📖 Publication Day Review ~ The Christmas Appeal by Janice Hallett

 

Viper/Serpent's Tail
Hardback 26 October 2023

The Appeal #1.5

My thanks to the publisher for my ecopy of this book

One dead Santa. A town full of suspects. Will you discover the truth?

Christmas in Lower Lockwood, and the Fairway Players are busy rehearsing their festive pantomime, Jack and the Beanstalk, to raise money for the church roof appeal. But despite the season, goodwill is distinctly lacking amongst the amateur dramatics enthusiasts. Sarah-Jane is fending off threats to her new position as Chair, the fibreglass beanstalk might be full of asbestos, and a someone is intent on ruining the panto even before the curtain goes up.

Of course there's also the matter of the dead body. Who could possibly have had the victim on their naughty list? Join lawyers Femi and Charlotte as they read the round robins, examine the emails and pore over the police transcripts. Will the show go on?

📖 My Review..

When I was approached by the publisher to read The Christmas Appeal I immediately said yes as I loved reading this author's fabulous debut, The Appeal, which fired my imagination , and so it is with great delight that I return to the company of the Fairway Players as they countdown to their annual Christmas Pantomime.

With her usual flair, the author plunges us deep into the frantic preparations for Jack and the Beanstalk and as emails, and messages, fly to and fro between the actors, we soon start to understand that all is not well with this group of amateur thespians. The epistolary theme gives the story its quirkiness and as  the banter and cutting comments start to flow, so we start to build up a picture of what happened, where, when and to whom.

It can take a little while to become comfortable with this style of narrative but I enjoy the way the story unfolds and I pretty soon became immersed in trying to piece together the clues which are so carefully presented.  Overall, The Christmas Appeal is great fun to read, laugh out loud funny in places, and entering into the ‘acting’ world which this talented author creates so beautifully is a real joy as not only does she give us all the back room shenanigans, and believe me there is a lot going on behind the scenes, but there’s also a rather interesting murder mystery to solve.

Cleverly created to be a shortish novella, The Christmas Appeal sits comfortably alongside The Appeal bringing together the company of players we recognise from the first story whilst at the same time introducing new people who add their own special charm to this intriguing murder mystery. I absolutely loved it and read in one sitting as, like all this author’s books, I simply couldn’t put it down.

About the Author

Janice Hallett studied English at UCL, and spent several years as a magazine editor, winning two awards for journalism. After gaining an MA in Screenwriting at Royal Holloway, she co-wrote the feature film Retreat. The Appeal is inspired by her lifelong interest in amateur dramatics. Her second novel, The Twyford Code, is published by Viper in 2022. When not indulging her passion for global adventure travel, she is based in West London.

Twitter @JaniceHallett #TheChristmas Appeal

@ViperBooks

📖 Book Review ~ The Girls of Summer by Katie Bishop

 

Bantam Press
25 May

My thanks to the publisher for my copy of this book

Rachel has been in love with Alistair since she was seventeen. Even though she hasn't seen him for sixteen years and she's now married to someone else. Even though she was a teenager when they met. Even though he is twenty years older than her. She's found it impossible to forget their summer together on a remote, sun-trapped Greek island. Until now.

When Rachel unexpectedly reconnects with a girl that she knew back then, she is forced to re-examine her memories of that golden summer and confront the truth about her relationship with Alistair and about her time working for an enigmatic and wealthy man on the island. And when Alistair returns, the pull of the past could prove impossible to resist...

📖 My Review..

Rachel fell in love with Alistair when she was seventeen and on the adventure of her life. Travelling with her friend Caroline they arrive at a small Greek island where Rachel, in particular, is soon captivated by island life. Rachel decides to stay on the island, finding work and friendship but always in thrall to the much older Alistair and whatever he wants Rachel does unquestioningly even when it means she is drawn into a world she is neither prepared for nor understands.

I was quickly immersed in Rachel's story and felt more than once that I just wanted her to see sense and go home but of course, we've all been a naive seventeen, in love for the first time and unwilling to listen to anyone's advice. The story moves between two time frames so we meet, in the present day, a more mature Rachel, her dissatisfaction all too obvious, and her character rather jaded from the bright and beautiful seventeen year old who was in love with life on a sparkling Greek island. Gradually over the space of the story we learn that all was not idyllic on the island hideaway.

The Girls of Summer is a thought provoking #MeToo read which I devoured in the space of a couple of sittings as I couldn't book the book down. It would be a really good immersive summer read, especially if you are heading to the Greek islands for some sunshine. The Girls of Summer takes the idea of a classic holiday romance and turns it into something much darker and deeper, highlighting the nature of a coercive relationship and the ambiguity of consent and control. 

About the Author

Katie Bishop is a writer and journalist based in Birmingham, UK. She grew up in the Midlands before moving to Oxford to work in publishing in her early twenties. Whilst working as an assistant editor she started writing articles in her spare time, going on to be published in the New York Times, Guardian, Independent and Vogue.

Katie started writing The Girls of Summer during the first UK COVID lockdown, after becoming increasingly interested in stories emerging from the #MeToo movement. The novel is inspired by her own experiences of backpacking, and by her interest in how personal narratives can be reshaped and understood in light of cultural and social changes.

In 2020, Katie moved back to the Midlands, and now lives in Birmingham with her partner. She is a full-time writer.

Twitter @WhatKatieBWrote #GirlsofSummer

Website

@TransworldBooks

📖 Blog Tour ~ I have Something to Tell You by Susan Lewis

 

Thrilled to host one of today's blog tour stops

Harper Collins
16 September 2021

My thanks to the publishers for my copy of the book
and to Random Things Tours for the invitation to be part of the tour

High-flying lawyer Jessica Wells has it all. A successful career, loving husband Tom and a family she adores. But one case – and one client – will put all that at risk.

Edward Blake. An ordinary life turned upside down – or a man who quietly watched television while his wife was murdered upstairs? With more questions than answers and a case too knotted to unravel, Jay suspects he’s protecting someone…

Then she comes home one day and her husband utters the words no-one ever wants to hear. Sit down… because I've got something to tell you….

Now Jay must fight not only for the man she defends, but for the man she thought she trusted with her life – her husband.

📖 My Thoughts..

Jessica Wells is a successful lawyer who is called upon to take the criminal defense case of Edward Blake who has been accused of murdering his wife. From the beginning Jessica (Jay) firmly believes in Edward's innocence and is going to do all she can to to prove it. However, with her mind firmly fixed on the murder case Jay is then little prepared when a devastating revelation from her husband sends her own family life into free fall.

Oh, what a tangled web is revealed in this fascinating story as not only do we get an intimate sense of what really happened to Edward's wife but we also get a fly on the wall view of Jay's family dynamics and watch how this personal family drama impacts on her professional life. 

In terms of murder plot and whodunit there is much to take in, and the story overall has some clever twists and turns which I really didn't see coming. However, I have Something to Tell You is not just a murder mystery as digging deeper into the narrative an emotional story starts to emerge about Jay's fractured relationship with her husband, Tom.

In I have Something to Tell You this talented author brings to life a set of believable characters, and places them very carefully into the heart of a complicated, and emotionally, fraught story about shattered lives, which are irrevocably changed by secrets, bad decisions, deception and lies.

About the Author

Susan Lewis is the internationally bestselling author of over forty books across the genres of family drama, thriller, suspense and crime, including One Minute Later, My Lies, Your Lies and Forgive Me. Susan’s novels have sold nearly three million copies in the UK alone. She is also the author of Just One More Day and One Day at a Time, the moving memoirs of her childhood in Bristol during the 1960s.

Susan has previously worked as a secretary in news and current affairs before training as a production assistant working on light entertainment and drama. She’s lived in Hollywood and the South of France, but now resides in Gloucestershire with husband James, two stepsons and dogs.

Twitter @susanlewisbooks #IHaveSomethingToTellYou

@fictionpubteam

@RandomTTours

📖 Publication Day Book Review ~ Swindled by S E Shepherd

 

Hobeck Books
7 September 2021

Sandlin PI  series #1

My thanks to Rebecca at Hobeck Books for my copy of this book

Lottie

Beautiful, but a little spoilt, Lottie Thorogood leads a charmed life. Returning home from horse riding one day, she finds a stranger, drinking tea in the family drawing room – a stranger who will change her life, forever.

Hannah

After a bad decision cut short her police career, Hannah Sandlin is desperate to make her mark as a private investigator. She knows she has the skills, but why won’t anyone take her seriously? She’s about to become embroiled in a mystery that will finally put those skills to the test and prove her doubters wrong. It will also bring her a friend for life.

Vincent

Vincent Rocchino has spent his life charming the ladies, fleecing them and fleeing when things turn sour. How long can he keep running before his past catches up with him?

📖 My Thoughts..

Swindled is the first in a new series of crime fiction which features Hannah Sandlin, an ex-rookie police officer, now turned private investigator. In Hannah's first big case she meets with Lottie Thorogood who, after a privileged and wealthy upbringing, is now pretty much at rock bottom and is determined to find the man who brought her family down. Sandwiched between the story of what brings these two women together is the story of Vincent Rocchino, a complicated man who, it must be said, is an out and out bad 'un, and whose who escapades and antics make for enjoyable reading.

The story moves around in time, gradually revealing different perspectives and shows why these three very different people are bound together, and it does so with lively dialogue and a good sense of mystery. Everything worked well, the characterisation is great, the plot is well thought out and maintains its credibility from the start, and there are nice touches of humour amongst the twists and turns. I especially liked the unfurling of the relationship between Hannah and Lottie, each have had their share of difficulties but it was good to see them support each other through some difficult experiences. Vincent should have been unlikable, but for all his faults, he has a certain Italian charm which made me smile whenever he appeared on the page.

The author writes this cosy crime genre well, and I sense that the crime series is going to go from strength to strength in future adventures for Sandlin PI.

About the Author

Twitter @thatsueshepherd #Swindled

@HobeckBooks

Blog Tour ~ The Nesting by C J Cooke

 

Thrilled to host today's blog tour stop

Harper Collins
15 October 2020

My thanks to the publishers for my copy of this book
and Random Things Tours for the invitation to the blog tour

The grieving widower. The motherless daughters. A beautiful house in the woods. And a nanny come to save the day…. 

So what if Lexi isn’t telling the truth about who she is? Escaping to the remote snows of Norway was her lifeline. And all she wanted was to be a part of their lives. But soon, isolated in that cold, creaking house in the middle of ancient, whispering woods, Lexi's fairytale starts to turn into a nightmare. With darkness creeping in from the outside, Lexi’s fears are deepening. Lexi knows she needs to protect the children in her care.

But protect them from what?

What did I think about it..

Much of  The Nesting takes place in Norway, in an isolated setting, complete with a vulnerable nanny, a mysterious family, two tiny children who have recently lost their mother in tragic circumstances, a grieving widower and a housekeeper straight out of a Hitchcock movie, put it all together, and you have all the right ingredients for a truly, unsettling read.

Lexie Ellis is desperate to escape her life in England, and so takes up, under false pretenses, the position of nanny, in an isolated house on the edge of a dark, dark wood. Her new home, and family, are full of mysterious secrets and pretty soon into the story I was jumping as much at shadows as Lexie, especially when she starts to hear unexpected noises, and senses unusual activity, in the house which holds so many hidden secrets. Deeply flawed, and vulnerable, Lexi has the difficult task of leading us by the hand through this complex and darkly, mysterious gothic story, which looks at the burden of responsibility, the heartbreak of tragic and unexplained death, and the overwhelming power of culpability. 

Setting the story in Norway is inspired as not only do you feel the absolute chill of the icy outdoors but you are also plunged into a world of supernatural folklore which has a darkening relevance as the story progresses. Beautifully atmospheric, with a genuine chill factor, The Nesting grips from the very beginning, with a prologue which was both terrifying, and intriguing, in equal measure, and, as I continued reading I found that this shadowy tension never relaxes, not even for a minute, throughout the whole of the story. 

The Nesting is a creepy, chilling story which is the perfect read for Halloween and a cold, autumnal night. 

About the Author

C.J. Cooke is an acclaimed, award-winning poet, novelist and academic with numerous other publications under the name of Carolyn Jess-Cooke. Born in Belfast, she has a PhD in Literature from Queen’s University, Belfast, and is currently Lecturer in Creative Writing at the University of Glasgow, where she researches creative writing interventions for mental health. She also founded the Stay-At-Home Festival.

Twitter @CJessCooke #TheNesting

@fictionpubteam

@RandomTTours

Social Media Blast ~ The Man on the Street by Trevor Wood

Thrilled to be hosting a stop on this social media blast

Quercus
19 March 2020

My thanks to the publishers for my copy of this book
and the invitation to be part of the blog tour

Introducing the most unforgettable investigator of 2020. Gritty, Newcastle-set crime for fans of Ian Rankin and Val McDermid.

It started with a splash. Jimmy, a homeless veteran grappling with PTSD, did his best to pretend he hadn't heard it - the sound of something heavy falling into the Tyne at the height of an argument between two men on the riverbank. Not his fight.

Then he sees the headline: GIRL IN MISSING DAD PLEA. The girl, Carrie, reminds him of someone he lost, and this makes his mind up: it's time to stop hiding from his past. But telling Carrie, what he heard - or thought he heard - turns out to be just the beginning of the story.

The police don't believe him, but Carrie is adamant that something awful has happened to her dad and Jimmy agrees to help her, putting himself at risk from enemies old and new.

But Jimmy has one big advantage: when you've got nothing, you've got nothing to lose.

What did I think about it..

Jimmy Mullen lives on the streets of Newcastle with his four-legged companion, who is aptly named, Dog. That the streets are often a dangerous place to live goes without saying, but amongst some of his more deadly neighbours, Jimmy finds that there are a few that he can trust. Jimmy ticks along, living from moment to moment, but luckier than most because, although homeless, Jimmy has a small army pension to help him survive. A veteran of the Falklands conflict, Jimmy is no shrinking violet, however, the trauma of his wartime experience has left him with PTSD which has wrecked his life in more ways than one. When, late one night, Jimmy witnesses a crime taking place, it opens up a set of frightening circumstances which will see this unusual protagonist become drawn into a dark and deadly game of catch me , before I catch you.

Well paced, with a decidedly dark edge, this gritty crime debut gets off to a cracking good start as it introduces us to people who very quickly become people we care about. Jimmy is an interesting character, quietly observant one minute, and then helpless in his struggle against the demons which so often threaten to engulf him, that society is less than sympathetic to his plight is particularly heartbreaking.

The crime/mystery at the heart of the novel is an interesting one and the author keeps the tension cranked up to high from the very first page and shows the plight of the homeless in our cities in a scarily realistic way. If you like gritty crime novels with a protagonist who very quickly gets under your skin, so that you start to care what happens to him, then The Man on the Street is a great example of crime fiction at its best.

The Man on the Street is a commendable debut novel. I look forward to seeing what this talented writer comes up with next.

About the Author

Trevor Wood has lived in Newcastle for twenty-five years and considers himself an adopted Geordie. He’s a successful playwright who has also worked as a journalist and spin-doctor for the City Council. Prior to that he served in the Royal Navy for sixteen years. Trevor holds an MA in Creative Writing (Crime Fiction) from UEA. The Man on the Street is his first novel.

Twitter@TrevorWoodWrite #TheManOnTheStreet

@QuercusBooks

Facebook

Book Review ~ The Missing American by Kwei Quartey

Gordon Tilson is a lonely widower who befriends a young woman online. When her sister is injured in a car accident, he sends her thousands of dollars to cover the hospital bill and runs off to Ghana to surprise his new love. But he soon disappears without a trace…

Frustrated by the inadequacies of the local police in Accra, his son Derek turns to a PI agency for assistance where there is a new detective on the scene determined to prove her worth…

What did I think about it..

The Missing American is an interesting crime novel which is set in Ghana, a place the author obviously knows well, and he puts this knowledge to good use in the way that the place and the people are made to feel authentic.  

It took me a little time to settle into the story as there is a lot going on and quite a few characters to get to grips with, however, once the story started to take off and I became more invested in the characters I started to settle into the story with more interest. The private detective connected with this complicated case is Emma Djan, she's an interesting character and her search for the eponymous missing American takes her into the dark and dangerous world of internet crime and her quest to root out corruption makes for interesting reading.

The author writes well and brings a complexity to the story, handling the crime at the heart of the novel in a competent way. There's a sense of mystery throughout the story and the author does a tidy job of bringing all the pieces of the puzzle together, I enjoyed trying to second guess where the story was heading.

The Missing American is the start of a new series of crime novels featuring Emma Djan.

About the Author

Kwei Quartey was born in Ghana, but moved to the USA to complete his medical training at a time of political unrest between students and the then military government, He practiced as physician for more than twenty five years while simultaneously writing, before deciding to become a full time novelist in 2018. His previous work has been published to great critical acclaim and had appeared on the Los Angeles best seller list.

@Kwei_Quarty

@AllisonandBusby

Blog Tour ~ The Lonely Hearts Crime Club by Tanya Bullock

Jaffareadstoo is delighted to host today's Blog Tour stop for The Lonely Hearts Crime Club

Blackbird Digital
26 April 2019

My thanks to the publishers for my ecopy of this book
and the opportunity to be part of the blog tour

An elderly resident of an inner-city tower block is brutally attacked and left for dead. Her neighbours, a pregnant alcoholic, a vulnerable youth, a failed actress and a cameraman with a dark secret, are thrown together in their search for answers. Misfits and loners, they are forced to confront uncomfortable realities about themselves and each other, as their investigation leads them towards the shocking final.

My thoughts..

When an elderly resident of a high rise block of flats is attacked in her home, her neighbours, who don't really know one another, come together to try to find out who could have done this dreadful act. The neighbours aren't without their own problems and yet, as they get to know each other, they find that along with trying to solve the crime, they are also finding something really worthwhile in their developing friendship.

I've enjoyed spending time with the people of The Lonely Hearts Crime Club, they made me laugh sometimes but mostly I was intrigued by how cleverly the author blended their many differences and made them into a cohesive whole. There's a lot going on in the plot and once I'd got all the characters placed in my head, I found that the story fairly zipped along and I enjoyed observing the numerous twists and turns which kept me guessing.

I liked the author's light and easy style of writing and the way that she brought everyone to life and explained all their different faults and foibles. The mystery at the heart of the plot is nicely revealed and I found this interesting however, I think what worked for me was the canny observations about mental health issues, addictions and loneliness which made the story all the more poignant in places.

About the Author

Tanya Bullock is a college lecturer, writer and award-winning filmmaker. She lives in the West Midlands with her husband and two young children.

Twitter @TanyaBullock15

@Blackbird_bks

Blog Tour~ The Winters by Lisa Gabriele

Jaffareadstoo is delighted to be on the Blog Tour for The Winters

It is my great pleasure to welcome the author, Lisa Gabriele to the blog today

Hi Lisa. How important is location to your writing, and did you visit any the places you describe in your novel?

Location is everything, and yes, I make extensive visits to the places I write about, if I’m not already familiar with them. For this book, I’d spent some time in the Cayman Islands, lucky me. And I took a few trips to Long Island, doing weird things like trying to find densely populated forests where a conflagration might occur. I stumbled upon the Suffolk County Museum and read about Gardiner’s Island, which became a template for my Winter’s Island, including some of the nefarious ways the Gardiners have kept the land in the family.

Are you a plotter...or ...a start writing and see where it takes you sort of writer? 

I have become a plotter. I used to wing it a little, but things tend to turn flaccid if you have to leave the work for a spell. Now, once I find the voice and the main characters, I step back and roughly outline the path I’m going to take with them. I usually have a sense of how I want to end things, though the actual writing of the book will take you on a few detours. But yes, I like a plot and they take work and a lot of forethought, but to me it’s the most enjoyable part, even if sometimes I’m left flat on my back staring at the ceiling trying to write my way out of a jam.

What were the challenges you faced whilst writing this novel?

Writing a modern response to a book as beloved as Rebecca was a tricky tightrope walk. I didn’t want to tread too closely to the original, or stray too far away. I wanted to pay homage to the book, but depart from it as well, in order to create something that stands alone. It was a balancing act, with a lot of trial and error. But in the end, it was one of the most satisfying creative experiences of my life. I hope that shows.

How can readers discover more about you and your work?

Go to my website, www.lisagabriele.com; there you’ll find some recent essays and a bit about my other novels. I am also on Instagram and Twitter at @lisagabrieletv.

Here is a bit of a spoof I made when I was the showrunner on the Canadian version of Dragons’ Den, which doubled as a promotional video for my second novel.

You can see here how seriously I take myself.

(As you can see by the comments, some people thought I was serious.)

I tweeted the new video a friend made for The Winters. You see, I’ve changed.

https://twitter.com/lisagabrieletv/status/1062747756094242817

About the Book

Harvill Secker
Penguin Random House
15 November 2018

After a whirlwind romance, a young woman returns to the opulent, secluded mansion of her new fiancé Max Winter - a wealthy senator and recent widower - and a life of luxury she’s never known. But all is not as it appears at the Asherley estate. The house is steeped in the memory of Max’s beautiful first wife Rebekah, who haunts the young woman’s imagination and feeds her uncertainties, while his very alive teenage daughter Dani makes her life a living hell.

As the soon-to-be second Mrs. Winter grows more in love with Max, and more afraid of Dani, she is drawn deeper into the family’s dark secrets - the kind of secrets that could kill her, too.

Website

Twitter @Lisagabrieletv #TheWinters

Blog Tour ~ What Was Lost by Jean Levy

Jaffareadstoo is delighted to be hosting today's stop on the 

What Was Lost Blog Tour

The Dome Press
13 September 2018

What's it all about...

Sarah has no memories. She just knows she was found, near death, on a beach miles from her London home. Now she is part of a medical experiment to see whether her past can be retrieved. 

But bad things seemed to have happened before she disappeared. The police are interested in her hidden memories too. A nice man she meets in the supermarket appears to have her best interests at heart. He seems to understand her - almost as if he knows her…

As she fights to regain her memories and her sense of self, it is clear that people are hiding things from her. Who are they protecting? Does Sarah really want the truth?

What did I think about it...

Our memories define us, they make us into the people we are and give us meaning and purpose. When those memories are taken away from us we flounder and cease to function as we did before. 

Sarah is recovering from a devastating accident which has left her without any conscious memory and as her amnesia takes over her life, so the struggle for some sort of stability becomes paramount. Guarded by a team of medical experts, Sarah tries to make sense of a world in which she is increasingly isolated, a world in which she can remember how to drive her car, but then struggles to make a cup of coffee. That is, until she meets a man who makes her question everything about her new life. 

This compelling psychological drama looks at what happens after a catastrophic trauma, at how the brain closes down to protect itself from memories it doesn't want to remember and which, as the story progresses, reveals more questions than it does answers. 

The author controls this complicated plot really well, offering tantalising glimpses into Sarah's previous life whilst at the same time keeping the unreliability of Sarah as the primary narrator. I found everything about Sarah's emerging life compelling, particularly in the way the medical profession seem to be manipulating her recovery, and whilst I was drawn to some of the people in the story from the start, there were others, and one health professional in particular, who made my blood boil. Even though some of the peripheral characters aren't always likeable, they add much needed light and shade to what is, after all, quite a dark story. I particularly enjoyed the medical aspects of Sarah's condition; her medical problems are well explained for those of us who know very little about the inner workings of the brain, or of its complexities when it goes wrong. 

Engrossing, compelling and fascinating until the very last sentence, What Was Lost is a clever debut by a talented writer whose love of language and creativity shines through with every well written word.

About the Author

Jean Levy has worked in genetics research, the pharmaceutical industry and in academic publishing. She is currently completing a doctorate in Linguistics. She studied Creative Writing at the University of Sussex and lives with her husband in the South Downs. This is her first novel.

Twitter @JeanELevy

@DomePress

Amazon UK

Blog Tour ~ The Cold Cold Sea by Linda Huber

Jaffareadstoo is delighted to be hosting today's stop on The Cold Cold Sea Blog Tour

My thanks to the author and Love Book Group Tours for my invitation to be part of this blog tour

What's it all about..

They stared at each other, and Maggie felt the tightness in her middle expand as it shifted, burning its way up… Painful sobs rose in her throat as Colin, his face expressionless now, reached for his mobile and tapped 999.

When three-year-old Olivia disappears from the beach, a happy family holiday comes to an abrupt end. Maggie is plunged into the darkest nightmare imaginable – what happened to her little girl? Further along the coast, another mother is having problems too. Jennifer's daughter Hailey is starting school, and it should be such a happy time, but the child is increasingly moody and silent. Family life has never seemed so awkward, and Jennifer struggles to maintain control. The tide ebbs and flows, and summer dies, but there is no comfort for Maggie, alone now at the cottage, or for Jennifer, still swamped by doubts.

 ✨I am delighted to be able to share this tantalising extract from The Cold Cold Sea ✨

A glint in the sand caught her eye, and she crouched down. It was a beautiful pink shell, exactly like the one she’d found yesterday. She eased it out from under a thick strand of brown seaweed and brushed it gently with one finger. It was covered in sand; it wasn’t nice to hold like the other one. She looked round for someone to help, but her dad was right along the beach with his back to her, staring at something up towards the hotel. She hesitated for a moment. The sea was just nearby. She would wash the shell herself and then she would take it home and give it to her granny. She smiled at the idea. 

The sun was hot on her shoulders as she turned towards the water. It was difficult to rush along the loose sand; coarse grains were rubbing the skin between her toes. Nearer the ocean the beach firmed up and she stopped to empty her sandals. It was the only thing she didn’t enjoy about the beach, the way sand got everywhere. 

What she liked best, of course, was the sea. It was like magic, the way the colour changed all the time. Today it was shining blue in the sunshine, sparkling like the jewels in her mother’s ring. She giggled as her toes met the first of the baby waves fizzing up the beach. 

The water was cold but it was silvery-clear, rushing up round her ankles and pulling her in to play. She bent over and swirled the shell in the sea. Immersed in her task she rubbed and rinsed and rubbed again, oblivious to the cold water creeping up her legs. The shell was cleaning up nicely. It would look so pretty on her granny’s windowsill, lined up with all the other shells they’d collected last year.

Satisfied with her work, she stood up straight, jerking in surprise when she saw that the water was up over her knees now. She could feel the waves swirling round her legs, pulling her this way and that. It felt as if she was wobbling on a trampoline. It would be easier if there was someone to hold her hand. She looked back at the beach.

Both her parents were tiny figures in the distance now, much too far away to hear her if she called. The sea was right here, teasing her. She giggled again as the wash from a distant motorboat slapped and tickled against her thighs. This was better, it was fun again now.

Further out the waves were white-tipped and rolling towards her, and she remembered the picture book she and Daddy had read just before coming here. A fairy tale princess had caught a beautiful white horse on a wave, and rode away to the place where the sea joined up with the sky. If only she could do that too. She stood on tiptoe and walked a few paces to see if there were any white horses nearby.

Quite suddenly the water was deeper, and it was freezing cold too; it was splashing right up over her tummy. A larger wave almost lifted her off her feet and she cried out in panic, sobbing when she realised that she had dropped Granny’s beautiful shell. Tears hot on her cheeks and teeth chattering, she struggled to regain her balance, then waded a few steps in the direction of where the shell had vanished. 

But the shell was nowhere to be seen. The water took hold of her again, pulling at her and pulling and all at once it was right up to her chin and there were no white horses at all, just cold cold water. It got in her eyes and nose and in her mouth, too, when she tried to shout for help. 

Salty water was burning in her nose and pulling her down; the sea was filling her up and washing her away and she couldn’t stop it. The whole world was getting smaller… it was so cold. She was floating in cold white water now, just floating, and then suddenly everything was – gone.

Extract: By kind permission of the author

About the Author

Linda Huber grew up in Glasgow, Scotland, but went to work in Switzerland for a year aged twenty-two, and has lived there ever since. Her day jobs have included working as a physiotherapist in hospitals and schools for handicapped children, and teaching English in a medieval castle. Currently she teaches one day a week, and writes psychological suspense novels and feel-good novellas with (most of) the rest of her time.

Her writing career began in the nineties, when she had over fifty short stories published in women’s magazines. Several years later, she turned to psychological suspense fiction, and her seventh novel, Death Wish, was published by Bloodhound Books in August 2017.

Linda’s latest project is a series of feel-good novellas, set on the banks of Lake Constance and just minutes from her home in north-east Switzerland. She really appreciates having the views enjoyed by her characters right on her own doorstep!

Twitter @LindaHuber19 #TheColdColdSea

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Blog Tour ~ Girls' Night Out by Liz Fenton and Lisa Steinke

Jaffareadstoo is delighted to host the blog tour stop for Girls' Night Out 

Lake Union
24 July 2018

My thanks to the publishers for my invitation to be part of this blog tour and for my copy of the book

What's it about..

For estranged friends Ashley, Natalie, and Lauren, it’s time to heal the old wounds between them. Where better to repair those severed ties than on a girls’ getaway to the beautiful paradise of Tulum, Mexico? But even after they’re reunited, no one is being completely honest about the past or the secrets they’re hiding. When Ashley disappears on their girls’ night out, Natalie and Lauren have to try to piece together their hazy memories to figure out what could have happened to her, while also reconciling their feelings of guilt over their last moments together.

Was Ashley with the man she’d met only days before? Did she pack up and leave? Was she kidnapped? Or worse—could Natalie or Lauren have snapped under the weight of her own lies?

As the clock ticks, hour by hour, Natalie and Lauren’s search rushes headlong into growing suspicion and dread. Maybe their secrets run deeper and more dangerous than one of them is willing—or too afraid—to admit.

My thoughts about it..

Three friends who have been estranged decide to have some time away together in order to build bridges and repair their friendship. The beautiful resort of Tulum in Mexico is the setting for this girlie get-together but then one of the women, Ashley, goes missing after a girls' night out, leaving Natalie and Lauren to try and discover what has happened to their friend.

What then follows is the story of broken friendships, about friends who no longer know what the other's are thinking and it's about the race against time to find out why Ashley has disappeared. I enjoyed spending time in Mexico with this story, both the place and the characters are brought to life in an interesting way, whilst at the same time, keeping the excitement of the story alive in the imagination. The mystery at the  heart of the story is well thought out, with enough twists to keep you guessing.

I rather like the idea of two authors writing in conjunction, and this duo, who have been co-writing  for several books, blend together quite seamlessly, so that there never seems to be any jarring overlap when each individual author takes over the narrative.

Girls Night Out is a clever thought out and multi-layered contemporary mystery which works well as a summer read.

Girls’ Night Out by Liz Fenton and Lisa Steinke is published in paperback and eBook on 24th July by Lake Union Publishing

About the Authors

Liz Fenton and Lisa Steinke have been best friends for over 25 years and survived high school and college together. They've co-authored four novels, including the bestseller THE GOOD WIDOW. Liz lives in San Diego, CA with her husband and five rescue dogs. Their next suspense novel, Girls' Night Out, is out July 24th, 2018.

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Twitter @LizandLisa #GirlsNightOutBook

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Review ~ Whistle in the Dark by Emma Healey

Viking
3 May 2018
My thanks to the publishers for my copy of this book

What's it all about..

Jen's 15-year-old daughter goes missing for four agonizing days. When Lana is found, unharmed, in the middle of the desolate countryside, everyone thinks the worst is over. But Lana refuses to tell anyone what happened, and the police draw a blank. The once-happy, loving family return to London, where things start to fall apart. Lana begins acting strangely- refusing to go to school, and sleeping with the light on.

What did I think about it..

Every parent's worst nightmare is that their child goes missing but for Hugh and Jen Maddox this reality is all too true. As the story opens their fifteen-year old daughter, Lana, has just been found, relatively unharmed, but with nothing to say about where she has been over the frantic four days of her disappearance.

What then follows is a rather bleak story of a fractured family who struggle to come to terms with, not just, Lana's refusal to recall anything about her disappearance, but also, about her subsequent disruptive behaviour once she gets home. The way that this troublesome conduct affects the family is crucial to the way the story progresses and, whilst, it’s not always very easy to like Lana very much, there is no doubt that her unstable personality is what gives the book its drive and energy and certainly keeps the momentum of the story strong and meaningful. Lana’s volatile relationship with both parents, and particularly with her mother, is tested to the limits of everyone’s endurance, and it is to Hugh and Jen’s credit that they do their best to support this wild child who seems to push them away at every opportunity.

Whistle in the Dark is a perceptive dissection of a troubled family who seem to be constantly at odds with each other. The mystery of what happened to Lana during the four missing days is eventually revealed however what’s is more interesting is how the author gets us to that point and her fine dissection of family life is perhaps where the story sits most strongly.

The author writes this introspective novel very well and in Whistle in the Dark she so cleverly exposes the absolute anguish of mental health issues which can so easily fragment and eventually destroy family life. 

About the author

Emma Healey, a former bookseller, grew up in London where she went to art college and completed her first degree in bookbinding. She then worked for two libraries, two bookshops, two art galleries and two universities, and was busily pursuing a career in the art world before writing overtook everything. She moved to Norwich in 2010 to study for the MA in Creative Writing at UEA and never moved back again. Elizabeth is Missing, her first novel, was a Sunday Times Bestseller, won the Costa First Novel Award 2014 and was shortlisted for the National Book Awards Popular Fiction Book of the Year.

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Twitter @ECHealey #whistleinthedark

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Review ~ The Dark Angel by Elly Griffiths

Quercus
8 February 2018

In this, the tenth, book in the Ruth Galloway series of mysteries, The Dark Angel, sees Ruth away from her beloved Norfolk. On the invitation of an old flame she is is invited to act as a consultant on an archaeological discovery in the pretty Italian town of Castelli degi Angeli, which is about an hour's drive from Rome. Ruth's fleeting romantic association with archaeologist, Angelo Morrelli, was over twelve years ago, so when she gets his phone call asking for her advice on a difficult case, she is at first reluctant to get involved. However, the idea of getting away from Norfolk is an attractive proposition, and using this consultancy work as an excuse for a holiday, Ruth travels with her daughter, Kate, and her friend Shona, with her little boy, Louis.

From the start all is not as it seems at Castelli degi Angeli and as Ruth gets drawn further and further into the mystery surrounding the archaeological discovery, so she realises that there is far more to this investigation than Angelo Morrelli is admitting.

It was interesting in this tenth anniversary story to take Ruth out of her comfort zone and place her in an environment which allowed her to work without the usual background of a wild and windswept Norfolk. However, Ruth's natural ability to get things moving is just as creative in Italy, as it is back at home, and I didn't feel that the story lost anything by taking it to a different location.

I read through The Dark Angel at top speed, always eager to see where the story will lead and it's not always the crime aspect of the investigation which grabs my attention, often, it's more the interaction between the other characters which I enjoy the most, especially around Ruth's complicated relationship with DCI Harry Nelson. So, even though Ruth may be away from Norfolk, there is still quite a bit of complicated stuff happening back at home, which undoubtedly adds a different dimension to the story. There's a bit of a surprise in this book which I didn't see coming, and which shakes things up a lot ,and whilst I can't give the game away, it did sort of startle me a little, as I hoped that this particular aspect of the story would gather momentum.

The writing is, as always,  sharp and beautifully observed, and the complex relationship which has been created between these well loved characters continues to be the absolute strength of the series. I have grown really fond of everyone, and hope to see Ruth Galloway and her mysteries continue for another ten ...or more years.

Of course, it must be said that if you are new to the series, and if so, wherever have you been for the last ten years.....you really should start these books from the very beginning. You won't be disappointed.

About the Author

Elly Griffiths was born in London. She worked in publishing for many years. Her bestselling series of Dr Ruth Galloway novels, featuring a forensic archaeologist are set in Norfolk.The series has won the CWA Dagger in the library, and has been shortlisted three times for the Theakston's Old Peculiar Crime Novel of theYear. Her Stephens and Mephisto series is based in 1950s Brighton. She lives near Brighton with her husband and their two children.

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Twitter @ellygriffiths 

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