To celebrate the paperback publication of the very funny The Beaver Theory, I am re-sharing my review from the hardback tour. If you’d like a copy, head over to Orenda Books.
Henri Koskinen, intrepid insurance mathematician and adventure-park entrepreneur, firmly believes in the power of common sense and order. That is until he moves in with painter Laura Helanto and her daughter…
As Henri realises he has inadvertently become part of a group of local dads, a competing adventure park is seeking to expand their operations, not always sticking to the law in the process…
Is it possible to combine the increasingly dangerous world of the adventure-park business with the unpredictability of life in a blended family? At first glance, the two appear to have only one thing in common: neither deals particularly well with a mounting body count.
In order to solve this seemingly impossible conundrum, Henri is forced to step far beyond the mathematical precision of his comfort zone … and the stakes have never been higher…
Warmly funny, quirky, touching, and a nail-biting triumph of a thriller, The Beaver Theory is the final instalment in the award-winning Rabbit Factor Trilogy, as Henri encounters the biggest challenge of his career, with hair-raising results…
Finnish Antti Tuomainen was an award-winning copywriter when we made his literary debut in 2007 as a suspense author. In 2011, Tuomainen’s third novel, The Healer, was awarded the Clue Award for Best Finnish Crime Novel and was shortlisted for the Glass Key Award. In 2013, the Finnish press crowned Tuomainen the ‘King of Helsinki Noir’ when Dark as My Heart was published. With a piercing and evocative style, Tuomainen was one of the first to challenge the Scandinavian crime-genre formula,and his poignant, dark and hilarious The Man Who Died became an international bestseller, shortlisting for the Petrona and Last Laugh Awards. Palm Beach, Finland (2018) was an immense success, with The Times calling Tuomainen ‘the funniest writer in Europe’, and Little Siberia (2019) was shortlisted for the Capital Crime/Amazon Publishing Readers Awards, the Last Laugh Award and the CWA International Dagger, and won the Petrona Award for Best Scandinavian Crime Novel. The Rabbit Factor, the prequel to The Moose Paradox, will soon be a major motion picture starring Steve Carell for Amazon Studios.
My thoughts: we return, for the final time, to the crazy world of adventure theme parks and Henri, the actuary who often seems to wind up solving crimes, instead of his actual job at YouMeFun.
Now living with girlfriend Laura and her daughter, you might think joining the dads club at the school and settling into domesticity, would mean less crime solving and fewer murders. But no, Henri’s ne rivals are a bunch of gangsters, who are attracting all the customers with free entry and free food, but Henri can’t see them lasting long in business. And then the owner is murdered. Which brings the cops to his door, again.
So, in between reassuring his staff and baking cakes to fundraise for the school trip to Paris, Henri sets out to solve a murder, or several, find out what the two dodgy cops are up to, and what this all has to do with horses, before he gets arrested or killed.
Written (and translated) with great wit, this delightfully funny black comedy of theme park shenanigans and espionage, is a wonderful high note for the highly entertaining trilogy to end up. Henri’s life is settled and happy, his crack team at the park are more committed than ever and things just might, finally, be ok.
Welcome to Connelly Court. A secluded, old money neighborhood, harboring a web of desires and deceit behind pristine facades and manicured lawns, where the lives of a group of neighbors, bound by their shared secrets and unconventional lifestyle, are about to unravel.
Michael and Amelia Ross move into their dream home, and get drawn into the seductive allure. But their house once belonged to a family whose lives were seemingly ruined by their participation, which leads Amelia to question everything about her new-found friends. Suspicions run rampant as the close-knit group turns on each other. Lies, betrayals, and hidden agendas are revealed, ripping apart the fabric that once bound the group together.
“Cul-de-Sac” is a dark tale of marriage, friendship, desire, and betrayal, where nothing is as it seems, and the truth may be more shocking than anyone could have imagined. Discover the twisted secrets of Connelly Court in this chilling domestic suspense novel that will leave you questioning just how well you truly know—or should know—your neighbors.
Liz Crowe is a Kentucky native and graduate of the University of Louisville living in South Carolina. She’s spent her time as a three-continent expat trailing spouse, mom of three, real estate agent, brewery owner and bar manager, and is currently a digital marketing and fundraising consultant, in addition to being an award-winning author.
The Liz Crowe backlist has something for any reader seeking complex storylines with humor and complete casts of characters that will delight and linger in the imagination long after the book is finished.
Her favorite things to do when she’s not scrolling social media for cute animal videos is walk her dogs, cuddle her cats, and watch her favorite sports teams while scrolling social media for cute animal videos.
My first domestic thriller/suspense is out and one question I get asked a fair bit is about my genre switch. I have 30+ romance novels published, everything from first person rom coms to seriously steamy contemporaries. I’ve been writing these since 2008, with my first one published in 2011. I’m actually currently working on a new romcom, something of a Ted Lasso style, sports-based, fish-out-of-water story that I will release as a collaboration with some fun products in Summer, 2025.
So, why the switch?
Well, in my experience, writing romance novels is the ultimate primer in writing about relationships, with an in-depth point of view (POV). What I found as I continued to write and be published in this genre is that I LOVED exploring relationships—of all sorts—not just the romantic ones. Of course, those were the focus of the book(s) but a quick look at my backlist (and reviews) will show you that I love nothing more than a juicy side character who’s begging me for his or her full story. I relish exploring all the relationship dynamics in my books: the main characters don’t live in a vacuum, after all. They have family, friends, and work colleagues. They interact with them in different ways. And digging into those relationships is my favorite part of writing novels.
This book is a suspense novel, so it’s by definition “plot driven” instead of character driven. But because I am who I am as a creative person, I let the characters lead. The plot is deceptively simple. New neighbors move into a nice house they didn’t think they could afford. They have their own, unique, dynamic. They are introduced to the other four families living there, and learn that the house they bought was home to a man who died. It happens. But the reason he died is slowly spun out over the course of the novel by….you guessed it, the characters and their let’s call it “special relationship” they have with each other.
I had such a blast writing this book. It was a giant web of relationships, all intertwined in ways that are intimate, and yet not at the same time. Each couple has issues it’s dealing with that are different from the rest, but at the end of the day, they all took part in something….not great with regard to the Dead Guy.
I’ve decided that while I will definitely not stop writing romances, I’m going to continue to explore how my fascination with close, interpersonal relationships will drive other types of stories. I’m looking forward to where this will lead me. And I certainly hope you get a chance to enjoy Cul-de-Sac and the naughty neighbors of Connelly Court soon!
On writing:
In your book Cul-de-Sac, you imply that polyamorous relationships are unsustainable. Why is that?
In my research for this book and its complicated set of relationships, I read a lot about how humans are supposedly, somehow, wired for non-monogamy—that polyamory is more in keeping with how our biology would demand of us. I get that on a certain level. But it was more fun to me to explore how certain types of people might think they wanted that lifestyle, but how after these people explored it and satisfied their curiosity about it, the also-very-human condition of jealousy would begin to overtake them.
What is a favorite compliment you have received on your writing?
From my romance-heavy backlist I was told a lot that my characters were so “real,” and sometimes even “too real,” and I always took that as a compliment. For this book I hoped to show five different couples on five different journeys who happened to collide in a certain way and who all learned different lessons from the experience. And the reviews I’m getting are gratifying when it comes to the realism of my characters and their reactions to certain situations. Oh, and I’m super stoked that pretty much no one guessed the ending of this book!
There are many domestic suspense books out there….What makes yours different?
Oh wow, that’s a hard truth, isn’t it?!
I think that Cul-de-Sac blends a ton of what I learned from my last decade plus as a romance author about human relationships, along with my desire to throw serious, real-life roadblock at characters and show how they work themselves out of them (or not, as the case may be). I adore writing romances because relationships are what drive stories for me but what’s different about this, as a “domestic suspense” is that there are a whole BUNCH of relationships all intertwined and one of the characters involved ends up dead—so everyone is either finger pointing or soul-searching until the true reason is revealed. It’s a character study, with a murder at its core. And a real twist for an ending!
Which was the hardest character to write? The easiest?
I had a blast with all of these characters. There are five different couples all with different sets of motivations and drivers. I made every attempt to get deep into every single character’s POV at least once to show how or why they might be the reason that one of them died—and not by suicide as it’s explained away at first. Because I could create more than one, I really was able to show different types of marriages/origin stories and their different paths that brought them to the complicated relationship they all share.
What is your next project?
I believe that I’ve reached the point in my career where I’m going to be a lot more choosier and careful about the projects that I commit to. I’ve had years where I’ve written and published a book a month (I don’t necessarily recommend this but I did learn a lot by doing it), and I’ve gone a year or two without a focused project. I’m settling into a groove and have my next 3 years’ worth of books planned. Next year, it’s a rom com that has turned into an exciting collaboration with some brands in Louisville, KY, a place where I lived many years and attended college and that holds a special place in my heart. It’s a “Ted Lasso” inspired story about a fictional pro football team, that combines fun aspects of a “Ted and Rebecca” dynamic but includes real locations and products, and an attempt to keep a lagging sports brand above the surface using gimmicks and stuff that actually become viral sensations. I plan to release this book in late June 2025.
My next THRILLER will be released in 2026!
How long have you been writing?
I didn’t start writing fiction until about 2008, and my first book (such as it was and you should be thankful you weren’t subject to it, lol) was published in 2010. I have always been a reader, and my family likes to remind me that even when I was forced to weed a garden as a teenager I had a book with me.
On rituals:
Do you write every day?
If I’m deep into a project, I do. I used to let myself get drawn in too deep so that other aspects of my life suffered. I’m better about that now, and when I’ve gotten other work done I’ll look at the clock and say “now, write for an hour” or two or whatever so I know it’s healthy to take breaks. There is so much to being an indie author, you really have to give yourself the grace to spend some days on promotions or other tasks and not berate your inner muse too hard!
Is there a specific ritualistic thing you do during your writing time?
LOL I eat. And by “eat” I mean I stick food in my mouth and then am surprised/shocked when I come up for air and see that I’m surrounded by empty chip bags or whatever. I’ve never been able to break myself of that, unfortunately so now I try** to only keep boring stuff like grapes, carrot sticks or blueberries around. I still sort of blind eat while I’m writing but at least it’s a little bit healthier.
**not always successfully
Fun Stuff:
Favorite travel spot?
I am lucky in that I got to live overseas for several years, in 3 distinctly different and amazing countries (Memoir is on the horizon!). Because of that, I have to say that Turkey is definitely up there. We lived in Istanbul for 2 years and tried to use our time there to be tourists on occasion. Being an expat does not equal non-stop tourism but we tried to take advantage of our various locations to see places we would not otherwise get to. And because of this, I’d say my favorite place is a resort on the coast of Turkey where the Aegean and the Mediterranean seas meet. It was a family-oriented place since we had 3 small children but we hope to get back there in the next year or two to enjoy it sans kiddos.
What’s the funniest thing that ever happened to you? The scariest? The strangest?
Ok, another Turkey story because my experience getting arrested by the Turkish Gendarme during my last week living there would fill all three of these categories….It was a mix up but it was funny (later), scary and strange all at once.
What TV series are you currently binge watching?
I am on my fourth rewatch of Ted Lasso, but the newest one I’m watching is based on a book I read years ago by Blake Crouch called Dark Matter. I am looking forward to The Bear, season three!
What song is currently playing on a loop in your head?
I’m more than a tad obsessed with Eminem’s new songs and can totes identify with all the TikToks showing us Gen Z-ers being all “yeah we told you he was the bomb.” Also, since I watched him perform during the celebration of the reopening of Central Station in Detroit (I lived in SE Mich for 18 years, longer than I’ve lived anywhere), I’ve got his new song that samples Steve Miller Band’s Abracadabra on a loop in my head, in a good way.
Tell us about your longest friendship.
My longest running friendship is with a woman who was one of my college roommates. She still lives back in Louisville (one of my favorite places in the world), with her family, retired from working at our alma mater, the University of Louisville, and now is an educational business consultant. We travel together, and text each other our NYT puzzle results pretty much every day. She visited us in Turkey and when we lived in England. She’s a total inspiration to me, for a lot of reasons and I treasure our friendship.
What’s the most courageous thing you’ve ever done?
I’d also call this the dumbest thing I ever did and that was to abandon my perfectly good career as a real estate agent to help some men open a successful brewery. It was a success, and I am happy to take credit for a lot of that success but it was a mistake to trust them and I regret it. I have mined the heck out of my experience as a woman in the (still very much a) man’s “world” of beer for stories, and I have made some friends I will keep forever thanks to it. It took a lot of guts for me to do it, but it’s one of those things that keeps me up nights because of how gullible I was for trusting them.
Excerpt
“Are you serious?” Melissa put the final touches on her makeup. It was Labor Day, but real estate recognized very few holidays, and she’d spent too many weeks out of pocket already. There was work to be done. Money to be made. “Hello? Emily? You there?”
“Yes, sorry. I had to…”
But Melissa didn’t hear her. Not really. Most times, she was barely aware of Emily Arya. Emily was that kind of a female—the easily ignored kind. She was a good teacher. Melissa was sure enough of that to have ensured that Danny was in her class this fall. And Melissa admired anyone who actually enjoyed being around little kids all day.
But Emily had said something fairly shocking, so Melissa blinked fast to dry her mascara then picked up the phone and took it back into the bedroom with her so she could find the shoes she wanted for today. Pressing the Bluetooth earpiece farther into her ear canal, she surveyed the footwear options on the long shelf in the walk-in closet Ryan had designed for her. Once she located the wedge sandals with open toes she’d been thinking about, she slipped her feet into them and sat a moment on the leather chair near the bedroom window. “Well? Are you? Serious?”
“As a heart attack. And I’d know.”
Melissa chuckled. Emily could be funny, in her wry, quiet way. “Well, I have to say, I’m surprised. I mean, we all know that Allen isn’t keen on it. He’s obviously intimidated by Michael.”
“Or he’s a racist.”
“Of course he’s a racist. Shit, Ryan’s a racist mick if ever there was one. But he’s pretty keen to have little miss pretty buns in on the fun. You know?”
The was a beat of silence on the other end of the line. Melissa only noticed it when it stretched into a second minute. She was preoccupied, trying to gather all her crap together anyway. She passed by Danny, who was curled up on his usual end of the couch diddling away with his iPad. Of Ryan there was no sign, which irritated her. He knew she had appointments today. He’d said he’d stick around and hang out with Danny.
“Mama, do you have my Lunchables ready for tomorrow?”
Melissa sighed. Danny and his damn Lunchables. But getting mad didn’t help. Besides, in a way, she was pretty damn obsessed with routines herself.
She knew better than to make what was wrong with Danny into something as routine as an exaggeration of her own simple compulsion to have a specific salad with a certain kind of dressing on the side every day at twelve thirty. She’d been warned by enough doctors not to do that. Danny’s issues were deeper, more complex, and required way more patience. It was that, sometimes, her patience was stretched so thin by recalcitrant sellers or buyers with decision-making syndrome she had nothing left.
But there was no excuse to be bitchy this morning. She’d had three weeks of lake vacation, plus a reasonably pleasant return to the cul-de-sac status quo two nights ago.
A smile snuck across her face at the memory. It had been a real free-for-all. Something they’d never actually done in a group, or as a group, or whatever you wanted to call it. She’d enjoyed her time with Allen, as usual, but with the added bonus of Barrett, before she’d turned to find Sai watching from across the room. A shiver snuck down her spine.
Damn, but it had been wild.
And now they were going to add this couple, Amelia and Michael Ross? Really? She’d been ready to say no if it came to some kind of a vote. Then again, it wasn’t a democracy. It was the Janice and Allen Show.
“Emily? I’m gonna have to get to…”
“I don’t know if Sai and I…I mean, we…”
“I know, Emily. I feel that way sometimes, too. I mean, especially after this last…um…experience.”
“Right. It was kind of crazy. I don’t know. I mean, all this stuff with Laura. And you didn’t see Tom in that tub. I did. It was horrible.”
“I can only imagine.” Melissa’s pulse was racing. She needed this conversation to end. Now.
“I think that somehow, what we did, I mean, all those times we…”
Melissa rolled her eyes at the sound of Emily’s voice breaking. “I have to get to work, Emily. But to recap: We’re supposed to take Amelia out to lunch and ask her to, ah, join us in the, um, group?”
“That’s what Janice told me over coffee. She asked me to call you. She had to go do her volunteering. I need to get over to my classroom now, so I’m calling you, but I don’t know who’s calling Cassie.”
Melissa winced. Cassie had been as eager as any of them the other night, jumping right into the fray as it were, her baby bump sticking out like some kind of a bad omen. Of course, all she’d wanted was to mess around with Janice. Which suited everyone else, as a bit of a fluffer foreplay.
“So, we’re on a phone tree now?” Melissa was pissed Janice hadn’t told her first. She and Ryan had formed the original foursome after all. But Janice had something up her ass lately when it came to Allen and her. She needed to get over it. That didn’t stop the immature thrill of female friendship jealousy hitting her brain, making her skin hot all over.
“I guess,” Emily said. “I don’t know anymore, Melissa. The time we took off, those months, it was kind of normalizing.”
“And boring,” Melissa said, sharply. Too sharply. She was sick of her neighbor’s mealymouthed crap right now. Especially since she’d availed herself of Ryan’s talents the other night. Ryan liked her “softness” as he put it. The way she was so “pliant” and “sweet.”
Stop it, Melissa. You’re being childish.
“So, about this lunch…”
“Right. I’m going to call Amelia later today and invite her this coming Sunday to the country club for brunch. Just us girls, you know. Plenty of mimosas, gin and tonics, whatever. The guys are gonna take Michael golfing I think.”
Melissa sighed again. She had her purse on her shoulder. Her leather briefcase was at her feet. She needed to get the hell out of here. To work. To put this behind her. She hadn’t realized how much this past year had been spent normalizing things. Letting go of the things they did together with their neighbors. Things that, on the face of it, were so completely sordid she had them neatly compartmentalized, tucked away in the inner recesses of her brain during the days she woke, rose, fed her son and husband, and went to work making money. A lot of money. While Ryan did the same.
On the other hand, they were all consenting adults. They’d made this arrangement over a lovely steak dinner and too many bottles of expensive Cabernet. They’d consummated it that very night. A night that would go down in Melissa’s memory as the most erotic, amazing, eye-opening experience of her life.
The Franks were the first to arrive. She’d met them, gotten a good feeling about them, introduced them to Janice then closed the deal on the house. Ryan’s company had more or less gutted it and put it back together to Laura’s specifications. Tom Franks was an accountant. They’d moved here when he got hired by a large firm in Detroit. But, after three years, he’d gone out on his own, opened an office in a restored building downtown here. And seemed to be doing very well, considering Laura didn’t work.
It had always struck her and Ryan as odd that they had top-of-the-line new Audis every other year. They went on fancy vacations all over the world with their kids. Laura had had plenty of surgical help to keep herself looking fresh, thanks to Allen’s practice. “I mean, seriously, how much can the guy make doing taxes for the yoga studios and restaurants?” Ryan asked her repeatedly, as if she would know.
They’d taken Tom up on his offer to take a look at their situation, which was triple complicated since Ryan had an LLC and she worked on 100 percent commission. Once he’d figured out what a genius Tom was with tax shelters and whatnot, Ryan had stopped complaining about him. And she’d forgotten about it altogether. As long as she didn’t have to write a big-ass check in April to cover her tax bill, she was fine with whatever Tom and Ryan did with the money.
“Sunday brunch with the neighbor ladies, huh?” Melissa picked up her bag and glanced around, trying to figure out where in the hell Ryan was hiding himself. “All right, fine. I’m in.”
“But what are we going to say to her?”
“Not sure. But I am sure we can follow Janice’s lead. She’s the boss lady in all of this after all.”
“Right. Sure. Okay.”
“You don’t sound too convinced.”
“I’m not. I told you already, Sai and I are probably going to, um, stop. You know.”
“Well, it’s a free country.” Melissa would miss Sai. He had an amazing cock, truly. Even Ryan was impressed by it. They always paired off in the same room and had spent several pleasant hours with the Ayras. The one time she let Ryan play outside of her line of sight in the early days after they’d added the Franks into their mix, she’d been so jealous she’d almost given him a concussion later in a knock-down-drag-out fight that had ended with Ryan in the emergency room, telling the doctor that he’d fallen off the ladder at a job site earlier that day and her in hysterical tears at his bedside while they kept him overnight for observation.
“I haven’t made up my mind yet. Not really. I mean, don’t you ever feel, I don’t know, weird about all of this? Isn’t it kind of…sick and wrong?”
“No, I don’t ever think that, Emily,” she lied. “I really have to go to work.”
“Okay. Sorry.”
Melissa felt guilty within a fraction of a second. “I’m sorry. I don’t mean to snap or cut you off. I’m kind of busy. But I’m so thrilled Danny’s going to be in your classroom this year. He’s a handful. As you already know.”
“I love Danny. He’s a wonderful boy.” The sincerity in Emily’s voice, which had switched into teacher mode, relieved Melissa. She looked over at her son, his nose so close to the screen it lit his face up with a weird, sickly blue glow. “We’re going to be fine.”
“He has his educational plan already set. And gets therapy twice a week.”
“I know. I’m ready for him. I’m really looking forward to it. You’ll see. He’s going to love school this year.”
“God. I hope so. Listen, I’ll call you later, okay?”
Nora is done with dating, but still dreams of finding the one. So when a handsome stranger comes to her rescue one night and vanishes leaving only a business card, it’s like a scene out of a movie…
It doesn’t take long for the two to ‘bump’ into each other again, and Nora falls for the perfect-on-paper Gabe. Only a few weeks later, he invites her to Sicily, and she cannot believe her luck!
Until Gabe is forced away for work, leaving her alone with his big and warm family in gorgeous Sicily who welcome her with open arms. Everyone but Luca, his older and distrustful brother, who is always around.
Soon Nora finds herself on a dreamy, romantic getaway-just with the wrong brother.
A charity-working, dog-walking, child-wrangling, dust-ignoring bookworm, Jessica lives in the beautiful and historic city of York with one patient husband, one daughter, one very fluffy dog, two dog-loathing cats and a goldfish called Bob. As day dreaming is her very favourite hobby and she loves a good happy-ever-after Jessica can’t believe she’s lucky enough to write romance for a living. Say hi on Twitter at @yrosered or visit sprigmuslin.blogspot.com
My thoughts: I seem to be reading a lot of books set in Florence recently, maybe it’s a sign! Nora visits Florence while staying with her sort-of fiancé’s family in Sicily, on the trail of her father, the great love story of her mother’s sadly cut short life.
Her own love story is a bit bumpy too. She’s dating Gabe, who doesn’t really seem too interested in her as a person and abandons her at the airport with his entire family, who she has never met before, and goes off to New York for work. Which considering he works in finance and the internet exists seems suspicious. I’m sure he could have stayed in Sicily and worked from there. I’m onto you Gabe.
However, Gabe aside, the Catalano family are a delight, loud, loving Italians (Sicilians don’t always identify as Italian, I was told once, the island’s history being quite complicated) who feed her, give her a place to stay and take her to their hearts. And then there’s Gabe’s older brother Luca. Well, I think he might be the perfect Italian Stallion. And so does Nora. Which might be a bit awkward.
I loved Nora and her supportive and charming friends, the Catalanos never stop talking and embrace her so thoroughly, and it just has such a sweet and charming ending. Delightful, lovely heartwarming stuff.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.
When Jake Meredith is arrested for the murder of his wife, he’s adamant he isn’t guilty, even though her blood is all over his hands and his prints are on the murder weapon. He has no memory of attacking her.
His solicitor brother claims Jake is a sleepwalker, and he is sent to a revolutionary new sleep clinic for assessment.
Jake is convinced he didn’t kill his wife, and is intent on finding answers. But locked away in a clinic, he’s impeded at every turn. Is his incarceration accidental, or part of a larger web of lies? And worse still, is he losing his mind or the unwitting victim of something far more sinister? All he knows is there’s something going on in the room with the red door…
A dark and twisty psychological thriller that’ll have you guessing right up until the end, perfect for fans of Freida McFadden, The Silent Patient and Anna O.
M. A. Hunter is the alter ego of Stephen Edger, the bestselling author of psychological and crime thrillers, including the Kate Matthews series. Living in Southampton, he uses his insider knowledge to deliver realistic and unsettling suspense on every page. M.A. enjoys reading anything that will keep him awake at night and is a passionate advocate for contemporary cinema.
My thoughts: Jake is admitted to a sleep clinic on Lundy Island off the coast of Devon, he’s been accused of killing his wife, something he can’t remember, and according to his brother he might have been sleepwalking.
As the assessment begins he starts to lose time, his memory seems to be getting worse and the other patients unnerve him. Worse still he’s dreaming about his experiences in the army, terrible nightmares that might be PTSD.
It all gets a bit Shutter Island, things are much stranger than Jake first thinks, and his fractured reality is more complicated than he remembers.
Full of twists and turns, this is a compelling and clever thriller.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.
We all have that friend – the one who doesn’t quite belong. Dinah Marshall is that person and knows it. After someone drops out, she’s invited to spend the weekend at a luxury holiday home with women she’s known since university. However, the gulf between them has widened since then, and Dinah is conscious of being the only one with no money, career, partner or children. Feeling like an outsider, she takes to snooping around the house. She’s fascinated by its owners, Sarah and Isaac Rivers – and when she discovers she can secretly stay an extra night, that fascination quickly spirals into obsession.
When Isaac Rivers meets ‘Diana Malone’ at an exclusive members club, he introduces her to his wife and friends, and she’s soon welcomed into the group. She seems to be trying a little too hard, however, and as her somewhat intense behaviour starts to raise both eyebrows and questions, one of her new acquaintances begins to suspect she isn’t who she says she is. For Diana – or is it Dinah? -this is a disaster: she’s worked hard to get where she has, and these suspicions threaten everything. But Diana isn’t the only one with secrets, and if she’s going down, then she might just take everyone else with her . . .
My thoughts: Dinah is very strange, we all wish we lived different lives, how the other half live etc, but she inveigles her way into Sarah and Isaac’s life, leaving a trail of disruption and chaos. Their friend (frenemy?) Evangeline aka Vanjie, suspects her of being someone she’s not, and is not welcoming, their perfect foursome doesn’t need a fifth wheel. Only it’s not so perfect and Dinah’s intrusion causes the cracks to show and everything starts to crumble.
What she discovers and puts together is shocking, someone in this tight knit group has risked everything to keep things the way they want them and will even stoop to harming the children if they get in their way. For all Dinah’s pretending and slightly creepy behaviour, she’s far from the worst person around.
Tense, clever and a bit disturbing, this is an excellent psychological thriller that takes the whole “grass is greener”, “I’ll have what they’ve got” to extremes. Delicious.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.
Kara Bryant is everything Chris Abrams ever wanted. She’s passionate, beautiful, and smart.
She’s also married to his boss.
When millionaire Perry Bryant offers psychologist Chris a position on his healthcare staff it seems the perfect chance for Chris to escape the mistakes of his past and start over.
But then he meets Perry’s wife, Kara. She takes his breath away. It soon becomes clear she wants him just as much as he wants her. And more… much more.
In fact, she wants everything.
Kara asks Chris to help her kill her husband. In spite of himself, Chris can feel himself falling under her spell. It makes him question everything – his friendship with Perry, his loyalty, even his own character.
Until finally he’s faced with the ultimate question – just how far will he go for love?
My thoughts: this was very clever, I really didn’t see the twists and turns coming. Perry just seemed too trusting and naive to be real, and Chris didn’t even seem to really care about betraying him for Kara. Who was a total nightmare. Anyone can get a job, but she’s decided she just wants to have a nice life spending someone else’s money and never work, despite not having any of the issues that Perry deals with in order to be able to make all that money.
But oh, the shock twists, so nicely done, so clever. So yes, read this and while I give nothing away, it’s jaw dropping stuff. Trust me.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.
An ostentatious party descends into violence—and a disgraced cop sets out to redeem herself by solving the case . . .
Susan Grey’s fiftieth birthday party promised to be a talked-about event—an over-the-top extravagant gathering of a hundred guests at her sprawling Georgian home. But it would be talked about for all the wrong reasons . . .
From an escalated argument to the disappearance of an expensive piece of jewelry, the party was quickly spiraling out of control. But the worst was yet to come, when Susan suffered a horrific fall down the grand staircase. Was it an accident or was she pushed?
For DI Grace Roth, relegated to desk duty due to an internal investigation, this could be a high-profile case and a chance to redeem herself. But every lead seems to send her in circles. As the badly injured Susan lies in her hospital bed, DI Roth must try to gather the scattered pieces of the puzzle and make them fit—before anyone else gets hurt . . .
When I’m not working within the NHS as a Health Visitor, or stood on the side of a football pitch watching my son play football, I can be found hauled up in my favourite spot with a good book in my hand. I could literally spend all day every day reading books, talking about books and writing books. I especially enjoy women’s fiction, crime and fantasy.
My thoughts: Susan has organised a big 50th birthday bash, despite the many problems in her life, she’s hoping to enjoy herself while her husband Martin sulks in his study. But then she takes a tumble down the stairs – did she fall or was she pushed?
DI Grace Roth is assigned the case, while it might have been an accident, there’s some questions that still need answering. Susan’s in critical condition and her family all seem to be hiding things, making them all a bit suspicious. As she investigates, those secrets come to the surface and Grace unravels the whole story.
An intelligent police procedural with sympathetic characters and an interesting case to solve – what more can you want?
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.
From #1 New York Times bestselling author Lee Goldberg, comes an explosive, page-turning investigative thriller – with a mind-blowing twist.
There’s a saying in Barstow, California, a decaying city in the scorching Mojave desert . . .
The Interstate here only goes in one direction: Away.
But it’s the only place where ex-LAPD detective Beth McDade, after a staggering fall from grace, could get another badge . . . and a shot at redemption.
Over a century ago, and just a few miles further into the bleak landscape, a desperate stranger ended up in Calico, a struggling mining town, also hoping for a second chance.
His fate, all those years ago, and hers today are linked when Beth investigates an old skeleton dug up in a shallow, sandy grave . . . and also tries to identify a vagrant run-over by a distracted motorhome driver during a lightning storm.
Every disturbing clue she finds, every shocking discovery she makes, force Beth to confront her own troubled past . . . and a past that’s not her own . . . until it all smashes together in a revelation that could change the world.
Lee Goldberg is an ex-Navy SEAL, nuclear physicist and a professional Daniel Craig impersonator.
Okay, that’s not true. But he wants this biography to be really exciting, so pay attention. If things bog down, I’ve been instructed to add a car chase or some explicit sex.
Here’s the real story. Lee Goldberg writes books and television shows.
His mother wanted him to be a doctor, and his grandfather wanted him to go into the family furniture business. Instead, he put himself through UCLA as a freelance journalist, writing for such publications as American Film, Starlog, Newsweek, The Los Angeles Times Syndicate, The Washington Post and The San Francisco Chronicle (He also wrote erotic letters to the editor for Playgirl at twenty-five-dollars-a-letter, but he doesn’t tell people about that, he just likes to boast about those “tiffany” credits).
He published his first book “.357 Vigilante” (as “Ian Ludlow,” so he’d be on the shelf next to Robert Ludlum) while he was still a UCLA student. The West Coast Review of Books called his debut “as stunning as the report of a .357 Magnum, a dynamic premiere effort,” singling the book out as “The Best New Paperback Series” of the year. Naturally, the publisher promptly went bankrupt and he never saw a dime in royalties. (But the books are available on the Kindle as “The Jury Series”)
Welcome to publishing, Lee.
His subsequent books include the non-fiction books “Successful Television Writing” and “Unsold Television Pilots” (“The Best Bathroom Reading Ever!” San Francisco Chronicle) as well as the novels “My Gun Has Bullets” (“It will make you cackle like a sitcom laugh track,” Entertainment Weekly), “Dead Space” (“Outrageously entertaining,” Kirkus Reviews), “Watch Me Die” (“as dark and twisted as anything Hammet or Chandler ever dreamed up,” Kirkus Reviews).
“Take me now,” she moaned, “you hot writer stud.”
She tore off her clothes and tackled him onto the floor, unable to control her raging lust. Nothing excited her more than being around a writer with a big list of books.
Got your attention again? Good. I don’t know about you, but I was starting to nod off. Where was I? Oh yes…
Goldberg broke into television with a freelance script sale to “Spenser: For Hire.” Since then, his TV writing & producing credits have covered a wide variety of genres, including sci-fi (SeaQuest), cop shows (Hunter, The Glades), martial arts (Martial Law), whodunits (Diagnosis Murder, Nero Wolfe), the occult (She-Wolf of London), kid’s shows (R.L. Stine’s The Nightmare Room), T&A (Baywatch), comedy (Monk) and utter crap (The Highwayman). His TV work has earned him two Edgar Award nominations from the Mystery Writers of America.
His two careers, novelist and TV writer, merged when he began writing the “Diagnosis Murder” series of original novels, based on the hit CBS TV mystery that he also wrote and produced, and later wrote the 15 bestselling novels based on “Monk,” another show that he worked on. He is co-creator of the hit Hallmark movie series “Mystery 101.” He also he teamed up with Janet Evanovich to write the #1 New York Times bestselling Fox & O’Hare novels (“The Heist,” “The Chase,” “The Job,” “The Scam,” “The Pursuit”). His most recent books include “Movieland” (the 4th novel in the Eve Roninseries), “Malibu Burning” (the first novel in the Sharpe & Walker series) and the genre-bending thriller “Calico.”
But perhaps he’s best known for his pioneering work mapping the human genome and negotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement.
Goldberg lives in Los Angeles with his wife and his daughter and still sleeps in “Man From UNCLE” pajamas.
My thoughts: this was a great genre bending crime novel, blending science fiction and time travel with the small town cop trying to solve the appearance of a man from the 1800s with the disappearance at almost exactly the same time of a man driving through the same town. There’s a mysterious explosion on a military base, that’s definitely not a bin fire and all sorts of other weirdness for Detective Beth McDade to sort through as she attempts to solve the case.
Clever, blackly comic and entertaining, this is a great and compelling read. I can’t decide which of the storylines and characters I liked more, the accidental time traveller or the world weary, cynical detective discovering that things are both stranger and yet more believable than she first thought. I’d love more peculiar crimes in the desert for Beth to solve, especially now she knows the X-Files aren’t entirely fiction. A really fun read.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.
In an alternative Elizabethan London, Fang awakes from his death to discover he is not quite human anymore. In fact, despite having somehow acquired the power of immortality, he’s also not quite vampire, zombie, werewolf or any of the other supernatural beings who roam the twin cities of Upper London and its underground counterpart, Deep London.
A jaded traveller from the Ming Empire, Fang is desperate to find a way to reverse the spell and get on with being dead when he stumbles upon Lazare de Quitte-Beuf, a theatrical Frenchman who is afflicted with the same mysterious condition. Thrown together by the curse they share, the two men set out to undo the strange magic that binds them. As they are drawn further into the shadowy world of Deep London, they unearth a dangerous plot which they appear to be right in the middle of…
And, surely, when in grave danger, the worst thing they could do would be to fall in love, wouldn’t it?
My thoughts: this is very very funny, very silly and just a bit brilliant. I loved it.
Fang is cursed not to die, he gets stabbed a fair bit, but nothing seems to kill him. He’s fed up, tired and a long way from home. Lazare also gets cursed but nothing (except maybe not getting cast in Kit Marlowe’s play) gets him down, he’s basically happy all the time. Thrown together in an attempt to undo their curses, successfully avoid getting arrested and finding themselves in Deep London, literally under the city, with a small dragon called Amber (I would love a small dragon pal), Nell the apothecary and a little girl who is very scared, they’re on the adventure of a lifetime and right in the middle of a total lunatic’s scheme!
It’s just a lot of fun, there’s so many fantasy (and romance) tropes and little references and I just had a ball reading it. The first in a new series, it’s an absolute treat.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.
Lose yourself in Lakeville Hills in this gorgeous new romance from bestselling author Camilla Isley…
When she’s ghosted by yet another Tinder match, Leighton swears off dating for life. Who needs apps and blind dates when she has the perfect-in-every-way (apart from being fictional) heroes of her beloved romance novels?
That night Leigh finds a second-hand book on her TBR pile, which transports her to the small-town of Lakeville Hills, where the heroines wear shorty-shorts and the men drink bourbon. And as Leigh drifts off to sleep, she dreams of billionaire cowboy Killian St Clair, who could win a gold medal for smouldering and bicep flexing. For a while, Leigh finds it easier to stomach misogynistic supervisors, newly coupled friends, and extravagant bridesmaid duties knowing she can return to Lakeville Hills each evening.
Until one day, she wakes up to find she’s brought a bit of Lakeville Hills back with her: the impossible sexy and entirely implausible Killian St Clair is in her apartment. Now Leigh must help Killian navigate the real world. But as she gets to know the man behind the trope, can she keep her heart safe, or does she risk falling in love with her book boyfriend in real life?
Camilla is an engineer who left science behind to enter the whimsical realm of romantic fiction. She writes contemporary rom-coms. Her characters have big hearts, might be a little stubborn at times, and love to banter with each other. Every story she pens has a guaranteed HEA that will make your heart beat faster. Unless you’re a vampire, of course. Camilla is a cat lover, coffee addict, and shoe hoarder. Besides writing, she loves reading—duh!—cooking, watching bad TV, and going to the movies—popcorn, please. She’s a bit of a foodie, nothing too serious. A keen traveler, Camilla knows mosquitoes play a role in the ecosystem, and she doesn’t want to starve all those frog princes out there, but she could really live without them.
My thoughts: this was lots of fun, we all have that romantic lead that we think we’d fall in love with if they were real, and suddenly right there. Well, Leighton wakes up with her book boyfriend in her bed.
Killian St Cloud is a cowboy billionaire, suddenly in Chicago, no billions in the bank, because he doesn’t exist. Except he does, other people can see him and now they have to make him a life. First there’s getting him some non-cowboy clothes, a job, an ID, and are they really in love?
Funny, silly, entertaining and with a fantastic pair of protagonists, this is a fab read and will keep you amused for hours.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.
ramblingmads 