+ crime fiction, Detective novel, fiction, murder mystery, police drama, police procedural, review, writing
Buried by Lynda La Plante
Millions of stolen, untraceable bank notes lie untouched in an old Victorian cottage, the hidden legacy of the Dolly Rawlins and her widows. But the millions are not forgotten. Released from prison, Esther Freeman is determined to retrieve the money. And so too is Mike Withey, Shirley Miller’s brother and Audrey’s son.
When a fire breaks out at the derelict cottage, with a badly charred body inside along with what looks like thousands of burnt bank notes, it attracts the attention of the police and one young detective in particular, Jack Warr. Jack’s investigation into the fire, and the burnt body inside, coincide with an investigation into his own past. Adopted at birth, Jack discovers his birth father may have been none other than Harry Rawlins, a renowned criminal.
As he finds out the truth about his own identity, Jack finds himself becoming increasingly aggressive, stopping at nothing to find the truth – including breaking the law himself.
This is a really good read if you are into traditional police procedural stories. Lots of great character development and twists and turns though probably not any massive surprises. For me personally it is a bit old-fashioned, a bit The Sweeney, particularly in the language and descriptions but I loved it nonetheless.
Jack is the perfect main protagonist. Adopted at five years old by Charlie and Penny, he has never been interested in where he came from until now and what he discovers will change his life forever. Charlie and Penny are lovely as is his wife Maggie. In fact she is probably the nicest of the lot! As for Jack, we can’t have a perfect main character can we. He needs to be flawed and conflicted but do nothing too bad that we can’t forgive. Or can he? You’ll have to read it to find out.
What I didn’t realise is that this book follows on from Widows, which was made into a TV series in the 1980s. I’ve never seen it unfortunately. However, there is enough background that it doesn’t matter whether you have read or watched Widows.
Will I read the next Jack Warr book? Probably, though I think this will make a great TV series and as this is Lynda La Plante I expect to see it on our screens soon. Anyone who reads my reviews will know I love to cast the characters but this one is hard as most of my ‘favourites’ are too old to play Jack. I think Lynda already has someone in mind, though Richard Madden is a slight possibility but my money is on David Caves (Jack from Silent Witness) though he’d have to lose the accent. I know he plays Jack in SW but I just kept visualising him as I was reading.
Many thanks to The Pigeonhole and to my fellow Pigeons for making this such a great experience.
She’s always looking on the bright side… Dawn Elisabeth Brightside has been running from her past for twenty-two years and two months, precisely. So when she is offered a bed in St Jude’s Hostel for the Homeless, it means so much more than just a roof over her head. But with St Jude’s threatened with closure, Dawn worries that everything is about to crumble around her all over again. Perhaps, with a little help from her new friends, she can find a way to save this light in the darkness?
And maybe, just maybe, Dawn will finally have a place to call home…
I absolutely loved this book. I’m not sure how many times I was reduced to tears but that’s a good sign for me! I would give it six stars if I could.
Dawn Elizabeth Brightside did not have an easy beginning. Her beloved father disappeared when she was a child and her mother – well let’s just say she wasn’t the best. Then something happened and Dawn has been running for 22 years. In fact the exact time since her daughter Rosie was born. We don’t know why she’s been running all this time but the reasons why are revealed bit by bit.
The story really begins when Dawn is accepted into St Jude’s hostel for the homeless in Dover. St Jude’s is run by Grace (half of the story is seen from her point of view) and Peter, an ex-service user himself. Then there is Cara, whom Dawn befriends, trying to get off drugs so she can be reunited with her twins, Jack, in care and then prison but trying to turn his life around once and for all, Teardrop Terry and a host of others, living in the hostel or on the streets. Everyone has a backstory, most are heart-wrenching.
But Dawn is full of hope and blessed with a vivid imagination. How can she and Grace and the others save St Jude’s when funding is withdrawn and the hostel is faced with closure? This is a book filled with sadness, but more than anything it’s filled with love and of course extraordinary hope.
Many thanks to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
In 1726 in the small town of Godalming, England, a young woman confounds the medical community by giving birth to dead rabbits.
Surgeon John Howard is a rational man. His apprentice Zachary knows John is reluctant to believe anything that purports to exist outside the realm of logic. But even John cannot explain how or why Mary Toft, the wife of a local farmer, manages to give birth to a dead rabbit. When this singular event becomes a regular occurrence, John realizes that nothing in his experience as a village physician has prepared him to deal with a situation as disturbing as this. He writes to several preeminent surgeons in London, three of whom quickly arrive in the small town of Godalming ready to observe and opine. When Mary’s plight reaches the attention of King George, Mary and her doctors are summoned to London, where Zachary experiences for the first time a world apart from his small-town existence, and is exposed to some of the darkest corners of the human soul. All the while, Mary lies in bed, waiting for another birth, as doubts begin to blossom among the surgeons and a growing group of onlookers grow impatient for another miracle..
Such conflicting feelings about this book. Entertaining at times but massively overlong. So long I began skim reading parts of it. I get the message that people are prepared to degrade themselves for what? money, fame, notoriety but some of it was very unsettling. I guess it still happens. We don’t go to the same lengths but we still love to see celebrities degrade themselves on programmes like I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out of Here. They might not be prepared to stuff dead rabbits up themselves (hopefully), but they still get showered with rats and creepy crawlies and eat kangaroo’s genitals.
In fact one wonders how far some of them would be prepared to go for fame and money. Even Big Brother and Love Island have moral messages. Do we love the contestants to win or do we cruelly want to see them fail and be ridiculed? Or just want to see them have sex on live TV? As for Naked Attraction. The lowest of the low. Or just watch Jeremy Kyle if it ever returns. The clever use these programmes to their own ends but the less clever are thrown into the arena like the bull or the ‘cat-eaters’. And anyone whoever watched The Word in the 1990’s will know just what I mean.
However, back to the book. Though well-written and thought-provoking, much of the philosophising and descriptions of London life were far too long and that is where I started skipping paragraphs. Not that much actually happens. I wanted to know more about Zachary’s relationship with Anne for instance. That was far more interesting but there was too little about it. When I knew something interesting was going to happen I skimmed to those parts.
I am in fact more inclined to give it 3.5 stars. I would give it 4 stars but I have a feeling the lengthy paragraphs may cause some readers to drop out part way through.
Many thanks to NetGalley for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Scotland, 1940:
War rages across Europe, but Invermoray House is at peace. Until the night of Constance’s twenty-first birthday, when she’s the only person to see a Spitfire crash into the loch. Constance has been longing for adventure – but when she promises to keep the pilot hidden, what will it cost her?
2020:
Kate arrives in the Highlands to turn Invermoray into a luxury bed-and-breakfast, only to find that the estate is more troubled than she’d imagined. But when Kate discovers the house has a murky history, with Constance McLay’s name struck from its records, she knows she can’t leave until the mystery is solved…
How will one promise change the fate of two women, decades apart?
This is definitely not my usual genre (romance/historical fiction) but I really enjoyed it nonetheless. I couldn’t wait to read the next stave (reading with The Pigeonhole). I loved the way it followed the two stories – the first in 1940 and the second nowadays. There are links and secrets which will not come to light until the very end so you will have to be patient!
A couple of things about the ending were not what I hoped for but at least it was all tied up neatly. Personally I think it cried out for a bit of magical realism (my favourite genre) with maybe Constance leaving ‘messages’ or clues from the grave in the ghillie’s cottage or the painting ripping again every time someone tried to repair it.
Many thanks to The Pigeonhole for giving me the opportunity to read along with my fellow Pigeons.
Nina can never forgive Maggie for what she did. And she can never let her leave.
They say every house has its secrets, and the house that Maggie and Nina have shared for so long is no different. Except that these secrets are not buried in the past. Every other night, Maggie and Nina have dinner together. When they are finished, Nina helps Maggie back to her room in the attic, and into the heavy chain that keeps her there. Because Maggie has done things to Nina that can’t ever be forgiven, and now she is paying the price.
But there are many things about the past that Nina doesn’t know, and Maggie is going to keep it that way — even if it kills her. Because in this house, the truth is more dangerous than lies.
Oh my God what a brilliant book. Ridiculously far-fetched at times – did no-one ever check or investigate or even visit the house – but hey ho, it’s fiction. Two of the most ghastly and wicked protagonists I have ever come across but nail-bitingly good and full of unexpected twists right up to the end.
Some bits will really shock until you say ‘please no more’ but still it goes on. On a number of occasions I had to hide behind the sofa metaphorically speaking and scream to myself – ‘please don’t!’ but then she did or not as the case may be.
By the end I’m not sure which of them is worse – actually I am but I’m not giving that away. At least you’ll never question your relationship with your mum/daughter again. You’ll think thank God we are not like that. Unless of course you keep your mum chained up in the attic….
Many thanks to NetGalley for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.
+ brothers, crime fiction, Detective novel, friends, friendship, murder mystery, police drama, review, writing
The Search Party by Simon Lelic
The entire town thinks Sadie Saunders is dead. Missing now for a week, they say she was murdered. And they think they know who did it. Aware of the suspicion that surrounds them – and one of them in particular – Sadie’s five best friends vow to find out the truth. So they pack their bags and set off for the woods where Sadie was last seen.
But what starts as a search quickly turns into something more sinister. Each of them has a secret, and they all know more about Sadie’s past than they are willing to admit. As the landscape opens up, and the darkness closes in, the reality of their situation begins to dawn on them.
It was never really a search party. It was a witch hunt. And not everyone is going to make it home.
I really tried to enjoy this book but for me it was marred by the POV of the teenagers. A stroppy lot who turn on each other at the drop of a hat in spite of being so-called best friends. It’s a shame because I really liked Detective Inspector Fleet. His relationships with his work partner Nicky, his soon to be ex-wife Holly and his mother. All that was great but the parts told by each of the teenagers in their annoying ‘voices’ (each tells their own side of the story and didn’t they go on and on) kept reminding me of the video footage in the Blair Witch Project – remember that film? I got so annoyed with them that I was hoping they’d all disappear and never come back. Maybe not literally….
And then the ending. I was hoping for something really sinister. Far darker and deeper. Sorry but even though I finished it in record time I am not sure whether I just wanted to get it over with. In reality it’s a very good book. Just not for me I’m afraid.
Thanks to Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Cassandra Tipp is dead…or is she?
After all, the notorious recluse and eccentric bestselling novelist has always been prone to flights of fancy – everyone in town remembers the shocking events leading up to Cassie’s infamous trial (she may have been acquitted, but the insanity defence only stretches so far).
Cassandra Tipp has left behind no body – just her massive fortune, and one final manuscript. Then again, there are enough bodies in her past – her husband Tommy Tipp, whose mysterious disembowelment has never been solved, and a few years later, the shocking murder-suicide of her father and brother.
Cassandra Tipp will tell you a story–but it will come with a terrible price. What really happened, out there in the woods–and who has Cassie been protecting all along? Read on, if you dare…
This was such a confusing read. I don’t even know whether I liked it or not. At times I almost gave up because some of the gruesome details are so distasteful. I can deal with the horrific bits just not the faerie feeding etc. These faeries are not Tinkerbell. They don’t wear pink and have gossamer wings. They are dark and creepy and evil and feed off people in order to sustain life (even though they are dead).
But then the writing is magical and poetic so I felt I had to keep reading. Actually about two-thirds of the way through (when you begin to understand a bit what’s going on) I began to enjoy it more. By the end you ask yourself whether the faeries are in fact real or did Cassie ‘invent’ them as a way of dealing with her childhood abuse. Is she mad or is everyone around her just horrible? At first I thought she was suffering multiple personality disorder but I don’t think that’s the case. I definitely lean towards the abuse definition but … what are those shadows at the end of the garden or hiding in the shrubbery? Are they watching me….?
I certainly think Camilla Bruce is one to watch. Would I read her next novel? Yes definitely.
Many thanks to The Pigeonhole for giving me the opportunity to read along with the other Pigeons and the author.
+ crime fiction, Detective novel, fiction, murder mystery, Psychological fiction, review, serial killer, writing
Rules For Perfect Murders (Eight Perfect Murders) by Peter Swanson
A chilling tale of psychological suspense and an homage to the thriller genre tailor-made for fans: the story of a bookseller who finds himself at the centre of an FBI investigation because a very clever killer has started using his list of fiction’s most ingenious murders.
Years ago, bookseller and mystery aficionado Malcolm Kershaw compiled a list of the genre’s most unsolvable murders, those that are almost impossible to crack—which he titled “Eight Perfect Murders”—chosen from among the best of the best including Agatha Christie’s A. B. C. Murders, Patricia Highsmith’s Strangers on a Train, Ira Levin’s Death Trap, A. A. Milne’s Red House Mystery, Anthony Berkeley Cox’s Malice Aforethought, James M. Cain’s Double Indemnity, John D. Macdonald’s The Drowner, and Donna Tartt’s A Secret History.
But no one is more surprised than Mal, now the owner of the Old Devils Bookshop in Boston, when an FBI agent comes knocking on his door one snowy day in February. She’s looking for information about a series of unsolved murders that look eerily similar to the killings on Mal’s old list. And the FBI agent isn’t the only one interested in this bookseller who spends almost every night at home reading. The killer is out there, watching his every move—a diabolical threat who knows way too much about Mal’s personal history, especially the secrets he’s never told anyone, even his recently deceased wife.
To protect himself, Mal begins looking into possible suspects—and sees a killer in everyone around him. But Mal doesn’t count on the investigation leaving a trail of death in its wake. Suddenly, a series of shocking twists leaves more victims dead—and the noose around Mal’s neck grows so tight he might never escape.
I loved this book so much. I read it in staves with The Pigeonhole and I couldn’t wait for the next one. A very skilled plot that kept everyone guessing right up to the end.
Mal is an unreliable narrator and while that can sometimes be a problem on this occasion it was fun. He isn’t always that likeable but I can’t say much more. Of the other main characters I loved Gwen the FBI Agent who is looking for his help with a number of unsolved murders but I could not relate to his late wife Claire. She’s a victim with a drug problem but I struggled to sympathise. Mal’s staff at Old Devils – Emily and Brandon – are fairly minor but my star of the show so to speak is Nero the cat. No spoilers but for anyone who worries about these things Nero is fine. There I said it.
After spending time with Gwen, Mal suspects everyone. Maybe he is right to do so. And is there only one killer? There are so many red herrings it took me ages to even come near to guessing the truth. Brilliant!
Many thanks to The Pigeonhole for giving me the opportunity to read along with my fellow Pigeons.
IT STARTED WITH A KISS
AND ENDED IN MURDER…
The darkly addictive new novel from the Sunday Times bestselling author of I Looked Away, Blood Sisters and My Husband’s Wife. In Poppy Page’s mind, there are two types of women in this world: those who are faithful to their husbands, and those who are not. Until now, Poppy has never questioned which she was.
But when handsome, charming Matthew Gordon walks back into her life after almost two decades, that changes. Poppy makes a single mistake – and that mistake will be far more dangerous than she could imagine.
I just could not put this down. I read the first half in two sittings but then I just couldn’t stop. I stayed awake till 1.30 am to finish it even though I had to get up at 7 for work. Just when you think you know what really happened there is another twist and then another.
It’s one of those books that remind you of watching the Daleks in Dr Who when you are a child and you want to hide behind the settee but you still watch through your fingers. Please that can’t be happening. I’m so scared but I need to carry on reading. He didn’t really do THAT did he? What next? Can it get any worse?
Oh Poppy, you are an idiot. You should have talked to your husband before things got out of hand. He’s a bit dull but he loves you and you love him and the children. The past is the past and needs to stay there.
And poor mum-in-law Betty. Such a strong yet tortured woman. Her story is probably the best part as many other readers have said. Someone commented that she behaves as if it’s the 1950s rather than the 60s/70s. I disagree. Plenty of women were treated this way. I’ve known women whose husbands gave them ‘housekeeping plus a little extra’ and didn’t know how much they earned or spent down the pub no doubt. Put up and shut up in exchange for a roof over their heads and a steady income coming in. Certainly women who would be over 70 now. They didn’t work as it made their husbands look like they didn’t earn enough to keep them.
It’s a brilliantly woven story that builds and builds and then some. Highly recommended reading.
Many thanks to NetGalley for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.
You never know where danger may come from…
6.27am. The sky is blue. The air is warm with a summer breeze. And in the last 27 minutes, seven people have been murdered. In a series of coordinated attacks, seven men and women across London have been targeted. For journalist Famie Madden, the horror unfolds as she arrives for the morning shift.
The victims have one thing in common: they made up the investigations team at the news wire service where Famie works. The thought in everyone’s minds, what were they working on that could prompt such brutal devastation? And as Famie starts to receive mysterious messages, she has to find out whether she is being warned of the next attack, or being told that she will be the next victim…
This was an excellent read. Who knew a radio DJ would turn out to be such a good writer? But then look at ITV news anchor Tom Bradby. If you haven’t read any of his books, check him out. But back to Knife Edge. Exciting from the start with a great main protagonist (flawed of course but they need to be don’t they?) and a cast of characters that would make a brilliant TV series. I wonder if this book will be part of a series with Famie and her daughter Charlie and certain others cropping up again – can’t say who because of spoilers. It rattled along and I had to stay up last night to finish it once I had got 75% of the way through. My only issue was with the ‘action scenes’. I don’t blame the author for this. They must be extremely hard to write and I rarely come across a book where they work well when the action unfolds so quickly. They always work better on screen. Having said that it didn’t detract from my enjoyment and I look forward to next book if there is one.
Many thanks to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Twenty-five years ago, a sixteen-year-old schoolgirl and her charismatic teacher disappeared without trace…
In an elite Catholic girls’ boarding-school the pupils live under the repressive, watchful gaze of the nuns. Seeking to break from the cloistered atmosphere two of the students – Louisa and Victoria – quickly become infatuated with their young, bohemian art teacher, and act out passionately as a result. That is, until he and Louisa suddenly disappear.
Years later, a journalist uncovers the troubled past of the school and determines to resolve the mystery of the missing pair. The search for the truth will uncover a tragic, mercurial tale of suppressed desire and long-buried secrets. It will shatter lives and lay a lost soul to rest.
The Temple House Vanishing is a stunning, intensely atmospheric novel of unrequited longing, dark obsession and uneasy consequences.
This was a very strange book. I attended a girls catholic convent in the late 1960s during which time the nuns changed slightly. I wouldn’t say the changes were dramatic but by 1967 we called them Sister instead of Madam and they shortened their habits to just above the ankle. I think they also showed about an inch or two of hair at the front (some orders shaved their hair under their veils – I don’t think ours did – at least not when I left in 1969). It would be a couple of decades before they started wearing ‘civvies’. They were still strict and unworldly and the boarders (I wasn’t one) had it worst. I couldn’t believe they were only allowed to bathe twice a week and wash their hair once a week. Whatever happened to cleanliness is next to Godliness. We used to smoke in the area behind the netball court and sometimes under the stage during choir practice (we weren’t in it at the time obviously). We NEVER had male teachers. It was unheard of.
But back to the story. Apart from the girls liking Morrisey, this could have been set in the 1960s (or even 50s as someone commented). Why anyone would want their girls to go there I cannot comprehend. However I loved this book. The story of Louisa’s obsession with Victoria and Victoria’s obsession with the art teacher Mr Lavelle is beautifully written and really rather sad. It starts with Victoria’s suicide and then goes back and forth, the story being told by the girls themselves and also a journalist who vaguely knew Louisa, trying to uncover the truth. Some of my fellow Pigeons found it rather slow as the story takes a long time to unfold, but I found it dark, sinister, mysterious and creepy but utterly mesmerising.
Many thanks to the Pigeonhole for giving me the opportunity to read along with my fellow Pigeons and the author.
Will, Brian and Luke grow up competing for their mother’s unequal love. As men, the competition continues – for status, money, fame, women …
They each betray each other, over and over, until one of them is dead.
But which brother killed him?
The book is divided into four distinct parts plus an intro. It starts with the funeral of one of the brothers but you don’t know which one. Then each of the three brothers tells his version of the events leading up to the death. Finally you have the coming together of the whole story. My God these are three ghastly people! Probably even ghastlier than their ghastly mother – a self-centred singer and actress. First it’s the turn of William, an ass-grabbing misogynist who thinks it’s OK to sleep with women and offer to further their careers in exchange. Even after he is married to long-suffering Susan. Remind you of anyone? He is so awful I wasn’t sure if I wanted to carry on reading. Then it’s Luke. A fading pop star with a drink and drug habit who is (I think) a paranoid schizophrenic who rarely takes his meds. As a child he was obsessed with religion and even turned up at a Halloween party dressed as Jesus with real self-inflicted stigmata. I tried to sympathise with his mental health but the drink and drugs tipped me over. Then finally it’s middle brother Brian. Probably the least worst of the three apart from being mean with money, ripping of his brother Luke and some dodgy social media stuff for money which comes later. I can’t say I enjoyed it until the final part when it all starts to become clear. Why does Luke’s mother dislike him so much? How does it all affect Daisy?
Anyway stick with it. It is brilliantly written but distasteful to the point of ditching it many times. Many thanks to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Bookchatter@Cookiebiscuit 