WWW Wednesday (October 29)

Hosted by Miz B at Should be Reading

To play along, just answer the following three (3) questions…
• What are you currently reading?
• What did you recently finish reading?
• What do you think you’ll read next?

I am currently reading Keep Quiet by Lisa Scottoline which is proving to be a thought-provoking read.

Blurb

One decision. One family’s future in ruins.
When Jake Buckman decides to let Ryan, his sixteen-year-old son practice driving home along a deserted street, he has no idea of the deadly consequences.
But in the darkness of night, a runner comes from nowhere and the hit is fatal.
Now Jake and Ryan have two options: admit Ryan’s responsibility … or drive home as though nothing happened. What follows is not a clear-cut hit and run, but a split-second decision by a father who will do anything to protect his son.
How much should a parent sacrifice for their child?
And could any family survive the burden of such a terrible secret? Amazon

I have just finished The Night Hunter by Caro Ramsay which is part of the Anderson and Costello series set in Glasgow, however this one has a main protagonist of Elvira, a girl whose sister Sophie has been missing for 57 days. Elvira is desperate to find out what happened to her and to other girls who disappeared in similar circumstances.

Click on the (scary) book cover to read my review

Next I am going to have a total change of pace and read Hello From the Gillespies by Monica McInerney

Blurb

Angela finally started the letter, summoning her usual cheery tone. Then she stopped.
Her friend Joan’s voice suddenly came to her mind, as if she was standing there beside her.
‘Go for it, love! Let it rip! Tell the truth! It’s good for you.’
She actually laughed out loud. Tell the truth? How could she?
Angela stared at the screen for a long moment. Then she started a new letter, typing faster than she’d ever typed before…
Angela Gillespie has been pretending that her family is perfect for the last 30 years. And she is tired of it. This year she needs to tell it how it is.
Angela’s husband is in the throes of a mid-life crisis. Her grown-up daughters are more out of control than ever. And her youngest child spends all of his time talking to an imaginary friend. With fantasy thoughts of a life before marriage and motherhood becoming more than just an innocent daydream, Angela’s real life is slowly slipping out of focus. But, as the repercussions of her too truthful Christmas letter keep coming, perhaps she should have been careful what she wished for. . . NetGalley

What are you reading this week? Please share in the comments box below.

The Night Hunter – Caro Ramsay

Crime Fiction
4*’s

Sophie McCulloch, a lawyer, has been missing for 57 days having gone for a run one evening from her home in Glasgow and never returned. Her sister Elvira is worried, her brother Grant is suffering from depression and her mother is rarely sober. With he police convinced that Sophie left home with a married man, who has is also missing, Rob, her mother’s boyfriend has set up a page on social media to capture the last known photos of Sophie, taken at her birthday party shortly before she vanished. Elvira didn’t attend not being a sociable girl. Soon after Sophie disappears her sister defers her university course studying medicine and takes up a post as a nanny to a very wealthy man who she suspects has employed her to keep an eye on his wife Mary.

The Night Hunter is written from Elvira’s point of view, in first person present tense narrative, and follows the trail of not only Sophie but other missing young women whose cases appear to be linked. They were all young women who had gone out for a run, never to return. Elvira is an unusual character and several references are made to her appearance, her face covered in acne and excessive hair and these are in complete contrast to the beautiful missing girls. Elvira then teams up with an ex-cop, Billy Hopkirk, who is working for one of the girl’s mothers as a private detective. Billy is a clever but strange man who was probably the most endearing character of this book and with his connections he manages to open doors to the inner workings of the case.

The plot is good with clues about the girl’s disappearance slowly revealed, often through the police officer Costello who is in charge of the case. Although billed as part of the Anderson and Costello series, they aren’t central to the story with the main action taking place with Elvira and Billy as they roam around Glasgow linking seemingly disparate pieces of information together and following leads. The only mild criticism I have is that the views and descriptions of the other characters viewed by Elvira’s slightly unfriendly eyes makes them feel remote and less rounded than they could do. This is particularly true of Sophie who seems quite an insubstantial character despite her sister’s obvious bond with her, highlighted by the poem The Goblin Market by Christina Rossetti which they adopted as their own imagining themselves to be Lizzie and Laura. There is also a lot of misery running through this tale with few moments of relief especially as poor Elvira and her family seem to live a life of unrelenting misfortune.

The plot is good and truly chilling especially as the author ramps up the tension and the pace towards a gripping ending to this mystery.

I’d like to thank the publishers Severn House for my copy of this book in return for my hones opinion.

WWW Wednesday (October 22)

Hosted by Miz B at Should be Reading

To play along, just answer the following three (3) questions…
• What are you currently reading?
• What did you recently finish reading?
• What do you think you’ll read next?

I am currently reading Soul of Discretion by Susan Hill which is the eighth book in the Simon Serrailler series.

Blurb

The cathedral town of Lafferton seems idyllic, but in many ways it is just like any other place. As part of the same rapidly changing world, it shares the same hopes and fears, and the same kinds of crime, as any number of towns up and down the land.
When one day DC Simon Serrailler is called in by Lafferton’s new Chief Constable, Kieron Bright, he is met by four plainclothes officers. He is asked to take the lead role in a complex, potentially dangerous undercover operation and must leave town immediately, without telling anyone – not even his girlfriend Rachel, who has only just moved in with him.
Meanwhile, Simon’s sister Cat is facing difficult choices at work that will test her dedication to the NHS. But an urgent call about her and Simon’s father, Richard, soon presents her with a far greater challenge much closer to home.
To complete his special op, Simon must inhabit the mind of the worst kind of criminal. As the op unfolds, Lafferton is dragged into the sort of case every town dreads. And Simon faces the fight of his life. Amazon

I have just finished the novella The Whispers by Lisa Unger which tells the tale of Eloise Montgomery who develops psychic powers following the death of her husband and eldest daughter. This is the first part of a three part series which are being published a month apart.
My review will follow shortly…

Next I am going to read The Night Hunter by Caro Ramsay

Blurb

Elvie McCulloch’s sister Sophie has been missing for 57 days. She went out for a run – and never came home. Several young woman in the area have disappeared in similar circumstances, and Elvie’s family fears the worst.
As Elvie is driving to her new job late at night, the naked, emaciated body of a young woman crashes from high above onto an oncoming car. Elvie recognises her as Lorna Lennox, who has been missing for weeks. But why was she up there? Where had she been all this time? And why was she running for her life?
Teaming up with retired detective Billy Hopkirk, who has been retained by the mother of one of the missing girls to find her daughter, Elvie determines to find out the truth. But as the pair alternately collaborate with and infuriate investigating police detectives Anderson and Costello, they find themselves up against a terrifying enemy. Someone who has killed before. Someone who will kill again, for pure enjoyment. Someone they call The Night Hunter. NetGalley

What are you reading this week?

Friday Finds (August 15)

Hosted by Should be Reading

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

So, come on — share with us your FRIDAY FINDS

It seems that this week everyone has been tempting me with brilliant sounding books, I have resisted plenty but the following where the temptation was just too strong.

Liz Loves Books had a fascinating interview with the author of The Dark Meadow, Andrea Maria Schenkel that convinced me that I needed a copy of this book.

Blurb

Bavaria, Germany, 1947
At the end of the war, Afra Zauner returns to her parents’ cottage on the edge of Mauther Forest. Unmarried, and pregnant. As she struggles to raise her child, her father’s shame, her mother’s fury and the loud whispers of the neighbours begin to weigh upon her. She doesn’t believe in her sin. But everyone else does.
And someone brings judgement down upon her.
Many years later, Hermann Müller is throwing a drunk out of his tavern. A traveller, who won’t stop ranting about a murder left unsolved, about police who never investigated. Out of curiousity, the file is reopened. And in the cold light of hindsight, a chilling realisation creeps upon the community.
No-one ever atoned for Afra’s death. But her story is waiting to be told.
Andrea Maria Schenkel returns to the form of her groundbreaking The Murder Farm, narrating through suspects, victims and investigators to lead the reader to their own awful understanding NetGalley

Read Liz’s interview and review here

The Night Hunter by Caro Ramsay due to be published in November caught my eye as I enjoyed Singing to the Dead

Blurb

Elvie McCulloch’s sister Sophie has been missing for 57 days. She went out for a run – and never came home. Several young woman in the area have disappeared in similar circumstances, and Elvie’s family fears the worst.
As Elvie is driving to her new job late at night, the naked, emaciated body of a young woman crashes from high above onto an oncoming car. Elvie recognises her as Lorna Lennox, who has been missing for weeks. But why was she up there? Where had she been all this time? And why was she running for her life?
Teaming up with retired detective Billy Hopkirk, who has been retained by the mother of one of the missing girls to find her daughter, Elvie determines to find out the truth. But as the pair alternately collaborate with and infuriate investigating police detectives Anderson and Costello, they find themselves up against a terrifying enemy. Someone who has killed before. Someone who will kill again, for pure enjoyment. Someone they call The Night Hunter. NetGalley

I have a copy of The Stolen Girl by Renita D’Silva and I know I will love this after reading the enchanting Monsoon Memories and The Forgotten Daughter

Blurb

For as long as thirteen-year-old Diya can remember, it’s always been just her and her mum, Vani. Despite never staying in one place long enough to call it home, with her mother by her side, Diya has never needed anything else.
Then, in an instant, Diya’s fragile world is shattered. Her mother is arrested, accused of abducting Diya when she was a baby…
Vani has spent a lifetime looking over her shoulder, determined to make the best possible life for her daughter. Now she must fight for her child, re-opening the door to her childhood in India and the woman who was once as close to her as a sister. NetGalley

And lastly I chose something for some lighter reading; Hello From The Gillespies by Monica McInerney which is due to be published in November by Penguin Books (UK)

Blurb

Angela Gillespie has been pretending that her family is perfect for the last 30 years. And she is tired of it. This year she needs to tell it how it is.
Angela’s husband is in the throes of a mid-life crisis. Her grown-up daughters are more out of control than ever. And her youngest child spends all of his time talking to an imaginary friend. With fantasy thoughts of a life before marriage and motherhood becoming more than just an innocent daydream, Angela’s real life is slowly slipping out of focus. But, as the repercussions of her too truthful Christmas letter keep coming, perhaps she should have been careful what she wished for… NetGalley

Please share your finds with me because I am always on the look out for another good read and without your help I may miss something amazing.