Last Letter Home – Rachel Hore

Historical Fiction
4*s

I do love a good dual time-line story and this one has two geographical references to enhance the experience even further.

In Last Letter Home historian Briony Andrews visits Italy with her friends and finds a link to her past in an old derelict house. Not totally unsurprising as she knew that her Grandfather had fought there during the war, but even so what could be more magical than to see him on an old reel of film. Even better she is handed a letter written by one Sarah Bailey to an as yet unknown man.

In 1939 Sarah Bailey settled in Norfolk after spending some time in India. She lives with her mother and sister mourning the loss of their father. While there she meets a distant relative of their neighbours at Westbury Hall, a young man Paul Franklin who is half-German. Not a great nation to have hailed from at this time!
The past story is a particularly interesting twist on the usual WWII storyline due to the inclusion of Paul Franklin. I think few of us consider what it must have been like to be a settler in the UK at this time as a German. How would your neighbours react? Where would their loyalties lie if they were to fight? And a myriad of other questions are subtlety posed through the characters Rachel Hore has so richly drawn.

Of course being Rachel Hore this isn’t simply a character study, her books, and I’ve been a fan for years, all are backed up with meticulous research. In this book we learn about the campaign in Naples in 1943 and we are not spared some of the crueller realities of what war is really like some of which we view in letters home from the front-line, others are told through the research our fictional historian carries out in her quest to find out what became of Paul and Sarah after the war was over.

Briony’s story is also fascinating as she lives a modern life as a single woman with a close friend Aruna. As the story opens it is social media that is in the spotlight as Briony is invited to do a piece on TV for which she gets mauled. The contrast between 2016 and the past could not be more clear despite Paul being distrusted by some of his peers back then. The holiday to Naples is born from Briony’s mishap and Aruna’s new boyfriend Luke is more than welcoming even if the other couple are of the kind that you’d rather not be stuck on holiday with!

Rachel Hore has excelled with both her characterisation and the descriptions of her settings, I was easily transported to Italy in both the past and present. However it is well-rounded characters and interesting storylines that make these kind of historical novels and although I was inevitably drawn towards the mystery of the past, Briony’s life in the present was far from boring giving a story that had me longing to know what would happen in both the past and the present.

I’d like to say a huge thank you to Simon & Schuster UK who allowed me to read an advance copy of this book ahead of publication on 22 March 2018. This unbiased review is my thanks to them.

First Published UK: 22 March 2018
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
No of Pages: 560
Genre: Historical Fiction 
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Hell Bay – Kate Rhodes

Crime Fiction
4*s

This is a new series by Kate Rhodes featuring DI Ben Kitt who is visiting his home, Bryher, one of the smallest of the Scilly Isles. The title of the book is taken from the name of an Atlantic facing cove on the island named Hell Bay. In the 18th and 19th centuries this was apparently a notorious spot for shipwrecks caught on the rocks at this point.

Living on an island myself it is no surprise that I have a fondness for books set on them and Bryher is the ultimate in island destinations, very small populated by a small community who like to think everyone knows everything about everyone, how could it be that a teenage girl ends up dead with no-one seeing anything untoward? Ah small town settings or islands so few suspects and no chance that anyone had left the island by boat by the time the murder was discovered.  How hard can finding the perpetrator be?

Meanwhile we are aware that DI Kitt is on extended leave from the Metropolitan police but the reasons why aren’t revealed for a while. All he has for company as he lives in his deceased mother’s house is a dog named Shadow that he doesn’t seem overly keen on. But the island is home and he has friends and family in the form of Ray, a boatyard owner so he uses the skills he learnt as a young boy to lend a hand to building a boat. But as soon as it becomes obvious that the local police force aren’t used to dealing with murder he offers his services, after all having worked on the Murder Squad for a decade he has the requisite skills.

Laura Trescothick’s death changes life on the island immediately with the locals scared by the knowledge that there is a killer in their midst. After all this is somewhere where doors are left unlocked, the local shop provides food for one of the residents in exchange for honey and herbs and the pub’s landlady takes it upon herself to serve the returned policeman, also her godson, Cranberry juice when she feels this will benefit his health more than the alcohol he requested. One of the advantages of being an island though is that the journalists can be kept at bay, essentially no-one can leave or come to the island until the perpetrator is found, handcuffed and carted off, by boat to the nearest island with some cells, St Mary.

The characters are complex, yes all of them. We have an American artist, a smallholder, a rich businessman intent on owning all available property on the island and a hotel proprietor who still longs to be a singer. There is also a young bereaved woman who has moved to the island for the peace and quiet but who holds her secrets close to her chest, so you see there are many fascinating people to get to know as we begin to understand their stories.

This is a brilliantly multi-layered story that gets better and better as the story unfolds. This is a brilliant read for those who enjoy their crime fiction to be measured rather than frantic and like putting the pieces of the puzzle together for themselves. The superb plotting combined with the often bleak island setting and the complicated DI Ben Kitto made for rewarding reading.

I’d like to thank the publishers Simon & Schuster for allowing me to read an advance copy of Hell Bay, this unbiased review is my thanks to them. The hardback and eBook versions of this book was published on 25 January 2018 however if you want to wait for the paperback is will be published on 3 May 2018. I’m also delighted to confirm that it appears that DI Ben Kitto will be back in another book in this series called Ruin Beach, hopefully fairly soon as there was an excerpt at the back of this ARC!

First Published UK: 25 January 2018
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
No of Pages: 400
Genre: Crime Fiction – Series
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The Summer House – Santa Montefiore #20booksofsummer

Contemporary Fiction
3*s

 

The Frampton family are in a state of shock as Lord Frampton has died, albeit doing what he loved most, facing danger on off-piste skiing, and he met his end under an avalanche.  So to the funeral where a beautiful young woman appears who quickly declares with the aid of the family lawyer, Julius Beecher, to be the illegitimate daughter and therefore sister to the three Frampton brothers.

Antoinette Frampton doesn’t know what to think, she’s always been a bit of an aside to George’s more adventurous lifestyle, staying home to keep house after the years of raising the children who are now in their late twenties, and of course entertaining his mother, the Dowager, who lives in the Dowager house on the beautiful estate.

There is a strong sense of place, and the author’s intimidate knowledge of those in the higher social circles shines through. We have the butler Harris, on hand at all times to serve the various drinks, shortbread and to rustle up a picnic whenever the fancy takes the family and likewise the gardener who has tended to the gardens for forty years but is absolutely delighted when Antoinette shows an interest as she works through her grief in a new project. We are also given an insight into the way the upper class view each other depending on their place within the wider family, to be honest this all felt a little bit ridiculous to me but on the other hand it adds a bit of glamour!

Back in the here and now, Phaedra having introduced herself is keen to return to her home in Paris, but first the will has to be read, and that reveals that the beautiful and expensive Frampton Sapphires are to be given to her, along with a generous bequest. Roberta, wife of Josh is less than impressed but Phaedra has already won over the eldest son David who is undoubtedly attracted to the beautiful young woman, of course it cannot be, after all she is his half-sister.

This book wasn’t really my usual read, and I chose it as one of my 20 books of summer in part because I have two other books by this author courtesy of a friend, which have sat on the TBR for a long time and I thought I really ought to read one of them. Sadly this book didn’t have me convinced the writing style is a little over-blown for my tastes and I’d pretty much worked out what the end was going to be before I hit the fifty page mark. That’s not to say this is a bad read, the characterisation was well done, although I couldn’t help feeling that if the Frampton’s had mixed outside their own social circle more that maybe they wouldn’t have, been bowled over by her superficial psychological support delivered with a tender pat of the hand.

The family is a good mix of characters and the grief of both Antoinette and Margaret the Dowager, whilst ever-present is not overwhelming, but nevertheless holding many of the truths of how people react when their lives are unexpectedly turned upside down.

I can see this book as an ideal holiday companion but sadly, because I’d managed to guess the ending it really didn’t quite work for me.

The Summer House was my twentieth read in my 20 Books of Summer Challenge – yes I have completed this challenge before the finish date of 3 September!

First Published UK: 19 July 2012
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
No of Pages: 464
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
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Reconstructing Amelia – Kimberly McCreight

Psychological Thriller
4*s

Kate Baron is a successful litigation lawyer and single mother to Amelia. Despite her hectic life Kate has made a success of their small family with time put aside to concentrate on Amelia to make up for the hours spent working late. Amelia used to have the company of her nanny who had looked after her since she was a small child but at fifteen Kate was persuaded by Amelia who argued she was too old.

One day Kate gets a call from Amelia’s school while she is in one of the most important meetings of her career, Amelia has been suspended, the matter to be discussed in person with the Headmaster. Later that day Amelia is found dead; soon classified as suicide but then Kate gets a text that claims that her daughter’s death wasn’t suicide at all. Kate sets about what really happened to Amelia and the texts, emails and social media pages, including a blog will make the most hardened adult wince.

This book quickly drew me in to the heart of the tale which is Kate’s belief that she knew her daughter but as soon as she starts investigating, she finds out that Amelia had secrets, lots and not just from Kate but from her best friend too. Female teenage friendships are complicated at the best of times but in the progressive American High School that Amelia attended there were also secret societies complete with initiation tasks and a complete stink, rather than a mere whiff, of bullying about them. Could membership, or not, really be behind the loss of life, of all that potential?

As the gap between mother and daughter is laid bare, the tension mounts as Kate is determined to uncover the truth and it would seem that there is more than one person who is determined to obfuscate what really happened that day. And the author manages that tension superbly with only too realistic text exchanges between Amelia and Ben, a friend from out of town, revealing one version of events whilst an anonymous blog is busy revealing the secrets of many of the pupils to all and sundry telling a slightly different one. We also get Amelia’s perspective of her life in the lead up to the fateful day as well as Kate’s in the present, and in the past – be warned, keep your eye on the dates that head up each narration to be sure where you are on the timeline!

This was a far more engaging read than I expected and there were plenty of secrets to discover but this is one of those reads where I think you have to go with the flow and not question some decisions and actions too closely, if you do you may find yourself wondering quite how likely some of the scenarios posed really are. This is a dramatic read, one that could make parents of teenage girls get into a spin and worry themselves stupid about the dangers of social media, but in many ways, although the book uses social media as a vehicle to illustrate Amelia’s life, at the heart of the book is a young girl’s loneliness and her need to be accepted by her peers, and that story definitely pre-dates facebook, mobile phones and emails. One thing is for sure Kimberly McCreight has created a haunting story which won’t be forgotten in a hurry!

First Published UK: 20 June 2013
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
No of Pages: 400
Genre: Psychological Thriller
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Where They Found Her – Kimberly McCreight

Psychological Thriller
4*s

I was very tempted by this author’s previous novel Reconstructing Amelia but sadly didn’t get around to reading it, so when I saw this one on NetGalley I was keen to give it a try.

And boy does this book start with a bang! Molly Anderson has joined the local paper in Ridgedale, a big step since she had suffered a stillbirth eighteen months earlier and had suffered with severe depression as a result. With the help of her husband Justin and a move to a new area Molly is slowly becoming more confident in parenting her daughter Ella and hoping to make new friends in the area when she is asked to stand in for the chief reporter as he is in hospital. Molly makes her way to the edge of Ridgedale University campus where a body has been found – to her horror the body is that of a very small infant. The question is whose baby is it? Will Molly be able to put her grief to one side and report on the issue without it compromising her recovery?

This book uses one of my favourite devices, the links of various characters to tell a story and in this book, all the key characters we meet are connected in some way and the way their stories are intertwine as the plot unfolds. Although much of this tale is revealed through Molly’s eyes we are also treated to transcripts from her psychiatrist, a mother of a classmate of Ella’s and a teenage girl as well as a diary dating back nearly twenty years. I am a real fan of multiple viewpoints in books, but only when it is well executed, and this one is done superbly. Every switch was easy to follow and each piece had something to add to the overall story with the pieces of the past colliding with the present until all the information comes together and the truth is revealed. As well as the multiple viewpoints we also have different ways of reporting the story including some of Molly’s reports for the paper complete with comments which I have to admit felt a little bit forced in this instance, although I am an avid reader of these in ‘real life.’

With the truth being revealed in pieces the author cleverly maintains the tension and this story had me gripped as I wanted to know the secrets that were hiding in the various strands because this book isn’t just about the baby’s body, this small community where crime is rarely committed is hiding a lot more. I enjoy it when books have a decent range of characters both in terms of age and situation, and the Rigedale community is well represented in this tale. Kimberley McCreight presents us with a wide range of characters including some that first appeared to be real horrors, although through the excellent writing I later grew to understand some of them, if not like them.

A very satisfying and intricate novel which I really enjoyed, this is very much a character driven novel and although the police are involved to be honest it is lucky for them that they have someone who is as keen to get answers as Molly because they don’t seem to have much of a sense of urgency, or even the most basic detection skills.
I’d like to thank the publishers Simon & Schuster for my copy of this book in return for my honest opinion. Where They Found Her was published yesterday 24 September 2015 here in the UK.