Tuesday, 3 October 2023

September 2023 Reads

 


A slight slow down in my reading last month, the transition to autumn seems to have hit me hard. Every time I sit down I fall asleep, I think my body is going into hibernation mode. September brought some fantastic thrillers in both ebook and audio format.

In my quest to get up to date with the Maeve Kerrigan series by Jane Casey, I started the month with The Stranger You Know, the fourth book in the series. We gain greater insight into what motivates Maeve’s partner, Josh Derwent, as he becomes a suspect in a series of murders which bear a similarity to a murder in his past.

I love books that use mixed media to tell a story, they are so easy to read and keep you turning the pages. Cara Hunter has used this style to great effect in Murder In The Family. We follow a reality TV-style program that re-investigates an unsolved murder. There are tons of red herrings and shock reveals in this gripping tale.

The Short Straw by Holly Seddon is one of the creepiest books I’ve read in a long time. I don’t do horror films so wouldn’t even go near this if it was on TV, I was even close to abandoning this tale of three sisters sheltering in an abandoned house during a storm because it was so sinister. The house is somewhere they knew as children but it is only as they spend time in the abandoned property that they begin to uncover disturbing memories they had forgotten.

The first few pages of The Fake Wife by Sharon Bolton didn’t grab me but I’m so glad I didn’t give up as I ended up engrossed. The wife of an MP goes missing. Has she simply walked away from the relationship or has she been abducted? With possible connections to organised crime, it is up to a bungling traffic officer and a fledgling detective to sort through all the secrets and lies in this race against time. I particularly loved the fact that the story is set in an area of the country I know well, it made it seem much more personal to me.

The mastermind behind a highly successful team of kidnappers just happens to be the head of the NCA Anti-kidnap squad in The First 48 Hours by Simon Kernick. There is lots of double crossing and misdirection when a barrister’s daughter is kidnapped. This time around it isn’t money the kidnappers are demanding.

The Thursday Murder Club from Richard Osman returns in the fourth book in the series, The Last Devil To Die. The group don’t believe a friend who has been murdered over drugs would ever be involved in drugs and decide to investigate. The police, including the NCA, and other drug dealers, are no match for the gang of four. This time around we have a very poignant read as Elizabeth comes to terms with the fact she can no longer look after her husband at home because of his worsening dementia. Have some tissues handy.

First audiobook of the month was The Nothing Man by Catherine Ryan Howard. Having survived a serial killer who murdered the rest of her family, Eve Black writes a book about “The Nothing Man”, hoping to track him down. A security guard reading the book becomes incensed because he is “The Nothing Man” and needs to ensure his identity is never revealed. A clever audiobook that mixes the two perspectives.

You can’t beat a twisty thriller that keeps you guessing right up to the end and my next audiobook, Silent Waters from L. V. Matthews fits right into that category. A woman is missing presumed dead and Jen Harper is one of the police divers searching for a body. Jen knows the missing woman, in fact, her husband is the father of Jen’s son, a secret no-one knows. This is just one of many secrets that could be the cause of the woman going missing.

Last audiobook of the month was Leonard And Hungry Paul by Ronan Hession. This is a wonderfully charming story about two young men who lead very ordinary lives, happy with their lot, never wanting to draw attention to themselves. Although very little happens, for Leonard and Hungry Paul there are far-reaching consequences.

Publication dates to watch out for are:-

The Fake Wife by Sharon Bolton will be published on 9/11/23 in hardback, ebook and audio format.

The First 48 Hours by Simon Kernick will be published on 9/11/23 in hardback, ebook and audio format.


No comments:

Post a Comment

Worst Idea Ever by Jane Fallon (Audiobook)

  Lydia and Georgia have been the best of friends for over twenty years. Hoping to give her friend a confidence boost, Georgia creates a fak...