For forty years the fabulous Odette Devine has been a beloved matriarchal actress on Scotland’s longest-running TV show. Today she is broken, betrayed, and desperate to find out if this is her payback for a lie she told forty years ago. A year ago today, Tress Walker’s husband was killed in a car accident, on the same day she gave birth to their baby. Reeling from the discovery that he was with his mistress, Tress has to choose whether to protect her fragile heart or open it to love again. Noah Clark was devastated to discover his wife and his best friend were having an affair. Now the love of his life is asking for another chance to make their marriage work. But can there ever be a way back, once the trust is broken? Noah’s sister Keli Clark has recently been ghosted by the man she loves. When a shocking message from a complete stranger reveals the reason why, Keli will have to decide whether to forgive, forget, or to make sure he pays. Twenty-four hours. Four shocking secrets. One tumultuous tale of love, loss and second chances.
Shari Low is the #1 bestselling author of over 30 novels, including My One Month Marriage and One Summer Sunrise and a collection of parenthood memories called Because Mummy Said So. She lives near Glasgow.
My thoughts: returning to the lives of the characters from One Day For You a year later, we find some things have changed and others are the same for Noah and Tress, as well as the delightful Nancy and Val. Plus we get some new characters to cheer for in Odette and Keli.
There’s more drama and it’s Buddy’s first birthday too, which he spends with all the people he loves. And there are a lot of them, lucky boy.
Noah and Tress are both trying to move on after finding out that their respective spouses were having an affair, and everyone keeps mentioning Shania Twain for some reason…
With Shani Low’s classic humour, delightful and entertaining stories, and those fabulous characters, it’s a joy to read.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in the blog tour but all opinions remain my own.
Every screenwriter knows the best stories come from the truth…
But the truth can be terrifying
Marnie thought she’d left behind her days of writing ‘celebrity’ tell-all memoirs, but when her big break as a screenwriter turns to dust she’s forced to take another ghost writing job. Except this time it’s for someone who is actually famous. Or rather, infamous. Blythe Hopper. A reclusive former Hollywood star who recently murdered her screenwriter husband. And Marnie has her own reasons for wanting to meet Blythe, not least because of an email she received from Blythe’s husband, sent two days after he was shot dead. But Marnie soon learns Blythe is not a woman to be messed with. Dark secrets lurk at the Hoppers’ palatial London home – secrets long buried, which Marnie is determined to unearth. At any price. Because this isn’t just about Blythe’s past. It’s about Marnie’s too.
Amanda Reynolds is the bestselling psychological suspense author whose debut novel, Close To Me, was adapted as a major six-part TV series for Channel 4 in 2021. Previously published by Headline, her books have been translated into multiple languages. Amanda lives near Cheltenham.
My thoughts: her career in a bit of a rut, Marnie accepts a job ghostwriting the memoir of a former Hollywood star, who has confessed to shooting her husband dead.
But Marnie also has an agenda, the dead man emailed her, after he died, hinting at knowledge of her own mystery. What happened to her mum?
Blythe’s house is a pit, nothing is clean, there’s just the somewhat unhinged actor, who never really eats, and her so-called business manager Ludo, who is another person with secrets.
As Marnie attempts to squeeze information out of the odd pair, and find out her own answers, she starts to feel quite frightened, Blythe is clearly unwell and her current legal issues are adding to all her other problems. Will Marnie survive her stay at The Towers?
Full of twists and surprises, this is a dark and sinister summer behind the high walls of a mysterious mansion.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in the blog tour but all opinions remain my own.
We are thrilled to share The Star and the Strange Moon this week. Read on for more details!
The Star and the Strange Moon
Publication Date: November 2023
Genre: Historical Fantasy From the author of A Witch in Time comes a haunting tale of ambition, obsession, and the eternal mystery and magic of film. A vanished star. A haunted film. A mystery only love can unravel…
1968: Gemma Turner once dreamed of stardom. Now the actress is on the cusp of obscurity. When she’s offered the lead in a radical new horror film, Gemma believes her luck has changed—but her dream is about to turn into a nightmare. One night, between the shadows of an alleyway, Gemma disappears on set and is never seen again. Yet, Gemma is alive. She’s been pulled into the film. And the script—and the monsters within it—are coming to life. Gemma must play her role perfectly if she hopes to survive.
2007: Gemma Turner’s disappearance is one of Hollywood’s greatest mysteries—one that’s captivated film student Christopher Kent ever since he saw L’Étrange Lune for the first time. The screenings only happen once a decade and each time there is new, impossible footage of Gemma that shouldn’t exist. Curiosity drives Christopher to unravel the truth. But answers to the film’s mystery may leave him trapped by it forever.
Constance Sayers is the author of two best-selling novels: A Witch in Time (Hachette, 2020) and The Ladies of the Secret Circus (Hachette, 2021), the latter receiving both a Publishers Weekly and Library Journal starred reviews. Her work has been translated into six languages and her third novel, The Star and the Strange Moon will be published by Hachette on 11.14.23. She is a member of the Historical Novel Society, and her short fiction has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net.
She received an MA in English from George Mason University and a B.A. in Writing from the University of Pittsburgh. She lives outside of Washington D.C.
My thoughts: the premise of this was so intriguing I had to read it as soon as I received a copy and my goodness. This book is so mindbendingly ingenious and clever and I was hooked from the off.
Christopher has spent much of his life fascinated by why his mum once freaked out and smashed up a picture of a film star in a hotel. He can’t ask her, as sadly she died after a long battle with her mental health. His aunt doesn’t know either.
Meanwhile in the 60s Gemma Turner has been offered a role in a Nouvelle Vague film shooting in the French countryside. It needs to be a success as her career’s on the slide. But things take a strange and terrifying turn…
As the two lives play out and slowly start to collide, strange occurances and a haunted movie dog them both.
Utterly brilliant and written so you really feel for these two lost souls as they search for answers and try to build something for themselves. It’s also an achingly sad story of a young man’s search for answers about where he comes from, and a woman’s about where she belongs.
When you are having a really bad day, drink yourself legless, abuse everyone around you, pass out and try again tomorrow. Trouble is; every day is bad in Rupert Fletcher’s world. He threatens his ex-wife, mocks his girlfriend, abuses his neighbours, and gets into a fight in the pub. Next day, he is found dead. Who’d want to kill him? Well, almost everybody, but it looks like only one person did. The police arrest his ex-wife’s therapist, Anthony. Anthony’s family claim he is innocent and employ the SeeMs Detective Agency to find the real killer. Cat, Miranda, and Stevie uncover clues that point them back to an intricate web of family injuries and an unexpected connection between the victim and his killer. Could Rupert’s murderer be The Chameleon Killer, who has already killed before and is bent on revenge? They need to act fast before the killer strikes again.
Gina has worked as a pilot, physiotherapist, freelance writer and dog breeder. As a child, Gina’s parents hated travelling and never went further than Jersey. As a result she became travel-addicted and spent years bumming around SE Asia, China and Australia, where she worked in a racing stables in Pinjarra, South of Perth. She then lived and worked in various places in Spain, the USA and London before settling in West Sussex with her husband and dogs.
This is her fourth crime novel in the SeeMs Detective Agency series. This book is set between Sussex and London.
My thoughts: the SeeMs Detective Agency are dealing with a terrible murder close to home. Cat’s former son-in-law is dead and her daughter Caroline is a person of interest, as is former therapist Anthony.
But there’s a rather odd woman who’d crowbarred her way into Rupert’s life, could she be his killer and might she be the criminal they’ve been hunting for some time – the elusive Victoria? She seems to have multiple identities, and yet no one truly knows who she is.
With Stevie hunting down DNA and learning about family connections, Cat and Miranda are out and about asking questions. This mysterious woman seems to be after Caroline’s daughter, Lagartha, but why?
As they unravel the clues, more people disappear, and there’s some odd goings on at the pub Rupert was last seen drinking in. Are they connected?
It’s all very convoluted but they seem sure they can unravel it and prove that the wicked kidnapper and murderer is Victoria or Bella or whoever she is this week. Can they get justice, they’re pretty sure of it.
Once things start to slot into place and the killer’s multiple identities are uncovered, the story starts to really pick up, between all the mistaken sightings, the names and addresses, the odd connections, a case is being built. The police need evidence, but the private eyes of SeeMs don’t.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in the blog tour but all opinions remain my own.
On the peaceful Japanese island of Teshima there is Shinzo¯-on no A¯kaibu, a library of heartbeats, a place where the heartbeats of visitors from all around the world are collected. In this small, isolated building, the heartbeats of people who are still alive or have already passed away continue to echo. Several miles away, in the ancient city of Kamakura, two lonely souls meet: Shuichi, a forty-year-old illustrator, who returns to his home-town to fix up the house of his recently deceased mother, and eight-year-old Kenta, a child who wanders like a shadow around Shuichi’s house. Day by day, the trust between Shuichi and Kenta grows until they discover they share a bond that will tie them together for life. Their journey will lead them to Teshima and to the library of heartbeats . . .
Laura Imai Messina (Author) Laura Imai Messina was born in Rome and moved to Tokyo at the age of 23. Her international bestselling novel The Phone Box at the Edge of the World was published in 31 countries. Laura teaches at some of the most prestigious Japanese universities, as well as writing for newspapers and working with the Japanese National TV Channel NHK.
Lucy Rand (Translator) Lucy Rand was shortlisted for the TA First Translation Prize for The Phone Box at the Edge of the World which she translated while living in Japan. She has also translated novels by Italian authors Paolo Milone and Irene Graziosi, and is the editor of the guided audiobook app, Audrey. She now lives in Norwich.
My thoughts: a gentle story of love and friendship as Shuichi and Kenta navigate their shared losses and new found friendship. As the trust between the man and boy grows, they take several adventures but their greatest one will take them to a small island where the Library of Heartbeats lives, and they will find healing and peace in the recordings of heartbeats from around the globe.
Moving and tender, this felt like a lovely hug from a friend, from the author of The Telephone Box at the End of the World, another book that navigates loss and how to live after it. While it’s slow pace and lack of conflict might not suit some readers, I found it charming and kindly. The characters are well drawn and while lost slightly, through coming together find themselves and can begin to truly live again.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in the blog tour but all opinions remain my own.
Circe goes YA in this unapologetically feminist retelling of the Medusa myth steeped in Indian mythology, a YA epic fantasy addition to the Rick Riordan Presents imprint.
All monsters and heroes have beginnings. This is mine.
Sixteen-year-old Manisha is no stranger to monsters—she’s been running from them for years, from beasts who roam the jungle to the King’s army, who forced her people, the naga, to scatter to the ends of the earth. You might think that the kingdom’s famed holy temples atop the floating mountains, where Manisha is now a priestess, would be safe—but you would be wrong.
Seventeen-year-old Pratyush is a famed slayer of monsters, one of the King’s most prized warriors and a frequent visitor to the floating temples. For every monster the slayer kills, years are added to his life. You might think such a powerful warrior could do whatever he wants, but true power lies with the King. Tired after years of fighting, Pratyush wants nothing more than a peaceful, respectable life.
When Pratyush and Manisha meet, each sees in the other the possibility to chart a new path. Unfortunately, the kingdom’s powerful have other plans. A temple visitor sexually assaults Manisha and pushes her off the mountain into a pit of vipers. A month later, the King sends Pratyush off to kill one last monster (a powerful nagin who has been turning men to stone) before he’ll consider granting the slayer his freedom.
Except Manisha doesn’t die, despite the hundreds of snake bites covering her body and the venom running through her veins. She rises from the pit more powerful than ever before, with heightened senses, armor-like skin, and blood that can turn people to stone. And Pratyush doesn’t know it, but the “monster” he’s been sent to kill is none other than the girl he wants to marry.
Alternating between Manisha’s and Pratyush’s perspectives, Sajni Patel weaves together lush language, high stakes, and page-turning suspense, demanding an answer to the question “What does it truly mean to be a monster?”
When guests arrived, Sita shooed Manisha and Arya behind the lattice walls, into a secret hallway between the grand hall and the wall facing the kitchens and residences. Manisha frowned but didn’t argue. After all this time, she still couldn’t interact with guests. It didn’t matter. She didn’t like socializing anyway.
She covered her head with her jade-tinted dupatta, slipping into the cool recesses. The latticework inner wall allowed the girls to view the grand hall while remaining hidden from guests.
“Who do you think is here that’s so important?” Arya asked, nearly poking her nose through a swirl-shaped hole in the marble wall. Billowing light from the hall cut through the carvings, covering her in an illuminating pattern of light and shadow.
“Why do you ask that?” Manisha countered, peering through the carved holes.
“Sita only hides you away when there’s someone important, or had you not noticed?”
The giggles of younger girls in the hidden hallway reverberated off the walls, their bare footfalls padding away as Arya shushed them. At least someone was having fun. Sita never bothered to use the darkened walkways, so this was probably the only place where the girls could play without being scolded. Manisha was tempted to join them, to run again, to laugh, and to let go of the shackles of proper etiquette.
A hush fell over the girls, drawing Manisha’s attention back to the hall.
Three guests entered the main room like giants, faces hardened, postures rigid, and bodies sculpted by brutal battles.
Manisha picked up on two pairs of soft, bare footfalls trekking across cold floors, and one pair of footsteps so muted, they were nearly imperceptible.
An apsara led the trio to offer prayers at the innermost shrine, the shadowy door inside the crystal pikes.
The apsara told them, “It is said that the ancient ones were born during the creation of the Akash Ganga. From the great sky river came both devas, the wise ones, and asuras, the monsters which you slay. The ancient ones came to us from the glimmer of faraway stars to battle the asuras who had escaped the faraway darkness. I suppose you must have a connection with them, since you battle on our behalf.”
Two men nodded with an acquiescent hum, but the third was silent.
They knelt on red-and-gold pillows in front of the central altar. The light cast from the diya sprayed against the contours of their faces, sharpening the angles of their jaws like a fine blade. The quiet one, the tallest of the three, was just a boy.
Many boys had visited over the years, typically sons of noblemen and diplomats, even royalty—cousins of princes, mostly. They escorted their families. This one, however, arrived with commanding officers dressed in formal uniforms. Maybe he was the son of a famed commander?
Manisha was so focused on the guests that she startled when a strange magnetic pull drew her attention to the boy. A sense of curiosity. She wasn’t sure how to feel about it. Flustered? Annoyed? Guarded? All three?
Arya clutched Manisha’s wrist and pulled her away, whispering, “Don’t get distracted by boys.”
“I—I would never,” she muttered. “Who is he?”
Whispers and excited conversations bubbled around them as all the girls glued themselves to the carved gaps to watch.
“They call him Pratyush. He’s a famous warrior.”
Manisha scrunched her brows, confused. “But he’s just a boy.”
Arya shrugged. “All warriors start out as boys. This one must be strong. The men he’s with look like commanders, so he must be important.”
Manisha intended to look away but couldn’t seem to move.
The boy was handsome. Broad-shouldered with long black hair, the top half of which was tied back. So young and yet so commanding. Everyone flocked around him as if he were the most important person in the hall. The men he was with, the apsara at his beckoning, even Sita and the Head Priestess had come to greet him. More than that? He was allowed to light the prayer diya, an act reserved for the highest-ranking men and the apsara.
Instead of leaving the delicate holder on the altar as most would, he picked it up and… broke it. The fragile clay shattered in his hands.
A look of shock crossed his face… and just about everyone else’s. The girls behind the wall gasped, their eyes bulging as the centuries-old antique crumbled in his palms.
Had any of the girls broken something so precious, Sita would’veexiled them, kicking them off the floating mountains with nothing more than the clothes on their backs.
What would she do to this famed warrior boy?
Sita’s face flared red, her lips pressing into a tight line. She fell to her knees to collect the destroyed remains from the floor.
Manisha cracked. A bubble of laughter tore through her. She immediately covered her mouth.
Arya shot her an incredulous glare, as if she’d been personally offended. Manisha cleared her throat. Only to end up cackling. She hadn’t laughed since she’d arrived at the temple. She, in fact, didn’t think laughter was even permitted by Sita.
Sita’s look of horror and utter disbelief, tangled with the inability to do a single thing, was a moment to behold. But add a commanding warrior gaping at his mess like any other awkward boy… well, Manisha couldn’t help it.
She was now covering her mouth with both hands, cackling up a muffled storm.
Her laughter must’ve escaped because Sita glared daggers of wrath at the lattice wall. All the girls took three careful steps away from Manisha.
The boy, whose face had been flustered, went from embarrassed to indifferent as he, too, looked at the lattice wall splattered with Manisha’s laughter.
Sita, the Head Priestess, and the host apsara had gathered every last speck of the broken diya holder, reverently holding the pieces in their hands. The commanders shook their heads, rattled. Yet all they did was give the boy a pat on the back as if saying, This is why we can’t have nice things.
“We should get to the kitchens to help with supper,” Arya whispered, ushering the younger girls out of the walkway before they suffered Sita’s wrath.
Manisha knew she should go, too, but she was rooted in place, unable to remove her stare from the boy. He kept glancing at the lattice wall. There was no way he could possibly see her, not with how the marble carvings had been designed to conceal persons in the recesses. But his intense focus made her question if he could.
She walked to the end of the hallway. Yet, when the boy looked up, his gaze immediately found her. She walked back, toward the entrance. Again, he found her. How was this possible?
When the prayers ended, the warrior boy meandered toward the sweets. A table and a wall were the only things separating them. He picked up a diamond-shaped kaju katli, made from the pistachios growing in the courtyard and dusted with edible silver.
He popped the entire sweet into his mouth and glanced over his shoulder. Then he dragged his gaze across the lattice wall until his eyes landed on Manisha. She stilled in the shadows.
He had the strangest-colored eyes, lavender and poetic. Such a stark contrast against dark brown skin and the harshness of warrior-worn clothes.
“It’s not nice to laugh at someone, you know?” he said, his voice scratchy. He couldn’t be older than sixteen.
How could he pinpoint her so easily?
“I know you’re there,” he added, the corner of his lips tipping upward. Suddenly, he seemed less like a grumpy warrior and more like a regular boy. “I smell your rose oil hair perfume and hear the crunch of a leaf under your foot.”
She scowled, not having felt anything beneath her steps. But when she gingerly lifted her left foot, there it was… a leaf.
Sajni Patel is an award-winning author of women’s fiction and young adult books. Her works have appeared on numerous Best Of the Year and Must Read lists from Cosmopolitan, Teen Vogue, Apple Books, AudioFile, Tribeza, NBC, Insider, and many others.
My thoughts: Medusa meets Indian mythology sounds like an odd mix but works surprisingly well in this YA fantasy about men and monsters.
Manisha is a nagin, an ancient line descended from goddesses with an affinity to snakes. After her people are almost wiped out, her family send her into hiding. Forced to pretend to be a faithful temple servant, she encounters a young man, Pratyush, a renowned monster killer, who just might be her destiny, or her fate?
After a terrible incident ends with her broken and blooded, thrown out from the temple, Manisha vows to find her family. Aided by a snake sidekick, Noni (the cuddliest giant serpent ever), she heads in the direction of home, making new friends along the way.
Pratyush is also on a journey, and when the two paths collide, decisions must be made.
I really enjoyed this book, I loved Manisha, she’s a wonderful protagonist. I liked playing spot the Greek mythology mixed in with the Indian, and the way the two very different cultures had been blended so well. The tiny hint for what’s to come in book 2 has me excited already!
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in the blog tour but all opinions remain my own.
Cocktails, chaos, and an unexpected twist. Can Perry and his hens unveil the truth before time runs out?
Death at Prestigious Hotel and Spa, Chasingham House
We are hearing reports that a young woman has been found dead at Chasingham House, the exclusive venue in the Cotswolds. She has not been named, and the cause of death is unknown at this time. This will no doubt cast a cloud over the bachelor weekend being hosted there by Lady Beatrice (36), the Countess of Rossex, for her business partner Perry Juke (34) ahead of his wedding to bestselling author and celebrity chef Simon Lattimore (40). Also staying at Chasingham House are top models Camile Redmaine (35) and Mel Parks (35), who are celebrating newly-single Cammy’s birthday with a group of friends.
When one of the birthday girls is found dead in her room, it’s clear Bea plans for her, Perry, and their friends to chill around the pool, have a few treatments, and generally relax, seem to have gone down the drain. When the local police are quick to dismiss the death as an accident, Bea is determined to help investigate anyway, along with the rest of Perry’s party. Can Perry and his hens catch the killer before the weekend is over and the trail goes cold?
Hello. I’m Helen Golden. I write British contemporary cozy whodunnits with a hint of humour. I live in small village in Lincolnshire in the UK with my husband, my step-daughter, her two cats, our two dogs, sometimes my step-son, and our tortoise. I used to work in senior management, but after my recent job came to a natural end I had the opportunity to follow my dreams and start writing. It’s very early in my life as an author, but so far I’m loving it. It’s crazy busy at our house, so when I’m writing I retreat to our caravan (an impulsive lockdown purchase) which is mostly parked on our drive. When I really need total peace and quiet, I take it to a lovely site about 15 minutes away and hide there until my family runs out of food or clean clothes.
My thoughts: Bea and Perry and some pals are celebrating Perry’s impending wedding at a local spa hotel with a swanky bar, along with another group of models and their friends, some of whom Bea knows.
After a night of drinks and dancing, one of the other party is found dead in her room, a half drunk cocktail by her bed. Was it a horrible accident or did someone kill her?
The local police are investigating, but so are Bea, Perry and their friends. With a more relaxed and friendly approach to both staff and their fellow guests, they uncover lots of important clues, and maybe even the killer. If it was murder…
I really enjoy this series, and this was another fun addition to the series, can’t wait for the wedding!
*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 failing hotel… With its reputation in tatters, Alexi Ellis is determined to save her beloved Hopgood Hall from any more bad press. A writing course for wannabe journalists shouldn’t cause too many issues and will hopefully take the heat off Hopgood Hall….
A shocking death… But disaster strikes, when one of the group is found dead in a local pub. What’s worse Alexi was the last person to see the victim alive, which makes her suspect number one.
A case too close to home? Alexi is sure she is being set up but who would go to such deadly lengths? With her reputation and liberty on the line, this is a case Alexi, Jack and Cosmo can’t afford to leave unsolved!
Perfect for fans of Faith Martin, Frances Evesham and Emma Davies.
Evie Hunter has written a great many successful regency romances as Wendy Soliman and is now redirecting her talents to produce dark gritty thrillers for Boldwood. For the past twenty years she has lived the life of a nomad, roaming the world on interesting forms of transport, but has now settled back in the UK.
My thoughts: Alexi has organised a course for aspiring journalists, ones who can afford it, that is. The six attendees are supposed to find local stories to write about…not become the story! But unfortunately she’s now associated with another murder as one of the course members is found aggressively strangled to death in the gents of a local pub.
The dead man has a mysterious past, and a tragic one at that. Is it his childhood in an awful care home that has led to his death or is it something more recent? Which government department does he work for, is it his work or the story he’s been chasing?
As Alexi and Jack (and obviously Cosmo, my favourite crime favourite crime sniffing moggy) start to dig, they find links to a missing local woman, another attendee and Alexi’s former boss Patrick. There seems to be a lot more to Peter Foreman than it first appeared. And who killed him?
Another clever, knotty and entertaining read in this series.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in the blog tour but all opinions remain my own.
Married couple Karin and Kai are looking for a pleasant escape from their busy lives, and reluctantly accept an offer to stay in a luxurious holiday home in the Norwegian fjords.
Instead of finding a relaxing retreat, however, their trip becomes a reminder of everything lacking in their own lives, and in a lessthan-friendly meeting with their new neighbours, Karin tells a little white lie…
Against the backdrop of the glistening water and within the claustrophobic walls of the ultra-modern house, Karin’s insecurities blossom, and her lie grows ever bigger, entangling her and her husband in a nightmare spiral of deceits with absolutely no means of escape…
Agnes Ravatn is a Norwegian author and columnist. She made her literary début with the novel Week 53 in 2007. Since then she has written a number of critically acclaimed and award-winning essay collections, including Standing, Popular Reading and Operation Self-discipline, in which she recounts her experience with social-media addiction.
Her debut thriller, The Bird Tribunal, won the cultural radio P2’s listener’s prize in addition to The Youth’s Critic’s Prize, and was made into a successful play in Oslo in 2015. The English translation, published by Orenda Books in 2016, was a WHSmith Fresh Talent Pick, winner of a PEN Translation Award, a BBC Radio Four ‘Book at Bedtime’ and shortlisted for the Dublin Literary Award and the 2017 Petrona Award for Best Scandinavian Crime Novel of the Year. Critically acclaimed The Seven Doors was published in 2020.
Agnes lives with her family in the Norwegian countryside.
My thoughts: a perfect example of why you shouldn’t tell lies, as Karin’s spiral out of control and she ends up with serious egg on her face.
Staying in an old school friend’s holiday cabin on the coast, an old school friend she can’t stand and is still seriously jealous of, she has an awkward encounter with the neighbours. Instead of introducing themselves as guests, she tells the neighbour, a novelist she recognised, that they own the cabin and then starts to expand. A dinner invitation means that she, and husband Kai, have to keep lying.
Or they could come clean. But as the two writers next door never mention that they know the cabin’s owners, Karin assumes they’re in the clear, that her lies about being an entrepreneur and an investment banker are working, when actually their real jobs in the planning office and as a joiner, would have been of more interest to the neighbours.
The ending made me laugh out loud – never tell unnecessary lies, you end up looking very, very foolish.
A great fun read, full of humour and clever little moments.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in the blog tour but all opinions remain my own.
Art expert Emma Lindahl is anxious when she’s asked to appraise the antiques and artefacts in the infamous manor house of one of Sweden’s wealthiest families, on the island of Storholmen, where a young woman was murdered nine years earlier, her killer never found.
Emma must work alone, and with the Gussman family apparently avoiding her, she sees virtually no one in the house. Do they have something to hide? As she goes about her painstaking work and one shocking discovery yields clues that lead to another, Emma becomes determined to uncover the secrets of the house and its occupants.
When the lifeless body of another young woman is found in the icy waters surrounding the island, Detective Karl Rosén arrives to investigate, and memories of his failure to solve the first case come rushing back. Could this young woman’s tragic death somehow hold the key?
Battling her own demons, Emma joins forces with Karl to embark upon a chilling investigation, plunging them into horrifying secrets from the past – Viking rites and tainted love – and Scandinavia’s deepest, darkest winter…
Born in Marseille, France, and with a degree in Political Science, Johana Gustawsson has worked as a journalist for the French and Spanish press and television. Her critically acclaimed Roy & Castells series, including Block 46, Keeper and Blood Song, has won the Plume d’Argent, Balai de la découverte, Balai d’Or and Prix Marseillais du Polar awards, and is now published in nineteen countries. A TV adaptation is currently under way in a French, Swedish and UK co-production. The Bleeding was a number-one bestseller in France and received immense critical acclaim across the globe. Johana lives in Sweden with her Swedish husband and their three sons.
My thoughts: this is not a Christmas book, despite the title, it’s a creepy, dark read about obsession, murder, and how twisted some minds can get.
And it is also so, so good. Totally compelling, very enjoyable as I like dark, weird stuff, and peopled with very normal individuals, and some very disturbed ones passing as normal. Which of course makes it worse.
There are several narratives that once you realise what’s happening and how they interconnect, build to reveal the total horror that has taken place in the Gussman family’s manor house.
This is the second book I’ve read from this author, and it is deeply chilling but incredibly interesting and her writing (and the excellent work of the translator) just sucks you into the world Johana has created on this island. It’s that good. If you prefer your winter reading to be dark and full of horrors, monsters hidden in plain sight, then this is absolutely for you.
*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 