Review - Sweet Little Lies by Caz Frear

Sweet Little Lies by Caz Frear

Publisher: Bonnier Zaffre

Release date: 29 June 2017

Rating: ****

Back cover blurb: WHAT I THOUGHT I KNEW: In 1998, Maryanne Doyle disappeared and Dad knew something about it? Maryanne Doyle was never seen again. WHAT I ACTUALLY KNOW: In 1998, Dad lied about knowing Maryanne Doyle. Alice Lapaine has been found strangled near Dad's pub. Dad was in the local area for both Maryanne Doyle's disappearance and Alice Lapaine's murder - FACT Connection? Trust cuts both ways . . . what do you do when it's gone?

Sweet Little Lies is a police procedural novel with a bright, funny, intelligent detective at its heart.

DC Catrina (Cat) Kinsella is working in London when Alice Lapaine's body is found. There is nothing particularly unusual about this, murders unfortunately do happen. Particularly in London. 

But Alice Lapaine's isn't actually Alice Lapaine. 

She's Maryanne Doyle, a teenager who disappeared from Mulderrin when Cat was eight and on holiday there with her family.

Cat remembers Maryanne's disappearance as if it were yesterday. 

Her Father was questioned about the teenagers sudden disappearance, as she was friends with Cat's elder sister. He lied and Cat knew this, but at eight years old remained silent, and was not questioned herself. But she has never forgotten what happened.

Alice Lapaine's husband has no idea of his wife's previous identity, but that doesn't mean he isn't under suspicion. Their marriage wasn't exactly perfect. Cat doesn't think that he did it though. She's more concerned about where Alice/Maryanne's body was found... Very near to her Father's pub. 

Once again she knows she must remain silent or risk losing everything.

Cat is a complex and troubled character, determined to do the right thing, even if that means having to betray family or keep secrets from those who trust her. What starts of as a relatively slow novel, soon gathers pace, and the ending will (probably) leave you open mouthed. It was certainly unexpected.

Sweet Little Lies is available now via Amazon online and all good book shops.

Thank You to the publishers who approved my request via netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

[Guest Post] 'The Twist' by Sweet Little Lies author Caz Frear

Today I am delighted to welcome Caz Frear, author of 'Sweet Little Lies' to my blog to talk about;

'The Twist' - can you write a crime novel without one these days?








Remember back in 1995 when we all dropped our popcorn at the revelation that Kevin Spacey was Keyser Söze? (The Usual Suspects).  God, how good was that?  That devilish plot twist is still held up to be the daddy of all plot twists (in recent memory, anyhow), and it was probably a whole four years later before our jaws hit the floors again when it turned out Bruce Willis HAD BEEN DEAD THE WHOLE TIME!!!  

*Ok, so maybe not Bruce Willis, but his character, Malcolm Crowe in The Sixth Sense (I liked Bruce as a Malcolm, FYI)

Oh how we loved ‘The Twist’ back then.  They all felt so fresh, so damn bloody clever.   Up and down the land, people waxed lyrical about them.  Some smug folk claimed that they saw the twists coming a mile off, but I never trusted those people.  They’re the same kind of people who used to claim in school that they hadn’t done a single bit of revision and yet they still somehow managed to breeze an A-grade. 

Or maybe it was just me - maybe I was a bit gullible in my youth - because I’m not ashamed to admit that I didn’t guess either of those movie twists.  Atonement (2001) and One Day (2009) had me slack-jawed too.  Slack-jawed and blubbering like a baby.  

Alas, I rarely get that way these days.  Such is the voracity of my reading, and such is the current vogue for ‘The Twist’, that I’ve come to expect one now.  In fact, I’m far more side-swiped if there isn’t one.  The problem with this, of course, is that expectation can sometimes breed disappointment, and I can count on one hand the number of genuine ‘OMG’ moments I’ve encountered over the past twelve months.  This is generally for two reasons;

1) I’ve clocked the twist early on.  90% of the time, this does the author no disservice whatsoever because usually it’s a clever idea.  It’s just that with the volume of crime/thriller books I consume on a monthly basis, it’s getting harder and harder to hoodwink me.  I have a nose for a twist now.  I’m no longer the naive fool I was back in the 90s. 

2) The twist is, quite frankly, bonkers.  It’s been shoe-horned in for shock-value and left me scratching my head like Stan Laurel, rather than nodding in appreciation at the author’s twisty genius.

So have we reached saturation point, I wonder?  Can we really have too much of a good thing? 

I’ll go out on a limb here and say I think there should generally be some sort of a twist within a crime novel.  After all, the very purpose of the genre is to entertain, to shock, or at least stir some emotion, and following a very linear, ‘BAD THING HAPPENS -WORSE THING HAPPENS-THINGS GET RESOLVED-THEY LIVE HAPPILY EVER AFTER ’story-arc doesn’t exactly make for a rip-roaring read.  Red herrings, fun and as essential as they are, aren’t enough for the discerning crime reader anymore.  These days, we don’t just want to be led down the garden path, we want to be sucker-punched, mowed down on the garden path with the ‘WTF!’ to end all ‘WTF’s!’

There is a ‘but’ though.  A big ‘but’ (feel free to snigger).   I think the twist must feel true within the context of the story.  By this I mean it has to make some sort of sense.  A reader should be able to look back and see how the twist fits, whether that’s through subtly dropped clues along the way, or light flecks of foreshadowing that hint at something bigger.  I mean, sure, the ‘last-page curveball’ is sometimes used, and it can be fun, but ultimately it’s a bit like a McDonalds in that it gives you a short, sharp burst of pleasure but then a couple of hours later, you’re hungering for something else.  Something more satisfying.

Personally, I find the mid-point twist the most satisfying – a story that you think is heading one way and then BOOM, 200 pages in, you’re changing direction.  Gone Girl is probably the most obvious example of this but The Burning Air by Erin Kelly is definitely up there too.   

WHAT I THOUGHT I KNEW: In 1998, Maryanne Doyle disappeared and Dad knew something about it? Maryanne Doyle was never seen again.

WHAT I ACTUALLY KNOW: In 1998, Dad lied about knowing Maryanne Doyle. Alice Lapaine has been found strangled near Dad's pub. Dad was in the local area for both Maryanne Doyle's disappearance and Alice Lapaine's murder - FACT Connection?

Trust cuts both ways . . . what do you do when it's gone?

Sweet Little Lies is available from 29 June 2017.

You can pre-order it now via Amazon online and all good book shops.

Keep an eye out for my review - coming soon.

Don't forget to follow the rest of the blog tour!

Review - The Wild Air by Rebecca Mascull

The Wild Air by Rebecca Mascull
Publisher: Hodder & Staughton
Release date: 4 May 2017
Rating: *****

Back cover blurb: Edwardian England, aeroplanes are a new, magical invention, while female pilots are rare indeed. When shy Della Dobbs meets her mother's aunt, her life changes forever. Great Auntie Betty has come home from Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, across whose windswept dunes the Wright Brothers tested their historic flying machines. Della develops a burning ambition to fly and Betty is determined to help her. But the Great War is coming and it threatens to destroy everything - and everyone - Della loves. Uplifting and page-turning, THE WILD AIR is a story about love, loss and following your dreams against all odds.

The Wild Air is Rebecca Mascull's third historical fiction novel, and I think my favourite so far. Mascull is such a masterful storyteller that it is so easy to believe that you are in there in prewar WWI Britain with Della Dobbs as she tries to make her way in the aviation world.

Della Dobbs is a shy, timid young girl, until her Great Auntie Betty comes to visit the family from America. As she describes all sorts of wonderful things, Della concerns herself with one thing only, the world of flight and flying machines that her Aunt introduces her to. 

As the pair begin to build kites together Della knows that she put her talents to greater use. She wants to fly. And then she meets a boy at the beach. Rather than scorning her for her hopes and dreams, Dud admires her kite and encourages her. Her gives her his already well read copy of Aero magazine and secretly via her Aunt promises to keep in touch by letter.

As Della and Dud's friendship blossoms, Della's collection of Aero magazines grows steadily and her dream of one day being able to fly a plane intensifies. Her Father is against it. He has never much liked Betty anyway, so her encouragement of Della's dream gives him a reason to ban her from the house.

Della, used to her fathers dark moods, pays little attention to his rules and continues to pursue her dreams. Della's dream becomes realistic after visiting an air show and finding a flying school willing to take in a female pilot. No easy feat! But with Aunty Betty's help, Della is finally taken seriously.

However, finding a school with an instructor willing to teach a female pilot is just the beginning of Della's journey. But she is young, determined and won't give up without a fight.

Which is probably just as well....

The Wild Air is a glorious novel. Mascull's research is meticulous, her attention to detail and her Author's end notes showcasing her dedication and talent.

The Wild Air is avaialble via Amazon online and all good book shops.

Thank You to the publishers who provided me with an advance proof copy in exchange for an honest review.

Review - Last Seen by Lucy Clarke

Last Seen by Lucy Clarke
Publisher: Harper Collins UK
Release date: 29 June 2017

Rating: ****

Back cover blurb: Two boys missing. A seaside community with a dark secret at its heart… Two little boys go missing out at sea – and only one is brought to shore. For the boys’ mothers, best friends Sarah and Isla, the tragedy splinters a friendship. And The Sandbank – once an idyllic seaside haven – becomes a place of ghosts. On the anniversary of the drowning, the other boy is missing. Parents Nick and Sarah try to quell their panic, but the Sandbank hums with tension as decade-old memories rise to the surface. The truth lies in the past, like broken glass buried in the sand. Someone is hiding something – the question is, what did they see?

Last Seen is a twisty turny delight of a novel. Opening with the rescue of someone stranded out to Sea (we don't find out who until much later in the novel) and the suggestion that there is another person out there, still stranded.

Sarah and Isla practically grew up together on the beach near their home, and dreamed of owning beach huts next door to each other when they were older. Fast forward a decade or so and there they are on the beach next door to each other, perfectly manicured beach huts in tow.

Isla is a single Mum to son Marley, and Sarah is married to Nick, they too have a son, Jacob. Marley and Jacob are best friends like their Mothers. Until one day a tragedy splits the boys apart, with Jacob safe and Marley nowhere to be seen. Isla and Sarah's friendship is changed forever.

However friends they do remain and continue to spend their summers together at the beach huts. When Jacob goes missing the morning after his Eighteenth birthday, Sarah is certain that someone knows where her Son is. But then she remembers how Isla was after Marley's disappearance and is determined not to split the beach community apart however much she wants answers.

Her so called best friend Isla is out of the country, Jacob's girlfriend is behaving oddly, her oaf of a Father being vile and Sarah struggles to know who to turn to for the answers she so desperately wants. 

Told from Isla an Sarah's alternate points of view, it is difficult to know exactly who to believe and who to trust. Last Seen is a clever novel that really explores some complex family and non family relationships.

Last Seen is available from 29 June 2017.

You can pre-order it now via Amazon online and all good book shops.

Thank You to the publishers who approved my request via netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Review - Liar by K.L Slater

Liar by K.L. Slater
Publisher: Bookouture
Release date: 16 June 2017
Rating: *****

Back cover blurb: How far would you go to protect your family? Single dad Ben is doing his best to raise his children alone, with the help of his devoted mother Judi. Life isn’t easy, but Judi’s family means everything to her and together, they manage. Then Ben meets Amber. Everyone thinks this is a perfect match for Ben but Judi isn’t sure … there’s just something about Amber that doesn’t add up. Ben can’t see why his mother dislikes his new girlfriend. And Amber doesn’t want Judi anywhere near her new family. Amber just wants Ben and the children. The further Judi delves into Amber’s personal life, the closer she gets to shocking secrets that could change everything. And Judi must make a decision that could lead to the most disastrous consequences. Liar is a compelling psychological thriller with a breathtaking twist that will keep you awake until the early hours.

Liar is the latest psychological thriller from K.L. Slater and in my opinion is her best novel yet. It is utterly addictive.

Liar opens with two obviously strong female characters, who dislike each other tremendously, one on the floor fatally wounded, one with a knife in her hand dripping with blood. "The End" is the beginning of you like...

So back to the actual the beginning...

Single father Ben is lonely after the tragic early death of his wife. His (somewhat overbearing) Mother, Judi, helps him out with his two young sons and his housework, but Ben feels ready to meet someone new.

Luckily enough he bumps into Amber (literally) in the local shop and starts up a conversation. The rest as they say is history...

Amber seems perfect for Ben, a worker at the local children's centre behind the school Ben teaches at, a natural with sons and his Father, in fact the only person who doesn't share Ben's enthusiasm for his new girlfriend is his Mother.

Judi is suspicious of Amber, as she has every right to be. After all she is still grieving the loss of her near perfect daughter in law. But Judi's dislike of Amber runs far deeper than the usual mother in law/daughter in law fractious relationship.

In fact Judi hates Amber, because she wants to break the bond she has with her son and grandsons but these feelings aren't one, Amber returns then and cannot stand Judi's interfering ways. She vows to marry Ben and get him away from his Mother.

But this seems like a cruel thing to do. Is Amber really that cold? Or does she have an ulterior motive for hurting Judi?

Liar is a compulsive read, with some brilliant, and some horrible characters (but these might not be who you think!) and a twist that I didn't see coming in s million years. A must read.

Liar is available now via Amazon online and all good book shops.

Thank you to the publisher who approved my request via netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Review - The Lie of the Land - Amanda Craig

The Lie of the Land by Amanda Craig 
Publisher: Little Brown Book Group
Release date: 15 June 2017
Publisher: ****

Back cover blurb: Quentin and Lottie Bredin, like many modern couples, can't afford to divorce. Having lost their jobs in the recession, they can't afford to go on living in London; instead, they must downsize and move their three children to a house in a remote part of Devon. Arrogant and adulterous, Quentin can't understand why Lottie is so angry; devastated and humiliated, Lottie feels herself to have been intolerably wounded. Mud, mice and quarrels are one thing - but why is their rent so low? What is the mystery surrounding their unappealing new home? The beauty of the landscape is ravishing, yet it conceals a dark side involving poverty, revenge, abuse and violence which will rise up to threaten them.

Quentin and Lottie Bredin should be getting a divorce, but they can't afford it. Lottie, Quentin, Lotties son Xan (Alexander) and the couples daughters, Stella and Rosie must instead live in a constant state of disharmony. 

Lottie thought she'd be with Quentin forever, but she can't trust him since she found out about his affair. Having moved out of the family home, Quentin suddenly reappears in their lives and puts his feet firmly back under the table much to Xan's disgust.

When Lottie finds a cottage in a remote part of Devon for a reasonable price and tenants from Canada to rent their London home she thinks she has her future sorted. Quentin will only be with them until he can afford to move on.

Quentin is a horrible oaf of a character, pig-headed, arrogant and thoroughly unpleasant to all those around him even his own parents.

Lottie in contrast is lovely, though thoroughly devastated and embittered by her husbands adulterous behaviour. What keeps her together is her children. 

Xan though is my favourite character, his love for his Mother, hatred for his Step Father (and his treatment of Lottie) and his anxiety about his future. Does it lie in Devon or should he return to London for University?

And then there is the cottage; the locals seem reluctant to talk about its previous tenant and when it becomes clear why that is, Lottie fears that she has done the wrong thing in uprooting her broken family. Has she? Only time will tell...

The Lie of the Land is a beautifully written character driven novel, that will delight those looking for something a little different this summer.

The Lie of the Land is available via Amazon online and all good book shops.

Thank You to the publishers who approved my request in exchange for an honest review.

Review - Standard Deviation by Katherine Heiny

Standard Deviation by Katherine Heiny
Publisher: Fourth Estate (Harper Collins UK)

Release date: 1 June 2017

Rating: ****
Back cover blurb: Graham Cavanaugh’s second wife, Audra, is everything his first wife was not. She considers herself privileged to live in the age of the hair towel, talks non-stop through her epidural, labour and delivery, invites the doorman to move in and the eccentric members of their son’s Origami Club to Thanksgiving. She is charming and spontaneous and fun but life with her can be exhausting. In the midst of the day-to-day difficulties and delights of marriage and raising a child with Asperger’s, his first wife, Elspeth, reenters Graham’s life. Former spouses are hard to categorize – are they friends, enemies, old flames, or just people who know you really, really well? Graham starts to wonder: How can anyone love two such different women? Did he make the right choice? Is there a right choice?

Standard Deviation is a subtle book. A funny little novel about love, marriage, fidelity and origami...

Audra is Graham Cavanaugh's second wife and Mother to their son, Matthew a sufferer of Asperger's. Audra is fun, pretty, quirky, chatty, optimistic and very likeable. Basically, she is everything that Elspeth, Graham's first wife is not.

This is fine, Graham is content for them to be opposites, after all what attracted him to Audra, made him leave Elspeth for her. However when he bumps into is ex-wife, Audra is convinced that they should invite Elspeth into their life's and that the two woman should become friends.

It is worth pointing out at this stage that Audra is pretty much friends with everybody.

Graham isn't convinced, but he knows that Audra won't let it lie unless they invite Elspeth and her new partner around for dinner, and so they do, and Graham begins to wonder what it would still be like to be married to Elspeth.

Meanwhile Matthew is obsessed with origami, and wants to be invited to an exclusive origami club, where only the best are allowed to be members. Luckily Matthew's talent speaks for itself and so Audra and Graham accompany their son to his origami meetings.

Both of them want the best for their son, even if that means being driven totally insane by the other members of the origami club. To say they were an eclectic bunch would be a vast understatement.

Standard Deviation is about everyday life, the struggles that we can all have with it, and how if we know how and try hard enough, that anyone in any situation can make the best of it...

Standard Deviation is avaliable now via Amazon online and all good book shops.

Thank You to the publishers who invited me to view this title via netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Review - Trust Me by Angela Clarke

Trust Me by Angela Clarke
Publisher: Avon Books UK
Release date: 15 June 2017
Rating: ****

Back cover blurb: What do you do if you witness a crime…but no-one believes you? When Kate sees a horrific attack streamed live on her laptop, she calls the police in a state of shock. But when they arrive, the video has disappeared – and she can’t prove anything. Desperate to be believed, Kate tries to find out who the girl in the video could be – and who attacked her. Freddie and Nas are working on a missing persons case, but the trail has gone cold. When Kate contacts them, they are the only ones to listen and they start to wonder – are the two cases connected? Dark, gripping, and flawlessly paced, Trust Me is the brilliant third novel in the hugely popular social media murderer series.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Trust Me is the third novel in Angela Clarke's social media series, and as always this author manages to send a chill down my spine when I consider what could happen to anyone who partakes in social media of any kind on a daily basis.

Kate is watching videos being live streamed online when she witnesses a horrific sexual attack on a young girl that culminates in violence. Kate is horrified and does what she considers to be the right thing by reporting the crime to the Police.

However by the time the Police arrive, the video has been removed from the internet without a trace left behind. No other witnesses have reported a similar offence and Kate is forced to let the matter lie, shocked that the Police have questioned her own judgement after spotting a glass of wine on her table.

She knows what she saw.

Or does she?

Luckily Kate has connections to Freddie Venton, a Civilian Police Social Media consultant who alongside DS Nasreen Cudmore are working on a missing persons case that could be connected to local gangs. Could one of the gang members be behind this? Could the missing girl be the girl in the video?

Previous readers of this series will know that Freddie's mind, much like her mouth runs at a million miles an hour, and she is admirably keen to help Kate. But as always doesn't put an awful lot of thought into her actions before she carries them out.

Inevitably this leads her to trouble, but Freddie isn't afraid of a little trouble if it means getting the Police the right result and the criminals bought to justice. As always Nas is on hand to try and help her friend, but not if it involves breaking the rules. Could Freddie have gone too far this time? If so, just who will be there to back her up when it all goes wrong?

 

Trust Me is available from 15 June 2017.

You can pre-order it now via Amazon online and all good book shops.

 

Thank You to the publishers who approved my request via netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

 

Review - White Fur by Jardine Libaire

White Fur by Jardine Libaire
Publisher: Hogarth
Release date: 30 May 2017
Rating: *** and a half
Back cover blurb: When Elise Perez meets Jamey Hyde on a desolate winter afternoon, fate implodes, and neither of their lives will ever be the same. Although they are next-door neighbors in New Haven, they come from different worlds. Elise grew up in a housing project without a father and didn’t graduate from high school; Jamey is a junior at Yale, heir to a private investment bank fortune and beholden to high family expectations. Nevertheless, the attraction is instant, and what starts out as sexual obsession turns into something greater, stranger, and impossible to ignore.  The unlikely couple moves to Manhattan in hopes of forging an adult life together, but Jamey’s family intervenes in desperation, and the consequences of staying together are suddenly severe. And when a night out with old friends takes a shocking turn, Jamey and Elise find themselves fighting not just for their love, but also for their lives. 


White Fur is a novel like no other I've read of late. It is gritty, desperate and obsessive.

Elise Perez is what the American's might call 'trashy' and her neighbour Jamey Hyde 'the most eligible country club bachelor'. Their worlds could not be more different, but a chance encounter with her neighbour sees Elise becoming infatuated with him.

Eventually Jamey gets the hint and take Elise on a 'date'. Neither of them is prepared for the other. Not only are their backgrounds worlds apart, but so are their ideas about what is socially acceptable behaviour.

None of this matters however because although he hasn't yet realised it, Jamey has fallen as hard for Elise as she has for him. Society would tell us that their love is doomed from the start, and usually they would be right.

But Elise and Jamey are both used to getting what they want, albeit via different methods from the other.

As the pair move away from their friends in New Haven and move in together, their love for each other becomes stronger. Until one night a tragedy sees them in a much worse place than either of them ever dreamed they could be.

White Fur is a brilliant novel. A little crazy, and a lot different to my usual read, but I thoroughly enjoyed the time I spent on it.

White Fur is available now via Amazon online and all good shops.

 

Thank You to the publishers who invited me to view this title via netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

 

Review - My Husband The Stranger by Rebecca Done

My Husband The Stranger
Publisher: Michael Joseph
Release date: 6 April 2017
Rating: ****

Back cover blurb: What you would do if your husband became another person overnight? A tragic accident. A terrible injury. And in a moment the man you fell in love with, that sweet, caring, charming man, is transformed into a total stranger. One who snarls and one who shouts. And one who doesn't seem to love you very much at all anymore. You swore to love each other in sickness and in health, but how would you cope? What would you do? And would you be strong enough to stay?

Molly Fraser wishes her husband would return to her. The smiling, happy, loving, romantic man of before. It isn’t that they have fallen out of love exactly. More that Alex can’t actually remember how to love his wife.

 

Following a devastating accident three years previously Alex suffered life changing brain injuries. Physically he is fine, emotionally he is confused, frustrated, angry, impatient and doesn't understand why he can't do the things he used to.

 

The truth is, he forgets where is, loses his temper at the slightest thing - he is volatile. And Molly for the first time in three years is scared as Alex's behaviour worsens.

 

Her immediate thought is to turn to Alex's twin, Graeme (Gray) for help. The twins weren't always there for each other, but after the deaths of their parents they have made more of an effort and can now rely on each other.

 

Just as Alex's behaviour begins to deteriorate further Molly's parents throw her a lifeline. An offer for her and Alex to move into an annexe, yet to be built, at the bottom of their vast garden.

 

Molly is hesitant. What would Alex do all day at her parents? At least where they are now Alex can do some mundane daily tasks without getting in to too much bother.

 

She needs time to think things over, and then Alex lashes out, the angriest that Molly has ever seen him and she is suddenly afraid. She still loves him dearly. But he is not the man she married. Will she ever be again?

 

Molly is scared, her husband, a stranger.

 

My Husband The Stranger is available now via Amazon online and all good book shops.

 

Thank You to the publishers who approved my request via netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

 

Review - The Wages of Sin by Kaite Welsh

The Wages of Sin by Kaite Welsh

Publisher: Tinder Press
Release date: 1 June 2017

Rating: *****
Back cover blurb: An irresistible mystery set in 1890s Edinburgh, Kaite Welsh's THE WAGES OF SIN features a female medical student-turned-detective, and will thrill fans of Sarah Waters and Antonia Hodgson. Sarah Gilchrist has fled from London to Edinburgh in disgrace and is determined to become a doctor, despite the misgivings of her family and society. As part of the University of Edinburgh's first intake of female medical students, Sarah comes up against resistance from lecturers, her male contemporaries, and - perhaps worst of all - her fellow women, who will do anything to avoid being associated with a fallen woman... When one of Sarah's patients turns up in the university dissecting room as a battered corpse, Sarah finds herself drawn into Edinburgh's dangerous underworld of bribery, brothels and body snatchers - and a confrontation with her own past.

 

 

The wages of Sin tells the tale of Sarah Gilchrist, a society outcast as a result of an unwanted suitor. Banished from London to Scotland to her Aunt Emily’s.

Sarah’s purpose in Scotland is not solely familial, she has been accepted onto the first female medical course at the University as she follows her dreams of becoming a Doctor.

She also volunteers at a charitable institution, keen to be seen to be doing something to help the local community away from her studies.

The women on Sarah’s course all seem to be against her despite their shared desire to prove all the doubters of women Doctor’s wrong, and indeed those against women studying in general.

Sarah find solace in her work at the charity and questions her own suitability to the role of Doctor when she finds herself unable to help a young female patient. Lucy, a prostitute is pregnant, and desperate. But the charity has a reputation to uphold and will not perform an illegal abortion despite Lucy’s distress.

Sarah wishes there was something she could do to help, so when Lucy turns up unexpectedly and tragically at the University’s morgue to be used in the pupils surgical studies Sarah vows to find out more.

The official death verdict is suicide, but Sarah doesn’t think that however desperate Lucy was, she would have succumbed to that. And then there are her injuries...

Convinced that Lucy was murdered Sarah ignores the warnings of all those around her as she desperately seeks the truth. However the truth may be awful even for Sarah to comprehend, and her quest to find the truth more dangerous than she imagined.

The Wages of Sin is an impressive debut, and I look forward to reading more from this author.

The Wages of Sin is available now via Amazon online and all good book shops.

Thank You to the publishers who approved my request via netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

  



Review - Dead Souls by Angela Marsons

Dead Souls by Angela Marsons
Publisher: Bookouture
Release date: 28 April 2017
Rating: ****
Back cover blurb: The truth was dead and buried…until now. When a collection of human bones is unearthed during a routine archaeological dig, a Black Country field suddenly becomes a complex crime scene for Detective Kim Stone. As the bones are sorted, it becomes clear that the grave contains more than one victim. The bodies hint at unimaginable horror, bearing the markings of bullet holes and animal traps. Forced to work alongside Detective Travis, with whom she shares a troubled past, Kim begins to uncover a dark secretive relationship between the families who own the land in which the bodies were found. But while Kim is immersed in one of the most complicated investigations she’s ever led, her team are caught up in a spate of sickening hate crimes. Kim is close to revealing the truth behind the murders, yet soon finds one of her own is in jeopardy - and the clock is ticking. Can she solve the case and save them from grave danger – before it’s too late? An addictive, sinister crime thriller that will have readers on the edge of their seat.


Angela Marsons has written another fantastic DI Stone novel, and this time get to see Stacey in a bit more detail as well as Stone's relationship with an officer from a rival force.

Having fallen out years previously every crime scene encounter that they've had recently has been fractious to say the least. So when the pair are forced to work together on a case neither of them is particularly thrilled.

The case in question is that of human remains found my student forensic scientists on a tutorial dig.

Who do the remains belong to?

Why are they buried where they are?

And more importantly were these murder victims?

Stone's team meanwhile are investigating a number of hate crimes that seem to be increasing in frequency and severity. Stacy picks up the suicide of a young boy alongside convinced that there is more to it than meets the eye.

Could all three investigations be linked?

If so can the team pull together all the pieces of the puzzle together before another victim is targeted?

Dead Souls is available now via Amazon online and all good book shops.

Thank You to the publishers who approved my request via netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
 

Review - The Stars Are Fire by Anita Shreve

The Stars Are Fire by Anita Shreve
Publisher: Little Brown Book Group
Release date: 2 May 2017
Rating: *** and a half

Back cover blurb: 1947. Fires are racing along the coast of Maine after a summer-long drought, ravaging thousands of acres, causing unprecedented confusion and fear. Five months pregnant, Grace Holland is left alone to protect her two toddlers when her difficult and unpredictable husband Gene joins the volunteers fighting to bring the fire under control. Along with her best friend, Rosie, and Rosie's two young children, the women watch in horror as their houses go up in flames, then walk into the ocean as a last resort. They spend the night frantically trying to save their children. When dawn comes, they have miraculously survived, but their lives are forever changed: homeless, penniless, and left to face an uncertain future. As Grace awaits news of her husband's fate, she is thrust into a new world in which she must make a life on her own, beginning with absolutely nothing; she must find work, a home, a way to provide for her children. In the midst of devastating loss, Grace discovers glorious new freedoms - joys and triumphs she could never have expected her narrow life with Gene could contain - and her spirit soars. And then the unthinkable happens, and Grace's bravery is tested as never before.

Grace Holland is young and pretty, with a loving husband and two beautiful children. She has everything she needs. Doesn't she?

Her best friend and next door neighbour Rosie speaks of sex and passion as if they were everyday occurrences. Grace realises her marriage may not be as perfect as she first thought.

And then the fires start...

Grace's husband Gene goes to help as they draw nearer to their home town along with Rosie's husband Tim. But Gene doesn't return.

When Grace wakes up in the hospital in the fires aftermath she doesn't know if she should be relieved or concerned. Until she discovers the fate of her Mother and her neighbour her only emotion is worry.

As she learns he fate of her Mother (safe and well) and Rosie and Tim (fled to Nova Scotia), Grace realised time has come to move on with her life. She has nothing except her children. Her husband is still missing and her home destroyed in the fires.

A rare moment of clarity leads her to her husbands deceased Mother's house. The two females never got on but Grace must overlook this fact as she moves all three of them into the house, along with her Mother, and awaits her husbands return.

What she doesn't realise is that the concert pianist taking refuge in the house before the family's arrival will make her view her life in a way that she never dared to dream of previously.

And then Gene returns...

A sky made of stars is a beautifully written novel against the harrowing backdrop of Maine's 1947 fires.

 

The stars are Fire is available now via Amazon online and all good book shops.

 

Thank You to the publishers who approved my request via netgalley in exchange for an honest review.