1989 DS Benjamin Chambers and DC Adam Winter are on the trail of a twisted serial killer with a passion for recreating the world’s greatest works of art through the bodies of his victims. But after Chambers almost loses his life, the case goes cold – their killer lying dormant, his collection unfinished.
1996 Jordan Marshall has excelled within the Metropolitan Police Service, fuelled by a loss that defined her teenage years. Obsessed, she manages to obtain new evidence, convincing both Chambers and Winter to revisit the case. However, their resurrected investigation brings about a fresh reign of terror, the team treading a fine line between police officers and vigilantes in their pursuit of a monster far more dangerous and intelligent than any of them had anticipated…
My thoughts: ooh this was good, nicely sinister, proper crime thriller stuff. I wasn’t hugely surprised as I read the Ragdoll trilogy and loved it, so I knew the author could write a cracking thriller but this is very well done.
The initial killings in 1989 set it all up nicely, and that final scene in the rain is very cinematic and striking. But then suddenly it’s 1996, we’re with a new detective, there’s more to go on and the case gets warm all over again.
The balance of personalities in Marshall, Chambers and Winter is nicely done, and they work well together. The investigation is solid and the resurgent crimes repellent but also fascinating. The use of classical sculpture, the obsession of the killer, it all comes together beautifully. Awfully, but beautifully too.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in the blog tour but all opinions remain my own.
Think you know the person you married? Think again…
Things have been wrong with Mr and Mrs Wright for a long time. When Adam and Amelia win a weekend away to Scotland, it might be just what their marriage needs. Self-confessed workaholic and screenwriter Adam Wright has lived with face blindness his whole life. He can’t recognize friends or family, or even his own wife.
Every anniversary the couple exchange traditional gifts–paper, cotton, pottery, tin–and each year Adam’s wife writes him a letter that she never lets him read. Until now. They both know this weekend will make or break their marriage, but they didn’t randomly win this trip. One of them is lying, and someone doesn’t want them to live happily ever after.
Ten years of marriage. Ten years of secrets. And an anniversary they will never forget.
My thoughts: this was very clever, switching between viewpoints, filling in the last 10 years of marriage, allowing you to begin to work out what went wrong for the Wrights as they bicker in the remote converted chapel in the snow.
They seem to have it all, professional success, a lovely house, a sweet dog called Bob, but they seethe with resentment and squabble pointlessly.
But there in their free holiday let things start happening that are a bit unnerving. The power goes out, doors are locked and unlocked, Bob the dog vanishes, and who is the strange woman in the cottage – the only other person around for miles.
Slowly, as the weekend and weather deteriorate, secrets are revealed and stories told. A very clever thriller from an excellent writer (read her other books).
All Hallow’s Eve, 1144. The savaged body of Durand Wuduweard, the solitary and unpopular keeper of the King’s Forest of Feckenham, is discovered beside his hearth, his corpse rendered barely identifiable by sharp teeth. Whispers of a wolf on the prowl grow louder and Sheriff William de Beauchamp’s men, Hugh Bradecote and Serjeant Catchpoll, are tasked with cutting through the clamour. They must uncover who killed Durand and why while beset by superstitious villagers, raids upon manors and further grim deaths. Out of the shadows of the forest, where will the wolf’s fangs strike next?
Sarah Hawkswood describes herself as a ‘wordsmith’ who is only really happy when writing. She read Modern History at Oxford and first published a nonfiction book on the Royal Marines in the First World War before moving on to medieval mysteries set in Worcestershire. WebsiteTwitter
Win books here!! A hamper containing the whole series of Bradecote and Catchpoll books and delicious treats! (Or let me win it!)
My thoughts: this is book nine of the Bradecote & Catchpoll stories, but can be read as a standalone book.
Wolves haven’t been seen in England since the Middle Ages, when this is set, so it was rather fun imagining hearing a howl and feeling fear trickle down your spine – a lot better than the closest thing we get nowadays – foxes fighting by the bins.
Serjeant Catchpoll is sent to investigate the apparent murder by a wolf of the local gamekeeper – a rather unpleasant and unpopular man, with a son known to be a cheat.
But something isn’t right, and Bradecote, Catchpoll and apprentice Walkelin (who really comes into his own in this book) start to dig a little deeper as a crime wave seems to be kicking off in the village of Feckenham.
I really like these characters, despite their 12th century setting, they could be modern investigators, using the science available to them and Catchpoll’s gut to catch criminals.
They do spend a lot of time going back and forth to report into the sheriff, who gets personally involved in this case, but there wasn’t really another way to communicate your findings without risking a letter, so lots of walking and riding around the area, trying to keep everything moving along.
Catchpoll is probably my favourite character, he has a real knack for his job and a keen sense for villainy. He’s also very funny, in a dry, sarcastic way that I appreciate. If it was up to him, he’d lock up anyone he thought looked suspicious – just in case. He’s tempered by Bradecote who prefers to have the evidence first, then find the criminal.
I think they’re probably slightly more enlightened than the real 12th century men, women were literally property then, as Bradecote is very fond of his wife and thinks well of her. He also doesn’t cast shame on women who have to make a difficult way through the world – treating them with respect and kindness instead.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in the blog tour but all opinions remain my own.
At the heart of the Ottoman Empire, in the ancient city of Smyrna, a devastating moment determines the fates of four families.
On an orange-tinted evening in September 1905, Scheherazade is born to an opium-dazed mother in the ancient city of Smyrna. At the very same moment, a dashing Indian spy arrives in the harbour with a secret mission from the British Empire. He sails in to golden-hued spires and minarets, scents of fig and sycamore, and the cries of street hawkers selling their wares. When he leaves, seventeen years later, it will be to the heavy smell of kerosene and smoke as the city, and its people, are engulfed in flames.
But let us not rush, for much will happen between then and now. Birth, death, romance and grief are all to come as these peaceful, cosmopolitan streets are used as bargaining chips in the wake of the First World War.
Told through the intertwining fates of a Levantine, a Greek, a Turkish and an Armenian family, this unforgettable novel reveals a city, and a culture, now lost to time.
Defne Suman was born in Istanbul and grew up on Prinkipo Island. She gained a Masters in sociology from the Bosphorus University and then worked as a teacher in Thailand and Laos, where she studied Far Eastern philosophy and mystic disciplines. She later continued her studies in Oregon, USA and now lives in Athens with her husband. The Silence of Scheherazade was first published in Turkey and Greece in 2016 and is her English language debut. TwitterInstagramWebsite
My thoughts: set during an extremely tumultuous time in Smyrna (now Izmir), this is both the story of the city and of a girl, who lives under more than one name, whose life, like the city, undergoes great change and tragedy.
Born to a Levantine French teenager, raised by Ottoman Greeks, rescued by a Turkish family and given a new name, her story unfolds as the leadership of Smyrna goes back and forth and its people – Greeks, Turks, Armenians, Levantines, Europeans, are divided and turn against their neighbours.
Parts of this story are heartbreaking, there’s so much tragedy and death, the city burns to the ground and lives are lost pointlessly as the Ottoman Empire falls apart. Scheherazade’s life is filled with both joy and terrible tragedy and sadness. She loses her family more than once as she passes through the different communities of the city, ending her days in a tall tower in a crumbling mansion.
Beautifully written and translated, this is a moving and richly evocative story, conjuring a lost world where religious and ethnic lines didn’t matter as the people were all one, and a child like Scheherazade could be from any background. With stunning imagery and a sense of timelessness, like the Scheherazade of myth she’s named for, this tale weaves an enchanting spell.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in the blog tour but all opinions remain my own.
Maria Frankland’s life began at 40 when she escaped an unhappy marriage and began making a living from her own writing and becoming a teacher of creative writing.
The rich tapestry of life with all its turbulent times has enabled her to pour experience, angst and lessons learned into the writing of her novels and poetry.
She recognises that the darkest places can exist within family relationships and this is reflected in the domestic thrillers she writes.
She is a ‘born ‘n’ bred’ Yorkshirewoman, a mother of two and has recently found her own ‘happy ever after’ after marrying again.
Still in her forties, she is now going to dedicate the rest of her working life to writing books and inspiring other writers to also achieve their dreams too!
My thoughts: hopefully you know by now that I love Maria Frankland’s books and this was no exception. The set up was nicely done and the ending was a great twist I did not see coming.
As ten women arrive in Dublin for Caitlyn’s hen party weekend, a murder is planned and then come the questions from the police. Is one of them a killer?
All of the suspects have resentments towards each other, all of them have secrets, it seems like none of them actually want to be there. But in amongst all the bitchiness and back stabbing is a motive for murder. And by interviewing each person the truth will be revealed.
This is one of those books where trying to guess ‘whodunnit’ is pointless, you end up with so many red herrings, there’s just too much bad blood. Makes me really glad my wedding was low key in this regard and I didn’t have any bridesmaids.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in the blog tour but all opinions remain my own.
Keeping on top of the family funeral directors’ and privateinvestigation businesses is no easy task for the Skelf women, and when matriarch Dorothy discovers a human foot while walking the dog, a perplexing case presents itself. Daughter Jenny and grand-daughter Hannah have their hands full too: the mysterious circumstances of a dying woman have led them into an unexpected family drama, Hannah’s new astrophysicist colleague claims he’s receiving messages from outer space, and the Skelfs’ teenaged lodger has a devastating experience. Nothing is clear as the women are immersed ever deeper in their most challenging cases yet. But when the daughter of Jenny’s violent and fugitive ex-husband goes missing without trace and a wild animal is spotted roaming Edinburgh’s parks, real danger presents itself, and all three Skelfs are in peril. Taut, dark, warmly funny and unafraid to ask big questions – of us all – The Great Silence is the much-anticipated third instalment in the addictive, unforgettable Skelfs series.
Doug Johnstone is the author of twelve previous novels, most recently The Big Chill (2020). Several of his books have been bestsellers and three, A Dark Matter (2020), Breakers (2019) and The Jump (2015), were shortlisted for the McIlvanney Prize for Scottish Crime Novel of the Year. He’s taught creative writing and been writer in residence at various institutions over the last decade – including at a funeral parlour ahead of writing A Dark Matter – and has been an arts journalist for over twenty years. Doug is a songwriter and musician with five albums and three solo EPs released, and he plays drums for the Fun Lovin’ Crime Writers, a band of crime writers. He’s also player-manager of the Scotland Writers Football Club. He lives in Edinburgh. Follow Doug on Twitter and visit his website.
My thoughts: the Skelfs are back in their third outing and I am thrilled. This series just gets better and better. This time there’s a big cat on the loose, stray dead people feet, more funerals to direct, more crimes to investigate. Awful Craig has returned to cause more havoc in his family’s lives, but Jenny’s on his case. Hannah is helping a future colleague who thinks aliens are messaging him – or that someone’s playing a mean prank. Dorothy is looking into the feet Einstein finds in the park and the jaguar who seems to be living there. Indy’s grandparents have come over to see her, surprise, which means digging up the past, and Abi’s past is coming after her too.
The Skelfs (I include Indy, Abi and Archie in this too) are a tough bunch, but they treat all of their clients, living and dead, with kindness and respect. From young women who die suddenly to old women who can’t understand why their children are so awful. They’ve had to be resilient themselves but they know that not everyone has the support and love they share.
Honestly, this is just such a brilliant series, full of black humour (the best kind), interesting characters, crazy plots and as it might be made into a TV series, I was also playing fan cast as I read it, trying to work out who I’d like to see play the Skelf women. Any ideas? I think Lily Tomlin would make a great Dorothy, that Californian hippy in Edinburgh vibe would suit her. Or Dame Judi Dench – she could definitely pull it off. Nicola Walker as Jenny maybe or Laura Fraser, but I’m stumped on Hannah and Indy. Some gorgeous up and comers perhaps. Let me know your ideas.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in the blog tour but all opinions remain my own.
In Clothes… and other things that matter, Alexandra Shulman delves into her own life to look at the emotions, ambitions, expectations and meanings behind the way we dress. From the bra to the bikini, the trench coat to trainers, the slip dress to the suit, she explores their meaning in women’s lives and how our wardrobes intersect with the larger world – the career ladder, motherhood, romance, sexual identity, ambition, failure, body image and celebrity. By turns funny, refreshingly self-deprecating and often very moving, this startlingly honest memoir from the exEditor of British Vogue will encourage women of all ages to consider what their own clothes mean to them, the life they live in them and the stories they tell. Shulman explores the person our clothes allow us to be – and sometimes the person they turn us into.
Alexandra Shulman is a journalist, consultant and commentator. She was Editor-in-Chief of British Vogue from 1992–2017, the magazine’s longest serving editor. She has been Trustee of the National Portrait Gallery and The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity and is an honorary fellow of the University of the Arts. She won 2017 Periodical Publisher’s Association Editor’s Editor Award and The Drapers Award 2017 for Outstanding Contribution to Fashion. She is Vice President of The London Library and was awarded the CBE in the 2017 New Year’s Honours List. She has a weekly column in the Mail on Sunday, is a contributor to other national newspapers and has written two novels: Can We Still Be Friends? (2012) and The Parrots (2015). Inside Vogue: The Diary of My 100th Year was published by Fig Tree in October 2016 and sold more than 30,000 copies in hardback and paperback (Nielsen TCM). Alexandra was featured in a three-part primetime BBC series on Vogue’s centenary year in 2016.
My thoughts: I find Alexandra Shulman quite interesting, years ago I used to read her newspaper column and I watched the Vogue documentary series on TV. She doesn’t fit the mould we imagine Vogue editors to fit – think more Anna Wintour (US Vogue’s legendary editor) or Meryl Streep’s version of her in The Devil Wears Prada. Shulman is not as slick and glamorous as them, although still hugely privileged and wearing designer clothes.
I don’t buy Vogue, I never have, I could get half a dozen secondhand paperbacks from the charity shop for one glossy catalogue of adverts, which is after all what a fashion magazine is. I don’t buy into the mythology around it but I remain intrigued by the allure of these things. I contemplated writing about magazines as part of Masters in literature and material culture – they might not seem like the former but they’re definitely the latter.
This collection of short essays on the different types of clothes Shulman catalogues in her wardrobe allow her to explore her personal history, from her grandmother’s millinery as a refugee in Canada, her parents’ careers in the British media (her father was at one point the Evening Standard’s theatre critic and her mother an editor), her relationships, her career in the press and her many famous friends and acquaintances.
It’s an interesting angle for a memoir – something many of us can relate to – we all have those items of clothing that hold meaning and memory within them. The shoes I wore to my wedding or the jumper that signifies comfort, knowing that putting it on is like a hug. While my wardrobe contains no high price labels, it does contain a multitude of moods to slip on, personas to project through my outfits. And it is this that Shulman shares within her book.
The suit she wore when starting out as a young journalist, the perfect dress that works whenever and wherever it’s worn. The reason we wear certain things and what it says about us. She’s very disinterested in worrying about the way she looks, mocking the media fuss over a photo she posted a few years ago on Instagram of herself in a bikini on holiday. She’s aware that the slim models she championed through her time at Vogue and the people behind the scenes, like herself, are very different. Fashion magazines promote a sort of fantasy world of beauty and glamour that the average person probably won’t ever attain.
There is a note of bitterness about the way women are objectified, pointing out that her successor at Vogue, Edward Enninful, won’t have his appearance, dress size and figure commented upon the way she did. That we always circle around a woman’s body looking for flaws, while men mostly sail blithely on.
I enjoyed the way writes about the history of clothing, not just the personal side, but how for example denim jeans, originally workwear, have become so much a part of fashion that pairs sell for upwards of a thousand pounds. Or how hats, once a staple of ladies wear are now worn by only the fortunate few who suit them.
This was a very interesting book, that I think appeals quite broadly to people interested in fashion, history, memoir and Shulman herself (I’m interested in all of those things btw). I just wish the photos had been printed in colour – in a book about clothes being able to actually see what’s described makes a difference.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in the blog tour but all opinions remain my own.
Shirley Steadman, a 70 year old living in a small town in the North East of England, loves her volunteer work at the local hospital radio. She likes giving back to the community, and even more so, she likes getting out of the house. Haunted by the presence of her son, a reluctant Royal Navy officer who was lost at sea, and still in the shadow of her long dead abusive husband, she doesn’t like being alone much.
One day, at the radio station, she is playing around with the equipment and finds a frequency that was never there before. It is a pirate radio station, and as she listens as the presenter starts reading the news. But there is one problem – the news being reported is tomorrows. Shirley first thinks it is a mere misunderstanding – a wrong date. But she watches as everything reported comes true. At first, Shirley is in awe of the station, and happily tunes in to hear the news.
But then the presenter starts reporting murders – murders that happen just the way they were reported.
And Shirley is the only one who can stop them.
My thoughts: this was an interesting thriller that got increasingly weird as it went along, as Shirley’s reality became more complicated.
Mourning her dead son, struggling with increasingly poor health, slightly lonely and with a grumpy cat to feed; Shirley’s refuge in her hospital radio volunteering becomes more important than ever when she hears a mysterious radio broadcast referring to future events.
She thinks someone is about to be murdered and enlists her late son’s former girlfriend, nurse Callie, in helping her try to prevent it. Things go a bit strange from there.
A clever premise, and a complicated sci fi twist, plus ghosts who might not be ghosts, people suffering from guilt, embroidery group gossips and Shirley at the heart of it all.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in the blog tour but all opinions remain my own.
For a young woman who just wants to get her first kiss out of the way, a rugby player seems like the perfect mismatch. But a kiss is never just a kiss. . . .
Now that Soraya Nazari has graduated from university, she thinks it’s time she get some of the life experience that she feels she’s still lacking, partly due to her upbringing–and Magnus Evans seems like the perfect way to get it.
Whereas she’s the somewhat timid, artistic daughter of Iranian immigrants, Magnus is the quintessential British lad. Because they have so little in common, Soraya knows there’s no way she could ever fall for him, so what’s the harm in having a little fun as she navigates her postgrad life? Besides, the more she discovers about her mother’s past and the strain between her parents, the less appealing marriage becomes.
Before long, Soraya begins to realize that there’s much more to Magnus than meets the eye. But could she really have a relationship with him? Is she more like her mother than she ever would have thought?
With unforgettable characters at its heart, The Mismatch is a gorgeously written coming-of-age story that shows that love can be found in even the most unexpected places.
Win a copy via Qamar Tours Twitter (US only, ends 17th August,please see the tweet for details)
Sara Jafari is a London-based British Iranian writer whose work has been longlisted for Spread the Word’s Life Writing Prize and published in gal-dem and The Good Journal. She is a contributor to I Will Not Be Erased and the romance anthology Who’s Loving You. Jafari works as an editor and runs TOKEN magazine, which showcases writing and artwork by underrepresented writers and artists. The Mismatch is her debut novel.
My thoughts: for a debut novel this was incredibly accomplished and read like it had been written by someone much further along in their career. It was touching, thoughtful and highly enjoyable.
While I’m not Muslim, a lot of my friends are, and some of the things Soraya was dealing with – the conflict between her faith, culture and modern secular society are things I’ve definitely discussed with my friends. Choosing whether or not to wear a hijab, pray five times a day, eat halal, all of these and more. Relationships – absolutely. Every one of my friends has done it differently, some choosing to go down a more traditional route and others finding different paths. And I think it’s something a lot of people can relate to. Even if you’re not religious.
Soraya felt like a friend, like someone I know. She struggles to find her place in life, what to do after uni (me too, English Lit grads are famous for being a bit lost I think) and tries to fight her attraction to Magnus – I know his type too.
I liked the contrasting chapters – moving between Soraya and her mum, between their lives and their hopes, between Iran and the UK. I felt it gave me a much greater understanding of where Neda was coming from, what her worries were. I didn’t take to Hossein though – but I don’t think it’s easy to love someone so lost to themselves, who treats their family the way he does and Neda is incredibly strong. The ending filled me with so much hope for the whole family – there can be forgiveness and redemption but it might take time. I honestly really loved this book and yes, I got a little teary at the end. I can’t wait to see what Sara writes next.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in the blog tour but all opinions remain my own.
If you were offered the chance to be ‘normal’ would you take it? Do we even know what ‘normal’ is? The Willow family have been through a lot together. Louise has devoted her life to her family and raising her disabled daughter, Patience. Pete now works abroad, determined to provide more, even if it means seeing less of those he loves. And Eliza, in the shadow of her sister, has a ‘perfect’ life in London, striving to live up to her mother’s high standards. Meanwhile, Patience lives her life quietly, watching and judging the world while she’s trapped in her own body. She laughs, she cries, she knows what she wants, but she can’t ever communicate this to those who make the decisions for her. Patience only wants a voice, but this is impossible. When the opportunity to put Patience into a new gene therapy trial to cure her Rett syndrome becomes available, opinions are divided, and the family is torn. The stakes are high, and they face tough decisions in the hunt for a normal life. But is normal worth it? What do we even consider normal? Is Patience about to find out…?
Victoria Scott has been a journalist for more than two decades, working for a wide variety of outlets including the BBC, Al Jazeera, Time Out, Doha News and the Telegraph. Alongside her love of telling real-life stories, she has also always written fiction, penning plays, stories and poems ever since she first worked out how to use her parents’ electric typewriter. When she’s not writing, Victoria enjoys running incredibly slowly, singing loudly, baking badly and travelling the world extensively. Victoria is a Faber Academy graduate. She has a degree in English from King’s College, London and a Postgraduate Diploma in Broadcast Journalism from City University, London. She lives near London with her husband and two children, and works as a freelance journalist, media trainer and journalism tutor.
My thoughts: inspired by the author’s own family, this sweet but sad novel explores what it is to live with a complicated disability – Rett Syndrome and how a family copes with the situation. Patience is locked into her body, but she sees and hears everything around her. Her family have started to struggle and there’s an offer of gene therapy that might offer Patience some freedom – the possibility causes greater friction among her family.
Read this with tissues handy, I certainly had a little cry. I could relate to the Willow family in a few ways. My younger sister has complex learning and behaviour issues and while not physically restricted, growing up she certainly needed more support and attention than most. My husband is a paraplegic, so I also know what it is to be a carer. It can be very, very hard at times.
I loved Patience, she was smart and funny. Her frustrations were completely understandable – not being able to communicate her thoughts and feelings means her family and carers think she has a child’s mind and understanding but she’s actually an adult and quite capable of understanding everything she hears.
Eliza, her sister, and their parents all have a lot of things going on, but Patience is the person they revolve around, and they neglect themselves – which even Patience thinks is stupid.
This is a book with a lot of heart, and a lot of feeling. The author’s own sister has Rett Syndrome and you can feel the love for her in the bond between Patience and Eliza. It’s a really lovely book and although it made me cry a bit, is ultimately warm and engaging.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in the blog tour but all opinions remain my own.
ramblingmads 