+ crime fiction, dark humour, Detective novel, fiction, friendship, murder, murder mystery, police drama, review, thriller, writing
The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman
In a peaceful retirement village, four unlikely friends meet up once a week to investigate unsolved killings.
But when a local property developer shows up dead, ‘The Thursday Murder Club’ find themselves in the middle of their first live case.
The four friends, Elizabeth, Joyce, Ibrahim and Ron, might be pushing eighty but they still have a few tricks up their sleeves. Can our unorthodox but brilliant gang catch the killer, before it’s too late?
My Review
Written by TV presenter Richard Osman – and I’m a huge fan – I just had to read it didn’t I. And I wasn’t disappointed.
It’s choc full of of red herrings. Even the red herrings have baby herrings and just when you think you’ve cracked the mystery, something else turns up. Having finished quite late in the evening, I had to concentrate when I woke up to check if I could remember it all. It’s highly entertaining and will keep you guessing right up to the very end. And some of the answers might even be pointless (see what I did there).
There are so many references to the four main protagonists’ previous lives – Elizabeth for instance was a spy – but also to popular culture, some of which made me laugh out loud. As well as a murder mystery, it’s also a sharp observation of life with plenty of humour and often hilarious dialogue. However, I didn’t expect to cry while reading it, but I did. The last part was so touching that I couldn’t help shed a few tears.
I know our gang will be back in a few months time to solve another tale of bludgeoning (it’s a wonderful word), poisoning and derring-do or whatever crime will take place in book two and I have a sneaky feeling that The Thursday Murder Club will become a modern classic and a TV series.
And the moral of the story – never underestimate the combined wisdom of a group of octogenarians when it comes from the pen of one of our cleverest writers. And I almost forgot their partners-in-crime-solving – our two detectives Chris and Donna.
Many thanks to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
About the Author
Richard Thomas Osman is an English television presenter, producer, director and novelist, best known for being the creator and co-presenter of the BBC One television quiz show Pointless. The Thursday Murder Club is his debut novel.
Just for once I thought I might add one of my own short stories:
They say that when your life flashes before you, you’re going to die. That’s how I feel right now. In the morning the water will rise and I will drown. It’s happened to others. My friends. There is no way out of here.
I can see the garden in my mind’s eye. My beautiful, lovely garden that I will never see again. The roses – the pink ones are my favourite. I can smell their heady scent from here. I don’t mind the thorns. They don’t hurt me. Then there are the daffodils and the tulips. Such an array of colours! Oh how I love the colours. Best of all I like the dandelions. Some call them weeds but I call them beautiful. You can even eat them. Then when the yellow flowers turn into puff-balls, the wind carries the seeds for miles. How nature has evolved to propagate itself. It’s a miracle!
I’ve lived in many places but this is my favourite by far. It’s so safe and warm here. The sun shines much of the day and when it rains there is always a place to shelter. I should have been happy and satisfied. I should never have started exploring the house.
In my last home it was damp. There were mice and rats in the shed and a Jack Russell dog with evil intentions. Hector – that was his name – used to catch the mice with his teeth and shake them in his mouth till their little bones rattled like dried beans in a tin. Sometimes I hid in the attic so I could jump out and scare the dog. I never scared the others though in case they caught me. I often had to wait for days until they finally left the house so I could make my escape back to the garden. I got bored though and moved a bit further down the road to this lovely place. My home.
People don’t really like me. I suppose I don’t blame them. I’m not very attractive and I’m a self-confessed serial killer. I’ve had quite a few husbands in my time. Eight to be precise. Like Elizabeth Taylor though she married Richard Burton twice so that doesn’t really count. I, on the other hand, could not have the same husband twice, as they are all dead. I callously used them to have my babies and then I disposed of them. Swiftly. I never got caught out. I’m way too clever. Actually, number three did escape as far as I remember, but he suffered an untimely death a few days later thanks to a combine harvester.
I probably loved my first husband in my limited capacity for love. It’s not in my nature to become attached. Far too painful emotionally when you have to let them go. With each killing it becomes easier not to feel anything for them. So much simpler. Especially when you eat them afterwards.
Not so clever now though to find myself in this – situation. That’s what comes from being nosy. They say curiosity killed the cat and cats are supposed to be clever, though no cat ever outwitted me. Until now. Chased me round the landing while I was scavenging for food, so I had to escape to safety and here I am. Trapped in a soon-to-become watery grave.
All alone in the world and too old to procreate, I suppose I deserve to die this way. For the first time in my life I wonder if I have a soul. Will I come back? As a mouse? As a rat? Or as one of Hector’s progeny? I very much doubt it. Once you’re dead, you’re dead. No-one to mourn my passing. But that’s how it is when you’ve killed all your spouses. My children gone as soon as they could feed themselves. They didn’t hang around long.
*************************************
Footsteps on the stairs. A light goes on. I can hear a voice in the next room. Someone is singing. It’s a lovely sound.
‘Incy Wincy Spider climbed up the water spout.
Down came the rain and washed the spider out.
Out came the sunshine and dried up all the rain.
Incy Wincy Spider climbed up the spout again.’
I wondered if they were doing the funny hand movements. Up and down with their fingers.
‘Again mummy, again.’ It’s the voice of a small child this time.
‘Incy wincy spider climbed up the water spout ….’
‘Again mummy, pretty please.’
‘Now Scarlett, it’s time to go to sleep. It’s been a long day.’ The sound of a light kiss on a soft baby cheek. I’d love to touch that cheek.
‘Good night darling. Sweet dreams. Love you.’
‘Good night mummy. Sweet dreams. Love you.’
It’s all quiet now. Mummy has turned the light off so Scarlett can go to sleep. I can hear her gently breathing. Suddenly I feel quite emotional. I would cry if I had tear ducts.
It’s going to be a long night. Unless a miracle happens, I will be dead in around ten hours. The clock is ticking.
“Do not stand at my grave and weep. I am not there, I do not sleep….” I have all night to ponder on these thoughts and other matters of life and death.
*************************************
‘Mummy there’s a spider in the bath. Pleeease don’t run the water. Please don’t kill him. It’s Incy Wincy Spider, mummy.’
‘Scarlett, I hate spiders.’ Ha! That’s all the thanks I get for keeping your house free of bluebottles and wasps. I expect you think my webs are just there to a make your garden pretty.
Mummy has her hand on the tap ready to turn it on. It’s the hot tap. She’s going to boil me to death. ‘What if I just flush him away. He’ll swim down the drain and….’ The water starts to run and I scuttle quickly to the other end of the bath tub. This is it!
‘No mummy, STOP!’ (I’m loving this child more and more by the minute), ‘He’ll drown. JUST GET HIM OUT.’ Phew. The water stops. I’m a her by the way as we’ve already established, but right at this moment I don’t care if they refer to me as ‘it’. Most people call me an ‘it’. Usually followed by ‘an ugly, scary, eight-legged son-of-a-bitch’.
Finally persuaded, Mummy goes to fetch a glass and a piece of card. That’s the way folks remove me in these parts. I can see she’s terrified to get too close. Her hand is shaking and her breath is short and fast. It would be so funny to startle her by jumping, but in my current predicament I think it best not to tempt fate. She would probably have a panic attack and start running the tap again. She opens the window instead.
‘C’mon Mummy,’ Scarlett is pulling at mummy’s jumper sleeve. ‘He’s hungry and thirsty. He’s probably been there all night.’
With a deep breath and some cussing, mummy carefully slides the card under me and places the glass over the top. I don’t object or try to run away. Then she places me outside on the windowsill and shuts the window. I spin a web like a zip wire and scurry away into the garden. I expect mummy has collapsed on the bathroom floor by now, probably hyperventilating.
I had a lucky escape this time or was it fate? Maybe it just wasn’t my time.
+ childhood, family, female friendship, fiction, friendship, love, motherhood, obsession, relationships, review, writing
The Memories We Bury by H.A. Leuschel
An emotionally charged and captivating novel about the complexities of female friendship and motherhood.
Lizzie Thomson has landed her first job as a music teacher, and after a whirlwind romance with Markus, the newlywed couple move into a beautiful new home in the outskirts of Edinburgh. Lizzie quickly befriends their neighbour Morag, an elderly, resourceful yet lonely widow, whose own children rarely visit her. Everything seems perfect in Lizzie’s life until she finds out she is pregnant and her relationship with both Morag and Markus change beyond her control.
@HALeuschel @damppebbles #damppebblesblogtours @damppebbles on Instagram and @damppebblesblogtours on Facebook
Can Lizzie really trust Morag and why is Markus keeping secrets from her?
In The Memories We Bury the author explores the dangerous bonds we can create with strangers and how past memories can cast long shadows over the present.
My Review
The Memories We Bury is unlike any other book I’ve read recently, if ever. It’s more a story about relationships and obsession and the pressure that one person can put on another through manipulation and power. That might sound a bit strong in the case of kindly old Morag, but the more you read (and eventually the more you know) about her, the more you can see how she infiltrates Lizzie’s life and then takes over. Having her own children who don’t want children of their own, she is destined never to be a grandmother. She blames their broken relationships on the children, while they blame it on her. She sees herself as a loving mum and potential gran, who only wants to help and give advice. But the more we discover, the more we realise that her children always felt that she was pushing and controlling and while they became successful, they both left home at 18 to escape her ‘clutches’.
Lizzie also had a difficult childhood. An only child, her mother never showed her any love until she discovered her musical talent. However, once she found out that Lizzie, whilst an excellent musician, was not destined to be a famous concert pianist, her ardour cooled. Lizzie’s dad and granddad loved her anyway, but never had the strength to stand up to her mother. Now they have all passed away, Lizzie is easy prey for Morag.
But I’ve jumped forward. Lizzie has had a whirlwind romance with the handsome, charismatic Markus (who’s a bit of a prat really), married him in an instant, but even though she knows he doesn’t want children for ages, has fallen pregnant. Markus is accepting without being enthusiastic and works away from home more and more. He has to pay for their beautiful home and materialistic lifestyle. And they happen to live next door to Morag.
Once Morag knows that Lizzie is pregnant, she does everything to help – to insinuate herself into Lizzie’s life so she can have a baby to care for and eventually Lizzie won’t be able to manage without her help. It’s an obsession and a dangerous one. But Morag passes herself off as this kindly ‘old’ lady – except she’s not even old (she’s younger than me!) and kindly – well yes in her own way.
The story moves quite slowly at the beginning and Morag’s controlling nature is always there in the background but doesn’t really show itself all at once. It creeps along in sinister fashion – in fact I found her behaviour quite creepy early on. Years ago I met a woman who ‘claimed’ me as her ‘best friend’ in a matter of weeks of meeting, to the point where I couldn’t find any more excuses not to do something with her as she always had an answer. I felt undermined and needed to escape. Lizzie feels beholden to Morag as she’s been so helpful, but she also feels that she can never have other friends or regain her independence. You just can’t say no to some people. They take over your life.
It’s a very clever story which gets into your head and stays there. I read into the night to finish it and ultimately felt quite sorry for Morag. See what you think!
Many thanks to @damppebbles for inviting me to part of #damppebblesblogtours
About the Author
Helene Andrea Leuschel gained a Master in Journalism & Communication, which led to a career in radio and television in Brussels, London and Edinburgh. She later acquired a Master in Philosophy, specialising in the study of the mind. Helene has a particular interest in emotional, psychological and social well-being and this led her to write her first novel, Manipulated Lives, a fictional collection of five novellas, each highlighting the dangers of interacting with narcissists. She lives with her husband and two children in Portugal.
Social Media:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/HALeuschel
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HALeuschel/
Website: https://www.heleneleuschel.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/haleuschel/
Purchase Links:
Amazon UK: https://amzn.to/312QmDI
Amazon US: https://amzn.to/310tsN5
+ crime fiction, Detective novel, female friendship, fiction, friendship, murder, murder mystery, police drama, police procedural, psycopath, review, serial killer, writing
Ritual Demise by Sally Rigby
Someone is watching…. No one is safe
The once tranquil woods in a picturesque part of Lenchester have become the bloody stage to a series of ritualistic murders. With no suspects, Detective Chief Inspector Whitney Walker is once again forced to call on the services of forensic psychologist Dr Georgina Cavendish.
#RitualDemise #CavendishandWalker @SallyRigby4 @damppebbles #damppebblesblogtours @damppebbles on Instagram and @damppebblesblogtours on Facebook
But this murderer isn’t like any they’ve faced before. The murders are highly elaborate, but different in their own way, and with the clock ticking, they need to get inside the killer’s head before it’s too late.
For fans of Rachel Abbott, Angela Marsons and L J Ross, Ritual Demise is the seventh book in the Cavendish & Walker crime fiction series.
My Review
Ritual Demise is the seventh in the Cavendish and Walker series but I thoroughly enjoyed it without having read any of the others. It’s a quick, fast-paced read in which seasoned cop DCI Whitney Walker and Forensic Psychologist Georgina ‘George’ Cavendish are on the trail of a serial killer who leaves his victims in staged positions with their heads on a heraldic cushion. What is the meaning of it? Unfortunately I guessed after the second killing (not the heraldic cushion bit but the other link) but that may say more about me than about the book.
George and Whitney’s partnership is one of the best things about the series and I love the banter between them. They are polar opposites and make unusual friends, but that’s so much better than having two Cagney & Lacey female cops. And Pathologist Claire, with her straight talking manner, adds to the fun. Well, if you can call a series of brutal murders ‘fun’.
It’s only the brutality of the murders that stop me from calling it a good romp, a bit in the manner of Midsomer Murders – apologies to the author if she’s not a fan – but it is one of TV’s most popular series ever. And great to see an all female cast of leading characters. I’m looking forward to book 8 though I feel I must read a few of the first ones as well.
Many thanks to @damppebbles for inviting me to part of #damppebblesblogtours
About The Author
Sally Rigby was born in Northampton, in the UK. She has always had the travel bug, and after living in both Manchester and London, eventually moved overseas. From 2001 she has lived with her family in New Zealand (apart from five years in Australia), which she considers to be the most beautiful place in the world. After writing young adult fiction for many years, under a pen name, Sally decided to move into crime fiction. Her Cavendish & Walker series brings together two headstrong, and very different, women – DCI Whitney Walker, and forensic psychologist Dr Georgina Cavendish. Sally has a background in education, and has always loved crime fiction books, films and TV programmes. She has a particular fascination with the psychology of serial killers.
Check out her website for a FREE prequel story….. www.sallyrigby.com
Social Media:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/SallyRigby4
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pg/Sally-Rigby-131414630527848/posts/?ref=page_internal
Website: https://sallyrigby.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sally.rigby.author/
Purchase Links:
Amazon UK: https://amzn.to/3awggm5
Amazon US: https://amzn.to/2E3Pa9Y
Kate Keeling leaves all she knows and moves to Haverscroft House in an attempt to salvage her marriage. Little does she realise, Haverscroft’s dark secrets will drive her to question her sanity, her husband and fatally engulf her family unless she can stop the past repeating itself. Can Kate keep her children safe and escape Haverscroft in time, even if it will end her marriage?
My Review
The first thing I need to say is that I adored this book. I do have some reservations but they are just my own opinions.
I’m not going to pretend this is the greatest piece of literature ever written. Or the best ghost story though it kept me reading and guessing far more than for instance, the irritatingly slow, The Turn of the Screw which is a ‘classic’. We like our chills and thrills at a faster pace these days.
The long descriptions of the ghostly goings-on detracted somewhat from the suspense and at times I laughed when I should have been terrified. All a bit Rebecca meets The League of Gentlemen. But having said that I thoroughly enjoyed every minute.
Personally, I think it could be a lot darker and if it ever gets made for TV I think it should be. It lacks that real creeping terror that you get with an author such as Michelle Paver (Wakenhyrst). The spookiness is all a bit ‘out there’ leaving little to the imagination, which as I said earlier, detracts from the suspense.
But I still loved it! Reading with The Pigeonhole meant I received a ‘stave’ (made up of a few chapters) each day and had to wait till the following day for the next episode. And I was on tenterhooks. You know sometimes books are so beautiful and well-written that you realise the story is actually a bit weak underneath the poetry ie ‘style over substance’. I’m not saying this is the opposite – it’s better than that. But the story is really good. Don’t be put off by a few comments from my fellow Pigeons or the occasional bad review. But having said all that the ending was a bit of a damp squib.
It’s an excellent story though and many thanks to The Pigeonhole and my fellow Pigeons for making this such an enjoyable read.
About the Author
Let’s hear from the author herself:
“I write ghost stories, gothic fiction and creepy dark tales. Stories that send shivers down the spine and leave the reader with the need to keep the lights on is my sort of fiction. I love to read dark stuff too, some of my favourite authors are Sarah Waters, Susan Hill and Michelle Paver. My debut novel, Haverscroft, a ghost story and domestic noir, is set in East Anglia and published by Salt Publishing.
“My short story, Sub-Zero, was publicised in the October edition of The Norfolk Magazine 2019. I was shortlisted for The First 500 Words of a Novel Competition in 2018 and my extract is published in the anthology, Monsters. I won the Retreat West Crime Writers Competition and was runner up in the Brixton Bookjam First Chapter Competition.
Haverscroft was long listed for The Not The Booker Prize 2019.”
+ abuse, child abduction, child abuse, childhood, crime fiction, cult, family, fiction, friendship, kidnapping, murder, police drama, psycopath, review, writing
Say No More (The Sacramento Series #2) by Karen Rose
If they ever catch you, say nothing. Admit nothing. Never tell. Mercy Callahan never thought she’d be able to talk about her past. When she arrives in Sacramento to make peace with her brother Gideon, and to help find the brutal cult that took away her childhood, she is finally ready to talk. But when Ephraim Burton – the man who made her life a living hell – follows her there, she realises she might never be safe.
#SayNoMore @KarenRoseBooks @headlinepg @damppebbles #damppebblesblogtours
Rafe Sokolov would do anything to have Mercy back in his life and would go to any length to protect her. But when it becomes apparent that Ephraim is more determined than ever to get Mercy back, even Rafe might not be able to stop the trail of destruction he leaves in his wake. As Ephraim draws near, it’s clear it’s not just Mercy who is in danger; those closest to her are firmly in his sights.
Will Mercy sacrifice herself to help bring Ephraim down? Or will he finally get what he’s always wanted…
My Review
I hadn’t read the first book in the series but a lot of what you need to know is mentioned so it didn’t really detract from the enjoyment of the book. The story opens with Mercy and her mother trying to escape the cult known as Eden, where they’ve lived since Mercy was a toddler. She is now thirteen and was ‘married’ off to Ephraim Burton when she was twelve.
We then jump seventeen years to Mercy as an adult trying to rebuild her life and her relationship with her brother Gideon who escaped before she did. Gideon is now a police officer. His best friend is Rafe Sokolof (also a police officer who is Mercy’s love interest). In book one in the series Mercy ran away when she realised her feelings for Rafe were developing, but she was too scared to enter into a meaningful relationship.
This book does not hold back, so if you are squeamish about any of the subjects covered here then I suggest you find something easier to read. We are talking about child rape and abduction, murder (lots of it – the body count rises with almost every chapter), underage sex, brainwashing – all the usual suspects in a book about a cult. Even the consensual sex scenes are quite, shall we say, descriptive and I am not easily shocked!
But let’s get back to the story. Mercy hasn’t seen Ephraim since she escaped. In fact everyone thinks she is dead. One of the charming things the cult does when someone successfully escapes is to kill some random person, maul their body, bring them back for ‘identification’ and say they were too badly mauled by wild animals to be recognisable. No-one ever goes outside because of the ‘wild animals’. Bears and wolves I guess. No phones, no internet, no TV, so no-one can ever check the truth. Each time there is a problem with discovery by outsiders, Eden moves somewhere else – always somewhere really remote.
This is a gritty story, not for the faint-hearted, but there is also a lot of love, family bonding and true friendship. The Sokolovs are a warm, close-knit family who treat their friends with the same love. This includes Mercy and her best friend Farrah who accompanies her on this trip. Mother Irina cooks all the time and shows her love through food. When Ephraim comes after Mercy, they are all ready to protect her, especially Rafe, who is falling in love with her more every day.
This is a tale of murder, kidnapping and child abuse, but also of love and friendship in a family where nothing, not even Ephraim Burton, can tear them apart.
Many thanks to @damppebbles for inviting me to part of #damppebblesblogtours
About the Author
Karen Rose was introduced to suspense and horror at the tender age of eight when she accidentally read Poe’s The Pit and The Pendulum and was afraid to go to sleep for years. She now enjoys writing books that make other people afraid to go to sleep. Karen lives in Florida with her family, their cat, Bella, and two dogs, Loki and Freya. When she’s not writing, she enjoys reading, and her new hobby – knitting.
Social Media:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/KarenRoseBooks
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KarenRoseBooks/
Website: http://www.karenrosebooks.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/karenrosebooks/
Purchase Links:
Amazon UK: https://amzn.to/39sS03O
Waterstones: https://bit.ly/3g2Qs3b
Book Depository: https://bit.ly/2WX26VO
Google Books: https://bit.ly/32VguBC
Hive.co.uk: https://bit.ly/3f2Akxp
Published in hardcover, audio and digital formats by Headline on 6th August 2020
+ fiction, jealousy, legal drama, Psychological fiction, relationships, review, stalker, thriller, writing
The Pupil by Ros Carne
She wants to learn everything – about you.
Mel has practised law for twenty years. She is well-regarded by her peers. Her clients are happy. But behind the scenes her life is disordered. Her son grows increasingly distant from her. The married man she is sleeping with fails to give her what she needs.
#ThePupil #RosCarne @canelo_co and @damppebbles #damppebblesblogtours Facebook @damppebblesblogtours
When a trainee lawyer is allocated to Mel it is poor timing. The last thing she wants is a pupil watching her every move. And Natasha does watch. She sees each detail – and every mistake. Mel cannot shake the feeling that Natasha isn’t just learning the job. She is learning Mel.
Natasha is good at getting what she wants, and now Mel has the power to give her all she desires. But when Mel chooses not to, Natasha knows just what Mel’s vulnerabilities are – and how to turn them against her. Mel’s secrets could ruin her. But who will be believed?
My Review
The Pupil is a first rate psychological thriller with a believable cast of characters, all of whom are hiding secrets – just some are more deadly than others.
Mel has been a barrister for 20 years. She is clever and successful but her private life is a bit of a mess. Divorced from Claude, the father of her moody 16-year old son Jacob, she feels she is drifting away from him and doesn’t know how to put it right. She is also having an affair with lecturer Paul Freedman but she knows he is never going to leave his wife so is on a hiding to nowhere.
Then along comes Natasha. Mel takes her on as her ‘pupil’ but has no idea what trouble it’s going to cause. Natasha is a complex character and a not very likeable one. At 30 years old she is more mature than the usual pupils taken on at Chambers and confidently barges ahead, often upsetting Mel who thinks she is being too forward and disrespectful of her position. Natasha lives with Luke who adores her (not sure why), but her behaviour is very erratic. She has an interesting hobby but it’s not knitting or salsa dancing – it’s shoplifting. She got caught once and promised Luke she wouldn’t do it again, but she does, regularly.
She has another secret hobby and this one is really creepy. She has an alter-ego – Lola – who decides to stalk Mel’s son Jacob by pretending to be 20 years old and becoming friends on Facebook. Jacob has no idea who she is and things get a bit, shall we say, hot. It’s a secret Jacob has to keep from his mum as it’s all rather inappropriate and seedy.
Next on Natasha’s hit list is Mel’s glamorous mum Isabel, who used to be in a famous TV show and was quite the style icon. Natasha just happens to have been her biggest fan.
I think the worst thing about Natasha is that she doesn’t think she’s doing anything wrong. I think for her everyone is fair game and that’s what it is really – just a game. But we know things are going to turn sour and start to get really nasty. It’s often a slow burn but you will be hooked from page one.
Many thanks to @damppebbles for inviting me to part of #damppebblesblogtours
Published in digital format by Canelo on 6th August 2020
About the Author
Ros Carne was born in London, and following university she worked in magazine and newspaper journalism including as a theatre critic on the Guardian. She later retrained as a barrister, practising for 13 years before moving to a university teaching job. She has two adult sons and enjoys playing the violin. Ros now lives in Somerset where she writes full time.
Purchase Links:
Amazon UK: https://amzn.to/301kaQl
Amazon US: https://amzn.to/3g3eFGq
Google Books: https://bit.ly/32VCc8L
Nook: https://bit.ly/3eVdJ5K
+ abuse, child abduction, crime fiction, family, fiction, kidnapping, mystery, police drama, police procedural, Psychological fiction, psycopath, review, sisters, thriller, writing
Found Her by NJ Mackay
Belle Moriarty was there one moment and gone the next. Her older sister Eve was walking her home from school when she disappeared, ten years ago. Eve has never recovered from the guilt of turning her back. But then she receives a phone call that changes everything. Belle has been found – alive. But who took her? Why did they keep her alive all these years? And now that Belle has escaped, will they try to silence her for good?
With Belle in a coma and Eve receiving increasingly terrifying threats, she must discover the kidnapper’s identity before they return to finish what they started…
My Review
I really enjoyed this book. I know there were issues (mentioned by my fellow Pigeonhole readers) with the way the therapist behaved and particularly DI Locke who seemed a bit too involved with Eve but it is fiction after all. The depictions of the broken characters were excellent and engaging and I could really empathise with Eve (just about) even though her behaviour was shocking at times. She blames herself for her sister Belle having been taken and is intent on punishing herself for the rest of her life. If the smoking and drinking don’t kill her first that is.
The most evil character in the book is just awful – sadistic and horrible in every way but you’ll have to read it to find out more. So well written. Sometimes you forget they are not real!
It’s a highly entertaining psychological thriller which I read in 10 staves (one per day for 10 days) and I have to say that when I reached the end of Stave 9 I couldn’t wait to read the final part. Gutted I had to wait till lunchtime!
An excellent read and many thanks to the author, The Pigeonhole and my fellow Pigeons for making this such an enjoyable read.
About the Author
NJ Mackay is a writer and a bookworm. She studied Performing Arts at the BRIT School. “It turned out I wasn’t very good at acting”, she says, “but quite liked writing scripts”. She went on to take a BA (Hons) in English Literature and Drama and later won a full scholarship for an MA in Journalism.
+ anthology, crime fiction, dark humour, Detective novel, fiction, fifties, jealousy, literature, murder, murder mystery, mystery, review, short stories, short story, sixties, thriller, writing
Vintage Crime by Martin Edwards (Editor)
Vintage Crimes is a CWA anthology with a difference, celebrating members’ work over the years. The book gathers stories from the mid-1950s until the twenty-first century by great names of the past, great names of the present together with a few hidden treasures by less familiar writers. The first CWA anthology, Butcher’s Dozen, appeared in 1956, and was co-edited by Julian Symons, Michael Gilbert, and Josephine Bell. The anthology has been edited by Martin Edwards since 1996, and has yielded many award-winning and nominated stories in the UK and overseas.
This new edition includes an array of incredible and award-winning authors:
Robert Barnard, Simon Brett, Liza Cody, Mat Coward, John Dickson Carr, Marjorie Eccles, Martin Edwards, Kate Ellis, Anthea Fraser, Celia Fremlin, Frances Fyfield, Michael Gilbert, Paula Gosling, Lesley Grant-Adamson, H RF Keating, Bill Knox, Peter Lovesey, Mick Herron, Michael Z. Lewin, Susan Moody, Julian Symons and Andrew Taylor.
@annecater #RandomThingsTours @RandomTTours
My Review
As soon as I saw Andrew Taylor’s name on the list I just knew I had to read this anthology. His short story The Woman Who Loved Elizabeth David is as good as I would expect from one of my favourite all time writers. Because he is quite local to me I get all excited when he mentions Cheltenham and The Everyman Theatre!
However my favourite story has to be The Nuggy Bar by Simon Brett. I love the pedantry of the main character as he plots to kill his step-daughter in order to claim her inheritance after her mum dies. He treats her murder like managing and marketing a new product at work, but with added dark humour and repetition eg GLISS HANDY MOPPITS (IDEAL FOR THE KITCHEN, NURSERY OR HANDBAG) which is repeated in full over and over. It reminds me of a short story I wrote about 10 years ago called Double Bill (I’m not boasting here though it is available on Kindle!!) – it just uses the same device of repeating things for effect. I kept thinking ‘did I write this?’ Ha ha I wish.
Some of the stories such as Inspector Ghote and the Noted British Author by HRF Keating are quite strange. It was written in 1985. I would have guessed it was much earlier. But I do like the one about the painting of a murder – Interior with Corpse by Peter Lovesey – and the references to Walter Sickert who was once thought to be Jack the Ripper as he painted exact scenes from the gory murders of prostitutes. I also loved Top Deck by Kate Ellis in which budding policeman Keith thinks he sees a murder from the top deck of the bus. Cold and Deep by Frances Fyfield is very sinister, while Melusine by Martin Edwards gripped me to the end, but was also very unnerving and the descriptions of the foot and mouth incident brought back horrible memories and scenes of burning dead cows on TV.
These are just a few of the 22 stories. They are not necessarily the best. Just my own personal favourites (or not in the case of Inspector Ghote …). Many are very different from the murder mysteries and psychological thrillers we are so obsessed with today and move at a slower pace. No instant gratification in the fifties and sixties. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did. Sleep well and don’t have nightmares!
Many thanks to @annecater for letting me be part of #RandomThingsTours and to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
About the Author
Martin Edwards is consultant to the British Library’s Crime Classics series, and has written sixteen contemporary whodunits, including The Coffin Trail, which was shortlisted for the Theakston’s Prize for best crime novel of the year. His genre study The Golden Age of Murder won the Edgar, Agatha, H.R.F. Keating and Macavity awards, while The Story of Classic Crime in 100 Books has been nominated for two awards in the UK and three in the US. Editor of 38 anthologies, he has also won the CWA Short Story Dagger and the CWA Margery Allingham Prize, and been nominated for an Anthony, the CWA Dagger in the Library, the CWA John Creasey Memorial Dagger, and a CWA Gold Dagger. He is President of the Detection Club and Chair of the Crime Writers’ Association, and Archivist of both organisations. He has received the Red Herring award for services to the CWA, and the Poirot award for his outstanding contribution to the crime genre.
The CWA (Crime Writers’ Association) was founded in 1953 by John Creasey, and organises the prestigious CWA Dagger Awards which celebrate the best in crime writing. The CWA is a pro-active, thriving and ever-expanding community of writers based in the UK but with a reach that extends worldwide.
+ child abduction, childhood, family, family drama, fiction, illegitimacy, kidnapping, mystery, Psychological fiction, relationships, review, thriller, writing
Keep Her Quiet by Emma Curtis
Jenny has just given birth to the baby she’s always wanted. She’s never been this happy. Her husband, Leo, knows this baby girl can’t be his. He’s never felt so betrayed.
The same night, a vulnerable young woman, Hannah, wakes to find her newborn lifeless beside her. She’s crazed with grief. When chance throws Hannah into Leo’s path, they make a plan that will have shattering consequences for all of them.
Years later, a sixteen-year-old girl reads an article in a newspaper, and embarks on a journey to uncover the truth about herself. But what she learns will put everything she has ever known – and her own life – in grave danger. Because some people will go to desperate lengths to protect the secrets their lives are built on . . .
My Review
I absolutely loved this book and couldn’t wait to read the next stave (I was reading with The Pigeonhole online book club and received a new stave every day for ten days). So why only four stars on Amazon and Goodreads? I’ll try to explain without any spoilers.
Leo is a budding writer. Nothing will stand in the way of his ambition. His father wanted to be a writer but gave it up for family and ended up committing suicide. Leo is never going to let that happen. Jenny, luckily for him, has a high powered job which earns them enough for him to give up work and concentrate on his writing. So far so good. Well for Leo anyway. He’s a selfish so-and-so but this is just the beginning.
Jenny, however, desperately wants a baby. Fed up with Leo’s behaviour she has a one night stand while away on a conference. A few weeks later she realises she is pregnant. It must be Leo’s she thinks. It was only one stupid mistake. Naive or what? Unbeknown to Jenny, Leo has had a vasectomy and DIDN’T TELL HER. Alarm bells! Leo knows the baby is not his but doesn’t say a word.
Then along comes Hannah, pregnant at 17 by one of the Elders at her Church but no-one believes her. She is disgraced and thrown out by her family. She tries to manage but her baby dies and she is bereft. It is at this point that she meets Leo by chance and both their lives spin out of control. Fantastic premise, but the whole while I kept thinking this is all a bit far-fetched. Leo’s ‘punishment’ of Jenny, what Hannah does, the fact that Jenny still loves him and then what Leo does when he finds out about the child. No-one seems to think things through and I wanted to shake Jenny when Leo kept telling her that her baby is gone and she should move on. But then I guess we knew the truth and she didn’t. Well not in that sand she stuck her head under for 16 years.
An excellent read and many thanks to The Pigeonhole and my fellow Pigeons for making this such an enjoyable read.
About the Author
Emma Curtis was born in Brighton and brought up in London. Her fascination with the darker side of domestic life inspired her to write One Little Mistake, her first psychological suspense. She has two children and lives in Richmond with her husband.
+ crime fiction, Detective novel, fiction, kidnapping, murder mystery, mystery, police drama, police procedural, psycopath, review, serial killer, writing
Written in Blood by Chris Carter
A serial killer will stop at nothing…
His most valuable possession has been stolen. Now he must retrieve it, at any cost.
#WritteninBlood @simonschusteruk Facebook @carterchris
Instagram @chriscarterbooksofficial @AnneCater #RandomThingsTours
Angela Wood wanted to teach the man a lesson. It was a bag, just like all the others. But when she opens it, the worst nightmare of her life begins.
A journal ends up at Robert Hunter’s desk. It soon becomes clear that there is a serial killer on the loose. And if he can’t stop him in time, more people will die. If you have read it. You must die….
Los Angeles, December 4th – exactly three weeks until Christmas day. Angela Wood, a master in the art of the pickpocket, has just finished for the day – six hundred and eighty-seven dollars – not bad for less than fifteen minutes work.
As she celebrates her profitable day with a cocktail, one of the patrons in the lounge she’s in catches her attention by being rude to an old man. Angela decides to teach him a lesson, and steals the man’s expensive-looking leather bag.
Inside is no money … no laptop computer … nothing of any value … at least not to Angela. Just a black, leather-bound book, surprisingly heavy. Curiosity takes over and in the comfort of her apartment, Angela quickly leafs through the pages.
That is when the worst nightmare of her life begins. This is no ordinary book. Read it at your own peril.
My Review
I wouldn’t normally give 5 stars to a police drama about a serial killer as there are so many out there, but this was better than most of the ones I have ever read. Up there with Silence of the Lambs and Seven, this is outstanding story telling and excitement, though as someone already said it’s ‘not for the squeamish’.
The action never stops. The police characters are well rounded and mostly likeable, especially Robert Hunter and his sidekick Carlos Garcia. And I adored the feisty pickpocket Angela with her put downs and one liners. She’s a badass with a softer side and a traumatic incident from her childhood that shapes everything she does.
The serial killer is maybe a little over-the-top but then so was Hannibal Lecter, and that didn’t stop him becoming the most famous serial killer of the eighties and nineties. ‘I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice chianti‘ anyone?
The killer hears ‘voices’ that tell him what crimes to commit, who to pick as his victims (it’s all in his journal and sometimes the instructions are very specific – height, age, ethnicity etc) and Hunter and co need to work out exactly what these ‘voices’ mean. Also why the journal is so important. Is it just his record of the murder and torture of his victims or is it something more? Who is this person and why is he doing it? There always needs to be a good reason to make the story work. It’s not enough for him to be a nutcase.
Written in Blood is the work of an experienced and accomplished writer with a background in criminal psychology and this is evident in his work. It’s what makes the killer more realistic and terrifying. Have the team finally met their match? You’ll have to read it to find out.
Many thanks to @annecater for inviting me to be part of #RandomThingsTours
About the Author
Born in Brazil of Italian origin, Chris Carter studied psychology and criminal behaviour at the University of Michigan. As a member of the Michigan State District Attorney’s Criminal Psychology team, he interviewed and studied many criminals, including serial and multiple homicide offenders with life imprisonment convictions. He now lives in London. Visit his website www.chriscarterbooks.com
+ fiction, friends, friendship, literature, love, murder mystery, Publishing, reading, relationships, review, romance, writing
Her Last Words by Kim Kelly
Thisbe Chisholm wants to be a writer. It’s 2007, a time of digital revolution and skyrocketing property prices, but she’s an old-fashioned girl. She doesn’t even own a mobile phone. She has no stars-in-her-eyes desire for fame, to see her name on the cover of a book, either. She longs only to tell of the stories written on her heart.
While her best friends, Penny and Jane, and her darling boyfriend, John, seem set for stellar careers in their chosen fields, Thisbe works nights as a hostess at a glitzy harbourside Sydney club – a job she despises but it’s paid the rent for the last three years since university graduation.
Just as she completes her novel, though, she is brutally killed at the end of John’s street. Who murdered Thisbe? What will become of her novel?
From the gritty glamour of Bondi Beach to the cold streets of London, here is a tale of tragedy and literary betrayal, of a publishing industry grappling with change and a great love drowning in guilt-wracked grief. Haunting, whimsical and sharply observed, Her Last Words lays bare the truth that, while some crimes might go unpunished among the privileged, words themselves have a way of enduring – and exacting a justice all their own.
My Review
There is something very personal about Her Last Words. It feels as though the author has lived it and suffered it in some shape or form. Penny Katchinski, for instance is a Catholic Jew (as am I), and I don’t believe it’s incidental. I can’t imagine your hero would have that background unless you had a reason. I may be wrong of course, but it resonated with me in such a personal way.
Penny and Thisbe’s former partner – soap star actor John Jacobson – are inextricably linked, but John is still in love with Thisbe and cannot move on, and by default neither can Penny. They are trapped in a relationship that was never meant to be. Their love is based on a promise to take care of each other and neither can let go. John has spiralled into depression and cannot lift himself out. Something I am lucky enough never to have experienced, I initially missed how personal this part was to the author and will no doubt resonate with many of this beautiful book’s readers.
Over in the Bookish bookshop, Rich O’Driscoll finds a bag which contains a manuscript called Darling Boy together with other personal items, but he has no idea who any of it belongs to. He puts it away and forgets about it for seven years. We know whose bag it is of course, but that’s part of the unfolding story. The first time Rich meets Penny, she is distraught and hysterical but he falls in love with her there and then.
Back in Bondi John has had enough. Miserable and stuck in a rut, his acting career totally down the pan, he wants a way out. Thanks to a series of accidents he meets Dr Viviane Yu but is it all too late? I adore Viviane. She is clever and funny and eccentric but all in a good way.
In addition to our four main protagonists, we have a side plot. Aspiring author Jane Furlow first read Darling Boy when Thisbe was alive. She had an electronic copy. She said it was a ‘bit shit’ but then once Thisbe was out of the way she decided to publish it as her own work under the name of The Wakening Maid. Asking for trouble? Dear God Jane, your attempts at plagiarism are a ‘bit shit’ aren’t they? Did it never occur to you that there might be another copy floating around somewhere.
This book is so beautifully written and poetic and full of emotion, sadness, happiness, laughter and tears. I didn’t want it to end. The characters are wonderful (apart from Jane) though there are times you will want to scream at them and times you will want to lie next to them and offer comfort. They are so real. They have become like old friends and I shall miss them dreadfully.
Many thanks to The Pigeonhole and my fellow Pigeons for making this such an enjoyable read.
About the Author
Kim Kelly is the author of ten novels, including the acclaimed Wild Chicory and bestselling The Blue Mile. Her historical fictions are compelling and whimsical, and driven by strong characters of all kinds. With warmth and lyrical charm, she leads her readers into some rocky emotional and political terrain but each of her words shines with hope, wisdom, and occasionally a little magic. Her Last Words is her latest novel.
A widely respected book editor and literary consultant by trade, stories fill her everyday – most nights, too – and it’s love that fuels her intellectual engine. Love between lovers, friends, strangers; love of country; love of story. In fact, she takes love so seriously she once donated a kidney to her husband to prove it, and also to save his life.
Originally from Sydney, today Kim lives on a small rural property in central New South Wales just outside the tiny gold-rush village of Millthorpe, where the ghosts are mostly friendly and her grown sons regularly come home to graze.
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