This Family by Kate Sawyer

 

This Family by Kate Sawyer.

Published 11th May 2023 by Coronet.

From the cover of the book:

Mary has raised her daughters in this house. Watched them play and fight and grow up in this house. Today it is the house where she will get married.

The wedding celebrations have brought the fractured family together for the first time in years:
There is Phoebe and her husband Michael, children in tow.
The young and sensitive Rosie, with her new partner.
Irene, Mary's ex-mother-in-law.
And Emma. There, despite all that has gone before.

Set over the course of an English summer's day and punctuated with memories from the past forty years of love and betrayal, hope and joy, heartbreak and grief, this is the story of a family. Told by a chorus of characters, it is an exploration of the intimacies and transgressions that bring us to where we are, the changes that are brought about by time, and what, despite everything, stays the same.

***********

The scattered members of Mary's close family are coming together to celebrate her marriage. Her one wish is that they can lay aside their differences for one day, to make one happy memory in the house that has meant so much to them all over the years. 

Much troubled history has kept these four generations apart, and it will take a lot for them to all be together in one place without the loss, heartbreak and betrayal rising to the surface. Mary hopes that the weight of this occasion will be enough to bring about a healing between them all, but some things are very hard to forgive - even among family.

The story plays out over the course of a single, gorgeous September day, in the house and garden that Mary moved into with her ex-husband many years ago. Her new marriage will be the last chance for her fractured family to celebrate together before she moves on, and it is her one wish that they get along - at least for this day.

As the story follows preparations for the party in Mary's beautiful garden, and the events that follow the wedding, the narration moves back and forth between the characters introducing you to their anxieties about this reunion, and their reflections on the history that lies between them. It does take a little while to settle into the rhythm of the novel, as intriguingly Sawyer chooses to 'show' rather than 'tell' her reader about how the characters actually relate to each other, through flashbacks to the moments that have brought them together, shaped their relationships, and torn them apart. It takes time to get to know the four generations - from great grandmother, grandparents, siblings and young children - but once you get a handle on the family set up, the story pulls you along on an intense tide of emotion that cuts straight to the bone.

Sawyer writes about difficult family relationships to perfection, and I love how she examines the things both said and unsaid that come between the characters. It is the women in this story that are by far the most interesting, and Sawyer's exploration of the relationships between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, mother and daughters, and female siblings is glorious. There are a lot of hard hitting scenes, particularly around loss and betrayal, but it is the small moments that actually have the most power. 

This book really worked its way under my skin, and I loved how Sawyer spins her threads in a way that keeps you on tenterhooks about where the characters will find themselves at the end of the day. There are times when this book has the atmosphere of a play, with the focus of a small ensemble cast moving across a stage, which I loved. For me, the ending was perfect, and I cried a bucket load of tears when the curtain came down. This is an emotive little stunner, and I cannot recommend it to you highly enough if you like beautifully written, multi-generational family dramas.  

This Family is available to buy now in hardcover, ebook and audio formats.

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

About the author: 

Kate was born in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, UK where she grew up in the countryside as the eldest of four siblings, after briefly living with her parents in Qatar and the Netherlands.

Kate Sawyer worked as an actor and producer before turning her hand to fiction. She has previously written for theatre and short-film.

Having lived in South London for the best part of two decades with brief stints in the Australia and the USA she recently returned to East Anglia to have her first child as a solo mother by choice.

Perilous Times by Thomas D. Lee

 

Perilous Times by Thomas D. Lee.

Published 25th May 2023 by Orbit.

From the cover of the book:

IN PERILOUS TIMES LIKE THESE, THE REALM DOESN'T JUST NEED A HERO.
IT NEEDS A KNIGHT IN SHINING ARMOUR.

Sir Kay and his fellow knights awake from their mythical slumber whenever Britain has need of them; they fought at Agincourt and at the Somme. But in these perilous modern times, the realm is more divided than ever, a dragon has been seen for the first time in centuries, and Kay is not the only ancient and terrible thing to come crawling up out of the ground . . .

Perilous Times is a fiercely entertaining contemporary take on the myths of Camelot, which asks: what happens when the Knights of the Round Table return to fix the problems of the modern world?

***********

Who do you need when the realm is in peril? Well, a knight or two, of course! At least that is what Merlin thought. So, when Sir Kay and his fellow Knights of the Round Table are roused from their slumbers under the earth, they are in no doubt that Britain needs a helping hand. Sir Kay and Sir Lancelot have awakened in times of peril throughout history to help Britain fight its foes, including battling at Agincourt and at the Somme, however this time it is not easy to get a handle on exactly who the enemy is in a land ravaged by climate change, scarred by foolhardy schemes, and torn asunder by political division. Can the knights of old really vanquish the problems of the modern world?

Perilous Times is a darkly comic and heartfelt tale that takes the legend of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, and gives it a whole new spin as a cli-fi adventure threaded with magic and mayhem. Here, familiar characters of old arise from their supernatural slumbers to battle present-day villains, but Lee paints them as rather different from the versions celebrated in myth and legend. There is an intriguing sprinkling of some unexpected faces too, such as Christopher Marlowe deliciously channelling his own troubled creation Dr Faustus. This is a clever concept, and it offers an engaging way to explore some very timely, contemporary issues through the story - from environmental catastrophe, to knotty issues around patriotism, racism, immigration, political division, and class divide. 

This is essentially a tale of good against evil, and it thrums with themes of how power corrupts. There are plenty of thrills and spills to keep you occupied as the battle heats up, but also Lee often blurs the barriers between the two, which adds an intriguing complexity to the way events play out. It has the air of a madcap caper, with the modern world clashing delightfully with the old, and I especially liked the fallout of ancient rivalries, years of emotional baggage, and the atmosphere oozing with elemental magic rich in folklore and foretelling. There is a joyously contrived feminist twist too.

As debut novels go, this is impressive, and so much fun. Throughout, I was reminded of Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman, as it captures that spot on mix of humour, heart, and a cracking story in the same way. There is great potential to develop this into a series, and I cannot wait to see what Lee comes up with next! 

Perilous Times is available to buy now in hardcover, ebook and audio formats.

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

About the author:

Thomas D. Lee is an author of fantastical and historical fiction. In 2019 he completed an MA in C reative Writing at the University of Manchester's C entre for New Writing. He has now embarked upon a PhD at the same institution, specialising in queer interpretations of the Arthurian mythos. He frequently considers emulating Merlin and becoming a hermit in the woods who speaks only in riddles.

The Spider (Joona Linna Book Nine) by Lars Kepler

 

The Spider (Joona Linna Book Nine) by Lars Kepler.

Translated by Alice Menzies.

Published 25th May 2023 by Zaffre.

From the cover of the book:

CAN YOU CATCH A KILLER?
OR ARE YOU ALREADY IN THE WEB?

Three years ago, Detective Saga Bauer received an ominous postcard describing a gun and nine white bullets - one of which was intended for her partner, Detective Joona Linna. The sender alleged that Saga was the only person who could save him. But as time passed, the threat faded.

Until now.

A sack with a decomposing body has been found hanging from a tree in the forest. A milky white bullet casing turns up at the scene. When the body count begins to rise, the police realise that the killer is sending riddles, offering them the chance to stop the murders before they happen.

But the police always seem to arrive a moment too late. As they begin to close in, the case becomes more and more tangled. Someone is spinning a fiendishly intricate web, pulling Joona ever closer to a trap he may not be able to escape.

***********

Three years ago, Detective Saga Bauer received an odd package in the mail: a postcard describing a distinctive gun and white bullets, listing an intention to kill nine victims -  with her former partner Joona Linna as the final name on the list. Whoever sent the message made it clear that Bauer held the answers to saving Linna, but she dismissed the claims as a hoax.

Bauer is now struggling to be reinstated on the police force, after events which threaten to end her career. But when a decomposing body is found wrapped in plastic, and a white bullet is found at the murder scene, she is suddenly at the centre of the case. Linna wants Bauer back on his team to help solve the riddles the killer keeps sending, goading the police to work out who the next victim is before their fate is sealed, and her apparent personal connection to the killer is key.

However, both Bauer and Linna's psychological scars, and their closeness to the motivations of the killer, are clouding their judgement. Can they solve this spate of murders before the killer comes for them?

I was first introduced to the work of Lars Kepler, in Joona Linna's last chilling book The Mirror Man, which I loved, so I could not wait to dive into The Spider! This case harks back to two of Linna's earlier stories Lazurus and The Sandman, so you need to be aware that there are spoilers in The Spider. I actually have not read either of them, but this book works well as a standalone - and, in fact, whets your appetite for the earlier books rather than spoiling the surprises.

This is all about the troubling legacy of serial killer Jurek Walter, whose horrific exploits have been kept secret by the authorities. His crimes have touched the lives of both Linna and Bauer, leaving them with psychological injuries that haunt them. A new serial killer is emulating Walter, following his unfinished project by taking out people connected to them both, in a revenge spree that is as gruesome as it is relentless. The past is out to get them, but there is little in the way of evidence to identify the killer.

There is tension galore from the very first page in this intensely gripping mystery, and the suspense ramps up with each new murder, as the clock counts down to the final target - Joona Linna himself. In a bizarre game, each killing comes with a series of clues about the identity of the victim, the location of the crime, and a trail that indicates where the bodies will be found. It takes all of Linna and Bauer's ingenuity to solve them, in a breathtakung race against the clock.

The stories of several charismatic serial killers weave together in this book, and there is no room for squeamishness as Kepler delves into the details of their crimes, and the sinister way they infect others with their darkness. Riddles abound, and I thoroughly enjoyed the way Bauer and Linna approach solving them in their own way, heading off into separate directions that diverge, and then collide, as the terrifying story plays out.

In many ways this is a showcase for Bauer's skills, and an exploration of the way her fractured psyche and misplaced guilt have shaped her. Bauer is definitely the key to solving the brutal murders, but not in the way you expect. The reveals, when they come, knock you sideways, in an orgy of violence. Linna's character development is rather intriguing this time around too, as the unconventional methods he has come to rely on to feed his intuitive flashes begin to work against him. 

I devoured this book in a matter of hours, despite its hefty 500-odd pages. The writing flows beautifully, carrying you along through all the thrills, spills, twists and turns. There is a serious injection of darkness that ticks all my demanding Nordic noir boxes, making this story grittily enjoyable. I loved it, and cannot wait for the next book!

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

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

About the author:

Lars Kepler is the pseudonym of critically acclaimed husband and wife team Alexandra Coelho Ahndoril (b. 1966) and Alexander Ahndoril (b. 1967), authors of the No. 1 internationally bestselling Joona Linna series.

The series has sold 15 million copies in 40 languages. The Ahndorils were both established writers before they adopted the pen name Lars Kepler, and have each published several acclaimed novels.

Towards Zero by Agatha Christie

 

Towards Zero by Agatha Christie.

This edition published 9th February 2017 by Harper Collins.

From the cover of the book:

An elderly widow is murdered at a clifftop seaside house…

What is the connection between a failed suicide attempt, a wrongful accusation of theft against a schoolgirl, and the romantic life of a famous tennis player?

To the casual observer, apparently nothing. But when a houseparty gathers at Gull’s Point, the seaside home of an elderly widow, earlier events come to a dramatic head.

It’s all part of a carefully paid plan – for murder…

***********

The guests are gathering for an unconventional house party at Gull's Point, the home of elderly invalid, Lady Tressillian, on the Devon coast at Saltcreek. Lady Tressillian normally looks forward to the visits of Audrey Strange, the ex-wife of her husband's former ward Neville, but this time the guests will also be including Neville and his glamorous new wife Kay. It is all rather too modern for Lady Tressillian's traditional sensibilities, and she sees trouble ahead. 

It is not long before the feathers start to fly, and this makes things very awkward for the other visitors, Audrey's cousin, the unassuming Thomas Royde, visiting from Malaysia and hopeful of wooing Audrey; Ted Latimer, a friend and disappointed former suitor of Kay's; and Lady Tressillian's companion, sensible Mary Aldin. Gull's Point is not a relaxing place to be, and when an old friend of Lady Tressillian's, the very astute, retired solicitor Mr Treves pays a call, he is concerned that sinister intent lies in the heart of one of the guests.

However, Mr Treve's suspicions go with him to the grave, when he dies the same night of his visit to Gull's Point, under murky circumstances. His death is closely followed by the brutal murder of Lady Tressillian, and it looks very much like an inside job. All the clues point to Neville, but as the police arrive and begin their investigation, Superintendent Battle is not so sure...

This mystery begins with several prophetic, seemingly unconnected, strands which foreshadow how this story plays out. The first is a prologue in which the wily old Mr Treves offers sage wisdom to the young members of his club, explaining how a murder arrives at the end of a planning process that counts down towards zero hour - his views are supported by a little aside glimpse that lets you see into the devious mind that wishes one of the Gull's Point party serious harm. The second is around a failed suicide attempt that is all about fate and unforeseen purpose. The third is connected to our old friend Superintendent Battle's views on modern psychology. Intriguing...

The main event then begins with an introduction to the members of the party that gather at Gull's Point, with a bit of history about the events that have shaped their state of mind, and their reasons for being here. Christie very cleverly manipulates how you think about each of them from this point, filling out of their stories with carefully dropped little titbits that make them very credible suspects in a mysterious death, a brutal murder, and an evil end game motivated by betrayal. 

This story is rife in beautifully contrived red herrings, and it takes all of Battle's considerable intelligence and intuition to see through them, backed up by his recent experience with misapplied psychological theories, and a delicious reference to what he has learned from investigating crime at the side of the great Hercule Poirot. But it is not until the storyline relating to fate eventually comes into play that he is finally able to get to the jaw-dropping truth, via exciting sea-going shenanigans, and a gathering of the suspects that emulates his muse Poirot.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, which is the final one of Christie's to feature Superintendent Battle. It really kept me guessing, and the way the separate threads come together is a joy to behold. This is Christie at the very top of her game, and turned out to be an under-the-radar stunner!

This is my second Christie book read in May, featuring Betrayal as a motive for murder, and is one of the recommended choices as part of the #ReadChristie2023 challenge this month.

Towards Zero 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.

Vita And The Birds by Polly Crosby

 

Vita and the Birds by Polly Crosby.

Published 25th May 2023 by HQ Stories.

From the cover of the book:

1938: Lady Vita Goldsborough lives in the menacing shadow of her controlling older brother, Aubrey. But when she meets local artist Dodie Blakeney, the two women form a close bond, and Vita finally glimpses a chance to be free.

1997: Following the death of her mother, Eve Blakeney returns to the coast where she spent childhood summers with her beloved grandmother, Dodie. Eve hopes that the visit will help make sense of her grief. The last thing she expects to find is a bundle of letters that hint at the heart-breaking story of Dodie’s relationship with a woman named Vita, and a shattering secret that echoes through the decades.

What she discovers will overturn everything she thought she knew about her family – and change her life forever.

***********

1938: As the world holds its breath, with a careful eye on the storm clouds gathering over Europe, Lady Vita Goldsborough has her own battles to fight. Daring to defy her controlling older brother Aubrey, she meets and forms a close bond with local artist Dodie Blakeney - a woman who gives her the courage to think that she might finally escape his clutches.

1997: Eve Blakeney, reeling from the death of her mother, heads to an old cabin on the Suffolk coast. A place which holds warm memories of her artist grandmother Dodie, and of carefree summers with her bohemian mother and brothers, but somewhere she has not dared to think about in the same way since a fateful night in the mysterious, derelict glasshouse called The Cathedral of the Marshes. Eve has not returned here for years, and is plagued by half-remembered images of that haunt her dreams. She is unsure if she should even be here now, but perhaps it is the right time to clear the cabin, and her own head.

When Eve discovers a bundle of letters among the scattered belongings of her grandmother, she learns of the relationship between Vita and Dodie - and she uncovers a secret that will change everything she thought she knew about her own family.

Vita and the Birds is the third wonderful novel from Polly Crosby, and in it she once again blurs the lines between reality and the other-worldy, delving into the uneasy relationship between the land and the sea in the brooding salt marshes on the wild Suffolk coast.

Against the backdrop of mist and mystery, in a shifting sea of reeds that hide all manner of secrets amid their sinister suserrations, Crosby imagines a Gothic glass castle looming above the marshes and spins two interconnected timelines about it that hold you spellbound. The first, tells of the history of the heartbreaking story of Vita and Dodie, from vulnerable and damaged Vita's point of view, and is rife with themes of control and forbidden love. The second, follows Eve as she tries to come to terms with her grief and unresolved fears about The Cathedral of the Marshes in the present, while she sifts through the memory laden belongings of her grandmother. And I am not about to tell you too much about either of them, except to say that this story confirms Crosby as one of the finest writers I have had the pleasure to consume in recent years.

Crosby moves deftly between the past and the present, merging seamlessly between the two through the use of letters, personal belongings, and mirrored events, that gradually allow many long held secrets to be revealed in a way that drops the heart-wrenching reveals with perfect timing. She weaves storytelling magic throughout, making the best of setting, weather, and a community with long memories and a propensity for believing rumour to be truth, playing with themes of gilded cages, and yearning for freedom. The scenes where Crosby uses birds are particularly moving, and I could easily wax long, and lyrical, about how she wields light, perception, and half-remembered moments that nag at the subconscious. Superb!

For me, this is Crosby's best work yet, and that is saying a lot! While not being devoid of dark themes, stitched into the fabric of the story in the way that she does so darned well, especially when it comes to women, it thrums with emotion and love - and tugs at the senses in a sensuous and seductive way. It is also her most uplifting story to date, and I shed a bucket load of cathartic tears in the glorious final stretches of this novel. 

This is quite simply, beautiful. I adored it from start to finish, and am already craving more. Polly Crosby is one of my favourite writers for a reason, and if you have yet to discover her books then all I can say is that you are in for a treat!

Vita and the Birds is available to buy now in hardcover, ebook and audio formats.

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

About the author:

Polly Crosby grew up on the Suffolk coast, and now lives with her husband and son in the heart of Norfolk.

In 2018, Polly won Curtis Brown Creative’s Yesterday Scholarship, which enabled her to finish her debut novel, The Illustrated Child. Later the same year, it was awarded runner-up in the Bridport Prize’s Peggy Chapman Andrews Award for a First Novel. Polly received the Annabel Abbs Creative Writing Scholarship at the University of East Anglia.

Paradise (DS Walker Book Two) by Patricia Wolf

 

Paradise (DS Walker Book 2) by Patricia Walker.

Published 17th May 2023 by Embla Books.

From the cover of the book:

In a beach paradise, an unspeakable crime is committed. The only witness lies in a coma, fighting for her life...

Australia's Gold Coast: On a stunningly beautiful stretch of coastline, a young mother is brutally murdered and her daughter, Gabby, is left in a coma, with her life hanging in the balance.

DS Lucas Walker has just arrived in Surfer's Paradise for some much-needed recovery after injuries sustained in his last investigation. But he is soon pulled into the dark twists and turns of this home invasion gone wrong, vowing to find the men responsible.

As Walker digs deeper into the dark underbelly of this shimmering city by the ocean, a case from his own past resurfaces, with deadly consequences.

And as eight-year-old Gabby, the sole witness to her mother's murder, wakes in her hospital bed, Walker is in a race against time to stop those responsible before they return to silence her forever...

***********

DS Lucas Walker, recovering from injuries sustained in a previous case that went awry, is seconded to the Gold Coast while his superiors consider his future. All in all, the beautiful surroundings of Surfer's Paradise offer a pretty nice spot for Walker to recover, and he is looking forward to some rest, even if his career prospects are not looking too good.

Unfortunately, the quiet time Walker envisaged is soon knocked on the head when he is asked to investigate a murder linked to his own past with a drug trafficking biker gang - one which brings him the kind of attention that is very bad for his health. In parallel, Walker is compelled to begin looking into the horrific case of a home invasion in one of the swanky parts of town, in which a young mother was brutally murdered and her daughter attacked. Something about this case, and the claims of the husband that his family are the victims of a revenge plot, does not quite add up - he suspects that the daughter may be the clue to solving this crime, and he is determined to protect her from harm.

Paradise, is a slow-burn police procedural set in an affluent part of Australia, with twisting plot lines around drugs, corruption, and domestic disturbance. It did take me a little while to get into the story, as there are a lot of references to Walker's backstory, connected to a drugs case that went horribly wrong, which I have not read about. The legacy of this case has a big influence on the drug dealing storyline here, which makes it a little tricky to read as a standalone, so I recommend reading the first book, Outback, before starting this one, if you can. However, the home invasion case is thoroughly compelling, pulling you right in from the shocking prologue.

Wolf packs a lot into this story, and Walker is kept very busy tracking down leads to get the bigger picture in both cases, with some inspirational help from his former colleague Barbara in Berlin. While the Gold Coast police seem a little slow on the uptake, Walker has intelligence and grit that make him very likeable, and I really enjoyed the back and forth between Walker and Barbara. There is lovely use of forensics and getting into the nitty gritty of less obvious aspects of the cases too. At times, the story does feel like it could do with a bit of a nip and tuck for the sake of a tauter plot, but the suspense ramps up nonetheless, and there are thrills and spills galore as the reveals drop and the violence explodes. 

There is plenty of mystery, and nice character development across the board, with a central core that hooks you into the next book in the series - which intrigues me, as it promises a lot more of Barbara! Highly recommended if you like your police procedurals on the complex, multi-stranded side, especially if you are a fan of Australian crime.

Paradise is available to buy now in paperback, ebook and audio formats.

Thank you to Embla for sending me an ecooy of this book in return for an honest review and to Compulsive Readers Tours fir inviting me to be part of this blog tour.

About the author:

Patricia Wolf has been a journalist for more than 15 years, a regular contributor to titles including The Guardian, the Financial Times, The Independent and The Telegraph, among others. 

She grew up in outback Australia, in a mining town called Mount Isa in far north-west Queensland – eagle eyed readers will have spotted a small reference to it in her first book, OUTBACK. 

Patricia loves the rugged beauty, indigo sky and wide horizons of the outback, but left Australia after university to travel the world and became a journalist. She lives in Berlin, Germany, but the outback always calls her home. 

In 2019, just before the covid pandemic locked us all in, Patricia spent two months in northwest Queensland, taking a four-week road trip. As she drove and spent nights and days surrounded by the beauty and rugged harshness of the outback, DI Lucas Walker and his stories came to be.

Deception by Lesley Pearse

Deception by Leslie Pearse.

Published in paperback 25th May 2023 by Michael Joseph.

From the cover of the book:

No one wants to believe their mother is a liar . . .

After her mother's funeral, Alice Kent is approached by a man who insists he's her real father. Initially upset and disbelieving, Alice soon discovers that tugging at this loose thread unravels the expertly woven tapestry of lies which was her mother Sally's life.

Faced with this staggering deception, Alice decides she must learn the whole, terrible truth about her mother.

But is she prepared for the dark journey back to Sally's traumatic childhood and the evil forces which came to shape the woman who claimed to love her?

***********

To mark the paperback publication of Deception by Lesley Pearse, it is my pleasure to bring you an extract from Chapter One the book.

*******

As she came off the A38 at the Dartington and Totnes turn-off, she glanced into her mirror. There, almost hanging onto her bumper, she saw a black Jaguar with a male driver. 

When people tailgated her she always wished she had a pop-up neon sign in the back window, saying, ‘Get back, arsehole’, to flash at them. 

She slowed down, pulling as far to the left as she could to let him pass her. The road ahead soon became narrow and winding with many overhanging trees, and she wanted him gone instead of annoying her for the rest of the journey to the church. But he didn’t pass her: he stayed right on her tail.  

As she approached St Mary’s she realized she had at least fifteen minutes before she needed to be there so she drove on past, into Dartington, negotiated a roundabout at speed and pulled up on the forecourt of a shop. 

Looking behind, she saw she’d lost him. He must have gone straight on into Totnes. Rather pleased with herself, she drove slowly back to the church. The sun had come out on the drive down from Bristol, and it had been good to see lambs in the fields and primroses on some of the grass verges. It had seemed a very long winter, made worse by the knowledge that her mother was dying. But it was good that the sun chose to shine today, bringing back memories of Sunday school at St Mary’s with Emily, the Christmas and Easter services with their parents. 

In the last two years her mother and father had started to attend church every Sunday. She and Emily had wondered why ‒ they had never seemed particularly religious before. Maybe it was because of the cancer: perhaps their mum had hoped that having a word with the Almighty each week would help.  

There were at least twenty vehicles in the car park already, and a few people smiled at her, but Alice didn’t stop to speak to anyone. She went straight up to the church to await the hearse and her family. Standing in the spring sunshine, looking out across fields, she felt at peace for the first time in weeks. She knew that the service, the hymns and the vicar speaking of her mother would make her cry, and it would be hard to watch her father and Emily grieving too, but she was focusing on her mother’s last request: ‘Be glad for me that its almost over, Alice. I’ve had my life. Get on with your own now, and tell Ralph and Emily to do the same.’ 

The hearse approached, and the remaining people outside the church scuttled inside. The doors of the second car opened and her family spilled out.  

Dad looked teary-eyed as did Emily, whose three children, Ruby, Jasmine and Toby, bounded up to Alice. ‘We were worried about you,’ Ruby said. Alice and Emily had recently nicknamed her Miss Sensible: although she was only ten she was motherly and very bossy.

‘I was afraid if I came out to the house, you might have left already,’ Alice said, taking the hands of Ruby and Jasmine to get them to follow the pall bearers into the church. She kissed her father, and left Mike, her brother in-law, to go with him, Toby and Emily. 

******* 

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

Thank you to Ed PR for inviting me to take part in the celebrations for paperback publication.

About the author:

International bestselling author Lesley Pearse has lived a life as rich with incidents, setbacks and joys as any found in her novels.

Resourceful, determined and willing to have a go at almost anything, Lesley left home at sixteen. By the mid sixties she was living in London, sharing flats, partying hard and married to a trumpet player in a jazz-rock band. She has also worked as a nanny and a Playboy bunny, and designed and made clothes to sell to boutiques.

It was only after having three daughters that Lesley began to write. The hardships, traumas, close friends and lovers from those early years were inspiration for her beloved novels. She published her first book at forty-nine and has not looked back since.

Lesley is still a party girl.

Mrs Porter Calling (Emmy Lake Book Three) by A.J. Pearce

 

Mrs Porter Calling (Emmy Lake Book Three) by A.J. Pearce.

Published 25th May 2023 by Picador.

From the cover of the book:

THE FEEL-GOOD NOVEL OF THE SUMMER

A heart-warming, heart-wrenching wartime story from The Sunday Times bestselling author of Dear Mrs Bird, AJ Pearce.

Emmy Lake is the much-loved agony aunt at Woman’s Friend magazine, relied upon by readers across the country as they face the challenges of life on the Home Front. With the problem page thriving and a team of fantastic women behind her, Emmy finally feels she is Doing Her Bit.

But when a glamorous new owner arrives, everything changes. As the Honourable Mrs Porter tries to charm her way around the rest of the team, Emmy realizes that she plans to destroy everything readers love about the magazine.

With happiness quickly turning to heartbreak and war still raging in Europe, will Emmy and her friends find the inner strength they need to keep keeping on - and save the magazine they love?

***********

London, April 1943. Things at Woman's Friend magazine are going well, despite the war that seems never ending. Sales are on the up and agony aunt Emmy Lake, editor Guy Collins, and the rest of the Woman's Friend gang know just what to feature to keep up the spirits of their readers. 

Then, a glamorous, fancy-hat-wearing hiccup arrives in the shape of the magazine's new owner, The Honourable Cressida 'Egg' Porter, who has a raft of bizarre ideas to make the magazine a whole lot 'Less Mis'. Soon articles that highlight the good work of women on the Home Front, and provide helpful advice about how to survive domestic troubles and the privations of war, are pushed out in favour of 'cute' pictures of dogs in hats, snaps of society weddings, and recommendations for consumer goods way out of the reach of the women who read Woman's Friend. Mrs Porter's vanity project is quickly ruining the magazine that is so dear to Emmy, her colleagues, and their readers. With the war raging on, can Emmy and her friends find the strength to carry on, and keep their beloved magazine alive?

Mrs Porter Calling is the third book in the enchanting Emmy Lake series, and the challenges Emmy and her friends and colleagues face this time around are ones which threaten to well and truly take the wind out of their 'keep the home fires burning' sails. Emmy and her friend Bunty are doing their bit to help the war effort and stay cheerful, whatever life throws at them. They are soon joined in the big house in Pimlico by Emmy's friend Thelma and her three children. Times are hard, loved ones fighting in Europe are desperately missed, and finding new and exciting ways to cook with a dwindling array of ingredients is not easy, but laughter, larks, and a sprinkling of romance keep them going.

Then the awful Mrs Porter arrives, with steely determination, behind her fluttering eyelashes, to change Woman's Friend beyond all recognition. Emmy and the gang have a fight on their hands, but it is not easy keeping the flame of the magazine alive in the face of someone as out of touch with reality as Mrs Porter, especially when their attempts to subvert her have to be kept secret from her 'dog in the manger' allies.

Trials and tribulations abound, and emotions are running high with the characters - and in your own heart-sore breast - as you hope they can find a way to cope with aching loss, grinding hardship, and the constant worries that Pearce sends their way. But battles were never won by being a 'weedy knickers', and it is love and friendship that triumph in the end - bolstered by help from an unexpected direction. Hurray!

Courage, determination and pulling together in adversity are at the heart of the story, and there are scenes to make you chuckle, sob your heart out, and punch the air with glee. Pearce brings alive time and place to hit that bittersweet spot to perfection, weaving in themes that highlight the very real work of women's magazines to tackle the social issues that affected their readers at this time, shine a light on how women carried the burden of keeping things going on the Home Front, and explore the class divide.

I loved this warm and wonderful story, especially the way Pearce uses letters to heighten the emotional impact of the plotlines. The letters between Emmy and her husband are particularly poignant, and the ones from the bemused readers of Woman's Friend are comedy heaven - but the best one of all, is the touching letter written by young Hester, the editorial assistant, which I will leave you to discover for yourselves. This book was an absolute joy to consume, and I cannot wait for more from A.J. Pearce!

Mrs Porter Calling is available to buy now in hardcover, ebook and audio formats.

Thank you to Ed.PR for sending me a copy of this book in return for an honest review.

About the author:

AJ Pearce is the author of the Sunday Times Top 10 bestseller DEAR MRS BIRD, which was a Richard and Judy Book Club pick and shortlisted for Debut of the Year at the 2019 British Book Awards. It has been translated into fifteen languages and optioned for development for TV.

Born in Hampshire, her favourite subjects at school were English and History, which now (finally!) seems to be making some sense.

Thirty Days Of Darkness by Jenny Lund Madsen

 

Thirty Days of Darkness by Jenny Lund Madsen.

Translated by Megan E. Turney.

Published 25th May 2023 by Orenda Books.

From the cover of the book:

Copenhagen author Hannah is the darling of the literary community and her novels have achieved massive critical acclaim. But nobody actually reads them, and frustrated by writer’s block, Hannah has the feeling that she’s doing something wrong.

When she expresses her contempt for genre fiction, Hannah is publicly challenged to write a crime novel in thirty days. Scared that she will lose face, she accepts, and her editor sends her to Húsafjöður – a quiet, tight-knit village in Iceland, filled with colourful local characters – for inspiration.

But two days after her arrival, the body of a fisherman’s young son is pulled from the water … and what begins as a search for plot material quickly turns into a messy and dangerous investigation that threatens to uncover secrets that put everything at risk … including Hannah…

Atmospheric, dramatic and full of nerve-jangling twists and turns, Thirty Days of Darkness is a darkly funny, unsettling debut Nordic Noir thriller that marks the start of a breath-taking new series.

***********

Danish author Hannah Krause-Bendix writes novellas about the human condition, but they have failed to sell in large numbers, despite regularly featuring in the high-brow literary prize lists. Hannah is starting to wonder if writing books no one actually reads is worth the emotional toll that is feeding her descent into alcoholism, no matter how worthy she believes them to be. Struggling with writer's block, her first attempt at a love story is going nowhere, so she decides to head for the literary festival her agent Bastian has been begging her to attend.

Hannah quickly realises that this is not an environment likely to improve her mood. Everything about it emphasises the gulf between her carefully considered, heartfelt prose, and the popular publications she holds in contempt. Her irritation is incited into fury when she is confronted by her literary nemesis, best-selling crime writer Jørn Jensen, who epitomises everything she hates about genre fiction. Inadvertently, Hannah's outrage results in her being openly challenged to write a crime novel of her own in only thirty days, and she is forced to take up the gauntlet or admit to public humiliation.

Bastian sends Hannah off to remote Iceland settlement Húsafjöður to get to work, hoping that the small town vibes and quirky characters will inspire her, but her writer's block persists and rattling-off a crime novel is much harder going than she thought. Two days after her arrival, the body of a young man is pulled from the water, and she is driven from her jaded mood by morbid curiosity. She begins to ask questions about the death, which, while giving her a rich seam of plot ideas for her book, puts everyone in danger. Hannah's growing conviction that this was no accident threatens to expose long buried secrets that some in Húsafjöður would rather stay hidden...

Thirty Days of Darkness is the first part of a brand new crime series starring author, turned unlikely criminal investigator, Hannah Krause-Bendix. Hannah is a spiky character. She begins this story in a self-pitying black hole that keeps everyone at arm's length, except her long-suffering agent Bastian. When her caustic attitude gets her into a spot of bother, the scene is set for Jenny Lund Madsen to weave a layered journey of self-discovery for Hannah, bringing together a highly enjoyable mix of dark comedy and the delicious Nordic noir elements that I love.

The theme of darkness runs cleverly through the threads of this tale, from pitch black moods and the sinister influence of those hiding secrets, to a menacing atmosphere heightened by dwindling daylight hours. In turn, the concept of isolation echoes across the story, reflected in the setting of a remote small town in Iceland, the weather that closes in, and in the history of many of the characters - whether it be a self-imposed distance, or as the result of a community that marginalises those that do not fit its rigid expectations. I particularly enjoyed how Madsen uses language barriers to play on the theme of isolation too. 

This is a sharply plotted crime tale, full of mystery, that pulls off the difficult task of blending grit and pitch black humour to perfection. Madsen contrives tense thrills, bloody spills, compelling passionate interludes, and spot-on moments of slapstick comedy - and you can cut the claustrophobic, small-town vibes with a knife. It kept me guessing, made me chuckle at Hannah's blundering about, and has a powerful punch when the shocking reveals start to drop. And that is not all, because Madsen also casts an insightful eye on so many aspects of the world of books, touching on assumptions about the worthiness of different genres, and the writing process, which is very thought provoking.

I consumed this book, and take my hat off once more to Megan E. Turney for her first-class translation work. The little twists, turns, and thawing of frosty relationships have me looking forward with high anticipation to the next book in the series! 

Thirty Days of Darkness is available to buy now in hardcover, ebook and audio formats. You can buy 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:

Jenny Lund Madsen is one of Denmark’s most acclaimed scriptwriters (including the international hits Rita and Follow the Money) and is known as an advocate for better representation for sexual and ethnic minorities in Danish TV and film. She recently made her debut as a playwright with the critically acclaimed Audition (Aarhus Teater) and her debut literary thriller, Thirty Days of Darkness, first in an addictive new series, won the Harald Mogensen Prize for Best Danish Crime Novel of the year and was shortlisted for the coveted Glass Key Award. She lives in Denmark with her young family.

Seahurst by S.A. Harris

 

Seahurst by S.A. Harris.

Published 15th May by Salt Publishing.

From the cover of the book:

Evie Mathews and her son Alfie flee from her abusive partner Seth to spend New Year with her half-brother Luke at their late father's summer home on the Suffolk Coast, only to find Seahurst abandoned and Luke missing. 

Evie searches for her brother, filled with a deepening dread that something is very wrong at Seahurst and their father's death may not have been suicide after all. 

As Seahurst's ancient and sinister secrets unfurl around her, Evie fears the souls of the dead will soon claim another terrible revenge.

***********

After a desperate flight from her abusive partner in Toronto, Evie Mathews arrives in Suffolk with her young son Alfie, to spend the New Year with her half-brother Luke and get some perspective on their future. But when they arrive at Seahurst, the modern cliff-top house Evie and Luke's father built as his summer home, the place seems hastily abandoned - and Luke is nowhere to be found.

As Evie tries to reconnect with former friends, and cope with the odd atmosphere at Seahurst, she is plagued with worries about the disappearance of Luke - especially given his obsession with the research their father had been undertaking into Seahurst's past, and his new found conviction that his death might not have been a suicide after all. 

As she searches for clues, she becomes convinced that something is very wrong about Seahurst. Might there be some truth in the folklore tales about a curse connected with this place? Will she and Alfie become the next victims of the ghosts that demand revenge from beyond the grave?

Having really enjoyed Sally Harris' deliciously chilling, debut ghost story Haverscroft, I could not wait to dive into her follow-up novel Seahurst - and it was every bit as unsettling as I hoped. This time around Harris flips the ghost story trope in terrifying style, from a creepy old house to a modern construction of glass and steel that forms a conduit to sins of the past...

This is all about ancient history and the burden of secrets, both in terms of the ghost story elements and the threads of the personal lives of the characters that weave around them. Harris makes the most of folklore tales of witches and curses that ooze from the fabric of places like the wild and windswept Suffolk coast, using them to flood this story with a jarring sense that something is really not right about Seahurst. Strange sounds, foul smells, mysterious happenings, and stormy weather, all come together to enhance the menacing feeling of dread as you wait for the inevitable shoe to drop. The past is waiting to pull the characters down to their doom, and this works so well with the backdrop of a coastline battered by the unpredictable power of the sea, where the cliff-edge creeps closer with sinister intent.

I am very impressed with the way Harris' writing has grown since Haverscroft in terms of her character development. As in Haverscroft, you have a mother as the leading character, but Seahurst has a much more complex ensemble cast, and their personal stories and interactions reflect the pull of history, and turmoil under the surface. The intricacies of dysfunctional relationships, guilt, regret, and the weight of things not said complement the overall themes nicely.

This is an accomplished ghost story that holds you fast, and scares you witless. There is an unmistakable echo of Michelle Paver's excellent chill-fests Dark Matter and Thin Air in the feel of this book, albeit in a modern setting, which I thoroughly enjoyed too. I cannot recommend this book enough if you love a ghost story done well, and apolgise in advance for the nightmares you will sure be left with about bone rattles...

Seahurst is available to buy now in ebook and paperback formats. You can support indie publishing by buying direct from Salt HERE.

Thank you to Salt for sending me a copy of this book in return for an honest review, and to Richardson PR for asking me to join this blog tour.

About the author:

S.A. Harris writes ghost stories and Gothic fiction. Her debut novel, Haverscroft, was published in 2019. Haverscroft was a semi-finalist in the Book Bloggers Novel of the Year Award 2020, a Halloween recommended read for Prima Magazine 2020, and one of Den of Geek’s Top Books 2019. Her second novel, Seahurst, will be published on 15th May 2023.

She won the Retreat West Crime Writer Competition in 2017, was shortlisted for The Fresher Prize First 500 Words of a Novel Competition and published in their anthology, Monsters in November 2018.

When not writing, S.A. Harris is a solicitor living with her husband and three children in Norwich, Norfolk. She tries to spend as much time as possible on the Suffolk coast, walking the beach at Covehithe, visiting cafes and bookshops in Southwold and wandering amongst the ruins of Greyfriars Medieval Friary at Dunwich.

The Little Book Of Plants For Pollinators: A Gardener's Guide by Maureen Little

 

The Little Book of Plants for Pollinators: A Gardener's Guide by Maureen Little.

Published 16th May 2023 by The Bee Garden.

From the cover of the book:

Long-time gardener and horticultural expert Maureen Little knows how important pollinators are and has 
decided it’s time to share her knowledge of how to draw 
them in...

The Little Book of Plants for Pollinators includes a 
compilation of one hundred plants including annuals and biennials, perennials, shrubs and sub-shrubs, and trees.

To be included in this guide, the plant needs to fit three 
criteria: it will be attractive to pollinators, garden-worthy and suitable for an average UK garden.

As we become increasingly environmentally conscious and committed to protecting our bee population, The Little Book of Plants for Pollinators does something different to many of the books on the market: it focuses on the flowers which attract pollinators.

Based on in-depth research, plus scientific and empirical recommendations, this book informs us of the characteristics of flowers and what makes them attractive to pollinators. Each plant entry includes details of the flowering season, the optimal growing conditions, soil requirements and propagation techniques.

Three out of four crops across the globe producing fruits or seeds for human use depend on pollinators. As a result, there’s rising demand for knowledge about providing a pollinator-friendly environment in the garden. With this guide, we can give something back to pollinators.

With beautiful watercolour illustrations by Emma Sutton and published to coincide with World Bee Day, The Little Book of Plants for Pollinators is not only a gardener’s essential go-to guide, but a fantastic addition to any gardener’s bag, coffee table or bookshelf.

***********

The Little Book of Plants for Pollinators is a handy guide to picking the best plants to attract pollinators to your garden, by horticultural expert Maureen Little. It is being published to mark World Bee Day to encourage us all to find ways in which we can counteract the decline of pollinator populations, especially as a result of climate change.

Included in this volume are very interesting facts about the range of pollinators that visit our gardens, but it is really about the plants themselves, rather than a guide on entomology. Little makes a point of ensuring that the flowers, shrubs, and small trees found within these pages are ones which are suitable for smaller suburban gardens, and that they can be easily sourced. There is enough detail about the plants themselves to give you the confidence you need to make choices that will thrive in the space you have, and in different conditions - there are even plants you can grow in containers and window boxes. The plants all have flowers attractive to pollinators in one way or another, and the choice is wide enough to tempt a diverse selection of pollinators to your garden.

As an experienced gardener, there are many plants in these pages that I recognise as being ones that are pretty to look at, and a great draw for birds and insects alike. However, you do not need to be an expert to use this book, as it provides all the information you need to get started with making your garden more attractive to the insects that are vital for the survival of our ecosystem, whether or not you are green-fingered.

This is the perfect, compact, go-to-guide to helping out pollinators at a time when they are under threat, and it shows how giving a little thought to the plants you buy, you can make all the difference to, not just, your outside spaces, but the environment too.

This book is available to buy now in paperback. 

Thank you to Grace Plikington PR for sending me a PDF copy of this book in return for an honest review.

About the author:

Maureen Little is an author, gardener and bee-keeper who has worked in horticulture for over 40 years. She has given lectures at RHS Wisley, the Garden Museum in London, the Herb Society and gardening groups and societies nationwide. Maureen has a monthly gardening feature on local community radio 
Ribble FM. Maureen is a full member of the Garden Media Guild, and the author of The Bee Garden and The Little Book of Popular Perennials. The Little Book of Plants for Pollinators is her latest book.

Spotlight: Stormless by Nick Stitle

 Spotlight on:

Stormless 

by Nick Stitle

Publishing 17th May 2023

from Blazecrest Publishing

Auris is a place of storms and chaos where seven violent Tempests rule the land, wreaking havoc across the continent. Only the Summoners, bearers of powers not unlike those of the divine Tempests themselves, have the strength to stand against the tyranny of the storms. Society depends upon the enigmatic Summoner-empowering Crystals for survival... Yet when a Summoner bearing powers that should not exist appears on Arvendon’s doorstep, the world begins spiraling into chaos.

Castien Varic, a common soldier, finds himself in the throes of a coming war. He embarks on a mission with the most legendary of Auris’s Summoners, hoping to discover the truth behind the resurfacing of the Ancient Summoner.

Faelyn Titansworn, heir to the largest of Auris’s empires and one of the most powerful Summoners in the world, finds himself lost in his father’s shadow. When a conspiracy threatens to destroy all that he knows and loves, Faelyn takes it upon himself to save not just his kingdom, but all of Auris.

Asteros Silverglade bears the powers of a god. Two years in the past, he, along with five others of his Sect, uncover the hidden secrets that the world has tried to erase. Yet they soon learn that the mysteries of the baffling event known as the Vanishing—the war that somehow caused over half of Auris’s Summoners to disappear without a trace—run far deeper than they could’ve ever imagined.

These three heroes walk the threads of fate, together weaving an epic tale of magic, war, love, and loss. Together these individuals will forever change Auris’s future. Empires will shatter, Tempests will be Unbound, but destiny will prevail as these heroes face their fated ends.

This is Stormless.

*****

More than one character in Stormless struggles with mental health issues, and Stitle does not shy away from the subjects of depression, anxiety, and panic attacks. He hopes his readers can see themselves in his characters and realize they are not alone.

Stitle’s heroes are not perfect, implausible personalities, but more complicated, interesting humans...

Stormless is available to buy now in hardcover, paperback and ebook.

About the author:

Injuries forced Nicklas Stitle to stop playing tennis after his freshman year of high school, and he realized that was an opportunity to begin working on the story he had been carefully putting together in his head. 

Stitle began writing Stormless atthe age of 15 and woke up early every day to work on the story before school, creating a new fantasy world and crafting characters he could relate to. Incorporating valuable advice from industry experts wanting to help a young author, Stitle completed Stormless at the age of 17.

Stitle has nearly finished book two, The Fire King, and is currently planning books three and four in the series. 

He hopes to inspire other young writers to chase after their dreams. Stitle lives in Indiana with his mom, dad, older brother, and two dogs.

The Final Party by A.A. Chaudhuri

 

The Final Party by A.A. Chaudhuri.

Published 25th May 2023 by Canelo Hera.

From the cover of the book:

SIX FRIENDS.

In a luxury villa set high in the hills above the glamorous town of Sorrento, southern Italy, three couples gather for the perfect 40th birthday celebration.

ONE BODY.

Before the week is out, one of them is dead.

COUNTLESS LIES.

Their perfect reunion quickly becomes the holiday from hell when one of the group starts receiving anonymous messages, threatening to expose a dark secret from their university days.

As old friendships are tested to the limit, it’s clear that what happens in the dark past won’t stay buried…

***********

In a luxurious villa overlooking Sorrento, three couples are gathering for a 40th birthday celebration. However, the week ahead is like to be anything but relaxing, given all the emotional baggage they are bringing with them. Five of them are old friends from university. All of them have secrets.

When one of them starts to receive anonymous text messages threatening to expose the skeletons they have tried so hard to keep buried from their student days, events begin to spiral out of control... with bloody consequences. 

The Final Party is A.A. Chaudhuri's third standalone thriller, and this time she goes all out to weave her favourite themes of secrets, lies, desire, contempt, loyalty, and betrayal into a story that keeps you firmly on the edge of your seat.

Chaudhuri lays the ground work with suspenseful flair, moving back and forth between the events of the university days of our old friends, and the present that plays out at the villa. She carefully fills in the detail with vivid flashes of colour that provide seductive hints about shared secrets, and the things that they have kept hidden from each other, in six alternating first-person narratives. In each one she dances very close to the truth without revealing too much, too early, tugging you relentlessly on towards the bloodletting you know is coming. This really keeps you guessing about who did what to whom, and why...

The characters are mostly unlikeable, which spices things up nicely, and there are lots of scenes full of barely concealed, seething emotions, that drip with back-biting snarkiness, to keep the atmosphere in the villa tense and drawn. But Chaudhuri does her best to paint these people in shades of grey where she can, to ensure you know exactly what lies behind their motives, and explain where their misguided loyalties lie.

The reveals, when they come, drop thick and fast in an orgy of moments of sharp clarity, reaching a fever pitch climax of ugly proportions that contrasts starkly with the beautiful surroundings of the backdrop. And if this was not enough, Chaudhuri keeps one chilling twist right until the end to leave you with a final kick.

This is Chaudhuri's finest stand-alone psychological thriller yet, and I found myself transfixed as the plot twisted with each new reveal, unable to look away until the bitter end. If you are a fan of intense relationship dynamics, and claustrophobic thrillers thrumming with suspicion in foreign climes, then this is the book you need this summer - think T. M. Logan's The Holiday on acid! 

The Final Party is available to order now in paperback and ebook.

Thank you to A.A. Chaudhuri for sending me a copy of this book in return for an honest review.

About the author:

A. A. Chaudhuri is a former City lawyer. After gaining a degree in History at University College London, she later trained as a solicitor and worked for several major London law firms before leaving law to pursue her passion for writing. She lives in Surrey with her family, and loves films, all things Italian and a good margarita!

Outback: The Desmond Bagley Centenary Thriller (Bill Kemp Book Two) by Michael Davies

 

Outback: The Desmond Bagley Centenary Thriller (Bill Kemp Book Two) by Michael Davies.

Published 11th May 2023 by Collins Crime Club.

From the cover of the book:

IF YOUR ENEMIES DON’T KILL YOU
THE TERRITORY WILL

Insurance investigator Bill Kemp had never wanted to trek deep into Australia’s remote interior. But after his clients Sophie and Adam Church inherit an abandoned opal mine, they become the target of threatening letters, urging Sophie to abandon the inheritance claim … or pay the price.

Though the mine appears to be worthless, someone is clearly desperate to stop them from discovering more – about the treasure that might be hidden within and the circumstances that led to Sophie inheriting it in the first place. Was her uncle’s death truly self-inflicted or are there nefarious forces at play? After Sophie narrowly escapes an attempt on her life, the group are left with no choice but to head out into the blistering desert in search of answers.

How far will their unknown enemy go to stop them from uncovering the explosive, long-lost secret of the Deakins family mine? And even if the group can uncover the truth, will they make it out of that vast and hostile wilderness alive?

Outback celebrates the centenary of bestselling thriller writer Desmond Bagley with this new adventure featuring his protagonist Bill Kemp, described by Jeffrey Deaver as ‘part James Bond, part Philip Marlowe, and all hero’. Michael Davies, who completed Bagley’s first Kemp novel Domino Island for publication nearly forty years after the author’s death, now weaves an original tale of danger and death under the Australian sun.

***********

Insurance investigator Bill Kemp is at a bit of a loose end, and makes a long overdue trip to visit his old Army friend, lawyer Kenny Hines, for an Australian Christmas. Bill is given a warm welcome by Kenny and his wife Dolly. He is enthralled by the views from their house across Sydney Bay, especially of the newly built Sydney Opera House, but it is one of Kenny's legal cases that really piques his interest.

Newlyweds, Sophie and Adam Church have come out to Sydney to meet Kenny, in order to find out about an unexpected inheritance from Sophie's uncle, George Deakins - an uncle Sophie did not even know she had. The details are hazy, but it seems Sophie is now the owner of a remote farm and opal mine in the Outback, at a place so off-the-beaten-track that even the nearest town of Oodnadatta is several hours' drive away. It all comes as a bit of a shock to orphaned Sophie, to say the least.

While Sophie is trying to get her head around her potential windfall, things start to get ugly. Someone is determined that she will never get her hands on her inheritance, and when veiled threats spill over into shocking violence, the only answer is for Sophie and Adam head out to the Deakins property under the care of Bill Kemp to get to the bottom of the mystery.

Outback continues the story of insurance investigator Bill Kemp that began in Domino Island - a novel completed by Michael Davies from an unfinished manuscript left behind by best-selling, thriller writer Desmond Bagley, after his death in 1983. I have not read Domino Island, but this all new adventure can be easily read as a stand-alone, as Davies helpfully fills in just enough of the backstory for you to get a handle on Kemp's character right from the kick-off.

This novel begins very much in slow-burn country, with a cosy reunion between old friends, at a time when Kemp is assessing where life takes him next. His skills are a perfect match for a little bit of digging into the mystery around George's Deakins' surprise legacy, and as it happens, they are very much needed when events take a menacing turn and the Outback seems an unlikely respite from danger on the streets of Sydney.

The story really takes off once the road trip gets underway, with Kemp at the helm, attempting to keep Sophie and her apparently feckless new husband Adam safe from the perils of the Outback - and the hostile environment is soon made even more dangerous by less than welcoming locals, and the appearance of a group of mercenaries that mean business. The pace heats up nicely in line with the rising temperatures of the sun-baked wilderness, and there is plenty of action and intrigue to keep you on the edge of your seat, with a delicious National Treasure-esque thread as our little team of adventurers put the pieces of the puzzle together. There are some nicely contrived twists, and Davies does a splendid job of bringing the Outback alive. 

I am a sucker for an Outback tale, and although this does lack the intensity, emotional kick, and jaw-dropping reveals of the more seasoned Australian authors that have made this genre their own, such as Chris Hammer and Jane Harper, its old school thrills and spills are enormous fun. This has such a nostalgic air, and it really echoes the feel of a classic adventure in the style of Desmond Bagley and co - which I take my hat off to Davies for doing so well. As a first, and very entertaining, solo foray into the genre, this book hints at great things on the horizon, and I look forward to what comes next from Michael Davies.

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

Thank you to Collins Crime Club 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:

After abandoning a promising career editing newspapers, Michael Davies moved into fiction. Some would say that's not much of a leap. Since then, his writing has appeared on stage, screen, radio, the printed page and online.

His debut play, Rasputin’s Mother, won a national playwriting competition and subsequent work includes scripts, novels, radio plays and short stories. He wrote the book and lyrics for Tess – The Musical, an adaptation of Thomas Hardy’s classic novel Tess of the d’Urbervilles, and completed for publication the posthumous release of Desmond Bagley's 'lost' novel Domino Island, published by HarperCollins in May 2019. Michael's original sequel, Outback, is released into the wild in May 2023.

Desmond Bagley was born in 1923 in Kendal and brought up in Blackpool, beginning his working life, aged 14, in the printing industry. He wrote 16 novels, becoming one of the world's top-selling authors, with his books translated into more than 30 languages. He died in 1983.