And here we have arrived at practically the end of February. Where the heck has that gone? Next stop Easter … Never mind. Probably a good thing that it’s passed by in a blur, and I have managed to fit in some fabulous memories and some stonkingly brilliant reads too, so can’t complain. Long week at work again, so all I have is a few duck pics to satisfy you this week – sorry.
Quiet week on the book front. One Netgalley title this week – Death of a Lesser God by Vaseem Khan (10 August), Love this series so excited to be reading it in the not too distant future. One preorder from Waterstones – The House of Whispers by Anna Mazzola (06 April), special edition with lovely piano key spredges. And one gifted ebook in readiness for the tour – The Lazarus Solution by Kjell Ola Dahl (27 April). I also pre-ordered a signed copy of Fearless by M.W. Craven from Books Cumbria. And that’s it.
Books I have read
The House of Whispers by Anna Mazzola
Sometimes the secrets of the past are more dangerous than the present…
Rome, 1938.
As the world teeters on the brink of war, talented pianist Eva Valenti enters the house of widower Dante Cavallera to become his new wife.
On the outside, the forces of Fascism are accelerating, but in her new home, Eva fears that something else is at work, whispering in the walls and leaving mysterious marks on Dante’s young daughter.
Soon she starts to wonder whether the house itself is trying to give up the secrets of its mysterious past – secrets that Dante seems so determined to keep hidden.
However, Eva must also conceal the truth of her own identity, for if she is discovered, she will be in greater danger than she could ever have imagined…
The Acapulco by Simone Buchholz
A serial killer is on the loose in Hamburg, targeting dancers from The Acapulco, a club in the city’s red-light district, taking their scalps as gruesome trophies and replacing them with plastic wigs.
Chastity Riley is the state prosecutor responsible for crimes in the district, and she’s working alongside the police as they investigate. Can she get inside the mind of the killer?
Her strength is thinking like a criminal; her weaknesses are pubs, bars and destructive relationships, but as Chastity searches for love and a flamboyant killer – battling her demons and the dark, foggy Hamburg weather – she hits dead end after dead end.
As panic sets in and the death toll rises, it becomes increasingly clear that it may already be too late. For everyone…
Dodge by Jeffery Deaver (The Broken Doll 2)
Nothing can stop an avenging vigilante from channeling her rage—or pursuing her prey. Not the relentless cops in her rearview. Not the cunning and elusive sociopath she’s closing in on.
A robbery goes awry. A female deputy is tortured and murdered. The killer, hiding in plain sight, has officials in rural Wisconsin under his thumb—except for Special Agent Constant Marlowe, on an unsanctioned mission to avenge her friend’s death. Constant isn’t letting a notorious sadist like Paul Offenbach get away. Traps are set. A cat-and-mouse game begins. Both hunter and hunted are ready to play.
From internationally bestselling master of suspense Jeffery Deaver comes Dodge, 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.
Thirty Days of Darkness by Jenny Lund Madsen
A Danish literary author is challenged to write a crime novel in thirty days, travelling to a small village in Iceland for inspiration, and then a body appears … an atmospheric, darkly funny, twisty debut thriller, first in an addictive new series.
Copenhagen author Hannah is the darling of the literary community and her novels have achieved massive critical acclaim. But nobody actually reads them, and frustrated by writer’s block, Hannah has the feeling that she’s doing something wrong.
When she expresses her contempt for genre fiction, Hanna is publicly challenged to write a crime novel in thirty days. Scared that she will lose face, she accepts, and her editor sends her to Húsafjöður – a quiet, tight-knit village in Iceland, filled with colorful local characters – for inspiration.
But two days after her arrival, the body of a fisherman’s young son is pulled from the water … and what begins as a search for plot material quickly turns into a messy and dangerous investigation that threatens to uncover secrets that put everything at risk … including Hannah.
Atmospheric, dramatic and full of nerve-jangling twists and turns, Thirty Days of Darkness is a darkly funny, unsettling debut thriller that marks the start of a breathtaking new series.
And that’s my lot. Not too bad for a week where I was in work. Busy enough week on the blog – recap below:
#Review – The Chase – Ava Glass
#Review – Paris Requiem – Chris Lloyd
#Review – Reputation – Sarah Vaughan
#Review – Darkness Falls – Alex Knight
#Review – Follow Me to The Edge – Tariq Ashkanani
The week ahead sees us taking part in just one blog tour – No More Lies by Rachel Abbott on Wednesday. Looks like the reading books just for the hell of it plan is finally kicking in.
So that rounds up a somewhat uneventful week. Still some fabulous bookishness there so I’m happy.
Hope you all have a wonderful week. This is last five day week in work until after Easter. Best make the most of it, huh?
Jen x
Jen Med's Book Reviews 