In The Blink Of An Eye by Jo Callaghan

 

In the Blink of an Eye by Jo Callaghan.

Published in paperback 4th January 2024 by Simon and Schuster.

From the cover of the book:

In the UK, someone is reported missing every 90 seconds.
Just gone. Vanished. In the blink of an eye.

DCS Kat Frank knows all about loss. A widowed single mother, Kat is a cop who trusts her instincts. Picked to lead a pilot programme that has her paired with AIDE (Artificially Intelligent Detective Entity) Lock, Kat's instincts come up against Lock's logic. But when the two missing person's cold cases they are reviewing suddenly become active, Lock is the only one who can help Kat when the case gets personal.

AI versus human experience.  

Logic versus instinct.

With lives on the line can the pair work together before someone else becomes another statistic?

***********

DCS Kat Frank knew it would be hard to return to work after the death of her husband, but she was not expecting the challenges to include heading up a pilot programme testing the introduction of technology intended to put her out of a job. Partnered up with AIDE (Artificially Intelligent Detective Entity) Lock, a state-of-the-art virtual detective, Frank is convinced that Lock's logic can never replace the gut instincts she has developed over her twenty-five years in the police force - and as her small team begin to look into cold case missing person files, she sees little to change her opinion.

Frank, Lock, Lock's creator Professor Okonedo, and Frank's handpicked officers, DI Hassan and DS Browne, get stuck into reviewing the cases of two missing young men, settling into a working relationship that seems fraught with difficulties - not least due to Frank and Lock's inability to concede that each of them might have something to teach each other. But when, against the odds, they uncover new information that brings these cases back to life, Frank and Lock find themselves unexpectedly on the same side - and Lock is the only person Frank can rely on when a twist of fate brings danger to her own door.

In the Blink of an Eye is an astonishingly accomplished debut novel, in a near future setting that is so real you can almost taste it. Callaghan's quite brilliant premise is to bring together two detectives whose views on what each other bring to the table could not be more different - the very human DCS Frank and the AI detective- of-the-future Lock - and let the sparks fly.

The story unfurls through two separate cases that highlight a whole parcel of preconceptions on the part of individual members of the team - including Lock. As the threads of the investigations twist and turn, the plot hinges on a series of moments that starkly contrast and compare Frank and Lock's firmly held beliefs in instinct and logic. Frank's crippling grief and her worries for her son are palpable things, central to the relationship that develops between her and Lock, but Callaghan also takes great care to fill out all her human characters through glimpses of their personal lives, to powerful effect when the threads collide in spectacular style.

This cracking crime novel thrums with emotion, especially when it comes to loss, which I think comes very much from the place Callaghan was in when she wrote it (I promise you an Acknowledgment chapter at the end which will make you cry). There are so many relatable moments, and some lovely flashes of humour too. It touches on so many issues around modern policing; tight budgets; the pitfalls and benefits of AI technology; reliance on hard statistics; how unconscious bias plays a part in our thought processes; and rooting out prejudice and racism - as well as offering a really thought provoking look at cutting edge experiments in more than one sphere. But more than anything, it is a superb exploration of what it means to be human.

My heart was in my mouth throughout this super slick, original police procedural. I absorbed it in one delicious bite, and had a little cry at the surprisingly touching ending. It has real legs to run and run as a series, and I cannot wait to read book two, Leave No Trace, which is out at the end of March. More please!

In the Blink of an Eye is available to buy now in hardcover, paperback, ebook and audio formats.

Thank you to Simon and Schuster for sending me a copy of this book in return for an honest review.

About the author:

Jo Callaghan works full time as a senior strategist, carrying out research into the future impact of AI and genomics on the workforce. She was a student of the Writers' Academy Course (Penguin Random House) and was longlisted for the Mslexia Novel Writing Competition and Bath Novel Competition.

 After losing her husband to cancer in 2019 when she was just forty-nine, she started writing In the Blink of an Eye, her debut crime novel, which explores learning to live with loss and what it means to be human. 

She lives with her two children in the Midlands, where she spends far too much time tweeting as @JoCallaghanKat and is currently working on further novels in the series.

The Happiest Ever After by Milly Johnson

 

The Happiest Ever After by Milly Johnson.

Published 15th February 2024 by Simon and Schuster.

From the cover of the book:

Polly Potter is surviving, not thriving. She used to love her job – until her mentor died and her new boss decided to make her life hell. She used to love her partner Chris – until he cheated on her, and now she can’t forget. The only place where her life is working is on the pages of the novel she is writing – there she can create a feistier, bolder, more successful version of herself – as the ­fictional Sabrina Anderson.

But what if it was possible to start over again? To leave everything behind, forget all that went before, and live the life you’d always dreamed of?

After a set of unforeseen circumstances, Polly ends up believing she really IS Sabrina, living at the heart of a noisy Italian family restaurant by the sea. Run by Teddy, the son of her new landlady Marielle, it’s a much-loved place, facing threat of closure as a rival restaurant moves in next door. Sabrina can’t remember her life as Polly, but she knows she is living a different life from the one she used to have.

But what if this new life could belong to her after all?

***********

Somewhere along the line, Polly Potter's life has taken a wrong turn. She used to love her job helping failing business on the way to success, until her beloved boss died and was replaced by one who constantly side-lines and belittles her. She used to love her partner Chris too, but there is no denying she is now desperately unhappy in her relationship, especially since she discovered he was having an affair. Polly's respite comes from the characters she writes in the stories she works on with her creative writing group - especially the fictional Sabrina Anderson, who has developed into a bolder and braver version of herself.

Polly has come to realise that she needs to make some changes, and the first one is to leave Chris and make a fresh start. However, after a massive shock at the venue where Polly's unpleasant sister-in-law was supposed to be renewing her vows, her exit plan goes awry. Polly ends up making an unplanned, hasty escape for the seaside town of Shoresend, where she meets with an accident... and when she awakens, her confused state leads her to believe that she really is the feisty Sabrina.

Taken in by the warm hearted Marielle Bonelli, 'Sabrina' finds herself working at the much-loved Italian restaurant owned by Marielle's son, Teddy - a family business facing closure after suffering from a dirty tricks campaign by the chain of soulless Italian restaurants that plan to open up next door. Sabrina has arrived just in time... she may not remember who she really is, but she does know a thing or two about saving businesses from her life as Polly. This could be the perfect way to pay back the people who have shown her such kindness - particularly Teddy - and work through her own issues too. Maybe Sabrina and Polly can be one and the same after all?

The story begins with a tense countdown to the renewal of vows ceremony for Polly's horrendous sister-in-law, the hilariously named Camay (which constantly reminded my of the pink soap from my childhood), in which Johnson gives you a maddening eyeful of Polly's personal and professional lives. It then unfurls through the very best kind of 'memory loss' caper from 'Sabrina's' arrival among the Bonetti family, where she proves to be the catalyst to the resolution of family dramas, and the fight to save the family restaurant business - after the required number of bumps in the road to the 'happiest ever after', of course. Hurray!

As expected, it is Johnson's female characters that steal the show, beginning with Polly's journey to be her best self as Sabrina, and taking in a choice cast of women of all ages, including Marielle's delightful friends, the Mad Cows. Through them, Johnson explores a wealth of themes around marriage, motherhood, expectation, and the joys and heartache of different kinds of families, which evoke so many emotional highs and lows - before building up to the kind of ending that makes your eyes brim over with happy tears. Johnson's sparkling wit is threaded throughout, and her fans will be delighted to see the Daily Trumpet making an appearance once more - particularly the lovely way Johnson involves them in the Polly-Sabrina story to wonderfully comic effect.

I adored this novel. Milly Johnson's stories are always full of great characters to love and loathe; the warmth of true friendship; gentle romances to swell your heart; and a delicious sense of community; while also exploring many a knotty issues around love, loss, and difficult relationships - and The Happiest Ever After, Johnson's twenty-first book, does all of this to perfection. It is the ideal, escapist antidote to a grey Winter's day. 

The Happiest Ever After is available to buy now in hardcover, ebook and audio formats.

Thank you to Simon and Schuster for sending me a copy of this book in return for an honest review, and to Books and the City for inviting me to be part of this blog tour.

About the author:

Milly Johnson was born, raised and still lives in Barnsley, South Yorkshire. A Sunday Times bestseller, she is one of the Top 10 Female Fiction authors in the UK, and has sold millions of copies of her books sold across the world. The Happiest Ever After is her twenty-first novel.

 Milly's writing highlights the importance of community spirit and the magic of kindness. Her books inspire and uplift but she packs a punch and never shies away from the hard realities of life and the complexities of relationships in her stories. Her books champion women, their strength and resilience, and celebrate love, friendship and the possibility and joy of second chances and renaissances.

First Lie Wins by Ashley Elston

 

First Lie Wins by Ashley Elston.

Published 2nd January 2024 by Headline.

From the cover of the book:

Everything she is about to tell them is a lie...

Evie Porter has everything a girl could want: a doting boyfriend, a house with a picket fence, a fun group of friends.

The only catch: Evie Porter doesn't exist.

First comes the identity. Once she's given a name and location by her employer, she learns everything there is to know about the town and the people in it.

Then the mark: Ryan Sumner.

The last piece of the puzzle is the job. For Evie, this job feels different. Ryan has gotten under her skin and she's started to picture another kind of life for herself - one where her boss doesn't pull the strings. But Evie can't make any mistakes. Because the one thing she's worked her entire life to keep clean, the one identity she could always go back to - her real identity - just walked right into this town. A woman, who looks just like her, has stolen her name - and she wants more. As Evie's past begins to catch up with her, can she stay one step ahead to save her future?

***********

Evie Porter seems to have everything a Southern girl could want, right down to the house with a white picket fence, and the perfect boyfriend - handsome and wealthy Ryan Sumner. But things are not quite as story-book romance as they seem, for Evie Porter does not exist. She is simply the latest in a long line of fake identities Evie has adopted over the last few years, as a necessary part of the cons she engages in for her mysterious boss, Mr Smith.

Evie has no idea what Mr Smith wants from her latest mark, Ryan, as yet... but she is under no illusion that she must ensure this latest con goes as smoothly as possible, given the hash she made of her last job. Unfortunately, her judgement is becoming clouded by the fact that she has started to develop feelings for Ryan. 

Caught between an unexpected yearning to end her ghost like existence and the need to protect herself from Mr Smith's unforgiving temper, Evie feels like she is walking a tightrope over a long drop. Then something happens that threatens the one thing she has kept sacred - the true identity she one day hopes to return to. For a woman bearing Evie's real name has just walked into town pretending to be her...  and Evie knows the stakes this time are even higher than she thought.

First Lie Wins is a cracking thriller full of delicious suspense, that follows the adventures of a young confidence trickster, who marches to the beat of a dangerous master. Evie never knows where she will be sent next, or who her mark will be, but she has proven herself to be adept at the shady assignments 'Mr Smith' sends her way - until the one job that goes horribly awry, and blots her copy book.

The story unfurls with perfect pace and timing in the present and the past, as Elston weaves multiple threads around Evie's current scam and the past assignments that have led her here. It is impossible to tell you much more without spoilers, but be assured you will be unable to look away until the timelines collide in a quite brilliant twist and twist again ending. It takes a lot of skill to pull you into an intricate plot with a morally grey protagonist like Evie, but Elston does this beautifully, keeping you guessing about where the story is heading, before hitting you with revelatory scenes that flip your perception in glorious style - which is ever more impressive considering this is her first thriller for an adult audience.

Elston's superb storytelling, character development, and pitch perfect reveals play out in a seamless drama with an enjoyably cinematic feel. It is an ideal candidate for a television adaptation, so I am delighted that one is now in development. I really hope it does this tense and super slick thriller justice, because this has been one of my favourite reads of the year so far. 

If you love a fast paced, clever story in the vein of Megan Miranda that this is definitely the book for you. I cannot wait to see what comes next for Ashley Elston - I predict a great future!

First Lie Wins is available to buy now in hardcover, ebook and audio formats.

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

About the author:

Ashley Elston lives in North Louisiana with her husband and three sons. She was a wedding and portrait photographer for ten years so most of her Saturday nights included eating cake, realizing no shoe is comfortable after standing for more than six hours and inevitably watching some groomsman do the alligator across the dance floor. Now, Ashley helps her husband run their small business and she writes as often as possible.

Love Letters On Hazel Lane (The Little Board Game Café Book Two) by Jennifer Page

Love Letters on Hazel Lane (The Little Board Game Café Book Two) by Jennifer Page.

Published 4th January by Aria, Head of Zeus.

From the cover of the book:

Scrabble fan Jo always seems to pick the wrong guys. Now she's moved to the Yorkshire village of Hebbleswick, and decided to give dating one last chance. This time, there's a catch: she will only date men whose names would score highly in her beloved word game.

After Tarquin (16 points) proves just as disappointing as the rest, she meets low-scoring local doctor Ras (3 points). Her rules mean she can't date him – but when he asks her to organise a Scrabble festival with him, she can't say no.

As the event draws nearer and Jo and Ras grow closer, will Jo ignore her rule and let true love blossom over the triple letter scores?

***********

Following the break-up of her marriage to a controlling husband, Jo moves to the quaint Yorkshire village of Hebbleswick, for a fresh start. It is hard being the new person in town, and Jo is feeling lonely - especially since her best friend Gemma moved away, and Leona, the new girl at Pop! Productions where Jo works, seems to have frozen her out of the get togethers she used to be invited to.

With her confidence at an all time low, Jo decides it is time to get back out there, and gives internet dating a go to find her perfect man. Sadly, relying on misleading bios and blurry photos does not seem to be giving her the results she was looking for. All Jo really wants is someone kind and caring who loves her favourite board game, Scrabble, just as much as she does... and this gives her an idea. She will pick her prospective partner on the basis of how high their names would score in Scrabble! What could go wrong?

However, when the promising scoring Tarquin (16 points) proves a disaster, but local doctor Ras (only 3 points) ticks all her boxes, Jo is forced to rethink her strategy - especially as Ras even runs a local Scrabble club. Friendship blooms between Ras and Jo, and soon they are working together on a Hebbleswick Scrabble festival, but can they ever become more than friends?

In this endearing follow-up to her debut rom-com, The Little Board Game Cafe, Jennifer Page returns to her beloved world of board games - this time focusing on that stalwart of many a family get-together in our household, good old Scrabble. Love Letters on Hazel Lane is also full of many of the other themes Page is so good at exploring: love, loss, loneliness, friendship, family, and community - and she ups the emotional ante here by introducing a protagonist who is recovering from a controlling relationship that has knocked the stuffing right out of her too.

Jo begins this story in a bad place, stuck in a job with a toxic environment, and finding that her tentative steps towards trusting another man only bring her more heartache. But all is not lost, because Page surrounds her with a glorious set of characters who can really help her on the way to healing and happiness - after the required number of twists, turns, and bumps in the road, of course. For readers of Page's previous book, The Little Board Game Cafe, many of these characters will be familiar faces, but this is a standalone story which can be enjoyed on its own - I do recommend going back and reading the first book as well though, for the ultimate heart-warming hit, as it is gorgeous.

The way Jo grows in confidence in these pages, facing her demons, and blossoming into the person she was always meant to be, made this story for me. Page weaves some serious subjects into her journey, which she handles with sensitivity, and everything dovetails nicely into the gentle romance that plays out between Jo and Ras. I thoroughly enjoyed how much Page waves the flag for community enterprises in helping those experiencing loneliness too - something that really comes across as being close to her own heart.

This was a joy to read, confirming Page's ability to write a comforting story full of love, romance, and hope - with an entertaining side-order of board game fever. I loved it. Roll on book three!

Love Letters on Hazel Lane is available to buy now in paperback and ebook.

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

About the author:

Jennifer Page lives near Hebden Bridge in West Yorkshire with her husband Hermi and his very – no, make that extremely – large collection of board games. Her debut novel, The Little Board Game Cafe published on 13th April 2023. Jennifer writes light-hearted, cosy romantic fiction which was initially inspired by her own dating adventures. Before she met Hermi, she was single for 13 years and had pretty much given up on meeting The One.

When she isn’t writing, Jennifer can usually be found playing board games; since she met Hermi, she’s become even more obsessed with them than he is! She also loves cooking (though she’d never claim to be any good at it!), caravan holidays and walking in the beautiful Yorkshire countryside.

Moscow X (Damascus Station Book Two) by David McCloskey

 

Moscow X (Damascus Station Book Two) by David McCloskey.

Published in paperback 18th January 2024 by Swift Press.

From the cover of the book:

A daring CIA operation threatens chaos in the Kremlin.

But can Langley trust the Russian at its center?

CIA operatives Sia and Max enter Russia to recruit Vladimir Putin's moneyman. Sia works for a London firm that conceals the wealth of the super-rich. Max's family business in Mexico, a CIA front since the 1960s, is a farm that breeds high-end racehorses.

They pose as a couple, and their targets are Vadim, Putin's private banker, and his wife Anna, who is both a banker and an intelligence officer. As they descend further into a Russian world dripping with luxury and rife with gangland violence, Sia and Max's hope may be Anna, who is playing a game of her own. 

Careening between the horse ranch and the dark opulence of Saint Petersburg, Moscow Xis both a gripping and a daring work of political commentary on the conflict between Washington and Moscow.

***********

CIA Station Chief, Artemis Aphrodite Proctor returns to Langley under a cloud after an unfortunate run-in with with her Russian opposite numbers in Tajikistan. Unrepentant, Proctor is sure she is in for a couple of years of drudgery in the 'Penalty Box', but as luck would have it, the perfect job opens up for her as the head of a new department running all 'spooky' Russia operations, Moscow X. 

In St Petersburg, beleaguered General Andrei Agapov's star is on the wain. Agapov has become the target of the Machiavellian power games of Vassily 'Goose' Gusev, former head of the FSB. As his empire becomes subsumed by Goose, ostensibly for the good of mother Russia, Agapov now finds himself minus two hundred and twenty-one bars of his gold reserves. Fearing for his life, Agapov arranges a clandestine meeting with his banker daughter, Anna, at their horse breeding facility, to ask her to trace the stolen money and try to find out what Goose is up to.

In London, Hortensia 'Sia' Fox is under deep cover for the CIA at a bank specialising in hiding the ill-gotten gains of its shady clientele. The job of dispersing the funds Goose has obtained from Agapov has fallen into her hands, and it presents an intriguing opportunity to disrupt the plans of the money-men behind Putin - a plan that gets the go ahead from Sia's thrilled boss, Proctor. But how to begin?

As the mission comes together, it becomes clear that the way in will be through the Agapov's equine interests, and the perfect partner for Sia comes in the shape of Mexican stud-farm owner, Maximiliano Castillo, whose family business has been in cahoots with the CIA since the 1960s. Posing as romantic partners, Sia and Max set their sights on banker couple, Agapov's daughter Anna and her  husband Vadim, who just happens to be Putin's personal banker. But what they do not know is that Anna is also an intelligence operative for the SVR who would dearly love to turn these CIA agents to her own crusade of vengeance...

Moscow X is the cracking follow-up to David McCloskey's best-selling debut, Damascus Station, featuring CIA operative Artemis Proctor. This is a slow-burn thriller reminiscent of the seductive charm of Le Carre, with intricately woven threads packed with delicious detail about the workings of the CIA, alongside a glimpse into the murky machinations of Putin's Russia, that thrums with chilling authenticity. The story ebbs and flows, with bursts of gripping action, and I loved how McCloskey switches things up by flipping location between London, Langley, Moscow, St Petersburg, and a sideways jaunt to Mexico, which keeps things interesting.

McCloskey's characters are beautifully drawn, on all sides of this international ensemble piece. I was so impressed with the way he takes the time to show you all the little shades of grey that make up their personalities without resorting to lazy caricatures, and delves into the fall-out of the difficult family relationships that have shaped them - which makes all the difference when a story is as complex as this one. His kick-ass female characters are particularly impressive, especially the ball-busting Artemis Proctor (who I am totally enamoured with), but it is actually the cat-and-mouse, move-and-counter-move that plays out between Sia and Anna that makes this novel so darned compelling. Sia and Anna both have incredible storylines, and you find yourself splitting your allegiance equally between them in their oft conflicting efforts to derail the plans of Putin's money men. It is not easy to pull this off well, but McCloskey does this with aplomb... the simmering emotion, the closely guarded long-games, the things left hanging unsaid... Superb writing!

If ever there was a novel that hits the perfect spot for a contemporary view of the complex relationship that Russia has with the West in the post-'special military operation' in Ukraine days (aka invasion of Ukraine to you and me), then this is it. McCloskey offers incredible insight into modern Russia, and the intelligence operations that hope to inveigle themselves into the secretive world of the power hungry entourage that surrounds Putin - and the ways in which sanctions can be subverted if you have enough money. There are so many lovely little details that colour in the backdrop in this story too that I am inclined to think that at least some of them must be true, but in any case, McCloskey's CIA analyst credentials give everything a patina of gritty realism that makes this a cut above the espionage thriller crowd.

This is not a spy yarn that you can fly through at fever pitch, despite the intensity of the story, but one to be savoured for all its well-conceived twists and turns on the way to an immensely satisfying conclusion. I absorbed it from cover to cover, and cannot wait to go back and read the first book in the series, Damascus Station, for more Artemis Proctor. I will also be counting down the months until the publication of book three, which is expected in January 2025. More please!

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

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

About the author:

David McCloskey is a former CIA analyst and consultant at McKinsey & Company. 

While at the CIA, he wrote regularly for the President’s Daily Brief, delivered classified testimony to Congressional oversight committees, and briefed senior White House officials, Ambassadors, military officials, and Arab royalty. He worked in CIA field stations across the Middle East. 

During his time at McKinsey, David advised national security, aerospace, and transportation clients on a range of strategic and operational issues. 

David holds an M.A. from the Johns Hopkins School for Advanced International Studies, where he specialized in energy policy and the Middle East. 

He lives in Texas with his wife and three children.

Halfway House by Helen Fitzgerald

 

Halfway House by Helen Fitzgerald.

Published 18th January 2024 by Orenda Books.

From the cover ofthe book:

They’re the housemates from Hell…

When her disastrous Australian love affair ends, Lou O’Dowd heads to Edinburgh for a fresh start, moving in with her cousin, and preparing for the only job she can find … working at a halfway house for very high-risk offenders.

Two killers, a celebrity paedophile and a paranoid coke dealer – all out on parole and all sharing their outwardly elegant Edinburgh townhouse with rookie night-worker Lou…

And instead of finding some meaning and purpose to her life, she finds herself trapped in a terrifying game of cat and mouse where she stands to lose everything – including her life.

Slick, darkly funny and nerve-janglingly tense, Halfway House is both a breathtaking thriller and an unapologetic reminder never to corner a desperate woman…

***********

When Lou O'Dowd's relationship with a married man ends badly, she is desperate for a new start. Her sketchy employment history makes it difficult to find an appealing job where she lives in Melbourne, Australia, so she hits on the idea of joining her cousin in Edinburgh for a Scottish adventure - and blags her way into a job covering the night shift in a halfway house for serious offenders on parole, which she is sure will give her the purpose she is searching for.

However, Lou is completely unprepared for the reality that shatters her illusions on the very first night of her new job - for within the walls of the impressive Edinburgh townhouse that serves as the halfway house lurk two murderers, a celebrity paedophile, a sex pest, and a neurotic drug-dealer, who are much more of a handful than she anticipated. The fresh start among the 'castles' of Scotland that Lou was looking for soon descends into chaos, and unexpected dangers threaten not just her own life, but the lives of her loved ones too...

I was first introduced to the work of Helen Fitzgerald in a thrilling baptism of fire through her book Worst Case Scenario about a Scottish social worker on the edge, so I knew I was in for quite a ride with Halfway House - and I was not disappointed!

This brand new, darkly comic thriller delves into a bevy of similar themes - which is not surprising given Fitzgerald's background in social work - this time through the experiences of Aussie ex-pat Lou, whose eyes are well and truly opened about the reality of working with serious offenders who are out on licence in the community. The story begins with a delicious prologue in which Lou is branded as #TheImpaler which makes it clear from the outset that events are going to get pretty hairy for her, and then rewinds to two months earlier to unfurl in all its unnerving glory. 

Lou is a tricky protagonist to like, and her ability to make good choices is hampered by her selfishness, her tendency towards being a fantasist, and a decidedly off-kilter moral compass. However, I did find myself warming to her as Fitzgerald reveals how and why Lou finds making meaningful connections difficult, and there are lovely little glimmers of the Lou inside that occasionally shine through the utter mess she gets into, revealing the kind of person she could be given different circumstances. Eventually, I was totally on her side through every breathtaking move and counter move for survival she became embroiled in within the walls of that horrifying halfway house, which I thought was beautifully managed by Fitzgerald. 

For a book of under 300 pages, this little gem is packed with insight, observations, and subtle commentary about so many themes, particularly the more unsettling aspects of the world of social work. You find yourself pondering on a knotty mass of issues about reintegration of serious offenders back into society, especially addicts and those convicted of sexual and manipulative crimes; and I cannot help but feel some of the more bizarre approaches to modifying behaviour to within more acceptable bounds that Fitzgerald pokes fun at are uncomfortably based on truth. She also takes some intriguing sideswipes at the kinds of people attracted to working in this environment, and what their motivations might be. And I am really impressed at how she incorporates the media frenzy around high-profile crimes, and the way they are reported in this story - and the unintended consequences of the information you share on social media. There are some lovely bits about family too - including the curious, often transient, bonds of found family.

It seems odd to describe this one as a 'caper', given the subject matter, but this book is packed to the rafters with disconcerting situations steeped in pitch black humour in Fitzgerald's characteristic vein. Once you start reading, you cannot stop until all the surreal twists and turns work themselves out in a frantic, headlong journey towards the incongruous conclusion... which definitely makes this a 'caper' in my book. Highly recommended if you enjoy an offbeat style that makes you laugh at the darker side of life. I absorbed it in one tasty bite! 

Halfway House is available to buy now in paperback, 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 be part of this blog tour.

About the author:

Helen FitzGerald is the bestselling author of ten adult and young adult thrillers, including The Donor (2011) and The Cry (2013), which was longlisted for the Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year, and adapted for a major BBC drama. Her 2019 dark-comedy thriller Worst Case Scenario was a Book of the Year in the Literary Review, Herald Scotland, Guardian and Daily Telegraph, shortlisted for the Theakston’s Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year, and won the CrimeFest Last Laugh Award. 

Helen worked as a criminal justice social worker for over fifteen years. She grew up in Victoria, Australia, and now lives in Glasgow with her husband.

War And Peace by Leo Tolstoy

 

War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy.

Translated from the Russian by Anthony Briggs.

This edition published 27th September 2007 by Penguin Classics.

From the cover of the book:

Tolstoy's magnificent epic novel of love, conflict, fate and human life in all its imperfection and grandeur.

War and Peace begins at a glittering society party in St Petersburg in 1805, where conversations are dominated by the prospect of war. Terror swiftly engulfs the country as Napoleon's army marches on Russia, and the lives of three young people are changed forever. The stories of quixotic Pierre, cynical Andrey and impetuous Natasha interweave with a huge cast, from aristocrats and peasants to soldiers and Napoleon himself.

Translated with an Introduction and Notes by Anthony Briggs with an Afterword by Orlando Figes.

***********

War and Peace is one of those books that everyone knows for its hefty size, not without cause as this edition numbers a densely-printed 1400 pages! It was one on my to-be-read pile for many years before I finally tackled it in 2023 - at the pace of a chapter-a-day throughout the year. It is impossible to do justice to it in a short review, so, instead, this is more of a reflection upon my experience reading this (in)famous tale of love, loss and family, through times of war and peace in imperial Russia.

The journey begins in a grand salon in St Petersburg in 1805. War is on the horizon as Napoleon casts his ambitious eye towards the East, and for a country that has long been enamoured with courtly French ways, this act of aggression will set in motion unforeseeable consequences for mother Russia... 

It is a many threaded, complex story as befits one which deals with the complicated history Tolstoy presents, with a huge cast of characters, ranging from society glitteratti to the lowly peasant classes, many of whom are only on the stage for a short time. However, he mainly guides the reader through the momentous events through the eyes of a handful of central characters and their families - Pierre Bezukhov, an illegitimate son who finds himself becoming a wealthy Count; Prince Andrey Bolkonsky, Pierre's friend; and the Rostovs, primarily through brother and sister, Count Nikolay and Countess Natasha. I will admit to having a complicated relationship with many of these characters, especially the Rostovs, but Tolstoy deftly uses them all to display human nature in all its many shades of  black, white, and murky grey, and he certainly knows how to transport you through his words to feel every moment of their joy and despair. My favourite of them all was Pierre, who goes on an epic personal journey, through tremendous spiritual and emotional peaks and troughs - he is also the character who provides the most comic moments as he blunders about attempting benevolent works for the good of mankind, despite his marital woes. I adored him.

Of course this is a book which concerns itself with times of war and peace, and my expectations about how these elements would fit together - and how I would feel about them afterwards - have probably provided most of the surprises. I love a well-written battle, so was really looking forward to these parts of the story, and Tolstoy does an incredible job carrying you through the intricacies of Napoleon's attempt to conquer Russia. He can immerse you in the terrifying heat of battle with aplomb, but he also has a propensity to digress into academic speculation about the whys, wherefores, and what-might-haves about military strategy on both sides of the conflict which gets a bit tedious after a while. I found myself switching off during these ramblings, and wondering whether these might have been better shifted into an appendix for fans of the minutiae of military tactics. Nevertheless, I learned so much about this part of the Napoleonic wars that I did not know before, and went down a whole warren of rabbit holes about the battles and their aftermath - especially Borodino.

Ultimately, it is the characters who drive you on through the story, as you get to know them intimately through the years - and they pull you through the slower sections where Tolstoy indulges himself with wordy speculations. Tolstoy triumphs here. Despite some oddness at the closing of the tale, where we see a glimpse of the future, and times when I wanted more about some of the side characters, there is nothing I would have changed about how Tolstoy delves into the personal cost of war.  

I have had a lot of thoughts after having taken a few weeks to mull over my time with Tolstoy's masterpiece. I imagine this is a book that leaves many impressions in the minds of those who are brave enough to tackle it, but for me, it is a compelling story about identity - both on the part of the individual characters, and an entire nation - following the breakdown of Russia's love affair with France. I do not think I can claim to be in love with Tolstoy's style, but it was an incredibly rewarding experience to finally read War and Peace, and I am proud of myself for sticking through the thick and thin to the very end. I do not know whether I will ever revisit the story as a whole again, but there are beautifully written sections I will definitely refer back to in the future.  

If you have ever considered taking on this behemoth yourself, I highly recommend going the slow-read route with a chapter-a-day, as it really does make it more achievable. Take some time to think about the translation you use too, as I started with the Vintage Classics edition to begin with, but found the Pevear and Volokhonsky translation far too 'French heavy' for my language skills - in my opinion, the Penguin Classics Brigg's translation flows much better for English speakers.

I can also recommend reading this novel along with others, as there are many things you will want to talk about as you make your way through the many chapters - I would like to thank Simon Halsell aka @footnotes.and.tangents for organising the #WhiskyAndPerseverance readalongs on Instagram. His enthusiasm and love for Tolstoy is inspirational. Simon has another readalong for War and Peace going in 2024, so look him up if you are tempted to join in!

War and Peace is available to buy now in multiple formats.

About the author:

Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910) wrote two of the great novels of the nineteenth century, War and Peace and Anna Karenina.

The Mysterious Affair At Styles by Agatha Christie

 

The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie.

This edition published 10th November 2022. Originally published in 1920.

From the cover of the book:

After the Great War, life can never be the same again. Wounds need healing, and the horror of violent death banished into memory.

Captain Arthur Hastings is invited to the rolling country estate of Styles to recuperate from injuries sustained at the Front. It is the last place he expects to encounter murder. Fortunately he knows a former detective, a Belgian refugee, who has grown bored of retirement…

The first Hercule Poirot mystery, now published with a previously deleted chapter and introduced by Agatha Christie expert Dr John Curran.

***********

1916. Lieutenant Arthur Hastings (before his later promotion to Captain) is on sick leave from the Western Front when he bumps into his old friend, John Cavendish. Cavendish invites Hastings to stay at Styles Court for some rest and recuperation in the Essex countryside, warning him that all is not rosy at the family estate, as his elderly step-mother, Emily, has remarried to a much younger man - one Alfred Inglethorp, who the family considers to be after her money.

When Hastings arrives at Styles, he lands right into the middle of more than one family disagreement in the Cavendish household, but they all seem united against the interloper Inglethorp, especially Emily's companion Evelyn Howard, who is very vocal about her dislike of him. However, Hastings is delighted to find that his old pal, former police detective, Hercule Poirot is residing in the village, as part of a group of Belgian refugees. Hastings and Poirot rekindle their friendship, which becomes very important when a drastic turn of events happens up at Styles Court...

Following a day of violent quarrels, during which Evelyn departs apparently never to return, and Alfred is absent on mysterious business, Emily succumbs to strychnine poisoning during the night. Poirot is called to the scene by Hastings to put his little grey cells to the test in the quest for the guilty party. And so begins a a joyful pairing as they work together to track down the murderer through oodles of twists, turns and blind-alleys - with scorched wills, crushed coffee cups, and false beards having important roles to play in the surprising solution. This novel introduces good old Inspector Japp from Scotland Yard too, before his Chief Inspector days.

The Mysterious Affair At Styles marks the beginning of Christie's golden career, after she was challenged by her sister to write a crime novel. Written in 1916, during the midst of the Great War, it took four years for the novel to be published - and it only appeared after some changes were requested in the format by the publishers - changes which subsequently became part of Poirot's well-known MO. The rest is history.

Christie's inspirations are clear to see in this first novel. The experience she gained working as a VAD nurse and a drug dispenser during the Great War led to the theme of poisoning being central to this story, and this later became a mainstay of many of her novels. Her love of the Sherlock Holmes mysteries by Conan Doyle is also apparent here, particularly in Poirot's reliance on observation of little details that prove to be turning points in the story, and in the relationship between Poirot and Hastings, which is is very reminiscent of that between Holmes and his faithful side-kick Watson. You can also trace many of the themes which arise in Christie's subsequent work - family disagreements, contested wills, marital strife, greed, betrayal, jealousy, and passion - and of course, there is a lovely country house setting, with a delicious locked room element.

This was a very enjoyable reread for me. I had forgotten quite how complicated the plot actually is, and how many elements echo throughout her prodigious body of work. As usual, I alternated between the text and the fabulous audio book narrated by my favourite Hugh Fraser - whose role as Hastings in the sublime David Suchet adaptations adds a rich extra dimension.

It was an excellent mystery to kick off a new year of Christie reads for #ReadChristie2024 too. This year, the challenge is delving into the development of her novels across time, beginning with the 1920s and spanning the decades to the 1960s/70s. More 1920s up next... decisions, decisions... which little gem to choose?

The Mysterious Affair at Styles 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 Knowing by Emma Hinds

 

The Knowing by Emma Hinds.

Published 18th January 2024 by Bedford Square.

From the cover of the book:

In the slums of 19th-century New York.

A tattooed mystic fights for her life.

Her survival hangs on the turn of a tarot card.

Whilst working as a living canvas for an abusive tattoo artist in the slums of 19th-century New York, Flora meets Minnie, an enigmatic circus performer who offers her love and refuge in an opulent townhouse that is home to the menacing and predatory Mr Chester Merton. Flora earns her keep reading tarot cards for his guests whilst struggling to harness her gift, the Knowing - an ability to summon the dead. Caught in a dark love triangle between Minnie and Chester, Flora begins to unravel the secrets inside their house. Then at her first public séance in the infamous cathouse Hotel du Woods, Flora hears the spirit of a murdered boy prostitute and exposes his killer, setting off a train of events that leaves her fighting for her life.

The Knowing is a stunning debut inspired by real historical characters including Maud Wagner, one of the first known female tattoo artists, New York gang the Dead Rabbits, and characters from PT Barnum's circus in the 1800s.

Something Powerful Is Coming.

***********

Five Points, New York, 1866. Flora has only ever known the slums of Manhattan. Her life as the property of cruel tattoo artist Jordan, who uses her as a canvas for his art and a punchbag for his jealous temper, is a hard one. The only comfort she finds is from carefully inking herself in the few bare patches of skin he has left uncovered - and reading her well-worn tarot cards. 

When Flora meets Minnie, a former circus performer who runs her own stable of female artistes, she finally sees a way to escape the misery of her existence. Minnie needs her as an act for her show, and she promises Flora the kind of life she cannot imagine - but there are conditions. One of these is that they must live in the house of wealthy, debauched Chester Merton, a man whose appetites for young flesh cannot be contained, and whose relationship with Minnie is decidedly murky. 

Caught between the fear she may be dragged back to the slums by her former master, and the unwelcome attentions of Chester, Flora is plagued by worries that her life has not really improved, but more than that she is terrified people will discover that she is hiding a secret that gives her knowledge of much more than the fortunes her tarot deck can prophecy. For Flora has the gift of the Knowing... an ability to see and speak with the dead. Even though Flora has learned the hard way to keep this talent to herself, her new life makes her feel complicated emotions she does not know how to process, and brings her into contact with people who have many sins to hide, and the dead will not be denied...

Inspired by real characters from nineteenth century New York (including one of the first female tattoo artists Maud Wagner), the dangerous slums of a city ruled by brutal gangs, and the circus shows of P.T. Barnum, The Knowing is a mesmerising debut that holds you fast from the first page to the last.

Hinds takes you on a journey from the perilous lanes of Five Points, an area that displays its hard reputation front and centre, to the high-class salons of Uptown with their own share of despicable residents, albeit hiding underneath expensively clad facades - and in a lovely twist, to the cold hard streets of Manchester too. With threads of money, madness, cruelty, control, unsavoury vices, forbidden liaisons, and a fascination with 'freaks' and curiosities, Hinds begins her slow burn story in Gothic melodrama country, but it is not long before the powerful supernatural sway of the novel takes over through whispers of the shifting spectres that lurk on the corner of Flora's vision... and the tale explodes with blood, violence, betrayal, and ghosts in search of vengeance. The nightmare element burgeons, laced with the seductive pull of a love story playing out in gritty surroundings, and as Flora is overwhelmed with the call of the Knowing, so the dark, menacing side of the story dominates.

This is written to evoke all the discomfiting feelings Hinds deliberately sets out to lay before the eyes of the reader, and she holds very little back about the unpleasant nature of many of her characters, and the reality of life for women in Victorian society. But her heroines are also complex and carefully drawn, and Hinds does not shy away from delving into all the shades of grey around the things they do and the decisions they make in their fight for justice and agency in their own lives. 

Ultimately, this is a story about the many faces of power, that thrums with feminist themes, and although it drags you through the mire of wrenching emotions, there is plenty here to warm the cockles of your heart with threads of love, friendship, hope and family too. There are delicious echoes of Sarah Waters in this novel, and I cannot wait to see what comes from the pen of Emma Hinds next, because this is a spellbinding beginning.

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

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

About the author:

Emma is a queer playwright living in Manchester with a focus on telling untold feminist narratives. Her latest play, PURE, was featured in Turn On festival at Hope Mill Theatre Manchester in 2021 and she was the recipient of the Artist Development grant 2021 at Hope Mill Theatre. She has written a few previous non-fiction books in her capacity as an academic with an essay published in Tarantino and Theology with Gray Matter Books and her book Ineffable Love: Christian Themes in Good Omens published by Darton Longman & Todd.

Monument To Murder (DCI Kate Daniels Book Four) by Mari Hannah

 

Monument to Murder (DCI Kate Daniels Book Four) by Mari Hannah.

Published 21st November 2013 by Pan Macmillan.

From the cover of the book:

He selects. They die . . .

When skeletal remains are found beneath the fortified walls of an ancient castle on Northumberland's rugged coastline, DCI Kate Daniels calls on a forensic anthropologist to help identify the corpse.

Meanwhile, newly widowed prison psychologist Emily McCann finds herself drawn into the fantasy of convicted sex offender, Walter Fearon. As his mind games become more and more intense, is it possible that Daniels' case has something to do with his murderous past? With his release imminent, what exactly does he have in mind for Emily?

As Daniels encounters dead end after dead end and the body count rises, it soon becomes apparent that someone is hiding more than one deadly secret . . .

Monument to Murder is Maria Hannah's fourth gripping crime novel featuring DCI Kate Daniels.

***********

The discovery of human remains in the dunes below Bamburgh Castle, on the Northumberland coastline, sparks a challenging new investigation for DCI Kate Daniels and her team - especially when the help of a forensic anthropologist reveals that the sand holds more secrets than they realise.

Meanwhile, Kate's friend Emily, recently widowed and weighed down with grief, returns to her job as psychologist at a nearby prison, where a convicted sex offender has become obsessed with her - the very prison where Kate's former lover Jo is now working. The time of his release grows near, and Emily is increasingly concerned about the threat he poses to the public - and potentially to herself and her family. As his mind-games put her under pressure, and call her professional judgement into question, old sins are revealed that might just link to Kate's current case...

Monument to Murder is the fourth book in the DCI Kate Daniels series, and it picks up hot on the heels of book three, Deadly Deceit. As winter gets a grip on the Northumberland coastline, Kate and her team set up a new murder wall in the northern reaches of their operational area, to try to get to the bottom of a horrifying series of murders that have intriguing links to the history of the area. 

The tale unfurls in two absolutely gripping threads - one covering the intricate police procedural ins-and-outs of an investigation into the murders of young girls in the north of England, and the other following Emily's side of the story behind prison walls. This is Hannah at the absolute top of her game, with perfectly timed reveals, and beautifully contrived twists, that serve to entwine both sides of the story - and there are more red herrings than you can poke a police baton at. This one really kept me guessing right until the end, as Hannah cleverly keeps the shocking truth of the matter murky enough to have you convinced of the guilt of more than one likely suspect. Along the way, Kate's personal family and relationship issues continue to run through the story, with all the will-they-won't-they suspense between Kate and Jo that Hannah does so well - I am starting to want to take them to one side and bang their heads together, so I hope there will be a resolution to this situation soon in the series!

For me, this is the book that throws up the knottiest issues to mull over so far when it comes to DCI Daniels' cases. Emily's role as a prison psychologist casts a lot of thought provoking light on the problem of tackling the release of serious sex offenders back into the community, particularly when it comes to the balance between allowing parole and keeping them contained until the end of their sentences. Lots of things to think about here around public safety, monitoring, and how we approach dealing with prisoners with psychopathic tendencies - both insightful and menacing writing from Hannah here. I will be thinking about this for quite a while...

This is definitely my favourite book of the series to date. The story flows with perfectly judged pace, and the pages fly by as all the little pieces of the mystery come together to make a thrilling whole - I devoured it! Well played, Mari Hannah!

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

Thank you to Pan Macmillan for sending me an ecopy of this book in return for an hon3st review, and to Compulsive Readers for inviting me to be part of #TeamDaniels. 

About the author:

Mari Hannah was born in London and moved north as a child. Sponsored by the Home Office, she graduated from Teesside University before becoming a Probation Officer, a career cut short when she was injured while on duty. Thereafter, she spent several years working as a film/television scriptwriter. During that time she created and developed a number of projects, most notably a feature length film and the pilot episode of a crime series for television based on the characters in her book, the latter as part of a BBC drama development scheme. In 2010, she won the Northern Writers Award. Monument to Murder is her fourth novel.

She lives in Northumberland with her partner, an ex-murder detective. 

Deadly Deceit (DCI Kate Daniels Book 3) by Mari Hannah

 

Deadly Deceit (DCI Kate Daniels Book 3) by Mari Hannah.

Published 11th April 2013 by Pan Macmillan.

From the cover of the book:

Four a.m. on a wet stretch of the A1 and a driver skids out of control. Quick on the scene, Senior Investigating Officer Kate Daniels and partner DS Hank Gormley are presented with a horrifying image of carnage and mayhem that quickly becomes one of the worst road traffic accidents in Northumberland s history. But as the casualties mount up, they soon realize that not all deaths were as a result of the accident . . .

On the other side of town a house goes up in flames, turning its two inhabitants into charred corpses. Seemingly unconnected with the traffic accident, Kate sets about investigating both incidences separately. But it soon becomes apparent that all is not what it seems, and Kate and her colleagues are always one step behind a ruthless killer who will stop at nothing to get what they want.

Deadly Deceit is Mari Hannah's third gripping crime novel featuring DCI Kate Daniels.

***********

DCI Kate Daniels and DS Hank Gormley's day gets off to the worst start when they are called to the aftermath of a horrific, early morning pile-up on the A1. As some of the first responders on the scene, they are spared nothing of the bloody carnage that one of the worst road traffic accidents in Northumberland's history has to show them, and it is something they will never forget. Daniels is appointed SIO of the investigation into the accident, and a difficult task becomes much more complex when it appears not everyone in the tangled wreckage died as a result of vehicle-related trauma...

On the same night, as the public are consumed with World Cup fever, a case of arson across town seals the fate of a father and his baby son. Already with a mammoth task on her hands dealing with the massive RTA, Kate finds herself with another tragedy to get to the bottom of... one that is also not quite what it seems.

In Deadly Deceit, the third outing for DCI Kate Daniels and her team, Mari Hannah fashions an extremely knotty mess for them to investigate with two murky parallel investigations into tragedies that happen on the same night. The book starts with a real bang, dropping you into a full on multi-vehicle pile-up on one of the country's busiest roads, and then goes into slow-burn territory for almost the entire story as the narrative flips between the police investigations, and two females connected with the crimes. 

It is not until Daniels gets to see the bigger picture that the action takes off with oodles of bloody violence, high-speed chases, and an unsettling view into the mind of a cold-hearted killer, and the start-stop-start pace does make this a difficult book to immerse yourself in easily. I have to admit that I did not get into the story until a long way down the path, as the two storylines take a very long time to converge, and this delays the rewarding light-bulb moments. However, I really enjoyed where Hannah goes once the direction becomes clear, and the action scenes later in the book are as thrilling as anything I have read in the first two instalments of the series. I also liked the echoing themes Hannah builds up between the two female characters - one at the heart of each case - which brings a mighty kick to the twisty conclusion. 

 

This has probably been my least favourite books in the series so far, but Hannah's skill in pulling you along through the personal stories of Daniels and her team kept me reading, as this adds lovely texture and emotional substance in the background of the police procedural elements. There is a dollop of almost unbearable suspense in the Kate-Jo part of the story this time around, as their on-off relationship continues to keep you guessing, and I am looking forward to where this goes next. 

Onwards to book four, Monument to Murder.

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

Thank you to Pan Macmillan for sending me an ecopy of this book in return for an honest review, and to Compulsive Readers for inviting me to join #TeamDaniels.

About the author:

Multi-award winning Mari Hannah is the author of the Stone & Oliver crime series, the Ryan & O'Neil series and the DCI Kate Daniels series.

In July 2010, she won a Northern Writers' Award for Settled Blood. In 2013, she won the Polari First Book Prize for her debut, The Murder Wall. She was awarded the CWA Dagger in the Library 2017 as the author of the most enjoyed collection of work in libraries. In 2019, she was awarded DIVA Wordsmith of the Year. In that same year, Mari was Programming Chair of the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Festival. In 2020, Mari was named as DIVA 'Wordsmith of the Year' and won Capital Crime's 'Crime Book of the Year' award.

She lives in Northumberland with her partner, an former murder detective.

The Guests by Agnes Ravatn

 

The Guests by Agnes Ravatn.

Translated by Rosie Hedger.

Published 18th January by Orenda Books.

From the cover of the book:

It started with a lie…

Married couple Karin and Kai are looking for a pleasant escape from their busy lives, and reluctantly accept an offer to stay in a luxurious holiday home in the Norwegian fjords.

Instead of finding a relaxing retreat, however, their trip becomes a reminder of everything lacking in their own lives, and in a less-than-friendly meeting with their new neighbours, Karin tells a little white lie…

Against the backdrop of the glistening water and within the claustrophobic walls of the ultra-modern house, Karin’s insecurities blossom, and her lie grows ever bigger, entangling her and her husband in a nightmare spiral of deceits with absolutely no means of escape…

Simmering with suspense and dark humour, The Guests is a gripping psychological drama about envy and aspiration … and something more menacing, hiding just below that glittering surface…

***********

Married couple Karin and Kai are manoeuvred into accepting the offer of a week's holiday in a luxury cabin on the Norwegian archipelago, the exclusive playground of the country's elite. While carpenter Kai has a busman's holiday reconstructing a jetty for the cabin's wealthy owners, Karin feels uncomfortably out-of-place and, despite the dramatic scenery, she cannot help being irked by the fact she is surrounded by the trappings of a lifestyle she can never have.

As Karin's insecurities rise to the surface, she finds herself telling a little white lie to the famous authors in the neighbouring cabin, unaware that this will lead to the couple becoming entangled in an increasingly complicated web of deceit... and as events spiral out of control, Karin begins to question quite how much of her real life is actually a lie too.

In this razor-sharp literary novel, Ravatn takes you on an intriguing exploration of insecurity, envy and social segregation, through one couple's holiday on the Norwegian fjords. The story plays out through the eyes of lawyer Karin, when a brush with her childhood nemesis, Iris, sends her off-balance, and brings back all the feelings of inadequacy that she thought she had thrown off long ago.  

Trapped into accepting Iris' offer of a holiday in the slick, uber-stylish cabin she and her husband have built, Karin cannot help but wonder exactly what Iris is trying to prove by this uncharacteristic act of generosity. It sets Karin on a dangerous path. Although she convinces herself she does not envy the lifestyle Iris and her family live, her inner feelings boil over into bitterness and resentment. Kai's calm reassurances to take stock of all the good things she has in her life fall on deaf ears, and Karin blunders into a situation that exposes the rawness in her own heart - and in the lives of the very people she intended to impress. 

In many ways this is an incisive morality tale about counting your blessings, and the dangers of wishing for the things you think you want. Karin learns that, inevitably, the glossy magazine articles hide a multitude of sins and sorrows, and as the threads of the story unfurl in a delicious tangle of the very best of Norwegian dramas, rife with excrutiatingly awkward scenes, suspicion and the weight of things unsaid, she finds herself reflecting on her own life too. Ravatn's writing tugs you on through beautifully wrought, psychological twists, and she has a ball subverting an examination of the human condition, that drips with melancholy, into a wonderfully wicked denouement. Superb!  

This novel is incredibly clever. It thrums with dark, sardonic humour, and incredible insight, especially in the thought provoking themes it throws up about wealth, power, money, social mobility, how our childhood experiences shape us, and the pitfalls of discontent. I am so impressed with Rosie Hedger's translation skills in conveying the wit, drama, and nuance necessary to pull off this kind of complicated novel too - this clearly is a perfect partnership between author and translator. 

This book was a joy to consume. Ravatn's writing flows with such style, that I have totally fallen in love with it through the pages of this cracking little gem. I cannot wait to devour her other books!

The Guests is available to buy now in paperback, 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 be part of this blog tour.

About the author:

Agnes Ravatn is a Norwegian author and columnist. She made her literary début with the novel Week 53 (Veke 53) in 2007, followed by three critically acclaimed and award-winning essay collections: Standing still (Stillstand), 2011, Popular Reading (Folkelesnad), 2011, and Operation Self-discipline (Operasjon sjøldisiplin), 2014. In these works Ravatn shows her unique, witty voice and sharp eye for human fallibility. Her second novel, The Bird Tribunal (Fugletribuanlet), was an international bestseller, translated into fifteen languages, and winning an English PEN Award, shortlisting for the Dublin Literary Award, a WHSmith Fresh Talent pick and a BBC Book at Bedtime. It was also made into a successful play, which premiered in Oslo in 2015. The critically acclaimed The Seven Doors was published in English in 2020. Her newest novel The Guests is being published in English in 2023. Agnes lives with her family in the Norwegian countryside.

The Library Of Heartbeats by Laura Imai Messina

 

The Library of Heartbeats by Laura Imai Messina.

Translated from the Italian by Lucy Rand.

Published 4th January 2024 by Manilla Press.

From the cover of the book:

To find what you have lost, you must listen to your heart . . .

On the peaceful Japanese island of Teshima there is a library of heartbeats, a place where the heartbeats of visitors from all around the world are collected. In this small, isolated building, the heartbeats of people who are still alive or have already passed away continue to echo.

Several miles away, in the ancient city of Kamakura, two lonely souls meet: Shuichi, a forty-year-old illustrator, who returns to his home-town to fix up the house of his recently deceased mother, and eight-year-old Kenta, a child who wanders like a shadow around Shuichi's house.

Day by day, the trust between Shuichi and Kenta grows until they discover they share a bond that will tie them together for life. Their journey will lead them to Teshima and to the library of heartbeats . . .

***********

Forty-year-old book illustrator, Shuichi, returns to his home town of Kamakura to renovate the house of his late mother, looking for a way to distract himself from the personal losses that weigh heavily on his shoulders. It is a process that brings back many memories of his childhood, and the only way he can cope with the overwhelming emotions is to remove all trace of his mother from the house.

As he goes about his decorating task, he becomes aware of a small boy lurking around the house and removing items from the garage, where Shuichi has stored his mother's possessions. Intrigued, Shuichi sets out to meet the boy, and he discovers that eight-year-old Kenta also misses the kindly old woman that lived here.

An unlikely friendship develops between man and boy, which is rewarding for them both, and as Shuichi works through his grief, he also finds himself becoming closer to Sayaka, a local woman from his past. However, it is not until Shuichi and Kenta realise there is something else that binds them together, and they go on a quest to Teshima, the home of the Library of Heartbeats, that full healing can come about for them all.

As in Messina's English language debut novel, The Phone Box at the End of the World, The Library of Heartbeats is a gentle tale of individuals coming together to find a way to move past tragedy and heartache. The pace of the novel is sinuous and slow-burn, following the central characters Shuichi and Kenta as their friendship grows, and little connections between them are revealed in a series of highly emotional scenes - with the addition of an enchanting side story of Shuichi's reawakening romance with Sayaka. 

The novel follows an unconventional format, once again like in Messina's previous book, which seems very fragmented at the beginning. The story blurs in that characteristic Japanese way between the present and hazy recollections of the past (particularly when it comes to Shuichi's childhood), and there are enigmatic sections of narrative between two boys, whose identities only become apparent quite some way into the novel in a powerful twist. With a deft hand Messina cleverly brings all these threads together through a series of tear-jerking moments of clarity, which are immensely enriching, and engineers a delightful circularity to the whole story.

The theme of 'hearts' elegantly thrums through every part of this novel, from the recurring thread of 'broken hearts', to the importance of Teshima, the home of the Library of Heartbeats (in reality, The Heartbeat Archive in Japan). There is a subtle, beating rhythm throughout that draws you onwards to the healing that Shuichi and Kenta finally find together, and to Shuichi's ability to open himself up to romantic love once again, which fits beautifully with the theme. Messina plays on this with the titles she gives to each part of the novel too - and I really enjoyed how she also guides you through the emotional journey of the characters with little textual clues for you to discover among the chapters.

This is a quiet book without bangs and whistles, although there are plenty of emotive impacts, but Messina's ability to delve into the human spirit, memory, and dealing with loss, makes for a spellbinding story that works its magic around you all the same. I was not sure if I could warm to this book as much as I did to The Phone Box at the End of the World, but as I closed the cover with a final shuddering sob, I knew these characters would stay with me for ever. The Library of Heartbeats proved to be the perfect dose of life-affirming loveliness I needed on a cold, grey January day.

The Library of Heartbeats is available to buy now in multiple formats.

Thank you to Manilla Press for providing me with 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:

Laura Imai Messina was born in Rome, and moved to Tokyo at the age of 23. Her international bestselling novel The Phone Box at the Edge of the World was published in 31 countries. Laura teaches at some of Japan's most prestigious universities, as well as writing for newspapers and working with the Japanese National TV Channel NHK.

About the translator:

Lucy Rand was shortlisted for the TAFirst Translation Prize for The Phone Box at the Edge of the World which she translated while living in Japan. She has also translated n9vels by Italian authors Paolo Milone and Irene Graziosi, and us tge editor of the guided audiobook app, Audrey. She now lives in Norwich.