Author: noveldeelights

Sleep by C.L. Taylor | @callytaylor @AvonBooksUK @Sabah_K | #blogtour #bookreview #DaretoSleep

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Thrilled to host a stop on the blog tour for Sleep by C.L. Taylor today! My thanks to Sabah at Avon for the invitation to join and for the fab review copy!

Author : C.L. Taylor
Title : Sleep
Pages : 368
Publisher : Avon UK
Publication date : April 4, 2019

| ABOUT THE BOOK |

All Anna wants is to be able to sleep. But crushing insomnia, terrifying night terrors and memories of that terrible night are making it impossible. If only she didn’t feel so guilty…

To escape her past, Anna takes a job at a hotel on the remote Scottish island of Rum, but when seven guests join her, what started as a retreat from the world turns into a deadly nightmare.

Each of the guests have a secret but one of them is lying – about who they are and why they’re on the island. There’s a murderer staying in the Bay View hotel. And they’ve set their sights on Anna.

Seven strangers. Seven secrets. One deadly lie.

Someone’s going to sleep and never wake up…

| MY THOUGHTS |

C.L. Taylor is one of those authors you can always depend upon to deliver a solid and twisty psychological thriller and Sleep is no different. Right from the opening line, C.L. Taylor pulls the reader in and doesn’t let go.

After a traumatic experience, Anna isn’t sleeping. To try and escape her past, she moves to the remote Scottish Island of Rum. But when seven guests arrive at the hotel, Anna’s idyllic idea of a peaceful and quiet life quickly turns into a nightmare. One of these guests is not who they say they are and their reasons for being on the island have nothing to do with a love of nature and long hikes.

Remote locations, this feeling of isolation and sheer claustrophobia, is one of my most favourite things in books. It always manages to bring this extra level of intensity and suspense, knowing there’s a murderer walking around but not knowing who they are. And there is no escape. Chilling! Cut off from the world, what is supposed to be a wonderful trip suddenly turns into a battle for survival. Would you dare to sleep? I don’t think I would.

With only seven suspects, you’d think it would be easy to figure out who the culprit is. I, on the other hand, once again showed that there is absolutely no way I’d ever make it as a detective by disregarding a few of the guests right from the start and then realising I probably made a mistake along the way. But even in that moment where I had my “aha!” burst, I still wasn’t able to fit the pieces of the puzzle together. And just when you think it’s all over, ….. let’s just say, my jaw may have hit the floor.

Sleep is full of of intriguing and mysterious characters who all seem to be hiding something. As the tension and suspense built up, I found it impossible to put this book down. Brilliantly paced with plenty of red herrings along the way, you should definitely make sure you have the time to read it one sitting as Sleep is extremely addictive. Another absolute belter from C.L. Taylor and I can’t wait to see what she comes up with next!

Sleep is available to buy!

Affiliate link : Bookdepository
Other retailers : Amazon US | Amazon UK | Kobo | Waterstones | Wordery

| ABOUT THE AUTHOR |

C.L. Taylor lives in Bristol with her partner and young son.

She is a four times Sunday Times bestseller and her books have hit the number one spots on Amazon, Kobo, iBooks and Google Play. Cally has a degree in Psychology, with particular interest in abnormal and criminal Psychology.

She also loves knitting, Dr Who, Sherlock, Great British Bake Off and Margaret Atwood and blames Roald Dahl’s Tales of the Unexpected for her love of a dark tale.

Picture of Innocence by T.J. Stimson | @tessjstimson @AvonBooksUK @Sabah_K | #blogtour #bookreview

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It’s a real pleasure to welcome you all to my stop on the blog tour for Picture of Innocence by T.J. Stimson. My thanks to Sabah at Avon for the opportunity to join and for the fab review copy!

Author : T.J. Stimson
Title : Picture of Innocence
Pages : 404
Publisher : Avon UK
Publication date : April 18, 2019 (ebook)

| ABOUT THE BOOK |

You love your family. You’d never let anything happen to them… would you?

With three children under ten, Maddie is struggling. On the outside, she’s a happy young mother, running a charity as well as a household. But inside, she’s exhausted. She knows she’s lucky to have to have a support network around her. Not just her loving husband, but her family and friends too.

But is Maddie putting her trust in the right people? Because when tragedy strikes, she is certain someone has hurt her child – and everyone is a suspect, including Maddie herself…

| MY THOUGHTS |

Maddie is busy, busy, busy. With three children under the age of ten and running a sanctuary, she is tired. Oh, so very tired. Maddie has a wonderful support network in family and friends but when her baby is hurt, everyone suddenly turns into a suspect. Was Maddie so exhausted, she harmed her own child? Or was someone else responsible?

Picture of Innocence is part psychological thriller and part truly heartbreaking family drama. It’s immensely emotional seeing a family go through the hardships Maddie and her family have to deal with. Combined with chilling and disturbing chapters set in the past, this quickly turned into a gripping and absorbing read.

It’s incredibly easy to imagine the paranoia Maddie goes through from sheer exhaustion. I’m sure many of us can relate to that kind of fatigue that seems to settle in your bones, that causes such a massive fog in your brain that you just can’t think straight. When that happens, it’s not hard to jump to conclusions, to be forgetful, to mistrust those around you because they make you feel like you’re going crazy. Maddie doesn’t trust anyone, including herself.

This well-paced story once again brings to the fore the debate of nature versus nurture. That’ll never get old, will it? I find it extremely fascinating and in that respect, this book is perfect for a discussion on the topic. That includes the ending in the “what would you have done?” kind of way.

I did figure things out, yet found myself wishing I was wrong in that way that nobody wants to think someone could purposefully hurt a child. This story deals with some dark and harrowing topics, turning things into quite an emotional ride. With plenty of twists and turns, Picture of Innocence is a gripping tale that will keep you glued to the pages.

Picture of Innocence is available to buy!

Affiliate link : Bookdepository
Other retailers : Amazon US | Amazon UK | Kobo | Waterstones | Wordery

| ABOUT THE AUTHOR |

Tess Stimson is the British author of ten novels, including top-ten bestseller The Adultery Club, and two non-fiction books, which between them have been translated into dozens of languages.

Her first “proper” job after graduating from St Hilda’s College, Oxford (where she read English) was as a news trainee with ITN (Independent Television News). She reported and produced regional and world stories, travelling to hotspots and war-zones all over the globe.

In 2002, she was appointed Professor of Creative Writing at the University of South Florida and moved to the US. She now lives and works in Vermont with her husband, Erik, their three children, and (at the last count) two cats, three fish, one gerbil and a large number of bats in the attic.

Envy by Amanda Robson | @AvonBooksUK @Sabah_K | #blogtour #extract

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Welcome to my stop on the blog tour for Envy by Amanda Robson! My thanks to Sabah at Avon for the invitation to join. Today, I have an extract to share with you but first, here is what Envy is all about.

Author : Amanda Robson
Title : Envy
Pages : 432
Publisher : Avon UK
Publication date : April 4, 2019

| ABOUT THE BOOK |

Erica has always wanted to be exactly like her neighbour, Faye: beautiful, thin, and a mother. But Faye’s life isn’t as perfect as it seems – she has a terrible secret, and slowly but surely, it is threatening to destroy her and everything she holds dear.

When Faye’s daughter Tamsin goes missing after school, the police turn to Erica. But is Erica the only one who has been enviously watching Faye? Or is there another threat hiding in the shadows…?

| EXTRACT |

Tamsin hides, giggling, behind your shapely legs. She looks so vulnerable today, so much in need of my love.

‘Well,’ you say, ‘nice to meet you. Best be going home. Stuff to do. Tea to cook.’

And then you walk away holding Tamsin’s hand. I think Georgia has fallen asleep in the buggy. You are leaning your head towards Tamsin, listening to what she is telling you.

But you don’t deserve to have her to listen to, do you? Two-timing whore, with a high opinion of yourself. Adulterer. Liar. You deserve to lose your children, like my mother lost me.

I close my eyes and that ache engulfs me. The ache I get when I remember the children at school calling my mother a slag. The jeering and bullying, which began on the walk home from school when Tommy Hall hit Geoffrey, spread like wildfire, in the classroom, in the playground.

Intriguing, eh? If this sneak peek has left you wanting more, why not grab yourself a copy of Envy right now!

Affiliate link : Bookdepository
Other retailers : Amazon US | Amazon UK | Kobo | Waterstones | Wordery

| ABOUT THE AUTHOR |

After graduating, Amanda Robson worked in medical research at The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, and at the Poisons Unit at Guy’s Hospital where she became a co-author of a book on cyanide poisoning – a subject which has set her in good stead for writing her dark and twisting novel about love affairs gone wrong. Amanda attended the Faber novel writing course and writes full-time.

This Week in Books (April 24)

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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 |

Children are dying on London’s streets. Frankie Reece, stabbed through the heart, outside a corner shop. Others recruited from care homes, picked up and exploited; passed like gifts between gangs. They are London’s lost. 

Then Raphaela Belsham is killed. She’s thirteen years old, her father is a man of influence, from a smart part of town. And she’s white. Suddenly, the establishment is taking notice.

DS Noah Jake is determined to handle Raphaela’s case and Frankie’s too. But he’s facing his own turmoil, and it’s becoming an obsession. DI Marnie Rome is worried, and she needs Noah on side. Because more children are disappearing, more are being killed by the day and the swelling tide of violence needs to be stemmed before it’s too late.

[My review won’t be posted until May 13th on the blog tour but here’s a clue : WOW!!!!]

| THE BOOK I’M CURRENTLY READING |

Rejected by her family and plagued by insomnia, Rose Shaw is on the brink. But one dark evening she collides with a man running through the streets, who quickly vanishes. The only sign he ever existed – a journal dropped at Rose’s feet.

She begins to obsessively dedicate her sleepless nights to discovering what happened to Finn Matthews, the mysterious author of the journal. Why was he convinced someone wanted to kill him? And why, in the midst of a string of murders, won’t the police investigate his disappearance?

Rose is determined to uncover the truth. But she has no idea what the truth will cost her…

| WHAT I’M (PROBABLY) READING NEXT |

Harry Probert-Lloyd, a young barrister forced home from London by encroaching blindness, has begun work as the acting coroner of Teifi Valley with solicitor’s clerk John Davies as his assistant.

When a faceless body is found on an isolated beach, Harry must lead the inquest. But his dogged pursuit of the truth begins to ruffle feathers. Especially when he decides to work alongside a local doctor with a dubious reputation and experimental theories considered radical and dangerous.

Refusing to accept easy answers might not only jeopardise Harry’s chance to be elected coroner permanently but could, it seems, implicate his own family in a crime.

I’ve actually not read anything since Saturday. Silly Easter weekend and all that overrated socialising. But I’m very excited to get stuck in to Jack Jordan’s latest book this afternoon.

What are you reading this week? Let me know! Happy reading! xx

The Dare by Carol Wyer | @carolewyer @bookouture

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Author : Carol Wyer
Title : The Dare
Series : DI Natalie Ward #3
Pages : 348
Publisher : Bookouture
Publication date : April 25, 2019

| ABOUT THE BOOK |

When thirteen-year-old Savannah Hopkins doesn’t come straight home from school, as she always does, her mother Jane immediately raises the alarm. 

Leading the investigation is Detective Natalie Ward whose daughter Leigh is the same age as Savannah. Soon Natalie’s worst fears are confirmed when the teenager’s broken body is found in nearby shrubland. 

Evidence points towards a local recluse, but just as the net is closing around him, one of Savannah’s friends, Harriet, is reported missing. 

| MY THOUGHTS |

I can’t believe we’re already at the third instalment in the DI Natalie Ward series. That Carol Wyer is an insane writing machine!

When thirteen year old Savannah doesn’t return home from school, her mother immediately raises the alarm. A search for the young girl bears no results. Then her body is found near rubbish close to where she lived. As it is obvious this is not where Savannah was killed and there are no DNA clues at all, the investigations into her murder quickly turns into a frustrating one. And then another young teenager goes missing.

Do you know what your kids are up to? The mothers in this story most certainly do not, no matter how close they think they are to their daughters. These days, with all their online presence, things are even more frightening than they used to be. Carol Wyer introduces the topic of online dares in this story, which I’m sure you’ve seen mentioned in newspapers quite often as most don’t end all that well for the participants.

I shared the team’s frustration in this investigation. While there are a few suspects in their sights, there are also quite a lot of dead-ends. I couldn’t figure it out at all and was way off in a completely different direction than the one Carol Wyer herself went. Even the brilliantly written flashback chapters, courtesy of the killer, didn’t give me the tiniest clue as to who I should be focusing on. It is always such a bonus when you’re left guessing until the end.

Of course, we are also offered more glimpses into Natalie’s private life. Her husband David remains a total douchebag and I for one would quite like to see Natalie give him the boot. As it is, their arguments are having an effect on their children. But could one of them end up in danger? And let’s not forget Lucy, who is slowly but surely beginning to steal away the limelight from Natalie in this series. Lucy is incredibly focused, determined and like a dog with a bone. I just really like her and I hope her character continues to grow.

As always, Carol Wyer has delivered another gripping and compelling story. I raced through these pages as if my life depended on it, desperately trying to pick up clues and failing miserably at every turn. The Dare had me absolutely hooked and engrossed and I can’t wait for more!

The Dare is out tomorrow!

Amazon US | Amazon UK

Fallen Angel by Chris Brookmyre | @cbrookmyre @LittleBrownUK @GraceEVincent | #blogtour #bookreview #FallenAngel

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Such a pleasure to host a stop on the blog tour for Fallen Angel by Chris Brookmyre today. My thanks to Caolinn at Little Brown for the invitation to join and for the review copy!

Author : Chris Brookmyre
Title : Fallen Angel
Pages : 400
Publisher : Little Brown UK
Publication date : April 25, 2019

| ABOUT THE BOOK |

To new nanny Amanda, the Temple family seem to have it all: the former actress; the famous professor; their three successful grown-up children. But like any family, beneath the smiles and hugs there lurks far darker emotions.

Sixteen years earlier, little Niamh Temple died while they were on holiday in Portugal. Now, as Amanda joins the family for a reunion at their seaside villa, she begins to suspect one of them might be hiding something terrible…

And suspicion is a dangerous thing. 

| MY THOUGHTS |

Raise your hand if you love stories about dysfunctional families!

The Temple family seem to have it all. Max is a famous professor, his wife Celia a former actress and their three children have all grown up to be successful. But then Max dies and Celia invites her children to a holiday at the family villa in Portugal. The same villa where sixteen years earlier, little Niamh Temple died.

In the neighbouring villa, Amanda is working as a nanny for Vince and his wife, Kirsten. Being so close to the Temple family, she soon realises things are not what they seem and she begins to suspect one of them might be hiding something terrible.

And thus begins a thrilling ride as we delve into this family’s dynamics, while all the while trying to figure out what really happened to Niamh. There are some truly dark secrets lurking in the past and to be fair, none of these characters are particularly likeable but boy, is this story a gripping one! The prologue alone is a fantastic attention grabber. We know someone is murdered but we don’t know who, why or who did it. With a dual time frame and multiple points-of-view, the truth about the Temple family is slowly revealed and it’s pretty ugly and shocking.

Fallen Angel is such a compelling story with plenty of twists and I had no idea where it was going to end up. Brilliantly written, it digs deep into the psychology of these intriguing, complex and multi-layered characters while all the while teasing the reader with an impending sense of doom. Part psychological thriller, part family drama, it had me hooked from start to finish, trying to pick up little clues along the way, becoming completely immersed.

This is my first introduction to Chris Brookmyre but I have a feeling it won’t be my last. This is an author quite obviously capable of fantastic storytelling and I must have been living in a cave to have never heard of him before. I have no doubt Fallen Angel will appeal to both longstanding fans and people like me who are new to this author. Thoroughly enjoyed this and look forward to more!

Fallen Angel will be available to buy on April 25th.

Affiliate link : Bookdepository
Other retailers : Amazon US | Amazon UK | Kobo | Waterstones | Wordery

| ABOUT THE AUTHOR |

Chris Brookmyre was a journalist before becoming a full-time novelist with the publication of his award-winning debut Quite Ugly One Morning, which established him as one of Britain’s leading crime authors. His Jack Parlabane novels have sold more than one million copies in the UK alone, and Black Widow won both the McIlvanney Prize and the Theakston’s Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year award. 

Call Me Star Girl by Louise Beech | @LouiseWriter @OrendaBooks @annecater | #blogtour #RandomThingsTours #recommended

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Delighted beyond words to host a stop on the blog tour for Call Me Star Girl by Louise Beech today! My thanks to Anne Cater at Random Things Tours for the invitation to join and to Karen Sullivan at Orenda books for the fabulous review copy!

Author : Louise Beech
Title : Call Me Star Girl
Pages : 276
Publisher : Orenda
Publication date : April 18, 2019 (paperback)

| ABOUT THE BOOK |

Tonight is the night for secrets…

Pregnant Victoria Valbon was brutally murdered in an alley three weeks ago – and her killer hasn’t been caught.

Tonight is Stella McKeever’s final radio show. The theme is secrets. You tell her yours, and she’ll share some of hers.

Stella might tell you about Tom, a boyfriend who likes to play games, about the mother who abandoned her, now back after twelve years. She might tell you about the perfume bottle with the star-shaped stopper, or about her father …

What Stella really wants to know is more about the mysterious man calling the station … who says he knows who killed Victoria, and has proof.

Tonight is the night for secrets, and Stella wants to know everything…

| MY THOUGHTS |

Thoughts? Ha! Bloody hell, I don’t know. I can’t even begin to think of any words. I hurt. Way deep inside, like an awful physical pain that makes me want to curl up into a tiny ball under the duvet and just weep.

Louise Beech is one of maybe two authors who always manages to make me cry in the ugliest way possible. So when I heard she had gone down the dark path and written a psychological thriller, I felt relieved and my first thought was how I wouldn’t need to stock up on tissues and explain to my other half why my eyes were so red. There’s only so many times you can use the “I was chopping onions” excuse, you know.

How wrong I was. How massively wrong to think for just one second that Louise Beech would somehow stick to the “rules” of this genre. Because we all know by now this is an author who doesn’t fit neatly into a labeled box and neither does Call Me Star Girl. I was expecting something dark and boy, did I get that! But despite all the warnings, I was not prepared for how devastating this story would turn out to be.

Such incredible characterisation, such complex and multi-layered personalities, so many secrets and throughout it all a stunning Noir vibe, feeling like I was watching an old black and white movie and then the utterly exquisite writing, which just pulls you in, sweeps you up and away, becoming so immersed you forget everything and everyone around you, all the while stirring something deep inside. Call Me Star Girl is intensely compelling, emotional, memorable and thought-provoking. What would you do for love?

This is the kind of novel that causes book hangovers. I don’t know where to go from here. My heart is broken and nobody is able to elicit those kinds of emotions from me but the amazingly talented and incomparable Louise Beech. Wherever she goes, whatever she writes, I will follow her without a moment’s hesitation.

Call Me Star Girl is available to buy!

Affiliate link : Bookdepository
Other retailers : Amazon US | Amazon UK | Kobo | Waterstones | Wordery

| ABOUT THE AUTHOR |

Louise Beech is an exceptional literary talent, whose debut novel How To Be Brave was a Guardian Readers’ Choice for 2015. The follow-up, The Mountain in My Shoe was shortlisted for Not the Booker Prize. Both of her previous books Maria in the Moon and The Lion Tamer Who Lost were widely reviewed, critically acclaimed and number-one bestsellers on Kindle. The Lion Tamer Who Lost was shortlisted for the RNA Most Popular Romantic Novel Award in 2019.

Her short fiction has won the Glass Woman Prize, the Eric Hoffer Award for Prose, and the Aesthetica Creative Works competition, as well as shortlisting for the Bridport Prize twice.

Louise lives with her husband on the outskirts of Hull, and loves her job as a Front of House Usher at Hull Truck Theatre, where her first play was performed in 2012.

Weekly Wrap-Up (April 21)

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Happy Easter!

It feels like Summer and I’m loving every single second of it! Gorgeous blue skies, glorious sunshine, weeds popping up all over the place and hay fever kicking my arse. Okay, wait, those last two aren’t fun but we’ll take the good with the bad and enjoy it while it lasts.

Of the bad, all that sunshine made me realise how dirty my windows were, mostly due to an inconsiderate other half. So of course I had to clean them. Again! I swear my house would be so much cleaner if I were single 😂

Reading-wise. Hoo boy! What a week it’s been! Let’s have a look at what I read.

| BOOKS I READ THIS WEEK |

Best week EVER! There are four 5 star reads on that list! The books I’ll be reading next week have a lot to live up to!

I’m not even worried about “only” reading 6 books because the books in that C.J. Sansom series are just getting bigger and bigger. 650 pages, devoured in less than two days. If you love crime fiction and historical fiction and the Tudor era, this series NEEDS to be on your shelf! SO GOOD!

| BOOKS I BOUGHT THIS WEEK |

Nada! Zip! My other half is pleased. Little does he know I fully intend to catch up at some point 😉

| BOOK POST THAT LANDED ON MY DOORSTEP THIS WEEK |

Just the one but what a corker it is. Enormously pleased.

| ON THE BLOG THIS PAST WEEK |

Monday : Took the day off

Tuesday : Joined the blog tour for The Passengers by John Marrs and shared a guest on the blog tour for White Leaves of Peace by Tracey Iceton

Wednesday : Hosted a stop on the blog tour for The Librarian of Auschwitz by Antonio Iturbe and shared My Week in Books

Thursday : Joined the blog tour for The Garden of Lost and Found by Harriet Evans

Friday : Hosted a stop on the blog tour for Liberation Square by Gareth Rubin

Saturday : Joined the blog tour for Perfect Crime by Helen Fields

Sunday : Weekly Wrap-Up

And breathe! What a fun week that was! Thank you for all the shares on Twitter. I lost track of my notifications at some point and may have missed some people. Apologies! The glorious sunshine made me do it 🤣

| NEXT WEEK ON NOVEL DEELIGHTS |

Monday : Blog tour | Review | Call Me Star Girl by Louise Beech

Tuesday : Blog tour | Review | Fallen Angel by Chris Brookmyre

Wednesday : This Week in Books

Thursday : Blog tour | Extract | Envy by Amanda Robson

Friday : Blog tour | Review | Picture of Innocence by T.J. Stimson

Saturday : Blog tour | Review | Sleep by C.L. Taylor

Sunday : Weekly Wrap-Up

So much for slowing down, huh? Have to say though, I do so love being this busy. And I’m even ahead of schedule. I have one review left to write for this upcoming week but as far as reading the books is concerned, I’m reading for May. I feel quite accomplished. 😊

Question of the week. Which I totally stole from the lovely Kate at Portable Magic. If you have blog tours scheduled, do you ever read out of order?

Take me for instance and the books I read this past week. First I read one for a blog tour on May 27th, then I read one due May 2nd, to be followed by one due May 13th. One isn’t even for a blog tour at all (hello, Sovereign!). All the while I seem to be skipping over the one that’s due May 1st. 😂

Is that something you do as well? Or do you stick to your schedule and just basically try not to panic?

Friendly reminder that voting is still open for the Annual Bloggers Bash Awards

Feel free to ignore the other 64 names on the list and vote for me (Novel Deelights, in case you wondered) 😂

That’s it for another week. I have a few reviews to tackle before my mother-in-law arrives for a fun afternoon of board games, sunshine and stuffing our faces full of chocolate. Or ice cream. Or hell, both! Diet? What diet?

Hope everyone has a fabulous week! Until next time! Happy reading! xx

Perfect Crime by Helen Fields | @Helen_Fields @AvonBooksUK @Sabah_K | #blogtour #bookreview #PerfectCrime

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Delighted to join the blog tour for Perfect Crime by Helen Fields today! My thanks to Sabah at Avon for the opportunity to join and for the review copy!

Author : Helen Fields
Title : Perfect Crime
Series : DI Luc Callanach #5
Pages : 400
Publisher : Avon UK
Publication date : April 18, 2019

| ABOUT THE BOOK |

Stephen Berry is about to jump off a bridge until a suicide prevention counsellor stops him. A week later, Stephen is dead. Found at the bottom of a cliff, DI Luc Callanach and DCI Ava Turner are drafted in to investigate whether he jumped or whether he was pushed…

As they dig deeper, more would-be suicides roll in: a woman found dead in a bath; a man violently electrocuted. But these are carefully curated deaths – nothing like the impulsive suicide attempts they’ve been made out to be.

Little do Callanach and Turner know how close their perpetrator is as, across Edinburgh, a violent and psychopathic killer gains more confidence with every life he takes…

| MY THOUGHTS |

Let me just start my review by saying that if you’re not reading this series, I am judging you like a big, bad judging thing! This is one of the best crime fiction series out there and you are sorely missing out!

Perfect Crime is the fifth instalment in the DI Luc Callanach series and by now, these characters feel like family and I am always excited about spending more time with them. Before you ask, no, you really shouldn’t treat these as stand-alones. Start from the beginning. I promise you won’t regret it!

Things kick off when Stephen Berry is getting ready to jump off a bridge. Luckily, a suicide prevention counsellor manages to talk him down but a week later, Stephen is found dead at the bottom of a cliff. DI Luc Callanach and DCI Ava Turner are called in to investigate whether Stephen killed himself or was murdered. But the deaths do not stop there …

Meanwhile, Callanach is finding himself in hot water when he visits someone in a care home who is later found dead. I won’t say anything else about that so I don’t spoil things for those who haven’t read the previous books (shame on you! 😂) but I will say I really enjoyed this second thread of the story. Switching back and forth between the two investigations really held my attention.

I mentioned these characters feel like family by now so when they hurt, I hurt. And there is a lot of “hurt” going on in this one. Relationships shift, some characters managed to surprise me, others infuriated me and through it all are original, frightening and gruesome deaths as I’ve come to expect from this series.

I very early on figured out what was going on but that didn’t ruin things for me at all. I became so absorbed in the investigation that I almost forgot about my suspect. Helen Fields always delivers gripping, compelling, thrilling and tense stories full of intriguing (and sometimes totally crazy) characters. This is one of those series that just keeps getting better and better and I can’t wait to see what Helen Fields comes up with next but I know it will be awesome once again. Highly recommended!

Perfect Crime is available to buy!

Affiliate link : Bookdepository
Other retailers : Amazon US | Amazon UK | Kobo | Waterstones | Wordery

While you’re there, why not grab yourself copies of the previous books in the series 😉

| ABOUT THE AUTHOR |

Helen Fields studied law at the University of East Anglia, then went on to the Inns of Court School of Law in London. After completing her pupillage, she joined chambers in Middle Temple where she practised criminal and family law for thirteen years. After her second child was born, Helen left the Bar.

Together with her husband David, she runs a film production company, acting as script writer and producer. Helen and her husband now live in Los Angeles with their three children and two dogs.

Liberation Square by Gareth Rubin | @GarethRubin @MichaelJBooks @JennyPlatt90 | #blogtour #bookreview

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Welcome to my stop on the blog tour for Liberation Square by Gareth Rubin! My thanks to Jenny Platt at Michael Joseph for the invitation to join and the wonderful review copy!

Author : Gareth Rubin
Title : Liberation Square
Pages : 340
Publisher : Michael Joseph
Publication date : April 18, 2019

| ABOUT THE BOOK |

After the disastrous failure of D-Day, Britain is occupied by Nazi Germany, and only rescued by Russian soldiers arriving from the east and Americans from the west. The two superpowers divide the nation between them, a wall running through London like a scar.

On the Soviet side of the wall, Jane Cawson calls into her husband’s medical practice, hoping to surprise him. But instead she detects the perfume worn by his former wife, Lorelei, star of propaganda films for the new Marxist regime.

Jane rushes to confront them, but soon finds herself caught up in the glamorous actress’s death.

Her husband Nick is arrested for murder. Desperate to clear his name, Jane must risk the attention of the brutal secret police as she follows a trail of corruption right to the highest levels of the state.

And she might find she never really knew her husband at all.

| MY THOUGHTS |

Well, here is a frightening scenario.

The year is 1952. The setting is London. But not the London we all know. D-Day was an enormous failure and the war was lost. The United Kingdom has been divided in two with a wall running through London. Jane and her husband Nick live in the Republic, under Russian control. Jane suspects her husband of having an affair with his first wife, Lorelei. When Jane decides to confront them, she finds Lorelei dead in the bathtub and soon, husband Nick is arrested by the National Secret Service. But all is not what it seems.

Jane is just your average woman who suddenly finds herself in the middle of extraordinary circumstances. Not only is goodness knows what happening to her husband while he’s being held but she also suddenly finds herself responsible for his daughter from his previous marriage. Desperate to find evidence that will help free her husband, she soon ends up in situations she is wholly unprepared for.

Life is not a bed of roses on this side of the wall. Corruption is rife and the things that have been promised do not come to fruition. Danger lurks around every corner. People are arrested and disappear. You can’t even trust your neighbours, who seem to be watching your every move, ready to inform the authorities. Some try to escape, making desperate attempts to reach the other side of the wall. Most fail.

The cover of this book is black and white with some red highlights standing out and that’s exactly how I saw things in my head while reading. At its heart, Liberation Square is a murder mystery and I felt it had a bit of a noir vibe to it. As Jane digs deeper, trying to figure out who was responsible for Lorelei’s death, she uncovers a multitude of secrets and is left to wonder if she knows her husband at all. With so much deceit going on everywhere, I ended up being suspicious of just about everyone and had a hard time imagining living my life like that. Scary.

With a fascinating and original premise, Liberation Square turned into quite the surprising read for me. I say that because dystopian stories don’t always hit the right spot with me but this one most definitely did. Having the added bonus of a murder mystery and a bit of a spy thriller touch to it, made this an enjoyable, atmospheric and gripping story. One that had me guessing until the end and in awe of the utterly believable alternative scenario.

Liberation Square is available to buy!

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| ABOUT THE AUTHOR |

Gareth Rubin is a British journalist and author. His journalism covers social affairs, travel, architecture, arts and health. His novel Liberation Square is a mystery thriller set in Soviet-occupied London.

In 2013 he directed a documentary, Images of Bedlam, about the connection between art and mental illness and how art can help people express that which they cannot put into words. It was filmed at the Bethlem Royal Hospital (‘Bedlam’) and interviews artists with a history of psychiatric illness.

He previously worked as an actor on stage and television.