Weekly Wrap Up (November 18)

Another busy week where winter has tried to make its mark with it feeling markedly colder, at least at times.

This Week on the Blog

My week started with a review for The Golden Child by Wendy James, a chilling psychological thriller.

My excerpt post was selected from a book from my own bookshelf, The Lie of You by Jane Lythell a psychological thriller based in an office.

This Week in Books had me featuring the authors Jane Harper, Eliza Graham and Tana French.

My review of the fabulous The Murder of Harriet Monckton by Elizabeth Haynes followed on Thursday.

My final review of the week was for The Lies We Told by Camilla Way, making this a bumper week for reading my own books.

This Time Last Year…

I was reading Anything You Do Say by Gillian McAllister a fabulous novel which gives the reader a moral dilemma with a ‘sliding doors’ scenario, great characters who behave realistically and superb plotting all coming together to give a fresh feel despite the elements appearing in other novels.

The scenario that sets the scene is a woman is going home after a night out and she feels she is being followed. Down some dark steps the man falls to his death – in one scenario the woman carries on and pretend it didn’t happen; in the other she calls for help.

You can read my original review here or click on the book cover

Blurb

It’s the end of the night. You’re walking home on your own.
Then you hear the sound every woman dreads. Footsteps. Behind you. Getting faster.
You’re sure it’s him – the man from the bar who wouldn’t leave you alone.
You make a snap decision. You turn. You push. Your pursuer tumbles down the steps. He lies motionless, face-down on the floor.
Now what?

Call 999

Wait for the police to arrive. For judgement, for justice, whatever that may be. You just hope your husband, family and friends, everyone you love, will stand by you.

OR:

Run

Stay silent. You didn’t mean to do it. You were scared, you panicked. And no one saw. No one will ever know. If you leave now. If you keep quiet. For ever.
Which will it be? Amazon

Stacking the Shelves

At the end of last month we had our annual book sale on the island that raises funds for Guide Dogs for the Blind and I’m pleased to say I managed to pick up some excellent books including two by Reginald Hill to add to my collection;

Number 7 in the Dalziel & Pascoe series by Reginald Hill is Deadheads which was published back in 1983.

Patrick Aldermann, an accountant with a company that makes toilets, is passionate about his roses, which he prunes ruthlessly, ‘deadheading’ any blossoms a minute past their prime so as to make space for the younger blooms. Not much of a gardener, Dalziel views Patrick as a strong contender for the title of Most Boring Man in Yorkshire. Pascoe, though, has noticed that senior executives at the toilet company ‘gentlemen, you might say, just a minute past their prime’ have an unlucky habit of dying. And when they do, it’s all but inevitably Patrick who, like a lucky young bloom, is poised to take their place.

My second find On Beulah Heights by Reginald Hill published in 1998 is the 17th book in the Dalziel & Pascoe series.

Blurb

Fifteen years ago they moved everyone out of Dendale. They needed a new reservoir and an old community seemed a cheap price to pay. But four inhabitants of the valley could not be moved, for nobody knew where they were: three little girls who had gone missing, and the prime suspect in their disappearance, Benny Lightfoot.

This was Andy Dalziel’s worst case and now he looks set to relive it. Another child goes missing in the next valley, and old fears arise as someone sprays the deadly message on Danby bridge: BENNY’S BACK! Amazon

Another favourite author who I have a selection of their novels on the TBR is Kate Atkinson but I didn’t have a copy of When Will There be Good News so I was delighted to find a copy for my bookshelf although I did read this at the time it was published in 2008.

Blurb

Three lives come together in unexpected and thrilling ways in Kate Atkinson’s When Will There Be Good News?

On a hot summer day, Joanna Mason’s family slowly wanders home along a country lane. A moment later, Joanna’s life is changed forever…

On a dark night thirty years later, ex-detective Jackson Brodie finds himself on a train that is both crowded and late. Lost in his thoughts, he suddenly hears a shocking sound…

At the end of a long day, 16-year-old Reggie is looking forward to watching a little TV. Then a terrifying noise shatters her peaceful evening. Luckily, Reggie makes it a point to be prepared for an emergency…

These three lives come together in unexpected and deeply thrilling ways in the latest novel from Kate Atkinson. Blurb

I also purchased a brand new book, Jane Doe by Victoria Helen Stone having been intrigued by the premise and the reviews I’ve read.

Blurb

A double life with a single purpose: revenge.

Jane’s days at a Midwest insurance company are perfectly ordinary. She blends in well, unremarkably pretty in her floral-print dresses and extra efficient at her low-level job. She’s just the kind of woman middle manager Steven Hepsworth likes—meek, insecure, and willing to defer to a man. No one has any idea who Jane really is. Least of all Steven.

But plain Jane is hiding something. And Steven’s bringing out the worst in her.

Nothing can distract Jane from going straight for his heart: allowing herself to be seduced into Steven’s bed, to insinuate herself into his career and his family, and to expose all his dirty secrets. It’s time for Jane to dig out everything that matters to Steven. So she can take it all away.
Just as he did to her. Amazon

What have you found to read?

I’m delighted to record that the TBR is simply melting away with only 165!!!
Physical Books – 112
Kindle Books – 36
NetGalley Books –16
Audio Books –1

I have added three reviews of my own books since my last count and so even with one new book bought since my last TBR I still have 2 2/3 worth of book tokens!