Posted in Weekly Posts

Stacking the Shelves (June 6)

Stacking the shelves

Stacking The Shelves is all about sharing the books you’re adding to your shelves, be it buying or borrowing. From ‘real’ books you’ve purchased, a book you’ve borrowed, a book you’ve been given or an e-book they can all be shared!

Well after a week’s break to share my 20 Books of Summer 2015! challenge post I seem to have acquired a few more books!

First up from NetGalley I am thrilled and delighted to have a copy of After The Fire by Jane Casey featuring the brilliant Maeve Kerrigan and Josh Derwent, this book is due to be published on 18 June 2015.

After The Fire

Blurb

Arson, accident or murder?
After a fire rips through a North London tower block, two bodies are found locked in their 11th floor flat. But is the third victim that ensures the presence of detective Maeve Kerrigan and the murder squad. It appears that controversial MP Geoff Armstrong, trapped by the fire, chose to jump to his death rather than wait for rescue. But what was such a right wing politician doing in the deprived, culturally diverse Maudling Estate?
As Maeve and her senior colleague, Derwent, pick through the wreckage, they uncover the secret world of the 11th floor, where everyone seems to have something to hide… NetGalley

and I’m equally as thrilled and delighted to have received a copy of First One Missing by Tammy Cohen which is due to be published on 2 July 2015.

First One Missing

Blurb

There are three things no-one can prepare you for when your daughter is murdered:
– You are haunted by her memory day and night
– Even close friends can’t understand what you are going through.
– Only in a group with mothers of other victims can you find real comfort.
But as the bereaved parents gather to offer support in the wake of another killing, a crack appears in the group that threatens to rock their lives all over again.
Welcome to the club no one wants to join. NetGalley

Now comes the naming and shaming for all of you bloggers who have made me stray…. First up is The Book Trail who are constantly tempting me with their original reviews complete with maps. They had a competition to win a copy of The Illusionists by Rosie Thomas and I was lucky enough to win!

The Illusionists

Blurb

London, 1885
As a turbulent and change-filled century draws to a close, there has never been a better time to alter your fortune. But for a beautiful young woman of limited means, Eliza’s choices appear to lie between the stifling domesticity of marriage or a downwards spiral to the streets – no matter how determined she is to forge her own path.
One night at a run-down theatre, she meets the charismatic Devil Wix – showman, master of illusion, fickle friend. Drawn into his circle, Eliza becomes the catalyst of change for his colleagues – a dwarf, an eccentric engineer, and an artist – as well as Devil himself. And as Eliza embarks on a dangerous adventure, she must decide which path to choose, and how far she should go when she holds all their lives in her hands. Goodreads

or click on the link to read The Book Trail review

And then there is Sonya at A Lover of Books who also has a wonderful selection of books on her blog. She had a competition to win a copy of Set Me Free by Daniela Sacerdoti and I won that too.

Set Me Free

Blurb

In London, Margherita’s marriage has slowly been falling apart since her little Lewis’ birth, a surprise baby much wanted by her but not by her husband. To add to her problems, her adopted daughter, Lara, is going through a rough patch and all of a sudden she’s gone from quiet and introverted to constantly angry, burdened by the unhappy memories of her early childhood. Then Margherita’s husband, Ashley, suddenly announces he needs a break from the marriage and from family life. He couldn’t have chosen a worse time, just when Lara needs him most.
As Margherita struggles to come to terms with what’s happening to her, she decides that maybe this is the chance for Laura to spend some time away from London, and for her mother and daughter to reconnect. So, together with three-year-old Lewis, they decide to spend the summer in Glen Avich, where Margherita’s mum and stepfather have opened a coffee shop, La Piazza. To keep herself busy, Margherita agrees to help Torcuil Ramsay get his crumbling estate in order, with Lara’s help. And as her plan begins to work, Lara increasingly finds peace in the beautiful house and its huge library, and in a new friendship with a mysterious local boy, Mal.
And as Margherita discovers, Glen Avich can have a strange effect on people and soon her heart is reawakened by shy, awkward Torcuil in a way she’d never thought possible again. But Mal is hiding a secret, and the summer won’t last forever . . .
Spellbinding and emotional, Set Me Free is a beautifully written story of a family in crisis and a secret that will change their lives forever. Goodreads

And then I’m blaming Fiction Fan for the next book which I purchased on her recommendation following my review of The Magnificent Spilsbury and the case of the Brides in the Bath by Jane Robins, so I have a copy of The Curious Habits of Doctor Adams by the same author.

The Curious Habits of Doctor Adams

Blurb

‘Was rich Mrs Gertrude Hullett murdered at her luxurious 15-room home on Beachy Head? Detectives are tonight trying to establish the cause of the 50-year-old widow’s sudden death…’ Daily Mail, 1957
In July 1957, the press descended in droves on the south-coast town of Eastbourne. An inquest had just been opened into the suspicious circumstances surrounding the death of Mrs Bobbie Hullett. She died after months of apparent barbiturate abuse – the drugs prescribed to calm her nerves by her close friend and doctor, Dr John Bodkin Adams.
The inquest brought to the surface years of whispered suspicion that had swept through the tea rooms, shops and nursing homes of the town. The doctor’s alarming influence over the lives, deaths and finances of wealthy widows had not gone unnoticed – it was rumoured that the family doctor had been on a killing spree that spanned decades and involved 300 suspicious cases. Superintendent Hannam of Scotland Yard was called in to investigate.
The Curious Habits of Dr Adams brilliantly brings to life the atmosphere of post-war England, and uses a wealth of new documents to follow the twists and turns of an extraordinary Scotland Yard murder enquiry. As expertly crafted as the best period detective novel, this book casts an entertainingly chilling light on a man reputed to be one of England’s most prolific serial killers. Amazon

When Kay from Kay’s Reading Life started reviewing the Days of the Week series by Nicci French she reminded me that I still hadn’t read Thursday’s Child, you can read her review here

Thursday's Child

Blurb

Two crimes, generations apart . . .
Twenty years ago teenager Frieda Klein was brutally attacked in her own home. No one believed her – not the police, not her mother, not her friends. She left town, trained as a psychologist and never went back.
Now an old classmate has shown up. She wants help with her daughter, who claims to have been attacked at home. An attack eerily similar to the one on Frieda. No one else believes the girl’s story.
Now – with a school reunion in the offing – Frieda returns to the darkness she fled. To the small town which refused to help her and which hides a terrible secret. Because someone at the reunion knows what happened.
And they’ll stop at nothing to prevent Frieda discovering the truth . . . Amazon

Search as I might I can’t find a culprit for my purchase of You Should Have Known by Jean Hanff Korelitz but I’m sure one of you are guilty.

You Should Have Known

Blurb

Grace Reinhart Sachs is living the only life she ever wanted for herself, devoted to her husband, a pediatric oncologist at a major cancer hospital, their young son Henry, and the patients she sees in her therapy practice. Grace is also the author of You Should Have Known, a book in which she castigates women for not valuing their intuition and calls upon them to examine their first impressions of men for signs of serious trouble later on. But weeks before the book is published, a chasm opens in her own life: a violent death, a missing husband, and, in the place of a man Grace thought she knew, only a chain of terrible revelations. Left behind in the wake of a spreading and very public disaster and horrified by the ways in which she has failed to heed her own advice, Grace must dismantle one life and create another for her child and herself. Goodreads

Lastly I was delighted that Lovereading saw fit to provide me with a copy of A Game For All The Family by Sophie Hannah which will be published on 13 August 2015.

A Game for all the Family

Blurb

Justine thought she knew who she was, until an anonymous caller seemed to know better…
After fleeing London and a career that nearly destroyed her, Justine Merrison plans to spend her days doing as little as possible. But soon after the move, her daughter Ellen starts to seem strangely withdrawn. Checking Ellen’s homework one day, Justine finds herself reading a chillingly articulate story about a series of sinister murders committed at the family’s new house. Can Ellen really have made all this up, as she claims? Why would she invent something so grotesque, set it in her own home and name one of the characters after herself? When Justine discovers that Ellen has probably also invented her best friend at school, who appears not to be known to any of the teachers, Justine’s alarm turns to panic.
Then the anonymous phone calls start: a stranger, making accusations and threats that suggest she and Justine share a traumatic past – yet Justine doesn’t recognise her voice. When the caller starts to talk about three graves – two big ones and a smaller one for a child – Justine fears for her family’s safety. If the police can’t help, she’ll have to confront the danger herself, but first she must work out who she’s supposed to be… Goodreads

Any of these take your fancy or perhaps you’ve already read them?
What have you found to read this week? Please do share in the comments below

Author:

A book lover who clearly has issues as obsessed with crime despite leading a respectable life

32 thoughts on “Stacking the Shelves (June 6)

  1. Fiction Fan has guided you well – I loved Curious Habits of Doctor Adams and I’m sure you will too. And though I’m not reading as much crime as I used too I am pleased to know that there are new books on the way by Jane Casey and Sophie Hannah. You have lots of lovely possibilities there, and I’m looking forward to finding out what you think of them.

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  2. Gosh you are going to be busy with all these. I’m trying hard to constrain my buying at the moment but like you, when i read another blog I’m always tempted…

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    1. Thank you Margaret, I’m a huge Jane Casey fan so I’m thrilled to have the next outing of Maeve Kerrigan. I have my fingers crossed that the Sophie Hannah is a good one as at her best she provides a brilliant puzzle.

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  3. Lots of great adds to your books this time, Cleo! I’m especially excited you’re planning to review the Casey. I like her Maeve Kerrigan series quite a lot, so I’m biased. Even so…

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  4. I love reading what you’ve acquired, Cleo. Love it. I get way, way too many ideas. And then I have to go and investigate and usually find that whatever won’t be published on my side of the pond until 2016 or something. Sigh.

    Thanks for the hat tip about Thursday’s Child or Thursday’s Children (and why does that book have two names?). I have the new Jane Casey ordered already and also the Friday book in the Frieda Klein series. So looking forward to both of those. Will be investigating others on your list, but wonder of all wonders, I’ve already read You Should Have Known. Enjoyed it. It’s a little odd. Still, a good book. Have a good weekend!!

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    1. Thank you Kay, I love looking at your reviews as you find so many interesting titles but it’s always better when they release the titles both sides of the pond in the same year! – I have no idea why Thursday’s Child changed its name – it was Thursday’s Children here when the book was a hardback too – very odd but this is one I will share with a good friend who loves the series too.
      Haha I might have known you’d read You Should Have Known, sometimes odd is good!

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    1. It was a spectacular haul this week – the last big one of the summer while I try hard to read my 20 books without acquiring everything on everyone else’s list 🙂 Set Me Free looks great, I’m much better at winning books than anything else!

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  5. Nice haul. I especially like the ones set in London in your batch. And, I’m taken with The Illusionists. Have a good reading week.

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  6. Yay! I have the Jane Casey too – I noticed her new YA novel is coming out later in the summer too, so an added bonus! So glad you’re going for Dr Adams – I’m sure you’ll enjoy it, and fair’s fair, you added Spilsbury to my TBR too! I decided against the Tammy Cohen on the grounds that I seem to have read an awful lot of ‘dead children’ books this year, and I don’t think I can take any more for a while. But perhaps you’ll persuade me to change my mind…

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    1. I was very excited about both the Jane Casey and Tammy Cohen so watch this space… I forgot I’d added the Spilsbury to your TBR but hey I couldn’t possibly take responsibility for this huge haul when I am supposed to be cutting back 😉

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  7. Hi Cleo,

    Congratulations on your competition wins – there is always that extra little bit of satisfaction for me, when I win a book!

    I also have the Jane Casey to read, courtesy of NetGalley, but I must have missed the Tammy Cohen, so I have already put in a request, hoping to rectify that small oversight!

    The Nicci French I aread have on my bookshelves somewhere and I shall definitely be on the lookout for the Jane Robins.

    Well! That’s me more or less stacked out for the forseeable future, so thanks for sharing your great new finds 🙂

    Yvonne

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    1. Thank you Yvonne, really looking forward to the Jane Casey and Tammy Cohen. I have to say Jane Robins book about Spilsbury was an amazing read so I didn’t need much persuading to add the Curious habits of Dr Adams too. Thanks for taking the time to stop by and add a comment. I am better at winning books than the lottery 😉

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  8. Wow, so many books. First One Missing sounds so sad, but also very good. And I REALLY want to read Nicci French’s series – my library has Monday-Wednesday, so hopefully they will get Thursday. I’ve just been trying to find a good time to start them.

    -Lauren
    http://www.shootingstarsmag.blogspot.com

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