Not A Sound – Heather Gudenkauf

Contemporary Fiction
4*s

Heather Gudenkauf’s books fit into a mix of genres leading with a strong element of crime fiction, defiantly thrilling whilst ultimately being triumphantly character but let’s don’t forget they also include issues as well as the spark of romance, all of which provides something for everyone without becoming a jack of all trades and master of none.

Amelia Winn is profoundly deaf following a hit and run accident. Cut adrift from the nursing work she loved she hits the bottle much to the fury of her husband David who needs to be able to trust her with his young daughter Nora. We meet her two years after the accident when out on the river with her service dog, Stitch, she finds a body. What happens next is terrifying and mysterious in equal measures.

The atmosphere in this book is ramped up by Amelia’s isolation, not only through her hearing loss but the fact that she has decamped from the marital home to an isolated cabin where she is slowly trying to pick up the pieces of her shattered life. It is impossible not to feel some sympathy for the poor woman who has cut herself off from her former friends, with only policeman Jake, her brother’s best friend, as a constant in her life. Jake has encouraged her to stop drinking and now she is ready to try to start work again, sadly not as a nurse but she’s applied for an admin job for an oncologist. The two strands build up a real picture of Hannah’s life and I liked the fact that although she had lost the early battles for her true self, she is no victim, she accepts that she could have handled things differently and that the loss of David and Nora in her life is as a direct result of how she acted.

There’s quite a lot going on in this book and I spent the first half or so imagining that the book was going to veer off in a totally different direction than it did but that’s not to say the author cheated the reader, the case was that I thought I knew better! As well as the well-researched hearing loss storyline the author, inspired by her son’s cancer, the strand that takes us into the files that Hannah works on as she updates the surgeon’s records. And of course at the heart of the book is a solid mystery. Who is the murderer and what was their motive?

I raced through this book and enjoyed the variety as well as the strong characters and exceptionally visual descriptions that the author paints for the reader. Although I felt there were a few occasions when the author repeated Hannah’s thoughts to ensure her readers got the point this was nicely balanced by the brilliant action scenes where the author gently reminds us how Hannah’s hearing loss means she has extra obstacles to overcome. With an ending that deliberately doesn’t sew up all the loose ends this book had a real feel of realism to it, which is always a bonus.

I have enjoyed so many of Heather Gudenkauf’s books, each one telling a very different story but all having a solid plot, great pacing and best of all being utterly compelling.

I’d like to thank the publishers HQ for allowing me to read an advance copy of Not A Sound, this review is my unbiased thanks to them.

First Published UK: 30 May 2017
Publisher: HQ
No of Pages: 352
Genre: Contemporary Fiction

Amazon UK
Amazon US

Books by Heather Gudenkauf
The Weight of Silence (2009)
These Things Hidden (2011)
One Breath Away (2012)
Little Mercies (2014)
Missing Pieces (2016)

Weekly Wrap Up (May 15)

I know this is one day late this week but as I was part of the Need You Dead blog tour yesterday I decided it was better late than never, especially a I’ve reviewed some stunning books over the last week, and have found some winning looking ones to add to my shelves.

This Week on the Blog

I started my week with the Mystery Blogger Award where I presented you with three facts about me and confirmed that my favourite genre is indeed crime fiction!

My excerpt post was from All The Good Things by Clare Fisher which I hope to read before its publication on 1 June 2017.

My This Week in Books post featured authors Ruth Rendell, Lucy Atkins and Elisabeth Herrmann

My first review of the week was posted on Thursday for Boy A by Jonathan Trigell, an intelligent look at what reintroduction to society might look like if you were locked up for a serious crime as a child.

I then posted my review of a non-fiction reads, an outstandingly good true-crime read. Unusually The Fact of a Body by Alexandria Marzano-Lesnevich is the exploration of a crime is spliced with the author’s memoir, the result is one of a most compelling read.

The third five-star review of the week was for The Night Visitor by Lucy Atkins which is a real character led novel with the underlying plot hinging on the publication of a book by historian Olivia Sweetman. A book I have boldly declared will be one of my books of 2017.

My last and final five-star review was a man who now feels like a dear friend, Roy Grace the star of Peter James’ crime fiction series here in his thirteenth outing; Need You Dead.

This Time Last Year…

I was reading Play Dead by Angela Marsons, the fourth in an outstanding series featuring Detective Kim Stone as she tackles crime in the Black Country. Gruesomely set on a Body Farm where the scientists learn how a body decomposes in different environments to aid in determining the time of death. The well-drawn characters provide the perfect back-drop to the devilish mystery posed in this novel.

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

Blurb

The dead don’t tell secrets… unless you listen.

The girl’s smashed-in face stared unseeing up to the blue sky, soil spilling out of her mouth. A hundred flies hovered above the bloodied mess.

Westerley research facility is not for the faint-hearted. A ‘body farm’ investigating human decomposition, its inhabitants are corpses in various states of decay. But when Detective Kim Stone and her team discover the fresh body of a young woman, it seems a killer has discovered the perfect cover to bury their crime.

Then a second girl is attacked and left for dead, her body drugged and mouth filled with soil. It’s clear to Stone and the team that a serial killer is at work – but just how many bodies will they uncover? And who is next?

As local reporter, Tracy Frost, disappears, the stakes are raised. The past seems to hold the key to the killer’s secrets – but can Kim uncover the truth before a twisted, damaged mind claims another victim …?

Stacking the Shelves

I have been super lucky this week with review copies for my last splurge before I cut back for the summer (haha)

First up I have a copy of Not a Sound by Heather Gudenkauf, an author who has written some really thought-provoking books and this, her latest is due to be published on 13 July 2017.

Blurb

A shocking discovery and chilling secrets converge in this latest novel from bestselling author Heather Gudenkauf.

When a tragic accident leaves nurse Amelia Winn deaf, she spirals into a depression that ultimately causes her to lose everything that matters – her job, her husband, David, and her stepdaughter, Nora.

Now, two years later, she is finally getting back on her feet. But when she discovers the body of a fellow nurse in the dense bush by the river, she is plunged into a disturbing mystery that could shatter the carefully reconstructed pieces of her life all over again.

As clues begin to surface, Amelia finds herself swept into an investigation that hits all too close to home. But how much is she willing to risk in order to uncover the truth and bring a killer to justice? NetGalley

I also have a copy of Little Sister by Isabel Ashdown, another author whose previous novels have impressed me. This book will be published on 27 July 2017.

Blurb

A missing child. A broken mother. A sister who doesn’t remember a thing.

After sixteen years apart sisters Jessica and Emily are reunited. With the past now behind them, the warmth they once shared quickly returns and before long Jess has moved into Emily’s comfortable island home. Life couldn’t be better. But when baby Daisy disappears while in Jess’s care, the perfect life Emily has so carefully built starts to fall apart.

Was Emily right to trust her sister after everything that happened before? NetGalley

Lastly I have a much longed for copy of The Child by Fiona Barton; I was a huge fan of The Widow and so I will make sure I read this before publication on 29 July 2017.

Blurb

When a paragraph in an evening newspaper reveals a decades-old tragedy, most readers barely give it a glance. But for three strangers it’s impossible to ignore.

For one woman, it’s a reminder of the worst thing that ever happened to her.
For another, it reveals the dangerous possibility that her darkest secret is about to be discovered.
And for the third, a journalist, it’s the first clue in a hunt to uncover the truth.

The Child’s story will be told. NetGalley

Finally within my Mystery Blogger Award I asked for more crime fiction books based upon real crimes and the lovely and knowledgeable FictionFan recommended Midnight in Peking by Paul French, which was just the sort of thing I was looking for.

Blurb

Peking, 1937:
The teenage daughter of a British consul is brutally slaughtered. The police investigation is botched; as war looms British and Chinese authorities close ranks. A grieving father vows to uncover the truth – alone.

Seventy-five years later, historian Paul French uncovers a stash of forgotten documents revealing the killer’s identity . . .

For those who loved The Suspicions of Mr Whicher and Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil this is a riveting and evocative true crime classic. Amazon

What have you found to read this week? Do share, I’m always on the lookout for a good book!

Since my last post I’ve read 3 books and discarded one as a DNF – I also pruned my TBR of the book that was sent to the charity shop and the one book that hadn’t been removed despite having been read and then I have gained 4. The accountant therefore declares the current total as 185
Physical Books – 108
Kindle Books – 61
NetGalley Books – 16

Missing Pieces – Heather Gudenkauf

Psychological Thriller
3*s

I am a fan of Heather Gudenkauf and was eagerly awaiting this, her latest novel to read especially as the premise was a gripping one and it looked like it explored family secrets and lies, one of my favourite devices!

Sarah accompanies her husband Jack back to his home-town following his Aunt Julia’s hospitalisation following a fall at her home. Julia and her husband Hal had cared for Jack and his sister Amy following the death of his parents while Jack was still in his teens. The family was close but in twenty years of marriage this was the first time that the couple had returned to Penny Gate in Iowa. Once there Sarah, an investigative reporter soon realises that her husband has lied to her over the years and that’s when he hasn’t just refused to talk to her.

As Julia is ill in hospital and the family are turning on Amy who is clearly in a highly emotional state which is exacerbating a mental fragility, Sarah decides to find the missing pieces from the jigsaw that is the life of Jack Quinlan and what she starts to unearth quickly convinces her that Penny Gate is not a safe place she wants to be.
Unfortunately I’m afraid Missing Pieces didn’t quite live up to my expectations although I did need to read to the end to find out if my suspicions were correct; some were, some weren’t! The main issue I had was that the characters in this book, particularly Jack and Sarah who were a fairly unconvincing long-married couple. This combined with the fact that Sarah went into emotional melt-down on realising she hadn’t been told about one of Jack’s high-school girlfriends didn’t help. Now don’t get me wrong there were plenty of things that Jack should have discussed with her years ago but her response to this piece of news was far more fitting a teenager in a new relationship than one underpinned by twenty years of marriage.

While Sarah is out investigating what else Jack has hidden from her she meets the clerk, Margaret from the Sherriff’s office. This kind upstanding lady proceeds to risk her job, and one would presume the good-will of those around her by sharing information and files with Julia but she goes for it, just as well because without those missing pieces the truth would never have come out.

This wasn’t a bad read it just didn’t have much depth and although the characters were a little thinly-drawn the plot was good although you will note that I have some scientism on the methods used to move it along, and without spoiling the story there were many strands that the author kept sufficiently tangled to give serious misdirection on many aspects of the book. There was certainly enough points that kept my interest and it was perfect for a travelling day when books are opened and shut with alarming frequency as I moved to different modes of transport and their associated waiting areas.

I’d like to thank the publishers Harlequin UK for giving me a copy of Missing Pieces ahead of publication on 10 March 2016.

This Week in Books (March 2)

Hosted by Lypsyy Lost & Found my Wednesday post gives you a taste of what I am reading this week. A similar meme is run by Taking on a World of Words

I have just finished  reading Missing Pieces by Heather Gudenkauf which had me absolutely gripped!

To read the synopsis and some excerpts please see yesterday’s post

and now I’m reading Castles in the Air by Alison Ripley Cubitt and Molly Cubitt, a memoir and portrait of a mother.

Blurb

An eight-year-old child witnesses her mother’s secret and knows that from that moment life will never be the same.
After Molly, her mother dies, Alison uses her legacy to make a film about Molly’s relationship with a man she had known since she was a teenager. What hold did this man have over her mother? And what other secrets was her mother hiding?
Castles in the Air follows the life of Molly Ripley through the eyes of her daughter Alison. From Molly’s childhood in colonial Hong Kong and Malaya; wartime adventures as a rookie office girl in the far east outpost of Bletchley Park then as a young nurse in the city; tangled romance and marriage… to her challenging middle-age when demons from the past seem set to overwhelm her.
The writer in Alison can’t stop until she reveals the story of Molly’s past. But as a daughter, does she have the courage to face up to the uncomfortable truths of Molly’s seemingly ordinary life?
As she unravels the private self that Molly kept secret, Alison realises that she is trying to find herself through her mother’s story. By trying to make sense of the past, can she move on with her future?
Honest yet unsentimental and told with abundant love and compassion, this is a profoundly moving portrait of a woman’s life, hopes and dreams. We learn not only about Molly, but about mothers and daughters, secrets and love. A story for readers struggling to come to terms with the trauma of losing loved ones. NetGalley

Next I am planning on finally getting around to reading In Bitter Chill by Sarah Ward, previously known to me through her blog Crimepieces

Blurb

Bampton, Derbyshire, January 1978. Two girls go missing: Rachel Jones returns, Sophie Jenkins is never found. Thirty years later: Sophie Jenkins’s mother commits suicide.
Rachel Jones has tried to put the past behind her and move on with her life. But news of the suicide re-opens old wounds and Rachel realises that the only way she can have a future is to finally discover what really happened all those years ago.
This is a story about loss and family secrets, and how often the very darkest secrets are those that are closest to you. Amazon

What have you chosen to read this week? Have you read any of these?

First Chapter ~ First Paragraph (March 1)

Welcome to another Tuesday celebrating bookish events, from Tuesday/First Chapter/Intros, hosted by Bibliophile by the Sea Every Tuesday, Diane at Bibliophile by the Sea posts the opening paragraph (sometime two) of a book she decided to read based on the opening. Feel free to grab the banner and play along.

My first paragraph this week comes from Missing Pieces by Heather Gudenkauf who is great at crafting stories from events that could almost happen to anyone.

Blurb

Everyone has secrets…
Sarah Quinlan’s husband, Jack, has been haunted for decades by the untimely death of his mother when he was just a teenager, her body found in the cellar of their family farm, the circumstances a mystery. The case rocked the town where Jack was raised, and for years Jack avoided returning home. But when his beloved aunt Julia is in an accident, hospitalised in a coma, Jack and Sarah are forced to confront the past that they have long evaded.
Sarah and Jack are welcomed by the family Jack left behind all those years ago—barely a trace of the wounds that had once devastated them all. But as facts about Julia’s accident begin to surface, Sarah realises that nothing about the Quinlans is what it seems. Caught in a flurry of unanswered questions, Sarah dives deep into the rabbit hole of Jack’s past, but the farther she climbs, the harder it is for her to get out. And soon she is faced with a hard reality she may not be prepared for. NetGalley

~ ~ ~

First Chapter ~ First Paragraph ~ Intro

PROLOGUE
1985

Lydia gazed absentmindedly outside the kitchen window, the bright May sunshine glinting off the dew-glazed sweet-potato vine that cascaded from the window box just beyond the screen. It was barely seven thirty, and fifteen-year-old Jack and eleven-year-old Amy were already on the bus, making the forty-minute ride to school. Their last day before summer vacation began. She’d have to make a special supper to celebrate the occasion. Waffles topped with strawberries and freshly whipped cream, lemonade garnished with mint snipped from the windowsill herb garden.

1
PRESENT DAY

The call, like many of its kind, had come in the early hours of the morning, waking Jack and Sarah from a dead sleep. Jack’s hand snaked from beneath the covers, fumbling for the phone. He grunted a sleepy hello, listened for a moment, then sat up suddenly alert.

Please note that these excerpts come from a proof copy ahead of publication on 10 March 2016


So what do you think? Would you read on?

Stacking the Shelves (January 23)

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 I’ve had a run on NetGalley approvals this week all of which I’m hugely pleased about!

The Ex by Alafair Burke was one book I wished for as it wasn’t available to request, and the NG fairy granted my wish!

Blurb

Widower Jack Harris has resisted the dating scene since the shooting of his wife by a fifteen-year-old boy three years ago. An early morning run along the Hudson River changes that when he spots a woman who eerily but thrillingly echoes his past. Eager to help Jack find love again, his best friend posts a “Missed Moment” item online and days later, a woman responds…
Olivia Randall is one of New York City’s best criminal defense lawyers. When she gets the phone call informing her that her former fiancée, Jack Harris, has been arrested for a triple homicide there is no doubt in her mind as to his innocence. The only question is who would go to such great lengths to frame him – and why?
For Olivia, representing Jack is a way to make up for past regrets, and the hurt she caused him, but as the evidence against him mounts, she is forced to confront her doubts. The man she knew could not have done this. But what if she never really knew him? NetGalley

The Ex will be published on 4 February 2016

March sees the publication of two authors who are on my ‘must-read’ list. Firstly Claire McGowan’s fourth in the Paula McGuire series, A Savage Hunger

Blurb

Victim: Female. Twenty-two years of age.
Reason for investigation: Missing person.
ID: Alice Morgan. Student. Last seen at a remote religious shrine in Ballyterrin.
Alice Morgan’s disappearance raises immediate questions for forensic psychologist Paula Maguire. Alice, the daughter of a life peer in the Home Office, has vanished along with a holy relic – the bones of a saint – and the only trace is the bloodstains on the altar.
With no body to confirm death, the pressure in this high-profile case is all-consuming, and Paula knows that she will have to put her own life, including her imminent marriage, on hold, if they are to find the truth.
A connection to a decades-old murder immediately indicates that all may not be as it seems; as the summer heat rises and tempers fray, can Alice be found or will they learn that those that are hungry for vengeance may be the most savage of all? NetGalley

… and Missing Pieces by Heather Gudenkauf, writer of the brilliant Little Mercies.

Blurb

Everyone has secrets…
Sarah Quinlan’s husband, Jack, has been haunted for decades by the untimely death of his mother when he was just a teenager, her body found in the cellar of their family farm, the circumstances a mystery. The case rocked the town where Jack was raised, and for years Jack avoided returning home. But when his beloved aunt Julia is in an accident, hospitalised in a coma, Jack and Sarah are forced to confront the past that they have long evaded.
Sarah and Jack are welcomed by the family Jack left behind all those years ago—barely a trace of the wounds that had once devastated them all. But as facts about Julia’s accident begin to surface, Sarah realises that nothing about the Quinlans is what it seems. Caught in a flurry of unanswered questions, Sarah dives deep into the rabbit hole of Jack’s past, but the farther she climbs, the harder it is for her to get out. And soon she is faced with a hard reality she may not be prepared for. NetGalley

Finally I also have a copy of Tammy Cohen’s When She Was Bad which will be published on 21 April 2016. There hasn’t been one of this author’s books that I haven’t massively enjoyed so was super thrilled to receive a copy of this one which is looking at working lives – could this be the start of a new type of noir – graft noir perhaps?

Blurb

YOU SEE THE PEOPLE YOU WORK WITH EVERY DAY.
BUT WHAT CAN’T YOU SEE?
Amira, Sarah, Paula, Ewan and Charlie have worked together for years – they know how each one likes their coffee, whose love life is a mess, whose children keep them up at night. But their comfortable routine life is suddenly shattered when an aggressive new boss walks in ….
Now, there’s something chilling in the air.
Who secretly hates everyone?
Who is tortured by their past?
Who is capable of murder?

TBR WATCH
Since my last count I have read 4 books, and gained 4 so I’m running fast to stand still with a total of 174 books!
85 physical books
73 e-books
16 books on NetGalley

What have you found to read this week?

Little Mercies – Heather Gudenkauf

Contemporary Fiction
4*’s

Ellen, happily married to Adam, mother to three children and a demanding working life as a Social Worker. We first meet Ellen on one of those hectic mornings that any parent will recognise, and they leave the house to their appointments without time for a coherent conversation. Ellen drives to one of her families straight into a disaster, finding the police are in attendance when she turns up. Ellen is doing her job and deeply concerned about the family so it isn’t until she hears a commotion that her life comes falling down around her ears. Ellen had left baby Avery in her car in the heat and someone is giving her CPR.

Meanwhile Jenny Briand aged just ten is in the middle of more upheaval, her father has lost another job and they are on the move. It is time for Jenny to gather her meagre possessions together, pack her backpack and set on to an unknown town where a promise of work awaits her father. Jenny has lived with her father for six years all she knows is her mother ran away with her boyfriend and Jenny was in foster care until her father claimed her.

This is a heart-rending tale told in the first person by Ellen and alternatively by Jenny in the third person. A story concentrating on abused, neglected and even dead children is never going to be light-hearted, but Heather Gudenkauf manages to balance this with some truly kind characters, in particular Maudene, who meets Jenny in a pancake shop, taking care of her when she falls ill and Joe a kindly policeman who is friends with Adam and Ellen. The well-drawn characters made me care about all the characters, not just the two main protagonists and I was eager to know what would happen to Ellen? Would Adam be able to forgive her? Why was Jenny living with her father and where was her mother? Even the children are well-formed rather than caricatures behaving in an entirely natural way to the disruption that Ellen’s mistake has bought raining down on their lives.

Alongside a great premise, a well-executed storyline and rounded characters this book raises lots of questions. There is the, sometimes none too subtle, reflections of Ellen when she realises that parents she charges with neglect and child endangerment are having to be investigated the way she is. Being subjected to the same conditions that she is and feeling the embarrassment of being judged by others the way that others are now judging her.

As in her previous novels, The Weight of Silence, These Things Hidden and One Breath Away, Heather Gudenkauf handles the multiple viewpoints perfectly allowing the reader to get a peek behind the scenes of the action, adding to the pace of the plot rather than making it stutter along.

I’d like to thank the publishers Harlequin Mira for letting me have a copy of this book for review purposes ahead of the publication date of 24 June 2014

WWW Wednesday (June 11)

Hosted by Miz B at Should be Reading
To play along, just answer the following three (3) questions…
• What are you currently reading?
• What did you recently finish reading?
• What do you think you’ll read next?

I am currently reading a debut novel, This Is The Water by Yannick Murphy. This is a very stylistic book which if I’m honest I wasn’t sure whether there was substance to back up the writing at first but it has me hooked at the moment.

Blurb

In a quiet New England community members of swim team and their dedicated parents are preparing for a home meet. The most that Annie, a swim-mom of two girls, has to worry about is whether or not she fed her daughters enough carbs the night before; why her husband, Thomas, hasn’t kissed her in ages; and why she can’t get over the loss of her brother who shot himself a few years ago. But Annie’s world is about to change. From the bleachers, looking down at the swimmers, a dark haired man watches a girl. No one notices him. Annie is busy getting to know Paul, who flirts with Annie despite the fact that he’s married to her friend Chris, and despite Annie’s greying hair and crow’s feet. Chris is busy trying to discover whether or not Paul is really having an affair, and the swimmers are trying to shave milliseconds off their race times by squeezing themselves into skin-tight bathing suits and visualizing themselves winning their races.
But when a girl on the team is murdered at a nearby highway rest stop-the same rest stop where Paul made a gruesome discovery years ago-the parents suddenly find themselves adrift. Paul turns to Annie for comfort. Annie finds herself falling in love. Chris becomes obsessed with unmasking the killer.
With a serial killer now too close for comfort, Annie and her fellow swim-parents must make choices about where their loyalties lie. As a series of startling events unfold, Annie discovers what it means to follow your intuition, even if love, as well as lives, could be lost. Goodreads

I have just finished Someone Else’s Wedding by Tamar Cohen. You can read my review by clicking on the cover.

Next I am going to read Little Mercies by Heather Gundenkauf. I”ve enjoyed this author’s previous books so I’m keen to see what this one has to offer.

Blurb

Veteran social worker Ellen Moore has seen the worst side of humanity;the vilest acts one person can commit against another. She is a fiercely dedicated children’s advocate and a devoted mother and wife. But one blistering summer day, a simple moment of distraction will have repercussions that Ellen could never have imagined, threatening to shatter everything she holds dear, and trapping her between the gears of the system she works for.
Meanwhile, ten-year-old Jenny Briard has been living with her well-meaning but irresponsible father since her mother left them, sleeping on friends’ couches and moving in and out of cheap motels. When Jenny suddenly finds herself on her own, she is forced to survive with nothing but a few dollars and her street smarts. The last thing she wants is a social worker, but when Ellen’s and Jenny’s lives collide, little do they know just how much they can help one another.
A powerful and emotionally charged tale about motherhood and justice, Little Mercies is a searing portrait of the tenuous grasp we have on the things we love the most, and of the ties that unexpectedly bring us together. Goodreads

Please share your reads with me in the comments section below.

Friday Finds (May 2)

Hosted by Should be Reading

FRIDAY FINDS showcases the books you ‘found’ and added to your To Be Read (TBR) list… whether you found them online, or in a bookstore, or in the library — wherever! (they aren’t necessarily books you purchased).

So, come on — share with us your FRIDAY FINDS!

Firstly I was delighted to be approved by Hodder & Stoughton to read a copy of The Ties That Bind by Erin Kelly after her last novel The Burning Air was one of my Top Ten Reads of 2013.

Blurb

Could a soul, once sold, truly be redeemed?
Luke is a true crime writer in search of a story. When he flees to Brighton after an explosive break-up, the perfect subject lands in his lap: reformed gangster Joss Grand. Now in his eighties, Grand once ruled the Brighton underworld with his sadistic sidekick Jacky Nye – until Jacky washed up by the West Pier in 1968, strangled and thrown into the sea. Though Grand’s alibi seems cast-iron, Luke is sure there’s more to the story than meets the eye, and he convinces the criminal-turned-philanthropist to be interviewed for a book about his life.
Luke is drawn deeper into the mystery of Jacky Nye’s murder. Was Grand there that night? Is he really as reformed a character as he claims? And who was the girl in the red coat seen fleeing the murder scene? Soon Luke realises that in stirring up secrets from the past, he may have placed himself in terrible danger. Amazon

I have also got a copy of Little Mercies by Heather Gudenkauf, an author who has always provided me with a good tale…

Blurb

Veteran social worker Ellen Moore has seen the worst side of humanity—the vilest acts one person can commit against another. She is a fiercely dedicated children’s advocate and a devoted mother and wife. But one blistering summer day, a simple moment of distraction will have repercussions that Ellen could never have imagined, threatening to shatter everything she holds dear, and trapping her between the gears of the system she works for.
Meanwhile, ten-year-old Jenny Briard has been living with her well-meaning but irresponsible father since her mother left them, sleeping on friends’ couches and moving in and out of cheap motels. When Jenny suddenly finds herself on her own, she is forced to survive with nothing but a few dollars and her street smarts. The last thing she wants is a social worker, but when Ellen’s and Jenny’s lives collide, little do they know just how much they can help one another.
A powerful and emotionally charged tale about motherhood and justice, Little Mercies is a searing portrait of the tenuous grasp we have on the things we love the most, and of the ties that unexpectedly bring us together. NetGalley

From Amazon Vine I have a copy of This Is The Water by Yannick Murphy

Blurb

This is a novel about a woman. About a mother. About a marriage.
About a murder.
In the brightly lit public pool the killer swims and watches. Amongst the mothers cheering on their swim team daughters is Annie. Watching her two girls race, she’s thinking of other things. Her husband’s emotional distance. Her lost brother. The man she’s drawn to.
Then she learns a terrible secret.
Now her everyday cares and concerns seem meaningless. Annie knows she has to act. Above all, she must protect her children. Amazon

After reading FictionFan’s Book Reviews blog last week, which is always dangerous, there was a link to Bibliopotamus’ Book Reviews who had written an intriguing review of So Brilliantly Clever by Peter Graham click on the book cover to read the review

Blurb

On June 22, 1954, teenage friends Juliet Hulme—better known as bestselling mystery writer Anne Perry—and Pauline Parker went for a walk in a New Zealand park with Pauline’s mother, Honora. Half an hour later, the girls returned alone, claiming that Pauline’s mother had had an accident. But when Honora Parker was found in a pool of blood with the brick used to bludgeon her to death close at hand, Juliet and Pauline were quickly arrested, and later confessed to the killing. Their motive? A plan to escape to the United States to become writers, and Honora’s determination to keep them apart. Their incredible story made shocking headlines around the world and would provide the subject for Peter Jackson’s Academy Award–nominated film, Heavenly Creatures.
A sensational trial followed, with speculations about the nature of the girls’ relationship and possible insanity playing a key role. Among other things, Parker and Hulme were suspected of lesbianism, which was widely considered to be a mental illness at the time. This mesmerizing book offers a brilliant account of the crime and ensuing trial and shares dramatic revelations about the fates of the young women after their release from prison. With penetrating insight, this thorough analysis applies modern psychology to analyze the shocking murder that remains one of the most interesting cases of all time. Amazon

So what have you found this week?

Friday Finds (April 4)

Hosted by Should be Reading

FRIDAY FINDS showcases the books you ‘found’ and added to your To Be Read (TBR) list… whether you found them online, or in a bookstore, or in the library — wherever! (they aren’t necessarily books you purchased).

So, come on — share with us your FRIDAY FINDS!

Well my addiction to NetGalley has returned with a vengeance and I am grateful to have received some great finds this week.

Starting with A Dark and Twisted Tide by Sharon Bolton which is due to be published on 8 May 2014 by Random House UK, I am delighted to have book four in the Lacey Flint series and it sounds so good! The OH saw my face when I read the acceptance email and said ‘Is that another book? It is, isn’t it, I know that smile!’

Blurb

Former detective Lacey Flint quit the force for a safer, quieter life. Or that’s what she thought.
Now living alone on her houseboat, she is trying to get over the man she loves, undercover detective Mark Joesbury. But Mark is missing in action and impossible to forget. And danger won’t leave Lacey alone.
When she finds a body floating in the river near her home, wrapped in burial cloths, she can’t resist asking questions. Who is this woman, and why was she hidden in the fast-flowing depths? And who has been delivering unwanted gifts to Lacey?
Someone is watching Lacey Flint closely.
Someone who knows exactly what makes her tick . NetGalley

After reading an excellent review written by The Writes of Women of The Last Boat Home by Dea Brovig which was published on 13 March 2014 by Random House UK (they are very good to me!)

Blurb

On the wind-swept southern coast of Norway, sixteen-year-old Else is out on the icy sea, dragging her oars through the waves while, above her, storm clouds are gathering. Surrounded by mountains, snow and white-capped water, she looks across the fjord and dreams of another life, of escape and faraway lands.Back on shore, her father sits alone in his boathouse with a jar of homebrew. In the Best Room, her mother covers her bruises and seeks solace in prayer. Each tries to hide the truth from this isolated, God-fearing community they call home.Until one night changes everything.More than thirty years later, the return of an old friend forces Else to relive the events that marked the end of her childhood. NetGalley

So if NetGalley finds weren’t enough this review on I Read Novels of The Perfect Affair by Claire Dyer .  Those of you who visit regularly will know I am fascinated by affairs so I simply had to get a copy, fortunately it was an absolute bargain on kindle so I now own this one too!

Blurb

What happens if you fall in love with the wrong person?
Rose knows only too well the exhilaration and devastation of loving a married man. So she watches with a keen eye as Eve – her closest companion, the granddaughter she never had – meets Myles, the new tenant in her downstairs flat.
Quietly and softly and against the backdrop of their own unsatisfactory marriages, Myles and Eve fall in love and, as they try to have the perfect affair like Rose did before them, they come to learn about the pain of lost opportunities, to decide whether it is ever better to follow your head or your heart, to know what it is to be torn between love and duty. Amazon

From Amazon Vine I have a copy of The Legacy of Elizabeth Pringle by Kirsty Wark
which was published on 13 March 2014 by Two Roads. The blurb had me intrigued so on the TBR mountain it went!

Blurb

Born just before the First World War, Elizabeth Pringle has been a familiar yet solitary figure on the Scottish island of Arran. A dutiful daughter, an inspirational teacher, a gardener. But did anyone really know her? When Elizabeth dies, her will contains a surprise. She has left her home and her belongings to someone who is all but a stranger, a young mother she watched pushing a pram down the road more than thirty years ago.
Now it falls to Martha, the baby in that pram, to find out how her mother inherited the house in such strange circumstances, and in doing so, perhaps leave her own past behind. But first she has to find the answer to the question: who was Elizabeth Pringle?
A captivating and haunting story of the richness beneath so-called ordinary lives and the secrets and threads that hold women together.
~ ~ ~
Dear Mrs Morrison,

A long time ago, almost thirty-four years past, you wrote to me requesting that I contact you should I ever wish to leave my home. I knew then that I would never live anywhere else, and so there was no point in my replying to you.
I saw you almost every day, pushing your pram along Shore Road. You looked very young. I remember that on one occasion you waved to me, and I think I tilted my head towards you. Perhaps you did not see. There have been times when that scene has come to me vividly, and I have wondered what has become of you both.
I am instructing my solicitor to write to you at the address on your letter. Holmlea is yours if you still wish it.

Elizabeth Pringle Amazon

Finally I have discovered that another favourite author of mine, Heather Gudenkauf fourth book, Little Mercies is out on 4 July 2014.

Blurb

As a veteran social worker, Ellen Moore has seen it all – the vilest acts one person can commit against another. The only thing that gets her through the workday is knowing her job helps children. That, and her family: her husband, Adam, and three beautiful kids, twins Leah and Lucas, and eleven-month-old Avery. But with a blink of an eye – with one small mistake – Ellen is suddenly at the mercy of the system she works for. Avery is ripped from her clutches, and her whole world begins crashing down around her.
Meanwhile, ten-year-old Jenny Briard has been living with her well-meaning but good-for-nothing father since her mother left them. When her father decides to pack their belongings and move to a new state, Jenny thinks she might be on the road to a better life. But soon she finds herself on her own, forced to survive with nothing but a few dollars and her street smarts. Evading police and the social system, Jenny finds refuge with a kind-hearted waitress. The last thing she needs is a social worker, but when Ellen and Jenny’s lives collide unexpectedly, little do they know just how much they can help one another. Amazon

So a little bit of a mixture this week… what have you found?