Published: March 23rd Publisher: Thomas & Mercer Genre: Suspense, Thriller, Psychological Fiction, Psychological Thriller Format: Hardcover, Kindle, Audio
********
#Ad Welcome to my review of this gripping thriller. Thank you to Amazon Publishing and Thomas and Mercer for the gifted copy of this book.
********
SYNOPSIS:
Number one New York Times bestselling master of suspense Dean Koontz takes readers on a twisting journey of lost love, impossible second chances, and terrifying promises.
A decade ago, Emily Carlino vanished after her car broke down on a California highway. She was presumed to be one of serial killer Ronny Lee Jessup’s victims whose remains were never found.
Writer David Thorne still hasn’t recovered from losing the love of his life, or from the guilt of not being there to save her. Since then, he’s sought closure any way he can. He even visits regularly with Jessup in prison, desperate for answers about Emily’s final hours so he may finally lay her body to rest. Then David meets Maddison Sutton, beguiling, playful, and keenly aware of all David has lost. But what really takes his breath away is that everything about Maddison, down to her kisses, is just like Emily. As the fantastic becomes credible, David’s obsession grows, Maddison’s mysterious past deepens―and terror escalates.
Is she Emily? Or an irresistible dead ringer? Either way, the ultimate question is the same: What game is she playing? Whatever the risk in finding out, David’s willing to take it for this precious second chance. It’s been ten years since he’s felt this inspired, this hopeful, this much in love…and he’s afraid.
********
MY REVIEW:
The Other Emily is a gripping page-turner that had me guessing from start to finish. From the ominous and intriguing opening I was on tenterhooks. What had happened to Emily? And just who is Maddison? Could she really be David’s lost love? Or is she a mysterious doppelganger?
What I loved most about this book was the perpetual mystery. There’s nothing better than a book that genuinely surprises you, and this one did that again and again. What appeared to be happening seemed impossible and illogical, so you’re kept on your toes and it’s impossible to predict. It felt like the more we knew, the more the mystery deepened. As secrets were unfurled the tension rose and I was on the edge of my seat, my heart pounding as I waited for David to discover the truth about Emily’s disappearance.
The characters are all captivating and well-written. David was a great protagonist. He is likeable and easy to root for. His love for Emily is still so strong even after ten years and you can feel his heartbreak radiating from the pages. You want him to find the truth, but you also don’t because it is inevitably going to cause him even more pain. Maddison is suitably enigmatic and impossible to figure out. Common sense told me she wasn’t Emily but so many other things pointed to her being her. I couldn’t figure it out and decided to instead just enjoy the ride and see where the author took me. Ronny Lee Jessup is a fantastic villain. Both he and his house of horrors are chilling, disturbing and repulsive. I would cringe every time he was on the page and felt sick to my stomach at the thrills he got from hurting others and continuing David’s torment.
I’d obviously heard of Dean Kootz before. What thriller reader hasn’t? But this was my first time reading one of his books. I loved his style and the short, sharp chapters and am now wondering why it’s taken me so long to pick up one of his books. I will definitely be reading more of them in the future.
A tense, eerie, twisty and curious thriller, this was an entertaining read. I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys the genre.
Rating: ✮✮✮✮✰
********
MEET THE AUTHOR:
Dean Koontz, the author of many #1 New York Times bestsellers, lives in Southern California with his wife, Gerda, their golden retriever, Elsa, and the enduring spirits of their goldens, Trixie and Anna.
Out of these thirteen book, seven were are debuts and ten are by new to me authors. I enjoyed revisiting characters I loved with A Court of Silver Flames and Nighthawking, and finding new series’ to enjoy with The Abduction and Mystery by the Sea. I also enjoyed taking part in my first audio book tour with The Abduction and hope to do more in the future.
********
With so many great books, as you can imagine choosing a favourite wasn’t simple. There were five that particularly stood out: The Lost Apothecary, Body of Stars, Dangerous Women, The Asylum and Nighthawking. But after some deliberation, I managed to get my book of the month down to two: Body of Stars and The Asylum.
Did we read any of the same books in March? Let me know in the comments.
********
Thanks for reading Bibliophiles. Until next time, Emma xxx
Published: April 1st, 2021 Publisher: Agora Books Format: Kindle (Paperback published April 29th) Genre: Contemporary Fiction, Crime Fiction, Thriller, Mystery, Historical Fiction
Welcome to my stop on the tour for this evocative novel. Thank you to Peyton at Agora Books for the invitation to take part and the gifted ARC.
********
SYNOPSIS:
‘A compelling, multi-layered read – equal parts funny, frank and sinister’ – Fiona Valpy, author of The Dressmaker’s Gift
Memories are fragile when you are seventy years old. I can’t afford to lose any more of them, not when remembering the past might help with the here and now.
Nadia needs help. Help getting out of her hospital bed. Help taking her pills. One thing she doesn’t need help with is remembering her sister. But she does need help finding her.
Alone and abandoned in a London hospital, 70-year-old Nadia is facing the rest of her life spent in a care home unless she can contact her sister Simone… who’s been missing for 50 years.
Despite being told she’s ‘confused’ and not quite understanding how wi-fi works, Nadia is determined to find Simone. So with only cryptic postcards and her own jumbled memories to go on, Nadia must race against her own fading faculties and find her sister before she herself is forgotten.
Set against the lush and glamorous backdrop of 20th century Alexandria, Carol Cooper’s third novel is equal parts contemporary mystery and historical fiction: a re-coming of age story about family, identity, and homeland.
********
MY REVIEW:
Seventy-year-old Nadia is in a London hospital and not quite sure what’s going on. Her memory isn’t what it used to be, and she keeps getting confused and misremembering. But one thing she’s sure of is that she needs to find her sister Simone, who she hasn’t seen in fifty years. The problem is, no one else believes Simone exists. Well, no one except the lovely nurse Deidre, who tries to help her find her sister before it’s too late.
The author opens the book talking about how her inspiration for the story came from her own memories of growing up in Alexandria and you can really feel that authenticity radiating from the pages. The author offers the reader not only an insight into the cultural and political landscape of Egypt, but also an authentic perspective on how it feels to grow up in Alexandria, its multiculturalism and verve oozing from the pages. It is a fascinating, educational and thought-provoking read, the author touching on a variety of subjects such as family, identity, loss, loneliness and female empowerment.
Nadia is a character I won’t soon forget. It is impossible not to feel for her lying in hospital distressed, confused and alone. But there is so much more to her. She is a nuanced, funny, compelling and feisty character who is determined to find her sister by solving the brief, cryptic messages she wrote on decades-old postcards; even learning how to use the internet to search for answers. I enjoyed following her through timelines, countries and cultures as she revisited old memories and searched them for any small clue that might lead her to her beloved sister.
I will admit that it took me a little while to get into the rhythm of this story. The huge shift between the bleak British hospital where Nadia languishes alone and confused and the striking, sunny backdrop of Alexandria was difficult to follow at first, particularly as the flashbacks don’t follow a chronological order. But once I did I was engrossed, lost in Nadia’s story and fully invested in her search for Simone.
This novel is unlike anything else I’ve read. Merging historical fiction, mystery and coming-of-age fiction,, the author has crafted a multilayered, evocative and affecting story that will linger long after reading.
Rating: ✮✮✮.5
********
MEET THE AUTHOR:
Carol graduated in medicine from Cambridge University. She then spent time in different hospital specialities, including orthopaedic surgery and rheumatology, before entering general practice when her first son was born.
Carol’s journalism and broadcasting developed in tandem with GP work, and she is now well-known as a media medic. She writes for The Sun newspaper and other titles, and broadcasts on TV and radio on topical health issues.
Many of Carol’s non-fiction books are on child health and parenting, such as the much-loved guide Twins & Multiple Births, and the titles combine her professional expertise and her personal experience as a mother. As co-author of the book General Practice at a Glance, Carol won a British Medical Association book award in 2013. A companion volume, General Practice Cases at a Glance, appeared later.
Carol’s frivolous side has never been far from the surface. She became a columnist for Punch magazine and her articles can still be read in dentists’ waiting rooms. Her contemporary novels One Night at the Jacaranda and Hampstead Fever are also infused with a sharp wit. Her next novel, The Girls from Alexandria, is due to be published in April 2021.
At Imperial College, London, Carol teaches medical students consultation skills, clinical reasoning, and medicine in the media.
Carol is a Fellow of Newnham College, Cambridge, a trustee of Action on Pre-Eclampsia, an ambassador for Lucy Air Ambulance for Children, and honorary consultant in family medicine for the Twins Trust (formerly Tamba). She was elected President of the Guild of Health Writers in 2014.
Sorry that this is so late, but here is my list of cozy mysteries being released this month:
The Deadly Mystery of the Missing Diamonds (A Dizzy Heights Mystery Book 1) by T. E. Kinsey
SYNOPSIS: Missing diamonds. Mysterious deaths. And all that jazz.
London, 1925. With their band the Dizzy Heights, jazz musicians Ivor ‘Skins’ Maloney and Bartholomew ‘Barty’ Dunn are used to improvising as they play the Charleston for flappers and toffs, but things are about to take a surprising turn.
Superintendent Sunderland has had word that a deserter who stole a fortune in diamonds as he fled the war is a member of the Aristippus private members’ club in Mayfair―where the Dizzy Heights have a residency. And the thief is planning to steal a hoard of jewels hidden there under the cover of a dance contest.
As mutual pal Lady Hardcastle has suggested, Skins and Dunn are perfectly placed to be Sunderland’s eyes and ears―and Skins’s wife Ellie soon lends a hand with a bit of light snooping. But the stakes change dramatically when a mysterious death at the club brings a sinister note to the investigation.
With the dance contest fast approaching, the trio must solve the mystery of the missing diamonds, unmask the murderer, and prevent more deadly crimes―all without missing a beat.
Published March 1st
Arrowed(Resort to Murder #4) by Avery Daniels
SYNOPSIS: It all began when a dying man with an arrow in his chest grabs her ankle.
During a heat wave at a Santa Fe resort, Julienne has the resort owner pressuring her to solve the murder. The victim is a high profile business man who made enemies rather than friends, leaving Julienne with a roster of suspects. She was supposed to be training the staff and spending quality time with Mason rather than investigating a murder. The heat turns up when an old girlfriend of Mason’s checks in and is determined to get back together.
Arrowed is the fourth book in Avery Daniel’s Resort to Murder series and is an exciting contemporary cozy mystery. If you like Cleo Coyle, Maddy Hunter, Duffy Brown, Lynn Cahoon, Jane Cleland, and Annette Dashofy, then you’ll love this series with a strong intelligent sleuth, lavish settings, and tantalizing mysteries.
Buy this spunky clean cozy mystery and start enjoying Julienne’s adventures today!
Published March 1st
Wicked Honeymoon (Ivy Morgan Mysteries Book 19) by Lily Harper Hart
SYNOPSIS: Jack Harker and his new wife Ivy have beaten the odds, and with that comes a little rest and relaxation. They have a two-week honeymoon planned, and the first leg involves a glamping trip down the river. Jack has never been one for camping, and the truth is, he would’ve preferred anything but what they’ve got planned. Ivy, however, is desperate to prove that camping can be fun. What Jack wants most is for Ivy to have everything, so he gives in. He may live to regret it. That is if he doesn’t die first. What should’ve been an idyllic kayaking trip down the river, complete with gourmet meals and glamorous tents, turns into a mystery when one of the other guests finds blood on the ground on the second day. Jack and Ivy are instantly suspicious … but they seem to be the only ones. There’s no body, so no reason to worry, and yet Ivy’s dreams won’t let her rest. Can you prove murder when there’s no body and nobody is missing? That’s the plan for Ivy and Jack, although the trip will have them questioning more than their fellow travel-goers. It will have them questioning their instincts, too. Strap in. Just because it’s a honeymoon, that doesn’t mean the ride won’t be bumpy.
Published March 2nd
Romancing the Crone (A Spell’s Angels Cozy Mystery Book 5) by Amanda M. Lee
SYNOPSIS: Scout Randall has lived her life in the shadows, always wondering who abandoned her when she was a child and where the magic she boasts came from. Finally, she is about to get some answers. It won’t be easy, though. After a wild fight that saw shifters and vampires joining together to battle under an eclipse, things in Hawthorne Hollow are relatively quiet. Scout’s newly-found sister is locked in a cell, her grandfather is laying low, and the enemy appears to be regrouping. That allows Scout and her boyfriend Gunner to make a trip to her childhood home. Upon their return, a shifter attacks and throws their world into a tailspin. He’s easily dispatched but appears to be suffering from a magical infection that has his body wasting and his mind collapsing. It’s up to Spell’s Angels to figure out what’s going on, and because nothing is ever easy for Scout, the investigation is going to be harder than she imagined. It seems there’s a new top vampire in town, and his powers are extensive for a creature who wasn’t born into his legacy. On top of that, he’s crossed paths with Scout before and knows exactly how to push her buttons. Scout is a fighter but the world is closing in on her. She’s going to need her new co-workers and the family she doesn’t know to help her out on this one … and even then nothing is a given. The road before her is winding but answers are finally here. Scout will finally know what she is. Whether she survives long enough to benefit from the knowledge is completely up in the air.
Published March 2nd
An Unexpected Peril (A Veronica Speedwell Mystery Book 6) by Deanna Raybourn
SYNOPSIS: A princess is missing and a peace treaty is on the verge of collapse in this new Veronica Speedwell adventure from the New York Times bestselling and Edgar Award-nominated author Deanna Raybourn.
January 1889. As the newest member of the Curiosity Club–an elite society of brilliant, intrepid women–Veronica Speedwell is excited to put her many skills to good use. As she assembles a memorial exhibition for pioneering mountain climber Alice Baker-Greene, Veronica discovers evidence that the recent death was not a tragic climbing accident but murder. Veronica and her natural historian beau, Stoker, tell the patron of the exhibit, Princess Gisela of Alpenwald, of their findings. With Europe on the verge of war, Gisela’s chancellor, Count von Rechstein, does not want to make waves–and before Veronica and Stoker can figure out their next move, the princess disappears.
Having noted Veronica’s resemblance to the princess, von Rechstein begs her to pose as Gisela for the sake of the peace treaty that brought the princess to England. Veronica reluctantly agrees to the scheme. She and Stoker must work together to keep the treaty intact while navigating unwelcome advances, assassination attempts, and Veronica’s own family–the royalty who has never claimed her.
Published March 2nd
Legacy of Death: 2 (A Matthew Rowsley mystery) by Judith Cutler
SYNOPSIS: When the family butler is brutally attacked, land agent Matthew Rowsley and his wife Harriet determine to find the culprit in this gripping Victorian mystery.
With his lordship’s mental health failing, management of his grand country estate has been assigned to a group of trustees, including land agent Matthew Rowsley and his capable wife Harriet. But the smooth running of Thorncroft House is disrupted by a series of unforeseen events. Building work on the estate workers’ new cottages is halted by the discovery of Roman remains. Shortly afterwards, the family butler is brutally assaulted and left for dead. A random attack – or was he deliberately targeted?
Matters take an even more disturbing turn when Lord Croft’s long-lost cousin and heir, Julius Trescothick, arrives from Australia, ready to claim his inheritance. But is he who he claims to be . and what are his true intentions?
If they are to preserve Thorncroft House and a way of life that has continued for centuries, Matthew and Harriet must uncover the truth behind Trescothick’s identity and solve a series of interlocking mysteries.
Published March 2nd
Summer of Secrets (A Gaslight Mystery Book 3) by Cora Harrison
SYNOPSIS: When a murder is staged at magnificent Knebworth House, Victorian writer-sleuths, Charles Dickens and Wilkie Collins investigate.
August, 1856. Wilkie Collins and Charles Dickens are spending the summer at Knebworth House, the magnificent Hertfordshire home of fellow writer Lord Edward Bulwer-Lytton, where they are putting on a charity performance of one of Lord Edward’s most successful plays, The Lady of Lyon. But the dress rehearsal is disrupted by the discovery of a body lying in the centre of the stage, shot to death.
With everyone involved in the play coming under suspicion, the two writer-sleuths feel compelled to investigate. Their enquiries unearth a number of scandalous secrets lurking among the writers, artists and actors assembled at Knebworth. Secrets that stretch back more than twenty years. Secrets that will have devastating repercussions for the present.
Published March 2nd
An Artful Corpse (Art of Murder Mysteries Book 3) by Helen A. Harrison
SYNOPSIS: One artist. One student. One deadly mystery.
When Regionalist painter Thomas Hart Benton’s corpse is discovered behind the easels of Manhattan’s famed art school, whispers in the art community say he had it coming. As Benton’s list of enemies lengthens to include the school’s instructors, Vietnam War protesters, and members of Andy Warhol’s entourage, one art student is ultimately painted as the murderer. The only problem: the suspect has vanished.
Why would an art student murder Benton? And if he were innocent, why would he run?
When TJ Fitzgerald, son of Detective Juanita Diaz and Captain Brian Fitzgerald of the NYPD, discovers his classmate is the prime suspect, he uses his own investigative skills to try and clear his name. But as TJ and his girlfriend work to unravel the clues to the art mystery, he begins to wonder if the police got it wrong and one secret may be the key to it all…
Published March 2nd
Ride the Pink Horse by Dorothy B. Hughes
SYNOPSIS: Three desperate men converge in the midst of an annual carnival in New Mexico
Sailor used to be Senator Willis Douglass’ protege. When he met the lawmaker, he was just a poor kid, living on the Chicago streets. Douglass took him in, put him through school, and groomed him to work as a confidential secretary. And as the senator’s dealings became increasingly corrupt, he knew he could count on Sailor to clean up his messes.
Willis Douglass isn’t a senator anymore; he left Chicago, Sailor, and a murder rap behind and set out for the sunny streets of Santa Fe. Now, unwilling to take the fall for another man’s crime, Sailor has set out for New Mexico as well, with blackmail and revenge on his mind. But there’s another man on his trail as well–a cop who wants the ex-senator for more than a payoff. In the midst of a city gone mad, bursting with wild crowds for a yearly carnival, the three men will violently converge…
The suspenseful tale that inspired one of the most beloved films noir of all time, Ride the Pink Horse is a tour-de-force that confirms Dorothy B. Hughes’ status as a master of the mid-century crime novel.
Published March 2nd
To The Dark (Simon Westow Mystery 3) by Chris Nickson
SYNOPSIS: Winter is about to take a chilling twist…
Thief-taker Simon Westow is drawn into a deadly puzzle when the melting snow reveals a dark secret in this gripping historical mystery, perfect for fans of Anne Perry and Charles Finch.
Leeds, 1822. The city is in the grip of winter, but the chill deepens for thief-taker Simon Westow and his young assistant, Jane, when the body of Laurence Poole, a petty local thief, emerges from the melting snow by the river at Flay Cross Mill.
A coded notebook found in Laurence’s room mentions Charlie Harker, the most notorious fence in Leeds who’s now running for his life, and the mysterious words: To the dark. What was Laurence hiding that caused his death? Simon’s hunt for the truth pits him against some dangerous, powerful enemies who’ll happily kill him in a heartbeat – if they can.
Published March 2nd
A Fatal Affair (Ryder and Loveday, Book 6) by Faith Martin
SYNOPSIS: She was dressed in a long white gown, embroidered with tiny flowers. Her body was wrapped in colourful ribbons that floated in the breeze. But underneath the swathe of golden hair, a string of darkly smudged bruises ringed her neck.
As May Day dawns in the peaceful village of Middle Fenton, a young woman is found brutally strangled, her body tied up with ribbons in the middle of the green. A week later, her boyfriend is found hanged in a local barn, and the police assume guilt over murdering his beloved has driven him to suicide – but not everyone is convinced.
WPC Trudy Loveday and coroner Clement Ryder are sent to investigate, and quickly realise that there’s a double murderer on the loose.
But the killer has already shown willingness to remove anyone who threatens to discover their identity… As Trudy and Clement circle in on the culprit, can they crack the case before they too come to a nasty end?
Published March 4th
The Lady Detective by Ava January
SYNOPSIS: London’s lawbreakers and loathsome lords … beware!
How does a wealthy widow avoid the marriage market in 1890s London?
If you’re Lady Theodosia Fortescue-Brown, you hide behind outrageously bad clothing and glasses you don’t need.
After the disappearance of her husband, Theodosia can’t imagine giving up her freedom to marry again and relishes her role as detective to the ladies of the upper echelons of society.
When a priceless necklace on loan from the Royal family is stolen, Theodosia must work with the scandalous Lord Montague to recover it before the theft is discovered.
But somewhere between setting a brothel on fire, being knocked out in a cemetery in the middle of the night, and narrowly avoiding death via Scotch egg, Theodosia and William fall in love …
Published March 4th
The Cat and the Corpse in the Old Barn by Kate High
SYNOPSIS: Clarice Beech has two passions in life: animal rescue and Detective Inspector Rick Beech. She is devoted to the first but she and Rick have been separated for the past six months – life without him is hard.
Clarice shares her other love, for contemporary ceramics, with the charming Lady Vita Fayrepoynt. When Vita’s adopted three-legged ginger cat Walter disappears from Weatherby Hall Clarice is called in to find him. Walter, snug in an old barn, is quite well. But his discovery ends with Clarice in hospital, and Rose Miller, late of the Old Vicarage in the morgue. There is nothing natural about Rose’s death…
Putting their differences aside, Clarice and Rick are drawn together to try to understand the murder that has shaken the rural Lincolnshire community. As she explores Rose’s past Clarice is pulled into a shady world of blackmail, scams and violence. And as the secrets of Weatherby Hall and the Fayrepoynt family threaten to spill out Clarice finds friendships tested, and her own life at risk.
Published March 4th
Tempting Teaberry (A Teaberry Farm Bed & Breakfast Cozy Book 34) by R. A. Wallace
SYNOPSIS: Lady love springs into Teaberry but will murder end a relationship before it has a chance to bloom? Megan tracks flower petals and other clues to help solve the puzzle. This mild cozy mystery offers a clean read with a female amateur sleuth and friends in a small-town setting. Main characters in the series are multigenerational.
Published March 5th
A Deadly Chapter (A Castle Bookshop Mystery) by Essie Lang
SYNOPSIS: Wake up on a houseboat, moored in scenic Alexandria Bay, New York. Ride the gentle waves to work at quaint Bayside Books, where you spend your days supplying literature and conversation to the charming locals and seasonal tourists. Sounds pleasant, doesn’t it? Except bookseller Shelby Cox has already sleuthed two murders from Bayside Books’s home base on Blye Island, one of New York State’s famed Thousand Islands. And this time, mayhem knocks right on Shelby’s waterside door when she finds a body lodged between the side of her houseboat and the dock, his skull shattered.
The victim is no local, but Shelby can’t shake the feeling she’s seen him before. Twice, in fact–that’s how many times he’s dropped into Bayside Books asking about an enigmatic woman who lived on Blye Island many years before. The last time? The day before he was found. But the poor man obviously was killed elsewhere, so who brought him down to the bay, and why?
When the victim’s daughter hits town demanding answers, Shelby takes the case, despite Police Chief Tekla Stone’s usual reservations. But she uncovers more suspects than there are pages in War and Peace, and Shelby can expect no peace–except the peace of the grave–unless she can turn the page on this grisly mystery.
Published March 9th
Who’s That Witch?(The Holiday Hills Witch Cozy Mystery Series Book 3) by Carolyn Ridder Aspenson
SYNOPSIS: My name is Abby Odell, and I’m leading a double life.
Don’t get me wrong, I love it! But being a witch in a predominantly human world is challenging sometimes. My hometown, Holiday Hills, isn’t your typical small town. It’s a magical town, but not to the humans. At least not until recently.
Something’s happening and it’s not good. Magic is no longer hidden, and people are starting to witness events that don’t seem humanly possible. And that’s the problem. They’re not! Now my friends and neighbors are on edge, and some residents are even ready to turn Holiday Hills into the next Salem, Massachusetts.
Someone’s changing the way Holiday Hills works, and it’s my job to fix things before they change humanity and magic forever. The problem is, I don’t know the who, what, when or why…just the where. Now I’ve got to find the witch who’s joining worlds and stop them before they tilt the axis so far, Holiday Hills will never be the same.
Published March 9th
The Inn at Holiday Bay: Details in the Document by Kathi Daley
SYNOPSIS: After suffering a personal tragedy Abby Sullivan buys a huge old seaside mansion she has never even seen, packs up her life in San Francisco, and moves to Holiday Bay Maine, where she is adopted, quite against her will, by a huge Maine Coon Cat named Rufus, a drifter with her own tragic past named Georgia, and a giant dog with an inferiority complex named Ramos. What Abby thought she needed was alone time to heal. What she ended up with was, an inn she never knew she wanted, a cat she couldn’t seem to convince to leave, and a new family she’d never be able to live without.
In book 14 in the series, spring in Holiday Bay is interrupted by a category 2 hurricane, an inn filled with stranded motorists, an unexpected delivery, and a murder, which on the surface, doesn’t make a lick of sense. Add to that the fact that the small plot of land that was linked by deed to the land where the inn now sits turns out to be a burial ground for a serial killer, and you have a recipe for disaster.
Published March 9th
Into the Sweet Hereafter (Vintage Sweets Mystery Book 3) by Kaye George
SYNOPSIS: Spring has sprung in the charming tourist town of Fredericksburg, Texas, and one of the tastiest attractions is a trip to Tally’s Old Tyme Sweets—until a bizarre burglary leaves a bitter aftertaste . . .
Tally Holt is thrilled to see her new replicas of vintage sweets displayed in the window of Bella’s Baskets, a gift basket shop owned by her friend, Yolanda Bella. There’s just one problem—the creations appear to be melting. The ladies assume the culprit is the broiling heat of the Texas sun—until that night, the store window is smashed, and there’s only one thing missing: the replicas.
Tally is positively stumped. Clearly, the useless fake candies are more special than she bargained for—but why? When a rash of seemingly unrelated burglaries sweeps through the area, Tally is determined to sleuth out the answer—and stop a thief from killing more than the town’s appetite . . .
Published March 9th
The Dark Heart of Florence: A Lady Emily Mystery (Lady Emily Mysteries, 15) by Tasha Alexander
SYNOPSIS: In the next Lady Emily Mystery, The Dark Heart of Florence, critically acclaimed author Tasha Alexander transports readers to the legendary city of Florence, where Lady Emily and Colin must solve a murder with clues leading back to the time of the Medici.
In 1903, tensions between Britain and Germany are starting to loom over Europe, something that has not gone unnoticed by Lady Emily and her husband, Colin Hargreaves. An agent of the Crown, Colin carries the weight of the Empire, but his focus is drawn to Italy by a series of burglaries at his daughter’s palazzo in Florence–burglaries that might have international ramifications. He and Emily travel to Tuscany where, soon after their arrival, a stranger is thrown to his death from the roof onto the marble palazzo floor.
Colin’s trusted colleague and fellow agent, Darius Benton-Stone, arrives to assist Colin, who insists their mission must remain top secret. Finding herself excluded from the investigation, Emily secretly launches her own clandestine inquiry into the murder, aided by her spirited and witty friend, Cécile. They soon discover that the palazzo may contain a hidden treasure dating back to the days of the Medici and the violent reign of the fanatic monk, Savonarola–days that resonate in the troubled early twentieth century, an uneasy time full of intrigue, duplicity, and warring ideologies. Emily and Cécile race to untangle the cryptic clues leading them through the Renaissance city, but an unimagined danger follows closely behind. And when another violent death puts Emily directly in the path of a killer, there’s much more than treasure at stake…
Published March 9th
Fatal Fried Rice (A Noodle Shop Mystery) by Vivien Chien
SYNOPSIS: Lana Lee returns for another delectable cozy set in a Chinese restaurant in Cleveland, Ohio in Vivien Chien’s Fatal Fried Rice…
Lana Lee runs her family’s Chinese restaurant in Cleveland’s Asia Village like nobody’s business. When it comes to actual cooking, however, she’s known to be about a step up from boiling rice. So Lana decides to go to culinary school on the sly—and prove that she has what it takes in the kitchen after all. But when course instructor Margo Chan turns up dead after class, Lana suddenly finds herself on the case, frying pan in hand.
Since she was the one who discovered the body, Lana must do double duty in finding the killer and clearing her name. Now, with or without the help of her boyfriend Detective Adam Trudeau, Lana launches her own investigation into Margo’s life and mysterious death. Doing so leads her on a wild goose chase to and from the culinary school—and all the way back to the Ho-Lee noodle shop, where the guilty party may be closer than Lana thinks.
Published March 9th
Game of Cones: 2 (An Ice Cream Parlor Mystery) by Abby Collette
SYNOPSIS: Bronwyn Crewse is delighted that Crewse Creamery, the ice cream shop her family has owned for decades, is restored to its former glory and serving sweet frozen treats to happy customers in the picturesque small town of Chagrin Falls, Ohio. But when a big city developer comes to town intent on building a mall, a killer with a frozen heart takes him out. After literally stumbling across the body, one of Win’s closest friends becomes the prime suspect, and to make things worse, Win’s aunt has come to town with the intention of taking command of Crewse Creamery. Even though Win has a rocky road ahead to help her friend and keep her ice cream shop, it’ll take more than a sprinkle of murder to stop her from solving the crime and saving the day.
Published March 9th
Mystery by the Sea (A Lady Eleanor Swift Mystery Book 5)by Verity Bright
SYNOPSIS: A magnificent seaside hotel, striped deckchairs, strawberry ice cream… and a rather familiar dead body? Lady Swift is on the case!
Spring, 1921. Lady Eleanor Swift, explorer extraordinaire and accidental sleuth, hasn’t had a vacation since she arrived in England a year ago. Being an amateur detective can be a rather tiring business and she is determined to escape any more murder and mysteries. So she books into the Grand Hotel in the fashionable resort of Brighton for some fresh air, fish and chips and, of course, a dip in the ocean.
Eleanor is enjoying her view of the waves and trying to find her bathing suit when calamity strikes: a guest has been found dead at her beautiful hotel. The distraught manager, who can’t afford a scandal, asks Eleanor to solve the case as swiftly as possible. Thank goodness she has her partner in crime – Gladstone the bulldog – to help her sniff out the dastardly culprit.
But when Eleanor enters the dead man’s room, she receives a shock big enough to make her forget even the finest ice cream sundae. The body is that of her husband, who supposedly died six years ago on the other side of the world. Has he been alive all these years? Why does he have a copy of their wedding photograph with a cryptic message written on the back? If Eleanor can keep herself safe long enough to find her husband’s killer, she might discover that everything is not quite as it seems beside the seaside…
Published March 11th
A Sprinkle of Sabotage (A Nosey Parker Cosy Mystery, Book 3) by Fiona Leitch
SYNOPSIS: A film company is coming to the Cornish village of Penstowan, and the whole village turn up to be cast as extras, even Jodie ‘Nosey’ Parker. Determined to join in with the fun and ignore any dramas, Jodie is going to make the most of this time with her mum and daughter and of the potential to see their name in lights… or really small writing on the credits page.
But right on cue, the company’s caterer is sabotaged and Jodie must step up. As other small accidents begin to happen, it becomes clear that the filming is being sabotaged. With actors behaving out of character and the house literally being brought down, breaking a leg is the least of their worries.
Can Jodie save the day once again, or will it be their final curtain call?
The third book in the Jodie ‘Nosey’ Parker cosy mystery series. Can be read as a standalone. A humorous cosy mystery with a British female sleuth in a small village. Includes one of Jodie’s Tried and Tested Recipes! Written in British English. Mild profanity and peril.
Published March 11th
Captive Magic (Mystic’s End Mysteries Book 8) by Leanne Leeds
SYNOPSIS: A witch bottle in a dead man’s hand. A Mystic’s End councilman shot dead. Can Fortuna solve the case and free the spirit, or will the bottle disappear into evidence forever?
Fortuna’s finally feeling like things are starting to go her way. Her magical prowess continues to flourish under Miss Bessie’s tutelage and the spirited coven of ghost witches. Martin’s making progress finding homes for the retired greyhounds. Gabe is happy in his new relationship and his new job as a private eye. Pepper’s finally being taken seriously as an investigative reporter—much to her boyfriend Ollie’s delight.
But when Councilman Conrad Noble is shot dead in his office clutching a witch bottle in his hands, Fortuna must spring into action to solve the murder—the only way Chief Clutterbuck will release it from the magically-warded evidence basement.
Can Fortuna solve the murder, hide the bottles’ existence from Clutterbuck, and free the bottle’s captive ghost? Or will the bottle, and the confined witch, disappear into the department’s basement forever?
Published March 11th
Out Of Print (Old Bookstore Two-Hour Cozy Mysteries Book 1) by Isabella Bassett
SYNOPSIS: She pictured a slow-paced life nestled in the foothills of the Swiss Alps. Instead, she found a curious bookstore and murder.
Old Bookstore Cozy Mystery #1
Moving with her husband to Switzerland, Anne is looking forward to a stress-free life in one of Europe’s most picturesque countries. But now all that tranquility, not to mention having to learn a new language, is getting to her. So when an opportunity to work as an English-speaking assistant at an old bookstore appears, Anne jumps at the chance to feel a bit more useful.
Anne would be the first to admit that the store is a bit peculiar, but that’s no reason why its customers should start turning up dead at an art colony on a nearby island, rumored to be cursed. And why were all victims interested in the same old diaries recently sold by the bookstore? Can Anne, with a little help from the store’s even-more-peculiar black cat, solve this mystery before someone puts her permanently out of print?
Out of Print is the first book in a new series of fast-paced cozy mysteries set in picturesque Southern Switzerland and centered around an old bookstore, plus its resident black cat, that you can read in about 2 hours.
Published March 15th
Picture Perfect Frame (A Tourist Trap Mystery) by Lynn Cahoon
SYNOPSIS: In the new Tourist Trap mystery from the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author, a new art studio has opened in the coastal California town of South Cove—but it’s about to turn into a crime scene . . .
As the owner of Coffee, Books, and More, Jill Gardner likes to support other Main Street businesses, so she attends a paint-and-sip event where, sadly, her brushstrokes look more like blobs. It’s still fun, though—aside from some disruption by a couple doing more sipping than painting. Jill’s police-detective boyfriend is on alert, but a designated driver volunteers to take the drunken pair back to their bed and breakfast, and everything seems resolved. Until the wife’s body turns up the next morning back in the studio.
The victim, Nan, is from out of town, so it’s hard to imagine who’d have a motive aside from her spouse. Now, in between puzzling over her fortuneteller neighbor’s strange behavior, preparing for her best friend’s wedding, and pouring cups of java at the bookstore, Jill must uncover the secrets of Nan’s life and find out who wanted her out of the picture . . .
Published March 16th
Crumbs and Misdemeanors: The Great Witches Baking Show by Nancy Warren
SYNOPSIS: Bread is supposed to be the staff of life—not a murder weapon.
Every baker has their weak spot. For Poppy it’s bread. So, when The Great British Baking Contest hits bread week, she’s as fragile as an overbaked croissant. Just when she needs to keep all her focus on flour, water, yeast and salt, another ingredient enters the mix. Death.
Someone is not who they appear to be, and secrets from the past are bringing deadly consequences to the present. Poppy isn’t only a contestant in the long-running TV show, she’s also a witch and reluctant amateur sleuth. With the rest of her coven, assorted animal helpers and her ghostly sidekick Gerry, Poppy needs to solve the murder before someone else dies.
Set in the beautiful Somerset countryside, the Great Witches Baking Contest stories are all linked, but they can be read as stand alone cozy mysteries. There is no swearing, gore or sex. Just an entertaining cozy mystery with witches, ghosts, a little romance–and recipes!
Published March 17th
The Dockland Murder: The intriguing wartime murder mystery (Blitz Detective Book 5) by Mike Hollow
SYNOPSIS: In the depths of the blackout, the silence of London’s Royal Albert Dock is broken only by the lap of inky water against the quay and the occasional scurrying of rats’ feet. A patrolling policeman is passing the newly arrived freighter SS Magnolia when something catches his eye. A man is sprawled awkwardly across a nearby barge – with an exotic-looking dagger in his back.
DI Jago of West Ham CID discovers the victim was a dock worker by day and a Home Guard volunteer by night – and there are things even his wife, bombed out of their flimsy home in Silvertown, doesn’t know about his past. Who wanted to kill him? As Jago investigates, he uncovers a widening circle of secrets ranging across family tensions, the last war, and a far-flung corner of the British Empire. And then there’s the mysterious spate of thefts from the dock to contend with.
Published March 18th
I Saw Him Die (Agatha Christie Series) by Andrew Wilson
SYNOPSIS: Who saw him die? I, said the fly, with my little eye. I saw him die.
An astonishingly beautiful setting on the island of Skye.
A gathering of fascinating guests at a hunting lodge set to enjoy abundant hospitality. And a double murder.
A household in chaos . . . No one is allowed to leave.
A tantalising new case for Agatha Christie to solve.
Published March 18th
Haunted Hibiscus: 22 (Tea Shop Mystery) by Laura Childs
SYNOPSIS: It is the week before Halloween and Theodosia Browning, proprietor of the Indigo Tea Shop, and her tea sommelier, Drayton, are ghosting through the dusk of a cool Charleston evening on their way to the old Bouchard Mansion. Known as the Gray Ghost, this dilapidated place was recently bequeathed to the Heritage Society, and tonight heralds the grand opening of their literary and historical themed haunted house. Though Timothy Neville, the patriarch of the Heritage Society, is not thrilled with the fund-raising idea, it is the perfect venue for his grandniece, Willow French, to sign copies of her new book, Carolina Crimes & Creepers. But amid a parade of characters dressed as Edgar Allan Poe, Lady Macbeth, and the Headless Horseman, Willow’s body is suddenly tossed from the third-floor tower room and left to dangle at the end of a rope. Police come screaming in and Theodosia’s boyfriend, Detective Pete Riley, is sent to Willow’s apartment to investigate. But minutes later, he is shot and wounded by a shadowy intruder. Timothy begs Theodosia to investigate, and shaken by Riley’s assault, she readily agrees. Now, she questions members of the Heritage Society and a man who claims the mansion is rightfully his, as well as Willow’s book publisher and her fiance, all while hosting a Sherlock Holmes tea and catering several others. But the Gray Ghost holds many secrets, as do several other key suspects, while this murder mystery plays out on the eve of Halloween.
Published March 18th
Barn Bewitchment (Magical Renovation Mysteries Book 5) by Amy Boyles
SYNOPSIS: Everything is going great for Clementine and Rufus in Peachwood, Alabama. Clem’s got a new barn to restore, which should be awesome news until Malene reveals the barn is bewitched and if Clem is determined to restore it, she will be driven crazy.
Undeterred, Clem dives head first into the work. But then a dead body surfaces and the owner starts exhibiting bizarre behavior.
Is the barn bewitched or is there something else, something more sinister going on?
As she starts to uncover the truth, the rosy veneer of Peachwood begins to rust. There’s a fight brewing between the magicks and humans. Can the two live peacefully together in one small town? Or will chaos break out?
So Clem’s got her hands full. Can she discover the truth of the barn and keep her town sewn together? Or will everything rip apart at the seams and leave Clem just one more victim of a barn bewitchment?
Published March 21st
The Consequences of Fear: A spellbinding wartime mystery (Maisie Dobbs Book 16)
SYNOPSIS: It is September 1941 and young Freddie Hackett is a message runner – he collects messages from a government office and delivers them to various destinations around London. He sets off one day with a message, along a route of bombed-out houses, and witnesses a murder. Freddie instinctively wants to summon the police, but he has an envelope to deliver first – all communications during wartime could be urgent. When the man who answers the door appears to be the very same person he has just seen kill another, Freddie rushes to the police, but is summarily dismissed. However, he remembers an address in Fitzroy Square, belonging to a private investigator, Maisie Dobbs. Will she believe him and help solve the mystery?
Published March 23rd
A Midlife CatAstrophe: A Paranormal Women’s Fiction Cozy Mystery (MenoPaws Mysteries Book 1) by Morgana Best
SYNOPSIS: When Nell Darling moves to a small Aussie mountain town after a messy divorce, she decides her life will be purrfect. But life has decided to be no such thing! Nell discovers a body, buys a mysterious bookstore, and starts to suspect she is losing her mind–all because a local cat, JenniFur, begins stopping by for a chat.
Yet Nell has no time to paws and reflect. Soon she is chasing her tail to solve the murder. Hot on her heels is the dreamy Detective Caspian Cole, who seems to think Nell is mad fur real. But it doesn’t matter what Detective Cole thinks, because Nell is about to discover that menopause doesn’t mean her life is put on pause.
In fact, menopause is a sign that Nell’s has finally begun.
Litter-ally a fun read for women who are coming into their power!
Published March 23rd
Cat’s Meow by Dane McCaslin
SYNOPSIS: Retired schoolteacher Gwen Franklin has a new pet project—and a sideline in sleuthing. But this new case has a dangerous sting in the tail . . .
Gwen’s calendar has been filling up ever since she was hounded by her best friend, Nora, into starting 2 Sisters Pet Valet Services. Now they’ve been invited to attend the annual Clear the Shelter event, hosted by Portland’s very own blonde bombshell newscaster, Babs Prescott. Babs is convinced she’s top dog among local celebrities, but it’s clear that someone disagrees when Babs’ body is found following a downtown press conference.
A story this juicy would be headline news at any time, but especially once local crime reporter Shelby Tucker is arrested for the murder. Gwen was Shelby’s high school teacher, and she’s sure her former pupil is innocent. But in that case, who was itching to take Babs out of the spotlight for good? As Nora and Gwen investigate, they find personal mysteries at odds with Babs’ public persona, all leading to a killer who’s not pussyfooting around . . .
Published March 23rd
The Lost Ones (Here Witchy Witchy Book 12) by A. L. Kessler
SYNOPSIS: Abigail Collins has managed to keep out of trouble when it comes to her Elemental abilities, but when a mix up lands her in containment as a murderer, she has to wonder where she went wrong. A strange case unfolds as she navigates the underground trying to track down the reason for her arrest and what she finds isn’t what she expects. With Liz’s help can they solve the case of the lost ones?
Published March 23rd
Agatha Raisin: Hot To Trot by MC. Beaton
SYNOPSIS: Private Detective Agatha Raisin immerses herself in the glittering lifestyle of the fabulously wealthy when Sir Charles Fraith is accused of murder – and Agatha is named as his accomplice!
A high-society wedding, a glitzy masked ball, and an introduction to the world of international show-jumping where the riders are glamorous, the horses are beautiful, and intrigue runs deep, leave Agatha with a list of suspects as long as a stallion’s tail.
Sinister evidence then emerges that appears to seal Sir Charles’s fate and Agatha must uncover the truth before a net of skulduggery closes around him and he loses his ancestral home, his entire estate, and his freedom. And if events weren’t complicated enough… Agatha’s ex-husband James Lacey is back in Carsely and back in Agatha’s heart…
Published March 25th
A Baker’s Coven (Spellford Cove Mystery Book 3) by Samantha Silver
SYNOPSIS: Welcome to Spellford Cove, where the baking is sweet and the witches are wild.
Robin is finally settling into Spellford Cove. Business is booming, and as the weather gets colder her relationship with Hunter seems to be heating up. And she finally gets some answers about her biological father. But when a friend of Elsa’s is murdered, Robin decides to get involved.
After all, she does have a bit of experience in solving murder cases.
As she gets closer to solving the case, however, Robin soon finds herself in the killer’s crosshairs. And it turns out maybe her father hasn’t quite learned that no means no after all…
Published March 25th
Death Down the Aisle (Mrs Lillywhite Investigates Book 7) by Emily Queen
SYNOPSIS: 1920’s London
Weddings are supposed to be joyous events–especially when it’s your best friend and your brother who are tying the knot. Unfortunately, for a murder magnet like Rosemary Lillywhite, nothing is ever as simple as it seems…
Published March 26th
Dundee Cake Deception: Albert Smith’s Culinary Capers Recipe 8 by Steve Higgs
SYNOPSIS: Snoozing on the train ride into Dundee, a horrified scream tears both Albert and Rex from their dreams and back to reality …
… where they discover a woman has just witnessed a murder.
It would be easy to dismiss her claim; she saw something in the window of a house as the train went by, but when there are dangerous men waiting for her at Dundee station, Albert has to accept she might be onto something.
With the Gastrothief trail gone cold, Albert and Rex are in Dundee to sample the famous cake and learn how to make it. That might happen, but stepping in to defend the woman on the train, they soon find themselves embroiled in something far more sinister than they could have imagined.
Baking. It can get a guy killed.
Published March 26th
A Fabulous Little Murder: A Violet Carlyle Historical Mystery (The Violet Carlyle Mysteries Book 29) by Beth Byers
SYNOPSIS: March 1926
When Vi and friends travel to attend the motor races, they are determined to have a fabulous time. They’re even hoping to try their hands behind the wheel.
They befriend one of the mechanics, so when one of the autos he’s responsible for disappears, they agree to help. Perhaps, after all of this time, they should have expected the body, but they didn’t.
Now the race is on to find the killer and save their friend before it’s too late.
Published March 28th
Fresh Brewed Murder (A Ground Rules Mystery) by Emmeline Duncan
SYNOPSIS: Master barista Sage Caplin is opening a new coffee cart in Portland, Oregon, but a killer is brewing up a world of trouble. . . .
Portland is famous for its rain, hipsters, craft beers . . . and coffee. Sage Caplin has high hopes for her coffee cart, Ground Rules, which she runs with her business partner, Harley—a genius at roasting beans and devising new blends. That’s essential in a city where locals have intensely strong opinions about cappuccino versus macchiato—especially in the case of one of Sage’s very first customers. . . .
Sage finds the man’s body in front of her cart, a fatal slash across his neck. There’s been plenty of anger in the air, from longtime vendors annoyed at Ground Rules taking a coveted spot in the food truck lot, to protesters demonstrating against a new high-rise. But who was mad enough to commit murder? Sage is already fending off trouble in the form of her estranged, con-artist mother, who’s trying to trickle back into her life. But when Sage’s very own box cutter is discovered to be the murder weapon, she needs to focus on finding the killer fast—before her business, and her life, come to a bitter end. . . .
Published March 30th
Fresh Linen Fraud (Claire’s Candles Cozy Mystery Book 5) by Agatha Frost
SYNOPSIS: When Claire’s mother is fired from the post office, all hell breaks loose in the quiet village of Northash.
Published March March 30th
Knitty Gritty Murder (A Knit & Nibble Mystery Book 7) by Peggy Ehrhart
SYNOPSIS: Pamela Paterson and the Knit and Nibble ladies have plenty of talents that don’t revolve around yarn. But their penchant for patterns has led to a dangerous hobby they just can’t quit—unraveling murders.
Most times of the year, the tight-knit community gardens in quaint Arborville, New Jersey, overflow with seasonal vegetables and herbs. But who planted the dead body? Farm-to-table enthusiast Jenny Miller had a cookbook in the works when she was suddenly found strangled by a circular knitting needle in her own plot. Now, the pressure is on Pamela and her neighbor Bettina as they weave together clues in search of the person who kept Jenny’s renowned heirloom plants—and budding career—from growing. With suspects and victims cropping up like weeds, it’ll take a whole lot more than green thumbs and creative minds this spring to entangle the crafty culprit . . .
Published March 30th
Under the Cover of Murder (A Beyond the Page Bookstore Mystery) by Lauren Elliott
SYNOPSIS: Bookshop owner and maid of honor Addie Greyborne vows to catch the killer who crashed her best friend’s wedding…
It promises to be Greyborne Harbor’s wedding of the year. The impending nuptials of Serena Chandler and Zach Ludlow will take place aboard his family’s luxurious super-yacht, currently moored in the harbor and the talk of the town. But on the day of the wedding, a man’s body washes up on the beach with no ID, only a torn page from a book in his pocket. As owner of Beyond the Page Books and Curios, bibliophile Addie is called in to identify the book, but she cannot. The morning following the extravagant ceremony, a second body washes ashore and Addie has a sinking feeling that the two deaths are connected. While the guests are held on the yacht as the police investigate, at least Addie can peruse Zach’s father’s rare books library on board. A copy of Agatha Christie’s first Hercule Poirot novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, provides a clue that the killer may still be on the ship–but narrowing down the suspects without becoming the next victim may prove a truly Herculean task…
Published March 30th
Bodies and Bows (Apron Shop Series 3) by Elizabeth Penney
SYNOPSIS: Bodies & Bows is the third in the charming cozy Iris Buckley mystery series set in an apron shop in Maine–Elizabeth Penney will have you on pins and needles…
Iris Buckley is hoping for a bit of rest and relaxation now that the summertime rush is winding down in Blueberry Cove, Maine. Her apron shop Ruffles & Bows has been a huge success, her friendships are stronger than ever, and now she’s ready for all of the end of summer cookouts on the beach that she can handle. But before Iris can even turn on the grill, Bella’s latest fling, former Olympian sailor and gorgeous bad boy Lance Pederson is killed in a hit and run while jogging at dawn–and all the evidence points to Bella herself. Suddenly the month of August isn’t looking so restful, since now Iris has been roped into the Lighthouse Rehabilitation Committee, helping her friend Sophie plan a wedding, and–most importantly of all–tracking down a killer and clearing Bella’s good name before everything unravels.
Published March 30th
The Ghost and the Mountain Man (Haunting Danielle Book 27) by Bobbi Holmes
SYNOPSIS: Life is about to change for Brian Henderson, now that he knows the secrets of Beach Drive.
Unbeknownst to Brian and the others, they have brought something else home with them after their misadventure in the forest. The spirit of a mountain man has followed them to Frederickport with a secret of his own.
Published March 30th
Poppy Harmon and the Pillow Talk Killer (A Desert Flowers Mystery Book 3) by Lee Hollis
SYNOPSIS: Private investigator Poppy Harmon likes the anonymity of working behind the scenes for the hottest names in Palm Springs. But when solving a case demands dragging her old acting career out of retirement, it’s lights . . . camera . . . murder!
Cast in her first role since the 1980s, Poppy has never been more rattled or unprepared on a film set. It’s an embarrassing but necessary cover to keep an eye on client Danika Delgado, a rising starlet and social media influencer with a large following—including a dangerous stalker who won’t disappear. The leading lady’s fame is growing, and so are the threats against her life . . .
Unfortunately for Poppy, there’s more to fear than flubbed lines. When she finds Danika smothered to death in her trailer at Joshua Tree National Park, the horrifying crime stirs up memories of a man known as the Pillow Talk Killer during her time as a young actress, bringing unsolved murders from the past back into focus . . .
A trail of clues urges Poppy, hunky sidekick Matt Flowers, and the rest of the Desert Flowers Detective Agency gang on a frantic chase after Danika’s crazed #1 fan. But as co-stars and production crew members start looking equally suspicious, Poppy must expose a slew of insidious industry secrets before a murderer rolls out the red carpet for someone else . . .
Published March 30th
Murder at Wedgefield Manor (A Jane Wunderlay Book 2) by Erica Ruth Neubauer
SYNOPSIS: In the wake of World War I, Jane Wunderly—a thoroughly modern young American widow—is traveling abroad, enjoying the hospitality of an English lord and a perfectly proper manor house, until murder makes an unwelcome appearance . . .
England, 1926: Wedgefield Manor, deep in the tranquil Essex countryside, provides a welcome rest stop for Jane and her matchmaking Aunt Millie before their return to America. While Millie spends time with her long-lost daughter, Lillian, and their host, Lord Hughes, Jane fills the hours devouring mystery novels and taking flying lessons—much to Millie’s disapproval. But any danger in the air is eclipsed by tragedy on the ground when one of the estate’s mechanics, Air Force veteran Simon Marshall, is killed in a motorcar collision.
The sliced brake cables prove this was no accident, yet was the intended victim someone other than Simon? The house is full of suspects—visiting relations, secretive servants, strangers prowling the grounds at night—and also full of targets. The enigmatic Mr. Redvers, who helped Jane solve a murder in Egypt, arrives on the scene to once more offer his assistance. It seems that everyone at Wedgefield wants Jane to help protect the Hughes family. But while she searches for answers, is she overlooking a killer hiding in plain sight?
Published March 30th
Death at the Salon: 2 (A Daisy Thorne Mystery) by Louise R. Innes
SYNOPSIS: In the second installment of the new Daisy Thorne Mystery series by Louise R. Innes, after Daisy, a hairdresser and owner of Ooh La La Beauty Salon, finds her missing scissors in a customer’s back, she becomes the prime suspect in a murder…
When Ooh La La regular Mel Haverstock left the hair salon that morning, no one expected it would be her final parting. But when Daisy closes shop Saturday night, she finds her client dead as the mullet cut. Homicide is back in style in the quiet village of Edgemead in Surrey, England. But who would want to harm a hair on poor Mel’s head? Suspicions higher than a beehive pile on Daisy when it’s revealed that she and Mel had tangled back in high school, and DNA evidence seems to color her guilty. Handsome DCI Paul McGuinness gives the hairstylist new accessories–a lovely pair of silver handcuffs. To clear her name, Daisy must highlight the real backstabber, or she’ll end up shaving heads in the prison barbershop.
Published March 30th
Murder at the Taffy Shop (A Cozy Capers Book Group Mystery 2) by Maddie Day
SYNOPSIS: Cape Cod bicycle shop owner Mackenzie “Mac” Almeida and her mystery book club find a certain accusation of murder quite the stretch . . .
When your mother is an astrologist and your dad is a minister, you learn to keep an open mind. Which is just what Mac loves to do—exercise her mind by puzzling out fictional clues in the mystery novels she reads and discusses with her Cozy Capers Book Group.
But now Mac’s friend Gin has found herself in a sticky situation. After wealthy genealogist Beverly Ruchart is found dead outside Gin’s taffy shop, the candy maker becomes a person of interest. When it’s revealed that Beverly was poisoned the night Gin brought a box of taffy to a dinner party at Beverly’s house, she’s bumped to the top of the suspects list. It’s up to Mac and her Cozy Capers crime solvers to unwrap this real-life mystery. But this time they might have bitten off more than they can chew . . .
Published March 30th
Dead Even (A Mattie Winston Mystery Book 12) by Annelise Ryan
SYNOPSIS: In Sorenson, Wisconsin, a local bigshot is found with a pool cue through the heart—and Mattie Winston must untangle a web of lies to sink a killer . . .
In her previous career as a nurse, Mattie Winston’s job was to keep death at bay. Now, as a medicolegal investigator, she’s required to study death intimately—to figure out causes and timing, and help deduce whether it was natural or suspicious.
In the case of Montgomery “Monty” Dixon, a well-to-do Realtor, there can be little doubt: Broken pool cues do not embed themselves. Monty’s body is found in the game room of his lavish house, the walls adorned with photos of Monty and various celebrities. But as Mattie and husband Steve Hurley, a homicide detective, both know, money and connections can’t protect anyone from a killer.
The first suspect is Monty’s wife, Summer, who claims to have been at a cooking class at the time. When that alibi is served up as a fake, Summer moves to the top of the suspects list, but is soon joined by Monty’s ne’er-do-well son, Sawyer, who has racked up gambling debts he hoped his dad would pay off. Monty’s twin brother is engaging in shady financial deals. An affair, a Ponzi scheme, a disputed inheritance . . . there are as many motives as suspects, and soon Mattie and Hurley have turned up other, possibly related deaths.
Balancin a high-profile case with the demands of their increasingly stressful household isn’t easy. It’ll take all of Mattie’s skill—along with a lucky break or two—to stop a killer from racking up another victim . . .
Published March 30th
Mrs. Morris and the Sorceress (A Salem B&B Mystery Book 4) by Traci Wilton
SYNOPSIS: It’s Fourth of July in Salem, Massachusetts—and B&B owner Charlene Morris is about to witness the shot heard ’round the town . . .
Madison Boswell, a beauty recently transplanted from Boston, is starring in the Independence Day play in this New England town full of colonial history—and, of course, witchcraft. Madison may not be a Wiccan, but she does seem to have certain hypnotic powers. And she’s left some angry people in her wake, from a fellow actress beaten out for a role to a jealous betrayed wife. Now, as Charlene films the performance for her housemate, Jack—a handsome ghost who shares the Victorian bed-and-breakfast with her and her Persian cat—the drama queen takes a deadly bullet from what was supposed to be a prop gun.
With a long list of suspects and lots of backstage whispers, it looks like the investigation by Charlene and Detective Sam Holden could set off some fireworks . . .
Published March 30th
Here Ghost Nothing: A Paranormal Cozy Mystery Romance (Ghost Detective Book 5) by Jane Hinchey
SYNOPSIS: How can any self-respecting, slightly clumsy, highly caffeinated private eye pass up a dare? Short answer, she can’t. Now up I’m a certain creek trying to figure out how to live without coffee for an entire week!
With my mood sour, my temper frazzled, and my patience long gone, how am I meant to deal with this? And by this, I mean the dead body on my front lawn.
Before I can say double espresso, I’ve got a ghost whose transition to the afterlife is far from smooth, an overweight cat who is annoyingly vocal about his new (definitely called for) diet, and a mystery to solve that involves multiple visits to the local brewery. Can anyone say silver lining?
Published: March 18th, 2021 Publisher: HarperVoyager Format: Hardcover, Kindle, Audio Genre: Fairy Tale, Dark Fantasy, Historical Fiction, Historical Fantasy, Gaslamp Fantasy
********
Today, I’m delighted to be taking part in the blog tour for The Shadow in the Glass, and sharing an extract from this retelling of Cinderella.
EXTRACT:
If anyone caught her, Eleanor would be dismissed on the spot. The house clicked and creaked as it settled into sleep, the heat of the last days of August quietly slipping into the night. Eleanor was the only one awake. On silent feet, she was as insubstantial as a flame. She could drift past cold fireplaces and dust sheets looming like glaciers and all she would leave behind was the faintest stirring in the air.
Candlelight shimmered on the walls as she crept into the library. The dark spines of the books were rows of windows, waiting for the shutters to be pulled back. Open one, and she would know the secrets of Ottoman palaces; open another, and she would gaze across deserts. Granborough House would fade away. Eleanor smiled. Some things were worth risking dismissal for, especially with the master out of the house for the evening.
Eleanor set down her candle and surveyed her subjects. Damp equatorial rainforests, steaming in the heat. Versailles, glittering in the dark like an Earthbound star. Verona – Juliet on her balcony, sighing into the darkness. It was a perfect night for poetry: she could stretch out her legs and whisper sonnets into the slow, hot silence. But she would cry, and Mrs Fielding would be able to tell the next morning. Better to keep her face blank, in case the housekeeper grew curious. Eleanor locked the door, slipping the library key back up her sleeve. She’d stolen the key from Mrs Pembroke’s house- keeping chatelaine. Even though the mistress of the house had been dead for more than three years, shame still crawled under Eleanor’s skin when she went through Mrs Pembroke’s things. Not that Mrs Pembroke would have minded. She had spent the last few months of her life propped up on pillows, telling Eleanor how to care for everything she would inherit from Mrs Pembroke’s will.
The weight of the key against Eleanor’s forearm felt like shackles. Mrs Pembroke never would have wanted Eleanor to creep around the house like a thief, just for something to read. The lady of the house had not wanted Eleanor to be a housemaid at all. Versailles, Verona, perhaps even the rainforest – these were all places Eleanor might have visited, if only Mrs Pembroke had lived. A lump crawled into Eleanor’s throat. Mrs Pembroke had been planning to take her on a tour of Europe when Eleanor was old enough to enter Society. Suddenly it seemed cruel to have so many travelogues spread out in front of her, when she’d once been so close to seeing the places all these men had written of.
Eleanor gave herself a little shake. She’d told herself not to get upset.
She lifted The Fairy Ring off the shelves and felt better the moment it was in her hand. Her own fingerprints from years ago marked the table of contents – smaller, of course, than they were now – the corner of the back cover was fraying slightly, from all the times she’d plucked at it as she read.
Settling into her favourite chair with that book in her hands, the lump in her throat melted away. At seventeen, she knew she ought to have grown out of such things, but it was difficult to set aside a world where trees grew delicate gold and silver branches and strange creatures lurked in cool, clear water. She lost herself on narrow paths twisting through dark woods, yearned to spin straw into gold, and envied the twelve brothers who had been changed into swans. It seemed like a fine thing to be a clean white bird that might fly anywhere it liked.
She put the book back when the clock struck midnight, making sure to replace it exactly where she found it. The chimes were quiet, but the sound dropped through to the pit of Eleanor’s stomach like a leaden weight. An old memory struggled to the surface of her thoughts – she was nine years old and curled into a ball, back pressed against the leg of an iron bed as a cheaper, harsher clock tolled midnight – but she shook it off. It wouldn’t do to think of her own mother now, she’d make herself upset again. Somewhere outside a hansom cab rattled over the cobblestones; she flinched, heart pounding, and almost knocked her candle over. Mr Pembroke was supposed to be dining at his club tonight. What if he’d changed his mind and come back early?
Eleanor listened at the door, forcing her nerves into submission. Nothing from downstairs. If she was quick, no one would even guess that she’d left her room. She crept back up the servants’ staircase and slipped into her little room, trying not to wilt at the sight of the bare boards, the skeletal iron bedframe, her useless scrap of curtain hanging limp over the window. She crawled into bed, ignoring the smell of mildew from the blankets and holding the memory of the fairy stories like hands cupped around a tiny flame. When she slept, she dreamed of vast wings carrying her away, and she could not tell if they were her own.
*******
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
JJA Harwood is an author, editor and blogger. She grew up in Norfolk, read History at the University of Warwick and eventually found her way to London, which is still something of a shock for somebody used to so many fields.
When not writing, she can be found learning languages, cooking with more enthusiasm than skill, wandering off into clearly haunted houses and making friends with stray cats. THE SHADOW IN THE GLASS is her debut novel.
Welcome to my stop on the blog tour for this beautiful novel. Thank you to HQ for the invitation to take part and the gifted ARC.
SYNOPSIS:
How can you ever move on, if you can’t let go?
‘A gorgeous book about second-chances, brimming with love and overflowing with hope’ Milly Johnson
A beautiful and poignant story of love, loss and finding hope where you least expect it, perfect for fans of Jojo Moyes and Cecelia Ahern.
Anna’s world was shattered three years ago when her husband Spencer was killed in a tragic accident. Her friends and family think it’s time she moved on, but how can she when she’s lost her soulmate?
On New Year’s Eve, Anna calls Spencer’s old phone just to hear his voicemail greeting. But to her surprise someone picks up. Brody answers and is the first person who truly understands what Anna is going through. As they begin to speak regularly, Anna finds herself opening up and slowly she discovers how to smile again, how to laugh, even how to hope.
But Brody hasn’t been entirely honest with Anna. Will his secret threaten everything, just as it seems she might find the courage to love again?
********
MY REVIEW:
“That’s the funny thing about the future, isn’t it? We have all these plans, some small, some grand, but things don’t always work out the way we expect them to.”
The Last Goodbye is a story about love, loss and letting go. A story about finding joy in life, finding your strength and learning to dream again. Beautiful, heartbreaking, hopeful and uplifting, it is a story that will make you thankful for those you love and treasure all you have.
The author addresses the many different facets of grief in this story and writes with an honesty and sensitivity that really makes you feel what the character does. She explores questions such as how do you start again, rebuild your life and your future without the person who was supposed to be there beside you? And how can you hope and dream again when your hopes and dreams were shattered in an instant? She also explores the idea that there is an acceptable time limit on grief and how you can’t move on until you are ready. And how moving on looks different for everyone.
An aspect of the book that particularly resonated with me was Lucas’ examination of anxiety, panic attacks and agoraphobia. Once again they are written with sensitivity and honesty and, as someone who has, and still does, experience these things, she has perfectly described how they make you feel. It was so vivid that I could almost feel my own heart racing alongside theirs.
I really liked Anna and Brody. They are great characters that I warmed to quickly. I was rooting for them and felt invested in their fate, both individually and as a couple. I liked their relationship, how they found solace in this stranger at the other end of the phone, how they inspired each other and helped each other find parts of themselves they thought were lost forever. Obviously, I was desperate to know what the mysterious Brody’s secret was. I had some ideas but didn’t get it right and thought the author did a wonderful job of making him so enigmatic, slowly unveiling parts of him to Anna and the reader at the same time. It had me on tenterhooks and made it impossible to put the book down. I needed answers!
Tender, affecting, bittersweet and poignant, if you’re looking for a wonderful story that will give you all the feels, then this is the one for you.
Rating: ✮✮✮✮✰
********
MEET THE AUTHOR:
Fiona Lucas is an award-winning author of contemporary women’s fiction. She has written heart-warming love stories and feel-good women’s fiction as Fiona Harper for more than a decade. Fiona lives in London with her husband and two daughters.
Published: March 4th, 2021 Publisher: Michael Joseph Format: Hardcover, Kindle, Audio Genre: Historical Fiction, Mystery
Thank you to Michael Jacobs for the invitation to take part in the tour and for the gifted copy of the book.
SYNOPSIS:
The compelling, gorgeously atmospheric tale of female friendship, redemption and betrayal, inspired by the incredible true story of female convicts at sea
London, 1841.
The Rajah sails for Australia.
On board are 180 women convicted of petty crimes, sentenced to start a new life half way across the world.
Daughters, sisters, mothers – they’ll never see home or family again. Despised and damned, all they have now is each other.
Until the murder.
As the fearful hunt for a killer begins, everyone on board is a suspect.
The investigation risks tearing their friendships apart . . .
But if the killer isn’t found, could it cost them their last chance of freedom?
Based on a real-life voyage, Dangerous Women is a sweeping tale of confinement, hope and the terrible things we do to survive.
MY REVIEW:
“That’s what we, too, are like, us women… We’re many small pieces, each of us different but now stitched together. A patchwork of souls.”
Dangerous Women is a story of dark secrets, intrigue, betrayal and redemption. Flawlessly blending fact with fiction, the author has reimagined the story group of needlewomen who made the Rajah Quilt and crafted an epic sea voyage turned locked room murder mystery where everyone is a suspect and anyone could be next…
As soon as I heard about this book I knew it was one I had to read. I’m a big lover of the three key elements at the heart of this book and had high expectations. It did not disappoint. The author brings the past to life, telling the story of the Rajah’s long journey from London to Van Diemen’s Land with almost two hundred female convicts on board. Exquisitely written, richly imagined, and told with finesse, it is a real labour of love. Her passion for the subject is poured onto the pages and the depth of her research is clear as she immerses you in the women’s bleak world aboard the ship. Her love for this story is so infectious that it has sparked a desire in me to learn more about the Rajah, its ladies and the quilt, and I’ve got a number of books added to my wishlist so I can delve deeper.
Moving between past and present, the story is narrated by three women – Kezia, Clara and Hattie – who each offer a unique voice and perspective. All of the characters are vibrant and compelling, with richly drawn backstories full of heartbreaking tragedy. We learn that most of the women have only broken the law due to desperation and are as much victims as criminals. Thankfully, their matron Kezia understands this and is there to advocate for them with the other staff on board who may have been more ready to dismiss them as mere criminals without a thought for what they have endured. I loved her character and am eager to know more about the real woman she is based on, particularly her work with Elizabeth Fry.
I love character-driven stories so I revelled in the fact that the author made the women’s stories as fundamental as she did the murder investigation. It made me care about them, root for them and have a stake in the outcome. Though as I learned more about them I actually found it harder to predict who might have stabbed poor Hattie. The author had embedded the truth in the women and their stories with such skill that it was invisible even to my watchful eye, making my jaw drop when it was revealed.
Atmospheric, mysterious, suspenseful and compelling, this is a beautiful piece of historical fiction. If you are a fan of this genre, then make sure you pick up this book.
Rating: ✮✮✮✮.5
********
MEET THE AUTHOR:
Hope Adams was born in Jerusalem and spent her early childhood in many different countires, including Nigeria and British Norht Borneo. She now lives near Cambridge. She has written books for children and adults as Adèle Geras.
Thank you to the wonderful Miranda at Viper Books for sending me a gorgeous gifted ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
SYNOPSIS:
THE MUST-READ GOTHIC THRILLER OF 2021
‘I haven’t read anything this exciting since Gone Girl’ STEPHEN KING
‘Believe the hype… a masterclass’ KIRAN MILLWOOD HARGRAVE
‘Books like this don’t come around too often’ JOANNE HARRIS
This is the story of a murderer. A stolen child. Revenge. This is the story of Ted, who lives with his daughter Lauren and his cat Olivia in an ordinary house at the end of an ordinary street.
All these things are true. And yet some of them are lies.
You think you know what’s inside the last house on Needless Street. You think you’ve read this story before. In the dark forest at the end of Needless Street, something lies buried. But it’s not what you think…
MY REVIEW:
“Don’t let anyone find out what you are.”
The Last House On Needless Street is a gothic masterpiece. It’s a few months since I read it and yet it still lingers vividly in my mind. Mysterious, unsettling and original, I was mesmerised from the start and completely enrapt by the eerie world the author had created. And the creepier it became, the deeper I fell; lured against my every instinct into the dark and twisted world of a murderer, his cat and the mystery of a missing child.
The story is told from multiple points of view: Ted, Dee, Lauren and Olivia the cat. Yes, the cat is a narrator in this book. Each is vividly drawn, fascinating and memorable, but they may or may not be reliable, adding to the mysterious atmosphere and leaving the reader never quite sure what is and isn’t real in this bizarretale.
It takes a talented author to write a story that is both horrifying and funny, something Ward has achieved with flourish with this book. She has crafted a tale unlike anything I’ve read before. One full of beautiful imagery and prose that belies the dark, murky, spine-chilling story it tells. She plays with your mind, cleverlylullingyou into a false sense of security where you accept what you’re reading, while using it to mask an entirely different narrative that only becomes visible as you approach the finale. And when you see it, it changes every word you just read. It is a masterclass in storytelling, twists and plotting that blows my mind every time I think about it.
“… if you wait long enough, evil always shows up.”
One of the things I loved most is how deeply Ward delves into the mind of the killer. I need more books like this! Don’t miss the Afterward for the full, fascinating insight into Ted’s mind. The amount of research that has gone into it is phenomenal and sent me down a fascinating and frightening rabbit hole.
Striking, inventive and gloriously unhinged, this jaw-dropping thriller is one that doesn’t come around often. It is a truly spectacular and original novel that you won’t be able to shake. One that will haunt you, horrify you and surprise you. Someone needs to call Spielberg or Howard because this is a story that belongs on the big screen.
Rating: ✮✮✮✮✮
********
MEET THE AUTHOR:
Catriona Ward was born in Washington, DC and grew up in the United States, Kenya, Madagascar, Yemen, and Morocco. She read English at St Edmund Hall, Oxford and is a graduate of the Creative Writing MA at the University of East Anglia. Her next gothic thriller, The Last House on Needless Street, will be published March 2021 by Viper (Serpents Tail).
Ward’s second novel, Little Eve (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2018) won the 2019 Shirley Jackson Award and the August Derleth Prize for Best Horror Novel at the 2019 British Fantasy Awards, making her the only woman to have won the prize twice, and was a Guardian best book of 2018. Her debut Rawblood (W&N, 2015) won Best Horror Novel at the 2016 British Fantasy Awards, was shortlisted for the Author’s Club Best First Novel Award and a WHSmith Fresh Talent title. Her short stories have appeared in numerous anthologies. She lives in London and Devon.
Published: March 16th, 2021 Publisher: Hodder Studio Format: Hardcover, Kindle, Audio Genre: Literary Fiction, Dystopian Fiction
Welcome to my, slightly late, stop on the blog tour for this remarkable debut. Thank you to Niamh at Hodder Studio for the invitation to take part and the gifted ARC.
SYNOPSIS: No future, dear reader, can break a woman on its own
A bold and dazzling exploration of fate and female agency in a world where women own the future but not their own bodies.
Like every woman, Celeste Morton holds a map of the future in her skin, every mole and freckle a clue to unlocking what will come to pass. With puberty comes the changeling period – when her final marks will appear and her future is decided.
The possibilities are tantalising enough for Celeste’s excitement to outweigh her fear. Changelings are sought after commodities and abduction is rife as men seek to possess these futures for themselves.
Celeste’s marks have always been closely entwined with her brother, Miles. Her skin holds a future only he, as a gifted interpreter, can read and he has always considered his sister his practice ground. But when Celeste’s marks change she learns a devastating secret about her brother’s future that she must keep to herself – and Miles is keeping a secret of his own. When the lies of brother and sister collide, Celeste determines to create a future that is truly her own.
Body of Stars is an urgent read about what happens when women are objectified and violently stripped of choice – and what happens when they fight back.
MY REVIEW:
“No future, dear reader, can break a woman on its own.”
What would it be like to know your future? To have the things that will happen to you and those you love mapped out on your body and be powerless to change it?
Body of Stars is a dazzling and luminous debut that is unlike anything I’ve read before. It is one of those books you know you’re going to love from the start; that seeps right into your soul and lingers long after you’ve finished reading. Exquisitely written with beautiful and almost melodic prose, the author cast a hypnotic spell with the captivating opening lines that lasts until the final pages. I savoured every word, eager to bathe in its splendour for as long as possible.
A multifaceted story about fate, choice, family, secrets, trauma and female agency, the author writes with truth and sensitivity as she examines timely, important issues such as male violence, rape culture, victim blaming, patriarchy and the toxicity they can breed. She also asks how women can empower themselves and come together to make a change, and looks at the positive and negative consequences of knowing your future.
“All we knew was that our lives were speckled in advance on our skin, as it had been for our mothers, as it was for our sisters, while our brothers and fathers were left in the dark.”
The girls in this world are born marked, but men aren’t. And men are jealous, eager to know their own fates. But despite being the ones with the future on their skin, the women aren’t the ones with the agency. Their bodies aren’t their own and from birth they are read and their markings recorded by government inspectors, they have to sign waivers permitting potential universities or employers access to these records, and upon becoming a changeling they must submit to a humiliating inspection by both their mother and father. And, as changelings, the females are so potent that everyone is drawn to them; the men in particular. Some of whom will do anything to possess them. But the men are seen as powerless against their changeling allure and it is the women who are held responsible for staying safe and not getting abducted. And if they are taken and ruined, the blame is placed solely at their feet. But this isn’t an anti-men book. It is a wider story about the problems of strict gender identities and roles, and we see Celeste’s brother Miles and her father also fall foul of their society’s strict rules and roles for men.
One of my favourite aspects of this book is that the author included excerpts and illustrations from Mapping the Future, the book used in her fictional world to interpret markings and predict their fates. The intricate detail was phenomenal and added to the sense of realism. There were definitely times I forgot this was all from the author’s wonderful imagination and I wasn’t reading about life in another country.
It is rare to read a book where you really have no idea what will happen next, and this was one of those books. I found myself reading in breathless anticipation, trying to piece together the clues she’d dropped like breadcrumbs about Celeste and Miles’ fate.
Mesmerising, soulful, unique and memorable, Body of Stars is an absolute tour de force. An easy five stars from me, I have no doubt this will be among my favourite books of the year. It is a book that resonates strongly and can’t recommend it highly enough. I am in awe that it is a debut novel and can’t wait to see what Ms. Walters writes next after such a phenomenal start.
Rating: ✮✮✮✮✮
TW: sexual assault, trauma
********
MEET THE AUTHOR:
Laura Maylene Walter is a writer and editor in Cleveland. Her debut novel, Body of Stars, is forthcoming from Dutton. Her writing has appeared or is forthcoming in Poets & Writers, Kenyon Review,The Sun, The Master’s Review,Ninth Letter,Michigan Quarterly Review, The Southeast Review,Chicago Tribune‘s Printers Row, and many other publications.
Welcome to my stop on the blog tour for this entertaining cozy mystery. Thank you to Bookouture for the invitation to take part and the eBook ARC.
SYNOPSIS:
A magnificent seaside hotel, striped deckchairs, strawberry ice cream… and a rather familiar dead body? Lady Swift is on the case!
Spring, 1921. Lady Eleanor Swift, explorer extraordinaire and accidental sleuth, hasn’t had a vacation since she arrived in England a year ago. Being an amateur detective can be a rather tiring business and she is determined to escape any more murder and mysteries. So she books into the Grand Hotel in the fashionable resort of Brighton for some fresh air, fish and chips and, of course, a dip in the ocean.
Eleanor is enjoying her view of the waves and trying to find her bathing suit when calamity strikes: a guest has been found dead at her beautiful hotel. The distraught manager, who can’t afford a scandal, asks Eleanor to solve the case as swiftly as possible. Thank goodness she has her partner in crime – Gladstone the bulldog – to help her sniff out the dastardly culprit.
But when Eleanor enters the dead man’s room, she receives a shock big enough to make her forget even the finest ice cream sundae. The body is that of her husband, who supposedly died six years ago on the other side of the world. Has he been alive all these years? Why does he have a copy of their wedding photograph with a cryptic message written on the back? If Eleanor can keep herself safe long enough to find her husband’s killer, she might discover that everything is not quite as it seems beside the seaside…
A warm and witty whodunnit! Fans of Agatha Christie, T E Kinsey and L.B. Hathaway will be utterly charmed by this addictive and absolutely gripping page-turner.
********
MY REVIEW:
Brighton, March 1921. Lady Eleanor Swift is off on her first holiday since arriving back in England a year ago. The explorer extraordinaire and accidental sleuth is looking forward to some down time after the unexpected misadventures of recent months. But, before she’s even booked into her hotel, she is confronted by a dead body and yet another mystery waiting to be solved. The body belongs to Hilary, her husband who supposedly died six years ago. Can Eleanor decipher the few clues left behind to discover how he died twice and catch his killer?
Mystery by the Sea is a fun frolic that was like being in a time capsule; the author taking you back to a time when a trip to the English seaside meant striped deck chairs, donkey rides and a Punch and Judy show alongside the sea breeze, sandcastles and fish and chips. She brings it all to life so vividly that I felt like I was there walking along the breezy promenade, paddling in the sea and chasing a killer alongside the characters.
It is the fifth installment in the Lady Eleanor series but despite this it is easy to read as a standalone. I can vouch for that as it was my first time reading this series. Despite being an established series I never felt lost, quickly caught up on past events and soon felt like the characters and their relationships were familiar.
Lady Eleanor is a dazzling heroine who I absolutely loved. Outgoing, vibrant, daring and fiercely intelligent, she is a breath of fresh air and was a joy to read. She and her butler, Clifford, make a compelling and entertaining duo who I could happily read again and again. I loved their witty banter and how their differences complement each other. Eleanor may dazzle alone, but she is even more glorious with him. The background characters are just as richly drawn; the female staff may not feature as heavily in the story but make a memorable impression and I can’t wait to see more of her blossoming relationship with DCI Hugh Seldon.
This book was just the tonic I needed on a difficult day. Lively, charming, sharp and authentic, this glorious whodunnit lifted my spirits and left me yearning for more. I didn’t need yet another series to add to my already bulging list, but I found one. And I can’t wait to enjoy more of Lady Eleanor’s exploits.
Rating: ✮✮✮✮✰
********
MEET THE AUTHOR:
Verity Bright is the pseudonym for a husband-and-wife writing partnership that has spanned a quarter of a century. Starting out writing high-end travel articles and books, they published everything from self-improvement to humour, before embarking on their first historical mystery.
Emma's Biblio Treasures 