The Traitor - Ava Glass

Description

Tension, danger and pace, pace, pace . . . Emma Makepeace is being tracked by a deadly traitor in the second novel in the Alias Emma series.

'Thoroughly enjoyed this fast-paced, entertaining spy thriller' Shari Lapena
‘A gripping new read… the perfect thriller’ Sunday Times
'The glamour and glitz of the Riviera is brought to life in this nail-biting thriller' The Sun
'You're in for a treat ... The hottest new page turner of 2023' Cosmopolitan
____________

LONDON - EARLY MORNING . . .

A body is found in a padlocked suitcase.

Investigator Emma Makepeace knows it's murder. And it's personal.

She quickly establishes that the dead man had been shadowing two oligarchs suspected of procuring illegal weapons in the UK. And it seems likely that an insider working deep within the British government is helping them.

To find out who the traitor is, Emma goes deep undercover on a superyacht owned by one of the oligarchs.

But the glamorous veneer of the rich hides dark secrets. Out at sea, Emma is both hunter and prey, and no one can protect her.

Never has the turquoise sea and golden sands of the Rivera seemed so dangerous.

As the hunt intensifies, Emma knows that she is in mortal danger. And that she needs to find the traitor before they find her . . .

Review

Although I enjoyed the first book in this series I had difficulty getting into this one. It was nearly a DNF for me, but I read reviews that said it picked up, (and it did) so I stuck with it. 

It seems like MI6 don't think their spy Emma is ready for anything too dangerous, despite her  wonderful success in the first book. It felt like Emma thought so too, with her doing little at the beginning of her mission to get the heart racing. 

Maybe being set on a yacht wasn't the best plot device, as there wasn't really much she could do without drawing attention to herself. But for me it was all a bit too pedestrian, with further trips into her back story. This can definitely be read as a stand alone book. If you've read the first book there may be a little too much of a recap.

Once the action got going I did begin to enjoy the book, especially when a little twist happened. 

I'm giving this book 3 out of 5 stars. My thanks to netgalley for the ARC to review.

Clues to You - Claire Huston

 

Description

One murder mystery weekend. Two rival sleuths.
They’re looking for answers. But will they find love?

Kate Brannon is delighted to be attending her first murder mystery weekend in a movie-worthy Victorian manor house. Still getting over being dumped, cracking the case would be a welcome boost to her flagging confidence. And the prize money wouldn’t hurt either.

But Kate’s dreams of victory become a nightmare with the arrival of Max Ravenscroft. Smart, enigmatic and annoyingly handsome, Max is Kate’s sleuthing nemesis.

When she and Max are forced to work together, Kate despairs. But, as the investigation brings them closer, she finds being his partner in solving crime isn’t all bad.

With growing suspicions that the game is rigged against them, can Kate and Max beat the odds to find the killer? And, as their partnership deepens, can they find romance too?

A sweet romantic comedy with a cosy mystery at its heart. Perfect for fans of Kathryn Freeman, Laura Jane Williams and Katie Fforde.

Book Three in the Love in the Comptons series. These are standalone romcoms with recurring characters and locations and can be read in any order.

1. Art and Soul (Becky and Charlie)
2. The Only Exception (Lucinda and Alex)
3. Clues to You (Kate and Max)

Review

Perfect for fans of Agatha Christie.

I've always wondered what a murder mystery weekend would be like, so I was eager to read this fictional account of one. 

Kate Brannon has attended many murder mystery events, but this is her first weekend one. She's annoyed her friend Bella didn't say her nemesis Max would be attending and on her team. In fact she seems annoyed about a lot of things, and so to begin with I really didn't warm to Kate. Despite her having recently broken up with her long term partner my sympathy for her wasn't too high.

The plot to this book is so clever, as really it is two books in one. When the "murder" happens and the sleuthing begins set back in the 1930s, the modern day romcom world is forgotten - almost. Her lovely bubbly friend Bella livened the book up as did some of the actors playing in the murder mystery. There are a few modern day interruptions which actually made me warm more to Kate. In the end I was team Kate!

I loved the murder mystery aspect of the book, but couldn't quite figure it out for myself. It's such an intriguing book and idea, that to say more would give too many clues to you!

I'm giving this book 5 out of 5 stars. My thanks to Claire for the ARC to review. You can pre-order on Amazon - the book is out on 19 September 2023.

About the Author

Claire Huston lives in Warwickshire, UK, with her husband and two children. She writes

uplifting modern love stories about characters who are meant for each other but need a little

help to realise it.

A keen amateur baker, she enjoys making cakes, biscuits and brownies almost as much as

eating them. You can find recipes for all the cakes mentioned in Art and Soul, her first novel,

at clairehuston.co.uk along with over 150 other recipes. This is also where she talks about and

reviews books.

Social Media Links

You can also find Claire on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Threads, Goodreads and Pinterest:

https://linktr.ee/clairehuston_author

Wednesday's Child - Yiyun Li

Description

‘One of our major novelists’ Salman Rushdie‘One of our finest living authors’ New York Times

A dazzling new collection of short stories, spanning 15 years of writing, from Yiyun Li, the prize-winning author of The Book of Goose and Where Reasons End

A dazzling new collection of short stories written over a decade, spanning loss, alienation, aging and the strangeness of contemporary life – from Yiyun Li, the prize-winning author of The Book of Goose

A grieving mother makes a spreadsheet of everyone she’s lost. A professor develops a troubled intimacy with her hairdresser. And every year, a restless woman receives an email from a strange man twice her age and several states away. In Yiyun Li’s stories, people strive for an ordinary existence until doing so becomes unsustainable, until the surface cracks and grand mysterious forces – death, violence, estrangement – come to light. And even everyday life is laden with meaning, studded with indelible details: a filched jar of honey, a mound of wounded ants, a photograph kept hidden for many years, until it must be seen.

Li is a breathtakingly original writer, an alchemist of opposites: tender and unsentimental, metaphysical and blunt, funny and horrifying, omniscient and yet acutely aware of just how much we cannot know. Beloved for her novels and memoirs, she returns here to her earliest form, gathering short stories and a remarkable novella never before published in the UK. Taken together, the stories in Wednesday's Child articulate the true cost of living with all Li’s trademark unnerving beauty and searing wisdom.

Review

The stories may be described as short but each one is varied and rich in content and writing.

I found I had to take my time to read these stories. I couldn't finish one and start the next straightaway as there was so much depth to the writing that the story lingered with me. It made it impossible for me to concentrate on another story so soon afterwards.

Each story has a twist of sorts. Some unexpected and even comical. My favourite was about a lady in her late 80s who had only recently stopped ice skating. She had a live in carer and the two of them began to discover so much about each other.

The writing is quite extraordinary and unlike anything I have read before. Each story stands alone and is not connected by characters but at the same time there is a bond with each story.

I'm giving this book 4 out of 5 stars. My thanks to netgalley for the ARC to review.