REVIEW: The House on the Water's Edge by C.E. Rose

The House on the Water's Edge by C.E. Rose 

Genre: Psychological thriller, Suspense

Read: 30th July 2021

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Published: 11th August 2021

★★ 2 stars

DESCRIPTION:

Sometimes the past is best left buried

Since the birth of baby Joe five weeks ago, Ali Baker has been struggling to cope. Starved of sleep and haunted by painful memories from the past, she’s a million miles away from the polished, professional barrister she has worked so hard to become.

Then her mother tragically and unexpectedly dies, leaving Ali an orphan. Haunted by her loss, Ali can’t forget her mother's last words to her: There is something I really need to tell you...

Heading back to the Norfolk Broads to sort her mother's things, Ali is plunged into memories of her family’s picture-perfect summers on the river.

But as she starts to uncover secrets hidden within the isolated house, Ali is drawn into a dark web that threatens to destroy everything she believed about her childhood – and her very sanity.

Ali may finally discover her mother's secrets... but at what cost?

A gripping, captivating psychological thriller, perfect for fans of Samantha Hayes and S.E. Lynes.

MY REVIEW:

Once again, I think I mist be in the minority with this book because it didn't resonate with me as it did others. Although I enjoyed it to be begin with, that soon changed when really...nothing changed in the story. Every character got on my nerves and I wanted to bash every single one of their heads together and shout "what the hell is wrong with you?" And as a result, I didn't much care what happened to them. I made it halfway through the book when I thought "you know what? I don't give a toss what secrets are buried anymore because it's taking too damn long to get there!"

In her previous life, Ali was a successful barrister facing off against some of the worst criminals first for the defence and now as a prosecutor. But that all changed when she gave birth to little Joe five weeks ago. Now she's a blubbering self conscious mess smelling of baby puke having not showered in how many days. She was looking forward to her mother's visit the following day when she called earlier in the week to say she was travelling up from Norfolk to where Ali lived with hubby Miles in Manchester. In desperation, Ali said to her mum "You're coming as a helper, not a guest?" as she felt she needed all the help she could get. This motherhood thing was nothing like she had imagined.

But that all changed when her sister Laura called from Canada to tell her that their mother was dead. Just like that. "Ali? Mum's dead." Apparently, her mother's friends called Laura to let her know....but why they didn't call Ali (who is actually in the country) was beyond me. Now, after going through the life-changing disruption of motherhood with which she was struggling and now her mother, her best friend, was dead. All the more reason to sit in a daze unshowered and unchanged in a dirty messy house all day, I should think. Of course, hubby Miles didn't agree. In fact, he appeared to be distant and cold to her needs and was blind to her struggling. He knew she was finding things difficult and his answer was to present his interfering mother Madeleine as a solution.

Before her mother's tragic death, she had wanted to tell Ali something but Ali had cut her off and told her to hold it till the weekend when she would be arriving. And in the ensuing days, she called a number of times but Ali rejected each of them. Why I've no idea. If my mother was calling me, I'd answer. Now, she has no idea what it was that her mother wanted so desperately to tell her. But it's when she's at the wake that she overhears her aunts whispering about some secret alluding to her father who died twenty five years ago and her mother's subsequent move from Sheffield to Norfolk.

But it was her mother-in-law Madeleine's interference that lit a fire under Ali to get her moving after overhearing a telephone conversation in which Madeleine alluded to just how badly Ali was coping and hinting at a sanatorium in which to install her while she, Madeleine, whisked Joe away to her Cheshire home to care for him. Ali was livid and could hardly hide her anger as she thanked Madeleine and ushered her out the door. Then as soon as Miles had left for his big trial in London, Ali loaded their bags and Joe into carseat and made the five hour long journey to Norfolk to their old holiday house in which their mother had lived for the past seventeen years.

Finally! Finally I thought it was going to get interesting and finally Ali was going to start uncovering secrets long buried about her family and all that. But no. Upon arrival, Ali continued in her neurotic state seeing shadows and hearing noises. Walks to the shops or the river or where ever else. Nothing was bloody happening! 

Talk about slow moving! The whole story was almost stagnant. And Ali annoyed me no end. She kept on about her episiotomy and peeing and all that that I began to wonder at her ability as a successful barrister. Then there was her constant griping about breastfeeding and yet she kept doing it and she kept letting us know she was doing it. She didn't even appear to be all that enamoured with Joe and I'm not overly maternal myself but really, she seemed rather detached from everything. I know she had just had a baby, which is life-changing, and was in the midst of grief over her mum's death...but she barely cried. She barely did anything. I thought once she got to Norfolk, things would start to get interesting as she delved into her mother's things and uncovered the secrets to which the premise has alluded. But no...by the halfway point she still hadn't done any digging or delving. Just more moaning and self deprecation.

By this point I was...I don't care anymore. Ali was annoying. Laura was self-obsessed. Miles was distant and uncaring. Madeleine was an interfering bitch. Tom and Joan weren't in it long enough by the time I tossed it for me to form an opinion. I saw no twists, no suspense but there was plenty of tension...between the characters not the pages. I get Ali was still recovering from the birth and was probably suffering from post natal depression but I just found everyone around her so irritating that it made her character doubly annoying as well. And Laura had the most irritating habit of referring to baby Joe as "Thingy". Who calls a baby Thingy? 

I don't know when the pace picked up because I gave it a good go till halfway afterwhich I ditched it. Life is too short and there are too many other books to be reading a book you are not enjoying.

If you want to give it a go and make it past the halfway point and see where it leads you, be my guest. You just might enjoy it. I, however, didn't because I never made it that far.

I would like to thank #CERose, #Netgalley and #HeraBooks for an ARC of #TheHouseOnTheWatersEdge in exchange for an honest review.

MEET THE AUTHOR:

Caroline England was born and brought up in Yorkshire and studied Law at the University of Manchester. She was a divorce and professional indemnity lawyer before leaving the law to bring up her three daughters and turning her hand to writing. Caroline is the author of The Wife's Secret, previously called Beneath the Skin, and the top-ten ebook bestseller My Husband's Lies. Betray Her is her third novel. She lives in Manchester with her family.

The House of Hidden Secrets is the first title written under her pseudonym, CE Rose with The House on the Water's Edge the second, published on 11th August 2021.

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PUBLISHER:

Stay up to date with upcoming releases from Hera Books by following them on these social media accounts.

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REVIEW: The Rainbow by Carly Schabowski

The Rainbow by Carly Schabowski

Genre: Historical fiction, WW2

Read: 19th July 2021

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Published: 28th July 2021

★★★★ 4 stars

DESCRIPTION:

There, on the dusty floorboards, was a piece of paper, folded neatly. A newspaper article, written in German, alongside a faded picture of two men in Nazi uniforms staring at the camera. I was about to place it back in the box of forgotten things when something in the text jumped out at me. My breath caught in my chest. I know that name.

London, present day. Isla has grown up hearing her beloved grandad’s stories about his life as a child in pre-war Poland and as a young soldier bravely fighting the Germans to protect his people. So she is shocked and heartbroken to find, while collecting photos for his 95th birthday celebration, a picture of her dear grandfather wearing a Nazi uniform. Is everything she thought she knew about him a lie?

Unable to question him due to his advanced dementia, Isla wraps herself in her rainbow-coloured scarf, a memento of his from the war, and begins to hunt for the truth behind the photograph. What she uncovers is more shocking than she could have ever anticipated – a tale of childhood sweethearts torn apart by family duty, and how one young man risked his life, his love and the respect of his own people, to secretly fight for justice from inside the heart of the enemy itself…

An heartbreaking novel of love, betrayal and a secret passed down through a family. Inspired by an incredible true story. Perfect for fans of The Tattooist of Auschwitz, We Were the Lucky Ones and The Alice Network.

MY REVIEW:

I am excited to be taking part in the #BooksOnTour #BlogTour for Carly Schabowski's heartbreaking WW2 tale THE RAINBOW.

Having loved the author's previous book "The Watchmaker of Dachau", I was eager to delve into THE RAINBOW and while it is a heartbreaking story both in the past and present, for me it didn't quite reach that same height. But then, it was a pretty high bar to compete with, in my view. Having said that, THE RAINBOW is still an unforgettable tale that will have you reaching for the tissues and numb your senses. 

The story begins with in Isla in 2015 England on a visit with her grandparents when she comes across a rainbow coloured silk scarf and an old newspaper clipping of two men, one of whom is her grandfather Tomasz Jasienski dressed in a German Nazi uniform. But this can't be right! Her granddad is Polish. He fought in the Polish army, not the Nazis. Maybe it is another Tomasz Jasienski. But the photo is clearly her granddad, of that Isla is certain. She cannot ask him as he is in the late-mid stages of dementia and while some days are lucid, many are not, and the last thing she wants to do is upset him by stirring up old memories. Then when her grandmother deflects any questions she asks, it merely arouses her curiosity. 

And so begins Isla's quest for answers, for information about her grandfather's past and what really happened in that photo. All she has is the name and an address of her granddad's brother whom he has not seen or spoken to in seventy years and while they may have been estranged, Andrezj sent his brother a yearly Christmas card up until five years ago. Is he still alive? There was only one way to find out. Isla travels to Poland in search of Andrezj and the answers for which she seeks. She finds the gruff 99 year old living in a sheltered retirement home where he gives her some diaries that had been her grandfather's during the war. 

Returning to England, Isla has the diaries translated from her grandfather's native Polish and through them she journeys back with Tomasz as a young boy in 1930 through to WW2, when he was forced into the German army.

The perspective then changes as we meet Tomasz in the summer of 1930 as a ten year old boy who meets a gypsy named Kapaldi living in a colourful caravan on a neighbouring farmer's land. To Tomasz, Kapaldi was a magical man who could make it rain and create rainbows. The first time Tomasz ever saw Kapaldi, he was dancing naked with nothing but a rainbow scarf around his neck. The same rainbow scarf Isla found in her grandfather's attic. She remembers the tales she was told as a girl about a magical man and rainbows that she thought were just fairy tales. When one day, Tomasz comes to see Kapaldi he finds some of the local lads beating him and taunting him so he jumps on the farmer Kowalski's tractor and makes way towards the young thugs hurting his friend. The lads scarpered in fear and Kapaldi thanked young Tomasz for saving his life. He promised him that he now owes him a debt and that one day he will save Tomasz's life too.

It was the summer of 1930 that Tomasz also met the young Zofia at a carnival where he won her a little wooden heart. Zofia kept the little heart as a reminder of happier times when in 1939 Poland was invaded by the Germans and life became even harder for the Polish. The couple are now 19 and in declaring their love, Tomasz tells Zofia he plans to ask her father permission to marry her and together they plan their future together. But then Tomasz is taken by the Nazis and forced to fight alongside them for the Reich. It is during a harrowing time in which they were to round up a group of partisans working against them that Tomasz tossed a grenade and killed them. The sight of the bodies with their innards spilling out etched into his memory forever. He is whisked away to the office of Captain Liebenez, who had seconded him to the German army in the first place, and awarded Tomasz the Iron Cross for his bravery for which the two men were photographed and immortalised forever in a newspaper clipping found wrapped in a silk scarf some seventy years later.

As a reward for his bravery and loyalty to the Reich, Tomasz was given the easier task of translator away from the frontline of battle, although he was often ridiculed by his peers and those above his rank as well as the public. Why? Because he was Polish. It was often heard said "Stupid Pole" and even the boarding house in which Liebenez installed him, the caretaker landlady said to him "Poles not welcome here" and he had to find somewhere else to eat, which left him wandering the unfamiliar streets in which he often found himself lost. On these occasions he found himself conjuring up the image of Kapaldi who then helped him find his way back. But he had seemed to so real, was it just his imagination or had he truly seen Kapaldi? They hadn't crossed paths in many years but somehow Tomasz always knew Kapaldi was there watching over him.

And then when a tragic even occurs that numbs Tomasz even further from which he feels he will never recover, he feels that Liebenez has been playing games with him all along and doesn't have his best interests at heart at all. Then Liebenez is promoted to Major whilst unbeknownst to Tomasz, his beloved Zofia is unwittingly caught up in the Major's games as well. Tomasz is now a broken man and on the last page of his diaries he writes..."What have I done?"

Intrigued even further by the ambiguity of her grandfather's final words on those pages, Isla travels back to Poland in the hope of uncovering the meaning behind those words. What had happened for her grandfather to have berated himself with those four words? This journey takes her even further into Poland back to where her grandfather grew up and it is there she meets Zofia, her grandfather's first love. And the truth of what really happened beyond those final words is finally revealed...as are the secrets of the past.

Based on a true story that was seven years in the making, THE RAINBOW is as emotional as it is heartbreaking. The plight in which young Polish boys faced at being forced into the German army is a little known fact that I had no idea about. The Nazis were cruel to almost everyone, even amongst themselves at times, in their quest for a pure Aryan race and their belief that they could do anything they wanted to anyone they chose. And the higher their rank the more entitled they were. This is seen in Major Liebenez and the games he played with Tomasz and Sofia. He seemed to be their friend but to him they were just a means to an end. I loathed him.

Tomasz, whilst the hero of the story, is not your regular hero. And he certainly doesn't consider himself to be one. He is an ordinary man with flaws. He lives in fear, he's made decisions that could put his life in jeopardy, choices that could be wrong and while there is nothing extraordinary about him, what he has been through is unthinkable. And as an old man approaching 95, Isla begins to wonder considering what he has lived through...is his dementia a curse or a blessing?

As for Isla herself. We don't know much about her. We know she is a lawyer but that in itself doesn't define her. What is important is her granddad and the truth behind the photo she found in the attic. Unlike most heroines of a story, particularly those who are lawyers, she doesn't focus on her life or career but on emotions and what it must have felt like to live through all that her grandfather and later Zofia lived through. The war was another time, another era, something that is beyond the realms of today's generation and yet Isla found herself immersed within the past and the emotional journey she took to uncover the secrets that had been lost to time.

THE RAINBOW is a beautiful story and heartbreaking at the same time that the author drew references from a true story that belongs to her own family. It is a bittersweet tale that the reader will find it hard not to shed tears. For me, it was the threat of losing those memories forever locked inside a mind that was slowly disappearing. Dementia is a cruel and unprejudiced disease that steals memories from the living to remain locked in the past unless they are detailed before they are lost forever. I didn't find Tomasz to be in the late stages of dementia as he was still lucid enough to regale Isla with the final chapter of his story and a late stage sufferer would barely able to talk let alone recall sporadic memories. I saw him as late-mid stage as it's the final stages that are the most heartbreaking of all.

There was one aspect I didn't really warm to in the story and one which I felt no connection to. For me, it didn't belong there in the way it was portrayed but would have been better served in another connection to the story. I won't say in what capacity so as not to spoil it.

A poignant read that carries through the generations, THE RAINBOW is a tale of family, love and lost secrets. Perfect for fans of historical WW2 fiction.

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

MEET THE AUTHOR:

Carly Schabowski worked as a journalist in both North Cyprus and Australia before returning to Oxford, where she studied for an MA and then a PhD in creative writing at Oxford Brookes University. Carly now teaches at Oxford Brookes University as an associate lecturer in Creative Writing for first and second-year English literature students.

Carly’s debut novel, 'The Ringmaster’s Daughter', was published by Bookouture in July 2020, while her second novel, 'The Watchmaker of Dachau' will be published in January 2021. These texts are both true, epic, moving historical novels centred around survival, human suffering, and the finding of love within the backdrop of the desperate and uncertain times of 1940s Europe.

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Stay up to date with upcoming releases from Bookouture Group by following them on these social media accounts.

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REVIEW: A Gingerbread House by Catriona McPherson

A Gingerbread House by Catriona McPherson

Genre: Crime thriller

Read: 28th July 2021

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UK

US

Severn House

Published: 3rd August 2021

★ 1 star

DESCRIPTION:

An invitation you can’t refuse. You should . . .

When shy, lonely Ivy meets a woman who claims to be her long-lost sister, she knows it’s too good to be true. She decides to trust Kate anyway. She wants a family. She wants someone to love.

She’s making a mistake.

Ivy enters Kate’s fairytale cottage, deep in the heart of Scotland...and she doesn’t come out.

She’s the first to go missing.

She won’t be the last.

Meanwhile, in another part of the forest, Tash’s journey is just beginning...

MY REVIEW:

I'm going to be in the minority here and say I was disappointed in A GINGERBREAD HOUSE. The premise offered something so much more exciting and I had my appetite whet for edge of your seat thrills...but nothing got my adrenaline pumping here. I found myself trapped within what appeared to be the underbelly of a crime family and then something strange happening with a 54 year old woman claiming to be the doppelganger of her twin sister! It was just...weird. And not in a good way.

Tash got on my nerves and I found her to be off-putting and strange. No, I found everyone to be off-putting and strange. And the entire book was just just a discombobulated convoluted mess that was I was thoroughly confused as to what was actually happening. I love a good Scottish thriller...but not this.

It is a slow thriller...so slow it is stagnant. I tried skimming ahead to where others say it picked up but for me is just never did. The story stayed confusing. Everyone just got stranger. And I just wasn't enjoying myself.

Life is too short to read books that you don't enjoy...so I moved on. NEXT!!

I would like to thank #CatrionaMcPherson, #Netgalley, #RachelsRandomResources and #SevernHouse for an ARC of #AGingerbreadHouse in exchange for an honest review.

MEET THE AUTHOR:

Catriona McPherson was born in South Queensferry. After finishing school, she worked in a bank for a short time, before going to university. She studied for an MA in English Language and Linguistics at Edinburgh University, and then gained a job in the local studies department at Edinburgh City Libraries. She left this post after a couple of years, and went back to university to study for a PhD in semantics. During her final year she applied for an academic job, but left to begin a writing career.

Catriona lived with her husband on a farm in the Galloway countryside before moving to California in 2010, where she spends her time writing, gardening, swimming and running.

Social Media links:

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REVIEW: Broken Girls by Joy Kluver

Broken Girls (DI Bernie Noel #2) by Joy Kluver

Genre: Crime thriller, Crime fiction, Police procedural

Read: 18th July 2021

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Published: 27th July 2021

★★★★ 4 stars

DESCRIPTION:

Brambles catch her dress, scratch her legs, pierce her feet. To escape, she’d had no option but to go barefoot. They’d been laughing together a few minutes before, but things can change in the blink of an eye…

The woman is dark-haired and young, judging by the short red dress. Any other signs of her identity have been erased during her long wait to be found, but it’s clear she was strangled: this was a passionate and personal murder.

D.I. Bernadette Noel knows that every second counts if she is to catch this killer, but she has no leads – until the discovery that the dead woman’s rings match a stolen property report, and the rings’ owner mentions Rosa, her missing nanny.

Just when Bernie and her team think they’re getting somewhere, a shocking discovery about Rosa – and the news that another young girl has been abducted – changes everything the team thought they knew about the case.

Laura is only twelve, and her parents are beside themselves with worry – but Bernie has an additional fear. Laura’s home is right next to the woods where their murder victim was found: are the cases connected?

When Bernie notices similarities between descriptions of the man last seen with Rosa and someone Laura was messaging online, these fears grow stronger. But they still have no clear leads as to the identity of the culprit.

With few options left, and time running out, she makes a desperate plan to trap the predator. But any mistakes will mean another innocent life lost…

A gripping crime thriller with a nail-biting climax. If you like Angela Marsons, Val McDermid or Cara Hunter, you’ll love Joy Kluver.

MY REVIEW:

I am excited to be taking part in the #BooksOnTour #BlogTour for Joy Kluver's next exciting crime thriller BROKEN GIRLS.

I thoroughly enjoyed Joy's debut thriller "Last Seen" where readers were introduced to DI Bernadette Noel who had transferred from The Met to Wiltshire, not so much under a cloud as trying to escape what she left behind there. And while there was a hint of what she was running from in the first book there isn't a mention of it here. In the last book we met Bernie's long lost father who had been following her and she thought she was under threat and in the months since then they have forged a relationship together, though he features very little in this installment.

Readers are thrown right into the deep end as the story opens directly onto Bernie and her team having been called to the scene of a horrific murder in which the victim's bloated body has been discovered in the woods, having been left undetected for almost a week. Bernie cannot contain her retching as the smell of the decomposed remains permeates through her senses and as soon as she leaves the cordon, she evacuates whatever breakfast she'd managed that morning. 

Whilst normally DCS Wilson has overseered her investigations, he is currently on sick leave and she is left having to work under DCI Patrick Worth, or Worthless as he is more commonly known. So when the booming voice of her superior arrives on scene, she has to talk him through the evidence thus far whilst revisiting the remains. Thankfully, she keeps her stomach this time. Worth, on the other hand, finds it difficult not to retch.

Due to the nature in which she was found, it is proving almost impossible to identify her. She cannot be visually identified, nor can her fingerprints do so, which leaves DNA and dental records. Unfortunately, for that to happen, the team need an idea of who their victim may be to compare them against. All they have to go on is the short red dress she is dressed in the exorbitant 10cm stilettos, also red, she'd been wearing. And the rings found her on her fingers engraved "To H love R". Bernie delegates her team to searching for the dress and the shoes online until a match is found. 

The search leads them to a missing au pair for Rupert and Harriet Fox. Their au pair Rosa Conti had been discovered entertaining a male friend in her bedroom one evening and she was dismissed immediately, but apparently, not before she took Harriet's wedding rings with her. Whatever happened to her after that, the Foxes do not know...or they're not saying. But Bernie is suspicious. The couple appear to be hiding something, though what she doesn't know. She is equally suspicious of her bumbling superior, DCI Worth, who insisted on accompanying her to interview the Foxes. Why was he so interested when he would normally remain in the station, delegating and overseeing tasks?

Then a girl goes missing. Laura Moffat, the 12 year old sister of Craig Moffat who had discovered the body has disappeared and a search of her instagram account reveals her intimate conversations with a Luke Davidson, who claims to be 17 years old, though the team are immediately suspicious. His side of the conversation involve clear grooming tactics, lulling the unsuspecting girl into false sense of security and convincing her to send topless photos of herself. Hacking into his account, they discover that Laura isn't the online girl he has been grooming. He had been in conversations with Chloe Hampton, Laura's best friend, as well as young woman called Maria G. 

But how does all this connect to the murder of Rosa Conti? Worth doesn't think it does and promptly removes Bernie from the murder investigation so she can concentrate on that of the missing girl. But Bernie thinks Worth has an ulterior motive from keeping her away from the murder investigation. The question is...why?

On top of all this, Worth has drafted in DS Dougie Anderson once again, much to Bernie's dismay. She had a near miss where Anderson was concerned when his ex-wife called from Edinburgh to warn her and any female colleagues about her "manipulative and controlling" ex-husband. Since then, Bernie had given him a wide berth. But now they were forced to work together once again.

As the investigation progresses, several possibilities come to light but the cases appear to be far more complex than they had first anticipated. And then when it becomes clear that the two cases are linked, Bernie takes her suspicions higher as she fights to protect both herself and her team.

The mysteries of the murdered girl and Laura's disappearance are woven together brilliantly in this incredibly twisty case in which Bernie and her team find themselves. The investigation is so complex I didn't even have a clue as to who was responsible...until right before the reveals. BROKEN GIRLS is inextricably woven in a tapestry of blackmail, rape, abuse and murder that will give you chills. I even love the addition of the ghost story which added an atmospheric creepiness.

I'm not a fan of superiors who lord it over their officers and continually pull rank on them, as is the case with DCI Worth(less). I prefer a team that are all on the same page and work well together instead of the constant angst that runs throughout. However, Worth's attitude was paramount to the story so I will excuse it this time, but on the whole...not a fan and prefer not to have to endure it.

Like her debut, BROKEN GIRLS is not predictable and leads the reader on a merry chase alongside Bernie in search of answers. But unlike "Last Seen", this book is told wholly in Bernie's third person narrative. Her previous book had little snippets in-between from the villain whereas this one does not. I have to say that that disappointed me a little as I do prefer thrillers to include various perspectives, particularly one from the as yet unidentified villain which adds to the edge-of-your-seat thrills. 

I did enjoy BROKEN GIRLS but I would have liked to seen the villain narrative added to taunt us. And less angst amongst the team.

I did, however, like the little cliffhanger tidbit readers were left with (and one I had guessed a little earlier). I wonder where that will take us in the next installment in this exciting series.

Perfect for fans of Angela Marsons, Carol Wyer, Helen Phifer and Carla Kovach.

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

MEET THE AUTHOR:

Joy Kluver has been an avid reader and writer since childhood. More recently she's been escaping the madness of motherhood by turning her hand to crime novels. A book blogger, she's also part of the First Monday Crime team and if you've been to any of their events it's likely you've eaten one of her cookies. She also organises author talks for her local library. Joy lives in SW London with her husband and three children. 'Last Seen' is her debut novel and the first book in the DI Bernadette Noel series.

Joy is represented by Anne Williams at the Kate Horden Literary Agency.

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REVIEW: The Marriage Mender by Linda Green

The Marriage Mender by Linda Green

Genre: Contemporary fiction, Family drama, Domestic drama

Read: 25th July 2021

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Published: 22nd July 2021

★★★★★ 5 stars

DESCRIPTION:

The only relationship she can't save is her own . . .

Alison is a marriage counsellor. Her job is to help couples who fear they have reached the end of the line. But the trouble with spending your time sorting out other people's problems is that you tend to take your eye off your own. Even when her husband's ex Lydia arrives on the doorstep demanding to see her son, Alison thinks she can handle it. 

But what Alison doesn't realise is that Lydia is the one person who has the ability to destroy their perfect family. And sometimes the cracks can run so deep that even a marriage mender can't repair them . . .

MY REVIEW:

My first thought upon finishing this book was "WOW!" and then it went something like "where has Linda Green been all my life?" Seriously though, this is not my usual genre and when I do read contemporary fiction I tend to be rather picky about them. But this? This was something else entirely. It's a feel-good family drama with love and laughter, sadness and heartbreaks and yet it was still something so much more than that. I can't even begin to put my finger on it...but whatever it was, I loved it. And I loved this book!

The story opens with an initial therapy session to which Alison and husband Chris have come to help them identify the issues they have been facing and how to address them. Which is kind of ironic since Alison is a relationship counsellor herself, and she cannot help but see the irony here or the utter ridiculousness of their situation. Their 9 year old daughter Matilda called her the "marriage mender" as she helps keeps people's mummies and daddies together when they are rowing about stuff a lot. And here she is seeking her own marriage-mender. 

But what has lead her and Chris to this point? Well, where do they start? Chris was the first to speak. It all began on Josh's 16th birthday...

It began like any other day, except that Matilda was bursting with excitement waiting at the breakfast table for her big brother Josh to make an appearance so they could shower him with their gifts. He was ecstatic with the guitar Chris and Ali had bought him and the amp to accompany it closely followed by the black on black clothes Matilda had lovingly chosen for him at Oxfam. And later that day, their gran was coming over and together they would enjoy a birthday tea together completed with an enormous chocolate cake that Ali had made. But something happened between those two events that set the wheels in motion to bring change into their happy contended lives.

Although Alison isn't Josh's biological mum, she has loved and nurtured him for ten years as if he had been. She met single dad Chris when Josh was just six years old, his mother having walked out and left him when he was just six months old. Chris had returned home from work to little Josh screaming in his cot in a sodden nappy with his mother, along with her belongings, gone. And then one day, Chris walked into a library with Josh where Alison was telling the gathered children a story. After that, they were regular fixtures at storytime until Josh invited Alison to his birthday party...and the rest is history. Or is it?

The knock on the door was surprising. Alison wasn't expecting anyone just yet with Josh over at Tom's and Chris having gone for a walk and Barbara wouldn't be arriving till Chris collected her. But as soon as Alison opened the door she knew exactly who it was standing in front of her. Lydia. After sixteen years since walking out on them without a word, she was back. The fact that it was Josh's birthday was hardly a coincidence for with her was a gift for the son she abandoned. Little did Alison know that with Lydia's return would be wreaking ball driven right into the heart of their happy family.

So why has Lydia returned after all these years? Why now? She wants to see Josh and the young man he is becoming but surely she had to know that her sudden reappearance after sixteen years without a word would throw his life into turmoil? He's a teenager and is not equipped to deal with such a disruption to his life, particularly with his exams approaching. But she had a special gift she had always meant to give him should she ever seen him again...and in that moment when he unwrapped it, Alison knew that Josh was going to give his mother a chance - he was that sort of person. But with that chance came broken promises, impromptu visits, drunken insults and broken hearts. And in the middle was Alison, trying to do the right thing for everyone...to keep her family together and keep everyone happy.

Soon cracks began to appear. And the sniping started. And then after one too many drunken outbursts and attacks on their family, Lydia threw a grenade into the mix with explosive consequences that no one could have foreseen. And in a blink of an eye, Josh was gone. And in the aftermath, blame was assigned as tears fell and life began to fall apart.

Then when Barbara revealed a secret that she was never to reveal, Alison knew then that her family needed help. And so she and Chris sought relationship counselling to help find a way through the rubble and back to each other.

But nothing prepared either of them for what was about to come...

I absolutely loved THE MARRIAGE MENDER, almost reading it in one sitting if not for the extremely late hour and needing sleep. That said, upon waking this morning I went straight back to it and didn't stop until the last tear-jerking page. Completely absorbing from the first page, THE MARRIAGE MENDER is a delightful and emotional read that is sure to tug at your heartstrings.

Ali was a wonderful character and I connected with her from the beginning, caring for her deeply as well as her beautiful family. Even Matilda I found to be endearing, and I am not one to be enchanted by children, but she had an uncanny knack of the most uncomfortable questions but she is rather intelligent beyond her years. Her relationship with her half-brother Josh is an endearing one to read. Chris is a wonderful father and husband although he could be annoyingly silent when you just wanted to shake him into sharing what was deeply troubling him and why. He was incredibly hurt by Lydia so his wanting to protect Josh from his train wreck of a mother is completely understandable. Barbara is Chris' mother and is the stoic matriarch with enough love and understanding to envelop the family in. Until secrets are revealed to put everyone and everything they knew to the test. But it was Josh who my heart went out to the most, having his world turned upside down and is so utterly confused by the new revelations in his life. His struggles were heartbreaking to read as is the final extreme decision he made.

The issues addressed in THE MARRIAGE MENDER cover abandonment, domestic violence, alcoholism, adoption, runaways, teenage pregnancy and depression which may be a trigger for some but each is approached and explored sensitively. 

Overall, THE MARRIAGE MENDER is a wonderful emotional read that is compelling from beginning to end that even when I turned that final page I wasn't ready to let go of the characters and their stories. This is my first read by Linda Green and, if this book is anything to go by, it won't be my last.

A well-written family drama that is perfect for fans of Nicole Trope, Kerry Fisher, Amanda Prowse and Julia Roberts.

I would like to thank #LindaGreen, #Netgalley and #Quercus for an ARC of #TheMarriageMender in exchange for an honest review.

MEET THE AUTHOR:

Linda Green is the bestselling author of ten novels, which have sold more than 1.4 million copies in the UK, with foreign rights sold in 15 territories. Her latest novel, One Moment, was a Radio 2 Book Club pick, and her previous novel, The Last Thing She Told Me was a Richard and Judy Book Club selection.

She wrote her first novella at the age of nine, but unfortunately, the pony-based time-travel thriller genre never took off. She wrote her first novel twenty years later and persevered through 102 rejections from agents, before getting her first book deal. Linda is also an award-winning journalist who has written for The Guardian and The Big Issue, and a creative writing tutor, working with students aged from eight to eighty-four.

Linda retains a keen interest in news, current affairs and politics. She has appeared on Newsnight, Radio 5 Live, Radio Four's Woman's Hour and BBC News. She particularly enjoyed taking former PM David Cameron to task on Leadership Question Time in 2015.

In a previous life, Linda enjoyed travelling and has trekked through the Bornean jungle to see wild orangutans, travelled to the edge of the Arctic Circle to watch polar bears, and as far south as Tierra del Fuego to photograph penguins. 

She lives in West Yorkshire with her husband, teenage son and two rescue guinea pigs.

Social Media links:

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube | Goodreads

REVIEW: The Murder Box by Olivia Kiernan

 

The Murder Box (DCS Frankie Sheehan #4) by Olivia Kiernan

Genre: Crime fiction, Police procedural

Read: 24th July 2021

Goodreads

Amazon

Published: 22nd July 2021

★★★ 2.5 stars (rounded up)

DESCRIPTION:

At first, Detective Chief Superintendent Frankie Sheehan believes the murder mystery game sent to her office is a birthday gift from one of her colleagues. But when Frankie studies the game's contents, she notices a striking resemblance between the 'murder victim' and missing twenty-two-year-old Lydia Callin.

As Frankie and her team investigate, a series of grisly crimes connected to the game are discovered across Dublin city and Lydia's involvement with a shadowy network of murder mystery players becomes clear.

On the hunt for Lydia's murderer, Frankie is drawn more deeply into the game. Every successful move brings her closer to the killer. But the real question is not what happens should she lose -- but what happens if she wins.

MY REVIEW:

Well...that was some hours I'll never get back. I can't even begin to detail my thoughts because I simply could not connect to the story. I don't know why because I really enjoyed the previous book "If Looks Could Kill" in this series. The premise for THE MURDER BOX was intriguing to say the least and I was looking forward to beginning the game that DCS Frankie Sheehan found herself playing.

The day before her birthday, Frankie receives an anonymous gift sent to her at the Bureau for Serious Crime. Inside is a box containing forensic clues to a hypothetical murder of a 22 year old woman, including an earring and a histology slide with a piece of human tissue, and an authentic looking post mortem report. Instructions invite her to play the game on a website and to share her findings with the other amateur sleuths also participating so as to advance further and ultimately win the game. 

Welcome to the Murder Box murder mystery game. Where participants play to win or play to survive?

However, Frankie and her team are already investigating a high profile missing persons case of celebrity Teddy Dolan who disappeared over a month ago with no leads thus far as to his whereabouts or even if he is dead or alive. Of course it hasn't helped matters that Teddy is the nephew of the Commissioner, explaining why after over a month of no leads and no no clues and no idea they are still investigating. That and Teddy's wife play up to the media to ensure his case remains in the spotlight.

But then a woman comes into the Bureau, asking for Frankie, to report her friend and flatmate missing. Lydia Callin was last seen four weeks previously, just a week after teddy's disappearance, and has not been seen since. Not only that, Lydia had been seeing Teddy prior to her disappearance. Frankie immediately suspects the two cases are linked and that the similarities between her case and the clues in the Murder Box cannot be coincidence. This is more than a party game. It's a deadly game. And Lydia Callin, the hypothetical victim, is missing. Frankie knows that she and her team must play to it's conclusion to catch the killer, becoming part of the game herself.

But the game has a counter...ticking down the time left to play...to solve the riddle which she's been handed in the form of a game. But can she outsmart the killer before it's too late?

Despite being the fourth book in the series, THE MURDER BOX can be read as a standalone. There really isn't anything that remotely connects it with previous books so the reader is not lost in a wealth of useless information. Maybe what I didn't like so much in this book was the partnership I had so enjoyed between Frankie and Baz wasn't there this time. Baz was distracted by his on/off girlfriend maybe? Or was it something else? Either way, he wasn't riding shotgun to Frankie this time whereas the Assistant Commissioner Jack Clancy or ring-in DI Smith Mullins were in his place.

The pace was steady and the plot gritty. The ending was somewhat shocking but also cleverly played. It's not that I didn't like the book...I just didn't enjoy as much a I had anticipated and I found that disappointing.

THE MURDER BOX is taut and tense throughout that is tightly written and perfect for fans of gritty police procedurals like Stuart MacBride, Angela Marsons and M.L. Arlidge.

I would like to thank #OliviaKiernan, #Netgalley and #Quercus for an ARC of #TheMurderBox in exchange for an honest review.

MEET THE AUTHOR:

Olivia Kiernan is an Irish writer. In a previous life, she completed a diploma in anatomy and physiology then a BSc in Chiropractic before she succumbed to the creative itch and embarked on an MA in Creative writing. In 2015, she began writing Play Dead For Me (formerly titled Too Close to Breathe), a crime thriller that was published to critical acclaim in 2018 and features Dublin detective, Frankie Sheehan.

The second in the series The Killer In Me was called a “captivating new thriller” by the Wall Street Journal, “a high-stakes noir page-turner” by Bookpage.com and “a nail-bitingly good read” by Mystery Scene. The third in the DCS Frankie Sheehan series If Looks Could Kill was released in 2020 and the fourth The Murder Box is now available to pre-order and will be published on 22nd of July.

Social Media links:

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REVIEW: Date Night by Samantha Hayes

Date Night by Samantha Hayes

Genre: Psychological thriller, Domestic thriller, Suspense

Read: 22nd July 2021

Goodreads

Amazon

Published: 20th August 2019

★★★ 3.5 stars

DESCRIPTION:

Returning early from a disastrous date night with my husband, I know something is wrong the moment the wheels crunch the gravel drive of our home. Inside, the TV is on and a half-eaten meal waits on the table. My heart stops when I find our little girl is alone in the house and our babysitter, Sasha, is missing…

Days later, when I’m arrested for Sasha’s murder and torn away from my perfect little family, I’ll wish I had told someone about the threatening note I received that morning.

I’ll hate myself for not finding out who the gift hidden inside my husband’s wardrobe was for.

I’ll scream from the rooftops that I’m innocent – but no one will listen.

I will realise I was completely wrong about everything that happened that night…

But will you believe me?

Twisted and absolutely unputdownable, Date Night exposes what goes on behind the closed doors of a happy home and the dangerous truths we ignore to protect the ones we love. Perfect reading for anyone totally gripped by The Wife Between Us, Friend Request or Gone Girl.

MY REVIEW:

Someone has a date with fate...

This is my fourth outing with Samantha Hayes and with that is the realisation that her thrillers are predominantly slow burners. That's not to say that's a bad thing because she still draws you in and leaves little tidbits dangling along the way so you don't lose interest. But sometimes it can be little drawn out and you find yourself thinking "Enough already! Give me something I can sink my teeth into!" instead of being tossed about wondering which way is up. And yet by the book's end you are still left somewhat dumbfounded.

Libby believes she has the perfect marriage with husband Sean and the perfect life with their 4 year old daughter Alice in their perfect little thatched cottage in the Cotswolds village of Great Lyne. Sean is partner in a successful veterinary practice which sees him working long hours whilst Libby has her own catering business. One morning as Libby gets ready to take Alice to her grandparent's while she prepares for an upcoming event, she finds a note on her windscreen with five words that leaves her reeling...

"Sean is having an affair"

From that moment on, Libby tries to put it to the back of her mind whilst constantly finding herself on the backfoot and second guessing herself and Sean's motives. She begins to find fault in everything he does, questioning him at every turn, leading them to a crossroads of mistrust. In an attempt to get their marriage back on track and resolve their trust issues, they decide on a date night with a delicious meal at a local pub. But if Sean was to reassure the anxious Libby of his faithfulness and loyalty to her, then the plan backfired when his phone keeps exploding with an array of text messages and unanswered phone calls. This, of course, sets Libby on edge as Sean refuses to say who it is that's so intent on contacting him. They end up arguing, ending their night out early and going home. But nothing prepares them for what they find when they walk through the door...

Sasha, their babysitter they left in charge of their sleeping daughter, was nowhere to be found and the living room in which she'd been ensconced with her text books she'd been studying was littered with items from Sasha's rucksack which appeared to have been upturned on the sofa and the floor. But what was even more unsettling was that Sasha's phone lay amidst the rubble. And being seventeen, Sasha would never leave her phone behind. So where was she then? And why leave in such a hurry? And to leave Alice, a four year old child she'd been entrusted to look after, alone in the house? What if she were to wake up and find no one there? 

Libby and Sean decide that she must go out and search the village for Sasha whilst he stays behind with Alice in the hope the babysitter might return. When Libby returns and there is still no sign of Sasha, they know the time has come to call her parents who are understandably shocked. Then the police are called and an investigation begins.

Things begin to spiral out of control for Libby fast as she continues to believe that Sean is having an affair despite his claims to the contrary. They are constantly arguing to the point neither trusts the other and suddenly the once happily married couple are poles apart. The police, who miss nothing, see the cracks beginning to form and continue their questioning until one day when Libby, in the barn kitchen they had built out the back for her business prepping for that evening's event, is arrested on suspicion of Sasha's murder. She is lead away in a police car for questioning as they endeavour to get to the bottom of the mystery of Sasha's disappearance.

By this time, Libby is already close to breakdown. She begins making nonsensical comments whilst under questioning as she finds herself in the surreal world of memories playing out on a loop in her already scattered mind. The police confront her with the second note written to reiterate the first one she'd received...the one that had strangely disappeared. Why didn't she just toss this one out when she had the chance? 

Under intense police questioning, Libby maintains her innocence. "I've done nothing wrong" she states over and over again. "I didn't kill her" she claims. Does that mean she knows she's dead? And if so, how? But is Libby telling the truth? Is Sean? Is anyone? And what really happened to Sasha?

Taking us on a twisted ride through domesticity, DATE NIGHT is filled to the brim with secrets, secrets and more secrets! There is definitely a lot of tension in this book which is what makes it so engaging, despite its slow burn and dip in pace in the middle. An interesting start to the story begins with Libby's arrest and from then on it is told in the BEFORE and NOW narratives of before and after the arrest, blending together seamlessly.

And then there is the jaw-dropping revelation that comes right at the end! I admit, while I was flummoxed throughout much of the story, the pieces did finally fall into place before all was revealed. You only had to pick up on some of the clues peppered throughout. It seems Sasha's disappearance wasn't the only mystery.

This is the second book by Samantha Hayes that has been something of a trigger for me with regards to my first marriage. The first was "The Liar's Wife" detailing the physical and emotional abuse and now this one with the Libby's former partner adamant that she had been having an affair...something my ex-husband accused me of constantly. It was harrowing to be accused of something you were not guilty of all the time and I found myself once again back there when reading Libby's account of life with David, albeit just a small part of the story. On another note, I have to say that it was refreshing to find a child in a story that is not a precocious brat but merely...a child. 

DATE NIGHT is a slow burn ride that details a wealth of secrets, lies and manipulation that unfolds at a gradual pace to maintain a tension that is palpable throughout. It is perfect for fans of psychological and domestic thrillers who like them a little dark.

I would like to thank #SamanthaHayes, #Netgalley and #Bookouture for an ARC of #DateNight in exchange for an honest review.

MEET THE AUTHOR:

Samantha Hayes grew up in a creative family where her love of writing began as a child. Samantha has written eight thrillers in total, including the bestselling Until You’re Mine. The Independent said “fantastically written and very tense” while Good Housekeeping said “Her believable psychological thrillers are completely gripping.” Samantha’s books are published in 22 languages at the last count.

When not writing, Samantha loves to cook, go to the gym, see friends and drink nice wine. She is also studying for a degree in psychotherapy. She has three grown-up children and lives in Warwickshire.

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