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WWW Wednesday – 10th March, 2021

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?

It’s been two weeks since my last WWW Wednesday post, but you can read my February Wrap-Up here.

This looks like loads, but it is 2 weeks and a lot of finishing the last section of books!

I finished ‘Paris by Starlight’ by Robert Dinsdale with my Tsundoku Squad lovelies. This is a beautifully-imagines tale of refugees bringing their old country magic to Paris (where they aren’t exactly welcomed). The writing is lovely, but I found the pace a little slow for my tastes.

My other buddy read for February (with The Write Reads group) was ‘Cemetery Boys’ by Aiden Thomas, a Latinx tale centred around a trans boy in Los Angeles who wants to join his family in being able to release the dead into the afterlife. I found the setting of this one really engaging – I didn’t know much about beliefs around Day of the Dead before this and it is a clever setting for the story. I liked the main characters and did enjoy reading along and discussing the novel. Once the action picked up, I did really like this book – although the first part was a little meandering and it wasn’t clear where it was headed.

Since my last update, I also read ‘Nick’ by Michael Farris Smith for a blog tour – you can read my review here. This one was a hit for me based on the excellent settings – the trenches of World War I, wartime Paris and post-war New Orleans. I found myself carried along by the story created for Nick Carraway, who (after the events of ‘Nick’) finds himself in West Egg at the end of the novel and about to embark on the events in F Scott Fitzgerald’s ‘The Great Gatsby’. I’d recommend reading this if you like engaging historical fiction – the literary connection to Gatsby is a bonus.

I also read ‘Behind Closed Doors’ by Catherine Alliott for a blog tour – you can read my review here. This was a departure from what I expect from Alliott’s novels – it was a much darker story about a marriage that seems perfect on the surface and what happens when it ends. The mix of genres surprised me – there are elements of romance, as you might expect, but also something much grittier and with higher stakes – but I did enjoy it.

Another blog tour read was ‘The Three Locks’ by Bonnie MacBird. This is the fourth in a series of new Sherlock Holmes novels and I absolutely loved it. I haven’t read the previous books in the series, although I’ve since bought them. This is a twisty tale of a locked box, a missing girl, the world of Cambridge academia, warring magicians and a whole lot more. I raced through this in two sittings and can recommend it – my review will follow later in the month.

Then I read a short book – ‘Sex and the City of Ladies: Rewriting History with Cleopatra, Lucrezia Borgia and Catherine the Great’ by Lisa Hilton. I’d previously only read Hilton’s thrillers, but knew that she also wrote academic books and was intrigued by this short volume printed by the TLS. At about 80 pages, it discusses the way that the three named women are portrayed throughout history and the notoriety that surrounds them – often for doing the same things as their male counterparts who haven’t caused such a stir! It was an interesting read.

Finally, I finished the audiobook of ‘The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy’ by Douglas Adams (read by Stephen Fry). The book is one that I love and it has been great to share it with my son. It has dated a bit, I suppose – the actual Hitchhiker’s Guide, which seemed so magical when I read it as a teen, could now be outdone by anyone with a smartphone and Wikipedia – but it was nice to hear it all again. Fry’s narration is good too.

My last read was ‘Last Place You Look’ by Louisa Scarr, a crime procedural about a mysterious death and some pretty unconventional policing. My review will follow as part of the blog tour later in the month. This is to be the first in a new series featuring DS Robin Butler and DC Freya West – and they are an engaging pair of characters.

What are you reading now?

Still too many books!

I have two new buddy reads for March and have started making in-roads into both.

With the Tsundoku Squad, I’m reading ‘The Islanders’ by S V Leonard and it is a lot of fun so far. It’s a kind of clever mix of ‘Love Island’ and Agatha Christie’s ‘And Then There Were None’ – with echoes of Ben Elton’s ‘Dead Famous’ as people are picked off under the watchful eye of reality TV cameras. So far, so good.

The Write Reads group have chosen a graphic novel this month, ‘Bloodlust and Bonnets’ by Emily McGovern. I’ve not done much more than have a quick glance through this so far, but it looks great – a 19th century setting, plus vampires, a feisty heroine and Lord Byron have me sold!

I’m still reading the new Katie Fforde book, ‘A Wedding in the Country’. I’ve read a bit more of this since last update and am enjoying it, but unfortunately had to put it down for some blog tour books. It’s a cosy, cheery read – as you’d expect from Fforde – although I was surprised by the 1960s setting. It works though!

I’m also reading ‘How to Live. What to Do’ by Josh Cohen, a psychoanalyst who looks at life through the lens of literature. Each ‘phase’ of life is examined, with various examples from literature being clinically examined – for example, childhood is looked at by exploring ‘Alice in Wonderland’ and the experiences of the main protagonist. I’m not familiar with some of the examples Cohen is using, but it is an interesting idea and an engaging read.

What do you think you will read next?

I have a blog tour for ‘The Shadow in the Glass’ by JJA Harwood. I love the look of this gothic, Victorian story!

I am also desperate to read some more of Bonnie MacBird’s Sherlock Holmes books after reading ‘The Three Locks’ so I think they are in my near future!

Many thanks to NetGalley, blog tour hosts, publishers and authors for books in exchange for an honest review.

Brave Girls Book Club: Subscription Box Review, March 2021

My 10 year old daughter has had a few of these subscription boxes now and has enjoyed them, but this month’s is just so lovely that I wanted to put it on here now!

These boxes are offered by the people at Books that Matter (who do the adult feminist book subscription boxes too) for £17 plus £3 postage in the UK. They still had March boxes available when I last looked here.

WARNING: Spoilers ahead…

The March Box

This box was heavier than usual and I hadn’t seen the theme ahead of when it arrived. My daughter loves getting these boxes and they are always beautifully packed.

The March theme is a collaboration with Goodnight Stories for Rebel Girls.

The contents of the box are as follows:

‘I am a Rebel Girl’ hardback journal
Two hardback books – ‘Madam C J Walker Builds a Business’ and ‘Dr Wangari Maathai Plants a Forest’
A sheet of stickers
A copy of the ‘Rebel Times’
Two large postcards
An activity booklet

The Verdict

This is a fabulous box and my daughter really likes it – even though it doesn’t contain the sweets or snacks that have been included previously!

From my perspective, I’d say this was excellent value for money – the books and journal are beautiful with colour illustrations throughout. The journal has loads of space to draw and write, plus prompts to help the creativity flow!

Even better is the message; this is a box absolutely packed with revolutionary and inspirational women, plus positive messages for girls. It also looks a lot of fun.

I’d whole-heartedly recommend this box for girls aged about 8-12. Each month has had some great books and treats – normally one book and a selection of other items.

If you want to see a previous box, here are my reviews for November and January.

Blog Tour: ‘Nick’ by Michael Farris Smith

Welcome to my stop on the blog tour for ‘Nick’ by Michael Farris Smith, a book that imagines the life of the character of Nick Carraway before he ends up as narrator of ‘The Great Gatsby’.

This blog tour is organised by Oldcastle Books/No Exit Press and I am thrilled to have been asked to join the tour!

From the Publisher:

This rich and imaginative novel from critically acclaimed author Michael Farris Smith breathes new life into a character that many know only from the periphery. Before Nick Carraway moved to West Egg and into Gatsby’s world, he was at the centre of a very different story – one taking place along the trenches and deep within the tunnels of World War I. Floundering in the wake of the destruction he witnessed first-hand, Nick embarks on a redemptive journey that takes him from a whirlwind Paris romance – doomed from the very beginning – to the dizzying frenzy of New
Orleans, rife with its own flavour of debauchery and violence.

‘NICK is so pitch-perfect, so rich in character and
action, so remarkable a combination of elegance
and passion, so striking in felt originality that I am
almost tempted to say – book gods forgive me – that
The Great Gatsby will forever feel like NICK’s splendid
but somewhat paler sequel. Almost tempted to say. But
I have no intention of taking back the sincere passing
thought of it. Michael Farris Smith’s book is that good’
Robert Olen Butler

2021 WILL MARK 125TH ANNIVERSARY OF F. SCOTT FITZGERALD’S BIRTH

‘Anybody who believes that the war is
over when the enemy surrenders and
the troops come home needs to read
Michael Farris Smith’s masterful new
novel NICK. Its stark, unvarnished
truth will haunt you’
Richard Russo

‘Stylish, evocative, haunting and
wholly original, Michael Farris Smith
has paid tribute to a classic and made
it his own. A remarkable achievement
that should sit at the very top of
everyone’s must-read list’
Chris Whitaker

My Review:

I’m a huge fan of ‘The Great Gatsby’, so I absolutely jumped at the opportunity to read this book, a kind of ‘prequel’ to the 1925 novel. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for granting me an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

This book focused on the story of Nick Carraway, the narrator of F Scott Fitzgerald’s ‘The Great Gatsby’. In the original novel, a few things are revealed about the character – the fact he is a Midwesterner, the fact he served in World War I and the fact he finds himself in West Egg (where ‘Gatsby’ is set) aged 29. This gives Michael Farris Smith considerable scope to imagine Nick’s life up to that point and it is a challenge he seems to embrace wholeheartedly.

The story opens in Paris where Nick is on leave from fighting in the trenches of World War I. He meets a young woman and the initial part of the book is their (short) relationship before Nick is called back to combat. A period in the trenches follows – brutal, grim and shocking – before Nick goes to New Orleans and starts to search for his life back in America.

The varied settings of the novel are fascinating as Nick explores a corner of wartime Paris, the trenches and tunnels of the front line in France, the seedy quarter of New Orleans where the speakeasies and brothels are, before finally moving on to West Egg and his future. These places – a theatre attic, a bar, an apartment – are vividly evoked and make Nick’s story jump from the page.

I don’t want to give any spoilers, but it is clear that Nick is suffering from PTSD and a lot of his subsequent experiences are tinged with tragedy. This is a novel that doesn’t shy away from some big themes, from war to grief, revenge to violence, love to loss. Some of the novel, especially the scenes in the trenches and the post-war life of war veteran Judah, is hard to read but extremely powerful.

The writing is vivid and Michael Farris Smith presents a range of characters who engage the reader in their lives and hopes and dreams. Personally, I was most interested in the lives of the women of the novel – the survival instincts of both Colette and Ella in their different ways was interesting. I’d have loved to read more of Ella’s story as she was a mysterious figure in the novel in a lot of ways.

There were a couple of things I found a little jarring that took me out of the richly-imagined world of ‘Nick’ but I think these may be personal things. I found reported speech to be written oddly – totally a stylistic choice by the writer, but one I found tricky to follow sometimes. I also was thrown by a reference to possums – I won’t elaborate but it felt unusual in the context.

So, the big question. Has Michael Farris Smith successfully recreated a Nick Carraway that fits with the character written by F Scott Fitzgerald? My honest answer is that I don’t know. I suspect I would read ‘The Great Gatsby’ with a different view of Nick now, but I’d say the main ingredients are there in Smith’s portrayal. His Nick is honest, introspective and often an observer even in his own life – all features of Fitzgerald’s narrator too. The decision to narrate ‘Nick’ in the third person (as opposed to first person in ‘Gatsby’) escapes the need to recreate Nick’s exact voice, but I’d say these two Nicks could credibly be the same person.

Overall, I would say that I was caught up in Nick’s story and enjoyed the narrative decisions made by Smith to explain how Nick comes to be in West Egg at the start of ‘Gatsby’, plus his emotional baggage. It isn’t always a comfortable read, but I did find it immersive and interesting. If you love ‘The Great Gatsby’, this is definitely worth reading and may give you a different understanding of Nick. If you haven’t read ‘The Great Gatsby’, this is absolutely worth picking up on its own merits. Either way, I’d recommend it.

About the Author:

No Exit Press also publish Michael Farris Smith’s novels Desperation Road, The Fighter and most recently Blackwood. Farris Smith has been a finalist for the Gold Dagger Award in the UK, and the Grand Prix des Lectrices in France, and his essays have appeared in publications including The New York Times. He lives in Oxford, Mississippi, with his wife and daughters.

February Wrap-Up and March TBR

It has been another weird month of remote teaching and a fair amount of reading – 10 books in total. I’ve read some brilliant books this month and have some fabulous blog tours coming up, so watch this space!

Here’s what I’ve been reading this month…

Affiliate links are provided – thank you for supporting my blog with any purchases.

February Wrap-Up

I started this month with a big, glamorous thriller – ‘Ruthless Women’ by Melanie Blake. Taking place on the set of a soap opera off the coast of Jersey, this is packed with ambitious women, affairs, jealousy, gossip and backstabbing. I raced through it and it is definitely a lot of fun. You can read my review here.

Next up was the latest in the crime series featuring DI Gina Harte – ‘The Broken Ones’ by Carla Kovach. I have read and loved so many of these books and this one is brilliant! Tense, action-packed and downright scary in places! Although it is Book 8 of the series, it would also work as a standalone, I think. This book is published tomorrow and my review will be on the blog then.

Then I finally finished the absolutely brilliant ‘Maiden Voyages’ by Sian Evans. It took a while because blog tour books kept getting in the way, but I absolutely loved this non-fiction book about women whose lives were somehow linked to the transatlantic shipping crossings between (approximately) World War I to the start of the jet age at the end of the 1950s. There was glitz and glamour, but also amazing accounts of bravery and some fascinating life stories. My review is here but this is my BOOK OF THE MONTH!

Heading back onto my usual turf, I then read serial killer thriller ‘Dog Rose Dirt’ by Jen Williams. This will be heading your way in July so a review will follow nearer that time, but it is definitely one to keep an eye out for!

At this point in the month, I then panicked that I had a lot of blog tours at the end of February and start of March that I hadn’t read the books for yet!

My first blog tour read was ‘Old Bones’ by Helen Kitson, a gorgeously-written story about three older women living in a small village who in many ways feel that life has passed them by. When human remains are found in a nearby quarry, well-hidden secrets begin to surface. I found this one really compelling – you can read my review here.

The next blog tour book was ‘Seven Days’ by Michelle Kidd, an absolute page-turner of a police procedural. I raced through this one, the second in the series to feature DI Jack MacIntosh (I read the first, ‘The Phoenix Project’, for a blog tour last year). My review is here.

Then I read ‘The Shadowy Third: Love, Letters and Elizabeth Bowen’ by Julia Parry. This is a brilliant non-fiction book about Bowen’s affair with Humphry House (the author’s grandfather) and the third point in the love triangle, Madeline House (the author’s grandmother). The book is packed with insights into all three figures, plus thoughts on writing, legacy and storytelling. I didn’t know much about Bowen before this, but found it really interesting. My blog tour stop is next week so look out for this one.

My final blog tour book was ‘Nick’ by Michael Farris Smith, a prequel to F Scott Fitzgerald’s ‘The Great Gatsby’ which explains how Nick Carraway came to be in West Egg for the events of the classic novel. This was a compelling and vivid novel which took the reader through World War I Paris, the trenches and post-war New Orleans. My review will follow next week.

To end the month, I also finished two books that I’ve been reading with various blogger groups on Twitter. The Tsundoku Squad and I read ‘Paris by Starlight’ by Robert Dinsdale and I also read ‘Cemetery Boys’ by Aiden Thomas with The Write Reads book club that isn’t a book club!

Both of these were enjoyable in their own way – I liked the magical setting of Dinsdale’s book and the fascinating Latinx community and culture in Thomas’ novel. I probably wouldn’t have picked either of these books up independently, but am glad to have read them, even if I found the Paris book quite slow sometimes.

A busy month for reading and quite an eclectic set of books!

March TBR

As usual, I have a lot of books that I’d love to read this month. I never predict accurately, but here goes…

In March, I have blog tours for the following:

‘Behind Closed Doors’ by Catherine Alliott – I usually love Alliott’s books and am looking forward to this story of a woman sorting her life out after the end of her difficult marriage.

‘The Three Locks’ by Bonnie MacBird – I love a Sherlock Holmes story and this one looks fabulous!

‘The Shadow in the Glass’ by JJA Harwood – anything labelled as a Gothic fairytale has me on board, especially one with a Victorian setting!

‘Last Place You Look’ by Louisa Scarr – this is the first book in a new crime series to feature DS Robin Butler and DC Freya West. I love a police procedural so cannot wait to dive in to this one.

My ‘book club’ books for this month are ‘The Islanders’ by SV Leonard (Tsundoku Squad choice and looks to be a cracking crime novel) and ‘Bloodlust and Bonnets’ by Emily McGovern (The Write Reads choice – I haven’t read a graphic novel in years so am looking forward to this!)

There are also many, many NetGalley books waiting for me – so we shall have to see what I actually manage to read!

With thanks, as always, to blog tour hosts, publishers and NetGalley for granting me access to advance copies of books in exchange for honest reviews.

WWW Wednesday – 17th February, 2021

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?

It’s been two weeks since my last WWW Wednesday so it looks like I’ve been extra-productive on the reading front!

I finished reading ‘Ruthless Women’ by Melanie Blake (from NetGalley) – this is due to be published in April but is well worth looking out for! It’s a Jackie-Collins-style novel packed with glamorous and strong women, high-powered jobs and tonnes of secrets and lies! It’s based around a soap opera set off the coast of Jersey and is a whole lot of fun. My review will follow nearer the publication date.

I finally finished ‘Maiden Voyages: Women and the Golden Age of Transatlantic Travel’ by Sian Evans. It has taken me ages because it kept getting bumped by blog tour books, but it is absolutely fabulous! The golden age of transatlantic travel sure was glamorous for some, hard work for others and extraordinarily dangerous for those sailing during war time (or with Violet Jessop – the ‘unsinkable stewardess – who had an appalling track record of being on doomed ships!) My glowing review is here.

I also read (for a blog tour with Random Things Tours) ‘Botanical Curses and Poisons: The Shadow Lives of Plants’ by Fez Inkwright. This book is a beautifully-illustrated and fascinating guide to plants of the more lethal variety! Thanks to the publisher, Liminal 11, for the review copy in exchange for my honest opinions. My review is here.

I also managed to squeeze in two gripping and – quite frankly – terrifying crime novels. I raced through both of these with my heart pounding – watch out for them!

First up was ‘The Broken Ones’ by Carla Kovach, the latest in the series featuring DI Gina Harte. In this excellent instalment, young women are being taken off the streets and it is clear that a very disturbed character is responsible – someone who must be stopped before he kills again. My review will be on the blog nearer the publication date in March 2021.

I also read ‘Dog Rose Dirt’ by Jen Williams which also proved very scary! This is about a young woman who finds out that her mother was writing to a serial killer in jail throughout her life. After her mother’s suicide, a series of copycat killings begin and she is forced to confront her mother’s past in order to help the current investigation. This one isn’t published until July 2021 and my review will follow.

Both of these were NetGalley reads – thanks to NetGalley for my free copies in exchange for honest reviews.

What are you reading now?

I’ve got two buddy reads on the go at the moment – luckily they are so different that there’s no way I’ll get them confused!

I’m reading ‘Paris by Starlight’ by Robert Dinsdale with my Tsundoku Squad lovelies. This is a slightly whimsical tale of a group of displaced people who end up in Paris but bring the magical ways of their old country with them. The people live by night by the light of their beautiful illuminated flowers and according to their book, ‘The Nocturne’. I’m halfway through and the descriptions are glorious – but I cannot see at all where it is going!

I’m also reading (with the fabulous Write Reads gang) ‘Cemetery Boys’ by Aiden Thomas, a Latinx tale centred around a trans boy in Los Angeles who wants to join his family in being able to release the dead into the afterlife. I’m halfway through this as well and am still not quite sure what I think – the setting is fabulous, the Day of the Dead a very promising element still to come, the representation is great, characters good…but I am finding the plot a bit uneven at the moment.

My next blog tour is ‘Seven Days’ by Michelle Kidd so I’ve also started reading this fast-paced and tense sequel to ‘The Phoenix Project’ (which I read last year). It is early days, but I’m enjoying my reunion with DI Jack MacIntosh so far! Review to follow on the blog next week.

What do you think you will read next?

I’m supposed to be doing a Poirot readalong but have failed to fit in ‘The Mysterious Affair at Styles’ by Agatha Christie – I need to catch up before we move on to ‘Murder on the Links’.

I have rather over-enthusiastically embraced blog tours in March and so have a good few books to read. I’ll shortly be reading ‘The Shadowy Third: Love, Letters and Elizabeth Bowen’ by Julia Parry, ‘Nick’ by Michael Farris Smith and ‘Behind Closed Doors’ by Catherine Alliott. All look absolutely brilliant and I cannot wait to dive in.

Thank to NetGalley for the books in exchange for an honest review.

‘The Jigsaw Man’ by Nadine Matheson

I was delighted to win a proof copy of this serial killer crime novel from Nadine Matheson and the lovely people at HQ Stories.

The book is published on 18th February 2021 – just enough time to sneak in a pre-order!

This book opens with the gruesome discovery of body parts in various parts of South London and the return to front-line policing duties for DI Anjelica Henley who has been on office duties after a traumatic experience. Faced with the dismembered corpses, Anjelica and her newbie detective sidekick embark on an investigation that will have sinister echoes of a previous spate of serial killer murders. However, that killer, Peter Olivier, is in prison – so how can he be responsible?

DI Anjelica Henley herself is an interesting character. She has a complex home life and the case threatens to break the uneasy peace she has found for herself after her past experiences. It is normally a bit of a bugbear of mine when police officer’s private lives are tied up in a case (you’d think all crime was a personal vendetta against individual officers if you read too much crime fiction!); however, it was well managed here and Anjelica’s family context and relationships added to the sense of her as a realistic character.

As I’ve mentioned, this book is gruesome. You do need quite a strong stomach to deal with the dismemberment and descriptions of injuries. It is dark, although I didn’t find the violence gratuitous.

I did find the casual racism expressed towards DI Henley by other characters in the novel quite shocking – the idea that this highly competent and intelligent woman was being judged primarily on her skin colour was an eye-opener for me.

This is a debut novel, not that I think you would know that from the confident way that Matheson has plotted out her narrative and presented her characters. The book, although fairly long at over 400 pages, is well-paced and packed full of tense moments that keep the reader going. Personally, I finished this novel at 3am during a particularly sleepless night – and I had to get up to check all the doors were locked before I nodded off!

I did have a few niggles with the book – mainly the large cast which meant that some of the revelations didn’t always pack the necessary punch because I had to remember who was being referred to! I’m also not sure whether the ending was setting up a sequel (although please do be reassured that this mystery is tied up comfortably at the end). However, these are small quibbles and didn’t detract from my enjoyment.

Overall, this is an excellent debut novel and I do hope that Matheson is planning more cases involving DI Anjelica Henley.

An affiliate link for this book is below – thank you for supporting my blog with any purchases.

‘An Eye for an Eye’ by Carol Wyer

Welcome to my stop on the blog tour for this excellent police procedural, ‘An Eye for an Eye’ by Carol Wyer. This is the first book in the series to feature DI Kate Young.

This tour was organised by Damp Pebbles. The book was published on 1st February 2021.

Book Blurb:

A killer running rings around the police. A detective spiralling out of control.

DI Kate Young is on leave. She’s the force’s best detective, but her bosses know she’s under pressure, on medication and overcoming trauma. So after her bad judgement call leads to a narrowly averted public disaster, they’re sure all she needs is a rest.

But when Staffordshire Police summon her back to work on a murder case, it’s a harder, more suspicious Kate Young who returns. With a new ruthlessness, she sets about tracking down a clinical, calculating serial killer who is torturing victims and leaving clues to taunt the police. Spurred on by her reporter husband, Young begins to suspect that the murderer might be closer than she ever imagined.

As she works to uncover the truth, Young unravels a network of secrets and lies, with even those closest to her having something to hide. But with her own competence—and her grip on reality—called into question, can she unmask the killer before they strike again?

My Review:

I love detective fiction with a female lead so I was pleased to be invited on the Damp Pebbles blog tour for this book, the first book in a series to feature DI Kate Young. The fact that is it set in Staffordshire – pretty close to my own home ground – was an added bonus!

In this book, DI Kate Young is called back to work after a traumatic incident that has demonstrably clouded her judgement. She is put onto a murder case with a small team – just two colleagues, Emma and Morgan – although it is also clear that senior management within Staffordshire Police are scrutinising her every move.

She is investigating the rather gruesome killing of a local businessman, Alex Corby, who was tortured and killed in his large, remote house. However, as she begins to uncover the events of Alex’s last day, it becomes clear that there are a lot of suspects , secrets and lies to work through – and Kate’s personal life and issues keep threatening to surface too.

I’ll admit I was worried about the PTSD element of the story as this is becoming quite a staple of this type of detective fiction – and, if I’m honest, I prefer my detectives to be a bit more straightforward! However, I needn’t have been concerned – in Wyer’s hands, the cliché of the broken and troubled police officer becomes something more realistic and compelling as we watch Kate struggle with her mental health issues and her loyal team questioning her capability.

What I really enjoyed about the story was the clever plotting. I’ll admit I just about beat Kate to the final solution, but only just! Throughout, I was caught up in the twisty narrative and the ingenious way that the story strands intertwined – there were so many twists that I didn’t see coming and the final denouement was so far from where I thought we would end up when the story began. For that reason, Wyer should be commended for producing a genuinely surprising narrative.

I liked too that the investigations were methodical and logical, something seen as the right way to do things by Kate. There was a real sense of the investigation stopping and starting which felt realistic – the police team hit dead ends as often as they found important clues, although this didn’t slow the pace of the novel at all. In fact, rather a lot happens to keep the story moving…

Overall, I’d recommend this as a clever and engaging piece of crime fiction. For those who love police procedurals (like me!), this is an excellent example of the genre. I really hope that the next DI Kate Young book will be available soon!

About the Author:

USA Today bestselling author and winner of The People’s Book Prize Award, Carol Wyer writes feel-good comedies and gripping crime fiction.

A move from humour to the ‘dark side’ in 2017, saw the introduction of popular DI Robyn Carter in LITTLE GIRL LOST and demonstrated that stand-up comedian Carol had found her true niche.

To date, her crime novels have sold over 750,000 copies and been translated for various overseas markets.

Carol has been interviewed on numerous radio shows discussing ”Irritable Male Syndrome’ and ‘Ageing Disgracefully’ and on BBC Breakfast television. She has had articles published in national magazines ‘Woman’s Weekly’, featured in ‘Take A Break’, ‘Choice’, ‘Yours’ and ‘Woman’s Own’ magazines and the Huffington Post.

She currently lives on a windy hill in rural Staffordshire with her husband Mr Grumpy… who is very, very grumpy.

When she is not plotting devious murders, she can be found performing her comedy routine, Smile While You Still Have Teeth.

Social Media:

Website www.carolwyer.co.uk

Blog www.carolwyer.com

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/AuthorCarolEWyer/

Twitter https://twitter.com/carolewyer

Instagram https://www.instagram.com/carolwyer

Pinterest http://www.pinterest.com/carolewyer

Linkedin https://www.linkedin.com/in/carol-wyer-407b1032

Goodreads https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/14925467.Carol_Wyer

YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCj5O-lvkAYO19S0AMW8VqJQ

Purchase Links:

Amazon UK: http://amzn.to/2LdJpdV

Amazon US: https://amzn.to/35y4g2j

Publishing Information:

Published in paperback, digital and audio formats by Thomas & Mercer on 1^st February 2021

WWW Wednesday – 3rd February, 2021

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.

January Wrap-Up and February TBR

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.

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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.

Have a fab Feb – K x

‘Dearly’ by Margaret Atwood

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.

Hardback version:

Audio version: