d highly recommend this addictive thriller. Now I need to buy this author’s backlist ASAP.
Rating: ✮✮✮✮.5
TW: Child neglect, abuse, trauma, drug addiction
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MEET THE AUTHOR:
Sally Hepworth is the New York Times bestselling author of nine novels, most recently Darling Girls. She is also the author of Uncharted Waters, published by Amazon Original stories in 2022. Several of Sally’s novels have been optioned for TV and film.
Sally’s novels are available around the globe in English and have been translated into over 20 languages. She has sold over one million books worldwide.
Sally lives in Melbourne, Australia with her family.
May is another month filled with exciting new releases, including new books from favourite authors such as Laura Purcell, Jennifer Saint, Sarah Perry, John Marrs and M. J. Arlidge, and enthralling debuts from Samuel Burrs, Anne Corlett and Fiona McPhillips.
Here are the books I’m most anticipating:
Enlightenment by Sarah Perry
Published May 2nd by Jonathan Cape Gothic Fiction, Religious Romance, Spiritual Fiction
SYNOPSIS: A story of love and astronomy told over the course of twenty years through the lives of two improbable best friends
***AN OBSERVER FICTION BOOK TO LOOK OUT FOR IN 2024***
‘A complete masterwork’ SARAH HALL
‘A beautifully nuanced novel of love in all its aspects’ SUSAN STOKES-CHAPMAN
Thomas Hart and Grace Macauley are fellow worshippers at the Bethesda Baptist chapel in the small Essex town of Aldleigh. Though separated in age by three decades, the pair are kindred spirits – torn between their commitment to religion and their desire for more. But their friendship is threatened by the arrival of love.
Thomas falls for James Bower, who runs the local museum. Together they develop an obsession with the vanished nineteenth-century female astronomer Maria Veduva, said to haunt a nearby manor, and whose startling astronomical discoveries may never have been acknowledged. Inspired by Maria, and the dawning realisation James may not reciprocate his feelings, Thomas finds solace studying the night skies. Could astronomy offer as much wonder as divine or earthly love?
Meanwhile Grace meets Nathan, a fellow sixth former who represents a different, wilder kind of life. They are drawn passionately together, but quickly pulled apart, casting Grace into the wider world and far away from Thomas.
In time, the mysteries of Aldleigh are revealed, bringing Thomas and Grace back to each other and to a richer understanding of love, of the nature of the world, and the sheer miracle of being alive.
Published May 2nd by Abacus Historical Ficiton, Historical Fantasy, Contemporary Fantasy, Literary Fiction
SYNOPSIS: ‘I was blown away by this dark, enchanting story of witchcraft, power and injustice. ..nothing short of brilliant’ Mary Chamberlain Erzsébet Báthory, whose infamous place in history characterises her as the ‘Blood Countess’, was accused of the murder of over 600 peasant girls in Hungary, 1610. The Nightingale’s Castle tells the story of a woman fighting for her survival and the complicated, often cruel, household over which she presides.
In 1573, Countess Erzsébet Báthory gave birth to an illegitimate child. The infant, a girl, was swiftly bundled up and handed to a local peasant family to be brought up in one of the hamlets surrounding the Castle. Many years later, 15-year-old Boróka reluctantly leaves the safety of the only home she has ever known in the foothills of the Carpathian Mountains. Trusted members of the countess’s household have been sent out to gather new serving girls, and the kindly old man who has taken care of Boróka for almost all her life knows that it is dangerous to turn them away.
Boróka struggles to find her place at Cachtice Castle: she is frightened of the countess’s reputation as an alleged murderer of young girls, and the women who run the castle are terrifyingly cruel. When plague comes into the heart of the castle, a tentative bond begins to form between Boróka and the Countess Báthory. But powerful forces are moving against a woman whose wealth poses such a threat to the king: can the countess really trust the women who are so close to her? And when the show trial begins against the infamous ‘Blood Countess’ where will Boróka’s loyalties lie?
Published May 2nd by Bantam Press Suspense, Psychological Thriller, Literary Fiction, Coming-of-Age Story
SYNOPSIS: “I’m not here for prestige. I’m here for revenge.”
Lou Manson is an outsider when she joins the final-year class at Highfield Manor, Dublin’s most exclusive private school. Beyond the granite pillars and the wrought-iron gates is a world of wealth, privilege and potential. But Highfield is also hiding a dark secret – and Lou is here to expose it.
When Lou befriends the beautiful and talented Shauna Power, her plans are thrown into turmoil. Speaking out against the school would mean betraying Shauna, and Lou soon discovers that the Highfield elite will go to any lengths to protect their own reputation…even when the consequences are fatal.
Thirty years later, Lou is called to testify in a new lawsuit against Highfield. But telling the truth means confronting her past – and there is one story she swore she’d never tell…
For fans of GIRL A, MY DARK VANESSA and ANATOMY OF A SCANDAL, When We Were Silent is a propulsive, bold exploration of power, corruption and retribution.
Published May 2nd by Abacus Humorous Fiction, LGBTQ Literature, Contemporary Fiction
SYNOPSIS: The funniest, wildest and most original debut novel of 2024
‘Gobby, barbed and garrulous’ Eley Williams
‘Truly original’ Nicola Dinan, author of Bellies
‘Genuinely hilarious’ Keiran Goddard, author of Hourglass
It’s Natwest’s last day before he leaves for university, and there’s only one thing on his mind: the deeply embarrassing package he ordered to his house – which still hasn’t arrived. He won’t leave town without it. Any alternative is too distressing to consider …
This is the story of twenty-four hours in the life of NATWEST, and his small-town odyssey in pursuit of the missing package. And yet it’s also the story of a MIDDLE-AGED DENTIST who dreams of being a respected artist – but the only thing he can seem to paint is the human mouth. And it’s the story of a TORTURED IMAM involved in a quasi-romantic entanglement with the local vicar; and an OCTOGENARIAN mourning the death of her secretive husband; and a TROUBLED TEENAGER whose nudes have leaked on the internet. It’s the story of Natwest’s obnoxious EX-BOYFRIEND, and his CLASS-TRAITOR MOTHER and her CHILDHOOD BOYFRIEND, and the life-changing secrets he knows about Natwest’s past.
Alternating between Natwest’s idiosyncratic inner world and the perspectives of the other characters – and dazzling in its energy, imagination and originality – this is an outrageously funny and tenderly moving story about being connected to everyone and everything at all times; about love, friendship, and the lies we tell ourselves; about unhappy endings, happy endings – and whether anything really is as simple as one or the other.
Every Time I Go On Vacation ,Someone Dies by Catherine Mack
Published May 2nd by Pan Macmillan Mystery, Crime Fiction, Humorous Fiction
SYNOPSIS: Ten days. Eight suspects. Six cities. Five authors. Three bodies. One trip to die for.
Eleanor Dash, bestselling author of the Vacation Mysteries series, is on a book tour along the gorgeous Amalfi Coast when life starts imitating art as her ex-boyfriend (and book protagonist) Connor Smith is targeted by a killer.
Eleanor’s sleuthing skills are about to be put to the ultimate test as – among literary rivals, rabid fans, a crazed stalker and another ex-flame on tour with her – suspicions are flying faster than paperbacks off a bestseller shelf. But who is really trying to get away with murder?
Every Time I Go on Vacation, Someone Dies is The White Lotus meets Only Murders in the Building and the first in an irresistible and whip-smart mystery series.
Eleanor Dash will return in the next book in the Vacation Mysteries series, No One Was Supposed to Die at this Wedding.
Published May 2nd by Pan Macmillan Thriller, Science Fiction, Mystery, Psychological Thriller, Susepense, Crime Fiction, Speculative Fiction, Dystopian Fiction
SYNOPSIS: ‘John Marrs is a writer at the top of his game and The Family Experiment is his best yet. Frighteningly plausible, gripping, dark, and so clever.’ – Claire Douglas, author of The Woman Who Lied
Some families are virtually perfect . . .
The world’s population is soaring, creating overcrowded cities and an economic crisis. And in the UK, breaking point has arrived. A growing number of people can no longer afford to start families let alone raise them.
But for those desperate to experience parenthood, there is an alternative. For a monthly subscription fee, clients can create a virtual child from scratch who they can access via the metaverse and a VR headset. To launch this new initiative, the company behind Virtual Children has created a reality tv show. It will follow ten couples as they raise a Virtual Child from birth to the age of eighteen but in a condensed nine-month time period. The prize: the right to keep their virtual child or risk it all for the chance of a real baby . . .
Set in the same universe as John Marrs’s bestselling novel The One and The Marriage Act, The Family Experiment is a dark and twisted thriller about the ultimate ‘tamagotchi’ – a virtual baby.
Published May 9th by The Borough Press Historical Fiction, Fantasy Fiction, Romance Novel, Magical Realism, Dark Fantasy, Historical Fantasy
SYNOPSIS: The whole world disappears when you enter
THE SILENCE FACTORY
‘I loved it. A delicately woven novel with an utterly original premise, it ensnared me from the very first page’ EMILIA HART ____________
Henry dreams of silence.
A world without the clattering of carriages through cobbled streets, the distant cries of drunken brawls, the relentless ticking of the clock.
Then he meets a fascinating, mysterious gentleman who sells just that. Precious silk that can drown out the clamour of the world – and everything Henry is so desperate to escape.
Summoned to Sir Edward’s secluded factory to try to cure his young daughter’s deafness, Henry is soon drawn deeper and deeper into the origins of this otherworldly gift: a gift that has travelled from ancient Mediterranean glades to English libraries.
Ignoring repeated warnings from the girl’s secretive governess, he allows himself to fall under the spell of Sir Edward and his silk… but when he learns its true cost, will it be too late to turn back?
From the #1 bestselling author of THE BINDING, this is an enthralling story about complicity, desire and corruption – a novel to lose yourself in.
Published May 9th by Raven Books Historical Thriller, Thriller, Mystery, Crime Fiction
SYNOPSIS: ‘Delicious … dark … sinister’ Susan Stokes-Chapman, author of number one bestseller, Pandora ‘Thrilling’ Emilia Hart, author of Sunday Times bestseller Weyward ‘Stunning’ Lianne Dillsworth, author of Theatre of Marvels ‘Marvellous‘ Naomi Kelsey, author of The Burnings
Deep in the woods, something is stirring.
When Miss Catherine Symonds arrives to take up a position as governess at remote Locksley Abbey in the foothills of the Black Mountains, where England bleeds into Wales, she is apprehensive.
It is not the echoing, near empty house with its skeleton staff that frightens her, nor the ancient woods that surround the Abbey or even the dogs that the owner, Sir Rowland, encourages to stalk the grounds, baying for blood. It is Catherine herself who fears scrutiny: her reference and very identity are fraudulent. She is travelling in disguise to investigate the fate of the last governess at the house, who took her own life out in the woods. For that governess was Catherine’s own sister, but until now she had believed Emily had died many years before, when they were just children.
In Rosie Andrews’s extraordinary follow up to the bestselling The Leviathan – one of the biggest debuts of 2022 – an isolated forest becomes the unsettling, beguiling backdrop to a tale of myths, memory and murder.
Published May 9th by Orion Cozy Mystery, Coming-of-Age Story, Literary Fiction, Puzzles and Quizzes
SYNOPSIS: The extraordinary, gloriously uplifting and hotly-anticipated debut novel from Samuel Burr – available to pre-order now!
‘Utterly beautiful. I adored it’ JOANNA CANNON
‘Hugely uplifting and wonderful’AJ PEARCE
‘A ripping yarn full of warmth and wonder’BETH MORREY
Sometimes finding your place in the world is the greatest puzzle of all…
Clayton Stumper is an enigma.
He might be twenty-five years old, but he dresses like your grandad and drinks sherry like your aunt.
Abandoned at birth on the steps of the Fellowship of Puzzlemakers, he was raised by the sharpest minds in the British Isles and finds himself amongst the last survivors of a fading institution.
When the esteemed crossword compiler, Pippa Allsbrook, passes away, she bestows her final puzzle to him: a promise to reveal the mystery of his parentage and prepare him for his future.
Yet as Clay begins to unpick the clues, he uncovers something even the Fellowship have never been able to solve – and it’s a secret that will change everything…
Published May 9th by Avon Books Psychlogical Thriller, Serial Killers, Police Biographies, Murder Biographies
SYNOPSIS: What would you do if you found out the man you loved was rotten to the core?
Prepare to be hooked by Alice Hunter’s addictive new novel – so shocking it should come with a warning…
Trusted officer. Family man. Monster.
Becky Lawson’s life has been shattered.
When she discovered her husband, John – a trusted policeman – was a monster, she reported him. But her faith in the system was crushed when it didn’t lead to any charges or consequences.
Now, John lives freely with a new girlfriend and her young daughter, while Becky battles guilt over missing the obvious signs.
Determined for justice, Becky hunts him down. But John wants her silenced – at any cost. Becky knows only one of them can survive, and she’ll do anything to make sure it’s her.
Becky must tread carefully though, because John isn’t the only bad apple lurking in the shadows…
A gripping psychological suspense about betrayal, courage, and the darkness that can hide behind a seemingly trustworthy façade. Perfect for fans of K.L. Slater, B.A. Paris and the Netflix hit TV series You.
Published May 9th by Viking Thriller, Mystery, Suspense, Psychological Thriller, Crime Fiction, Police Procedural
SYNOPSIS: I guess you’re probably wondering about the next girl. Because there’s always another girl, right? A girl waiting to be taken. To be swept away. I’ll tell you about her.
It’s been twenty years since Detective Chelsey Calhoun lost her sister, and she’s been searching ever since: for signs, for closure, for other missing girls. Happy endings are rare in Chelsey’s line of work.
Until one day, local teenager Ellie Black is found in Washington State woods. Two years after her disappearance, she’s an echo of herself, but alive.
But something’s not right about this girl. Where has she been, and who is she protecting?
Chelsey has to find out. For herself, for her sister, and before the next girl is taken.
Published May 9th by Manilla Press Historical Fiction, Literary Fiction
SYNOPSIS: From the Observer debut novelist of the year, comes a blistering, heart-wrenching new novel of complicity and atonement, delving into one nurse’s experience of the little-known history of conversion therapy and the heart-breaking betrayal of the AIDS crisis.
March 2020. Annie is alone in her house as the world shuts down, only the ghosts of her memories for company. But then she receives a phone call which plunges her deeper into the past.
1959. Annie and Rita are student nurses at Fairlie Hall mental hospital. Working long, gruelling hours, they soon learn that the only way to appease their terrifying matron is to follow the rules unthinkingly. But what is happening in the hospital’s hidden side wards? And at what point does following the rules turn into complicity – and betrayal?
1983. Annie is reeling from the loss of her husband and struggling to face raising her daughter alone. Following a chance encounter, she offers a sick young man a bed for the night, a good deed that soon leads to another. Before long, she finds herself entering a new life of service – her home a haven for those who are cruelly shunned. But can we ever really atone?
The powerful and captivating new novel from the celebrated author of KEEPER and YOUNG WOMEN, HOLD BACK THE NIGHT is Jessica Moor’s most powerful and commercial book to date. A darkly compelling character-led novel, drawing on themes of complicity and betrayal, it is bursting with talking points and absolutely perfect for reading groups.
Published May 9th by Headline Historical Fiction, Biographical Fiction
SYNOPSIS: Sunday Times bestselling novelist Alison Weir returns with the spellbinding story of Mary I.
A DESTINY REWRITTEN. A ROYAL HEART DIVIDED.
Adored only child of Henry VIII and his Queen, Katherine of Aragon, Princess Mary is raised in the golden splendour of her father’s court. But the King wants a son and heir.
With her parents’ marriage, and England, in crisis, Mary’s perfect world begins to fall apart. Exiled from the court and her beloved mother, she seeks solace in her faith, praying for her father to bring her home. But when the King does promise to restore her to favour, his love comes with a condition.
The choice Mary faces will haunt her for years to come – in her allegiances, her marriage and her own fight for the crown. Can she become the queen she was born to be?
MARY I. HER STORY.
Alison Weir’s new Tudor novel is the tale, full of drama and tragedy, of how a princess with such promise, loved by all who knew her, became the infamous Bloody Mary.
Published May 9th by Tor Fantasy Fiction, Romantic Fantasy, Romance Novel, Lesbian Literature, Cozy Fantasy, Adventure Fiction
SYNOPSIS: A heart-warming, sapphic journey brimming with jeopardy, magic and a love of tea – for fans of Travis Baldree’s Legends & Lattes and TJ Klune.
Two women wanted to open a cosy bookshop. They discovered a world of adventure.
Reyna and Kianthe dream of opening a friendly book shop together, serving the very best tea and cakes. Worn wooden floors, plants on every table, firelight drifting between the rafters – all complemented by love and good company. But Reyna is an elite bodyguard to a vengeful queen, and Kianthe is the most powerful mage in existence. Leaving their lives behind seems . . . impossible. Yet they flee to Tawney, a town nestled in the icy peaks of dragon country. There, they open the bookstore they’d always wanted.
What follows is a tale of mishaps, mysteries, dragons, and a murderous queen throwing the realm’s biggest temper tantrum. Through it, these two women will discover what they mean to each other – and their world.
Can’t Spell Treason Without Tea by Rebecca Thorne is a gorgeous treat of a book, filled with cosy adventure, sapphic romance and good feelings. The story continues in the swashbuckling A Pirate’s Life for Tea.
Published May 14th by Sceptre Romance Novel, Time Travel Fiction, Time Travel Romance, Science Fiction
SYNOPSIS: ‘Fast moving and riotously entertaining, a genre-busting blend of wit and wonder’ 10 best new novelists for 2024, Observer
A 2024 literary highlight in the Sunday Times, BBC, Grazia, Dazed, Sunday Express, GQ, i-D, Stylist, Bookseller and Literary Friction
A BOY MEETS A GIRL. THE PAST MEETS THE FUTURE. A FINGER MEETS A TRIGGER. THE BEGINNING MEETS THE END. ENGLAND IS FOREVER. ENGLAND MUST FALL.
In the near future, a disaffected civil servant is offered a lucrative job in a mysterious new government ministry gathering ‘expats’ from across history to test the limits of time-travel.
Her role is to work as a ‘bridge’: living with, assisting and monitoring the expat known as ‘1847’ – Commander Graham Gore. As far as history is concerned, Commander Gore died on Sir John Franklin’s doomed expedition to the Arctic, so he’s a little disoriented to find himself alive and surrounded by outlandish concepts such as ‘washing machine’, ‘Spotify’ and ‘the collapse of the British Empire’. With an appetite for discovery and a seven-a-day cigarette habit, he soon adjusts; and during a long, sultry summer he and his bridge move from awkwardness to genuine friendship, to something more.
But as the true shape of the project that brought them together begins to emerge, Gore and the bridge are forced to confront their past choices and imagined futures. Can love triumph over the structures and histories that have shaped them? And how do you defy history when history is living in your house?
Published May 16th by Hutchinson Heinmann Historical Romance, Historical Fiction
SYNOPSIS: London, 1833
Doctress Hester Reeves has been offered a life-changing commission.
But it comes at a price. She must leave behind her husband and their canal-side home in Kings Cross and move to Tall Trees – a dark and foreboding house in Fitzrovia.
If Hester can cure the ailing health of its owner, Gervaise Cherville, she will receive payment that will bring her everything she could dream of.
But on arriving at Tall Trees, Hester quickly discovers that an even bigger task awaits her. Now she must unearth secrets that have lain hidden for decades – including one that will leave Hester’s own life forever changed…
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Girls by Kirsty Capes
Published May 16th by Orion Contemporary Fiction
SYNOPSIS: Everyone has heard of Girls. But what happened to the women they became?
At the time of her death, the press wrote many things about Ingrid Olssen:
She was a brilliant artist. She was a terrible mother to her girls, Mattie and Nora. And that her legacy would live on forever.
Even so, it’s unlikely the world will ever see another Ingrid Olssen exhibition – her last request to her daughters was to throw her ashes in the canyon and her paintings in the sea.
But as Mattie and Nora reluctantly embark on an all-or-nothing trip to fulfil her wishes, they start to unpick the painful scars of their past.
And soon they begin to realise that the ties that bound them, might also break them…
Perfect for fans of Sorrow and Bliss by Meg Mason and Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid. GIRLS is as devastating as it is hilarious, as tender and moving as it is shocking – this is a book that will stay with you long after you have turned the final pages.
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The Honey Witch by Sydney J. Sheilds
Published May 16th by Orbit Romantic Fantasy, Historical Fantasy, LGBTQ Literature
SYNOPSIS: ‘Reading The Honey Witch is like dreaming in a fragrant sunlit garden while bees sing around you. It’s a gorgeous book, with a lovely cottagecore ambience and a heart-warming sapphic romance intertwined with unique magic that enchants the imagination‘ India Holton, internationally bestselling author
The Honey Witch of Innisfree can never find true love. That is her curse to bear. But when a young woman who doesn’t believe in magic arrives on her island, sparks fly in this deliciously sweet debut novel of magic, hope, and love overcoming all.
Twenty-one-year-old Marigold Claude has always preferred the company of the spirits of the meadow to any of the suitors who’ve tried to woo her. So when her grandmother whisks her away to the family cottage on the tiny Isle of Innisfree with an offer to train her as the next Honey Witch, she accepts immediately. But her newfound magic and independence come with a price: No one can fall in love with the Honey Witch.
When Lottie Burke, a notoriously grumpy skeptic who doesn’t believe in magic, shows up on her doorstep, Marigold can’t resist the challenge to prove to her that magic is real. But soon, Marigold begins to care for Lottie in ways she never expected. And when darker magic awakens and threatens to destroy her home, she must fight for much more than her new home-at the risk of losing her magic and her heart..
A delicious debut that combines the swoon-worthy romance of Bridgerton and the whimsical sorcery of Practical Magic, with a dash of The Secret Life of Bees thrown in for good fun.
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Moon Road by Sarah Leipciger
Published May 16th by Doubleday Domestic Fiction, Literary Fiction, Contemporary Fiction
SYNOPSIS: For fans of Elizabeth Strout and Barbara Kingsolver: Beautifully observed portrait of marriage, divorce and reconciliation as an estranged couple go on a road trip to uncover a family mystery.
‘Sarah Leipciger is a consummate storyteller’RACHEL JOYCE ‘A wonderful, beautiful book – fierce, tragic, lyrical. I just loved it’ CLAIRE FULLER ‘Deeply humane. Tough, tender, wonderful‘ JOANNA QUINN, author of The Whalebone Theatre ____________________________
It’s irksome to her, how well she knows this man, how much he has changed and how exactly the same he is …
Kathleen and Yannick have not spoken for nineteen years, not since what happened with their daughter.
Now, there’s unexpected news from the other side of the country, and the call for a road trip they can only make together.
As they rattle over two thousand miles in a pick-up, through forests, over mountains and into service stations, an alluring history reveals itself: of fierce love, complicated ex-wives and headstrong children, and of a unique bond that never really went away.
As they drive, argue, gossip and reminisce, an unexpected future for this once estranged couple begins to emerge.
MOON ROAD captures the wonder and grief of watching our children grow up; of recovering from long buried pain, and rediscovering those closest to us when we think we know all there is to know; and of learning to live and love in a completely new way.
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Butcher by Joyce Carol Oates
Published May 21st by Harper Collins Horror Fiction, Suspense, Historical Ficiton, Psychological Fiction
SYNOPSIS: From one of our most accomplished storytellers, an extraordinary and arresting novel about a women’s asylum in the nineteenth century, and a terrifying doctor who wants to change the world
In this harrowing story based on authentic historical documents, we follow the career of Dr. Silas Weir, “Father of Gyno-Psychiatry,” as he ascends from professional anonymity to national renown. Humiliated by a procedure gone terribly wrong, Weir is forced to take a position at the New Jersey Asylum for Female Lunatics, where he reigns. There, he is allowed to continue his practice, unchecked for decades, making a name for himself by focusing on women who have been neglected by the state–women he subjects to the most grotesque modes of experimentation. As he begins to establish himself as a pioneer of nineteenth-century surgery, Weir’s ambition is fueled by his obsessive fascination with a young Irish indentured servant named Brigit, who becomes not only Weir’s primary experimental subject, but also the agent of his destruction.
Narrated by Silas Weir’s eldest son, who has repudiated his father’s brutal legacy, Butcher is a unique blend of fiction and fact, a nightmare voyage through the darkest regions of the American psyche conjoined, in its startling conclusion, with unexpected romance. Once again, Joyce Carol Oates has written a spellbinding novel confirming her position as one of our celebrated American visionaries of the imagination.
Published May 23rd by Wildfire Historical Fiction, Fairy Tale, Greek Mythology, Literary Ficiton, Psychological Fiction
SYNOPSIS: The enthralling tale of a powerful Greek goddess maligned in both myth and ancient history, as told by Sunday Times bestselling author Jennifer Saint.
‘A brilliant read’Women & Home | ‘A spirited retelling’Times | ‘Beautiful and absorbing’ Fabulous | ‘A vivid reimagining of Greek mythology’Harper’s Bazaar | ‘Jennifer Saint has done an incredible job’Red
When Hera, immortal goddess and daughter of the ancient Titan Cronus, helps her brother Zeus to overthrow their tyrannical father, she dreams of ruling at his side.
As they establish their reign on Mount Olympus, Hera suspects that Zeus might be just as ruthless and cruel as the father they betrayed.
She was always born to rule, but must she lose herself in perpetuating this cycle of violence and cruelty? Or can she find a way to forge a better world?
Often portrayed as the jealous wife or the wicked stepmother, this retelling captures the many sides of Hera, vengeful when she needs to be but also compassionate and most importantly, an all-powerful queen to the gods.
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Moonstone by Laura Purcell
Published May 23rd by Magpie Gothic Fiction, Gothic Romance, Horror, Paranormal Fiction
SYNOPSIS: From award-winning bestseller Laura Purcell comes her YA debut, MOONSTONE.
Don’t misbehave. Beware the moon. And never go out after dark . . .
Following a scandal at the Vauxhall pleasure gardens, Camille is sent to the woods to live with her reclusive godmother and her strange daughter, Lucy. Cast out from polite society, she must learn to live by her godmother’s strict rules.
Camille has never met anyone quite like Lucy before, and as they grow closer and cross forbidden boundaries, strange things begin to happen. Mysterious deaths, claw marks raking the doors, and the nights are pierced by the howls of a creature that sounds almost . . . otherworldly.
Should Camille be more afraid of what’s hiding in the woods – or her own heart?
From the award-winning, Sunday Times bestselling author of The Silent Companions, Moonstone is a haunting gothic romance with real bite.
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The Theatre of Glass and Shadows by Anne Corlett
Published May 23rd by Black & White Publishing Historical Fiction, Historical Fantasy, Contemporary Fantasy
SYNOPSIS: ‘Marvellous’ Bridget Collins, TheSunday Times bestselling author of The Binding
Sometimes the greatest spectacle hides the darkest secrets . . .
In an alternate London, the city’s Theatre District is a walled area south of the river where an immersive production – the Show – has been running for centuries, growing ever bigger, more sprawling and lavish. The Show is open to anyone who can afford a ticket but the District itself is a closed world; even the police have no jurisdiction within its walls.
Juliet’s mother died when she was a baby. Brought up by her emotionally distant father and even more distant stepmother, she has never felt wanted. It’s only when her father passes away that Juliet – now nineteen – learns her birth was registered in the District. Desperate to belong somewhere at last, she travels to London where she hopes to unearth the truth about her identity, her mother’s death and her father’s years of silence – and claim her birthright.
But in the District, there is only one central truth: the Show must go on. And in a world where illusions abound, and powerful men control the narrative, Juliet has no idea of just how far some will go to ensure certain stories are never told . . .
For fans of The Miniaturist and The Doll Factory, The Theatre of Glass and Shadows is a place where nothing is as it seems.
‘Original and captivating’ Karen Coles, author of The Asylum
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Glass Houses by Francesca Reece
Published May 23rd by Tinder Press Literary Fiction, Contemporary Fiction, Psychlogical Fiction
SYNOPSIS: Somewhere, in a box in Margot Yates’ attic there’s a video of Gethin by the lake at Ty Gwydr. He’s young – nineteen, maybe twenty. It’s late spring and dusk, and a low sun leaks white light into the horizon behind the dark fringe of trees. Olwen is filming. Gethin narrows his eyes at the camera. Her bodiless voice says to him, I love it here. He says, good. This place is ours.
Forester Gethin Thomas is struggling to make ends meet in his rural hometown in North Wales. Bright, charming, but unambitious, the thing that keeps him going is Ty Gwydr, a beautiful lakeside house that he keeps an eye on for absent English owners. The house has been empty for so long he’s come to think of it as his own.
That is until the owners decide to sell, sending Geth into freefall. And when he discovers that Olwen, his first love who left him and their small town for a new life in London, has returned to North Wales with her husband, Geth and Olwen will find themselves pulled back into the past and what could have been – or still could be.
But soon mysterious messages start arriving at the house, and they must question whether this is the love story they thought it was, or whether there might be something altogether more sinister lurking beneath the surface.
Published May 23rd by Orenda Books Mystery, Literary Fiction
SYNOPSIS: When Mathilde is forced to leave her teaching job in Oslo after her relationship with eighteen-year-old Jacob is exposed, she flees to the countryside for a more authentic life.
Her new home is a quiet cottage on the outskirts of a dairy farm run by Andres and Johs, whose hobbies include playing the fiddle and telling folktales – many of them about female rebellion and disobedience, and seeking justice, whatever it takes.
But beneath the surface of the apparently friendly and peaceful pastoral life of the farm, something darker and less harmonic starts to vibrate, and with Mathilde’s arrival, cracks start appearing … everywhere.
Published May 23rd by Headline Satire, Hunour, Dark Comedy, Suspense, Mystery, Thriller, Psychologcial Thriller, Crime Fiction, Humorous Fiction, Domestic Fiction
SYNOPSIS: Their hangovers may fade, but this is a hen party they’ll never forget…
Lauren, Saskia, Dominica, Farah and Tansy have been friends since nursery. They wonder if that was the last time they all actually liked each other.
Reunited as bridesmaids at Tansy’s spiritual hen party in the woods, it doesn’t take long before old grudges begin to surface. Not to mention the secret they’ve been hiding for twenty years.
But what starts as a weekend of macramé and contraband vodka ends in murder when Tansy chokes to death on a poisoned cacao drink.
As the body count keeps climbing, the friends realise that one of their group must be the killer – and if any of them want to make it down the aisle, they need to watch their sash-covered backs.
Who will be left standing when the bouquet is thrown?
Published May 23rd by HQ Suspense, Mystery, Psychlogical Thriller, Crime Ficiton, Police Procedural
SYNOPSIS: Once secrets catch… they spread…
Deadly fires are lighting up Brighton, and the latest case is alarmingly close to home for DC Eve Starling. The blaze was deliberately set, and a mother and daughter didn’t make it out of the smoke.
Eve’s investigation takes her deep into her own uncomfortable past. When her key witness disappears, and with the killer always one step ahead, Eve is desperate to solve the case – whatever the cost.
But Eve has no idea how close she is to the flames, and playing with fire can get you burned…
Published May 23rd by Fourth Estate Urban Fiction, Domestic Fiction, Literary Fiction, Romantic Comedy
SYNOPSIS: From the Sunday Times bestselling author of Cleopatra and Frankenstein
‘A stunning exploration of sisterhood and grief, addiction and recovery, pain and pleasure. Captivating’ TESS GUNTY
‘In Blue Sisters, grief is rendered with gorgeous particularity’ RAVEN LEILANI
The Blue sisters have always been exceptional – and exceptionally different.
Avery, a strait-laced lawyer living in London, is the typical eldest daughter, though she’s hiding a secret that could undo her perfect life forever.
Bonnie was a boxer but, following a devastating defeat, she’s been working as a bouncer in LA, until one reckless night threatens to drive her out of the city.
And Lucky, the rebellious youngest, is a model in Paris whose hard-partying ways are finally catching up with her.
Then there was Nicky, the beloved fourth sister, whose unexpected death left Avery, Bonnie and Lucky reeling. When, a year later, the three of them must reunite in New York to stop the sale of their childhood home, they find that it’s only by returning to each other that they can navigate their grief, addiction and heartbreak―and learn to fall in love with life again.
Published May 30th by Orion Suspense, Mystery, Thriller, Crime Fiction
SYNOPSIS: When 3-month-old Max is abducted, his parents are plunged into their worst nightmare. Devastated mum Sarah only took her eyes off him for a second, but that doesn’t stop her guilt. Even husband Jake can’t hide his anger that their little boy went missing on her watch.
By contrast there are smiles and celebration at a caravan park in Lincolnshire, as baby Blaze is introduced to the Star family. Jenna and Gary are delighted with the new addition to their family. He is their fourth child and a real object of delight to their eldest – fifteen-year-old Willow – who once again will raise the child.
But trouble is brewing for the Star family. Willow is concerned by the desperate online appeals from Sarah and Jake, baby Max has neonatal diabetes and without regular treatment will die. As baby “Blaze” becomes seriously ill, Willow makes a shocking discovery. What is the truth about her family? And how far will they go to hide their deadly secret?
Published March 28th, 2024 by Simon & Schuster UK Psychological Thriller, Science Fiction, Book Series
Today is my stop on the blog tour for this riveting and nerve-shredding thriller. Thank you to Anne at Random Things Tours for the invitation to take part, and to Simon and Schuster UK for the proof copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
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SYNOPSIS:
DCS Kat Frank and AIDE Lock return in the provocative new thriller from the author of In the Blink of an Eye.
‘A smart, agile, immaculately plotted and moving thriller that is unswervingly gripping and scary, and at the same time beautifully tender and humane’ NICCI FRENCH ‘Chilled me to the bone and I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough. Callaghan writes with such intelligence; interspersing humour with moments of utter heartbreak’ NIKKI SMITH
One detective driven by instinct, the other by logic. It will take both to find a killer who knows the true meaning of fear . . .
When the body of a man is found crucified at the top of Mount Judd, AIDE Lock – the world’s first AI Detective – and DCS Kat Frank are thrust into the spotlight as they are given their first live case.
But with the discovery of another man’s body – also crucified – it appears that their killer is only just getting started. With the police warning local men to be vigilant, the Future Policing Unit is thrust into a hostile media frenzy as they desperately search for connections between the victims. But time is running out for them to join the dots and prevent another death.
For if Kat and Lock know anything, it’s that killers rarely stop – until they are made to.
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MY REVIEW:
DCS Kat Frank and AIDE Lock are back thrust into the spotlight when they finally get to investigate their first live case in the second instalment of this gripping crime series. The pair are called to an unusual crime scene where a man has been found crucified at the top of Mount Judd. And when the body of a second man is found crucified it seems that their killer is just beginning. Local men are warned to stay vigilant as the Future Policing Unit face a race against the clock to find and stop the culprit before they kill again.
Compelling, tense and surprising, I couldn’t put this one down. This time around the duo find themselves embroiled in a case that makes national headlines, putting them under even greater pressure. While the first book focused more on the sci-fi aspect of an AI detective, this time around there is less sci-fi and more crime, allowing Jo Callaghan to showcase herself as a crime writer to watch. I enjoyed the darker tone she took this time around and this is exactly the kind of twisted thriller that sings to me. After enjoying the audiobook last time I decided to listen again and loved it. I particularly enjoyed how the killer’s pov is told in an echoey way that is so eerie it sent chills down my spine every time I heard it. Even just thinking about it is making me shiver.
I loved being back with the Future Policing Unit. Kat and Lock are a unique and fascinating detective team and I loved their banter and camaraderie, which has grown since their rocky start in the first book. But it is only their second case and they are still learning how to work together, something that can be tricky when one of them is driven by instinct and the other by logic. I like how well they balance each other out; one’s weaknesses being the other’s strengths, and how they both were learning to be better officers by including some of each other’s methods. I also really liked that Lock is no longer treated as a perfect detective. We see some of his limitations and flaws, which kind of humanises the AI detective a little. It certainly made me warm to him more this time around.
Riveting, pacy, and filled with nerve-shredding tension, Leave No Trace is an action-packed thriller that will keep you on your toes. Now I just have to wait impatiently for book three.
Rating: ✮✮✮✮.5
*I listened to this on Bookbeat. You can listen, too, with 2 months free listening with my affiliate link. Click here*
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MEET THE AUTHOR:
Jo Callaghan works fulltime as a senior strategist, where she has carried out research into the future impact of AI and genomics on the workforce.She was a student of the Writers’ Academy Course (Penguin Random House), was long listed for the Myslexia Novel Writing Competition and Bath Novel Competition. After losing her husband to cancer in 2019 when she was just forty-nine, she started writing IN THE BLINK OF AN EYE, her debut crime novel. Published to critical-acclaim, it selected by Val McDermid for her New Blood panel of the best debuts of 2023 and for BBC Two’s Between the Covers Book Club. TV rights were sold in a major acquisition.
Published April 16th, 2024 by Thomas & Mercer Suspense, Psychological Fiction, Police Procedural, Mystery, Thriller, Crime Fiction
Happy publication day to this dark and sinister thriller. Thank you Mark Edwards for the gifted copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
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BOOK DESCRIPTION:
In this chilling thriller from the bestselling author of Keep Her Secret, if you don’t take your dark secrets to the grave, maybe they’ll take you there first…
Calvin finally owns the bakery of his dreams, in an idyllic village in the Lake District. After reluctantly following his wife Vicky’s advice to promote it on social media, he’s thrilled when a viral clip makes him a legend overnight. But then the creepy DMs start flooding in―all from a stranger who claims she’s his biggest fan.
Meanwhile, a local recluse is found on a nearby beach, buried to his neck and left to drown, and the community goes into shock. Why would anyone want him dead? And who exactly was he? Detective Imogen Evans, new to the Lake District, is under pressure to find out before the killer strikes again.
As the murder hunt gathers pace, Calvin’s obsessive admirer turns up right on cue after his assistant is injured in an accident, and to Vicky’s horror she’s here to stay. As events begin spiralling into darkness, is there anyone in this quiet backwater Calvin can trust―or have his mistakes already put him, and everyone he loves, in terrible danger?
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MY REVIEW:
He’s done it again! The King of domestic horror is back with another sinister story fueled with adrenaline. Just make sure you don’t have other plans, because you’ll be cancelling them to read this once you’ve started. I inhaled it in one sitting; shackled to the pages by the scalpel-sharp tension and my desperate need for answers.
The body of local recluse Leo James is found on a beach in the Lake District buried up to his neck and left to drown. The shocking murder rocks this small, idyllic village to its core and puts its new detective, Imogen Evans, under pressure to find the culprit quickly. It is soon clear that some of Elderbridge’s residents are hiding dark secrets. But which of them will kill to keep it that way?
Mark Edwards never misses and The Darkest Water showcases why his books are a highlight of my reading year. Expertly written, shrewdly choreographed, and darkly atmospheric, this was a masterclass in misdirection. As part one came to a close I was sure I had it all figured out. But I was wrong. Moving between the dual timelines, dark secrets and surprising connections were unveiled piece by piece until the full, shocking picture emerged.
The story is told by multiple narrators, one of whom is a blast from the past for fans of this author. Detective Imogen Evans, first seen in Edwards’ book The Lucky Ones, is the detective charged with solving Leo James’ murder. I loved revisiting a loved character in a new world as it felt like the ideal mix of standalone and series; some familiarity for fans but also not excluding new readers. The characters are all compelling and richly drawn, however briefly they appear on the pages, and you get a real sense of community in this picturesque village, which was the ideal backdrop for this story. Idyllic but also isolated and bleak, Elderbridge has a sense of danger simmering under its surface, while foreboding hangs in the air. Its idyll is fractured by the crime and the horror is compounded by the reminder that these things can happen anywhere, even in the most beautiful and seemingly safe places.
A dark and brooding thriller filled with breath-sucking tension, The Darkest Water is a must-read for fans of this genre.
Rating: ✮✮✮✮.5
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MEET THE AUTHOR:
From Amazon: Welcome to my Amazon Author Page! I write books in which scary things happen to ordinary people, the best known of which are Follow You Home, The Magpies, Here To Stay and The Retreat. My novels have sold over 4 million copies and topped the bestseller lists numerous times. I pride myself on writing fast-paced page-turners with lots of twists and turns, relatable characters and dark humour
I live in the West Midlands, England, with my wife, our three children, two cats and a golden retriever.
Published April 11th, 2024 by Simon & Schuster UK Thriller, Suspense, Psychological Thriller, Psychological Fiction, Domestic Fiction
Welcome to my review for this deliciously dark thriller. Thank you to The Likely Suspects for the invitation to take part in the readalong and the copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
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BOOK DESCRIPTION:
FROM THE INTERNATIONALLY BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF SWEET LITTLE LIES COMES A DARK AND TWISTY THRILLER ABOUT SECRETS, LIES AND REVENGE.
ONE WOMAN’S SECRET TWO SIDES TO EVERY STORY THREE DEADLY BETRAYALS FOUR POTENTIAL SUSPECTS FIVE BAD DEEDS
‘A big high five for Caz Frear’s Five Bad Deeds – a page-gripping, nail-gnawing good read’ Cara Hunter
‘A deliciously dark story of how one woman’s life of seemingly domestic bliss can unravel faster than she ever thought possible. I predict it will be one of the big hits of 2024 – I loved it’ Nikki Smith
‘Deliciously waspish, twisty, and relatable’ Claire McGowan
Ellen Walsh has done something very, very bad. If only she knew what it was . . .
Teacher, mother, wife, and all-around good citizen Ellen is juggling non-stop commitments, from raising a teen and two toddlers to job-hunting, to finally renovating her dream home, the Meadowhouse. Amidst the chaos, an ominous note arrives in the mail declaring:
SOONER OR LATER EVERYONE SITS DOWN TO A BANQUET OF CONSEQUENCES.
Why would someone send her this note? Ellen has no clue. She’s no angel – a white lie here and there, an occasional sharp tongue – but nothing to incur the wrath of an anonymous enemy. Everyone around Ellen – her husband, her teenage daughter, her sister, her best friend, her neighbours – can guess why, though. They all know from bitter experience that while Ellen’s intentions are always good, this ultimately counts for very little when you’ve (unintentionally?) blown up someone’s life. Could the five bad deeds that come to haunt Ellen explain why things have gone so horribly wrong?
As she races to discover who’s set on destroying her life, Ellen receives more anonymous messages, each one more threatening than the last . . . and each hitting closer and closer to home and everything she cherishes.
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MY REVIEW:
Ellen Walsh is a busy mother juggling the demands of raising her teenage daughter and toddler twins with her teaching job and renovating her dream home. Out of the blue she receives an ominous note that reads ‘Sooner or later everyone sits down to a banquet of consequences.’ Who sent the note? What did she do to incur such malice and vengeance? As Ellen tries to answer these questions, those around her have no such trouble understanding why someone may want to bring her down. Because while she may be full of the best intentions, Ellen’s deeds are not as good as she’d like to think and there are five bad deeds that could be the answer why her life is falling apart…
Five Bad Deeds is a nail-biting story of secrets, lies, frenemies, scandal and suspicion filled with tension and foreboding. I devoured this book in one sitting, handcuffed to the pages and so desperate for answers that I didn’t even notice the time and read through the night until the sun was about to rise again. Skillfully written and cleverly plotted, Caz Frear showcases her storytelling expertise as she drops clues into prose like hidden breadcrumbs for us to follow as we try to identify the culprit from the multiple suspects. But who has the biggest motive for wanting to destroy Ellen’s picture-perfect life?
I love it when you aren’t sure if someone is the good or bad guy and when you don’t know if you can trust a character, and this has both those things in abundance with an array of frenemies, backstabbing, frayed relationships and dark intentions woven into the plot. Even Ellen was potentially untrustworthy and I enjoyed that I could never be sure if she deserved all the chaos and torment coming her way. The story was told from multiple points of view which allowed us to not only get an insight into Ellen’s perspective, but also that of the people around her, and we soon discover just how differently she sees herself compared to the people around her. But who is telling the truth? I loved that it was so hard to predict and how every time I was sure I had things figured out another revelation would pull the rug from under me and make me reassess my predictions.
Deliciously dark, twisty, chaotic and venomous, this riveting story is a must-read for any thriller lover.
Rating: ✮✮✮✮✮
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MEET THE AUTHOR:
Caz Frear grew up in Coventry and spent her teenage years dreaming of moving to London and writing a novel. After fulfilling her first dream, it wasn’t until she moved back to Coventry thirteen years later that the writing dream finally came true.
She has a first-class degree in History & Politics, which she’s put to enormous use over the years by working as a waitress, shop assistant, retail merchandiser and, for the past twelve years, a headhunter.
When she’s not agonising over snappy dialogue or incisive prose, she can be found shouting at the TV when Arsenal are playing or holding court in the pub on topics she knows nothing about.
Emma's Biblio Treasures 