Another week gone and, this time, so is Easter. Can you believe it? 5th April? How have we even got this far into the year already? The good news (for me at least) is that the weather was good over the weekend and so I managed to get a few nice walks in. I also managed an absolutely ridiculous (again for me) number of books read in March with 24 completed. 3 audiobooks in amongst that but the other 21 were book books, and not a Mr Men book in sight …
#travelwithoutmoving
Now after such a bumper #bookpost week last week, I’ve little to show for this week. Still I received one unexpected book which was a nice treat from Hodder & Stoughton – The Getaway by Isabelle Broom. Only one Netgalley book too – Twisted Lies by Angela Marsons.I’ve been very restrained lol. I did get a couple of ARCs sent to me by Fiona Brownlee of Brownlee Donald – Accra Noir – a collection of short stories from Ghana courtesy of Cassava Republic and Bloody Foreigners by Neil Humphreys courtesy of Muswell Press.
Treated myself to a few books though. Three audiobooks – The Writing On The Wall, The Consorts of Death and Cold Hearts by Gunnar Staalesen. Plus a few kindle books … The Whispers by Heidi Perks; Bring Them Home, Where Secrets Lie, Don’t Turn Back and House Of Lies by D.S. Butler; The Last Thing To Burn by Will Dean (only had the hardback copy …); The Vanishing Of Audrey Wilde by Eve Chase and The Dying Day by Vaseem Khan. Plus I did a preorder of the signed copy of The Nameless Ones by John Connolly – the next (not quite) Charlie Parker book.
Books I have read
Twisted Lies by Angela Marsons
Her stomach lurches as she sits in the windowless room. He throws her phone to the ground, grinds it against the floor with the heel of his shoe and brings his face closer to hers. There was no turning back now, her life as she knew it was gone.
When the lifeless body of a man is found on an industrial estate, Detective Kim Stone arrives on the scene and discovers he’s been tortured in the worst way imaginable.
But as she breaks the devastating news to the victim’s wife, Diane Phipps, Kim can’t help feeling that something isn’t quite right about the woman’s reaction.
Twenty-four hours later, the victim’s family disappears into thin air.
Then a second body is found staked to the ground in a local nature reserve.
Desperate to crack the case open quickly, Kim and her team unravel a vital clue – a fiercely guarded secret that links both victims and could cost even more lives.
A secret that some police officers are also protecting.
Faced with deceit from those she should be able to trust, family members who won’t talk, and local reporter, Tracy Frost, opening a can of worms on the case of a woman murdered by her husband a year ago – Kim is in deep water like never before.
Kim must find the motive if she is to find the killer who is systematically targeting and torturing his victims. But can she unlock the shocking truth and stop him before he strikes again?
An absolutely jaw-dropping crime thriller from the number one, multi-million-copy bestselling author of the incredibly addictive Detective Kim Stone series.
Don’t Turn Around by Jessica Barry
Two strangers, Cait and Rebecca, are driving across America.
Cait’s job is to transport women to safety. Out of respect, she never asks any questions. Like most of the women, Rebecca is trying to escape something.
But what if Rebecca’s secrets put them both in danger? There’s a reason Cait chooses to keep on the road, helping strangers. She has a past of her own, and knows what it’s like to be followed.
And there is someone right behind them, watching their every move…
The Consorts Of Death by Gunnar Staalesen
It is September 1995 and Veum is in his office when a telephone call takes him back 25 years, to a case where a small boy was separated from his mother under tragic circumstances. In the following decades, the same boy had surfaced in connection with several murder cases.
Now, as an adult, he is determined to take revenge on those responsible for destroying his life – among them the former child protection officer who is now detective Veum.
One Last Time by Helga Flatland
Anne’s diagnosis of terminal cancer shines a spotlight onto fractured relationships with her daughter and granddaughter, with surprising, heartwarming results. A moving, warmly funny novel by the Norwegian Anne Tyler.
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Anne’s life is rushing to an unexpected and untimely end. But her diagnosis of terminal cancer isn’t just a shock for her – and for her daughter Sigrid and granddaughter Mia – it shines a spotlight onto their fractured and uncomfortable relationships.
On a spur-of-the moment trip to France the three generations of women reveal harboured secrets, long-held frustrations and suppressed desires, and learn humbling and heart-warming lessons about how life should be lived when death is so close.
With all of Helga Flatland’s trademark humour, razor-sharp wit and deep empathy, One Last Time examines the great dramas that can be found in ordinary lives, asks the questions that matter to us all – and ultimately celebrates the resilience of the human spirit, in an exquisite, enchantingly beautiful novel that urges us to treasure and rethink … everything.
Girls Who Lie by Eva Björg Ægisdóttir
When a depressed, alcoholic single mother disappears, everything suggests suicide, but when her body is found, Icelandic Detective Elma and her team are thrust into a perplexing, chilling investigation.
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When single mother Maríanna disappears from her home, leaving an apologetic note on the kitchen table, everyone assumes that she’s taken her own life … until her body is found on the Grábrók lava fields seven months later, clearly the victim of murder. Her neglected fifteen-year-old daughter Hekla has been placed in foster care, but is her perfect new life hiding something sinister?
Fifteen years earlier, a desperate new mother lies in a maternity ward, unable to look at her own child, the start of an odd and broken relationship that leads to a shocking tragedy.
Police officer Elma and her colleagues take on the case, which becomes increasingly complex, as the number of suspects grows and new light is shed on Maríanna’s past – and the childhood of a girl who never was like the others…
Breathtakingly chilling and tantalisingly twisty, Girls Who Lie is at once a startling, tense psychological thriller and a sophisticated police procedural, marking Eva Björg Ægisdottir as one of the most exciting new names in crime fiction.
Accra Noir by Various (Cassava Republic)
Accra is the perfect setting for noir fiction. The telling of such tales—ones involving or suggesting death, with a protagonist who is flawed or devious, driven by either a self-serving motive or one of the seven deadly sins—is woven into the fabric of the city’s everyday life . . .
Accra is more than just a capital city. It is a microcosm of Ghana. It is a virtual map of the nation’s soul, a complex geographical display of its indigenous presence, the colonial imposition, declarations of freedom, followed by coups d’état, decades of dictatorship, and then, finally, a steady march forward into a promising future . . .
Much like Accra, these stories are not always what they seem. The contributors who penned them know too well how to spin a story into a web . . . It is an honour and a pleasure to share them and all they reveal about Accra, a city of allegories, one of the most dynamic and diverse places in the world.
So there we have it. Another six books. Don’t be impressed though. In spite of the long weekend, I’ve only managed to read two books as I’d read the other four by Wednesday. Was a bit under the weather on Thursday/Friday though so I’m letting myself off. Busy enough time on the blog – recap below:
#Review- Borderlands – LJ Ross
#Review – Last Seen – Joy Kluver
#Review – A Gambling Man – David Baldacci
#Review – The Evolution of Fear – Paul E. Hardisty
#Review – Ryan’s Christmas – LJ Ross
We’ve a busy enough week on the blog with a mixture of reviews but just the one blog tour which is today – Judas Horse by lYnda La Plante – book two in the Jack Warr series. Loving that one.
So that was my week. PLanning on a fairly relaxed day today. Maybe write a couple of reviews. Maybe read. Maybe just catch up on some Netflix. Who knows? It’s the second Locked Up Festival this weekend so I will be making the most of those lovely online panels – you can join in too if you book your tickets now. Check out the Two Crime Writers and a Microphone Facebook page for more details on how to book. Tickets are £20 and all proceeds go to the Trussell Trust who support food banks in the UK. Several days of literary entertainment and the added satisfaction of helping a worthy cause. How can you resist?
Have a fabulous week. Watch out for snow (who knows with out weather these days) and stay safe.
Happy Reading
Jen X
Jen Med's Book Reviews 