Category: Uncategorised

Murders that look like accidents.  An accident that look like murder.

Thank you to NetGalley, Bloodhound Books and Joanna Stephen-Ward for the chance to read this book.

Gloria seems like your average boring, frumpy woman next door who is a little too clingy and desperate to have any real friends or kind of relationship.  But underneath all that normalcy lurks a woman who is driven to kill. She doesn’t like killing, or at least that’s what she tells herself and her doll collection, and she doesn’t know why people are cruel to her and make her kill them.  But they do. So each time she kills she adds another doll to her collection and moves on in her quest for love and acceptance.

The book started off well and I enjoyed the opening chapter and it’s chilling final two sentences whispered to her dolls about more joining her collection and was excited to read what Gloria would do next.  I liked the early 90s setting of the story and the small moments of nostalgia it offered. Reading references to things such as doing the pools and using phone boxes took me back to my youth. I think setting the story in this era worked well as a lot of things the various characters did wouldn’t have been possible with a modern timeline.

Unfortunately I felt that overall the synopsis of this book was a case of false advertising: the murders Gloria commits are mostly historic, she shows no sense of buying dolls for ‘satisfaction’ and she kills only because she feels they’ve driven her too it with their mistreatment of her rather than because she craves it. The thrills in this book were lacking and it concentrated more on her “romance” with Maurice and the subplot of the saga of his housing situation than it did on her killings.  Gloria is a very judgmental and bitter character but instead of this making her interesting and someone you love to hate, I found her quite bland and boring and was unable to connect with her or be invested in anything that she did or that happened to her.. Maurice was a better character but I found the story predictable and lacking in any real excitement. I think the book might have been a better read if it had deliberately focused on Maurice and Gloria had been a secondary character.

Out November 24th

Thank you to Netgalley, Bookoture and Rona Halsall for the chance to read this book.

What if trying to protect your child only put them in danger?

Natalie Wilson has just been released on parole after spending 3 years in prison for a crime she says she didn’t commit.  But her husband Tom believed the police and not only didn’t let her see Harry in all that time, he’s taken him somewhere so she can’t see him upon her release either.  Now she’s out Natalie is determined to see Harry again and find out who set her up and destroyed her life. But she doesn’t know who she can trust and is being followed by someone out to harm her and her son.  Can she find out the truth and keep her son safe?

This was a fantastic book.  It is written mostly from the perspective of Natalie and goes back and forth from current to past events as we learn how she ended up in prison, her experiences while in there and what it is she did that lead to the threat on Harry’s life.  She’s jumpy and anxious from the start and you get a sense of her unease and suspicion of everyone she sees around her. She has one focus: Harry. All she cares about is seeing her son and getting them both to safety.

There is a second narrator in this book who’s identity we don’t know.  This person is hunting Natalie and is determined she won’t find her son or enjoy her freedom. No one is supposed to know she’s been released as it was done quickly and secretly due to the death threats but they know and are hot on her trail.  The chapters told by this mysterious stalker were short, full of malice and added a chilling element as we read their pure hatred and plans.

This novel was easy to read as I couldn’t put it down.  I needed to know what had happened to her in prison, if she was right to place her trust in certain characters and if she would finally find her son.  I enjoyed the change in Natalie that took place during her time in prison and found the way she used to deal with her separation from her son very touching.  I Another aspect I liked was that there were multiple candidates as to the identity of second narrator and that it wasn’t revealed until the climax, leaving you unsure about your suspicions and questioning the actions of multiple characters over and again.  

Keep You Safe is a gripping debut novel that thriller fans will love.  I can’t wait to read more from this author.

Out now

Marion Zetland lives with her domineering older brother, John in a decaying Georgian townhouse on the edge of a northern seaside resort.  A timid spinster in her fifties that still sleeps with teddy bears, Marion does her best to shut out the shocking secret that John keeps in the cellar.

Until, suddenly, John has a heart attack and Marion is forced to go down to the cellar herself and face the gruesome truth that her brother has kept hidden.

As questions are asked and secrets unravel, maybe John isn’t the only one with a dark side.

I’d been drawn towards this book during my Kindle Unlimited subscription earlier in the year but never got around to actually reading it.  As my current subscription draws to a close I thought that October was the perfect time to read this book as just reading the description gave me a sense of unease. The book started out strongly with an instant sense of horror in the engrossing opening pages.  The fear seeps into every facet of the story: in Marion’s terror of their secret being discovered, in the identity of the mysterious visitors, the question of what it is that John doing to “help” them and the question why Marion is so scared of her brother.

The story is narrated by Marion and moves between the past and present, offering us a glimpse into their childhoods and how they came to be where they are today; a dysfunctional brother and sister in their fifties, both childless and unemployed, living together in the family home they grew up in. For most of the book little information is offered about the visitors and they remain a secretive and almost ominous element that, like Marion, we don’t really understand.  The author maintains an element of eeriness and foreboding throughout the book and the more we learn about the characters and events, the more that atmosphere grows and we empathise with Marion’s dilemma at both wanting to have their dark secret discovered and trying to protect it at all costs.

The characters in this book were well written and very relatable.  Marion is a cowed, anxious, repressed woman who is stuck in her childhood.  She grew up starved of the physical or emotional affection she craved and was convinced by her mother that she is too stupid to do anything and better behind the closed doors of the family home as the world and everyone in it are perilous. You feel sad for Marion as she grapples with wishing for more in life; for love, children, friends and the courage to live the way she’s too scared to.  She’s the victim in this story and powerless to help either herself or the visitors, who seem to terrify her as much as her overbearing brother. John’s character is your typical bully with a penchant for violence and perversion.  He frightened not only Marion but even their parents from being a teenager and no one has ever been able to control him. He therefore has always been able to do whatever he wants with little in the way of consequences, making him even more terrifying as he knows he’s untouchable and that he can make Marion bend to his will through intimidation.

After John suffers a heart attack Marion is finally forced to face the truth that not only does he keep the visitors in the cellar, but also the sickening reality of their conditions and plight. The final chapters are the most disturbing part of the novel but also the most gripping.  I’d found this was a book I didn’t want to stop reading from the start but the final chapters made it impossible to put it down as I had to know how things would end.

The Visitors is a riveting and scary debut novel. It is the first horror book I’ve read and I think I’ve been converted to a new genre in reading it.  I’ll end this review with a quote from the book that I found haunting:

“Sometimes when you hurt a living thing it could drain away some of the hurt that was inside you…“

Out Now.

An epic story of the unrelenting force of love, the power of healing, and the invincible desire to dream.

Jaya, a New York journalist, is unprepared for the heartbreak of three miscarriages and the subsequent breakdown of her marriage.  Feeling like she’s lost everything, she doesn’t know what to do or where to turn.  When her Mother receives a letter from her brother informing her that their estranged Father in India is dying and wants to see her before his death, Jaya is shocked that she refuses to both discuss the letter or go to see her Father.  Feeling in need of answers about her Mother’s past and her own heritage Jaya decides to travel India herself and see her Grandfather.

When she arrives in India Jaya is enraptured by the sights, smells and sounds.  She feels like she’s in a strange land but knows she is deeply rooted in this place too.  Upon arriving at the house she meets Ravi, her Grandmother’s former servant and loyal friend.  Though she was too late to meet her Grandfather before his death her quest for answers isn’t lost as Ravi agrees to tell her the story of  why her Mother left India upon her marriage and never returned.

The story begins in the 1930s when her late Grandmother, Amisha, was a newly wedded 15-year-old girl during the British Occupation.  Amisha was a pioneer who fought against things she felt were unjust in any way possible, often to her own detriment. This starts when she hires Ravi, an untouchable, as her servant.  She knows this is against custom and it will incur the wrath of her overbearing mother in law, but she accepts the consequences and hires him anyway.

Amisha was a storyteller. She had always written stories and poems that she hid away, sure that no one would want to read them. She had always been desperate to learn and would steal her brothers textbooks and school herself by candlelight. Always wanting tolearn more, when an English school opened she hoped to become a student and learn English.  This takes her on a path she never imagined and leads to choices she never envisioned having to make. It is the best time of her life and yet also the worst.

Hearing the story of her Grandmother has a huge impact on Jaya. Amisha was a woman who grappled to find herself while also staying true to what others expected of her, this makes Jaya question if she ever actually made any real decision in life. She’s had all this freedom, the kind of freedom her Grandmother could only dream of, yet she has pursued the established path before her with no real thought as to if that is what she truly wants.  Hearing how her Grandmother was uncommonly brave in the decisions she made helps Jaya feel able to become braver herself and start dealing with the heartache of her losses and talking about what happened instead of keeping it all locked inside. Instead of escaping from her life and heartache, she finds she is now able to face things in a healthy way.  She is also now able to understand why her Mother always seemed cold and distant and refused to talk about her past. She is also able to give her the story of the mother she lost and the love she never knew growing up.

This was a beautiful and profoundly touching story that was wonderfully written.  I thought the choice to write in the first person during the story, as well as the present day, was a skillful one. It immersed you in Amisha’s mind and world, helping you understood the decisions she made and reasons for her actions, even when they might otherwise have seemed wrong.  A magnificent, heartwarming book that I would highly recommend.

Out Now.

“Two sisters, carved in two by the justice system.”

If the police say your sister killed your daughter but she says she’s innocent who would you believe? Who would the rest of your family believe? And how do you recover from such a betrayal and double loss? These are the questions facing Martha in this fantastic book.

This book had me hooked from the first page. It was hard to tear myself away as all I wanted to do was read and find out what would happen to Becky. Did she kill Layla? And if not her then who did? The story is told mostly from the perspectives of both Martha and Becky and takes place during Becky’s trial for murder. Becky maintains her innocence from the start and although Martha is desperate to believe her sister couldn’t have done such a thing, the prosecution are telling her that she did. How do you not trust what the police and lawyers, the very people that are there to see justice is done, are telling you? The heartbreak Martha faces at this dilemma, at having not only lost her precious child but also facing the possibility that it was at the hands of her sister and best friend, is something you can’t fail to be moved by.

As the conclusion approached, I was racing to read as fast as possible to find out what had happened. I found myself scared at the thought that we might never having a real answer to the question. No conclusion after all. As I was reading I could feel the tension and that a big reveal and/or twist was coming but when it came it took my breath away and tore at my heart. The fact that I’d guessed correctly didn’t dull the sense of tragedy in the truth of what had happened.

This was my first read by Gillian McAllister but it certainly won’t be my last. No Further Question explores the complexities of family, love and parenthood, of a sister torn in two and a family torn apart. It is an emotional, heartbreaking, edge-of-your seat book that I would recommend to anyone who enjoys well written crime fiction, thrillers and mystery.

Paperback released today.

cof

I recently read ‘In Her Shadow’ by Mark Edwards which is finally released today. In celebration of Publication Day I decided to share my review on here

Review

Thank you to NetGalley, Thomas & Mercer, Amazon Publishing UK and Mark Edwards for the chance to read an ARC of this novel.

“Isabel’s life seemed perfect. Successful business, beautiful house, adoring husband. And then she was dead”.

When the story starts it’s been four years since her sister Isabel’s death and Jessica has never once doubted that it was anything other than a tragic accident. But when her daughter Olivia, who never met her Aunt, suddenly knows long forgotten details of Isabel’s life and talking about “a bad man” and secrets she mustn’t share, Jessica starts to wonder if maybe Izzy didn’t fall from the balcony after all. So, she starts to investigate; trying to garner information from her reluctant and frightened daughter and family members who mostly believe she should let it lie. All the while going between belief and denial that Olivia is telling the truth, fearful of what it means if Olivia really is communicating with her dead Aunt and if Isabel was murdered.

Mark Edwards is the King of the psychological thriller with a eerie twist. When I read ‘The Retreat’ a few months ago I instantly became a fan and this is the 5th of his books that I’ve had the pleasure of reading. When you open a Mark Edwards book you expect a rollercoaster ride of heart pounding anticipation, gut-wrenching turmoil and shocking plot twists; which he has delivered yet again in this unputdownable book that sizzles with suspense and had me on the edge of my seat wanting to know what happened next.

In Her Shadow is a story about family, loss, a thriller, a who dunnit, and a culturally relevant novel all rolled into one.

Available October 4th.

Can you believe ‘Matilda’ is 30?!  It seems not that long ago I was a young girl myself reading this classic story when it was released (yes, that makes me feel old).   When I saw that a 30th anniversary edition of this book was being released, along with 3 different collectible covers imagining what Matilda would be doing at now drawn by Quentin Blake, I was first of all shocked it was so long since the book’s release and then excited at the idea of what Matilda might be up to as an adult.  I’d like to think if the author was still alive he might have written an updated story telling us what she’s doing with her life.  But as he sadly can’t do that I was thrilled to get the chance to read this book once more and reminisce with this timeless tale.

Review –

Thank you to NetGalley, Penguin Random House UK Children’s and Puffin for the chance to read this novel.

Matilda has been one of my favourite books since childhood.  I read it multiple times when I was younger, watched the movie multiple times when it was released and it is always the joint favourite with The BFG when I’m asked my favourite childhood story.

It was great to be reading this deliciously funny book again with an adult perspective.  As soon as I began reading the memories came rushing back, from the wonderful illustrations to sitting laughing at Matilda’s acts of revenge against the adults who have wronged her.  There was also some great moments of nostalgia in rereading this book. Who would have thought back then that the line “We’ve got a lovely telly with a twelve-inch screen” would become so funny and dated?  My kids wouldn’t be happy with a television that size in their bedrooms now, let alone in the front room.

The unique prose of Roald Dahl is as brilliantly funny now as it was 30 years ago.  I enjoyed the chance to reread this classic story and although it may have been written for children, it is a great read for all ages.

Out October 4th

Cora Lee is ‘the impossible girl’. She was born on a blustery winter’s night in 1850, the bastard child of a socialite and a nameless immigrant. When she’s found to have two hearts the doctor is sure she won’t survive and even offers money for her body upon death. Immediately her caregivers decide to raise Cora as a boy to protect her from the clutches of those who would wish to harm her and dissect her body for medical research or worse, display it for the public to gawp and gasp at.

20 years later and Cora is now working as a resurrectionist, acquiring bodies for the Anatomists of New York. She specialises in finding the bodies of those with queer and unusual ailments, the things that Anatomists will pay the highest prices for. This speciality also helps her keep her ear to the ground so she would know if anyone were searching for anyone with her particular malady.

When people on her special list start to die unnatural deaths Cora no longer knows who she can trust or where to turn. Whoever the killer is, it is clear they are coming for her too. Can she find the killer and escape there clutches or will she be the next victim and body on display?

I’ve always had a love for the era that this book was set in and a long standing fascination with the history of medicine so this instantly struck me as the kind of book I’d enjoy. I was right; I was enthralled by this book from the opening pages and couldn’t put it down. The author has facts masterfully interlaced with fiction and it was clear that she had taken plenty of time researching the flagitious history of the study of anatomy. There were many times it was easy to forget I was reading a work of fiction

This book is beautifully written and the author was careful to use language appropriate to the time. While this often led to me having to look things up on google it helped the story overall and the only times I really felt confused is when Cora was dressed as her ‘brother’ Jacob but was still referred to as ‘Cora’ and using female pronouns.

This remarkable story had me on the edge of my seat and unable to tear myself away as it reached its climax. Who was the killer? Who had betrayed Cora and was seeking to profit from her demise? Will her secret be revealed to the world or would she escape? I couldn’t wait to find out and read the majority of the book in one sitting as I had to know how it ended.

‘The Impossible Girl’ is an incredible novel that you will not only enjoy reading but it will also teach you a lot about how we came to understand the human body as we do today. A great read for anyone who loves general fiction, historical fiction, crime and mystery.

Out Now.

Thank you to NetGalley, John Murray Press and Sarah Haywood for the chance to read this book.

“It’s never too late to bloom….”

People aren’t sure what to make of Susan Green – family and colleagues find her prickly and hard to understand, but Susan makes perfect sense to herself, and that’s all she needs.

Susan Green is a strange character.  She only buys charcoal, grey or black clothes, is often found writing letters or emails of complaint , will bring up ideas for timesaving with her manager so often that she jokes Susan save time by having an allotted time each month to raise these things, she tends to her collection of  cacti with precision each day and never takes holidays. She doesn’t have any friends, has no interest in socialising with her colleagues, has limited and regimented contact with her family and has created a life where she is so independent and isolated in order to avoid being hurt. But there is a problem – Susan is going to be a mother.  This unplanned event in her carefully controlled life leaves her reeling and unsure, not knowing what she will do first about the pregnancy and then when the baby is born.

I loved the opening paragraph and how it gave an immediate sense of Susan’s nature. You see her detachment and how she endeavours to act in a proper way whatever the circumstances when she has a seemingly emotionless response to the news of her mother’s death.  She is in fact upset, but views her ability to conceal her feelings from others is a talent, tears as not of any help and something she certainly doesn’t intend to shed in front of her brother Edward, who she has an intense disliking for.

When she arrives in Birmingham for her mother’s funeral she is shocked and appalled to hear that her mother wrote a will just weeks before her death in which she gives Edward the right to live in the house for as long as he wants so it will only be sold upon him leaving or his death.  Susan is immediately convinced there is foul play involved as there’s no way her mother would do such a thing without force. Intent on proving this she embarks on taking the case to court and gaining her rightful, and needed, inheritance, not realising this will also take her on a journey of self discovery as she strips away the secrets she never knew were hidden from her and finds things she never expected to learn.

I enjoyed this often funny and heartwarming book but did find it slow at times and that both the character and story could be a little too bland.  A lot of the humour for me was in how little self awareness she actually had in some situations and in her complete lack of understanding about children and parenting.  The fact that she is very sure of her child being as sensible and understanding of the right way things should be done as she is, and that anything else can be simply and calmly explained to the child  lead to some wonderfully amusing scenes. It wasn’t easy to warm to Susan, although as she became less of a frosty personality and her impending motherhood made her grow as a person, I took to her more and was rooting for her finding the ending she wanted.  Another thing I liked about this book was that even though it wasn’t written in diary form it was still narrated as if she was talking to the directly to the reader.

Overall this was an amusing, fun and at times emotional debut . It will inevitably be compared to Eleanor Oliphant but is a very different book in a lot of ways.  I would recommend this to any lovers of chick lit and adult fiction .

Out October 4th.

Is it just me or does it seem like you blinked and September was over?

I’ve had a fantastic reading month this book and have read 13 books.  I’ve enjoyed reading some really different books this month and have found some treasures I’m thankful to have had the opportunity to read*.  So let’s take a look at them:

1. ‘Sweetpea’ by C J Skuse  ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐  – This is not only my favourite book this month but also my favourite this year.  It has also become one of my favourite books ever read!  It is a story about Rhiannon, your average girl next door who also happens to be a serial killer.  It’s a hilarious, grisly, no holds barred book that is so addictive I devoured it.  I’m just sorry I didn’t read it sooner.
2. ‘Don’t You Cry’ by Cass Green ⭐⭐⭐ .5 – A thriller about a woman who is held hostage in her own home by the young waitress who saved her life earlier that day.  The waitress’s brother also turns up with a baby he’s kidnapped and the longest night of Nina’s life begins.  This book started off exciting but this lulled half way through and I found myself struggling to keep reading.  Thankfully it picked up again and had me on the edge of my seat until the climax.
3. ‘The Memory Chamber’ by Holly Cave ⭐⭐⭐⭐ – This story is about Isobel, who is the best Heaven Architect there is.  She is renowned for the beautiful personalised heavens she creates for her clients. But when she falls for a client who is later suspected of murder her whole life is turned upside down.  This book was a combination of romance,  mystery, thriller, and sci-fi interlaced together to make an unusual, exciting and brilliant read.
4. ‘Down to the Woods’ by M. J. Arlidge ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ – I love M J Arlidge’s Helen Grace books and with book 9 in the series he has yet again delivered an exciting, grisly thriller that you don’t want to put down.
5. ‘The Color Purple’ by Alice Walker ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ – I read this for my BookBumClub read for September.  I’d had this classic on my shelf for years but never picked it up.  What a mistake!  This is a haunting, heartbreaking and beautiful book that everyone should read at least once.
6. ‘In Bloom’ by C J Skuse ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ – The sequel to ‘Sweetpea’.  I won’t give too much away in case you  haven’t read the first book but I will say that this book didn’t disappoint and was another fantastic read.
7. ‘The Lucky Ones’ by Mark Edwards ⭐⭐⭐⭐ – Another riveting and captivating thriller from this incredible author who has become one of my favourites to read this year.
8. ‘The Birthday’ by Carol Wyer ⭐⭐⭐⭐ – My first Carol Wyer book but not my last.  I loved this well written thriller that tells the story of the discovery of the bodies of young girls and the hunt for a possible serial killer.  It was the first of the new DI Natalie Ward series and I can’t wait for book 2.                       
9. ‘Perfectly Human’ by Sarah C. Williams ⭐⭐⭐⭐ – Out October 1st. This extraordinary book is the true story of the author’s heartbreaking journey after discovering that her longed for third child had lethal skeletal dysplasia and wouldn’t survive birth.  She takes us with her as she deals with the decision to go ahead with the pregnancy despite knowing her baby won’t live.  This incredible book had a powerful and unexpected impact on me as it talked about how we view quality of life in the face of illness and disability.
10. ‘Still Lives’ by Maria Hummel – I can’t post my review or say much about this book until nearer its November 1st release date.  Sorry.
11. ‘The Psychology of Time Travel’ by Sarah Mascarenhas ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ – An incredible, exhilarating, unique and captivating book that really was like nothing I had read before.  It is the story of how four female scientists create time travel and it becomes a part of society’s norm, of Ruby embarking on the discovery of her Granny Bee’s part in this discovery and of Odette, who finds the body of an old lady and embarks on a quest to find out not only her identity but that of her killer. 
12. ‘The Storyteller’s Secret’ by Sejal Badani ⭐⭐⭐⭐ –  This review hasn’t yet been posted but I loved this beautiful story about Jaya, a New York journalist who embarks on a journey of self discovery and attempts to uncover the truth of her mother’s past in their native India. She is feeling lost after suffering three devastating miscarriages and the breakdown of her marriage and thinks this will be her escape, not realising what she will discover and where it will lead…
13. ‘The Cactus’ by Sarah Haywood ⭐⭐⭐.5 – Out October 4th. My review will be up in the next few days for this funny story of the strange Susan Green and her quest to prove her brother made her late mother give him her house in her will while coming to terms with her own impending motherhood.

Have you read any of these books?  Let me know if you did and what you thought of them in the comments below.

*Thank you to NetGalley, authors and publishers for the chance to read ‘Don’t You Cry’, ‘The Memory Chamber’, ‘Down to the Woods’, ‘In Bloom’, ‘The Birthday’, ‘Perfectly Human’, ‘Still Lives’ and ‘Cactus’.