And another week passes by in a flash. Did you have a good one? Mine wasn’t too bad, all things considered. Not as interesting as last week, granted, but I had the day off on Friday and, in spite of the weather reports suggesting it might be a washout, it was quite a pleasant day in the end. Went for a walk around town, did the grocery shop. Think that about sums it up but not too shabby a day. A wander around the Deer Park on Saturday and another local walk on Sunday where we saw the resident black swan, and all in all it was a satisfying end to the week.
Quiet week for books, but that’s no bad thing. My order of books 2 & 3 in the Laidlaw series by William McIlvanney arrived – lovely stuff – so that’s The Papers of Tony Veitch and Strange Loyalties added to the collection. One bit of book post on Saturday – See No Evil by David Fennell, which I’ll be reviewing as part of the blog tour.
*Might* have placed a few pre-orders and such during the week – some Rachel Amphlett Case Files short stories – The Last Super (out now), Something in the Air, A Pain in the Neck, and Special Delivery. I ordered The Moose Paradox by Antti Tuomainen (of course) as well as sharing the cover reveal earlier in the week. Then there was The Creek by LJ Ross; A Sliver Of Darkness by CJ Tudor; the hardback edition of Dream Town by David Baldacci and Girl Forgotten by Karin Slaughter because I’m a sucker for a nice special edition.
Books I have read
The Last Super by Rachel Amphlett
Larry’s been the supervisor of the apartment block for as long as the tenants can remember.
And he knows all their secrets…
The Last Super forms part of the Case Files series of short crime stories from USA Today bestselling author Rachel Amphlett.
Two men are found dead in London’s Battersea Park. One of the bodies has been laid out like a crucifix – with his eyes removed and placed on his open palms.
Detective Inspector Grace Archer and her caustic DS, Harry Quinn, lead the investigation. But when more bodies turn up in a similar fashion, they find themselves in a race against time to find the sadistic killer.
The hunt leads them to Ladywell Playtower in Southeast London, the home to a religious commune lead by the enigmatic Aaron Cronin. Archer and Quinn suspect Cronin’s involvement but his alibis are watertight, and the truth seemingly buried. If Archer is to find the killer, she must first battle her way through religious fanatics, London gangsters – and her own demons . . .
It’s a typical teenage bedroom with posters covering the walls and clothes littering the floor. But the girl lying on her bed, wearing a delicate chain around her neck, is lifeless. A circle of red stains her white vest top. How had the girl’s mother looked down at her sleeping child and pulled the trigger?
When Detective Kim Stone rushes to the scene of a house fire, she’s shocked to discover it’s claimed the lives of two teenage children and their parents. But this tragedy is not quite as it seems. Each body is marked by a gunshot wound and the mother, Helen Daynes, is holding the gun.
The case sparks painful childhood memories for Kim who suffered at the hands of her own abusive mother, but it just makes her more determined to uncover the truth. As Kim untangles Helen’s past, she finds a history of clinical depression. But did it drive Helen to murder her loved ones?
Then Kim uncovers a tiny, vital clue in Helen’s bedroom that throws the investigation wide open. Could someone else have killed the Daynes family?
Just as Kim feels she’s making progress, a deadly threat is made to her own life by a dangerous psychopath from her past. Biting back her fear, she keeps digging. And when Kim hits upon a shocking secret that changes everything she thought she knew about Helen, she realises that the remaining family members are in grave danger.
Kim is under pressure like never before, and the monster circling her is getting ever closer. Four bodies already. Four graves fresh in the ground. Who will be next? Can Kim find the killer and save herself before it’s too late?
An absolutely nail-biting mystery thriller that will have you gasping out loud. You won’t come up for air until you’ve reached the breathtaking final twist. Fans of Karin Slaughter, Mark Billingham and Robert Dugoni will love Six Graves.
The Bathroom Murders by Mark L. Fowler
When a series of women are stabbed to death in their showers, DI Charlie Reed puts her neck on the line, disregarding the orders of her superiors in a desperate bid to catch the killer before they can strike again.
DI Charlie Reed is called to the scene of a murder in Fallowfield, a young woman found stabbed to death in the shower. The attack was frenetic, the victim suffering more than a hundred wounds. And yet there is no trace of evidence at the scene.
With the help of her faithful sidekick DS Paul Rigsby, Reed investigates and a man is brought in for questioning. But while he is in custody there is a second, almost identical, murder.
Panic grips Manchester as Reed and Rigsby come under intense pressure to crack the case before more women die. But while all eyes rest on one suspect, Reed remains unconvinced, and even Rigsby seems unwilling to go with her this time.
With pressure mounting by the hour Reed’s future is on the line.
Three full length books and a short story. Starting to become a habit for me but I’ll take it. Full enough week on the blog too. Recap below:
#Review – No Way To Die – Tony Kent
#Cover Reveal – The Moose Paradox – Antti Tuomainen
#Review – The Pilot’s Girl – Catherine Hokin
#Review – Into The Dark – Fiona Cummins
#Review – The Fake Up – Justin Myers
#Review – Don’t Let Him In – Howard Linskey
The week ahead is once again full with no less than three (3!) blog tours this week. First up is today’s review of The Dark Flood by Deon Meyer; followed by Quicksand of Memory by Michael J Malone and Murder At The Gardens by Lisa Cutts on Wednesday and Thursday. Can you believe we’ll be half way through April by then? Wowsers.
Well, best get back to the reviewing. Done my usual trick and now have ten to write up … whoops. Thankfully they were all excellent so the challenge is not remembering what happened, more finding the words to do them justice.
Have a lovely week all
Jen x
Jen Med's Book Reviews 
I love your pictures, I have never seen a black swan. It looks like you have a lot of crime fiction and thrillers coming up. Enjoy them all.
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I am going to be inundated with new and unique ways to dispatch people who wind me up I think 🤔 😆 I don’t know what made the balck swan move into our area, but he’s (she’s?) kind of cute. Quite chatty too (as much as a swan can be I guess)
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