Well. This week didn’t turn out as planned. Not that I had any real plans, but the ones I had didn’t involve sitting at home in self isolation after a covid contact ping. Can’t tell you who or where, only know when so I can guess the likely scenario when I may have been in contact with someone. All I can tell you is that I am currently on day eight and no symptoms as yet. I hope that whichever poor soul has been affected is not suffering too much and only has a mild case, preferably backed up by at least the one vaccine. As irritating as my house arrest is, it is currently far worse and far more worrying for them. Always something though, hey?
One thing I can tell you is that house arrest leads to boredom and procrastination. Yes, I’ve managed to finish quite a few books this week – over 40% of the total number I read in the whole of June to be fair so not a bad week. But, having access to my electronic devices, and needing to find a distraction from the whole, will I/won’t I develop symptoms covid mess, I also appear to have ordered quite a few books. Whoops. Self isolation – boosting online book sales since 2020 …
I will try my best to capture them all but there have been a few and from a few different retailers so if I miss any, I apologise. I ordered myself a few signed books so lets start there. From Portobello Books in Edinburgh, I bagged preorders of 1979 by Val McDermid and The Dark Remains by William McIvanney and Ian Rankin. I also preordered a signed copy of A Corruption of Blood by Ambrose Parry and special edition copy of The Man Who Died Twice by Richard Osman from Waterstones.
I’ve bought a few more books over the course of the week too, many of which are preorders and don’t yet have a jacket to share but hey – that’s what I do. Two audiobooks, both Holly Watt books – To The Lions and The Dead Line. Then I had a whole bunch of preorders, only some of which I can share the covers for now: The Lost Boy by Rachel Amphlett; Little Rebel by Jérôme Leroy; All That Lives by James Oswald (Inspector MacLean); The Botanist by MW Craven; Outside by Ragnar Jonasson; What Goes Around by Ann Bloxwich; The Murder Book by Mark Billingham and Daggers Drawn – CWA Short Story Anthology. Just a couple then …
Two bits of book post in the week and one lovely early birthday present from Mandie. Book post was Other People’s Clothes by Calla Henkel from Sceptre and The Wedding Night by Harriet Walker from Hodder and Stoughton. My pressie was a signed copy of I Know What I Saw by Imran Mahmood.
No new Netgalley books – probably done enough damage – but I was gifted a copy of The Sound Of Violet by Allen Wolf, courtesy of Morning Star Publishing.
I think that is it, but if I have forgotten anyone, forgive me. It’s been quite the week …
Books I have read
A Corruption of Blood by Ambrose Parry
Edinburgh, 1850. This city will bleed you dry.
Dr Will Raven is a man seldom shocked by human remains, but even he is disturbed by the contents of a package washed up at the Port of Leith. Stranger still, a man Raven has long detested is pleading for his help to escape the hangman.
Back in the townhouse of Dr James Simpson, Sarah Fisher has set her sights on learning to practise medicine. Almost everyone seems intent on dissuading her from this ambition, but when word reaches her that a woman has recently obtained a medical degree despite her gender, Sarah decides to seek her out.
Raven’s efforts to prove his former adversary’s innocence are failing and he desperately needs Sarah’s help. Putting their feelings for one another aside, their investigations take them to both extremes of Edinburgh’s social divide, where they discover that wealth and status cannot alter a fate written in the blood.
True Crime Story by Joseph Knox (Audiobook)
Brought to you by Penguin.
What happens to those girls who go missing? What happens to the Zoe Nolans of the world?
In the early hours of Saturday, December 17th, 2011, Zoe Nolan, a 19-year-old Manchester University student, walked out of a party taking place in the shared accommodation where she had been living for three months.
She was never seen again.
Blending fact and fiction in his first stand-alone novel, Joseph Knox delivers a thrilling true crime story like no other.
Full cast: Joseph Knox, Sarah Parks, Ciara Baxendale, David John, Chris Thompson, Louis Bernard, Drew Dillon, Shane Zaza, Caitlin Griffiths, Conor McLeod, Dolly Webb, Grace Cooper, Isla Lee, Levi Brown, Noah Marullo and Tara Tijani.
The Hunt And The Kill by Holly Watt
When acclaimed undercover journalist Casey Benedict is asked to interview a young woman with a life-limiting genetic condition, the patient’s doctor alerts her to an alarming rise in antibiotic-resistant infections, tipping her off about a potential new wonder drug.
If the rumours are true, this new antibiotic could save millions of lives, but no one seems to know if the drug even exists.
Then tragedy unexpectedly strikes and Casey begins to suspect a cover-up. But she is not prepared to let the story drop, no matter how much danger she – or those she loves most of all – are put in.
A searing, page-turning, pulse-racing thriller that sees Casey on a hunt around the globe as she pursues a major exposé into pioneering medical research and drugs that could change the world.
The Hunt and the Kill is the third book from Holly Watt featuring Casey Benedict.
The Devil’s Advocate by Steve Cavanagh
A DEADLY PROSECUTOR
They call him the King of Death Row. Randal Korn has sent more men to their deaths than any district attorney in the history of the United States.
A TWISTED RITUALISTIC KILLING
When a young woman, Skylar Edwards, is found murdered in Buckstown, Alabama, a corrupt sheriff arrests the last person to see her alive, Andy Dubois. It doesn’t seem to matter to anyone that Andy is innocent.
A SMALL TOWN BOILING WITH RAGE
Everyone in Buckstown believes Andy is guilty. He has no hope of a fair trial. And the local defense attorney assigned to represent him has disappeared.
A FORMER CON-ARTIST
Hot shot New York lawyer Eddie Flynn travels south to fight fire with fire. He plans to destroy the prosecutors case, find the real killer and save Andy from the electric chair.
But the murders are just beginning.
Is Eddie Flynn next?
Murder In The Village by Lisa Cutts
Meet Belinda Penshurst. Castle owner, dog lover… crime solver?
Belinda Penshurst loves her home village Little Challham, with its shady lanes, two pubs and weekly market, and she’s determined to keep it peaceful. She may live in Challham Castle but she knows almost everything that goes on under her nose. So when irritable pub landlord Tipper is found dead in his cellar, she’s perfectly placed to investigate.
Retired detective Harry Powell moved to Little Challham for a quiet life. He didn’t expect to be dragged into a murder investigation. But the police don’t seem half as enthusiastic as Belinda about the case, and there are strange things happening in the village. Particularly the number of dogs that have disappeared lately…
Is there a dognapper snaffling schnauzers and luring away Labradors? Is Belinda barking mad to be worried that her brother Marcus was arguing with Tipper on the day he died? Belinda and Harry track down the suspects: the rival landlord, the outraged barmaid, the mysterious man in the black car following dog walkers around. But are the dogged detectives running out of time to sniff out the killer, before he starts hounding them?
A charming cozy mystery full of laughs and eccentric characters. Fans of M.C. Beaton, H.Y. Hanna and Emily Organ will love the first novel in the Belinda Penshurst series!
Four books and one audio book – not bad for a week’s work. I only managed 12 in the whole of June so I will take that. Here’s a lovely picture of said twelve in case you are interested.
Broken Girls by Joy Kluver; Well of the Winds by Denzil Meyrick; Black Reed Bay by Rod Reynolds; The Rabbit Factor by Antti Tuomainen; The Night She Disappeared by Lisa Jewell; No Honour by Awais Khan; If Only by Angela Marsons; The Doll by Yrsa Sigurdardottir; Little Rebel by Jérôme Leroy; Rabbit Hole by Mark Billingham; A Corruption of Blood by Ambrose Parry and True Crime Story by Joseph Knox.
It also means I managed to read a pretty amazing 110 books this year so far. I’ll take that, thank you very much. full week on the blog though – recap below:
#Review – Reputation – Lex Croucher
#Review – A Cut For A Cut – Carol Wyer
#Review – Truth or Dare – MJ Arlidge
#Review – Wolves At The Door – Gunnar Staalesen
#Review – Oakwood Falls – D.C. Brockwell
#Review – Bloody Foreigners – Neil Humphreys
We’ve a full week of review on the blog this week, including blog tour reviews of If Only by Angela Marsons on Wednesday and That Night by Gillian McAllister on Friday. Hope you can check them out.
Hope you all have a lovely week. I am counting down the hours until Freedom Day – 00:00 Wednesday morning. Provisionally have the day off to celebrate. And to complete a full weeks grocery shop. As it was the grocery shop that did for me this week, here’s hoping this one is less traumatic in the long run!
Have a lovely week all. Stay safe and keep reading.
Jen
Jen Med's Book Reviews 
My daughter got a text on Thursday evening telling her she had to isolate – till Saturday! Think they are running a bit behind with the contacting people. Thankfully her test was negative.
I’m intrigued by what you read though – 305 of your June total? I mean, I know you read a LOT but… 😆
LikeLiked by 1 person
It’s that pesky shift key on my laptop. That should of course be % … I’ll correct it lol 😂
LikeLike