Well here we are already up to number fifteen in the Roy Grace series. I have followed Roy’s story from the very first book and my patience has been rewarded because following the author’s move to Jersey to live, our little island is a location used within this novel.
The initial crime is one of those where the victim is perhaps is afforded less sympathy, that of the internet romance scam. We’ve all read the stories where a woman or man of advancing years is romanced and before they have a chance to meet in person some awful event unfolds where money is required to be sent to ensure that cupid’s arrow can complete its journey. When the money runs out or the victim becomes suspicious, they then suffer the indignity of realising the romance wasn’t real, and they’ve been fleeced.
I have to admit despite the appearance of Jersey (including a very good scene in a restaurant that I visit) I wasn’t quite as hooked with this book as I have been in the past. Perhaps it was that age old problem I have when the perpetrators are known to the reader – I just don’t get the same kind of enjoyment from novels written this way – or maybe it was the other issue I have with criminal gangs – again this kind of offending doesn’t quite capture my interest in the same way as figuring out an individual’s motivation. Those minor personal preferences aside there is no doubting that there is plenty of action within Dead at First Sight, the romance scam only being the opener for far bigger and more exciting crimes to come!
One of the aspects that I enjoy in this series is seeing Roy Grace’s life outside the office although sadly Cleo was reduced to a bit part within this novel with no important scenes in the mortuary this time. We do have the development of Roy’s sons and there is definitely potential in that arena to keep the personal aspect of the book as interesting in the future as they’ve been in the past.
Peter James has to be commended for his ability to keep the books real without boring the reader stupid with adherence to policy and procedure. Again within this book I got the feeling that the author has really listened to the older and experienced detectives and gives a real flavour of what they find difficult in modern policing without ignoring the reasons why some of the changes were vital. As always this just stays the right side of real especially as our fictional detective is still having problems with his superior Cassian Pewe! Could Roy be becoming jaded with Brighton and Hove? Only time will tell.
So even though this probably was my least favourite of all the Roy Grace novels, I wouldn’t (and couldn’t) have missed it for the world. I love meeting up with the ‘old friends’ on the team, having a credible plot with a thoroughly nice detective at its centre and I therefore begin my countdown to the sixteenth book in the series!
I’d like to say thank you to Pan Macmillan for allowing me to read a copy of Dead at First Sight before publication on 16 May 2019.. This unbiased review is my thanks to them and the talented author Peter James for another entertaining foray into crime fiction in Brighton & Jersey!
First Published UK: 16 May 2019
Publisher: Pan Macmillan
No of Pages: 448
Genre:Crime Fiction – Crime Series Amazon UK Amazon US
Well what a week! I celebrated yet another birthday on Monday, they are now coming round all too fast, with a lovely meal but suffice to say workwise this has been a difficult week that has left me chasing my tail, so I apologise for the lack of response to so many comments, but hopefully next week will be better.
The sunflowers are really going for it now with a new flower opening daily, particularly loving the red variety to mix things up!
This Week on the Blog
Well despite my reading time being minimal this week I do still have a stack of books to review but as it was July the first post of the week was my Five of the Best June 2014 to 2018.
My first review was for the first miss for The Classics Club, I didn’t really enjoy Off With His Head by Ngaio Marsh.
This Week in Books featured the authors Gillian McAllister, Cara Hunter and Anna Mazzola.
My review of Sanctum by Denise Mina was well-received and well-timed as although this book was first published in 2002 it was published as an eBook on the day I reviewed it. This was my second review for my 20 Books of Summer 2018 challenge. Yes, lagging a wee bit here!
Next I reviewed a non-fiction Victorian true crime, The Killing of Georgie Moore by Colin Evans, one of my own books knocking another one of the Mount TBR Challenge.
Finishing the week off was my review for a newly published psychological thriller Take Me In by Sabine Durrant, an author I admire for creating tension without pushing the boundaries of reality too far to do so.
This Time Last Year…
I was reading the psychological thriller They All Fall Down by Tammy Cohen, an author who always provides satisfying reads.
The setting of this novel is in a private psychiatric clinic and right from the off there is a feeling that Hannah isn’t there of her own volition, but quite why and what happened before is left in the shadows. This isn’t the only mystery though, two women have died at the small clinic and Hannah is worried that they weren’t the suicides that everyone presumes. The problem is Hannah clearly has problems and she’s not being taken seriously by anyone, least of all her husband Danny who is becoming increasingly frustrated with what he thinks is her continued paranoia.
With twists and turns enhanced by the fabulous pace the dialogue which is also absolutely pitch perfect.
You can read my full review here or click on the book cover.
Blurb
Hannah had a normal life – a loving husband, a good job. Until she did something shocking.
Now she’s in a psychiatric clinic. It should be a safe place. But patients keep dying.
The doctors say it’s suicide. Hannah knows they’re lying.
Can she make anyone believe her before the killer strikes again? Amazon
Stacking the Shelves
I was delighted to receive an email from Steve Robinson, the creator of the genealogist Jefferson Tayte providing me with a copy of the seventh in this wonderful series Letters from the Dead which will be published on 14 August 2018.
Blurb
When genealogist Jefferson Tayte is hired to prove the identity of a black sheep in his client’s family tree, he unwillingly finds himself drawn into a murder investigation with nothing more to go on than a 150-year-old letter and a connection to a legendary ruby that has been missing for generations.
As more letters are mysteriously left for him, Tayte becomes immersed in a centuries-old tale of greed, murder and forbidden love that takes his research from the wilds of the Scottish Highlands to the colour and heat of colonial India.
A dark secret is buried in Jaipur, steeped in treachery and scandal. But why is it having such deadly repercussions in the present? Can Tayte find the ruby and prevent the past from repeating itself before it’s too late?
This is the seventh book in the Jefferson Tayte Genealogical Mystery series but it can be enjoyed as a stand-alone story. NetGalley
As I mentioned it was my birthday and amongst my pile of lovely gifts my daughter gave me a copy of The Truth by Peter James. Although I’ve read all of the Roy Grace series, I haven’t read many of his stand-alone books and I’m looking forward to reading this one.
Blurb
Susan and John Carter are crazy about each other and life is perfect but for one thing – they are on the brink of financial disaster. Surely being a surrogate mother to another man’s child won’t harm such a strong relationship? Especially when the mysterious Mr Sarotzini is offering to save their home and business – everything they’ve worked for.
What seems to be a perfect solution begins to feel like an impossible situation. Susan’s pregnancy is disturbingly painful but no-one will tell her why. It becomes apparent that Sarotzini wields immense power and Susan begins to doubt everything she knows. As she realises the terrifying origin of the dark forces Saratzini controls she is in fear for herself and John but most of all for her unborn baby… Amazon
My brother also sought out a selection of brilliant books and has duly checked they have all been added to the spreadsheet, which for some reason he finds highly amusing. Here are a couple that he has bought me so that he can borrow them when I am done! As his birthday is only nine days after mine,I have duly returned the favour!
Victorian Murders by Jan Bondeson is clearly for both of us…
Blurb
This book features fifty-six Victorian cases of murder covered in the sensational weekly penny journal the Illustrated Police News between 1867 and 1900.
Some of them are famous, like the Bravo Mystery of 1876, the Llangibby Massacre of 1878 and the Mrs Pearcey case of 1890; others are little-known, like the Acton Atrocity of 1880, the Ramsgate Mystery of 1893 and the Grafton Street Murder of 1894. Take your ticket for the house of horrors. Amazon
As is the wonderfully titled Lady Bette and the Murder of Mr Thynn by Nigel Pickford.
Blurb
Lady Bette, the 14-year-old heiress to the vast Northumberland estates, becomes the victim of a plot by her grandmother, the Countess Howard, to marry her to the dissolute fortune-hunter Thomas Thynn, a man three times her age with an evil reputation. Revolted by her new husband, Lady Bette flees to Holland. Within weeks, Thynn is gunned down in the street by three hired assassins.
Who is behind the contract killing? Is it the Swedish Count Coningsmark, young and glamorous with blond hair down to his waist? Or is it a political assassination as the anti-Catholic press maintains? Thynn was, after all, a key player in the Protestant faction to exclude the Catholic James, Duke of York, as his brother Charles II’s successor.
Nigel Pickford creates a world of tension and insecurity, of constant plotting and counter-plotting and of rabid anti-Catholicism, where massive street demonstrations and public Papal burnings are weekly events. The action moves from the great landed estates of Syon and Petworth to the cheap taverns and brothels of London, and finally to Newgate and the gallows – the sporting spectacle of the day. In the process, the book gives us a vivid and deeply researched portrait of Restoration society. Amazon
What have you found to read this week? Do share!
Since my last post I have read only 2 books and I have gained 7 so the TBR is on the way up again with 172!
Physical Books – 112
Kindle Books – 41
NetGalley Books –19
Audio Books –1
As three of this weeks reviews were of my own books I’ve added another 3 tokens so I’m 2 books in credit, having bought no new books.
Well Roy Grace is back for the fourteenth time in Dead If You Don’t which in short is an action packed police procedural that shouldn’t be missed.
I am a huge fan of this series and always look forward to the next book more or less from the time I close the last page and so it may surprise you to hear I had a moment of disquiet when I realised the opening scenes featured a Kip Brown and his teenaged son, Mungo, going to a big game at the Amex Stadium. OK I got that it was an important match with the locals Brighton and Hove Albion against Manchester City no less but I’m no fan of football and out of all crime fiction storylines, bombs rank bottom of the pile. The Head of Security had been warned that a bomb was going to be left in the Amex stadium unless a payment in bitcoin was made before kick-off. Oh dear, was this going to be the one novel in this series I didn’t enjoy because of my dislike of the combination of football and bombs? No, of course it wasn’t because Dead If You Don’t isn’t just about bombs and football, that was just setting the scene for something far more complex.
We have big businessmen, near bankruptcy a bunch of criminals to keep everything spicy and Roy Grace at the match with his son Bruno. Glenn Branson is with security at the stadium keeping an eye out for the promised bomb and then it all kicks off aside from the football!
As always Peter James keeps things real with his thorough research with the police giving this series a real air of authenticity whilst still ensuring that the storytelling isn’t overwhelmed with procedures and policies. I love the team, Norman Potting is still his un-PC self although more subdued than he was at his most annoying. Glenn has also overcome many of his personal problems and is reaching for the next rung on the career ladder but there is little time for the personalities to go wild in this book because Roy Grace is busy co-ordinating a missing boy, a bomb scare, a dead drugs mule and a dismembered body. Quite a lot to take on in a weekend! Dead If You Don’t is almost wall-to-wall action so although we get snippets about Roy’s wife Cleo and his sons Bruno and Noah they are very much in the background, unlike some of the previous books.
This is a scary ride of a book indeed, nearly as scary as Norman Potting’s erratic driving as they race to a potential scene of a crime. It’s a measure of the skill of the writing that I felt I was alongside poor Roy Grace as he urged Norman to go faster than a snail’s pace only to nearly be swung into the path of a van when he complied.
I’m not going to say any more – this was just as good as all the previous books in the series, if anything it felt more action packed with the switch of focus from the police and their families to the criminals and their nastiness and seeming complete lack of morality. And the ending is fantastic – a little bit of a moral to round the whole shebang off!
I’d like to say thank you to Pan Macmillan for allowing me to read a copy of Dead If You Don’t before publication today. This unbiased review is my thanks to them and the talented author Peter James. Roll on episode 15!
First Published UK: 17 May 2018
Publisher: Pan Macmillan
No of Pages: 400
Genre:Crime Fiction – Crime Series Amazon UK Amazon US
My current read is The Lodger by Marie Belloc Lowndes which is one of the books I have chosen for The Classics Club challenge.
Blurb
The Buntings are an elderly London couple who have fallen on hard times. They take in a lodger with the strange name of Mr. Sleuth, who pays handsomely for their shabby rooms. He seems to be a perfect gentleman but none the less they begin to suspect that he may be the Jack-the-Ripper-like serial killer known in the press as ‘The Avenger’.
As the number of murders in the city begins to mount, and Mr. Bunting’s teenage daughter from an earlier marriage comes to stay, the couple must decide what to do about the man in their upstairs rooms. An early example of a psychological suspense story and a brilliant evocation of the fog-bound and gaslit streets of late Victorian London, The Lodger is still a wonderfully compelling thriller. Amazon
The last book I have read is one of my highly anticipated books of the year – Dead If you Don’t, the fourteenth book in the Roy Grace series written by Peter James.
Blurb
Kipp Brown, successful businessman and compulsive gambler, is having the worst run of luck of his life. He’s beginning to lose, big style. However, taking his teenage son, Mungo, to their club’s Saturday afternoon football match should have given him a welcome respite, if only for a few hours. But it’s at the stadium where his nightmare begins.
Within minutes of arriving at the game, Kipp bumps into a client. He takes his eye off Mungo for a few moments, and in that time, the boy disappears. Then he gets the terrifying message that someone has his child, and to get him back alive, Kipp will have to pay.
Defying instruction not to contact the police, Kipp reluctantly does just that, and Detective Superintendent Roy Grace is brought in to investigate. At first it seems a straightforward case of kidnap. But rapidly Grace finds himself entering a dark, criminal underbelly of the city, where the rules are different and nothing is what it seems . . . Amazon
Up next I plan to read one from my own bookshelf, The Arsenic Labyrinth my Martin Edwards which is the third in the Lake District Murders.
Blurb
‘You’d never believe it to look at me now, but once upon a time I killed a man’
Historian Daniel Kind is finding winter in the Lake District tough, especially as his relationship with Miranda seems to be on the rocks. Far from the bright lights of London, Miranda feels increasingly isolated, and Daniel fears that she will just up and leave. She wouldn’t be the first.
Years ago, Emma Bestwick left her cottage and never came back, her disappearance never resolved, much to the chagrin of DCI Hannah Scarlett, head of the local Cold Case Review Team. But recently there are been calls to the local newspaper dropping hints about Emma’s death. With the case reopened, Hannah and Daniel are thrown together again, and soon discover that someone is desperate to preserve the secrets of the past, whatever the cost. Amazon
So that’s my reading week, what does yours look like?
Well it’s been quite a week! If anyone can tell me why four day working weeks are so much worse than normal ones, please let me know.
But… There was good news on Thursday when I read this tweet, I was thrilled that my review was included for a book that is quite different to my normal type of reads, but one that I really enjoyed despite that.
And then yesterday when I discovered that I have been nominated for BEST BOOK REVIEW BLOG for THE ANNUAL BLOGGERS BASH – I’m honoured and thrilled to be included and of course there are a whole heap of other wonderful book bloggers to vote for too!
My excerpt post came from my latest read for The Classics Club; The Moving Toyshop by Edmund Crispin
This Week in Books featured books by Jane Davis, Alison Marsons and Rebecca Muddiman.
My first review of the week was for the psychological suspense novel Skin Deep by Liz Nugent which I awarded the full five stars.
This was followed by my review for Vicky Newham‘s debut novel Turn a Blind Eye which introduces Bangladeshi DI Maya Rahman and is set in Tower Hamlets, East London.
I rounded off the week with a cheeky book challenge – I Spy Book Challenge had me frantically searching my bookshelves for suitable titles – always fun!
This Time Last Year…
I was reading Dead Woman Walking by Sharon Bolton. This almost surreal piece of crime fiction featured a hot air balloon, a bunch of nuns and peacocks which has to go down as the most bizarre trio of important items for any crime novel.
The book starts with a fortieth birthday celebration and the aforementioned hot air balloon when one of the passengers witnesses an act of violence. The man committing violence eyes meet those of the witness, and then the balloon crashes. If you want to know any more you really should read this brilliant novel.
You can read my full review here or click on the book cover.
Blurb
Just before dawn in the hills near the Scottish border, thirteen passengers on a hot-air balloon flight witness a brutal murder. Within the next hour, all but one of them will be dead.
Alone, scared and trusting no-one, she flees for her life, running to the one place she feels safe. But she’s seen the killer’s face, and he’s seen hers – and he won’t rest until he’s eliminated the last witness to his crime . . . Amazon
Stacking the Shelves
Just one book this week, yes you read that correctly! I have vowed not only to continue to follow the book token rule in purchasing new books but I’m also sworn off all new review books for the month of April and probably May too. This is mainly out of necessity as the months on the spreadsheet are already overflowing and I am determined to squeeze some of my own reads in too, so something had to give.
So how do I have one book? Well I accepted, not that I would ever say no to this author, before 1 April when this vow came into being.
Dead If You Don’t by Peter James is going to be published on 17 May 2018 and is the fourteenth in my favourite ever police procedural series featuring Roy James.
Blurb
Kipp Brown, successful businessman and compulsive gambler, is having the worst run of luck of his life. He’s beginning to lose, big style. However, taking his teenage son, Mungo, to their club’s Saturday afternoon football match should have given him a welcome respite, if only for a few hours. But it’s at the stadium where his nightmare begins.
Within minutes of arriving at the game, Kipp bumps into a client. He takes his eye off Mungo for a few moments, and in that time, the boy disappears. Then he gets the terrifying message that someone has his child, and to get him back alive, Kipp will have to pay.
Defying instruction not to contact the police, Kipp reluctantly does just that, and Detective Superintendent Roy Grace is brought in to investigate. At first it seems a straightforward case of kidnap. But rapidly Grace finds himself entering a dark, criminal underbelly of the city, where the rules are different and nothing is what it seems . . . Amazon
Since my last post I have read 4 books and since I have gained 1 so my TBR has started its descent to 185
Physical Books – 111
Kindle Books – 52
NetGalley Books –22
I have banked absolutely no book tokens this week and also spent 0 so I’m just 1/3 books in credit!
I must start with an apology this week for my lack of comments and interaction on social media caused by a cyst below my eye – very uncomfortable and caused my face to swell into something quite horrific looking, and worst of all I could only see through one eye for a while.
Onto happier things – the week before Easter I planted seeds for three sunflowers, three tomato plants and two pepper plants and I’ve had success, in fact huge success for me as I’m the least green-fingered person on the planet – I have one sunflower and it’s growing like crazy.
I was absolutely delighted and honoured to be nominated for the Best Book Blog Award in the Annual Bloggers Bash Award, thank you to whoever nominated me! Voting is now open until 2 June 2017 at 12pm.
This Week on the Blog
Well my week started late due to the blog tour for Need You Dead by Peter James running last Sunday.
On Tuesday my excerpt post was from The Stranger by Saskia Sarginson, which tells the tale of a newly widowed woman living in a small community when a stranger appears…
My This Week in Books post featured the authors C.L. Taylor, Helen McGowan and Helen Walsh
My first review of the week was for Ruth Rendell’s Monster in the Box bringing my total of books read and reviewed for the Mount TBR Challenge 2017 to 14 out of 36 – bang on target.
This was followed by my review for Blood Tide by Claire McGowan, a dark story set on a small island inhabited by people wary of the outside world, not helpful when there are two people missing from the lighthouse! This series set in the fictional Ballyterrin, Ireland just keeps getting better!
Finally I posted my review of The Escape by C.L. Taylor, a thrilling psychological thriller which coincidentally also has its best scenes set in Ireland had masses of action to keep my fully entertained.
This Time Last Year…
I was reading Love You Dead by Peter James, the twelfth in the Roy Grace series set in Brighton. In this book one strand of the story arc which had been going since book one came to an end and I feared Roy Grace would be no more but thankfully that hasn’t been the case and the thirteenth book is out now! In case you hadn’t already guessed, I love this series.
You can click on the book cover for my full review or read it here
Blurb
An ugly duckling as a child, Jodie Bentley had two dreams in life – to be beautiful and rich. She’s achieved the first, with a little help from a plastic surgeon, and now she’s working hard on the second. Her philosophy on money is simple: you can either earn it or marry it. Marrying is easy, it’s getting rid of the husband afterwards that’s harder, that takes real skill. But hey, practice makes perfect . . .
Detective Superintendent Roy Grace is feeling the pressure from his superiors, his previous case is still giving him sleepless nights, there have been major developments with his missing wife Sandy, and an old adversary is back. But worse than all of this, he now believes a Black Widow is operating in his city. One with a venomous mind . . . and venomous skills. Soon Grace comes to the frightening realization that he may have underestimated just how dangerous this lady is.
Love You Dead is the gripping twelfth book in Peter James’ Roy Grace series. Amazon
There are no entries for Stacking the Shelves this week!
That’s right no new books in any format have made it into the house this week.
So do let me know what you’ve all found – after all I may run out of good books to read!
Since my last post I’ve read 4 books and gained 0.
The current total is therefore 181 – the lowest total of 2017
Physical Books – 106
Kindle Books – 61
NetGalley Books – 14
I am particularly delighted to be part of the blog tour for Need You Dead which is the thirteenth in the award-winning DS Roy Grace series by Peter James because this is a series I’ve followed from the very beginning, reading each book in order eager to find out what has happened to my favourite characters whilst knowing that there will be a cracking crime story to keep me entertained.
Today Peter James is sharing some of his research with us:
DS Roy Grace Blog Tour – Day 7 Research behind Dead Man’s Grip
While researching Dead Man’s Grip I was taken around the famous local landmark that is Shoreham Power station. Along with being claustrophobic I have always had an absolute terror of heights, so the research for a key scene in the book, involving a secret tunnel under Shoreham Harbour, where I would be making a 180 feet vertical descent down a ladder in a shaft, was horrifying! A major “oh shit” moment! Fortunately I had two very delightful and caring helpers from Rescue & Emergency Medical Services Ltd who gave me the confidence and help to do it.
Then at the launch of Dead Man’s Grip I was submerged in a van in Shoreham Harbour for a stunt enacting a key scene in the book. I was nervous as hell before this event and I had the whole police dive team prepped to rescue me in case it went wrong!
Peter James has kindly provided original pieces for each day of his blog tour so make sure you catch the rest of the stops!
Book Review
Lorna Belling has been found dead in a bath tub in a rented flat in Brighton. Already known to the police because she’s reported her husband for domestic abuse Roy Grace sees the investigation as a good one for Guy Batchelor to be Deputy Senior Investigating Officer for a couple of reasons: one to allow him to learn the ropes and secondly because Roy has to fly to Germany to pick up his son Bruno to bring him back for the funeral of his mother.
Lorna is a hairdresser who works from home, her phone is monitored by her husband and there has been more than one nasty incident with her husband Corin who works for an IT company, but the last attack was particularly nasty. The Domestic Violence caseworker is concerned for Lorna’s safety but so far Lorna has decided to stay put with Corin and the puppies she has bred. But the flat where Lorna was found dead wasn’t her home, so why is she in a cheap rental flat with dodgy electrics?
Of course the investigation isn’t quite as straightforward as first appearances indicated and the reader is in on the action seeing the red-herrings being liberally scattered across Brighton to ensure that the Police are following entirely the wrong scent. In a bold move by the author we even know why the only link missing is who it could be. It goes to show how in experienced hands a small amount of mystery is all that is needed with this book not lacking at all in tension as the team set out to find the killer – or perhaps Lorna committed suicide after all?
There are a number of strands to be pursued by the team and all of them have a good collection of well-drawn characters to keep us fully entertained as they do so!
It is almost refreshing these days to have modern crime fiction told in a straightforward time-line and here we have the chapters headed up by the days of the week starting from the beginning and working to the end – how clever is that? Because there is so much going on there are several chapters for each day, with each looking from a different point of view and in the case of Roy Grace, some are from a different country.
As with the entire series I get as much enjoyment in meeting up with the large and varied cast of characters, particularly with the established team of police, with the author reflecting their most immediate concerns using his extensive contacts with the real crime fighters in Brighton’s Police Force to ensure all the details are bang up to date. A small word of caution, Mr James, please don’t turn Roy Grace into a political figurehead for the Police however much your sources urge you to, less is more as they say!
As always this latest Roy Grace story had me thoroughly entertained. I can also spy some interesting threads which I’m sure we will follow for a few books yet in Roy’s personal life as Bruno settles into life as a big brother to baby Noah and so as always, no sooner did I put the book down, I was eager to have the next instalment from Brighton and Hove.
I am extremely grateful to Macmillan and Midas PR for providing me with a review copy of this book, and for allowing me to be part of this blog tour – the pinnacle of my blogging ambitions! My review of course is unbiased.
First Published UK: 18 May 2017
Publisher: Pan Macmillan
No of Pages: 432
Genre:Crime Fiction – Crime Series Amazon UK Amazon US
Roy Grace Series in order
Dead Simple
Looking Good Dead
Not Dead Enough
Dead Man’s Footsteps
Dead Tomorrow
Dead Like You
Dead Man’s Grip
Not Dead Yet Dead Man’s Time Want You Dead You Are Dead Love You Dead
Need You Dead
Need You Dead, the thirteenth in the award-winning DS Roy Grace series by Peter James, is out 18th May (Macmillan, £20.00)
At the moment the book open on my bedside table is Boy A by Jonathan Trigell the next in my Mount TBR 2017 challenge having been purchased in April 2015.
Blurb
A is for Apple. A bad apple? Jack has spent most of his life in juvenile institutions, to be released with a new name, new job, new life.
At 24, he is utterly innocent of the world, yet guilty of a monstrous childhood crime.
To his new friends, he is a good guy with occasional flashes of unexpected violence. To his new girlfriend, he is strangely inexperienced and unreachable. To his case worker, he’s a victim of the system and of media-driven hysteria. And to himself, Jack is on permanent trial: can he really start from scratch, forget the past, become someone else?
Is a new name enough?
Can Jack ever truly connect with his new friends while hiding a monstrous secret? This searing and heartfelt novel is a devastating indictment of society’s inability to reconcile childhood innocence with reality. Amazon
I have just finished The People at Number 9 by Felicity Everett after all who can resist peeking behind the doors of a neighbour?
Blurb
‘Have you met them yet, the new couple?’
When Gav and Lou move into the house next door, Sara spends days plucking up courage to say hello. The neighbours are glamorous, chaotic and just a little eccentric. They make the rest of Sara’s street seem dull by comparison.
When the hand of friendship is extended, Sara is delighted and flattered. Incredibly, Gav and Lou seem to see something in Sara and Neil that they admire too. In no time at all, the two couples are soulmates, sharing suppers, bottles of red wine and childcare, laughing and trading stories and secrets late into the night in one another’s houses.
And the more time Sara spends with Gav and Lou, the more she longs to make changes in her own life. But those changes will come at a price. Soon Gav and Lou will be asking things they’ve no right to ask of their neighbours, with shattering consequences for all of them…
Have you met The People at Number 9? A dark and delicious novel about envy, longing and betrayal in the suburbs… NetGalley
Next up I plan to read Need You Dead by Peter James with Roy Grace’s thirteenth outing – followers of this blog will know what a huge fan I am of this series so I can’t wait to curl up and read his latest adventure.
Blurb
Lorna Belling, desperate to escape the marriage from hell, falls for the charms of another man who promises her the earth. But, as Lorna finds, life seldom follows the plans you’ve made. A chance photograph on a client’s mobile phone changes everything for her.
When the body of a woman is found in a bath in Brighton, Detective Superintendent Roy Grace is called to the scene. At first it looks an open and shut case with a clear prime suspect. Then other scenarios begin to present themselves, each of them tantalizingly plausible, until, in a sudden turn of events, and to his utter disbelief, the case turns more sinister than Grace could ever have imagined. Amazon
So what are you reading this week? Have you read any of these choices? Do you want to?
Well one-quarter of 2017 over already and in that time I’ve had some brilliant books to read including the very special A Dangerous Crossing by Rachel Rhys (aka Tammy Cohen) and this week I came home to the final version complete with a lovely personal inscription from Tammy and in the acknowledgements a thank you to all book bloggers and a special mention for me. If you haven’t read A Dangerous Crossing yet, I highly recommend it
This Week on the Blog
After a somewhat unscheduled break last week when I realised I simply couldn’t fit anything else into my days I was back this week raring to go!
I started the week with my review of Louise WaltersA Life Between Us which tells the story across the decades of one family. There were many layers to this story told across decades but Louise Walters knows her craft and has written a belter of a book
My excerpt post was from The Restless Dead by Simon Beckett and this was one opener that you don’t want to read while you’re eating…
On Wednesday I featured books from Suellen Dainty, David Jackson and Thorne Moore who all featured in my reading week.
Next up my review of A is for Arsenic: The Poisons of Agatha Christie by Kathryn Harkup in which I unreservedly recommend for fans of the Queen of Crime, and I got to learn even more about poisoners and their poisons.
On Friday I took part in the blog tour by posting my review for The Housekeeper by Suellen Dainty (yes I had to read and review in record time this week) which wasn’t what I expected but I thoroughly enjoyed this slow peeling back of the layers of a household and the woman who was their housekeeper.
Yesterday was the fifth Put a Book on the Map feature and this time we visited Peterborough with Eva Dolan’s series featuring DI Zigic and DS Ferreira with help from A Crime Reader’s Blog and the unstinting support of The Book Trail
This Time Last Year…
I was reading Tastes Like Fear by Sarah Hilary, which had two seemingly disparate plots for DI Marnie Rome and DS Noah Jakes to solve. The whole series is incredibly strong with bang up to date storylines; Tastes Like Fear was no different.
You can read my full review here or click on the book cover
Blurb
The fragile young girl who causes the fatal car crash disappears from the scene. A runaway who doesn’t want to be found, she only wants to return to the man who understands her and offers her warmth, comfort, a home. He gives her gives her shelter. Just as he gives shelter to the other lost girls who live in his house.
He’s the head of her new family.
D.I. Marnie Rome has faced many dangerous criminals but she has never come up against a man like Harm. She thinks that she knows families, their secrets and their fault lines. But as she begins investigating the girl’s disappearance nothing can prepare her for what she’s about to face. Amazon
Stacking the Shelves
I’m getting the feeling that the publishers are trying to undermine my exceptional self-control for buying new books and requesting from NetGalley as I have had loads of great books through the post – here is a small selection
Blood Tide by Claire McGowan, the fifth in the Paula McGuire series set in Ireland was a welcome addition to the household.
Blurb
Called in to investigate the disappearance of a young couple during a violent storm, Paula Maguire, forensic psychologist, has mixed feelings about going back to Bone Island. Her last family holiday as a child was spent on its beautiful, remote beaches and returning brings back haunting memories of her long-lost mother.
It soon becomes clear that outsiders aren’t welcome on the island, and with no choice but to investigate the local community, Paula soon suspects foul play, realising that the islanders are hiding secrets from her, and each other.
With another storm fast approaching, Paula is faced with a choice. Leave alive or risk being trapped with a killer on an inescapable island, as the blood tide rushes in… Amazon
I was ecstatic to be sent a copy of the latest Peter James book, Need You Dead which is the thirteenth in the Roy Grace series set in Brighton. I am a huge fan of this series and will be part of the blog tour in May to celebrate its publication.
Blurb
Lorna Belling, desperate to escape the marriage from hell, falls for the charms of another man who promises her the earth. But, as Lorna finds, life seldom follows the plans you’ve made. A chance photograph on a client’s mobile phone changes everything for her.
When the body of a woman is found in a bath in Brighton, Detective Superintendent Roy Grace is called to the scene. At first it looks an open and shut case with a clear prime suspect. Then other scenarios begin to present themselves, each of them tantalizingly plausible, until, in a sudden turn of events, and to his utter disbelief, the case turns more sinister than Grace could ever have imagined. Amazon
I was also delighted to receive an advance copy of They All Fall Down by Tammy Cohen which will be published on 13 July 2017.
Blurb
She knows there’s a killer on the loose.
But no-one believes her.
Will she be next?
Hannah had a normal life – a loving husband, a good job. Until she did something shocking.
Now she’s in a psychiatric clinic. It should be a safe place. But patients keep dying.
The doctors say it’s suicide. Hannah knows they’re lying.
Can she make anyone believe her before the killer strikes again? Amazon
I also have a copy of a new to me author Maile Meloy with Do Not Become Alarmed which will be published on 6 July 2017 and came with a fetching boarding pass.
Blurb
When Liv and Nora decide to take their husbands and children on a holiday cruise, everyone is thrilled. The ship’s comforts and possibilities seem infinite. But when they all go ashore in beautiful Central America, a series of minor mishaps lead the families further from the ship’s safety.
One minute the children are there, and the next they’re gone.
What follows is a heart-racing story told from the perspectives of the adults and the children, as the distraught parents – now turning on one another and blaming themselves – try to recover their children and their shattered lives. Amazon
I also have one book from NetGalley, an exception had to be made because Steve Robinson gave me a link to request his latest genealogical mystery Dying Games, the sixth in the Jefferson Tate series. Dying Games will be published on 4 May 2017.
Blurb
Washington, DC: Twin brothers are found drowned in a Perspex box, one gagged and strapped to a chair. It’s the latest in a series of cruel and elaborate murders with two things in common: the killer has left a family history chart at each crime scene, and the victims all have a connection to genealogical sleuth Jefferson Tayte.
Hoping his insight and expertise will help solve the case, the FBI summon Tayte back to the capital. But as he struggles to crack the clues, the killer strikes again—and again. Tayte is known as the best in the business, but this time he’s up against a genealogical mastermind who always seems to be one step ahead.
With the clock ticking and the body count rising, Tayte finds himself racked with guilt, his reputation and career in tatters. The killer is running rings around him; is it only a matter of time before he comes for the ultimate target?
This is the sixth book in the Jefferson Tayte Genealogical Mystery series but can be enjoyed as a stand-alone story. NetGalley
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 6 books and gained 7 so the grand total is slowly inching upwards to 192
Physical Books – 114
Kindle Books – 61
NetGalley Books – 17
This is one of my favourite posts of the year so there was no question of me repeating this following my relative success in filling in the squares in both 2014 and 2015
I purposely don’t treat this like a challenge by finding books to fit the squares throughout the year, oh no! I prefer to see which of my (mostly) favourite books will fit from the set I’ve read. As you can imagine this becomes a bit like one of those moving puzzles where one book is suitable for a number of squares… and then I’m left with empty squares which I have to trawl through the 136 books I’ve read and reviewed to see if any book at all will fit! This keeps me amused for many, many hours so I do hope you all enjoy the result.
Click on the book covers to read my reviews
A Book With More Than 500 Pages
Small Great Things by Jodi Picoult clocks in at 512 pages covering the injustice of a Ruth Jefferson, the only African-American nurse on duty when a baby gets into difficulty. With the parents white supremacists who want to blame someone Ruth is charged with murder. Not a comfortable read and I applaud the author for wanting to address racism and using an absorbing tale to do so.
A Forgotten Classic
I came late to Beryl Bainbridge so I’m going to count this as a modern classic. I’ve read three of this author’s books so far, my favourite being Harriet Said. The story is based upon a murder case involving two teenaged girls in New Zealand, a case that was also the inspiration for the film Heavenly Creatures. The author creates two young teenage girls using them to reveal the push and pull of their relationship which is ultimately their undoing.
A Book That Became a Movie
Testament of Youth by Vera Brittain has lots to recommend it although I admit some of the politics towards the end, went over my head, but the tale of a young woman nursing through World War I, having put her hard one academic ambitions on hold, was incredibly poignant. With the inevitable loss of friends and family her grief for herself and her generation is palpable The film was released in 2014 to great acclaim.
A Book Published This Year
As a book reviewer I have read lots of books published this year but decided to feature one from my historical fiction selection. The Ballroom by Anna Hope tells the tale of life in an asylum in West Riding, the year being 1911. With a mixture of men and women housed in the asylum the author not only writes us a great story, but has accurately researched what life was like from the perspective of inmates and attendants.
A Book With A Number In The Title
I give you not one but two numbers in this title: The One in a Million Boy by Monica Wood is a book I denoted ‘quirky’ but I’m so glad I read it. The story concerns the relationship between Ona Vitkus, a Lithuanian immigrant who has lived in the US since she was just four, and a boy Scout with a passion for the Guinness World Records. Touching without ever being overly sentimental this is one that will linger in my mind for quite some time.
A Book Written by Someone Under Thirty
Five Rivers Met On A Wooded Plain was written by Barney Norris who was born in 1987. This book not only touches on the history of Salisbury but weaves stories of five fictional characters in a literary, but oh so readable way. An accomplished novel that doesn’t let an obvious love of language interfere with a great story.
A Book With Non Human Characters
Well I’m giving you double for your money with this book, not only is there a ghost in The Little Stanger by the fabulous Sarah Waters, there is also a Labrador that plays a key role in the subsequent downfall of the Ayres family. This spooky story is narrated by a country doctor in 1940’s Warwickshire and has plenty of other themes to enjoy even if you, like me, are not a fan of ghostly goings-on.
A Funny Book
A Man With One Of Those Faces is a crime fiction novel written by stand-up comedian Caimh McDonnell. I know crime mixed with humour doesn’t sound as if it should work, but it does! A Man With One of Those Faces is full of observational humour with some truly entertaining characters without sacrificing a great plot with a whole heap of action to keep you on the edge of your seat.
A Book By A Female Author
So many great books by so many fab women – in the end I chose My Husband’s Wife by Jane Corry which falls into one of my favourite genres, psychological thrillers of the domestic variety. This tale mixes past and present with a whole heap of flawed characters and is told by two separate narrators Lily and Carla and they reveal more and more about themselves, and those around them. An extremely tense read which was utterly satisfying.
A Book With A Mystery
What better mystery can there be than that of a missing policeman on Dalziel’s patch? Pictures of Perfection is the fourteenth in the Dalziel & Pascoe series written by the outstandingly talented Reginald Hill and this book was an absolute delight to read. With a horrific opening scene, the book then switches to the more genteel setting of a country fair in 1980s rural Yorkshire. Fear not though this isn’t window dressing, the plot is superb with a proper mystery to be solved.
A Book With A One Word Title
Like last year I have read six books that have a single word as their title but I have chosen Viral by Helen Fitzgerald because of the very contemporary storyline. Viral examines what happens when a sex act carried out in Magaluf ends up online for all Su Oliphant-Brotheridge’s friends and family to see but despite that taster, this story didn’t go in the direction I expected it to.
A Book of Short Stories
Manipulated Lives by H.A. Leuschel is a collection of five novellas all looking at manipulators and the effect on the lives of those they choose to manipulate. The author picked five different characters and settings to explore this theme and I have to admit, not being a huge fan of short stories, the common thread was far more appealing to me than some other collections.
Free Square
For my free square this year I have decided to go with the book with the best opening sentence; Lying in Wait by Liz Nugent: ‘My husband did not mean to kill Annie Doyle, but the lying tramp deserved it.’
With the rest of this book more than living up to the first line there was so much to love not only does the author keep the tension stretched as taut as could be, despite that opening revelation we have a wonderful Irish setting as background.
A Book Set On A Different Continent
The Woman on the Orient Express by Lindsay Jayne Ashford is a novel that ends up in Baghdad recreating a trip to an archaeology dig that Agatha Christie made following the divorce from her first husband. This wasn’t so much of a mystery rather a historical novel using Agatha Christie herself as the centre of the story of three woman all making this trip for very different reasons. An unusual and rewarding read with an exotic setting along with a fantastic mode of transport.
A Book of Non-Fiction
I have read some brilliant non-fiction books, mostly about murders, and a fair proportion about poisoners, my interest (or obsession) of the year, so I am going with Did She Kill Him? by Kate Colquhoun. Florence Maybrick is the subject of this book, a middle-class woman living in Liverpool in 1889 when she stood trial for the murder, by arsenic, of her husband. While the majority of the book is relatively sympathetic to Florence, the author cleverly takes apart the arguments in the last section leaving the reader to make up their own mind if she was guilty or not.
The First Book By A Favourite Author
I enjoyed In Bitter Chill by Sarah Ward so much earlier in the year that I had to buy the second in the series, A Deadly Thaw. The setting in Bampton Derbyshire was stunning which made the awful tale of the disappearance of two girls back in 1978 all the more shocking, especially as only one of those girls returned home. Rachel Jones went home but now an adult a suicide prompts her to find out what really happened all those years ago.
A Book I Heard About Online
Since blogging I find most of my new author finds on-line and to be honest, it is fairly easy to persuade me I must read crime fiction or psychological thrillers, I’m more resistant to other genres. But all the rave reviews about The Versions of Us by Laura Bennett, a sliding-doors novel had me intrigued – and what a great find this was. The incident that kicks off the three different lives in The Versions of Us is a student falling off her bike whilst studying at Cambridge University in October 1958 and the three tales that follow are all equally brilliant. This was an absorbing read especially taking into consideration the complicated structure.
A Best Selling Book
Peter James’ Roy Grace series consistently makes the best seller list, and also happens to be my favourite police procedural series so it is only right and fitting that Love You Dead is featured for this square. For those of you who also enjoy not only the mystery but also reading about Roy Grace (and his beautiful wife, Cleo), some key story arcs are cleared up in this, the twelfth book in the series. Mystery fans don’t need to worry either, the key plot is a good one featuring a pretty woman at its heart.
A Book Based Upon A True Story
Burial Rites by Hannah Kent turned out to be one of my favourite reads of the year! With the Icelandic landscape as a backdrop to Agnes Magnúsdóttir’s final months awaiting trial for the murder of two men, we see the family she had been sent to stay with learning to adjust to the stranger in their midst. Be warned if you haven’t read this book, it is devastating, I had grown to love Agnes and yet her fate was sealed and no amount of wishing can change the course of history.
A Book At the Bottom Of Your To Be Read Pile
The Mistake by Wendy James is a book inspired by a true event rather than based upon it and one that had been on my TBR for a couple of years. In The Mistake we meet Jodi Garrow whose comfortable life as the wife of a lawyer unravels when a nurse in a small town hospital remembers her from years before when she gave birth to a little girl, there is no sign of that baby and Jodi does her best to cover up the truth but the media are determined to find the truth.
A Book Your Friend Loves
I introduced a friend to the wonders of DI Kim Stone this year and she loved the series, in fact, despite not being a book blogger, she told me about the upcoming release of Blood Lines by Angela Marsons before I knew it was happening! This series goes from strength to strength and her characterisation underpins a fantastic multi-stranded mystery as our protagonist tries to find the link between the stabbing of a compassionate, well-loved woman and a prostitute.
A Book That Scares You
I rarely get scared by a book but from the opening excerpt of The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe this book had me well and truly spooked by A Tapping At My Door by David Jackson. With opening scenes of a woman hearing a tapping sound, I was glad I wasn’t reading this on a dark night on my own. But this isn’t just a spooky police procedural, it is incredibly clever – I can’t tell you exactly how as that would spoil it but this was a book with a superb plot, probably one of the best I’ve read this year. That with a lively and interesting character in DS Nathan Cody, a Liverpool setting and more than a dash of humour, means it was an all-round great read.
A Book That Is More Than 10 Years Old
I decided to pick the oldest book that I’ve read this year and this one was first published in 1926 so in fact 90 years old; The Murder of Roger Ackroyd is considered by many to be one of the best written by Agatha Christie and I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed this book narrated by a doctor and one of my very favourite detectives, Monsieur Poirot leading the search for the murderer of Roger Ackroyd, killed in his very own study if you please – oh and of course the door was locked!
The Second Book In A Series
I have a love of 1920s London and Fiona Veitch Smith’s creation Poppy Denby, journalist at The Daily Globe had her second outing in The Kill Fee, this year. The mystery had its roots in Russia and the revolution and Poppy romps her way around extricating herself from ever more tricky circumstances made for a delightful and informative read.
A Book With A Blue Cover
I can’t let this square go without asking has anyone else noticed the increase in blue covers? The one I’ve chosen was my surprise hit of the year; The Museum of You by Carys Bray – a story about a twelve-year-old girl putting together an exhibition about her mother wouldn’t normally make it onto the TBR, let alone be loved so much… but the lack of overt sentimentality in this book along with an exceptional array of characters made it a firm favourite for 2016.
Well look at that, for the first time ever I have completed every square!
How about you? How much of the card could you fill in? Please share!
Cleopatra Loves Books 