WWW Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted at Taking on a World of Words. Anyone can take part and it is a great way of sharing what you have just finished reading, what you are currently reading and what is next on the TBR.
Links are provided for books mentioned – thanks for supporting my blog with any purchases (at no extra cost to you!)
What have you recently finished reading?
This week, I’ve read ‘Dark Truths’ by AJ Cross, an engaging and well-plotted police procedural with a forensic psychologist (Will Traynor) as part of the investigative team. This is published in paperback tomorrow and will be reviewed on the blog soon. It is definitely worth keeping an eye out for as this is the first in what looks to be a very promising series. Thanks to NetGalley for my copy in exchange for an honest review.
What are you reading now?
I’m reading ‘Ruthless Women’ by Melanie Blake (from NetGalley) which is a glamorous whirlwind of a book! Think Jackie Collins, if Jackie Collins wrote about a soap opera set on a small island near Jersey. Everyone is plastic-surgeried up to their eyeballs and as backstabby as hell, but it is a fun read. I particularly like that the cast is packed with strong older women. I’m about halfway through and still not quite sure where it is all headed!
I’m still (yes, still!) reading ‘Maiden Voyages: Women and the Golden Age of Transatlantic Travel’ by Sian Evans. This week, I read about the glamorous side of cruise liners between the wars – I loved the tales of the celebrities, royalty and movie stars at sea, plus those less-than-scrupulous characters willing to exploit the wealthy to make their own living on the ships. The world of extortion, professional gamblers and gold-diggers is presented through fascinating anecdotes. Yes, I’m making slow progress on this book – but it is fabulous!
I’m also still reading ‘Perimenopause Power’ by Maisie Hill (from NetGalley). It is quite science- heavy and so isn’t one I can zip through, but it is interesting.
What do you think you will read next?
I have a blog tour for the fascinating-sounding ‘Botanical Curses and Poisons: The Shadow Lives of Plants’ by Fez Inkwright. The tour is being organised by Random Things Tours and the book itself is absolutely beautiful – thanks to the publisher, Liminal 11, for the review copy in exchange for my honest opinions. I can’t wait to dive in!
I’m still planning on reading Agatha Christie’s ‘The Mysterious Affair at Styles’ so I can catch up with a Poirot readalong this month. I got my Kindle copy free from Project Gutenberg.
I hope you’ve had a great reading week! As always, thanks for reading and please do follow my blog for more updates.
Thank to NetGalley for the books in exchange for an honest review.
Header photo with thanks to Nadya Shuran for sharing their work on Unsplash.
Welcome to my stop on the blog tour for ‘Bad Habits’ by Flynn Meaney, a very funny YA novel with a school setting and a feminist heart!
Everybody needs to read a funny book from time to time, and this one proved the right book at the right time for me. I’m perhaps not the target audience, being several decades older than the main characters, but it certainly made me laugh. Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher (Penguin) and The Write Reads for my copy in exchange for an honest review.
The story is set in St Mary’s Catholic School, a strict boarding school in America, where the main character, Alex, is determined to have an impact. In fact, what she’d really like is to be expelled. Her purple hair and incessant rule-breaking isn’t proving enough, so she decides that she will stage the school’s first production of ‘The Vagina Monologues’ with her (mostly less-than-keen) feminist club.
This book is the story of the battle to bring the play to the stage – a battle that Alex takes on to both shock and prove her feminist credentials. What she finds is that the challenges aren’t the ones she expects.
Alex as a main character is spiky, sassy and cool – everything I wasn’t at school, so I found her pretty interesting! I’m not sure she is really intended to be likeable at the start of the book – her instinct is to push back on everything and everyone in order to prove her rebel status. However, as the book progresses, I did warm to her and felt that she started to see the bigger picture.
However, more immediately likeable is Alex’s roommate, Mary Kate. She is more relatable for me and a whole lot less prickly – although she does have determination and is a strong character in her own right. The other supporting characters are also appealing, particularly the very tolerant Pat and the rather diverse bunch in the feminist club.
I’ve always been a sucker for a school story, even from my youngest years reading Enid Blyton’s Mallory Towers books, and I enjoyed this one. I like the boarding school setting with the range of teachers (the usual suspects – scary, eccentric, kindly) and the rivalries of the cliques. The fact it is a co-ed American boarding school, whose team sport is ice hockey, seems to me to have a glamour and interest not found in the school stories of tuck boxes, lights-out and cross-country races that I grew up with!
This is more than a school story though – it is a funny school story! There were several points that made me laugh out loud and I loved the absurdity of some of the situations – I don’t want to give any spoilers so I’ll just say the recruitment drive the sleeping nun and the protest all made me smile. Alex’s voice is a humorous one and she calls on a range of unusual references, from Harry Potter to metaphysical poet Andrew Marvell, which I loved – it made her narration engaging, often surprising and clever.
There are serious messages in the book, particularly around feminism and gender. I won’t give anything away, but I will say that I thought the ethos of the book was positive and I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it to teenagers – although there are a lot of sex references and some swearing (which I – not a regular reader of YA fiction – was quite surprised by).
Overall, I’d recommend this book to anyone who likes funny books, school stories or just likes fiction with a solid feminist message. Personally, I love all three of those things, so it is a big thumbs-up from me!
If you’d like your own copy of this book, my affiliate link is below – thanks for supporting my blog with any purchases.
It has been – quite simply – the longest month ever. I’ve found it hard to concentrate on reading at times and have fallen back on the genre that I know keeps me engaged – crime fiction!
I’ve read 10 books this month, of which 7 were crime novels.
Links below are affiliate ones – thank you for supporting my blog with any purchases.
January Wrap-Up
I started the month with the rather interesting ‘How Not To Be Wrong: The Art of Changing Your Mind’ by James O’Brien. I loved his previous book (‘How to be Right’), but was particularly fascinated by O’Brien’s exploration of his own prejudices and entrenched beliefs. It certainly gave me food for thought and I would recommend it.
Next up were a slew of brilliant crime novels that I would recommend whole-heartedly.
I read ‘Dark Memories’ by Liz Mistry, the latest in the DS Nikki Parekh series set in the seedy underworld of Bradford. This is a shocking tale of crime and abuse, but the fabulous Parekh/Malik investigative team at the heart of the novel makes it compelling. My review (for a blog tour for Rachel’s Random Resources) is here.
Another blog tour read was ‘Silent Graves’ by Sally Rigby and this proved another excellent police procedural. Although is the 9th book in the Cavendish and Walker series (a female duo of investigators), I think it works well as a standalone. In this book, West Mercia Police are grappling with a historical case as two skeletons turn up on a building site. You can read my blog tour review (for Damp Pebbles) here.
This was followed by ‘The Appeal’ by Janice Hallett which I read as a buddy read organised by Viper Books. Along with the lovely LockyLovesBooks, I tried to guess the murderer in this innovative and engaging crime novel – a novel presented through the emails, voicemails and texts of its main protagonists. I proved a terrible detective but had a lot of fun – you can read my review here.
Next up was ‘The Murder of Roger Ackroyd’ by Agatha Christie. I read this with my blogger friends at The Write Reads and we had a lot of fun discussing it – although, once again, I got nowhere near the solution! A classic crime novel with such clever plotting – Christie really was a master of her craft!
After this, I had a brief break from crime to read Margaret Atwood’s new poetry collection, ‘Dearly’. This is a beautiful and insightful book about loss, grief, ageing, female bodies and the environment – and I loved it. I was lucky enough to have both the hardback (purchased) and audiobook (from NetGalley) – you can read my review about both formats here.
Following this, I went back to crime for the tense and pacey ‘The Jigsaw Man’ by Nadine Matheson – I won a copy of this from the publisher and was so excited to read it ahead of publication. This serial killer crime novel is gruesome and terrifying – and I raced through it. My review will follow nearer publication later on in February.
Another blog tour read followed, ‘Bad Habits’ by Flynn Meaney. This is a very funny and lively YA comedy which sees its heroine, Alex, try to stage a version of ‘The Vagina Monologues’ at her strict Catholic boarding school. Thanks to the publisher (Penguin) and NetGalley for my copy in exchange for an honest review. My review, for The Write Reads, will be on the blog tomorrow.
My last books of the month took me back to crime fiction (of course!).
I read ‘An Eye for an Eye’ by Carol Wyer for a Damp Pebbles blog tour – this is another brilliant police procedural with a female lead, in this case the damaged but insightful DI Kate Young. The plotting of this one, based around a serial killer in Staffordshire, is so clever and it is an absolute page turner. My review is due up on 7th February.
I finished this month with ‘Dark Truths’ by AJ Cross, another cleverly-plotted police procedural featuring DI Bernard Watts and his rookie sidekick, PC Chloe Judd investigating the brutal murder of a jogger on a rural trail. They are being helped in their investigations by forensic psychologist Will Traynor, but he seems to have his own agenda… This is the first in a series featuring Traynor and I look forward to reading more. The paperback is published on 4th February and my review will follow on the blog.
As always, thanks to blog tour organisers, publishers, authors and NetGalley for granting me access to books in exchange for an honest review.
February TBR
As always, I have more books to read than I can possibly get through! Any TBR I write is always a small proportion of books I have to read for blog tours, books I should read for NetGalley and a wish list of many other fabulous-looking reads. I am never accurate in predicting what I will actually read!
So, here is my best guess of books that have caught my eye for February. Affiliate links are at the end of the list for anyone who likes the look of any of these…
I have a blog tour for ‘Botanical Curses and Poisons’ by Fez Inkwright in February and am looking forward to diving into this beautiful book about the darker side of plants.
I also have a blog tour for ‘Old Bones’ by Helen Kitson (published by the excellent Louise Walters Books) in February too – this looks to be a gorgeous and gentle story of a group of older women.
My final blog tour for the month will be ‘Seven Days’ by Michelle Kidd. I thoroughly enjoyed the first book in this series, ‘The Phoenix Project’, and look forward to another lively thriller.
I also want to read ‘Ruthless Women’ by Melanie Blake, sold to me by NetGalley as a thriller about ambition on the set of a soap opera. I’m looking forward to glamour, glitz and some…ruthless women!
NetGalley have also granted me the fabulous-looking ‘Circus of Wonders’ by Elizabeth Macneal. I loved her first book, ‘The Doll Factory’, and cannot wait to read this new slice of quality historical fiction.
I’m also going to be reading ‘Paris by Starlight’ by Robert Dinsdale with my lovely blogger friends in the Tsundoku Squad. This is a new writer to me but I look forward to chats and lots of fun with them.
Agatha Christie’s ‘The Mysterious Affair at Styles’ is also on my February list as I join a Poirot readalong with The Write Reads crew. I need to catch up this book – Poirot Book 1 – before I can join the chat there!
Finally, I really want to clear some of my NetGalley shelf – it has more fabulous books in it than I can list and I am determined to make some headway this month. If only I can keep away from the ‘Request’ button…
That’s the plan anyway. See you here in a month’s time when I reveal that I actually read 10 more police procedurals because I am OBSESSED…
Header photo with thanks to Tim Wildsmith on Unsplash.
Welcome to my stop on the blog tour for ‘Dark Memories’ by Liz Mistry. This tour has been organised by Rachel’s Random Resources – thanks to Rachel, the publisher and author for my copy of the novel for review – opinions are entirely my own.
Blurb:
Three letters. Three murders. The clock is ticking…
When the body of a homeless woman is found under Bradford’s railway arches, DS Nikki Parekh and her trusty partner DC Sajid Malik are on the case.
With little evidence, it’s impossible to make a breakthrough, and when Nikki receives a newspaper clipping taunting her about her lack of progress in catching the killer, she wonders if she has a personal link to the case.
When another seemingly unrelated body is discovered, Nikki receives another note. Someone is clearly trying to send her clues… but who?
And then a third body is found.
This time on Nikki’s old street, opposite the house she used to live in as a child. And there’s another message… underneath the victim’s body.
With nothing but the notes to connect the murders, Nikki must revisit the traumatic events of her childhood to work out her connection to the investigation.
But some memories are best left forgotten, and it’s going to take all Nikki’s inner strength to catch the killer…
Having absolutely loved the previous book in this series, ‘Broken Silence’, I was very pleased to be able to read ‘Dark Memories’ before its publication date. Thanks to Rachel’s Random Resources and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
This is the third book in the (so far) excellent crime series featuring DS Nikki Parekh and DC Sajid Malik who work in Bradford. The last book was dark, gritty and so compelling so this one had a lot to live up to!
And it absolutely delivers. This story is closer to home for Nikki who begins to suspect that a number of murders are connected when she starts receiving newspaper clippings in the post from an anonymous sender. When the third murder is on the street she grew up on, she makes connections that link her past to the current horrors unfolding in Bradford.
Without wanting to give any spoilers, it is worth noting that Nikki’s childhood was not a happy one and this book touches on lots of hard-hitting issues. Regular readers will expect this of Mistry (whose last book tackled the grim world of people-smuggling), but I thought was worth mentioning for new readers.
One of the strengths of the novel is the relationship between Nikki and Sajid. Both are happily in relationships elsewhere (so it isn’t that kind of will-they-won’t-they scenario for so many reasons!), but their friendship is warm and genuine. There is lots of good-natured teasing between them that readers will recognise as being part of an intense working relationship. However, Saj is also really supportive when the truth about Nikki’s past comes out and this proves to be a positive in a book that otherwise would be extremely dark. Similarly, Nikki’s partner and children are also lovely – while the revelations about her past are sad and awful, she has the support network around her.
Another strength for me was the detail in the way the investigation was carried out. I love police procedurals, although I can’t claim to be an expert, and this felt realistic and methodical. There was a sense of the police being clueless at times and having to undertake lots of boring work in order to make any progress which felt real. That’s absolutely not to say it was boring to read though! Mistry manages the pace of the novel well – there are moments of high tension as well as more measured investigations.
As already mentioned, the themes are gritty and Bradford’s streets are populated with some awful people! As excellent as the plotting and characterisation is, I did find the grimness a bit of a challenge at times, especially the investigation involving children.
Overall, this is a tightly-plotted and tense police procedural. The fact that Nikki is surrounded by love and support helped to temper the dark themes a little and I’ll admit I raced through this to find out what happened!
About the Author:
Born in Scotland, Made in Bradford sums up Liz Mistry’s life. Over thirty years ago she moved from a small village in West Lothian to Yorkshire to get her teaching degree. Once here, Liz fell in love with three things; curries, the rich cultural diversity of the city … and her Indian husband (not necessarily in this order). Now thirty years, three children, two cats (Winky and Scumpy) and a huge extended family later, Liz uses her experiences of living and working in the inner city to flavour her writing. Her gritty crime fiction police procedural novels set in Bradford embrace the city she describes as ‘Warm, Rich and Fearless’ whilst exploring the darkness that lurks beneath.
Struggling with severe clinical depression and anxiety for a large number of years, Liz often includes mental health themes in her writing. She credits the MA in Creative Writing she took at Leeds Trinity University with helping her find a way of using her writing to navigate her ongoing mental health struggles. Being a debut novelist in her fifties was something Liz had only dreamed of and she counts herself lucky, whilst pinching herself regularly to make sure it’s all real. One of the nicest things about being a published author is chatting with and responding to readers’ feedback and Liz regularly does events at local libraries, universities, literature festivals and open mics. She also teaches creative writing too. Now, having nearly completed a PhD in Creative Writing focussing on ‘the absence of the teen voice in adult crime fiction’ and ‘why expansive narratives matter’, Liz is chock full of ideas to continue writing.
In her spare time, Liz loves pub quizzes (although she admits to being rubbish at them), dancing (she does a mean jig to Proud Mary – her opinion, not ratified by her family), visiting the varied Yorkshire landscape, with Robin Hoods Bay being one of her favourite coastal destinations, listening to music, reading and blogging about all things crime fiction on her blog, The Crime Warp.
Although I’ve been a long-time fan of Margaret Atwood’s novels, I hadn’t really read much of her poetry before this. Thanks to NetGalley for the audiobook version (narrated by Atwood herself) – I did also buy the hardback version as I think I take things in differently through reading and listening. I can recommend both formats though!
This collection of poetry was published in 2020, a year after Atwood lost her long-term partner to dementia, and the poems do understandably focus on loss, grief and ageing. However, the poems were written between 2008 and 2019 and so do also have a wider scope of Atwood’s interests and concerns, among them the environment, attitudes to female bodies and the nature of memory.
Although some of the poetry is bleak, it is not without hope and the trademark flashes of dry wit for which Atwood is famous, such as in ‘Everyone Else’s Sex Life’ – and I like to think you can hear this in Atwood’s deadpan, drawling delivery of the poems.
There are some very powerful poems in the collection and I was glad to have had the hardback book to fall back upon to read the lines again and think further about them – I am not sure the audiobook, while slow paced in its narration, really gives readers the time to absorb the poetry. For this reason, I think repeated listening would be necessary.
Particularly poignant for me was the longer poem, ‘Songs for Murdered Sisters’. This was written for the baritone singer Joshua Hopkins ‘in honour of his own murdered sister’ (as we only find out in the acknowledgements at the end of the book). This poem moves – in clearly delineated sections – from the sense of absence and grief through anger to remembrance and acceptance. It’s a striking poem that stood out to me on first listen and one I’ve gone back to.
I can’t even pretend to have absorbed and fully understood all the poetry in this collection yet. I think it is one that I will need to return to many times, yet I can say that I found the first reading very engaging, thought-provoking and moving. I’m not a crier, but definitely had a lump in my throat for some of the poems!
As other reviewers have commented, the narration by Atwood is quite flat and without much emphasis. I don’t see this necessarily as a negative – I have heard Atwood read her work before so kind of expected the monotone delivery. Instead, I think her reading of the poems allows listeners to build their own interpretations of the words – and the poetry is strong enough that it packs a punch even without the narrator giving us clues through the reading.
I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys poetry or who shares Atwood’s concerns – and actually many of the themes are universal. What I would say is that the poetry collection is absolutely 5-star-excellent. However, I’m not wholly convinced that the audiobook is quite the right format for the poetry so I’d recommend it ideally in conjunction with a printed copy – for me, the audiobook is a 4 star presentation of 5 star material.
If you would like a copy of this excellent poetry collection (or its audio version), please use my affiliate links below – thank you for supporting my blog with any purchases.
An belated happy publication day to the new poetry collection from Brian Bilston! This little gem of a book was out last Thursday (21st January) so do order now!
I first found Brian Bilston’s poetry on Twitter and loved its clever wordplay – this led me on to his first poetry collection, ‘You Took The Last Bus Home’ and his excellent novel (with poetic interludes) ‘Diary of a Somebody’. I was, therefore, thrilled to be granted an ARC of his new poetry collection by NetGalley and the publisher.
The poetry is – as the title suggests – loosely focused on the theme of love and is exactly what readers have come to expect of Bilston’s poetry – clever wordplay, interesting perspectives, unexpected twists. It is perhaps a little more serious in places than some of his other poetry (and certainly more serious than the ones that are so popular on Twitter). However, it is an enjoyable read – albeit a quick one as it seemed fairly short.
As a Literature geek, I really enjoyed the poems where Bilston riffed on literature from the past, from Shakespeare’s ‘Antony and Cleopatra’ (in ‘Cleopatra’) to Wordsworth (‘Status Update: a Lonely Cloud’) to tragic lovers (‘Five clerihews for Doomed Lovers’). However, Bilston is equally comfortable playing around with Mills and Boon novels, Spoonerisms, Brexit and many other incredibly varied ideas.
This is a lively and varied poetry collection that I’d recommend to those who like their poetry humorous. It does have serious messages and will leave you with food for thought, but – above all else – it is entertaining and engaging.
An affiliate link is below – thank you for supporting my blog with any purchases.
I’m a huge fan of crime novels and have always been interested in the truth behind the fiction! This seemed like the perfect opportunity to find out a bit more about forensic investigation from people who have spent their careers in the field – thanks to NetGalley for my copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
This book was published on 21st January, 2021.
I’d already read the book ‘Unnatural Causes’ by Dr Richard Shepherd (who worked with the Tremains and who wrote the foreword for this book). I was hoping for more of the same – an insight into the cases that shaped a fascinating career choice. This book is much more about the forensic techniques than the actual cases, but it was still interesting.
The book mainly covers Derek Tremain’s career from a 15 year-old student technician at Gordon Museum (a museum of medical specimens) to working in Guy’s Hospital’s forensics department to setting up his own company dealing in body mapping of wounds for legal trials. It’s an interesting story, gruesome at times, and gives a lot of information about tests for various conditions carried out post-mortem. There’s some humorous anecdotes amid the gory details – Pauline’s coffee-making story being a very odd but funny moment!
Most of the story is told by Derek, but there are sections narrated by Pauline too – she worked at the forensics department in a secretarial role that took her way beyond the regular job. Indeed, she tells of crime scenes and mortuary visits which are interesting. However, it is difficult to tell from the layout of the book who is ‘speaking’ as the electronic version doesn’t make it clear and the perspective changes from Derek to Pauline between paragraphs sometimes.
Overall, this is an engaging read for those interested in forensics. It is perhaps a little too detailed in terms of testing procedures at times – I’d like to hear more about the cases that the Tremains worked on – but I enjoyed this and read it in a day.
Header photo with thanks to Bill Oxford on Unsplash.
An affiliate link for this book is below – thank you for supporting my blog with any purchases.
Welcome to my stop on the blog tour for Laura Purcell’s ‘The Shape of Darkness’.
This tour is organised by Random Things Tours and the book is published today (21st January)!
From the Publisher:
As the age of the photograph dawns in Victorian Bath, silhouette artist Agnes is struggling to keep her business afloat. Still recovering from a serious illness herself, making enough money to support her elderly mother and her orphaned nephew Cedric has never been easy, but then one of her clients is murdered shortly after sitting for Agnes, and then another, and another… Why is the killer seemingly targeting her business?
Desperately seeking an answer, Agnes approaches Pearl, a child spirit medium lodging in Bath with her older half-sister and her ailing father, hoping that if Pearl can make contact with those who died, they might reveal who killed them.
But Agnes and Pearl quickly discover that instead they may have opened the door to something that they can never put back.
‘Dripping with atmosphere with a corkscrew plot, Laura Purcell just gets better and better’
STACEY HALLS
‘Darkly addictive and utterly compelling. Reading Laura’s books is like watching a horror movie where you have to keep hiding behind a cushion because you dread what is coming next, but you simply have to find out!’
RUTH HOGAN
‘Wow. I think it’s her best one yet and that’s saying something. A story of a woman haunted in every way possible, I think it’s a future gothic classic’
MARTYN WAITES
My Review:
I’ve loved Laura Purcell’s previous books so I am very grateful to NetGalley and the publisher for my review copy – as always, opinions are entirely my own.
Gothic spookiness is really my thing, so I have absolutely lapped up Purcell’s previous books – I particularly liked ‘The Corset’ and ‘Bone China’ where the creepiness focused on inanimate items that seem to have more power than they should. I was expecting something similar from ‘The Shape of Darkness’, but feel that this book delivers something different altogether.
In this novel, our main character, Agnes Darken, is a silhouette artist working in early-Victorian era Bath. She has struggling health and relies on her art to support the family she has been left with after the death of her sister, Constance, a number of years earlier. However, bad things start happening to those who sit for her silhouettes and – as mysterious deaths begin to stack up – she searches for answers from a medium who seems to be able to communicate with the dead. The dead speak through a strange child, Pearl, and Agnes gets caught up in the girl’s own problems with devastating consequences.
One of the real strengths of this book is the way that Purcell ramps up the spookiness. This is a book absolutely packed with memories of the dead and their ghosts – the séance scenes are genuinely creepy and the tension is high for a lot of the novel. It certainly kept me reading as I wanted to understand the strange events and occurrences – as a life long cynic, I was desperately trying to find rational explanations for what was happening (often with no success!)
Another element that I really enjoyed was the sense of mystery – as murder mysteries are my favourite genre, I was absolutely engrossed by trying to work out who was behind the deaths and even if there was a logical pattern or set of clues to latch on to. Every time I felt that I was getting close, Purcell whipped the rug out from under my feet and I would have to start again while balancing the supernatural possibilities. There were a lot of twists and revelations and my head was spinning a bit by the end!
The period details were also well integrated into the novel – it felt like a real historical world, although I don’t know that it was specifically Bath as I don’t know that city. The gloom of the houses, the dirt and danger of the streets, the domestic details – everything felt authentic. In fact, some of it was rather stomach-churning – Pearl’s father’s illness, for example, is described in rather gruesome detail.
I did struggle a little with the fact that Agnes was not a particularly strong character – I like my protagonists with a bit more sass, whereas Agnes was weakened by her recent illness, pining for a man and seemed to mostly accept her role as subservient female. I do understand that this was the societal norm, but I longed for her to stand up and do something at times.
Overall, this is a beautifully written, well-researched and engaging Gothic novel. It hits the spot for those who like a bit of supernatural terror while also being absolutely rooted in the grim everyday realities of those living in fairly poor conditions in the 1850s. It’s cleverly plotted and will certainly keep you racing through the pages to the end.
About the Author:
Laura Purcell is a former bookseller and lives in Colchester with her husband and pet guinea pigs. Her first novel for Raven Books, The Silent Companions, was a Radio 2 and Zoe Ball ITV Book Club pick and was the winner of the WHSmith Thumping Good Read Award, while her subsequent books – The Corset and Bone China – established Laura as the queen of the sophisticated, and spooky, page-turner.
Welcome to my stop on the blog tour for Sally Rigby’s ‘Silent Graves’, the ninth book in the Cavendish and Walker crime fiction series.
This tour was organised by the lovely Emma at Damp Pebbles and I’d like to thank her and the author for my free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
This book was published in paperback and digital formats on 15th January 2021.
Book Blurb:
Nothing remains buried forever…
When the bodies of two teenage girls are discovered on a building site, DCI Whitney Walker knows she’s on the hunt for a killer. The problem is the murders happened forty years ago and this is her first case with the new team. What makes it even tougher is that with budgetary restrictions in place, she only has two weeks to solve it.
Once again, she enlists the help of forensic psychologist Dr Georgina Cavendish, but as she digs deeper into the past, she uncovers hidden truths that hurtle through the decades and into the present.
Silent Graves is the ninth book in the acclaimed Cavendish & Walker series. Perfect for fans of L J Ross, J M Dalgleish and Rachel Abbott.
My Review:
I love police procedurals and doubly so when there’s a strong female lead – so I jumped at the chance to join this blog tour.
I hadn’t read any of this series before (this is the ninth book) but I managed just fine with it. This book works well as a stand alone – everything relevant is explained.
The opening pages introduce us to DCI Whitney Walker who is about to meet her new team in the shiny new Lenchester police station. She’s worked with some of them before, but there are new additions and she has a new boss – all very unnerving for her, but useful for those of us catching up with who’s who!
The team’s first case comes about when two bodies are found on farmland that is being developed for a housing estate. The two skeletons present a problem – this is clearly a historical case and there will be limited forensic evidence. When the bodies are established to be connected to the 1980 disappearance of two teenage girls, Walker and her team are faced with the difficulties of investigating a cold case with limited time – Lenchester Police are unwilling to fund a long investigation that might ultimately lead nowhere…
This is a solid police procedural with a good range of characters – Walker’s team are an interesting bunch, all recognisably real and human, from the slightly cocky new DS who has big career plans to the timid researcher whose brilliant work gets overshadowed by her more confident teammates.
Walker herself is also engaging – although she is slightly prickly and would be terrifying to actually work for, I think! Her friendship with Dr Georgina Cavendish, a forensic psychologist and another spiky character, is well developed and the two women have complementary skills that further the investigation.
I have no clue as to whether this is a realistic portrayal of police work – I did have a few questions – but it is an enjoyable and well-plotted police procedural. I thought there would be issues with keeping the momentum going on a 40 year-old case, but this is well managed and I was keen to keep reading.
I would recommend this to lovers of crime fiction with a strong (female) detective at the helm. It isn’t gruesome or full of peril, but it is an engaging and interesting read – and equally accessible whether you are a die-hard Cavendish and Walker fan or (like me) brand new to the series.
About the Author:
Sally Rigby was born in Northampton, in the UK. She has always had the travel bug, and after living in both Manchester and London, eventually moved overseas. From 2001 she has lived with her family in New Zealand (apart from five years in Australia), which she considers to be the most beautiful place in the world. After writing young adult fiction for many years, under a pen name, Sally decided to move into crime fiction. Her Cavendish & Walker series brings together two headstrong, and very different, women – DCI Whitney Walker, and forensic psychologist Dr Georgina Cavendish. Sally has a background in education, and has always loved crime fiction books, films and TV programmes. She has a particular fascination with the psychology of serial killers.
Happy publication day to this fabulous crime story with a difference! With thanks to Viper Books for my gifted copy and my buddy reader, Locky Loves Books, for lots of chat along the way.
Although the book was given to me by the publisher, opinions are entirely my own.
From the Publisher:
Someone was murdered. Someone went to prison. And everyone’s a suspect. Can you uncover the truth?
Dear Reader,
Enclosed are documents relating to the events surrounding the Fairway Players’ staging of All My Sons, and the tragic death of one of its members. Another member is currently in prison for the crime. We have reason to suspect that they are innocent, and that there were far darker secrets that have yet to be revealed.
We believe that the killer has given themselves away. It’s there in writing, hidden in the emails, texts, and letters. In the events surrounding the charity appeal for little Poppy Reswick, and the question of whether that money was truly being used to fund her life-saving cancer treatment. Will you accept the challenge? Can you uncover the truth? Do you dare?
The Appeal by Janice Hallett is the standout debut thriller of 2021 in which the reader is challenged to solve the crime… and predict the victim. With the small-town intrigue of The Casual Vacancy and the deft plotting of Agatha Christie, it will change the way you think about the modern crime novel.
‘An addictive read’ – Michelle Frances ‘Brilliantly original, inventive and clever’ – Phoebe Morgan
TV RIGHTS OPTIONED BY ABC STUDIOS
My Review:
Look at that strapline! ‘Someone was murdered. Someone went to prison. And everyone’s a suspect. Can you uncover the truth?’ What an intriguing prospect! I volunteered to read the book based on that alone, with absolutely no sense of what the book was actually about. Indeed, I assumed the appeal of the title was something…legal-ish?
It turns out that ‘The Appeal’ is actually about a fundraising appeal to provide medication for a sick child, Poppy Reswick. The story of the appeal and the community undertaking this charitable venture is told through a series of letters, notes, texts, transcripts and voicemails between the key players. Alongside this main focus, a lot of the community also form the theatrical group rehearsing for a production of ‘All My Sons’ by Arthur Miller and a further sub-set are involved in the local healthcare system. Some are long-term members of the community or deeply embedded in family networks, while others are more peripheral – work colleagues, members of the Fairway Players or friends.
It’s these overlapping stories and characters that form the thrust of this book – yes, there’s a murder, but the main part of the book is getting to know the characters and the events that lead up to the killing. The reader (along with two legal trainees, Femi and Charlotte) is left to read between the lines of the communications, make assumptions and judgements and try to work out what on earth was going on!
The characters are only ever seen through their own words (in the emails, etc.) and from the perspectives of the other characters. This immediately throws up lots of questions for us armchair sleuths. Isabel seems lovely and chatty so why isn’t she liked? How does SJ get away with being so blunt? Who is caught out in lies? Who is pretending to be something they aren’t? And who is causing enough friction to set themselves up as the murder victim?
The strapline asks ‘Can you uncover the truth?’ and – for me – the answer was a very definitive no! I enthusiastically took up every red herring, went off on all kinds of irrelevant tangents and totally missed some of the biggest clues. I would make a terrible detective, it turns out.
Still, I absolutely loved this book. I got so caught up in the lives of the Fairway Players, the appeal for Poppy, the petty jealousies and rivalries within the community, that the cast started to feel like people I actually knew!
I really loved the flashes of humour in the book too – some of the minor characters are very funny and Isabel’s notes of the committee meeting are hilarious. For anyone who has ever sat through committee meetings (or tried to document them), there is so much here that is relatable. All of life is here – the people taking offense, the sniping, the power struggles, the deception, the gossip. It felt like being thrown into a community and trying to work out who might be a good friend and who to watch out for – something I really enjoyed.
I’d highly recommend this book – it’s my first 5 star read of 2021 – and suggest that you too take up the challenge. Can you uncover the truth? You could not be worse at it than me and you’ll have a lot of fun along the way!
About the Author:
Janice Hallett is a former magazine editor, award-winning journalist, and government speechwriter. She co-wrote the psychological thriller feature film The Retreat (starring Cillian Murphy, Thandie Newton and Jamie Bell) with director Carl Tibbetts. She’s now a full-time writer of fiction in various forms, with several plays produced and scripts in development. The Appeal is her first novel.
