+ Christmas, crime fiction, fiction, friends, friendship, lies, locked room mystery, murder, murder mystery, obsession, revenge, review, Scotland, Scottish Highlands, secrets, thriller, twins, University
The Twelve Days of Murder by Andreina Cordani
Twelve years ago, eight friends ran an exclusive group at university: The Masquerade Murder Society.
The mysteries they solved may have been grisly, but they were always fictional – until their final Christmas Masquerade, when one of the group disappeared, never to be seen again.
Twelve years later, the remaining members of the group receive an invitation to a reunion masquerade, to be held in a beautiful and remote hunting lodge in Scotland. When they arrive they are each assigned a new identity themed around the Twelve Days of Christmas – they become Lady Partridge or Mr Gold; Lord Leapworth or Doctor Swan. The game begins, and it feels just like old times.
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Until the next morning, when Lady Partridge is found hanging from a pear tree.
It quickly becomes clear that in this game, the murder will be all too real, and the story is bringing long-hidden secrets to the surface. If they hope to win the game and survive the festive season then they will need to face the truth about their history together, who they have become – and what really happened on that fateful night twelve years before.
My Review
“On the first day of Christmas, my true love sent to me…a partridge in a pear tree.” And so goes the carol. Remember it as it’s important.
Twelve years ago, eight university ‘friends’ – and I use the term loosely – ran The Masquerade Murder Society. They took it very seriously, the characters dressing up, learning their identities, and really getting into their roles. There was always a grisly murder, and one of the group did it. Then a member of the society disappeared and was never seen again.
The society was disbanded, everyone went their separate ways, and that was it. Until the remaining members are invited to a reunion in a remote Scottish hunting lodge. It’s Christmas and it’s starting to snow.
Charley was never really one of them. They were all rich toffs, from wealthy families, and she was the poor relation. They treated her like dirt, accusing her of stealing a necklace, and basically looking down on her class, or lack of it. I don’t really know why she turned up. Oh yes, Ali the organiser was going to pay her. And she needs the money.
As they arrive, each one is assigned an identity, based around the Twelve Days of Christmas. I said it would be important. But the game becomes too real when influencer and Greek heiress Pan, aka Lady Partridge, is discovered hanging from a pear tree.
Is she the first? Will she be the last? And who would want to kill them all (if not literally)? Probably most people, if truth be told, as they are all horrible, rude and arrogant, Charley excepted, and they all have secrets and someone knows what they are.
It’s great fun, and I really enjoyed it, though there was one character I’d love to have kept alive, but I’m not saying which one.
Many thanks to @Tr4cyF3nt0n for inviting me to be part of the #CompulsiveReaders #blogtour
About the Author
Andreina Cordani lives on the Dorset coast with her family where she reads voraciously, occasionally makes Tik Tok videos and swims in the sea. She is the author of two dark thrillers for young adults, The Girl Who… and Dead Lucky. The Twelve Days of Murder is her first novel for adults.
+ crime fiction, family, fiction, grief, kidnapping, loss, mental health, mental illness, mystery, obsession, police drama, review, thriller
Gone by TJ Brearton
How can an entire family disappear into thin air?
An empty house on the edge of a small town . . . a teddy bear abandoned . . . a half drunk glass of wine . . . the TV left on and all the computer equipment missing. Where have Hutchinson Kemp and his wife and two children gone?
Detective Rondeau doesn’t think they left by choice. However he is on the verge of cracking up as he pursues the trail of the film-maker and his family who have disappeared without a trace. Rondeau discovers disturbing evidence that big money and government might have something to do with the chilling crime, but no one seems to believe him anymore. Ignoring his sceptical police colleagues, he puts his life at risk as he races to find the family in this twisting-turning crime thriller. Are the family even still alive, and what are their abductors trying to hide?
My Review
I’ve been listening to this on Audible. I really like the narrator, which to me is very important. Sometimes less than a minute and I think I can’t stand this voice. But this was perfect.
I love a conspiracy theory, but it must have its roots in fact. I don’t believe that Elvis is alive and living on the moon with Princess Diana. We are not talking about the National Enquirer here. I have this idea that when the world population hit 7 billion, someone, somewhere, decided to release a pandemic to bring it down. Ok, maybe not, but there has to be an inkling of possibility.
Detective Rondeau’s brother-in-law Millard is full of conspiracy theories. So when the Kemp family disappears, he has a list as long as your arm. Has the family been abducted? Not by aliens thank goodness, but by government – the ‘deep state’ – the FBI, the CIA or whatever. Rondeau doesn’t believe him but he knows something is going on. Is organised crime involved, the mafia even? He had a run in with the FBI a few years back over the Valentine serial killer and it didn’t end well for him. He has the bullet holes to prove it.
Hutchinson Kemp is a filmmaker. His last documentary Citizen Farmer was about the meat industry. It suggested that the meat industry was more responsible for global warming than fossil fuels. Methane causes the biggest damage to the environment. Of course the big players don’t like anything that affects their profits. I saw a programme about this recently and I was appalled.
Kemp’s latest project involves waste. It’s called Nothing Disappears. It will also be controversial, but we know it’s a fact. Where does it all go? Into landfill, the oceans, we’ve seen the devastation it can cause to wildlife.
I really enjoyed this book. There is something rather prophetic about it, considering it was published four years before the pandemic and people keep getting sick. And I love the ending – you know the saying ‘just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean they are not after you’.
About the Author
T.J. Brearton’s books have reached half a million readers around the world and have topped the Amazon charts in the US, UK, Canada and Australia. A graduate of the New York Film Academy in Manhattan, Brearton first worked in film before focusing on novels. His books are visually descriptive with sharp dialogue and underdog heroes. When not writing, Brearton does whatever his wife and three children tell him to do. They live happily in the Adirondack Mountains of upstate New York. Yes, there are bears in the Adirondacks. But it’s really quite beautiful when you’re not running for your life.
+ child abduction, crime fiction, Detective novel, fiction, lies, loss, marriage, murder, obsession, police drama, police procedural, review, secrets, serial killer, sisters, twins
The Murder Trail by DG Penny DC Izzy Wilde Crime Thriller #1
Can a rookie cop stop a serial killer before another life is lost?
Three months after moving out of uniform, DC Izzy Wilde wants to make an impression. But sometimes she can’t help going off track. It’s got her in trouble before. As first responder to a monstrous death at a remote farm, she discovers a slain wife whose eight-month-old daughter is missing.
And there is a stranger abandoned in the kitchen who cannot be woken. Seconded to the Murder Team with her partner, DS Jack Ward, Izzy fears they may never crack the case. The dead woman has a torrid secret that puts her husband in the frame for her murder. Izzy endeavours to uncover evidence as she fights her own demons. And all the while the killer is choosing his next victim.
When the identity of the abandoned girl is discovered it reshapes the investigation. Relentlessly pursuing what evidence, Izzy and Jack uncover more secrets. As they do the boldness of the killer is made clear. Can Izzy and Jack unmask the killer whose only plan is to slay at random, or will they become his next victims?
My Review
I read this with my online book club, The Pigeonhole. We were warned there would be typos, as this was a proof copy. Unfortunately there were a lot of inconsistencies, not just typos, which hopefully will be picked up in the editing.
It’s a good story – it has the bare bones of an excellent one. I just wish it paid more attention to modern policing and how young officers behave. It feels a bit stuck in another decade.
But enough of the negatives. DC Izzy Wilde has recently come out of uniform and is now a detective in Preston. She is partnered with DS Jack Ward. But she is the first to respond to a horrific murder at Caxton Farm. Rosie Wilson lies dead in a pool of blood, cradled in the arms of her husband Mike. Eight month old Grace is nowhere to be found, but another child is unconscious on the sofa.
Rosie had some dark secrets, so did Mike kill his wife in a fit of temper? Izzy doesn’t think so. She thinks this is the work of a cold-blooded killer. And who is the child on the sofa? DNA can tell us most things these days, so it doesn’t take long to discover her identity. And that makes everything so much more complicated.
Izzy wasn’t popular with my fellow Pigeons. She struggles with procedure and often goes out on her own, causing havoc in some cases. She doesn’t have any patience, but she’s no Harry Callaghan (look it up). In fact she often messes up the whole case by failing to involve her colleagues. However, we like Jack and civilian IT wizz Priya.
Izzy also has her secrets, which have formed her detachment and often blunt, unsympathetic attitude. She’s not a team player. She probably needs to get a cat (so long as the author doesn’t kill it off – us Pigeons hate that). In the follow up book in the series, I hope she starts to thaw, and we see a nicer side to her.
Many thanks to The Pigeonhole, the author and my fellow Pigeons for making this such an enjoyable read.
About the Author
David Penny is the author of the Thomas Berrington Historical Mysteries set in the chaotic final years of Moorish Andalusia in Spain and the early Tudor period. After being traditionally published in his 20s with four science fiction novels, he chose to publish independently on his return to writing. David’s work is available in eBook, print and audio, as well as translations into Spanish and German.David’s forthcoming release is The Murder Trail, the first in the Izzy Wilde crime thriller series, written under the name DG Penny.
+ adventure, crime fiction, dark humour, family, fiction, Finland, friends, friendship, humour fiction, murder
The Beaver Theory by Antti Tuomainen (translated by David Hackston)
Henri Koskinen, intrepid insurance mathematician and adventure park entrepreneur, firmly believes in the power of common sense and order.
That is until he moves in with painter Laura Helanto and her daughter…
As Henri realises he has inadvertently become part of a group of local dads, a competing adventure park is seeking to expand their operations, not always sticking to the law in the process…
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Is it possible to combine the increasingly dangerous world of the adventure-park business with the unpredictability of life in a blended family? At first glance, the two appear to have only one thing in common: neither deals particularly well with a mounting body count.
In order to solve this seemingly impossible conundrum, Henri is forced to step far beyond the mathematical precision of his comfort zone … and the stakes have never been higher…
My Review
And Henri Koskinen is back! Everyone’s favourite actuary and his Adventure Park ‘YouMeFun’. All the usual suspects are here too – artist Laura Helanto and her daughter (they have just all moved in together) – the staff at the park (see The Moose Paradox review), and Detective Inspector Pentti Osmali of the Joint Division of the Helsinki Organised Crime and Fraud Units, with his tiny, too small, brown, leather shoes and his love of art. Osmala is almost my favourite character (Schopenhauer the cat is up there too) – I picture him a bit like a smartly dressed version of Columbo, minus the glass eye. Osmala that is, not the cat.
I’m not quite sure how there is so much crime in an adventure park (Alton Towers is hardly a seat of lawlessness and felony), or how Henri manages to accidentally get involved in murder. It all starts when a new adventure park called Somersault City opens up nearby and tries to put him out of business by offering free entry and free food. Of course Henri knows that the maths doesn’t add up and it’s only a matter of time before they go bust.
But now to the Beaver of the book’s title. Beavers are definitely playing second fiddle to horses, but The Horse Theory just doesn’t have quite the same ring to it. Neigh it does not (sorry). The Beaver is actually ‘eighteen metres high, and its countless activities include a foam DIY dam, a tail with a bouncy castle and a network of slides. It’s the number one attraction at Somersault City’ and it’s where all the ‘fun’ begins.
I do still wonder if I have a warped sense of humour (along with the author), but this really tickled me: ‘We cautiously approach the Banana…..Even if Joonas’s box is in fact a bomb, I can’t imagine him using his explosives to blow up the bare interior of a seven-metre-long plastic fruit and, thereby, himself too.’ No-one is that dedicated.
I’m really sorry this is Henri’s last outing. He’s been great fun and I shall miss him.
Many thanks to @annecater for inviting me to be part of #RandomThingsTours
About the Author
Finnish Antti Tuomainen was an award-winning copywriter when he made his literary debut in 2007 as a suspense author. In 2011, his third novel, The Healer, was awarded the Clue Award for Best Finnish Crime Novel and shortlisted for the Glass Key Award. With a piercing and evocative style, Tuomainen was one of the first to challenge the Scandinavian crime-genre formula, and his poignant, dark and hilarious The Man Who Died became an international bestseller, shortlisting for the Petrona and Last Laugh Awards and now a Finnish TV series. Palm Beach, Finland (2018) and Little Siberia (2019) were shortlisted for the Capital Crime/Amazon Publishing Readers Awards, the Last Laugh Award and the CWA International Dagger, and won the Petrona Award for Best Scandinavian Crime Novel. The Rabbit Factor, the first book in the trilogy will soon be a major motion picture starring Steve Carell for Amazon Studios, and the first two books were international bestsellers. Antti lives in Helsinki with his wife.
Orenda Books is a small independent publishing company specialising in literary fiction with a heavy emphasis on crime/thrillers, and approximately half the list in translation. They’ve been twice shortlisted for the Nick Robinson Best Newcomer Award at the IPG awards, and publisher and owner Karen Sullivan was a Bookseller Rising Star in 2016. In 2018, they were awarded a prestigious Creative Europe grant for their translated books programme. Three authors, including Agnes Ravatn, Matt Wesolowski and Amanda Jennings have been WHSmith Fresh Talent picks, and Ravatn’s The Bird Tribunal was shortlisted for the Dublin Literary Award, won an English PEN Translation Award, and adapted for BBC Radio Four ’s Book at Bedtime. Six titles have been short- or long-listed for the CWA Daggers. Launched in 2014 with a mission to bring more international literature to the UK market, Orenda Books publishes a host of debuts, many of which have gone on to sell millions worldwide, and looks for fresh, exciting new voices that push the genre in new directions. Bestselling authors include Ragnar Jonasson, Antti Tuomainen, Gunnar Staalesen, Michael J. Malone, Kjell Ola Dahl, Louise Beech, Johana Gustawsson, Lilja Sigurðardóttir and Sarah Stovell.
A young nation in peril. A web of deceit. A triangle of forbidden love.
The year is 1315. The fledgling nation of Switzerland – the Confederation Helvetica – is under threat from the Habsburgs. In France, the Knights Templar have been disbanded and declared heretics by the king. Magda, a weaver living near the Alpine village of Morgarten, befriends Walter, a messenger and tracker who is the son of the legendary Wilhelm Tell. Walter and Magda’s budding romance is threatened by the arrival of Sébastien, a fugitive from France. What secrets is this foreigner hiding? Can Walter solve the mystery of a murder and a stolen religious artefact before a mighty battle with the Habsburgs ensues? And who will be the victors in their turbulent triangle of love?
Finalist in the 2023 Page Turner Awards.
Genre: Historical Fiction | Medieval Mystery
Publisher: Mana Publishing
About the Author
Louise Mangos writes award-winning suspense novels and short fiction which have won prizes, placed on shortlists and been narrated on BBC radio. She holds a Masters in Crime Writing from the University of East Anglia in the UK. Louise’s books are set mostly in Switzerland where she lives with her Kiwi husband and two sons at the foot of the Alps, enjoying an active life in the mountains. Their home is only a few miles from the site of the Battle of Morgarten in the Aegeri Valley which inspired her to write The Secrets of Morgarten, her first historical novel.
Author’s Website: https://louisemangos.com/
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Shadow cripples all realms, magical and physical. A single chosen one isn’t enough.
Callan failed to save his sister from the plagued swamps blighting the land. When darkness threatens his home, he ventures on a daring quest to find the one mage who can help. But it is he who must grow in courage and power.
Across the vast ocean, Vasha excels at sealing breaches. Though other realm-shifting monks call her a prodigy, she panics over her progress. Then a devastating omen alters her destiny.
Hidden evil looms as Callan and Vasha discover lost magic, make unlikely friends, and fulfill a prophecy from ages long forgotten . . .
Not all will survive.
Eye of the World meets Way of Kings in The Seam of Eternity, an imaginative blend of sword and sorcery fantasy adventure with the hero’s journey. If you like The Wheel of Time, The Stormlight Archives, or The Lord of the Rings, you’ll love the fantastical world of The Seam of Eternity.
Genre: Epic Fantasy | YA Fantasy
Ages: 11-18
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+ crime fiction, family, fiction, grief, lies, loss, love, marriage, mental health, motherhood, murder, obsession, postpartum psychosis, relationships, review, thriller
The Babysitter by Emma Curtis
Three women. Three secrets.
Claudia’s life imploded ten years ago when she was convicted of the murder of her child. Now she has done the unthinkable and confessed to manslaughter in order to be granted parole – her only hope of finding out what really happened to Tilly.
Sara is married to Joe, Claudia’s ex-husband, and they have a young child together. She finally has everything she ever wanted, but Claudia’s release threatens the perfect life she has created.
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Anna was the babysitter who let Claudia and Joe down on day their daughter disappeared. Married with a child of her own, Claudia’s reappearance in her quiet cul-de-sac is an unwelcome surprise.
These three women are tied together in more ways than they realise. But only one of them is capable of killing.
My Review
Poor Claudia. We know she didn’t kill eight-month-old Tilly or there would be no premise for this remarkable story. So when she decides to confess to manslaughter in order to get parole and discover the truth about her daughter, I was gobsmacked. I know they say that everyone in prison swears they are innocent, but who says they are guilty when they are not.
However, her confession gets her out, but she is now a pariah. Everyone hates her (apart from her mother who believes in her innocence).
Her ex-husband Joe, who was her teacher when she was 16 and he was in his mid-twenties (they married a few years later after he promised to wait for her), gave up on her rather too quickly. I would hope that my own husband would defend me to the death and not throw me under a bus (figuratively speaking) to protect his own ‘mental health’.
A few years later, and Joe has moved on. He’s now married to Sara and they have a baby girl of their own called Maeve. Sara ‘befriends’ Claudia and says she will help dish the dirt on babysitter at the time, Anna, who is a lot younger than either Sara or Claudia, or at least find out what she remembers.
Anna is now married to Owen and they also have a young toddler Max, the same age as Maeve. When you read Anna’s story you will no doubt gasp as I did, at some of the things she says and does.
I was never quite sure how I would feel if someone who had killed their own child moved in next door. Because we assume Claudia’s innocence, we are sympathetic and feel for her plight and her loneliness. But then her neighbours believe she is guilty, especially after her confession. However, I would never do some of the things they do – you should never take the law into your own hands. That’s what we have a justice system for.
Many thanks to @annecater for inviting me to be part of #RandomThingsTours
About the Author
Emma Curtis was born in Brighton and now lives in London with her husband. After raising two children and working various jobs, her fascination with the darker side of domestic life inspired her to start writing psychological suspense thrillers. She has published five previous titles with Transworld: One Little Mistake, When I Find You, The Night You Left, Keep Her Quiet and Invite Me In.
He’s a secret weapon against evil. But can he defeat the monster lurking within?
Quinn Carter is in a good place. Along with his half-angel girlfriend, the loyal half-demon teen thrives as he works with supernatural friends to fight ongoing threats. So when the Greek gods seek help, he faces off against a demigod craving world domination.
Attacked by a demon king, Quinn survives when aid appears from a dubious ally. But when a blood-sucking enemy makes a devastating move, the teenager finds himself plunged into a clash between light and dark.
Can Quinn rise above the darkness inside and overcome a living nightmare?
The Younglings is the thrilling final book in The Younglings YA paranormal fantasy series. If you like resilient heroes, non-stop action, and sizzling paranormal romance, then you’ll love Helena M Craggs’s high-stakes roller coaster.
Genre: YA PARANORMAL/URBAN FANTASY
Reading Age: 13 – 18
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+ adventure, cover reveal, fantasy, magic, romance
Rabbit Heart: Book 1 of the Terrafolk Trilogy by Francesca Crispo Cover Reveal
Quirky and adventurous Mycel had ventured away from her home in the mystical forest realm of Yannaya to immerse herself in the eccentricities of human society.
While creating a new life in the city of Seattle – complete with a job and human roommate – she meets Earwyn, a charming but mysterious ocean conservationist. As their relationship heats up and their bond deepens, Mycel finds her magick fading fast. Her unassuming, quiet lifestyle takes a dangerous turn and she is forced to face truths she thought she had left behind. To save herself and those she loves, she must search for answers between the human world, her homeland and her own past.
Genre: Fantasy/Romance
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1575: Nelan Michaels is a young Flemish man fleeing religious persecution in the Spanish Netherlands. Settling in Mortlake outside London, he studies under Queen Elizabeth’s court astrologer, conjuring a bright future – until he’s wrongly accused of murder.
Forced into the life of a fugitive, Nelan is dramatically pressed into the crew of the Golden Hind.
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Thrust into a strange new world on board Francis Drake’s vessel, Nelan sails the seas on a voyage to discover discovery itself. Encountering mutiny, ancient tribes and hoards of treasure, Nelan must explore and master his own mystical powers – including the Mark of the Salamander, the mysterious spirit of fire.
The Mark of the Salamander is the first in The Island of Angels series: a two-book saga that tells the epic story and secret history of England’s coming of age during the Elizabethan era.
Guest Post
“Now let the story begin.
And it has been said Ex Insula Angelorum
Out of the Island of Angels.
For always was it so and always thus to be.“
“Something passed, a sound, a leaf falling. A glimpse, a deer passing.
“We were there at the birth, when, long ago, the land was pristine, latent, swathed in forests of silver birch, and golden oak. We looked around with the eyes of youth, and were alone. But without people, we couldn’t grow, and the land was empty of people. Together, we sought out those of kin to abide with us, to join our combined destiny. We called out to them and so the Mighty crossed the land bridge and settled amongst our rolling hills and gentle dales.
“Then, when the waters encroached, and made our land an Island, the first ones, the Mighty, dwelt with us amidst the meadows and the combes. They built altars where their white-robed priests laid the dead in burrows and tombs. We needed more people, and sent out another call, a subtle whisper summoning them to attend us.
“From across the waters came the warriors dressed in red, brandishing their eagles, to plant their terrible seed in our womb. They built roads that followed our sacred lines of power. Then they departed, leaving the awful trace of their crimson ways.
“More heard our siren call, and came to join the other rough-hewn folk already here, creating a family of blue and green eyed, red and golden haired. Hearing our summons, they left their homes and sailed across the northern seas in their long boats and their short swords. They were the true people, the Angles to our Angels.
“Like any child, we wanted to grow, imagine our possibility, and discover our divinely-given destiny. Alas, the family of peoples who had settled on our Island was unable to meet our vision of the future.
“As we grew into maturity, we changed, developed, and reformed ourselves again.
The prominent families fought for the right to be the rulers of our land, to represent our new, emerging will, our supreme purpose. It was war. As the petals of their red and white dog roses fell to the ground and withered, there came to the throne a queen of a thousand days, who gave birth to a chosen one. Wearing pearls, the chosen one abided with us, and together we served the people.
“During her reign, we made ourselves anew, and moulded our peoples to face and join the mystery of the onsetting future. The renewal had begun. But from across the seas, a great threat cast a dark shadow across the Island. Its gold constriction could and would never set foot on our silver land.”
“Make beacons.
Send fire ships.
Pray deacons.
Purse lips.“
“We will be known to the world.
Every one of you knows of us.
Many speak our tongue.
For we are near among.
We are you, and you are us and
We are the Angels of the Island of England.“
Many thanks to @zooloo2008 for inviting me to be part of this blog tour.
About the Author
JUSTIN NEWLAND’s novels represent an innovative blend of genres from historical adventure to supernatural thriller and magical realism. His stories explore the themes of war and religion, and speculate on the human’s spiritual place in the universe.
Undeterred by the award of a Doctorate in Mathematics from Imperial College, London, he conceived his debut novel, The Genes of Isis (Matador, 2018), an epic fantasy set under Ancient Egyptian skies. The historical thriller, The Old Dragon’s Head (Matador, 2018), is set in Ming Dynasty China in the shadows of the Great Wall. The Coronation (Matador, 2019) was another historical adventure and speculates on the genesis of the most important event in the modern world – the Industrial Revolution. The Abdication (Matador, 2021) is a mystery thriller in which a young woman confronts her faith in a higher purpose and what it means to abdicate that faith.
The Mark of the Salamander (Book Guild, 2023) is the first in a two-book series, The Island of Angels. Set in the Elizabethan era, it’s an epic tale of England’s coming of age. His WIP is the second in the series, The Midnight of Eights, the charting of the uncanny coincidences that led to the repulse of the Spanish Armada. Author, speaker and broadcaster, Justin appears on LitFest panels, gives talks to historical associations and libraries and enjoys giving radio interviews and making podcasts. Born three days before the end of 1953, he lives with his partner in plain sight of the Mendip Hills in Somerset, England.
Justin’s Links
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drjustinnewland/
Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/justin.newland.author/
Website : https://justinnewland.com/
Book Links
Goodreads – https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/199139776-the-mark-of-the-
salamander
Buy Links – https://mybook.to/marksalamander-zbt
+ family, female friendship, feminism, fiction, friendship, grief, Historical fiction, loss, love, motherhood, review, sisterhood, sisters, suffragette movement, twins, World War One
The Bookbinder of Jericho by Pip Williams
A young British woman working in a book bindery gets a chance to pursue knowledge and love when World War I upends her life in this new novel from the New York Times bestselling author of the Reese’s Book Club pick The Dictionary of Lost Words.
It is 1914, and as the war draws the young men of Britain away to fight, women must keep the nation running. Two of those women are Peggy and Maude, twin sisters who live on a narrow boat in Oxford and work in the bindery at the university press.
Ambitious, intelligent Peggy has been told for most of her life that her job is to bind the books, not read them—but as she folds and gathers pages, her mind wanders to the opposite side of Walton Street, where the female students of Oxford’s Somerville College have a whole library at their fingertips. Maude, meanwhile, wants nothing more than what she has: to spend her days folding the pages of books in the company of the other bindery girls. She is extraordinary but vulnerable, and Peggy feels compelled to watch over her.
Then refugees arrive from the war-torn cities of Belgium, sending ripples through the Oxford community and the sisters’ lives. Peggy begins to see the possibility of another future where she can educate herself and use her intellect, not just her hands. But as war and illness reshape her world, her love for a Belgian soldier—and the responsibility that comes with it—threaten to hold her back.
The Bookbinder is a story about knowledge—who creates it, who can access it, and what truths get lost in the process. Much as she did in the international bestseller The Dictionary of Lost Words, Pip Williams thoughtfully explores another rarely seen slice of history through women’s eyes.
My Review
The Dictionary of Lost Words is one of my favourite books this year. I never believed another book could match it, but it did. The Bookbinder of Jericho is set in the same location – Oxford – and the main characters, twin sisters Peggy and Maude Jones are the next generation. It’s 1914 and the girls work in the book bindery, folding and stitching. The work is repetitive, but what keeps Peggy going is having a peak at what she is binding, ‘bind the books, don’t read them,’ she is told. Every now and again the folding or stitching are not up to par and Peggy can take the pages home with her. She wants more.
Maude looks exactly like Peggy, but she is different, people would have said ‘simple’ in those days. We wouldn’t say that today. Maybe she is autistic, but they wouldn’t have recognised any kind of neurodivergence in 1914. She loves to fold and repeat what people say, except she only repeats part of the sentence, the most important part.
When the Belgian refugees arrive, Maude takes librarian Lotte under her wing (or is it the other way round?) and Peggy is slightly jealous. After their mum died aged 36, Peggy sees herself as Maude’s carer, and Maude ‘is extraordinary but vulnerable’.
As more injured soldiers arrive and are housed in makeshift wards in the university, Peggy volunteers to sit with them, read to them and write letters, if their injuries prevent them from doing so. It is here she meets Gwen, wealthy, from London and studying at Somerville College, where they have a whole library at their disposal. ‘Town and Gown’, the residents of Oxford call them. The ordinary people and the privileged students. It’s what Peggy really wants, to study literature. Her mother said she has the brains, but who will look after Maude?
As an ordinary girl from Jericho, Peggy should not be sitting with officers, but she is allowed to go with Gwen, and that’s when she meets Bastian. I listened to this on Audible so apologies if I spelt his name wrong. His injuries are so severe, she can only see one side of his face, he is swathed in bandages from head to foot and cannot walk. Their friendship deepens and turns into love.
The Bookbinder of Jericho is not just a love story. It is set against the background of the 1st World War, but also women’s battle for the vote, which is getting closer. Women will need to be thirty though, and have ‘means’. For Gwen, yes therefore eventually, but not for Peggy, never for the likes of Peggy.
While not a sequel to The Dictionary of Lost Words, The Bookbinder references characters such as Esme and Gareth, and actress Tilda features highly in the book. I think the war changes her more than it does anyone else.
I must mention that Peggy and Maude live on a houseboat called Calliope, and it makes the book somehow even more special, maybe because I love the idea, and we get an inroad into their life on board as well as their neighbours, Rosie, Oberon and Jack, and how they help each other out when needed.
It’s such a fabulous book, I don’t know what else to say. It’s perfect.
About the Author
Pip was born in London, grew up in Sydney and now calls the Adelaide Hills home. She is co-author of the book Time Bomb: Work Rest and Play in Australia Today (New South Press, 2012) and in 2017 she wrote One Italian Summer, a memoir of her family’s travels in search of the good life, which was published with Affirm Press to wide acclaim. Pip has also published travel articles, book reviews, flash fiction and poetry.
+ abuse, child abuse, childhood, family, fiction, forgiveness, friendship, grief, lies, loss, love, mental health, motherhood, obsession, revenge, review, secrets
So Now Go Tell by Susan Sachon
After reaching a crisis point at 40, Jenny Watson is offered her dream job running a Shakespeare festival at a Tudor pub. She can hardly believe her luck at this brilliant new start, and chance to escape her unhappy past.
The job isn’t all it seems, however. The pub is remote and her mysterious boss is permanently absent; there’s a 400 year old skull residing in the cellar; and the local actors are less than enthusiastic over her boss’s choice of play. Then there’s the growing conviction that someone’s watching her.
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Strange messages, withheld calls and shadows on the windows spike temporary attacks of stress-related blindness as she clings to her last chance to live her dream. But as the dark play she’s directing starts to unravel the secrets she’d sworn never to tell, Jenny realises she’s not at the pub by chance . . . and soon she finds herself the leading lady in a nightmare replay of her past.
“A page-turning thriller with elements of cosy crime but with darker undertones… Highly recommended, an established debut with the feeling that the story is not yet over – more to come from this fabulous author.” Review by Debz Hobbs-Wyatt, author, editor, publisher.
Susan says “I love theatre directing as well as writing, and have found working with Shakespeare’s writing cathartic and inspiring. In my working life, especially teaching adults, I have encountered many women with similar confidence problems, and the book grew out of that experience. It also carries the message that we should never give up on our dreams, no matter what age we are, where we come from, or whoever tells us we are bound to fail.”
My Review
This started out as one thing and then became another. Poor Jenny is at a loss, divorced, and now made redundant. Then she collapses, and when she wakes up she can’t see. It used to be called ‘hysterical blindness’ I think, which sounds like the kind of nervous disorder that got women locked up in an asylum 100 years ago. It’s now referred to as a ‘conversion disorder’. Yes I googled it.
Surprisingly, she’s soon offered a job managing an old Tudor pub in the middle of nowhere, but it comes with other responsibilities. The pub used to put on plays as part of its Shakespeare Festival every summer. Now I am a massive Shakespeare fan, ever since I was taken by my primary school to see A Midsummer Night’s Dream, performed by the Oxford University Players in the grounds of Alveston Manor, Stratford-Upon-Avon, when I was about eight years old. I was mesmerised.
Anyway, moving on. Jenny moves into the pub (against the advice of her best friend Mags, who thinks it’s all a bit suspicious). The pub is dark and spooky, needs massive renovation, and then there’s Henry. But undeterred, Jenny decides to hold auditions for Hamlet and quite a few people are interested. Unfortunately, her new boss and owner of the pub insists on Titus Andronicus and interest wanes.
But I will say one thing. My son has been involved with a professional touring company for over ten years. I once asked them if they ever put on Hamlet. They said no-one would come. Their audiences only want to see the comedies like Dream, As You Like It, Twelfth Night etc. Titus is a no-goer obviously. Especially when you are eating your picnic on the grass. Ox tongue sandwich anyone?
Part way through the book, when Jenny joins a self-help group called Speak Out, we begin to learn about her past. And it’s harrowing. If I’d been writing this review on paper, the ink would be smudged with shed tears.
What a fabulous book. I adored it. Jenny is such a sympathetic character. She doesn’t believe in herself, but others do and so do we. Bravo Jenny. You have friends and I wish I knew you personally. And don’t be put off by the Shakespeare stuff. You don’t have to love that bard to appreciate the book, whatever some reviewers may say.
Many thanks to @annecater for inviting me to be part of #RandomThingsTours
About the Author
Susan has loved writing, books and theatre since childhood, and now loves sharing stories with her small granddaughter. Apart from enjoying time with her family, she has also worked in business, run a theatre arts school for kids and somehow found time to gain a degree in Literature/Creative Writing, and a PhD in Shakespeare! She now writes fiction full-time, runs Shakespeare workshops and directs plays locally.
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