The only thing for certain is the deaths were no accident.
Rayner High School – once a prestigious school – stands in ruins after such a terrible event.
#Ouija #Zoe-Lee O’Farrell @Zooloo’s Book Tours @zooloo2008 #ZooloosBookTours #blogtour
A year later, a group of friends return to the abandoned school and their nightmare begins.
Something wants to get out and won’t take NO for an answer…
My Review
When I was a child my mother told me that she and my father had tried having a seance with a Ouija. In those days you made your own letters of the alphabet and used an upturned glass as the planchette. She said the ‘spirit’ got angry and the glass flew off the table and smashed on the floor. So a few years later my brother and I tried the same thing. Needless to say we didn’t conjure up any deceased relatives or demons, but it did have a marked effect on us. We are both still fascinated by ghosts and things that go bump in the night. However, I wouldn’t be trying to contact the dead in the place where a horrific crime was carried out.
But enough of that and on to the book Ouija, the brilliant debut from a new voice in YA horror fiction, Zoe-Lee O’Farrell. Now anyone who knows me is aware that I find there is a very thinly drawn line between horror and dark humour and initially I found some of that here. A bit like The Blair Witch Project of the late nineties, which I struggled to take seriously much of the time. But Ouija gets scarier and scarier, without ever resorting to the ridiculous.
The nineties was the decade of teen horror films and there were loads. Ouija pays homage to the best of them, but it’s not a slasher story like Scream or I Know What You Did Last Summer (The Faculty is my personal favourite though that chucks in Sci-Fi as well), it’s all about lost spirits and a demon. Supernatural, the TV series which began in the early 2000s, immediately springs to mind.
I was slightly out of my comfort zone with Ouija, as my teen experience of horror was Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde and the books of MR James and Bram Stoker, but I really loved it. In a review on Goodreads, the reviewer refers to Ouija being for fans of Point Horror, Fear Street and Goosebumps. I think these are from my children’s generation – I’ve heard of Point Horror but not the other two.
Ouija is quite short and because of that it never lets up on the shocks and scary moments. Nothing is wasted on long descriptions and while the ‘romance’ and text messages are a bit meh and bleh, they are teenagers after all, so are not likely to proofread their texts, looking for grammatical errors (like me)!
The story is very simple really. Six teenagers decide to visit the scene of a horrific crime – Rayner High School now in ruins – and see what happens when you try to conjure up spirits using a Ouija board. That’s just asking for trouble and moaning minnie Lara never misses an opportunity to make her feelings known. Perhaps they should all have taken her more seriously. Jon is the leader, Ben is Lara’s boyfriend, Caley is her best friend and twins Simon and Sophie are there for the ride. And some ride it turns out to be. More terrifying than Nemesis at Alton Towers (says someone who finds the teapot ride scary), it will have you closing your eyes and holding your breath.
It has everything a teen spookfest needs from shock and horror to suspense and a body count of, well, loads. Read alone in the dark for added scariness. Unfortunately it’s far too scary for my collaborator and sidekick aged 8 to review with me. Recommended for reading ages 13 to 18 years.
Many thanks to @zooloo2008 for inviting me to be part of this blog tour.
About the Author
Zoé O’Farrell grew up in Watford but left the town life to live by the sea down at the White Cliffs of Dover. She spends her days working with numbers before escaping in the evening to the world of words and movies. Her go-to relaxation is watching a scary movie or reading a terrifying book!
She is a book blogger and tour organiser just to keep her extra busy. When she is not reading or writing, you can usually find her watching Watford FC or at a gig. Failing that she can be found rolling her eyes at her husband as he acts the same age as her spitfire of a Mini-Me whilst separating her two cats. Ouija is her debut novel.
Follow her at:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ZoeOFarrellAuthor
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zooloosbookdiary/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/zooloo2008
Website : https://zooloosbookdiary.co.uk/
Buy Links – https://geni.us/3vA33F
+ abuse, alcoholism, child abuse, childhood, domestic noir, eighties, family, female friendship, fiction, grief, loss, love, mental health, mental illness, obsession, relationships, review
Surviving Her by Jo Johnson
Nicky is the child with the hurting eyes and desperate ways. Rescue him.
Claus is the man with the empty eyes and controlling ways. Rescue her.
Broken by the death of her sister, Keziah can’t believe her luck when Claus, a beautiful psychologist saves her from a disciplinary disaster. Desperate to heal herself and restore her parents, she marries in haste. But her husband’s idiosyncrasies and unexplained absences are easy to ignore ‒ until the past resurfaces and forces Keziah to confront the uncomfortable truth.
Nine-year-old Nicky, is also living the life of luxury but desperate to escape ‒ he can’t.
When Keziah ends up in hospital, her world collides with Nicky’s. The secrets he shares have far-reaching consequences and, if mishandled, will blow everyone’s future out of the water…
My Review
So we all feel desperately sorry for Nicky (none of it is his fault – he’s only nine – though he thinks it is). No-one ever explains anything to him so he takes everything literally. If he doesn’t do this or that or count to a certain number, then that prevents him from keeping everyone safe. But his alcoholic mum should be keeping him safe – not the other way round. And his father doesn’t have a clue.
Claus is a dangerous man, exercising coercive control over Keziah. She is gradually becoming estranged from her friends and family. He also lies, hides things and disappears for days. He wants to know where she is all the time and even tracks her. But is he really dangerous or simply over-protective to the point of paranoia? When I was a child, if my father was an hour late back from work, my mother would start ringing the police and the hospitals. It had nothing to do with control. It arose from her crippling levels of anxiety. But Claus is a psychologist so he should know better, shouldn’t he?
The book is set in two timelines – one is Nicky’s childhood in the eighties – though the exact date is not always clear – and at times so sad I wasn’t sure initially if I would be able to carry on reading. The other is told from the point of view of Keziah, a primary school teacher who has recently married Claus, supposedly the man of her dreams, the man who would rescue her. Because Keziah’s life has never been the same since her sister Esther died when they were both in their teens and she still harbours the guilt she felt at the time. I think sometimes she feels she deserves whatever has been handed out to her.
It’s an amazing book which perfectly captures the themes of love, loss, parenthood, childhood trauma, guilt and control. Having been written by a psychologist, we know that these themes, together with that of mental health, will be dealt with sensitively and realistically.
There is so much more that resonated with me but it would lead to spoilers, so I can’t say more, but suffice to say this is a book that will make you reevaluate your prejudices.
Many thanks to The Pigeonhole, the author, and my fellow Pigeons for making this such an enjoyable read.
About the Author
Surviving Her is dual-narrative, domestic suspense. It combines engaging, complex characters with a fast-moving plot that explores what goes on behind fancy doors! It’s a timely page turner, it’s a novel novel and Jo Johnson has a unique voice (her kids say a scratchy and irritating one but hey!)
She qualified as a clinical psychologist in 1992 specialising in neurology since 2000. She worked for fifteen years within the NHS but in 2008 made an impulsive decision to leave in order to write and explore new projects. She continues to practise psychology hoping one day to become perfect at it! In her spare time she loves writing fiction and given her day job she believes she can write characters who could be real. Surviving Her is her second novel.
Insurance mathematician Henri Koskinen has finally restored order both to his life and to YouMeFun, the adventure park he now owns, when a man from the past appears – and turns everything upside down again.
More problems arise when the park’s equipment supplier is taken over by a shady trio, with confusing demands. Why won’t Toy of Finland Ltd sell the new Moose Chute to Henri when he needs it as the park’s main attraction?
#TheMooseParadox @antti_tuomainen @OrendaBooks
#RandomThingsTours @annecater @RandomTTours #BlogTour
Meanwhile, Henri’s relationship with artist Laura has reached breaking point, and, in order to survive this new chaotic world, he must push every calculation to its limits, before it’s too late.
My Review
Just a quick recap as this is book two in the series. In book one Henri Koskinen lost his job as an actuary. He just wasn’t moving with the times. He couldn’t get his head round all the modern, team-building crap his boss spouted about, so he was out on his ear. Then his brother Juhani died and left him an adventure park called YouMeFun, plus all his debts.
Henri’s only real friend is his cat Schopenhauer, in whom he confides. Schopenhauer always understands, though he is not always sympathetic. I like this cat. He’s aloof and sensible. All four paws furrmly planted on the ground.
Henri also inherited the staff. Kristian reminds me of a cross between Joey Essex and Pooh Bear, all muscle and little brain. Esa is the park’s head of security who wants surveyance drones in the air, Minttu K is the marketing and sales manager and reeks of gin and cigarettes. Samppa is in charge of play, while Johanna runs the Curly Cake Cafe and has spent time behind bars – and I don’t think we mean the ones in pubs. And then there’s the artist Laura Helanto. Their relationship didn’t quite work out in book one so we’ll have to see what happens this time.
By the end of the first book, everything was back on the straight and narrow, notwithstanding a body or two, but then a face from the past turns up and it’s all chaos again.
The park’s equipment supplier Toy of Finland Ltd has been taken over by a shady trio, and they are refusing to sell the new Moose Chute to Henri when he needs it to boost the park’s finances. They want him to have the redundant Crocodile Canyon instead, at a ludicrously inflated price.
I found The Moose Paradox hilarious in a deliciously dark way. At one point Henri is reminiscing about his parents’ funeral – only one of whom was in a coffin.
‘They went to find another coffin,’ explains Henri’s brother Juhani, but, ‘there was a misunderstanding about the price….I had to decide between the fish terrine and the coffin, but by then most of the terrine had been eaten.’
‘You swapped our mother for a cake?’ spluttered Henri.
Now for some people this may all be in rather bad taste (and I’m not talking about the fish terrine here). But for those of us who cut our teeth on Dave Allen’s coffin race sketch amongst others, it’s all very funny. I can’t wait for book three – I hope there is one.
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 2013, the Finnish press crowned Tuomainen the ‘King of Helsinki Noir’ when Dark as My Heart was published. 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. Palm Beach Finland was an immense success, with Marcel Berlins (The Times) calling Tuomainen ‘the funniest writer in Europe’. Little Siberia (2020), was shortlisted for the CWA International Dagger, the Amazon Publishing/Capital Crime Awards and the CrimeFest Last Laugh Award, and won the Petrona Award for Best Scandinavian Crime Novel of the Year. The Rabbit Factor (2021), the first book in Antti’s first ever series, is in production by Amazon Studios with Steve Carell starring. The Moose Paradox, book two in the series is out in 2022.
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.
+ alcoholism, brothers, devil worship, feminism, fiction, friendship, Ghost story, Gothic mystery, grief, haunting, literature, paranormal, review, secrets, sisterhood, suffragette movement, supernatural
The Parlour Game by Jennifer Renshaw
Death is only the beginning….
London, 1873. Ivy Granger, an amateur botanist, is plagued by disturbing dreams and faceless whispers. Misunderstood by her father, she fears for her sanity – threatened with the asylum or worse, the hands of a man she loathes.
But a stranger at her mother’s funeral reveals Ivy’s world has been a lie, and she could have a different life, for she is capable of so much more…
#TheParlourGame #JenniferRenshaw Instagram @jen_renshaw #TheCorvidaeHauntings #RandomThingsTours @annecater @RandomTTours #blogtour
Miss Earnshaw, London’s most renowned spiritualist, is Ivy’s only hope of revealing what secrets her mother took to the grave and discovering her true purpose.
Ivy’s journey for knowledge takes her to Blackham House, a building haunted by a terrible past – full of macabre artefacts and ancient studies of the supernatural. But behind closed doors, the Blackhams collect more than relics alone, and Ivy will soon find herself at the centre of a conspiracy spanning generations, and a hidden evil waiting to be unleashed.
Can Ivy survive in a world where women must play their part or risk being silenced?
My Review
This is the book I have been waiting for! A gothic tale of sinister goings-on, mysterious disappearances, hauntings and macabre artefacts with special powers.
As a teenager I was obsessed with Dennis Wheatley and his tales of the occult and black magic. I became fascinated by the stories and even when I read religious studies as part of my OU degree in my fifties, I was still enthralled. Articles such as ‘The Victorian Supernatural‘ and ‘The Fashionable Science of Parlour Magic‘ are just up my street. It was a golden age of belief in supernatural forces and energies, ghost stories, weird transmissions and spooky phenomena. (Source https://www.bl.uk/romantics-and-victorians/articles/the-victorian-supernatural)
Spiritualism attracted people from all walks of life and was made popular due to the Victorian’s obsession with mesmerism, clairvoyance and trying to contact the dead. Also, the spiritualist movement did not have to adhere to the strict orthodox rules of the established churches which did not approve of such practices, so it was perfect for those who wanted to contact their dear departed. Its proponents included the famous writer Sir Arthur Conan Doyle amongst others. Unfortunately many of the practitioners turned out to be frauds and plenty of paranormal investigators found great pleasure in ‘unmasking’ them. In fact I recently attended a live Victorian Seance podcast event where we learnt some of the tricks that were used.
The Parlour Game really was a book I could not put down. I’m so glad I read it on holiday so I didn’t have to. There is an underlying spookiness in every page, just waiting for the darkness, the bumps in the night, the voices in the walls.
Following the death of her beloved mother and the attendance of the celebrated spiritualist Miss Earnshaw at the funeral, Ivy Granger’s life will never be the same. The spiritualist tells her that she knew her mother and that Ivy’s life is in peril and gives her a card with her address. But Ivy’s father tells her it’s all nonsense and has decided that Ivy is to be married to the local undertaker. Her dream of studying to be a botanist is fast fading.
But Ivy isn’t having any of it. Marriage to this man is a fate worse than death, so she packs her things and heads off alone on the coach to London to seek out Miss Earnshaw.
‘Ivy’s journey for knowledge takes her to Blackham House, a building haunted by a terrible past – full of macabre artefacts and ancient studies of the supernatural.’ Maids who only stay a few days and then disappear, the mysterious butler who is there one minute and gone the next, an evil gardener who feeds the ‘mischief’ of magpies, Master Blackham, wracked with drink and opium, and his mother Lady Blackham, a cross between Mrs Danvers and the Wicked Witch of the West, only worse.
I loved this so much! Poor Ivy is totally out of her depth. But will she have the courage to take on the Devil himself? This is definitely one of my favourite books of the year.
Many thanks to @annecater for inviting me to be part of #RandomThingsTours.
About the Author
Jennifer Renshaw grew up in Sussex, England, and is a former analyst. She has always been fascinated by history and enjoys a gothic mystery. She now lives in Denmark with her family and two portly cats.
Website: https://jenniferrenshaw.com/
The Corvidae Hauntings
The corvids are no ordinary family of birds.
Magpie, Crow, Jackdaw, Raven and Rook.
Each one with a purpose and a distinctive trait.
Collector, Thief, Mesmerist, Trickster and Oracle.
Nobody is safe from their influence in Victorian London.
The next book in the series will be…
Book 2: The Crow -There is a thief in the night!
+ cosy mystery, crime fiction, female friendship, fiction, friendship, Ireland, lies, murder, murder mystery, mystery, review
The Mystery of Four by Sam Blake
Murder is easy…when it doesn’t look like murder.
Tess Morgan has finally made her dream of restoring the beautiful Kilfenora House and Gardens into a reality. But during rehearsals for the play that forms the opening weekend’s flagship event, her dream turns into a nightmare when a devastating accident looks set to ruin her carefully laid plans.
There are rumours that Kilfenora House is cursed, but this feels personal, and becomes increasingly terrifying when more than one body is discovered. Could someone be closing in on Tess herself?
Clarissa Westmacott, ex-star of stage and screen, certainly believes so, particularly when she learns that purple-flowered aconite has been picked from the Poison Garden. And Clarissa will stop at nothing to protect the friend she has come to see as a daughter…
My Review
You can’t beat a good whodunnit, especially when – like in this case – you don’t have a clue right up until the very end. Suspicious, too obvious, no motive, too obscure, couldn’t have, wouldn’t have, a red herring – all the possibilities are here.
Following a personal tragedy which saw Tess Morgan escaping to a job in Dubai, she has finally decided to return to Ireland and restore the beautiful Kilfenora House and Gardens. It’s cost her a fortune in time and money and nothing can stand in the way of success. Tess can’t allow it to, not after all the effort and hard work.
So when a devastating accident occurs just days before the opening night, Tess is drawn into a nightmare that could derail her plans. They say that Kilfenora House is cursed, but who believes that kind of nonsense these days? But when more bodies turn up, it begins to feel personal. Who is trying to terrify her and could she be next?
There are a lot of characters involved and it took a while to work them all out, but bear with. It all becomes clear as to who is who (just), though I still didn’t know who was guilty. I even began to suspect Merlin the cat, who seems to be as clever as the rest of them put together, though Clarissa is really the star of the show. Well she was, literally, for many years and she knows her stuff. Especially when it comes to the purple-flowered aconite which grows in the Poison Garden. Because it kills without trace. After a few days it’s gone from the system and the cause of death mimics a heart attack. But who is cunning (and daring) enough to use it?
Many thanks to The Pigeonhole, the author, and my fellow Pigeons for making this such an enjoyable read.
About the Author
Sam Blake has had a string of No. 1 bestsellers with her runaway bestselling debut, Little Bones, the first in the Cat Connolly trilogy, shortlisted for Irish Crime Novel of the Year. Switching to psychological thrillers, Keep Your Eyes on Me was a No. 1 bestseller, and her next book, The Dark Room was shortlisted for Irish Crime Novel of the Year. Her last thriller, Remember My Name, went straight to No. 1 in January 2022. Originally from St. Albans in Hertfordshire, Sam now lives at the foot of the Wicklow Mountains, near Dublin in Ireland.
+ crime fiction, fiction, Iceland noir, kidnapping, lies, murder, mystery, police drama, review, Scandi noir, secrets, thriller
Red As Blood (An Áróra Investigation Book 2#) by Lilja Sigurðardóttir translated by Quentin Bates
When entrepreneur Flosi arrives home for dinner one night, he discovers that his house has been ransacked, and his wife Gudrun missing. A letter on the kitchen table confirms that she has been kidnapped. If Flosi doesn’t agree to pay an enormous ransom, Gudrun will be killed.
Forbidden from contracting the police, he gets in touch with Áróra, who specialises in finding hidden assets, and she, alongside her detective friend Daniel, try to get to the bottom of the case without anyone catching on.
#RedAsBlood @lilja1972 @OrendaBooks #RandomThingsTours @annecater @RandomTTours
#IcelandNoir
Meanwhile, Áróra and Daniel continue the puzzling, devastating search for Áróra’s sister Ísafold, who disappeared without trace. As fog descends, in a cold and rainy Icelandic autumn, the investigation becomes increasingly dangerous, and confusing.
Chilling, twisty and unbearably tense, Red as Blood is the second instalment in the riveting, addictive An Áróra Investigation series, and everything is at stake…
My Review
Before starting my review I’m going to do a quick recap of the first book in the series – Cold As Hell.
Our main protagonist Áróra is half English/ half Icelandic, tall, fit and statuesque, the troll (as her father called her) to her older, elfin sister Ísafold.
Ísafold has disappeared, worrying because her abusive, drug peddling boyfriend Björn has previously beaten her so badly she’s ended up in hospital on more than one occasion. Áróra doesn’t live in Iceland – she lives in England and so does their English mother, who is becoming increasingly worried. Áróra and her sister are not on speaking terms because of Ísafold’s relationship with Björn. However, her mum insists that Áróra travels to Iceland and in Red As Blood she is still there and still looking.
In book one she met and almost had a relationship with police officer Daniel and we meet him again in book two.
Basically, Áróra has been asked to help with a case of kidnapping and ransom – she is a financial investigator – by her accountant friend Michael who is working on behalf of businessman Flosi. Flosi’s house has been ransacked, his wife Gudrun is missing and a ransom note left on the kitchen table asks for 2 million Euros.
As Áróra, Daniel and the team start to dig deeper, they discover that Flosi’s life, both business and personal is far more complicated than it initially appears. Nothing is straightforward and everyone seems to be hiding something, particularly Flosi, who has money coming in from every direction, most of them decidedly sketchy.
I loved this book as much as the first one. However, if you haven’t read Cold As Hell, I would suggest you do, otherwise you’ll miss a lot about the already established relationships.
Many thanks to @annecater for inviting me to be part of #RandomThingsTours.
Icelandic crime-writer Lilja Sigurðardóttir was born in the town of Akranes in 1972 and raised in Mexico, Sweden, Spain and Iceland. An award-winning playwright, Lilja has written four crime novels, with Snare, her English debut shortlisting for the CWA International Dagger and hitting bestseller lists worldwide. Trap soon followed suit, with the third in the trilogy Cage winning the Best Icelandic Crime Novel of the Year, and was a Guardian Book of the Year. Lilja’s standalone Betrayal, was shortlisted for the Glass Key Award for Best Nordic Crime Novel. The film rights have been bought by Palomar Pictures in California. Lilja is also an award-winning screenwriter in her native Iceland. She lives in Reykjavík with her partner.
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.
+ childhood, family, fiction, friendship, humour fiction, love, motherhood, office drama, relationships, review, secrets, sisters, World War Two
The M Word by Eileen Wharton
Roberta Gallbreath is middle aged and menopausal. She dislikes her children, detests her ex-husband and despises her colleagues.
When her mother dies, Roberta is left with a pile of letters and a mystery surrounding her son. The letters reveal Roberta’s heritage is not what it seems and she is soon on a mission to become a better person.
#TheMWord @WhartonEileen @SpellBoundBks @Zooloo’s Book Tours @zooloo2008 #ZooloosBookTours #blogtour
Told with humour and emotion, The M Word is the tale of one woman’s journey to find out where she came from. As she looks to the past for answers, more questions are raised. Will Roberta discover who she really is?
My Review
This was nothing like I expected. Oh how I laughed and cried! It’s really a book of two halves. We have Roberta’s perimenopause experience (I’m glad mine was nothing like hers) and then her mother’s unbelievably sad story of her experiences during and after the second world war.
Had the book just been about Roberta, I would not have enjoyed it so much. Her acerbic tongue is often hilarious though at times you want to cringe.
‘When I get there, I’m sweating like a blind lesbian at a whelk stall.’ What does even mean?
She has no filter and says the first thing that comes into her head, She is rude and offensive. Her ex-husband, Andy, who she calls Knobhead, ran off with Terri-Ann from Thomas Cook years ago and she is still bitter. Her experiences on Tinder, encouraged by work chum Tammy, as she tries to find a date for the office party, is one of the funniest parts of the book. Everyone she meets is either a pervert or a loony and most of them have questionable hygiene practices. When she tries speed dating, it’s even worse if that’s possible.
But there’s only so much of her ‘humour’ you can take, and having gone through my own menopause over 15 years ago, I found it hard to relate. In fact I could hardly relate to Roberta at all. She hates her mother. She detests her sister. She doesn’t even particularly like any of her three children.
‘It’s not enough, Mother, to feed and clothe us,’ says her youngest daughter…’Our souls need nourishment.’ ‘Really?’ replies Roberta, ‘I didn’t look after your feet?’
You could go as far as saying she hates everyone. The doctor simply tells her it’s due to her perimenopause. I could have slapped him.
Then when her mother is on her deathbed, she gives Roberta a pile of letters. They were written mainly from her mother to her twin brother Michael, and then to someone else as well, but I can’t say more. The letters were absolutely heart-breaking. For me it turned the story on its head and the change from light to shade and back again was so well-written that I cried and cried. What started out as a hilarious rom-com turned into an emotional rollercoaster. Absolutely brilliant.
Many thanks to @zooloo2008 for inviting me to be part of this blog tour.
About the Author
Eileen Wharton is an Oscar winning actress, Olympic gymnast, and Influencer. She also tells lies for a living. Her first novel was published in 2011 to worldwide critical acclaim. And she’s won awards for exaggeration. It did top the Amazon humour chart so she’s officially a best-selling author. She currently has five ‘lively’ offspring ranging from thirty-three to fourteen years of age, and has no plans to procreate further, much to the relief of the local schools and police force. She lives on a council estate in County Durham. She has never eaten kangaroo testicles, is allergic to cats and has a phobia of tinned tuna. She’s retired from arguing with people on the internet.
Follow her at:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/WhartonEileen
Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/eileen.whartonwriter
Instagram : https://www.instagram.com/eileenscribblings/
Buy Link – https://geni.us/vSw3C
+ alcoholism, dark humour, family, fiction, holiday, humour fiction, marriage, mid-life crisis, motherhood, relationships, review
The Wolf In The Woods by Dan Brotzel
Colleen and Andrew haven’t had sex in eleven weeks and three days [not that anyone’s counting]. Their marriage is in crisis, they’re drinking too much and both have secrets they’re afraid to share. A teetotal week in a remote cottage could solve all their problems. But with the promised beach nowhere in sight, a broken-down car and a sinister landlord, they may not find it so easy to rekindle their romance. In this dark and funny novel, tensions build and tempers fray.
My Review
I absolutely loved this book. It’s funny and sad at the same time – I laughed out loud, cringed at times (because Wolf really is rather creepy), and even shed a tear or three at the end.
Colleen and Andrew’s marriage (20 years married but 27 years together) is a disaster, but will a week away in a remote cottage in the forest really help? Will their marriage survive the make-or-break getaway? You wonder whether they will both survive at all – and I mean literally.
Wolf (Wolfgang? Mr Wolf?) lives next door and owns the cottage they are staying in. He can’t do enough to help to the point of being intrusive. It’s nice to have a caring landlord, but he is always there, accompanied by his dog Jack, poking his nose in, inviting Colleen to spend time having a drink with ‘Mrs Wolf’. Not a good idea as Colleen and Andrew are trying to stay off the alcohol while they are away. Make a fresh start. Stay sober.
Wolf appears to know so much, doesn’t he. And Colleen and Andrew have some big secrets, one of which is about the drinking, but there are other things which each thinks the other doesn’t know about.
Mrs Wolf – Hildy – is also a strange one.
‘Your Andrew.’ she says to Colleen.
‘Yes?’ said Colleen. ‘Does he have a big one?’
Now the reason this made me laugh was because while at our local Lido with my friend who is probably not far off Hildy’s age, we bumped into someone I have known for years, but she had never met before. He showed us a picture of his beautiful second wife. Admitted punching above his weight.
‘Are you rich.’ my friend asked.
‘No,’ he replied. ‘Then you must have a big one.’ she said.
Brilliant!
About the Author
Dan Brotzel describes himself as a “funny-sad author” and writer of novels, short stories, articles and other motley bits of content. The author of Hotel du Jack, a collection of short stories, and The Wolf in the Woods, a novel, he also co-wrote the brilliantly funny Work in Progress – a “novel-in emails” from award-winning publishers, Unbound. He lives in suburban north London with his partner and three children.
More info at www.danbrotzel.com
+ adventure, audio drama, Cat on a Piano, fiction, friendship, humour fiction, love, podcast, radio play, review, Theatrephonic
Around The World In 80 Days by Cat On A Piano / Theatrephonic
Theatrephonic has joined forces with Rain or Shine Theatre Company to present a radio adaptation of their 2021 Christmas tour: Around the World in 80 Days
As I was on holiday in Gran Canaria (she says showing off) I listened to this in one go on the beach. People around me probably wondered why I kept bursting out laughing. Mad dogs and Englishman and all that (Phileas would approve).
The whole play is hilarious and I couldn’t help being reminded at times of Officer Crabtree in ‘Allo ‘Allo and his ‘Good moaning. You are holding in your hand a smoking goon; you are clearly the guilty potty.’
There are some great lines in Around the World…
‘The other camel,’ says Passpartout, ‘has a flat.’
‘A flat what? Hump?’
‘Doesn’t that make it a horse?’ replies Amelia.
‘I am a valet, not a vegetarian – I mean a veterinarian,’ responds Passpartout.
‘Water, water. I am French. L’eau, l’eau.’
‘It’s the dessert, I mean desert.’
‘There is nothing here, only a parcel tossed carelessly on the ground. Must be a Hermes delivery.’
And then we have the twist at the end. Brilliant. All that’s missing is the fallen Madonna with the big boobies.
Written by Rob Keeves and Jonathan Legg – adapted from the Jules Verne novel.
Directed by Emmeline Braefield based on stage direction by Jonathan Legg
Starring:
Rob Keeves as Phileas Fogg
Ashley Shiers as Inspector Fix, Spanish Captain and Mr Sullivan
Anthony Young as Passpartout
Pippa Meekings as Amelia Swift and Sister Mary
Featuring Jonathan Legg as the Train Driver
Produced by Cat on a Piano Productions
Music:
November by Joey Pecoraro
Sao Meo Orchestral Mix by Doug Maxwell
In the Temple Garden by Aaron Kenny
The Day I Met Her by Esther Abrami
Imperial Forces by Aaron Kenny
Thunderstorm by Hanu Dixit
We Ride! by Reed Mathis
Blue Danube by Strauss
The Theatrephonic Theme tune was composed by Jackson Pentland
Performed by
Jackson Pentland
Mollie Fyfe Taylor
Emmeline Braefield
Cat on a Piano Productions produce and edit feature films, sketches and radio plays.
Their latest project is called @Theatrephonic, a podcast of standalone radio plays and short stories performed by professional actors. You can catch Theatrephonic on Spotify and other platforms.
For more information about the Theatrephonic Podcast, go to catonapiano.uk/theatrephonic, Tweet or Instagram @theatrephonic, or visit their Facebook page.
And if you really enjoyed this week’s episode, listen to Theatrephonic’s other plays and short stories and consider becoming a patron by clicking here…
+ adventure, childhood, coming-of-age, crime fiction, family, fashion, female friendship, fiction, forgiveness, friendship, haunting, humour fiction, List, literature, love, metafiction, murder, mystery, police drama, review, supernatural, witchcraft, witches
My Top 8 Books of 2022 – Part Three
Here are my favourite eight books of the third quarter of 2022. I should have published this at the beginning of the month but I am in Gran Canaria and to be honest, what with the sunshine, the sea and the vino, I totally forgot. Apologies all round and here goes.
Still Water by Rebecca Pert
What a stunning book. Beautifully written and so emotional. How it triggered my own personal memories, the parallels with my childhood and my mother’s mental illness (*see below); the fears of it being inherited, genetic.
Jane is not always the easiest person to like. She works in a mind-numbing job in a salmon processing factory. All she has to do is chop the heads off the fish. She lives alone in a run-down caravan even though she owns the cottage nearby. It has too many memories and has been left to fall to pieces. She has a lovely boyfriend called Mike whom she loves dearly, but he knows little of her past life. She is very closed about her childhood. We know it was traumatic and her problems revolved around her mother’s progressive illness and the death of her little brother.
For my full review click here
All About Evie by Matson Taylor
All About Evie is the first ‘real’ book I’ve read in years, as opposed to reading on my Kindle. Somehow it makes more sense. I have a big yellow hardback with a picture of Evie on her spinning chair and Oscar the basset hound in the bottom right hand corner. I even have an Evie postcard as a bookmark.
I read The Miseducation of Evie Epworth twice (something I almost never do) and it became one of my favourite books of all time. In All About Evie we are reintroduced to Caroline and Digby plus Mrs Swithenbank, but we also meet a whole new cast of characters from the two Nicks at Right On!, lovely Lolo and his dog Oscar, budding fashionista Genevieve, ghastly Griffin and many more. And Evie is introduced to opera, though it’s a bit more Victor Borge than Mozart, all plinky plonky music and lots of shouting. It’s actually Puccini’s La Boheme. Something easy to start with, break her in gently.
For my full review click here
The Daves Next Door by Will Carver
How can I pigeonhole this book? Metafiction? Postmodern? Self-reflexive? God only knows and in this novel God is the unreliable, omniscient narrator. At least I thought so. Only the narrator realises he’s not God. He’s the would-be terrorist.
This is such a hard book to review. It’s not just about what happens to individual people, but why and how they are all connected, even though most of them have never met each other. The suicide bomber rides the Circle Line every day, waiting for the exact right time to detonate. Asking questions like Am I God? Am I dead? Will I blow up this train?
For my full review click here
Don’t Leave by Pru Heathcote
I loved this book. I read it in about three sittings and would have read it in one go if I had been on holiday. And I would NEVER have guessed the reality of what was happening in a million years.
Following the tragic death of Jane and Peter’s young daughter Angela, Peter decides that it would do Jane good to give up work for a while and spend some time in a cottage by the sea in a remote location off the coast of Northumberland. They will be away from everyone and everything and Jane will be able to come to terms with her loss.
For my full review click here
The Witches of Moonshyne Manor by Bianca Marais
Who would have thought this book would make me cry? But it did. I’m not saying when or why. It also made me laugh and want to be a witch (some would say that’s not such a far leap). So excuse me a second while I pop my broomstick away in the cupboard, consult my personal grimoire, and let us begin.
There is so much I loved about this book. The witches – Ursula, Queenie, Ivy, Tabby, Jezebel and Ruby – plus 15-year-old Persephone and Tabby’s familiar, an elderly crow named Widget. I must also mention that Persephone has a dog called Ruth Bader Ginsburg. I am ashamed to say that I didn’t know who she was, though I assumed she was a real person. I apologise. I’m making myself sound really ignorant, but although it’s no excuse, I am in the UK.
For my full review click here
Shrines of Gaiety by Kate Atkinson
I adored this book more than I can even put into words. Everything about it, everyone in it and there’s even a cute terrier called Pierrot (I hope the name isn’t a spoiler but I think I need a dog called Pierrot).
Nellie Coker is the head of an empire. She runs five somewhat dodgy nightclubs with the help of her children – Niven, a romantic figure who fought in the Great War, the enigmatic and clever Edith, glamorous Shirley (I can’t read about Shirley without imagining someone I work with who shares her name and is about as glam as it gets), equally glamorous Betty, and budding author Ramsay. We also have 14-year-old Kitty but she’s a pain in the neck, though it’s not really her fault. Where Nellie got the money to start up her business remains shrouded in mystery, but we can guess it wasn’t legal.
For my full review click here
The Crooked Little Pieces: Volume 1 by Sophia Lambton
Wow! Just wow! I never expected this. It’s a true work of literature. The language is beautiful – the story engrossing.
It starts with half-Dutch and half-German twin sisters Anneliese and Isabel aged six living with their father Professor Josef van der Holt in Switzerland. He is a neurologist, but his ideas are considered old-fashioned. He forms a platonic relationship with another neurologist called Sara, but it does not develop.
For my full review click here
Beneath The House of Sin (DCI Mike Saxby #1) by David Field
It’s like two separate books in one and the first two in a series, which I guess it is. I actually could not put this down, but not just because of the story but because I loved the characters. All of them, but particularly DCI Mike Saxby, his wife Alison, young police officer Cathy who reminds Mike of his daughter and keeps feeding him yoghurt so he can lose weight (orders from above ie Alison) and even boring Dave Petrie. Or Paperless Petrie as he is known, because he never does his admin. Mike is known as Paddington for reasons that will become clear and marmalade keeps turning up on his desk, usually on toast.
For my full review click here
+ Devon, family, female friendship, fiction, friendship, Ireland, lies, marriage, Psychological fiction, rape, relationships, revenge, review, secrets, thriller
The Couple at Causeway Cottage by Diane Jeffrey
Kat and Mark move to an island off the Northern Irish coast for a new beginning. Far away from their frantic life in London, it’s the perfect place to bring up the family they’re longing to start.
But as soon as they arrive, cracks begin to appear in their marriage. Mark is still texting his ex-wife. Kat is lying about a new friendship. And one of them is keeping an explosive secret about the past.
The couple in Causeway Cottage are hiding something – and the truth can be deadly…
My Review
Mark and Kat have moved to a tiny island off the coast of Northern Ireland to be close to his elderly mother, who is in a care home suffering from dementia. They will just be a hop away on the ferry to visit her. They have bought a little place called Causeway Cottage, badly in need of some tlc, where they plan to start a family. Mark will have to stay away in Belfast quite a few nights a week because of his job, but Kat is fine with that. She’s looking forward to her new career as a wildlife and nature photographer.
Now I can honestly say I did not like Mark from the very beginning. Kat’s mum didn’t either so maybe it’s a protective mum thing. He has absolutely no redeeming features whatsoever that I can see. I can’t understand why she married him. He’s still texting his ex-wife. It’s not like they share the care of their children as they don’t have any. According to Mark, Fiona didn’t want children and he did.
However, I did like Darragh. Probably because of Dexter the dog. Anyone who has a dog called Dexter can’t be all bad. And he is supposedly rather attractive, which helps – Darragh that is, not Dexter.
I really enjoyed the twists and turns, the lies, the secrets and the intrigue. I did get a bit frustrated at times because characters in books always keep things from their partners, stuff that they should be able to confide in each other about.
The book fairly romps along mostly – a few times Kat spends a lot of time revisiting her guilt – but I read it on holiday while on the beach and it’s a perfect holiday read. Another great book from this author.
Many thanks to Diane Jeffrey for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
About the Author
Diane Jeffrey is a USA Today bestselling author. She grew up in North Devon and Northern Ireland. She now lives in Lyon, France, with her husband and their three children, Labrador and cat. Diane’s is the author of four psychological thrillers, all of which were Kindle bestsellers in the UK, the USA, Canada and Australia. THE GUILTY MOTHER, Diane’s third book, was a USA Today bestseller and spent several weeks in the top 100 Kindle books in the UK. Her latest psychological thriller, THE SILENT FRIEND, is set in Belfast and Lyon. It was published in ebook in November 2020 with the paperback and audiobook to follow in 2021.
Diane is an English teacher. When she’s not working or writing, she likes swimming, running and reading. She loves chocolate, beer and holidays. Above all, she enjoys spending time with her family and friends. Click on the link to visit Diane’s website: www.dianejeffrey.com
+ childhood, crime fiction, fiction, Gothic mystery, grief, lies, loss, love, mental health, mental illness, murder, review, Scotland, Scottish Highlands, secrets, superstition, thriller
The Blackhouse by Carole Johnstone
From the author of the “dark and devious…beautifully written” (Stephen King) Mirrorland comes a richly atmospheric thriller set on an isolated Scottish island where nothing is as it seems and shocking twists lie around every corner.
A remote village. A deadly secret. An outsider who knows the truth.
Robert Reid moved his family to Scotland’s Outer Hebrides in the 1990s, driven by hope, craving safety and community, and hiding a terrible secret. But despite his best efforts to fit in, Robert is always seen as an outsider. And as the legendary and violent Hebridean storms rage around him, he begins to unravel, believing his fate on the remote island of Kilmeray cannot be escaped.
For her entire life, Maggie MacKay has sensed something was wrong with her. When Maggie was five years old, she announced that a man on Kilmeray—a place she’d never visited—had been murdered. Her unfounded claim drew media attention and turned the locals against each other, creating rifts that never mended.
Nearly twenty years later, Maggie is determined to find out what really happened, and what the islanders are hiding. But when she begins to receive ominous threats, Maggie is forced to consider how much she is willing to risk to discover the horrifying truth.
Unnerving, enthralling, and filled with gothic suspense, The Blackhouse is a spectacularly sinister tale readers won’t soon forget.
My Review
Mirrorland is one of my favourite books ever, so I had huge hopes for the author’s next book. The Blackhouse didn’t disappoint, but it didn’t quite match up. I think my problem was twofold. Firstly I didn’t warm to Maggie enough to keep rooting for her and that has nothing to do with her mental health issues. It was more to do with her relationship with her mother, which I didn’t really understand, and her reasons for coming back to the island. Was her mother always lying to her and did that make her a bad person or simply a deluded one? My mother was convinced she could ‘see things or ghosts’ but we regarded it as more of an eccentricity than anything else.
Nearly twenty years later, Maggie is determined to find out what really happened, and what the islanders are hiding. Why would she do that? Best let sleeping dogs lie. It can only end in tragedy.
Her sudden appearance caused huge animosity amongst the locals. I know they didn’t want her digging up the past, but they were very rude and often threatening towards her and Alec’s behaviour is shocking and unforgivable. After all none of it was actually her fault. She was five. She wasn’t even born (excuse my maths if I’m wrong) when the double tragedy occurred.
Secondly it was just too long. At times it just seemed to drift, when I wanted to move the story forward. Maggie constantly questions her childhood and her mother’s belief that she also had the ‘gift’. Was it real or not? I’m still not sure to be honest.
Robert, on the other hand, with his obsession with Norse mythology and mummified crows to ward off evil, is very strange and creepy, especially the stuff with the sheep. (No don’t go getting the wrong idea.) I mean the dying sheep – that for me was the scariest bit.
Unnerving, enthralling, and filled with gothic suspense, The Blackhouse is a spectacularly sinister tale readers won’t soon forget. I’m afraid it just wasn’t sinister enough for me, but maybe that says more about me and my reading habits than the story itself.
But don’t get me wrong. I still loved it. Carole is a master of suspense and knows how to deliver a twist with the best of them, it just didn’t have the same impact as Mirrorland. I’ve seen it described as a slow-burn, but for me it was just a bit too slow. Would I read her next novel? Hell yeah.
About the Author
Carole Johnstone’s award-winning short fiction has appeared in annual ‘Best of’ anthologies in the US and UK. Her debut novel, Mirrorland, was published in April 2021 by Borough Press/HarperCollins in the UK and Commonwealth and by Scribner/Simon & Schuster in North America. The Blackhouse is her second novel. She lives in Argyll and Bute, Scotland.
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