Dear Mrs Bird by AJ Pearce (Audiobook)

 

It's 1941 and Emmeline Lake has ambitions to be a war correspondent. She is overjoyed when she sees a job advertised in the Evening Chronicle, little realising that she will be working for an "agony aunt" in a woman's magazine.

Dear Mrs Bird by  AJ Pearce is a lovely, light-hearted listen. The narrator pitched the tone perfectly and the style used by the author is very much in line with what we would expect for 1940s England.

Emmy Lake is the type of young woman who wants to break free of the societal norms imposed upon her, hence her dream of being a lady war correspondent. She's also willing to do her bit for the war effort and volunteers as a call handler for the London Fire Brigade. 

Emmy's new employer, Mrs Bird, is very much the opposite of Emmy. A formidable character, extremely set in her ways, she has a strict policy about the type of problems she is willing to feature on her problem page. Problems involving relationships are absolutely forbidden. Those problems that Mrs Bird does deign to answer can usually be solved by a "heart outlook and a brisk walk". It's this generational divide that sets up the story.

Vetting the letters that come into the office, Emmy is sympathetic toward many of the women who write in. She has issues of her own, having recently been dumped by her boyfriend, so she completely understands the plight of the magazine readers. This is combined with a time when topics such as  relationships and health were not openly discussed. It is easy to understand how Emmy reacts in the way that she does some of the distressing letters.

While the general tone of the story is light, we do get a glimpse of the danger the country faced, particularly in big cities such as London. At this stage in the war air raids are a common occurrence and people have become quite blase about them. The role of women in society is another issue the story tackles. During the war, women filled a considerable number of roles that were usually considered to be male roles, but still had to fight prejudice and were considered to be less intelligent than men.

Emmy is put through the wringer emotionally and the story leads to the inevitable confrontation with her boss, Mrs Bird. Thankfully things work out well and I look forward to more adventures for Emmy in the sequel, Yours Cheerfully.

Perfect Silence by Helen Fields

 

Young women are being abducted and brutally maimed. It is a race against time for DCI Turner and DI Callanach to track down the killer before another woman is abducted.

Perfect Silence is the fourth book by  Helen Fields in the Luc Callanach series. You don't need to have read the previous books in the series to enjoy this thriller, however, the earlier books allow you to see how the characters have developed.

This time around we have a killer who abducts young women who have had questionable pasts. They are kept alive for up to a week before being skinned alive and their bodies dumped. The descriptions of the trauma suffered by the victims are grim reading and the eventual discovery of religious overtones makes the whole thing considerably creepy.

Alongside a serial killer abducting and killing women there is also someone targeting the city's homeless population to contend with. The fact that both crimes feature disfigurement using a sharp blade makes the team wonder if the crimes are connected.

I really enjoyed seeing the way in which the friendship between Callanach and Turner is evolving, particularly after the tension of previous books. Having discovered this series by reading the seventh book, One For Sorrow, first I know where things are heading, but it's great to see the evolution.

Police procedurals/thrillers usually have some form of office politics involved and this novel is no different. We know from previous outings that Turner's boss, Detective Superintendent Overbeck, is formidable. This time around we see a completely different side to her. There is an added complication when DCI Turner suspects the son of a member of the Police Scotland board of being complicit in some of the crimes they are investigating.

As you reach the conclusion you are on the edge of your seat, hoping that Callanach and Turner will make it in time. Even then there is still a couple more twists to keep the adrenaline flowing and the pages turning.

Day One by Abigail Dean

 

When a gunman massacres a group of children and their teacher at a small primary school, the life of one of the survivors will never be the same again.

Day One by  Abigail Dean is a harrowing tale, set in a small town in the Lake District. The children of Stonesmere Primary School are performing when a gunman kills ten of them and their teacher. The vast majority of the story is told through the eyes of two young adults, Marty and Trent.

Marty is the daughter of the teacher who was killed. Her sporting prowess has made her a minor celebrity in the small community, however, her talent is beginning to fade. Poor exam results mean that she is unable to go to university and has ended up working at the primary school as a part-time sports coach. On the day of the shooting, she runs from the school, a survivor, having witnessed events. However, this isn't true and she makes no effort to correct people.

Trent has a grudge against the town. He lived there as a young boy for a while and never really fit in. When he hears about the shooting, and the identity of the shooter, he starts a website trying to convince the world that the whole event was fake.

While the novel brings to mind the events of Dunblane, almost thirty years ago, it's more recent school shootings in America that bring in the conspiracy theory story arc. In the UK we only see these events from afar, but Day One gives you an idea of the fervour and conviction of the individuals who peddle misinformation and it is frightening. You are filled with dismay at the thought of what families have to go through as they are hounded and harassed by "truthers", all while grieving.

As the story progresses from the day of the massacre, eight years ago, through to the current day you get a glimpse of the emotions the people involved have to deal with. Interspersed with these are snippets from others caught up in the tragedy. Alongside this, the true story of exactly what Marty was doing on the fateful day is slowly revealed.

Neither Marty nor Trent are likeable, but by the end, you do have some sympathy for them. It's the families that your compassion is saved for, as you read of the gut-wrenching moments they wait for news about their child. The harrowing moments when they learn that their child isn't going to run into their arms. The numbness of the aftermath. This is a story that is going to stay with me for quite a while.

Day One by Abigail Dean will be published on 28th March 2024 in hardback, ebook and audio format. My thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins UK for a review copy.

The List Of Suspicious Things by Jennie Godfrey

 

It's 1979 and Yorkshire is being terrorised by the Yorkshire Ripper. Best friends Miv and Sharon decide to investigate, hoping they can unmask the man responsible.

The List Of Suspicious Things from Jennie Godfrey is one of those novels you become completely immersed in. The style and language draw you in and you feel as if you are one of the characters. It helped that as a child of the sixties, the story felt very nostalgic for me.

Primarily a book about friendship, this novel also reflects on many of the issues of the time; the fear caused by the Yorkshire Ripper, the decline of the industrialized north and racism to name a few. The author has illustrated how these things impacted on tight-knit communities.

Miv and Sharon are chalk and cheese but complement each other. On the cusp of becoming teenagers, they are in that no-mans land of no longer children, but still not adults. Miv is the driving force of the pair. Virtually motherless, with a father who has little time for her, she is tended by a stern Aunt. At home, Miv loses herself in books such as The Famous Five and you can see how she uses these as a blueprint to investigate. Unfortunately, these stories also reflect a different era and we see how the naive friends end up in some dangerous situations.

Some of the things the girls get up to would be considered inappropriate today, but they show how communities rallied together and supported each other. Unfortunately, they also show a time when gossip was freely swapped but things such as mental health and domestic abuse were considered taboo subjects for discussion. It's the things that aren't discussed, both between neighbours and within families, that give the whole novel a tone of sadness. We learn that people keep living by simply putting one foot in front of the other each day. It is only when tragic events take place that people begin to contemplate their place in life and others open up.

I loved this coming-of-age story, it shows the fierceness of innocence, the bonds of friendship and the excitement of first love set against a community terrorised and worn down.

The List Of Suspicious Things by Jennie Godfrey will be published on 15th February 2024 in hardback, ebook and audio format. My thanks to NetGalley and Hutchinson Heinemann publishers for a review copy.

Knife Skills For Beginners by Orlando Murrin

 

When celebrity chef Christian Wagner is unable to teach a cookery course at an exclusive cookery school he persuades his friend, Paul Delamare to step in at the last minute. Just as the course begins Christian's mutilated body is discovered and Paul is the prime suspect. 

Knife Skills For Beginners by Orlando Murrin has all the elements for a cosy crime mystery. The setting is an exclusive cookery school in a sprawling house in Belgravia, run by a widow who is struggling financially. The cookery course is residential, run by a TV chef apparently loved by all. The attendees are an eccentric group, each one seems to be hiding a secret.

Christian Wagner, the murder victim, is a charmer, able to easily manipulate people. It's his skill as a manipulator that sees his friend, Paul Delamare, take over the reins at the cookery school. This last-minute replacement isn't popular with the owner of the school or the attendees who are all fans of Christian. We quickly realise that Christian is a little flaky, one of those people whose word needs to be taken with a pinch of salt. 

Christian's murder takes place on the property and the body is discovered by Paul, making him the prime suspect. Keen to prove his innocence, Paul believes one of the students must be responsible and begins to investigate. Each of the students seems to be hiding something, but is it a motive for murder?

Although Paul is a little passive he is a likeable character. He's still coming to terms with the recent death of his partner and is being hounded by the son of his partner. This stalking element adds an extra dimension to the story, I feel that it could have been used to greater effect to stir up more problems for Paul.

The setting is ideal, very English, which adds an "Upstairs, Downstairs" feel to the story. An eclectic group of students studying together and sharing meals gives quite a gossipy feel to the interactions and there are quite a few funny moments. Added to this is the authenticity from the author's background as a chef and food writer.

After an engaging start, the story stuttered a bit in the middle where nothing much happened. Things did pick up again towards the end where we discovered the secrets each individual was hiding and a particularly funny scene in the kitchen.

Knife Skills For Beginners by Orlando Murrin will be published on 1st February 2024 in hardback, ebook and audio format. My thanks to NetGalley and Transworld Publishers for a review copy.

Three Card Murder by J. L. Blackhurst (Audiobook)

 

Acting DI Tess Fox is keen to impress her boss on her first murder investigation as investigating officer. Initially thought to be a suicide, it quickly becomes apparent that there is more to the case as the man has his hands tied behind his back and his throat has been cut. To make things even more complicated the door to the flat he fell from was locked and boarded from the inside, with no other means of entry or exit. To help her figure out how the murder was committed Tess needs to enlist the help of her con-artist half-sister who she hasn't seen for years.

Three Card Murder by J. L. Blackhurst is a locked-room murder mystery that will have thriller lovers puzzling throughout as to exactly how the crimes were carried out. Not only is there the initial baffling murder but another two equally bewildering murders take place. Each crime, and the explanations, reminded me of the Jonathan Creek TV series.

Lead character, Tess Fox, comes across as very real. She's keen to make progress in her job but isn't over-confident, we see her vulnerable side. We also learn early on that her background could cause quite a few problems for her as a police officer. Her father is a notorious criminal, even worse, fifteen years earlier Tess killed a man in order to save her half-sister, Sarah.

Sarah is the stand-out character in the story. She's highly intelligent but uses her intelligence for nefarious means. She works for her father, specialising in long cons, but is happy keeping her skills honed with less intense con tricks such as fortune telling, card tricks, etc. The relationship between the two sisters is prickly, Tess feels that Sarah could do better for herself. Sarah feels that Tess has deserted the family, made even worse by her joining the police force.

Throughout you feel the turmoil Sarah feels. She wants to be loyal to her father, but she remembers that Tess saved her life fifteen years ago. Both sisters are uneasy that the murder victims and small clues left at each scene indicate that someone knows exactly what happened in the past. Only by joining forces and bending (or even breaking) a few rules will they track down the murderer.

The audiobook is narrated well and kept me hooked, however, this may work better in print, allowing the reader to flip back to check details. The revelations were ingenious and I enjoyed the way in which the conclusion was left open-ended.

Three Card Murder by J. L. Blackhurst will be published on 31st August 2023 in paperback, ebook and audio format. My thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins UK for a review copy.

Just Another Missing Person by Gillian McAllister

 

Olivia Johnson has gone missing, last seen entering an alley which has a dead end and no doors or windows. It is up to DCI Julia Day to investigate the mysterious disappearance of the young woman.

A story featuring the disappearance of a young woman sounds pretty run-of-the-mill, however, Gillian McAllister has worked her magic and put a very unusual twist on it in Just Another Missing Person. This starts off as a missing person case, although it is along the lines of a locked room mystery with the introduction of an alleyway that the missing woman was seen entering and never leaving. As the story progresses many other elements are introduced, taking this tale beyond the mundane police hunt for a missing person or murderer.

The heart of the story is about parents and the lengths they will go to for their children. Unconditional love results in some people being willing to break the law to protect a child, and others refusing to accept a child is dead. The novel also questions what you would do if you thought your child had committed a serious crime. Gillian McAllister has pitched the parents perfectly in the story; they are human, vulnerable, tenacious and full of turmoil, you cannot help but feel sympathetic towards each one.

The twist at the halfway point really does bring you up short, but even then the author puts even more spin on this. As you read on you realise that you have been making quite a few assumptions and as these are shown to be wrong the story takes on a new slant. As the novel moves from one missing young woman to two, then three, then possibly four you really do have your doubts about one character in particular. And the conclusion, well I'm loath to say too much as I want this to be a spoiler-free zone, but it's unexpected in quite a few ways.

The Christmas Appeal by Janice Hallett

 

A return to The Fairway Players sees rehearsals for a Christmas panto take place amid a power struggle for control of the amateur dramatic group. Gossip abounds when hints of asbestos begin and end with a dead body.

Janice Hallett wrote the extremely unique The Appeal, which centered around a murder involving The Fairway Players. The Christmas Appeal sees us returning to the village of Lockwood a few years later as The Fairway Players rehearse for the annual Christmas panto.

I did nothing but chuckle from beginning to end. Misunderstandings and misdirection are front and centre as the group rehearses a 1970's version of Jack And The Beanstalk. There are all the stresses and strains you would expect in the month of December, compounded by the pressure of rehearsals and trying to ensure everything is perfect, but added to this is the friction between the chair of the amateur dramatics group and the woman who believes she should be in charge, Celia Halliday. Celia is the stand-out character in the story, you can just picture her, in fact you probably know someone just like her! Every time the OBE was mentioned I laughed out loud and I think I actually snorted at the "no-BE". 

The use of text messages and emails makes this an easy and engrossing read, however, it's impossible to guess what is going to happen, or the number of things that go wrong. You'll gasp with shock at the cavalier way some of the disasters are handled. 

The building of two new housing estates nearby has increased the opportunity to introduce new characters, the few that we meet are fantastic additions. I do hope that we see a return to The Fairway Players again.

The Christmas Appeal by Janice Hallett will be published on 26th October 2023 in hardback, ebook and audio format. My thanks to NetGalley and Viper Books for a review copy.

Anna O by Matthew Blake

 

Having murdered her two closest friends Anna Ogilvy then fell asleep and has been that way for the last four years. Dr. Benedict Prince is a forensic psychologist who has been approached by the Ministry of Justice to determine if the methods he describes in a journal article will be able to wake Anna O.

Anna O by Matthew Blake is a psychological thriller that keeps you on your toes and has your head reeling by the end. Using a variety of media, which allows the story to move between different time frames, we learn the background of Anna O. During an outward bound event she stabbed to death her closest friends and has been unconscious since. Having a history of sleepwalking, it is assumed that Anna carried out the murders while asleep. The big question posed by the novel is can someone who commits a crime while asleep be held criminally responsible? Alongside this other questions such as "Can evil be cured?" and "Is evil inherited?" are also posed.

Enter Dr. Benedict Prince, a psychologist who specialises in sleep disorders and works at The Abbey Sleep Clinic. Through this character, we are given lots of information on sleep disorders, the psychology of the mind and some historical examples of people who have claimed to commit crimes while asleep. All of this is done in laymen's terms to keep the reader involved. 

Throughout I kept coming up with different theories about what actually happened, the motives involved and the role of different characters. At times I wondered if it was an act to avoid prosecution, at other times I felt there was some type of conspiracy taking place; at no point was I absolutely convinced I was right. There is also the role that social media has played in the case. Not only has it kept the story alive but it has resulted in two very separate groups, those who believe Anna O is a villain and those who think she's a victim.

The deeper the story delves into the background of the characters you realise that none of them are particularly likeable, the vast majority are motivated by self-interest, and this makes the reader doubtful about their actual involvement in the crime. We get hints early on that something has been covered up.

As the conclusion approaches the anticipation has you holding your breath, the sense of dread is palpable. There are lots of layers to the big reveal, just when you think everything is clear the author adds another twist. This is one of those novels that you want to discuss with others as it raises so many questions.

Anna O by Matthew Blake will be published on 1st February 2024 in hardback, ebook and audio format. My thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins UK for a review copy.

Us Three by Ruth Jones (Audiobook)

 

Lana, Judith and Catrin meet in primary school and vow to be friends forever. Covering a span of more than 30 years we see how the friendship develops as life throws everything it can at the three women.

A year ago I read Ruth Jones' novel Love Untold. While reading it I kept imagining that every female character that spoke did so in Nessa's voice. Deciding on my next audiobook I discovered that Ruth narrates Us Three herself. I wasn't disappointed, the accent is so soothing, you immediately become immersed in the world of Lana, Judith and Catrin.

Although the three girls have been inseparable friends since the age of five, we actually join them at eighteen. A-Levels are finished and they are setting out on their first big adventure together, traveling the Greek islands. The build-up and holiday itself give us a great insight into the individual characters. The holiday isn't without the usual antics you would expect from a group of young women away from the shackles of home and parents, it also lays the foundation for significant events which happen later in the story.

Over time we see the women fall in love, embark on careers, deal with aging parents and have families of their own. Not everything is plain sailing, and we get to see the true nature of one or two unsavory characters. The friendships are also strained by some of the events, listening you just want to bang a few heads together and tell them to stop being so pig-headed.

We see the full gamut of emotions; joy, grief, love, anger and heartbreak to name a few. A couple of the scenes really will have you reaching for a tissue. Through it all you just know that the friendship is going to turn full circle and return to what it was at the beginning, as all uplifting novels should, this is neatly tied up by an epilogue which is a flashback to the girls at the age of five.

Mrs Sidhu's 'Dead And Scone' by Suk Pannu

 

Mrs Sidhu runs a catering business but work has dried up following a misunderstanding at a wedding. As a result, Mrs Sidhu takes a job at a local wellness retreat and finds herself caught up in a murder with links to a cult.

Before reading Mrs Sidhu's 'Dead And Scone' by Suk Pannu I wasn't aware of the character, so both the author and character are very new to me. The novel fits well into the cozy crime genre, featuring many of the tropes we usually see; amateur detectives, village setting, and a hobby/business that allows them to get involved with events. 

Mrs Sidhu is a strange character, she seems to go out of her way to avoid being liked. Not only is she still grieving the loss of her husband, she's also struggling to make ends meet after a disaster at a local wedding she was catering. She's observant, intelligent and analytical, however, she has no filter and it is saying things as she sees them that lands her in trouble.

When Mrs Sidhu is offered the opportunity to do the catering at a high-end wellness retreat her nosiness and tendency to be economical with the truth means that she becomes embroiled in a murder. One of the therapists is killed and there are connections to a cult that existed in the village years before. Two members of the cult committed suicide and the cult leader set fire to their home, then disappeared. Following reports that he had died in South America, everyone is surprised that the cult appears to have risen again.

There is a lot of humor in the story with the author poking fun at romantic encounters and self-help books. The majority of the humor, however, comes from the way in which Mrs Sidhu insinuates herself into the police investigation. As far as Mrs Sidhu is concerned, the police are helping her. There are hints at previous encounters between Mrs Sidhu and the police officer leading the investigation and I wonder if this is part of the radio plays. Listening to these may give the reader a greater understanding of the relationship between the two and more insight into Mrs Sidhu herself.

At times there are some dark tones and a real sense of menace. The conclusion is cleverly crafted with a villain that is impossible to spot, quite a few red herrings along the way keep the reader guessing. For me, however, I just couldn't seem to get into a rhythm reading this and really feel I should have loved it more than I did.

Mrs Sidhu's 'Dead And Scone' by Suk Pannu will be published on 12th October 2023 in hardback, ebook and audio format. My thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins UK for a review copy.

Trust In Me by Luca Veste

 

Sara is a happily married mother of two children. Her hectic life revolves around her family and her job as a therapist. Her first session with a new client becomes a nightmare situation when the woman claims that along with her boyfriend, she murdered a man and hid the body. Every detail fits the secret Sara has been hiding for 18 years.

I found Trust In Me by Luca Veste to be an intriguing read. The opening pages hint at a huge secret, this then jumps to a family situation, a scene where there is obviously an undercurrent of tension. We very quickly learn that hidden away in the house is a dead body. The story then switches to days before the scene with the body and we learn about Sara Edwards and her day-to-day life.

Sara is a typical flustered working mother; she's the one that makes sure the family is fed, watered and packed off to school/work each morning before rushing off to work herself. Sara comes across as a little disorganised and always in a rush, however, it's obvious that she loves her family deeply and will always put them first.

The story becomes very intriguing when Sara accepts a new client, Ella. In the first session Ella is suffering from anxiety because of something she has done, a crime she has committed. Sara eventually persuades her client to tell her all the details. Ella then explains that when she was with her boyfriend they lay in wait for a young man and beat him to death then hid the body. As Sara listens she realises that the description fits with exactly what she did 18 years before.  Sara has kept this secret and wonders how a woman who is only about 25 years years old can know.

At the end of the consultation, Ella disappears. Recovering from a state of shock. Sara realises she has to track the young woman down to find out how she has discovered Sara's secret and what she wants. As Sara discovers that the details Ella has provided are fake you can feel her turmoil. She is torn between survival or finally admitting what she has done. Self-preservation for herself and her family is the overriding feeling.

I had a pretty good idea of who was responsible about a third of the way in, then changed my mind following some of the interactions. I then kept chopping and changing my mind the more I read; this indecisiveness continued for almost the rest of the book. 

By the end the story has come full-circle and the conclusion shows the formidable character Sara is when her family is threatened. We also learn how manipulative people can be to get what they want.

Trust In Me by Luca Veste will be published on 14th September 2023 in hardback, ebook and audio format. My thanks to NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton for a review copy.  

July 2023 Reads

 

What a month July was, I managed to get through ten books and three audiobooks; a big improvement over previous months. The increase is probably because I had a bit more time on my hands, but then again it could be down to the quality of the books I read. All of the books I read were thrillers and over half of them gained a five-star rating from me.

Author Alice Feeney has taken the art of misdirection to another level in Good Bad Girl. The lives of four very different women become intertwined when someone is murdered. As snippets of each person’s life story is revealed you begin to make judgments and assumptions, only for further revelations to leave you speechless and having to re-evaluate everything you thought.

Zero Days by Ruth Ware is a thrilling read, the plot and pace are exhilarating – they work exceptionally well with the theme of the novel. Jacintha “Jack” Cross works with her husband exposing the vulnerabilities of companies. When a job goes wrong, Jack returns home to discover her husband has been murdered and becomes the police’s number one suspect. Jack needs to evade the police while she tracks down the real murderer.

I didn’t realise that Just Between Us by Adele Parks was a sequel to Both Of You, however, it doesn’t really matter as the novel works well as a standalone story. We learn that Kylie Gillingham is a bigamist who is missing, presumed dead. One of her husbands is accused of her murder, despite the fact no body has been found. I found the variety of different perspectives, and what seems to be a completely unrelated character, disrupted the flow and I couldn’t immerse myself in the mystery. However, around two-thirds of the way through everything changed and I was totally gripped.

For me, the best dystopian fiction is that which changes the society we live in just slightly but has a huge impact. The Sentence by Christina Dalcher does just that. Set in America, the death sentence still exists but any prosecutor demanding it has to be totally convinced about the guilt of the criminal. Should the criminal later be exonerated, the prosecutor will face the same punishment.

I’ve been eagerly awaiting Fearless from M. W. Craven. As a huge fan of the Washington Poe series from the author, I was keen to see how his new novel featuring an action hero would hold up. We meet loner Ben Koenig, on the run from the US Marshall Service. He’s finally tracked down by his old boss who asks him to help after his daughter goes missing. There’s lots of action and a high body count in this pacey thriller.

C. M. Ewan’s latest offering, The House Hunt, will seriously make you consider putting your house on the market, or even view a property. From the opening pages, there is a sense of menace as Lucy, a young woman struggling with a range of neuroses after being attacked two years before, is left alone to show a potential buyer around her home. You begin to have palpitations as the viewing spirals into nightmare territory and Lucy has to face her fears if she is to survive.

I remember reading a few books by Linwood Barclay previously but haven’t tried any for a while. The Lie Maker is full of irony when struggling author Jack Givins is approached by the witness protection team to help them create back stories. They don’t seem to realise that Jack’s own father entered the scheme years ago. A number of unexplained deaths make Jack realise his father’s life is at risk and he needs to try and track him down. Twists galore and a race against time to save the people Jack loves.

I’ve loved David Fennell’s Grace Archer series since stumbling across The Art Of Death. Needless to say, I was over the moon to get my hands on book three in this series, The Silent Man. Archer and Quinn are on the hunt for a serial killer who creeps into homes during the night and suffocates his victims by wrapping their heads in duct tape. While dealing with this, Archer also has to contend with her nemesis, gangland criminal Frankie White. White wants Archer dead and this leads to some extremely tense, and emotional, situations.

Amanda, grieving the loss of her husband and daughter wants the man responsible for their deaths to pay for his crime. Unfortunately, there is insufficient evidence, so Amanda decides to kill him herself, however, she is unable to get close enough to carry out the crime. At a support group, she meets another grieving mother and they agree to swap murders. For most writers, this would be sufficient enough of a plot but not for Steve Cavanagh. The author fills Kill For Me Kill For You with so many twists you are left reeling as they come at you thick and fast. It’s one of those books that you just have to keep reading to see where the plot is heading next.

I finished the month off with the highly enjoyable cozy mystery The Golden Spoon by Jessa  Maxwell. A murder takes place during the filming of a baking competition. It’s obvious that someone is trying to sabotage the competition, but is it one of the contestants or could it be someone on the film crew trying to boost ratings? And would they stoop to murder? I found the characters engaging, the descriptions of the baking mouth-watering and the pace zipped along.

A couple of the audiobooks I listened to in July offered a little bit of light relief from all the thrillers I was reading. First audiobook of the month was The Madonna Of Bolton from Matt Cain. Having read a couple of the author’s novels I knew that this would be an enjoyable listen. Starting in 1980s Bolton, we join nine-year-old Charlie Matthews on a voyage of self-discovery and acceptance, aided by the music of his idol, Madonna. Charming, funny, nostalgic and bittersweet.

My next audiobook was the gripping The Chain from Adrian McKinty. This is a story of a parent’s worst nightmare. Rachel receives a phonecall to say that her daughter has been kidnapped. For her daughter to be released unharmed she must kidnap another child. It is made clear that if she contacts the police her daughter will be killed. It is also explained that if anyone further along breaks “The Chain” the repercussions will ripple back and they will both be killed.

An Escape To Remember by T. A. Williams was a nice bit of relief from all the thrillers I have been reading and perfect for the summer. Louise finds her boyfriend with another woman. Her job as a trouble-shooter for a luxury hotel chain allows her to disappear to Italy and oversee the upgrading of a rundown hotel. A variety of possible suitors appear, but Louise is adamant she’s not interested in romance. Or is she? The Italian setting, people, wine and food make this perfect escapism, even if the romance is run of the mill.

Publication dates to watch out for are:-

Good Bad Girl by Alice Feeney will be published 3/8/23 in hardback, ebook and audio format.

Kill For Me Kill For You by Steve Cavanagh will be published 3/8/23 in hardback, (ebook and audio format are already available).

An Escape To Remember by T. A. Williams will be published 10/8/23 in audio format.

The Sentence by Christina Dalcher will be published 17/8/23 in hardback, ebook and audio format.

Just Between Us by Adele Parks will be published 17/8/23 in hardback, ebook and audio format.

The Silent Man by David Fennell will be published 31/8/23 in hardback, ebook and audio format.

The Lie Maker by Linwood Barclay will be published 31/8/23 in hardback, ebook and audio format.

The House Hunt by C. M. Ewan will be published 31/8/23 in hardback, ebook and audio format.

The Golden Spoon by Jessa Maxwell will be published 14/9/23 in paperback, ebook and audio format.