January 2023 Reading Round-Up

2023 is off to a good start with sixteen cracking books - at least a couple of which have already made it on to my books of the year pile. You can find your way to my reviews by clicking on the pictures below:

Death in Heels by Kitty Murphy

Bellatrix by Simon Turney

Dirtby Sarah Sultoon

The Wrong Key by AJ Campbell

Sad Cypress by Agatha Christie

When I First Held You by Anstey Harris

Our Man in Kuwait by Louise Burfitt Dons

Dead Man's Creek by Chris Hammer

Becoming Ted by Matt Cain

The Forgotten Promise by Paula Greenlees

A Winter Grave by Peter May

Jollof Rice and Other Revolutions by Omolola Ijeoma Ogunyemi

So Pretty by Ronnie Turner

The Drift by CJ Tudor

I'll Never Tell by Philippa East

The Dead of Winter by Nicola Upson

More fabulous books up next month!

If you have enjoyed my photographs, please check out my Instagram feed over at @brownflopsy

The Fires by Sigríður Hagalín Björnsdóttir

 

The Fires by Sigríður Hagalín Björnsdóttir.

Translated by Lariassa Kyzer.

Published 1st February 2023 by Amazon Crossing.

From the cover of the book:

After an eight-hundred-year slumber, the volcanoes in Iceland’s most populated region are showing signs of life. Earthquakes dominate the headlines. Echoes of the devastating eruptions in the past stir unease in the people.

Volcanologist Anna Arnardóttir has spent her entire life studying the volcanic powers under the earth’s crust, but even she cannot fathom the catastrophe at hand.

As a series of eruptions threaten most of Iceland’s population, she’s caught off her rational guard by the most terrible natural disaster of all―love. The world as she knows it is about to fall apart, and so is her heart.

Caught between the safety of a nation and her feelings for her children, her lover, and her past, Anna embarks on a dangerous journey to save the lives of the people she loves―and her soul.

***********

It is my absolute pleasure to bring you an extract from The Fires by Sigríður Hagalín Björnsdóttir, as part of the blog tour. Enjoy!

Extract from The Fires by Sigríður Hagalín Björnsdóttir 

This is how it ends.

The earth envelops me, with all her eons, all her 4.5 billion years.

Her weight presses down upon me, steadily and without pity, like the beating of her blazing heart. Laws that spare no one, the dawn of life and its dusk. I am in her power, an insect in her dark, velvety palm.

I try to move my head, but it doesn’t budge. I open my eyes and close them, full of

darkness, once again. Best to keep them closed, to concentrate on just doing that.

Don’t think.

Don’t let my mind wander to the thought that I’m dead, that this is what it’s like to be dead.

It’s not an unreasonable conclusion to draw. And it would solve a lot. Spare me the decisions, be a perfect excuse not to face the things I’ve done. No more sleepless nights, no more tears, no more regret.

Nothing, never, not ever again.

Dust I am, and to dust I shall return, but my mind refuses to let go. It continues its obsessive maundering about the end of the world, projecting images of houses crumbling into black fissures, hovering for a moment on the brink before sinking slowly sideways, settling into the fire with a heavy sigh. Furniture, paintings, photo albums, pianos, microwaves—everything vanishes under the black tongue that protrudes from this red jaw, slithers across the land and destroys every- thing in its path. All the memories and caresses, the children’s drawings and dutifully vacuumed carpets—everything submits to its insatiable hunger and vanishes into the darkness.

It’s beautiful, don’t you think?

Your voice echoes in my head as though you’re right here beside me, your face glows with childlike enthusiasm. You smile at me, and your eyes are full of laughter; my mind knows it’s an illusion, knows you’re not here, but my heart sings with joy anyway, then breaks in that selfsame moment. But at least I got to love.

Stop this, I say to myself. Stop reminiscing and remembering and missing. Stop hyperventilating and wasting what little oxygen you have left—be rational, woman. Put that brilliant mind of yours to use, Homo sapiens—you, the so-called crown of creation. What good is logic to you now? Here you lie, curled like a worm in the womb of the earth, a mouse beneath the moss. An overgrown brain swollen with memo- ries and facts and regrets, formulas and decimals and information and dreams, your worst presumption being that you could differentiate them, that you, in your great wisdom, would be able to fathom the universe. You, who couldn’t even understand your own heart, its simple, universal laws.

This is where it ends, but it’s not where it began.

It all started last winter. Remember?

*********

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

Thank you to Amazon Crossing for sending me a hardback copy of this book, and to FMcM Associates for inviting me to be part of this blog tour.

About the author:

Icelandic author Sigríður Hagalín Björnsdóttir studied history in Reykjavík and Salamanca and journalism at Columbia University in New York. She worked in Copenhagen before moving back to Reykjavík, where she lives with her husband, children, and stepchildren. 

Her bestselling debut, Island (2016), was nominated for the Icelandic Women’s Literature Prize in 2017. 

When she isn’t writing, Björnsdóttir works as a journalist and television news anchor at the Icelandic National Broadcasting Service. Björnsdóttir’s highly anticipated third novel, The Fires, is a bestseller and viral hit in Iceland.

The Dead Of Winter (Josephine Tey Book Nine) by Nicola Upson

 

The Dead of Winter by Nicola Upson.

Published 5th November 2020 by Faber and Faber.

Audio book narrated by Sandra Duncan.

From the cover of the book:

December 1938, and storm clouds hover once again over Europe. 

Josephine Tey and Archie Penrose gather with friends for a Cornish Christmas, but two strange and brutal deaths on St Michael's Mount - and the unexpected arrival of a world famous film star, in need of sanctuary - interrupt the festivities. 

Cut off by the sea and a relentless blizzard, the hunt for a murderer begins.

Pivoting on a real moment in history, the ninth novel in the 'Josephine Tey' series draws on all the much-loved conventions of the Golden Age Christmas mystery, whilst giving them a thrilling contemporary twist.

***********

December 1938: Josephine Tey is preparing for a cosy Christmas in Cornwall with her partner Marta, at the family home of her close friend London-based DCI Archie Penrose, so she is rather surprised when Archie tells her there is going to be a last minute change of venue. 

Instead they find themselves expected to take part in a rather different sort of festive gathering in the grand house on St Michael's Mount, after Archie is given the job of minding a very famous film star for a charity get-together, arranged by his childhood friend Hilaria St Aubyn.

Hemmed in by the sea, and trapped on the island by a severe blizzard, the unlikely group of guests is looking forward to enjoying a traditional country house Christmas. However, Christmas Day brings with it rather more than presents and tradition, when two brutal deaths are discovered. Archie, as the only law enforcement officer on hand in the extreme weather, now has the hunt for a murderer on his hands - and it can only be someone on the island...

Upson creates an intriguing cast of characters to trap together on an island surround by wild seas and freezing weather, with our stalwart detective Archie and his part-time assistants Josephne and Marta rubbing shoulders with aristocracy, the clergy, a journalist, a suburban couple, an heiress with poor taste in companions, and a Hollywood mega-star (who will remain nameless for fear of spoilers). Throw in a few domestic staff, and residents of The Mount, with troubles of their own, and you have all the makings of a fine 'locked-room' mystery - which is exactly what Upson does to perfection.

This is a very fine period murder mystery, with a contemporary twist, told through the narratives of a variety of characters. The pieces of the puzzle come together slowly and the story keeps you guessing in the most enjoyable fashion. There is clever misdirection, and some lovely red herrings to throw you off he scent, and Upson uses the isolated location and extreme weather to enhance the feelings of claustrophobia and menace beautifully. Interestingly, she gives the game away about part of the story right at the beginning, but leaves you completely in the dark in other ways, so you really do not know who to trust among the likely group of suspects.

I love the way Upson brings in so many themes to her books, and this one is overflowing with threads that delve into difficult relationships, family ties, and sins of the past. She uses the Christmas setting to give her characters pause, reflecting both on the past, and what the future might mean for them all - especially with the threat of war in the air. Most poignantly, is Archie's recollections about a shocking murder scene eighteen years before, of which he is somehow reminded by one of the murders he must now solve. There are lovely moments between Josephine and Marta too, as they face the prospect of being parted, and as always, Josephine's friendship with Archie is emotional gold.

One of my favourite things about Upson's books is the way she combines fact and fiction, putting real world people into her stories in a way that makes them seem so natural, and creating delightful interplay between the factual and fictional characters - and the very famous Hollywood actress that appears in this one is a stunner, alongside the usual magic she weaves with novelist Josephine Tey. Her murderers are also complex and painted in shades of grey, and this book in particular made me shed many tears when Archie finally uncovers what lies behind the tragic events that play out in these pages.

I have to say a word about the incredible audio book narrated by Sandra Duncan, which kept me going with the story during the times I could not hold the physical book in my hands. Duncan's narration is wonderful, and she voices the characters so well that it almost feels as though you are listening to a ensemble piece. This is the first time I have listened to one of Upson's books, rather than sticking with the physical format, but it will not be my last - Duncan brings the story alive beautifully!

The Josephine Tey series of books by Nicola Upson evokes all the things about Golden Age crime stories that I adore, and The Dead of Winter is my favourite one yet.

The Dead of Winter is available to buy now in hardcover, paperback, ebook and audio formats.

Thank you to Faber and Faber for my gifted hard back copy. I also purchased the splendid audio book.

About the author:

Nicola Upson is the author of numerous previous Josephine Tey mysteries, including An Expert in Murder, and two works of nonfiction. She has worked in theater and as a freelance journalist. A recipient of an Escalator Award from the Arts Council England, she splits her time between Cambridge and Cornwall.

I'll Never Tell by Philippa East

 

I'll Never Tell by Philippa East.

Published 5th January 2023 by HQ.

From the cover of the book:

Keep your family close, and your secrets closer…

To the outside world, the Goodlights are perfect.

Julia is a lawyer, Paul a stay-at-home dad who has dedicated his life to helping their daughter Chrissie achieve her dreams as a talented violinist.

But on the night of a prestigious music competition, which has the power to change everything for Chrissie and her family, Chrissie goes missing.

She puts on the performance of a lifetime, then completely disappears. Suddenly every single crack, every single secret that the family is hiding risks being exposed.

Because the Goodlights aren’t perfect. Not even close.

***********

The Goodlights seem to be living the good life in the leafy suburbs of Oxford. Julia is a high-flying lawyer, leaving all things domestic to her stay-at-home husband Paul, who has been nurturing their daughter Chrissie in her dream to become an accomplished violinist.

On the night of an important performance for the Young Musician of the Year competition, Chrissie goes missing after wowing the audience with her talent. Her parents are frantic with worry, but she seems to have vanished into thin air.

As a police investigation proceeds, the cracks in this family begin to show, and their dirty little secrets come to light. Perhaps their life is not so perfect after all?

The story plays out from the points of view of Julia and Paul, flipping between the events in the weeks leading up to the night Chrissie goes missing, and the aftermath of her disappearance. East does a splendid job of directing you how to think about what Julia and Paul have been up to, dropping subtle little hints about the dynamics of the relationships between the Goodlights, and also with Julia's affluent parents Celina and Duncan. However, among the truth there is a lot of clever misdirection, and ultimately the story twists in unexpected ways, completely changing your perspective on the characters.

This is very much an unsettling family drama, with story lines steeped in secrets and lies, but what is most striking about it is the way East draws on her own experience as a clinical psychologist to get under the skin of these characters and explore the reasons why they behave as they do. She examines dysfunctional relationships with keen insight, threading themes of control, insecurity, and expectation throughout. The adult characters are all unlikable, but I found it fascinating to see how they were trapped in patterns of behaviour that they seemed unable to break free from, playing their parts in a way that damaged themselves and those around them. Celina is particularly interesting, as there is a lot to delve into behind that elegant facade!

One to devour in a single sitting, before a calming lie down in a darkened room! 

I'll Never Tell is available to buy now in paperback, ebook and audio formats.

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

About the author:

Philippa East is a fiction writer with HQ/HarperCollins and she also works as a clinical psychologist.

Philippa grew up in Scotland before moving to Oxford and then London to complete her clinical psychology training. A few years ago, she left the NHS to set up her own part-time practice and dedicate more hours to writing. The result was her debut novel LITTLE WHITE LIES, which was longlisted for The Guardian's Not-The-Booker Prize and shortlisted for the CWA "New Blood" Award 2020.

Released in 2021, Philippa's second book SAFE AND SOUND is another twisty and compelling tale. For a fun preview, check out the video trailer on Philippa's Amazon Author page (best with sound on!). Philippa’s brilliant third book, I'LL NEVER TELL, will release in January 2023. 

Philippa now lives in the beautiful Lincolnshire countryside with her spouse and cat. She loves reading (of course!) and long country walks, and she also performs in a local folk duo called The Miracle Cure. Alongside her writing, Philippa continues to work as a psychologist and therapist.

The Drift by C.J. Tudor

 

The Drift by C.J. Tudor.

Published 19th January 2023 by Penguin Michael Joseph.

From the cover of the book:

Survival can be murder . . .

Hannah awakens to carnage, all mangled metal and shattered glass. Evacuated from a secluded boarding school during a snowstorm, her coach careered off the road, trapping her with a handful of survivors.

Meg awakens to a gentle rocking. She's in a cable car stranded high above snowy mountains, with five strangers and no memory of how they got on board.

Carter is gazing out of the window of an isolated ski chalet that he and his companions call home. As their generator begins to waver in the storm, the threat of something lurking in the chalet's depths looms larger.

Outside, the storm rages. Inside each group, a killer lurks. But who?

And will anyone make it out alive? . . .

***********

In a dystopian near future, ravaged by an infection that has brought the world to its knees, three groups of people are battling for survival...

Hannah wakes up in the wreckage of a coach that was taking a group of elite students to a refuge in the mountains, after the infection found its way to the Academy. Trapped in a snow drift, the survivors are caught between the need to escape from a death trap, and the almost non-existent chance of making it through the blizzard that rages outside. 

Meg awakens to find herself trapped in a freezing cable car, stranded high in the mountains. Her companions are complete strangers and no one remembers how they got here, although they all claim to be brought together for a single purpose. Can they find a way to make it to safety?

Carter and his companions call a remote chalet in the mountains their home. A storm is raging outside, and their generator is failing. Their options are limited, but they must find a way to contain the danger in the basement that will unleash itself if the power goes out.

To make matters worse, a killer lurks within each group. Will any of them survive?

This one of those books that I was in high anticipation of as soon it was announced - and all those months of waiting have not been in vain, dear readers!

In The Drift C.J. Tudor turns her deliciously twisted imagination in a direction that beautifully combines the darkness of her thriller novels with the near-future dystopian nightmares that she visits in her short stories. It is a combination that I am very much in favour of, made all the more delectable by the fact that Tudor makes the utmost best of the isolating atmosphere of a snowy landscape - one of my favourite things to read about.

Beginning with a prologue that told me I was in for something horrifically special, the story flips back and forth between the three murderous scenarios. You gradually get to know the characters in each group, as they try to navigate the odds that are stacked against them - for as long as they survive, that is. The body count is high, and it is impossible to guess who is responsible for knocking off their fellow survivors in each group, until almost the end of the story, when the separate threads collide in the most brilliantly contrived way... but no spoilers here.

This is Tudor at the absolute top of her bloody game, with a story that has everything you need from a genuinely terrifying horror novel, and all the claustrophobic menace of her previous books. She uses the inhospitable conditions of the environment to perfection, and maxes out the danger quota by bringing in stumbling blocks of the human (and inhuman) kind too. The way she misdirects you is a work of genius, and although three stories to follow might seem a little overwhelming, they fit together with accomplished flair to make a whole that is cleverly threaded with echoing themes of loss, betrayal, and family.

I swallowed this whole, unable to look away for a second, and now I am bereft that I must wait for new book from Tudor's wicked imagination. 

The Drift 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. I also bought a hardback copy of this book.

About the author: 

C. J. Tudor's love of writing, especially the dark and macabre, started young. When her peers were reading Judy Blume, she was devouring Stephen King and James Herbert.
Over the years she has had a variety of jobs, including trainee reporter, radio scriptwriter, dog walker, voiceover artist, television presenter, copywriter and, now, author.

C. J. Tudor's first novel, The Chalk Man, was a Sunday Times bestseller and sold in over forty countries. Her second novel, The Taking of Annie Thorne, was also a Sunday Times bestseller as was her third novel, The Other People. All three books are in development for TV. Her fourth novel, The Burning Girls, was a Richard and Judy Book Club selection and has been adapted for television by award-winning screenwriter Hans Rosenfeldt (creator of The Bridge and Marcella). It will debut on Paramount Plus in 2023. The Drift is her fifth novel and has also been optioned for the screen. C.J. Tudor is also the author of A Sliver of Darkness, a collection of short stories.

She lives in Sussex with her family.

So Pretty by Ronnie Turner

 

So Pretty by Ronnie Turner.

Published 19th January 2023 by Orenda Books.

From the cover of the book:

Fear blisters through this town like a fever…

When Teddy Colne arrives in the small town of Rye, he believes he will be able to settle down and leave his past behind him. Little does he know that fear blisters through the streets like a fever. The locals tell him to stay away from an establishment known only as Berry & Vincent, that those who rub too closely to its proprietor risk a bad end.

Despite their warnings, Teddy is desperate to understand why Rye has come to fear this one man, and to see what really hides behind the doors of his shop.

Ada moved to Rye with her young son to escape a damaged childhood and years of never fitting in, but she’s lonely, and ostracised by the community. Ada is ripe for affection and friendship, and everyone knows it.

As old secrets bleed out into this town, so too will a mystery about a family who vanished fifty years earlier, and a community living on a knife edge.

Teddy looks for answers, thinking he is safe, but some truths are better left undisturbed, and his past will find him here, just as it has always found him before. And before long, it will find Ada too.

***********

Teddy Colne arrives in the quiet little town of Rye, another move in the endless cycle of trying to escape his father's notoriety. He is attracted by a notice in the window of the local antique shop, Berry and Vincent, advertising for an assistant, and is delighted when he is offered the job.

What Teddy does not know is that Berry and Vincent is not your ordinary curio shop. It is certainly full of curious objects, but they are almost entirely of the gruesome and sinister variety. From his first day on the job he is stuck by a weird feeling that there is something not quite right about the shop, or its silent proprietor Mr Vincent. His misgivings are confirmed by almost every other resident in Rye, with their warnings to keep as far away as possible from Berry and Vincent... but something about the shop calls to him, and he finds himself unable to keep away.

Single mum Ada is also a relative newcomer to Rye. Fiercely protective of her six-year-old son Albie, she wears her desperate need for human contact on her sleeve, but finds it difficult to make friends. Their new start in Rye has not been a success, and Ada and Albie remain outsiders. Ada seems to be the only Rye resident willing to enter the unwelcome environs of Berry and Vincent, even though it is a place that scares her.

When Ada meets the new assistant Teddy, these two lonely, vulnerable people strike up an unlikely friendship. Both of them are warmed by the companionship of another human being after their difficult starts in life, but the shadow of Berry and Vincent has them in its grip. Mr Vincent knows only too well how to exploit the weaknesses in others to get what he wants... and he wants them both for his collection.

Ronnie Turner knows how to call on your darkest fears and weave them into a cracking little thriller that evokes all the shady, half-remembered echoes of your worst nightmares. In Berry and Vincent, Turner creates a worthy repository for evil, and at the centre of the lair sits the silent Mr Vincent, who has been playing his wicked little games in Rye for more than fifty years. At first this quiet town promises a haven for the seemingly fragile Teddy and Ada, but there is a darkness that holds Rye and its inhabitants in its sway, and there is a feeling that it has drawn them both here.

Turner enhances the unsettling vibes by using twisted small town dynamics to perfection, playing with the unwillingness of the locals to speak openly about their fears. She inserts half-heard snippets of gossip about the newcomers Ada and Teddy in the text that reinforce their 'otherness', and you have a sense that despite the muttered warnings, the residents of Rye are willing to sacrifice the pair to the wickedness that lies within Berry and Vincent to save themselves. 

Turner's writing is delicious. Her use of imagery is stunning, and the over-arching atmosphere of menace gets uncomfortably under your skin like an itch you cannot scratch. I adore how she weaves her themes in this story. I have to be careful of spoilers here, but there is so much that impressed me about the way she uses unresolved childhood trauma, disturbed mental health, and the notion that people can carry within them an inherited capacity for evil that cannot be denied. There is lovely stuff about the media frenzy and disturbing cult following that grows up around the perpetrators of grave crimes, and how this affects their families too. I have to mention here Turner's highly entertaining running gag about Hastings, which gave some humorous relief amongst all the darkness, and really made me chuckle!

This book has every single element that makes it first-class literary horror, combining lashings of Gothic vibes with thought-provoking contemporary themes about identity, and nature vs nurture. It is by far the creepiest book I have read in a good long while, and I loved every spine-tingling second.

So Pretty is available to buy now in paperback and ebook formats, and direct from Orenda Books HERE.

Thank you to Orenda Books for sending me a proof 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 author:

Ronnie Turner grew up in Cornwall, the youngest in a large family. At an early age, she discovered a love of literature and dreamed of being a published author. Ronnie now lives in Dorset with her family and three dogs. In her spare time, she reviews books on her blog and enjoys long walks on the coast. Ronnie is a Waterstones Senior Bookseller.

Jollof Rice And Other Revolutions by Omolola Ijeoma Ogunyemi

 

Jollof Rice and Other Revolutions by Omolola Ijeoma Ogunyemi.

Published 19th January 2023 by Trapeze.

From the cover of the book:

Nonso, Remi, Aisha, and Solape forge an unbreakable bond at a Nigerian boarding school, where we meet them for the first time in the middle of a riot. The uprising triggers a chain of unforeseen events, forever altering their lives.

Through a set of interlocking stories - traversing seamlessly through different voices between Nigeria and the US - Jollof Rice and Other Revolutions provides a window into the past, present, and future for a generation of Nigerian women.

We meet Solape's mother, whose life was irrevocably altered by the fallout of the school riot years before. We see Nonso grapple with the world outside Nigeria when she moves to America having fallen in love with an African-American man. We meet Remi's future husband, Segun, in the Bronx as he becomes entangled with the police. Meanwhile, Aisha's overwhelming sense of guilt about what happened the night of the riot haunts her, until she sees a chance to save her son's life and, through her sacrifice, redefine her own.

***********

Jollof Rice and Other Revolutions is an amazing collection of inter-connected stories revolving around a group of four Nigerian school friends - Nonso, Remi, Aisha, and Solape - whose lives are shaped by tragedy. 

Intriguingly, the collection actually begins with a story that takes place between 1897 and 1931, well before the birth of our central characters, giving fascinating insight into what is to come, through the history of a remarkable woman called Adaoma. The four friends are then introduced to you during their school days, in a deliciously entitled story that gives its name to the collection.  

The following eight stories, all with very clever titles, take you through the passage of time with vignettes on the lives and families of the four friends, sandwiched between the aforementioned historical tale, and a really thought-provoking speculative near-future piece. They are all different in style, content, and sometimes location, but they fit elegantly together, linked through the stunning use of echoing themes that flay you to the emotional bone. There are way too many themes to mention in a review, but some of my favourites cover different facets of parenthood, inter-generational conflict, marriage, identity, guilt, sacrifice, and duality. My favourite story is Goody Goody, which made me sob, but each and every one is superb in its own way.

Ogunyemi clearly draws from her own experience as a woman with a foot in two cultures in writing this book, as someone born and raised in Nigeria, but living and working in America. This comes through strongly in many of the stories, especially those about identity, and the constant push and pull of expectation from two different traditions. This brings a striking intimacy to many of the thoughts and feelings of the characters.

Ogunyemi's writing is simply beautiful, her prose is mesmerising, and the image she conjures of these women taking control of their destinies is glorious. I absorbed this gem of a collection in one delicious bite!

Jollof Rice and Other Revolutions is available to buy now in hardcover, ebook and audio formats.

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

About the author:

Omolola Ijeoma Ogunyemi was born and raised in Ibadan, Nigeria. A finalist for the 2009 PEN/Studzinski Award, her stories have been published in New Writing from Africa 2009 (a collection of PEN/Studzinski Award finalists’ stories), Ploughshares, and mentioned in The Best American Short Stories 2018. Her poetry has appeared in the Massachusetts Review, the Indiana Review and Wasafiri. She graduated from Barnard and UPenn with bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees in computer science. Omolola is a Professor of Preventive and Social Medicine at Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science in South Los Angeles, where she teaches and conducts research on using biomedical informatics to reduce health disparities. She lives in California with her husband.

Jollof Rice and Other Revolutions is her first book. It was selected as a New York Times Editors Choice (October 20, 2022), made The New Yorker's list of "Best Books of 2022 So Far," was a Los Angeles Public Library pick for "Best of 2022: Fiction," and was the October 2022 selection for Roxane Gay's Audacious Book Club with Literati.

A Winter Grave by Peter May

 

A Winter Grave by Peter May.

Published 19th January 2023 by riverrun.

From the cover of the book:

A TOMB OF ICE

A young meteorologist checking a mountain top weather station in Kinlochleven discovers the body of a missing man entombed in ice.

A DYING DETECTIVE

Cameron Brodie, a Glasgow detective, sets out on a hazardous journey to the isolated and ice-bound village. He has his own reasons for wanting to investigate a murder case so far from his beat.

AN AGONIZING RECKONING

Brodie must face up to the ghosts of his past and to a killer determined to bury forever the chilling secret that his investigation threatens to expose.

Set against a backdrop of a frighteningly plausible near-future, A Winter Grave is Peter May at his page-turning, passionate and provocative best.

***********

Scotland, 2051. The body of an investigative journalist is found frozen in the ice on the mountains near Kinlochleven by a young meteorologist, sparking a police investigation.

Cameron Brodie, a seasoned Glasgow detective, is sent to investigate the death, in the company of a pathologist Dr Sita Roy. This is an investigation he was reluctant to accept, despite the fact that his mountaineering expertise makes him the ideal candidate, but the bad news he has just received means he now has a very personal reason for being in Kinlochleven.

Climate change makes the Scottish highlands a treacherous place to be. However, the weather does not seem to be the only unpredictable thing hampering the investigation, and Brodie and Roy find themselves in grave danger once they establish that the journalist's death was the result of foul play. What was he up to in this remote spot, and why did someone want him dead? Can Brodie get to the truth, and tie up his own loose ends, before his fate is sealed?

Set in a dystopian near future, where climate change has drastically changed to face of the earth, A Winter Grave is an absolutely gripping combination of cli-fi thriller and police procedural that kept me glued to the page from beginning to end.

Brodie is a man who is desperate to make amends for the choices he has made, and this investigation in Kinlochleven offers an unexpected opportunity to try to lay his ghosts to rest. Little does he know how dangerous his visit to the remote Scottish highlands will be. The action moves between the investigation in 2051, and the history of Brodie's relationship with his wife and daughter, building a picture of a gifted detective tortured by the things he has done in the past. As it turns out, his personal agenda is closely connected to how this investigation plays out, and more secrets are about to be exposed than those relating to the case.

May is a master story teller, and he keeps his cards very close to his chest throughout, carefully dropping his reveals with perfectly timed precision. The two strands of the story come together beautifully, upping the tension notch by notch. Events spiral violently out of control, towards an action-packed climax that combines the truth behind the bloody events in Kinlochleven with a shocking confession from Brodie, in a highly enjoyable double whammy of twists... and the ending is sublime!

There is a wealth of glorious themes to delve into in this book. The impact of climate change is central to the story, and it makes for an unsettling backdrop. The future May describes is a bleak one, made all the more chilling by the fact that it is firmly grounded in science. May weaves magic in the way he uses the environment, and extreme weather, building on this framework to enhance the menacing plotlines. The atmosphere of isolation and peril he creates is suburb, and this adds deliciously to the mayhem he has his characters engaging in. Throw in all manner of human frailty, juicy corruption, greed, manipulation, and games of power, and this becomes the kind of book you find impossible to put down. I love how May uses technology in this story too!

I absorbed this book in one tasty bite, as I knew I would at the hands of an accomplished author who knows exactly how to engage his audience with thrills, spills, and visceral emotion. What a book!

A Winter Grave is available to buy now in hardcover, ebook and audio formats.

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

About the author:

Peter May was born and raised in Scotland. He was an award-winning journalist at the age of twenty-one and a published novelist at twenty-six. When his first book was adapted as a major drama series for the BBC, he quit journalism and during the high-octane fifteen years that followed, became one of Scotland's most successful television dramatists. He created three prime-time drama series, presided over two of the highest-rated serials in his homeland as script editor and producer, and worked on more than 1,000 episodes of ratings-topping drama before deciding to leave television to return to his first love, writing novels.

In 2021, he was awarded the CWA Dagger in the Library Award. He has also won several literature awards in France, received the USA's Barry Award for The Blackhouse, the first in his internationally bestselling Lewis Trilogy; and in 2014 was awarded the ITV Specsavers Crime Thriller Book Club Best Read of the Year award for Entry Island. Peter now lives in South-West France with his wife, writer Janice Hally.

The Forgotten Promise by Paula Greenlees

 

The Forgotten Promise by Paula Greenlees.

Published 1st September 2022 by Penguin.

From the cover of the book:

Malaya, 1920: Two girls make a promise in the shadows of the jungle. A promise that life won't let them easily keep.

Malaya, 1941: Ella is running her late father's tin mine in the Kledang hills, while Noor works as her cook. When the war that felt so far away suddenly arrives on their doorstep, Ella is torn apart from her family. Her daughter Grace is left in Noor's care as Japanese soldiers seize the mine.

Ella is forced to make an impossible choice that takes her to England, thousands of miles from home. She is desperate to be reunited with her loved ones. But will the life she returns to be anything like the life she left behind?

***********

Malaya, 1920. Ella and her childhood friend Noor make a promise that they will always by like sisters, but with one the daughter of the household, and the other the child of the family's cook, this will be a difficult vow to keep.

Malaya, 1941. Ella is now a wife and mother, in possession her late father's tin mine with her English husband, Johnnie. Noor has taken her mother's place as the family's cook, and the closeness that once made them inseparable has long since been driven away by the gulf in their social standing.

War is coming to Malaya, but when the Japanese finally invade, everyone is taken by surprise. Ella is separated from Johnnie and her daughter Grace, and forced to flee to England with her baby son. The fate of her husband and daughter is a mystery to her, and she does not know that Grace has been left in the care of Noor, who must do all she can to hide the child's identity from the Japanese invaders when they seize the mine.

Will Ella ever be reunited with her husband and daughter? And what will she find if she is able to return to the land of her birth? 

I really enjoyed Paula Greenlee's debut novel, Journey to Paradise, which was set in post-war Singapore, so I was really looking forward to picking up her follow-up The Forgotten Promise, and being immersed in wartime Malaya.

Greenlees establishes the relationship between Ella and Noor with a poignant episode, which foretells of the harsh realties that will divide these childhood friends, so it is no surprise when the story moves forward to 1941, that we find their association rather different than in former days. Ella and her husband are now successfully running the mine, and Noor is very much confined to the kitchen, as domestic staff. Ella has almost entirely forgotten their promise to be like sisters, and although realistic about the situation, Noor feels sad about the distance between them.

The early part of the story sets the scene of a colony on the brink of war, and paints an authentic picture of the social structure that has forged the gulf between Ella and Noor, despite Ella's mixed heritage. As in Journey to Paradise, Greenlees excels here with rich descriptive writing that beautifully evokes a feeling of time and place - but of course, this is not going to last. Even though the invasion of the Japanese has been anticipated, this is a country completely taken by surprise when it comes, and it brings about the tragic break-up of Ella's family. Ella flees to England with her son, and Greenlees writes with feeling about the experience of a woman torn in two, and completely out of her depth in an unfamiliar country down-trodden by war. Meanwhile, Noor must find a way to survive under Japanese occupation, whilst loyally protecting Ella's daughter from harm. 

The story tends to give more attention to Ella, with Noor's struggle in Malaya taking a smaller share, which I do think is a shame. I found myself wanting much more of Noor and less of Ella to make it more balanced, especially as Noor is by far the most engaging character in the book, and Ella's attitudes make her rather difficult to warm to. There was a missed opportunity to explore the lesser told story of life under Japanese occupation with real depth through Noor's eyes, as a result.

However, there are so many things in this story that Greenlees does spectacularly well, and these show how much her writing has developed since her debut novel. This is a weighty book that comes in at just over 500 pages, and it carries you on a sweeping tide from the Japanese invasion in 1941, through to the post-war period following VJ Day. There is so much history here, and Greenlees has clearly done her research well. The details about the chaotic period immediately following the defeat of Japan is particularly fascinating.

The most striking thing about this book though is the way Greenlees makes this almost entirely the province of the women, against the backdrop of wider world events. It is the emotional side of their story that keeps you turning the pages, and you feel the impact of their heartache, loneliness, and divided loyalties with force. Fear of spoilers prevents me from waxing lyrical here, but I was very impressed with the way in which Greenlees does this so well through the stories of both Ella and Noor, and through Ella's friend Melody, touching on a bevy of themes around women and war. I did guess the twist quite early on in the story, but liked how Greenlees uses this to allude to a factual piece of history she also references in Journey to Paradise, and to bring in a satisfying thread of reconciliation to tie up things nicely at the end.

This is a compelling read, and I really enjoy how Greenlees blends the personal lives of her characters with such engaging history. I look forward to seeing where she turns her attention next.

The Forgotten Promise is available to buy now in paperback and ebook.

Thank you to Penguin 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 author:

Paula has lived in various places, including Singapore, where she was based for three years. It was while living in Singapore that the first seeds of her debut novel, Journey to Paradise, developed. Her writing, although set against exotic backgrounds, is set on the cusp of change – the shift from colonial dominance to independence. She likes to dig into a variety of issues and her main protagonist is, in many ways, a metaphor for the political and social events surrounding her at that time. It isn’t always an easy journey, but in the end, success comes her way. The Forgotten Promise tells the story of Ella, a young Eurasian woman, whose life is turned upside down by the Japanese occupation of Malaya, and it is through her lens and that of Noor, her cook, that the narrative is revealed. 

Paula has always wanted to be a writer. As a little girl she used to spend hours writing stories and turning them into books, even using flour and water as paste to stick the pages together. She spent hours writing poetry and plays as a teenager and has always written short stories in her spare time. It is this need to write and a love of reading that led her to take a degree in English and European Thought and Literature, and later a Masters Degree in Creative Writing. 

As a writer, she feels it is important to have a wide range of interests – not only does it adds flavour and layering to prose, but allows it allows time for ideas to mull and to percolate. People watching in cafés is one, long walks is another, and travel, which has proved to be a little harder in then past couple of years.. Good food is essential to her (you will find lots of food descriptions in her writing) and she loves to cook using the best ingredients she can find. As well as a love of travel, she is a keen amateur photographer and her latest trip took her to Cambodia and she hopes to return to Southeast Asia in the near future. She is currently working on a new 3 book series.

Paula lives in Warwickshire with her husband and an extremely friendly Labrador and you can find out more about her on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. More details HERE.

Becoming Ted by Matt Cain

 

Becoming Ted by Matt Cain.

Published 19th January 2023 by Headline.

From the cover of the book:

A charming, joyful and surprising story about love, friendship and learning to be true to yourself, Becoming Ted will steal your heart.

Ted Ainsworth has always worked at his family's ice-cream business in the quiet Lancashire town of St Luke's-on-Sea.

But the truth is, he's never wanted to work for the family firm - he doesn't even like ice-cream, though he's never told his parents that. When Ted's husband suddenly leaves him, the bottom falls out of his world.

But what if this could be an opportunity to put what he wants first? This could be the chance to finally follow his secret dream: something Ted has never told anyone...

***********

Forty-one-year-old Ted finds himself at a crossroads when his husband, Giles, leaves him for another man. Working in his family's ice-cream business has never been what he wanted to do with his life, but somehow he has never had the heart to tell his parents how he feels - or even that he has never actually liked ice cream.

Boyed on by his enthusiastic best friend Denise, Ted begins to drag himself out the rock-bottom place he is in, and gradually reassess what he wants from life. Was his relationship with Giles really as happy as he thought? Has he spent his life living by the rules of others, rather than being himself? It is time to dust off the secret that he has kept for far too long, and follow his dream!

Becoming Ted is a lovely tale of finding the courage to be yourself, and I am going to be very careful about what I give away here, because where Matt Cain takes you in this follow-up to The Secret Life of Albert Entwistle is an emotional adventure you really need to take for yourself - I promise, it is worth every moment.

Ted is in a low place at the beginning of this tale. His all consuming journey to happiness, through rediscovering his self-confidence and remembering who he is inside, is the spine of this story. However, he has a helping hand from an enchanting cast of characters, who work through their own issues and insecurities along the way too. My favourites are his conflicted friend Denise, who is determined to help Ted achieve his dream, even if her methods might be a little suspect; wise old Stanley, who gives Ted perspective on his problems; and most importantly, Oskar, running from his past in Poland, and with his own journey to make too. The separate threads of their experiences weave together with accomplished flair from Cain, and bring real poignancy and depth to the story. Each character helps Ted find a way to move on from the pain of his past to achieve his destiny, and I love how they all manage to reach a better place by the end of the book too.

Cain writes with heart, humour, and honesty. He weaves some dark themes in this novel around control, betrayal, prejudice, loss, and abandonment; but he balances them beautifully with warmth, love, and friendship. There are secrets, lies, and many misunderstandings to be overcome, but the most uplifting of endings brings romance, forgiveness and reconciliation to the fore in a way that makes your heart sing - and your eyes brim over with tears. Treat yourself to some life affirming loveliness with this warm hug of a book!

Becoming Ted is available to buy now in hardcover, ebook and audio formats.

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

About the author:

Matt Cain is a writer, broadcaster, and a leading commentator on LGBT+ issues.

He was Channel 4’s first Culture Editor, Editor-In-Chief of Attitude magazine, has written for all the major national newspapers, and presented the flagship discussion show on Virgin Radio Pride. He's also an ambassador for Manchester Pride and the Albert Kennedy Trust, plus a patron of LGBT+ History Month.

Matt's first two novels, Shot Through the Heart and Nothing But Trouble, were published by Pan Macmillan. His third, The Madonna Of Bolton, became Unbound’s fastest crowdfunded novel ever before its publication in 2018. His latest, The Secret Life of Albert Entwistle, was published by Headline Review in May 2021 and Becoming Ted will follow in January 2023.

Born in Bury and brought up in Bolton, Matt now lives in London with his partner, Harry, and their cat, Nelly.

Dead Man's Creek by Chris Hammer

 

Dead Man's Creek by Chris Hammer.

Published 5th January 2023 by Wildfire.

From the cover of the book:

Newly-minted homicide detective Nell Buchanan returns to her hometown, annoyed at being assigned a decades-old murder - a 'file and forget'.

But this is no ordinary cold case, her arrival provoking an unwelcome and threatening response from the small-town community. As more bodies are discovered, and she begins to question how well she truly knows those closest to her, Nell realises that finding the truth could prove more difficult - and dangerous - than she'd ever expected.

The nearer Nell comes to uncovering the secrets of the past, the more treacherous her path becomes. Can she survive to root out the truth, and what price will she have to pay for it?

***********

Newly promoted Detective Nell Buchanan is sent to her hometown of Tulong, after the skeleton of a long-dead man is found in unusual circumstances. Her brilliant, but unpredictable, boss Ivan Lucic, remains behind in Dubbo, as a cold case is unlikely to prove the challenge of their tricky investigation among the opal mines of Finnegan's Gap... but appearances can be deceptive.

Small towns can be dangerous places, and Nell has reasons to be reluctant to return home to confront the distance between her and her family - reasons which she has no choice but to examine when more bodies are found that could be connected to her own past.

Opal Country, Chris Hammer's excellent spin-off from his Martin Scarsden series, brought Nell Buchanan and Ivan Lucic together, and their successful pairing in Finnegan's Gap has earned Nell a promotion and a place on Lucic's team. However, there is little to celebrate when she finds herself at the centre of a near impossible search for the perpetrators of crimes that go way back into the history of her home town, especially when she is hampered by a lack of evidence, the presence of some very dangerous characters, and her own connection to the people and place. 

The story unfurls layer by beautifully contrived layer, playing out in the present through Nell's eyes; and the past through the voice of her mother Tessa in the 1970s; broken up with intriguing extracts from the statement of Nell's grandfather James Waters, which guide you to the truth about what happened in Tulong, beginning with his boyhood in World War II. The way the separate threads play out, and eventually collide in the present, is an absolute masterclass in storytelling. I was held spellbound from the intriguing prologue, right through to the astonishing revelations at the climax of this book, and I loved every brilliant second.

This is very much Nell's show, with everything I love about twisty small town dynamics, and the way history can shape families and communities. Lucic remains almost entirely in the background, until all the dirty little secrets and lies that have been consigned to the depths, in more ways than one, are laid bare, and her family's connection to some very uncomfortable history is exposed. And what a lot of history there is to delve into! There is so much here about the bygone times of New South Wales, especially around World War II and the impact of the Vietnam War, which I found fascinating. I learned so much that I did know know about the home front in Australia during those periods, and went down many a rabbit hole in the process, which I always love doing. 

But Hammer does not confine himself to history in this novel. There is plenty to get your teeth into about gritty contemporary issues too, and the way in which the disaffected can be subverted into becoming embroiled in a cause, for good or bad, is used with great effect. 

This is my favourite Hammer yet. It makes for a story that is the very best of Outback Noir in every way, shape, and form. Dead Man's Creek earns a place on my books of 2023 pile, and I cannot wait to see where Hammer takes this series next!

Dead Man's Creek is available to buy now in hardcover, ebook, and audio formats.

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

About the author:

Chris Hammer was a journalist for more than thirty years, dividing his career between covering Australian federal politics and international affairs. For many years he was a roving foreign correspondent for SBS TV's flagship current affairs program Dateline. He has reported from more than thirty countries on six continents. 

Chris's non-fiction book, The River, published in 2010 to critical acclaim, was the recipient of the ACT Book of the Year Award and was shortlisted for the Walkley Book Award. Scrublands, his first novel, was published in 2018 and was shortlisted for the CWA John Creasey Debut Dagger Award, Best Debut Fiction at the Indie Book Awards, and Best General Fiction at the ABIA Awards. It has also been longlisted for the Ned Kelly Best Crime Novel of the Year. Scrublands was optioned for television by Easy Tiger (a Fremantle Media company). 

Chris has a bachelor's degree in journalism from Charles Sturt University and a master's degree in international relations from the Australian National University. He lives in Canberra with his wife, Dr Tomoko Akami. The couple have two children.

Our Man In Kuwait by Louise Burfitt-Dons

 

Our Man in Kuwait by Louise Burfitt-Dons.

Published 20 November 2022 by New Century Publishing.

From the cover of the book:

Kuwait 1960. With Soviet backing Iraq plans to invade.

Gordon Carlisle lives in the expat community of Ahmadi with little to worry about other than when to next don his dinner jacket.

When enlisted by an MI6 agent everything changes.

Even marriage to his beautiful new wife Anita breaks down as he becomes a suspect in a chain of deaths in the Protectorate.

Ian Fleming’s time in Kuwait is recorded at first hand as Britain prepares to meet the Iraqi forces head on with Operation Vantage.

Our Man In Kuwait is a colonial-era thriller set against the background of big power conflict. The ultimate timepiece tinderbox of sun, sex and spies.

***********

Kuwait, 1960. With the rumoured threat of a Soviet-backed Iraqi invasion on the horizon, the expat community of Ahmadi is starting to feel unsettled, although business is mostly as usual. Gordon Carlisle, newly married and working for the preventative medicine division at Southwell Hospital, normally has little to concern him beyond his routine work, visits to the Hubara Club, and the busy round of engagements among his social set. However, his involvement in an investigation into a recent anthrax outbreak has earned him some renown, the nickname 'James Bond of the Desert', and the unwelcome interest of the security services.

Gordon is contacted by an MI6 agent who encourages him to gather information about those who might be sympathetic to the Iraqi cause. Although he is reluctant, he can hardly refuse, and Gordon, being Gordon, he tries to do his best to complete his task. Unfortunately, the consequences of this send his life spinning out of control. His recent marriage after years of singledom to a beautiful, younger woman has already made him the subject of gossip in this close community, and he is now the target of rumours connected to the mentally fragile wife of one of his old friends too. His relationship with Anita is heading for the rocks, as he becomes increasingly bewildered by her suspicious behaviour, and her coolness towards him - and then, to top it all, he finds himself implicated in a brutal murder. It is not the best time to be asked by the powers that be to entertain the famous Bond author himself, naval intelligence officer, Ian Fleming... but perhaps this might be a silver lining to the cloud that is hanging over him?

I was not really sure what to expect of this book. The title suggests a nod to Graham Greene's humorous espionage thriller, Our Man in Havana, but the blurb promises a hard-edged colonial thriller, with an injection of Cold War spy shenanigans. Which would it prove to be? Well, in fact this is a glorious mix of both - an accomplished espionage thriller that thrums with the authenticity of an expat community in the dying days of colonialism, and one which has clever little touches of tongue in cheek sardonic humour among its twisty plotlines. Burfitt-Dons uses her experience as a child growing up in Kuwait in the uncertain era in which story is set, and the real-life friendship that existed between her own father and Ian Fleming, to craft a delicious mix of fact and fiction that holds you fast all the way to a beautifully contrived climax.

Nothing about this time and place escapes Burfitt-Dons' attention, from the over-arching impact of political unrest; religious division; territorial claims; the fear of insurgency; the rival interests of multiple intelligence agencies; and the complexities of divided loyalties. In addition, she immerses you in the nitty-gritty of the domestic arrangements of this community, with their preoccupations with money, status, appearance, and the private lives of their friends and neighbours, bringing in a compelling human element. You find yourself becoming equally caught up in the thriller elements of the story, as you do in the gossip and speculation among the ex-pat community members, and I loved how Burfitt-Dons uses the themes of secrets and betrayal throughout. Everything blends together in a very entertaining whole, and the inclusion of Fleming's visit to advance the plot is genius. 

Gordon is an unlikely hero in this story, with his innate decency and unusual menagerie of creatures, but I became really fond of him as he naively entangles himself in a series of ever more dangerous situations, while trying to do the right thing.  I have my fingers crossed that Burfitt-Dons decides to write a sequel featuring dear old Gordon, because I really want to follow more of his brand of adventures. I am seriously impressed with this mix of baking sun, sex and spies!

Our Man in Kuwait is available to buy now in hardcover, paperback and ebook.

Thank you to Louise Burfitt-Dons for sending me a copy 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 author:

Known for her use of personal experience to write behind the scenes, Louise Burfitt-Dons draws on her Kuwaiti birth and early upbringing in the oil rich State to write her new spy thriller Our Man In Kuwait.

The plot was inspired by certain incidents that took place during 1960 when the expat community was living under threat of invasion by neighbouring Iraq. That same year author and Naval Intelligence freelancer Ian Fleming visited the country and closely befriended her father Ian Byres, the Preventative Health Officer for Kuwait Oil Company. Louise was seven. She remembers vividly the men's shared interest in her father's personal zoo and the ensuing contest between a viper and scorpion on their lounge carpet. The two "Ian"s then went out on one of her father's hawking expeditions into the desert which features in the story. 

Other elements of which she became aware, such as the British double-agent Kim Philby's tour of the Gulf States prior to his defection to the Soviet Union in 1963, helped shape some of the other major characters, Louise's Kuwaiti experience and research features in her earlier books. In The Missing Activist, a private investigator goes undercover to learn about Jihadi brides and the sequel The Killing of the Cherrywood MP sees her tackling the counter reaction to Islamic extremism by the Far Right. In The Secret War she probes links between the Chinese Communist Party and UK universities. 

Louise has also TV thrillers for the Lifetime TV network.