And there we have it. January is no more – all hail February. Actually, I’m quite happy to see February as it means I now have a week off, as well as another odd Friday later in the month. Bonus! Not much by way of photos to share this week as my walks have been mostly confined to the park next to work. Aside from the odd Council lorry and well hidden sparrow, not a lot of wildlife round there … To make up for it, I’ve added some pictures of my current blogging buddies, Scooby-Lu and Scooby-Two. They aren’t much help with the reviews, but they keep my feet warm.
It’s been a busier week this week, book wise. Three bits of book post (one for Mandie) plus I’ve bought a few titles for myself in physical and e-book format. First up – book post. A lovely arc of The Writing Retreat by Julia Bartz from One World/Magpie (21 Feb). Mandie received a copy of Two Storm Wood by Philip Gray courtesy of Vintage (out now) and I received an exclusive hardback edition of The Institution by Helen Fields (02 March) ahead of a Twitter takeover in March. Such a beauty.
Purchase wise, I treated myself to a physical copy of Look Both Ways by Linwood Barclay (out now) which i’m very happy about. I also pre-ordered a hard back of the 70th Anniversary Edition of The Moustrap by Agatha Christie from Bert’s Books (30 March).
One new Netgalley – The Doctor by Annie Payne (25 May) courtesy of Avon. A few e-books and preorders placed too. The Deadline Clock by Jeffery Deaver; Ahead of the Game by J.D. Kirk; The Pain Hunter by Jeffery Deaver; The Dying Squad by Adam Simcox (for kindle); The Party Season by Susi Holliday; and Autumn Chills by Agatha Christie.
Bottom L-R: The Pain Hunter; The Dying Squad; Autumn Chills
Books I have read
Unlawful Killings by Her Honour Wendy Joseph QC
‘Every day in the UK lives are suddenly, brutally, wickedly taken away. Victims are shot or stabbed. Less often they are strangled or suffocated or beaten to death. Rarely they are poisoned, pushed off high buildings, drowned or set alight. Then there are the many who are killed by dangerous drivers, or corporate gross negligence. There are a lot of ways you can kill someone. I know because I’ve seen most of them at close quarters.’
High-profile murder cases all too often grab our attention in dramatic media headlines – for every unlawful death tells a story. But, unlike most of us, a judge doesn’t get to turn the page and move on. Nor does the defendant, or the family of the victim, nor the many other people who populate the court room.
And yet, each of us has a vested interest in what happens there. And while most people have only the sketchiest idea of what happens inside a Crown Court, any one of us could end up in the witness-box or even in the dock.
With breath-taking skill and deep compassion, the author describes how cases unfold and illustrates exactly what it’s like to be a murder trial judge and a witness to human good and bad. Sometimes very bad.
The fracture lines that run through our society are becoming harder and harder to ignore. From a unique vantage point, the author warns that we do so at our peril.
The Deadline Clock by Jeffery Deaver
A Missing woman.
12 hours.
250,000$.
Ellie Kohl has been kidnapped by the infamous unsub DK – the Deadline Kidnapper.
The last woman he took was nearly killed. There is no negotiating with this man – the only way to get her back is to pay the ransom.
But her husband’s business is failing and he can’t raise the funds.
Investigator Colter Shaw is her last chance.
Can he find her before the Deadline Clock strikes?
Where Demons Hide by Douglas Skelton
Something scared Nuala Flaherty to death. When her body is found in the centre of a pentagram on a lonely moor, Rebecca is determined to find out what. Was she killed by supernatural means, or is there a more down-to-earth explanation?
Rebecca’s investigation leads her to a mysterious cult and local drug dealings. But what she doesn’t know is that crime matriarch Mo Burke still has her in her crosshairs. Mo wants payback for the death of her son, and after one failed attempt to hurt Rebecca, she is upping the ante. And this time, it could be lethal.
The Pain Hunter by Jeffery Deaver
A violent jailbreak bleeds into a street fair in Wisconsin. In the wake of the carnage, a getaway van barrels down a rural highway. Inside are two men with a tenuous bond: an obsession with pain.
One is Paul Offenbach, a sadistic crime boss with a life-threatening bullet wound. The other is his hostage, Dr. Stuart Collier, now faced with a harrowing ethical quandary. Mile by mile, as a calculated battle of wills and wits plays out, the killer plots his next move. So does the doctor, sworn to do no harm but desperate to escape.
From internationally bestselling master of suspense Jeffery Deaver comes The Pain Hunter, part of The Broken Doll collection, a series of interconnected short stories about killers and prey, justice and revenge, that can be read or listened to in a single breathless experience.
The Dying Squad by Adam Simcox
WHO BETTER TO SOLVE A MURDER THAN A DEAD DETECTIVE?
When Detective Inspector Joe Lazarus storms a Lincolnshire farmhouse, he expects to bring down a notorious drug gang; instead, he discovers his own dead body and a spirit guide called Daisy-May.
She’s there to enlist him to the Dying Squad, a spectral police force made up of the recently deceased. Joe soon realises there are fates far worse than death. To escape being stuck in purgatory, he must solve his own murder.
Reluctantly partnering with Daisy-May, Joe faces dangers from both the living and the dead in the quest to find his killer – before they kill again.
Not too bad give I had a full week at work this week. Before you congratulate me though, please note that two of them where novellas so a lot quicker to read. Full week on the blog – recap below:
#Review – The Only Suspect – Louise Candlish
#Review – A Village Fete Murder – Katie Gayle
#Review – The Girl In The Photograph – Catherine Hokin
#CoverReveal – Children Of the Mist – Douglas Skelton
#Review – The Forcing – Paul E. Hardisty
#CoverReveal – The Doctor – Annie Payne
#Review – Exiles – Jane Harper
#Review – 1989 – Val McDermid
I had a really good month in January for reading – 16 books read. Can you believe it? Me either 🤣 Reminder of all the fabulous reads below:
Exiles by Jane Harper
Black Foam by Haji Jabir
The Only Suspect by Louise Candlish
The Dead of Winter by Stuart MacBride
1989 by Val McDermid
Shiver by Allie Reynolds
A Truth For A Truth by Carol Wyer
The Institution by Helen Fields
Reputation by Sarah Vaughan
Darkness Falls by Alex Knight
Eighteen Seconds by Louise Beech
No More Lies by Rachel Abbott
The Real Prime Suspect by Jackie Malton
The Siege by John Sutherland
Force of Hate by Graham Bartlett
Unlawful Killings by Her Honour Wendy Joseph, QC
Two blog tours this week. Today, Mandie reviews Dead of Night by Simon Scarrow, and tomorrow I am taking a look at Black Foam by Haji Jabir.
And that is my lot. A few exciting plans this week so hopefully I’ll have a few more pictures to share because Loo and boo are getting fed up of posing. Have a lovely week and happy reading.
Jen x
Jen Med's Book Reviews 