February 2022 Reading Round-Up

Fifteen books on the menu this month, and it's been a voyage around the world, through time, and across the genres! All my reviews can be found by clicking on the captions below the relevant photo.

Open by Rachel Krantz

Dalvi by Laura Galloway

We Know You Remember by Tove Alsterdal

One Bad Think by M.K. Hill

Sugar and Snails by Anne Goodwin

Off Target by Eve Smith

12 Hours to Say I Love You by Olivia Poulet and Laurence Dobiesz

The Gifts by Liz Hyder

Putting the Rabbit in the Hat by Brian Cox

The Killing Crew by Murray Bailey

The Dictator's Wife by Freya Berry

Unhinged by Jorn Lier Horst and Thomas Enger

Parker Pyne Investigates by Agatha Christie

Game of Hearts by Katy Moran

My Last Supper by Jay Rayner

More great books next month!

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My Last Supper by Jay Rayner (Audio Book)

 

My Last Supper by Jay Rayner.

Narrated by Jay Rayner.

Released 3rd September 2019 by Faber Audio.

From the cover:

You're about to die. What would your final meal be?

This question has long troubled Jay Rayner. As a man more obsessed with his lunch than is strictly necessary, the idea of a showpiece last supper is a tantalising prospect. But wouldn't knowledge of your imminent demise ruin your appetite?

So, Jay decided to cheat death.

The plan was simple: he would embark on a journey through his life in food in pursuit of the meal to end all meals. It's a quest that takes him from necking oysters on the Louisiana shoreline to forking away the finest French pastries in Tokyo, and from his earliest memories of snails in garlic butter, through multiple pig-based banquets, to the unforgettable final meal itself.

My Last Supper is both a hugely entertaining account of a life built around mealtimes and a fascinating global exploration of our relationship with what we eat. It is the story of one hungry man, in eight courses.

***********

As a food critic, Jay Rayner is often asked about the dishes that would make up his final meal, should he be about to shuffle off this mortal coil - a question he admits to having dodged many times over. However, it is one which has set him thinking over the years. He eventually decided to take the question and bit more seriously and consider the dishes that would take pride of place in his terminal banquet - and then give the whole concept a radical twist by putting together this feast without the need to wait for his demise.

In this book, Rayner takes us through the various courses that would make up his meal to end all meals, incorporating such delights as oysters, snails, pork, bread and more, and tells the story of his quest to visit restaurants and food producers the world over in pursuit of the finest examples of each of his dream dishes. What follows is a foodie's delight, as he delves not just into the dishes themselves, but the highs and lows of his search for the kind of perfection that makes his taste-buds sing.

But this book is also so much more. Woven into chapters that are headed by the foodstuffs he is focusing on for each course, there is a wealth of anecdotes and personal stories about his life, touching on his childhood, family, career as a journalist, and musical diversions, and it's all fascinating - in turns intriguing, humorous and deeply touching. These chapters also incorporate a very diverse playlist to accompany the banquet, and tasty recipes to try out yourself too. The book concludes with the account of Rayner's last meal surrounded by friends and family, with a very poignant thread that brought a tear to my eye.

I thoroughly enjoyed this audio book, especially since I am very interested in food and cookery, but there is also plenty here to entertain if you are not fixated on eating - although I defy you not to feel hungry as Rayner tells of one delicious morsel after another! His narration is natural and engaging too, which makes this very easy and relaxing to listen to. This was just my cup of tea, if you will pardon the refreshment pun!

My Last Supper is available to buy now in paperback, ebook and audio formats from your favourite book retailer.

About the author:

Jay Rayner is an award-winning writer, journalist and broadcaster with a fine collection of floral shirts. He has written on everything from crime and politics, through cinema and theatre to the visual arts, but is best known as restaurant critic for the Observer.

For a while he was a sex columnist for Cosmopolitan; he also once got himself completely waxed in the name of journalism. He only mentions this because it hurt. Jay is a former Young Journalist of the Year, Critic of the Year and Restaurant Critic of the Year, though not all in the same year. In the 2016 British Press Awards he was shortlisted for both Critic of the Year and Specialist Journalist of the Year. In 2018 he was restaurant writer of the year in The Fortnum and Mason Food and Drink Awards.

Somehow he has also found time to write four novels and six works of non-fiction. His latest book is Wasted Calories and Ruined Nights, a second collection of his most negative restaurant reviews. His next book will be My Last Supper: one meal a lifetime in the making, which will be published in September 2019.

He chairs BBC Radio 4’s The Kitchen Cabinet, and is a regular on British television, where he is familiar as a judge on Masterchef. He performs live all over the country, both in his one man shows, and with the Jay Rayner Quartet, a jazz ensemble in which he plays piano. He likes pig.

Game of Hearts (The Regency Romance Trilogy Book One) by Katy Moran

 

Game of Hearts (The Regency Romance Trilogy Book One) by Katy Moran.

Published 3rd February 2022 by Aria.

From the cover of the book:

1817 Cornwall and London.

Heir to an aristocratic family scorched by scandal and scarred by war, the Earl of Lamorna (known to friends as Crow) is as dangerous as he is self-destructive. As a spy, he treads a fine line between loyalty and treachery, with a haunting secret in his past that threatens to destroy not only Crow himself, but those he loves. It's only going to take a single spark to set his world aflame. So when Crow's wild and impetuous young brother catches him in flagrante with their widowed stepmother, a lethal chain of events is set in motion.

Heiress Hester Harewood has problems of her own, on the run from the men who shot her father. The last thing she needs is to get involved with a complicated aristocrat, even if he does offer her his unconditional protection. But who is more dangerous? Those she is running from? Or Crow himself: charismatic, unpredictable, and yet with the capacity for such tenderness that Hester's heart is in just as much danger as her life.

Game of Hearts was previously published as False Lights by K.J. Whittaker and on Kindle as Hester and Crow by Katy Moran

***************

It's 1817, but this is an England rather different to that of the Regency period we normally read about, because in this timeline Napoleon achieved a narrow victory at Waterloo in 1815, sending Wellington packing with his tail between his legs. England is now under occupation, with Napoleon's brother Jérôme sitting on the English throne, and the former empress Joséphine in charge of court matters. England is under blockade, the French are cruel taskmasters bent on revenge, and the poor are starving in the streets. Wellington has been imprisoned for more than a year, and no one is quite sure where he is.

In the Isles of Scilly, mixed race heiress Hester Harewood is taken captive and her freed slave father Captain John Harewood, a hero of Trafalgar, is murdered in front of her. Contemptuous of the colour of her skin, her captors debate selling her at one of the underground markets that have sprung up since the abolition of slavery as they sail back to the mainland, but they underestimate her courage and cunning and she manages to escape. She is now on the run, seemingly without a friend in the world - until her flight takes her into the path of the handsome and brooding aristocrat the Earl of Lamorna, who is known to his friends as Crow.

Crow is a complicated man, with problems of his own. Haunted by the things he has seen on the battlefield during the long running wars with Napoleon's armies, and tortured by his own role at the Battle of Waterloo and the aftermath, he does not know what to make of the brave and resourceful heroine now under his protection. He is already walking a fine line between the French, English and the people of his Cornish homeland, and needs to come up with a plan to keep them all safe - and to rescue his younger brother Kitto from the clutches of the French authorities after an impetuous act of insurrection.

Danger and treachery lie all around them, and Crow's solution to the conundrum of Hester sets sparks flying between them, but hate and love are two sides of the same coin. Romance lies as thick in the air as peril... will they survive what comes, or will the secrets Crow holds bring everything crashing down?

I came to this story, the first in Katy Moran's Regency Romance Trilogy, prepared to have a rollicking time, which I certainly have, but did not expect to find this quite so bursting at the seams with such wonderful characters, storylines and a cracking spin on the historical front. It wasn't long before I realised that this was going to be a rare and beautiful thing, and settled in to immerse myself completely in the world that Moran has created.

There's all you could wish for on the Bridgerton front, with lashings of scandal, players to both love and hate, and threads of sex, race and class woven tightly into the fabric of the story, but by bringing in the historical twist of an England under occupation by the French, Moran has also created quite a different sort of beast here, with real menace that heightens the experience beautifully. At its heart, this is a marvellous bodice-ripping romance, but it draws on so many other elements too - shades of the Poldark books by Winston Graham; of Bernard Cornwell's Sharpe books; of Du Maurier; and even the complex machinations and intrigue of Tolstoy's War and Peace, all combine with sweeping storylines that get the blood pumping and grip you emotionally.

The characters are so vivid, jumping right off the page and immersing you in their triumphs and tragedies. The women are particularly entertaining, painted in shades of grey that make them pleasingly authentic: Hester is fierce and capable, chaffing against the limits of patriarchal and prejuducial bonds, and she works herself right into your heart, but she's not the only feisty female in this story. Moran's firebrand women came from all walks of life, and love or loathe them, they are complex and engaging- I found Moran's portrayal of Joséphine particularly interesting and surprisingly poignant.

I cannot tell you how much I enjoyed this swash-buckling adventure, following the story with my heart in my mouth and shedding tears at the end. I have moved straight on to book two Wicked by Design, which is shaping up to be every bit as good, so keep your eyes peeled for my review soon!

Game of Hearts, the first book in the Regency Romance Trilogy, is available to buy now in paperback, ebook and audio formats from your favourite book retailer. It is followed by book two Wicked by Design, and book three Scandalous Alchemy.

Thank you to Aria/Head of Zeus for sending me paperback copies of this trilogy in return for honest reviews.

About the author:

Katy Moran writes romantic historical fiction filled with adventure, sizzling chemistry and political intrigue. Her books are set in an alternate universe just a step away from our own. She lives in the Welsh borders with her family and four miniature sheep.

Happy Birthday To The Poetry Cove

 

The Poetry Cove
The World’s Most Extensive Poetry Community Shaking the Poetry Underground Scene

· A hub of over 2,500 poetry lovers from 61 countries

· Encompassing a forum, drop-in classes, virtual events on Second Life, a poetry radio station and a new literary magazine

· Members report gaining confidence, growing as poets, increasing readership, forming friendships

· Celebrating first anniversary on 27 February 2022

The Poetry Cove, one of the world’s most extensive and accessible online poetry communities for aspiring poets across the globe, is marking its first anniversary on Sunday 27th February, celebrating the successes of just one year of activity.

Founded in February 2021 by Adam Gary, a self-taught poet with a background in acting, who trained at National Youth Theatre, in its first year of life The Poetry Cove has gained over 2,500 “Covers” between members, forum participants and followers, hailing from 61 countries, including the UK, India, Australia, South Africa, Uganda and the US.

From first-time poets to established authors, the hub calls itself “the world’s most extensive poetry community” by virtue of its rich offer, which includes both free tools and a membership scheme.

The ethos of The Poetry Cove is to create an interactive, supportive and accessible platform where anyone looking to dive into the world of poetry can get involved. On the platform, poets of varying knowledge and ability can share their work, promote themselves, gain constructive feedback, meet and discuss with like-minded people, and make friends.

Ken Merchant from Maine, US said: "This is a community of individuals whose kindness and charm have elicited numerous moments of happiness since I joined in May 2021. Since joining, I have increased my readership, received peer feedback for future publications, formed new friendships and received a new sense of purpose. All of which wasn't easily accessible or achievable before.”

The beating heart of The Poetry Cove is its Forum, a free platform for people to share poetry and receive feedback on their work. With several members joining the community having never shared a poem in their life, the Forum has given hundreds of writers the confidence they needed to make their work more known.

Suchita Senthil Kumar from India said: "Finding The Poetry Cove was one of the best things that happened to me in 2021. As someone who mostly used to write prose, I was quite apprehensive with my poetry in the beginning. After being a part of the conversations on the Forum, poetry seemed less daunting. Now, I'm slowly beginning to understand the craft of writing poetry. I was one of the first 100 members and now watching the Cove enter a year of honing poetry, it gives me a sense of immense joy. I've found some of my best friends there, so for me, the Cove extends even beyond poetry. It feels home.”

The Poetry Cove also offers an online Academy to its members, with Saturday School drop-in classes. Open to anyone aged 16+ and from all backgrounds, all classes are held online, to enable attendance from members worldwide, and are aimed at training the next generation of poets, not just through their writing, but helping them become the best, most well-rounded professionals within the industry.

Many members are vocal about how being part of a community of like-minded people in the Academy and through the Forum has helped them not only to grow as writers and increase their confidence as poets, but also at those times when they were struggling with their mental health and wellbeing.

Rob Edwards from Yorkshire, UK said: "Almost two years ago as the pandemic was starting I fell ill with Sarcoidos. It affects the muscles of my torso so I can't do much physically, that I was used to as an active person. My muscles are in constant pain, thankfully controlled somewhat with strong painkillers. As an outlet I started writing more poetry, I had plenty of time on my hands and inspiration around me, living in the Yorkshire countryside.

In March last year I was looking online for somewhere to share my poetry and a safe encouraging space to connect and learn from, and with fellow poets. I stumbled over The Poetry Cove Instagram account and my hopes were answered. Adam Gary the founder and architect of The Poetry Cove seemed to genuinely want to start that very thing I was looking for. In the Forum, my fellow poets have been very supportive and constructive. I've gained so much more confidence in my poetry in sharing and learning from their counsel.”

Using the power of digital media to bring people together, The Poetry Cove has a significant plot of virtual land, with a Virtual Café and Performance Space where they hold regular open mics and other style events on Second Life. Participants can chat with each other “in person” over a drink, write poetry together, and read their poems out loud in a cosy, dimly lit ambience.

In its first year of life, The Poetry Cove has been organising events in partnership with other organisations, including a fundraising virtual open mic on Second Life as part of HopeFest, to raise funds for the American Cancer Society, and a pioneering initiative to promote National Poetry Writing Month last November, posting daily prompts and encouraging different discussions and support around NaPoWriMo as well as raising awareness across the internet.

Launching on the platform’s first birthday, the brand-new Poetry Cove Magazine is a quarterly-issued literary magazine edited by Poetry Cove member Sophie Scarlette, featuring original poems, short stories, essays, reviews, opinion pieces, games, contests, as well as news and listings of poetry events worldwide. The submission-based nature of the magazine will ensure priority is given to debut poets, in line with The Poetry Cove’s mission to celebrate raw talent and give everyone a platform to showcase their work. The magazine will be available for purchase exclusively on The Poetry Cove’s website.

Adam Gary, founder of The Poetry Cove said: “The Poetry Cove came about having spent a lot of time sharing my work and talking about poetry on YouTube. It very quickly became apparent that there are so many out there yearning to get into poetry writing but lack the confidence, direction or platform that will gently ease them into it. As someone who has been in their shoes, and always gone about things unconventionally, I felt akin to my followers and went about creating a place for them that encompassed everything they may need to push on in their endeavours.

I can't believe we're now approaching our first birthday. We have laid an incredibly solid foundation for our big vision, and I am always so humbled when I read messages from Covers about what The Poetry Cove means to them. We have big plans for what lies ahead, from having top poets host our Radio shows, to giving voice to exceptional undiscovered poets through our Magazine, and of course continuing to strengthen our community within the Forum and help as many more poets around the world as possible!“

Additional initiatives under development include: The Poetry Cove Radio, a 24hr poetry station with poetry tracks from independent poets across the globe; an in-depth Podcast, with a first episode already ranking on Apple Podcasts in the U.S and South Africa; an upcoming Talent Agency for literary, performance and spoken word poets, as well as influencers specialising in the poetry niche and leading industry practitioners working in publishing, film and television, theatre and arts festivals.

Happy first birthday to the @poetrycove, the world’s most extensive poetry community! You can find out more about their birthday celebrations, as well as their poetry classes, open mics and forum here: https://www.thepoetrycove.com/

Parker Pyne Investigates by Agatha Christie

 

Parker Pyne Investigates by Agatha Christie.

This edition published 20th April 2017 by Harper Collins.

From the cover of the book:

A collection of short stories featuring the ‘heart specialist’, Parker Pyne.

Mrs Packington felt alone, helpless and utterly forlorn. But her life changed when she stumbled upon an advertisement in The Times which read: ‘ARE YOU HAPPY? IF NOT, CONSULT MR PARKER PYNE’.

Equally adept at putting together the fragments of a murder mystery or the pieces of a marriage, Mr Parker Pyne is possibly the world’s most unconventional private investigator. 

Armed with just an intuitive knowledge of human nature, he is an Englishman abroad, travelling the globe to solve and undo crime and misdemenour.

***********************

My choice for this month's Read Christie 2022 challenge to choose an Agatha Christie featuring travel and romance is the short story collection Parker Pyne Investigates.

Parker Pyne is a genial, retired government statistician who is dedicated to helping people lead happy lives, using the considerable experience about human nature that he has gained over his working life. He offers his services via an advertisement in The Times asking 'Are you happy? if not consult Mr Parker Pyne', and promises an almost perfect success rate at providing satisfaction for his clients - crimes of the heart are his forté. 

The collection comprises fourteen stories, and it is really a book of two halves. The first part of the book revolves around stories which focus on what seems to be the original concept behind the character: that there are a specific number of reasons why people are unhappy, and specific remedies to their problems. Parker Pyne claims that there are only five reasons, and he has the cures to them if his clients are willing to submit to his recommendations and pay the required fee - if they are willing then comes up with a plan and sets it in motion using his faithful team of employees, while he oversees the schemes from his office in Richmond Street, London. The second half of the book, contains stories which are quite different in nature, as they are cases almost entirely foisted upon him during his attempts to get away from it all in exotic locations and, in all but one, he is the sole operative in putting things to rights.

The stories are so distinctly disparate in nature that I did wonder if Christie got a bit bored with Mr Parker Pyne and decided to take him a completely different direction halfway through the life of his character, because he changes from being the mastermind behind helping his clients to find happiness through some very amusing schemes, while he stays put in a single location; to more of a conventional private investigator who solves crimes in far-flung destinations, despite claiming to not be a detective. I wasn't quite sure what to make of this, as he suddenly becomes the centre of the stories as a crime sleuth, which was a bit odd. There is no real character development for Parker Pyne himself and you are left knowing little more about him at the end of the book as you knew at the beginning - and I was a little frustrated that you never find out what all the five causes of unhappiness are.

The cases which involve his delightful gang of accomplices are by far the most enjoyable, as they are such a great assortment of characters, including the deliciously smarmy lounge-lizzard Claude Luttrell, and the beautiful queen of vamps Madeleine de Sara, who could both be called upon to incite jealousy in the cases of marital disharmony. There are also a couple of faces familiar to fans of the Poirot books, with Miss Lemon taking the role of highly efficient secretary to Parker Pyne (before her days in charge of Poirot's files), and the enchanting Mrs Ariadne Oliver supplementing her income as famous novelist to help out when more creative game plans are required to bring about a successful result.

Overall, I did find this collection enjoyable. The stories are light, fun and entertaining, with a nice balance of romance, mystery and crime, and the foreign locations are very 'Christie', which made this book a fitting choice for the brief. I found them rather humorous too, as there are plenty of chuckles to be had. There are flashes of Poirot about many of these adventures (interestingly the final two stories, Problem at Pollensa Bay and The Regatta Mystery, were originally written for Poirot), but for me, they lack the personality and substance that a well developed main character brings. Definitely examples of Christie's more frivolous side!

Parker Pyne Investigates is now availanle to buy in paperback, ebook and audio formats from your favourite book retailer.

Note that the audio version of this collection, read by the wonderful Hugh Fraser, does not include the later stories Problem at Pollensa Bay and The Regatta Mystery.

About the author:

Agatha Christie is known throughout the world as the Queen of Crime. Her books have sold over a billion copies in English with another billion in over 70 foreign languages. She is the most widely published author of all time and in any language, outsold only by the Bible and Shakespeare. She is the author of 80 crime novels and short story collections, 20 plays, and six novels written under the name of Mary Westmacott.

Unhinged (Blix and Ramm Book Three) by Jørn Lier Horst and Thomas Enger

Unhinged (Blix and Ramm Book Three) by Jørn Lier Horst and Thomas Enger.

Translated by Megan Turney.

Published 17th February 2022 by Orenda Books.

From the cover of the book:

When police investigator Sofia Kovic uncovers a startling connection between several Oslo murder cases, she attempts to contact her closest superior, Alexander Blix before involving anyone else in the department. But before Blix has time to return her call, Kovic is shot and killed in her own home – execution style. And in the apartment below, Blix’s daughter Iselin narrowly escapes becoming the killer’s next victim.

Four days later, Blix and online crime journalist Emma Ramm are locked inside an interrogation room, facing the National Criminal Investigation Service. Blix has shot and killed a man, and Ramm saw it all happen.

As Iselin’s life hangs in the balance, under-fire Blix no longer knows who he can trust … and he’s not even certain that he’s killed the right man…

Two of Nordic Noir’s most brilliant writers return with the explosive, staggeringly accomplished, emotive third instalment in the international, bestselling Blix & Ramm series … and it will take your breath away.

***********

Police investigator Sofia Kovic is looking into a case of a hit and run, and she discovers a disturbing connection between this crime and several Oslo murder cases, but what she has uncovered goes with her to the grave when she is shot and killed during a break-in at her apartment. Kovic tried to contact her superior, Alexander Blix in the hours before her death, but at first, he is preoccupied with the fate of his daughter Iselin, who was Kovic's roommate and also targeted by the gunman - luckily Iselin managed to escape from the apartment.

Blix and his sometime crime journalist partner Emma Ramm, who was friends with both Kovic and Iselin, then begin to look into the circumstances of the break-in and Kovic's execution style murder, but are at a loss to see how and why she was killed. Then Iselin is abducted...

Four days later, Blix and Ramm are being interrogated by the police. Blix has shot and killed the man who abducted his daughter, and Iselin's life hangs in the balance as a result of the injuries she received during her ordeal. Ramm is the only witness. Blix no longer knows who he can trust, and he's not even sure he has killed the right man...

Welcome to book three in the cracking Nordic crime series translated beautifully from the Norwegian by Megan Turney, that has police investigator Alexander Blix and on-line journalist Emma Ramm partnering up once more to solve a twisty mystery. This time fate brings the murderous mayhem right to both of their doorsteps when Sofia Kovic is brutally murdered and Iselin becomes a target for some particularly unpleasant baddies.

The first half of the book plays out in two timelines from the perspectives of Blix and Ramm, as the story splits between the course of their investigation after the death of Kovic, and their separate interrogations by the police following the traumatic climax of Iselin's kidnapping. We gradually learn what they have discovered up to this point, but rather than shining any real light on why Kovic died and Iselin was taken, the picture becomes very murky indeed. Who was the man that Blix shot and killed, and was he the one responsible for Kovic's death?

The second half of the book is where we get into the nitty-gritty of the hows, whys and wherefores, and there are twists and turns galore, with perfectly timed revelations that keep you firmly on your toes. This part of the story finds Blix reeling from the events that have unfolded since Kovic's death, and the impact of the suspicion that paints him as complicit in her murder, which breaks the rhythm of the usual Blix-Ramm crime solving machine. They become isolated from each other by the trauma they have experienced, ramping up the suspense as each one discovers different pieces of the puzzle that we are able to put together as onlookers to bring shocking clarity to exactly to what is going on in this story.

As the Blix and Ramm novels go, this one is rather unusual for a number of reasons, all of which combine to make this a fresh take on the series. The way the story is split into two distinct parts is intriguing, initially taking you back and forth with two time lines that then collide with an event that hits you like a physical blow, and then leaving you with a mess of clues, red herrings and nicely contrived threads to be unpicked in the second half. I really enjoyed how this makes the feel of the book unlike what has come before. But that's not all, because for the first time, the case they are working on is intimately connected to both of them in a way that makes this the most heart-breaking of the three books so far. What happens shatters their normal working relationship, forcing a disconnect between their two sides of the story, putting you, as the reader, in the delicious position of being able to see the whole truth before they do, which I found really entertaining. 

All round, this is an absolute stonker of a pacy thriller, and my favourite of the series to date, which is saying a lot, and I highly recommend them if you are partial to Nordic crime stories - make sure you read them all, and in the right order, for the full-on literary experience. Incidentally, if you are already a fan of the Blix and Ramm books, then you will know that Jørn Lier Horst and Thomas Enger love a cliffhanger, and they have absolutely out-done themselves with the ending of this instalment. I cannot wait to see how the story plays out from here onwards, because, trust me, it's a jaw-dropping one!

Unhinged is available to buy now in paperback, ebook and audio formats from your favourite book retailer.

Thank you to Orenda Books for sending me an ecopy of this book in return for an honest review and to Random Things Tours for inviting me to be part of this blog tour.

About the authors:

Jørn Lier Horst and Thomas Enger are the internationally bestselling Norwegian authors of the
William Wisting and Henning Juul series respectively.

Jørn Lier Horst first rose to literary fame with his No. 1 internationally bestselling William Wisting series. A former investigator in the Norwegian police, Horst imbues all his works with an unparalleled realism and suspense.

Thomas Enger is the journalist-turned-author behind the internationally acclaimed and bestselling Henning Juul series. Enger’s trademark has become a darkly gritty voice paired with key social messages and tight plotting. Besides writing fiction for both adults and young adults, Enger also works as a music composer.


Death Deserved was Jørn Lier Horst & Thomas Enger’s first co-written thriller, and this is the third book in the Blix and Ramm series.

The Dictator's Wife by Freya Berry

 

The Dictator's Wife by Freya Berry.

Published 17th February 2022 by Headline.

From the cover of the book:

WOMAN
I learned early in life how to survive. A skill that became vital in my position.

WIFE
I was given no power, yet I was expected to hold my own with the most powerful man in the country.

MOTHER OF THE NATION
My people were my children. I stood between him and them.

I am not the person they say I am.
I am not my husband.
I am innocent.

Do you believe me?

Visceral and thought provoking, haunting and heartbreaking, The Dictator's Wife will hold you in its grip until its powerful conclusion, and keep you turning the pages long into the night.

***********

Laura Lăzărescu was born in the former communist state of Yanussia, a country ruled by the rigid dictator Constantin Popa, from his rise to power in the wake of World War II. She remembers little about it beyond the scattered recollections of a happy childhood, for she and her parents managed to escape when she was seven years old, fleeing the watchful the eye of the Secret Police, the Strajă, for a life of 'freedom' in Britain - a new life that only seemed to make them unhappy.

It's now 1993, and Constantin Popa is dead, torn apart by a rioting crowd during an uprising in 1989. Laura is returning to Yanussia as a junior associate on the legal team appointed to defend the woman who was once lauded as the Mother of the Nation, his wife, the beautiful and charismatic Marìja Popa - now rather less flatteringly known as The Black Widow.

Marija stands charged with the crimes committed by her husband, including corruption on a staggering scale. The new regime is determined that the death penalty will be her fate, and her legal team need to somehow prove that she had no knowledge of what he was up to, a task that is going to be an uphill struggle when even the first step in the process is proving to be tricky - after all how did a couple ostensibly earning only twenty thousand dollars a year afford the luxuries they surrounded themselves with, including a priceless Picasso?

But the legal challenges are not the only thing causing Laura consternation. She was completely unprepared for the impact of being thrust back into a country which seems to have improved little from Popa's time. Even though the once all seeing Strajă has been disbanded, the feeling of being watched is ever present, and the atmosphere in Casa Iubită, Marija's family home, where they are being confined for their 'safety', is stifling. 

Then, or course, there is the enigmatic woman herself, Marija Popa. Laura unexpectedly finds herself under her spell, caught in a web of secrets and lies that tie them together through a mystery surrounding Laura's own family. Is Marija guilty or innocent, and is she manipulating Laura for her own ends?

"Perception is real, and the truth is not."

Imelda Marcos

Where do I start? My goodness, this is one of those books that compels you to devour it in one delicious sitting! Freya Berry conjures up absolute magic here with her portrayal the most mysterious of characters, the woman who stands at the side of a dictator, and forces you to address the questions we all want to know the answers to... How much does she know about the dastardly deeds of her husband? Is she controlled, or complicit?

"History is written by the victors, after all, an these are always men. Labelling someone as a monster is so convenient. It means we never have to examine what made them so."

Firstly, Berry creates the perfect setting for her characters to play out their tortured games. Yanussia is a former communist state based closely on Romania, and many of the scenes and policies she describes are inspired by the detailed research she undertook about the history of that country under its own tyrannical dictator Nicolae Ceausescu. This brings a real feeling of authenticity to the piece, but it is not just this that makes it so delectable. In setting her story in 1993, Berry allows herself to run riot with a backdrop that is steeped in the chaos of Eastern Europe following the fall of the Berlin Wall, and Yanussia stands as the epitome of the struggles of a former communist state not only trying to break free of the shadows of its past - but also to show the world that it is atoning for its sins. The atmosphere, the suspicion, the balancing act of a new regime, the social and economic unrest, and intriguingly the re-education of a population that has been indoctrinated from birth to consider its former leaders as 'saviours', are threads perfectly woven into the story.

"Our client was a hypnotic blend of Joan of Arc and Imelda Marcos; both goddess and she-devil, princess and tyrant, martyr and uber-bitch."

And then, we have Marija herself. Marija is the heart of this tale and you find yourself holding your breath whenever she appears. Beautifully drawn to encapsulate everything the iconic wife of a dictator has been shown to be, she is charismatic, beautiful, poised, and unfathomable. There are echoes of many of the women we know from history in Marija, especially Eva Peron and Imelda Marcos, with the unmistakable seductive charm of the velvet glove that softens the blow of the iron fist. Through Marija Berry explores the female side of the dictator equation, delving into thought provoking themes of complicity, the way women wield power, and how their guilt is ascribed following the death of their husbands, while her relationship with Laura drives us to confront the blacks, whites and all the shades of grey that are part of her make up - before clawing through her web of deceit with the blood red talons of the shocking truth.

"I wanted Marija to be innocent; I wanted her to be the wicked witch, stuffing children into the oven. I could not decide what she was, and that was the torment."

Along the way, there are cleverly wielded elements that deal with mother-daughter relationships and the notion of sacrifice that are really interesting too, and Berry uses the motifs of the colour red, honey bees, and hands around necks to great effect throughout.

This book is a stunning debut, beautifully written in a style that has you frequently stopping short to admire clever use of breath-taking simile and metaphor (have your note book handy to jot them down, because these are gold!). I cannot encourage you enough to read this one, as it held me spellbound from the first page to the last, and I seriously need more Freya Berry in my life!

The Dictator's Wife is available to buy now in hardback, ebook and audio formats from your favourote book retailer.

Thank you to Headline for sending me a hardback copy of this book in return for an honest review, and for inviting me to be part of this blog tour.

About the author:

Freya Berry has always loved stories, but it took several years as a Reuters journalist for her to realise she prefer the kind of truth that lies in fiction, not reality...That said, the inspiration for The Dictator's Wife came while reporting on the 2016 US election. She's fascinated by public perception and private fact; by ambiguity and the manipulation of truth; and by how our rational minds can so easily be overpowered by fear, and glamour.

The Dictator's Wife is set in Eastern Europe, where she travelled for several months as research, hearing stories of lives under Communism and having many adventures, including on her first night when she was teargassed while attending an anti-government protest in Bucharest.

Before all this, she studied English at Cambridge, and now lives between London and the beautiful beaches of Wales. One day she swears she will learn to surf.

The Killing Crew (Ash Carter Near East Series: Book Two) by Murray Bailey

 

The Killing Crew (Ash Carter Near East Series: Book Two) by Murray Bailey.

Published in hard cover 9th November 2021 and ebook 1st March 2022 by.

From the cover of the book:

Ash Carter and Bill Wolfe are in Israel hunting a group of British Army deserters known as the Killing Crew. Some people think they were a myth, others believe they were the most hated of British soldiers.

In the newly formed state that’s at war with the Arab nations, hated by Jews and despised by Arabs, the two SIB officers think they face an uncomfortable task.

But when they become targets they realise this is more than just a job. It’s life or death.

***********

This second book in the Near East series, prequels to Murray Bailey's thrilling Singapore books, finds Ash Carter now promoted to Captain and back working alongside his SIB boss Tom Wolfe in the newly formed state of Israel.

Carter and Wolfe are here to track down a band of British deserters known as The Killing Crew, but the region in 1948 is a tricky place to be if you are British. Although the conflict between Jewish and Arab forces is currently suspended by a cease fire, the peace is very fragile, threatening to erupt into more violence at any moment - and both sides detest the British following the decision to light the touch paper and then withdraw to let Jews and Arabs fight it out in a bloody war. The odds of getting either side to co-operate with their investigation are slim, but at least they are here with official permission... for now.

Progress is slow, and this is an investigation that requires a painstaking examination of teetering piles of paperwork to get a handle on who's who, and who may or not be responsible for the orgy of terrorist atrocities that have marked recent times. It's hard even to establish whether or not The Killing Crew exist at all, but once Carter and Wolfe's ranks are bolstered by the young, inexperienced Sergeant Finney and their new Jewish assistant Sylvia Rom they begin to see a pattern emerging, with a mysterious figure known as The Engineer at the centre.

Can they get to bottom of what is really going on here, before they become targets themselves?

My favourite thing about Murray's books is the way he drops you right into the chaos of the post-World War Two landscape, creating such an authentic feeling of time and place and exploring the real nitty-gritty of the whys and wherefores of the situation. But if shining a light on the fascinating truth behind some very difficult political and military shenanigans wasn't enough, he mixes this with such gripping mysteries at the same time, that you almost find yourself absorbing all the history contained in his stories by stealth as you desperately pursue the answers to Ash Carter's investigations.

I learned so much about 1950s Singapore in the Ash Carter series, and the Near-East prequels are shaping up to be just as entertaining and informative, starting with the last book Cyprus Kiss and continuing with this new adventure The Killing Crew.

Inevitably, Bailey does spend quite a lot of the first half of this book making sure you understand the political tensions and violence that marked the bloody birth of the state of Israel. Even though I did know quite a lot about the lay of the land in the Middle East at this time, there was so much more to learn and Bailey deftly walks you through what things were really like on both sides of the conflict, while emphasising the hatred and resentment towards the British. I confess I did not know about the scale of desertions from the British Army, with soldiers defecting to both sides of the conflict for a variety of reasons, but found the idea that many were persuaded to join the Jewish ranks after what they had seen of Hitler's concentration camps both intriguing and particularly poignant.

Of course, Bailey is also a dab hand at a darned good thriller, so Carter gets himself involved in a bit of bother right from the word go that threatens to derail the investigation, and forms a nicely contrived sub-plot around some unpleasant gangster types which touches on the plight of post-war refugees. The threads of the central mystery gradually reveal themselves, and they become ever more complex as the story goes on, until you suspect almost everyone of dirty deeds and do not know who Carter can trust - even down to those very close to him. There are twists galore as Murray misleads both you as the reader and Capt. Carter; all the chases, back-stabbings and explosions you could possibly want; and lashings of the tension and intrigue I have come to expect from Bailey's cracking novels, with the added menace of a war-zone this time around too. 

It's fair to say that this is a slow burner, but each and every part of this storyline builds beautifully towards the whole, and the pay-off of Bailey's detailed and very necessary groundwork comes once the sparks start to fly, unleashing a tide of chaos packed with action and surprisingly affecting emotion. This is certainly another highly enjoyable page-turner from Murray Bailey, and I am really looking forward to what he has in store for Carter next as he heads back to Cyprus!

The Killing Crew is available to buy now from your favourite book retailer.

Thank you to Murray Bailey for ending me a ecopy of this book in return for an honest review, and for inviting me to be part of this blog tour.

About the author:

Murray Bailey Is the author of Amazon bestseller Map of the Dead, the first of the series based on his interest in Egyptology. His main series however is the Ash Carter thrillers, inspired by his father's experience in the Royal Military Police in Singapore in the early 1950s.

Murray is well travelled, having worked in the US, South America and a number of European countries throughout his career as a management consultant. However he also managed to find the time to edit books, contribute to articles and act as a part-time magazine editor.

Murray lives on the south coast of England with his family and a dog called Teddy.

The Rabbit In The Hat: My Autobiography by Brian Cox (Audio Book)

 

Putting the Rabbit in the Hat: My Autobiography by Brian Cox

Audio book narrated by Brian Cox.

Published 28th October 2021 by Quercus.

From the cover:

The long-awaited memoir by movie and theatre legend Brian Cox.

From Titus Andronicus with the RSC to media magnate Logan Roy in HBO's Succession, Brian Cox has made his name as an actor of unparalleled distinction and versatility. We know him on screen, but few know of his extraordinary life story.

Growing up in Dundee, Scotland, Cox lost his father when he was just eight years old and was brought up by his three elder sisters in the aftermath of his mother's nervous breakdowns and ultimate hospitalisation. After joining the Dundee Repertory Theatre at the age of 15, you could say the rest is history - but that is to overlook the enormous graft that has gone into the making of the legend we know today.

This is a rags-to-riches life story like no other - a seminal autobiography that both captures Cox's distinctive voice and his very soul. Rich in emotion and meaning, with plenty of laughs along the way.

***********

I love a memoir, and am particularly partial to ones from members of the acting profession. When this autobiography by veteran of stage and screen Brian Cox came up on my radar, I knew this would be for me - and how right I was.

There is something particularly lovely about a memoir read by the author, especially if they are in the acting profession, so my first choice is always to listen to the audio book when available - I highly recommend this if audio books are your bag, because only the author knows the right emphasis to place on their own words when describing episodes from their life, and in my experience this really makes a difference in understanding what makes them tick.

Brian's is such a wonderfully rich and varied life. His account begins with his birth in Dundee, and follows his personal and professional lives in detail. He doesn't shy away from delving into both the happy and the sad events that have shaped him into the man he has become, celebrating his success in his own self-effacing way and being frank and candid about his own shortcomings too. 

I am more familiar with Brian from his screen and television roles, so it was really interesting to hear all about his love for acting on the stage and he gives a comprehensive account of the productions he has been privileged, or otherwise, to have been a part of and shares a lot of information about his acting process too. Similarly he has a lot to say about his screen and TV experiences, which give an intriguing glimpse at what goes on behind the cameras.

Brian's narration style is relaxed and natural, almost as if you are part of a cosy 'in conversation' with him which I really enjoyed - the pauses, the palpable emotion, the little asides, the humour all contribute towards creating a real feel of intimacy - and there are so many anecdotes too, many of which made me laugh out loud. 

I can honestly say that this is the best memoir from an actor that I have ever listened to - and I have listened to great many over the years - possibly the best title for an acting autobiography too. I was genuinely sorry to reach the end of this one and anything that follows is going to have some big shoes to fill. Brian Cox, you are a legend!

Putting the Rabbit in the Hat is available to buy now in hard cover, ebook and audio formats.

About the author:

Brian Cox is an Emmy Award-winning Scottish actor. He was born on June 1, 1946 in Dundee, Scotland, to Mary Ann Guillerline Cox, maiden surname McCann, a spinner, and Charles McArdle Campbell Cox, a shopkeeper and butcher. His father was of Irish ancestry and his mother was of Irish and Scottish descent.

Cox first came to attention in the early 1970s with performances in numerous television films. His first big break was as Dr. Hannibal Lecter in Manhunter (1986). The film was not overly successful at the box office, although Cox's career prospects and popularity continued to develop. Through the 1990s, he appeared in nearly 20 films and television series, as well as making numerous television guest appearances. More recently, Cox has had roles in some major films, including The Corruptor (1999), The Ring (2002) and X2: X-Men United (2003). He was awarded Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 2003 Queen's New Year's Honours List for his services to drama.

The Alex Cohen Series: Books 4-6 Collection by Leopold Borstinski

 

The Alex Cohen Series: Books 4-6 Collection by Leopold Borstinski.

Published 23rd December 2021 by Sobriety Press.

From the cover of the collection:

Three more decades in the life of Jewish gangster, Alex Cohen, as he arrives in the US and forges a life for himself and his family using the blood, sweat and tears of those who stand in his way.

This digital box set contains the second set of three books in the saga of Alex Cohen's life:

Casino Chiseler: Alex Cohen leaves jail to find salvation from the 1940s mob in the hotels of Las Vegas. When Bugsy Siegel invites him to take over sports betting in Nevada, Alex must figure out how to get back to the top table in New York without attracting the Feds' attention. If he succeeds then he will regain his self respect, but if he fails then the last members of the national crime syndicate will cut him dead and he will be left a nobody or wind up a corpse.

Cuban Heel: Alex joins long-time friend and business partner, Meyer Lansky to recreate Las Vegas in 1950s Havana. Dictator President Batista gives them the opportunity to build their dream casino complexes, but Alex must choose between dancing with this devil or being in debt to the Italian mob.

Hollywood Bilker: Alex returns to America and settles in 1960s California to build a drug and prostitution empire in LA. When he gets a call from the mob to help the CIA invade Cuba, Alex must decide between family and his business associates. If he helps Uncle Sam and the Mafia then he puts his life on the line fighting for freedom and the chance to rebuild his Havana casinos. If he refuses the favor then death will call on him, his ex-wife and their sons. Once he agrees to one accommodation then others are sure to follow, in a decade where even presidents, assassins and presidential candidates were whacked at a terrifying rate.

**************

This collection includes books 4-6 of the Alex Cohen series, which I have previously read and reviewed on my blog. My reviews for each book are shown again below:

Casino Chiseler (Alex Cohen Book Four)  Published 30th September 2020.

Welcome to the fourth book in the Alex Cohen saga, Casino Chiseler!

Alex is out of prison, after being caught up in the Feds' concerted efforts to take down some high profile mobsters on tax evasion charges. He is feeling a little abandoned by the syndicate, but soon comes to realise that he still has friends in high places - friends who continue to have need for his singular talents.

So, Alex finds himself heading west to Vegas, baby! Times they are a changing for Alex and his mobster friends and the betting game is where it's at now. Alex is given the job of taking over sports betting in Nevada, and he goes at it with his usual verve - wheeling, dealing (pardon the pun) and with his special brand of violence to get his syndicate buddies exactly what they want and ruffling some rather important feathers along the way.

Of course, Alex's personal life gets in the way of business, as always, friendships are put under enormous strain and there are some important decision for Alex to make if he really wants to get back in with his mob bosses. Romance-wise a name from the past puts in an appearance, but things get complicated and we see him heading in quite an unexpected direction at the end of the book, which promises interesting things to come. It was very pleasing to see some more interesting storylines for the females in the book too, which have been a bit lacking in the past - more than the usual bit parts for gangsters' molls. Hurray!

It was a refreshing change to find Alex on different ground in this fourth book, as it was nice to move away from the well trodden turf of New York and Chicago. This time, Leopold Borstinski gives us a fascinating glimpse of the early days of mob involvement in the growth of the gamblers' playgrounds in Nevada - not just the mobster machinations involved to get ahead of the competitors, but also the intriguing part played by Hollywood royalty in the establishment of Vegas as a glittering jewel in the gangsters' crown. There are familiar names from the gangster scene that still make an appearance (one at least in rather less glamorous circumstances than we normally picture them), and also those from stage and screen - some to be expected, such as George Raft and a young Sinatra, but also some rather more surprising ones which made me raise an eyebrow or two.

Casino Chiseler was an all round entertaining read, full of gangster noir and echoes of the best books and films in the genre . I thought this one was a bit more sophisticated than the previous three books in terms of plot, as it takes us into some less travelled mobster territory and gives a bit more depth to Alex's character, and this drives the story along nicely.

Cuban Heel (Alex Cohen Book 5). Published 3rd April 2021.

Welcome to the fifth book in the Alex Cohen series, which finds Alex fresh from the Las Vegas scene and trying to establish his own gambling empire in Cuba, in partnership with old friend Meyer Lansky.

There is a lot of money to be made in a country that is little more than a banana republic under the control of a dictator president, but to do so Alex must make some difficult choices - President Batista wants part of the action, and some pretty hefty bribes too, but it boils down to either keeping him sweet or relying on money from the Syndicate back home - the very people who were plotting Alex's downfall not so long ago.

Despite the tricky situation, Alex knows if he can make enough money in Cuba he will be set for life, and he is rather enjoying being away from the beady eye of the FBI for once, but things are about to get complicated - there are quite a few old Syndicate buddies who want in on the deal, Meyer is demanding more and more commitment, and a revolution that threatens all their schemes is on the horizon...

It was great to meet up with Alex again in his fifth adventure Cuban Heel, and this time we see him wheeling and dealing in Cuba. There are opportunities aplenty on this little tropical island off the coast of Florida, and lots of money to be made if Alex can learn the rules of the game quickly enough. As usual money talks, and President Batista is a man who is partial to lining his own pockets at the expense of his people, which gives Alex and Meyer some promising avenues to exploit, but do they really know what they are getting themselves involved in?

I did not know a lot about the mobster operations in Cuba that intended to make it into a playground for American tourists, but it is hard to ignore that there is a pretty fixed window of opportunity in a country headed for a very well known revolution and change of leadership at the beginning of 1959. This brings a really interesting air of suspense to the tale while you are waiting for the inevitable takeover by the Castro brothers that must bring an end to the fun, and Borstinski nicely works into the story some of the events heading up the to eventual downfall of Batista. Tension builds slowly, as the story goes back and forth between Cuba and some action packed visits by Alex to the US, until everything comes crashing down in a way that makes you wonder how he is going to get out of this one without losing everything.

The entertaining way Borstinski keeps you on the edge of your seat makes this my favourite Alex Cohen story so far, but it is not the only thing: Cuban Heel also sees Alex shaping his own dynasty for the first time, as he begins to build bridges with his sons, and establish a family affair with him and Sarah at the top. Although both Sarah and Alex want to keep their children on the legitimate side of operations, we know that they are are all more than aware of the more shady dealings beneath the surface of everything Alex does, which offers some interesting possibilities for the future - and of course, it's great to finally see Sarah getting some recognition.

Talking of shady dealings, Alex is called upon to make use of his special skills more than once in this book, especially to settle some old scores and keep his reputation fresh in certain circles back home, even if the Italian mobs are distancing themselves from the Jewish gangs - it seems he is still a good friend to have around in a tight spot!

Of course, the party does come to an end, as we know it will, and Alex now needs to move onto pastures new, but this time he will be beginning with his family around him and some intriguing cards up his sleeve, which I have no doubt he will play to his advantage. I have enjoyed each and every one of the books in this series, and Alex has become like an old friend to me now - albeit one with a particular set of less than legal skills. His experiences have shaped him into the very resourceful and crafty character he has become, and it has been a pleasure being along for the ride. I cannot wait to see what comes next in book six, Hollywood Bilker, which will take us into the 1960s!

Hollywood Bilker (Alex Cohen Book Six). Published 8th October 2021.

Welcome to book six in the Alex Cohen series, which explores the world of Jewish organised crime in 20th century USA.

Alex and his ex-wife Sarah, now firmly back together as a couple, have been pondering their future after their flight from the turmoil of revolutionary Cuba. The safety offered to them in Florida by friends high up in the Italian mob is all very well, but it offers little in the way of opportunities for their own family business without stepping on some very unforgiving toes. Having acquired a taste for the high living that the world of entertainment can offer, but not keen to return to the casino life in Vegas where Alex's businesses are prospering under the competent hands of his lieutenants Ezra and Massimo, they decide to relocate to LA instead. Using the contacts Alex has built up during his years in the casino business, the money soon begins to roll in from their newly established drug and prostitution operations, and they begin to settle into the California lifestyle with thoughts of retirement in the not too distant future.

Brushing shoulders with Hollywood royalty brings Alex into the sphere of some very famous names in the film and music industries of the 1960s, and through them into the society of shady politicians - especially the Kennedy family, whose political fortunes are on the rise. It is an association that will bring him untold riches, get him into some very sticky situations, and ultimately decide his own future.

Hollywood Bilker follows on quite naturally from the direction Alex and his family's lives have taken in the previous two books of this series - Casino Chisler and Cuban Heel. Building on his casino and entertainment contacts, Alex is drawn towards the magic of Tinsel Town, where Hollywood stars can provide a willing market for his own offerings - drugs and women. Cue some big names of the stage and screen in these pages - some well known for their association with organised crime, such as Frank Sinatra and his Rat Pack buddies, and some not. It was lots of fun celebrity spotting, and Leopold Borstinski is certainly very bold about some of the real life characters Alex associates with!

This book starts out with a much mellowed Alex, happy to be back on good terms with his ex-wife Sarah and reconciled with at least some of his sons. His time in Hollywood is a winding down of sorts, as he managed to get away with a nice nest egg from his otherwise disastrous flirtation with casinos in Cuba, but he is still keen to build up his fortunes before converting his assets to legitimate holdings - and retirement is beckoning.

As usual, Alex's less accommodating business partners throw in a curve ball here and there, and intriguingly this means that he is called upon to get involved in events he would rather avoid by putting to use some of the skills he has not personally had to call on for some time, harkening all the way back to his strike busting days in New York and his assassination years with Murder Inc. However, rather than the gangster scene he is used to operating in, this time his efforts are directed towards the political arena, which brings him into contact with a very famous family in the world of 1960s politics - the Kennedys. I really enjoyed the way Borstinski ties Alex's fortunes to that of the Kennedy family here and echoing some of Alex's own life experiences - with a meteoric rise backed by less than squeaky clean money; salacious secrets that need to be kept from prying eyes; and attempts to distance oneself from a dodgy past. Alex becomes embroiled in events taken straight out of the history books, and it was fascinating to see how Borstinski inserted his fictional creation into the fates of Bobby and John (Jack) Kennedy, cleverly linking him with their assassinations too. There is also a fabulous episode where Alex finds himself involved in the botched invasion of the Bay of Pigs in Cuba in 1961, which was great fun.

This is a book that has a much wider scope that any of the previous Alex Cohen books, and Borstinski handles all the twists and turns confidently and sometimes a little playfully, which makes the story very engaging indeed - especially if you have been with Alex from the start, as I have. Eventually, all of Alex's escapades in this instalment find him forced into taking his oft promised threats of retirement more seriously than ever before, but I suspect that there will still be plenty to tickle my gangster noir loving taste-buds in his final adventure The Mensch coming in 2022.

The Alex Cohen Series: Books 4-6 Collection is available to buy now!

Thank you to Zooloo's Book Tours for inviting me to be part of this blog tour.

About the author:

Leopold Borstinski is an independent author whose past careers have included financial journalism, business management of financial software companies, consulting and product sales and marketing, as well as teaching.

There is nothing he likes better so he does as much nothing as he possibly can. He has travelled extensively in Europe and the US and has visited Asia on several occasions. Leopold holds a Philosophy degree and tries not to drop it too often.

He lives near London and is married with one wife, one child and no pets.