REVIEW: Magpie by Sophie Draper (ARC)

Magpie by Sophie Draper

Genre: Psychological thriller, suspense

Read: 6th January 2020

Goodreads

Purchase: Amazon

(publication date: 28th November 2019)

★ 1 star

I loved "Cuckoo" by Sophie Draper so I was eagerly awaiting her next. However, I was somewhat disappointed. It was nothing like her previous one and I found it to be painfully slow. To the point of glacial. I wanted to enjoy it but I couldn't really find anything about it to enjoy.

Claire, Duncan and their teenage son Joe live in a beautiful hilltop house referred to as "The Barn". The setting was atmospheric, almost isolated, lending itself to a creepy sense of dread. But life is not as idyllic as it may seem. Claire has been secretly planning to leave Duncan, who has had a "secret" life of his own for years, when their son turns 18. It is clear neither of them have been happy in their marriage for a long time.

Duncan is a vet with a local practice in the village and Claire suspects his attentions has been on one of the many female employees. She just isn't sure who. Still, when Duncan is home he's absent emotionally and when he's not there, who knows where he is.

Joe is their 18 year old son, and while he hasn't been diagnosed, I strongly suspected he was "on the spectrum" with some form of ASD. He was a loner, fiercely focussed and obsessive in his interests - in this case, metal detecting - and very rarely spoke. He screamed ASD to me. So naturally he came with specific needs which of course added extra pressure to the boiler that was Claire's marriage, ready to explode at any moment.

When Joe goes missing, Claire is frantic with worry where he could be. She has constant nightmares in which she searches for her son, waking in sweats imagining the horrors that could have befallen him. Then as the story progresses to six weeks after he went missing, secrets slowly begin to surface in an attempt to keep the tension palpable.

Told in the past and present timelines titled BEFORE and AFTER, the story unfolds through Claire and Duncan's narratives. Normally I can follow this type of format, but this one I found confusing. We go forward, then six weeks back, then forward again, then six weeks back again...back and forwards constantly that I found myself dizzy and wondering which timeline I was actually in. Claire's AFTER narrative I found to be very confusing. There were times I wondered what she was talking about, alone in her dilapidated cottage she left Duncan for, hoping Joe would return.

And then when I got to the ending...it kind of made sense in a clever kind of way. However way we got there, the journey was too confusing, but when we did it was somewhat clever. But for me, it was a far too tedious journey to get there.

I have no idea why the book was called MAGPIE, though I'm sure someone may enlighten me, and in the end I really had no idea what the book was actually about. I couldn't find one redeeming quality about any of the characters. The fact that Duncan was a vet should have been a redeeming feature but he was morose and irritating and I didn't much like him at all. In fact, for a vet, I found his attitude to be rather impatient when it came to his customer's pets. Not at all like the vets I know. Both Claire and Duncan were positively depressing, as was Joe, with everyone always seemingly complaining which made MAGPIE a rather depressing read.

MAGPIE, for me, was very repetitive and tediously slow. I felt sad upon reflection as I really enjoyed "Cuckoo" and wanted so much to enjoy this one also.

I would like to thank #SophieDraper, #NetGalley and #Avon for an ARC of #Magpie in exchange for an honest review.

REVIEW: When the Time Comes by Adele O'Neill (ARC)

When the Time Comes (Kennedy and Kelly #3) by Adele O'Neill

Genre: Domestic drama, Mystery

Read: 3rd January 2020

Goodreads

Purchase: Amazon

(publication date: 21st November 2019)

★ 1 star

I literally LOVED Adele O'Neill's first book "Brothers and Sisters" and I couldn't wait for more of Kelly and Kennedy. But somehow I missed the second one so when I saw WHEN THE TIME COMES up for request I jumped on it.

Liam Buckley left his wife Jenny two years ago to move in with girlfriend Alex - who incidentally is Louise Kennedy's twin sister, the detective in this series. But then Jenny was diagnosed with Motor Neuron Disease and as the diseased progressed she told those closest to her that she will end her life when the time is right and before she is unable to do so. Her intentions were always made pretty clear. But for the moment, she needs her estranged husband to return home to care for their two teenage children Josh (17) and Abbie (15). Liam agrees. The next day Jenny is dead and Liam is charged with her murder.

When Liam fronts up to the Garda station, he is sure someone is trying to frame him for Jenny's death although he is certain she committed suicide. DS Louise Kennedy questions Liam thoroughly but he denies any involvement. And yet Louise is convinced someone assisted Jenny in ending her life...after all, that's what Jenny always intended. So what really happened?

Determined to restore his good name, Liam hires retired detective Kelly to delve into the family's secrets and prove his innocence. But with Jenny's best friend, Sarah, conducting her own campaign against him, exposing him as a liar and a cheat, it proves to be no easy task. But secrets begin to surface and the web of complexities that is the Buckley's family life is put under the microscope.

And then there is Alex, Liam's girlfriend and lover, cast aside as he returns to the family home. How does she fit into this new way of life? He left his wife for her and now he left her for his family. He doesn't appear to have any plans for the future which leaves Alex somewhere in limbo. And the fact that she is Louise's sister should have been reason enough for Louise to have to recuse herself from the investigation. It just all becomes one big messy tangled web of complexities.

The story is told from many different viewpoints - Liam, Louise, Sarah, Jenny, Abbie, Josh - which is not necessarily a bad thing, but in this case it was a little confusing. I don't know whether it was just me because I normally love split narratives but I just couldn't seem to get my head around what the actual point they were making was. For half of the book I under the impression Sarah was Jenny's sister the way she referred to their life before Liam. At one point she was even called Sarah Buckley which threw me as I thought her name was Sarah Barry. In Sarah's third person narrative, I remember being thoroughly confused as to whose narrative it was as it seemed to switch between Sarah's thoughts and Abbie's. I was thoroughly confused.

The story is incredibly dysfunctional with everyone somehow displaced with a timeline all over the place. What I also found disappointing was this was more of a family drama than a mystery thriller or police procedural. But even so, I found each of the characters irritating which disappointed me given how much I absolutely LOVED "Brothers and Sisters".

In all, what I expected was not what was delivered and the central storyline is buried somewhere under all the other incidental elements in the web of family drama.

The premise for the book was intriguing - did Jenny Buckley commit suicide or was she murdered? Given that the topic of assisted suicide and euthanasia is a controversial issue the idea of it being interwoven with a mystery thriller was a fascinating concept. But it failed to, not only address the issue, but also keep me as a reader enthralled with a captivating storyline. The fact that it is titled WHEN THE TIME COMES alone suggests that assisted suicide is the underlying theme. But what was really dished up was a main course of family drama with a side of investigation. Given that BI was worthy of 10 stars, I sadly felt this one could only rate 1 or 2.

Maybe I missed the plot with this one but sadly WHEN THE TIME COMES wasn't as captivating as it promised. But I won't give up. Adele O'Neill's first one, as I keep saying, was so brilliant I still have high hopes for future releases. Just not this one.

I would like to thank #AdeleONeill, #NetGalley and #Aria for an ARC of #WhenTheTimeComes in exchange for an honest review.

REVIEW: Her Dark Heart by Carla Kovach (ARC)

Her Dark Heart (DI Gina Harte #5) by Carla Kovach

Genre: Crime fiction, police procedural, domestic thriller

Read: 30th December 2019

Goodreads

Purchase: Amazon

(publication date: 19th November 2019)

★★★★★ 5 stars

Although I am still yet to read the first two, I have now enjoyed the last three books in this series by Carla Kovach and DI Gina Harte is fast becoming one of my favourite detectives. I absolutely loved the previous book "The Liar's House" and I wondered how Kovach could better that one but HER DARK HEART was just as brilliant! And while it is the fifth in the series and it's generally preferable to read them in order, I do believe they can still be read as a standalone. Each mystery is enigmatic, each story is unique...but each book is engaging throughout you will not want to put them down.

The story opens with a prologue that sees Susan Wheeler returning from a reunion amongst old friends at the pub to which her husband Ryan had followed her, convinced she was having an affair. After thumping the male friend of the group, Ryan and Susan returned home where he then started in on her. It was obvious from the beginning that Ryan was a controlling and abusive husband and Susan did her best to shelter her children from the violence.

Five months later, Susan is in the process of divorcing Ryan, living in their marital home with their three children while Ryan has moved to a small two bedroom flat. Since kicking her husband out, Susan has let her hair down, started going out with friends and enjoying the freedom to be herself and relax as she was never allowed to married to Ryan. Her mother Mary babysits for her on these occasions which, in her sister Clare's eyes, are becoming more frequent. It seems Susan is returning to her rebellious teenage years.

So when Susan fails to pick up her two year old son Rory from nursery one afternoon, there are mixed reactions. Her mother Mary is concerned while her sister Clare is not. Then they discover that she hadn't collected her daughters, Phoebe and Jasmine, from her Ryan's place either. Mary is adamant that Susan would never leave her children - she loves them and would not have left them voluntarily. Clare is of the opinion that this is another one of Susan's disappearing acts where she will swan back in after a few days as if nothing has happened. After all, she's done it before.

But Mary is worried and insists on calling the police although Clare maintains that her sister is just attention seeking while her husband Howard placates her with endless cups of tea. The soon-to-be ex-husband Ryan thinks Susan has just run off again and isn't particularly concerned...in fact he lays the blame solely at Susan's feet. Clare, it seems, shares his opinion and also blames her sister for everything that's gone wrong in her own life. But Mary is convinced there is something wrong...

Enter DI Gina Harte. For the initial contact with the Hudson family, Gina takes along PC Kapoor who has incredible instincts as well as a certain empathy. But Gina isn't prepared for the shock that is about to befall her when Mary Hudson opens the door. For Mary is the spitting image of her own mother who died many years ago, sharing even the same mannerisms which throws Gina momentarily when questioning her. I found this an interesting side aspect and wondered if it would be explored further, throwing up the revelation of her mother having had a long lost missing twin or something...but it seemed that Mary was just a doppelganger that spooked Gina each time she came into contact with her.

Mary has enough to deal with at the moment what with Clare having moved back home with her two year old son who, with a vast array of behavioural problems, is beyond difficult. But Susan's little Rory is like a breath of fresh air and is a sweet content little boy. Another bone of contention with Clare - it seems Susan can never do any wrong, and even has the perfect child. This sees a jealous and exasperated Clare continually dumping her often screaming son in her mother's arms and leaving the house to destinations unknown. She may have been the older sibling but Clare often behaved like a spoilt teenager, in my opinion.

From the beginning Gina believes that Mary and her family are keeping secrets and she endeavours to find out what they are and get to the bottom of them. Requesting permission to search Susan's house, Gina and her team are only allowed a cursory look before Mary ushers them out and then sets about cleaning the house from top to bottom. But Mary comes across a notebook that appears to be Susan's diary of sorts and in it, two appointments for the day she disappeared and a post code. Handing them over to the police, Gina then calls on the appointments - both of whom weren't home - and discovers the post code was for a general area nearby...but apparently none of Susan's clients were from that postal code area. And where was her car? Wouldn't it have been parked outside her last appointment?

Then a body is found by a man and his two boys out walking their dog and immediately she fears it to be Susan. However, it turns out the body is male. One Dale Blair - who turned out to be Susan's last appointment. Upon searching his house, Gina's team find a photo of a teenage Dale with an obvious teenage Susan and another teenage girl. It seems Susan and Dale knew each other before the day she disappeared. And then they discover he was the man Ryan had punched in the face for having an affair with his wife some 5 months before. But that was not possible for Dale was openly gay. The mystery deepens as Gina wonders what the hell it means and where it all leads.

Was Susan kidnapped? Or is she guilty of murder?

Gina doesn't know what to believe anymore as she battles with her own guilt and grief over losing her mother and her deepest darkest secret she has carried for more than 20 years.

And then Susan's daughter Phoebe disappears...

A complicated case and a complex thriller, HER DARK HEART is a well-written page turner that will have you reading long into the night - just one more chapter! I love how it's not just a police procedural but a crime thriller as well as we are privy to all aspects of the story - from the police to the victim's family to the villain - with clues given at just the right time.

As for the characters themselves - I found Clare and her son irritating and obnoxious, Ryan was ignorant and arrogant, Howard was indifferent while Mary was so completely guilt ridden and yet she continued to make the same mistakes again and again.

As the story shifts between perspectives in the search for Susan and Phoebe while at the same time given a glimpse from the villain's viewpoint, HER DARK HEART unfolds at an even pace that soon accelerates gaining momentum as it nears its climax. And even as it did so, I was completely surprised at the revelation, only guessing just moments before.

While HER DARK HEART is the fifth in this series, it is my third having only read the last three. Despite this I am thoroughly enjoying all that I have read so far and Gina Harte is fast becoming a favourite. I know that I will not be disappointed with these books. I do, however, have a slight misgiving I feel I ought to mention.

While I don't like my protagonists to be too perfect, too damaged, too bossy and bitchy or too flaky and irritating, I do feel that Gina does often frustrate me. She has spent the past five books torturing herself about killing her abusive husband in self defense some 20 years ago and ambivalence about her feelings for her boss DCI Chris Briggs, and their non-starter affair. Not to mention the complicated relationship she has with her daughter Hannah. Without fail by the end of each book, she seems to have sorted herself out with promises and placations but by the next one she is back to where she was previously. This oscillating is like watching a ceiling fan as she continues her annoying cycle of self pity and self loathing. I just want to see her sort herself out once and for all and move on. We know what happened, none of us can change the past, so there is nothing to gain by harping on it. I just wish she would move past it and either get together with Briggs or move on. I did like the part near the end where she made a confession to her mother's grave, unburdening herself at last. Maybe now she CAN move on.

I'd also like to know a little more about her team, as all we seem to know about them are their names. And even those are seemingly insignificant at times because none of them has as much depth as Gina herself does in the books. These characters are recurring but without any real development.

Despite those two misgivings, they are but small elements that do not deter my enjoyment of this book or the series. I will happily continue to follow Gina and her team as it really is one of my favourite series.

The plot was dark, the twists were skillful making HER DARK HEART a clever complex and brilliant thriller that kept me intrigued throughout. I have no hesitation in recommending it!

I look forward to seeing what happens next...

I would like to thank #CarlaKovach, #NetGalley and #Bookouture for an ARC of #HerDarkHeart in exchange for an honest review.

REVIEW: A Fight in Silence by Melanie Metzenthin (ARC)

A Fight in Silence by Melanie Metzenthin

(translated by Deborah Rachel Langton)

Genre: Historical fiction

Read: 18th December 2019

Goodreads

Purchase: Amazon

(publication date: 11th November 2019)

★★★★★ 5 stars

I have to say that if it weren't for Netgalley, I wouldn't be introduced to so many different authors that I would probably never read otherwise. And this is one of those cases where I am so grateful to have done so!

A FIGHT IN SILENCE by Melanie Metzenthin (and translated by Deborah Rachel Langton) is a truly remarkable story that, to me, loses nothing in translation. I don't even know where to begin, it was that amazing!! It provides us with a very different perspective of WW2 of not only being in Germany but centering around medicine, the aslyums and of those who had been sent there. But it is so much more than that. To experience it, you really have to read it yourself.

Spanning two decades, the story begins in Hamburg in 1926 with Paula Engelhardt and her friend Leonie, as medical students, attending a lecture about mental illness and the state of mind of sufferers, when Paula meets Richard Hellmer, also studying medicine. The two find themselves sitting in a cafe after the lecture debating the prospective nature of life and suffering, with both expressing their desire to specalise in psychiatry. Paula's own father is a psychiatrist, leading her to follow in his footsteps. Richard's father is a carpenter, something in which Richard became fully qualified before studying medicine. Paula is an only child, whereas Richard is one of three children. Both families are close and continue to be so with the engagement and marriage of Paula and Richard.

In the wake of the Great war, Germany is experiencing unrest as the National Socialist Party (Nazis) begin to make their presence felt in smaller circles. With each election they gain more votes and a greater movement throughout the country. But the propaganda which they are flouting leaves Germans in serious doubt as to where their country is headed...and what it means for them. Rumours begin to surface and soon life becomes harder for those less fortunate than the healthy blonde, blue eyed Aryan.

Paula continues to study while Richard moves into the area of psychiatry, taking up a position some miles away at a reputable asylum. Paula then discovers her difficulty in following in her father's footsteps when it appears men are favoured for positions ahead of her. She decides to enter pediatrics alongside Leonie working in the children's hospital in Hamburg. All the while, their growing concern for what is happening in Germany continues to build...even moreso when Leonie is suddenly without a job. It is now illegal for Jews to hold such positions as doctors or to study, as they face the political unrest and turmoil that continues to grow. Soon Leonie flees with her father to Switzerland, who is neutral, before things get worse for them and Paula finds herself missing her best friend.

When Paula discovers she is pregnant, both are shocked to discover they are expecting twins. Paula continues to work at the hospital throughout her pregnancy, despite some older colleagues misgivings. After 18 long hours of labour, Paula gives birth to a baby girl but the boy has some difficulties delivering. But he soon arrives and the new parents are elated. They name their daughter Emilia and their son Georg, after Richard's older brother. But it isn't long before Richard notices that something isn't right with Georg. He is a happy child, certainly, but he fails to respond to noise or his name being called. Paula refuses to believe this, stating that she would have noticed. After a brief barrage of tests, Richard's fears are confirmed - their son is deaf. Paula berates herself for not noticing. But both parents are fearful for what this could mean for their son should his deafness be made known. The Nazis have been known to eradicate anyone being of "life unworthy of life", that being a disability.

So beginning with early intervention, Paula and Richard work tirelessly with Georg as he grows, teaching him both sign language and lip reading, and how to speak smoothly. Emilia is incredibly protective of her brother and George is saddened when he must attend a different school to that of his sister. Despite attening the deaf and dumb school, he speaks effortlessly like that of a hearing child. The story is that he is "hard of hearing" as a result of complications during birth, which everyone accepts without question.

As the unrest in Germany continues to grow, the depression hit people hard and many struggle to find work and feed their families. All the while the socialist movement in Germany found this easy to exploit as Hitler gained popularity and the Nazis ultimately seized power. Once war is declared, life for Germany as they know it changes. However, Richard and Paula are doctors - their occupations are reserved, although as Paula is a mother, her working life is over. But for Richard, the changes that he finds himself faced with are both horrific and barbaric. When his superior retires, a colleague with socialist ties is promoted and the once reputable asylum becomes a living nightmare.

New legislation has been passed stating that anyone with a disability, suffering a mental condition, a hereditary illness or classed as imperfect is considered a liability and they are either forced to be sterilised or, even worse, euthanised. This becomes even more important to the Hellmers to keep Georg's deafness secret and ensure that his "hearing problem" isn't classed as and inherited condition, such as hereditary deafness. Some doctors went along with the forced sterilsation and euthanising of their disabled patients, some - like Richard - fought to save their lives, though it was incredibly risky and very very dangerous. To be caught would mean death.

Richard began by falsifying the medical records of his patients, deeming them fit to work, otherwise they were driven to the forest in sealed lorries and gassed. But the fact that he deemed every patient fit, drew the attention of the Gestapo, and he was instantly dismissed from his position of twelve years. But before they could send him off to a punishment regiment, he enlisted alongside his best friend Fritz, a notable surgeon, in the medical corp as a doctor. He's sent to Italy, Africa and Egypt as he and Fritz work in the miedical hospital far from the frontlines.

While the war rages, Paula is left with her children, their extended family and Fritz's wife Dora and their children as they survive the nightly air raids and attempt to keep Georg's deafness a secret. But when Georg comes down with hepatitis and is sent to Richard's former workplace that now doubles as a children's hospital, Paula fears for her son's safety as Richard's nemesis will stop at nothing to oust their son's condition just for the sheer spite of it.

A FIGHT IN SILENCE is like nothing I have ever read... and I have read many WW2 books set in England, Germany and even Austria. But this one is very different to any of those. Building slowly, the story unfolds at a pleasant pace as we learn about each of the characters and their facets, as we become invested in them and their lives. I was very quickly hooked and was completely immersed in the story that I found myself not wanting it to end...while at the same time wanting the horror for those involved to end.

A truly remarkable story, A FIGHT IN SILENCE is unique in its subject matter of psychiatry at the time as well as being a beautiful tale of love, friendship, family and courage.

I have to make mention of the fantastic work of Deborah Rachel Langton in her impeccable translation of this beautiful and remarkable book. In reading it, one would think that it had been written in English, the translation is that flawless.

I simply loved A FIGHT IN SILENCE and cannot give it a high enough rating in my opinion. I would love to give it 10 stars! I hope the second novel featuring Paula and Richard is translated so I can continue their journey with them post-war.

I cannot recommend A FIGHT IN SILENCE highly enough! To experience the beauty of this unique and remarkable story (I know I keep saying it, but it's true), you really MUST read it for yourself. You won't regret it.

I would like to thank #MelanieMetzenthin, #DeborahRachelLangton, #NetGalley and #AmazonPublishingUK for an ARC of #AFightInSilence in exchange for an honest review.

REVIEW: Man at the Window by Robert Jeffreys (ARC)

Man at the Window ( Detective Cardilini #1) by Robert Jeffreys

Genre: Crime fiction, police procedural

Read: 29th December 2019

Goodreads

Purchase: Amazon

(publication date: 14th November 2019)

★★ 2 stars

I must be in the minority that found MAN AT THE WINDOW by Robery Jeffreys to be slow and drawn out. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the first half of the book but it just seemed to lose tangent and just be odiously long and drawn out. Which was a shame, because I was thoroughly enjoying the mystery before it went all nonsensical that by the end I was left wondering who actually pulled the trigger. To me, that is a loose end...and I hate loose ends.

Perth, Western Australia, 1965: The opening prologue sees a master of all-boys school St Nicholas, perusing over what he obviously see as his dominion. Before he knows what hits him, he is hot with half his brain over the wall behind him and he falls to the floor. Then enters an anonymous young boy of indeterminate age, who I took to be around 12 or 13, knock hesitantly on the master's door. The master, Captain Edmunds, does not answer and upon hearing no response the boy quietly moves into the dark room, inadvertently stepping on a bullet. He picks up the bullet and silently places it in his pocket before leaving the room, leaving bloodied footsteps in his wake.

Enter Detective Sergeant Cardilini. Before his wife Betty died a year ago, Cardilini was a good detective. But now, he is a lazy drunken slob that even his 18 year old son is disgusted by him. So when his boss sends him off to write up a report of accidental shooting, it was meant to be a mere formality. But from the moment he stepped into St Nicholas' College things just didn't sit right with Cardilini. And for once, against all expectations, he actually makes an effort.

What begins as an apparent accidental shooting, with a rather implausible theory in my opinion, turns into a complex case that continues to darken as the story deepens. And admittedly, I was bored and frustrated with yet another drunk cop with a chip on his shoulder - how many times have I read something like this? However, the case is an interesting one and the investigation is both raw and invasive, and under Cardilini's eye, relentless. But...he was not meant to investigate it, but to simply write up a report and file it. Against his Superintendent's wishes he continues to probe, uncovering secrets that the prestigious school would have preferred remain buried. And then it becomes clear - his super and the deputy commissioner are old boys of the school. The brass have spoken and Cardilini is hauled over the coals on more than one occasion for stepping out of line.

So herein lies his dilemma - do his job to the letter of the law who has sworn to uphold in pursuing a murderer and possibily losing his job, or allow the old boys' network to hold his balls in a vice and keep his job and his son's prospects of joining the academy.

Despite this, Cardilini is determined to get to the bottom of the matter for the sake of the boys who have been abused...though now no one is coming forward admitting to that fact. And Cardilini looks like a prize idiot.

Added to this, Cardilini then finds out that the constable that was assigned to "work the case" alongside him, Salt, is a former St Nicholas boy himself! It seems the long arm of the old boys' network reaches far and wide. But Cardilini refuses to be swayed. And this puts his job in jeopardy.

But Cardilini eventually works out what is essentially a plausible theory of the shooting...despite the fact allegations of indecent behaviour have been made against him regarding a student of St Nicholas'...but what to do about it? How to prove it? And yet the only way to refute the allegations against him is to drop the investigation and agree on the accidental shooting theory.

And yet he has a theory of who was responsible when he receives a confession from another...

A complex case that showed immense promise in the beginning, MAN AT THE WINDOW sadly ended up a confused and tangled web by its conclusion. I re-read the last part of the final chapter several times wondering what was really written between the lines and who really killed Captain Edmunds.

On the plus side, MAN AT THE WINDOW was cleverly written in its portrayal of the era - when ballistics was pretty basic and DNA, CCTV, GPS and mobile phones are all to come decades later. How notes are written in a notebook and hours can be spent retrieving records from filing cabinets or archives. The use of phone boxes and calls being made from one's desk rather than in the car or at the scene. I remember thinking why Cardilini didn't use his mobile phone before realising it was 1965 and there were no mobile phones. And then there was the social attitudes. A child's word against that of an adult - especially against one who has status and authority - is rarely believed. People turned their backs. These things never happened...until it happened to your child.

Cardilini is quite often abrasive and almost always opens his mouth just to change feet. The way he spoke and interacted with his superiors had me wondering why he hadn't been fired long ago. But his super was an old friend, they went through the academy together, and everyone it seems was giving him some extra leeway after the death of his beloved wife.

MAN AT THE WINDOW is a good debut, despite its long-winded off tangent complexities that left me scratching my head by its end. I enjoyed the first half but struggled with the second. I won't dismiss this series or the author on the basis of one book and look forward to the next one to see where that takes us. But please, no more drunk cop!

I would like to thank #RobertJeffreys, #NetGalley and #EchoPublishing for an ARC of #ManAtTheWindow in exchange for an honest review.

REVIEW: The Quiet Girls by J.M. Hewitt (ARC)

The Quiet Girls (DS Carrie Flynn #2) by J.M. Hewitt

Genre: Crime fiction, thriller, suspense

Read: 21st December 2019

Goodreads

Purchase: Amazon

(publication date: 13th November 2019)

★★★★ 4 stars

Having enjoyed DS Carrie Flynn's introduction in "The Night Caller" I was looking forward to her second outing in THE QUIET GIRLS, hoping some of the loose ends left in the first book would be on the way to being tied up in the second. One thing I really hate in books, even those in a series, are loose ends. It's like television shows that end the season on a cliffhanger...it's not like you're not coming back so why leave fans hanging? It's a pet peeve of mine and yet so many authors are guilty of it.

THE QUIET GIRLS begins with a taster for fans where the previous one left off regarding DS Carrie Flynn's past of her missing sister, Hattie. When I read the opening chapter I found myself hoping that there would be more of an element regarding this 20 year old mystery, instead of just being a backstory as it was previously.

But we would have to wait and see for the story then takes a turn as we see Carrie and her DC Paul Harper receive and replay a telephone message over and over from a distraught caller stating they had provided information and nothing was done and that now they were going to take matters into their own hands. The voice was disguised but the closer Carrie listened the more she felt the voice was female. Carrie insists the caller is a victim but Paul isn't so sure, given their intention to possibly commit a crime.

11 year old Melanie Wilson is meeting her two friends, Kelly and Tanisha, in the hope the girls will accept her as "one of them". The three girls decide to embark on an adventure, entering what they thought to be an abandoned house. But when one of them is attacked by a man wearing a grotesque mask who is naked from the waist down, Melanie gets her two friends out as they run for their lives, without looking back.

Melanie's mother Alice arrives home at 7pm to find her husband Harry sitting in the dark, no Melanie, and oblivious to the fact their daughter has not returned home. Alice panics and goes in search of Melanie, relieved to find her disembarking a bus at the end of the street. They return home to find a dishevelled Harry, silently cursing himself for not noticing their daughter was missing.

Later that evening, Melanie discloses to her parents what happened at the house. Harry wants to report it, Alice does not. As a lawyer, she points out that the girls entered a house without permission and probably frightened the occupant with everything else nothing more than Melanie's overactive imagination. Unbeknownst to them, Kelly's mother has taken her daughter off to the police station to report what had taken place inside the house without disclosing Melanie's presence. As Kelly refuses to co-operate, the police can do nothing so the matter is shelved. But Kelly's mother refuses to let it go and organises a group of concerned parents to storm the house protesting the presence of paedophiles preying on their children.

When Carrie and Paul receive a complaint from a resident that they have been targeted by a group naming them as paedophiles, Carrie realises the girls' mother took the matter further. But as the man reveals, it couldn't have been him, or his brother, as they were out of the country at the time and with flight details to prove it. So Carrie must now inform the group of his innocence and move them on. But the resident discloses that while they were away, his brother had organised for a decorator to come in and work on their house however his details have been misplaced. So who was the decorator? Was he the man who assaulted young Kelly Prout?

Meanwhile, Harry Wilson decides that he must keep his family safe and after the incident with the suspected paedophile, particularly Melanie. So without consulting his wife, Harry sells up their house and packs up their belongings and moves them to Pomona island, a remote and abandoned island off Manchester. Also making the move with them are the Hadleys, the father whose carpentry skills Harry would find useful for their new life on Pomona. No one is particularly thrilled with the move but go along with it anyway. But once they get there and the boat that brought them across leaves, they are faced with the reality of their isolation as Harry excitedly organises them into groups to explore the island and where to find food, water and wood.

But as days turn into weeks, things are not going the way Harry had planned. Liz Hadley hasn't even set foot outside their cottage let alone made it a home for herself and her family. Their twins, Willow and Lenon, speak only to each other and spend days in the woods away from everyone else. Not only that, Melanie had seen the brother and sister sleeping in the same bed together, huddled together like lovers. And then there is Alice. Admittedly, she has made their cottage into a little home but aside from that she is not engaging with him or even their neighbours. In fact, she seems to disappear for hours at a time on her own. Only Gabe Hadley and Melanie seem to be on board with this new life. Gabe has built sheds from bits of tin and timber to store their wood for the next winter, while he has been showing Melanie how to make snares to capture rabbits for their meals. Harry feels sure that the others will come round to this new and pure way of life. Or will they?

Back on the mainland, Carrie and Paul have received reports of the Hadley twins going missing and that of Melanie Wilson from their respective schools. When they arrive at the Hadley home to investigate, they find it locked up and abandoned, with the entire family leaving early one morning some weeks ago. Where were they going and why leave under the shroud of the pre-dawn? Were they running from something? Carrie tasks Paul with looking into the Hadley's lives in the hope of uncovering any answers.

Before they have a chance to investigate Melanie's disappearance, they receive information that Melanie had been present when Kelly Prout was attacked and endeavour to question the girl's mother as to why she didn't tell them about it at the time? Whether it made a difference or not at the time, who knows, but what they do know NOW is that Melanie is missing. Did it have something to do with the assault on Kelly? And how was it linked to the Hadley twins disappearance?

Interwoven throughout the story, in alternate chapters, are flashbacks of Carrie and her 6 year old sister Hattie on the day of Hattie's disappearance for which Carrie has always blamed herself. Their mother insisting Carrie take her sister, her promises to see the horses, the long walk to the park as well as Hattie constantly asking for ice cream. We see the lead-up to Hattie's disappearance to when suddenly she is gone.

Whilst investigating the case of these missing children and the possibility of a paedophile in the area, Carrie finds herself haunted by the flashbacks and the nightmare of her sister going missing. But it's her darkest secret she must draw on to help her find these children, as they try to locate the Hadley twins and Melanie and her family.

I thoroughly enjoyed THE QUIET GIRLS far more than the first book, probably because we are given more insight into the 20 year mystery of Carrie's little sister's disappearance. In it we have a little bit more closure, though not completely, which again is frustrating though I hope Jeanette ties those loose ends up for us with the next installment.

What I especially love about this series is that the entire focus is not on the police investigation. In fact in some cases, the investigation takes a backseat to the bigger picture but without overshadowing Carrie and her partner Paul. I find a glimpse into each aspect gives the story more depth.

There is one aspect that didn't sit right with me and that was the ages of each of the "potential" victims of the paedophile. The despicable nature of such crimes notwithstanding, there is an age preference to these people, and yet the ages in this book ranged from young child to pre-teen to adolescent which is not how they work and isn't completely accurate. I felt lumping all ages together was like saying all Muslims are terrorists and all dog attacks are by staffies. It's like I like milk chocolate yet my husband likes white chocolate. It's not a technicality, it's a fact.

Although this is the second book in the series, THE QUIET GIRLS can be read as a stand-a-lone quite easily, but I think you'd be missing out if you didn't read "The Night Caller" first.

I look forward to Carrie Flynn's third outing with her DC, and maybe a loose end or two tied up a little neater to give the rest of us a kind of closure. Definitely recommend!

I would like to thank #JMHewitt, #NetGalley and #Bookouture for an ARC of #TheQuietGirls in exchange for an honest review.

REVIEW: My Mother's Silence by Lauren Westwood (ARC)

My Mother's Silence by Lauren Westwood

Genre: Mystery, Suspence, Family Drama

Read: 20th December 2019

Goodreads

Purchase: Amazon

(publication date: 11th November 2019)

★★★★ 3.5 stars (rounded up)

I've not come across Lauren Westwood before but that's possibly due to her usual genre being women's fiction. This time she brought us something a little different woven into the mystery genre with MY MOTHER'S SILENCE.

When I requested this book I had initially thought it would be more of a psychological mystery than what it actually was, given that it was actually listed in the Mystery/Thriller genre. And while it certainly does have an element of mystery, with part of the main focus being on the mysterious death of one woman's twin 15 years before, it is a poignant yet tragic tale of guilt and what ifs and ultimately how to rebuild something that was lost to tragedy.

"‘Mum wants to know when you’re coming home.’ They were the only words that could ever make me return; the words that I’d been waiting to hear for all these years."

Following the tragic death of her twin sister Ginny 15 years ago, Skye Turner left Scotland to follow her dream in America. It was the dream she and Ginny shared - to become travel the world together with Skye on guitar and Ginny's hauntingly beautiful voice. But instead Skye left alone...to follow their dreams for the both of them.

But now she's back.

Returning to the remote Eilean Shiel upon learning her mother was ill and asking for her, Skye was not prepared for the memories that would engulf her as she stepped off the coach and looked across the raging waters to the peninsula where she grew up. Or the silence that encompassed her as she stepped into the Fisherman's Arms, suitcase in hand. Or the indifference from her mother when she opened the door to her long lost daughter.

This is why she left. The guilt that ate her up inside, not knowing what happened that night...the night Ginny died...the night a car accident robbed her of her memory of "that night"...her mother's silent accusations...and her need to escape the pain. And now all eyes were on her once again as fingers pointed and whispered rumours began to circulate.

And then there is their bedroom. The one she shared with Ginny. While the rest of the house has enjoyed a makeover, their room has remained a shrine to her sister. This only serves to haunt Skye, adding to her confusing flashes of memories of that night and those of her sister. But Skye wants the past buried and feels it is time to pack away Ginny's life and store them in the attic along with all their other childhood memories. But then she finds Ginny's old journals and, feeling a tug of conflicting emotions, she leaves them not wanting to open that door as well as respecting her sister's privacy.

But then her brother Bill and his family arrive, sending the house into a whirlwind of chaotic activity. But it's not until her niece Emily, who is obsessed with the idea of Ginny, brings down the box of her old journals does Skye secrete them into her room to explore later. And explore, she will. Because Skye has learnt that her sister had secrets from her, secrets that she knew nothing about...and she thought she knew everything about her but she is suddenly discovering that maybe she didn't know Ginny at all.

And then finding a coach ticket to Glasgow for the day of Ginny's death, Skye finds herself questioning what really happened the night her sister died. Everyone in the community accepted it was an accident, but was it really? If only she could remember...

But the deeper Skye digs into the past, the more she realises that she's not the only one haunted by the secrets of that night. Was she really to blame or were people lying? Did they know something about Ginny's death? Did they have something to do with it or were they protecting her from the truth? Was the story of how her sister died all a lie? If only she could remember...

Told in the first person from Skye's perspective, I did find the story slow moving though the pace did pick up the deeper Skye delved. I didn't take much to Skye and her constant monologuing of second guessing kept the pace fom picking up. Whilst reading I felt like I should escape Eilean Shiel myself, the atmosphere was quite chilly...even moreso in her childhood home with her mother's equally chilly reception. Although this is all part of the story to be fleshed out, I was more interested in the mystery aspect and what really happened the night Ginny died and Skye's accident.

Unrestrained and poignant, MY MOTHER'S SILENCE is a moving story about a family torn apart by tragedy and secrets. It tells of unimaginable grief blended with misconceptions, harboured secrets and long buried memories to create an absorbing read of family drama and mystery.

MY MOTHER'S SILENCE is both compelling and suspenseful, despite the slow start, stirring up emotions and questions that have been long since buried. It is part chick lit part mystery with all the family drama thrown in, as well as a touch of romance. It has a little bit of everything.

My favourite part of this book would have to be the picturesque yet rugged Scottish landscape of the western highlands. It truly evokes that feeling of remoteness and isolation mirrored in the book's protagonist. Perfect for the story that unfolds here. And yet, the landscape is utterly stunning.

I would like to thank #LaurenWestwood, #NetGalley and #Bookouture for an ARC of #MyMothersSilence in exchange for an honest review.