Ghosts - Dolly Alderton

 

Description

Everything gets easier in your thirties, right?

Though she has plenty to celebrate - successful career, new home, loving friends and family - for Nina Dean, her thirties have not exactly been the liberating experience she was sold. From fading friendships to exes popping the question, everyone is moving on (or worse, to the suburbs). And as her dad slowly loses his memories, her mum seems dead set on making new ones.

Then she meets Max, who tells her on date one that he's going to marry her. But what seems like an exciting new development will ensure this year is Nina's strangest yet . . .

Review

I wasn't interested in reading this book at all, but then the audio was on the library app, and I thought I would give it a go. Wow! Thank goodness I did, I would have missed this gem of a book.

Nina George Dean (named George for reasons that will be explained) had thought she was settled until she broke up with her ex and now she is on the look out for Mr Right again. She's still friends with her ex and he's definitely moved on, so now it's time for her to move on too. Set in 2018, Nina signs up to a dating website and then she finds Max who she begins a wonderful relationship with.

Meanwhile she has a best friend who she rarely sees these days, as she has a child and Nina doesn't. Is there anything left of their friendship now she's moving to Surrey? Her other friend, Lola, (who wouldn't be amiss in Ab Fab) is childless and is looking for the one too.She is full of sage advice and fun. A mad Italian neighbour who is causing her so much grief (her retaliation is wonderful) and her lovely Father who has dementia, but his wife is changing her name from Nancy to Mandy - that won't be confusing for him at all!

So much was relatable in this book despite my being way past my thirties and not having lived them in the recent past. I just loved all the characters, some more than others, but they all became so familiar to me that I'm missing them already. Very funny but at times so poignant that I got a tear in my eye. 

I listened to the audio version of this book which was narrated brilliantly. I'm giving this book 5 out of 5 stars. My thanks to borrowbox and the local library.

The Busy Woman's Guide to Murder - Mary Jane Maffini

 

Description

Winner of the RT Reviewers Choice Award for Best Amateur Sleuth!

Professional organizer Charlotte Adams has to clean up a mess from the past to stop a killer in the present . . .

Given the number of times she’s dialed 911 in a panic, professional organizer Charlotte Adams is more than a little startled when she answers a distress call from the 911 operator herself. Mona’s calling to alert her that the “mean girls” who terrorized her in high school are back and that she wants to wring their necks. Charlotte writes off the threat as angry exaggeration—until a woman resembling one of the mean girls is killed and Mona goes into hiding.

Worried that some lingering trauma from being bullied may have sent her friend over the edge, Charlotte decides she’ll have to investigate the murder to find out who’s behind it. But then another mean girl is run down, and she’s certain that someone from the past is settling old scores. Desperate to learn whether Mona is making her revenge fantasies come true or if there’s a vindictive killer on the loose, Charlotte will have to sort through all the clues to save her friend—and maybe her own life . . .

Organizing Tips Included!

Review

The Busy Woman’s Guide to Murder is the first book I have read by Mary Jane Maffini but this is #5 in a series.

Charlotte is a woman after my own heart, she is an organiser and that is one of the things that drew me to this book. There's even organising tips and a recipe in this book together with a lovely cover showing the two sweet dogs that Charlotte owns.

It appears as well as being a professional organiser Charlotte is somewhat of a sleuth. The book begins with Charlotte receiving a call from 911 - yes receiving.! Turns out that one of her old school friends Mona who is now a 911 operator has spotted a mean girl from their school days and proclaims that she wants to murder her. When someone who looks like the school bully turns up dead Charlotte begins to wonder if Mona has made good on her threat.

This book stands alone, but I felt I did miss out on how she is perceived in her home town by what has gone before in the previous stories. The characters took a little warming to also, because they were all new to me. Of course I enjoyed the organising parts of the book and there is even a little romance thrown into the mix too.

I liked this book but I didn't love it, so I'm giving this book 3 out of 5 stars. My thanks to netgalley for the ARC to review.

Oh William! - Elizabeth Strout

 

Description

The Pulitzer Prize-winning, Booker-longlisted, bestselling author returns to her beloved heroine Lucy Barton in a luminous novel about love, loss, and the family secrets that can erupt and bewilder us at any point in life

Lucy Barton is a successful writer living in New York, navigating the second half of her life as a recent widow and parent to two adult daughters. A surprise encounter leads her to reconnect with William, her first husband - and longtime, on-again-off-again friend and confidante. Recalling their college years, the birth of their daughters, the painful dissolution of their marriage, and the lives they built with other people, Strout weaves a portrait, stunning in its subtlety, of a tender, complex, decades-long partnership.

Oh William! captures the joy and sorrow of watching children grow up and start families of their own; of discovering family secrets, late in life, that alter everything we think we know about those closest to us; and the way people live and love, against all odds. At the heart of this story is the unforgettable, indomitable voice of Lucy Barton, who once again offers a profound, lasting reflection on the mystery of existence. 'This is the way of life,' Lucy says. 'The many things we do not know until it is too late.'

Review

There is no doubt that Elizabeth Strout is a fine writer and I adored her other books, but this one not so much.

This book is only 240 pages long and yet it has taken me so long to read it. For me it felt like scraps of ideas that were on the cutting room floor from her previous books. It is maybe meant to be reminiscing but there are a lot of references which to me felt like repetition, but also a reminder. However not so useful if you don't know the characters. I think if you do decide to read this book you would be wise to read her earlier books first.

Her second husband David has just died. She recounts her life with her ex-husband William who she is still on amicable terms with. The parts about William's mother Catherine did intrigue me as having read the previous book she comes across as a totally different person, mainly through research that William does after receiving an Ancestry kit from one of his daughters.  I thought it strange there wasn't much about David until there was a little twist near the end. 

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

Could You Survive Midsomer? - Simon Brew

 

Description

CAN YOU AVOID A BIZARRE DEATH IN ENGLAND’S MOST DANGEROUS COUNTY? 

All is not well in the beautiful county of Midsomer. On the eve of its first Villages In Bloom competition, a man lies slain, smelling of damson jam. Who could have done it? Well, that's where you come in. Step into the shoes of Midsomer CID's newest recruit, choose your own path and decide which way the story goes. Could You Survive Midsomer? sets off on an engaging pick-your-own adventure format to challenge the reader to solve a crime or succumb to the county's suspiciously high death rate. Set in television’s most celebrated and murderous county, the book allows readers to see if they can get to the bottom of the mystery and bring the perpetrator to justice, avoiding an untimely, and possibly bizarre death, along the way. Your task is to make the right choices, solve the case and – most tricky of all – stay alive! 

Review

This book is certainly a very clever concept.

I'm not a big a fan of the TV series Midsomer Murders, I've only seen it a few times. However, I do like a challenge and thought I would be able to pull off solving a murder.

How wrong I was! I failed miserably and my report card was marked as "still alive, not much of an asset" and it didn't read much better further on. 

The book is laid out so that you begin to read and then very quickly have to make a judgement about which course to follow from those suggested to you. A number is allocated to your choice and you find that in the book and carry on until you are told it's the end. You then read your fate at the end of the book, of which there are many and varied.

A real twisty red herring tale that had me guessing until the end. Of course because I didn't solve it I still wanted to know "whodunnit" in which case you can either retrace your steps or a sneaky shortcut can be made.

Hats off to the author for planning all this out, it must have taken a very long time.

I've giving this book 4 out of 5 stars. My thanks to Random Thing Tours for a copy of the book to review.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR 

Simon Brew is the former editor and founder of Den of Geek - the popular culture news and reviews website. He is the author of three books including Movie Geek, TV Geek and The Secret Life of the Movies. Simon is also the founder of the magazine and podcast Film Stories.

Klara and the Sun - Kazuo Ishiguro

 

Description

'The Sun always has ways to reach us.'

From her place in the store, Klara, an Artificial Friend with outstanding observational qualities, watches carefully the behaviour of those who come in to browse, and of those who pass in the street outside. She remains hopeful a customer will soon choose her, but when the possibility emerges that her circumstances may change for ever, Klara is warned not to invest too much in the promises of humans.

In Klara and the Sun, his first novel since winning the Nobel Prize in Literature, Kazuo Ishiguro looks at our rapidly-changing modern world through the eyes of an unforgettable narrator to explore a fundamental question: what does it mean to love?

Review

This story was just amazing.

Klara is an Artificial Friend and it is through her eyes the story is told. From her sitting in the shop window with her friend Rosa another AF and then when she is chosen by Josie to be her AF.

I loved the beginning of the book and seeing the world through the shop window with Klara. Once I began to think like her it all fell into place. I think it's a real feat to be able to convey the world through the eyes of an artificial intelligence and to do it so beautifully as the author has. It really made me think about so much we take for granted.

Once Klara is taken to live with Josie a new chapter begins for her and a sudden realisation for the reader. Is Josie's promise to keep her safe one she can believe in? I want to say more about what happens, but I think it would really spoil the discovery you would have on reading the book.

The ending is a little ambiguous. It keeps you guessing and wanting to re read to see if you think you missed something, or just take it at face value?

My thanks to borrowbox and the local library for the loan of this book.

The Woman in the Middle - Milly Johnson

 

Description

Shay Bastable is the woman in the middle. She is part of the sandwich generation – caring for her parents and her children, supporting her husband Bruce, holding them all together and caring for them as best she can.
 
Then the arrival of a large orange skip on her mother’s estate sets in motion a cataclysmic series of events which leads to the collapse of Shay’s world. She is forced to put herself first for a change.
 
But in order to move forward with her present, Shay needs to make sense of her past. And so she returns to the little village she grew up in, to uncover the truth about what happened to her when she was younger. And in doing so, she discovers that sometimes you have to hit rock bottom to find the only way is up.

Review

Wow! Milly has packed so much into this book. 

Shay is in the middle of it all. She cares for her Mother and her children even though they are now grown up and she cares for everyone else too. Unfortunately for Shay this isn't reciprocated by all of those people. I was incensed so many times by the way she was treated both in the present and the past.

The scenes with Shay's Mother were so reminiscent of  many a conversation I have had over the years. How much of what Roberta says is true and how much is romancing or a confusion between real life and a TV programme or a film. Shay is about to find out and then some.

I'm sure there will be someone in this book you can relate to. Milly has it spot on with down to earth and realistic characters. There are a few vile characters. They are penned so well that I was ready to take them down myself. I had a few cheers as karma caught up with them. 

The book has so many levels to it and such a well woven plot. I think this might be Milly's best book, it's certainly on a whole new level. Every word, gesture, character is so true to life I forgot I was reading a story.

I'm giving this book 5 out of 5 stars. My thanks to netgalley for granting my wish to review this book.

Bright Lies - A A Abbott

 

Description

She thought she had the perfect stepfather. So why is she running for her life?

Emily longs to be an artist. So she’s thrilled when her famous and talented stepfather offers to act as her mentor. But when his teachings take a darker turn, she flees his fancy home.


Bad boy Jack has made good as a hot DJ. Then he sees thugs attack a rough sleeper, and shocking memories spur him to her rescue. He doesn’t know she’s only 15 and running from a deadly predator.


Emily’s hopes of safety are crushed when her stepfather hunts her down. Now Jack faces the hardest choice of all. If he protects Emily from the fiend who’s stolen her childhood, he’ll kiss goodbye to his future.


What would you sacrifice to save a life?


If you enjoy nail-biting suspense, slow-burning secrets and dark domestic noir, you’ll love AA Abbott’s chilling psychological thriller.


Read Bright Lies today to join Emily and Jack on their journey!

I'm on the blog tour today with Random Things Tours for this audiobook

Trigger warning :- Paedophilia, grooming, rape

Review

A difficult story but it had me gripped.

Only a few minutes into this audio book and I could sense where this story was heading and I was not comfortable with it. Thankfully the author has treated the subject with sensitivity and I was able to listen on.

The story begins at the end and I was unsure why. However it gave me some reassurance as the awful truth began to dawn on what was to unfold. There was also a twist which I didn't understand until later in the book and then it all became clear.

The tale is narrated first by Emily and she tells us of her new life with her Mother and Stepfather, and all the fabulous wealth he has and spoils on her. He's also an artist and takes a keen interest in mentoring her with her own artwork.

Running alongside this is the story of Jack and his unhappy life. When things get out of hand for Emily with her Stepfather she runs away and meets Jack. Hoping for the story to take a better turn of events I realised too late that this was not going to end well either.

It's certainly a chilling read with totally believable characters, and unfortunately only so easy to imagine happening. It's a book that has haunted my mind since I finished listening to the audio. I'm giving this book 5 out of 5 stars. My thanks to Random Things Tours for the invite to the audiobook tour.

Author

British crime thriller writer A.A. Abbott (also known as Helen Blenkinsop) loves to escape with an exciting and emotional read, and that’s what she aims to write too. Based in Bristol, she’s also lived and worked in London and Birmingham. All three cities feature in her pacy suspense thrillers. Her latest psychological thriller, ‘Bright Lies’, begins in North Somerset with a posh art exhibition in Bath. Young Emily meets the man who will change her life and cause her to run away to a squat in Birmingham, work in a nightclub and get further entangled in a web of lies.

To write ‘Bright Lies’, Helen has had advice from thirty beta readers on subjects as varied as police procedure, drug abuse, grooming, art, music, DJing and clubbing. She’s grateful to them and to her editor, Katharine D’Souza, for making huge improvements to the story.

Helen’s earlier 5 book Trail series is a lighter read focused on a vodka business. Snow Mountain is a premium vodka made in the former Soviet Union, and its owners have blood on their hands. The saga follows the fortunes of two families running the business and what happens when they fall out with each other and with a London gangster. Glamorous heroine Kat is the girl readers love to hate at the beginning of the series, but by the last book, she has won them over. Book research for the series included prison life, hotel research and vodka. Helen especially enjoyed a tour and tasting with the helpful folk at the Chase Distillery in Herefordshire.

Like 10% of us, many of Helen’s family are dyslexic. While she is not, she wants her books to be enjoyed by readers with dyslexia and visual impairment too. She publishes her thrillers in a Large Print dyslexia-friendly edition as well as the standard paperback and Kindle versions. (You can also adjust the font on your Kindle to suit your needs.) Audiobooks are definitely on the cards – watch this space!

Helen likes speaking to book groups, business networks and social circles, and reading thrillers and short stories at live fiction events and on Zoom. If you're a book blogger, litfest organiser, reviewer or simply adore books, she’d love to hear from you.

Helen is a member of the Alliance of Independent Authors, Bristol Fiction Writers' Group, and Birmingham's New Street Authors.

Find out more and get a free e-book of short stories at https://aaabbott.co.uk