This Week in Books (December 18)

Hosted by Lipsy Lost and Found, my Wednesday post gives you a taste of what I’m reading this week. A similar meme is run by Taking on a World of Words.

| LAST BOOK I FINISHED READING |

Neve Connolly looks down at a murdered man.
She doesn’t call the police. 

‘You know, it’s funny,’ Detective Inspector Hitching said. ‘Whoever I see, they keep saying, talk to Neve Connolly, she’ll know. She’s the one people talk to, she’s the one people confide in.’

A trusted colleague and friend. A mother. A wife. Neve Connolly is all these things.

She has also made mistakes; some small, some unconsciously done, some large, some deliberate. She is only human, after all. But now one mistake is spiralling out of control and Neve is bringing those around her into immense danger. She can’t tell the truth. So how far is she prepared to go to protect those she loves? And who does she really know? And who can she trust?

A liar. A cheat. A threat. Neve Connolly is all these things.
Could she be a murderer?

[* There’s a bit of a story attached to this one, which you can read at the bottom of the post, if you’re so inclined.]

| THE BOOK I’M CURRENTLY READING |

This was meant to be the perfect trip.

The Northern Lights. A luxury press launch on a boutique cruise ship.

A chance for travel journalist Lo Blackwood to recover from a traumatic break-in that has left her on the verge of collapse, and to work out what she wants from her relationship.

Except things don’t go as planned.

Woken in the night by screams, Lo rushes to her window to see a body thrown overboard from the next door cabin. But the records show that no-one ever checked into that cabin, and no passengers are missing from the boat.

Exhausted, emotional and increasingly desperate, Lo has to face the fact that her sleep problems might be driving her mad or she is trapped on a boat with a murderer – and she is the sole witness.

[Catching up on some of Ruth Ware’s older work after loving The Death of Mrs Westaway and The Turn of the Key]

| WHAT I’M (PROBABLY) READING NEXT |

A teenage girl is found wandering the outskirts of Oxford, dazed and distressed. The story she tells is terrifying. Grabbed off the street, a plastic bag pulled over her face, then driven to an isolated location where she was subjected to what sounds like an assault. Yet she refuses to press charges.

DI Fawley investigates, but there’s little he can do without the girl’s co-operation. Is she hiding something, and if so, what? And why does Fawley keep getting the feeling he’s seen a case like this before?

And then another girl disappears, and Adam no longer has a choice: he has to face up to his past. Because unless he does, this victim may not be coming back.

[One of my favourite crime series and I can’t wait to get stuck into this new instalment!]

For those of who you who saw last week’s post, DO NOT PANIC! I did indeed read Tall Oaks by Chris Whitaker and absolutely loved it!

* The Nicci French story. At my local mall, which is about half an hour’s drive away from my house, is one book shop that sells English books. It’s not a very big selection and they aren’t updated all that often either. I’d been there three weeks or so ago so the odds that there would be any new and exciting offerings were dismal. Still, as I explained to the other half, one does not just walk by a book shop! Cue lots of sighing and eye rolling. From him, not from me 😉. He goes off to browse the dvd section and I head to the books. There were a few new additions and by few, I mean I could have counted them on one hand. Also, I’d already read those. Nothing else really appealed to me. Which is when I spotted Nicci French. Now, I haven’t read a Nicci French book in my life and I really wasn’t sure about this one but at least it was a title I’d actually heard of and there was absolutely no frickin’ way that I was going to leave that shop without a book and prove the other half right. This is how Nicci French got to go home with me and since I stupidly exclaimed I was really excited about this book, I obviously had to start reading it right away. Thankfully, I actually really enjoyed it. And this is how we roll at Casa Novel Deelights. 😂

What are you reading this week? Do let me know! “This Week in Books” will return on January 8th. Until then, I wish you lots of happy reading! xx