Love Like Blood – Mark Billingham

Crime Fiction
5*s

There is something doubly appealing about crime fiction with a strong contemporary feel and Mark Billingham has chosen this, his fourteenth book in the Tom Thorne series to highlight honour killings. The fact that he does this within a brilliantly constructed mystery certainly makes for compelling reading.

DI Nicola Tanner is on compassionate leave after the death of her partner who was murdered inside their shared home. Having worked with Thorne when he makes a brief appearance  in Die of Shame, she seeks him out convinced that those in charge of the investigation into Susan’s death are not interested in her belief that her murder was a case of mistaken identity, and it is actually her own life they meant to take.

The relationship between Tanner and Thorne is brilliantly handled as they work off the grid to find out the truth. When a couple of teenagers go missing Thorne and Tanner fear their own families know more than they are letting on but are they reading too much into the case?

I was delighted that Hendricks, the gay pierced and hugely sarcastic doctor who carries out the post mortems on any of the stray bodies that are sent in his direction, was back to lighten the plotline when it all becomes a bit too dark. Black humour is infinitely better than no humour at all and in all honesty, whilst she might have had ample reason to be so, Tanner is the most entertaining of detectives.

Thorne is in the form of the fictional detective is more than happy to bend the rules to suit himself although with the normally rule-abiding Tanner pushing him to do more, he has the occasional doubt about whether this is the right thing to do in this instance.

You might fear from the earlier paragraphs that this is a worthy piece of crime fiction that is tackling a sensitive subject with little knowledge of the issues. Not so. Mark Billingham has clearly researched his subject matter speaking to those who have been part of those families where the younger generation are resistant to following the rules their parents are keen to uphold for fear of becoming outcasts in their own community. The idea that murdering your own child to protect the family’s reputation is rightly abhorrent to many even within these communities, but sadly not to all. Whilst Mark Billingham more than nods his head at the former, this is not a book that preaches, he lets his characters display the emotions that echoed in my own mind but managing to steer clear of a commentary that didn’t fit the natural direction of the investigation being undertaken.

As has been the case with each of the Mark Billingham books I have read the pace is fairly furious, if you are anything like me, you will not want to put this book aside even though you are in much need of a breather from the latest piece of action. The plot is complex and involved with enough facts to underpin the occasional surprise the author springs on his reader. Just the way I like my crime fiction.

I’d like to thank the publisher Grove Atlantic for allowing me to read an advance copy of Love Like Blood ahead of publication on 20 June 2017. This honest review is my thanks to them and to Mark Billingham for an in-depth look at an issue brilliantly threaded through a captivating crime novel.

First Published UK: 20 June 2017
Publisher: Grove Atlantic
No of Pages: 400
Genre: Crime Fiction – Series
Amazon UK
Amazon US

Mark Billingham Books

Sleepyhead [Aug 2001] Tom Thorne #1
Scaredy Cat [Jul 2002] Tom Thorne #2
Lazybones [Jul 2003] Tom Thorne #3
The Burning Girl [Jul 2004] Tom Thorne #4
Lifeless [May 2005] Tom Thorne #5
Buried [May 2006] Tom Thorne #6
Death Message [Aug 2007] Tom Thorne #7
In the Dark [Aug 2008] Standalone Novel
Bloodline [Aug 2009] Tom Thorne #8
From the Dead [Aug 2010] Tom Thorne #9
Good as Dead [Aug 2011] Tom Thorne #10
Rush of Blood [Aug 2012] Standalone Novel
The Dying Hours [May 2013] Tom Thorne #11
The Bones Beneath [May 2014] Tom Thorne #12
Time of Death [April 2015] Tom Thorne #13
Die of Shame [May 2016] Standalone Novel
Love Like Blood [June 2017] Tom Thorne #14

This Week in Books (May 31)

Hosted by Lipsy 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

My current read is What Remains Behind by Dorothy Fowler which I first saw mentioned on the brilliant blog Confessions of a Mystery Novelist… run by the knowledgeable Margot Kinberg, if you haven’t visited yet, I highly recommend it for the wealth of information.

Blurb

Everything leaves a trace. Chloe, a contract archaeologist, is excavating the site of a religious Kaipara Harbour community, which burnt to the ground in the 1880s. As the site is uncovered, what unpalatable truths will be revealed about the events on the night of the fire?

Chloe’s own family has farmed this land, and she is caught in the conflict as local resistance to the excavation mounts. When Chloe digs up more than shards of pottery, she realises that the site holds secrets that will not stay buried, and their effect on the present is devastating.

Moving between a diary written in the 1880s and the current day, this compelling novel has murder, mystery, love, lust – and archaeology. Goodreads

I have just finished reading Love Like Blood by Mark Billingham which is the fourteenth in the Tom Thorne series.

Blurb

A BLOODY MESSAGE
As DI Nicola Tanner investigates what appears to be a series of organised killings, her partner Susan is brutally murdered, leaving the detective bereft, and vengeful.
A POWERFUL ALLY
Taken off the case, Tanner enlists the help of DI Tom Thorne to pursue a pair of ruthless killers and the broker handing out the deadly contracts.
A CONSPIRACY OF SILENCE
As the killers target their latest victim, Thorne takes the biggest risk of his career and is drawn into a horrifying and disturbing world in which families will do anything to protect their honour. Amazon

Next up is a book that I have been anticipating ever since I first heard about it; The Child by Fiona Barton will be published on 29 June 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. Amazon

First Chapter ~ First Paragraph (May 23)

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 Love Like Blood by Mark Billingham which is the fourteenth in the Tom Thorne series and will be published on 1 June 2017.

Blurb

A BLOODY MESSAGE
As DI Nicola Tanner investigates what appears to be a series of organised killings, her partner Susan is brutally murdered, leaving the detective bereft, and vengeful.
A POWERFUL ALLY
Taken off the case, Tanner enlists the help of DI Tom Thorne to pursue a pair of ruthless killers and the broker handing out the deadly contracts.
A CONSPIRACY OF SILENCE
As the killers target their latest victim, Thorne takes the biggest risk of his career and is drawn into a horrifying and disturbing world in which families will do anything to protect their honour. Amazon

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

First Chapter ~ First Paragraph ~ Intro

One

The conversation stopped as soon as the woman they had come for arrived.
They watched Nicola Tanner’s car slow, stop, then reverse expertly into a parking space a few houses down from her own. They watched the woman get out and retrieve something from the boot. They held their breath as she locked the car with a remote and began walking towards her house; saw her lit for a second or two as she passed beneath a streetlamp.

‘Good, she’s got bags.’
‘Why is that good?’
‘She’s got her hands full. She’ll be distracted.’
‘OK.’
Their whispered breaths were briefly visible, eyes on the woman as she stepped to avoid a slick of leaves on the pavement and hitched her shoulder bag a little higher.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

I don’t know about you but I have a feeling the whisperers are up to no good!

What do you think? Would you keep reading?

Weekly Wrap Up (April 16)

First up I want to wish you all a very Happy Easter full of eggs, and books of course!

We’ve just said goodbye to a family with a delightful couple of young boys who have kindly left me their shell collection in the bathroom after we spent a wonderful few hours on the beach – there really is nothing quite like seeing our island through a child’s eyes!

This Week on the Blog

My week started with my review for The Restless Dead by Simon Beckett, a very well told crime thriller set on the marshes in Essex.

On Tuesday I hosted a post by Simon Beckett as part of The Restless Dead Blog Tour where he describes how he developed book one, The Chemistry of Death into a series.

My This Week in Books featured books by Sarah R Shaber, Emma Kavanagh and Emma Flint – you’ll have to wait to hear what I made of this selection!

On Thursday I posted my review of A Time For Silence by Thorne Moore which I actually read a while ago and it is definitely one of those books that linger in your mind.

Next up was my review of The Conversations We Never Had by Jeffrey H Konis which he was kind enough to leave a comment on explaining why the imagined conversations were conducted in the formal manner presented.

Yesterday was another post on the Put A Book On The Map feature, this time superbly executed by Booker Talk and Thorne Moore as they put A Time For Silence firmly on the map for Wales.

This Time Last Year…

I was reading Tammy Cohen’s When She Was Bad a brilliant psychological thriller set in an office which was scarily accurate. Even more scary was the Team Building exercise that the staff were forced to take part in – the very words send shudders down my spine!!

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

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? Amazon

Stacking The Shelves

I have had some great luck in securing new books over the last couple of weeks so here’s a selection of my favourites

Firstly from NetGalley I have a copy of The Fact of a Body by Alexandria Marzano-Lesnevich a non-fiction true crime read with a difference, which will be published on 18 May 2017 by Pan Macmillan.

Blurb

Before Alexandria Marzano-Lesnevich begins a summer job at a law firm in Louisiana, working on the retrial defence of death-row convicted murderer and child molester, Ricky Langley, she thinks her position is clear. The child of two lawyers, she is staunchly anti death penalty. But the moment Ricky’s face flashes on the screen as she reviews old tapes, the moment she hears him speak of his crimes, she is overcome with the feeling of wanting him to die.

Shocked by her reaction, she digs deeper and deeper into the case, realizing that despite their vastly different circumstances, something in his story is unsettlingly, uncannily familiar. Crime, even the darkest and most unspeakable acts, can happen to any one of us, and as Alexandria pores over the facts of the murder, she finds herself thrust into the complicated narrative of Ricky’s childhood. And by examining minute details of Ricky’s case, she is forced to face her own story, to unearth long-buried family secrets, to reckon with how her own past colours her view of his crime.

As enthralling as true-crime classics such as In Cold Blood and Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil and broadcast phenomena such as Making a Murderer and Serial, The Fact of a Body is a groundbreaking, heart-stopping investigation into how the law is personal, composed of individual stories and proof that arriving at the truth is more complicated, and powerful, than we could ever imagine. NetGalley

I was lucky enough to be approved for a copy of Lisa Jewell’s Then She Was Gone, I’m a huge fan of this author and this, her latest book, will be published on 27 July 2017

Blurb

MISSING GIRL
A BURIED SECRET

THEN
She was fifteen, her mother’s golden girl. She had her whole life ahead of her. And then, in the blink of an eye, Ellie was gone.
NOW
It’s been ten years since Ellie disappeared, but Laurel has never given up hope of finding her daughter.
And then one day a charming and charismatic stranger called Floyd walks into a café and sweeps Laurel off her feet.
Before too long she’s staying the night at this house and being introduced to his nine year old daughter.
Poppy is precocious and pretty – and meeting her completely takes Laurel’s breath away.
Because Poppy is the spitting image of Ellie when she was that age. And now all those unanswered questions that have haunted Laurel come flooding back.
What happened to Ellie?
Where did she go?
Who still has secrets to hide? NetGalley

Added to which another favourite author, Mark Billingham, is waiting publication of Love Like Blood in June 2017.

Blurb

DI Nicola Tanner needs Tom Thorne’s help. Her partner, Susan, has been brutally murdered and Tanner is convinced that it was a case of mistaken identity—that she was the real target. The murderer’s motive might have something to do with Tanner’s recent work on a string of cold-case honor killings she believes to be related. Tanner is now on compassionate leave but insists on pursuing the case off the books and knows Thorne is just the man to jump into the fire with her. He agrees but quickly finds that working in such controversial territory is dangerous in more ways than one. And when a young couple goes missing, they have a chance to investigate a case that is anything but cold. NetGalley

I also have a copy of The Other Us by Fiona Harper which will be published on 4 May 2017 which is billed as one for those who loved The Versions of Us, which I did!

Blurb

If you could turn back time, would you choose a different life?
Forty-something Maggie is facing some hard truths. Her only child has flown the nest for university and, without her daughter in the house, she’s realising her life, and her marriage to Dan, is more than a little stale.
When she spots an announcement on Facebook about a uni reunion, she can’t help wondering what happened to Jude Hanson. The same night Dan proposed, Jude asked Maggie to run away with him, and she starts to wonder how different her life might have been if she’d broken Dan’s heart and taken Jude up on his offer.
Wondering turns into fantasising, and then one morning fantasising turns into reality. Maggie wakes up and discovers she’s back in 1992 and twenty-one again. Is she brave enough to choose the future she really wants, and if she is, will the grass be any greener on the other side of the fence?
Two men. Two very different possible futures. But is there only once chance at happiness? Amazon

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

Since my last post I’ve read 5 books and gained 4 so the grand total is hurtling downwards to 190
Physical Books – 113
Kindle Books – 59
NetGalley Books – 18

Rush of Blood – Mark Billingham

Crime Fiction
4*s

So you’re on holiday in Florida, you’ve met up with another two couple’s from the UK, spent time together all fairly standard stuff and then on the last day, a girl goes missing from the resort. You’re interviewed by the police and allowed to return to the UK. Would you make a date to meet up with your fellow holidaymakers away from the sun?

Well that’s exactly what the couples in our story did. It has to be said some were keener than the others to get together but they grouped together round Angie and Barry’s table they begin to get to know each other on home ground so to speak. Inevitably the conversation becomes dominated by what could have happened to Amber-Marie and how she had disappeared so suddenly. Of course it goes without saying that one uncomfortable dinner party isn’t enough for these intrepid travellers, as Ed and Sue host one as do Marina and Dave. For the reader who doesn’t have to endure the actual company, these are brilliant parties with each character showing their hand a little bit more.
Over in Florida Amber-Marie’s mother Patti Lee Wilson is naturally distraught and the manager of the resort where she has camped out is fearing she is bad for business, or he’s simply run out of what little compassion he has.

Jeff Gardner is working the case in the US and left to voice the increasingly trite sounding reassurances that the case is getting the department’s full attention. And then there is a murder in the UK and a bright trainee PC, Jenny Quinlan decides to contact Jeff and so the investigation progresses both sides of the Atlantic.

In between the dinner parties themselves not only does the investigation gather pace but we hear what the characters are doing, what worries them and, for some, what have they found on the internet that they can mull over and dissect at the next meeting. We also hear the killer’s voice but I have to admit, it wasn’t who I thought it would be.

I can safely say that none of the characters have bucket loads of redeeming features but they are all recognisable, you probably work with at least one of them! There characteristics range from mousey through to an arrogant assumption that their opinion is what everyone is waiting for, from the geeky nerd to the wannabe actress and from the neurotic to the grumpiest man on the planet – why the couples are with each other is intriguing enough let alone why they would voluntarily chose to spend time with the other couples!

In a nutshell that is the beauty of Rush of Blood this standalone novel has a different feel to the Tom Thorne books, although fans will be pleased to hear he does have a cameo role. While there is a mystery to solve it is more firmly in a whodunit than a why which makes it possible for the author to experiment with the amusing character studies which contrasts behaviour between the couples themselves and how they behave in a group situation… and the author doesn’t neglect the detectives either but I’ll let you make your own minds up about them!

I found Rush of Blood an absolutely fascinating read whilst vowing to myself to make sure I look as unfriendly as possible on any future holidays I may take!!

I’d like to thank Grove Atlantic for allowing me to read Rush of Blood. This honest review is my thanks to them.

First Published UK: 2012
Publisher: Grove Atlantic
No of Pages:  400
Genre: Crime Fiction
Amazon UK
Amazon US

This Week in Books (February 1)

Hosted by Lipsyy 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

Well January has passed in a flash so onto February’s reading!

I am currently reading the much-anticipated He Said/She Said by Erin Kelly and I’m glad to say I got that ‘I’m in a safe pair of hands’ feeling when I started this one, I’m really enjoying it. He Said/She Said will be published on 20 April 2017.

Blurb

In the hushed aftermath of a total eclipse, Laura witnesses a brutal attack.
She and her boyfriend Kit call the police, and in that moment, it is not only the victim’s life that is changed forever.
Fifteen years on, Laura and Kit live in fear.
And while Laura knows she was right to speak out, the events that follow have taught her that you can never see the whole picture: something – and someone – is always in the dark… Amazon

I have just finished Rush of Blood by Mark Billingham a dark story about holiday friendships which despite being a standalone we do get a brief glimpse of DI Tom Thorne.
You can read an excerpt here

Blurb

Perfect strangers.
A perfect holiday.
The perfect murder…
Three couples meet around the pool on their Florida holiday and become fast friends. But on their last night, their perfect holiday takes a tragic twist: the teenage daughter of another holidaymaker goes missing, and her body is later found floating in the mangroves.
When the shocked couples return home, they remain in contact, and over the course of three increasingly fraught dinner parties they come to know one another better. But they don’t always like what they find: buried beneath these apparently normal exteriors are some dark secrets, hidden kinks, ugly vices… Amazon

Next up I will be reading Kate Hamer’s The Doll Funeral which is set in The Forest of Dean, where I grew up. The hardback will be published on 16 February 2017 but it is available for the kindle now.

Blurb

My name is Ruby. I live with Barbara and Mick. They’re not my real parents, but they tell me what to do, and what to say. I’m supposed to say that the bruises on my arms and the black eye came from falling down the stairs.
But there are things I won’t say. I won’t tell them I’m going to hunt for my real parents. I don’t say a word about Shadow, who sits on the stairs, or the Wasp Lady I saw on the way to bed. Amazon

So what are you reading this week? Go on you know you want to share!

First Chapter ~ First Paragraph (January 24)

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.

This week my opener is taken from Rush of Blood by Mark Billingham, a standalone story from the creator of the DI Tom Thorne series.

Blurb

Perfect strangers.
A perfect holiday.
The perfect murder…
Three couples meet around the pool on their Florida holiday and become fast friends. But on their last night, their perfect holiday takes a tragic twist: the teenage daughter of another holidaymaker goes missing, and her body is later found floating in the mangroves.
When the shocked couples return home, they remain in contact, and over the course of three increasingly fraught dinner parties they come to know one another better. But they don’t always like what they find: buried beneath these apparently normal exteriors are some dark secrets, hidden kinks, ugly vices…
Then, a second girl goes missing.
Could it be that one of these six has a secret far darker than anybody can imagine? Amazon

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

First Chapter ~ First Paragraph ~ Intro

PART ONE
ANGIE AND BARRY

From: Angela Finnegan angiebaz@demon.co.uk
Date: 16 May 17:31:01 BST
To: Susan Dunning susan.dunning1@gmail.com
Cc: Marina Green marinagreen1979@btinternet.com

Subject: Dinner!!!

Hi All!

You know how you meet people on holiday and say things like ‘we really must stay in touch’? I bet you’re regretting swapping those email addresses now. Ha ha!

Seriously though. It was an amazing holiday even if it did end a bit oddly, so I thought it would be great if we could all get together. So, me and Barry would love it if the four of you could come to dinner on Saturday, June 4th. I know it is a bit of a trek down here to deepest, darkest Crawley but I do a mean bread and butter pud and I promise to send out sherpas if you get lost!!

Talk to the boys and let me know ASAP, but I really hope you can make it.

Lotsa love, Angie xxx

PS. Been looking at the local papers on the internet and still no sign of that poor girl. Can’t imagine what her mother must be going through. Horrible, just horrible.

PPS. Can’t remember, but is anyone a veggie?

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

I know that’s more than a paragraph but it wouldn’t make sense to have split it. I have to admit I love books that have emails, letters or diaries in them, I don’t know about you but I can picture Angie so well, just from that email and now I’m really looking forward to getting stuck into this book.

What do you think? Would you keep reading?

Weekly Wrap Up (September 18)

This week I got some great news from the publishers Bonnier Zaffre
Dear Cleo,

I hope all is well with you. Just getting in touch to tell you something that I hope you might like.
As you may know, My Husband’s Son by Deborah O’Connor is coming out in paperback on 6th October and I’ve just received copies of this stunning book. I wanted to let you know that a quote from your review has been included in the first page of the book!

I hope this makes your day! 

Many thanks and best wishes,
C

Did it make my day? Hell yes! It also guarantees that some of my dear friends will receive this book as a gift!

Last Week on the Blog

Well I managed to celebrate two author’s birthdays on the blog this week:

First up was the wonderful Roald Dahl who I met as a child as he lived fairly close to where we lived in Buckinghamshire and he did a talk at our local library. Roald Dahl would have been 100 on 13 September 2016 and Audible had a promotional post of his audio books – including one the great man read himself.

I then too part in the Agatha Christie Blogathon timed to coincide with Agatha Christie’s 126th birthday, my choice was to revisit Miss Marple after over thirty years of shunning her for not being anywhere as delightful as Hercule Poirot – you can read my thoughts on The Murder at the Vicarage here

I was also extremely lucky to receive an ARC of The Trespasser by Tana French, the sixth in the Dublin Murder Squad series which I reviewed on Monday.

The Kill Fee by Fiona Veitch Smith got plenty of coverage this week featuring in my First Chapter, First Paragraph post on Tuesday and later in the week I reviewed the book.

Wednesday highlighted my reads for the week, including The Woman on the Orient Express by Lyndsay Jayne Ashford; another entry for Agatha Christie, this time in a book inspired by the Queen of Crime.

On Friday my post was a book tag, this one about all things NetGalley – you can read my responses here

This Time Last Year…

I reviewed the psychological thriller, Can Anybody Help Me by Sinéad Crowley, a real tale of our time that involves an internet site for mothers – remind you of anything? This book is swiftly paced to say the least and proved to make for some compulsive reading!

 

It was crazy really, she had never met the woman, had no idea of her real name but she thought of her as a friend. Or, at least, the closest thing she had to a friend in Dublin.

Struggling with a new baby, Yvonne turns to netmammy, an online forum for mothers, for support. Drawn into a world of new friends, she spends increasing amounts of time online and volunteers more and more information about herself.

When one of her new friends goes offline, Yvonne thinks something is wrong, but dismisses her fears. After all, does she really know this woman?

But when the body of a young woman with striking similarities to Yvonne’s missing friend is found, Yvonne realises that they’re all in terrifying danger. Can she persuade Sergeant Claire Boyle, herself about to go on maternity leave, to take her fears seriously? Amazon

Stacking the Shelves

There were just two books added to my shelves this week – I know, I can hear those gasps of amazement and awe at my self-restraint.

First is Rush of Blood by Mark Billingham which has a publication date on NetGalley of 7 February 2017 but actually this book is already available to buy here in the UK, having originally been published in 2012.

Blurb

In the standalone novel Rush of Blood, internationally bestselling author Mark Billingham puts a sinister twist on a deceptively innocent topic: the beach vacation.

Three British couples meet around the pool on their Florida holiday and become fast friends. But on Easter Sunday, the last day of their vacation, tragedy strikes: the fourteen-year-old daughter of an American vacationer goes missing, and her body is later found floating in the mangroves. When the shocked couples return home to the U.K., they remain in contact, and over the course of three increasingly fraught dinner parties they come to know one another better. But they don’t always like what they find. Buried beneath these apparently normal exteriors are some unusual kinks and unpleasant vices. Then, a second girl goes missing, in Kent—not far from where any of the couples lives. Could it be that one of these six has a secret far darker than anybody can imagine?

Ambitiously plotted and laced with dark humour, Rush of Blood is a first-rate suspense novel about the danger of making new friends in seemingly sunny places. NetGalley

I was also delighted to be approved to read The Trophy Child by Paula Daly, an author that has entertained and delighted me with each of her three previous novels Just What Kind of Mother Are You?, Keep Your Friends Close and The Mistake I Made The Trophy Child will be published on 7 March 2017 by Grove Press.

Blurb

Karen Bloom is not the coddling mother type. She believes in raising her children for success. Some in the neighbourhood call her assertive, others say she’s driven, but in gossiping circles she’s known as: the tiger mother. Karen believes that tough discipline is the true art of parenting and that achievement leads to ultimate happiness. She expects her husband and her children to perform at 200 percent—no matter the cost. But in an unending quest for excellence, her seemingly flawless family start to rebel against her.

Her husband Noel is a handsome doctor with a proclivity for alcohol and women. Their prodigy daughter, Bronte, is excelling at school, music lessons, dance classes, and yet she longs to run away. Verity, Noel’s teenage daughter from his first marriage, is starting to display aggressive behaviour. And Karen’s son from a previous relationship falls deeper into drug use. When tragedy strikes the Blooms, Karen’s carefully constructed facade begins to fall apart—and once the deadly cracks appear, they are impossible to stop.

A thrilling tale of ambition and murder, Daly’s richly imagined world of suburban striving and motherly love is an absorbing page-turner about the illusions of perfection and the power games between husband and wife, parent and child. NetGalley

TBR WATCH

Since my last post I have read 5 books, and gained 2 and had I located a read book left on the spreadsheet so the total is now a fairly respectable 172 books!

82 physical books
70 e-books
20 books on NetGalley

What have you found to read this week?

Die of Shame – Mark Billingham

Crime Fiction
5*s

Take six former addicts, masters or mistresses of deceit, a trait crafted to get their latest fix of whatever it is that drives them. When one of the group is murdered after a meeting, those who remain are the chief suspects. Would you want to have to investigate this crime?

Mark Billingham is a brilliant writer and I have really enjoyed those books I’ve read of the Tom Thorne series but Die of Shame is a stand-alone novel, is it as good? I’d say so! This was a gripping read with much of the action taking place in the therapist’s North London conservatory during his Monday Night Group, an addiction therapy meeting.

The scene is set with each member of the group sitting in their favourite spot with Tony De Silva pushing them forward into whatever form of sobriety they are seeking, or should be seeking. One of the mantras is keeping the discussion in the here and now so it is odd that the narrative is split into the ‘now’ and ‘then’ with the story flip-flopping backwards and forwards slowly building up a full picture of those almost claustrophobic sessions where personalities battled not helped by such diverse lives as a doctor and a young-male prostitute, a wealthy woman whose husband left her for a younger model and an obese supermarket worker. And what of Tony De Silva, there seems to be a secret hiding in the smart house, but what is it?

Meanwhile we meet tenacious detective Nicola Turner who is leading the investigation into the group member’s death. She doesn’t instantly decide that it must have been one of the others who is the murderer, she quite naturally investigates the background and when that falls on stony ground she is up against the code of silence that protects the entire group. The question is will anyone crack? Will someone disclose the facing up to the shame exercises that Tony has instigated believing that it is shame that leads to addiction in the first place – what on earth has happened to these group members that could possibly ever lead to one of them murdering another – was the shame perhaps just too much?

There are many, many layers to this book with none of the characters one-dimensional in the slightest. This is a diverse bunch especially when the investigating officers are bought into the mix and I was delighted to catch up with a few familiar characters from the Tom Thorne books. However it is perhaps naturally those being counselled that we learn the most about either through their own word and actions or those who share the sessions with them. I could have sworn they were people I knew in real life as I was soon caught up in their world.

It took a little while to get into the swing of the time switches although the excellent signposting assisted enormously, this is one of those books where you do need to hold many different pieces of information in your head to put the pieces together. I was enormously proud to have spotted the murderer fairly early on (although I’d be lying if I said that I was completely convinced) but as for the motive, I had to wait to the brilliant reveal for that!

Just one word for Mr Billingham – rarely has a book ended quite so perfectly!! I felt enormous satisfaction that everything was just as it should be with the pieces of the puzzle put together and the picture revealed.
I’d like to say a huge thank you to the publishers Grove Atlantic who allowed me to read a copy of this book in return for this unbiased review. Die of Shame was published in eBook and hardback on 5 May 2016.

The Tom Thorne Books so far…
Sleepyhead – His first three victims ended up dead. His fourth was not so fortunate . . .
Scaredycat – Now… killing is a team sport…
Lazybones – The past has caught up with them.  And so has he…
The Burning Girl  – Some fires never go out . . .
Lifeless – Some lives are cheaper than others . . .
Buried – The past is a shallow grave . . .
Death Message – That’s what coppers call it when they have to tell someone that a loved one has been killed.
Bloodline – It seems like a straightforward domestic murder….
From the Dead – the man she paid to have murdered – seems very much alive and well…
Good as Dead – The hostage, the demand, the twist.
The Dying Hours – a cluster of elderly suicides – is it coincidental?
Time of Death – the abduction of two schoolgirls, an arrest but what happens to the accused’s family? This is currently being adapted for television by the BBC

Stand-alone thrillers

In the Dark – A deadly crash… A dangerous quest… a shocking twist
Rush of Blood – Perfect strangers, perfect holiday, perfect murder

This Week in Books (May 25)

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 started reading Daisy In Chains by the magnificent Sharon Bolton

Blurb

Famous killers have fan clubs.
Hamish Wolfe is no different. Locked up for the rest of his life for the abduction and murder of three young women, he gets countless adoring letters every day. He’s handsome, charismatic and very persuasive. His admirers are convinced he’s innocent, and that he’s the man of their dreams.
Who would join such a club?
Maggie Rose is different. Reclusive and enigmatic; a successful lawyer and bestselling true-crime writer, she only takes on cases that she can win.
Hamish wants her as his lawyer, he wants her to change his fate. She thinks she’s immune to the charms of a man like this. But maybe not this time . . .
Would you? NetGalley

I have just finished My Husband’s Wife by Jane Corry which has had me enthralled with the story split between the past and present. My Husband’s Wife will be published on 26 May 2016 – look out for my review coming soon!

Blurb

FIRST COMES LOVE. THEN COMES MARRIAGE. THEN COMES MURDER…
When lawyer Lily marries Ed, she’s determined to make a fresh start. To leave the secrets of the past behind.
But then she meets Joe. A convicted murderer who reminds Lily of someone she once knew, and who she becomes obsessed with freeing.
But is he really innocent?
And who is she to judge? Amazon

Next up is going to be Die of Shame by Mark Billingham who hasn’t disappointed me yet so I’m braced for the ride, and doesn’t it sound good?

Blurb

Every Monday evening, six people gather in a smart North London house to talk about addiction. There they share their deepest secrets: stories of lies, regret, and above all, shame.
Then one of them is killed – and it’s clear one of the circle was responsible.
Detective Inspector Nicola Tanner quickly finds her investigation hampered by the strict confidentiality that binds these people and their therapist together. So what could be shameful enough to cost someone their life?
And how do you find the truth when denial and deception are second nature to all of your suspects? Amazon

What are you reading this week? Do share in the comments envelope below!