Category: General Blog Posts

#BookReview The Dead Husband by Carter Wilson @PPPress #TheDeadHusband #CarterWilson #inkedinpoison

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#BookReview The Dead Husband by Carter Wilson @PPPress #TheDeadHusband #CarterWilson #inkedinpoison Title: The Dead Husband

Author: Carter Wilson

Published by: Poisoned Pen Press on May 4, 2021

Genres: Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 400

Format: Paperback

Source: Poisoned Pen Press

Book Rating: 7.5/10

A murderer, a victim, and a witness… but no one in this house is innocent

Twenty years ago an unspeakable tragedy rocked Rose Yates’s small, affluent hometown… and only Rose and her family know the truth about what happened.

Haunted by guilt, Rose escaped into a new life. Now she seems to have it all: a marriage, a son, a career. And then her husband is found dead.

As far as Detective Colin Pearson is concerned, Rose is guilty. Her marriage wasn’t as happy as she’d led everyone to believe, and worse, she’s connected to a twenty-year-old cold case. She can play the part of the victim, but he won’t let her or her family escape justice this time around.

Grieving her husband and struggling to make ends meet, Rose returns home, hoping to finally confront her domineering father and unstable sister. But memories of a horrific crime echo through the house, and Rose soon learns that she can’t trust anyone, especially not the people closest to her.

From USA Today bestselling author Carter Wilson comes a story of deception, hereditary sin, and what we’ll do to protect our own.

Review:

Complex, sly, and ominous!

The Dead Husband is an unnerving, menacing, domestic thriller that takes us into the life of Rose Yates, a mystery writer and mother who, after the recent death of her husband, reluctantly moves back to her childhood home where tragic memories reside, powerful emotions swirl, and long-buried skeletons and secrets are in abundance.

The prose is tight and intense. The characters are secretive, unstable, and troubled. And the plot builds and unravels quickly into a suspenseful tale filled with familial drama, heartache, tension, obsession, death, cruelty, desperation, tragedy, and violence.

Overall, The Dead Husband is a tortuous, cunning, sinister tale by Carter that is intense, creepy, and eerily entertaining.

 

This book is available now.

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from one of the following links.

           

 

 

Thank you to Poisoned Pen Press for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Carter Wilson

USA Today and #1 Denver Post bestselling author Carter Wilson explores the depths of psychological tension and paranoia in his dark, domestic thrillers. Carter is a two-time winner of the Colorado Book Award and his novels have received starred reviews from Publishers Weekly, Booklist, and Library Journal. He lives outside Boulder, Colorado.

Photo by Eldeen Annette Headshots.

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#BlogTour #BookReview Just Haven’t Met You Yet by Sophie Cousens @SophieCous @centurybooksuk #JustHaventMetYouYet #SophieCousens

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#BlogTour #BookReview Just Haven’t Met You Yet by Sophie Cousens @SophieCous @centurybooksuk #JustHaventMetYouYet #SophieCousens Title: Just Haven't Met You Yet

Author: Sophie Cousens

Published by: Century on Nov. 11, 2021

Genres: Contemporary Romance, Women's Fiction

Pages: 400

Format: Paperback

Source: Arrow Publishing

Book Rating: 9/10

Tell me the story of how you two met…

Laura has built a career out of interviewing people about their epic real life love stories.

When she picks up the wrong suitcase at the airport, Laura wonders if this could be the start of something that’s written in the stars.

From piano sheet-music to a battered copy of her favourite book, Laura finds in the bag evidence of everything she could hope for in a partner.

If Laura’s job has taught her anything it’s that when it comes to love, you can’t let opportunity pass you by. Now Laura is determined to track down the owner of the suitcase, and her own happy ending.

But what if fate has other ideas?

Review:

Intimate, poignant, and romantic!

Just Haven’t Met You Yet is an addictive, uplifting, slow-burning tale that takes you into the life of Laura Le Quesne, a young woman who, after heading to the Channel Islands to investigate and write the story of her late parent’s epic love affair, also finds herself on the hunt to identify and meet, with the help of a broody cabbie, the one she has been waiting for her whole life after she picks up the wrong suitcase of a man who seems, based on his possessions, to be her fated soul mate.

The writing is warm and sweet. The characterization is spot on with a delightful cast of characters that are endearing, genuine, and kind. And the plot is a charming tale full of hope, heart, and humour.

Just Haven’t Met You Yet is, ultimately, a story about love, loss, life, trust, family, friendship, community, ageing, self-discovery, happiness, and fate. It is a sentimental, absorbing, compelling novel by Cousens that does an exceptional job of highlighting that true love is not just roses, chocolates, and grand gestures but all the tender, touching, supportive moments in between. I absolutely adored this novel and look forward to reading all of this author’s previous novels as soon as I possibly can.

This novel is available now.

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from one of the following links.

              

 

 

Thank you to Penguin Random House UK – Arrow Publishing for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Sophie Cousens

Sophie Cousens worked as a TV producer in London for more than twelve years and now lives on the island of Jersey in the UK, balancing her writing career with working for an arts charity and taking care of her two small children. She is the author of This Time Next Year and Just Haven’t Met You Yet.

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#BookReview The Attic on Queen Street by Karen White @KarenWhiteWrite @uplitreads @BerkleyPub #TheAtticonQueenStreet #KarenWhite #TraddStreet #UplitReads #gifted

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#BookReview The Attic on Queen Street by Karen White @KarenWhiteWrite @uplitreads @BerkleyPub #TheAtticonQueenStreet #KarenWhite #TraddStreet #UplitReads #gifted Title: The Attic on Queen Street

Author: Karen White

Series: Tradd Street #7

Published by: Berkley Books on Nov. 2, 2021

Genres: Mystery/Thriller, Women's Fiction

Pages: 384

Format: Hardcover

Source: Uplit Reads

Book Rating: 8.5/10

Return to the house on Tradd Street for one last time as the bestselling series featuring psychic medium Melanie Trenholm comes to a hauntingly spectacular finale.

After the devastating events of the past few months, the last thing Melanie Trenholm wants is to think about the future. Why, when her husband, Jack, has asked for a separation—a separation that might have been her fault? Nevertheless, with twin toddlers, a stepdaughter leaving for college soon, a real estate career to resume and a historic home that is still being restored, Melanie doesn’t have much time to wonder where it all went wrong—but that doesn’t stop her from trying to win her husband back.

Their relationship issues are pushed aside, however, when longtime nemesis, Marc Longo, comes to them with a proposition: allow their Tradd Street house to be used as the filming location for the movie adaptation of Marc’s bestselling book, and he will help Jack re-establish his stalled writing career. Despite Melanie’s hesitation, Jack jumps at the chance. But Melanie’s doubts soon prove to be well founded when she uncovers ulterior reasons for Marc wanting to be back in their house—reasons that include a hidden gem so brilliant that legend links it to the most infamous jewel of all, the Hope Diamond.

But Melanie has an unexpected ally in protecting the house and its inhabitants—the ghost of a Civil War era girl warns her of increasing threats to her family. But she’s not the only spirit who is haunting Melanie. A malevolent ghost seems determined to stop Melanie from investigating the decades-old murder of a friend’s sister, and this spirit will stop at nothing to protect its secrets—even from beyond the grave.

Melanie and Jack must work together to find the answers before evil spirits of past and present destroy everything they love.

 

Review:

Rich, atmospheric, and satisfying!

The Attic on Queen Street is a quirky, mysterious, entertaining tale that takes us back into the lives of Melanie, Jack, and the whole Trade Street gang, including a few intriguing newcomers, as they work on repairing fractured relationships, begrudgingly allow a movie production crew onto their property, and use the help and guidance from those long past once again to solve and close some tragic, unfinished cases.

The prose is vivid and descriptive. The characters are eccentric, lovable, and clever. And the plot is a well-paced, quirky tale full of amateur sleuthing, scandalous behaviour, treasures, ghosts, history,  suspects, deduction, and an abundance of southern charm.

The Attic on Queen Street is the seventh and last novel in this wonderful series by White. And even though it is a little bittersweet to say goodbye to the lovely gang we’ve come to know and love over the last seven novels, it has been an absolute pleasure to be able to indulge in all the mystique, adventure, mishaps, and romance that’s happened on Tradd Street over the entire series.

 

This novel is available now.

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from one of the following links.

            

 

 

Thank you to Uplit Reads for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Karen White

Karen White is the New York Times bestselling author of 28 books, including the Tradd Street series, Dreams of Falling, The Night the Lights Went Out, Flight Patterns, The Sound of Glass, A Long Time Gone, and The Time Between. She is the coauthor of All the Ways We Said Goodbye, The Glass Ocean and The Forgotten Room with New York Times bestselling authors Beatriz Williams and Lauren Willig. She grew up in London but now lives with her husband near Atlanta, Georgia.

Photo by Marchet Butler.

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#BookReview The Secret Next Door by Rebecca Taylor @RebeccaAuthor @Sourcebooks @sbkslandmark #TheSecretNextDoor #RebeccaTaylor #bookmarkedbylandmark

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#BookReview The Secret Next Door by Rebecca Taylor @RebeccaAuthor @Sourcebooks @sbkslandmark #TheSecretNextDoor #RebeccaTaylor #bookmarkedbylandmark Title: The Secret Next Door

Author: Rebecca Taylor

Published by: Sourcebooks Landmark on Nov. 9, 2021

Genres: Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 352

Format: Paperback

Source: Sourcebooks Landmark

Book Rating: 8/10

How well do you really know your neighbors?

Alyson Tinsdale is giving her son the childhood she never had: a stable family, a loving home, and a great school in a safe neighborhood.

Bonnie Sloan is the neighborhood matriarch. With her oldest son headed to Yale, and her youngest starting kindergarten, Bonnie is now pursuing her own long-held political aspirations despite private family struggles.

When the open space behind some of the most expensive homes gets slated for development into an amusement facility, the neighborhood becomes deeply divided. The personal pressures and community conflicts ratchet with every passing day, but it’s when a thirteen-year-old is found dead beside the neighborhood lake that simmering tensions boil over into panic.

Gossip flows, lies are exposed, and accusations are made as cracks run through the community’s once solid foundations. The neighborhood’s faith in exterior appearances is eclipsed by the secrets every house keeps. And as Bonnie and Alyson fight to keep their children safe and their messy personal lives from becoming neighborhood knowledge, it becomes clear that their neighbors might not be who they appear to be.

Fans of Lisa Jewell and Wendy Walker will love this fast-paced, engrossing novel that reminds us that nothing and no one are ever as perfect as they seem.

Review:

Edgy, eerie, and tight!

The Secret Next Door is a captivating, psychological thrill ride that introduces us to Alyson, a young mother who is excited to move into a new home with her husband and five-year-old son until the neighbours of this coveted community seem a be a little more distant and unfriendly than they first appeared, her son has more than a few issues fitting in at the local school, her marriage starts to become unbearably strained, and the thirteen-year-old-son of one of the most popular families in the area suddenly turns up dead.

The writing is brisk and intense. The characters are consumed, overwhelmed, and flawed. And the plot is a suspenseful, sinister tale of secrets, deception, gossip, tragedy, politics, suspicions, revelations, mayhem, fractured relationships, violence, and murder.

Overall, The Secret Next Door is an atmospheric, devious, unnerving page-turner by Taylor that does a wonderful job of highlighting just how easily people can sometimes allow themselves to be psychologically and emotionally manipulated, and reminds us that even the people we think we know so well often have deep, dark secrets they choose to hide.

 

This book is available now.

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from one of the following links.

            

 

 

Thank you to Sourcebooks Landmark for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Rebecca Taylor

Rebecca Taylor was born to a single British teen during a February blizzard in Green Bay, Wisconsin. When she was three, her mother met and married a US Marine. Like many children of military families, Rebecca spent the next fifteen years of her life moving. From Canada to Okinawa, and then all over the United States, she attended eight different schools before graduating high school.

Given that, she didn’t really understand how people managed to stay in one place for more than twelve months. So, she spent her twenties working as an international flight attendant while pursuing degrees in psychology and sociology. It wasn’t until she was pregnant with her first child and working on her graduate degree in psychology that she began writing fiction.

Rebecca has since written eight novels: ASCENDANT won the Colorado Book Award in 2014, and AFFECTIVE NEEDS was a finalist for the Romance Writers of America RITA Award in 2017. HER PERFECT LIFE was her first work of psychological fiction and was published by Sourcebooks in 2020.

THE SECRET NEXT DOOR will release from Sourcebooks on November 9th, 2021.

Thankfully, Rebecca did eventually learn how to sit and stay. She currently lives in sunny Colorado with her husband, two teens, two dogs, two cats, two fish…there seems to be something about the number two for her.

Photo by Yvonne Min.

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#BookReview A Good Day for Chardonnay by Darynda Jones @Darynda @smpromance @StMartinsPress #AGoodDayforChardonnay #DaryndaJones #SunshineVicram #smpromance #smpinfluencers

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#BookReview A Good Day for Chardonnay by Darynda Jones @Darynda @smpromance @StMartinsPress #AGoodDayforChardonnay #DaryndaJones #SunshineVicram #smpromance #smpinfluencers Title: A Good Day for Chardonnay

Author: Darynda Jones

Series: Sunshine Vicram #2

Published by: St. Martin's Press on Jul. 27, 2021

Genres: Mystery/Thriller, Romantic Suspense

Pages: 416

Format: Hardcover

Source: St. Martin's Press

Book Rating: 9/10

Running a small-town police force in the mountains of New Mexico should be a smooth, carefree kind of job. Sadly, full-time Sheriff–and even fuller-time coffee guzzler–Sunshine Vicram, didn’t get that memo.

All Sunshine really wants is one easy-going day. You know, the kind that starts with coffee and a donut (or three) and ends with take-out pizza and a glass of chardonnay (or seven). Turns out, that’s about as easy as switching to decaf. (What kind of people do that? And who hurt them?)

Before she can say iced mocha latte, Sunny’s got a bar fight gone bad, a teenage daughter hunting a serial killer and, oh yes, the still unresolved mystery of her own abduction years prior. All evidence points to a local distiller, a dangerous bad boy named Levi Ravinder, but Sun knows he’s not the villain of her story. Still, perhaps beneath it all, he possesses the keys to her disappearance. At the very least, beneath it all, he possesses a serious set of abs. She’s seen it. Once. Accidentally.

Between policing a town her hunky chief deputy calls four cents short of a nickel, that pesky crush she has on Levi which seems to grow exponentially every day, and an irascible raccoon that just doesn’t know when to quit, Sunny’s life is about to rocket to a whole new level of crazy.

Yep, definitely a good day for chardonnay.

Review:

Wacky, wild, and wonderful!

A Good Day for Chardonnay is a refreshing, highly entertaining mystery that transports you back to Del Sol, New Mexico, where police chief Sunshine Vicram now finds herself investigating another multitude of oddball events that pull her back to the past, including a potentially fatal stabbing, a hit and run involving the delicious Levi Ravinder, and a missing teenage boy.

The prose is brisk and amusing. The characterization is spot on with a wonderful cast of characters that are eccentric, sharp-witted, and endearing. And the plot is the perfect mix of suspense, humour, witty banter, familial drama, friendship, secrets, deception, community, mayhem, steamy moments, and sexy times.

Overall, A Good Day for Chardonnay is a quirky, gripping, brilliant tale by Jones that has a storyline that will make you laugh, make you smile, and most definitely leave you wanting more. I absolutely adore this Sunshine Vicram series, and I can’t wait to read A Hard Day for a Hangover when it publishes next month.

This book is available now.

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from the following links.

               

 

 

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Darynda Jones

NYTimes and USA Today Bestselling Author Darynda Jones has won numerous awards for her work, including a prestigious RITA, a Golden Heart, and a Daphne du Maurier. As a born storyteller, she grew up spinning tales of dashing damsels and heroes in distress for any unfortunate soul who happened by, annoying man and beast alike. She currently has two series with St. Martin's Press, the Charley Davidson Series and the Darklight Trilogy. Darynda lives in the Land of Enchantment, also known as New Mexico, with her husband of more than 25 years and two beautiful sons, the Mighty, Mighty Jones Boys.

Photograph courtesy of Author's Website.

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#BookReview Death of a Showman by Mariah Fredericks @MariahFrederick @MinotaurBooks @StMartinsPress #DeathofaShowman #MariahFredericks #JanePrescottSeries #MinotaurInfluencers #SMPInfluencers

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#BookReview Death of a Showman by Mariah Fredericks @MariahFrederick @MinotaurBooks @StMartinsPress #DeathofaShowman #MariahFredericks #JanePrescottSeries #MinotaurInfluencers #SMPInfluencers Title: Death of a Showman

Author: Mariah Fredericks

Series: Jane Prescott #4

Published by: Minotaur Books on Apr. 13, 2021

Genres: Historical Fiction, Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 288

Format: Hardcover

Source: Minotaur Books

Book Rating: 8.5/10

In Mariah Fredericks’s Death of a Showman, the fourth in this absorbing series set in Gilded Age New York, lady’s maid Jane Prescott is thrust into the world of show business, where a killer is stalking Broadway.

It is the summer of 1914 and lady’s maid Jane Prescott is back in New York with the Tylers after a glittering society wedding in Europe. On their return, Jane learns another wedding has taken place. Her old dancing partner, Leo Hirschfeld, has married a chorus girl in his new Broadway musical.

Jane and Louise Tyler are pulled into the sparkling and scandalous world of Broadway, as a star struck Louise invests in Leo’s show, and Jane chaperones her at rehearsals. But behind the glittering facade of the theater, there are rivalries, secret romances, and some very dodgy business practices. When the show’s abusive producer, Sidney Warburton, is murdered, the list of suspects is long. Was it the comedic star or her gambler boyfriend? The disgruntled costume designer? The beautiful, blond dancer, her jealous husband? Or was it Leo himself, who had more reason than anyone to hate Sidney Warburton?

As the First World war looms in the distance, Jane and tabloid reporter Michael Behan must strip back the masks of these consummate performers before one of them kills again.

Review:

Whimsical, suspenseful, and compelling!

Death of a Showman is an amusing, nuanced, surprising tale that takes you back to Manhattan during 1914 and into the life of lady’s maid Jane Prescott who, after spending a year in Europe, returns to find her former dance partner and potential paramour, Leo Hirschfield married and rehearsing a new Broadway musical, a show that ends up with more problems than just money woes when the producer suddenly turns up dead, and everyone behind the curtain seems to have a motive for murder.

The prose is vivid and authentic. The characters are astute, multi-layered, and likeable. And the plot develops nicely and has just the right mix of misdirection, deduction, clues, suspects, mishaps, drama, and murder.

Overall, Death of a Showman is a light, quick, enjoyable tale by Fredericks that I thoroughly enjoyed, and that is without a doubt another satisfying addition to the Jane Prescott series.

 

This novel is available now.

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from one of the following links.

            

 

 

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press – Minotaur Books for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Mariah Fredericks

Mariah Fredericks was born and raised in New York City, where she still lives with her family. She is the author of several YA novels. Death of an American Beauty is her third novel to feature ladies' maid Jane Prescott.

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#BookReview The Killing Tide by Lin Anderson @PGCBooks @panmacmillan #RhonaMacLeod #TheKillngTide

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#BookReview The Killing Tide by Lin Anderson @PGCBooks @panmacmillan #RhonaMacLeod #TheKillngTide Title: The Killing Tide

Author: Lin Anderson

Series: Rhona MacLeod #16

Published by: Pan Macmillan on Sep. 7, 2021

Genres: Mystery/Thriller, Police Procedural

Pages: 400

Format: Hardcover

Source: Publishers Group Canada

Book Rating: 9/10

The Killing Tide by Lin Anderson sees forensic scientist Rhona MacLeod investigating a mysterious abandoned ship which has swept ashore in the Orkney Isles.

After a fierce storm hits Scotland, a mysterious cargo ship is discovered in the Orkney Isles. Boarding the vessel uncovers three bodies, recently deceased and in violent circumstances. Forensic scientist Dr Rhona MacLeod’s study of the crime scene suggests that a sinister game was being played on board, but who were the hunters? And who the hunted?

Meanwhile in Glasgow DS Michael McNab is called to a horrific incident where a young woman has been set on fire. Or did she spark the flames herself?

As evidence arises that connects the two cases, the team grow increasingly concerned that the truth of what happened on the ship and in Glasgow hints at a wider conspiracy that stretches down to London and beyond to a global stage. Orcadian Ava Clouston, renowned investigative journalist, believes so and sets out to prove it, putting herself in grave danger.

When the Met Police challenge Police Scotland’s jurisdiction, it becomes obvious that there are ruthless individuals who are willing to do whatever it takes to protect government interests. Which could lead to even more deaths on Scottish soil . .

Review:

Meticulous, sinister and sharp!

The Killing Tide is a menacing, creative police procedural that sees forensic scientist Dr Rhona MacLeod and her team tangled up in two cases that seem at first glance to be isolated incidents, a woman set on fire at an apartment building in Glasgow and an abandoned cargo ship containing several victims washing ashore in Orkney, but as the investigation unfolds, it doesn’t take long before it quickly becomes apparent that these cases may be connected and may have ties to a criminal syndicate with influential friends and a penchant for fulfilling all the devious things the rich and powerful like to indulge in.

The writing is atmospheric and crisp. The characters are multifaceted, intuitive, and persistent. And the plot is a compelling, ominous mix of twists, turns, red herrings, secrets, deduction, mayhem, violence, manipulation, and murder.

Overall, The Killing Tide is crafty, dark, and unbelievably the sixteenth book in the Rhona MacLeod series. I have yet to read a novel by Anderson that isn’t gripping, pacey, and extremely satisfying, and this one is definitely no exception.

 

This book is available now.

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from one of the following links.

              

 

 

Thank you to PGC Books for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Lin Anderson

Lin Anderson is a Scottish author and screenwriter known for her bestselling crime series featuring forensic scientist Dr Rhona MacLeod. Four of her novels have been longlisted for the Scottish Crime Book of the Year, with Follow the Dead being a 2018 finalist. Her short film River Child won both a Scottish BAFTA for Best Fiction and the Celtic Film Festival’s Best Drama award and has now been viewed more than one million times on YouTube. Lin is also the co-founder of the international crime writing festival Bloody Scotland, which takes place annually in Stirling.

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#BookReview Lost Girls by Angela Marsons @WriteAngie @GrandCentralPub #AngelaMarsons #LostGirls #DIKimStoneSeries

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#BookReview Lost Girls by Angela Marsons @WriteAngie @GrandCentralPub #AngelaMarsons #LostGirls #DIKimStoneSeries Title: Lost Girls

Author: Angela Marsons

Series: DI Kim Stone #3

Published by: Grand Central Publishing on Oct. 12, 2021

Genres: Mystery/Thriller, Police Procedural

Pages: 448

Format: Paperback

Source: Grand Central Publishing

Book Rating: 10/10

Two girls go missing. Only one will return.

The couple that offers the highest amount will see their daughter again. The losing couple will not. Make no mistake. One child will die.

When nine-year-old best friends Charlie and Amy disappear, two families are plunged into a living nightmare. A text message confirms the unthinkable; that the girls are the victims of a terrifying kidnapping.

And when a second text message pits the two families against each other for the life of their children, the clock starts ticking for and the squad.

Seemingly outwitted at every turn, as they uncover a trail of bodies, Stone realises that these ruthless killers might be the most deadly she has ever faced. And that their chances of bringing the girls home alive, are getting smaller by the hour…

Untangling a dark web of secrets from the families’ past might hold the key to solving this case. But can Kim stay alive long enough to do so? Or will someone’s child pay the ultimate price?

Review:

Brilliantly plotted, incredibly captivating, and cleverly spine-chilling!

Lost Girls is a dark, suspenseful, gripping police procedural that brings every parent’s worst nightmare to life and explores the terror, chaos, and distress a ruthless set of kidnappers with no conscience, a lot of savvy, and sadistic tendencies can wreak.

The writing is tight and intense. The characters are intelligent, multi-layered, and tenacious. And the plot starts with a bang and quickly unravels into a perilous tale full of twists, turns, red herrings, secrets, lies, fear, obsession, greed, violence, kidnapping, and murder.

I have to say that in a time when mysteries and thrillers seem to be churned out quicker and quicker, and storylines seem to be getting more predictable and rote, Angela Marsons is like a breath of fresh air. She creates characters I can’t get enough of and complex, gritty stories that suck me in and make me feel like a participant and not just an observer. She writes with great depth and a lot of insight, and every time I finish one of her books, I’m left unnerved, entertained, and disturbingly satisfied and Lost Girls is no exception. What more can I say if you haven’t read any of the novels in the DI Kim Stone series, you really need to.

 

This book is available now.

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from one of the following links.

            

 

 

Thank you to Grand Central Publishing for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Angela Marsons

Angela Marsons is the USA Today bestselling author of the Detective Kim Stone series, and her books have sold more than four million copies and have been translated into twenty-seven languages. She lives in the Black Country, in the West Midlands of England, with her partner and their two Golden Retrievers. She first discovered her love of writing at junior school when actual lessons came second to watching other people and quietly making up her own stories about them. Her report card invariably read “Angela would do well if she minded her own business as well as she minds other people’s.” After writing women’s fiction, Angela turned to crime — fictionally speaking, of course — and developed a character that refused to go away.

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#BookReview The Girls in the Stilt House by Kelly Mustian @KellyMustian @Sourcebooks @sbkslandmark #TheGirlsintheStiltHouse #KellyMustian #bookmarkedbylandmark

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#BookReview The Girls in the Stilt House by Kelly Mustian @KellyMustian @Sourcebooks @sbkslandmark #TheGirlsintheStiltHouse #KellyMustian #bookmarkedbylandmark Title: The Girls in the Stilt House

Author: Kelly Mustian

Published by: Sourcebooks Landmark on Apr. 6, 2021

Genres: Historical Fiction

Pages: 384

Format: Paperback

Source: Sourcebooks Landmark

Book Rating: 8.5/10

Set in 1920s Mississippi, this debut Southern novel weaves a beautiful and harrowing story of two teenage girls cast in an unlikely partnership through murder—perfect for readers of Where the Crawdads Sing and If the Creek Don’t Rise.

Ada promised herself she would never go back to the Trace, to her hard life on the swamp and her harsh father. But now, after running away to Baton Rouge and briefly knowing a different kind of life, she finds herself with nowhere to go but back home. And she knows there will be a price to pay with her father.

Matilda, daughter of a sharecropper, is from the other side of the Trace. Doing what she can to protect her family from the whims and demands of some particularly callous locals is an ongoing struggle. She forms a plan to go north, to pack up the secrets she’s holding about her life in the South and hang them on the line for all to see in Ohio.

As the two girls are drawn deeper into a dangerous world of bootleggers and moral corruption, they must come to terms with the complexities of their tenuous bond and a hidden past that links them in ways that could cost them their lives.

Review:

Gritty, immersive, and powerful!

The Girls in the Stilt House is a captivating, moving tale that sweeps you away to the heat, humidity and stickiness of the 1920s Mississippi swamplands and into the lives of two teenage girls, Ada Morgan, a young white girl, pregnant and alone, who with nowhere else to turn reluctantly returns home to a sadistic father with a penchant for cruelty, and Matilda Patterson, the black daughter of a sharecropper who spends her time writing of the ongoing prejudice and poverty found in the south while dreaming of moving to the north, two girls from completely different backgrounds who after a moment of shared violence are bound together forever.

The prose is eloquent and descriptive. The characters are raw, tormented, and fragile. And the plot is a heart-tugging tale of life, love, violence, hardship, terror, racism, dreams, resilience, loss, hope, redemption, and survival.

The Girls in the Stilt House is a perceptive, compelling, fabulous debut by Mustian that is an excellent reminder that compassion, kindness, and strength come in many forms that ultimately transcend socioeconomics, skin colour, and the deepest, darkest of realities.

 

This book is available now.

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from one of the following links.

           

 

 

Thank you to Sourcebooks Landmark for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Kelly Mustian

Kelly Mustian grew up in Natchez, Mississippi, the southern terminus of the historic Natchez Trace. Her work has appeared in numerous literary journals and commercial magazines, and her short fiction has won a Blumenthal Writers and Readers Series Award. She is a past recipient of a Regional Artist Grant from the North Carolina Arts and Science Council. Kelly currently lives with her family near the foothills of North Carolina. The Girls in the Stilt House is her debut novel.

Photo by Rachelle Thompson.

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#BookReview The London House by Katherine Reay @Katherine_Reay @harpermusebooks @BookSparks #TheLondonHouse #KatherineReay #FallPopUp

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#BookReview The London House by Katherine Reay @Katherine_Reay @harpermusebooks @BookSparks #TheLondonHouse #KatherineReay #FallPopUp Title: The London House

Author: Katherine Reay

Published by: Harper Muse on Nov. 2, 2021

Genres: Historical Fiction

Pages: 368

Format: Paperback

Source: BookSparks

Book Rating: 8.5/10

Uncovering a dark family secret sends one woman through the history of Britain’s World War II spy network and glamorous 1930s Paris to save her family’s reputation.

Caroline Payne thinks it’s just another day of work until she receives a call from Mat Hammond, an old college friend and historian. But pleasantries are cut short. Mat has uncovered a scandalous secret kept buried for decades: In World War II, Caroline’s British great-aunt betrayed family and country to marry her German lover.

Determined to find answers and save her family’s reputation, Caroline flies to her family’s ancestral home in London. She and Mat discover diaries and letters that reveal her grandmother and great-aunt were known as the “Waite sisters.” Popular and witty, they came of age during the interwar years, a time of peace and luxury filled with dances, jazz clubs, and romance. The buoyant tone of the correspondence soon yields to sadder revelations as the sisters grow apart, and one leaves home for the glittering fashion scene of Paris, despite rumblings of a coming world war.

Each letter brings more questions. Was Caroline’s great-aunt actually a traitor and Nazi collaborator, or is there a more complex truth buried in the past? Together, Caroline and Mat uncover stories of spies and secrets, love and heartbreak, and the events of one fateful evening in 1941 that changed everything.

In this rich historical novel from award-winning author Katherine Reay, a young woman is tasked with writing the next chapter of her family’s story. But Caroline must choose whether to embrace a love of her own and proceed with caution if her family’s decades-old wounds are to heal without tearing them even further apart.

Review:

Captivating, immersive, and mysterious!

The London House is an uplifting, pensive tale that sweeps you away to England and Paris during WWII, as well as present-day London, and into the lives of the Payne family as they delve into all the strained relationships and enduring secrets, loss, tears, wounds, misery, grief, and anger that has surrounded them for generations.

The prose is eloquent and expressive. The characters are complex, scarred, and authentic. And the plot is a sweeping saga filled with familial drama, introspection, love, loss, life, family, friendship, mystique, heartbreak, romance, secrets, hope, passion, sisterhood, as well as a little insight into some of the iconic fashion produced by the house of Schiaparelli over the years.

Overall, The London House is an informative, romantic, alluring tale by Reay that does an exceptional job of highlighting the incredible impact war had on the personal lives of those it touched both at home and away and the significant contribution women played during those dark and tumultuous times.

 

This novel is available now.

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from one of the following links.

                

 

 

Thank you to BookSparks for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Katherine Reay

Katherine Reay is a writer, wife, mom, continually rehabbing runner, compulsive vacuumist and a horrific navigator…

She graduated from Northwestern University and earned an MS in Marketing from Northwestern as well. She then worked in marketing and development before returning to graduate school for a Masters of Theological Studies. Moves to Texas, England, Ireland and Washington left that degree unfinished as Katherine spent her time unpacking, raising kids, volunteering, writing, and exploring new storylines and new cities.

The Reay family (with a great sense of permanency) now resides outside Chicago, and Katherine pursues writing with more focus. She writes character-driven stories and non-fiction that focuses upon examining the past and how it influences our present experiences.

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