And there we have it. Another week passes us by. I worked. I read (a bit), I even managed to write some reviews which is a bonus. I had a day off – did nowt with it but grocery shopping, but you can’t be on the go all day every day, right? Because of that, and because the weather has been variable (i.e. wet), I didn’t venture down the canal this week. Instead, I’m sharing some pictures of some of the things that have kept me going and (mostly) positive this year. And no. It’s not just piles of books.
From top left: A black headed gull; view across the bay from Bute towards the mainland; Bamburgh Castle in silhouette against a bright orange sunset; a mute swan; Dunstanburgh Castle across Beadnell Bay; Ducks, a lone Robin basking in the sun; Sunrise on Bute.
It’s been a very good week for books from my perspective. Certainly a squeal worthy one on a couple of occasions. I have been gifted copies of Devil’s Way, the new Kate Karshall thriller, by Robert Byrndza (12 Jan 23) and The House of Whispers by Anna Mazzola (6 Apr 23) from Orion Books. So very happy. My pre-order of Hunting Time, the brand new Colter Shaw thriller from Jeffery Deaver arrived, as did the copies of The Butcher and the Wren by Alaina Urquhart and Little Sister by Gytha Lodge.
Bottom Row L-R: The House of Whispers; Little Sister; The Butcher & the Wren.
New NetGalley books this week were The End of the Game by Holly Watt (25 May 23) and Eighteen Seconds by Louise Beech (27 Apr 23). I also received a gifted copy of The Vanishing of Margaret Small by Neil Alexander from Tracy Fenton and Embla Books.
Three new book buys this week – Embers of Bridges by Tess Makovesky; The Winter Killer by Alex Pine and a preorder of In Cold Blood by Caroline Mitchell (02 Dec).
Books I have read
All Night Long by Rachel Amphlett
Zoe Michaels is working the late shift in the Easy Stop Diner on Route 15.
Vince, the owner is nowhere to be seen, and the fryers and griddle went cold over an hour ago.
But luckily for Zoe, it’s a Monday – and quiet.
Because something smells off tonight, and it isn’t Vince’s famous fried bologna sandwich…
All Night Long forms part of the Case Files series of short crime stories from USA Today bestselling author Rachel Amphlett.
The Vanishing of Margaret Small by Neil Alexander
Meet Margaret Small: 75, plain spoken, Whitstable native and a Cilla Black super fan. Shortly after the death of her idol, Margaret begins receiving sums of money in the post, signed simply ‘C’.
She is convinced it must be Cilla, but how can it be? To solve the mystery of her benefactor Margaret must go back in her memories almost 70 years, to the time when she was ‘vanished’ to a long-stay institution for children with learning disabilities.
An absorbing and page-turning mystery with a dual timeline, The Vanishing of Margaret Small takes readers into a fascinating past, and introduces an unforgettable literary heroine.
Inspired by a series of true stories
Four young women soldiers.
One veteran cop.
It begins as a fight for justice.
It will end as a battle for survival.
When Detective Inspector Robert Finlay is sent to a military barracks to investigate a connection to weapons discovered in the possession of London gangsters, he is given strict instructions not to get involved in a suicide enquiry into the recent death of a young, recruit soldier.
The army partners Finlay with Floria McLaren, an ambitious military policewoman who doesn’t believe the death was a suicide. Ellie Rodgers is a traumatised army officer who discovers the existence of a cabal of soldiers who exploit young recruits for sexual and criminal purposes. Jodie Baker is the plaything of a devious and narcissistic training sergeant. Wendy Russell is a senior police officer with an undercover agent gone missing. All are in danger. Separately, or together, they must fight for justice.
What appears to be a routine investigation soon takes on a life of its own as Finlay finds himself in a struggle with powerful forces – both criminal and from the military establishment – who know that, inside the wire, they make the rules
A young man arrives in a small town, hoping to leave his past behind him, but everything changes when he takes a job in a peculiar old shop, and meets a lonely single mother… A chillingly hypnotic modern-gothic thriller and a mesmerising study of identity and obsession.
When Teddy Colne arrives in the small town of Rye, he believes he will be able to settle down and leave his past behind him. Little does he know that fear blisters through the streets like a fever. The locals tell him to stay away from an establishment known only as Berry & Vincent, that those who rub too closely to its proprietor risk a bad end.
Despite their warnings, Teddy is desperate to understand why Rye has come to fear this one man, and to see what really hides behind the doors of his shop.
Ada moved to Rye with her young son to escape a damaged childhood and years of never fitting in, but she’s lonely, and ostracised by the community. Ada is ripe for affection and friendship, and everyone knows it.
As old secrets bleed out into this town, so too will a mystery about a family who vanished fifty years earlier, and a community living on a knife edge.
Teddy looks for answers, thinking he is safe, but some truths are better left undisturbed, and his past will find him here, just as it has always found him before. And before long, it will find Ada too.
Three full length books and one short story. Not as impressive as it sounds and definitely not something I would have pulled of without an extra day. One was a last minute read but I thoroughly enjoyed it. Busy enough week on the blog as well. Recap below:
#Review – The Moment Before – Rachel Amphlett
#Review – The Pain Tourist – Paul Cleave
#Review – Red Mist – Ant Middleton
#Review – Hunting Time – Jeffery Deaver
#Review – Freeze Frame – Peter May
Just the one blog tour again this week – Home Coming by Isabel Ashdown.
And that’s my lot for the week. Hope you all have a lovely week, full of fun rather and, where possible, books. To set us all off with the right tone, here’s a picture of my new Koala cushion. Really rather cute don’t you think?
Happy reading all.
Jen x
Jen Med's Book Reviews 