Category: friendship
+ feel-good, female friendship, fiction, forgiveness, friendship, grief, List, literature, loneliness, loss, love, motherhood, music hall, obsession, psychiatric hospital, relationships, review, secrets, strongman, strongwoman, suffragette movement, whimsical
My Top 8 Books of 2023 – Part Two
Here are my favourite eight books of the second quarter of 2023. One or two of these might make it into my top four books of 2023. Still a long way to go. While I read a lot of crime novels all of these books are other genres, as a crime novel needs to be totally unique and exceptional to make it into my favourites. So … Read More My Top 8 Books of 2023 – Part Two
+ adventure, child abuse, childhood, coming-of-age, fiction, friendship, healing, Historical fiction, kidnapping, literature, loss, love, Native American, review, slavery, superstition
The East Indian by Brinda Charry
Inspired by a historical figure, an exhilarating debut novel about the first native of the Indian subcontinent to arrive in Colonial America—for readers of Esi Edugyan and Yaa Gyasi. Meet Tony: insatiably curious, deeply compassionate, with a unique perspective on every scene he encounters. Kidnapped and transported to the New World after traveling from the British East India Company’s outpost on the Coromandel Coast … Read More The East Indian by Brinda Charry
+ female friendship, feminism, fiction, friendship, Historical fiction, love, marriage, motherhood, music hall, review, sisterhood, sisters, strongman, strongwoman, suffragette movement, Victorian Britain
Vulcana by Rebecca F John
An inspirational fictional telling of Welsh Victorian Strongwoman Kate Williams Vulcana is a fictional telling of the real story of Victorian ‘strongwoman’ Kate Williams (born 1874), starting when she runs away from home at 16 to travel with the love of her life, William Roberts. They perform in music halls as Atlas and Vulcana – the climax of their act is that Kate can … Read More Vulcana by Rebecca F John
+ anthology, crime fiction, female friendship, fiction, friendship, murder, murder mystery, obsession, review, secrets, short stories, short story
Marple by Various
A brand-new collection of short stories featuring the Queen of Mystery’s legendary detective Jane Marple, penned by twelve remarkable bestselling and acclaimed authors. This collection of a dozen original short stories, all featuring Jane Marple, will introduce the character to a whole new generation. Each author reimagines Agatha Christie’s Marple through their own unique perspective while staying true to the hallmarks of a traditional … Read More Marple by Various
+ cosy mystery, crime fiction, family, female friendship, fiction, friendship, marriage, motherhood, murder, murder mystery, review, secrets
The Expectant Detectives by Kat Ailes
For Alice and her partner Joe, moving to the sleepy Cotswold village of Penton is a chance to embrace country life and prepare for the birth of their unexpected first child. He can take up woodwork; maybe she’ll learn to make jam. But the rural idyll they’d hoped for doesn’t quite pan out when a dead body is discovered at their local antenatal class … Read More The Expectant Detectives by Kat Ailes
+ abuse, female friendship, fiction, friendship, holiday, lies, love, marriage, obsession, rape, relationships, review, secrets
The Girls of Summer by Katie Bishop
‘That place has been my whole life. Everything I thought I knew about myself was constructed in those few months I spent within touching distance of the sea. Everything I am is because Alistair loved me.’ Rachel has been in love with Alistair since she was seventeen. Even though she hasn’t seen him for sixteen years and she’s now married to someone else. Even … Read More The Girls of Summer by Katie Bishop
+ crime fiction, Detective novel, fiction, friendship, love, murder, music, private investigator, review, secrets
BlackJack (Jax Diamond Mysteries #5) by Gail Meath
A lifetime game of solitaire turns into a vicious family feud. New York City 1923Back in the city after a nightmare vacation, PI Jax Diamond and his courageous canine partner, Ace, just can’t catch a break when three quick and easy cases explode into a massive mess of unrelated major crimes with victims, dead and alive, piling up. #BlackJack @GailMeathAuthor @Zooloo’s Book Tours @zooloo2008 #ZooloosBookTours #blogtour Laura Graystone’s … Read More BlackJack (Jax Diamond Mysteries #5) by Gail Meath
+ brothers, crime fiction, dark humour, Detective novel, fiction, friendship, grief, homelessness, loss, love, marriage, murder, police drama, review, rivalry
The Last Dance by Mark Billingham
The first new series in two decades from multi-award-winning international bestseller Mark Billingham that introduces Detective Miller – a man who’s unique, unconventional, and criminally underestimated. Maverick sleuth Declan Miller is back at work following the murder of his wife (and amateur ballroom dancing partner) Alex. Working with new partner and heavy metal enthusiast DS Sara Xiu, he is tasked with investigating the double … Read More The Last Dance by Mark Billingham
+ childhood, dementia, diary, family, fiction, fifties, friendship, grief, journal, memory, mystery, psychic, review, secrets
One Puzzling Afternoon by Emily Critchley
On a suburban street filled with secrets, 84 year old Edie Green must look back into the past to discover what happened to her friend Lucy, who went missing years before . . . A mystery she can’t remember. A friend she can’t forget. I kept your secret Lucy. I’ve kept it for more than sixty years . . . It is 1951, and at … Read More One Puzzling Afternoon by Emily Critchley
Lessons In Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
Chemist Elizabeth Zott is not your average woman. In fact, Elizabeth Zott would be the first to point out that there is no such thing as an average woman. But it’s the early 1960s and her all-male team at Hastings Research Institute takes a very unscientific view of equality. Except for one: Calvin Evans; the lonely, brilliant, Nobel–prize nominated grudge-holder who falls in love … Read More Lessons In Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
+ family, female friendship, feminism, fiction, friendship, grief, Historical fiction, loss, love, motherhood, review, sisterhood, suffragette movement, war, World War One
The Dictionary Of Lost Words by Pip Williams
In 1901, the word ‘Bondmaid’ was discovered missing from the Oxford English Dictionary. This is the story of the girl who stole it. Esme is born into a world of words. Motherless and irrepressibly curious, she spends her childhood in the ‘Scriptorium’, a garden shed in Oxford where her father and a team of dedicated lexicographers are collecting words for the very first Oxford English Dictionary. … Read More The Dictionary Of Lost Words by Pip Williams
+ alcoholism, childhood, fiction, friendship, Historical fiction, obsession, prostitution, relationships, review
The Misadventures of Margaret Finch by Claire McGlasson
Blackpool, 1938. Miss Margaret Finch – a rather demure young woman – has just begun work in a position that relies on her discretion and powers of observation. Then, her path is crossed by the disgraced Rector of Stiffkey (aka Harold Davidson), who is the subject of a national scandal. Margaret is determined to discover the truth behind the headlines: is Davidson a maligned hero or an … Read More The Misadventures of Margaret Finch by Claire McGlasson
Bookchatter@Cookiebiscuit 