Format: Paperback, ARC

#BookReview The Forgotten Sister by Nicola Cornick @NicolaCornick @HarlequinBooks @Bookclubbish #TheForgottenSister #NicolaCornick #Bookclubbish #HTPBooks

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#BookReview The Forgotten Sister by Nicola Cornick @NicolaCornick @HarlequinBooks @Bookclubbish #TheForgottenSister #NicolaCornick #Bookclubbish #HTPBooks Title: The Forgotten Sister

Author: Nicola Cornick

Published by: Graydon House on Nov. 10, 2020

Genres: Historical Fiction, Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 368

Format: Paperback, ARC

Source: Harlequin Books

Book Rating: 8.5/10

In the tradition of the spellbinding historical novels of Philippa Gregory and Kate Morton comes a stunning story based on a real-life Tudor mystery, and of a curse that echoes through the centuries and shapes two women’s destinies…

1560: Amy Robsart is trapped in a loveless marriage to Robert Dudley, a member of the court of Queen Elizabeth I. Surrounded by enemies and with nowhere left to turn, Amy hatches a desperate scheme to escape—one with devastating consequences that will echo through the centuries…

Present Day: When Lizzie Kingdom is forced to withdraw from the public eye in a blaze of scandal, it seems her life is over. But she’s about to encounter a young man, Johnny Robsart, whose fate will interlace with hers in the most unexpected of ways. For Johnny is certain that Lizzie is linked to a terrible secret dating back to Tudor times. If Lizzie is brave enough to go in search of the truth, then what she discovers will change the course of their lives forever.

Review:

Engaging, mysterious, and immersive!

The Forgotten Sister is an intriguing time-slip novel set in England during both the sixteenth century as well as present-day and is told from two different perspectives, Amy Robsart, the wife of Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester whose untimely death is laced with suspicion and doubt, and Lizzie Kingdom, a young star who after getting mixed up in a scandal where history seems to be repeating itself uses her psychometric abilities to uncover what truly happened.

The writing is eloquent and smooth. The characters are complex, troubled, and endearing. And the plot using a past/present, back-and-forth style captivates and entertains as it sweeps you away into a suspenseful tale of life, loss, love, familial responsibility, duty, honour, betrayal, friendship, passion, mystery, and a silver of the supernatural.

Overall, The Forgotten Sister is another well-paced, creative, entertaining novel by Cornick that does a wonderful job of interweaving a satisfying blend of historical facts, compelling fiction, budding romance, and a touch of magic.

 

This novel is available now.

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

            

 

 

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

 

About Nicola Cornick

International bestselling author Nicola Cornick writes romantic historical mysteries and witty and passionate Regency romance. She studied History at London and Oxford and was awarded a distinction for her dissertation on historical heroes. It was a tough study but someone had to do it. Nicola has a “double life” as a writer and guide at the stunning 17th century hunting lodge, Ashdown House. Nicola lives near Oxford and loves reading, writing, history, music, wildlife, travel and walking her dog. She also loves hearing from her readers and chatting to them on her blog.

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#BookReview The Woman Outside My Door by Rachel Ryan @rachelryanbooks @SimonSchusterCA #TheWomanOutsideMyDoor #RachelRyan

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#BookReview The Woman Outside My Door by Rachel Ryan @rachelryanbooks @SimonSchusterCA #TheWomanOutsideMyDoor #RachelRyan Title: The Woman Outside My Door

Author: Rachel Ryan

Published by: Simon & Schuster on Nov. 24, 2020

Genres: Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 288

Length: 6 hrs and 15 mins

Format: Paperback, ARC

Source: Simon & Schuster Canada

Book Rating: 8/10

From an unforgettable new voice in suspense fiction, The Woman Outside My Door is a thrilling page-turner about a young mother who can’t shake the feeling that her son’s “imaginary” friend is putting him in very real danger, and she will stop at nothing to keep him safe—perfect for fans of Lisa Jewell and Mary Kubica.

All children have imaginary friends, Georgina tells herself. It’s perfectly normal, and they all grow out of it in the end. But when her seven-year-old son, Cody, tells her about New Granny, the new friend he’s met in the park, Georgina is instantly suspicious. Something—call it maternal instinct—tells her he isn’t making it up.

But maybe Georgina is losing her mind. It wouldn’t be the first time, after all. And with her own mother’s recent death leaving her bereft and trying to cope with life as a busy working mom, it’s no wonder she’s feeling paranoid that Cody has invented a “New Granny” to replace his beloved grandmother.

Her husband, Bren, becomes the voice of reason, assuring Georgina that it’s just a game, the product of their son’s overactive imagination. But what if Cody’s imaginary friend is not so imaginary after all?

Review:

Tense, ominous, and clever!

The Woman Outside My Door is a suspenseful, psychological thriller that introduces us to Georgina, a young wife struggling with the loss of her mother who becomes even more unhinged when her seven-year-old-son appears to have a new imaginary friend that phones him and gives him treats.

The writing is crisp and edgy. The characters are vulnerable, unreliable, and distressed. And the plot unfolds subtly into an eerie tale of secrets, obsession, heartache, shame, loneliness, deception, familial drama, and utter desperation.

Overall, The Woman Outside My Door is a crafty, engaging, sinister tale by Ryan that kept me engaged from the very first page and is without a doubt an exceptionally promising debut.

 

This book is available now.

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

            

 

 

 

Thank you to Simon & Schuster Canada for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Rachel Ryan

Rachel Ryan was born and raised in Dublin, Ireland. She can usually be found writing in coffee shops, hanging around libraries, or walking the streets of Dublin, making up stories. The Woman Outside My Door is her first novel.

Photograph by Ailish Kerr.

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#BookReview The Sea Gate by Jane Johnson @JaneJohnsonBakr @SimonSchusterCA #TheSeaGate #JaneJohnson

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#BookReview The Sea Gate by Jane Johnson @JaneJohnsonBakr @SimonSchusterCA #TheSeaGate #JaneJohnson Title: The Sea Gate

Author: Jane Johnson

Published by: Simon & Schuster on Nov. 17, 2020

Genres: Historical Fiction

Pages: 416

Format: Paperback, ARC

Source: Simon & Schuster Canada

Book Rating: 10/10

A broken family, a house of secrets—an entrancing tale of love and courage set during the Second World War.

After Rebecca’s mother dies, she must sort through her empty flat and come to terms with her loss. As she goes through her mother’s mail, she finds a handwritten envelope. In it is a letter that will change her life forever.

Olivia, her mother’s elderly cousin, needs help to save her beloved home. Rebecca immediately goes to visit Olivia in Cornwall only to find a house full of secrets—treasures in the attic and a mysterious tunnel leading from the cellar to the sea, and Olivia, nowhere to be found.

As it turns out, the old woman is stuck in hospital with no hope of being discharged until her house is made habitable again. Rebecca sets to work restoring the home to its former glory, but as she peels back the layers of paint and grime, she uncovers even more buried secrets—secrets from a time when the Second World War was raging, when Olivia was a young woman, and when both romance and danger lurked around every corner…

A sweeping and utterly spellbinding tale of a young woman’s courage in the face of war and the lengths to which she’ll go to protect those she loves against the most unexpected of enemies.

Review:

Rich, mysterious, and incredibly absorbing!

The Sea Gate is an alluring, dual-timeline tale set in Cornwall during WWII, as well as present-day, that is told from two perspectives; Olivia, a young girl struggling to survive in a world driven by insecurity and fear and ravaged by war, and Becky, a young woman who unexpectedly stumbles across a slew of long-buried family secrets and an offensive parrot after travelling to the home of her mother’s 90-year-old cousin to help fix it up and prepare it for her return.

The prose is vivid and expressive. The characters are resilient, brave, and determined. And the plot, along with all the seamlessly intertwined subplots, is an impressive blend of drama, emotion, family, secrets, mystique, love, loss, courage, passion, heartbreak, and self-discovery.

Overall, The Sea Gate is an evocative, immersive, moving tale that sweeps you away to another time and place and immerses you so thoroughly into the personalities, feelings, and lives of the characters you never want it to end. It is undoubtedly one of my favourite novels of the year and another fine example of Johnson’s extraordinary ability to write exceptionally memorable storylines.

This novel is available now.

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

       

 

Thank you to Simon & Schuster Canada for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Jane Johnson

Jane Johnson is from Cornwall and has worked in the book industry for over 20 years, as a bookseller, publisher and writer. She is responsible for the publishing of many major authors, including George RR Martin.

In 2005 she was in Morocco researching the story of a distant family member who was abducted from a Cornish church in 1625 by Barbary pirates and sold into slavery in North Africa, when a near-fatal climbing incident caused her to rethink her future. She returned home, gave up her office job in London, and moved to Morocco. She married her own ‘Berber pirate’ and now they split their time between Cornwall and a village in the Anti-Atlas Mountains. She still works, remotely, as Fiction Publishing Director for HarperCollins.

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#BookReview Tsarina by Ellen Alpsten @EAlpsten_Author @StMartinsPress #Tsarina #EllenAlpsten

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#BookReview Tsarina by Ellen Alpsten @EAlpsten_Author @StMartinsPress #Tsarina #EllenAlpsten Title: Tsarina

Author: Ellen Alpsten

Published by: St. Martin's Press on Nov. 10, 2020

Genres: Historical Fiction

Pages: 496

Format: Paperback, ARC

Source: St. Martin's Press

Book Rating: 8.5/10

St. Petersburg, 1725. Peter the Great lies dying in his magnificent Winter Palace. The weakness and treachery of his only son has driven his father to an appalling act of cruelty and left the empire without an heir. Russia risks falling into chaos. Into the void steps the woman who has been by his side for decades: his second wife, Catherine Alexeyevna, as ambitious, ruthless and passionate as Peter himself.

Born into devastating poverty, Catherine used her extraordinary beauty and shrewd intelligence to ingratiate herself with Peter’s powerful generals, finally seducing the Tsar himself. But even amongst the splendor and opulence of her new life—the lavish feasts, glittering jewels, and candle-lit hours in Peter’s bedchamber—she knows the peril of her position. Peter’s attentions are fickle and his rages powerful; his first wife is condemned to a prison cell, her lover impaled alive in Red Square. And now Catherine faces the ultimate test: can she keep the Tsar’s death a secret as she plays a lethal game to destroy her enemies and take the Crown for herself?

From the sensuous pleasures of a decadent aristocracy, to the incense-filled rites of the Orthodox Church and the terror of Peter’s torture chambers, the intoxicating and dangerous world of Imperial Russia is brought to vivid life. Tsarina is the story of one remarkable woman whose bid for power would transform the Russian Empire.”

Review:

Fascinating, insightful, and engaging!

Tsarina is an intriguing interpretation of the rags-to-riches, extraordinary life of Marta Helena Skowrońska (Catherine I of Russia), who started life as the illegitimate child of a peasant and was subsequently sold into slavery, widowed, and sexually violated before becoming the mistress of Peter the Great, and later his wife and successor to the Russian throne, holding the title of Empress of Russia until her untimely death in 1727.

The prose is vivid and rich. The characters are bold, remorseless, and well-drawn. And the plot is an absorbing, sweeping saga of all the hopes, fears, sacrifices, struggles, treachery and entangled relationships found in one of the most powerful families to ever rule the Russian Empire.

Tsarina is, ultimately, a story about life, loss, love, politics, power, war, corruption, greed, riches, fervour, desires, sacrifice, savagery, violence, and murder. It’s a perceptive, alluring, compelling tale by Alpsten that does a beautiful job of highlighting her impressive research and considerable knowledge into the infamous Romanov family, especially those who reigned in the late seventeenth, early eighteenth century and their undeniable influence on Russian history.

 

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 for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Ellen Alpsten

ELLEN ALPSTEN was born and raised in the Kenyan highlands. Upon graduating from L'Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Paris, she worked as a news anchor for Bloomberg TV London. Whilst working gruesome night shifts on breakfast TV, she started to write in earnest, every day, after work and a nap. Today, Ellen works as an author and as a journalist for international publications such as Vogue, Standpoint and CN Traveller. She lives in London with her husband, three sons and a moody fox red Labrador. Tsarina is her debut novel.

Photograph by Andreas Stirnberg.

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#BookReview Little Cruelties by Liz Nugent @lizzienugent @SimonSchusterCA #LittleCruelties #LizNugent

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#BookReview Little Cruelties by Liz Nugent @lizzienugent @SimonSchusterCA #LittleCruelties #LizNugent Title: Little Cruelties

Author: Liz Nugent

Published by: Simon & Schuster on Nov. 10, 2020

Genres: Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 384

Format: Paperback, ARC

Source: Simon & Schuster Canada

Book Rating: 8.5/10

All three of the Drumm brothers were at the funeral.
Only one of us was in the coffin.

William, Brian, and Luke: three boys bound by blood but split by fate, trained from birth by their wily mother to compete for her attention. They play games, as brothers do…yet even after the Drumms escape into the world beyond their windows, those games—those little cruelties—grow more sinister, more merciless, more dangerous. And with their lives entwined like the strands of a noose, only two of the brothers will survive.

Crisply written and quickly paced, perfect for readers of both sophisticated literary fiction and breathtaking suspense, Little Cruelties gazes unflinchingly into the darkness: the darkness collecting in the corners of childhood homes, hiding beneath marriage beds, clasped in the palms of two brothers shaking hands. And it confirms Liz Nugent, whose novels have been celebrated as “captivating” (People) and “highly entertaining” (The Washington Post), as one of the most exciting, perceptive voices in contemporary fiction.

Review:

Tragic, intricate, and twisty!

Little Cruelties is a dark, compelling, character-driven, domestic thriller that takes you into the lives of three brothers, Wiliam, an arrogant film producer, Brian, an unmotivated leach, and Luke, an emotionally fragile pop star as they each grapple with sibling rivalry, enduring jealousy, devastating secrets, and exceptionally cruel decisions that will change their lives forever.

The prose is tight and intense. The characters are selfish, deceptive, and troubled. And the plot told from multiple perspectives unfolds gradually into a murky tale full of twists, turns, surprises, familial drama, lies, greed, resentments, scandal, wickedness, deception, tragedy, and murder.

Overall, Little Cruelties is another sophisticated, creepy, gloomy tale by Nugent that does a fantastic job of delving into all the complex, dysfunctional dynamics that can occur between family members and reminds us just how evil and toxic some of these relationships can truly be.

 

This novel is available now.

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

            

 

 

Thank you to Simon & Schuster Canada for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Liz Nugent

Liz Nugent has worked in Irish film, theater, and television for most of her adult life. She is an award-winning writer of radio and television drama and has written critically acclaimed short stories both for children and adults, as well as the novels Unraveling Oliver and Lying in Wait. She lives in Dublin.

Photograph by Beta Bajgartova.

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#BookReview The Forgotten Daughter by Joanna Goodman @joannagoodman @HarperPerennial #TheForgottenDaughter #JoannaGoodman #HarperPerennial #OliveInfluencer

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#BookReview The Forgotten Daughter by Joanna Goodman @joannagoodman @HarperPerennial #TheForgottenDaughter #JoannaGoodman #HarperPerennial #OliveInfluencer Title: The Forgotten Daughter

Author: Joanna Goodman

Published by: Harper Paperbacks on Oct. 27, 2020

Genres: Historical Fiction

Pages: 416

Format: Paperback, ARC

Source: Harper Perennial

Book Rating: 8.5/10

From the author of the bestselling novel The Home for Unwanted Girls, comes another compulsively readable story of love and suspense, following the lives of two women reckoning with their pasts and the choices that will define their futures.

1992: French-Canadian factions renew Quebec’s fight to gain independence, and wild, beautiful Véronique Fortin, daughter of a radical separatist convicted of kidnapping and murdering a prominent politician in 1970, has embraced her father’s cause. So it is a surprise when she falls for James Phénix, a journalist of French-Canadian heritage who opposes Quebec separatism. Their love affair is as passionate as it is turbulent, as they negotiate a constant struggle between love and morals.

At the same time, James’s older sister, Elodie Phénix, one of the Duplessis Orphans, becomes involved with a coalition demanding justice and reparations for their suffering in the 1950s when Quebec’s orphanages were converted to mental hospitals, a heinous political act of Premier Maurice Duplessis which affected 5,000 children.

Véronique is the only person Elodie can rely on as she fights for retribution, reliving her trauma, while Elodie becomes a sisterly presence for Véronique, who continues to struggle with her family’s legacy.

The Forgotten Daughter is a moving portrait of true love, familial bonds, and persistence in the face of injustice. As each character is pushed to their moral brink, they will discover exactly which lines they’ll cross—and just how far they’ll go for what they believe in.

Review:

Emotive, absorbing, and informative!

The Forgotten Daughter is a charged, fascinating tale that takes us to Quebec, Canada during the 1990s when the October Crisis of 1970 involving the FLQ separatists has not been forgotten, the desire for independence and sovereignty is still a passionate and inflammatory cause, and one of the most horrendous political and religious scandals in Canadian history, the institutionalization of orphans as mentally ill in order to receive increased subsidization still requires some form of justice and restitution to be imposed.

The prose is fluid and evocative. The characters are raw, troubled, scarred, and genuine. And the plot, including all the subplots, intertwine and unravel into a tumultuous, gritty tale of life, love, loss, fervour, family, secrets, deception, introspection, corruption, turmoil, violence, and political upheaval.

Overall, The Forgotten Daughter is an atmospheric, gritty, intricate novel by Goodman that does a remarkable job of highlighting her incredible passion and knowledge into this one province’s ongoing struggle for cultural identity over national unity.

 

This novel is available now.

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

               

 

 

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

 

About Joanna Goodman

Joanna Goodman’s #1 Bestselling Historical Fiction novel, The Home for Unwanted Girls was released April 17, 2018 to wide critical acclaim.

Joanna is the author of four previous novels, including The Finishing School, You Made Me Love You and Harmony. Her stories have appeared in The Fiddlehead, The Ottawa Citizen, B & A Fiction, Event, The New Quarterly, and White Wall Review.

Originally from Montreal, Joanna now lives in Toronto with her husband and two children, and is at work on her sixth novel. She is also the owner of a well-known Toronto linen store, Au Lit Fine Linens.

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#BookReview Dear Child by Romy Hausmann @RaincoastBooks @Flatironbooks #DearChild #RomyHausmann

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#BookReview Dear Child by Romy Hausmann @RaincoastBooks @Flatironbooks #DearChild #RomyHausmann Title: Dear Child

Author: Romy Hausmann

Published by: Flatiron Books on Oct. 6, 2020

Genres: Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 368

Format: Paperback, ARC

Source: Raincoast Books

Book Rating: 8.5/10

A windowless shack in the woods. A dash to safety. But when a woman finally escapes her captor, the end of the story is only the beginning of her nightmare.

She says her name is Lena. Lena, who disappeared without a trace 14 years prior. She fits the profile. She has the distinctive scar. But her family swears that she isn’t their Lena.

The little girl who escaped the woods with her knows things she isn’t sharing, and Lena’s devastated father is trying to piece together details that don’t quite fit. Lena is desperate to begin again, but something tells her that her tormentor still wants to get back what belongs to him…and that she may not be able to truly escape until the whole truth about what happened in the woods finally emerges.

Review:

Dark, spine-chilling, and intricately plotted!

Dear Child is a gritty, tortuous, intense, character-driven tale that takes us on a hunt for a sadistic kidnapper and highlights the enduring psychological, physical, and emotional effects experienced by all those affected by his actions and ensnared, even briefly, in his despicable world.

The writing is edgy and tight. The characters are vulnerable, tormented, and scarred. And the plot told from multiple perspectives is an engrossing, eerie tale full of twists, turns, lies, secrets, deception, familial drama, obsession, depravity, violence, and murder.

Overall, Dear Child is a highly suspenseful, well written, gripping thriller that is a scary reminder that even the most heinous of evil can often be concealed behind masks of normality.

 

This novel is available now!

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

           

 

 

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

 

About Romy Hausmann

Romy Hausmann lives with her family at a remote house in the woods in Stuttgart, Germany. Dear Child is her English-language debut.

Photograph by Astrid Eckert.

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#BookReview Invisible Girl by Lisa Jewell @lisajewelluk @AtriaBooks @SimonSchusterCA #InvisibleGirl #LisaJewell

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#BookReview Invisible Girl by Lisa Jewell @lisajewelluk @AtriaBooks @SimonSchusterCA #InvisibleGirl #LisaJewell Title: Invisible Girl

Author: Lisa Jewell

Published by: Atria Books on Oct. 13, 2020

Genres: Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 368

Format: Paperback, ARC

Source: Simon & Schuster Canada

Book Rating: 8.5/10

The #1 New York Times bestselling author of Then She Was Gone returns with an intricate thriller about a young woman’s disappearance and a group of strangers whose lives intersect in its wake.

Owen Pick’s life is falling apart. In his thirties and living in his aunt’s spare bedroom, he has just been suspended from his job as a teacher after accusations of sexual misconduct—accusations he strongly denies. Searching for professional advice online, he is inadvertently sucked into the dark world of incel forums, where he meets a charismatic and mysterious figure.

Across the street from Owen lives the Fours family, headed by mom Cate, a physiotherapist, and dad Roan, a child psychologist. But the Fours family have a bad feeling about their neighbor Owen. He’s a bit creepy and their teenaged daughter swears he followed her home from the train station one night.

Meanwhile, young Saffyre Maddox spent three years as a patient of Roan Fours. Feeling abandoned when their therapy ends, she searches for other ways to maintain her connection with him, following him in the shadows and learning more than she wanted to know about Roan and his family. Then, on Valentine’s night, Saffyre disappears—and the last person to see her alive is Owen Pick.

Review:

Brisk, creepy, and addictive!

Invisible Girl is an unsettling, compelling, psychological thriller that delves into all the deep, dark secrets people keep even from those closest to them and raises the question how well do you really know anyone.

The writing is sharp and crisp. The characters are secretive, cunning, and troubled. And the plot builds quickly creating suspense and intensity as it unravels all the relationships, motivations, personalities, and behaviours within it.

Invisible Girl is, ultimately, a story of suspicious personalities, lies, deception, manipulation, familial drama, abuse, hatred, violence, and the danger-infused incel subculture. And like most of Jewell’s previous novels, this one keeps you on the edge of your seat with its multitude of twists, turns, and surprises right up until the final page.

 

This novel is available now.

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

            

 

 

Thank you to Simon & Schuster Canada for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Lisa Jewell

Lisa Jewell is the internationally bestselling author of sixteen novels, including the New York Times bestseller Then She Was Gone, as well as I Found You, The Girls in the Garden, and The House We Grew Up In. In total, her novels have sold more than two million copies across the English-speaking world and her work has also been translated into sixteen languages so far. Lisa lives in London with her husband and their two daughters.

Photograph by Andrew Whitton.

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#BookReview All the Devils Are Here by Louise Penny @RaincoastBooks @MinotaurBooks @StMartinsPress #MinotaurInfluencers #AlltheDevilsAreHere #ChiefInspectorGamache

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#BookReview All the Devils Are Here by Louise Penny @RaincoastBooks @MinotaurBooks @StMartinsPress #MinotaurInfluencers #AlltheDevilsAreHere #ChiefInspectorGamache Title: All the Devils Are Here

Author: Louise Penny

Series: Chief Inspector Gamache #16

Published by: Minotaur Books on Sep. 1, 2020

Genres: Mystery/Thriller, Police Procedural

Pages: 448

Format: Paperback, ARC

Source: Raincoast Books

Book Rating: 9/10

The 16th novel by #1 bestselling author Louise Penny finds Chief Inspector Armand Gamache of the Sûreté du Quebec investigating a sinister plot in the City of Light

On their first night in Paris, the Gamaches gather as a family for a bistro dinner with Armand’s godfather, the billionaire Stephen Horowitz. Walking home together after the meal, they watch in horror as Stephen is knocked down and critically injured in what Gamache knows is no accident, but a deliberate attempt on the elderly man’s life.

When a strange key is found in Stephen’s possession it sends Armand, his wife Reine-Marie, and his former second-in-command at the Sûreté, Jean-Guy Beauvoir, from the top of the Tour d’Eiffel, to the bowels of the Paris Archives, from luxury hotels to odd, coded, works of art.

It sends them deep into the secrets Armand’s godfather has kept for decades.

A gruesome discovery in Stephen’s Paris apartment makes it clear the secrets are more rancid, the danger far greater and more imminent, than they realized.

Soon the whole family is caught up in a web of lies and deceit. In order to find the truth, Gamache will have to decide whether he can trust his friends, his colleagues, his instincts, his own past. His own family.

For even the City of Light casts long shadows. And in that darkness devils hide.

Review:

Thrilling, pacey, and action-packed!

In this latest novel by Penny, All the Devils Are Here, we head to Paris, France where Chief Inspector Gamache of the Sûreté du Québec and his extended family will find themselves uncovering long-buried family secrets, examining the inner workings of a company with suspicious intentions, and inadvertently investigating the murder of an engineer and the attempted murder of one of their own.

The prose is sharp and crisp. The characters are intuitive, loyal, and dependable. And the plot, including all the subplots, intertwine and unravel seamlessly into an engrossing tale of secrets, deception, familial drama, manipulation, corruption, greed, violence, and murder.

All the Devils Are Here is the sixteenth novel in the Chief Inspector Gamache series and whether it’s small-town mayhem, big-city crime, or newsworthy headlines it’s always an absolute indulgence and pleasure to sit back, open the cover and immerse yourself once more in an intricate mystery perfectly befitting this humanly flawed, intelligent, steadfast character who you can’t help but root for.

This novel is available now.

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

                  

 

 

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

 

About Louise Penny

LOUISE PENNY is the author of the #1 New York Times and Globe and Mail bestselling series of Chief Inspector Armand Gamache novels. She has won numerous awards, including a CWA Dagger and the Agatha Award (seven times), and was a finalist for the Edgar Award for Best Novel. In 2017, she received the Order of Canada for her contributions to Canadian culture. Louise lives in a small village south of Montréal.

Photograph by JEAN-FRANÇOIS BÉRUBÉ.

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#BookReview Piranesi by Susanna Clarke @BloomsburyPub @RaincoastBooks #Piranesi #SusannaClarke

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#BookReview Piranesi by Susanna Clarke @BloomsburyPub @RaincoastBooks #Piranesi #SusannaClarke Title: Piranesi

Author: Susanna Clarke

Published by: Bloomsbury Publishing on Sep. 15, 2020

Genres: Fantasy, Science Fiction

Pages: 272

Format: Paperback, ARC

Source: Raincoast Books

Book Rating: 10/10

From the New York Times bestselling author of Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, an intoxicating, hypnotic new novel set in a dreamlike alternative reality.

Piranesi’s house is no ordinary building: its rooms are infinite, its corridors endless, its walls are lined with thousands upon thousands of statues, each one different from all the others. Within the labyrinth of halls an ocean is imprisoned; waves thunder up staircases, rooms are flooded in an instant. But Piranesi is not afraid; he understands the tides as he understands the pattern of the labyrinth itself. He lives to explore the house.

There is one other person in the house-a man called The Other, who visits Piranesi twice a week and asks for help with research into A Great and Secret Knowledge. But as Piranesi explores, evidence emerges of another person, and a terrible truth begins to unravel, revealing a world beyond the one Piranesi has always known.

For readers of Neil Gaiman’s The Ocean at the End of the Lane and fans of Madeline Miller’s Circe, Piranesi introduces an astonishing new world, an infinite labyrinth, full of startling images and surreal beauty, haunted by the tides and the clouds.

Review:

Unique, memorable, and beautifully mystifying!

Piranesi is an enthralling, moving, creative novel that takes you into the life of a man unsure of his name but known as Piranesi by “The Other”, and who resides in a house, or prison of sorts, where the earth, sea, and sky meet in the vast corridors of time, space, whiteness, magic, statues, tranquillity, and isolation, and mystery lurks around every corner.

The writing is eloquent and sophisticated. The characters are curious, lonely, and intelligent. And the compelling plot sweeps you away into an intricately woven tale of magical realism that touches on life, solace, sacrifice, and survival.

Piranesi is, ultimately, a mesmerizing, haunting, well-written story by Clarke that is a powerful page-turner where the space between the words resonates as loudly as the words themselves.

This novel is available now.

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

                  

 

 

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

 

About Susanna Clarke

Susanna Clarke was born in Nottingham in 1959, and spent her childhood in Northern England and Scotland.

She studied philosophy, politics and economics at St. Hilda’s College, Oxford and taught in Turin and Bilbao for two years, before becoming an editor at Simon and Schuster in Cambridge, working on their cookery list. She is the author of seven short stories and novellas, published in anthologies in the USA. One of her short stories, ‘The Duke of Wellington Misplaces His Horse’ was published in a limited edition, and her story 'Mr. Simonelli or The Fairy Widower' was shortlisted for the World Fantasy Award 2001.

In 2004, her first novel, Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, was published. It tells the story of two magicians in early 19th-century London and was shortlisted for the 2004 Guardian First Book Award and the Whitbread First Novel Award.

Susanna Clarke lives in Cambridge. Her most recent book is The Ladies of Grace Adieu (2006), a collection of short stories.

Photography courtesy of Author's Goodreads Page.

Website | Goodreads