REVIEW: One Dark Summer by Saskia Sarginson

One Dark Summer by Saskia Sarginson

Genre: Psychological thriller

Read: 11th April 2025

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Published: 13th April 2025

★★★ 3.5 stars 

DESCRIPTION:

It was the summer that changed everything…

With trembling hands, Meg knocks on the door of the large manor house. Behind her, the view down to the river is spectacular. She’s here to be the nanny to two young children.

It’s not the job Meg is anxious about, though. It’s the house itself that scares her, and the secrets lurking inside. Not only that, but will her new employer recognise her?

The door opens. A beautiful, smiling woman greets her and ushers her inside.

As she walks in, Meg realizes the house is exactly as she remembers. Her employer hasn’t changed much, either, unlike Meg. The last time they met was fifteen years ago, when Meg was a child.

Because this is where Meg lived the summer her mother went missing. The summer her life changed. The summer Meg believes she killed a man.

Now she’s back, in disguise as Margaret the nanny, and determined to find out what really happened. But some secrets are best left buried. Because someone knows exactly who Meg is, and they will do whatever it takes to keep her quiet…

A completely gripping, powerfully-written, nailbitingly-twisty thriller, guaranteed to keep readers up all night, from bestselling Richard & Judy Bookclub author, Saskia Sarginson. Perfect for fans of Shari Lapena, Freida McFadden and Girl on the Train.

MY THOUGHTS:

A missing mother...a forgotten child...a house full of deadly secrets...

I'm not sure what I expected when I dived into this one but it wasn't what was delivered. It is a dark, twisted and atmospheric with a real claustrophobic tension throughout. Though a slow burn (not usually my favoured type), that tension is palpable from the first page as we, the reader, try to unravel the mess left behind at Deben Manor. The mystery that Meg has come looking to uncover.

Meg was just a child when she first came to Deben Manor after her mother disappeared, her father depositing her there with her cousins while he tried to get his life back together again after his wife, Irene's, departure. Meg missed her mother terribly and her three cousins - Orphelia (17), Thea (15) and Clementine (12) - were not entirely nice to her. Her uncle Lucian came and went as she saw fit whilst her aunt, the girls' mother, Calista floated about in her own little world. Neither parent did any parenting and the three sisters pretty much brought themselves up. And Meg? No one really cared about her or what happened to her. When she disappeared one morning and then reappeared after a boating accident, the sisters were glad to see the back of her.

Now fifteen years later, Meg's back at Deben Manor. This time under the guise of nanny Margaret Danby (her mother's maiden name) to Orphelia's two children Artemis (5) and Kit (3). Her primary goal is to find out what really happened to her mother all those years ago, believing she had been to Deben Manor at some point though she didn't know why. Or what the connection was. She has done her best to disguise herself, fearing that one of the sisters will recognise her and end her mission. So every chance she gets, she sifts through Orphelia's study, searches her room and even tries to gain access to the forbidden attic...where strange sounds emanate from there at night. Footsteps on the floorboards, whispers behind the walls, cigar smoke filtering through the floors. But the attic has been locked up tight since Lucian's time. And no one has been up there since. Calista forbids it. Although she's in France where she's remained ever since Lucian's boating accident fifteen years ago, for which Meg was blamed. The problem is, Meg has trouble recalling what really happened that day...and why.

But someone knows what Meg is up to. They know her real identity and have been watching her, logging her movements and following her when she goes into the village, spying on her in the summerhouse. The question is who? And why? Meg isn't sure who she can trust and when she finds a pair of Orphelia's diamond earrings in her belongings, she knows someone is trying to set her up. Then she begins to receives notes warning her to leave...or else. But how can she? When she's this close to finding out what really happened to her mother fifteen years ago during that one dark summer. When she left for school one day only to return home to find her mother had gone for good.

The scene is set for an atmospheric and chilling thriller that will keep you guessing...even when you think you have it all worked out. The book takes on a gothic air of melancholy reminiscent of those that have gone before such as "Jane Eyre" or "Wuthering Heights". Though the air of romance in those takes on something else entirely in this one as the years peel away the trauma, the abuse, the cruelty and harm at the hands of those in a place of trust.

When I started this book, I found it slow moving and dragged on a little but I stuck it out and it did get better and yet it still felt lacking in something though I'm not sure what. I was definitely intrigued enough to continue reading and did so in one evening.

I would like to thank #SaskiaSarginson, #Netgalley, #BoldwoodBooks and #RachelsRandomResources for an ARC of #OneDarkSummer in exchange for an honest review.

MEET THE AUTHOR:

I spent my childhood in a cottage in the middle of a Suffolk pine forest, where my two younger siblings and I had the freedom to roam the forest alone. This experience helped inspire my best-selling debut novel, The Twins, which was a Richard and Judy pick 2013. My other novels are: Without You, The Other Me, The Stranger, How It Ends, The Bench, The Central Line and Seven Months of Summer. My books have been translated into 15 languages. It's exciting to think of them being read all over the world.

 My latest novel, Identical, a psychological suspense, is in out May 2024. When I was little I wanted to be a zoologist. But actually I've been a Guardian columnist, an editor, a journalist on women’s magazines, and a script reader. Writing novels is my favourite job. When I'm not writing, I love to dance tango, make (and eat) cakes, walk the dog, and discuss plot points with my husband.

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REVIEW: Death Row at Truro by Geoff Plunkett

Death Row at Truro by Geoff Plunkett

Genre: True crime

Read: 12th April 2025

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Published: 3rd August 2022

★★★★★ 5 stars 

DESCRIPTION:

Innocent young women, a sadistic serial killing duo and … the true story as revealed by the lead detective.

Australia’s most prolific serial sexual killers met in prison. They were a complete Christopher Worrell, the charismatic psychopathic youngster; and James Miller, the older and socially awkward loner. For Miller, it was love at first sight. They developed an ominous sexual bond – proving that opposites can attract – and then kill.

Once free, the inseparable tag team slayed as many people as notorious Australian serial killer Ivan Milat. Whereas Milat took a year to murder seven victims, the duo achieved the same in seven short weeks… the last four killed in only six days. 

The frenzied carnage only stopped when Worrell died in a car accident. So ended the life of Australia’s own BTK. Like America’s Dennis Radar, Worrell bound, tortured and killed – because he could.

Revealed for the first time is the full account of the victims, the serial killers and the lead detective, a relentless investigator who broke the silence of the surviving murderer, the only person who knew the full truth... But was Miller's truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth?

MY THOUGHTS:

Seven women murdered...two depraved men...seven short weeks...

I had not even heard about the deaths at Truro until channel 7 aired their Crime Investigation Australia episode "The Killing Fields of Truro"...and suddenly, my eyes were opened to one of our worst serial killing sprees in our nation's history.

I'll not lie, Christopher Worrell was good-looking, appealing and very easy on the eye for day - mid-70s. I am not surprised he was able to attract and lure seven innocent teenagers to climb into a car with him and James Miller, and to their respective fates. Look at Ted Bundy, one of the most famous serial killers the world has ever seen. He was just like Worrell. He had charm, charisma and he was good-looking and appealing. He was a chameleon. That is what makes psychopaths so dangerous - their ability to assimilate and blend in, seemingly harmless and charismatic.

I've read quite a few true crime books and I like how this one presents the facts as they were told at the time and then addresses the facts as the previous statements made by Miller were debunked. He begins with an introduction to the killings in a brief summary of facts before leading into the untimely death of Worrell, thus ending the killing rampage. By this stage, no one even knows there had been any killings. And Miller,as the lone survivor, certainly wasn't saying anything.

Plunkett then moves onto the discovery of the bodies in the order in which they were found. The findings were shocking and lead detectives to uncover a murderous killing spree that only ended with the death of one of the duo. He then examines Worrell then Miller respectively before moving onto the seven week spree in which the murders occurred. But the presentation was based on Miller's respresentation, as he was the only surviving informant. After Worrell's death, Miller's downward spiral is evident - which was in direct contrast to the statements he had given police. But again, he was the only survivor. They could only take him at his word. Or could they?

The author the introduces the police into the mix before the murders and leading up to and ultimately the discovery which then put Truro on the map. One Detective Sergeant's doggedness, psychology and empathetic determination lead them to a conviction that was too little too late but better than nothing.

Plunkett then retells the killings of each of the girls through facts determined through clever detective work and the elimination of false facts, thus debunking what the police had initially been told and the public been lead to believe.

And yet despite the discovery of his depraved killing spree, Worrell was still being remembered by some as "a gentle and sensitive soul". Even his gravestone bears the epitaph "untold love and joy he brought to all". I think his victims would disagree with those two statements. The location of his final resting place is published on FindAGrave.com with people even now, as recent as a week ago, leaving RIP messages. It beggars belief. And yet, Plunkett delves further into what makes a psychopath a psychopath. He even goes as far as to say that he wasn't a monster, as those monikers do nothing to help understanding why people like Worrell or Bundy do what they do. They were simply human beings that were either wired wrong and the product of their environments. To truly understand why they do what they do, one really has to study human psychology...though it is far more difficult for most people to even comprehend. However, it really says something if the mother of one of the murdered girls stands up and says that she forgives him.

This is a detailed account of one of Australia's worst cases in history and yet it is done so with empathy and sensitivity. I actually read this in a day and is one of the best accounts without all the faff and padding. It presents the facts (Miller's account versus what really happened), the lives of the girls and who they were and the outcome. All without the dramatisation.

It goes without saying that Worrell would have continued killing had he himself not been killed that night. But Miller was not the innocent party he claimed to be. Plunkett shows that through facts and transcripts and catches Miller out in his lies.

If you're a true crime fan, then you won't want to pass this one up. It's shocking but empathetic.

MEET THE AUTHOR:

Geoff Plunkett is a researcher and historian at the Department of Defence, Australia. An expert in chemical warfare, he has written multiple official histories, including Death by Gas, a devastating expose of military deceit. Recent books include Let the Bums Burn which recounts Australia's deadliest building fire in 1966 of Melbourne's William Booth Memorial Home for destitute and alcoholic men, and The Whiskey Au Go Go Massacre, an examination of the cold case 1973 nightclub fire which was based on exclusive access to the original murder investigative files. 

'Death Row at Truro' has been shortlisted for Australia's 2023 Ned Kelly best true crime award (Australian Crime Writers Association).

His work has featured in all major newspapers, on radio and TV.

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REVIEW: The Marriage Rules by Samantha Hayes

The Marriage Rules by Samantha Hayes

Genre: Psychological thriller

Read: 10th April 2025

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Published: 9th April 2025

★★★★ 4 stars 

DESCRIPTION:

The rules are there to keep their family safe. But what happens when they get broken…?

Fiona Fisher lives a quiet and contented existence. A former nurse who married Jason, the doctor of her dreams, she is now a mother to his two daughters and living in the sort of cosy village home she’d always wished for.

Life is pretty much perfect in every way. As long as they stick to their rules…

Everyone in bed by eight o’clock sharp.

No loud music, no news on the TV, no social media. The house phone for emergency use only.

Locks on every door. No leaving the house.

And absolutely no talking about the past.

But one day, someone starts breaking the rules…

This insanely twisty psychological thriller will have you flipping pages all night long. Anyone who held their breath as they raced through The Housemaid, The Wife Between Us and The Girl on the Train needs to drop everything and start reading!

MY THOUGHTS:

Who is making the rules...and who is breaking them...?

Ok first up, this is one seriously twisted read! Where nothing, and I mean NOTHING, is as it seems. From start to finish you think you know what is happening...but you don't.

The basis of this twisted tale are the all important rules. Rules, rules, rules! You must obey the rules! So so many rules! So what are the rules?

Rule 1: No lying.

Rule 2: Never talk about you know who.

Rule 3: Family confessional every day at 6pm.

Rule 4: No leaving the house without good reason.

Rule 5: Bedtime confessional.

Rule 6: Never talk about the past.

Rule 7: No alcohol, apart from one drink at the weekend.

Rule 8: Grieving hour every Sunday at 5pm.

Rule 9: No phones/tablets/laptops/internet after 6pm.

Rule 10: No watching the news. No social media. No loud music.

Rule 11: Bedtime strictly 8pm.

Rule 12: No flaunting or flirting with the opposite sex.

Rule 13: No breaking of the marriage rules. Punishment severe.

From the outset, the rules seemed a little one-sided and I was left feeling a bit miffed at the attitude and the enforcement of the said rules - to the absolute letter. And the punishment? Well...that was a bit off the scale too.

But to Fiona and Jason it is normal. It keeps them safe. From what or who, isn't clear. At least not right away. Still, Jason has always lived by a set of strict rules which has served him well, even when his father abandoned him after the sudden death of his mother at 13 and shipping him off to boarding school. The rules helped keep him structured and disciplined; helped keep him safe. So when he met Fiona at the Radmoor Psychiatric Hospital where he recently gained the position of psychiatrist, the pair seemed to feel a chemistry almost at once. The only problem was, Jason was already married. To the head psychiatrist, Dr Erika Nordstrom. Despite this, the pair began to plan a future together.

And then, Erika is dead and the couple move away with Jason's two daughters Tilly (15) and Ivy (8) to begin a new life together. The girls miss their mum and Jason insists on them calling Fiona "mum" or "mummy" but neither girl is thrilled at the prospect, nor by their father's strict set of rules. But he only wants to keep them safe...if only they follow the rules.

But when Fiona befriends neighbour Sascha and her daughter Cora becomes friendly with Ivy, Jason begins to see cracks appear in the life he has carefully curated for them. Sascha won't take his nonsense and tries to encourage Fiona not to either but that won't do. So when Sascha disappears, her house resembling a crime scene, Fiona begins to question what really happened to her friend.

Now when I began this read, I was increasingly frustrated with Fiona and totally annoyed with Jason. Those rules bordered on abuse; especially given his punishment for breaking them. But then the story unfolded some more and I realised that nothing is at all what it seems.

This is not an entirely predictable read because I guarantee it will shock you. I doubt you will see some of the twists coming. I definitely didn't see that last one but pretty much worked out the rest. Even so, even a seasoned thriller reader such as myself will be surprised at the turn of events and that one clever final twist.

This is a dark, chilling and claustrophobic read and you will be kept on the edge of your seat as you race to the end to that final reveal. Did you work it out?

This is one of those books that is hard to review because to say too much will give the whole game away. And you don't want that happening, believe me. But bare with Fiona and her submissiveness. It will all be worth it in the end.

I would like to thank #SamanthaHayes, #Netgalley and #Bookouture for an ARC of #TheMarriageRules 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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REVIEW: My Loving Husband by Sheryl Browne

My Loving Husband by Sheryl Browne

Genre: Psychological thriller, Domestic thriller

Read: 8th April 2025

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Published: 7th April 2025

★★★ 3.5 stars 

DESCRIPTION:

Can I really trust the man I married?

I take a sip of coffee as I plan my day. My surgeon husband, Cole, slept at work last night, so I had to get the kids ready on my own, again. I can’t complain, though, I’ve loved him ever since we met, long before he became a famous surgeon and the papers started calling him the pride of the hospital.

Our latest family photo hangs on the kitchen wall and I remember that day so clearly. Cole screamed at me over nothing, then apologised saying he was stressed at work. My heart pounded with fear, but I plastered a smile on my face for the sake of my children.

Now, as my phone buzzes on the glossy white kitchen island, I read the message from a withheld number, and nothing could have prepared me for what it says. Your husband is planning to kill you…

You might think you know what I do next, but you’ll be wrong, because Cole isn’t the most dangerous person in this family…

You will be utterly addicted to this page-turning psychological thriller. Perfect for fans of The Housemaid, The Perfect Marriage and Gone Girl, prepare to be hooked from the very first page!

MY THOUGHTS:

Perfect husband...or perfect liar?

You won't know who to trust in tense psychological thriller. Everyone is just a little bit mad, with the exception of the twins and Ellie.

Maddie has been married to successful and highly respected neurosurgeon Cole for 18 blissful years with three children Ellie (17) and twins Jayden and Lucas (6). But the nature of his profession sees him rarely spend a moment at home, always on call and working late at the hospital. Maddie is an agency nurse so she understands the demands of his work and that of the NHS, and its inadequacies. But lately Cole has seemed distracted, often angry. And Maddie begins to wonder - should she be scared of her husband?

When she begins to receive anonymous text messages - alluding to her husband not being where he says he is, that he is a liar and then that he is planning to kill her - Maddie first wonders who is behind the messages and then if there is any truth to them? As the messages continue, the intent is clear. Cole is having an affair and is planning to leave her for this woman...or do away with her, should he have to. 

When Maddie first broached the subject with Cole, he dismissed the messages as a crackpot but suggested she take them to the police. Goodness knows why she never heeded that advice. Silly woman. Could have saved herself and her family a whole lot of bother. But no. Instead she took the bait and began to believe the messages and in the end threw Cole out.

Now there is a whole lot of crazy going on in this book. Even Ellie began a little deranged but in the end she was probably the only voice of reason present. The accusations, the threats, the bitchiness, the abuse, the tirades...OMG! drama central! Brimming with secrets, deception, tension and threats, I just wanted to slap the stupid out of everyone. For goodness' sake, Maddie was willing to believe an anonymous messenger over her husband of 18 years? She was willing to throw everything away on the word of some threatening messages? She wouldn't even give Cole the chance to defend himself and then when he finally humbled himself to confess what he had been keeping from her, she didn't believe him? Why not? What made the ludicrous ramblings of some delusional seem so rational over Cole's almost unlikely story? I say almost because I believed him at once. I believed him from the start. I didn't think he was guilty of anything that he was being accused of.

And the characters? Grade A crazy nutjobs, the lot of them. I didn't sympathise with Maddie at all. I thought she was unreasonable to not even give her husband, who she'd been married to for 18 years, some benefit of the doubt and listen to him without going off half cocked over the ramblings of the said delusional text messenger. I was frustrated beyond measure at her behaviour.

Another crazy read by Sheryl Browne that will leave you annoyed and a little irritated with the characters but satisfied with the end, all the same. As always, I wonder what she has in store for us next.

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

MEET THE AUTHOR:

Sheryl Browne writes psychological thriller and edgy contemporary fiction. A member of the Crime Writers’ Association, Romantic Novelists’ Association and awarded a Red Ribbon by The Wishing Shelf Book Awards, Sheryl has several books published and two short stories in Birmingham City University anthologies, where she completed her MA in Creative Writing.

When she's not writing Sheryl can usually be found messing about on the water in her little narrowboat, Aquaduck, which she says she can generally be found falling off and she admits to being a bit accident prone.

Sheryl lives in Worcestershire with her partner and a variety of disabled dogs, of whom she says "my furry-friends give me back much more than I could ever give them. I really wouldn’t be me without them." According to readers of her thrillers, she also apparently makes an excellent psychopath.

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REVIEW: Don't Trust Him by Karen King

Don't Trust Him by Karen King

Genre: Domestic suspense

Read: 6th April 2025

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Published: 3rd April 2025

★★★★ 4 stars 

DESCRIPTION:

His ex is missing. Am I next?

Charlie takes my breath away from the moment we meet, when he is dropping his adorable little girls off at the school gates at the same time as I’m waving goodbye to my son. Being a single mother has been hard. So when his gorgeous green-blue eyes hold mine and his lips curve into a smile I wonder if this is my chance to find happiness and escape the secrets in my past.

Charlie and I connect on the deepest level – talking late into the night in the stunning home his mother Alice gave him. For a long time, it’s been me and my seven-year-old son Liam against the world but soon I’m falling for this handsome man. He promises to be honest with me and, in my gut, I trust him.

As he gives me a lift to work one morning, Charlie shares his heartbreak: his ex-wife found another man, abandoned her daughters and never looked back. That’s why Alice finds it so hard to accept me, the new woman in her precious son’s life. I hope I can win her over, and that she’ll never find out the truth about what I did…

Then I discover his ex-wife Lynn’s journal hidden away in his house with a sapphire ring and a silk scarf. My stomach twists as I sense something is very wrong.

When someone walks into the room behind me, my heart plummets and I turn to face them. I think something awful happened to Lynn. But who is telling the truth – my new boyfriend, his ex-wife or his mother? And can I escape with my precious son before it is too late?

A nail-biting page-turner with a gasp-out-loud reveal. Perfect for fans of Freida McFadden, K.L. Slater and Jackie Kabler.

MY THOUGHTS:

His ex is missing...am I next...?

A delightfully quick domestic suspense that had me glued from the very first page. Karen King very rarely disappoints and while this read was mostly predictable, it was thoroughly entertaining and a fun ride from start to finish.

Sarah is a single mum and has been for most of her son Liam's life. Her ex husband worked away on an oil rig in Dubai for the first three years after Liam's birth until he decided he wanted to move out there permanently. Sarah did not. She and Todd had drifted so far apart anyway she was best off as a single mum. Besides, she had her bestie Tasha to help pick up the slack and babysit when the need arose or just to kick back and enjoy some girlie time together.

After the dissolution of her marriage, Sarah took Liam to the Isle of Arran in Scotland to visit her mum and stepfather. There she met Dylan and threw caution to the wind and became involved. Until everything fell apart. She left Arran and began a new life back in the Midlands alongside Tasha. Life was good again.

And then she met Charlie. Stunningly sexy and drop dead gorgeous Charlie. With his two little girls, Mia and Daisy, the entire crowd of single mums at morning drop off were agog at this gorgeous male amidst all the eostrogen-flanked group. But Sarah wasn't interested in another relationship. And she meant it. But there was something about Charlie. They had a connection and they both felt it. When both Liam and Charlie's girls came down with chicken pox, Sarah offered to look after them all to save Charlie taking time off work. The mum gang at the school gates began to glare daggers at Sarah.

When Sarah's bathroom flooded into the downstairs kitchen making her little home unliveable, Charlie offered the most obvious solution. Move in with him and the girls - there was plenty of room with six bedrooms in their sprawling house. Sarah agreed on the proviso that it was only temporary until she could save the deposit for a new place.

And then things began to go horribly wrong. Little things at first. Until even bigger problems arose. Sarah was vaguely aware of his first wife, the girls' mother, having left them some 18 months before which left her questioning what really happened for a mother to readily abandon her children in favour of a man.

Of course the mother-in-law has to be factor, particularly as we are privy to some of her thoughts in the few chapters she has peppered throughout the story. It is clear that Alice is both obsessive and a little unhinged when it comes to her son and grandchildren. But is it enough to drive a mother and a new partner away? Other factors are crystal clear throughout also but remain elusive to Sarah and Charlie. But then, is Charlie to be trusted? I mean, he is a man and Sarah vowed never to entangle herself with a man again after the disaster that was Dylan. And then there is Dylan. Is he a real threat to her again?

The title of this book is "Don't Trust Him" but it's more about who can you trust? Definitely not the mother, Alice. But what about the others circling the tight-knit family? And what about Sarah's mother, whom she left on Arran without a word?

You will be kept guessing throughout though the story is fairly predictable despite second guessing everyone and everything. It is certainly an entertaining and fun-filled read. I was glad that the author didn't choose to pit Charlie against Sarah in a battle over his overbearing mother. Charlie is well aware of his mother's overt obsessiveness but thinks it harmless enough. But is that true? Or is he blind to what she is capable of? Or is there something else or someone else behind the strange happenings?

A definite recommended read. Easy enough to devour in a sitting, I enjoyed this quick read domestic suspense.

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

MEET THE AUTHOR:

Karen King is a multi-published author of both adult and children’s books. Currently published by Bookouture and Headline, Karen writes about the light and dark of relationships. Her eleventh romantic novel, The Spanish Wedding Disaster, has recently been published and her third psychological thriller The Mother In Law is out in July, with a fourth one in February 2023.

Karen has also had 120 children’s books, two young adult novels, and several short stories for women’s magazines published. Her thrillers The Perfect Stepmother and The Stranger in my Bed and her romantic novel The Cornish Hotel by the Sea became International Amazon bestsellers.

Karen is a member of the Romantic Novelists’ Association, the Society of Authors, the Crime Writers’ Association and the Society of Women Writers and Journalists. She now lives in Spain where she loves to spend her non-writing time exploring the quaint local towns with her husband, Dave, when she isn’t sunbathing or swimming in the pool, that is.

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REVIEW: Tough Times on Coronation Close by Lizzie Lane

 

Tough Times on Coronation Close (Coronation Close #4) by Lizzie Lane

Genre: Historical fiction, Sagas, WW2

Read: 5th April 2025

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Published: 30th March 2025

★★★★ 4 stars 

DESCRIPTION:

As the war rages, the women must keep the home fires burning…

Bristol 1941

Coronation Close survives the brutal Bristol Blitz but with rationing, call up papers and new rules and regulations everyone’s lives are changed forever.

Resident do-gooder PC Percy Routledge obsession with rules being upheld finds him spying and reporting fellow neighbours on the slightest infraction whilst his poor brow-beaten wife, Margaret can only watch on in shameful silence. It’s whispered that one day he’ll get his comeuppance…

Times are hard for everyone and Thelma Dawson certainly has her fair share of upset. Devastating news arrives that her son Charlie’s ship has been torpedoed and sank in the Atlantic, his whereabouts unknown. Will he ever return to his wife and their unborn child? Meanwhile, seventeen years old daughter Mary has had her head turned by a certain overseas soldier. But where will temptation lead them?

Tough times, it seems are her to stay and the woman of Coronation Close all have their own battles and problems to overcome. As friendships are nurtured and relationships are tested, tragedy strikes and some home truths need to be faced.

MY THOUGHTS:

Make do, mend and carry on...

Returning to Coronation Close was like coming home. Even with the nosy and often bad neighbours. Catching up with the lives, loves and times with all those who reside there and beyond is like catching up with old friends. Life has not been easy to those living on the Close, and even less so now that war rages on around them.

We see something more of Mary Dawson as she has grown into a young woman working at the tobacco factory (a feature of and a nod to Ms Lane's previous series) whilst making friends with a Canadian airman Beau Blackbird. Though it is on a bus ride home one evening after work that thrusts Mary into something a little more exciting in the weeks to come. A man claiming to be from the Channel Islands begins quizzing them about the local airport and things roundabout. Mary is at once suspicious as she and her friends corner the passenger, prompting the driver stop and call for police to come sort the situation. 

Unfortunately the responding policeman is none other than pompous resident know-it-all of Coronation Close, PC Percy Routledge. The stranger laughs the women off and Percy, such as he is, laughs with him. Mary is furious not to mention suspicious. The stranger makes an offer Percy couldn't refuse and all sorts of promises which leaves the constable puffing with pride. But what is he really after?

Meanwhile, Percy's poor long-suffering wife has done his bidding for far too long and when Percy refuses point blank for her to call a doctor on their sick son then leaves in the night, Margaret decides to call for him herself. But then matters are taken out of her hands as her neighbours offer their assistance.

Jenny is still lovelorn after Robin who cannot see the manipulation of his ex-wife in their children, even to the point of danger. Thelma has one blow too many but then another offer comes along on the horizon.

The lives and loves of those on the Close continue as war rages on and I look forward to seeing what's in store for the residents and their loved ones in the next installment.

I would like to thank #LizzieLane, #Netgalley, #BoldwoodBooks and #RachelsRandomResources for an ARC of #ToughTimesOnCoronationClose in exchange for an honest review.

MEET THE AUTHOR:

Lizzie Lane is a born and bred Bristolian who now lives in West Wiltshire with her partner, a wonderful garden and a lately acquired allotment. In the past she has bred dogs, kept horses, painted and made models from clay. (Nightly visit from the badger has smashed one).

Working jobs she's hated purely to keep a roof over her family’s head and a meal on the table, she then discovered writing. Encouraged by an American writer friend and when a time came there were no jobs and no other option, she took the plunge. She is now the author of over 50 books, a number of which have been bestsellers. As a Bristolian, many of her family worked in the cigarette and cigar factories, inspiring her new saga series The Tobacco Girls.

Up until six years ago her home (and that of her late husband) was a 46ft sailing yacht named Sarabande Serene, sailing into the Mediterranean. So besides being a successful author Lizzie can read navigation charts and react swiftly in a storm. 

Lizzie is now landlocked in a town close to the city of Bath. 

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SPOTLIGHT: Tough Times on Coronation Close by Lizzie Lane

Tough Times on Coronation Close (Coronation Close #4) by Lizzie Lane

Genre: Historical fiction, Sagas, WW2

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Published: 30th March 2025

DESCRIPTION:

As the war rages, the women must keep the home fires burning…

Bristol 1941

Coronation Close survives the brutal Bristol Blitz but with rationing, call up papers and new rules and regulations everyone’s lives are changed forever.

Resident do-gooder PC Percy Routledge obsession with rules being upheld finds him spying and reporting fellow neighbours on the slightest infraction whilst his poor brow-beaten wife, Margaret can only watch on in shameful silence. It’s whispered that one day he’ll get his comeuppance…

Times are hard for everyone and Thelma Dawson certainly has her fair share of upset. Devastating news arrives that her son Charlie’s ship has been torpedoed and sank in the Atlantic, his whereabouts unknown. Will he ever return to his wife and their unborn child? Meanwhile, seventeen years old daughter Mary has had her head turned by a certain overseas soldier. But where will temptation lead them?

Tough times, it seems are her to stay and the woman of Coronation Close all have their own battles and problems to overcome. As friendships are nurtured and relationships are tested, tragedy strikes and some home truths need to be faced.

MEET THE AUTHOR:

Lizzie Lane is a born and bred Bristolian who now lives in West Wiltshire with her partner, a wonderful garden and a lately acquired allotment. In the past she has bred dogs, kept horses, painted and made models from clay. (Nightly visit from the badger has smashed one).

Working jobs she's hated purely to keep a roof over her family’s head and a meal on the table, she then discovered writing. Encouraged by an American writer friend and when a time came there were no jobs and no other option, she took the plunge. She is now the author of over 50 books, a number of which have been bestsellers. As a Bristolian, many of her family worked in the cigarette and cigar factories, inspiring her new saga series The Tobacco Girls.

Up until six years ago her home (and that of her late husband) was a 46ft sailing yacht named Sarabande Serene, sailing into the Mediterranean. So besides being a successful author Lizzie can read navigation charts and react swiftly in a storm. 

Lizzie is now landlocked in a town close to the city of Bath. 

Social Media links:

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Newsletter Sign Up | Goodreads

PUBLISHER:

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

Website | Twitter | Facebook