Five of the Best (June 2011 to 2015)

As I have now been reviewing for over five years I thought I’d highlight my favourite book for each month from 2011 until 2015 to remind myself of the good ones. When we are talking five years ago, they must be good if I still remember them!

My favourite read in June 2011 was a find courtesy of Amazon Vine; The Ghost of Lily Painter by Caitlin Davies which tells the story of Annie Sweet who on moving to a new home feels compelled to delve into the house’s past… what she finds is the story of two baby farmer’s who when entrusted with babies that their mother’s were unable to keep with them, killed them. Well-told and backed up by solid research this book left a lasting impression on me.

Click on the book cover to read my review

Blurb

The first time Annie Sweet sees 43 Stanley Road, the house is so perfect she almost feels as though it has chosen her. She longs to move in, but with her husband seeming more distant, and her daughter wrapped up in her friends and new school, Annie is left alone to mull over the past.
Soon she becomes consumed by the house and everyone who has lived there before her, especially a young chorus girl called Lily Painter, a rising star of the music hall whose sparkling performances were the talk of the town.
As Annie delves further into Lily’s past she begins to unravel a dark episode from Edwardian London, that of two notorious baby farmers, who lured young unmarried mothers with the promise of a better life for their babies. Until Annie solves the mystery at the heart of the scandal, the ghost of Lily Painter will never be able to rest.
Based on a real period from London’s rich history, Caitlin Davies skilfully blends fact and fiction to bring to life part of our sinister past. Spanning an entire century, from the journals of an Edwardian police inspector to a doomed wartime love affair, The Ghost of Lily Painter is an engrossing and poignant novel from a hugely talented writer. Goodreads

My choice for June 2012 is the second from a series that I have continued to enjoy. Written by the writing duo Nicci French. Tuesday’s Gone features the Psychotherapist Freida Klein who is drawn into another collaboration with the police

Blurb

In Tuesday’s Gone, a London social worker makes a routine home visit only to discover her client serving afternoon tea to a naked, decomposing corpse. With no clues as to the dead man’s identity, Chief Inspector Karlsson again calls upon Frieda for help. She discovers that the body belongs to Robert Poole, con man extraordinaire. But Frieda can’t shake the feeling that the past isn’t done with her yet. Did someone kill Poole to embroil her in the investigation? And if so, is Frieda herself the next victim?
A masterpiece of paranoia, Tuesday’s Gone draws readers inexorably into a fractured and faithless world as it brilliantly confirms Frieda Klein as a quintessential heroine for our times. Goodreads

My June 2013 I read The Making of Us by Lisa Jewell, a writer who has moved from the chick-lit arena to one that deals with serious issues without losing the ability to draw her reader into the scenario posed, in this case sperm donors.

Click on the book cover to read my review

Blurb

Lydia, Robyn and Dean don’t know each other – yet.
They live very different lives but each of them, independently, has always felt that something is missing.
What they don’t know is that a letter is about to arrive that will turn their lives upside down.
It is a letter containing a secret – one that will bind them together, and show them what love and familyand friendship really mean… Amazon

Last year I was on holiday during June so I have a large selection to choose from, but in the end, the choice was easy Just What Kind of Mother Are You? by Paula Daly is a terrific example of domestic noir. When one mother forgets to notify another that her daughter won’t be able to stay over and then she goes missing, you can imagine who the finger is pointed at.

Click on the book cover to read my review

Blurb

Your friend’s child is missing. It’s your fault.
No family is perfect.
A husband, three children and a full-time job, so many plates to keep spinning.
No wonder you forgot you were supposed to be looking after your friend’s daughter.
But no one has seen her since yesterday.
And she’s not the first to go missing from your small town.
So who’s hiding something? Amazon

Once again picking my favourite book over the last month is proving difficult but I do have to pick between two excellent but very different reads and have gone for A Game For All The Family by Sophie Hannah which is due to be published in August. Never before have I got quite so far through a book where I’m enormously enjoying what I’m reading but have no clue what actually is going on… the oddest experience but I’m relieved to say all did become clear in the end.

Click on the book cover to read my review

Blurb

After escaping London and a career that nearly destroyed her, Justine plans to spend her days doing as little as possible in her beautiful home in Devon.
But soon after the move, her daughter Ellen starts to withdraw when her new best friend, George, is unfairly expelled from school. Justine begs the head teacher to reconsider, only to be told that nobody’s been expelled – there is, and was, no George.
Then the anonymous calls start: a stranger, making threats that suggest she and Justine share a traumatic past and a guilty secret – yet Justine doesn’t recognise her voice. When the caller starts to talk about three graves – two big and one small, to fit a child – Justine fears for her family’s safety.
If the police can’t help, she’ll have to eliminate the danger herself, but first she must work out who she’s supposed to be… Amazon

I hope you have enjoyed my trip through my June reads, if you missed the previous months you can find them here:

January Five of the Best
February Five of the Best
March Five of the Best
April Five of the Best
May Five of the Best