Happy publication day to ‘The Christmas Appeal’ – 26th October, 2023.
I absolutely loved Janice Hallett’s ‘The Appeal’ so it was a joy to be given access to ‘The Christmas Appeal’ – a chance to rejoin the Fairway Players as they grapple with a pantomime, plus an unexpected dead body!
Continue reading Book Review: ‘The Christmas Appeal’ by Janice HallettHaving read ‘Ragdoll’, I thought I knew what to expect of Daniel Cole’s books – and I went into this anticipating something twisty, gruesome and fast-paced. I wasn’t disappointed!
In this book, Detective Scarlett Delaney is on the trail of the killer they call ‘The Jackdaw’ – a murderer who seems to commit impossible crimes and then disappear with a sparkly memento. Delaney is a maverick and finds herself in a tricky situation with the charming Harry Devlin, a deadly criminal himself. The pair join forces to track down the Jackdaw, but it’s a dangerous and volatile pairing that puts them in danger. Can Scarlett really trust her attractive partner or is she unwittingly exposing herself to his lethal underworld bosses?
Continue reading Book Review: ‘Jackdaw’ by Daniel ColeHappy publication day to this lovely Sapphic Regency romance!
After reading Ratcliffe’s ‘The Secret of Matterdale Hall’, I was delighted to be asked to read and review this book. Thanks to Bellows Press for my review copy – as always, opinions are entirely my own.
This novel centres on American Louisa Silverton, the daughter of a wealthy businessman whose investments aren’t looking too healthy. To secure the family fortune, Louisa is sent to England to make a lucrative marriage. However, rich men – especially those who are prepared to take a risk on an American with iffy finances – turn out to be a bit thin on the ground. Instead, Louisa finds herself caught up with the Davenport family who own the extensive but struggling Kenilborough estate – and, in particular, the Honorable Miss Sarah Davenport. Sarah is unconventional, headstrong and fighting for her family’s future. Can either Sarah or Louisa afford to risk their families’ futures for love?
Continue reading Book Review: ‘A Lady to Treasure’ by Marianne RatcliffeHappy publication day to ‘The Island’ by Catherine Cooper. Thanks to NetGalley for my opportunity to read this book ahead of publication – opinions are entirely my own.
I’ve loved Catherine Cooper’s previous novels – tight and twisty psychological thrillers set in such great locations as a French chateau, a fancy ski resort or on board a luxury cruise ship. With that in mind, I was very keen to visit (from my armchair, obviously!) the latest high-end setting, a sumptuous and exclusive Maldives resort in ‘The Island’.
Continue reading Book Review: ‘The Island’ by Catherine CooperToday, I’m delighted to share my review of ‘Hidden Killers’, the second in the series to feature the early career of Jane Tennison.
Thanks to Simon and Schuster for my review copy of the book – opinions are entirely my own. Thanks also to Compulsive Readers for asking me to join #TeamTennison and read the whole series!
Continue reading Book Review: ‘Hidden Killers’ by Lynda LaPlanteWelcome to my stop on the blog tour for ‘The Whistlers in the Dark’, an eerie but sweet historical middle-grade novel. Thanks to The Write Reads for inviting me onto the tour and for my copy of the book for review – opinions are my own.
It’s 158AD and times are tough in Scotland. The invading Roman army is up against the native Damnonii tribe, kept apart only by the Antonine wall. On the Damnonii side, twelve-year old Jinny is coming to terms with an accident that has affected her family, for which she blames the ‘metal men’, the Romans. On the other side of the wall, teenager Felix wants to be a Roman soldier like his father. A hostile encounter between Jinny and Felix leads to the chance awakening of the mythical standing stones, an event that brings terror and danger to Jinny and her people. Can Felix and Jinny work together to save the day?
Continue reading Blog Tour: ‘The Whistlers in the Dark’ by Victoria WilliamsonI loved ‘Miss Aldridge Regrets’, the first novel by Louise Hare to throw singer Lena Aldridge into a new role as detective on board a transatlantic liner bound for New York in 1936. This second book, ‘Harlem after Midnight’, picks up the story of Lena’s arrival in New York with new beau and ship-board musician Will Goodman.
Thanks to NetGalley for my copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
Continue reading Book Review: ‘Harlem After Midnight’ by Louise HareHappy publication day to ‘The Safe House’ – 14th September, 2023.
I enjoyed Cameron Ward’s first book, ‘A Stranger on Board’ so was delighted to receive an early copy of ‘The Safe House’ for review. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for my copy – opinions are, as always, entirely my own.
This book follows Jess, a Metropolitan Police employee who – for her own reasons – wants to get away. The ideal solution presents itself (*alarm bells*) when Jess’ friend discovers a remote luxury house in the Australian Outback is in need of a house-sitter. It seems to offer the peace and respite that Jess needs – but she hasn’t considered the wild fires ravaging the local area or the mysterious visitors that appear. As the fire gets closer, Jess finds herself in danger – but is the real peril inside or outside the house?
Continue reading Book Review: ‘The Safe House’ by Cameron WardThanks to Random Things Tours for inviting me onto the blog tour and for my copy of the novel for review. Opinions are entirely my own.
This book was published in hardback on 31st August 2023 by Simon and Schuster.
Thanks to Random Things Tours for inviting me onto the blog tour for this book and for the beautiful copy for review. The book is out now and published by the fabulous people at Unbound.
As always, opinions are entirely my own.
From the Publisher:
-A full-colour compendium of hundreds of never-before-published artefacts from Adams’ archive, including diary entries, notes and musings, letters, photographs, scripts, poems and more.
– Authorised by the estate of Douglas Adams, it includes personal memorabilia from his family.
– Features a foreword from Stephen Fry and letters written after Adams’ death from friends and fans: Neil Gaiman, Margo Buchanan, Dirk Maggs, Robbie Stamp, Arvind David.
When Douglas Adams died in 2001, he left behind 60 boxes full of notebooks, letters, scripts, jokes, speeches and even poems. In 42, compiled by Douglas’s long-time collaborator Kevin Jon Davies, hundreds of these personal artefacts appear in print for the very first time.
Douglas was as much a thinker as he was a writer, and his artefacts reveal how his deep fascination with technology led to ideas which were far ahead of their time: a convention speech envisioning the modern smartphone, with all the information in the world living at our fingertips; sheets of notes predicting the advent of electronic books; journal entries from his forays into home computing – it is a matter of legend that Douglas bought the very first Mac in the UK; musings on how the internet would disrupt the CD-Rom industry, among others.
42 also features archival material charting Douglas’s school days through Cambridge, Footlights, collaborations with Graham Chapman, and early scribbles from the development of Doctor Who, Hitchhiker’s and Dirk Gently.
Alongside details of his most celebrated works are projects that never came to fruition, including the pilot for radio programme They’ll Never Play That on the Radio and a space-inspired theme park ride.
Douglas’s personal papers prove that the greatest ideas come from the fleeting thoughts that collide in our own imagination, and offer a captivating insight into the mind of one of the twentieth century’s greatest thinkers and most enduring storytellers.
My Review:
Continue reading Blog Tour: ’42: The Wildly Improbable Ideas of Douglas Adams’, edited by Kevin Jon Davies
