Poison At The Village Show by Catherine Coles (Audiobook)

 

When the Chairwoman of Westleham Village show is poisoned, suspicion falls on Martha Miller. Martha has been living under a cloud since the day her husband disappeared and some of the residents believe she's murdered him and buried him in her garden. In an effort to clear her name, Martha joins forces with the new vicar to uncover the real murderer.

When choosing an audiobook I really want something that I don't have to focus on too much, therefore Poison At The Village Show from Catherine Coles sounded ideal. I was looking forward to immersing myself in this cozy murder mystery, especially as it's the first of a series.

Set just after the end of World War II, we quickly learn of Martha Miller's background. Since the day her husband, Stan, left for work and never returned Martha has always been viewed suspiciously by the rest of the village. Everything is in her husband's name, so Martha has had to lead an extremely frugal existence. To make ends meet her younger sister has moved in.

When someone is poisoned at the village show suspicion falls on Martha not only because of her history but also because the person was drinking some of Martha's homemade gin. Rather than hide away, Martha is determined to clear her name by discovering who is responsible for the murder.

Initially, I wasn't gripped by the story, possibly because a lot of time was spent building Martha's backstory. Once the murder took place and the investigation began I became more invested and was hooked by the end.

The setting was perfect for a cozy murder mystery, a sleepy little village where everyone knows everyone else's business and secrets are almost impossible to hide. Despite this, we learn that appearances can be deceptive and that behind closed doors lives are less than perfect. It was funny listening to characters dealing with the conventions of society. A married woman, alone with the young vicar is fuel for village gossip.

Martha manages to solve more than one crime by the conclusion of the story, however, there are still a few unanswered questions. By leaving a couple of threads unfinished this is an ideal way to tempt readers/listeners to the next book in the series.

Who She Was by Tony Parsons

 

A mysterious young woman, Clementine, turns up early one morning on the beach of St. Jude's in Cornwall. The residents of the small fishing community quickly treat her as one of their own. Clementine has recently been widowed and she is seeking a new life away from London. When her husband turns up, we learn that Clementine faked her own death to escape an abusive relationship. However, her husband is determined that she will return home with him.

I would describe Who She Was from Tony Parsons as a "slow burner", there's nothing dramatic in the early part of the story but you have this nagging doubt that there's something not quite right. We meet Tom, a journalist who gave up his job in London in order to open a restaurant in the Cornish village ten years before. Life for Tom sounds idyllic; he's doing a job he loves and has been accepted as a member of the community.

When Clementine turns up she has a strange effect on the residents. Her beauty and mystery seem to be a magnet for most of the men, and the women willingly accept her. There are hints of jealousy as some of the men vie for Clementine's attention, but none of it is hostile. This ability to play with people's affections is what makes you wary of the character. Initially I felt sympathetic, particularly when I learnt about her husband's death,  but this changed as she proved to be fickle.

The appearance of Clementine's husband is the catalyst for the story. You immediately begin to question everything she has said. As both sides of the relationship give their version of events you really do begin to wonder who, if anyone, is telling the truth. The more we learn about Clementine you begin to wonder if she is a masterful manipulator, particularly where men are concerned.

A momentary lapse leads to devastating consequences and we see the community rally together to protect its own. You feel the tension coming off the page in waves but there is always that niggle, a doubt, that we're still missing something. The conclusion finally reveals a number of twists, one of which is satisfying and another that has been there all along, just out of sight.

The Cornish coastline has to be mentioned as it's like a character itself. Beautiful and alluring but with hidden depths that are full of danger, waiting to drag the unsuspecting down. It is impossible not to make comparisons between the landscape and Clementine.

Who She Was by Tony Parsons will be published on 17th August 2023 in hardback, ebook and audio format. My thanks to NetGalley and Random House UK for a review copy.

Stop Them Dead by Peter James

 

In the dead of night, a gang of thieves steals a litter of puppies. The owner is killed as they drive off. Roy Grace and his team investigate the murder and discover that criminals have realised that there is a lucrative trade in dogs. As the team digs deeper into the illegal trade, things hit close to home for Grace.

Book number 19 in the Roy Grace series is a cracker. For me, nothing will ever compare to the first book, Dead Simple, but with Stop Them Dead, author Peter James has come pretty close.

The COVID lockdown saw a boom in people getting dogs, and the author has used this as the basis for his current novel. I would never describe theft or murder as simple crimes, but what Peter James has shown in Stop Them Dead is that the crimes committed carry far lower penalties than those involving drugs if convicted, and can pay higher dividends, hence the growing number of illegal crimes involving dogs.

Stealing puppies is the opening crime, which leads to devastating consequences. Since this crime alone wouldn't be sufficient to carry a novel, the author has fleshed the story out with other animal-related crimes and tied them all together seamlessly. Alongside the theft of puppies, we have the illegal import of dogs, dogs being snatched to order for breeding, unethical breeders conning the public, and dogs being stolen and ransomed back to their owners.

The range of different crimes covered is nothing new, but the way in which they are all brought together is done well and is a timely reminder to people about some of the dubious practises criminals are involved in. We see the myriad of ways in which the unsuspecting and trusting public can be conned.

One of the big storylines is heartbreaking. Emotions are put through the wringer when a child contracts rabies through contact with a puppy that has been imported illegally. The author does an excellent job showing the impact of a trivial encounter. We hear very little about rabies since it has been eradicated in the UK. This storyline reminds us of how dreadful the disease is and the extremely low survival rate.

A key character throughout the novel is Gecko, who is one of the most repulsive characters I've come across. My skin crawls just thinking about him. Gecko, along with the people he works for, shows very clearly that they are not animal lovers; to them, dogs are simply a commodity.

Careful investigation and planning led to a nail-biting conclusion, and I was on the edge of my seat, seriously worried about more than one of the police team. I know that Peter James does meticulous research for all of his novels, but he has excelled himself this time.

Stop Them Dead by Peter James will be published on 28th September 2023 in hardback, ebook, and audio format. My thanks to NetGalley and Pan Macmillan for a review copy.

The Red House by Roz Watkins (Audiobook)

 

Twenty years ago, teenager Joseph Flowers brutally murdered his family then drove to a friend's house to complete writing a computer game he was working on. The following morning, as he was fleeing, he crashed and has been in a vegetative state ever since. Celestine Flowers, 6 years old at the time of the murders, was the only survivor. Now living under an assumed name, Eve, she tries to live a quiet life, avoiding any connection with the murders at The Red House. When her grandmother asks her to visit, a series of events are set in motion which lead to devastating consequences and shocking revelations.

The Red House from Roz Watkins is an engrossing thriller with numerous plot twists. You certainly have to keep your wits about you in order to keep up with what is happening. The opening chapters quickly give the background to the brutal murders, setting the scene for the present.

We learn that Joseph was a bit of a loner who liked to write computer games. At the time of the murders, he had been working on his game, The Red House, and people believe that he had included a hidden level explaining why he had carried out the murders. I liked this plot point as it gave us an insight into Joseph's nature and also a reason for the murders to have a cult-like status.

Celestine/Eve is trying to live a quiet life and not draw attention to herself. She's changed her name, and at times resorts to changing her appearance, but every so often she's spotted, usually by people interested in finding the hidden level in the computer game. As a result of this, she is reluctant to trust people. There is an added complication in that she suffers from face blindness. Initially, I thought this was an unnecessary addition to the story-line, but it becomes pivotal to the plot on a number of occasions.

When Eve visits her grandmother it leads to the discovery that she has been caring for Joseph at home and she wants Eve to take over when she dies. It is this revelation that sets in motion a series of murders. Eve's grandmother has discovered that Joseph can communicate with his eyes and this leads to doubts about who actually committed the murders.

As we delved into the computer game and Eve tried to solve the mystery of what happened at The Red House, a range of different characters were introduced. Just like Eve, I didn't completely trust each character, wondering if they had an ulterior motive. As we approached the conclusion I did feel that the story-line became overly complicated, but the plot twists were impossible to guess and left me reeling at the end.

The Red House by Roz Watkins is published on 22nd June 2023 in hardback, ebook and audio format. My thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins UK for a review copy.

You'd Look Better As A Ghost by Joanna Wallace

 

Struggling with the grief of losing her father Claire receives some unexpected positive news during the funeral. One of her paintings has been shortlisted for a competition. The following day when she receives an email explaining it was an error (the email was sent to the wrong Claire), she decides to seek revenge on the person who sent the email. This sets in motion a series of shocking events.

The genre of the young female killer/serial killer seems to be on a high at the moment, with many of them being full of dark humour. You'd Look Better As A Ghost from Joanna Wallace fits nicely into this category. 

The opening chapter really doesn't prepare you for what is about to come. There is a fairly mundane scene of small children performing a dance routine for an audience of parents. Everything is completely normal, even funny until the very end when there is a shocking confrontation and we realise that this is a very young Claire and her evil mother.

As Claire seeks revenge on the person who has upset her I initially thought that her grief may have been the trigger that tipped her over the edge, however, we quickly learn that she is an established serial killer, although we never really find out how many people she has killed in the past.

Claire isn't a people person, she tolerates people at best using stock statements and cliches in an effort to fit in and pass for normal. Claire has her own moral code, sometimes it's a slight against herself, other times it's abuse she has witnessed. 

Every now and again we get a glimpse into Claire's childhood. For me, these events are the crux of the story. Is Claire a serial killer because of nature or nurture? It's obvious from a very early age that she's different but is it the emotional abuse she suffers at the hands of her mother that brings out this nature? Thankfully she has a loving father who is sometimes there to temper the situation. Over time her father realises exactly what she is capable of, this reminded me a little bit of the father/son relationship in the Dexter series.

I couldn't help but like Claire. As she solved one "problem" only for it to reveal another I was worried about how she would resolve everything by the end. I certainly didn't spot the twist at the end but loved the way it was concluded.

You'd Look Better As A Ghost by Joanna Wallace will be published on 21st September 2023 in hardback and ebook format. My thanks to NetGalley and Viper Books for a review copy.

The Marlow Murder Club by Robert Thorogood (Audiobook)

 

Pensioner Judith Potts hears a noise from her neighbour's property. She's convinced her neighbour has been shot but the police don't seem to be interested, so she sets out to investigate herself. During the investigation she is aided by the vicar's wife and a local dog walker. When more local residents are murdered it looks like Marlow has it's very own serial killer.

The cozy crime mystery, The Marlow Murder Club from Robert Thorogood works really well as an audiobook. The narrator does an excellent job of portraying the different characters and the pace is perfect. 

Judith Potts, is the perfectly eccentric lead character that every cozy mystery needs. Financially stable and of an age so that she doesn't care what anyone else think, she is able to get away with a myriad of transgressions. She's also highly intelligent and likes nothing more than a puzzle to solve.

Supporting Judith are vicar's wife Becks and dog walker Suzie, both of whom wouldn't normally get involved with anything such as solving a murder (or two) but end up being strong-armed by Judith. Over the course of the investigation we see both women grow in confidence as they contribute to solving the multiple murders. The increase in self-esteem also sees both of them go out on a limb as the conclusion approaches.

The actual plot is one that has been done before but it works well in this setting and the build up to the revelations of the conclusion is frantic; you are seriously worried for each characters well-being.

The Marlow Murder Club will appeal to fans of Richard Osman, J. M. Hall, Fiona Leitch and S. J. Bennett.

The Trap by Catherine Ryan Howard

 

Young women are disappearing in Ireland and after a year the police still have no clues so the sister of one of the women decides to walk alone in the dead of night to try and trap the killer herself.

Fans of Catherine Ryan Howard will be aware of how twisty her novels are, I'm pleased to say The Trap is no different. I frequently say that when I've finished a novel I want to go back and reread because of all the twists. Well, with The Trap I went straight back and reread chapter 1 as soon as I'd finished.

The novel opens with a scary scene of a young woman walking along country roads late at night. We slowly learn that her sister had disappeared a year ago. When a stranger pulls up in a car the tension immediately intensifies; this is the moment she's been waiting for. Everything about the scene makes the hairs on the back of your neck stand up and your skin crawl. 

As the second chapter opens we learn about Lucy and her sister Nicki, Nicki has been missing for a year. Lucy is frustrated that the police and media did not take her sisters disappearance seriously. The police only launched an investigation when a pretty seventeen year old girl disappeared but have not found any of the women or have any clues about their abductor. 

I had so much empathy for Lucy, you really got the impression that her life was in limbo. She is desperate to know what has happened to Nicki. She knows it won't bring her peace but it will conclude the endless torture of not knowing if she's alive or dead. 

Every so often we get a different narrator. We hear from the abductor as he explains how everything started, a chance encounter that set him on the road to abducting women. Then there is a female narrator, a woman determined to get out of the derelict room she's in but fearful of angering someone. These voices leave you apprehensive about what is going to happen.

The conclusion brings all the various threads together, with a number of twists that turn the whole story on its head, hence my need to go straight back to the beginning and reread the opening chapter. The author also gives some details about the real-life case that inspired the novel, unfortunately that story doesn't have a conclusion.

The Trap by Catherine Ryan Howard will be published on 17th August 2023 in hardback. ebook and audio version will be published on 3rd August 2023. My thanks to NetGalley and Random House UK for a review copy.