It’s been a successful year for reading. I’ve read some brilliant books. My reading challenge was 130 and I just made it with 132.
This is a new one for me, but I do love a good list. These books were not necessarily published in 2022 – in fact Miss Benson’s Beetle has been top for the last two years.
Miss Benson’s Beetle by Rachel Joyce
There’s hardly a day goes by when someone doesn’t visit this review and I am not sure how or why. It was published in 2021 but it’s still top by a mile.
The Twyford Code by Janice Hallett
Again this is visited constantly. It’s a great book but it wasn’t one of my favourites as to really appreciate the book you have to play along and I don’t want to work that hard!
The Trial of Lotta Rae by Siobhan MacGowan
Dropped off a bit now – I initially thought that it may have had something to do with the author’s rather well-known sibling, but that would be unfair. This was a really good read and she deserves the recognition in her own right.
It All Comes Back To You by Beth Duke
I didn’t love this as much as Tapestry (which has just made my Top 4 books of 2022), but it was certainly well visited when I posted it in 2021, and still is. The follow-up is out soon.
Shrines of Gaiety by Kate Atkinson
A very well-known author so not surprising. This was quite recent so may keep going up.
A Tidy Ending by Joanna Cannon
The author of the brilliant The Trouble With Goats And Sheep so it’s bound to have had an impact.
+ abuse, alcoholism, brothers, childhood, domestic noir, family, fantasy, feel-good, female friendship, fiction, folklore, forgiveness, friendship, Ghost story, gothic horror, Gothic mystery, grief, haunting, List, literature, loss, love, music, paranormal, piano, relationships, review, secrets, sisterhood, sisters, slavery, suffragette movement, supernatural, superstition, tradition, whimsical
My Top 4 Books of 2022
It’s approaching the very end of 2022 and it’s time to reflect on my absolute favourite books of the year.
Last year it was hard but this year is even harder. There were instant standouts again – about 10 of them but I had to cut it down to four. I have tried to include a mix of genres but failed yet again. I read a lot of crime fiction, which often make my Top 8 selections, but my Top 3 or 4 of the year tend to be something a bit different.
My first three therefore are all slightly ‘whimsical’ while the fourth is a gothic mystery.
The Unravelling by Polly Crosby
‘The sea is made up of unspeakable sadness.’ This is a sentence you will read many times in this extraordinary book.
Tartelin, a young woman who has recently lost her mother, travels to the tiny, remote island of Dohhalund in the middle of the North Sea, to work for Miss Stourbridge. Her job will be to catch butterflies and kill them, so they can be pinned and studied. It’s a strange request and one that Tartelin doesn’t realise will have such a profound effect on her.
For my full review click here
Tapestry by Beth Duke
“We’re all part of a tapestry bigger than any of us can imagine, weaving in and out and creating a glorious picture. All of us from the beginning of time.”
What a lovely thought. My brother had his DNA done and assuming he and I are exactly the same ethnicity, it was quite revealing. Not the 49% Ashkenazi Jew – we kind of guessed that – but the rest. Eastern European, Scandinavian and 6% African. We are all descended from the slaves brought over from Africa, but most of us don’t have Creek ancestors, more’s the pity. Both are very important in Tapestry.
For my full review click here
Nothing Else by Louise Beech
I cried. I admit it. In fact I probably cried for most of the last third of the book. But don’t be put off by silly old me. This book is wonderful, tender, beautiful and uplifting but it’s also very sad. It broke my heart at times.
Louise Beech is one of my favourite authors and this book is one of my favourite reads of the second half of 2022. It pulls at the heart strings as well as the piano strings – see what I did there – the characters are so well drawn. I loved Heather, but I probably loved her little sister Harriet even more if that’s possible.
As children the two sisters were inseparable, playing the piano to drown out the violence in their home. Heather was trying to protect Harriet from hearing what was going on – their father hitting their mother. That two such young children should have to witness such horror is unimaginable. It really did break my heart.
For my full review click here
The Parlour Game by Jennifer Renshaw
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.
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.
For my full review click here
+ abuse, adventure, childhood, crime fiction, Detective novel, family, fiction, friendship, Ghost story, gothic horror, grief, Historical fiction, List, literature, London, loss, love, Magical realism, mental health, motherhood, murder, mystery, police drama, religion, revenge, review, secrets, short stories, short story, sisters, supernatural, thriller, twins
My Top 8 Books of 2022 Part Four
Here are my favourite eight books of the final quarter of 2022. One of these will make it into my top four books of 2022 (I just couldn’t cut it down to three this year).
The Parlour Game by Jennifer Renshaw
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.
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.
For my full review click here
Surviving Her by Jo Johnson
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.
For my full review click here
The Pain Tourist by Paul Cleave
What a fantastic book – towards the end it was so exciting I was almost holding my breath. But it is quite complicated, so you need to concentrate.
There are numerous storylines going on here. We begin with a terrible murder nine years ago, when 11-year-old James Garrett’s mum and dad were shot to death, execution style. Having witnessed his parents’ deaths, James was shot in the head, which left him in a coma from which no-one expected him to emerge. But he did and Detective Inspector Rebecca Kent is tasked with finding out who did it. Theodore Tate was the investigating officer at the time but failed to solve the crime. He is no longer a police officer – he now works as a consultant on two TV programmes, one fiction – the other a re-enactment series called New Zealand Crime Busters, a bit like Crimewatch in the UK.
For my full review click here
The Crooked Little Pieces Volume 2 by Sophia Lambton
I finished the review of volume one of The Crooked Little Pieces with this:
‘…. it’s very different. Don’t expect straightforward historical fiction. It’s more about emotions and the relationship between two women, who even though they are twins are disparate and diverse. As we leave them amidst world war two, I look forward to the next instalment in this fascinating tale.’
And I couldn’t wait for the second instalment of this brilliant story. Then it arrived and I wasn’t disappointed. We continue to follow the sisters two years on. The war is over. Isabel is married to Steven, whose tastes in the bedroom are both weird and dangerous. Isabel is accepting but her sister Anneliese is worried and rightly so. But Isabel wants a baby so badly that she is prepared to put up with anything.
For my full review click here
Mad Honey by Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Finney Boylan
As this book is jointly written by Jodi Picoult, you know that it will raise important questions and make you think.
One of the questions this book asks is whether we are entitled to keep secrets about our past from the people we love. Some secrets are best left buried if they do not in any way affect anyone else. But there are others where it is necessary to tell the truth and leave the recipient of the secret to decide for themselves whether it’s something they can live with. Or is it?
For my full review click here
Dragonfly Summer by JH Moncrieff
I really loved this book. It has touches of magic and the supernatural which adds an extra layer to a an exciting thriller.
Following the mysterious disappearance of Jo Carter’s friend Sam, she leaves her home town of Clear Springs to go to university and then to live in New York where she starts out as an investigative journalist, but now works in PR. As far as she is concerned, there is nothing to go back for.
For my full review click here
The Celeste Experiment by Omar Imady
Wow! Just wow! What a fantastic book! The story is beautiful, the writing is beautiful, it exceeded all expectations and then some.
It starts with Michael and his love for his wife Celeste. But when she is diagnosed with a terminal illness, Michael decides he will do anything to save her. Medical science does not have the answer, so he turns to religion, but when that also fails he sets out to prove that if religion can’t save her, then religion must be a lie.
For my full review click here
The Bookstore Sisters by Alice Hoffman
I often comment that a book is too long but The Bookstore Sisters is too short! I wanted more – more Isabel and Sophie and Violet and the dog Hank. I wish she had taken the Jack Russell as well as I desperately miss my beloved Pancake whom we lost last year aged almost 17.
Alice Hoffman has been one of my favourite authors – if not THE favourite – ever since I read The Museum of Extraordinary Things a number of years ago and then devoured every one of her books that had been released on Kindle.
For my full review click here
+ alcoholism, anthology, brothers, family, fiction, Ghost story, gothic horror, haunting, marriage, mental health, mental illness, motherhood, mythology, paranormal, postpartum psychosis, review, short stories, short story, sisters, supernatural, superstition, witchcraft
The Haunting Season: Ghostly Tales for Long Winter Nights by various
Winter, with its unsettling blend of the cosy and the sinister, has long been a popular time for gathering by the bright flame of a candle, or the warm crackling of a fire, and swapping stories of ghosts and strange happenings.
Now eight bestselling, award-winning authors – master storytellers of the sinister and the macabre – bring this time-honoured tradition to vivid life in a spellbinding collection of new and original haunted tales.
From a bustling Covent Garden Christmas market to the frosty moors of Yorkshire, from a country estate with a dreadful secret, to a London mansion where a beautiful girl lies frozen in death, these are stories to make your hair stand on end, send shivers down your spine and to serve as your indispensable companion to the long nights of winter.
So curl up, light a candle, and fall under the spell of The Haunting Season . . .
Featuring new and original tales from:
Bridget Collins, Sunday Times bestselling author of The Binding; Imogen Hermes Gowar, Sunday Times bestselling author of The Mermaid and Mrs Hancock; Kiran Millwood Hargrave, Sunday Times bestselling author of The Mercies; Andrew Michael Hurley Sunday Times bestselling author of The Loney; Jess Kidd, International award-winning author of Things in Jars; Elizabeth Macneal, Sunday Times bestselling author of The Doll Factory; Natasha Pulley, Sunday Times bestselling author of The Watchmaker of Filigree Street and Laura Purcell, Award-winning author of The Silent Companions.
My Review
I’ve read a few of these authors before, which is why I was attracted to this compilation in the first place.
A Study in Black and White by Bridget Collins
Spooky and scary, reminding me of the traditional ghost stories of MR James. When Morton sees a black and white house, with huge topiary in the shape of chess pieces, he is fascinated. So he can’t believe his luck when he discovers he can live there for a nominal rent. Well, you know what they say, ‘if it seems too good to be true it probably is.’
Strange things happen in the house – he can see and feel a presence and the chess pieces keep moving.
Thwaite’s Tenant by Imogen Hermes Gowar is one of the scariest ghost stories I’ve ever read. When Lucinda Lisle leaves her husband, taking their young son Stanley with her, she is ‘aided’ by her father and driven to the old Thwaite house, a place of ‘some notoriety’. Neither she nor her sister have ever been there, but somehow their father is caught up in its reputation.
The house is cold and dark and Lucinda’s father leaves them both there. That’s when the spooky stuff starts happening. And terrifying it is too. Footsteps, objects being moved, voices, apparitions, but this is way beyond the usual haunting occurrences. I was truly chilled.
Story number three is The Eel Singers by Natasha Pulley. Very different from the other stories so far, it follows Thaniel, Mori and Six from The Watchmaker of Filigree Street as they decide to take a break for Christmas and stay in a cottage in the Fens. There’s something not right, however, about the people and the place. Thaniel finds himself sleepwalking for the first time in his life and hears a strange song – the song of the eel singers.
It makes more sense if you have read The Watchmaker of Filigree Street – otherwise you won’t have any background on the characters, which I feel is important.
Lily Wilt by Jess Kidd is my absolute favourite. So much so that I immediately downloaded Things in Jars to read next. I just love the way she writes, the turns of phrase, the descriptions, are all so original.
Seventeen-year-old Lily Wilt died in her sleep. Her body is lying in an open coffin in the house in Hanover Square. People come to file past and revel in her beauty. She has become a celebrity in death. And strangely, her beauty hasn’t faded since she passed.
The renowned photographer Walter Pemble is hired to take her picture – a memento mori – something the Victorians were very keen on. He has been warned not to get too close to Lily’s body. But Walter doesn’t heed the warnings. Just how far is he prepared to go to be with Lily? Terrifying!
The Chillingham Chair by Laura Purcell, another of my favourite authors, The Silent Companions is one of my favourite books.
A few days before her younger sister’s wedding, Evelyn falls off her horse and breaks her ankle. She is supposed to be a bridesmaid, but now that won’t be possible. She can barely stand let alone walk. However, her sister’s fiance Victor Chillingham has a solution in the form of his late father’s wheelchair, a horrible, scruffy thing that only just moves. Why is Victor so keen to have Evelyn at the wedding, seeing as he had proposed to her first and she had rebuffed him in no uncertain terms. The chair appears to have a mind of its own, but what does it want?
The Hanging Of The Greens by Andrew Michael Hurley is probably the strangest of the stories. The Rev Edward Clarke is visited by a sick man called Joe Gull who tells him that he is dying and wants to make his peace with the people he has wronged due to his alcohol addiction. He has done some terrible things, particularly to Murray and Helen Oxbarrow of Salter Farm. In his conceit (as he himself believes) Edward will use his own influence, not God’s, to act as mediator between Joe and the Oxbarrows. So far, nothing supernatural. But when Edward visits the Oxbarrows, it all turns a bit Christmas Carol and The Ghost of Christmas Past.
Confinement by Kiran Millwood Hargrave – absolutely terrifying and based on the true case of Mrs Amelia Dyer, the Victorian baby murderess, and the author’s own experience of postpartum psychosis.
Catherine Blake has given birth to a baby girl and is confined to her room, as was often the advice given by doctors in Victorian times. She is fed laudanum on a daily basis to keep her calm and locked in the dark. Seems unbelievable today. Probably because of the newborn baby, I needed to finish the story to make sure the baby was OK. Just terrifying.
Monster by Elizabeth Macneal is set in 1838. Victor Crisp has always been the clever brother, the one who was good at everything from cricket to mathematics. His younger brother is only interested in plants and flowers. Victor calls him Daisy. But now, years later, Daisy is a leading horticulturist and Victor has achieved nothing. Then he marries Mabel and they go to Lyme Regis where Victor can search for a fossilised skeleton that will make his fortune. He’ll be celebrated by the Royal Society. But things are not as they seem. Seals that turn into women, women that turn into seals, selkies and strange happenings. It’s all rubbish to Victor until a terrible tragedy changes everything.
A brilliant anthology of scary stories just in time for Christmas. I loved every single one.
When Jem and his family move to the countryside, he doesn’t like his new home one bit.
It’s an old cottage on the side of a hill, where strange things keep happening: shoes are filled up with conkers, the stairs become tangled in a woollen maze. Jem’s sister Verity is certain it is the work of a “nouka”, an ancient creature from local folklore that lives deep down inside the hill. Jem, however, is adamant that there is no such thing.
But this small mythical creature, so attuned to the hearts and minds of others, does exist. And, what’s more, it is determined, through mischief and mayhem, to help Jem reignite the spark within himself once more.
My Review
‘You ever have any trouble there?”
‘No,’ Jem said, quickly.
The old woman regarded him over her spectacles…’Good,’ she said. ‘If you ever do, just leave a little something outside your back door.’
‘Pardon?’
‘A bowl of porridge or a few crusts. It keeps them happy, you see.’
‘Who?’
‘You know who.’
But Jem doesn’t believe in the nouka. It doesn’t exist…
I don’t often review children’s literature but The Boy Who Lost His Spark is in a class of its own and I just had to. Of course the fabulous illustrations are part of its charm. It’s set to be a modern classic.
So what is the nouka? It’s ‘little and fluffy,’ Jem’s sister Verity tells him, ‘with black fur that sticks out all around. Unless it’s been raining…water makes their fur go droopy. Noukas hate rain.’
I can honestly say that this is probably one of the best children’s books I have ever read.
Q & A with Scarlett Jordan, Age 8 and Holly Jordan, Age 6
It’s a beautiful book isn’t it. Did you like the illustrations?
Holly: I like the pictures of the nouka. It’s small and cute.
Scarlett: Beautiful.
Do you think the story has a message?
(My daughter-in-law interjected here and explained about Jem’s problems with reading and about being dyslexic.)
I think this is very important to the story as Jem shouldn’t be made to feel stupid.
Who is your favourite character in the story?
Scarlett: Mmmm
Holly: The nouka! nouka, nouka, nouka!
If you lived where Jem and Verity live, would you believe the nouka was real?
Yes. And Holly even made up her own song about the nouka.
About the Author
Maggie O’Farrell is an award-winning Irish-British author. Her books for adults have received international acclaim; she has won the Betty Trask Award for her debut novel After You’d Gone, the Somerset Maugham Award in 2005 for The Distance Between Us, the 2013 Costa Novel Award for The Hand That First Held Mine, the 2020 Waterstones Book of the Year Award and the 2020 Women’s Fiction Prize for Hamnet, and her non-fiction book I Am I Am I Am reached number 1 on the Sunday Times bestseller list. Where Snow Angels Go was her first book for children, and it won the Indie Book of the Month. Find her online at maggieofarrell.com
Daniela Terrazzini studied Fine Art in Milan and moved to London to study Photography at The London College of Printing. She is now an illustrator of both detailed paintings and graphic surface patterns. She has illustrated Where Snow Angels Go by Maggie O’Farrell, The Night I Met Father Christmas by Ben Miller and The Seeing Stitch by Jane Yolan. Follow her on Twitter as @DJTerrazzini and Instagram as @danielajterrazzini.
+ female friendship, fiction, friendship, Ghost story, haunting, paranormal, psychic, review, supernatural
The Haunting of Highdown Hall – Psychic Surveys #1 by Shani Struthers
If you sold your soul to the devil, could you ever get it back?
The latest in a long line of psychically-gifted females, Ruby Davis can see through the veil that separates this world and the next, helping grounded souls to move towards the light – or ‘home’ as Ruby calls it. Not just a job for Ruby, it’s a crusade and one she wants to bring to the High Street. Psychic Surveys is born.
Based in Lewes, East Sussex, Ruby and her team of freelance psychics have been kept busy of late. Specialising in domestic cases, their solid reputation is spreading – it’s not just the dead that can rest in peace but the living too. All is threatened when Ruby receives a call from the irate new owner of Highdown Hall. Film star Cynthia Hart is still in residence, despite having died in 1958.
Winter deepens and so does the mystery surrounding Cynthia. She insists the devil is blocking her path to the light long after Psychic Surveys have ‘disproved’ it. Investigating her apparently unblemished background, Ruby is pulled further and further into Cynthia’s world and the darkness that now inhabits it.
For the first time in her career, Ruby’s deepest beliefs are challenged. Does evil truly exist? And if so, is it the most relentless force of all?
My Review
The Haunting Of Highdown Hall is set in a part of the country I know quite well and I love a book that describes places I am familiar with. Lewes not so much but Brighton and the surrounding area.
Ruby Davis is a psychic and her ambition in life is to bring her gift to people who believe they are being haunted – Ruby can tell straight away if they are faking it – and help the spirits to find their way to the light. And Ruby doesn’t believe that anyone is totally evil – she is certain that everyone can atone and find peace in what she refers to as their original ‘home’. But her beliefs will be severely challenged with one of her cases.
She has set up a business in Lewes called Psychic Surveys, along with fellow psychics Theo, Ness and the slightly less gifted Corinna. During an evening out she meets the handsome Cash and they become good friends. In fact he begins to accompany her on her visits. It’s at one of these that they are trying to send a spirit to the light along with dog Jed, but Jed inadvertently ‘befriends’ them and now pops up from time to time initially, and then seems to become a permanent fixture in their lives. Theo tells Ruby that Jed must go to the light, but he’s not having it. And while Cash, unlike Ruby, cannot see the dog, he can smell him.
But I digress. Ruby and co are summoned to rid Highdown Hall of its celebrity ghost, the film star Cynthia Hart. And it’s not going to be easy because Cynthia believes she sold her soul to the devil in exchange for fame and fortune. Cynthia died of a heart attack in 1958 on her 31st birthday and her spirit is still sticking around causing havoc to Mr Tierney, the new owner of the house and she isn’t going anywhere. It’s going to be Psychic Survey’s hardest job yet and what’s more, Mr Tierney, a journalist, threatens to discredit Ruby and co if they don’t get Cynthia out by Christmas Eve.
Very entertaining with lots of hauntings, poltergeists and other spirits and I do love Jed the ghost dog. I’ve only ever seen a couple of ghosts in my life – always animals, never humans – so I shall be following their antics in the future.
About the Author
Born and bred in Brighton, Shani Struthers is the author of twenty-four supernatural thrillers, some set in various locations in England, others in more far-flung destinations such as Venice and America. Having been brought up with an understanding of the Occult and alternative views on religion, she threads this knowledge throughout her books, often drawing on real-life experiences of her own, from people she has known and from well-known Occult figures.
Her Psychic Surveys series has proved very popular, becoming global Amazon genre bestsellers. There is also the This Haunted World series – standalone books set in and around the world’s most haunted places. They too have topped the Amazon genre charts, along with the more romantic Jessamine and Comraich, plus the Reach for the Dead series. Standalone psychological thriller, Summer of Grace, is also set in America, in the dark heart of Kansas! For Christmas Ghost Stories, check out Blakemort, Eve, Carfax House and The Damned Season.
To keep up to date with new releases, you can subscribe to her newsletter via her website: www.shanistruthers.com.
PS Bookchatter@cookiebiscuit is currently number 74 out of 100 on Feedspot Top 100 UK Book Blogs See my entry here
+ crime fiction, Detective novel, fiction, journalist, murder, murder mystery, police drama, psychopath, review, serial killer, thriller
Speaking Daggers by Lloyd Rees
There’s a killer on the loose on the streets of Swansea and they are leaving clues.
Detective Inspector Gus Reid and his team have a gruesome murder on their hands but there are no suspects and no obvious motive. All they have to go on is a series of literary quotations that appear like graffiti on walls throughout the city.
Can Gus’ daughter, an expert in Renaissance literature, help solve the crime? Or will she become the next victim?
The killer believes they are smarter than the police detectives. But are they too clever for their own good?
My Review
Being a massive Shakespeare fan all my life (honestly) I loved the ‘messages’ left by the killer. It was one of the most exciting parts of the book.
A body is found in a rubbish bin, the young woman having been murdered and her face smashed in beyond recognition. Who would do such a thing? These kinds of crimes don’t happen in Swansea. It’s not that type of place.
Detective Inspector Gus Reid and his team have very little to go on. The victim needs to be identified, but there are no dental records or any kind of ID. And until she can be identified there is no motive or sign of sexual assault. Only the graffiti on the wall behind the bin. A Shakespeare quote.
Gus has never had much of a relationship with his daughter Josie since his divorce from her mother, but he needs her help now to decipher the message. She’s a lecturer in literature at the university. Could this be an opportunity to rebuild their relationship?
I really enjoyed this book. Maybe a bit overlong, I did however love the ‘ramblings’ of the killer as he tries to prove how clever and witty he is, never missing an opportunity to refer to the police as a bunch of thickos (though in far more literary language).
We are also introduced to journalist Andrea Linney, always looking for the next sensational story. But will her interest put her in danger?
This was a book that sometimes split my fellow readers with the Pigeonhole book club. Some of us loved the ramblings and the references, while others thought they slowed down the pace of the story. I was in the ‘loved them’ camp. I hope there is a follow up.
Many thanks to The Pigeonhole, the author, and my fellow Pigeons for making this such an enjoyable read.
About the Author
Lloyd Rees was a Senior Lecturer in English and Education in Swansea. In addition to early novels, Don’t Stand So Close and The Show-Me State, he is a published poet and co-editor of the magazine Roundyhouse. Voices without parts is his first ‘literary’ novel and Speaking Daggers his first crime novel for Cambria Publishing.
Lloyd Rees’ poetry has appeared in a number of magazines and anthologies and he was shortlisted for a Bridport Poetry Prize in 2000. The Two of Us is his fifth volume of poems.
PS Bookchatter@cookiebiscuit is currently number 74 out of 100 on Feedspot Top 100 UK Book Blogs See my entry here
+ Belfast, crime fiction, eighties, fiction, friendship, Ireland, journalist, murder, obsession, review, serial killer, thriller, USA
The Wolf Is At Your Door by Simon Maltman
New York, 1987. Rory is a likeable career thief originally from war-torn Belfast, planning out his next big score.
A serial killer is murdering women in the city. But no bodies are ever found; just missing girls and cryptic plaques left on benches in Central Park.
#TheWolfIsAtYourDoor @simonmaltman
@AestheticPress1 @Zooloo’s Book Tours @zooloo2008 #ZooloosBookTours #blogtour
When the killer strikes too close to home, Rory becomes unhealthily obsessed with tracking him down. The cops begin to suspect Rory due to his lengthy criminal history, the press just want a sensational story, Rory’s partners in crime don’t want any heat, and the killer flourishes in the chaos.
‘Sometimes it takes a thief to catch a killer’
My Review
The Wolf Is At Your Door is set in 1987. I was 34, with a baby and a toddler. My favourite TV programmes were Thirtysomething and LA Law. I didn’t ‘do drugs’ or drink more than the odd glass of wine. I certainly didn’t partake in any armed robberies. The ‘troubles’ in Northern Ireland were news items. I have nothing in common with Rory’s world. But I loved that this book was set in the 1980s.
I didn’t recognise much of the music either as Rory is a blues fan, whereas I listened to Police, Spandau Ballet and Duran Duran (how Rory would have hated the New Romantics).
Rory hangs out in dodgy nightclubs with his dubious friends, plotting their next criminal engagement. You can’t help liking Rory though – he’s really quite a loveable character. His mate Jimmy is also OK but fellow ‘gang member’ Dave is horrible. ‘Fence’ Winston is seriously cool in a Huggy Bear kind of way (those old enough to remember Starsky & Hutch). Alice is also Rory’s friend, though they don’t have any kind of intimate relationship.
In the meantime a serial killer is murdering women in the city but the bodies are never found. Then ‘when the killer strikes too close to home’, Rory becomes obsessed with finding him. The NYPD, however, are less than helpful – in fact they won’t even admit that there is a serial killer on the loose. And the press just wants a story. Jimmy and Dave don’t want the cops to look too closely at them, but Rory isn’t giving up, even though it might put his own life at risk.
What an exciting, well-paced story! You know you shouldn’t be rooting for Rory as he is a career criminal, but you can’t help it. He is written so well.
There’s a lot of political incorrectness in this book, so be warned. And a lot of swearing. But it was the 1980s and no-one cared a jot about some of the racist taunts being slung at each other, amongst other things. It all adds to the authenticity of the story.
Many thanks to @zooloo2008 for inviting me to be part of this blog tour.
About the Author
Simon Maltman is the author of novels, novellas and short stories, released with various publishers. An Amazon Bestseller from Northern Ireland he writes a range of crime fiction thrillers. A regular guest at festivals and events, he is the tour guide for Belfast Noir, and also a well known book reviewer for the likes of ITV and online journals. An established ‘Ulster Noir’ author, he also writes American-set high concept thrillers.
Follow him at:
Twitter : @simonmaltman
Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/SimonMaltman
Goodreads – Not on Goodreads but I have followed up with the publisher
Buy Links – https://geni.us/5XAkBB
Elves! Assemble!
If you ever wondered what those pesky Christmas ‘Elves on Shelves’ get up to when you are asleep, they are ‘elfing about’, climbing up and down the tinsel and knocking things over in people’s houses (accidentally of course).
‘We are here to watch the children of this household to make sure that they deserve to be on the Good List,’ says Elfie.
And hoping there aren’t any dogs, as elves are very very small – about the same size as a dog toy.
‘Didn’t you know that the family has a dog?’ asks Jingles. ‘If you don’t want to get chewed up…run!’ Elfie replies.
It’s really funny and the kids are amazing – there are no adult actors in this special production.
(And if you are a patron you get to hear the hilarious bloopers as well. You can become a patron by clicking here…)
Written by Emmeline Braefield
Directed by Tom Jordan, Jason Parkes, Danielle Lade & Genevieve Swift
With:
Elsie Parkes as Elfie
Scarlett Lade as Jingles
Holly Lade as Elfa
and
Harry Parkes as Brownie
Produced by Cat on a Piano Productions
Music:
Christmas Village by Aaron Kenny
Snow Princess by Jimena Contreras
Holly Dazed by RKVC
We Wish You a Merry Christmas (Instrumental) by E’s Jammy Jams
Jingle Bells by DJ Williams
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…
Bookchatter@cookiebiscuit is currently number 79 out of 100 on Feedspot Top 100 UK Book Blogs
See my entry here
+ crime fiction, dark humour, Detective novel, fiction, kidnapping, murder, police drama, police procedural, revenge, review, short stories, short story, thriller, World War Two, WW2
Case Files: Collected Short Crime Stories Vol. 1 by Rachel Amphlett
Discover twelve dark and twisted mysteries from USA Today bestselling author Rachel Amphlett.
This page-turning collection features The Man Cave in which Darren regains consciousness in a dank basement where escape turns out to be the least of his worries; in All Night Long Zoe soon wishes she wasn’t working the late shift; and in Nowhere to Run a rookie detective encounters her first serial killer… but will she survive?
#CaseFiles Instagram: @rachelamphlett Facebook: rachelamphlett.author #RandomThingsTours @annecater @RandomTTours #blogtour
Case Files Short Crime Stories Volume 1:
The Reckoning
A Grave Mistake
The Beachcomber
The Man Cave
A Dirty Business
The Last Super
Something in the Air
Special Delivery
A Pain in the Neck
The Last Days of Tony MacBride
The Moment Before
Nowhere to Run
Case Files: short crime fiction stories that will have you on the edge of your seat.
My Review
As there are so many stories, I have picked out the ones that resonated with me the most. That’s not to say the others weren’t brilliant as well.
‘…your sin will find you out.’ Isn’t that what they say? In The Reckoning nonagenarian Evelyn arrives at the nursing for one night respite care, so she isn’t left alone at home. Sadie tends to her needs and hears all about Evelyn’s time during the war when she sang to the troops.
Alan Hendrick is a lovely old man, whom everyone adores. Apart from Roger Sanders that is, who seems to have a problem with him. But is it all as it seems, or is someone keeping secrets? My favourite out of all of them.
In The Man Cave Darren wakes up in a dark, dank cellar. He’s tied to a chair and has no food or water. He remembers being pushed down the stairs. No-one knows where he is, and his wife Tess is away for five days. What if no-one comes to rescue him? Maybe he can find a way to escape.
But who would keep him down there? It can’t be for the money, so who hates him enough? The twist at the end was totally shocking and unexpected.
A Dirty Business, recycling, (though my husband says I am so obsessed, I should work in a recycling centre rescuing the soft toys). Michael Hawkins has been doing it for years and his wife Lisa makes him take his clothes off at the door and have a shower before entering the rest of the house because he stinks. But when she asks him to ‘take out the trash’ it’s a step too far. And results in yet another argument.
Heather doesn’t seem to mind though. Their affair has been carrying on in secret for a while now. But for Lisa, recycling will take on a whole new meaning.
The Last Super – Larry has been the superintendent at the flats for seventeen years, nine months and four days. He has looked after his tenants, particularly elderly Brenda Friedman, the Bancrofts and twenty-something Melissa, but now the building is to be demolished and a new development put up. He’s going to miss his ‘old friends’. Larry can’t leave though. He’s hiding a secret that would tear one family apart. But as always, Larry will have a solution.
Nowhere to Run is a short story that revolves around Detective Kay Hunter, who has featured in 11 best-selling books so far by Rachel Amphlett. It’s the longest of the Case Files.
Two women have been murdered, both runners, hit over the head with a blunt instrument while out on a jog. They didn’t know each other – the only similarity being the running and the fact that they went to a gym at some point. Kay is determined to find a link, if there is one, and ends up putting herself in danger in order to trick the killer into revealing themselves.
All the stories have a twist in the tail that you won’t see coming (though I admit I guessed one of them). I love a good short story and these are all brilliant.
Many thanks to @annecater for inviting me to be part of #RandomThingsTours
About the Author
Rachel has written more than 30 crime novels and short stories featuring spies, detectives, vigilantes, and assassins. The USA Today bestselling author has created two detective series, Detective Kay Hunter and Detective Mark Turpin as well as thrillers featuring Dan Taylor and Eva Delacourt.
Inspired by reading books as a child, her aim is ‘to write gripping stories that you won’t want to put down’.
Bookchatter@cookiebiscuit is currently number 79 out of 100 on Feedspot Top 100 UK Book Blogs
See my entry here
+ crime fiction, dark humour, Detective novel, Edinburgh, fiction, germany, memoir, murder, murder mystery, police drama, police procedural, revenge, review, rivalry, Scotland, thriller, World War Two
Hunter’s Revenge (The Edinburgh Crime Mysteries #2) by Val Penny
Hunter by name – Hunter by nature.
Detective Inspector Hunter Wilson is a loyal friend and a fair leader.
He is called to the scene of a murder in Edinburgh where the corpse has been fatally shot. He is dismayed to find the victim is his friend and colleague, George Reinbold. Hunter must investigate Reinbold’s murky past in Germany to identify George’s killer.
#HuntersRevenge @valeriepenny @SpellBoundBks @Zooloo’s Book Tours @zooloo2008 #ZooloosBookTours
At the same time, Hunter is tasked with looking into a previously undetected criminal gang supplying drugs from Peru. There seems to be no connection between the murder and the drug supply until Hunter unexpectedly secures help from inmates of the local jail.
Hunter’s investigations are hampered by distracted members of his team and unobservant witnesses.
Reinbold was not the quiet, old man Hunter believed him to be and his killer bore their grudge for a lifetime.
Hunter’s Revenge is the explosive second book in the DI Hunter Wilson thriller series.
My Review
The story starts off in Germany during the 2nd World War. Eighteen-year-old George Reinbold gets drunk one evening and does the unthinkable. It was supposed to be a prank, but it went terrifyingly wrong. The repercussions were huge and horrendous and he was forced to flee, never to return or see his family again. Until now.
Because George was not the quiet old man his colleagues believed him to be. His past has followed him to Edinburgh – you can tell by the security he had installed in his flat that he was worried about something. Rightly so, because when DI Hunter Wilson is called to investigate a murder, he realises the victim is none other than his friend George Reinbold. George had been shot in the head at point blank range – he never stood a chance.
But who would do such a thing? Someone from his past who blamed him for what happened after he fled his homeland, or someone he helped incarcerate during his career. And how is any of it linked to the drugs that are coming into the country from darkest Peru? And no, it’s not Paddington bringing them in under his hat with the marmalade sandwiches, but every time Peru was mentioned I did a little titter.
We will be reunited with Hunter’s colleagues such as Tim ‘young Myerscough’, whose father Sir Peter was sent to prison in book one, other members of the team including Jane, Rachael, Mel and ‘Bear’, pathologist Meera, plus a few new ones.
We also meet up again with Jamie Thompson, our hapless burglar from Hunter’s Chase, his cousin Frankie, whose girlfriend was killed, leaving him with twins and no sign of his acne improving (the descriptions of zit-popping are just as graphic and revolting as before), and Jamie’s father Ian, also incarcerated at Her Majesty’s pleasure (will it be ‘His’ in the next book), in the same prison as Sir Peter.
We also have some new villains and an interlinked plot which comes together satisfyingly at the end. Plenty of twists, plenty of banter and some dark humour as before. A great series!
Many thanks to @zooloo2008 for inviting me to be part of this blog tour.
About the Author
Val Penny has an Llb degree from Edinburgh University and her MSc from Napier University. She has had many jobs including hairdresser, waitress, banker, azalea farmer and lecturer but has not yet achieved either of her childhood dreams of being a ballerina or owning a candy store. Until those dreams come true, she has turned her hand to writing poetry, short stories, nonfiction, and novels. Val is an American author living in SW Scotland. She has two adult daughters of whom she is justly proud and lives with her husband and their cat.
Follow her at:
Twitter : https://twitter.com/valeriepenny
Instagram : www.instagram.com/valerieepenny
Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/Authorvalpenny
Website : www.valpenny.com
Goodreads – https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/63894852-hunter-s-revenge
Buy Link – https://geni.us/sMr9O
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