Category: review
+ alcoholism, crime fiction, Danish Noir, dark humour, Denmark, fiction, grief, Iceland noir, literature, murder, revenge, review, Scandi noir, secrets, writer
Thirty Days of Darkness by Jenny Lund Masden – translated by Megan Turney
A snobbish Danish literary author is challenged to write a crime novel in thirty days, travelling to a small village in Iceland for inspiration, and then the first body appears… Copenhagen author Hannah is the darling of the literary community and her novels have achieved massive critical acclaim. But nobody actually reads them, and frustrated by writer’s block, Hannah has the feeling that she’s … Read More Thirty Days of Darkness by Jenny Lund Masden – translated by Megan Turney
+ crime fiction, fiction, grief, lies, loss, love, marriage, murder, relationships, revenge, review, secrets, thriller
The Other Couple by Diane Jeffrey
Two couples. A fatal accident. And a decision that changes everything… Kirsten and Nick are enjoying a weekend away until, on their drive home, they accidentally run over and kill a man. They should call for help – but they have too much to lose, and no one can know the real reason they’re here. Instead, they make a split-second decision to conceal the … Read More The Other Couple by Diane Jeffrey
Lyrics for the Loved Ones by Anne Goodwin
After half a century confined in a psychiatric hospital, Matty has moved to a care home on the Cumbrian coast. Next year, she’ll be a hundred, and she intends to celebrate in style. Yet, before she can make the arrangements, her ‘maid’ goes missing. Irene, a care assistant, aims to surprise Matty with a birthday visit from the child she gave up for adoption … Read More Lyrics for the Loved Ones by Anne Goodwin
+ 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
+ crime fiction, fiction, marriage, mindfulness, podcast, Psychological fiction, religion, review, secrets, sisters, spirituality, thriller, USA
The Dark Is Always Waiting by TJ Brearton
A PUBLIC SHOOTING After surviving a public shooting and saving someone in the process, Alex Baines’s life is forever altered. His marriage hangs by a thread. His leg is shattered from a bullet wound. And evidence is piling up that the attack was not random… A GUNMAN WITH SECRETS State Investigator Raquel Roth has never seen a case like this. A criminal who makes … Read More The Dark Is Always Waiting by TJ Brearton
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
+ art, coming-of-age, family, female friendship, fiction, friendship, grief, literature, loss, love, Magical realism, memory, psychiatric hospital, relationships, review, secrets, Thirties, whimsical, World War Two, WW2
Vita And The Birds by Polly Crosby
1938: Lady Vita Goldsborough lives in the shadow of her controlling older brother, Aubrey. Trapped and isolated on the East Anglian coast, Vita takes solace in watching the birds that fly over the marshes. But then she meets local artist Dodie Blakeney. The two women form a close bond, and Vita finally glimpses a chance to escape Aubrey’s grasp and be as free as … Read More Vita And The Birds by Polly Crosby
+ child abduction, family, female friendship, fiction, friends, grief, jealousy, journalist, kidnapping, lies, London, marriage, motherhood, obsession, Psychological fiction, revenge, review, secrets, sisters, stalker, thriller, University
No One Saw a Thing by Andrea Mara
No one saw it happen. You stand on a crowded tube platform in London. Your two little girls jump on the train ahead of you. As you try to join them, the doors slide shut and the train moves away, leaving you behind. Everyone is lying. By the time you get to the next stop, you’ve convinced yourself that everything will be fine. But … Read More No One Saw a Thing by Andrea Mara
+ family, fiction, forgiveness, grief, lies, obsession, Psychological fiction, revenge, review, secrets, stalker, thriller
I Know Who You Are by Mark Gillespie
Rowan Wilson has finally escaped her dark past. Or so she thinks. Rowan Wilson has humiliated another woman online. But she took it too far and caused a shocking tragedy which rocked her hometown to the core. Rowan is advised to leave – quickly. She’s given a new identity and, desperate to make up for the damage she’s caused, works hard to redeem herself.Now … Read More I Know Who You Are by Mark Gillespie
+ art, fiction, friendship, germany, jews, journalist, literature, love, nazi germany, review, secrets, World War Two, WW2
Café 7Rheinhardt by Patrick Gooch
Anton Fischer, a curator at the prestigious Belvedere art museum, stands at the crossroads. War is on the horizon. Should he stay in Vienna under Germany’s oppressive regime, hide to avoid conscription in the Wehrmacht, or flee and join those opposed to Adolf Hitler? Sacrificing his feelings for the woman he loves, Anton makes his way to England, and joins the Royal Air Force. … Read More Café 7Rheinhardt by Patrick Gooch
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