The Twyford Code - Janice Hallett

 

Description

*** THE NEW NOVEL FROM THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF THE APPEAL ***

 'It totally foxed me. So clever and totally brilliant' - LISA HALL  'Enid Blyton meets Agatha Christie with a cracking twist' - MARION TODD   'An elegant puzzle of a book with an exquisite heart' - MATT WESOLOWSKI 

It's time to solve the murder of the century... Forty years ago, Steven Smith found a copy of a famous children's book by disgraced author Edith Twyford, its margins full of strange markings and annotations. Wanting to know more, he took it to his English teacher Miss Iles, not realising the chain of events that he was setting in motion. Miss Iles became convinced that the book was the key to solving a puzzle, and that a message in secret code ran through all Twyford's novels. Then Miss Iles disappeared on a class field trip, and Steven has no memory of what happened to her. Now, out of prison after a long stretch, Steven decides to investigate the mystery that has haunted him for decades. Was Miss Iles murdered? Was she deluded? Or was she right about the code? And is it still in use today? Desperate to recover his memories and find out what really happened to Miss Iles, Steven revisits the people and places of his childhood. But it soon becomes clear that Edith Twyford wasn't just a writer of forgotten children's stories. The Twyford Code has great power, and he isn't the only one trying to solve it... Perfect for fans of Richard Osman, Alex Pavesi and S.J. Bennett, The Twyford Code will keep you up puzzling late into the night.

Review

Written through the use of audio transcripts, the style grated with me.

The story starts with Inspector Waliso forwarding the transcripts to a Professor for his professional opinion. It's pointed out that the transcription of the audio is phonetic. So for example, Miss Iiles is Missiles throughout these transcripts. Any profanity is shown as e.g. s[EXPLICIT]t - realistic maybe but clumsy to read from my point of view. Add into this the flip flopping around of the storyline and I nearly gave up reading a few times. I was intrigued though so I read onto the end.

Around half way through the book I actually got fully drawn into this book and it felt like a real mystery. Later as the twists began to be revealed I felt cheated by the author. I can't say more without spoiling the book but I wished I hadn't invested time reading this book.

I recognise this is a clever plot concept but it just wasn't for me. I'm giving this book 3 out of 5 stars. My thanks to netgalley for the ARC to review.

Wahala - Nikki May

 

Description

'Sex and the City' with a killer edge for fans of QUEENIE, EXPECTATION and MY SISTER, THE SERIAL KILLER

See me, see trouble

Ronke, Simi, Boo are three mixed-race friends living in London. They have the gift of two cultures, Nigerian and English, though they don't all choose to see it that way.

Everyday racism has never held them back, but now in their thirties, they question their future. Ronke wants a husband (he must be Nigerian); Boo enjoys (correction: endures) stay-at-home motherhood; while Simi, full of fashion career dreams, rolls her eyes as her boss refers to her 'urban vibe' yet again.

When Isobel, a lethally glamorous friend from their past arrives in town, she is determined to fix their futures for them.

Cracks in their friendship begin to appear, and it is soon obvious Isobel is not sorting but wrecking. When she is driven to a terrible act, the women are forced to reckon with a crime in their past that may just have repeated itself.

A darkly comic and bitingly subversive take on love, race and family, Wahala will have you laughing, crying and gasping in horror. Boldly political about class, colorism and cooking, here is a truly inclusive tale that will speak to anyone who has ever cherished friendship, in all its forms.

Review

As a fan of Sex and the City (TV series, not the book) and having loved Queenie and My Sister the Serial Killer I just had to read this book and I was not disappointed. No wonder it is set to soon be a BBC TV serial. I can't wait to meet these women all over again.

The story centres around three mixed-race friends who met at Uni and now all live in London. They all have careers, one has a child and they are strong women. Yet somehow that begins to be undermined for each of them by something they've done/will do that they are not proud of. 

Enter Isobel childhood friend of Simi. One by one she reinvents for them either, their outlook, fashion taste or life. Isobel is the life and soul of the party and knows how to have a good time and she's got the money to back it up to. But as she begins to divide and conquer the friends will things ever be the same again between them and their loved ones?

This is not chick lit - although it does have some great shopping parts that had me wondering about doing some online shopping myself! But it also has a physiological thriller aspect to it that had me turning the pages so fast. I couldn't wait to get back to read what would happen next.

When I got to the end of the book I had to go back and re read the very beginning. It was so cleverly written that I had to read it twice more before I really understood. I loved all the characters (even Isobel at times) they were so well drawn and lifelike. So many references to Nigerian food I was beginning to think I needed to find out about some of these dishes. When I reached the end and there were the recipes too!

I'm giving this book 5 out of 5 stars. My thanks to Netgalley for the ARC to review. This books is out on 6 January 2022.

The New Year's Eve party - Hannah Emery

 

Description

Resolutions are made
Marriages are broken…

A gripping domestic thriller set in The Cotswolds and perfect for fans of Liane Moriarty and Adele Parks!

It started with the party…

Frankie, Verity and Alice live in the idyllic Cotswolds community of White Fir Lake, but behind closed doors everyone has a secret they’re desperately trying to keep…

And ended with a bang!

Now, as midnight on New Year’s Eve approaches, the three women will face the consequences of a long-ago holiday, one which changed their lives forever … and threatens to shatter their perfect worlds into perfect pieces.

Review

A different seasonal read.

Despite the title of the book it's obviously only one night, so the main story begins early in the month but also stretches back to events many years ago too.

Three characters Frankie, Verity and Alice take turns telling us the tale.  I did not like the exact same dialogue being repeated as the story was told from the different point of view. I also got a little confused with the same scene being repeated when the action had moved on and I had too. I was soon back on track though.

There's not much to like about any of the three women. One leads a privileged life, another aspires to the same life. She is holding on to the coat tails of her friend, having just made the move to an idyllic village across the lake from her. The third is not even on the starting blocks but she wants their lives more and more, in fact she thinks she's entitled to that kind of life.

To begin with the story reads like one of the reality TV shows with housewives. Then notes begin to arrive hinting that someone knows something that happened in the past and it's time to face the truth. 

An intriguing read. There were a few ways it could go and my mind changed throughout as to which way that would be. Not an edge of your seat read but a nice change from Christmas novels.

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

The Husbands - Chandler Baker

Description

'A howl of feminist rage, but also one that is pure fun' Stylist

The wives here are different. They are living proof that women can have it all: successful careers, loving families, beautiful homes.
Their husbands are different too. They are living proof that men can do just as much as women. They can remember the kids' schedules, use an iron and notice when the house needs dusting.
Nora thinks she's found the perfect new home for her family. But when she agrees to get involved in a wrongful death case in the neighbourhood, Nora becomes convinced that there's a dark secret at the heart of this perfect world.
For these women, it seems the secret to having it all is worth killing for . . .

'This gender-swapping Stepford Wives story is as creepy as it is delicious' Good Housekeeping

Review

Some of what Nora has to say will probably resonate with you.

Nora has to do it all, even the things her husband says he will do and all while taking care of a child, being pregnant and working as a lawyer. When she finds a housing development with a dream home for sale it seems like all her potential neighbours have helpful husbands, and she's missing out.

All is not perfect in the neighbourhood though as one of the houses has burnt down and a previous occupant is dead. Nora takes the case to find out what happened but as the story progresses maybe she's bitten off more than she can chew in more ways than one.

Not an edge of your seat thriller but a good read. I sort of guessed where this book was going, like I had read this storyline before. I hoped it was going to have a twist if it was going there. There is a backstory as to why Nora thinks she isn't the perfect Mother either.  I was a little disappointed as it got predictable, until the last few lines, and that made the book worth reading to the end.

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

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.