Welcome to my stop on the blog tour for this tantalising and twisty tale. This was my favourie book of December 2022 and I’m so glad to finally be able to share my review with you all. Thank you to Viper for the invitation to take part and the proof copy of the book.
********
SYNOPSIS:
*** THE NEW MYSTERY PHENOMENON FROM THE BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF THE APPEAL AND THE TWYFORD CODE ***
‘The queen of tricksy crime’ – SUNDAY TIMES ‘An astonishing piece of work’ – IAN MOORE
Open the safe deposit box. Inside you will find research material for a true crime book. You must read the documents, then make a decision. Will you destroy them? Or will you take them to the police?
Everyone knows the sad story of the Alperton Angels: the cult who brainwashed a teenage girl and convinced her that her newborn baby was the anti-Christ. Believing they had a divine mission to kill the infant, they were only stopped when the girl came to her senses and called the police. The Angels committed suicide rather than stand trial, while mother and baby disappeared into the care system.
Nearly two decades later, true-crime author Amanda Bailey is writing a book on the Angels. The Alperton baby has turned eighteen and can finally be interviewed; if Amanda can find them, it will be the true-crime scoop of the year, and will save her flagging career. But rival author Oliver Menzies is just as smart, better connected, and is also on the baby’s trail.
As Amanda and Oliver are forced to collaborate, they realise that what everyone thinks they know about the Angels is wrong. The truth is something much darker and stranger than they’d ever imagined. And the story of the Alperton Angels is far from over.
From the bestselling author of The Appeal and The Twyford Code comes a stunning new mystery for fans of Richard Osman and S.J. Bennett. The devil is in the detail…
********
MY REVIEW:
You have a key that opens a safe deposit box. Inside is a bundle of documents, archived research material for a book that has just been published. You must read it all and make a decision, either: Replace all the documents and the box, then throw the key where it will never be found… Or: take everything to the police.
And so begins The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels. A tantalising, eerie and intriguing story of secrets, lies, delusion, mystery and murder.
True-crime author Amanda Bailey is asked to revisit the infamous case of the Alperton Angels, the cult who brainwashed a teenager into believing her baby was the anti-Christ and that God had charged them with sacrificing it in order to save humanity. The girl managed to save her baby, but the Angles sacrificed themselves rather than face trial for their crimes, and the case has been surrounded by whispers of conspiracy and cover-ups ever since.
With the surviving baby about to turn eighteen, the race is on to secure the first interview, and Amanda is determined to get that scoop. But she soon discovers discrepancies in the case and finds there is a wall of secrecy that surrounds the baby and it’s teenage parents, all three of which have not been seen since that night. It seems that everything people think they know about the Alperton Angels is wrong. The truth is something much darker, stranger and more sinister than anyone could ever imagine. And some people will do anything to prevent the truth from being revealed.
“There’s something about this case. It burrows insidiously into your mind, then sets about changing it.”
I had been in a reading slump for a while when I picked this up, hoping that this might be the magic story to break the curse. And, boy, did it have the desired effect! Tantalising, eerie and intriguing, I couldn’t get enough of this book and devoured it quickly. It haunted my every thought and I’d be thinking about it even when forced to stop reading to do other things. I even dreamed about it when I slept! An absolute masterpiece, this was exactly what I needed to get me out of my slump.
Janice Hallett is a true innovator in crime fiction. She writes exclusively in mixed media, yet somehow you forget that you aren’t reading a traditionally written story. She makes it flow seamlessly and I completely lost myself in the world that she created. A world that feels so real. I am not ashamed to admit that I turned to google to check if this was based on a real case. It reads so authentically that it felt unfathomable that it could be purely a work of fiction. Ms. Hallett is a master storyteller who has created a story where nothing is as it seemed. The plot is an intricatemaze of secrets, red herrings, duplexities and double crossesthat I challenge anyone to predict. It is all sodetailed and complex that it made my head spin, pulling me one way, then another, and then back again, like clothes spinning round a washing machine. I have no idea how she manages to come up with it, let alone how she keeps all those balls in the air and plots the clues perfectly. Yet it never feels confusing, which is a testament to her extraordinary skill as a writer.
Dark, curious and forbidding, you will not be able to stop reading this book until you have a resolution to your questions. And as the tension ramps up as you race to the finale, you will find yourself on the edge of your seat holding on for dear life as Ms. Hallett takes you on a wild and twisty ride. An absolute must-read for anyone who enjoys crime fiction.
Rating: ✮✮✮✮✮
********
MEET THE AUTHOR:
Janice Hallett studied English at UCL, and spent several years as a magazine editor, winning two awards for journalism. After gaining an MA in Screenwriting at Royal Holloway, she co-wrote the feature film Retreat. The Appeal is inspired by her lifelong interest in amateur dramatics. Her second novel, The Twyford Code, will be published by Viper in 2022. When not indulging her passion for global adventure travel, she is based in West London.
Welcome to my belated stop on the Twelve Cosies of Christmas Audio Tour. Thank you to Danielle for the invitation to take part and Ulvercroft for the gifted audiobook.
********
SYNOPSIS:
It’s Christmas at London’s Theatre Royale and journalist Daphne King is determined to solve an extraordinary mystery…
December 1935. Director Monty Harrison’s production of A Christmas Carol has had a troubled run on its tour of regional theatres. With tensions amongst the cast running high, the company reach their final stop—London’s Theatre Royale.
Catastrophe, however, strikes on opening night: Scrooge dies on stage, the result (it is presumed) of a heart attack. But the show must go on. Until, that is, a leading theatre critic—and old rival of Monty’s—is killed backstage. Are those associated with the production being picked off one by one? Budding journalist Daphne King takes up the case…
********
MY REVIEW:
The 12 Audiobooks of Christmas Audiobook Tour is now firmly a part of my festive reading traditions. This year, I listened to Murder at the Theatre Royale, which is the second book in Ada Moncrieff’s A Christmas Mystery Series.
We are transported to December 1935 as amateur sleuth Daphne King investigates more mysterious murders. It begins with the actor playing Scrooge in A Christmas Carol who drops dead while on stage on opening night at London’s Theatre Royal. Then, when an old rival of Director Chester Harrison is also found dead, Daphne begins to wonder if someone is slowly picking off those involved with the production. There are few clues to follow, but Daphne pieces them together as she tries to unmask the killer before they can strike again.
This was an absolute joy to listen to. The snowy landscape and Christmas setting were perfect for festive listening and the author’s evocative descriptions and old fashioned language merged with the delightful narration to completely immerse me in the story. I was hooked and kept guessing right until the big reveal, the murderer’s identity as much of a surprise to me as it was those involved.
Charming, entertaining and atmospheric, this is cosy festive fun at its best and is the perfect book to listen to this time of year. I’m already looking forward to following Daphne’s escapades again next year.
Rating: ✮✮✮✮✰
********
MEET THE AUTHOR:
Ada Moncrieff was born in London. She studied English at Cambridge University, and has worked in theatre, publishing and as a teacher. Murder Most Festive was her first novel.
Published: December 6th, 2022 Publisher: Thomas & Mercer Genre: Suspense, Psycholgocial Thriller Format: Paperback, Kindle, Audiobook
Welcome to my review for this heart-stopping thriller. Thank you to Zoe at Zooloo’s Book Tours for the invitation to take part, and Carol Wyer for the gifted copy of the book.
********
SYNOPSIS:
Two kidnappings, thirty years apart. Can Stacey face her own dark past in order to save her stepdaughter?
When Stacey’s ex-husband turns up on her doorstep begging her to help save his kidnapped thirteen-year-old daughter, Lyra, the terror is all too familiar. Stacey’s own violent kidnapping thirty years ago was never solved, and while a severe case of amnesia spares her from recalling the specific horrors, she remembers enough…
Stacey knows her father never paid the ransom―she has the missing pinkie finger to prove it. She knows she was only saved because of an anonymous tip-off to the police. And she knows her captor was never apprehended.
Lyra’s kidnappers have made it clear the police must not get involved. But Stacey can’t shake the eerie similarities between the two cases, and she’ll use whatever she can, from her journalistic powers to her shady contacts, to save Lyra from the same nightmare. Desperate to find any link between Lyra’s abduction and her own, Stacey forces herself to revisit her forgotten, traumatic past for clues.
But can she make sense of the terrible secrets she unearths in time to save Lyra? And if she does, is she ready to face her own tormentor?
********
MY REVIEW:
“Stacey couldn’t shake the ominous feeling surrounding her. The hair. The dingy room. The scissors. This had to be an echo of her past.”
When Stacey’s ex-husband, Jack, turns up on her doorstep one afternoon, Stacey O’Hara is unprepared for the nightmare she’s about to be plunged into. Her thirteen-year-old stepdaughter, Lyra, has been kidnapped, and he wants Stacey’s help to rescue her from a terror she is all too familiar with after her own violent kidnapping thirty years ago.
As they race against the clock to save Lyra, Stacey can’t shake the strange similarities with her own abduction that keep cropping up. Could the two be linked? Forced to face the past she’s run from for decades, can Stacey make sense of the secrets she’s unearthed before it is too late?
“The room was dimly lit by a small lamp. Shadows, like demons, danced on the wall.”
Wow! This book certainly packs a punch, grabbing me from the forbidding opening pages. I didn’t want to put this book down! It showcases why Carol Wyer has become one of my favourite thriller authors, her ability to hypnotise the reader and keep them guessing as she weaves her tangled web of dark secrets keeping me on the edge of my seat as I read. As the secrets are slowly revealed, the intricate puzzle begins to come together. But would it look like I imagined? Or something completely different?
“A hazy vision floated from the recesses of her mind. She saw herself as a terrified teenager, tied to a chair, a hood over her head. Her heartbeat increased. She didn’t want to remember.”
I loved that this book was essentially two mysteries in one as we uncover the truth not only about Lyra’s abduction, but Stacey’s too. While Lyra is never on the page as anything other than a character being discussed, her presence is felt over every sentence, along with the urgency to save her. And while trying to do so, Stacey begins to discover things she never knew about her abduction thirty years ago. Because of her profound dissociative amnesia Stacey has never processed the trauma of being abducted. The memories were buried so deep that she can’t reach them. But after Lyra’s abduction, she is assailed by flashes of the long-repressed memories that she isn’t always sure she can trust. It is so evocatively written that we feel every bit of her confusion, torment and fear as she faces the truth of her abduction for the first time while desperately trying to rescue Lyra. She is a likeable protagonist and was easy to root for, unlike her ex-husband, Jack.
In Jack we see Wyer’s skill for writing morally dubious and complex characters that you aren’t sure you can trust. Did I dislike and suspect him because he reminded me of my own abusive ex-husband? Or was he really involved in this somehow? I could never make up my mind but also couldn’t shake my suspicions of him no matter how much Stacey was adamant he wasn’t involved.
Dripping with suspense, charged with adrenalin and fraught with malice, Behind Closed Doors is a heart-pounding thriller that fans of the genre will love.
Rating: ✮✮✮✮.5
********
MEET THE AUTHOR:
USA Today bestselling author and winner of The People’s Book Prize Award, Carol Wyer’s crime novels have sold over one million copies and been translated into nine languages.
A move from humour to the ‘dark side’ in 2017, saw the introduction of popular DI Robyn Carter in Little Girl Lost and proved that Carol had found her true niche.
February 2021 saw the release of the first in the much-anticipated new series, featuring DI Kate Young. An Eye For An Eye was chosen as a Kindle First Reads and became the #1 bestselling book on Amazon UK and Amazon Australia.
Carol has had articles published in national magazines ‘Woman’s Weekly’, featured in ‘Take A Break’, ‘Choice’, ‘Yours’ and ‘Woman’s Own’ magazines and the Huffington Post. She’s also been interviewed on numerous radio shows discussing ”Irritable Male Syndrome’ and ‘Ageing Disgracefully’ and on BBC Breakfast television.
She currently lives on a windy hill in rural Staffordshire with her husband Mr. Grumpy… who is very, very grumpy. When she is not plotting devious murders, she can be found performing her comedy routine, Smile While You Still Have Teeth.
Today is my stop on the blog tour for Her Deadly Promise, the latest compelling thriller in the fantastic Detective Gina Harte series. Thank you to Noelle at Bookouture for the invitation to take part and the gifted ARC.
********
SYNOPSIS:
Four-year-old Kayden has been sitting alone on the little patch of tired grass outside his house for hours. His cheeks are wet with tears as he waits for his mother’s warm embrace. But she’ll never arrive to pick up her darling boy. She’ll never be seen again…
Church Road is a quiet corner of suburbia where happy families play in the local park and neighbours smile as they pass in the street. But behind the bright red door of number 8 lies the body of Billie Reeves, a young mum who just took her last breath.
Serena is Billie’s sister. When she found out her boyfriend had been obsessively calling Billie, she’d all but cut her from her life. But not before vowing she would make Billie pay for ruining her relationship…
Shaun is Billie’s ex-boyfriend. He left her the moment she fell pregnant. When he turned up at Billie’s door, demanding to see Kayden, she refused to take the risk of him hurting her precious son. He’ll do whatever it takes to get his little boy back…
Nadia is Billie’s best friend. Their kids attended the same school and Billie often opened up to Nadia about her struggles as a single mother. She knows Billie’s deepest, darkest secret. She promised never to tell, but that was before the argument…
When police investigate the quiet little street, they discover everyone was whispering about Billie’s late-night callers. What was going on behind the closed door of Billie’s small home? And if someone was prepared to kill her, what do they know, and who will be next?
Fans of Angela Marsons, Cara Hunter and Clare Mackintosh, will love Her Deadly Promise – a completely gripping crime thriller that will have you hooked from the very first page!
********
MY REVIEW:
“One thing I don’t know is how it all ends, but I know it’s not going to be pretty. It’s going to be explosive.”
Four-year-old Kayden has been playing outside in his garden for hours. His mother, Billie, told him not to come in the house until she tells him to, so he’s waiting for her to call him. But she never will. Because while Kayden was playing someone brutally murdered his mother in their home.
Detective Gina Harte and her team are called in to investigate the shocking crime. Who could commit such a savage act? As they delve deeper, they discover that things are not as simple as they seem and that this is a case filled with dark secrets that could hold the key to cracking the case. They just have to unravel them first.
The twelfth book in the Detective Gina Harte series is another gripping thriller. Infused with mystery and a sense of imminent danger, I was on the edge of my seat as I tried to figure out the secrets each of the characters were hiding. It had a dark and ominous atmosphere, like there was something evil lurking in the shadows, waiting to pounce. And I couldn’t get enough.
While I enjoy a good standalone thriller, there is something to be said about coming back to characters you know and love. It’s like catching up with an old friend and I’ve come to care about Gina and her team. Gina herself is one of my favourite crime protagonists, and it was hard to see her going through such a hard time in this book. But in addition to the regular characters, each instalment in a series requires new characters and Ms. Kovach manages to create fascinating new characters who draw us in and tug on our heartstrings or enrage us again and again. And while we know one of them is our killer, the mask they wear is so convincing that it can be hard to see their true face. This was particularly true in this story and my jaw was left on the floor at the big reveal.
Carla Kovach is one of my auto-buy authors thanks to this series. Her books are always well written, morally complex, darkly thrilling, and filled with compelling characters. I also enjoy how she weaves important issues such as domestic violence, mental health, and, in this book, the cost of living crisis into her stories, giving them greater depth and making the reader think. I also like that her books are often hard to predict, keeping me on my toes as I read. But this time she had something truly tantalising in store with the book’s final line. How can you do that to me?! I need the next book now! I’m going to be thinking about what it could mean until book thirteen.
Suspenseful, captivating and twisty, this is perfect for anyone who enjoys a multilayered thriller.
Rating: ✮✮✮✮✰
********
MEET THE AUTHOR:
Carla Kovach is a USA Today bestselling author from the UK and is published by Bookouture, Sphere and Boekerij. Her DI Gina Harte series has been translated into Dutch.
As well as novels, she has also written stage and screenplays.
Welcome to my stop on the blog tour for this tense and twisty locked-room mystery. Thank you to Jenny at Hodder and Stoughton for the invitation to take part and gifted copy of the book.
********
SYNOPSIS:
Zoey enjoys her life. She fills it with travel, casual work and partying with friends, and tries not to think about what’s gone wrong in the past.
But after a night out clubbing in New York to celebrate her best friend’s birthday, Zoey wakes in a stifling white room she’s never seen before, with no memory of how she got there. Filled with panic, she searches the luxurious house for someone who can tell her where she is, only to find herself entirely alone in what appears to be vast, unending desert.
Until, in the distance, she hears a woman screaming…
********
MY REVIEW:
“In that moment I know I can’t just leave the Sanctuary – not until I’ve got to the bottom of whatever is going on.”
I love a good locked-room mystery, and The Sanctuary certainly fits that bill. Fast-paced, tense and addictive, I was putty in the palm of Emma Haughton’s hand as she wove her clever, twisty and intricate tale. There are many layers of mystery in the story: who is Zoey’s mysterious benefactor? Why are residents leaving in the middle of the night? And what is the secret Zoey can’t face?
Haughton transports you into the story, making you feel Zoey’s disorientation and fear as she wakes in this strange place. These feelings only deepen, and are joined by anger and frustration, as she adjusts to her situation. And as she begins to get to know the other patients and staff, it seems things only get more cryptic and strange. Something is clearly not right about this place, and Zoey can’t resist delving deeper into the mystery, the tension escalating alongside the danger they are facing. I was reading with my heart pounding in my chest as I tried to predict the answers to my many questions.
Atmospheric, claustrophobic and utterly compelling, this is a must-read for anyone who enjoys a well written thriller.
Rating: ✮✮✮✮✰
********
MEET THE AUTHOR:
From Emma’s Website: Emma Haughton grew up in Sussex; after a stint au pairing in Paris and a couple of half-hearted attempts to backpack across Europe, she studied English at Oxford University then trained in journalism. During her career as a journalist, she wrote many articles for national newspapers, including regular pieces for the Times Travel section.
Following publication of her picture book, Rainy Day, Emma wrote three YA novels. Her first, Now You See Me, was an Amazon bestseller and nominated for the Carnegie and Amazing Book Awards. Better Left Buried, her second, was one of the best YA reads for 2015 in the Sunday Express. Her third YA novel, Cruel Heart Broken, was picked by The Bookseller as a top YA read for July 2016.
The Dark, Emma’s chilling new thriller for adults, was published by Hodder in August 2021.
Welcome to my final list of anticipated books released in 2022. December is a quiet month, but there’s still 15 books on my list.
The Widow by Kaira Rouda
Published: December 1st Publisher: Thomas & Mercer Genre: Thriller, Suspense, Psychological Fiction
SYNOPSIS: A husband with secrets. A wife with no limits. A riveting novel of marriage, privilege, and lies by Kaira Rouda, the USA Today bestselling author of The Next Wife.
Jody Asher had a plan. Her charismatic husband, Martin, would be a political icon. She, the charming wife, would fuel his success. For fifteen congressional terms, they were the golden couple on the Hill. Life was good. Until he wasn’t.
Martin’s secret affair with a young staffer doesn’t bother Jody personally. But professionally? It’s a legacy killer. Soon a reporter gets word of this scandal in the making, and Martin’s indiscretions threaten to ruin everything Jody has accomplished.
When Martin suddenly dies, it’s a chance to change the narrative―but the reporter won’t let go of his lead. As the balance of power shifts in the Asher house and on the Hill, it’s time for Jody to take control. And there’s nothing the ruthless widow won’t do to secure the future she’s entitled to. Even if she has a secret of her own.
Her Deadly Promise by Carla Kovach (Detective Gina Harte Book 12)
Published: December 2nd Publisher: Bookouture Genre: Mystery, Suspense, Thriller, Psychological Fiction, Noir Fiction, Crime Fiction, Police Procedural, Crime Series
SYNOPSIS: Four-year-old Kayden has been sitting alone on the little patch of tired grass outside his house for hours. His cheeks are wet with tears as he waits for his mother’s warm embrace. But she’ll never arrive to pick up her darling boy. She’ll never be seen again…
Church Road is a quiet corner of suburbia where happy families play in the local park and neighbours smile as they pass in the street. But behind the bright red door of number 8 lies the body of Billie Reeves, a young mum who just took her last breath.
Serena is Billie’s sister. When she found out her boyfriend had been obsessively calling Billie, she’d all but cut her from her life. But not before vowing she would make Billie pay for ruining her relationship…
Shaun is Billie’s ex-boyfriend. He left her the moment she fell pregnant. When he turned up at Billie’s door, demanding to see Kayden, she refused to take the risk of him hurting her precious son. He’ll do whatever it takes to get his little boy back…
Nadia is Billie’s best friend. Their kids attended the same school and Billie often opened up to Nadia about her struggles as a single mother. She knows Billie’s deepest, darkest secret. She promised never to tell, but that was before the argument…
When police investigate the quiet little street, they discover everyone was whispering about Billie’s late-night callers. What was going on behind the closed door of Billie’s small home? And if someone was prepared to kill her, what do they know, and who will be next?
Fans of Angela Marsons, Cara Hunter and Clare Mackintosh, will love Her Deadly Promise – a completely gripping crime thriller that will have you hooked from the very first page!
Published: December 6th Publisher: Thomas & Mercer Genre: Suspense, Psychological Thriller
SYNOPSIS: Two kidnappings, thirty years apart. Can Stacey face her own dark past in order to save her stepdaughter?
When Stacey’s ex-husband turns up on her doorstep begging her to help save his kidnapped thirteen-year-old daughter, Lyra, the terror is all too familiar. Stacey’s own violent kidnapping thirty years ago was never solved, and while a severe case of amnesia spares her from recalling the specific horrors, she remembers enough…
Stacey knows her father never paid the ransom―she has the missing pinkie finger to prove it. She knows she was only saved because of an anonymous tip-off to the police. And she knows her captor was never apprehended.
Lyra’s kidnappers have made it clear the police must not get involved. But Stacey can’t shake the eerie similarities between the two cases, and she’ll use whatever she can, from her journalistic powers to her shady contacts, to save Lyra from the same nightmare. Desperate to find any link between Lyra’s abduction and her own, Stacey forces herself to revisit her forgotten, traumatic past for clues.
But can she make sense of the terrible secrets she unearths in time to save Lyra? And if she does, is she ready to face her own tormentor?
Published: December 6th Publisher: St Martins Press Genre: Suspense, Coming-of-Age Story
SYNOPSIS: My Dark Vanessa meets The Queen’s Gambit in this new novel of suspense about the bonds of family, the limits of talent, the risks of ambition, and the rewards of revenge.
When former piano prodigy Saskia Kreis returns home to Milwaukee after her mother’s unexpected death, she expects to inherit the family estate, the Elf House. But with the discovery that her mother’s will bequeathed the Elf House to a man that Saskia shares a complicated history with, she is forced to reexamine her own past––and the romantic relationship that changed the course of her life––for answers. Can she find a way to claim her heritage while keeping her secrets buried, or will the fallout from digging too deep destroy her?
Set against a post #MeToo landscape, Rachel Kapelke-Dale’s The Ingenue delves into mother-daughter relationships, the expectations of talent, the stories we tell ourselves, and what happens when the things that once made you special are taken from you. Moving between Saskia’s childhood and the present day, this dark, contemporary fairy tale pulses with desire, longing, and uncertainty, as it builds to its spectacular, shocking climax.
Published: December 6th Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire Genre: Suspense, Young Adult Fiction
SYNOPSIS: No matter how you try to hide it, the truth will always come out . . .
When a small plane crash ends with a group of seven teens washed up on a deserted island, their first thought is survival. With supplies dwindling and the fear of being stranded forever becoming more of a reality, they quickly discover that being the most popular kid in high school doesn’t help when you’re fighting to stay alive.
And when strange and terrifying accidents start to occur all around them, the group realizes that they are being targeted by someone who was on the plane, and that the island isn’t their only danger. A terrible secret from a party the night before the flight has followed them ashore–and it’s clear that someone is looking for justice. Now survival depends on facing the truth about that party: who was hurt that night, and who let it happen?
SYNOPSIS: To marry is madness. To escape is impossible.
I must pull myself together. I had to find Dr Rastrick and demand my immediate release. My stomach knotted at the prospect, but I knew I was perfectly sane and that he must see reason.
In 1886, a respectable young woman must acquire a husband. But Violet Pring does not want to marry. She longs to be a professional artist and live on her own terms.
When her scheming mother secures a desirable marriage proposal from an eligible Brighton gentleman for her, Violet protests. Her family believes she is deranged and deluded, so she is locked away in Hillwood Grange Lunatic Asylum against her will.
In her new cage, Violet faces an even greater challenge: she must escape the clutches of a sinister and formidable doctor and set herself free.
This tantalizing Gothic novel from Noel O’Reilly tells a thrilling story of duty and desire, madness and sanity, truth and delusion from within a Victorian asylum.
The Witch and the Tsar by Oleysa Salinkova Gilmore
Published: December 8th Publisher: Harper Voyager UK Genre: Historical Fiction, Fairy Tale, Fantasy Fiction, Historical Fantasy
SYNOPSIS: ‘A delicate weaving of myth and history, The Witch and the Tsar breathes new life into stories you think you know’ Hannah Whitten, New York Times bestselling author of For the Wolf
Yaga lives deep in the Russian forest, tending to any that call upon her for her healing potions and vast wisdom.
She has been alone for centuries, with only her beloved animals for company. But, when Tsaritsa Anastasia, wife of Tsar Ivan Vasilyevich, shows up at Yaga’s cottage on the brink of death, Yaga is compelled to travel with her to Moscow to keep her safe.
However, the Russia Yaga sees as she makes her journey to the heart of the country is one on the brink of chaos. Tsar Ivan – soon to become Ivan the Terrible – grows more volatile and tyrannical by the day, and Yaga believes the tsaritsa is being poisoned by an unknown enemy. But what Yaga cannot know is that Ivan is being manipulated by powers far older and more fearsome than anyone can imagine.
Set in sixteenth-century Russia, The Witch and the Tsar upends the stories we know of Baba Yaga as the bony-legged witch of Slavic fairy tales and the stuff of nightmares. For beyond the rumours of her iron nose, fangs for teeth, and house on chicken legs, is the story of a woman so wise and strong that she has to be cloaked in lies to hide her true power.
Published: December 8th Publisher: Penguin UK Genre: Historical Fiction, Historical Romance, Historical Mystery
SYNOPSIS: A LOST CHILD. A LONG-KEPT SECRET. THE HOUSE THAT HOLDS THE KEY
—–
Spring 1937: Teresa is evacuated to London in the wake of the Guernica bombing. She thinks she’s found safety in the soothing arms of Mary Davidson and the lofty halls of Rochester Place, but trouble pursues her wherever she goes.
Autumn 2020: Corrine, an emergency dispatcher, receives a call from a distressed woman named Mary. But when the ambulance arrives at the address, Mary is nowhere to be found. Intrigued, Corinne investigates and, in doing so, disturbs secrets that have long-dwelt in Rochester Place’s crumbling walls. Secrets that, once revealed, will change her life for ever . . .
Who is Mary Davidson? And what happened at Rochester Place all those years ago?
Published: December 8th Publsiher: Sourcebooks Landmark Genre: Historical Fiction, War Story
SYNOPSIS: Three women, a nation seduced by a madman, and the Nazi breeding program to create a so-called master race
At Heim Hochland, a Nazi breeding home in Bavaria, three women’s fates are irrevocably intertwined. Gundi is a pregnant university student from Berlin. An Aryan beauty, she’s secretly a member of a resistance group. Hilde, only eighteen, is a true believer in the cause and is thrilled to carry a Nazi official’s child. And Irma, a 44-year-old nurse, is desperate to build a new life for herself after personal devastation. All three have everything to lose.
Based on untold historical events, this novel brings us intimately inside the Lebensborn Society maternity homes that actually existed in several countries during World War II, where thousands of “racially fit” babies were bred and taken from their mothers to be raised as part of the new Germany. But it proves that in a dark period of history, the connections women forge can carry us through, even driving us to heroism we didn’t know we had within us.
Published: December 8th Publisher: Orenda Books Genre: Mystery, Crime Fiction, Police Procedurals, Crime Series
SYNOPSIS: When a human skeleton is discovered at the site of a controversial new dam in remote northern Botswana, rookie Detective Kubu is drawn into a terrifying local feud, and discovers a deadly covenant that could change everything…
While building a pipeline near the Okavango Delta, a contractor unearths the remains of a long-dead Bushman. Rookie Detective David ‘Kubu’ Bengu of Botswana CID and Scottish pathologist, Ian MacGregor, are sent to investigate, and MacGregor discovers the skeletons of eight more men.
Shortly after the gruesome discoveries, the elder of a nearby village is murdered in his home. The local police are convinced it was a robbery, but Kubu isn’t so sure … and neither is the strange woman who claims that an angry river spirit caused the elder’s death.
As accusations of corruption are levelled and international outrage builds over the massacre of the Bushman families, Kubu and his colleagues uncover a deadly covenant, and begin to fear that their own lives may be in mortal danger…
Published: December 8th Publisher: Orenda Books Genre: Mystery, Psychological Fiction, Humorous Fiction, Coming-of-Age Story
SYNOPSIS: A failed writer connects the murder of an American journalist, a drowned 80s musician and a Scottish politician’s resignation, in a heart-wrenching novel about ordinary people living in extraordinary times.
Renowned photo-journalist Jude Montgomery arrives in Glasgow in 2014, in the wake of the failed Scottish independence referendum, and it’s clear that she’s searching for someone.
Is it Anna Mason, who will go on to lead the country as First Minister? Jamie Hewitt, guitarist from eighties one-hit wonders The Hyptones? Or is it Rabbit – Jude’s estranged foster sister, now a world-famous artist?
Three apparently unconnected people, who share a devastating secret, whose lives were forever changed by one traumatic night in Phoenix, forty years earlier…
Taking us back to a school shooting in her Texas hometown, and a 1980s road trip across the American West – to San Francisco and on to New York – Jude’s search ends in Glasgow, and a final, shocking event that only one person can fully explain…
Published: December 8th Publisher: Crooked Lane Books Genre: Suspense, Thriller, Psychological Thriller
SYNOPSIS: In 1997, Eve Foster’s daughter, Kelsey, runs away to New Mexico and vanishes without a trace. Eve is convinced that she’s the victim of a serial killer who’s been hunting women in the region – but Kelsey’s body is never found. Years later, Eve dies, leaving everything to her adopted twin daughters. The majority of the wealthy estate in Vermont goes to Lisa, the ‘good daughter,’ while Connie inherits only a small stipend and a property in New Mexico. Connie, often the target of Eve’s cruelty, suspects this was another of her mother’s vindictive games. Connie arrives in New Mexico to find a small, dilapidated red house in the desert, and the home’s mysterious caretaker, Jet Montgomery, living in a shack on the property. She learns there’s been a string of women murdered in the area – murders that no one will talk about. Before Connie can get to the truth, her mother’s sadistic mind games come creeping back from the grave – and now the danger becomes all too real. With a serial killer on the loose and a trove of deadly secrets coming to the surface, Connie is in a desperate race to save herself and what little is left of her shattered family.
Published: December 13th Publisher: Mira Books Genre: Mystery, Thriller
SYNOPSIS: A mother questions everything she knows about her son when a local woman is found dead.
Valerie has been forgetting things. Her daughter worries about her being on her own in her big Victorian house–one rumored to be haunted after a tragedy decades earlier–and truth be told, she is a little lonely. With few options, she asks her adult son to move home, but it’s not quite the reunion she hoped for. Hudson is taciturn, moody and frequently gone.
The neighbors already hold a grudge against Hudson, and they aren’t happy about his return. When a young woman is found murdered a block away, suspicion falls on him immediately, without a shred of evidence. While Valerie fights to defend her son, she begins to wonder who she really invited into her home.
It’s a horrible thing for a mother to even think…but is it possible she’s enabled a monster? A monster she is living with, alone?
SYNOPSIS: One mother on the run. A safe place to hide. But you can’t escape the past forever . . .
Faye is 39 and single. She’s terrified she may never have the one thing she always wanted: a child of her own.
Then she discovers a co-parenting app: Acorns. For men and women who want to have a baby, but don’t want to do it alone. When she meets Louis through it, it feels as though the fates have aligned.
But just one year later, Faye is on the run from Louis, with baby Jake in tow. In desperate need of a new place to live, she contacts Rachel, who’s renting out a room in her remote Norfolk cottage. It’s all Faye can afford – and surely she’ll be safe from Louis there?
But is Rachel the benevolent landlady she pretends to be? Or does she have a secret of her own?
Published: December 27th Publisher: Paitkus Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Suspense
SYNOPSIS: Brandi Maxwell is living the fashion intern dream.
Except, the dream looks more like living on the breadline, scrubbing sick from couture dresses, and dealing with daily microaggressions about her braids – all things she’s sure she can ignore in the name of success.
The one thing she can’t ignore is Taylor Van Doren.
Model, icon, heiress to the fashion house throne. Taylor only wants two things: her father’s money and Brandi’s boyfriend. Nothing will stand in her way. Certainly not a poor Black girl from New Jersey.
But when Brandi overhears something she shouldn’t, their fates become dangerously intertwined. And she must find a way to navigate the cutthroat world of deceptively beautiful people before she becomes fashion’s latest victim.
We aren’t even out of 2021 yet, but 2022 is overflowing with so many exciting books that I have had to create three lists to share the ones I’m most anticipating: Most Anticipated, Most Anticipated Debuts and Next in Series.
Today I’m sharing my final list of anticipated books. These are all the next books in a series that are I’m most looking forward to next year. I am a big fan of a good series and some of my favourites have another installment out next year. There are also some great follow-ups to books that were a standalone but have been so popular that the author has revisited the story a second time (eg The Miniaturist and Rachel’s Holiday).
So here’s my most anticipated next installments in a series being released in 2022:
Demon (Six Stories 6) by Matt Wesolowski
SYNOPSIS: Scott King’s podcast investigates the 1995 cold case of a demon possession in a rural Yorkshire village, where a 12-year-old boy was murdered in cold blood by two children. Book six in the chilling, award-winning Six Stories series.
_______________________
In 1995, the picture-perfect village of Ussalthwaite was the site of one of the most heinous crimes imaginable, in a case that shocked the world.
Twelve-year-old Sidney Parsons was savagely murdered by two boys his own age. No reason was ever given for this terrible crime, and the ‘Demonic Duo’ who killed him were imprisoned until their release in 2002, when they were given new identities and lifetime anonymity.
Elusive online journalist Scott King investigates the lead-up and aftermath of the killing, uncovering dark stories of demonic possession, and encountering a village torn apart by this unspeakable act.
And, as episodes of his Six Stories podcast begin to air, and King himself becomes a target of media scrutiny and the public’s ire, it becomes clear that whatever drove those two boys to kill is still there, lurking, and the campaign of horror has just begun…
SYNOPSIS: The envelope was tied with three delicate silk ribbons: “One of the new recruits is not to be trusted…”
It’s 1959 and a new killer haunts the streets of London, having baffled Scotland Yard. The newspapers call him The Florist because of the rose he brands on his victims. The police have turned yet again to the Inquirers at Miss Brickett’s for assistance, and second year Marion Lane is assigned the case.
But she’s already dealing with a mystery of her own, having received an unsigned letter warning her that one of the three new recruits should not be trusted. She dismisses the letter at first, focusing on The Florist case, but her informer seems to be one step ahead, predicting what will happen before it does. But when a fellow second-year Inquirer is murdered, Marion takes matters into her own hands and must come face-to-face with her informer-who predicted the murder-to find out everything they know. Until then, no one at Miss Brickett’s is safe and everyone is a suspect.
With brilliant twists and endless suspense, all set within the dazzling walls and hidden passageways of Miss Brickett’s, Marion Lane and the Deadly Rose is a deliciously fun new historical mystery you won’t be able to put down.
Three years ago, the sisters confronted their demon father in that strange other-world called Everwhere. It was a battle that ended in a devastating loss, and the scars they carry seem to have slowly pushed the sisters apart . . .
One sister, still raw with grief, is now a near recluse but determined to use her powers to resurrect what she has lost.
Another has made the journey to learn more of her family, her culture and her roots.
And another seems to have turned her back on what she is and opted to lead a more normal life.
But now the sisters are about to be brought together once more. Because when the clock strikes midnight, when October ticks into November, when autumn wilts into winter, when All Hallows’ Eve becomes All Saints’ Day, the sisters Grimm will turn twenty-one and reach the zenith of their powers.
And on this night, at this time, in this place called Everwhere, anything is possible . . .
House of Sky and Breath (Crescent City 2) by Sarah J. Maas
SYNOPSIS: Sequel to the #1 New York Times bestseller. Sarah J. Maas’s sexy, groundbreaking CRESCENT CITY series continues with this second installment.
Bryce Quinlan and Hunt Athalar have made a pact. As they process the events of the Spring they will keep things . platonic . until the Solstice. But can they resist when the crackling tension between them is enough to set the whole of Crescent City aflame?
And they are not out of danger yet. Dragged into a rebel movement they want no part of, Bryce, Hunt and their friends find themselves pitted against the terrifying Asteri – whose notice they must avoid at all costs. But as they learn more about the rebel cause, they face a choice: stay silent while others are oppressed, or fight. And they’ve never been very good at staying silent.
In this sexy, action-packed sequel to the #1 bestseller House of Earth and Blood, Sarah J. Maas weaves a captivating story of a world about to explode – and the people who will do anything to save it.
SYNOPSIS: Twenty-five years after the iconic, 1.5 million-copy bestseller Rachel’s Holiday burst into our lives, Rachel’s BACK!
Back in the long ago nineties, Rachel Walsh was a mess.
But a spell in rehab transformed everything. Life became very good, very quickly. These days, Rachel has love, family, a great job as an addiction counsellor, she even gardens. Her only bad habit is a fondness for expensive trainers.
But with the sudden reappearance of a man she’d once loved, her life wobbles.
She’d thought she was settled. Fixed forever. Is she about to discover that no matter what our age, everything can change?
Is it time to think again, Rachel?
Published February 17th by Michael Joseph. Buy here*
One for Sorrow (DI Callanach 7) by Helen Fields
SYNOPSIS: Bestselling crime author Helen Fields is back with her best book yet. A masterful crime thriller that is set to be the most memorable read of 2022.
One for sorrow, two for joy Edinburgh is gripped by the greatest terror it has ever known. A lone bomber is targeting victims across the city and no one is safe.
Three for a girl, four for a boy DCI Ava Turner and DI Luc Callanach face death every day – and not just the deaths of the people being taken hostage by the killer.
Five for silver, six for gold When it becomes clear that with every tip-off they are walking into a trap designed to kill them too, Ava and Luc know that finding the truth could mean paying the ultimate price.
Seven for a secret never to be told… But with the threat – and body count – rising daily, and no clue as to who’s behind it, neither Ava nor Luc know whether they will live long enough to tell the tale…
With twists and turns you’ll never see coming, prepare to be gripped by this devastatingly good thriller. Perfect for fans of Stuart MacBride and MJ Arlidge.
The laugh-out-loud new novel from the bestselling author of Dial A For Aunties, winner of the Comedy Women In Print Prize 2021
It’s supposed to be the perfect day… After getting away with literal murder, Meddy can’t wait to settle down and marry the love of her life, Nathan. She’s found the dress, got the dream venue at Christ Church College, Oxford, plus having a destination wedding comes with the added bonus of not having to invite her very large extended family.
…But is it even a wedding if nobody gets killed? Although when her meddling aunties get involved, Meddy knows her wedding is going to be anything but quiet. Even though there’s no dead body hidden in the freezer this time, for better or worse, it’s certainly going to be a day she’s never going to forget…
SYNOPSIS: The second in an action-packed adventure thriller series, where modern-day recruits compete in an ancient fight to the death in the streets of Edinburgh.
New Season. New Rules. Same deadly game…
The Pantheon Games are the biggest underground event in the world, followed by millions online. New recruits must leave behind their twenty-first century lives and vie for dominance in a gruelling battle to the death armed only with ancient weapons – and their wits.
Last season’s new recruits Tyler and Lana have lived to fight another day, but now they face a series of even more lethal clashes before the Grand Battle that will end the Season.
It’s survival of the fittest, in the most brutal fashion imaginable. Lana must face the demons of her past, and Tyler has the mother of all targets on his back.
This action-packed adventure thriller is perfect for fans of Pierce Brown’s Red Rising, Battle Royale and The Running Man.
A Life for a Life (Detective Kate Young 3) by Carol Wyer
SYNOPSIS: Nobody can get into the mind of an erratic killer―except an unpredictable detective.
When a young man is found lying on a station platform with a hole in his head, DI Kate Young is called in to investigate the grisly murder. But the killing is no one-off. As bodies start to pile up, she is faced with what might be an impossible task―to hunt down a ruthless killer on a seemingly random rampage.
Meanwhile, Kate has her own demons to battle as she struggles to come to terms with her husband’s death. And she is hell-bent on exposing corruption within the force and bringing Superintendent John Dickson to justice. But with the trail of deception running deeper―and closer to home―than she could ever have imagined, she no longer knows who she can trust.
With her grip on reality slipping, Kate realises that maybe she and the killer are not so different after all. But time is running out and Kate is low on options. Can she catch the killer before she loses everything?
Published March 15th by Thomas & Mercer. Buy here*
House with the Golden Door (The Wolf Den 2) by Elodie Harper
SYNOPSIS: The life of a courtesan in Pompeii is glittering, yet precarious…
Amara has escaped her life as a slave in the town’s most notorious brothel, but now her existence depends on the affections of her patron: a man she might not know as well as she once thought.
At night she dreams of the wolf den, still haunted by her past. Amara longs for the women she was forced to leave behind and worse, finds herself pursued by the man who once owned her. In order to be free, she will need to be as ruthless as he is.
Amara knows her existence in Pompeii is subject to Venus, the goddess of love. Yet finding love may prove to be the most dangerous act of all.
We return to Pompeii for the second instalment in Elodie Harper’s Wolf Den Trilogy, reimagining the lives of the women from the town’s lupanar.
SYNOPSIS: The new must-read novel from the bestselling and highly acclaimed author of FIREWATCHING and NIGHTHAWKING
A body is discovered in a frozen lake, its wrists bound. When it is linked to a case from 2002, Tyler, DC Rabbani and the CCRU team are called in. But fresh blood is soon discovered at the scene and the disturbing events from all those years ago are dragged sharply into the present . . .
Published May 12th by Simon and Schuster. Buy here*
The Dark (Lacy Flint 5) by Sharon Bolton
SYNOPSIS: HE’S WATCHING HER. AND SHE HAS NO IDEA…
When a baby is snatched from its pram, off-duty police officer Lacey Flint is there to prevent disaster. But who would want to hurt a child?
Lacey’s colleague, DI Mark Joesbury, has been expecting something like this. Monitoring a complex network of dark web sites, Joesbury and his team have detected a new terrorist threat from an extremist group, known online as ‘incels’. Joesbury’s team are tracking the growing incel movement online, trying to infiltrate the ring of power at its core, but the dark web is built for anonymity, and the incel army is vast.
The team soon come under pressure when they discover that the snatched child was just the first in a series of violent attacks designed to terrorise women. Even worse, the leaders of the movement seem to have singled out Lacey as the embodiment of everything they hate, placing her in terrible danger…
From the Ashes (DI Eve Hunter 3) by Deborah Masson
SYNOPSIS: It only takes one spark to reignite an old mystery . . .
DI Eve Hunter and her team are called to the scene of a fire that has destroyed a home for underprivileged children in Aberdeen. No-one knows how the blaze started; all they know is that one person didn’t make it out in time.
Her team have dealt with their fair share of tragedies but this case affects them each deeply – particularly when they start to suspect that everyone at the home, from the residents to the staff, has something to hide. And when a horrific discovery is unearthed in the ruins of the property, the team must ask themselves – did someone have a secret worth killing for?
SYNOPSIS: The sequel to Jessie Burton’s million-copy bestseller The Miniaturist.
In the golden city of Amsterdam, in 1705, Thea Brandt is turning eighteen, and she is ready to welcome adulthood with open arms. At the city’s theatre, Walter, the love of her life, awaits her, but at home in the house on the Herengracht, all is not well – her father Otto and Aunt Nella argue endlessly, and the Brandt family are selling their furniture in order to eat. On Thea’s birthday, also the day that her mother Marin died, the secrets from the past begin to overwhelm the present.
Nella is desperate to save the family and maintain appearances, to find Thea a husband who will guarantee her future, and when they receive an invitation to Amsterdam’s most exclusive ball, she is overjoyed – perhaps this will set their fortunes straight.
And indeed, the ball does set things spinning: new figures enter their life, promising new futures. But their fates are still unclear, and when Nella feels a strange prickling sensation on the back of her neck, she remembers the miniaturist who entered her life and toyed with her fortunes eighteen years ago. Perhaps, now, she has returned for her . . .
The House of Fortune is a glorious, sweeping story of fate and ambition, secrets and dreams, and one young woman’s determination to rule her own destiny.
Listen to Me (Rizzoli and Isles 13) by Tess Gerritsen
SYNOPSIS: Rizzoli & Isles return, in the nail-biting new thriller from Sunday Times bestselling author Tess Gerritsen.
Detective Jane Rizzoli and Forensic Pathologist Maura Isles are investigating the gruesome murder of a nurse, whilst also protecting a young student from a stalker. But immersed in their day jobs, will they lose sight of something sinister happening much closer to home?
SYNOPSIS: EVIE EPWORTH IS TEN YEARS OLDER. BUT IS SHE ANY WISER?
Ten years on from the events of THE MISEDUCATION OF EVIE EPWORTH, Evie is settled in London and working as a production assistant for the BBC. She has everything she has ever dreamed of (a career, a leatherette portfolio briefcase and an Ossie Clark poncho). Following an unfortunate incident involving a pregnancy test, a Hornsea china mug and Princess Anne, however, Evie is forced to seek other opportunities. After a brief sojourn into the world of art, Evie talks her way into her dream job working for Right On!, a weekly magazine that tells the hip and happening of London all they need to know about the latest cultural goings-on about town. There are gaps in her knowledge, though, that a jealous colleague threatens to expose, and her disastrous love life leaves her worrying that she may be condemned to a life of eternal spinsterdom (as Evie observes, ‘even Paul had married Linda by the time he was 26’).
But with the help of friends, both old and new, she may find a way through her messy 20s and finally discover just exactly who it is she is meant to be.
SYNOPSIS: The Family Upstairs has gripped audiences around the world, becoming a smash hit with readers everywhere. In 2022 no. 1 bestselling author Lisa Jewell will publish a sequel.
Cold, Cold Bones (Temperance Brenan 21) by Kathy Reichs
SYNOPSIS: Sometimes, revisiting the past is the only way to rescue the present . . .
Winter has come to North Carolina and, with it, a drop in crime. For a while, temporarily idle forensic anthropologist Tempe Brennan is content to dote on her daughter Katy, finally returned to civilian life from the army. But when mother and daughter meet at Tempe’s place one night for dinner, they find a box on the back porch. Inside: a very fresh human eyeball.
GPS coordinates etched into the eyeball lead to a Benedictine Monastery where an equally macabre discovery awaits. Soon after, Tempe examines a mummified corpse in a state park, and her anxiety deepens.
There seems to be no pattern to these random killings, except that each mimics in some way a killing that a younger Tempe witnessed, analyzed, or barely escaped.
Who or what is targeting her, and why?
Helping Tempe discover the answers is Detective Erskine ‘Skinny’ Slidell, retired but still volunteering with the CMPD cold case unit – and still displaying his gallows humour. But as the two infiltrate a bizarre survivalist’s lair, even Skinny’s mood darkens.
And then Tempe’s daughter Katy disappears.
Electrifying, heart-stopping and compulsive, this is Tempe’s most personal and dangerous case yet . . .
Published July 21st by Simon & Schuster. Buy here*
Hope To Die (DC Adam Fawley 5) by Cara Hunter
SYNOPSIS: Midnight. A callout to an isolated farm outside Oxford. A body, shot at point blank range in the kitchen.
It looks like a burglary gone wrong, but DC Adam Fawley suspects there’s something more to it. Who exactly was the aggressor here?
When the police discover a connection to a high-profile case from years ago, involving a child’s murder and an alleged miscarriage of justice, the press go wild.
Suddenly Fawley’s team are under more scrutiny than ever before. And when you dig up the past, you’re sure to find a few skeletons…
Don’t miss the thrilling next book in the exciting new Slayton series from #1 bestselling author Caroline Mitchell. Perfect for fans of C. J. Tudor and Stephen King.
The Dragons Promise (Six Crimson Cranes) by Elizabeth Lim
SYNOPSIS: Shiori’s adventure continues in the stunning follow up to Six Crimson Cranes.
Published August 30th by Hodder & Stoughton. Buy here*
The Thursday Murder Club Book 3 by Richard Osman
SYNOPSIS: A new mystery is afoot in the third book in the Thursday Murder Club series from million-copy bestselling author Richard Osman. Coming Autumn 2022! Pre-order your copy now.
Murder Most Royal (Her Majesty the Queen Investigates 3) by S.J. Bennett
SYNOPSIS: THE ROYALLY BRILLIANT THIRD BOOK IN THE HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN INVESTIGATES MYSTERY SERIES – NOW AVAILABLE TO PRE-ORDER IN HARDBACK, EBOOK AND AUDIOBOOK! ____________________
Christmas at Sandringham is going to be murder . . .
A human hand and a bag of drugs are found washed up on a beach next to the Queen’s estate at Sandringham
The Queen identifies the 70-year-old victim, Edward St Cyr, from his signet ring. But the search for his killer is not so straightforward. Suspects include the Queen’s horse groom, a shady land agent, an aristocrat neighbour, as well as the victim’s many cousins and relations.
The investigation leads the Queen – and her trusted assistant, Rozie – to a local pigeon racing club, back to London, and to the ancient, moated Godwick Hall. But how do the seemingly disparate pieces of the puzzle fit together? And who is the next victim?
Agatha Christie meets The Crown in MURDER MOST ROYAL, the much-anticipated third book in the ‘Her Majesty The Queen Investigates’ mystery series by SJ Bennett – for fans of The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman, Agatha Christie and M.C. Beaton’s Agatha Raisin.
SYNOPSIS: The Sunday Times bestselling adventure inspired by Les Miserables continues.Return to a dark and dangerous alternate Paris in book 2 of The Court of Miracles Trilogy.
Published December 8th by Harper Voyager. Buy here*
**********
Are you planning to read any of these? What series are you excited to continue reading in 2022? Let me know in the comments.
Emma's Biblio Treasures 