+ fashion, feel-good, female friendship, feminism, fiction, friendship, Italy, literature, London, review, seventies, Yorkshire
All About Evie by Matson Taylor
EVIE EPWORTH IS TEN YEARS OLDER. BUT IS SHE ANY WISER?
1972. Ten years on from the events of The Miseducation of Evie Epworth and Evie is settled in London working for the BBC. She has everything she’s ever dreamed of (a career, a leatherette briefcase, an Ossie Clark poncho) but, following an unfortunate incident involving Princess Anne and a Hornsea Pottery mug, she finds herself having to rethink her life and piece together work, love, grief and multiple pairs of cork-soled platform sandals.
Ghosts from the past and the spirit of the future collide in a joyous adventure that sees Evie navigate the choppy waters of her messy twenties. Can a 1960s miseducation prepare her for the growing pains of the 1970s?
Big-hearted, uplifting, bittersweet and tender, All About Evie is a novel fizzing with wit and alive to the power of friendship in all its forms.
My Review
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.
So moving on from The Miseducation, it’s now 1972 and Evie has been in London for 10 years. It was the year I went to The London College of Fashion to study Fashion Writing. I was 19, a few years younger than Evie. It was so London-y, as Genevieve would say. Sipping a Buck’s Fizz at eleven o’clock in the morning, penning a review of a fashion show, with a sun-kissed Judith Chalmers in charge of the commentary. Evie would have loved it, I’m sure. Definitely so would Genevieve.
But back to the story. All About Evie is full of hilarious snippets. Most will make you laugh – some will make you cry. This was one of my favourites. Evie is meeting Lolo from BBC Radio 3 with Oscar, all ears and slobber (Oscar that is, not Lolo), at a cafe on the Serpentine, to discuss a review she has written of the aforementioned opera. Lolo slips Oscar’s lead under a chair leg. ‘It’d take much more than a basset hound to shift a chair with me sitting on it,’ he jokes. I once did this in the Pimm’s tent at the Three Counties Show in Malvern with our old terrier Nipper. I forgot and walked away. A few seconds later, Nipper was chasing after me, dragging the chair with her across the tent. Looking back I think it has the ‘essence of Evie’ about it. But it pales into comparison with what happens next in the book.
There are also memories from the 1950s from someone called Catherine. It’s very poignant, but I won’t give anything away. You’ll find out soon enough who she is. And of course we hear from Mrs Scott-Pym, Caroline’s mum, and Evie’s beloved next-door neighbour.
All About Evie is a book full of warmth and humour. It’s like being wrapped up in a fluffy bathrobe, with a pair of furry pink mules and a cup of hot chocolate, while watching Dad’s Army and listening to Simon and Garfunkel on the radio. At least it is for me because this was my era, my time, one which I remember with fondness and I loved every minute I spent with Evie and friends. Roll on 1982.
About the Author
Matson Taylor grew up in Yorkshire (the flat part not the Bronte part). He comes from farming stock and spent an idyllic childhood surrounded by horses, cows, bicycles and cheap ice cream.
Matson now lives in London, where he is a design historian and academic-writing tutor and has worked at various universities and museums around the world; he currently teaches at the V&A, Imperial College, and the Royal College of Art. Previously he talked his way into various jobs at universities and museums around the world. He has also worked on Camden Market, appeared in an Italian TV commercial, and been a pronunciation coach for Catalan opera singers. He gets back to Yorkshire as much as possible, mainly to see family and friends but also to get a reasonably priced haircut.
+ crime fiction, fiction, lies, literature, murder, murder mystery, Psychological fiction, review, secrets, thriller
All I Said Was True by Imran Mahmood
When Amy Blahn was murdered on a London office rooftop, Layla Mahoney was there. She held Amy as she died. But all she can say when police arrest her is that ‘It was Michael. Find Michael and you’ll find out everything you need to know.’
The problem is, the police can’t find Michael – there is no evidence that he exists. And time is running out before they have to either charge Layla with Amy’s murder, or let her go.
#AllISaidWasTrue @imranmahmood777 @BloomsburyRaven @Tr4cyF3nt0n #CompulsiveReaders #blogtour
As a lawyer, Layla knows that she has only forty-eight hours to convince police to investigate the man she knows only as ‘Michael’ instead of her. But the more she attempts to control her interviews with police, the more the truth leaks out – and how much of that truth can Layla risk being exposed?
My Review
Every now and again you read a book which is so intricately woven, complicated and unpredictable that you just have to give up trying to work it out and go with the flow. All I Said Was True is such a book.
Is Layla telling the truth? No-one believes her, particularly Detectives Metcalf and Omer. She was found cradling the head of a very dead Amy Blahn on the roof of the building where her husband Russell works. ‘So much blood,’ she tells the operator when she rings 999. She was arrested for murder but all she can say is: ‘It was Michael. Find Michael and you’ll find out everything you need to know.’
But no-one can find Michael. Does he exist or is he a figment of Layla’s imagination? He saved her life once, but why does she keep seeing him afterwards? She thinks he is stalking her, but he maintains that it’s fate, that they are ‘entangled’ in some way. But nothing he tells her makes any sense.
Layla is the typical unreliable narrator, but that’s only if you think she is lying to the police. And I really didn’t know. The narrative switched back and forth between then and now till the two merged.
It’s all in the detail but that’s not something I can talk about without giving too much away so I’m staying schtum. A brilliant read and one that makes you think and address your misconceptions.
Many thanks to @Tr4cyF3nt0n for inviting me to be part of the #CompulsiveReaders #blogtour and to NetGalley for an ARC.
About the Author
Imran Mahmood is a practising barrister with thirty years’ experience fighting cases in courtrooms across the country. His debut novel You Don’t Know Me was chosen by Simon Mayo as a BBC Radio 2 Book Club Choice for 2017 and longlisted for Theakston Crime Novel of the Year and for the CWA Gold Dagger, and was made into a hugely successful BBC1 adaptation in association with Netflix. His second novel I Know What I Saw was released in June 2021, was chosen as a Sunday Times crime novel of the month and reached no. 2 on the Audible charts. He has been commissioned to write three screenplays and is working on his next novel. When not in court or writing novels or screenplays he can sometimes be found on the Red Hot Chilli Writers’ podcast as one of the regular contributors. He hails from Liverpool but now lives in London with his wife and daughters.
+ agoraphobia, alcoholism, fiction, friendship, grief, literature, loneliness, loss, love, mental illness, metafiction, relationships, religion, review, schizophrenia, split personality, terrorism
The Daves Next Door by Will Carver
A disillusioned nurse suddenly learns how to care. An injured young sportsman wakes up find that he can see only in black and white. A desperate old widower takes too many pills and believes that two angels have arrived to usher him through purgatory.
Two agoraphobic men called Dave share the symptoms of a brain tumour, and frequently waken their neighbour with their ongoing rows.
#TheDavesNextDoor #WillIBlowUpThisTrain? #blogtour @Will_Carver @OrendaBooks
#RandomThingsTours @annecater @RandomTTours
Separate lives, running in parallel, destined to collide and then explode. Like the suicide bomber, riding the Circle Line, day after day, waiting for the right time to detonate, waiting for answers to his questions: Am I God? Am I dead? Will I blow up this train?
Shocking, intensely emotive and wildly original, Will Carver’s The Daves Next Door is an explosive existential thriller and a piercing examination of what it means to be human … or not.
My Review
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.
‘What if God was one of us,
Just a slob like one of us
Just a stranger on the bus (or tube train in this case)
Tryin’ to make his way home?’
Remember that song by Joan Osborne? The author does. He asks if me, the reader, is singing that song in my head right now. I am. I loved that song.
Did you see the film Sliding Doors? In one version of her life, the main character catches the subway, while in another parallel version she doesn’t. We see how the different versions play out and how it affects the direction her life takes. The author uses this technique a number of times to great effect.
I read a review in which the reviewer said ‘One character that I could particularly relate to, and to an extent empathise with, was that of Vashti, the disillusioned and uncaring nurse.’ Personally I felt most connected to the old man Saul. Not because I could necessarily relate to him, but because his story made me cry. Poor Saul, who didn’t want to live without his beloved Ada.
The Daves, the neighbour, the sportsman who broke his leg and now only sees in black and white, Thomas Davant, champion of causes. the fake angels trying to persuade Saul he’s in Purgatory so they can con him out of his home and of course nurse Vashti.
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?
And that ending. I really didn’t see that coming – maybe I’m being naive or stupid or both, but I actually gasped.
This book is everything you come to expect from Will Carver. Different, unique, shocking, emotional and ultimately satisfying. A true masterpiece.
Many thanks to @annecater for inviting me to be part of #RandomThingsTours
About the Author
Will Carver is the international bestselling author of the January David series. He spent his early years in Germany, but returned to the UK at age eleven, when his sporting career took off. He turned down a professional rugby contract to study theatre and television at King Alfred’s, Winchester, where he set up a successful theatre company. He currently runs his own fitness and nutrition company, and lives in Reading with his two children. Hinton Hollow Death Trip was longlisted for the Not the Booker Prize, while Nothing Important Happened Today was longlisted for the Theakston’s Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year. Good Samaritans was book of the year in the Guardian, Telegraph and Daily Express, and hit number one on the ebook charts.
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.
+ crime fiction, Detective novel, fiction, lies, murder, murder mystery, police drama, revenge, review, secrets, thriller
The Murder of Miss Perfect by Mark Eklid
Detective Chief Inspector Jim Pendlebury almost died at the end of his last big case.
Three years later, he is struggling to cope with forced retirement and the frustration of failing to convict the teacher accused of killing an 18-year-old student after seducing her.
@MarkEklid #TheMurderofMissPerfect @SpellBoundBks @Zooloo’s Book Tours @zooloo2008 #ZooloosBookTours #blogtour
He must try one more time to find the extra evidence the police need to make the teacher pay for the cruel murder of the beautiful young woman the media called Miss Perfect.
My Review
I saw a comment about a book that went something like ‘even the twists have twists’. It could easily have been referring to this one. There are more red herrings than a Rick Stein Long Weekend and I guarantee you won’t work out who really dunnit until the end.
When 18-year-old Abie Moran, dubbed Miss Perfect, is murdered there can only be one suspect. Her maths teacher David Bales. Twice her age, he supposedly seduced her at his house, and then realising what he had done, strangled her with his own tie. He had both motive and opportunity, but the jury still found him not guilty due to lack of evidence ie the missing tie. And he swears he didn’t do it.
But Detective Chief Inspector Jim Pendlebury isn’t having any of it. The man was guilty and he’s going to prove it. It’s been three years since that ridiculous verdict, and Jim is no longer a copper. He was forced to retire after suffering a massive heart attack on the steps of the courthouse following Bales’ release. But he’s determined to have one more try, whatever the cost.
Absolutely riveting – intelligent, fast-paced, cleverly plotted, surprising, The Murder of Miss Perfect has it all. But don’t be shocked if some of the surprises are totally unexpected – in that ‘how did that happen’ kind of way. I can’t explain what I mean because of spoilers, but the author does some things that most authors wouldn’t dare do. When you start reading you’ll know straight away what I mean.
Many thanks to @zooloo2008 for inviting me to be part of this blog tour.
About the Author
Long before Mark first became a published author, writing was his living. His background is as a newspaper journalist, starting out with the South Yorkshire Times in 1984 and then on to the Derby Telegraph, until leaving full-time work in March 2020. Most of Mark’s time at the Telegraph was as their cricket writer, a role that brought national recognition in the 2012 and 2013 England and Wales Cricket Board awards. He contributed for 12 years to the famed Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack and had many articles published in national magazines, annuals and newspapers. Writing as a profession meant writing for pleasure had to be put on the back burner but when his work role changed, Mark returned to one of the many half-formed novels in his computer files and, this time, saw it through to publication.
The Murder of Miss Perfect is his first novel for SpellBound, but Mark has previously self-published Sunbeam (November 2019), Family Business (June 2020) and Catalyst (February 2021). The earlier three are to be re-published through SpellBound soon. All four are fast-moving, plot-twisting thrillers set in the city of his birth, Sheffield. Mark lives in Derby with his partner, Sue. They have two adult sons and have been adopted by a cat.
Follow him at:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/meklidauthor
Twitter: https://twitter.com/MarkEklid
Website: http://markeklid.com/
Buy Links – https://geni.us/vFfMbp
+ brothers, family, fiction, grief, lies, obsession, Psychological fiction, revenge, review, Scotland, Scottish Highlands, thriller
The Lost Boy by Jane Renshaw
One island. Two women. A journey to hell.
The Clarke family, Penny, Rod and their two young boys, are delighted when they are offered a holiday in a high-end guest house on a remote and beautiful island. Their hostess Anna seems like a lovely woman. But what the Clarkes don’t realise is that this is no random invitation, that Anna has carefully selected the family to satisfy her own sinister agenda.
Penny soon begins to sense there’s something off about Anna. She often speaks about her husband and son, but is it odd that they are both away? And that Anna seems perfectly content to be alone in this isolated place?
#TheLostBoy @JaneRenshaw10 @Zooloo’s Book Tours @zooloo2008 #ZooloosBookTours #blogtour
And then there’s the way she looks at Penny’s boys – as if she’s sizing up chickens for the slaughter.
Penny grows increasingly uneasy and begins to do a bit of digging, which leads to a horrifying discovery – she finally realises who Anna is, and then she knows exactly why they’ve been invited to the island. She also knows that if she and her family are ever going to leave, they’ll have to fight for their lives … and find the answer to one terrifying question – how far would you go for the people you love?
My Review
Well this was an unusual read. What a strange cast of characters. Anna is initially a bit creepy. Rod is rather wishy-washy and he’s a twitcher (that’s a bird watcher to you and me). Penny is quite aloof and unapproachable with a massive chip on her elegant shoulder about something she never got to do with her life. Ten-year-old Freddie is highly intelligent but impossible to discipline, a bit like an over-excitable puppy. Poor little Alfie apparently looks like a gargoyle (not my words).
None of them is very lovable. Anna appears a bit unhinged. She also seems to spend a lot more time with her ‘guests’ than is normal for the host of a posh Airbnb. What is her agenda? She invited the Clarkes for a free holiday on the remote island where she lives, but as someone famous once said ‘there is no such thing as a free lunch.’ She is up to something, but is it sinister or is she just a very kind person. I doubt it’s the latter, but at this point, the gullible Clarkes have no idea who she is.
This book took some very unexpected turns and I was surprised how things turned out. It’s not possible to say any more because that would spoil the reading experience. Suffice to say that your sympathies will switch many times and it’s really very cleverly done. You might even start to like Freddie.
I really enjoyed reading The Lost Boy. I always love finding a book that is different from anything else I have read, and this one certainly is.
Many thanks to @zooloo2008 for inviting me to be part of this blog tour.
About the Author
As a child, Jane spent a lot of time in elaborate Lego worlds populated by tiny plastic animals and people. Crime levels were high, especially after the Dragon brothers set themselves up as vets and started murdering the animals in their ‘care’. (They got away with it by propping the victims up with Plasticine and pretending they were still alive…)
As an adult, she is still playing in imaginary worlds and putting her characters through hell – but now she can call it ‘writing’ and convince herself that she is doing something sensible. In real life, she has a PhD in genetics and copy-edits scientific and medical journals.
Follow her at:
Website: https://www.janerenshaw.co.uk/
Buy Links – https://geni.us/pisxuF
Bliss – can it get any better than this?
Given the choice would you rather live in a perfect world that isn’t real or fight to build something that is.
Bliss is very different from anything I have listened to from Theatrephonic before. I listened in two parts though I admit I did re-listen to a few bits to remind myself.
Jack meets Katy and it’s love at first sight for both of them. It’s pure ‘bliss’, just like the world has become in the future. A world of perfect happiness, free housing and medical treatment and no crime. And it’s all governed by Senator Bliss and the ’29’.
But is it all as perfect as it seems?
I’m not usually into this genre, but Bliss was brilliant and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Exciting story and some great characterisations, particularly Jack. And a warning for the future.
Written by Scott Peacock
Adapted for radio and directed by Emmeline Braefield
With
Rob Keeves as Jack Hoyte
Honey McKenna as Katy, the AI and Larkin
John Cooper-Evans as Senator Bliss, Commander Fitz, The Receptionist and Unit 30
and
Emmeline Braefield as Michelle Blake and Mrs White
Produced by Cat on a Piano Productions
The music was composed and produced by Honey McKenna
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…
In the small town of Finchley, upstate New York, three bodies are discovered in an old mine. Soon after, Sheriff Doug Harrison contacts the FBI for help.
Ronin Nash is an ex-FBI special agent who wanted nothing more than to finish restoring the old family lake house. Now, Nash’s old boss wants him back and on the Finchley case.
#NobodysAgent @StuartField14 @NextChapterPB @Zooloo’s Book Tours @zooloo2008 #ZooloosBookTours #blogtour
Nash takes the job and travels to Finchley, expecting to solve the case quickly, but it turns out that things are not not as clear-cut as he thought. Someone in the small town has a secret, and they’re willing to go to any lengths to protect it.
A riveting crime thriller, Nobody’s Agent is the first book in Stuart Field’s Ronin Nash series.
My Review
Ex-FBI special agent Ronin Nash is happy in his new life restoring his family’s lake house. But when his old boss turns up and asks him to help with a case, he is definitely not keen. Intrigued – yes – keen – no. What the hell, intrigue wins and soon he’s on his way to New York to join the team of the newly formed IIB. He just hopes he still has the knack of solving crimes in his own inimitable way.
Cracking good stuff this, with a hero who is a bit 007 crossed with maverick cop Harry Callaghan. I love that Nash wears a suit top half with jeans and boots. And a hat. I can just imagine that hat.
So now our intrepid hero is on his way to the small town of Finchley in upstate New York, where everything and everyone seems a bit too perfect. Especially for a town where a grisly murder took place in the old Mason factory and three bodies have been discovered in a disused mine. So why are the FBI involved in a case of supposedly three homeless people who crept into a mine and died of exposure? Because maybe that’s not what happened.
But nothing is as it seems in Finchley. Nash being there makes everyone nervous, in fact police officer Jordan Fox has been tasked with ‘babysitting’ him.
What’s even stranger is that self-made millionaire Robert Somersby and former resident of Finchley is ploughing money into a town that is dying on its feet. So what’s going on? Nash is trying to find out but everyone seems to be against him. Apart from his dad Mac, who has managed to get involved.
It’s a brilliant, fast-paced read which is going to become what I’m sure will be a great series.
Many thanks to @zooloo2008 for inviting me to be part of this blog tour.
About the Author
Stuart Field is a British Army veteran who now works in security after serving twenty-two years in the British Army. As well as working full time he writes in his spare time.
Stuart was born and raised in the West Midlands in the UK. His love for travel has been an inspiration in some of his work with his John Steel and Ronin Nash thriller series.
As well as future John Steel novels, Stuart is working on a new series and standalone novels.
Follow him at:
Facebook : www.facebook.com/stuart.field.5811
Twitter: www.twitter.com/StuartField14
Website : stuartfieldauthorshomepage.wordpress.com
Buy Links
Amazon – https://geni.us/vOno4M7
+ crime fiction, fiction, lies, marriage, mental illness, murder, narcissist, police drama, police procedural, religion, review, schizophrenia, secrets, thriller
The Binding Room by Nadine Matheson (Inspector Anjelica Henley #2)
Detective Anjelica Henley confronts a series of ritualistic murders in this heart-pounding thriller about race, power and the corrupt institutions that threaten us.
When Detective Anjelica Henley is called to investigate the murder of a popular preacher in his own church, she discovers a second victim, tortured and tied to a bed in an upstairs room. He is alive, but barely, and his body shows signs of a dark religious ritual.
With a revolving list of suspects and the media spotlight firmly on her, Henley is left with more questions than answers as she attempts to untangle both crimes. But when another body appears, the case takes on a new urgency. Unless she can apprehend the killer, the next victim may just be Henley herself.
Drawing on her experiences as a criminal attorney, Nadine Matheson deftly explores issues of race, class and justice through an action-packed story that will hold you captive until the last terrifying page.
My Review
I do love a ritualistic killing (in books peeps, in books only) and this was SO good. We start with the murder of a preacher Caleb Annan in his own church. He’s been stabbed 49 times in a frenzied attack and left bleeding to death on the floor.
But that is only the beginning of the puzzle. In a locked room, Detective Inspector Anjelica Henley and her team find the body of a young man in a locked room upstairs. He’s been tied to a bed, tortured and his body shows signs of a dark religious ritual. But amazingly this one is still alive – just. If he survives, maybe he can tell the police who did this to him. Was it Caleb? Or did his torturer kill the preacher? Or maybe they are not related at all.
Caleb’s body was discovered by his cleaner Uliana Piontek. But is she lying when she says he was already dead when she entered the church and why was she there late at night? Did she kill him? She had both motive and opportunity. But then so did Caleb’s wife, the indomitable and frankly terrifying Serena.
Then another victim turns up and the case is blown wide open. We now have more suspects and more motives. And it turns out that Caleb wasn’t all he was cracked up to be.
Apart from the murders, The Binding Room also delves into Henley’s past, her PTSD, her marriage to Rob, her previous relationship with her boss Stephen Pellacia, her friendship with her partner DC Ramouter and much more that follows on from book one which I have to admit I haven’t read. I wish I had, but you can still enjoy The Binding Room without having done so.
A great heart-pumping, fast-paced police procedural which I thoroughly enjoyed in spite of some of the grisly descriptions of the ritualistic murders. But then I’m OK with those so long as no babies or animals are harmed in the story.
Many thanks to The Pigeonhole, and my fellow Pigeons for making this such an enjoyable read.
About the Author
Nadine Matheson was born and lives in London. She began her working life at the BBC and now practices as a criminal defence lawyer. In 2016, she won the City University Crime Writing Competition and completed the Creative Writing (Crime/Thriller Novels) MA at City University of London with Distinction in 2018. Her crime fiction novel, The Jigsaw Man, was published by HQ on 18 February 2021 and Hanover Square Press on 16 March 2021. The Jigsaw Man has been optioned for TV by Monumental Television.
You can find Nadine Matheson here:
www.twitter.com/NadineMatheson
www.nadinematheson.com
www.instagram.com/queennads
+ crime fiction, dark humour, fiction, kidnapping, lies, murder, review, secrets, serial killer, thriller
No Secrets by David Jackson
THEY ALL BELIEVE HIM
BUT SHE KNOWS HE’S LYING
Izzy is cursed. She has highly developed empathic abilities that mean she can read the emotions of those close to her. And she can always tell when they are lying. As a child she sparked her parents’ divorce by revealing her father’s infidelity. As an adult she has cut herself off from almost everyone except her partner, the only person she knows who has nothing to hide.
But no matter how she tries, Izzy’s abilities cannot be controlled. Young girls are going missing, and the police have no suspects. But when Izzy sees her old school caretaker being interviewed, she knows his story about seeing the latest victim being bundled into a car isn’t true. But why would Kenneth Plumley lie? And when the police won’t take her seriously, Izzy risks everything to discover the truth herself…
My Review
Is Izzy’s gift a curse? How would you feel if you knew when someone was lying? It sounds great but in actual fact it would be a nightmare. It already landed her in trouble when she revealed her father’s infidelity to her mother and triggered their divorce. Now she tries not to get too close to people, because the better she knows them, the more she can see through their untruths.
Talking of untruths, I promised myself I wouldn’t make any comments about politics, but where have you been Izzy? We’ve needed you.
Unfortunately the police don’t believe her when she tells them that her old school caretaker Kenneth Plummer is lying when he says he witnessed the abduction of a teenage girl. She got to know ‘Plummers’ quite well when she was at school (a bit strange – would definitely have been discouraged when I was at school and safeguarding wasn’t what it was back then compared to now), so she can tell he’s making it up.
But why would he lie? The police think Izzy is a crackpot, an attention seeker. Even the lovely DS Josh Frendy is doubtful, though he is the only one who keeps an open mind. Not about Kenneth being involved as Izzy suggests, but about her ‘superpower’.
And Izzy never gives up. She is determined to prove she is correct till even her partner Andy starts getting fed up. Not to mention that trailing someone you suspect of being a murderer is rather risky. Particularly when it includes hanging around his house and following him into dark, lonely places.
No-one writes a serial killer thriller like David Jackson. He can combine kidnapping, abduction, grisly murder and dark humour in one novel without ever veering into the realms of bad taste. One minute you’re burying a body and the next you are laughing out loud.
Many thanks to The Pigeonhole, and my fellow Pigeons for making this such an enjoyable read.
About the Author
From David himself: “I am the author of a series of crime thrillers featuring Irish-American NYPD Detective Callum Doyle. The first in the series, Pariah, was Highly Commended in the Crime Writers Association Debut Dagger Awards. It is published by Pan Macmillan. The follow-ups are The Helper and Marked, and I am hard at work on the fourth in the series. My writing influences include Ed McBain, Dennis Lehane, George Pelecanos, Robert Crais, Michael Connelly and Harlan Coben, amongst many others. My favourite quote about my work is one from the Guardian, now carried on the front of my novels: ‘Recalls Harlan Coben – though for my money Jackson is the better writer.’”
+ crime fiction, Detective novel, family, fiction, Iceland noir, lies, marriage, murder, Nordic noir, police drama, police procedural, Psychological fiction, review, Scandi noir, secrets, thriller, twins
Night Shadows (Forbidden Iceland #3) by Eva Bjorg AEgisdottir translated by Victoria Cribb
The small community of Akranes is devastated when a young man dies in a mysterious house fire, and when Detective Elma and her colleagues from West Iceland CID discover the fire was arson, they become embroiled in an increasingly perplexing case involving multiple suspects. What’s more, the dead man’s final online search raises fears that they could be investigating not one murder, but two.
#NightShadows #IcelandicNoir #ForbiddenIceland @evaaegisdottir @OrendaBooks @victoriacribb #RandomThingsTours @annecater @RandomTTours #blogtour
A few months before the fire, a young Dutch woman takes a job as an au pair in Iceland, desperate to make a new life for herself after the death of her father. But the seemingly perfect family who employs her turns out to have problems of its own and she soon discovers she is running out of people to turn to.
As the police begin to home in on the truth, Elma, already struggling to come to terms with a life-changing event, finds herself in mortal danger as it becomes clear that someone has secrets they’ll do anything to hide…
My Review
I’ve said many times that Scandi Noir is different to our crime books – ‘there’s something that makes it different from our own crime novels and police procedurals. It’s stripped back, realistic, never shies away from anything.‘ However, Eva Bjorg AEgisdottir’s books are a bit different and this is the third one I’ve read. The main character is Detective Elma, who we met in the other two books A Creak On The Stairs and Girls Who Lie, plus her colleagues from West Iceland CID, her sister Dagny and her mother – we don’t see her father as much.
In the last book Elma was in a relationship with one of her colleagues Sævar, and this is still continuing in Night Shadows. Her boss Hordur, lost his wife Gigja at the end of Girls Who Lie, but is back to lead the current investigation.
So on to the main story. A young man called Marino has died in suspicious circumstances in a fire, which turns out to be arson. Elma and her team begin to investigate and soon realise that this case is far more complicated than it seems at first. The victim had a number of friends, all of whom appear to know nothing about what happened that night. But someone does, because someone poured petrol on the floor and set light to it.
A few months earlier, 19-year-old Lise from Amsterdam took a job as an au pair with a family whose son Andri was friends with Marino. She was hired to look after Klara and Anna, the two younger siblings. But the family have secrets of their own, particularly the father, Unnar, who leads a double life and is rumoured to have love affairs all over Iceland.
I’m not going to go into more detail about the plot as it’s far too complicated, suffice to say that there are a number of interwoven relationships and some not very nice people involved. It’s beautifully written and perfectly translated by Victoria Cribb. It’s quite a slow burn so don’t expect the usual concoction of grisly murders, sex trafficking, drugs and ritualistic killings that you often get with Scandi Noir. But don’t be put off! This is the story of a seemingly ordinary family whose darker side is bubbling under the surface, waiting for its secrets to rise to the fore. It’s also a fascinating look at a country which appears so innocent to an outsider, but obviously has hidden depths waiting to erupt like its famous volcano in a cloud of fire and ash.
Many thanks to @annecater for inviting me to be part of #RandomThingsTours
About the Author
Born in Akranes in 1988, Eva moved to Trondheim, Norway to study my MSc in Globalisation when she was 25. After moving back home having completed her MSc, she knew it was time to start working on her novel. Eva has wanted to write books since she was 15 years old, having won a short story contest in Iceland. Eva worked as a stewardess to make ends meet while she wrote her first novel, The Creak on the Stairs. The book went on to win the CWA Debut Dagger, the Blackbird Award, was shortlisted (twice) for the Capital Crime Readers’ Awards, and became a number one bestseller in Iceland. The critically acclaimed Girls Who Lie (book two in the Forbidden Iceland series) soon followed, with Night Shadows (book three) following suit in July 2022. Eva lives with her husband and three children in Reykjavík.
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.
+ abuse, diary, domestic noir, family, female friendship, fiction, friendship, lies, rape, relationships, review, secrets
Good Husbands by Cate Ray
Three wives, one letter, and an explosive secret that will change everything. He said, she said. Who do you believe?
Jessica, Stephanie and Priyanka are complete strangers, but they have one thing in common: they’ve each received a letter accusing their husbands of committing a sexual assault more than two decades prior. Is the accusation true or is there more to the story? It was a secret that remained buried for years.
With their worlds suddenly turned upside down, they don’t know who to trust—a complete stranger or the men they love and built their lives with. The three women come together to embark on a hunt for the truth, but they are hardly prepared for what they will discover. Who is the victim, and will justice ultimately be served?
My Review
I’m so conflicted. This is like reading Jodi Picoult. You try to see all sides and end up confused, angry, sympathetic. Ultimately I felt for the children most of all.
What would I do if it was my husband? Well let me say firstly that I trust him totally after 42 years together. I wouldn’t believe the letter and I would show it to him immediately. And that’s the difference.
The fact that they believe it shows that they have always had doubts about their husbands’ integrity. Stephanie’s husband Dan comes over as the worst, exerting coercive control over his wife, throwing his weight about. Her three girls can see it – middle daughter Rosie keeps warning her – but Stephanie is in denial.
I felt particularly sorry for Priyanka – Beau is so little and Andy has been a great father. Is that more important? And Jess is the driving force of the three. But even if there is no doubt about Nicky’s accusations, and we are not sure, I don’t always approve of their methods.
To play devil’s advocate here (don’t judge me) – I am simply opening a narrative, that’s all – the book can sometimes seem a bit man-hating. They must be guilty because they are – men. I also wanted some kind of redemption for at least one of the husbands. Can anyone ever confess their sins, serve their time and be forgiven? Not forgiven enough for their wives to take them back, but for them to be allowed to see their children (for the children’s sake not theirs). At times it was heartbreaking, especially for Beau.
This book opens up so much emotion and rage. Rage at the three men and their unforgivable crime against a vulnerable young woman. Can there ever be any excuse? They were all drunk. No excuse. They were all young. No excuse. Can you ever forgive your partner’s crime? Assault? Revenge? Murder? Maybe even murder. But rape – never.
Can the rapist ever be sorry for their crime and try to make amends? Or do we just throw away the key? I certainly don’t know the answer and wouldn’t pretend to.
Many thanks to The Pigeonhole, and my fellow Pigeons for making this such an enjoyable read. Without them to discuss this book I would have been even more frustrated.
About the Author
Cate Ray is the author of four novels published in the UK as Cath Weeks and she was named an “Author to Watch” by ELLE. Her novel GOOD HUSBANDS is an Apple Best Book of June, a Barnes & Noble Booksellers’ Favourite, a Walmart Canada Read of the Month and a Kobo Best Mystery & Thriller. You can follow Cate on Instagram & Twitter @CateRaywriter, or visit her website: www.CateRay.co.uk
+ adventure, fiction, haunting, Historical fiction, love, review, Scotland, Scottish Highlands, supernatural, witchcraft
Outcast by Claire Voet
In 1945 Molly Hazleton is heartbroken when her fiancé doesn’t return from the war after being reported “missing in action.” So when Aunt Daphne comes to visit with news of having bought a 17th century manor house at auction in Scotland, Molly welcomes the opportunity to start afresh and help her aunt turn Aberdoch Manor into a hotel.
With a strange sense of déjà vu, Molly struggles to understand her connection with the property having never stepped foot inside of it or even Scotland for that matter. Ross McDaniel, the newly appointed gardener, knows more than he is letting on.
#Outcast #ClaireVoet #BlossomSpringPublishing @Zooloo’s Book Tours @zooloo2008 #ZooloosBookTours #blogtour
And when he shows Molly an ancient yew tree named by the locals as The Ghost Tree, after touching it, Molly discovers a remarkable ability to vividly see and experience her own past life – a life of extreme danger and hardship on the road with the Jacobite in 1745, hunted by the Red Coats for crimes she hasn’t committed.
She is also in love with a brave, Scot warrior, leader of the McDaniel clan who soon becomes her husband. Stirring up forgotten memories and an uncontrollable yearning to be back with those she once loved, Molly is hopelessly torn between very different worlds, two hundred years apart!
My Review
What a jolly good romp this was, jumping back and forth from 1745 to 1945, from the Jacobite rebellion (a friend at my convent school refused to sing the National Anthem and toasted the King over the water instead much to the disgust of the nuns) to Molly and her Aunt Daphne’s escapades at the much haunted Aberdoch Manor. Daphne has inherited the Manor and plans to turn it into a hotel.
This story has everything – romance, clan rivalry, bloody battles and hauntings a-plenty, plus the main character believing she has lived before as Ella, the heroine of the 1745 time. This is wonderful stuff and there is a huge amount of historical detail, fabulously researched, plus a great deal of humour – not something you find often in a historical ghost story. Unless it’s Oscar Wilde of course.
Aunt Daphne is a middle-aged dragon who says exactly what comes into her head and particularly dislikes Vicar Norman, even though he’s really a very nice chap. And he has a ginger cat called Carrot. If I was to get a ginger cat I would definitely call it Carrot. His wife Joan is the typical vicar’s wife, all cups of tea and home-baked cakes. A bit Mary Berry though Norman is definitely no Paul Hollywood.
When Molly and Daphne arrive at Aberdoch Manor, they meet the newly appointed gardener Ross McDaniel, with whom Molly becomes friends. But Ross is hiding something from Molly; is it something to do with the house, or is it to do with his ancestors? Or both? Then one day Ross shows Molly the ancient Ghost Tree as it’s known locally. They say if you touch the carved heart where the initial E & F are carved you can speak to the dead. But Molly has an even more unnerving experience. She finds she can see and experience her own past life – a life of extreme danger and hardship on the road with the Jacobite in 1745. She can also see her true love, Fergus, the leader of the McDaniel clan and Laird of Aberdoch.
There are plenty of surprises too in this book, which comes as no shock as it turns out there is to be a sequel – I kind of guessed the very last twist and I can’t wait to see how it all turns out in book two.
Many thanks to @zooloo2008 for inviting me to be part of this blog tour.
About the Author
Claire Voet is an English author, born in Gosport across the shores of Portsmouth Harbour. Claire started writing in 2010 and has since then written a number of books to include The Ghost of Bluebell Cottage, The Other Daddy A World Away, Captain Hawkes, short story A Helping Hand, Echoes In The Mist and the Outcast series.
Claire demonstrates her love for history and also the supernatural in many of her spellbinding stories. As a commercial participator for the BBC Children in Need Appeal, Claire donates money from her book sales once a year.
Follow her at:
Website : www.clairevoet.com
Buy Links
Amazon – https://geni.us/w6NoOv
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