Tag: secrets
+ childhood, crime fiction, diary, family, fiction, forgiveness, mental health, mental illness, murder, review, Scottish literature, secrets, thriller
Whispers by Billy McLaughlin
Ten years have passed since Isla Frost left the family manor. The past; a hidden memory comes to her in jolts. She blames one man for all that has happened. Her father, a cold brittle man who is now facing his mortality. Isla has returned to care for him. However, things are about to take a dark sinister turn. A body has been found. … Read More Whispers by Billy McLaughlin
+ fiction, Gothic mystery, horror, jealousy, literature, love, mystery, obsession, review, secrets, supernatural, superstition, witchcraft
The House of Footsteps by Mathew West
It’s 1923 and at Thistlecrook House, a forbidding home on the Scottish border, the roaring twenties seem not to have arrived. But Simon Christie has – a young man who can’t believe his luck when he gets a job cataloguing the infamous art collection of the Mordrake family. Yet from the moment he gets off the train at the deserted village station he can’t … Read More The House of Footsteps by Mathew West
+ childhood, coming-of-age, family, female friendship, fiction, friendship, literature, love, review, secrets, seventies, University
Sugar and Snails by Anne Goodwin
At fifteen, she made a life-changing decision. Thirty years on, it’s time to make another. When Diana escaped her misfit childhood, she thought she’d chosen the easier path. But the past lingers on, etched beneath her skin, and life won’t be worth living if her secret gets out. #SugarandSnails @Annecdotist @InspiredQuill As an adult, she’s kept other people at a distance… until Simon sweeps in … Read More Sugar and Snails by Anne Goodwin
+ brothers, child abduction, crime fiction, Detective novel, DNA, fiction, loss, murder, police drama, revenge, review, secrets, thriller
Hangmans End by Michelle Kidd
Two bodies…One bridge…Twenty years apart. The discovery of two bodies beneath London Bridge plunges DI Jack MacIntosh and his team at the Metropolitan Police into two of the most complex investigations they’ve ever had to deal with. #HangmansEnd #DIJackMacIntosh @AuthorKidd @QuestionPress @Zooloo’s Book Tours @zooloo2008 #ZooloosBookTours #blogtour With two decades separating them, can the cases really be linked? Having an intense dislike for coincidences, Jack can’t let it … Read More Hangmans End by Michelle Kidd
The Twyford Code by Janice Hallett
Forty years ago, Steven Smith found a copy of a famous children’s book, its margins full of strange markings and annotations. He took it to his remedial English teacher, Miss Isles, who became convinced it was the key to solving a puzzle. That a message in secret code ran through all Edith Twyford’s novels. Then Miss Isles disappeared on a class field trip, and … Read More The Twyford Code by Janice Hallett
+ crime fiction, Detective novel, fiction, murder, murder mystery, Nordic noir, review, Scandi noir, secrets, thriller
Bitter Flowers by Gunnar Staalesen
Translated by Don Bartlett Fresh from rehab, PI Varg Veum faces his most complex investigation yet, when a man is found drowned, a young woman disappears, and the case of a missing child is revived. The classic Nordic Noir series continues… PI Varg Veum has returned to duty following a stint in rehab, but his new composure and resolution are soon threatened when three … Read More Bitter Flowers by Gunnar Staalesen
+ Cornwall, family, fiction, Gothic mystery, Historical fiction, literature, loss, love, marriage, mystery, review, secrets, World War One
The Key in the Lock by Beth Underdown
I still dream, every night, of Polneath on fire. Smoke unfurling out of an upper window and a hectic orange light cascading across the terrace. By day, Ivy Boscawen mourns the loss of her son Tim in the Great War. But by night she mourns another boy – one whose death decades ago haunts her still. For Ivy is sure that there is more … Read More The Key in the Lock by Beth Underdown
+ childhood, community, family, family drama, fiction, forgiveness, friendship, literature, loss, love, mental health, mental illness, motherhood, photography, review, Scottish Highlands, secrets, sisters, sixties
Little Wing by Freya North
Little Wing is the powerful story of two families over three generations. In the 1960s, a pregnant 16-year-old is banished to one of the remotest parts of the UK. Years later, Nell and Dougie are both at critical moments in their lives when their paths cross. Between Camden, Colchester and the Outer Hebrides, the three story lines collide when secrets are uncovered and answers … Read More Little Wing by Freya North
+ childhood, family, fashion, female friendship, feminism, fiction, friends, friendship, jealousy, love, marriage, motherhood, murder mystery, Nigeria, obsession, relationships, revenge, review, secrets, sisterhood
Wahala by Nikki May
Ronke, Simi, Boo are three mixed-race friends living in London. They have the gift of two cultures, Nigerian and English, though not all of them choose to see it that way. Everyday racism has never held them back, but now in their thirties, they question their future. Ronke wants a husband (he must be Nigerian); Boo enjoys (correction: endures) stay-at-home motherhood; while Simi, full … Read More Wahala by Nikki May
+ fiction, France, friendship, humour fiction, List, Magical realism, mystery, mythology, novel-in-emails, relationships, review, secrets, sisters, supernatural, twins, whimsical, writers, writers group
My Top 3 Books of 2021
It’s January 1st 2022 and it’s time to reflect on my three favourite books of 2021. Last year it was hard but not impossible. There were instant standouts. This year I have found it much harder. I have tried to include a mix of genres but I’ve definitely failed. Maybe I should simply call them all slightly ‘whimsical’. And if that is not where … Read More My Top 3 Books of 2021
+ community, crime fiction, dark humour, diary, family, fiction, jealousy, journal, marriage, mystery, obsession, review, secrets, thriller
I Know What You’ve Done by Dorothy Koomson
What if all your neighbours’ secrets landed in a diary on your doorstep?What if the woman who gave it to you was murdered by one of the people in the diary? What if the police asked if you knew anything? Would you hand over the book of secrets? Or … would you try to find out what everyone had done? I Know What You’ve … Read More I Know What You’ve Done by Dorothy Koomson
+ adventure, child abduction, crime fiction, Detective novel, family, fiction, Freedom, friends, friendship, haunting, Historical fiction, holocaust, Inuit, kidnapping, List, literature, loss, love, Magical realism, murder, nazi germany, poland, police drama, Polish, Psychological fiction, relationships, review, Scotland, Scottish Highlands, secrets, World War Two
My Top 8 Books of 2021 – part four
Here are my favourite eight books of the fourth quarter of 2021. So far this has been a good year for books if for nothing else, so it was a really difficult decision. Please note that there may be books amongst the list that are not published until 2022, but these are books I have read this year and may be ARCs. The Flight of … Read More My Top 8 Books of 2021 – part four
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