Good Girls Die Last by Natali Simmonds

 

Good Girls Die Last by Natali Simmonds.

Published 22nd June 2023 by Headline.

From the cover of the book:

Today, nothing is going right for Em. And it's about to get much worse.

Heartbroken by a recent split, with her 30th birthday looming, she loses her job and her home in the same morning because of two swaggering, dishonest men - the boss who sexually harassed her and the flatmate sleeping with her behind his fiancée's back. But all Em can think about is catching a flight to attend her sister's wedding and see her dying mother.

With a record-breaking heatwave, and a serial killer making the streets unsafe, London is completely gridlocked. Em's life has always been full of men getting their own way, and today the scorched city teems with them standing between her and home. As Em's troubled past returns to haunt her, she refuses to let them win. Her defiance leads to shocking consequences that soon spiral wildly out of control.

In a world where men don't listen, and girls have no voice, one woman can change everything.
Today, no one will be staying silent.

***********

Em is having a very bad day. Still reeling from a recent break-up, she has just lost her job and been forced out of her flat, at the hands of two despicable men - the boss who sexually assaulted her, and the flatmate who has been sleeping with her behind his girlfriend's back. She now needs to get to the airport to get back to Spain for her younger sister's wedding, but the record temperatures have brought London to a standstill.

With no choice but to walk the 8 miles to City Airport, in a London that is slowly descending into chaos, Em sets off on a difficult journey with her suitcase in tow - and to make matters worse, there is a serial killer at large targeting young women. As she stumbles along in an outfit totally unfit for purpose, the memories that haunt her gradually resurface, and the combination of the relentless heat and the frustration with the obstacles she must tackle cause her anger to boil over. Refusing to stay silent any more, it is time for Em to vent her feelings about a world where women do not have a voice. 

Here, Natali Simmonds channels the concept of Michael Douglas' movie Falling Down, cleverly fashioning it into the story of one woman's break down on the streets of London. It is one of the most affecting feminist novels I have had the pleasure to consume, and also one that incited me to boiling anger.

This book is one hell of a ride, starting slowly and building to an explosion of violence, as Em throws off the shackles that have kept her silent and compliant, transforming herself into a catalyst for female rage to take over the streets. Through Em, Simmonds touches on all those moments about being a woman in a man's world that make us feel unseen, unheard, and to blame for the unwanted attention that so often comes our way... and it is oh so relatable.

There are so many scenes, and sections of dialogue in these pages that I would like to wax lyrical about, but it is simply impossible in a brief review - and I would be talking you through practically the whole story. However, I will say that the way Simmonds makes so much of how women's names get lost, especially in connection with violent crimes, is wonderful, and the way she reflects this through her protagonist is sheer genius. 

This is a book that packs a punch, and it is very timely in the wake of the shocking about turn from the progress made by the #MeToo movement. If Good Girls Die Last is not already on your reading plies, then it should be, because this is a must read. Maybe it is time for us to stand up and use #SaveEm as a call to arms? 

Good Girls Die Last is available to buy now in hardback, ebook and audio formats.

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

About the author:

Natali Simmonds began her career in glossy magazines, then went on to manage marketing campaigns for big brands. She's now a creative brand consultant, freelance writer, and fiction author, writing gritty and unflinching stories full of complex women and page-turning suspense (and sometimes a little magic).

Simmonds’ dark, feminist thriller debut, Good Girls Die Last, has been optioned for a television series by STV. As N J Simmonds, Natali penned the fantasy trilogy The Path Keeper and Son of Secrets, and in 2022 was shortlisted for the RNA Fantasy Award for the last book in the series, Children of Shadows. She’s one half of paranormal romance author duo, Caedis Knight, and has also written for manga.

When she’s not writing or consulting, she's a columnist for Kings College London’s 'Inspire The Mind' magazine, and lectures for Raindance Film School. Originally from London, Natali now divides her time between Spain, the UK, and the Netherlands where she can be found drawing, reading in her hammock or complaining about cycling in the rain.

The Birdcage Library by Freya Berry

 

The Birdcage Library by Freya Berry,

Published 22nd June 2023 by Headline Review.

From the cover of the book:

Dear Reader, the man I love is trying to kill me...

1932. Emily Blackwood, a young adventuress and plant hunter, travels north for a curious new commission. A gentleman has written to request she catalogue his vast collection of taxidermied creatures before sale.

On arrival, Emily finds a ruined castle, its owner haunted by the memory of a woman who disappeared five decades before. And when she discovers the ripped pages of an old diary, crammed into the walls, she realises a dark secret lies here, waiting to entrap her too...

The Birdcage Library will hold you in its spell until the final page...

***********

1932: Plant hunter Emily Blackwood is used to exploring exotic locations across the globe, but the recent financial crash has her accepting a very different kind of commission in a remote Scottish castle. Reclusive Henry Vogel, once a collector for a celebrated animal emporium in New York, requires her help to catalogue his taxidermy specimens for sale, and Emmy needs the money - even if the conditions of employment are rather odd.

It is not long before Emmy discovers that she has been brought to the forbidding Castle Pàrras under false pretenses, and Mr Vogel actually needs her skills as an accomplished hunter to help him with an unusual quest. As Emmy makes herself familiar with the nooks and crannies of this ruined castle, she comes across an antique book called The Birdcage Library and the ripped pages of a journal belonging to Hester Vogel, the sister in law of Henry, who apparently committed suicide by throwing herself off the newly completed Brooklyn Bridge fifty years ago.

Emmy follows the trail of clues left behind by Hester's testimony, using The Birdcage Library as her guide, and she begins to uncover the dark secrets of the history of the Vogel family. Things as Castle Pàrras are not quite what they appear to be... but then, neither is she...

Having adored Freya Berry's stunning debut, The Dictator's Wife, I was chomping at the bit to find out what lay in store for me in this follow-up novel The Birdcage Library! At first sight, this is a very different sort of novel, but beneath the surface it explores many of the same concepts as in Berry's debut, and it is every bit as compelling.

Here Berry spins her magic in a dark story of family secrets and lies, following two timelines that echo many of the same themes - one in 1932 through the eyes of Emmy Blackwood, in a creepy castle in the Scottish wilds; and the other fifty years before, following the seemingly tragic story of Hester Vogel through the pages of her journal. I do not want to give away too much of the story, as it would spoil the beautifully crafted twists and turns that lie in wait in this novel, but I can tell you that far from the mundane task Emmy Blackwood envisages undertaking for the eccentric Mr Vogel, this actually turns out to be something of a complex treasure hunt - although the prize turns out to not entirely be the one you are expecting.

With lashings of Indiana Jones/National Treasure vibes, Emmy is the adventurer in this story, and her sharp mind and intelligence make her just the right person to solve the cryptic clues Hester has left behind. As she does so she reveals the truth about the secrets she is also keeping. In parallel, through Hester's story, you are drawn back to the world of Gilded Age New York, with storylines around the compulsion of the rich to collect exotic menageries, and the eerie fascination with the entertainments provided by the likes of circus impresario P.T. Barnum. 

It did take me a little while to get into the rhythm of this story, but once the treasure hunt element emerges, and with it the voice of Hester, I was completely hooked. I love the way Berry layers theme upon sinister theme, bringing in dark influences appropriate to Emmy and Hester's time periods. This works particularly well in the way Berry reflects the ideas and fashions of the Gilded Age with the later Golden Age, especially using crime fiction to set the perfect tone for each time and place. Running through the whole piece, themes of obsession, deceit, illusion and power dominate, chiefly when it comes to women's freedom; and the notion of cages (however luxurious) ties everything together - whether they be imposed upon us, or of our own making. If this was not enough, Berry even touches on more modern ideas of conservation of exotic species too!

This book utterly consumed me, tying me completely to the fates of Emmy and Hester and sweeping me away on the kind of tide that only the very best of writers can conjure. I adored it, and am intrigued by the direction that Berry's imagination may take her next - wherever it is likely to be, I am guaranteed to be along for the ride.

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

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

About the author:

Freya Berry always loved stories, but it took several years as a journalist to realise she loves the kind of truth that lies in fiction, not reality. (Or, to put it another way, making stuff up is more fun.)

Her second novel, The Birdcage Library, is published June 22nd: think books within books and a literary treasure hunt packed with twists. A 1930s adventuress discovers an old book containing clues about the disappearance of a woman who vanished 50 years before. Set between a Scottish castle in the 1930s and an exotic animal emporium in Gilded Age New York, it's a gothic tale of secrets, obsession and murder. Oh, and taxidermy.

Her first novel The Dictator's Wife, a high-stakes exploration of power, glamour and complicity, was published in 2022. It was shortlisted for the Authors' Club First Novel Award, a pick for the BBC's flagship book show Between The Covers, and The New European's novel of the year.

Freya lives in London and graduated with a double first in English from Cambridge. She spends more time reading smutty fantasy novels than she likes to admit.

The Only Truly Dead (Thirty Miles Trilogy Book Three) by Rob Parker (Audio Book)

 

The Only Truly Dead (Thirty Miles Trilogy Book Three) by Rob Parker.

Narrated by Warren Brown.

Released 18th may 2023 by Audible Originals.

From the cover:

Two cities, two ruthless criminals, three of the force’s best. One night to end it all.

An Audible exclusive, The Only Truly Dead is the ultimate fight against corruption from one of our greatest Northern crime authors, Rob Parker.

The criminal underworld’s power has been gathering, with gangs from two cities that threaten to compromise everything Foley and Madison have fought for. Can these two detective masterminds take on the best of the best? Facing a highly illegal transport plan called The Twilight Express, our partners-in-arms must perform as never before.

The stakes become higher when Foley’s son is kidnapped, and he realises that his corrupt brother is involved. Along with their old colleague, Salix, and an IT whizz kid, they set out to crack this final case against the world’s most vulnerable. Everyone’s careers and families are on the line, after all. But it’s more than that – this is an ultimate fight for justice, played out between Manchester and Liverpool, that will have unpredictable and tragic consequences.

A dramatic Northern story for fans of Happy Valley, narrated by the inimitable Warren Brown.

***********

The Only Truly Dead picks up hot on the heels of the violent events at the end of book two, And Your Enemies Closer, in which former Warrington police detective Brendan Foley well and truly blotted his copy book by inadvertently helping his scoundrel of a brother Ross to takeover the criminal underworld in Liverpool, at the same time as devious Charlotte Culpepper pulled off a bloody coup to grab control of her husband's organised crime empire in Manchester.

Unfortunately, Brendan also managed to involve his former colleague Iona Madison in the disastrous turn of events. While he is trying to salvage something from the tatters of his ruined family life, Iona is now attempting to clear her name following the shocking reveal that her own boss was linked to organised crime too. With Iona's job on the line, she has no choice but to ask Brendan to come back into the fold in a final ditch attempt to bring Ross, and hopefully Charlotte Culpepper, to justice - this time on a (mostly) above-board basis with the help of familiar face from the NCA, Jeremiah Salix.... but first they need to find out what The Twilight Express is, and how the increasingly volatile Ross Foley is involved.

As events spiral out of control, with Brendan, Iona, and Salix's team always one step behind. Ross brings the battle to Brendan's home turf by kidnapping his son. Can they stop whatever Ross and Charlotte Culpepper have cooked up between them, before more innocent lives are brought to a premature end?

Welcome to the highly anticipated final instalment of the cracking Thirty Miles Trilogy, The Only Truly Dead, by Rob Parker - and what a finale it is! This book is a glorious culmination of all the twisty storylines Parker has contrived in the previous two of the series, Far From the Tree and Keep Your Enemies Closer, and for this reason you do need to have read them both to appreciate the full brilliance of how everything comes together here... you can thank me later. 

This book heads rapidly into top gear from pretty much the first page, and it does not slow down for a second, as Iona and Brendan join forces with Salix (lovely to see him back) for a no holds barred take-down of organised crime in both Liverpool and Manchester. The speed and sensitivity of this operation means stepping outside the lines on more than one occasion, but there is no doubting their determination to get the job done - after all it is easier to ask for forgiveness than permission, right? 

There is hard-edged action galore, with plenty of grit to please even the most demanding of crime story connoisseurs, all very much in the fast-paced and totally addictive vein that Parker does so well. The tension ramps up notch by notch, bolstered by a highly entertaining thread of mystery, as our team do all they can to find out what the term The Twilight Express means - and when they do, Parker enigineers a heart-stopping climax that left me open mouthed and teetering on the edge of my seat, as it plays out blow by visceral blow. 

I have come to really appreciate Warren Brown's voice talents over the course of this series, and once again he keeps the story moving with perfect timing and expression. Eventually, I gave up trying to do anything while listening to this audio book, and just sat and absorbed Brown's narration, held spellbound by the combination of his voice and Parker's gripping story!

As someone who has followed Parker's literary career closely, and absolutely consumed his work, I can tell you that this book is a shining example of him at the top of his game. I loved the whole thrilling story from knock-out beginning to bitter-sweet end, especially the little twist that hits you right between the eyes as a parting gift - which will be gold for those of you who have read as many of Parker's books as I have. Well played Rob... you made the hairs stand up on the back of my neck with that little surprise!

If you are a fan of beautifully crafted northern crime (or from any region, or country, for that matter), then Rob Parker should definitely be on your radar. I cannot wait for whatever comes next!

The Only Truly Dead is available exclusively from Audible Originals now!

Thank you to Midas PR for sending me a free copy o this audio book in return for an honest review, and for inviting me to be part of this blog tour.

About the author:

Rob Parker lives near Warrington, UK. The author of the Ben Bracken thrillers, the Thirty Miles Trilogy and the standalones Crook’s Hollow and Blackstoke.

​Rob writes full time, as well as organising and attending various author events across the UK. Passionate about inspiring a love of the written word in young people, he spends a lot of time in schools across the North West, encouraging literacy, storytelling and creative-writing. ​He is also a co-host of the For Your Reconsideration film podcast, and a regular voice on both the Blood Brothers crime book podcast and the Really, 007! podcast.

The Small House Allington (The Barchester Chronicles Book Five) by Anthony Trollope

 

The Small House at Allington (The Barchester Chronicles Book Five) by Anthony Trollope.

This edition published 11th December 2014 by Oxford World Editions.

From the cover of the book:

Lively and attractive, Lily Dale lives with her mother and sister at the Small House at Allington. She falls passionately in love with the urbane Adolphus Crosbie, and is devastated when he abandons her for the aristocratic Lady Alexandrina de Courcy. But Lily has another suitor, Johnny Eames, who has been devoted to her since boyhood. Perhaps she can find renewed happiness in Johnny's courtship?

The Small House at Allington was among the most successful of Trollope's Barsetshire novels, and has retained its popularity among modern readers. Lily Dale's stubborn constancy is a troubling reflection of Trollope's divided feelings about the need for progress and reform in the context of liberal thought and politics. Her story is a subtle exploration of loyalty and ambition, and the pressure for change in a rapidly evolving world.

***********

Welcome back to Barsetshire! This time we are visiting the quiet environs of Allington, where the childless Squire Dale resides in the Great House. Across the garden, in the Small House, lives Mrs Mary Dale, the widow of the Squire's youngest brother, with her two daughters Bell and Lily. 

The Squire is very fond of his nieces Bell and Lily, and has done all he can to provide the means for them to grow up as fine young ladies. It is his dearest wish to see his nephew (and heir) Bernard married to his cousin Bell, and he is willing to help matters along with financial assistance, but conversely he has no plans to aid Lily in the same way.  

When Bernard's friend, the wannabe swell, Adolpus Crosbie, asks Lily for her hand in marriage, thinking she is also likely to come with a sizable dowry to add to her lively attractions, he is sadly disappointed in his hopes. Feeling hard done by, Crosbie heads for Courcy Castle, where he decides he will be much better off married to Lady Alexandrina de Courcy. Poor jilted Lily Dale is left with a broken heart, vowing to never love again. Meanwhile, Lily's faithful friend Johnny Eames, who has loved her since boyhood, longs to make things right. But can he ever hope to win Lily's hand?

The Small House at Allington is the fifth book in the Barsetshire Chronicles, and Trollope is back on form with this enchanting tale of love, marriage, heartbreak and family. Here Johnny Eames is very much the hero of the hour as he strives to shake off the awkwardness of his youth to find the strength to win the heart of Lily Dale, after her very poor treatment at the hands of the rotter Crosbie.

This instalment is full of fine characters, with many familiar faces, to incite you to glee and rage. Courcy Castle is back front and centre for the first time since Dr Thorne, and not one of that snobby family has improved in the qualities essential to make a decent human being since we last visited Lady de Courcy's drawing rooms. Interestingly, fickle Crosbie thinks he is doing himself a favour by escaping perceived poverty as the husband of Lily Dale, but he finds himself taking the route from the frying-pan into the fire, as we are party to the grim details of the dysfunction that lies at the heart of the de Courcy family.

My favourite character in this book is the good hearted Johnny Eames, who does a lot of growing up over the course of the story. There are so many wonderful scenes in these pages as he gets into his own scrapes among the disreputable residents of the boarding house in which he lives, resorts to fisticuffs in train stations, and becomes intimate with the charming Earl de Guest, while trying to win the hand of the fair maiden Lily. The rest of the supporting cast (excluding the despicable de Courcy family) is splendid, especially the de Guests, and their is a sweet thread of romantic suspense for the sensible Bell Dale too. They all worked their way into my heart as they navigate the mishaps and misunderstandings Trollope brings their way - even if Lily Dale needs a good shake to make her see sense a lot of the time. There is even a lovely cameo from dear old Mr Harding, and an intriguing aside into the marriage of Lord and Lady Dumbello (aka former ice maiden Griselda Grantley).

This is very much a story in which character wins out, and faithlessness brings its own hard lessons, and Trollope tells it all in his inimitable winning style with humour and insight. I loved the whole story from start to finish, and cannot wait to see how the threads left hanging work out in the final book of the series, The Last Chronicle of Barset.

The Small House at Allington is available to buy bow in multiple formats.

About the author:

Anthony Trollope (1815-82) became one of the most successful, prolific and respected English novelists of the Victorian era. Some of Trollope's best-loved works revolve around the imaginary county of Barsetshire, but he also wrote penetrating novels on political, social, and gender issues and conflicts of his day.

The Wedding Dress Repair Shop by Trisha Ashley

 

The Wedding Dress Repair Shop by Trisha Ashley.

Published 22nd June 2023 by Bantam.

From the cover of the book:

Can her heart be mended too?

After losing her fiancé and her dream job in the same week, Garland Fairford's life is turned upside down.

Having recently met a long-lost relative - Honey Fairford - through her work as a historical costumier, Garland is intrigued when Honey reveals she is opening a Wedding Dress museum in Lancashire. With nothing to lose, Garland accepts the offer of a job there.

What she doesn't expect is to come face-to-face with a ghost from her past - her old friend, Thom, who mysteriously disappeared years ago.

As Garland begins reading the stories behind each of the beautiful wedding dresses, and sets about repairing both them and her relationship with Thom, could this finally be the chance for her own happy-ever-after?

***********

Theatrical costumier Garland Fairford hits an unexpected bump in her life when her engagement and job both go south after a crisis of suitably dramatic proportions. North is the only place to go, so Garland packs up and heads for the charming village of Great Mumming, where the long lost distant cousin she has recently met, best-selling thriller writer Honey Fairford, has offered her the position of curator to her quirky wedding dress museum. A fresh start is just what she needs, but she is unprepared to find out that one of her new neighbours is Thom, the childhood friend who disappeared from her life without a trace six years ago...

As Garland settles into her new life, making friends, and trying to negotiate her feelings about Thom, she begins to delve into the stories behind the wedding dresses in the museum, and the mysterious history of Rosa-May Garland, the Regency actress from whom she and Honey are descended - all while trying to fend off the attempts of her louse of an ex-fiancé to track her down. Can Garland mend the tatters of her life and find happiness in Great Mumming?

Trisha Ashley always knows how to capture you with a story, tying you to the trials, tribulations, and romantic adventures of her characters, and The Wedding Dress Repair Shop does that in spades.  Here you follow the escapades of theatrical costumier Garland Fairford, whose life comes crashing down in a moment of misjudged (if fully justified) rage behind the scenes in London's theatreland. Ashley whisks you away to the wonderful setting of Great Mumming and a cast of delicious characters who work their way rapidly into your heart, cleverly connecting the parts of Garland's story through a voice from the past - actress Rosa-May Garland. 

I thoroughly enjoy a book with a heart warming sense of community, and the one Ashley creates for Garland to make her new home in is absolute gold. I loved all the characters in Great Mumming, and they provide many moments of emotion and humour to tug delightfully on your heart strings. And if that was not enough, there are poignant storylines that weave around the tales of the wedding dresses in the museum, and the life of Rosa-May Garland, that reveal their bitter-sweet secrets over the course of the book. They provide rich ground for Ashley to drop in an intriguing twist or two at the same time.

At over 500 pages, this is a book on the more weighty side of the romantic genre, but at no time does it feel overlong as every part of the whole is utterly consuming. I became just as immersed in the theatrical and costume related aspects of the story, and all the little details of setting up the museum, as I did with the tales of the characters, and the flashbacks to Rosa-May's history through her journals. 

This is the perfect book for those that enjoy compelling substance to their romantic choices, alongside a story that sweeps you away, as Ashley touches on a wealth of themes, especially around betrayal and escape. The love story(ies), mishaps, and all the mystery elements are beautifully written, and I laughed and cried my way through them all to the wonderfully satisfying ending. I adored it, and wish I could move to Great Mumming too!

The Wedding Dress Repair Shop is available to buy now in hardcover, ebook and audio formats.

Thank you to Bantam 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:

Trisha Ashley's Sunday Times bestselling novels have sold over one million copies in the UK and have twice been shortlisted for the Melissa Nathan award for Romantic Comedy. 

Every Woman for Herself was nominated by magazine readers as one of the top three romantic novels in the last fifty years.

Trisha lives in North Wales.

Queer Life, Queer Love 2 edited by Matt Bates and Julia Bell

 Spotlight On:

Queer Life, Queer Love 2 

Edited by Matt Bates and Julie Bell

with Kate and Sarah Beal

Published 4th May 2023 by Muswell Press

To celebrate Pride Month, it is my pleasure to shine the spotlight on the second intriguing anthology of queer writing from around the world published by Muswell Press, which includes 44 stories, poems, essays, and flash fiction by new and established voices.

From the cover of the book:

Queer Life, Queer Love celebrates the best new queer writing from around the world, by both new and established writers and features voices across all narrative forms. The new book includes 44 stories, poems, essays and flash-fiction. This is writing that explores characters, stories, and experiences beyond the mainstream; works that celebrate the fascinating, the forbidden, the subversive, and even the mundane, but, in essence, works that express the view from outside. Humorous, serious, autobiographical, and revelatory – all aspects of the queer experience are reflected in this dazzling collection.

‘I was honoured to have been a part of the selection process for this volume. The submissions pile turned up some gems from first-time authors as well as some familiar names. This edition is a testament to the strength & breadth of the writing out there in the queer community. There is something here for every reader to enjoy.’ Julia Bell, Co-Editor

The first volume, published by Muswell Press in November 2021, has reprinted four times and praise was widespread.

Praise for this anthology:

"Celebrating queer love...multiple, fleeting, varied'. Kevin Brazil TLS. 

'Beautiful writing, original ideas and a few suprises'. Matt Cain. 

'A great initiative'. Paul Burston, author, journalist, curator of the Polari Salon"

Queer Life, Queer Love 2 is available to buy now in paperback and ebook. You can support independent publishing by buying direct from Muswell Press HERE.

Thank you to Muswell Press for sending me a copy of this rich and thought provoking book to promote for Pride Month.

About the editors:

Matt Bates is Editor-at-Large for Muswell Press, and an associate poetry editor for The Mechanics Institute Review. He was previously the fiction buyer at WHS Travel

Julia Bell is a writer and academic, she is the author of Creative Writing Coursebook (Macmillan), Radical Attention (Peninsula Press) & Hymnal (Partheon)

Kate and Sarah Beal are the owners and publishers of Muswell Press.

A Dangerous Fossil (A Jurassic Jemma Mystery) by John J. Delaney (Audiobook)

 

A Dangerous Fossil (A Jurassic Jemma Mystery) by John J. Delaney.

Audiobook narrated by Fiona Mason.

From the cover of the book:

Fossils aren't dangerous, are they?
Jemma didn't think so.

When 'Jurassic' Jemma Thorne and her dog, Dino, find an incredible fossil on a Dorset beach, she doesn't realise that it will lead to a trail of greed, jealousy and murder.

As the guilt of her past comes back to haunt her, Jemma must fight to protect her family, her friends, her town and herself.

Can she overcome her demons and escape from the danger surrounding her?

***********

When paleontologist 'Jurassic' Jemma Thorne and her dog Dino uncover an amazing find on a Dorset beach, she is certain that it will help her to save the local natural history museum established by her grandfather.

News of her find spreads quickly, and although the publicity is great for the museum, it also attracts some unwanted attention that Jemma fears will uncover the secrets she has been keeping. Not everyone here is quite so keen to see Jemma and the museum succeed, and they will stop at nothing to get what they want.

A Dangerous Fossil is the first novel by John J. Delaney, and it begins a new mystery series featuring paleontologist 'Jurassic' Jemma Thorne. The story is part cosy mystery, and part gritty crime story, with a side order of domestic suspense, and Delaney quickly establishes the cast of characters and their place in Jemma's life, whilst crafting a pacy story that begins with oodles of tension on a stormy Dorset beach - and keeps up the action and excitement throughout.

There are multiple storylines around Jemma: some of which relate to her relationship and family past, with others that are very much in the present when her incredible find sets in motion a perilous chain of events. Delaney blurs them all cleverly together, and you really do not know who to trust, until the reveals begin to drop, and the pieces of more than one puzzle come together. There are some really juicy themes of jealousy, greed and hidden secrets to get your teeth into too.

The size of the cast of characters is a little unwieldy for the first book in a series, and I think less could have been more in this respect. There are elements of Jemma's personal life that would have been better saved for later books, particularly when it comes to her relationship history, as the love-triangle and stalking elements are a bit much all in one go. There is so much going on in Jemma's own life that it tends to get in the way of the bare bones of the story (if you will pardon the fossil pun). However, Delaney handles the plotting nicely, spinning the crime and mystery storylines with aplomb, and he certainly keeps you guessing.

I will admit that I was not too sure about the narration by Fiona Mason when I started listening to this audio book, as the setting on a stormy beach means she is rather shouty at the beginning, but once I got into her style I really enjoyed the way she keeps the story going and voices all the characters. I would certainly listen to her narrating a story again, which is the best recommendation I can give to any voice artist when it comes to audio books.

All in all, I very much enjoyed my time with 'Jurassic' Jemma, and I warmed to her passion and daring, although she could do with being a bit less 'angsty' and developing more of a sense of humour for this series to have real legs. It is a very decent start for a debut, and I look forward to seeing how Delaney grows the series in the future.

Many thanks to John J. Delaney for allowing me to listen to a free copy of this audio book in return for an honest review.

About the author:

Since 1999 John has written plots for thirty murder mystery party games (boxed and downloadable) with worldwide sales in excess of 100,000 copies, mainly in the UK and USA.

John has written three musicals (Directions, Dream Home and 68 The Musical) and a pantomime. He has also written an opera called Tir na Nog and one of the arias from the opera, This Mortal Man, was included on the composer's album which reached number 1 on the Classical charts in the UK and number 18 on the USA Billboard chart.

A Dangerous Fossil is John’s first novel and features sassy fossil hunter ‘Jurassic’ Jemma Thorne. A tale of discovery, greed and murder set on Dorset’s Jurassic coast.

They Do It With Mirrors (Miss Marple) by Agatha Christie

 

They Do It With Mirrors by Agatha Christie.

This edition published 16th February 2023 by Harper Collins.

From the cover of the book:

A shocking crimeA mansion filled with suspects

Ruth Van Rydock can’t shake the feeling that something terrible is going to happen to her sister at Stonygates house.

Her old school friend Jane Marple decides it’s time to pay a visit.

But this grand Victorian mansion isn’t just a family home – it’s also a correctional facility for wayward young men.

And when something terrible does indeed happen, Miss Marple must face her most eccentric cast of suspects yet.

Never underestimate Miss Marple...

***********

During a visit with old school friend, American socialite Ruth Van Rydock, Miss Marple discovers that Ruth is concerned about the wellbeing of her sister Carrie Lousie Serracold. Miss Marple has not seen Carrie Louise for many years, so at Ruth's suggestion she accepts the offer of a visit to Stonygates, the home Carrie Louise shares with her English third husband, Lewis Serracold, to discover if she is in any danger.

Stonygates is not your average country estate. Funded by the legacy of Carrie Louise's philanthropist first husband, this is the home of the Gulbrandson Trust, which aims to rehabilitate delinquent young men. The main house is now home to Carrie Louise and Lewis Serracold (who runs the institute); a rag tag collection of family members, household and institute staff; and sometimes an inmate or two from the secure unit in the grounds.

Miss Marple settles in to get the lay of the land, and spots straightaway that all is not rosy between some of the residents of the big house: Carrie Lousie's widowed daughter Mildred has a lot to complain about; things between Carrie Louise's granddaughter (from her now deceased, adopted daughter Pippa) and her new American husband Wally are tense; Carrie Louise's stepsons from her second marriage, Stephen and Alex Restarick, are clearly both in love with Gina; and Lewis' assistant/patient Edgar Lawson seems unhinged. However, she cannot immediately see any need to be concerned for Carrie Louise herself. Lewis is obviously devoted to his wife, even if his attention is mostly focussed on the institute, and Carrie Louise's bossy companion Juliet Bellever seems very capable of running the household and taking charge of everybody's needs.

Then Carrie Louise's step-son from her first marriage, Christian Gulbrandson, a trustee of his late father's trust, arrives unexpectedly and is overly preoccupied with any changes in her health. During the evening, a violent argument breaks out between a very disturbed Edgar and Lewis, the lights fuse, shots are fired, and Christian Gulbrandson somehow ends up dead with a bullet in his head...

The police have a difficult case on their hands, muddied by reports that someone was trying to poison Carrie Louise. Can Miss Marple cut through the red herrings and solve the murder?

This is a rather complicated Miss Marple story, with a large, multi-generational cast of characters. Carrie Louise's many marriages, with a diverse taste in husbands, means that there are a lot of eccentric people living in close quarters at Stonygates, who all seem to have an axe to grind with one or other of their fellow householders. It did take me a while to understand where they all fitted in, but their domestic squabbles are entertaining and give rise to a lot of red herrings, which I always enjoy. 

The cleverest thing about the book is how Christie uses the themes of performance and illusion throughout, with excellent use of smoke and mirrors to keep the truth about the motives and identity of the murderer secret. This keeps Miss Marple rather in the dark too for much of the story, until the theatrical nature of everything that has been going on at Stonygates is pointed out to her, and the light begins to dawn.

This is not one of my favourite Miss Marple mysteries, as there are a few too many characters for you to get to know them well, but it races along at a good pace, and its twists and turns certainly keep you guessing. It has some first class humorous moments too.

This is my June choice for #ReadChristie2023 exploring 'gunshot' as a method for murder. I alternated between reading the book and listening to the excellent audio book narrated by Emilia Fox.

 They Do It With Mirrors is available to buy now in multiple formats.

About the author:

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

The Moose Paradox (The Rabbit Factor Book Two) by Antti Tuomainen (Paperback Release)

 

The Moose Paradox (The Rabbit Factor Book Two) by Antti Tuomainen (Paperback Release).

Released in paperback 25th June 2023 by Orenda Books.

From the cover of the book:

Insurance mathematician Henri Koskinen has finally restored order both to his life and to YouMeFun, the adventure park he now owns, when a man from the past appears – and turns everything upside down again. More problems arise when the park’s equipment supplier is taken over by a shady trio, with confusing demands. Why won’t Toy of Finland Ltd sell the new Moose Chute to Henri when he needs it as the park’s main attraction?

Meanwhile, Henri’s relationship with artist Laura has reached breaking point, and, in order to survive this new chaotic world, he must push every calculation to its limits, before it’s too late…

Absurdly funny, heart-stoppingly poignant and full of nail-biting suspense, The Moose Paradox is the second instalment in the critically acclaimed, pitch-perfect Rabbit Factor Trilogy and things are messier than ever…

***********

To mark the paperback release of Antti Tuomainen's brilliant The Moose Paradox, it is my absolute please to share my hardback review once again! 

***********

After the violently chaotic events of The Rabbit Factor, insurance actuary Henri Koskinen finally seems to have his adventure park YouMeFun climbing steadily towards financial stability, providing he can keep a tight rein on the purse strings.

Henri would like to be able to get his hands on the pinnacle of adventure park apparatus, The Moose Chute, which would cement in place all his dreams of a profitable future. However, his equipment supplier Toy of Finland Ltd persist in denying his request in favour of offering him the unappetising dregs of their warehouse at increasingly inflated prices, for reasons that suspiciously seem to have nothing to do with sound business practice.

In the meantime, Henri's relationship with artist Laura has hit a bumpy patch. Henri would like nothing better than to see them spending more time together, but he is not sure that Laura is as keen on being with him as he thought, and these pesky emotions are very confusing.

If keeping a handle on his private and professional affairs was not enough for a man who does not cope well with the unpredictable, Henri's world is shaken to the core when a face from the past walks back into his life and blows his careful calculations to smithereens. Henri must put his very particular, mathematical skills to the test once more to save himself, and everything he has come to care about.

I absolutely loved the first part of this series, The Rabbit Factor, which is a quirky, heart-warming gem of an unconventional crossover between crime and love story, and The Moose Paradox is everything I was hoping for and so much more. As in the first book, this is delicious combination of suspenseful thriller, smartly contrived crime story, and darkly comedic caper, and it was a joy to walk back into the surreal madness of YouMeFun, where sticky-fingered small people run riot on the most bizarre play apparatus imaginable. The plotlines weave beautifully to form a story even more complex than in The Rabbit Factor, and Tuomainen threads in the themes of betrayal and irony to ratchet up the emotional kick to perfection.

Henri starts this book in an interesting place, now fully acknowledging his affection for YouMeFun and the staff that appear to appreciate his steady guiding hand. Things might not be going quite as well as he thought with Laura, but he has no qualms at all that YouMeFun is where he wants to be, and he knows exactly how to ensure a rosy future for the adventure park - through the acquisition of The Moose Chute.

But although Henri is a master of all things mathematical, it is the human element of his equation for success that causes him major problems on the financial and bodily-harm fronts once more. The three goons who have taken over Toy of Finland Ltd are more interested in demanding money with menace than fulfilling their part as an equipment supplier; and a very unwelcome visitor has arrived to throw an unsettling spanner in the works. Soon, Henri starts to lose the support of his team, and events spiral ever rapidly out of control as he finds himself backed into a very dangerous corner by multiple assailants who want upset his precise plans. And guess who is prying into the odd goings on that result? Well, Inspector Osmala, of course - just what Henri needs when he is skulking about about in the dark hiding the evidence of his battle for survival.

I love how the relationships develop between Henri and his YouMeFun team in this second book, You learn more about what makes each of them tick, and where their hopes and dreams lie, which is curiously heart-warming even when they appear to be stabbing their saviour in the back in the process. Henri has to do a lot more learning on the human nature front before he understands what is happening to the cosy team dynamic he thought he had established, and in doing so he gets to know them and their talents a lot better, which I think may be potentially very interesting in the next book.

Henri discovers how to rationalise a few more of the new feelings that overwhelm him in his dealings with affairs of the heart too, especially when it comes to the old green-eyed-monster jealousy. He constantly makes me smile at the way he sees Laura, and expresses the simple pleasure he derives from being around her, and her daughter. Bless! It also has to be said that Tuomainen does the most splendid job of shaping the exchanges between Henri and Osmala into the most delicious game of cat and mouse, as they both know more or less what is going on without ever being able to admit to each other that they do.

There were times here when I really could not see a way out for Henri, but I should not have worried. At the genius hands of Antti Tuomainen the slickest of magic happens, as Henri brings his considerable logical talents to bear to bring things to a brilliant conclusion - one that sets the scene for an exciting next instalment too. And a mention, as always, for the stellar translation skills of David Hackston, who keeps the gripping story flowing, the humour bubbling, and the emotion full-on. I adored it, and cannot wait to see what Tuomainen has up his sleeve for book three!

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

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

About the author:

Finnish Antti Tuomainen was an award-winning copywriter when he made his literary debut in 2007 as a suspense author in 2013, the Finnish press crowned Tuomainen the 'King of Helsinki Noir' when Dark as My Heart was published.

With a piercing and evocative style, Tuomainen was one of the first to challenge the Scandinavian crime genre formula, and his poignant, dark and hilarious The Man Who Died became an international bestseller, shortlisting for the Petrona and Last Laugh Awards. Palm Beach Finland was an immense success, with Marcel Berlins (The Times) calling Tuomainen 'the funniest writer in Europe'. Little Siberia (2020), was shortlisted for the CWA International Dagger, the Amazon Publishing/Capital Crime Awards and the CrimeFest Last Laugh Award, and won the Petrona Award for Best Scandinavian Crime Novel of the Year.

The Rabbit Factor (2021), the first book in Antti's first ever series, is in production by Amazon Studios with Steve Carell starring. The Moose Paradox, book two in the series is out now, and book three The Beaver Theory is coming soon.

About the translator:

David Hackston is a British Translator of Finnish and Swedish literature and drama.

Notable publications include The Dedalus Book of Finnish Fantasy, Maria Peura’s coming-of-age novel At the Edge of Light, Johanna Sinisalo’s eco-thriller Birdbrain, two crime novels by Matti Joensuu and Kati Hiekkapelto’s Anna Fekete series (which currently includes The Hummingbird, The Defenceless and The Exiled, all published by Orenda Books). He also translates Antti Tuomainen’s stories.

In 2007 he was awarded the Finnish State Prize for Translation. 

David is also a professional countertenor and a founding member of the English Vocal Consort of Helsinki. 

Summer At The Ice Cream Café by Jo Thomas

 

Summer at the Ice Cream Café by Jo Thomas.

Published 8th June 2023 by Penguin.

From the cover of the book:

A dream home
Beca Valentino is ready to escape the city. When she sees the perfect house for sale in her hometown, it seems like fate. Is this her chance to build the foster family she dreams of, on the beautiful Pembrokeshire coast?

A big mistake?
Returning home isn't as easy as she thought, however. Her family's beloved ice cream café is gone - turned into a soulless wine bar by her hateful ex-boyfriend. Reconnecting with her oldest friend, fisherman Griff, isn't straightforward either. And when, instead of the children she expected to take in, two wary teenage boys appear on her doorstep, Beca fears she's made a terrible mistake.

A recipe for change
But an old family recipe book is just the inspiration she needs. Soon, with a little help from friends old and new, Beca is selling mouth-watering homemade gelato from a pop-up café on the beach.

Then disaster strikes. Will the Valentino family legacy be lost forever? Or can Beca create a new recipe for happiness?

***********

Beca Valentino left her hometown of Swn Y Mor twenty years ago with a broken heart and, apart from a few brief visits home to see her dwindling family, she has not been back since - but now it is time for a change. After the break up of her marriage, Beca has sold the London cleaning business she built from scratch, and she intends to make Swn Y Mor her home once again. Beca has bought her dream home overlooking the sea (which comes complete with a herd of dairy cows), and she intends to become a foster carer to fill her house, and heart, with the family she could not have of her own.

Reconnecting with her past is more of a trial than Beca anticipated, especially as the family that anchored her to Swn Y Mor are now all gone. She is no longer seen as a local, but neither is she an outsider. She is unsure where she stands with her former best friend Griff after so long away, and to make things worse, her grandparents' beloved ice cream parlour has been taken over by the man who broke her heart and converted into a swish, but soulless, bistro.

When the young foster children she was anticipating turn out to be two unfathomable teenage boys, who she has no idea how to connect with, Beca thinks she has made a terrible mistake coming home to Wales. But then her grandmother's old notebook turns up, full of delicious recipes for gelato, which brings all those golden childhood memories flooding back. Beca begins to see a way to recapture something of her past, and make a new future, with a pop-up ice cream café by the beach. Can she turn her idea into reality, honour the legacy her family has left behind, and finally find the happiness she craves?

Summer at the Ice Cream Café is a warm and wonderful story about second chances, set in a sea-sde town in Pembrokeshire that is having as much of an identity crisis as the big-hearted Beca Valentino. Beca returns home regretting many of the decisions she has made, keen to make a new start in the place where she has realised she belongs all along.

However, going back to pick up the threads of a former life is never an easy thing to do. Swn Y Mor has changed, almost beyond recognition, as it is being gentrified to cater for the tastes of the tourists and second homers driving the locals out of their cottages. Worst of all, her grandparents' ice cream parlour, which was once the heart of the town, has been ruined by the man who did her wrong.

Although Beca has no intention of starting a new business enterprise, focusing on a quiet life as a foster carer for the children she could not have for herself, something within her stirs. She feel inspired keep the legacy of her family alive, and in working through the challenges she finds herself instrumental in bringing together friends and neighbours to bring life back to the community.

I loved how Beca opens up over the course of this story, learning to forgive herself for the mistakes she thinks she has made, and the way her relationship develops with Joe and Blake, the boys she welcomes into her home, is beautiful. There were many moments that brought a lump to my throat, and a delightful romantic thread, full of the necessary misunderstandings and longed-for declarations that make for the best love stories too.

Every little part of this tale comes out in the best possible way, with love, friendship, hope, and reconciliation, and the happiest of happy endings that made me sob. And not only that, but it is also full of delicious gelato. It is the perfect summer read.

Summer at the Ice Cream Cafe is available to buy now in paperback, ebook and audio formats.

Thank you to Penguin for sending me a copy of this book in return for an honest review, and to Tandem Collective UK for inviting me to be part of this readalong.

About the author:

Jo Thomas worked for many years as a reporter and producer, including time at Radio 4's Woman's Hour and Radio 2's The Steve Wright Show.

Jo's debut novel, The Oyster Catcher, was a runaway bestseller and won both the RNA Joan Hessayon Award and the Festival of Romance Best eBook Award. Her recent book Escape to the French Farmhouse was a #1 bestselling eBook and in every one of her novels 

Jo loves to explore new countries and discover the food produced there, both of which she thoroughly enjoys researching. Jo lives in Pembrokeshire with her husband and three children, where cooking and gathering around the kitchen table are a hugely important and fun part of their family life.

Hokey Pokey by Kate Mascarenhas

 

Hokey Pokey by Kate Mascarenhas.

Published 8th June 2023 by Head of Zeus.

From the cover of the book:

A grand hotel, a famous opera star and a psychoanalyst with a hidden agenda. 

February, 1929. The Regent Hotel in Birmingham is a place of deception and glamour. Behind its six-storeyed façade, guests sip absinthe cocktails on velvet banquettes, while the hotel's red-jacketed staff scurry through its lavish corridors to ensure the finest service is always at hand.

In the early evening, a psychoanalyst checks in under a pseudonym: Nora Dickinson. Nora is young, diligent and ambitious. Though she doesn't see herself as a liar, she is travelling with an agenda. Having followed the famous opera singer, Berenice Oxbow, from Zurich to Birmingham, she's determined not to let her out of her sight.

But when a terrible snow storm isolates the hotel – and its guests – from the outside world, the lines between nightmare and reality begin to blur...

Kate Mascarenhas' third novel offers her readers a glamorous, thrilling ride through murder, madness and the darkest recesses of the mind.

***********

Birmingham, 1929. Welcome to the luxurious Regent Hotel, where guests can dine on sumptuous cuisine, sip absinthe in the glamorous cocktail bar, and have their every need catered to by an army of discrete and smartly dressed attendants. While the facade of the uber-stylish Regent may seem highly respectable, this is a place of contradictions, much like its clientele. For some, rules can be bent to accommodate more lascivious tastes, and misdemeanours can be overlooked, if the guests are wealthy enough - or know how to trade in secrets.

As a winter storm closes in, psychoanalyst Dr Nora Dickinson checks in. Her secret mission is to spy on Berenice Oxbow, the famous opera singer from Zurich, on behalf of her psychiatrist husband, but Nora's motives are clouded. When the hotel gets cut off from the outside world in a mighty blizzard, the evil that stalks the corridors of the Regent comes out to play, and Nora might just be the only one that can stem the tide of murder and mayhem that threatens to disrupt her plans.

Hokey Pokey is the third glorious novel from Kate Mascarenhas, and it offers an intriguing extension of the themes she has explored in her earlier books, The Psychology of Time Travel and The Thief on the Winged Horse. 

In many ways this is a classic locked room mystery, which Nora finds herself bound to solve when murder raises its ugly head, but this is not your normal golden age crime story. The setting of the Regent Hotel may be straight out of the 1920s, with deliciously described sights sounds and smells that conjure up the delights of the era for your sensuous pleasure, right down to the absinthe laden cocktails available in the bar - but here there be monsters. 

Drawing on fable and folklore, Mascarenhas blurs the lines between reality and imagination, moving between events at the Regent, Nora's childhood in the woods of Alspeth, and her life in Zurich. She brings alive visions from your nightmares in true horror fashion, but she incorporates psychoanalytical aspects of the motivations and experiences of the characters too, so you can never be quite sure how much of the story is intended to be taken literally, or metaphsyically - until the truth becomes shockingly clear.

There is a veritable feast of themes running throughout this novel, and Mascarenhas weaves them through compelling scenes thrumming with taut emotion, passion, suspicion, and violence. Identity, control, power and desire are deftly explored; notions of illusion and mimicry are used to perfection; and there are recurring motifs that beautifully link all the parts of the story together. Nora's evolution across the novel, as she comes to understand herself, and what is going on around her, is spellbinding.

I am a big fan of Mascarenhas' writing, especially when it comes to her female characters. I have loved all her novels, and Hokey Pokey is my favourite one yet. I am already craving more.

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

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

About the author:

Kate Mascarenhas is a writer.

Born in 1980, she is of mixed heritage (white Irish father, brown British mother) and has family in Ireland and the Republic of Seychelles. She lives in Birmingham with her partner.

After studying English at Oxford and Applied Psychology at Derby, Kate completed a Literary Studies and Psychology PhD at Worcester.

She has written three novels: The Psychology of Time Travel, The Thief on the Winged Horse, and Hokey Pokey.

The Animals At Lockwood Manor by Jane Healy

 

The Animals at Lockwood Manor by Jane Healy.

Published in hardback 5th March 2020 by Mantle.

Audio book narrated by Sarah Lambie.

From the cover of the book:

August 1939.

Thirty-year-old Hetty Cartwright is tasked with the evacuation and safekeeping of the natural history museum’s collection of mammals. Once she and her exhibits arrive at Lockwood Manor, however, where they are to stay for the duration of the war, Hetty soon realizes that she’s taken on more than she’d bargained for.

Protecting her charges from the irascible Lord Lockwood and resentful servants is work enough, but when some of the animals go missing, and worse, Hetty begins to suspect someone – or something – is stalking her through the darkened corridors of the house.

As the disasters mount, Hetty finds herself falling under the spell of Lucy, Lord Lockwood’s beautiful but clearly haunted daughter. But why is Lucy so traumatized? Does she know something she’s not telling? And is there any truth to local rumours of ghosts and curses?

Part love story, part mystery, The Animals at Lockwood Manor by Jane Healey is a gripping and atmospheric tale of family madness, long-buried secrets and hidden desires.

***********

As the storm clouds gather over Europe, and war seems inevitable, the Natural History Museum in London takes the decision to evacuate many of its precious exhibits to the countryside. Thirty-year-old Hetty Cartwright finds herself raised from the ranks of volunteer to accompany the museum's mammal collection to Lockwood Manor, where it will be housed for the duration of the war.

Hetty is concerned about her ability to keep the collection safe, and the residents of Lockwood Manor make her task an arduous one. Self-important widower Lord Lockwood appears to view the specimens as part of his own private collection, and the household staff are unfriendly and uncooperative. Her only solace is the friendship she feels developing between herself and Lord Lockwood's fragile daughter Lucy.

Tales of hauntings and curses nip at Hetty's nerves, and when some of the specimens seem to move on their own, and others begin to go missing, she starts to doubt her own senses. Does danger really stalk these dark corridors, and are the tales of madness within the Lockwood family true? Lucy certainly seems traumatised, and when the bombs begin to fall on Lockwood, Hetty is slowly consumed by love for this tormented young woman, and the need to protect her from the ghosts of her past.

Jane Healy brings alive twentieth century Gothic in this story, by mixing classic elements of feelings of underlying menace and things that go bump in the night, with an authentically imagined World War II setting. Lockwood Manor with its faded grandeur, and resident dysfunctional family closely connected with scandal and gossip, make for the perfect haunted mansion, and the creepy, otherworldly vibes are ramped up to the max by the addition of a collection of weird and wonderful stuffed animals, and all the ephemera that go with them from the dusty halls of the Natural History Museum.

Healy plays with the notions of hauntings in a psychological, and literal sense, through the lives of Hetty and Lucy, who alternate in narrating the story. They find kinship among the exhibits when they are thrown together, and friendship inevitably develops into something more. Healy portrays their growing closeness beautifully, while weaving around them threads of shocking family secrets, and mysteries to be solved with impressive skill for a debut.

Themes of being trapped and chased, especially where male control is concerned, run through the story, and these work really well with the topics of women's freedom and forbidden love that are central to the novel. There are also lovely echoes of Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre, but from the point of view of Bertha Rochester, and the unscrupulous housekeeper definitely has a du Maurier's Mrs Danvers vibe, all of which add to the discomfiting atmosphere admirably.

The narration of the audio book by Sarah Lambie is handled well, and with expression, but her voices for Hetty and Lucy are almost identical, which does make for moments of confusion. I think in a story like this, with two central characters driving the action, it would have been lifted by having two individual voice actors - one for Hetty and one for Lucy - but overall the narration is very enjoyable.

It is a fine example of Gothic reimagined, well paced and thoroughly compelling, and I look forward to reading more from Jane Healy.

The Animals at Lockwood Manor is available to buy now in hardcover, paperback, ebook and audio formats now.

About the author:

Jane Healey studied English Literature at the University of Warwick and writing in the MFA program at CUNY Brooklyn College. Her short fiction has been shortlisted for the Bristol Short Story Prize, the Costa Short Story Award and the Commonwealth Short Story Prize.

The Ophelia Girls is her second novel. Her first, The Animals at Lockwood Manor, was published in 2020 and won the Historical Writers' Association Debut Crown Award.

She lives in Edinburgh.

The Fascination by Essie Fox

 

The Fascination by Essie Fox.

Published 22nd June by Orenda Books.

From the cover of the book:

Victorian England. A world of rural fairgrounds and glamorous London theatres. A world of dark secrets and deadly obsessions…

Twin sisters Keziah and Tilly Lovell are identical in every way, except that Tilly hasn't grown a single inch since she was five. Coerced into promoting their father's quack elixir as they tour the country fairgrounds, at the age of fifteen the girls are sold to a mysterious Italian known as ‘Captain’.

Theo is an orphan, raised by his grandfather, Lord Seabrook, a man who has a dark interest in anatomical freaks and other curiosities … particularly the human kind. Resenting his grandson for his mother’s death in childbirth, when Seabrook remarries and a new heir is produced, Theo is forced to leave home without a penny to his name.

Theo finds employment in Dr Summerwell’s Museum of Anatomy in London, and here he meets Captain and his theatrical ‘family’ of performers, freaks and outcasts.

But it is Theo’s fascination with Tilly and Keziah that will lead all of them into a web of deceits, exposing the darkest secrets and threatening everything they know…

Exploring universal themes of love and loss, the power of redemption and what it means to be unique, The Fascination is an evocative, glittering and bewitching gothic novel that brings alive Victorian London – and darkness and deception that lies beneath…

***********

Identical twin sisters Keziah and Tilly are like two peas in a pod, apart from the heart-shaped mole on Tilly's cheek - until an incident when they are five-years-old, which means Tilly never grows another inch. Their manipulative, drunken father spots a business advantage in their physical disparity, and he takes them off travelling around the countryside fairs to be gawped at while he peddles his addictive remedies to the unwary.

When Keziah and Tilly are fifteen, their father cruelly sells them on to a mysterious man known only as Captain - a move which introduces them to a very different kind of family, and a chain of events that brings danger and darkness their way...

Theo's mother died in childbirth, after she was parted from her lover. Raised by his callous, grandfather Lord Seabrook, a man with very particular vices who resents the loss of his only daughter, Theo's only friend is his kindly old governess Miss Miller. When his grandfather remarries and produces a legitimate heir, he banishes Theo and Miss Miller from Dorney Hall and forbids them ever to contact him again. Theo's hopes of becoming a surgeon are dashed, and his future looks bleak, until he finds employment with Dr Summerwell at his Museum of Anatomy in London, and meets Captain and his unusual, theatrical ‘family’.

The story is told beautifully via the narratives of Keziah and Theo, who capture your imagination from the very first page, and through them Essie Fox brings the darker sides of Victorian entertainment alive from the points of view of the performers (both willing and unwilling), their clientele, and those who enable their weird, wonderful, and often debauched, pursuits. This is a world where the public are titillated by anyone deemed a 'freak', and willing to part with their cash for a glimpse of something shocking - or maybe more, if the price is right.

Against this backdrop, Fox conjures up deliciously Gothic storylines full of period feel that immerse you in the era, and fills them with characters painted as living breathing people that leap from the page and stir your emotion. There are villains and heroes enough to make this novel a highly entertaining Victorian melodrama, and Fox's writing ties you to the fates of Captain's little family, and the troubled Theo, through all the trials and tribulations she throws at them.

Fox weaves themes of loss, obsession, love, acceptance, and reconciliation throughout, and explores some very interesting aspects of the notion of 'fascination'. I love the way she also examines so many facets of the world of medicine during the Victorian age, and the myriad practices that existed on its fringes too, forcing you to think about the performance aspects of their work - and the macabre acts indulged in by some of those acknowledged as doctors. And the way she holds the secret of Theo's feelings of kinship with Captain's family until almost the very end was very cleverly done.

I adored everything about this book, especially the way Fox channels some of my beloved Victorian authors in constructing a story that easily holds you as fast as anything Wilkie Collins could have written. The nod towards the adventures of the notorious Fanny Hill, and the history of the author's family, is a delight too. If Gothic done well is your bag, then this is absolutely the book for you!

The Fascination is available to buy in hardcover, ebook and audio formats. You can support the very best of indie publishing by buying 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 join this blog tour.

About the author:

Essie Fox was born and raised in rural Herefordshire, which inspires much of her writing.

After studying English Literature at Sheffield University, she moved to London where she worked for the Telegraph Sunday Magazine, then the book publishers George Allen & Unwin – before becoming self-employed in the world of art and design.

Always an avid reader, Essie now spends her time writing historical gothic novels. Her debut, The Somnambulist, was shortlisted for the National Book Awards, and featured on Channel 4’s TV Book Club. The Last Days of Leda Grey, set in the early years of silent film, was selected as The Times Historical Book of the Month. Her latest novel, The Fascination is based in Victorian country fairgrounds, the glamour of the London theatres, and an Oxford Street museum full of morbid curiosities.

Essie is also the creator of the popular blog: The Virtual Victorian She has lectured on this era at the V&A, and the National Gallery in London.

Keep Her Secret by Mark Edwards

 

Keep Her Secret by Mark Edwards.

Published 30th May 2023 by Thomas and Mercer.

From the cover of the book:

After twenty years apart, Matthew and Helena have rekindled their college romance and are away in Iceland on their first holiday together. Swept up in the romance on a mountain hike, one moment they are taking the perfect photo, the next Helena is hanging from the cliff edge…

Terrified, Matthew almost misses Helena’s sudden and shocking confession—but what he hears chills him to the bone. And when Helena reveals the full truth Matthew is horrified, not only by what she’s done, but why she did it. Does he really know her at all?

His shock turns to horror when, back in England, they discover that someone not only overheard Helena’s confession but plans to blackmail her. Now Matthew must decide whether to go to the police or help Helena keep her secret—and as events spiral out of control, how far is Matthew willing to go to protect his ‘perfect’ girlfriend?

***********

Former university sweethearts Helena and Matthew get back together at a reunion, after twenty years apart. On the spur of the moment, they decide to embark on an adventure in Iceland, which brings them rather more in the way of thrills and spills than they bargained for.

After accidentally falling over a cliff edge on a mountain hike, Helena's brush with death makes her reveal to Matthew a shocking secret she has been keeping. Unfortunately, Matthew is not the only one to hear her confession...

When they return to England, they suddenly find themselves in the thrall of a blackmailer. Matthew is caught in a dilemma: he has fallen head over heels for Helena, but helping her with her problems means stepping over more than a few lines. How far will he go to protect her?

Keep Her Secret is an exciting crime story that begins with a gentle rekindling of a romance, which rapidly spirals out of control as Matthew finds himself sucked into helping Helena out of a very sticky situation. Without going into spoilers, this is basically a story about a decent man who is forced to confront just how far he is willing to stray from the straight and narrow to protect the woman he loves - and the answer is very far indeed.

There is plenty of darkness here, with as much in the way of dodgy shenanigans as to be expected from the devious mind of Edwards. I thoroughly enjoyed how Matthew and Helena actually both find themselves pushing their boundaries into lawlessness as each move they make sets off a chain reaction of increasingly complex conundrums, all the way to the delicious climax - and there is a lovely spine tingling parting kiss in the final pages. You are never quite sure who is telling the truth, even Matthew and Helena, which keeps things entertainingly tense. Curiously, for all the grit and mayhem, with themes of control, guilt and obsession, there is the unmistakeable feel of a cinematic, action caper about this story. The undercurrent of black comedy that arises from 'good guy' Matthew becoming embroiled in a series of surreal situations is strangely humorous (albeit in a morbid vein), and I found myself chuckling at many points in this book.

This was so much fun, and a proper page-turner... with a great title that hides intriguing shades of meaning!

Keep Her Secret is available to buy now in paperback, ebook and audio formats.

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

About the author:

Mark Edwards writes psychological thrillers in which scary things happen to ordinary people.

He has sold 4 million books since his first novel, The Magpies, was published in 2013, and has topped the bestseller lists numerous times. His other novels include Follow You Home, The Retreat, In Her Shadow, Because She Loves Me, The Hollows and Here to Stay. He has also co-authored six books with Louise Voss.

Originally from Hastings in East Sussex, Mark now lives in Wolverhampton with his wife, their children and two cats.