Long-time readers of my blog might remember me raving about a book called ‘Grave Secrets’ a while back – if you missed it, my enthusiastic ramblings can be found here.
I totally fell in love with the sassy, funny, feisty necromancer Lavington Windsor at the heart of that book – so I was delighted to be gifted a copy of the sequel, ‘Grave Danger’, by the author. Regardless of how the book got into my hands, opinions are entirely my own.
Continue reading Book Review: ‘Grave Danger’ by Alice JamesThe tagline for this book totally won me over – who doesn’t want to read about ‘gay gods, Sapphic saints and queerness through the ages’? Add in a back-cover mention of Lestat and Louis from ‘Interview with a Vampire’, Virginia Woolf’s ‘Orlando’ and (more classical and more what I expected from the book) Achilles and Patroclus from Homer’s ‘Iliad’ and I’m sold. Sign me up!
Continue reading Book Review: ‘Queer Heroes of Myth and Legend’ by Dan Jones‘The Miseducation of Evie Epworth’ was one of my books of 2021 – I couldn’t wait to see how Matson Taylor was going to follow up his impressive debut novel. Thanks to NetGalley for granting me access to this sequel in exchange for an honest review.
This novel picks up a way after the first one finished with 1960s Evie heading for London. She’s now 10 years older and living the high life in 1970s London – until a surprising and unfortunate incident involving Princess Anne ends her BBC career a little prematurely. Faced with a number of possibilities, Evie picks herself up and tries some different paths with the help of her friends.
Continue reading Book Review: ‘All About Evie’ by Matson TaylorWelcome to my stop on the blog tour for ‘Shape of a Boy: My Family and Other Adventures’ by Kate Wickers.
Thanks to Claire Maxwell for inviting me onto the tour and for my copy of the book for review – as always, opinions are entirely my own.
Continue reading Blog Tour: ‘Shape of a Boy’ by Kate WickersA new book by M W Craven is always a treat – usually a gory, gruesome, twisty treat, but a treat nevertheless!
This book – the fifth featuring Washington Poe and Tilly Bradshaw – is another excellent addition to the series. Regular readers will not be at all disappointed, but if you haven’t made the acquaintance of Poe and Bradshaw before then I’d recommend that you start with Book 1, ‘The Puppet Show’. This novel makes total sense as a standalone, but you really don’t want to miss the rest of the books!
Continue reading Book Review: ‘The Botanist’ by M W CravenHappy publication day to ‘Adult Assembly Required’!
Having loved Waxman’s first book – ‘The Bookish Life of Nina Hill’ – I was absolutely delighted to be invited on the blog tour for this book. Thanks to Isabelle Wilson at Headline for my spot on the tour and for the review copy of the book – opinions, as always, are my own.
This book is not quite a sequel to Nina Hill, but shares some of the characters from the first book – great news whether you read or didn’t read the previous book because this either works fine as a standalone or you can become reacquainted with some old friends!
Continue reading Blog Tour: ‘Adult Assembly Required’ by Abbi WaxmanThis was one of my most anticipated reads of 2022 so I was delighted to be granted a review copy – thanks to NetGalley for my copy in exchange for an honest review.
The story is about a highly gifted Chemist, Elizabeth Zott, who is carrying out important research at the Hastings Research Institute – even though her efforts are often belittled and her work stolen by the men around her. After all, it’s the early 1960s and women can’t expect sexual equality – except Elizabeth Zott absolutely does. Her uncompromising stance gets her into trouble but also attracts the attention of older, Nobel-prize-nominated Calvin Evans. An unconventional relationship ensues – one that leaves Elizabeth with a dog, a daughter, and a hit TV cooking show. Things don’t work out as planned at all, but Elizabeth has the strength to work with whatever is thrown at her.
Continue reading Book Review: ‘Lessons in Chemistry’ by Bonnie GarmusI’d not read any books by Stuart MacBride before, but had heard excellent things about this writer of ‘Tartan Noir’ and approached this book with enthusiasm.
The book centres on Operation Maypole, the Scottish Police’s attempt to catch the serial killer they’ve named the Bloodsmith. It’s been 17 months since his first kill and DS Lucy McVeigh is tasked with going over the evidence collected so far in the hope of establishing a new lead. With her partner, the Dunk (DC Duncan Fraser), she revisits crime scenes and uncovers new information – although she is in danger of being distracted by a cry for help from a paranoid prisoner who was previously convicted of killing a homeless man. As the murders continue, Lucy finds herself dealing with forces beyond her own comprehension….
I absolutely loved the majority of this book. The main draw for me was the relationship between Lucy and the Dunk – one that is mildly antagonistic but very funny. The Dunk is a humorous character, dressed all in black like an international man of mystery, yet scarily unfit when it comes to climbing stairs. I loved the scenes with the partners working together and laughed out loud a few times at MacBride’s descriptions of people, including the Dunk.
As well as the wonderfully vivid and descriptive language (perhaps too vivid in the case of some of the crime scenes!), MacBride also proves adept at plotting a tense and compelling crime novel. I genuinely raced through this (and it is quite a long book) because there was variety, humour and a very high body count – never a dull moment.
Even when the novel takes some dark turns – and Lucy’s past trauma is described in shocking detail – I was totally on board. Everything seemed to be heading for a perfect police procedural and I was totally sold.
So why three stars instead of five? I think this is partly my fault for expecting the novel to fit the genre neatly – I had expectations for the resolution and it just didn’t go the way I thought, In fact – without giving spoilers – it takes some unnerving, unexpected and brave paths. I think some readers will absolutely love the denouement – it’s clever and interesting – but it was just a little too confusing for me,
However I felt about the latter stages of this novel, I’m definitely keen to read more by MacBride. The humour, characterisation, vibrancy of language and sharp eye for detail absolutely won me over and I’ve already bought another book to try.
Thanks to NetGalley/Pigeonhole for giving me access to the book in exchange for an honest review.
If you’d like a copy of this book (out 28th April, 2022), please use my affiliate link below. Thanks for supporting my blog with any purchases!
Header photo by Scott Rodgerson on Unsplash
Given that Aitken’s previous books have been mainly focused on travel, it would seem that a Covid lockdown might put a crimp in his style.
Not so.
This book covers the period of national lockdown when Aitken, in his thirties, ended up living with 84-year old widow, Winnie Carter. She needed a helping hand round the house, he needed a cheapish room to rent – but neither of them then needed a period of national shutdown to be announced that threw these unlikely housemates together even more intensely!
Continue reading Book Review: ‘The Marmalade Diaries’ by Ben AitkenReading Terry Pratchett books nowadays is a bittersweet experience. On the one hand, they are brilliant and funny and clever, but the flipside is that they remind you what a talent was lost with Pratchett’s passing.
It’s been a while since I read any of the Discworld books so I jumped at the chance to read ‘Soul Music’ which features some of my favourite Discworld characters but had – up to this moment – slipped my attention. Thanks to NetGalley for my copy in exchange for an honest review.
Continue reading Book Review: ‘Soul Music’ by Terry Pratchett
