#Review The Warm Hands of Ghosts by Katherine Arden

Absolutely fantastic new novel by Katherine Arden. The Warm Hands of Ghosts is a #MustRead for 2024!

About the Author

Born in Austin, Texas, Katherine Arden has always had a taste for wandering. She spent her junior year of high school in Rennes, France.

Following her acceptance to Middlebury College in Vermont, she deferred enrolment for a year in order to live and study in Russia. At Middlebury, she specialized in French and Russian literature, and her studies included sojourns at the Sorbonne in Paris and the Russian State University for the Humanities in Moscow.

After receiving her BA, she moved to Maui, Hawaii and worked every kind of odd job imaginable, from grant writing and guiding horse tours to serving as a personal tour guide. During this time she wrote what became her debut novel, The Bear and the Nightingale. After a year on the island, she moved to Briançon, France, and spent nine months teaching. She then returned to Maui, where she began writing The Girl in the Tower, the sequel to her debut, and officially launched her career as an author. Currently she lives in Vermont.

She is the author of the Winternight Trilogy for adults and the Small Spaces Quartet for children. The Warm Hands of Ghosts is her eighth novel. 

Follow @arden_katherine on X, Visit katherineardenbooks.com

About the book

World War One, and as shells fall in Flanders, a Canadian nurse searches for her brother believed dead in the trenches despite eerie signs that suggest otherwise in this gripping and powerful historical novel from the bestselling author of The Bear and the Nightingale.

January 1918. Laura Iven has been discharged from her duties as a nurse and sent back to Halifax, Canada, leaving behind a brother still fighting in the trenches of the First World War. Now home, she receives word of Freddie's death in action along with his uniform -but something doesn't quite make sense. Determined to find out more, Laura returns to Belgium as a volunteer at a private hospital. Soon after arriving, she hears whispers about ghosts moving among those still living and a strange inn-keeper whose wine gives soldiers the gift of oblivion. Could this have happened to Freddie - but if so, where is he?

November 1917. Freddie Iven awakens after an explosion to find himself trapped under an overturned pillbox with an enemy soldier, a German, each of them badly wounded. Against all odds, the two men form a bond and succeed in clawing their way out. But once in No Man's Land, where can either of them turn where they won't be shot as enemy soldiers or deserters? As the killing continues, they meet a man - a fiddler - who seems to have the power to make the hellscape that surrounds them disappear. But at what price?

A novel of breath-taking scope and drama, of compulsive readability, of stunning historical research lightly worn, and of brilliantly drawn characters who will make you laugh and break your heart in a single line, The Warm Hands of Ghosts is a book that will speak to readers directly about the trauma of war and the power of those involved to love, endure and transcend it.

Review

This book is definitely going on my best of the year list. Arden is an author I would always recommend, her Winternight trilogy solidified what an amazing writer and talented storyteller she is. I was only thinking a few months ago that I hadn't seen a new book and hey presto this popped up.

I have been telling everyone about this book, it's absolutely remarkable. It has the trademark wandering into the elements of life that cross the lines of preconceived norms and delve into things that lurk in the shadows. Simultaneously it also has such an accurate connection to not only that period in history, but also the emotional and physical wounds caused by the destruction and devastation of the Great War.

Capturing the conflict from a variety of views and people gives a better perspective of the tragedy, the losses and the terrible impact. The allies, the enemy, the medical staff, the volunteers, the civilians, the lost souls and the ghosts. In the end everyone is the same. This is especially evident in the relationship between Freddie and Winter. When push comes to shove, and survival or death are the only choices, is there really any room for two sides? 

The scenes with Winter and Freddie, especially when they first meet, they are extraordinary. The reader feels the darkness, the damp, the mud and the fear. Fear is the same regardless of which country you are fighting for.

Laura is on a quest to find her brother, despite the odds of him being dead being very high. Her own trauma makes her vulnerable to Faland, as indeed are many on the fields of battle. I really enjoyed this aspect of the book - it becomes a metaphor, a way to survive, a mindset and a conjured mass hallucination shared by destroyed and frightened souls. Or is it?

I loved this story, wouldn't hesitate to recommend it and think it is indicative of the power of word, storytelling and suggestion. It is a haunting experience - it is a haunting.

Buy The Warm Hands of Ghosts at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher ‏: ‎Century, pub date 7 Mar. 2024. Buy at Amazon com. At Bookshop org.

#Review Yellowface by R.F. Kuang

I absolutely understand why this was such a bestseller!

About the Author

Rebecca F. Kuang is the #1 New York Times and #1 Sunday Times bestselling author of the Poppy War trilogy, Babel: An Arcane History, Yellowface, and Katabasis (forthcoming). Her work has won the Nebula, Locus, Crawford, and British Book Awards. She has been named to the 2023 Time100 Next list and the Forbes 30 Under 30 Class of 2024.

A Marshall Scholar, she has an MPhil in Chinese Studies from Cambridge and an MSc in Contemporary Chinese Studies from Oxford. She is now pursuing a PhD in East Asian Languages and Literatures at Yale, where she studies Sinophone literature and Asian American literature. Follow @kuangrf on X

About the book

Athena Liu is a literary darling and June Hayward is literally nobody.

White lies - When Athena dies in a freak accident, June steals her unpublished manuscript and publishes it as her own under the ambiguous name Juniper Song.

Dark humour - But as evidence threatens June’s stolen success, she will discover exactly how far she will go to keep what she thinks she deserves.

Deadly consequences…What happens next is entirely everyone else’s fault.

Review

Part of me wonders whether the editors really knew what they were reading when this hit their desks. It is such an accurate reflection of white privilege in the publishing industry and more of a tongue lashing than a tongue-in-cheek drop in the pan.

The author takes scathing shots at a variety of elements of publishing, fame, being a writer, and perhaps most astute is her take on who is allowed to write what about whom, when and in what capacity. I am so glad one of the examples mentioned is American Dirt, which is a perfect example of the storm in Yellowface.

Then there are the questions that pop up in relation to June stealing Athena's work or idea then adapting it with her own style and voice. Is that not the core of fan fiction, which is in essence taking the ideas of others and creating an adaptation using the material of other authors. Then the controversy of white authors writing about minorities, about issues their privilege doesn't allow them to view objectively. This thought process is carried forward by the author by referencing the similar inter-culture restraints and prejudices Athena was guilty of.

It's an incredibly clever piece of writing and story. I enjoyed the fact the end is exactly as brassy and bold faced as one would expect, because it reflects the publishing industry so well. It's a fantastic read.

Buy Yellowface at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher ‏: ‎The Borough Press, pub date 25 May 2023.Buy at Amazon com.

#Review I Will Find You by Harlan Coben

Another cracking read from the bestselling author Harlan Coben.

About Harlan Coben

With over 80 million books in print worldwide, Harlan Coben is the Number One New York Times author of numerous novels.  His books are published in 46 languages.  Along with Stay Close, he is the creator and executive producer of several Netflix television dramas including The Stranger, Safe, The Five and The Woods.  Larry Tanz, who oversees Netflix’s original programming for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, has commented on how Harlan does all the work himself – comes up with the ideas, watches the rough cuts of scenes, sits in on all the phone calls. 

Netflix recently re-upped their overall deal with Coben for several more years, adding among other books his acclaimed Myron Bolitar series. His TV series adaptation of Shelter for Amazon Studios—starring Jaden Michael and Constance Zimmer and based on Coben’s YA novel of the same name—will be released on Prime Video in the coming months.

Harlan Coben grew up in the Newark suburbs in New Jersey in the 60s.  After college he worked in the family travel company as a rep overseas.  He still lives in New Jersey with his wife Anne Armstrong-Coben MD, a paediatrician, and their four children.  He had his first New York Times bestseller when his children were very small.

Winner of the Edgar Award, Shamus Award and Anthony Award, Harlan is the first author to win all three.  In Paris, he was awarded the prestigious Vermeil Medal of Honor for contributions to culture and society by the Mayor of the city. He has won the El Premio del Novela Negra RBA in Spain, the Grand Prix de Lectrices in France, and the CWA Bestseller Dagger for favourite crime novelist here in the UK.  In December 2022 he was awarded the Raymond Chandler Award, Italy’s top lifetime achievement honour to a master of the thriller genre.  And on the sports side of things he is a member of the New England Basketball Hall of Fame from his playing days at Amherst College and the Little League Baseball inducted him into their Hall of Excellence in 2013. Follow @HarlanCoben on Twitter, Visit harlancoben.com

About the book

David and Cheryl Burroughs are living the dream - married, a beautiful house in the suburbs, a three year old son named Matthew - when tragedy strikes one night in the worst possible way.

David awakes to find himself covered in blood, but not his own - his son's. And while he knows he did not murder his son, the overwhelming evidence against him puts him behind bars indefinitely. - Five years into his imprisonment, Cheryl's sister arrives - and drops a bombshell.

She's come with a photograph that a friend took on vacation at a theme park. The boy in the background seems familiar - and even though David realizes it can't be, he knows it is. - It's Matthew, and he's still alive.

David plans a harrowing escape from prison, determined to do what seems impossible - save his son, clear his own name, and discover the real story of what happened that devastating night.

Review

Not sure what's worse, thinking you viciously murdered your very young child or knowing your child is out there somewhere and possibly in danger. David has lived the last few years in the belief that he committed the most unforgivable crime during an inexplicable blackout - he deserves to serve his remaining years behind bars.

His perfect family imploded five years ago, his now ex-wife has moved on and rebuilt her life, and he is a pariah to everyone who used to know him. The why, why would he do something so awful to the child he loved so dearly? The heavy burden of guilt is probably why he is willing to cling so fast to the possibility of his son being alive when his ex-sister-in-law shows him a blurry photo of a face in a crowd. Could be and it equally might not be, because the chances are super slim and just happen to be better than believing that he murdered an innocent child.

It's a fast-paced dark domestic thriller, which will probably end up becoming a mini series - this author certainly knows how to write with future development in mind. The plot plays with the idea of certainty, especially when it comes to evidence and the legal system, and how easy it is for good people to fall foul of said system.

Buy I Will Find You at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher ‏: ‎Century; pub date 16 Mar. 2023. Buy at Amazon com. Buy via Penguin.

#Review Exiles by Jane Harper

 

Yet another fantastic read and great story by Jane Harper!

About the Author

Jane Harper is the author of four internationally bestselling Australian mysteries, including The Dry. Her books are published in 40 territories and have sold more than 3 million copies worldwide.

Jane has won numerous top awards including the CWA Gold Dagger, the British Book Awards Crime and Thriller Book of the Year and the Australian Book Industry Awards Book of the Year. The 2021 movie adaptation of The Dry, starring Eric Bana, is one of the highest grossing Australian films of all time.

Jane worked as a print journalist for 13 years in both Australia and the UK, and now lives in Melbourne with her husband, daughter and son. Follow @janeharperautho on Twitter

About the book

A mother disappears from a busy festival on a warm spring night. Her baby lies alone in a pram, her mother's possessions surrounding her, waiting for a return which never comes. A year later, Kim Gillespie's absence still casts a long shadow as her friends and loved ones gather to welcome a new addition to the family.

Joining the celebrations on a rare break from work is federal investigator Aaron Falk, who begins to suspect that all is not as it seems.

As he looks into Kim's case, long-held secrets and resentments begin to come to the fore, secrets that show that her community is not as close as it appears. Falk will have to tread carefully if he is to expose the dark fractures at its heart, but sometimes it takes an outsider to get to the truth...

Review

A young baby abandoned in a pram in full view of everyone at a festival - mother gone and there are no clues to her whereabouts. Aaron Falk just happens to be one of the few witnesses to the events of that evening, and unfortunately the missing woman is connected to the family of good friends of his. 

When he returns a year later and the family jogs memories in the hope of an explanation he realises that there are a few things niggling him, he just can't quite figure out what they are.

Very much a Holmesian fallacy at play here - I couldn't think of a better scenario when the solution is absolutely directly linked to eliminating the impossible. The solution and truth is evident from the very beginning, and I couldn't decide whether that was intentional. It was the only clear possibility no matter which way everyone turned and searched. Was the story really about creating the frame for Falk to view his life in a different way?

The author creates an epi-centre, but the actual story is the surrounding area. Waves of emotions, complex relationship structures, memories and moments of energy and self that Kim has left in the wake of her mysterious disappearance.

I loved it, but then I do enjoy the way Harper writes and plots - I still think about The Lost Man a lot. It's the very specific way the author draws in the environment, the characters and the plot in equal measures. Simultaneously the way the story is fiction and reality - the kind of plot that you recognise in the people and world around you.

Buy Exiles at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher ‏: ‎Macmillan; pub date 2nd Feb. 2023. Buy at Amazon com. Buy via MacMillan.

#Review Two Storm Wood by Philip Gray

Recently featured on BBC2's Between The Covers, this is a fantastic read!

About the Author

Philip studied modern history at Cambridge University, and went on to work as a journalist in Madrid, Rome and Lisbon. He has tutored in crime writing at City University in London and serves as a director at an award-winning documentary film company, specialising in science and history.

Philip's grandfather was a captain in the Lancashire Fusiliers and fought through the First World War from start to finish, losing his closest friends along the way. Years after his death, Philip came across a cache of trench maps and military documents that his grandfather had kept, and in which he had recorded the events that befell his unit. Philip was inspired to write his thriller Two Storm Wood when the pull of his grandfather's legacy felt too strong to ignore. Follow @PhilipGrayBooks on Twitter, Visit philipgraybooks.com

About the book

1919. On the desolate battlefields of northern France, the guns of the Great War are silent. Special battalions now face the dangerous task of gathering up the dead for mass burial.

Amy Vanneck's fiancé is one soldier lost amongst many, but she is not ready to accept that his body may never be found. Defying convention, hardship and impossible odds, she heads to France, determined to discover what became of the man she loved.

Captain Mackenzie is a survivor of the war, but still its prisoner. He cannot return home until his fallen comrades are recovered and laid to rest. His task is upended when a gruesome discovery is made beneath the ruins of a of a German strongpoint.

It soon becomes clear that what Mackenzie has uncovered is a war crime of inhuman savagery. As the dark truth leaches, both he and Amy are drawn into hunt for a psychopath, one for whom the atrocity at Two Storm Wood is not an end, but a beginning.

Review

Amy is in limbo. Like many others who receive a MIA notification there is no closure and always an element of hope, despite the fact they know that their loved one is dead. Amy doesn't want to accept the inevitable truth and sets out on a dangerous journey to find the truth - one way or the other.

In the ruins of human misery she finds more than she bargained for and Captain Mackenzie, a man who is unable to let go of this deeply ingrained sense of duty towards his fallen comrades. The two of them uncover a layer of depravity neither of them are prepared for. 

Leaving aside the main premise of this book, I want to take a moment to give the author credit for the aspect of the war he uses to frame the essence of the story. I have read many books on the war, both the Great War and WW2, and they tend to concentrate on the combat, pre-war and post-war, but post-war as life unfolds afterwards. Not many focus on the aftermath and the actual reality of death and the dead, the fields and land strewn with the remains of the dead.

Rotting corpses, pieces of human beings, sometimes not even that. Often the only link to identity would be an item that hadn't decomposed and become part of the fabric of the land forever. There is hardly a mention of the soldiers and civilians tasked with ensuring as many victims of the war were identified. This aspect of the story is exceptional - just saying.

I wouldn't hesitate to return to this author. I really enjoyed the style, the scene setting, and the ability to create this level of magical realism drenched in horror and built upon a layer of factual reality. You can feel the fear, the pain and the sorrow - and that's without even venturing into the core of the plot.

Buy Two Storm Wood at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher ‏: ‎Harvill Secker pub date 13 Jan. 2022. Buy at Amazon com. Buy at Harvill Secker.

#Review #Booktok The Black Chalice by Lauretta Hignett

I thought it might be fun to randomly pick books to review that come up on my #fyp on TikTok, so here we go: #Booktok

About the book

My name is Eve, and I'm cursed. - It's just a theory, but I'm sure I'm cursed.  In every other way, I'm a completely normal, ordinary girl. There's just one thing. Every time I get close to someone, they go crazy and try to kill me.

It's happened more times than I care to count. And whenever I think I've found a new safe haven, violence always smashes through it. I've come to accept that there is nowhere safe on earth. Because it's me. It's my curse.

I've been doing okay lately. I even have a normal job - I'm night receptionist at Revelations, the most exclusive, isolated and top-secret hotel resort in the entire world. Only the richest people can afford to stay here, and they're more interested in themselves than they are in me. It's beautiful. I feel safe here.

Until last night, when I had a vivid dream about an angel and a demon.  It felt so real, it unsettled me. The angel was the most heartbreakingly handsome thing I've ever seen in my entire life.

I just can't shake the dream. Which is too bad. Because the angel just walked into reception. And he's standing right in front of me.

Review

Eve has a troubled past and finds comfort in the secluded nature of her place of employment. It caters only to the most privileged and wealthy, which can at times be quite frustrating. Eve also sometimes finds it hard to control her temper when confronted with arrogance, rudeness and disgusting behaviour.

Lately dreams and reality have started to merge into one and into the world as she knows it. Where hunky angels and demons go from vivid dreams to stirring up things for Eve in real time.

It has slight echoes of the First Grave series, well with urban fantasy there will always be an a semblance of something, and it is on the cusp of something, but not quite there yet. There is a lot of information in the angel, demon world-building - all thrown out there within a chapter or so. There is an imbalance between the lackadaisical interactions, and the potential between Eve, and the angel and demon. And, I might add, one can be a chalice without becoming a high-stakes assault target (sa).

It has plenty of potential though.

Buy The Black Chalice at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Buy at Amazon com.

Follow @laurettahignett, Visit laurettahignett.com

#Review Notes On An Execution by Danya Kukafka

This is a fascinating read and Danya Kukafka is an excellent writer.

About the Author

Danya Kukafka is the bestselling author of the novels Notes On An Execution and Girl In Snow. She is a graduate of New York University's Gallatin School of Individualized Study. She works as a literary agent. Follow @danyakukafka on Twitter

About the book

Ansel Packer is scheduled to die in twelve hours. - He knows what he's done, and now awaits the same fate he forced on those girls, years ago. Ansel doesn't want to die; he wants to be celebrated, understood. - But this is not his story.

As the clock ticks down, three women uncover the history of a tragedy and the long shadow it casts. Lavender, Ansel's mother, is a seventeen-year-old girl pushed to desperation. Hazel, twin sister to his wife, is forced to watch helplessly as the relationship threatens to devour them all. And Saffy, the detective hot on his trail, is devoted to bringing bad men to justice but struggling to see her own life clearly. - This is the story of the women left behind.

Review

I first heard about this book on Twitter a few months ago and pre-ordered a copy based on what I was hearing, then I actually bought the Audiobook too. I found the premise intriguing, and I wasn't disappointed at all - this is an excellent read.

It's going to be really difficult to do this book the justice it deserves without giving too much away. The author weaves the complex layers of this psychological read, that veers into the literary sphere, with such expertise and detailed nuance - it is truly an indicator of a talented scribe and storyteller.

Narrated by the main character Ansel, the man on death row, and the women who have been a part of his life. The women who defined him, the women who called for his accountability, and the women who were his victims in one way or other. It's a ticking clock, a timer, a revisiting of truths. His, their truths and the facts that meet both stories in the middle.

The boy, who like many others, is born into a world of violence and depravation, and subsequently abandoned or saved. It depends on the way you look at it. It's easy to lay the blame for his future behaviour and crimes at the feet of an abusive parent and an absentee one. The truth is perhaps a little more complex, predictive behaviour and a genetic disposition in culmination with the worst start in life can result in a person who rightly ends up behind bars on death row.

The only aspect I wondered about was the connection between Lavender to Ansel at the end and whether it should have taken more of a centre stage, but then I thought about the intent, symbolism, emotional bond and power. More importantly, where all of those things should lie, because in her own way the author makes an argument for the both the hypocrisy and cruelty of the death sentence, whilst simultaneously proving why sometimes it is the only true solution. It may not be justice - there is no justice for certain crimes, but it is closure. 

Kudos to Kukafka for the ending, the homage and the lost possibilities - very well said. It also gives and leaves the power with those who are deserving of it. This is certainly one of my top reads of the year.

Buy Notes On An Execution at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher ‏: Phoenix  pub date 3 Feb. 2022. Buy at Amazon com. Buy at Bookshop.org

#Review The Christie Affair by Nina de Gramont

'The Christie Affair is a stunning novel which reimagines the unexplained eleven-day disappearance of Agatha Christie in 1926 that captivated the world.'

About the Author

Nina de Gramont lives with her husband and daughter in coastal North Carolina, where she teaches Creative Writing at the University of North Carolina Wilmington. Her interest in writing about Agatha Christie began in 2015 when she first learned about the famous author's eleven-day disappearance. Christie's refusal to ever speak about this episode particularly intrigued Nina, who loves the fact that someone who unravelled mysteries for a living managed to keep her own intact. The Christie Affair is her fourth novel.

Follow @NinadeGramont on Twitter, Visit ninadegramont.com

About the book

In 1926, Agatha Christie disappeared for 11 days. Only I know the truth of her disappearance. I’m no Hercule Poirot. I’m her husband’s mistress. - Agatha Christie’s world is one of glamorous society parties, country house weekends, and growing literary fame.

Nan O’Dea’s world is something very different. Her attempts to escape a tough London upbringing during the Great War led to a life in Ireland marred by a hidden tragedy. After fighting her way back to England, she’s set her sights on Agatha. Because Agatha Christie has something Nan wants. And it’s not just her husband.

Despite their differences, the two women will become the most unlikely of allies. And during the mysterious eleven days that Agatha goes missing, they will unravel a dark secret that only Nan holds the key to . . .

Review

Nan is a character everyone will love to hate, but they should perhaps admire her with equal passion. She envelopes the entirety of this plot in her web and consumes everyone in her path, she is also a wonderful narrator I might add. She has set her sights on Agatha's husband, the life she lives and perhaps even more.

When Agatha, yes the Agatha Christie, disappears in the aftermath of some emotional turmoil, the entire country is searching for her. Is she missing, dead or has she been kidnapped? Has the treacherous husband got something to do with it or Nan perhaps?

What is Nan up to in the background, does she have access to information we aren't privy to? It's an excellently spun web of lies, desires, memories and ultimately one of secrets and hidden truths.

My only complaint about this book is that it is fiction. That it is a story born from the mind of a creative just based on the factual event - the eleven-day disappearance of Agatha Christie in the 1920s. Part of me wishes it actually happened, it's a great scenario and well executed.

It's also nice wee homage to the Queen of Mystery Crime, although she may not have been amused by the drama of her life becoming the scene of a mystery and a crime, however I think readers will certainly appreciate the irony.

Buy The Christie Affair at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher ‏: ‎Mantle pub date 20 Jan. 2022. Buy at Amazon com. Buy at Waterstones. At Pan MacMillan.

#Review Autopsy by Patricia Cornwell

 Autopsy is book 25 in the Kay Scarpetta series written by Patricia Cornwell, yet another great read by Cornwell.

About the Author

Patricia Cornwell is recognized as one of the world’s top bestselling crime authors with novels translated into thirty-six languages in more than 120 countries. Her novels have won numerous prestigious awards including the Edgar, Creasey, Anthony, Macavity, and the French Prix du Roman d’Aventure prize. 

Beyond the Scarpetta series, Patricia has written a definitive book about Jack the Ripper and a biography and has created two more fiction series among others. Cornwell, a licensed helicopter pilot and scuba diver, actively researches the cutting-edge forensic technologies that inform her work. She was born in Miami, grew up in Montreat, NC, and now lives and works in Boston. 

Follow @1pcornwell on Twitter, Visit patriciacornwell.com

About the book

Forensic pathologist Kay Scarpetta has returned to Virginia as the chief medical examiner. Finding herself the new girl in town once again after being away for many years, she’s inherited an overbearing secretary and a legacy of neglect and possible corruption.

She and her husband Benton Wesley, now a forensic psychologist with the U.S. Secret Service, have relocated to Old Town Alexandria where she’s headquartered five miles from the Pentagon in a post-pandemic world that’s been torn by civil and political unrest. Just weeks on the job, she’s called to a scene by railroad tracks where a woman’s body has been shockingly displayed, her throat cut down to the spine, and as Scarpetta begins to follow the trail, it leads unnervingly close to her own historic neighborhood.

At the same time, a catastrophe occurs in a top secret private laboratory in outer space, and at least two scientists aboard are found dead. Appointed to the highly classified Doomsday Commission that specializes in sensitive national security cases, Scarpetta is summoned to the White House Situation Room and tasked with finding out what happened. But even as she works the first crime scene in space remotely, an apparent serial killer strikes again. And this time, Scarpetta could be in greater danger than ever before.

Review

It wasn't until I read which number this is in the Scarpetta series that I realised just how long I have been reading books by this particular author. I must have missed a few because I was a wee bit surprised by the Marino and Kay's sister coupling. I know his almost obsessive need to protect and to be in Kay's orbit is a main driver, but her sister can be such ego driven being. Surely that counts as dysfunctional.

Is the obsessive close friendship only viewed as a positive, because Kay is unable to take a step back from it, as opposed to an outsider thinking Marino is on the precipice of something screwy in regards to his friend? Is that a book waiting to happen.

Kay has been more or less manipulated into the career move she has made recently. I think the full picture and repercussions of said move will be fodder for this and some books to come. I actually found Scarpetta's lack of response to the negative attitudes, blatant disregard for her position, was infuriating. Where was her outrage instead of just letting certain people just dance on her grave?

I'm not sure whether the last few years have anything to do with it, but it certainly seemed as if there was a lot going on in this book, perhaps to the detriment of the book. The serial killer plot, the White House situation, her professional status and the way her niece is dealing with a personal loss. Many sub-plots pulling in a lot of different directions, then again some of it felt a little like a build-up to a bigger plot.

It's certainly a gripping read, albeit it one that bounces from one goal post to the other. I am hoping in the next book Kay comes back willing to fight with a bit more vigor.

Buy Autopsy at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher ‏: ‎HarperCollins pub date 25 Nov. 2021. Buy at Amazon com. Buy at Harper Collins Uk.

#Review The Appeal by Janice Hallett

The Appeal - 'The standout debut thriller of 2021 that delivers multiple brilliant twists, and will change the way you think about the modern crime novel.' Coming in January 2022 - The Twyford Code also by Janice Hallett

About the Author

Janice Hallett is a former magazine editor, award-winning journalist and government communications writer. She wrote articles and speeches for, among others, the Cabinet Office, Home Office and Department for International Development. Her enthusiasm for travel has taken her around the world several times, from Madagascar to the Galapagos, Guatemala to Zimbabwe, Japan, Russia and South Korea. 

A playwright and screenwriter, she penned the feminist Shakespearean stage comedy NetherBard and co-wrote the feature film Retreat, a psychological thriller starring Cillian Murphy, Thandiwe Newton and Jamie Bell. The Appeal was her first novel, her second The Twyford Code is set to be published by Viper Books in January 2022. Follow @JaniceHallett on Twitter

About the book

In a town full of secrets. Someone was murdered. Someone went to prison. And Everyone's a suspect. Can you uncover the truth?

There is a mystery to solve in the sleepy town of Lower Lockwood. It starts with the arrival of two secretive newcomers, and ends with a tragic death. Roderick Tanner QC has assigned law students Charlotte and Femi to the case. Someone has already been sent to prison for murder, but he suspects that they are innocent. And that far darker secrets have yet to be revealed...

Throughout the amateur dramatics society's disastrous staging of All My Sons and the shady charity appeal for a little girl's medical treatment, the murderer hid in plain sight. The evidence is all there, waiting to be found. But will Charlotte and Femi solve the case? Will you?

Review

I think less will be more when it comes to reviewing this one. I wouldn't want to take away the pleasure of experiencing this little treasure with an open mind.

Just one thing though, the minutes created by Isabel Beck were a riot - this is what happens when you write what you think, as opposed to giving a written narrative of what was actually said. Maybe she can come do some clerking in our town, it would go down a treat.

I have to give Hallett her dues, this is a completely engrossing and original piece of work. Interestingly it never loses the element of intrigue, despite the quite often seemingly mundane flowing in and out of the interactions and communications. It reminded me of a toss-up between a modern Cluedo and a game of mastermind. It's about the right place and time, the right combination of people, place, evidence and above all the clues.

It's a really well executed original piece of fiction. Using texts, emails, letters in a story isn't unusual - completing a whole murder mystery that way is. You either fail to reel in your audience or you excel at it, as Hallett has done.

Buy The Appeal at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher ‏: ‎Viper; pub date 14 Jan. 2021. Buy at Amazon com. At Waterstones.

#Review A Line to Kill by Anthony Horowitz

Another great read in the Hawthorne and Horowitz series!

About the Author

The author of the bestselling teen spy series. Alex Rider, Anthony Horowitz is also responsible for creating and writing some of the UK's most loved and successful TV series including Midsomer Murders and Foyle's War.

He has also written two highly acclaimed Sherlock Holmes novels, The House of Silk and Moriarty, two James Bond novels, Trigger Mortis and Forever And a Day, and two bestselling crime novels, The Word is Murder and The Sentence is Death, starring Detective Daniel Hawthorne. A Line to Kill is the third in the Daniel Hawthorne series.

In 2016 he wrote Magpie Murders, which became a bestseller around the world, and was the recipient of eight literary awards in Japan. Moonflower Murders, published in August 2020 continued the story. Follow @AnthonyHorowitz on Twitter, Visit anthonyhorowitz.com

About the book 

There has never been a murder on the island of Alderney. But as writers gather for a brand new literary festival a killer lies in wait. An island full of secrets is about to become an island full of suspects...

Private Investigator Daniel Hawthorne and the writer, Anthony Horowitz have been invited to the festival to talk about their new book. Very soon they discover that dark forces are at work. Alderney is in turmoil over a planned power line that will cut through it, desecrating a war cemetery and turning neighbour against neighbour. And the visiting authors - including a blind medium, a French performance poet and a celebrity chef - seem to be harbouring any number of unpleasant secrets.

When the festival's wealthy sponsor is found brutally murdered, Alderney goes into lockdown and Hawthorne knows he doesn't have to look too far for suspects. There's no escape. The killer is on the island. And there's about to be a second death...

Review

They do make an excellent sleuthing duo these two. The reluctant, slightly bumbling Horowitz who is almost always in a state of disbelief at the situations he finds himself in, and the all-knowing, brusque, secretive, but very self-assured and slightly arrogant Hawthorne.

Horowitz is never quite sure who has the upper hand in their relationship, especially because Hawthorne seems to have taken over the area of the author's own expertise. Apparently the two of them are heading to a literary festival on Alderney to promote their new book.

Then murder most wicked happens. Does it have anything to do with the contentious plans for a power line or does it have something to do with the past? 

I do so love this series, the only thing that would make it better would be a visual televised representation of Hawthorne and Horowitz. Hmm, I wonder if Horowitz should play himself? And who would make a great Hawthorne? Absolutely food for thought. Whilst readers wait for that to happen let's hope we get more books in this series.

Buy A Line to Kill at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher : Century: pub date 19 August 2021- Hardback £20. Buy at Amazon com. Order via Penguin

An Island by Karen Jennings

Longlisted for the 2021 Booker Prize

About the Author

Karen Jennings was born in Cape Town in 1982. She holds Master’s degrees in both English Literature and Creative Writing from the University of Cape Town, and a PhD in Creative Writing at the University of KwaZulu-Natal.

About the book 

Samuel has lived alone for a long time; one morning he finds the sea has brought someone to offer companionship and to threaten his solitude…

A young refugee washes up unconscious on the beach of a small island inhabited by no one but Samuel, an old lighthouse keeper. Unsettled, Samuel is soon swept up in memories of his former life on the mainland: a life that saw his country suffer under colonisers, then fight for independence, only to fall under the rule of a cruel dictator; and he recalls his own part in its history. 

In this new man’s presence he begins to consider, as he did in his youth, what is meant by land and to whom it should belong. To what lengths will a person go in order to ensure that what is theirs will not be taken from them? - A novel about guilt and fear, friendship and rejection; about the meaning of home.

Review

It's a solitary endeavour, both from a premise and literary perspective. A short powerful read that sets the scene without any inner or outer architecture. It's just Samuel, the island and sometimes the man who intrudes upon the two.

As the reader gets to know the man, they also travel with him through time. From his traumatic childhood fleeing the violence of his rural area, to the poverty that later defines and changes his family, which leads to the years as a prisoner and the hermit-like existence.

An existence that has created layers of guilt in general, survivor's guilt, grief and a lack of impulse control when it comes to violence. Agoraphobia and a territorial behaviour combined with paranoia and flashbacks - one could say the events that unfold are inevitable.

I can see why it has been longlisted for the Booker. It's an unusual piece that stands out from the crowd. It will be interesting to see where Jennings takes us next.

Buy An Island at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher ‏: ‎Holland House Books pub date 23 July 2021. Buy at Amazon com. Buy from Holland House Books.

#Review Both of You by Adele Parks

Another fantastic read from Adele Parks coming end of May 2021!

About the Author

Adele Parks was born in Teesside, North-east England. her first novel, Playing Away, was published in 2000 and since then she's had eighteen international bestsellers. She's been an Ambassador for The Reading Agency and a judge for the Costa and is a keen supporter of The National Literary Trust. She's lived in Italy, Botswana and London, and is now settled in Guildford, Surrey, with her husband and son.

Follow @adeleparks @HQStories on Twitter, on Goodreads, on Amazon, Visit adeleparks.com

About the book

Leigh Fletcher: happily married stepmum to two gorgeous boys goes missing on Monday. Her husband Mark says he knows nothing of her whereabouts. She simply went to work and just never came home. Their family is shattered.

Kai Janssen: married to wealthy Dutch businessman, Daan, vanishes the same week. Kai left their luxurious penthouse and glamourous world without a backward glance. She seemingly evaporated into thin air. Daan is distraught.

DC Clements knows that people disappear all the time – far too frequently. Most run away from things, some run towards, others are taken but find their way back. A sad few never return. These two women are from very different worlds, their disappearances are unlikely to be connected. And yet, at a gut level, the DC believes they are.

How could these women walk away from their families, husbands and homes willingly? Clements is determined to unearth the truth, no matter how shocking and devastating it may be.

Review

It's going to be a bit of task to review the way I would like to without giving the plot away, but hey ho I'm going to try because its such an interesting premise. 

Two women, completely different women, disappear without a trace. The only thing they have in common is the fact they are gone and they vanished around the same time. The reader gets a glimpse of one in captivity - the other fate unknown. Meanwhile the outside world thinks they have gone because they are disgruntled and unhappy with their lives. No one is really looking that hard. Their husbands aren't looking at all. Who wants to hurt Leigh or Kai? 

The juxtaposition of the two women who have nothing in common is the most intriguing element of the read. Leigh the loving wife who has become the caring stepmother. She is chaotic, frustrated with dealing with an ungrateful teenager and often wonders why she is still with her husband

Kudos to Parks she is getting better with each book, which is quite a feat seeing as she has already written some humdingers. Also for the clever double entendre in regards to the book title. This does not disappoint and has her trademark depth and moral conundrum written all over it and of course it's a great read.

Buy Both of You at Amazon Uk o go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Buy at Amazon com. At Hive.

#Review The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner

 

A book and author to watch out for in 2021. The Lost Apothecary is published 2 March 2021 by Legend Press.

About the book

Hidden in the depths of eighteenth-century London, a secret apothecary shop caters to an unusual kind of clientele. Women across the city whisper of a mysterious figure named Nella who sells well-disguised poisons to use against the oppressive men in their lives. But the apothecary’s fate is jeopardized when her newest patron, a precocious twelve-year-old, makes a fatal mistake, sparking a string of consequences that echo through the centuries.

Meanwhile in present-day London, aspiring historian Caroline Parcewell spends her tenth wedding anniversary alone, running from her own demons. When she stumbles upon a clue to the unsolved apothecary murders that haunted London two hundred years ago, her life collides with the apothecary’s in a stunning twist of fate—and not everyone will survive.

Review

Caroline is on the run from her marriage and searching for some kind of anchor. It's a reevaluation of what her life has been up to this point, which has always been as the support system to her successful husband. There was no room for her own aspirations and dreams, perhaps it is time to start making choices with herself in mind. 

Whilst searching for some sign and link to the next steps she happens upon a connection to the past. To a story of strong women willing to risk their lives to help other women in a time and society where oppression and subjugation were the norm for all women.

In the past, in eighteenth-century London, Nella has taken her mother's gift of healing and her shop to establish something akin to an underground network to help women in dire need. She has evolved the healing into something quite extraordinary, but perhaps also into something morally and ethically questionable. Then again it depends on the perspective and the person doing the questioning, right?

I loved this story and am surprised it isn't getting more attention. The author is clearly a talented storyteller. The past and present are fused together with a sense of magical realism and also one of staunch sisterhood, which can be felt beyond the years and centuries. There is an engrossing balance between historical fiction and contemporary read. Definitely a book I will be recommending.

Buy The Lost Apothecary at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher: Legend Press pub date 2 Mar. 2021. Buy at Amazon com. Hive. Bookshop org. Waterstones.

Follow @sl_penner on Twitter, on Goodreads, on Amazon, Visit Sarahpenner.com

#Review Highfire by Eoin Colfer

About the Author
Eoin Colfer is the author of the internationally bestselling Artemis Fowl series, which has been translated into more than forty languages,as well as the WARP, Benny and Omar, and the Half Moon Investigation books, which have won numerous awards, including British Children's Book of the Year, The Irish Book Awards Children's Book of the Year and The German Children's Book of the Year. He has also written two adult crime novels, Plugged and Screwed. A Disney film adaptation of Artemis Fowl will be released in 2020, directed by Kenneth Branagh and starring Dame Judi Dench.

Born in Ireland, Eoin was educated at Dublin University and qualified as a primary school teacher, before turning his hand to writing in 2001. Highfire is his first adult fantasy novel.

About the book
Squib Moreau may be swamp-wild, but his intentions are (generally) good: he really wants to be a supportive son to his hard-working momma Elodie. But sometimes life gets in the way - like when Fake Daddy walked out on them leaving a ton of debt, or when crooked Constable Regence Hooke got to thinking pretty Elodie Moreau was just the gal for him...

An apprenticeship with the local moonshine runner, servicing the bayou, looks like the only way to pay off the family debts and maybe get Squib and his momma a place in town, far from Constable Hooke's unwanted courtship and Fake Daddy's reputation.

Unfortunately for Squib, Hooke has his own eye on that very same stretch of bayou - and neither of them have taken into account the fire-breathing dragon hiding out in the Louisiana swamp...

For Squib Moreau, Regence Hooke and Vern, aka Lord Highfire of Highfire Eyrie, life is never going to be the same again.

Review
I think it's fair to say when it comes to dragons Vern is in his own league. Vodka swigging, shorts wearing, cigarette smoking dragon who likes to get comfy in his La-Z-Boy. He is hiding in a bayou, because humans are his mortal enemy, so it's death to anyone who discovers his existence.

Squib Moreau runs moonshine in the very same bayou, planning a way to keep the local cop Hooke away from his mother and his future success at the same time. He inadvertently sees something he shouldn't, which is the beginning of a bayou full of trouble.

It's more than fantasy it is a new sub-genre of dragon lore. Rural swamp inhabitant takes on the criminal underworld. Not because Vern is interested in saving the humans who are plagued by the insidious nature of the criminal world, but rather because they did something that irritated him. Whatever you do don't irritate him or he will rain hellfire on you or is that highfire?

There is no mistaking Colfer's trademark snarky humour and excellent talent for telling a story. It has a gritty urban crime feel mixed with the doubtful charm of a rural area. An area where dragon and alligators vye for equal space.

I do hope this isn't the last time we hear from Vern. He has made his very distinctive mark on the world of fantasy and dragons. 

Buy Highfire at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher: Jo Fletcher Books  pub date 28 Jan. 2020. Buy at Amazon com. Hive. Bookshop org. Waterstones.

Follow @eoincolfer on Twitter, on Goodreads, on Amazon, Visit eoincolfer.com and worldofhighfire.com

#Review The Last Thing to Burn by Will Dean

 Review

Jane is an unwilling participant in her marriage. She is a captive. She stays only to keep someone else safe, although her husband has made it impossible to escape his clutches. Hope seems to be a thing of the past until something changes her determination to break free of the chains that bind her so tightly.

Dean certainly is full of surprises, which isn't a bad thing when it comes to writing or creating captivating stories. Just when you think you have the measure of the flair, spectrum and ability, and then he goes and writes a complete curveball. A brilliantly engaging, intense and incredibly important one.

Aside from the immaculate plotting and on point characters there is another element of the story that absolutely deserves a kudos. The way Dean was able to immerse himself into the world of coercive, mental, physical abuse and the psychological abuse that goes hand-in-hand with trafficking and modern day slavery. You'll often hear or read cries of indignation 'why didn't he/she leave or ask for help, which of course is one of the many reasons abusive relationships are incomprehensible to someone who hasn't experienced them - the inability to comprehend the dynamics of control, power and abuse.

Whilst it is absolutely true that the young, vulnerable and inexperienced are statistically more likely to become victims, abuse does not halt before the intelligent, educated mind or person. It is far more complex than that. Anyway I digress.

My point is that Dean writes this with such an in-depth perception it made me wonder about the ability of certain storytellers to write beyond the construct and patriarchal dogma or bias of their gender, which is important depending on the topic and the gender of their characters. This story would have been ruined by tropes, instead it is a hard-hitting piece of fiction set in realism.

It is also written in an almost minimalistic style and mindset, which captures the isolation of the main character and the surroundings. An element I found extremely intriguing given where the story takes place. It serves as a stark reminder as to how disconnected the majority of us are from each other. Easier to look away and ignore the obvious signs than to become involved and help.

Above all Dean shines a spotlight on one of the most prevalent crimes of our modern era, although one could argue that slavery and human trafficking has merely evolved with the times and the demand. Unfortunately it's a very profitable, albeit completely despicable business and crime.

This is a cracking read. Oh and kudos to the author for the name and identity part of the story, especially in relation to Mary. Subtle, and yet simultaneously gut-wrenching and visceral. 

Buy/Pre-order The Last Thing to Burn at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton; pub date 7 Jan. 2021. Buy at Amazon com. Hive. Bookshop org. Waterstones.

Follow @willrdean on Twitter, on Amazon, on Goodreads, on Youtube, Buy The Last Thing to Burn

#Review The Jigsaw Man by Nadine Matheson

Don't miss this brilliant crime read in February 2021!

 

About the Author

Nadine Matheson is a writer of crime fiction, contemporary fiction and occasionally dips into the world of speculative fiction.

When Nadine is not writing, she works as a criminal lawyer and lecturer. She lives in London and in her fantasy life would write comic books for a living.

Follow @nadinematheson on Twitter, on Goodreads, on Amazon, Visit nadinematheson.com, Buy The Jigsaw Man

About the book

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery...

When body parts are found on the banks of the River Thames in Deptford, DI Angelica Henley is tasked with finding the killer. Eerie echoes of previous crimes lead Henley to question Peter Olivier, aka The Jigsaw Killer, who is currently serving a life sentence for a series of horrific murders.

When a severed head is delivered to Henley's home, she realises that the copycat is taking a personal interest in her and that the victims have not been chosen at random. To catch the killer, Henley must confront her own demons - - and when Olivier escapes from prison, she finds herself up against not one serial killer, but two.

Review

DI Angelica Henley is still recovering from the physical and psychological impact of taking the Jigsaw Man down. She is finally back at work and eager to prove to all the doubters that being the object of interest of a serial killer hasn't had an impact on her expertise or work ethics. It's just her luck that a copycat has left his special brand of greeting card scattered around town.

Henley knows she locked up the right man, so this has to be someone new, but how does he know how to commit the crimes? Is it possible that the Jigsaw Man has had something to do with the copycat? Or is this someone who has just spent a lot of time studying a whole load of gruesome crimes.

I can only hope that this was just the first of many encounters with DI Anjelica Henley. Matheson really knows how to write the kind of crime read that keeps you riveted from start until the very last page. Her main character is a flawed individual who struggles with the reality of being both mother, wife and career woman. Is torn emotionally and constantly trying to suppress what she wants.

The flawed, yet tough and determined DI, combined with a Prodigal Son type killer makes for a premise that never stops giving. A villain who is both antagonist and protagonist at times, even if his motives are purely ego driven, and a DI determined to stop him. A cracking read. 

Buy/Pre-order The Jigsaw Man at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher: HQ pub date 18 Feb. 2021. Buy at Amazon com. At Hive. At Waterstones. At Bookshop.org.