Shattered Bones (SOCO Maya Barton Book Two) by Kate Bendelow (Audio Book)

Shattered Bones (SOCO Maya Barton Book Two) by Kate Bendelow.

Narrated by Annabelle Indge.

Released 1st April 2022 by Isis Publishing.

From the cover:

How do you catch a killer if you can’t identify the victim? A scene of crime officer collects the evidence piece by piece in this gritty British mystery.

SOCO Maya Barton is called to a canal where a heavily decomposed male body has been discovered. A bank card belonging to Trevor Dawlish is found in the cadaver’s pocket, and the name matches that of a missing person.

All seems straightforward—until Trevor’s wife phones the police to say that Trevor has returned home, leaving Maya and the team wondering who the unknown male is.

When it’s revealed that the male was dead before he entered the water, Maya finds herself with a murder on her hands. But when another body is discovered, the case becomes further complicated. The hope is that facial reconstruction of the first victim will help solve the mystery—but it may lead Maya and her team down an even darker path.

***********

The story starts with a gruesome bang as SOCO Maya Barton and her colleagues pull a badly decomposed corpse from a canal. The state of the body makes it hard to identify the dead man, but there is a clue in his pocket - a bank card belonging to a Trevor Dawlish.

Mild-mannered Trevor has been reported missing, and it is possible that this could well be him, but the DNA evidence is confusing and the missing man's wife Bernadette claims to have seen her husband after this man apparently died... So begins a difficult investigation with multiple, twisty strands as Maya and the CSI team, and their CID confederates, attempt to get to the bottom of the Trevor Dawlish case.

 

This is the second book in the Maya Barton series, but can easily be read as a standalone. There are some details about Maya's family circumstances and the relationships between the team members of the various departments that obviously follow on from book one, but it is easy to pick up the threads quite early in this story and the investigation is self-contained.

Unusually, this police procedural is focused on the CSI department and, although there is a lot of interaction with their CID compatriots, it is through the fascinating forensic work of Maya and her team mates that this complex crime is eventually solved. Kate Bendelow is a real life CSI and the depth of her knowledge comes through so well in the detailed descriptions of the methods used to get to the truth in this story. I found it really interesting getting a glimpse of how all the aspects of police investigations work together from a fresh perspective.

But this is not just a straightforward fact finding mission, because there are many elements of human interest to spice things up nicely as you get to know the different characters, especially through the dynamics of the members of the investigating teams. There's plenty of opportunity to get into the nitty-gritty of the rivalries, friendships and flirtations, with lots of banter to inject some dark humour. There's oodles of tension as well, particularly through the story-line of Maya's sinister father who is released from prison after a long stretch for violent crimes, which adds real menace to the proceedings. 

The narrator Isabelle Indge does an excellent job of all the voices and drives the story along at a good pace, carrying you with her through all the twists and turns. This tale was so twisty that I frequently found myself confident in the details of who did what to who, only to find that a new bit of evidence gets uncovered to shatter my illusions, and it was lots of fun to be led all round the houses by Bendelow before all the threads worked themselves out. 

Highly entertaining, slick and intelligent, this story offers something a little bit different for crime fiction fans, and it kept me guessing all the way through!

Shattered Bones is available to buy now in audio, paperback and ebook formats via the link HERE.

About the author:

Kate Bendelow is the author of The Real CSI: A Forensic Handbook for Crime Writers. She also delivers presentations on the same subject to crime writers. 

Bloodhound Books are the publishers behind the SOCO Maya Barton trilogy. It’s crime fiction with a twist, as the main protagonist is a scene of crime office rather than a detective. The first two books in the series are Definitely Dead and Shattered Bones and are perfect for you if you’re interested in forensics crime scene investigation.

Traitor In The Ice (Daniel Pursglove Book Two) by K.J. Maitland

 

Traitor in the Ice (Daniel Pursglove Book Two) by K. J. Maitland.

Published 31st March by Wildfire.

From the cover of the book:

Winter, 1607. A man is struck down in the grounds of Battle Abbey, Sussex. Before dawn breaks, he is dead.

Home to the Montagues, Battle has caught the paranoid eye of King James. The Catholic household is rumoured to shelter those loyal to the Pope, disguising them as servants within the abbey walls. And the last man sent to expose them was silenced before his report could reach London.

Daniel Pursglove is summoned to infiltrate Battle and find proof of treachery. He soon discovers that nearly everyone at the abbey has something to hide - for deeds far more dangerous than religious dissent. But one lone figure he senses only in the shadows, carefully concealed from the world. Could the notorious traitor Spero Pettingar finally be close at hand?

As more bodies are unearthed, Daniel determines to catch the culprit. But how do you unmask a killer when nobody is who they seem?

***********

A year has passed since Pursglove's adventure among the waterlogged ruins of Bristol, and the harsh winter of 1607 finds him sent by the devious Charles FitzAlan into another hotbed of Catholic insurrection in the home of the Montagues of Battle Abbey. This time it is Pursglove's mission to discover what has happened to FitzAlan's previous spy, who is rumoured to have been murdered before he could share his secrets with his master, and to gather all the information he can about the goings on of a household staunchly loyal to the Pope.

Pursglove manages to infiltrate the Montague household in the guise of a fellow recusant, and by taking on the role of servant he soon discovers that the residents of the Abbey are not quite all they seem. Plots are afoot to further the Catholic cause, and it is possible that the answers lie within these walls to the location of the traitor Spero Pettinger, who continues to allude James I's clutches - perhaps even the man himself is hidden somewhere in the cleverly constructed priest holes in this very house.

As more bodies turn up, Daniel is forced to put his many skills to use to solve the mysteries of Battle Abbey, and his task is not helped by the fact that everyone is hiding their true identity and motives...

Welcome to Daniel Pursglove's second adventure as a reluctant spy for the court of James I, following on from the excellent first instalment The Drowned City.

Driven by his desire not to return to the bowels of Newgate Prison, Pursglove has no choice but to take on another mission from James I through FitzAlan, and this mystery allows K.J. Maitland ample opportunity to bring Jacobean England alive... and I love it!

The story splits intriguingly between London, with riotous and bawdy goings on both on the streets and in the court of James I, and Pursglove's progress trying to find out what is going on in Battle Abbey and its environs. Everything links together through delectable themes of politics and power, intrigue and spies, religion and superstition, and as the threads of the story weave together we learn a lot more about the vices of James I and the innate decency of Pursglove. But this is not all, because amongst the beautifully contrived foundations of a darned good murder mystery, Maitland blends fact and fiction in a way that really casts light on what it means to live in these times, whether you be hobnobbing it with the titled folks, or working your fingers to the bone to keep yourself out of the gutter. 

I was particularly struck by how much I learned about the habits and routine of a great Jacobean house both upstairs and downstairs, which shows how much minute detail Maitland incorporates in her research. And I have never before appreciated quite how significant the bad blood must have been between the English and the Scots when James VI of Scotland became James I of England, ostensibly uniting the kingdoms. It's all completely fascinating!

This story had me gripped from start to finish, and there is a delicious hook into the next book in the series too that tells of turbulent times ahead for Pursglove. I cannot wait!

Traitor in the Ice is available to buy now in hardcover, ebook and audio formats.

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

About the author:

Karen Maitland is an historical novelist, lecturer and teacher of Creative Writing, with over twenty books to her name. She grew up in Malta, which inspired her passion for history, and travelled and worked all over the world before settling in the United Kingdom. She has a doctorate in psycholinguistics, and now lives on the edge of Dartmoor in Devon.

Crossing The Lines by Amanda Huggins

 

Crossing the Lines by Amanda Huggins.

Published 30th November 2021 by Victorina Press.

From the cover of the book:

When Sherman Rook walks into the Jupiter diner, Mollie’s mama is instantly smitten. Despite her daughter’s reluctance, they leave the New Jersey shore behind and move to his isolated farmstead over a thousand miles west. 

Fifteen-year-old Mollie distracts herself from Rook’s cruelty and abuse by befriending a stray dog she names Hal, but when Rook crosses a final line Mollie realises that sometimes we must leave behind those we love in order to save ourselves. 

With only $20 to her name, she sets out from Oakridge Farm, relying on luck and the kindness of strangers as she makes her way back home across five state lines.

***********

Molly loves living by the Jersey Shore, even if her life is tinged with sadness following the break-up of her family. Her mama's constant search for a man to take the place of Molly's father only seems to result in a string of dead-end, transient relationships that make her unhappy, but at least Molly has the constant presence of the ocean to give her comfort.

But then Sherman Rook walks into the diner where Molly's mama works and beguiles her with talk of rolling acres of farmland out west, and a fancy home she can call her own if she will only agree to settle down with him. Molly is disturbed by Sherman: something about him troubles her, and she is dismayed by the prospect of moving away from her beloved ocean into the unknown. Despite her misgivings, her mother is smitten, so at fifteen Molly finds her life turned upside-down as they make the move to Sherman's isolated farmhouse over a thousand miles away from the coast.

Sherman, unsurprisingly, turns out to be not quite the eligible catch Molly's mama hoped. Oakridge Farm is run down, the countryside an alien expanse of dry red dust, and Sherman himself is controlling and violent. Molly and her mother are confined to the property, while Sherman entertains himself elsewhere, and when he returns his behaviour is erratic and abusive. Molly's mother seems incapable of making a stand for herself, or her daughter, making both their lives a misery. Molly's only solace is the friendship she has made with a stray dog she has named Hal.

When Sherman's roving eye turns towards Molly, she knows the time has come to leave, even if it means leaving her mama behind. With only $20 to her name, and a few personal possessions, she sets out to make her way across five state lines, back to the Jersey Shore she loves so well.

Crossing the Lines is a beautifully written, atmospheric novella that expands on the short story Red that Amanda Huggins first published in her excellent anthology Scratched Enamel Heart. In these pages, Huggins tells us more about what brought Molly to Oakridge Farm, and takes her story forward as she makes the decision to follow her heart back to the Jersey Shore.

What follows is an emotional tale that weaves Molly's story with those of the people she meets on her journey. Inevitably, Molly encounters those who wish to take advantage of her, or do her harm, but is it the moments of the kindness of strangers and their reasons for helping her that make this book so heartwarming. The way Huggins touches on their own grief and regrets, making you understand what leads them to connect with Molly's plight is so moving - especially in the case of the ones who find a way to move past their own sorrows by helping her.

This is a story set in late 1970's USA, and you cannot fail to be aware of that from the cleverly incorporated cultural inferences, particularly the way Huggins uses musical references, but there is also something so timeless about this novella which I found enchanting. I also have to say that the way Huggins evokes the feel of a classic American road trip adventure in Molly's story, linking the snippets of the journey she chooses to tell into one seamless whole, is very impressive. I very much enjoyed how she brings to life both the stifling feel of a heartland as far away from the ocean as possible, and contrasts it so well with the essence of refreshing freedom that draws Molly back to her coastal home. Huggins always writes so magnificently about the pull of the sea in her work, and it makes my heart sing. 

It's easy to assume that such a story will be one of coming-of-age, much like Huggins' previous novella All Our Squandered Beauty (my review HERE), but this really is a different kind of beast, showcasing another side of her skills as a writer. Molly does encounter many people whose influence is controlling and corrosive, and she acknowledges her own sins freely as she ponders the formative episodes of her short life during her journey, but for me this is a tale of love and family ties, of belonging and acceptance, that is infused with artlessness, hope, and innocence - making it almost the antithesis of the classic coming-of-age story. 

This is another winner from Amanda Huggins, and I look forward to seeing where her fertile imagination takes her next. I highly recommend a 'road trip' through her back catalogue too dear readers... you won't be disappointed!

Crossing the Lines is available to buy now in beautiful paperback (with french flaps, dear readers!) and ebook formats.

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

About the author: 

Amanda Huggins is the author of All Our Squandered Beauty which won the 2021 Saboteur Award for Best Novella, as well as four collections of short stories and poetry. Her fiction and travel writing have won numerous prizes, and Crossing the Lines is based on ‘Red’ which was a runner-up in the 2018 Costa Short Story Award.

A Question Of Guilt (William Wisting: The Cold Case Quartet Book Four) by Jørn Lier Horst

A Question of Guilt (William Wisting: The Cold Case Quartet Book Four) by Jørn Lier Horst.

Translated by Anne Bruce.

Published in paperback 3rd March 2022 by Penguin Michael Joseph.

From the cover of the book:

A killer caught. A murder sentence served. But did they arrest the wrong man?

In 1999, seventeen-year-old Tone Vaterland was killed on her way home from work.

The police - desperate for a quick conviction - deemed the investigation an open-and-shut case and sent her embittered ex-boyfriend, Danny Momrak, down for murder. Her family was able to grieve. The public felt justice had been done. The streets were safe again.

But twenty years later, William Wisting receives an anonymous letter suggesting that the wrong man was convicted, and worse yet: the real murderer is still out there.

Thrown into a terrifying race against time, Wisting must find the sender and catch the real killer before they strike again. But nothing is as it seems. And as Wisting disappears further into a dark past of secrets, lies and murder, his own life is threatened . . . 

Can he find Tone's true killer before it's too late?

***********

Police Investigator William Wisting is settling into his summer holiday, taking stock of where life has brought him now he is a grandfather and retirement may be beckoning in the not too distant future. His planned period of relaxation is disrupted by the arrival of an anonymous note in his mailbox that refers to a murder investigation from twenty years ago, in which nineteen-year old Tone Varterland was killed on her way home from work. 

As more strange notes follow, Wisting starts to look into the Varterland case and finds that although all clues pointed to the guilt of her spurned boyfriend Danny Momrak, who was convicted and sent down for a long prison sentence, there were leads which were not fully investigated - one of which links to an old case of his own in which a different man was convicted of a very similar crime. Was the wrong man found guilty of Tone Varterland's murder all those years ago, and is the real killer still out there, ready to kill again?

If you know anything at all about Jørn Lier Horst's excellent Nordic crime Wisting books, or the magnificent TV drama based upon them, then you will know he likes to build glorious tension and absolutely cracking characterisation into his stories, while taking you all round the highways, byways, and houses of Norway... and sometimes beyond - and this latest addition to the series is no exception.

Whether working on a cold case, or attempting to find leads in a new one, both of which feature nicely in this latest book, Wisting is always called upon to use all his considerable crime solving experience, his deep wisdom of human nature, and his ineffable ability to sniff out when something does not feel right, to get to the bottom of what is going on - and Lier Horst keeps him very busy indeed here, bringing in an intriguing cast of characters to advance the plot and throw a few inevitable spanners in the works along the way. He also works in detailed, picture perfect descriptions of the Norwegian landscape and weather that build atmosphere so well that you can almost taste the tang of the sea, smell the brooding forest, and feel yourself right there at Wisting's side as puts the pieces of more than one mystery together.

This is a Wisting who is feeling his years, suffering from aches, pains and health issues that come with age, but when it comes to it his instincts are as trusty as ever. He now takes on the role of mentor too, passing on his sage advice and offering a guiding hand to his younger colleagues, while also marvelling at their ingenuity, and at more than one point he is forced to confront how the nature of police work has changed over the course of his career. It's also great to see a few old faces turning up in this story, including the FBI investigator Maggie Griffin.

I love how it is impossible to work out exactly who is the guilty party in the twisty Wisting stories until the very end, and you come to suspect almost everyone of doing dirty deeds until the clues and hard police graft serve to gradually discard the multiple red herrings, and bring the criminals to justice with the most satisfying of endings. Packed with suspense, intrigue, mystery, and gritty forensic evidence to be sifted, this is clever stuff that keeps you guessing in the most entertaining of ways.

Another absolute stonking winner from Lier Horst to keep lovers of the very best of Scandinavian crime noir extremely happy indeed. This is a lap-it-up-in-one-delicious-sitting book, and it kept me spellbound from start to finish!

A Question of Guilt is available to buy now in hardcover, paperback and ebook formats.

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

About the author:

JØRN LIER HORST worked as a police officer and head of investigations before becoming a full-time writer and has established himself as one of the most successful authors to come out of Scandinavia. His books have sold over two million copies in his native Norway alone and he's published in twenty-six languages.

The Wisting series, produced by the team behind Wallander and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, was a hit BBC series in 2019 with a second series due to air soon.

About the translator:

Anne Bruce studied Norwegian and English at the University of Glasgow and now lives on the Isle of Arran, Scotland. She has translated a number of crime novels by Anne Holt and Jorn Lier Horst, including the Petrona-Prize-winning The Caveman and When It Grows Dark, which was longlisted for the CWA International Dagger in 2017.

Sabine's War by Eva Taylor

 

Sabine's War by Eva Taylor.

Published 31st March 2022 by Harper North.

From the cover of the book:

Sabine’s War is the previously untold story of a remarkable resistance fighter and her incredible story of survival against the odds.

When Germany invaded Holland in May 1940, Sabine Zuur joined the resistance movement without a moment’s hesitation aged just 22. Helping to hide those avoiding the German authorities, she was soon betrayed and subjected to repeated violent interrogations. Many of her friends were executed but Sabine was instead sent to the Mauthausen concentration camp, via the Amersfoort and Ravensbrück camps. Enduring gruelling conditions and backbreaking forced manual labour, she survived through a combination of guile and good fortune.

But it was only after Sabine’s death that her daughter Eva discovered an archive of letters detailing her extraordinary life, revealing a rich inner world and a past she had discussed little. Amongst them were declarations of love from pilot Taro, shot down in his Spitfire over northern France aged just 26; notes from Sabine’s second love Gerard, executed by the Germans; letters to her mother smuggled out in her prison laundry; and passionate, creepy missives from a German professional criminal named Gebele who would ultimately save Sabine’s life. She emerges from this correspondence as a woman with an indefinable aura, somehow in control of her own destiny even when to all intents and purposes she was not.

A transfixing story of survival, Sabine’s War captures a remarkable life in the words of the young woman who lived it.

***********

Sabine's War is the story of Sabine Zuur a young woman who became involved in the Dutch resistance movement during World War II, and somehow managed to survive imprisonment in three Nazi concentration camps after being betrayed to the German authorities.

The truth about Sabine's life was discovered by her daughter Eva Taylor when she found a comprehensive archive of documents and letters left behind by her mother after her death. Eva's relationship with her mother had been a difficult one and Sabine had been reluctant to talk much about her wartime experiences, but what Eva discovered eventually convinced her that her mother's story deserved to be told to the world - especially since Eva's father, Peter Tazelaar, was a celebrated Dutch war hero whose life had already been written about. 

This is Sabine's detailed and heartbreaking story. It tells of a young, vivacious woman who was compelled to join the Dutch resistance, after her country was invaded by Germany in 1940. Sabine's own fiancé Taro had been shot down in his Spitfire and killed after escaping to England, and helping to shelter those hiding from the authorities became a way for her to aid the war effort. 

Unfortunately, Sabine was betrayed and subsequently subjected to brutal interrogations and imprisonment for her activities. Her wartime archive tells of the executions of many of her close friends, and of the years that follow when she is sent to three Nazi concentration camps Amersfoort, Ravensbrück and Mauthausen as a political prisoner, as she struggled desperately to survive the increasingly gruelling conditions that inmates were forced to endure. 

Taylor has pieced together the details of her mother's life from the information she left behind, especially the intimate letters from her first love Taro, notes from her second love Gerard who was executed by the Germans for his role in the resistance, and from creepy correspondence from a German career criminal called Gebele who was able to help Sabine survive during the terrible final months of the war when concentration camp prisoners were being indiscriminately slaughtered in their thousands. The gaps between what she has been able to construct from these intriguing bundles of paper have been filled by detailed research into wartime events and the dreadful treatment and mass slaughter of prisoners, as well as visits to what remains of the camps themselves. 

The resulting book, although relatively short at under 200 pages, is an impressive and informative account of not only one very brave woman's life, but of the strength of the human spirit during very dark times. Even as someone who has read many books about this period of history, including the incredible, and seriously hefty If This Is A Woman by Sarah Helm that Taylor references in these pages, there were many things I learned about Holland during its occupation, and some of the lesser known happenings during the dying days of the Second World War - such as the sheer scale of asset stripping from countries like Poland in the face of the Russian advance.

Taylor also manages to convey quite how much the previously untold events of Sabine's wartime experiences impacted her remaining years physically, mentally and emotionally, looking back on her own relationship with with her mother with understanding and forgiveness now she fully understands about the events that shaped her.

There is no denying that this book is full of heartbreak and loss, but it is also fascinating and strewn with touching moments of the kindness of strangers, of romance under the impending cloud of doom, of quiet and staunch resistance, and of admirable bravery. In addition, this is a book that is very accessible for anyone wanting to learn more about the terrible human toll of World War II, particularly for those who have previously only read fictional works about this period of history.

Sabine's War is available to buy now in hardcover, ebook and audio formats.

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

About the author:

Eva Taylor-Tazelaar is the daughter of Sabine Zuur and Peter Tazelaar, a major Dutch war hero. She was born in Utrecht, but has lived in Cheshire, England ever since she was eighteen. She wrote and translated this book herself.

 March 2022 Reading Round-Up

Fifteen absolute crackers this month! 

All my reviews can be found by clicking on the captions for the pictures below.

The Embroidered Book by Kate Heartfield

Sell Us the Rope by Stephen May

A Night of Flames by Matthew Harffy

Edgware Road by Yasmin Cordery Khan

One Night on the Island by Josie Silver

And Your Enemies Closer by Rob Parker

The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley

This Might Hurt by Stephanie Wrobel

The Mystery of the Blue Train by Agatha Christie

Peach Blossom Spring by Melissa Fu

A Life for a Life by Carol Wyer

The Blood Isles by C.F. Barrington

The Homecoming by Anna Enquist

Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad

Mothers and Daughters by Erica James

More great books next month!

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

@brownflopsy for more!

Mothers And Daughters by Erica James

 

Mothers and Daughters by Erica James.

Published 17th March 2022 by HQ.

From the cover of the book:

Even happy families have their secrets…

Since the sudden death of her husband, Naomi has steadily rebuilt the life they shared in the village of Tilsham by the sea.

Her eldest daughter, Martha, is sensible and determined – just like her father was – and very much in control of where her life is going. If she could just get pregnant with her husband, life would be perfect.

Willow, the youngest, was always more sunny and easy-going, yet drifted through life, much to her father’s frustration. But now, with charming new boyfriend, Rick, she has a very good reason to settle down.

The three women are as close as can be. But there are things Naomi has kept from her daughters. Like the arrival of Ellis, a long-lost friend from way back, now bringing the fun and spark back into her life. And she’s certainly never told them that her marriage to their father wasn’t quite what it seemed…

***********

The direction of Naomi's life has changed since the sudden death of her husband, and now out from under his shadow she finds herself content with the existence she has shaped for herself in their beautiful home in Tilsham by the sea.

Naomi's elder daughter Martha takes very much after her father. Sensible and determined she has always had her life mapped out, but even though she has a loving husband who is an equal partner in their marriage and a fulfilling career, the longed for pregnancy that she felt sure would follow naturally continues to elude her. Motherhood would make her life perfect.

Younger daughter Willow has always been the one with her head in the clouds. As an easy-going dreamer, who always frustrated her father, she has drifted along up until now, but with charming and steady new man Rick in her life she suddenly finds herself with her feet firmly on the ground and contemplating some very big changes that she cannot share with her mother and sister.

In the wake of her father's death Martha now considers herself head of the family, and although the three woman are close her determination to dictate the course of all their lives as he would have done is putting their loving relationships under strain. Martha's frustration at her inability to become pregnant is taking over her life; she constantly nags Willow to wake up to reality and settle down with her apparently eligible boyfriend; and she is set on her mother selling up the family home and moving into a smaller house nearer to her and Willow; but although she is convinced she is doing all this for their own good her bossiness is making her deaf and blind to what is going on around her and there are things she does not know.

Naomi has met someone from her past who makes her heart sing again after a long and difficult marriage. How can she share the truth with Martha and Willow about the reality of her marriage to their father, and tell them about her new found happiness? And Willow is increasing trapped in a relationship that is changing her into someone she does not recognise. What does the future hold for mother and daughters?

Mothers and Daughters is a beautifully written and thoroughly compelling family drama about the powerful undercurrents of secrets that lie deep beneath apparently still waters. 

This is what I like to call a quiet book, even though some pretty shocking events take place in the course of this story, because the weight of this tale lies very much in the powerful emotions that Erica James' delicious writing evokes as you become enmeshed in the trials and tribulations of Naomi, Martha and Willow. No spoilers here folks, because you really need to read this one for yourselves, but each of these women has secrets that they find themselves unable to share, which force them to look at themselves and their relationships with each other in a whole new light, and we are right at their sides through the dizzy highs and the desperate lows as they do.

I love how James explores a wealth of themes that delve into the complexities of family dynamics between generations in these pages, encompassing the playful and affectionate moments as well as the petty irritations that plague all families as they rub along together, underpinned by fierce and protective love, and much of what she writes about will strike a chord with readers at many different stages in their lives. Beyond this she deftly examines the darkest moments that many go through too, showing real insight into how these events can provoke misplaced feelings of blame, guilt and shame, and highlighting the circular nature of dysfunctional patterns of behaviour that are not easy to break.

My absolute favourite this about this book, as a woman of not so tender years, is the way James writes about Naomi. There has been so much written about the expectations placed on younger women to have it all, which James covers nicely through the Martha and Willow here, but it is a rare and beautiful thing to read about how expectation affects older women too. Martha, and to some degree Willow as well, see Naomi's life as being over and her one purpose to now be a doting grandmother to their own children, and they find it very hard to see her as a woman beyond the role they have given her. Older woman can and do live fulfilling lives, and are able to make decisions for themselves, after their children have grown up, despite what their children may believe. It's important to remember that there are sides to people we do not see, especially when they are our parents, and I applaud James for highlighting this so well. More please!

This is absolutely cracking read that draws you in and keeps you entertained from cover to cover. I promise you that you will shed a tear or two before you are done, and you might think a little differently about the way you view your own family relationships in the process too.  

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

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

About the author:

Erica James is the author of twenty-three internationally bestselling novels, with recent Sunday Times Top Ten bestsellers including Swallowtail Summer, Coming Home to Island House and, most recently the hardback bestseller, Letters from the Past. Her books are loved by readers looking for beautifully drawn relationships, emotionally powerful storylines and evocative settings.

In 2020, Erica received the Nielsen Silver Award for sales of over a quarter of a million copies for both Love and Devotion and Tell It to the Skies; she has previously won the Romantic Novel of the Year Award for Gardens of Delight and is a Number One bestseller in Norway.

A keen gardener herself, Erica lives in Suffolk and has a fondness for Lake Como, Formula One motor racing and travel.

The Homecoming by Anna Enquist

 The Homecoming by Anna Enquist

Translated by Eileen Stevens.

Published 1st April 2022 by Amazon Crossing.

From the cover of the book:

After twelve years of marriage to English explorer James Cook, Elizabeth has yet to spend an entire year with her husband. In their house by the Thames, she moves to the rhythms of her life as a society wife, but there is so much more to her than meets the eye. She has the fortitude to manage the house and garden, raise their children, and face unbearable sorrow by herself―in fact, she is sometimes in thrall to her own independence.

As she prepares for another homecoming, Elizabeth looks forward to James’s triumphant return and the work she will undertake reading and editing his voluminous journals. But will the private life she’s been leading in his absence distract her from her role in aid of her husband’s grand ambitions? Can James find the compassion to support her as their family faces unimaginable loss, or must she endure life alone as he sails off toward another adventure?

An intimate and sharply observed novel, The Homecoming is as revelatory as James Cook’s exploration of distant frontiers and as richly rewarding as Elizabeth’s love for her family. With courage and strength, through recollection and imagination, author Anna Enquist brilliantly narrates Elizabeth’s compelling record of her life, painting a psychological portrait of an independent woman ahead of her time and closely acquainted with history.

************

The Homecoming tells the story of the life of Captain James Cook's wife Elizabeth, the woman left behind to take charge of the household while her famous 18th century husband sailed the oceans on grand voyages of discovery.

At the beginning of the novel, we meet Elizabeth contemplating the return of her husband after being away for three years, thinking about all the tasks she must complete to welcome him home in the way he will expect, struggling to decide how she will break the news of the successes and sorrows that have been part of their family's life during his absence, and looking forward to the time they can spend together now his exploring days are likely to be coming to an end. It is a process that has become a feature of their marriage, given that during the twelve years of their union they have yet to spend an entire year together, and there has been much heartbreak for her to come to terms with on her own.

As the story progresses, Anna Enquist takes us into the heart of a woman uneasy about what the future may hold, torn between her love for a man filled with passion for achieving great things, and her fears around how they will fit together in domesticity once his sailing days are over. Enquist draws a compelling picture of Elizabeth as a woman ahead of her time, used to running her household with an absent husband, while playing the part of adoring and dutiful wife to an 18th century celebrity, and she holds nothing back about the conflicted feelings she holds within her about the adjustments she will have to make, and loss of power over her days on his return.

Their reunion holds both joy and sorrow, as they both rediscover each other and find a way to deal with the losses fate has brought to their door, but it soon becomes clear that they have different expectations about the course of their lives from this point onwards - because, of course, history records that Cook did not remain in his family home and volunteered for another voyage which was to be the one that brought about his demise. There are disappointments, betrayals, uncomfortable silences and unfathomable gulfs between these two people, that indicate they are still oceans apart despite being together. Elizabeth is forced to confront the truth that her husband does not appreciate her talents beyond the domestic sphere, and disregards her greater knowledge of the disparate natures of their children; that there are sides to her husband she does not know about; and ultimately, that the pull of his calling is too strong for him to deny.

There is no doubt that James Cook's voyages led to many fascinating discoveries, and scientific advancements, which Enquist touches on through Elizabeth's story, but she also does not shy away from the consequences of the darker side of his driving ambition and need for acclaim that undoubtedly serve to be uncomfortable reading to modern sensibilities. But it is Elizabeth that is the central focus of this story, and Enquist blends fact and fiction in a way that lets us understand quite what a clever, strong and determined woman she must have been, while exploring her realistic fears and frailties as a wife and mother. I found it particularly fascinating that it becomes clear that the very qualities that attracted Elizabeth to James prove to be the very ones that drive a wedge between them.

It is always intriguing to read a novel that highlights the stories of women in history who are eclipsed by celebrated husbands, and although sad this book does that incredibly well, especially since this is a translated work - all praise to the translator Eileen Stevens for pulling this off with aplomb. Highly recommended!

The Homecoming is available to preorder now.

Thank you to Amazon Crossing for sending me a proof of this book in return for an honest review, and to FMcM Associates for inviting me to be part of this blog tour celebrating translated fiction.

About the author:

Anna Enquist studied piano at the academy of music in The Hague and psychology at Leiden University. 

She is the author of the novels The Masterpiece; The Secret, winner of the 1997 Dutch Book of the Year awarded by the public; The Ice Carriers; Counterpoint; Quartet; and the international bestseller The Homecoming, which received the Prix du Livre Corderie Royale-Hermione for its French translation. Anna is also the author of A Leap, a collection of dramatic monologues, as well as numerous poetry collections, including Soldiers’ Songs, for which she was awarded the C. Buddingh’ Prize; A New Goodbye; and Hunting Scenes, winner of the Lucy B. and C.W. van der Hoogt Prize.

About the translator:

Eileen Stevens earned her MA in linguistics with a specialization in translation from the University of Amsterdam. Her many Dutch-to-English translation credits include Connie Palmen’s Your Story, My Story; Karin Schacknat’s In and Out of Fashion; Vera Mertens’s The Concentration Camp; and Ineke van Doorn’s Singing from the Inside Out. 

She has also translated numerous essays on classical music and the arts. A New Jersey native, Eileen spent twenty-five years working as a professional violinist in a Dutch orchestra and has lived in Amsterdam since 1990.

Heart Of Darkness by Joseph Conrad (Audio Book)

 

Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad.

Narrated by Kenneth Branagh.

Released 23rd November 2010 by Audible Studios.

From the cover:

Prose that demands to be read aloud requires a special kind of narrator. For the Audible Signature Classics edition of Joseph Conrad’s atmospheric masterpiece, Heart of Darkness, we called upon four-time Academy Award nominee Kenneth Branagh.

Branagh’s performance is riveting because he reads as though he’s telling a ghost story by a campfire, capturing the story’s sense of claustrophobia, while hinting at the storyteller Marlow’s own creeping madness. Heart of Darkness follows Captain Marlow into the colonial Congo where he searches for a mysterious ivory trader, Kurtz, and discovers an evil that will haunt him forever.

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Originally published in 1899, Heart of Darkness is a novella by Polish-English novelist Joseph Conrad. It tells the story of sailor Charles Marlow's adventure on the Congo, during his assignment as a ferry boat captain for a Belgian trading company. It is a tale that he narrates to his crew on a sea voyage some years later, telling it to them in the gloom of the falling night, which gives it the atmospheric feel of a ghost story.

As Marlow recounts the circumstances that take him on an uncharacteristic expedition away from his more usual maritime workplace, the horrendous conditions that face him as he tries to carry out his duties, and the strange assortment of people that he comes across, it becomes clear that he was obsessed with finding out more about a mysterious ivory trader called Kurtz, whose exploits are discussed in hushed tones tinged with fear by everyone he meets... but once he heads into the almost impenetrable forests of Africa to meet the man himself, what he discovers there sends him to the brink of madness.

This is a book that I have tried many times to get into over the years, but despite its relative brevity, something about the tone and intricately descriptive text has always defeated me. However, the nature of the story and its high regard as a work of seminal fiction still made it an intriguing prospect to me, and since the tale is one which is narrated as a pseudo-horror story, it seems a good idea to try once more in an audio format - and this certainly did the trick!

Branagh's narration is an absolute delight to listen to, bringing the sights, sounds, smells and feelings of utter despair alive. Although much of the text is still as impenetrable as the African interior Marlow is attempting to reach, Branagh does make this rather an engaging experience. For me, the very best parts of the tale are the ones which detail Marlow's slow and arduous journey up the Congo, passing through trading posts on his way to finally reach the infamous Kurtz. The way Marlow describes the heat, misery of the native population and grasping nature of the white men that will go to any lengths to make their fortune is very affecting, and there are some deliciously quotable sections of text from Conrad here, such as "The merry dance of death and trade" and "The great demoralisation of the land" that really strike a chord.

Personally, I feel the book misses the mark at the very point as which I thought would be the most thrilling though. The text becomes disjointed and hard to follow from when Marlow actually gets to meet Kurtz, and although this does give the impression that Marlow is succumbing to the madness that claims so many who have travelled to the dark heart of Africa, it did not strike me with horror as I was expecting. I was rather disappointed to be honest, especially since this book has spawned so many more impressive and terrifying works.

One to tick off on the list of classics to be read, and although I cannot say this is one of the best, it's definitely worth the listen for Branagh's excellent performance alone.

Heart of Darkness, the signature performance from Kenneth Branagh is available from Audible now.

About the author:

Polish author Joseph Conrad is considered to be one of the greatest English-language novelists, a remarkable achievement considering English was not his first language. Conrad s literary works often featured a nautical setting, reflecting the influences of his early career in the Merchant Navy, and his depictions of the struggles of the human spirit in a cold, indifferent world are best exemplified in such seminal works as Heart of Darkness, Lord Jim, The Secret Agent, Nostromo, and Typhoon. Regarded as a forerunner of modernist literature, Conrad s writing style and characters have influenced such distinguished writers as F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, William S. Burroughs, Hunter S. Thompson, and George Orwell, among many others. Many of Conrad s novels have been adapted for film, most notably Heart of Darkness, which served as the inspiration and foundation for Francis Ford Coppola's 1979 film Apocalypse Now.

The Blood Isles (The Pantheon Series Book 2) by C.F. Barrington

 

The Blood Isles (The Pantheon Series Book 2) by C.F. Barrington.

Published 3rd March 2022 by Head of Zeus.

From the cover of the book:

The second in an action-packed adventure thriller series, where modern-day recruits compete in an ancient fight to the death in the streets of Edinburgh.

New Season. New Rules. Same deadly game...

The Pantheon Games are the biggest underground event in the world, followed by millions online. New recruits must leave behind their twenty-first century lives and vie for dominance in a gruelling battle to the death armed only with ancient weapons – and their wits.

Last season's new recruits Tyler and Lana have lived to fight another day, but now they face a series of even more lethal clashes before the Grand Battle that will end the Season.

It's survival of the fittest, in the most brutal fashion imaginable. Lana must face the demons of her past, and Tyler has the mother of all targets on his back.

***********

The annual Pantheon Games, the biggest underground event in the world is in full swing, and fortunes are about to be made or lost on a whole new phase of bloodletting, by the anonymous figures that control the action from their luxurious penthouses and extensive estates across the globe. 

New recruits to the Horde, Tyler and Lana are about to face their first Blood Season on the streets of Edinburgh, against their sworn enemies the Titans - the season that will culminate in a full on Grand Battle in an unknown location. Tyler is coming down from the dubious honour of being the Horde's White Warrior, having been able to gain them the advantage of all four Assets to use in the battle to come, but his status has just hit rock bottom once more, and his search for his lost sister Morgan is not going well. The rules have changed again in a way that leaves him with a whopping target on his back, in a contrived whittling down of numbers on both sides through cat and mouse skirmishes before the big event, and he now needs to make his first kill to show himself battle-worthy.

It's hard enough to keep yourself from being gutted in this shadowy world ruled by those who have little regard for the value of life when the rules are being followed, and this time even more dangerous enemies are opting to break them for their own advantage - and to keep their secrets. Tyler, and his friends are in greater peril than ever, both within and outside the Games...

Following on in close order from the cracking first part of this series, The Wolf Mile (my review Here), this book not only keeps up the pace and excitement of book one, but exceeds every expectation on the action, adventure and intrigue stakes. Tyler begins this story on a bit of a high from his success as White Warrior for the Horde, despite it being a poisoned chalice. His wits have protected him and Lana, and given him a name as someone not afraid to use lateral thinking to gain an edge in the new world he has willingly embraced, but it is impossible to avoid the fact that he is now even more of a target for those who would like to see him fail. The Blood Season finds him right back where he started for reasons he had not foreseen, and it's time for him to confront exactly what being a player in the Pantheon Games means, which allows C.F. Barrington to take us on more bloody escapades through the streets of Edinburgh - this time with murderous intent on a whole new level. Tyler is also forced to accept how much Lana means to him, and learns that she shares his feelings, but quite how they can ever hope to be together as things stand is difficult to imagine.

As the Blood Season plays out Barrington brings in some tasty little twists and turns with a change of scene that heightens the historical perspective of the notion behind the Games, as preparation for the Grand Battle gets underway. Shenanigans at all levels of the hierarchy and on both sides of the fence take us back and forth between time-honoured battle preparations with Tyler, and the desperate cut and thrust on the streets of Edinburgh with Lana, keeping things very interesting indeed. The bad guys are forced into making moves they would rather not make, some of which have very disturbing consequences, especially for Lana. Barrington tops it all off with a glorious battle scene that is good enough to grace the pages of any epic work of historical fiction... and if that wasn't enough, he then drops in a jaw-dropping cliffhanger to hook you into the final instalment to come....

I thoroughly enjoyed every moment of this little genre-busting gem, just as awed by the brilliance of the concept behind the books as I was when absorbing The Wolf Mile. This is wonderful stuff and I cannot wait for the final book in the series, The Hastening Storm!

The Blood Isles is available to buy now in paperback and ebook formats.

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

About the author:

C.F. Barrington spent twenty years intending to write a novel, but found life kept getting in the way. Instead, his career has been in major-gift fundraising, leading teams in organisations as varied as the RSPB, Oxford University and the National Trust. In 2015, when his role as Head of Communications at Edinburgh Zoo meant a third year of fielding endless media enquires about the possible birth of a baby panda, he finally retreated to a quiet desk and got down to writing.

Raised in Hertfordshire and educated at Oxford, he now divides his time between Fife and the Lake District.