Well. Here we are. October. Month of witches and pumpkins and sweets. Oh my. I have done nothing of remote interest this past week. Went for a quick walk to the coffee shop and home via the canal yesterday while it was dry. That’s about it really. Otherwise I have stayed inside, hidden from the weather and ignored the woes of the world. Go me. Did find some interesting chocolate though – Caramilk with Honeycomb in and Orange Toffee Crisp, and some Milky Way biscuits which was nice. I’m easily pleased these days.
How has your week been? More interesting than mine I hope. Long hours at work have made reading hard, but still managed to finish some great books. I’m behind on reviewing as I can’t face the laptop after nine hours of data crunching a day. That’s my excuse anyway. Managed to finish 16 titles in September in the end. Not my most prolific month, but I enjoyed them all.
They were: Trick or Treat by Katerina Diamond; Many Deadly Returns – Short Story Anthology; Death of the Mantis by Michael Stanley; The Quiet People by Paul Cleave; The Reacher Guy by Dr Heather Martin; Assassins Rogue by Rachel Amphlett; A Perfect Plan by Jeffery Deaver; The Last Time She Died by Zoë Sharp; Cold Justice by Ant Middleton; Dark As My Heart by Antti Tuomainen; The Lost Boy by Rachel Amphlett; Survivor’s Guilt by Michael Wood; Flesh and Blood by Caroline Mitchell; Psychopaths Anonymous by Will Carver; Saying Goodbye to Tuesday by Chrissie Manby and Offshore by Ann Cleeves.
I did place a few orders in the week – well preorders to be exact. No covers revealed yet but the books are on the Zon. I’ll reveal all when they are officially announced so as not to steal anyone’s thunder. Two other preorders – The Midnight Man by Caroline Mitchell and Everyday Kindness, a short story charity collection in aid of Shelter. Also excited to have in my possession two ARCs gifted by two very generous authors. Nowhere to Run, the latest Constance Fairchild story from James Oswald and No Way To Die by Tony Kent. So grateful to the two authors and very excited for the early reads. And that’s it. No other books bought and no Netgalley. But I’m happy. Quality over quantity.
Books I have read
Saying Goodbye to Tuesday by Chrissie Manby
Stupendo the dog has died. But that’s just the beginning of his story.
To love and protect. The code of the good dog is clear. When single mother Tuesday took on mongrel pup Stupendo, she made a friend for life. Through the best and the worst of times, Stupendo has been there for her. Ever faithful, ever loyal, ever true. Nothing could break their bond. Until last week.
Stupendo doesn’t know why Tuesday is suddenly ignoring him or why his doggy antics no longer seem to soothe Baby William. It takes his worst enemy – the cat next door – to break the news that Stupendo has become a ghost.
Somehow left behind on Earth, Stupendo knows he has unfinished business. Enlisting the help of the community of animals in the neighbourhood, Stupendo must get to the bottom of the very human sadness that hangs over his old home and keeps him from saying goodbye to Tuesday.
Offshore, by bestselling crime writer Ann Cleeves, is a striking collection of eight short stories, all set on islands off the coast of the UK, and features cases for both DI Jimmy Perez on Shetland, and DI Willow Reeves on Uist in the Outer Hebrides.
In ‘Stranded’, set on Hilbre near Liverpool, a young man’s first love vanishes. In ‘Hector’s Other Woman’, on Holy Island, we meet a young Vera before she becomes DI Vera Stanhope, and discover how she decides to enter the police force. One of the stories, ‘Postcard from Skokholm’, is written by Lynne Chitty, winner of Pan Macmillan’s Bello imprint’s short story competition, who introduces Ann Cleeves’ beloved characters George and Molly Palmer-Jones to new readers.
Ann Cleeves deftly captures the spirit of each island setting, and offers us a compelling new collection of mysteries.
A MISSING CHILD
Ten years ago, the disappearance of firearms police officer Jonah Colley’s young son almost destroyed him.
A GRUESOME DISCOVERY
A plea for help from an old friend leads Jonah to Slaughter Quay, and the discovery of four bodies. Brutally attacked and left for dead, he is the only survivor.
A SEARCH FOR THE TRUTH
Under suspicion himself, he uncovers a network of secrets and lies about the people he thought he knew – forcing him to question what really happened all those years ago…
Nowhere To Run by James Oswald
The gripping new thriller in the brilliant Constance Fairchild series, from one of Scotland’s foremost crime writers.
On compassionate leave following the death of her mother, Detective Constable Constance Fairchild thought renting a cottage near Aberystwyth, Wales would get her far enough from London to finally relax. But trouble always seems to find Con, and it’s not long before she is cooling off in a police station cell after defending herself from two would-be rapists.
In custody she meets a young Ukrainian woman, Lila, who confides in Con that she’s been forced by her manipulative boyfriend into prostitution and running drugs. Fearing for her life, she has run away from him, only to end up in the cells.
Con offers to help, but when her cottage is ransacked, and Lila subsequently disappears, she realises she’s stumbled into very dangerous company. International drug smugglers and ruthless people traffickers – those who will stop at nothing to protect their secrets. Out here at the end of the line, will Con find that there’s nowhere left to run?
Three full books and a short story collection. I’ll take that. And they are excellent books so, bonus!. Full enough week on the blog – recap below:
#Review – Death of the Mantis – Michael Stanley
#Review – The Great Silence – Doug Johnstone
#Review – A Rattle of Bones – Douglas Skelton
#Revivew – Deadly Harvest – Michael Stanley
#Review – Dark Suits and Sad Songs – Denzil Meyrick
#Review – First Monday Crime – Resistance – Mara Timon
No blog tours this week just a mix of reviews from books old and new. Mostly old to be fair. Well – we have to share the book love for ALL of the books, don’t we.
Hope you all have a fab. week, and here’s hoping we get plenty of sunshine too. Could use the cheery weather to be fair.
Happy reading
Jen x
Jen Med's Book Reviews 