New friends Sam, Margaret and Diana are thrilled to be getting out of the city for a girls’ weekend—they’ve bonded over their messy divorces, and every mile on the odometer feels like another step towards putting their exes in the past. But when car trouble halfway into their trip strands them in the most unlikely of mountain towns, they come face-to-face with the hurts and betrayals they were so desperate to leave behind.
When Diana doesn’t return home after a night out, Sam and Margaret’s search for her reveals just how little they know about their friend. As eerie coincidences and secrets begin to pile up, and an ex-boyfriend arrives in the tiny town, the women realize that their detour may not have been a mistake…and that someone wants to guarantee that they never make it out.
My thoughts: this book is very good at throwing in an unexpected twist. You think it’s going one way, when Diana disappears for example, then it goes a completely different direction. Very cleverly done. There was no way to see what was coming next or how all the different people and incidents come together. The ending was surprisingly satisfying. You never really know who your friends are…
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in the blog tour but all opinions remain my own.
One weekend, while Andrew Mason was on a fishing trip, his wife, Brie, vanished without a trace. Most everyone assumed Andy had got away with murder—it’s always the husband, isn’t it?—but the police could never build a strong case against him. For a while, Andy hit rock bottom—he drank too much to numb the pain, was abandoned by all his friends save one, nearly lost his business, and became a pariah in the place he once called home.
Now, six years later, Andy has finally put his life back together. He sold the house he once shared with Brie and moved away. Truth to tell, he wasn’t sad to hear that the old place was razed and a new house built on the site. He’s settled down with a new partner, Jayne, and life is good.
But Andy’s peaceful world is about to shatter. One day, a woman shows up at his old address, screaming, “Where’s my house? What’s happened to my house?” And then, just as suddenly as she appeared, the woman—who bears a striking resemblance to Brie—is gone. The police are notified and old questions—and dark suspicions—resurface.
Could Brie really be alive after all these years? If so, where has she been? It soon becomes clear that Andy’s future, and the lives of those closest to him, depends on discovering what the hell is going on. The trick will be whether he can stay alive long enough to unearth the answers.
My thoughts: I could not figure out where this one was going. It just seemed so weird. Brie disappears and then six years later a woman who looks just like her appears outside her old house. Then she vanishes again. But can it really be Brie?
Both her husband Andy, and the detective who has been investigating the case want answers and the truth is stranger than they could imagine. Who could have done all of this and why? Andy’s new life could be torn apart by this and he just wants to close the chapter and move on with girlfriend Jayne. The answers are shocking and also quite sad as the people involved were ones he thought he could trust.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in the blog tour but all opinions remain my own.
The City of Tears – Book 2 – Paris, August 1572 Minou Joubert and her family are in Paris for a Royal Wedding, an alliance between the Catholic Crown and the Huguenot King of Navarre intended to bring peace to France after a decade of religious wars. So too is their oldest enemy, Vidal, still in pursuit of a relic that will change the course of history. But within days of the marriage, thousands will lie dead in the streets and Minou’s beloved family will be scattered to the four winds and one of her beloved children will have disappeared without trace . . .
A breath-taking novel of revenge, persecution and loss, sweeping from Paris and Chartres to the City of Tears itself – the great refugee city of Amsterdam – this is a story of one family’s fight to stay together, to survive and to find each other, against the devastating tides of history . . .
“The Burning Chambers is a sequence of novels set against the backdrop of three hundred years of history, from sixteenth century France to nineteenth-century Southern Africa. The characters and their families, unless otherwise specified, are imagined, though inspired by the sort of people who might have lived. Ordinary women and men, struggling to live, love and survive against a backdrop of religious war and displacement.”
Kate Mosse is a number one international bestselling novelist, playwright and non-fiction writer. The author of eight novels and short story collections – including the multimillionselling Languedoc Trilogy (Labyrinth, Sepulchre and Citadel) and Gothic fiction The Winter Ghosts and The Taxidermist’s Daughter, which she is adapting for the stage – her books have been translated into thirty-eight languages and published in more than forty countries. She is the Founder Director of the Women’s Prize for Fiction and a regular interviewer for theatre & fiction events. Kate divides her time between Chichester in West Sussex and Carcassonne in south-west France. http://www.katemosse.co.uk | Twitter: @katemosse | Instagram: @katemossewriter | Facebook: KateMosseAuthor
My thoughts: it took me a moment to remember the events of the previous books as I read them what feels like ages ago. But once I’d caught myself up we were away and soon I was deep in religiously fractured France and the events surrounding the royal wedding and a violent reprisal against the Huguenots gathered for it.
Minou and Piet will suffer loss and heartbreak, have to flee France for Amsterdam and still evade the evil cardinal Vidal, who has his own plots and schemes in process.
I’d forgotten how good this series is, how thrilling the period is and how well Mosse brings it to life. You almost feel like you’re there with Minou as she tries to keep the family together through yet more difficult times.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in the blog tour but all opinions remain my own.
DEATH IS NOT THE END. FOR GRACE McGILL IT IS ONLY THE BEGINNING.
When people die alone and undiscovered, it’s her job to clean up what’s left behind – whether it’s clutter, bodily remains or dark secrets.
When an old man lies undetected in his flat for months, it seems an unremarkable life and an unnoticed death. But Grace knows that everyone has a story and that all deaths mean something more.
A STAND-OUT NOVEL WITH A UNIQUE NARRATIVE VOICE AND AN UNGUESSABLE MYSTERY, YOU ARE GUARANTEED TO REMEMBER GRACE McGILL.
My thoughts: Grace is a strange woman, she lives a very solitary life, just her and her cat George and the occasional demanding call from her alcoholic monster of a father. She cleans crime scenes and places, usually homes, of those who’ve died forgotten.
She also builds dioramas of these scenes, a little like the famous Nutshell dioramas, but without the educational angle. She’s the one that alerts the police to a series of deaths where a single daisy has been left.
Grace is also trying to uncover a long almost forgotten disappearance and possible murder of a young woman in the 1960s. All the witnesses and suspects are elderly and she’s running out of time.
As the book unfolds and more about Grace is slowly revealed, she becomes something darker and things take a sinister turn. A clever, gripping thriller.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in the blog tour but all opinions remain my own.
His colleague is dead. His daughter may be next. It’s time to do things his way… Two of Nordic Noir’s most accomplished writers return with the explosive, staggeringly complex and unbearably emotive third instalment in the international bestselling Blix & Ramm series.
When police investigator Sofia Kovic uncovers a startling connection between several Oslo cases, she attempts to contact her closest superior, Alexander Blix, before involving anyone else in the department. But before Blix has time to return her call, Kovic is shot and killed in her own home – execution style. And in the apartment below, Blix’s daughter Iselin narrowly escapes becoming the killer’s next victim. Four days later, Blix and online crime journalist Emma Ramm are locked inside an interrogation room, facing the National Criminal Investigation Service. Blix has shot and killed a man, and Ramm saw it all happen. As Iselin’s life hangs in the balance, under-fire Blix no longer knows who he can trust, and he’s not even certain that he’s killed the right man…
Jørn Lier Horst and Thomas Enger are the internationally bestselling Norwegian authors of the William Wisting and Henning Juul series respectively. A former investigator in the Norwegian police, Horst imbues all his works with an unparalleled realism and suspense. Thomas Enger is a journalist-turned-author whose trademark has become a darkly gritty voice paired with key social messages and tight plotting. Besides writing fiction for both adults and young adults, Enger also works as a music composer. Death Deserved was Jørn Lier Horst & Thomas Enger’s first co-written thriller, closely followed by Smoke Screen, and the series has sold more than two million copies worldwide, outselling Jo Nesbo in their native Norway, Sweden and Germany. @LierHorst @EngerThomas.
My thoughts: this was a shocking book, starting with the violent death of Blix’s friend and colleague Sofia Kovic and the brutal kidnapping and assault of his daughter Iselin. Blix is off the case but can’t stay away from trying to solve it. With the help of blogger Emma Ramm, he’s determined to work out why Sofia and Iselin were targeted and by whom.
I could not put this down, it was so tense and gripping. It was also really sad and awful at times, neither Sofia or Iselin should have had to suffer, but Sofia had spotted a link between a series of cases, and was determined to pursue it and the killer couldn’t let her stop him. Blix will have to finish her work. But in doing so Blix comes into the spotlight and risks his career.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in the blog tour but all opinions remain my own.
A good love letter can speak across centuries and reassure us that the agony and the ecstasy one might feel in the 21st century have been shared by lovers long gone. This is all the truer of LGBTQ+ love letters: love affairs and relationships that, until very recently, had to survive within sealed envelopes and behind closed doors.
In The Love That Dares, queer love speaks its name through the words of lovers from years gone by. Alongside the more famous names coexist beautifully written letters by lesser-known lovers, giving us an insight into queer love outside of the spotlight of fame or fortune. Compiled by Bishopsgate archivists Rachel Smith and Barbara Vesey, these letters give us a glimpse into the passion and courage it took to continue a gay relationship in times when it was at best improper, and at worst illegal.
Enlightening introductions to each set of letters give readers an idea of the historical context in which they were written.
My thoughts: this is a really lovely collection of letters from queer writers, artists, musicians and others from across history. From famously gay people to ones you might not have known about, from early philosopher Marcus Aurelius, via Oscar Wilde and Vita Sackville-West to modern voices. There’s also a selection from Dear Sappho, published originally in 1996.
Explanatory notes give context to the writers and their letters, a brief glimpse into the lives and loves of people often living under threat of censure and criminality.
I found this incredibly moving, the ways people expressed their love and desire, their hopes and fears in words to friends and lovers, sometimes simple banal everyday news to passionate expressions.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in the blog tour but all opinions remain my own.
Lemony Snicket meets Roald Dahl in this riotously funny, deliciously macabre, and highly illustrated sequel to The Beast and the Bethany in which Bethany and Ebenezer try to turn over a new leaf, only to have someone—or something—thwart them at every turn.
Once upon a very badly behaved time, 511-year-old Ebenezer kept a beast in his attic. He would feed the beast all manner of objects and creatures and in return the beast would vomit him up expensive presents. But then the Bethany arrived.
Now notorious prankster Bethany, along with her new feathery friend Claudette, is determined that she and Ebenezer are going to de-beast their lives and Do Good. But Bethany finds that being a former prankster makes it hard to get taken on for voluntary work. And Ebenezer secretly misses the beast’s vomity gifts. And neither of them are all that sure what “good people” do anyway.
Then there’s Claudette, who’s not been feeling herself recently. Has she eaten something that has disagreed with her?
Jack Meggitt-Phillips is an author, scriptwriter, and playwright whose work has been performed at The Roundhouse and featured on Radio 4. He is scriptwriter and presenter of The History of Advertising podcast. In his mind, Jack is an enormously talented ballroom dancer, however his enthusiasm far surpasses his actual talent. Jack lives in north London where he spends most of his time drinking peculiar teas and reading P.G. Wodehouse novels.
My thoughts: book one was very funny so I had high hopes for this beastly second outing, and it paid off. After Claudette ate the Beast, Ebenezer and Bethany are trying to Do Good. It’s not exactly going well, and Claudette is decidedly off colour too.
With the Patrick Extravaganza at risk, and things going from bad to worse – it can only mean one thing – the Beast is back!
This book made me laugh, it’s very silly and there’s going to be more crazy Beast related nonsense in a third book. I know I’m not the intended audience but books don’t come with an age limit, so if you don’t have a younger person to get this for, get it for yourself.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in the blog tour but all opinions remain my own.
Romance, suspense and secrets? What more could you ask for? Check out Marie Jones’ novel, Those We Trust. Now available on Amazon!
Those We Trust
Publication Date: May 18, 2021
Genre: Contemporary Romance/ Suspense
Broken and humiliated by her husband of ten years leaving her unexpectedly, Sophia Meadows muddles through her daily routine—writing computer programs and rarely leaving the house. That is, until an old friend from university shows up on her door with an offer she can’t refuse: a chance to get away and heal in the Scottish Highlands of Inverness by flat-sitting. Yet once she arrives, she soon discovers the offer is not what she bargained for: A police surveillance team is watching her every move and a mysterious man is after the contents of a safe hidden in a wall. After a break-in at the apartment, her path collides with DI Marcus Armstrong, the man in charge of the apartment surveillance. Sophia is swept into an investigation of fraud involving her university friend and into a sudden attraction with the handsome DI who finds himself drawn to her even though she’s a suspect in his case. With evidence piling up against her and her friend and the attraction between her and Marcus growing stronger, Sophia is forced to confront her broken heart and find a way to clear her name. In a tangled web of secrets and clues, can she and the DI work through their attraction and learn to trust each other in time to stop a criminal and possibly save a life?
Marie Jones, British Writer has been writing and telling stories since she was a young child. Perhaps it was inevitable that she would call grappling with words and language a career—and loving every moment. She feels privileged to share her work with a large and welcoming audience. Get in touch to discover more about her work, writing process and future endeavours.
“My bus takes off with a sonic boom, straight through the wall and out of my room…” Finn and Fred Octopus are off on a magical adventure to the Arctic. They meet a kindly seal, a hungry polar bear and an angry walrus. The whales sing to Finn, and Finn arrives home with an important message to share…
Jocelyn’s writing career began when she was asked to write a story for a preschool magazine. That story was the first of many. Jocelyn became the writer/editor of several preschool magazines and continued in that role for 15 years. Writing one new story every month, plus rhymes and activities was a tough gig, but very exhilarating. Time is the big difference between writing for a magazine and writing a book. You see your work on the supermarket shelves within a few weeks of completion. A book takes longer – a lot longer. Jocelyn has to be patient now – not something she’s good at. Before becoming a writer, Jocelyn worked in higher education as International Students Officer. It was a rewarding and interesting job even though she was on call 24/7. Jocelyn also trained as a counsellor and volunteered at drop-in centres. She never knew who would arrive for counselling and had to be prepared for anything. This work gave her insight into some of the darker corners of life. Motor sport was one of Jocelyn’s early loves, she had the spine-tingling thrill of taking part in a 24-hour national rally as navigator – those were the days when rallies were held on public roads! Jocelyn worked as an au pair in Paris in her teens. Having visited the city on a school trip, she fell in love with it, and always wanted to return. Jocelyn’s first book published by Full Media is The King Who Didn’t Like Snow, illustrated by Michael S Kane. Finn and Fred’s Arctic Adventure is her second book under Full Media and is illustrated by Leo Brown. Facebook
My thoughts: this is a lovely colourful adventure story with a serious message about caring for the planet. Finn and his cuddly octopus pal Fred go on a magical trip to meet the animals of the Arctic. As well as making new friends they learn about the melting polar ice and the fact that there’s less food available for their new pals. Finn heads home and the next day at school talks to all his classmates about how to do more for the environment.
As well as being a lovely book for young readers, this also raises money for the Cornish Seal Sanctuary – 100% if bought direct from the sanctuary and 10% when purchased anywhere else.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in the blog tour but all opinions remain my own.
THE NEW NOVEL IN THE MILLION-COPY SELLING DETECTIVE GERALDINE STEEL SERIES
An inoffensive man is murdered in a seemingly motiveless attack. Detective Inspector Geraldine Steel and her team are baffled, until DNA from an apparent stranger is discovered on the victim’s body.
Geraldine is not convinced the suspect is guilty. When a witness comes forward to offer the suspect an alibi, Geraldine lets him go. That night, a second murder is committed. The evidence points to the suspect who has just been released.
As Geraldine attempts to make sense of the suspect’s complex history, he goes on the run. Even his wife appears to condemn him. Only Geraldine still doubts that he is to blame for the murders, but is she prompted by her own guilt for having released him to kill again?
As the story races towards a breathtaking twist, Geraldine is tormented by self-doubt, and struggles to focus all her attention on the case. Someone is lying and the police must uncover the truth before anyone else is killed…
My thoughts: this was a really gripping read, I couldn’t work out what was going on. The first victim, George, seemed like such a harmless, boring man, there was no real reason to kill him. But then really that was the point I think. Even after the police finally connected the dots (or at least Geraldine did) and went off to celebrate Ariadne’s much discussed wedding, I was still going “but why George?” It just seemed mean.
The reasoning behind the murders is twisted and terrible, and a good reminder that justice doesn’t always feel like it’s right.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in the blog tour but all opinions remain my own.
Romance, suspense and secrets? What more could you ask for? Check out Marie Jones’ novel, 
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