BOOKSIMO

  Description COMING SOON – PRE-ORDER NOW The follow-up to  Three Card Murder  and the second book in a gripping new mystery series introducing Detective Tess Fox and her con-artist sister Sarah Jacobs. Members of the Lewes Bonfire Society would say afterwards that the event would have been a huge success that year, if it hadn’t been for the dead body… When the charred remains of MP Rupert Millington are found inside a burning effigy, no one knows how they got there, but there are plenty of rumours about whodunnit. The lead suspect wants Detective Tess Fox and her con-artist sister Sarah Jacobs to help clear her name. She says she's being framed, but surely there is no smoke without fire. The heat is on when a second victim is killed in a locked room while Tess and Sarah are in the building. Can the duo solve this puzzling mystery and find the real killer before they strike again? Review We are back with the two sisters Tess (police officer) and Sarah (con artist) from the previous

  Description One photograph, one treasured memory, one chance to go back . . . In a cosy photography studio in the mountains between this world and the next, someone is waking up as if from a dream. A kind man will hand them a hot cup of tea and gently explain that, having reached the end of their life, they have one final task. There is a stack of photos on their lap, one for every day of their life, and now they must choose the pictures that capture their most treasured memories, which will be placed in a beautiful lantern. Once completed, it will be set spinning, and their cherished moments will flash before their eyes, guiding them to another world. But, like our most thumbed-over photographs, our favourite memories become faded with age, so each visitor to the studio has the chance to choose one day to return to and photograph afresh. Each has a treasured story to tell, from the old woman rebuilding a community in Tokyo after a disaster, to the flawed Yakuza man who remembers a t

  Description On sleepless nights, I open the matchbox and reread the story of the girl who gathered shooting stars. After the death of her father, twelve-year-old Tomoko is sent to live for a year with her uncle in the coastal town of Ashiya. It is a year which will change her life. The 1970s are bringing changes to Japan and her uncle's magnificent colonial mansion opens up a new and unfamiliar world for Tomoko; its sprawling gardens are even home to a pygmy hippo the family keeps as a pet. Tomoko finds her relatives equally exotic and beguiling and her growing friendship with her cousin Mina draws her into an intoxicating world full of secret crushes and elaborate storytelling. Rich with the magic and mystery of youth,  Mina’s Matchbox  is an evocative snapshot of a moment frozen in time, and a striking depiction of a family on the edge of collapse. Review This was an intriguing read, although not much really happens. As I reflect back over this book I realise that it was the be

  Description Mad Men meets the world of publishing in million-copy bestselling author Gill Paul’s new novel about Jackie Collins and Jacqueline Susann 1966: In London ,  Jackie Collins 's racy  The World is Full of Married Men  hits bookshops and launches her career. In  New York, Jacqueline Susann 's debut novel  Valley of the Dolls  is published, and she's desperate for it to be a bestseller. But both are about to discover the price they will pay for being women who dare to write about sex. Meanwhile, college graduate Nancy White is excited to take up her dream job at a  Manhattan publishing house . But Nancy could never be prepared for the rampant sexism she is about to encounter. When Nancy introduces the two Jackies, she fears they will become rivals in their race to top the charts. As she strives to achieve her ambition of becoming an editor,  can all three women succeed despite the men determined to hold them back? Praise for  Scandalous Women : 'Scrumptious'

  Description There’s only one way to join their society. If someone leaves, or dies… High-flying lawyer Sara O’Neil had it all; the career, the money, the prestige. And then she jumped to her death. Cassandra Harlow never expected to see her friend fall from their office rooftop. Someone knows what really happened. But the only people who might know the truth are a secret women-only society, Inside, whose promise is to fast-track your career. But if Sara was part of it and they helped facilitate her rise to the top, could they also be the reason she came crashing down to earth? Review The author is a corporate lawyer, so it's obviously going to be based in reality, but at times it was stretched a little too far for me. Cass is a lawyer about to hopefully make partner, when her mentor Sara, falls to her death at the office. Cass feels a bit at sea without her guidance and suggestions on how to deal with office politics. Only it might be that Sara herself wasn't who Cass thought

   Description FORGET WHAT YOU THINK YOU KNOW THIS IS NOT  THAT  CRIME NOVEL You know Penny Coyne. The little old lady who has solved multiple murders in her otherwise sleepy village, despite bumbling local police. A razor-sharp mind in a twinset and tweed. You know Johnny Hawke. Hard-bitten LAPD homicide detective. Always in trouble with his captain, always losing partners, but always battling for the truth, whatever it takes. Against all the odds, against the  usual  story, their worlds are about to collide. It starts with a dead writer and a mysterious wedding invitation. It will end with a rabbit hole that goes so deep, Johnny and Penny might come to question not just whodunnit, but whether they want to know the answer. A cross-genre hybrid of Agatha Christie and Michael Connelly,  The Cracked Mirror  is the most imaginative and entertaining crime novel of the year, a genre-splicing rollercoaster with a poignantly emotional heart. Review This is my first read by this author, so I w

  Description From the prize-winning author of WAHALA, a powerful de-colonial retelling of MANSFIELD PARK, exploring identity, culture, race and love 'A spirited exploration of culture and kinship'  BONNIE GARMUS 'Deeply emotional and entertaining'  EMMA STONEX, author of  The Lamplighters ' Tugs at the heartstrings'  DAMILARE KUKU, author of  Nearly all the Men in Lagos are Mad ' ______________ When  Funke’s  mother dies in an accident in Lagos, she’s sent to live with her maternal family in England. Against a backdrop of condescension and mild neglect, sensible Funke strives to fit in, determined to become one of them. Free-spirited  Liv  has always wanted to break free of her joyless family, to be nothing like them. Fiercely protective of Funke, she at last has an ally. The two cousins give each other what they need most:  love . But the past casts long shadows and the choices made by their mothers haunt them, shaping the trajectory of their adult lives.