July 2022 Reading Round-Up

Fifteen reviews up this month, with a couple to catch up on (I will pop them in as August books instead). There are some absolute scorchers here that will definitely make my books of the year list! You can find my reviews by clicking on tthe captions underneath each individual pic below!

Goodbye Again by Mariah Stewart

Katastrophe by Graham Hurley

The Bay by Allie Reynolds

The Phone Call by A.J. Campbell

Blue Hour by Sarah Schmidt

Singapore 52 by Murray Bailey

Death in Blitz City by David Young

The Measure by Nikki Erlick

All About Evie by Matson Taylor

The Key to my Heart by Lia Louis

The Blackbird by Tim Weaver

At Bertram's Hotel by Agatha Christie

After Paris by Nicole Kennedy

Oath Bound by Richard Cullen

The Setup by Lizzy Dent

More great books next month!

If you have enjoyed my photographic efforts, please head to my Instagram page

@brownflopsy for more!

The Setup by Lizzy Dent

 

The Setup by Lizzy Dent.

Published 9th June 2022 by Viking.

From the cover of the book:

SHE HAS A PLAN . . .
FATE HAS OTHER IDEAS.
-----------------

There are two men in my life. But this is not a love triangle.

Mara Williams reads her horoscope every day - but she wasn't expecting to be in a whole other country when destiny finally found her. Just as a fortune teller reveals that her true love is about to arrive, a gorgeous stranger literally walks into her life. And now Mara is determined to bring them together again . . . Surely even fate needs a nudge in the right direction sometimes?

But while Mara is getting ready for 'the one', the universe intervenes. Her new flatmate Ash is funny, and kind, and sexy as hell . . . There was no predicting this: it's as if her destiny just arrived on her doorstep.

So will Mara put her destiny in fate's hands - or finally trust herself to reach for the stars?

***********

Mara Williams is a big believer in following her stars. She reads her horoscope every day and relies on the advice provided to predict what life holds in store for her. But she did not expect to be in another country when love came calling.

Unexpectedly solo on a weekend in Budapest, after her best friend Charlie pulled out at the last minute, a fortune teller informs Mara that the love of her life will be appearing 'imminently', but will only reveal himself after she has 'fixed' something. So when a tall, dark handsome cellist called Joe walks into her life moments afterwards, she is convinced he must be the one - and she foolishly gives fate a little helping hand.

Back home in the sea-side town of Broadgate, Mara sets about trying to change aspects of her lonely little life to make herself ready for the 'one', while taking on the mammoth task of trying to save her beloved 1930's Lido at the same time. She has a lot on her plate all of a sudden, and is somewhat distracted by the distance that has grown between her and Charlie, and the arrival of her new flatmate Ash who is is funny, kind and extremely hot. She feels comfortable around Ash, but cannot allow herself to be swayed from her conviction that the stars are telling her that Joe is the man for her. Where does Mara's destiny truly lie?

Mara lives a small life, preferring to fade into the background, and she has no friends since growing apart from her long-term bestie Charlie, who is now consumed by marriage and motherhood. She is a complicated character with a lot of baggage to unpack around the causes of her crippling anxiety and low self-esteem, and you do spend half the story wanting to hug her and the other half thinking that a good shake might help her see sense, but I absolutely loved the story Lizzy Dent weaves around Mara as she learns to trust her instincts.

There is so much lovely stuff packed in here about fate, friendship, and family, with some very poignant threads around loneliness. Dent's special brand of warmth, humour, and in-the-feels magic floods the whole story, so you find yourself laughing and crying throughout, sometimes at the same time - and everything builds up to the kind of delicious sob-fest ending that ticks all my rom-com boxes. Dent has such fun with the theme of films, which is very enjoyable if you are a movie fan and highly appropriate given the cinematic feel of this book, and I adored how she uses stars to connect Mara and Ash in their own very individual ways. 

The characters that surround Mara deserve a special mention as they are an absolute joy, especially the swoon-worthy and very patient Ash, and the fabulous Broadgate Lido gang Lynn, Samira and Ryan who I was very sorry to say goodbye to. I always love a story that unites the local community in a heart-warming common aim, and this does that in spades. 

I couldn't wait to read this one after Lizzy Dent's fabulous rom-com debut The Summer Job, and it fulfilled all my expectations and more. I am really looking forward to whatever comes next!

The Set Up is available to buy now in hardcover, ebook and audio formats.

Thank you to Viking for sending me a proof of this book in return for a honest review, and for inviting me to be part of this blog tour.

About the author:

Lizzy Dent (mis)spent her early twenties working in a hotel not unlike the one in her first novel, The Summer Job. Soon to be a TV series! She somehow ended up in a glamorous job travelling the world creating content for various TV companies, including MTV, Channel 4, Cartoon Network, the BBC and ITV. She writes about women who don't always know where they're going in life, but who always have fun doing it. The Setup is her second novel.

Oath Bound (Wolf of Kings Book One) by Richard Cullen

 

Oath Bound (Wolf of Kings Book One) by Richard Cullen.

Published 5th August 2021 by Aries, Head of Zeus.

From the cover of the book:

The champion of a dead king has nothing left to lose... And nothing more to fear.

Hastings, 1066. Styrkar the Dane stumbles wounded and delirious from the corpse-strewn battlefield of Senlac Hill. He has watched his king butchered at the hands of foreign knights, seen his countrymen defeated in battle, and he will not stop until there is a reckoning.

Styrkar embarks on a bloody quest to avenge his dead master, becoming an outlaw in the wilds and earning a fearsome reputation.

When a Breton knight seeks to track down this fugitive and make his own name, he can little envisage the task he has set himself. For Styrkar, the Red Wolf, last surviving housecarl to King Harold Godwinson, will carve the story of his vengeance in Frankish flesh... or die in the attempt.

***********

Styrkar the Dane, known as Red Wolf, was taken from his homeland as a boy to serve as a slave for Norse King Harald Sigurdsson. He never expected that a twist of fate would lead him to becoming the loyal housecarl and champion of the Saxon King Harold Godwinson, but he learned to love the man who gave him his freedom and taught him how to fight.

When 1066 brings a new conqueror to English shores in the form of Duke William from Normandy, and Harold's army is defeated on Senlac Hill at the Battle of Hastings, Styrkar loses everything he holds dear once more. Staggering from the battlefield, his only wish is for revenge against the Normans that have stolen his future, and he embarks on a one man quest to kill as many of these invaders as he can. 

Living as an outlaw, the Red Wolf earns a fearsome reputation, until a Breton knight called Ronan takes it upon himself to track Styrkar down to make a name for himself. What does fate hold for Styrkar now?

This is a story set against an extremely turbulent and bloody period of English history, and you can feel the push and pull of all the different influences that shaped the country at this time right from the word go, with enemies both within and without its borders vying for dominance. Cullen takes us through the transition from Saxons under King Harold Godwinson, to the Norman era with William the Conqueror on the throne, mixing in plenty of shenanigans on the part of Norse and Welsh parties too - all driven by one of the strongest motivating factors there is, ambition. I don't think I have read anything that shows so well how much resistance there was to Norman rule in the years following 1066, and I found it particularly interesting to view things through the eyes of the losing Saxon side - after all, history is normally written from the point of view of the victor.

Styrkar, our sort-of-protagonist, is an unusual character to propel a story of this kind. For a start, he is Danish, by way of Norway, which makes him an anachronism as a Saxon champion. He is a tricky man to warm to, but his role as something of an outsider actually allows Cullen to take a good hard look at the way both sides behave in times of war - no one really comes out of this well, which I think makes it quite an accurate portrayal of the shifting nature of allegiances, the every present risk of betrayal, and the self-serving behaviour that characterises the lay of the land when the game of thrones is in play. 

Even Styrkar finds himself engaging in less that honourable behaviour in pursuit of his campaign of vengeance, before he comes to realise that perhaps there might be another way to live. I liked how Cullen highlights that for the people at the bottom end of the social scale it matters little who claims the right to be your king, and you can find yourself at the pointy end of a sword (and worse) from forces on both sides of the conflict merely by trying to survive in troubled times. There is something intrinsically timeless about that!

There is plenty of excitement of the clash of iron in these pages, and Cullen writes about the bloody moments of battle with an intensity that takes you right into the action. He holds nothing back about the brutality of the victorious either, eschewing the notion of romantic ideas about chivalry. This all adds to create an authentic feel to the the backdrop against which he weaves Styrkar's fictitious story. This is very much a page-turner of a historical fiction adventure, and the characters certainly hold your interest throughout its 400 pages with ease, as the plot moves back and forth between Styrkar's story and his Norman enemies. I would really like to have seen an appendix from Cullen talking about the historical context of this novel and what drew him to both this period and the character of Styrkar, as this would have rounded off the book nicely, so it is a shame that this is missing - a historical note is often one of my favourite parts of this kind of book. I did also have a slight issue with the use of Normans and Franks as interchangeable terms, speaking as someone from Norman stock, but admit that is unlikely to bother most readers.

I love a meaty historical adventure you can get your teeth into, and Richard Cullen has crafted a very tasty morsel here in Oath Bound. He also contrives an intriguing ending to this story, which creates a very nice little hook into where Styrkar must go in his next Wolf of Kings adventure, Shield Breaker. I look forward to seeing where the story goes next!

Oath Bound is available to buy now in paperback and ebook formats. 

The story continues in Shieldbreaker, which is available to buy now as an ebook.

Find out more about the series and buy the books HERE.

Thank you to Aries for sending me a paperback copy of Oath Bound in return for an honest review, and for inviting me to be part of this blog tour.

About the author:

Richard Cullen originally hails from Leeds in the heartland of Yorkshire. Oath Bound, his debut historical adventure novel, was longlisted for the Wilbur Smith Adventure Writing Prize 2022. As well as being a writer of historical adventure, he has also written a number of epic fantasy series as R.S. Ford. 

After Paris by Nicole Kennedy

 

After Paris by Nicole Kennedy.

Published 21st July 2022 by Aria, Head of Zeus.

From the cover of the book:

Three best friends. A weekend away. And a whole lot of baggage.

Alice, Nina and Jules have been best friends for twenty years. They met in Paris and return there once a year, to relive their youth, leave the troubles of home behind, and indulge in each other's friendship and warmth. 

But this year, aged thirty-nine, the cracks in their relationships are starting to show...

After their weekend together in Paris, the three women never speak again. Each claims the other two ghosted them. 

But is there more to the story?

***********

Alice, Nina and Jules have been friends for twenty years, after meeting during a debutantes' ball at the swanky Hôtel de Crillon in Paris. In the following years, they have taken annual trips to Paris to relive their youth, but it is getting harder to ignore the fact that the different directions their lives have taken means they have gradually grown apart.

This year, the weight of all the baggage that has built up over time leads to significant cracks in their relationships. Each of them is consumed by their own problems, but unable to share what troubles them, and the reunion is a disaster. Although they arrived together, they make solo journeys home, and the many misunderstandings that have arisen lead to them falling out of contact. What happened to their friendship?

We first meet Alice, Nina and Joules in 1999 when they bond over their desire to escape from a fancy debutante ball. The story then plays out over the years, cutting back and forth between significant episodes of their annual visits to Paris, and their disastrous reunion twenty years later. Kennedy slowly weaves together the many threads about how their visits to Paris have changed their ability to confess their true feelings to each other, and very cleverly uses this to show of how the cummulative 'after Paris' ripples break their friendship.

My goodness, there is a lot to unpack in this novel. What starts as an intriguing look at privilege via a youthful escapade behind the scenes of one of the events of the Parisian social calendar, burgeons into a story that delves deeply into how our pasts, and the twists and turns of modern life, affect the decisions we make.

Alice, Nina and Joules are from very different backgrounds, and in many ways their expectations and opportunities are poles apart. There is genuine warmth and tenderness between them, but as the years go by they find themselves telling lies and putting up barriers that really complicate how they relate to each other, and their partners and families. The excuses they make (especially to themselves) are based on good intentions, and are the kind of ones we have all made at some time or another. This makes these women and their dilemmas very relatable, and Kennedy shows real insight into the dynamics of close female friendships as the tale unfurls. I like how she paints these women in authentic shades of grey, balancing out their positive and negative emotions, and their strengths and vulnerabilities. There are times when you do not like them or what they are doing, dying to tell them to stop and think; and others when you feel such empathy for the situations they find themselves in that you want to enfold them in a hug. It makes them seem curiously real somehow.

I am not about to go into the veritable buffet of themes Kennedy touches on in the telling of this tale, as there is real enjoyment the way in which she employs them through such a character driven story. I particularly enjoyed how she explores motherhood, father-daughter relationships, and female addiction, but there is so much more to ponder on too - and she has some very thought-provoking things to say about neuro-diversity, especially in adults. 

This has all the secrets, lies and drama you want from a compelling summer read, but it also takes you to some unexpectedly deep and poignant places.

After Paris is available to buy now in hardcover, ebook, and audio formats.

Buy links:     Waterstones     Amazon

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

About the author:

Nicole Kennedy grew up in Essex. She was the first person in her family to go to university, and won a place to study Law at Bristol. 

During Nicole's second maternity leave she began writing poems and rhymes on motherhood and family life, which she posted to her blog 'The Brightness Of These Days'. She completed her first novel during her third maternity leave (because by then it was easier than leaving the house). 

Nicole lives in Kent with her husband and three sons.

At Bertram's Hotel (Miss Marple) by Agatha Christie.

 

At Bertram's Hotel (Miss Marple) by Agatha Christie.

This edition published 22nd March 2018 by Harper Fiction.

From the cover of the book:

A grand old London hotel.
A series of alarming coincidences.
Danger lurking down every corridor.

Impeccable service. Luxurious rooms. Eccentric guests. There are worse places for Canon Pennyfather to find himself stranded than Bertram’s Hotel.

But when he gets his dates in a muddle and attempts to travel to Lucerne a day too late, he unwittingly sets off a violent chain of events.

And Miss Marple is convinced there is more going on than meets the eye.

Never underestimate Miss Marple...

***********

When Miss Marple's nephew Raymond offers to pay for her to have a little holiday, she rejects all suggestions for seas-side situations and countryside climes in favour of a location from her past - Bertram's Hotel in Mayfair.

Miss Marple is astounded to find that the hotel has barely changed from the place she visited in her childhood, still with the luxurious rooms and impeccable service she remembers well, not to mention the kind of food the has long been absent from the menus of more modern establishments. She settles down to enjoy her stay in London with relish in the steady company of wealthy tourists, old-fashioned upper class types, country squires, retired military sorts, and aged clergymen, but before long she starts to feel uncomfortable. There is something not quite right about Bertram's, almost as if this is all some sort of performance.

When Miss Marple's fellow guest, the very forgetful Canon Pennyfather goes missing after mixing up his dates about a conference in Lucerne, a series of events is set in motion that exposes the evil that stalks the corridors of this Hotel. For Bertram's is indeed not quite the respectable concern it appears to be...

In At Bertram's Hotel, we find Miss Marple in a reflective mood as she harks back to her childhood visit to this grand old establishment. Although she finds London itself changed in many ways, she is enchanted to discover that the hotel is very much as she remembers it. However, her mood begins to change once she casts her highly observant eye over the comings, goings, and odd coincidences at Bertram's. 

While Miss Marple sits in the hotel lounge, quietly doing her knitting, and taking everything in as she does, we meet some interesting characters, and Christie being Christie, everyone has a role to play in how the story unfurls. The staff do seem a little shady once you dig under the surface a little, especially the mysterious Mr Humfries, the hotel manager; the unshakable Miss Gorringe on Reception; and Michael "Micky" Gorman, the commissionaire; but it is the guests that really hold your attention, with the daring, and much married, Lady Bess Sedgewick; the young, pretty Honourable Elvira Blake; and dotty Canon Pennyfather central to the story. Add in a thoroughly dirty dog in the form of handsome racing driver Ladislaus Malinowski; and wily old Chief-Inspector Fred "Father" Davy, and we have the makings of something really rather special.

Beyond the confines of the hotel, where Miss Marple's nose for trouble tells her that something dodgy is going on, there is quite a lot of build up around a Scotland Yard investigation into the activities of a criminal gang responsible for a spate of audacious robberies somehow involving the unlikely appearance of pillars of the legal, military, and ecclesiastical communities. "Father" has his suspicions about how this the gang might be operating, but it is not until Canon Pennyfather goes missing that he starts to get ideas around how Bertram's Hotel might be involved and who the brains of the outfit could be. Of course, once he meets the very special Miss Marple and they put their heads together, it becomes possible to get to the bottom of the mystery.

This is rather an interesting story when it comes to Christie, because there aren't really that many red herrings to clear out of the way before the truth emerges. There are mysteries to solve, but ultimately they all point towards the things that you begin to suspect quite early on in the story, and it is just a matter of finding the proof to back up your ideas. The ending is also on the 'threads left hanging' side, which is uncharacteristic of Christie. However, I did enjoy the way the story comes together very much, and there is quite a lot of exciting action and derring-do along the way, which contrasts nicely with the softly-softly nature of Miss Marple's methods.

Miss Marple's way of working is certainly very different to my firm favourite Hercule Poirot's, but I am fast coming to appreciate that how she solves crime is every bit as enjoyable as dear old Hercule's, even though is it much more gentle and circuitous. I love how she plays up the harmless old lady act to her advantage, while secretly being very wise and incredibly sharp at ferreting out wrongdoing, and she definitely has an edge of Poirot when it comes to human nature. It seems Jane Marple is rapidly working her way into my affections!

At Bertram's Hotel is my July choice for the #ReadChristie2022 challenge, as 'a story which takes place on holiday'. As usual, I alternated between reading the book and listening to the audio book, which in this case was beautifully narrated by Stephanie Cole - who does a sterling job with all the many voices, especially Miss Marple herself. Highly recommended if audio books are your thing!

 At Bertram's Hotel is available to buy now in multiple formats.

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.

The Blackbird (David Raker Book 11) by Tim Weaver

 

The Blackbird (David Raker Book 11) by Tim Weaver.

Published 9th June 2022 by Penguin Michael Joseph.

From the cover of the book:

Just before the crash, Cate and Aiden Gascoigne are recorded on CCTV, laughing and happy. Then their car plunges into a ninety-foot ravine.

Within seconds, the vehicle is an inferno - and the Gascoignes are trapped inside.

But when fire crews arrive, they find something impossible:

The vehicle is empty.

Cate and Aiden have vanished.

And only missing persons investigator David Raker can solve the mystery . . .

***********

Two and a half years ago, happily married couple Cate and Aiden Gascoigne were driving along a country lane just off the busy A3 in Surrey, when for reasons unknown their car suddenly left the road, plunged into a deep ravine, and caught fire. Rescuers arrived within minutes, but when they reached the scene of the accident they could find no trace of Cate and Aiden, even though it seemed impossible that anyone could possibly survive the inferno that engulfed their car. The couple have not been seen or heard from since.

Cate's bewildered parents, frustrated by the lack of progress from the police in locating their daughter and her husband, decide to call in successful missing persons investigator David Raker, but at first sight the case seems impossible to solve. How could a couple just disappear in broad daylight?

Raker sets about his painstaking investigation, building up a picture of photographer Cate and web-designer Aiden's lives prior to their disappearance, and looking into the accounts of the two witnesses at the scene. What he finds sends him down a rabbit hole connected to the unsolved deaths of three young women in the north of England, and the sad fate of the detective who tried to get to the bottom of their murders. Raker begins to see a pattern emerging, and what he finds has him very afraid...

Although this is book eleven in the David Raker series, it is my first Raker investigation, and I thoroughly enjoyed it from puzzling start to unsettling ending. There are some references to Raker's previous history, but this can easily be read as a stand-alone thriller.

The story plays out through Raker's eyes as he searches for Cate and Aiden, and from the point of view of various characters connected to the cases of the murdered girls. It takes a while to see how these separate threads relate to each other, which builds in some lovely slow-burn suspense until the moment where the full picture is cleverly revealed. There is an additional side plot involving a character from Raker's past which doesn't directly relate to the story, but is intriguing in terms of past cases, Raker's relationship with the police, and for what Weaver obviously has planned for the next book.

Raker comes across as a complex man, who has learnt from experience that life carries with it hard knocks and difficult decisions, but his overwhelming compassion for the people he is trying to help makes him an engaging character right from the word go. His working practices are methodical and involve a lot of sifting of detailed information, questioning interested parties, and following-up each and every possible lead. Weaver goes to great lengths to take you through the process, piecing together information and making the necessary jumps forward right at Raker's side which I really enjoyed.

This puts in all the groundwork for the gripping direction the story takes when Raker opens an extremely chilling can of worms about what the missing couple have got themselves involved in, putting himself in danger as the sinister truth is uncovered. The tension ramps right up to heart-in-the-mouth country as the story takes you to some very dark places, with delicious misdirection, and the ultimate reveal of the kind of baddies that will haunt your nightmares. 

My first Raker is an absolutely cracking page-turner, with disturbing twists and turns I really did not see coming, and a plot that delivers a solid visceral kick. I loved it, and cannot wait to read more!

The Black Bird is available to buy now in hardcover, ebook and audio formats.

Thank you to Michael Joseph for sending me a proof of this book in return for an honest review.

About the author:

Tim Weaver is the Sunday Times bestselling author of twelve thrillers, including You Were Gone and No One Home. He has been nominated for a National Book Award, twice selected for the Richard and Judy Book Club, and shortlisted for the Ian Fleming Steel Dagger. 

He is the host and producer of the chart-topping Missing podcast and is currently developing an original TV series with the team behind Line of Duty. 

A former journalist and magazine editor, he lives near Bath with his wife and daughter.

The Key To My Heart by Lia Louis

 

The Key to my Heart by Lia Louis.

Published 7th July 2022 by Orion.

From the cover of the book:

Can you ever really find the one after 'the one'?

Some people spend their whole lives trying to find the one. But Natalie had found him - and married him. And then Russ died.

Two years ago, her whole world was shattered. Still now, she feels like she's trying to piece her broken heart back together, one day at a time.

But then she finds a sheet of music - one that only Russ would know - in the piano stool in St. Pancras station where she's secretly been playing for the last few months.

For the first time, Natalie realizes that maybe life does still hold a little magic. And with every note she plays, she feels as if she's unlocking another fragment of her heart...

But will she ever truly find love again after she'd already found forever?

***********

Two years ago, Natalie's life fell apart when her husband Russ died, and she has not been able to move past her overwhelming grief. Living in the tiny cottage that was Russ' dream, with the renovation jobs they were going to do together still undone, Natalie is stuck in limbo and feels numb inside. She finds herself going through the motions with her friends and family just to please them, but has no idea how to move on when she has lost the love of her life.

Once a talented pianist and music teacher, Natalie's musical career is dead in the water after Russ' death, and the betrayal of her former best friend. The only musical comfort she allows herself is secretly playing the public piano at the concourse of St. Pancras station for strangers. But then something odd happens... someone starts leaving sheet music for her in the stool of the piano for songs that were special to her. Who could possibly know about these songs, other than Russ?

Natalie tries to solve the mystery with the help of the employees at the station's coffee shop to no avail, but magically, with each song she feels a little bit of herself coming back to her. She doesn't know if she will ever be ready to love again, but perhaps it is time to at least allow herself to try to feel once more...

I love it when a new Lia Louis book hits the shelves as she is one of my absolute favourite romance authors. True to form, this is a book stuffed to the gills with fabulous characters who simply walk off the page and lead you through a charming story about love, friendship, and new beginnings. I felt myself right at Natalie's side with every little step forward that she takes, urging her to let herself find happiness again, and loved the witty sense of humour that has staunchly stayed with her despite her sorrow - and which also allows for some fabulous banter with a certain someone who becomes her 'stand-in' date... but no spoilers here!

As in all the best stories, the supporting cast have their own trials and tribulations to work through too with lots of really clever cross-over threads around grief, betrayal, and being unable to move forward, which fills out the action nicely alongside Natalie's central tale. I laughed and cried with them all, building up to a full on sob session as the final moments of this beautiful book played out. Everyone needs a little coffee shop like Goode's, the gentle advice of a Shauna, and even the well meaning, if misguided, interference of over-sharing friends and family like Natalie's.

There's such an enchanting air of mystery about this book too, as Natalie tries to fathom out who could possibly be leaving the music for her at St Pancras station, with lots of red herrings as she works through the list of subjects, and a cracking double twist that melted my heart. 

Lia always hits that sweet spot of  elements to tick every heart-warming, humorous, and tear-jerking box on my list of rom-com desires, packing in the perfect amount of emotional depth and satisfying swoonable romance. The Key to my Heart is thoroughly gorgeous on every level, and I think this might just be my favourite Lia Louis book yet!

The Key to my Heart is available to buy now in paperback, ebook and audio formats.

Thank you to Orion for sending me an ecopy of this book in return for an honest review, and so Compulsive Readers Tours for inviting me to be part of this blog tour. I have also purchased a paperback copy.

About the author:

Lia Louis is a writer from Hertfordshire where she lives with her partner and three young children. In 2015, she won ELLE magazine's annual talent competition with her contemporary love letter, #RelationshipGoals. Lia's fascination with letters doesn't stop with her writing: she also has a varied collection of old letters which are a source of inspiration to her. SOMEWHERE CLOSE TO HAPPY is her first novel.

All About Evie (Evie Epworth Book Two) by Matson Taylor

 

All About Evie (Evie Epworth Book Two) by Matson Taylor.

Published 21st July 2022 by Scribner UK.

From the cover of the book:

Evie Epworth is 10 years older. But is she any wiser?

Ten years on from the events of The Miseducation of Evie Epworth, Evie is settled in London and working as a production assistant for the BBC. She has everything she ever dreamed of (a career, a leatherette briefcase, an Ossie Clark poncho) but, following an unfortunate incident involving a Hornsea Pottery mug and Princess Anne, she finds herself having to rethink her future. What can she do? Is she too old to do it? And will it involve cork-soled sandals?

As if this isn’t complicated enough, her disastrous love life leaves her worrying that she may be destined for eternal spinsterdom, concerned, as she is, that 'even Paul had married Linda by the time he was 26’. Through it all, Evie is left wondering whether a '60s miseducation really is the best preparation to glide into womanhood and face the new challenges (strikes, power cuts, Edward Heath’s teeth) thrown up by the growing pains of the '70s.

With the help of friends, both old and new, she might just find a way through her messy 20s and finally discover who exactly she is meant to be....

***********

Following the events of our first adventure with Evie in 1962 in The Miseducation of Evie Epworth, it's time to catch up with her in 1972! Evie has now spent ten years living a groovy life in London, working at the BBC as a production assistant, and she's pretty happy with her lot - until a calamitous misunderstanding over a Hornsea Pottery mug and Woman's Hour special guest-star Princess Anne results in her getting her marching orders.

Evie now has to rethink the direction of her life, and she is completely unprepared. There are just so many choices, and she's not sure if any of them are right for a 26-and-a-half-year-old cosmopolitan city swinger such as herself? And that's another problem, how did she get to be this age without having found Mr Right? She's surely in danger of being left on the shelf at this rate, but so far none of her prospective suitors are up to the mark. As the 70s get underway, it's time for Evie to reassess and discover exactly what she wants from life...

I absolutely loved The Miseducation of Evie Epworth, so it was super exciting to be able to catch up with Evie ten years on from when she set off to London as an adventurous sixteen-year-old, full of hopes and dreams about the future. In many ways this is a much more sophisticated Evie, fully versed in the ways of city life, and she has had a great time making the most of the opportunities the 60s have brought her, but she still carries Yorkshire in her heart. 

It is time for Evie to hold on to her strappy Biba sandals while she navigates a whole new set of challenges in the next stage of her 'coming of age story', and Matson Taylor contrives plenty of humorous and heart-string-plucking situations to carry you along from chuckle-fest beginning to gorgeous tear-jerker ending. He finds plenty to make you think too, especially in the really rather profound way Evie recognises that the 70s might actually belong to the generation coming along behind her.

There are three threads to this story that serve to hit you full on in the feels: Evie's trials and tribulations in 1972; a really poignant story-line around the lovely Mrs Scott-Pym in 1971; and an intriguing look back to the 1950s from the point of view of a character who is not immediately obvious, but who comes into focus later. The three threads weave beautifully together, colliding with heart-wrenching force as the story progresses, and the moments when they touch had me shedding bucket loads of tears. Matson knows exactly how to set the pace perfectly for every moment, slowing things down for a full-on emotional pummelling one minute, and then upping it for a mood-lightening slapstick comedy sketch the next, bringing everything together in one joyous mix that creates absolute gold. Worth a special mention are the boyfriend 'Top Trumps' cards spread throughout the text, which give an amusing, and often tragic, glimpse of Evie's romantic history.

Expect glorious characters, with faces you are very familiar with from the first book (Mrs Swithenbank, how I love you), and some cracking new ones to both love and hate in equal measure - Lolo and Geneviève on the love side, and the truly horrendous, multi-tasselled Griffin on the 'I really hope she gets what's coming to her' other one. And, that young slip of a lad Matson surely has some sort of time travel machine packed away in his leatherette briefcase, because he hits the mark spot on for the look and feel of 1972 throughout - I was barely out of nursery school at the time, but my goodness this is a walk and a half down memory lane, with lashings of popular culture references that took me right back. Oh to be home in time for Hector's House once more!

If you are in any doubt about whether you could possibly love this book as much as the first one, then you really need not worry (if you haven't read the first book then get to it pronto). If anything, this is even better, totally blowing those second novel jitters right out of the water. I adored it!

All About Evie is available to buy now in hardcover, ebook and audio formats.

Thank you to Matson Taylor for sending me a proof of this book, in return for an honest review.

About the author:

Matson Taylor grew up in Yorkshire, but now lives in London.

He is a design historian and academic-writing tutor and has worked at various universities and museums around the world; he currently teaches at the V&A, Imperial College, and the RCA.

He has also worked on Camden Market, appeared in an Italian TV commercial, and been a pronunciation coach for Catalan opera singers.

The Measure by Nikki Erlick

 

The Measure by Nikki Erlick.

Published 7th July 2022 by The Borough Press.

From the cover of the book:

Eight ordinary people. One extraordinary choice.

It seems like just another morning.

You make a cup of tea. Check the news. Open the front door.

On your doorstep is a box.

Inside the box is the exact number of years you have left to live.

The same box appears on every doorstep across the world.

Do you open yours?

***********

One otherwise typical March night, mysterious wooden boxes suddenly appear on doorsteps all over the world. Each box bears the name of its recipient and the cryptic message "The measure of your life lies within". Not a single person over the age of 22 years-old fails to receive one, no matter where they live.

No one knows where they have come from, but inside they all contain the same thing - a length of string made from a curious unbreakable material. At first, their meaning is uncertain, but it soon becomes clear that the length of each string is a representation of the lifespan of each person named. Not everyone chooses to look inside their box, many preferring to simply not know their fate, but for those that do their lives are changed significantly - especially those who become known as the 'short-stringers'.

Through the experiences of eight different, but otherwise ordinary people, we are about to learn the effect of the boxes on the way they are now able to live their lives - especially around the decisions they must make, and the freedoms that are suddenly taken from them...

The concept of this brilliant speculative novel is startlingly simple. A box arrives on your doorstep containing a string that tells you how many years you will live. Do you choose to open you box and try to come to terms with what lies within, or do you leave your fate unknown? Not an easy choice to make, I'm sure you will agree. 

Interestingly, the origin of the boxes bears not a jot of importance in terms of what Erlick cleverly examines in this novel, so the fact that she never explains this is not an issue at all. Instead, this is a tale all about the impact of their very existence on humankind, and she uses this idea to craft an extremely poignant and though-provoking story.

I don't want to go too much into the make up of the characters, as the magic lies in following their very personal stories as they try to deal with the knowledge that the boxes impart, especially those who are set reeling by the discovery that they have distressingly short strings. However, I can tell you that Erlick deftly and sensitively explores the impact of the strings on many aspects of their lives, especially in terms of the relationships between family members, romantic partners, colleagues, friends, and even enemies, and she gives your emotions a thorough work-out in the process.

Beyond the more intimate elements of the tale, this book also delves deeply into the wider societal changes that might happen if it became possible to determine exactly how many years each person would live, particularly the stereotypical behaviour traits that suddenly become attributed to people based on their string length alone, and the discrimination that comes with it. The kind of consequences Erlick proposes are shocking, but at no time do they feel far-fetched, and intriguingly they manage to be an insightful look at the stark reality of bigotry and injustice in wider terms, as well as an unsettling prophecy. As with all the best dystopian tales, it serves to make you think about your own life, and the world you live in as well.

There is an enchanting flip-side to the disturbing vision that Erlick imagines too, and this is where the solid gold charm of this story carries you through from highly imaginitive start to sob-fest ending. For all the madness, grief and loss that this novel throws at you, there is also so much about hope, the strength of the human spirit, friendship, and true love - and these qualities make this book one that works its way into your heart.

This is exactly the kind of book that stands out as one which is ripe for book clubs and juicy little gossip sessions at the water-coolers in offices everywhere. There is so much to discuss around the issues Erlick forces you to ponder about what it is that sums up the measure of a life. Is it just the years we are allotted or actually what we choose to do with them that counts? And of course, the "Would you open your box?" question is sure to be a hotly debated one in itself! 

I loved the whole fabulous debut from start to finish, so completely caught up in the fates of the characters that I spent a good many minutes crying my eyes out when the time came to say good-bye to them. It leaves you with so much to think about too. This is easily one of of favourite reads of the year.          

The Measure is available to buy now in hardcover, ebook and audio formats.

Thank you to The Borough Press for sending me a hardback copy of this book in return for an honest review, and to Random Things Tours for inviting me to be a part of this blog tour.

About the author:

Nikki Erlick is a writer and editor whose work has appeared online with New York Magazine, Newsweek, Cosmopolitan, Harper’s Bazaar, The Huffington Post, Indagare Travel, BookTrib, and Vox Media. As a travel writer, she explored nearly a dozen countries on assignment—from rural villages in France to the arctic fjords of Norway. As a ghostwriter, she’s written for CEOs, entrepreneurs, and academics. She graduated Harvard University summa cum laude and was an editor of The Harvard Crimson. She earned her master's degree in Global Thought from Columbia University. The Measure is her debut novel.

Death In Blitz City by David Young

 

Death in Blitz City by David Young.

Published 7th July by Zaffre.

From the cover of the book:

1942. Hull, East Yorkshire - It is the most heavily-bombed city outside of London - but for the sake of national morale the Hull Blitz is kept top secret. Only the politicians in Whitehall and Hull's citizens themselves know of the true chaos.

Newly-posted Inspector Ambrose Swift cannot believe the devastation he finds. But for Swift and his two deputies - part-time bare-knuckle boxer Jim 'Little' Weighton and Dales farmer's daughter Kathleen Carver - it's murder, not the war, that's at the forefront of their minds.

When a series of sadistic killings is wrongly blamed on locally-stationed black American GIs, Swift, a one-armed former WW1 cavalryman who tours the rubble-strewn city on a white horse, soon discovers these are no ordinary murders. 

The fetid stench of racism, corruption and perversion go to the very top. And for Swift, Weighton and Carver, finding the real killers means putting their own lives at risk - because powerful forces in the US and Britain cannot let the war effort be undermined. Not even by the truth.

***********

Hull 1942. DCI Ambrose Swift, a fish out of water after being posted from London to Hull, is called to the scene of a bombed out street where the body of a young woman has been found. She is clearly the victim of something other than the heavy bombardment the city has been receiving during the Blitz, as her body has been terribly mutilated. 

When more bodies start to turn up, each bearing the marks of a sadistic killer, Swift and his small team of Sergeant Jim 'Little' Weighton and WPC Kathleen Carver uncover a series of clues pointing to vicious racism targetting the Black American soldiers stationed locally, and to worrying corruption among the authorities. It's hard to bring the guilty parties to justice when there are those that would see an innocent man take the blame rather than risk damaging the war effort, but they are determined to get to the truth, no matter what... even if it means putting themselves in danger. 

Death in Blitz City is a highly enjoyable murder mystery set in the city of Hull, during the Blitz. It makes such a refreshing change to see a city other than London as the backdrop for a British war-time adventure, and as Hull was in fact the most heavily bombed city outside London it fits the bill perfectly.

Amid the rubble, Young introduces you to a gaggle of entertaining characters, especially the little team working tirelessly to crack the case in WWI veteran DCI Ambrose Swift, with his prosthetic arm, and troubled history; his larger than life, part-time bare-knuckle fighter sidekick Sergeant Weighton; and the bright young spark WPC Kathleen Carver who is drafted in to help. I will admit to finding Swift a bit of a tricky character to warm to, and his attitudes (however admirable) are a trifle modern given that the book is set in 1942, but I immediately took to Weighton and loved the enthusiastic Carver - and the three of them certainly develop a lovely rapport throughout the story.

The murder mystery element of the book is really rather gritty, with horribly mutilated corpses and the menacing message of 'enemies within', which blends nicely with the underlying fear that characterises a city already living with the horror of German bombing raids. Young holds nothing back about the reality of living in a city during wartime, or the measures that quite ordinary people take in order to survive, and he incorporates some intriguing and far-reaching themes through cleverly conceived plot-lines around the American GI Joes stationed locally, the corruption of local bigwigs, and the perceived necessity to preserve the appearance of good relations between Britain and America. I really liked how this gives you a lot to be getting on with on many fronts - with a complex police procedural that anchors you to the battered shell of Hull; a more melodramatic side with adventurous shenanigans in the local coutryside; and a surprising thread that links the American soldiers over here with the lives they lived at home.

This has the feel of a brand-new war-time police series that could develop into something with real legs, especially if Swift learns to be a bit less stuffy and Weighton and Carver are given more of the limelight. Lots of potential for more absorbing adventures to come!  

Death in Blitz City is available to buy now in paperback, ebook and audio formats.

Thank you to Zaffre for sending me a paperback copy of this book in return for an honest review, and to Compulsive Readers Tours for inviting me to take part in this blog tour.

About the author:

East Yorkshire-born David Young began his East German-set crime series on a creative writing MA at London's City University when Stasi Child - his debut - won the course prize. The novel went on to win the 2016 CWA Historical Dagger, and both it and the 2017 follow-up, Stasi Wolf, were longlisted for the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year. His novels have been sold in eleven territories round the world. Before becoming a full-time author, David was a senior journalist with the BBC's international radio and TV newsrooms for more than 25 years. He writes in his Twickenham garden shed and in a caravan on the Isle of Wight.

Singapore 52 (Ash Carter Singapore Series Book One) by Murray Bailey

Singapore 52 (Ash Carter Singapore Series Book One) by Murray Bailey.

Published 1st September 2017 by Heritage Books.

From the cover of the book:

Chinese New Year 1952

Ash Carter had to leave the Middle East in a hurry. But when he arrives in Singapore he finds himself in the middle of a much bigger problem.

No one knows where, or when, or who but someone is planning an attack. Carter is told to make sure it doesn’t happen. With pressure from politicians and the army and with Chinese Secret Societies watching his every move, he has other plans. 

He is more interested in finding out who killed his friend.

***********

Today, it is my pleasure to bring you my review of the first book in the Ash Carter Singapore series, Singapore 52, to mark the occasion of it becoming permanently free for Kindle readers on Amazon - you cannot get a better bargain that that, dear readers!

Singapore 52 finds Ash Carter running from a spot of trouble in the Middle East in 1952. He has resigned his commission as an officer in the SIB of the British Army following an incident he would rather forget, and made a hasty exit to Singapore after receiving a message from his old friend Tom Silverman asking for his help. When he gets there he finds that Tom has recently been killed in a car crash in the middle of the night on an isolated road. Immediately suspicious that this might not have been an accident, Carter is determined to find out exactly what happened to his friend and why.

Singapore is a small place and Carter's reputation as a first-class investigator has preceded him. Before he can begin his search for Tom's killer, he finds himself drafted by the powers that be into heading up an investigation into rumours of an impending attack, possibly using guns stolen from the military. With pressure from both the political and military authorities to get this sorted as soon as possible, and more than a little interference from the Chinese Secret Societies concerned that Carter will begin poking his nose in their affairs, reassigned Captain Carter has his work cut out for him - especially as his main priority is to get to the truth behind his friend's death.

Meanwhile, Carter is unaware that he has a secret opponent called Jin who is making plays behind the scenes to manipulate him, and of course there is a beautiful woman to distract him from his investigations too...

Having previously read Singapore Killer and Singapore Fire (in which Ash Carter gets up to very exciting shenanigans in Singapore in the guise of a Private Investigator a few years ahead of the events of Singapore 52), it was an absolute delight to go back and get acquainted with the Carter that first set foot in Asia straight out of the Middle East. Having also read the two prequels that Murray Bailey has now written about Carter's time in the SIB in Cyprus and Israel (Cyprus Kiss and The Killing Crew), I found myself in the perfect position to draw on exactly what Carter's life was like when he was still serving in the Army as well. However, you can easily go straight into this book if you have not read any of Bailey's other books, as Singapore 52 is actually the first Ash Carter book that he wrote.

Bailey has an impressive knack of immersing you right into the nitty gritty of the post World War II landscape, and this book does a splendid job of referencing all the many vying interests in Asia at this time, calling on deep rivalries left over from the WWII, the influence of the battles still being fought, and the shifting power plays that hint at the political changes to come - and he ties it all together in the form of a pacy thriller that holds your attention throughout.

There are two main threads to this story, one following Carter's search for his friend's killer and the other the rumoured attack by unknown insurgents, with some lovely little subplots around intrigue and deception that tie them together. Bailey brings in all the evocative vibes of a setting rich in sights, sounds, smells and the clash of cultures that make up the exotic melting pot that was Singapore at this time, using them nicely to enhance the story.

Carter gets himself here there and everywhere as he solves the many mysteries at play, characteristically not always on the right side of the law, making friends and enemies in true righter-of-wrongs style. He is not perfect, and this does get him into trouble at times, but it is always in the name of justice which is just what you need in an engaging protagonist. I particularly enjoy how Bailey pitches Carter to appeal to anyone who loves an intelligent, well-crafted thriller of the Jack Reacher type while still retaining the right feel for a period piece, weaving in a little James Bond and the delicious noir feel of a Sam Spade to somehow bring everything out just right for a 1950's story.

This is a tale full of danger and suspense, with an unsettling whisper of menace from the sinister interjections of the mysterious Jin, who Bailey very cleverly contrives to keep a secret until the end of the story. It certainly kept me guessing, and had me turning the pages faster and faster as everything built to a tense climax when Carter finally puts all the little pieces together.

For me, Bailey has all the elements I look for in a thriller that both entertains and gives you a look at an intriguing period of history, and his books really do deserve to be more widely known. I thoroughly enjoyed stepping back in time with Ash Carter to 1952, and look forward to meeting up again with him very soon as I explore the delights of the Singapore books I have yet to read! 

Singapore 52 is available to buy now in hardback, paperback and ebook formats. It is permanently free as an ebook on Amazon and you can find the link HERE.

You can also find my reviews to the other books I have read by Murray Bailey below:

Singapore Killer (Ash Carter Singapore Series Book 5)

Singapore Fire (Ash Carter Singapore Series Book 6)

Cyprus Kiss (Ash Carter Near East Series Book 1)

The Killing Crew (Ash Carter Near East Series Book 2)

Thank you to Murray Bailey for sending me an ebook copy of this book in return for an honest review, and for inviting me to be part of this blog tour. I have also purchased a paperback copy.

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.