Murder Under Her Skin - Stephen Spotswood

 

Description

The perfect murder mystery for fans of Richard Osman and Robert Thorogood.

'Spotswood understands that [...] spending time with unforgettable characters is paramount.' - New York Times

New York, 1946: The last time Will Parker let a case get personal, she walked away with a broken face, a bruised ego, and the solemn promise never again to let her heart get in the way of her job. But she called Hart and Halloway's Travelling Circus and Sideshow home for five years, and Ruby Donner, the circus's tattooed ingenue, was her friend. To make matters worse the prime suspect is Valentin Kalishenko, the man who taught Will everything she knows about putting a knife where it needs to go.

To uncover the real killer and keep Kalishenko from a date with the electric chair, Will and Ms. Pentecost join the circus in sleepy Stoppard, Virginia, where the locals like their cocktails mild, the past buried, and big-city detectives not at all. The two swiftly find themselves lost in a funhouse of lies as Will begins to realize that her former circus compatriots aren't playing it straight, and that her murdered friend might have been hiding a lot of secrets beneath all that ink.

Dodging fistfights, firebombs, and flying lead, Will puts a lot more than her heart on the line in the search of the truth. Can she find it before someone stops her ticker for good?

Review

This is the second book in the Pentecost and Parker Mystery Series by Stephen Spotswood. The first book Fortune Favours the Dead I reviewed here.

I enjoyed this book more than the first one.  It is a standalone book, no need to have read the first book, but you will get a better feel for the two main detective characters of Pentecost and Parker.  

In the first book we learnt that Parker had previously worked at the Travelling Circus before becoming a sidekick and detective with Pentecost. Now there's been a murder at the circus and after four years it's time to go back. The man who taught Parker all she knows about knife throwing is in jail accused of murdering another circus act who was also Parker's friend.

There was no doubt this time that we were in the 1940s. The language takes a few pages to get used to but once you do you are transported back in time. Parker is as quick witted as ever and has some very sassy and clever lines. While Pentecost is exercising her little grey cells and seeing clues no one even thought to look for.

This time the action takes place in Virginia and so everything is a little slower paced than New York City for the two detectives. Locals don't take kindly to the City gals and they have a hard time fitting in. Especially with the local police already having the culprit locked up in jail. But the circus owner thinks they have the wrong man and calls on ex-circus worker Parker to come and prove it.

Parker thinks she knows the circus folk and their lives after all she was one of them once. But maybe she's been away too long, or she never really knew them at all. One of the most poignant parts of the book for me was Parker realising that once you move away you may keep everything just like it was in your own mind, but when you go back nothing is the same at all.

I'm giving this book four out of five stars. My thanks to Headline Publishing Group for a copy of the book to review.

The Girl Upstairs - Georgina Lees

 

Description

How well do you know your neighbour? Would you trust them with your life?

I heard Emily before I saw her. The harsh smack of heels against cheap wooden floorboards. The loud phone calls. The incessant music.

I knew Emily before I met her. Discarded receipts in our communal hallway. Sticky leftovers in the shared food waste bin. Wine shop vouchers in the letterbox.

Now she’s gone missing, and I’m the only one who can find her. The only one who can save her.

Because I know her best, and I heard everything.

Review

Suzie lives in a flat in London with only one other flat upstairs, which is occupied by Emily. There is a lot of unwanted noise from upstairs and Suzie is getting very fed up of it all, and the way Emily treats the communal hall. So when upstairs suddenly goes quiet you'd think Suzie would be pleased, and to begin with she is. Until she gets the feeling that is all is not as it should be, and maybe Emily is missing.

Suzie takes it upon herself to begin her own investigation of where Emily might have gone. Emily has  form for disappearing and so no one is that worried about her except Suzie. This seemed a little strange to me at first, but slowly we begin to get a sense of why Suzie wants to find Emily. I felt that this part of the book was a little protracted, it built suspense, but a little too slowly for me.

We begin to find out more of Emily and Suzie's back stories and the suspense has definitely built by now. I didn't warm to the character of Suzie, she felt too lost and wrapped up in herself that I began to wonder if any of what was happening was real. Emily wasn't too likeable either, until we are shown her earlier life. Things fell into place about her and in a few paragraphs I had a whole other view of her.

Eventually the book gets rather creepy. I began to suspect everyone Suzie came into contact with of knowing what had happened to Emily.  I began to race towards the end of the book not wanting to put it down and was rewarded with a really good twist.

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

People Like Her - Ellery Lloyd

 

Description

People like Emmy Jackson. They always have. Especially online, where she is Instagram sensation Mamabare, famous for telling the unvarnished truth about modern parenthood.

But Emmy isn’t as honest as she’d like the fans to believe. She may think she has her followers fooled, but someone out there knows the truth and plans to make her pay . . .

Review

I'm not sure I've ever read a book quite like this before.

Emmy is IG influencer Mamabare connecting with her fans, telling it like it is with no filters. Her followers hang on her every word, IG photo, and buy her branded merchandise.

The book begins with Emmy letting us into her world. Then in the next chapter, her writer husband Dan tells us just how the world of Emmy really is. Straightaway we are given a backstage pass to the real life Emmy and just how she goes about curating that wonderful IG feed of hers.

At this point I was thinking this was going to be a look behind the scenes of an IG influencer. But then interspersed within the chapters comes another voice. It's a sinister voice and maybe it's a stalker?

The book is certainly contemporary and should IG ever fold I'm not sure that it will last the test of time, but it is of "now". Written by a husband and wife team the writing was seamless and cohesive. I was hooked into the book but once I realised there was more at stake here than just Emmy's IG profile, I raced through the book desperately needing to find out what would happen.

There's not much to like about the characters who are self serving and manipulative. I did like the character of Irene, Emmy's agent. She was something else and so quick witted. 

I'm giving this book 4 out of 5 stars. My thanks to @Nottstvbookclub for my copy of the book, which I won in their competition. I also enjoyed the book group discussion tonight on Notts TV.

His Only Wife - Peace Adzo Medie

 

Description

In one of the most talked about and hilarious debuts of the year, Afi Tekple, a bright young seamstress from a small town in Ghana, is convinced by her family to marry a man she has never met.

Elikem Ganyo is a wealthy businessman whose family has chosen Afi in the hope that she will distract him from a relationship with another woman they think is inappropriate.

The fact that she doesn't know Elikem seems a small price to pay for a marriage that offers her family financial security and provides the key to a lifestyle she has always wanted. But when Afi arrives in Accra, Ghana's gleaming capital, she realises her fairy-tale ending might not be all she had hoped for...

His Only Wife is a life-affirming, must-read novel about a young woman's search for independence in a man's world, and the rules she just might have to break along the way.

Review

A very different and interesting read. One of the great things about this book for me was learning about the culture and traditions of Ghana.

Afi marries a man (Elikem) she's never met, not even at her wedding! It's also a few weeks before she does get to meet him while she waits in a flat he has moved her into. But Afi wants to be in the marital home but that is already occupied by another woman, and Elikem's child. 

Whilst there is a very strong matriarchal character in this book, who does all the wheeling and dealing, it was sad to still read all of the inequality. I'm not sure what the "hilarious" on the cover of the book refers to as I found it rather sad more than funny.   I was happy to read along until we find out what would become of Afi and if she ever gets her husband to herself. 

About two thirds through the book there was a really well written scene that I just had to read over. I wasn't expecting it and the surprise felt by the characters in the book rippled through the pages. 

I'm giving this book 4 out of 5 stars. My thanks to the readingagency.org.uk for a copy of this book to read with my library book group.

Collage Your Life - Melanie Mowinski

 

Description

Requiring minimal equipment--just scissors, glue, paper, and pens--collage is an accessible craft that offers limitless creative possibilities. Like meditation or journaling, making collage can be an avenue for self-reflection and artistic exploration. In Collage Your Life, artist and teacher Melanie Mowinski teaches a variety of core techniques including lettering, stamping, stenciling, transfers, and adhesive methods, and provides dozens of prompts to jumpstart the creative process and encourage crafters to explore the versatility of collage, such as: make a self-portrait; disrupt your routine instincts; incorporate text; assemble mementos from a trip; process anger or anxiety; collage with others; or try creating block-out poetry with pages from a magazine. Inspiring examples of the author's work along with that of other collage artists are featured throughout. Crafters, journaling fans, scrapbookers, and artists alike will find guidance and support for developing their own distinctive collage style, whether the goal is to create a visual record of daily experiences and special occasions or to expand a creative journaling practice.

Review

A book that will make you want to create.

I'm fairly experienced in collaging but this book has still given me so much inspiration. The book is full of beautiful colourful images to whet your appetite and just to soak up. With chapters on colour, technique, composition, and prompts to get you started, or find your mojo if it's missing. 

There is a whole chapter on how to contain the collages you've made. I've made books before, but some of the techniques haven given me new ideas on how to reuse packaging and create inexpensive journals and books. If you've fallen out of love with collage or not sure where to start then this book is for you.

The biggest takeaway from this book from me is - just start and stop expecting it to be perfect.

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

This book will be published June 2022.

When I Was You - Amber Garza

 

Description

Two women. One life. They can't both have it.

Kelly Medina's son left for college a year ago and now she feels totally alone. So when she discovers that a single mother also called Kelly Medina has moved to her town, it's an unexpected reminder of the life she used to live.

For days, Kelly can't stop thinking about the woman who shares her name, who has a baby son she can still hold and her whole life ahead of her. She can't help looking for her: at the grocery store, at the gym, on social media. When they happen to bump into each other outside a pediatrician's office, simple curiosity gets the better of them both.

Their unlikely friendship brings Kelly a renewed sense of purpose. But the relationship quickly turns to obsession, and when one Kelly disappears the other one may know why . . .

Review

This one really reeled me in.

I wasn't sure where this book was going to begin with. Kelly Medina finds out that there is someone else new to town with the exact same name as her. Nothing seems amiss, no one has stolen her identity but Kelly can't let it lie, she has to know who shares her name.

I liked the original Kelly and her friend. Written in a nice easy style with the charm of believable everyday life the pages flew by. Once Kelly finds and meets the woman who shares her name we learn a little more about why her friend thinks it's a little odd and unbelievable. It's revealed that Kelly sees a therapist and maybe she's been down this road before.  I started second guessing myself what was happening.

Then part two of the book and "boom" a major twist. Everything was turned on it's head and I just had to keep reading on. It was certainly not what I had thought was happening.  I actually read this book over the course of a day - it was so good.

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

The Reading List - Sara Nisha Adams

 

Description

A new chapter is just beginning…

‘The story is an absolute joy . . . A captivating and exquisitely crafted debut’ Sunday Times bestseller, Heidi Swain

‘Absolutely captures the magic of reading and libraries’ Louise Hare

When Aleisha discovers a crumpled reading list tucked into a tattered library book, it sparks an extraordinary journey.

From timeless stories of love and friendship to an epic journey across the Pacific Ocean with a boy and a tiger in a boat, the list opens a gateway to new and wonderful worlds – just when Aleisha needs an escape from her troubles at home.

And when widower Mukesh arrives at the library, desperate to connect with his bookworm granddaughter, Aleisha introduces him to the magic of the reading list. An anxious teenager and a lonely grandfather forming an unlikely book club of two.

Review

A book about books - great for a book lover.

Aleisha works in the local library for the summer. It's a job she is enduring until she goes to Uni, she doesn't read non fiction. She's not very customer friendly either, until one day she finds a reading list. She begins to read the books on the list and she gains the ability to be able to recommend books, to one person in particular, Mukesh.

Mukesh misses his wife so much since she passed away. She was an avid book reader, something Mukesh never really understood. But when he finds an old library book his wife never returned he begins to read it. A whole new world is opened up to him in more ways than one.

Both Aleisha and Mukesh begin to see the power of books and help not only one another but those around them find ways to cope with life.

I wanted to love this book but it seemed to go so slow. The story wasn't really progressing, although I was enjoying the parts about the recommended books. Some of which although I knew of but I had never read, but that might change now. 

About two thirds into the book it began to change at a pace. Events which meant that things changed for the characters and the books they read beginning to make more sense. I was on a 3 star rating when unexpectedly the book made me cry and I saw the whole story for what it was. 

I am going to give the book 4 out of 5 stars because it did drag a little at first. A lovely gentle and insightful read. My thanks to netgalley for the ARC to review.