Rewind, Recap: Weekly Update W/E 20/11/22

I cannot be the only one thinking that that month is passing by far too quickly. Thanks to the workplace hokey-cokey that is jury service, I’ve been able to get some good reading done so far, and I am (as I type this), just one book away from reading all the titles I plan to review in 2022. Next up January 2023 …

Small matter of #bookvent to get through and I think that will be next weekend’s task. I know pretty much what will be in the list – I’ve even bought garlands and tinsel to mix up the posts a little this year – but all the prep work is still to be done on the posts and that really does take what feels like forever.

I’m pretty happy with the week that has just passed. Some fabulous books delivered from Bert’s Books this week, both part of my Orenda Books subscription – The Pain Tourist by Paul Cleave and Suicide Thursday by Will Carver. Both very memorable and both recommended. Thrilled to be quoted on the cover of The Pain Tourist, and trying to work out if the inscription in Suicide Thursday is an enquiry after my needs or some kind of rebuke?

I may* have bought a few books this past week, as well as a couple of pre-orders and a download from Netgalley. My book buys were The Girls Who Disappeared by Claire Douglas; Canaries in the Coal Mine by Ross Greenwood (15 December); Hidden in Snow by Viveca Sten; The Creek by LJ Ross. Preorder was The Dying Season by Rachel Amphlett (Kay Hunter 12 – 06 February 23) and from Netgalley i received The Hidden Secrets of Bumblebee Cottage by Christie Barlow courtesy of One More Chapter (31 December)

I was so very lucky this past weekend to receive a personalised proof of Eleven Liars, the upcoming new mystery thriller from Robert Gold (30 March 2023). I really enjoyed Twelve Secrets and am looking forward to seeing what this latest novel is all about. My thanks to publisher Sphere and ED Public Relations for the copy. It’s so pretty (and shiny). I mean – what colour could it be other than gold?

Books I have read

Behind Closed Doors by Carol Wyer

Two kidnappings, thirty years apart. Can Stacey face her own dark past in order to save her stepdaughter?

When Stacey’s ex-husband turns up on her doorstep begging her to help save his kidnapped thirteen-year-old daughter, Lyra, the terror is all too familiar. Stacey’s own violent kidnapping thirty years ago was never solved, and while a severe case of amnesia spares her from recalling the specific horrors, she remembers enough…

Stacey knows her father never paid the ransom—she has the missing pinkie finger to prove it. She knows she was only saved because of an anonymous tip-off to the police. And she knows her captor was never apprehended.

Lyra’s kidnappers have made it clear the police must not get involved. But Stacey can’t shake the eerie similarities between the two cases, and she’ll use whatever she can, from her journalistic powers to her shady contacts, to save Lyra from the same nightmare. Desperate to find any link between Lyra’s abduction and her own, Stacey forces herself to revisit her forgotten, traumatic past for clues.

But can she make sense of the terrible secrets she unearths in time to save Lyra? And if she does, is she ready to face her own tormentor?

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Dashboard Elvis is Dead by David F. Ross

A failed writer connects the murder of an American journalist, a drowned 80s musician and a Scottish politician’s resignation, in a heart-wrenching novel about ordinary people living in extraordinary times.

Renowned photo-journalist Jude Montgomery arrives in Glasgow in 2014, in the wake of the failed Scottish independence referendum, and it’s clear that she’s searching for someone.

Is it Anna Mason, who will go on to lead the country as First Minister? Jamie Hewitt, guitarist from eighties one-hit wonders The Hyptones? Or is it Rabbit – Jude’s estranged foster sister, now a world-famous artist?

Three apparently unconnected people, who share a devastating secret, whose lives were forever changed by one traumatic night in Phoenix, forty years earlier…

Taking us back to a school shooting in her Texas hometown, and a 1980s road trip across the American West – to San Francisco and on to New York – Jude’s search ends in Glasgow, and a final, shocking event that only one person can fully explain…

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The Hidden Secrets of Bumblebee Cottage by Christie Barlow

A new start…

When Jinny Birdwhistle is pushed over the edge one time too many times and quits her job as a tabloid journalist, an impromptu – and rather unconventional – job search leads her to a new house, car, and career making honey and chutney in the small Scottish village of Heartcross. And with handsome beekeeper Gabe Warner to help her learn the ropes, she’s ready to embrace ‘country girl life’ and leave the past behind her.

…uncovers an old secret

Yet there’s more to strong and silent Gabe than meets the eye and though Jinny planned to leave her journalistic instincts in London, she can’t help doing a little digging. Now, as she uncovers a mystery that links to her own history, Jinny realises that you can’t outrun the truth and the only way to move forward is to face the past. But now that she’s at home in Heartcross, she won’t have to do it alone…

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A Heart Full of Headstones by Ian Rankin

John Rebus had been in court plenty of times, but this was his first time in the dock…

John Rebus stands accused: on trial for a crime that could put him behind bars for the rest of his life. Although it’s not the first time the legendary detective has taken the law into his own hands, it might be the last.

What drove a good man to cross the line? Or have times changed, and the rules with them?

Detective Inspector Siobhan Clarke faces Edinburgh’s most explosive case in years, as a corrupt cop goes missing after claiming to harbour secrets that could sink the city’s police force.

But in this investigation, it seems all roads lead to Rebus – and Clarke’s twin loyalties to the public and the police will be tested to their limit.

A reckoning is coming – and John Rebus may be hearing the call for last orders…

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Four books – I’ll take that. And yes … This means that at point of publication, I did actually finish that final book I spoke of in the opening paragraph … A full enough, but not quite full week on the blog, but I’m happy enough. Nice to have a day off! Recap below:

#Review – The Christmas Murder Game – Alexandra Benedict
#Review – Suicide Thursday – Will Carver
#Review – The Murder Book – Mark Billingham
#Review – You Don’t Know What War Is – Yeva Skalietska

The week ahead is full of reviews – well Monday to Friday anyway. Just the one tour – The Pain Tourist by Paul Cleave which I’m sharing my thoughts on tomorrow.

And that’s my lot. Not the most exciting week, but some exciting books bought and read and for the first time in a while, I feel like I might be getting things back in balance. A nice posting break over the coming festive season will most definitely help.

Have a lovely week all.

Jen x