Category: review
+ family, female friendship, fiction, friendship, grief, love, music, review, secrets
Mongrel by Hanako Footman
Mei loses her Japanese mother at age six. Growing up in suburban Surrey, she yearns to fit in, suppressing not only her heritage, but her growing desire for her best friend Fran. Yuki leaves the Japanese countryside to pursue her dream of becoming a concert violinist in London. Far from home and in an unfamiliar city, she finds herself caught up in the charms … Read More Mongrel by Hanako Footman
Twenty Seven Minutes by Ashley Tate
Phoebe Dean was the most popular girl alive and dead. For the last ten years, the small, claustrophobic town of West Wilmer has been struggling to understand one thing: Why did it take young Grant Dean twenty-seven minutes to call for help on the fateful night of the car accident that took the life of his beloved sister, Phoebe? Someone knows what really happened … Read More Twenty Seven Minutes by Ashley Tate
+ child abduction, climate fiction, diary, dystopia, family, fiction, grief, journal, kidnapping, loss, pandemic, review, secrets, slavery, thriller
The Descent by Paul E Hardisty
Kweku Ashworth is a child of the cataclysm, born on a sailboat to parents fleeing the devastation in search for a refuge in the Southern Ocean. Growing up in a world forever changed, his only connection to the events that set the world on its course to disaster were the stories his step-father, now long-dead, recorded in his manuscript, The Forcing. #TheDescent @Hardisty_Paul @OrendaBooks … Read More The Descent by Paul E Hardisty
+ fiction, gothic, gothic horror, Gothic mystery, Greek mythology, illegitimacy, jealousy, marriage, mythology, obsession, review, superstition, Victorian Britain
The Whispering Muse by Laura Purcell
From the Sunday Times bestselling author comes a gripping tale of obsession, superstition and ambition, set against the atmospheric backdrop of Victorian London. Be careful what you wish for it may just come true. At The Mercury Theatre in London’s West End, rumours are circulating of a curse. It is said that the lead actress Lilith has made a pact with Melpomene, the tragic … Read More The Whispering Muse by Laura Purcell
+ crime fiction, Detective novel, fiction, friendship, love, murder, murder mystery, music, private investigator, review, romance, supernatural, superstition
KillJoy by Gail Meath (Jax Diamond Mysteries #6)
Can Ace, and his new gal pal, Lilith, solve this spooky puzzle and stop the killing spree? New York City, 1923The suspicious death of a chorus girl sends PI Jax Diamond and his courageous canine partner, Ace, to the oldest theater on Broadway. At the murder scene, they stumble upon a clue too bizarre to share with the cops or with Jax’s sweetheart, who … Read More KillJoy by Gail Meath (Jax Diamond Mysteries #6)
The Guests by Agnes Ravatn – translated by Rosie Hedger
It started with a lie… Married couple Karin and Kai are looking for a pleasant escape from their busy lives, and reluctantly accept an offer to stay in a luxurious holiday home in the Norwegian fjords.Instead of finding a relaxing retreat, however, their trip becomes a reminder of everything lacking in their own lives, and in a less- than-friendly meeting with their new neighbours, … Read More The Guests by Agnes Ravatn – translated by Rosie Hedger
+ autism, crime fiction, Detective novel, fiction, murder, neurodivergence, police drama, police procedural, review
The Teacher by Tim Sullivan The DS Cross Mysteries #6
An eighty-year-old man is found murdered in his home. His age and standing in the community makes finding his killer difficult – why would anyone harm an elderly man? What threat could he possibly be to anyone? With no apparent motive, DS George Cross canvases the community for potential suspects but the man was known as generous, charitable, community-minded. Each interview about who the … Read More The Teacher by Tim Sullivan The DS Cross Mysteries #6
+ Covid, family, female friendship, fiction, friends, friendship, gay, gay community, LGBTQ, LGBTQIA+, love, mystery, review
The Dubrovnik Book Club by Eva Glyn
In a tiny bookshop in Dubrovnik’s historic Old Town, a book club begins… Newly arrived on the sun-drenched shores of Croatia, Claire Thomson’s life is about to change forever when she starts working at a local bookshop. With her cousin Vedran, employee Luna and Karmela, a professor, they form an unlikely book club. But when their first book club pick – an engrossing cosy … Read More The Dubrovnik Book Club by Eva Glyn
+ Australia, crime fiction, dark humour, Edinburgh, female friendship, fiction, hostage, murder, review, Scotland, thriller
Halfway House by Helen Fitzgerald
They’re the housemates from Hell… When her disastrous Australian love affair ends, Lou O’Dowd heads to Edinburgh for a fresh start, moving in with her cousin, and preparing for the only job she can find … working at a halfway house for very high-risk offenders. Two killers, a celebrity paedophile and a paranoid coke dealer – all out on parole and all sharing their … Read More Halfway House by Helen Fitzgerald
First Lie Wins by Ashley Elston
Evie Porter has everything a nice, Southern girl could want: a perfect, doting boyfriend, a house with a white picket fence and a garden, a fancy group of friends. The only catch: Evie Porter doesn’t exist. The identity comes to Evie Porter. Once she’s given a name and location by her mysterious boss Mr. Smith, she learns everything there is to know about the … Read More First Lie Wins by Ashley Elston
My Top 5 Books of 2023
As we slip quietly into 2024 it’s time to reflect on my absolute favourite books of 2023. I used to pick three but I’ve had to up that to five as I just couldn’t narrow it down. It’s always hard. There were instant standouts again – about 10 of them but I had to cut it down to five. I have tried to include a mix … Read More My Top 5 Books of 2023
+ fiction, List, literature, review
My Year in Books 2023
It’s been a successful year for reading. I’ve read some brilliant books. My reading challenge was 130 and I read 153. A few more than last year.
Bookchatter@Cookiebiscuit 