Well one-quarter of 2017 over already and in that time I’ve had some brilliant books to read including the very special A Dangerous Crossing by Rachel Rhys (aka Tammy Cohen) and this week I came home to the final version complete with a lovely personal inscription from Tammy and in the acknowledgements a thank you to all book bloggers and a special mention for me. If you haven’t read A Dangerous Crossing yet, I highly recommend it
This Week on the Blog
After a somewhat unscheduled break last week when I realised I simply couldn’t fit anything else into my days I was back this week raring to go!
I started the week with my review of Louise Walters A Life Between Us which tells the story across the decades of one family. There were many layers to this story told across decades but Louise Walters knows her craft and has written a belter of a book
My excerpt post was from The Restless Dead by Simon Beckett and this was one opener that you don’t want to read while you’re eating…
On Wednesday I featured books from Suellen Dainty, David Jackson and Thorne Moore who all featured in my reading week.
Next up my review of A is for Arsenic: The Poisons of Agatha Christie by Kathryn Harkup in which I unreservedly recommend for fans of the Queen of Crime, and I got to learn even more about poisoners and their poisons.
On Friday I took part in the blog tour by posting my review for The Housekeeper by Suellen Dainty (yes I had to read and review in record time this week) which wasn’t what I expected but I thoroughly enjoyed this slow peeling back of the layers of a household and the woman who was their housekeeper.
Yesterday was the fifth Put a Book on the Map feature and this time we visited Peterborough with Eva Dolan’s series featuring DI Zigic and DS Ferreira with help from A Crime Reader’s Blog and the unstinting support of The Book Trail
This Time Last Year…
I was reading Tastes Like Fear by Sarah Hilary, which had two seemingly disparate plots for DI Marnie Rome and DS Noah Jakes to solve. The whole series is incredibly strong with bang up to date storylines; Tastes Like Fear was no different.
You can read my full review here or click on the book cover
Blurb
The fragile young girl who causes the fatal car crash disappears from the scene. A runaway who doesn’t want to be found, she only wants to return to the man who understands her and offers her warmth, comfort, a home. He gives her gives her shelter. Just as he gives shelter to the other lost girls who live in his house.
He’s the head of her new family.
D.I. Marnie Rome has faced many dangerous criminals but she has never come up against a man like Harm. She thinks that she knows families, their secrets and their fault lines. But as she begins investigating the girl’s disappearance nothing can prepare her for what she’s about to face. Amazon
Stacking the Shelves
I’m getting the feeling that the publishers are trying to undermine my exceptional self-control for buying new books and requesting from NetGalley as I have had loads of great books through the post – here is a small selection
Blood Tide by Claire McGowan, the fifth in the Paula McGuire series set in Ireland was a welcome addition to the household.
Blurb
Called in to investigate the disappearance of a young couple during a violent storm, Paula Maguire, forensic psychologist, has mixed feelings about going back to Bone Island. Her last family holiday as a child was spent on its beautiful, remote beaches and returning brings back haunting memories of her long-lost mother.
It soon becomes clear that outsiders aren’t welcome on the island, and with no choice but to investigate the local community, Paula soon suspects foul play, realising that the islanders are hiding secrets from her, and each other.
With another storm fast approaching, Paula is faced with a choice. Leave alive or risk being trapped with a killer on an inescapable island, as the blood tide rushes in… Amazon
I was ecstatic to be sent a copy of the latest Peter James book, Need You Dead which is the thirteenth in the Roy Grace series set in Brighton. I am a huge fan of this series and will be part of the blog tour in May to celebrate its publication.
Blurb
Lorna Belling, desperate to escape the marriage from hell, falls for the charms of another man who promises her the earth. But, as Lorna finds, life seldom follows the plans you’ve made. A chance photograph on a client’s mobile phone changes everything for her.
When the body of a woman is found in a bath in Brighton, Detective Superintendent Roy Grace is called to the scene. At first it looks an open and shut case with a clear prime suspect. Then other scenarios begin to present themselves, each of them tantalizingly plausible, until, in a sudden turn of events, and to his utter disbelief, the case turns more sinister than Grace could ever have imagined. Amazon
I was also delighted to receive an advance copy of They All Fall Down by Tammy Cohen which will be published on 13 July 2017.
Blurb
She knows there’s a killer on the loose.
But no-one believes her.
Will she be next?Hannah had a normal life – a loving husband, a good job. Until she did something shocking.
Now she’s in a psychiatric clinic. It should be a safe place. But patients keep dying.
The doctors say it’s suicide. Hannah knows they’re lying.
Can she make anyone believe her before the killer strikes again? Amazon
I also have a copy of a new to me author Maile Meloy with Do Not Become Alarmed which will be published on 6 July 2017 and came with a fetching boarding pass.
Blurb
When Liv and Nora decide to take their husbands and children on a holiday cruise, everyone is thrilled. The ship’s comforts and possibilities seem infinite. But when they all go ashore in beautiful Central America, a series of minor mishaps lead the families further from the ship’s safety.
One minute the children are there, and the next they’re gone.What follows is a heart-racing story told from the perspectives of the adults and the children, as the distraught parents – now turning on one another and blaming themselves – try to recover their children and their shattered lives. Amazon
I also have one book from NetGalley, an exception had to be made because Steve Robinson gave me a link to request his latest genealogical mystery Dying Games, the sixth in the Jefferson Tate series. Dying Games will be published on 4 May 2017.
Blurb
Washington, DC: Twin brothers are found drowned in a Perspex box, one gagged and strapped to a chair. It’s the latest in a series of cruel and elaborate murders with two things in common: the killer has left a family history chart at each crime scene, and the victims all have a connection to genealogical sleuth Jefferson Tayte.
Hoping his insight and expertise will help solve the case, the FBI summon Tayte back to the capital. But as he struggles to crack the clues, the killer strikes again—and again. Tayte is known as the best in the business, but this time he’s up against a genealogical mastermind who always seems to be one step ahead.
With the clock ticking and the body count rising, Tayte finds himself racked with guilt, his reputation and career in tatters. The killer is running rings around him; is it only a matter of time before he comes for the ultimate target?
This is the sixth book in the Jefferson Tayte Genealogical Mystery series but can be enjoyed as a stand-alone story. NetGalley
What have you found to read this week? Do share, as you can see I’m always on the lookout for a good book!
Since my last post I’ve read 6 books and gained 7 so the grand total is slowly inching upwards to 192
Physical Books – 114
Kindle Books – 61
NetGalley Books – 17
