I Have Something to Tell You by Susan Lewis #bookreview @HarperCollins

 I Have Something To Tell You by Susan Lewis

Published by HarperCollins

Publication Date 16th September 2021

Genre: Crime/psychological fiction

Book Description:

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, Jessica 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 … I have something to tell you

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

My Thoughts:

My son very kindly went to the local supermarket and grabbed me a copy of this to accompany me on my sick bed recently (nothing serious, just enough to stop me going to work, stay home and annoy my other half with an extremely irritating cough). Having read reviews I figured it would keep me entertained while not being too taxing. 

The blurb describes two high-flying professional lawyers who are going through a difficult patch in their lives when suddenly the husband makes the statement "I have something to tell you". I was expecting a big bombshell announcement and some great High Court-worthy arguments in the ensuing fall-out (considering their jobs) but it turned out to be a long-winded experiment in subject avoidance as the two of them used work, kids and anything else they could think of to put off having The Conversation. I found the accompanying crime story in which wife Jessica 'Jay' Wells was defending a charming alleged murderer rather predictable and that too fell quite flat. All the alternative perpetrators who were put forward as the actual killer were fairly obvious red herrings in various ways. 

The title of the book - which led me to my purchase - led me to believe the main storyline would be predominantly the problems within the lawyers' marriage and how they dealt with them however Jay's defence of Edward Blake seemed to take over and the relationship thread which I felt should have been the feature of the book kind of dwindled into an annoying background feature in Jay's life while she untangled the threads of Edward's case.

Maybe if the book had a different title I might have enjoyed it more but it certainly wasn't what I was expecting from either the blurb or the title. Perhaps if you're going to read this one go in with less expectations of it being weighted towards the lawyers' marriage and with more of an open mind, you might have a different outlook but sadly it didn't really tick any of the boxes it was aiming for in my opinion.

About the Author:

Susan Lewis is the bestselling author of over forty books across the genres of family drama, thriller, suspense and crime. 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. Following periods of living in Los Angeles and the South of France, she currently lives in Gloucestershire with her husband James, stepsons Michael and Luke, and mischievous dogs Coco and Lulu.

To find out more about Susan Lewis:
www.susanlewis.com
www.facebook.

based on the lawyers' marriagecom/SusanLewisBooks

Exit by Belinda Bauer #bookreview #exit @BlacKSwanhouse @TransworldBooks

 

Exit by Belinda Bauer

Published by Black Swan (Transworld)

Publication Date: 5th August 2021

Genre: Crime, Humour

Book Description:

Meet Felix Pink. The most unlikely murderer you'll ever have the good fortune to spend time with.

When Felix lets himself in to Number 3 Black Lane, he's there to perform an act of charity: to keep a dying man company as he takes his final breath . . .

But just fifteen minutes later Felix is on the run from the police - after making the biggest mistake of his life.

Now his world is turned upside down as he must find out if he's really to blame, or if something much more sinister is at play. All while staying one shaky step ahead of the law.

My Thoughts:

Belinda Bauer's books have been on my radar for a while but Exit is the first one I have actually delved into and read. I never expected to be drawn into Felix's world quite so quickly, having picked up the book on Saturday afternoon I had it finished by Monday evening and would have been much sooner if I hadn't got to go to work. I was a bit sceptical when I read the blurb with the plot being based around the subject of euthansia which is always going to be contentious and a bit taboo. The author has turned the subject on its head and made it into an entertaining and often humorous tale.

Felix really is the last person you would expect to be the main suspect in a murder enquiry. At the end of the day he is best described as...beige. Just like the coat his wife bought him and he chose to wear on that fateful day. Everyone knows a Felix (or should that be John?) but there can't be many that find that person in the position Felix ends up in when he visits Black Lane to assist a stranger in their decision to depart this mortal coil, accompanied by new Exiteer Amanda. The description of the process of being an Exiteer certainly had me considering whether it was ethical and all the other arguments for and against euthanasia. Then as I mulled this over the story had its first jaw dropping moment and for Felix and Amanda the stakes raised considerably higher. How would Felix deal with this situation? How on earth do you put something like this right? You can't...can you?

The more the police investigation progresses and the net closes in, the more comical the scenes become. It seems so wrong to have humour mixed in with a murder case but I cannot recommend this book enough as it had me chuckling away at various different characters and the fixes they got themselves into. The harder they tried to sort things out the worse they became. But as with all good crime stories there has to be at least one vital twist and I can guarantee that this book does not disappoint.

Just the right book at the right time for me, I would definitely encourage you to grab yourself a copy.

About the Author:

Belinda Bauer grew up in England and South Africa and now lives in Wales. She worked as a journalist and a screenwriter before finally writing a book to appease her nagging mother.

For her debut, Blacklands, Belinda was awarded the CWA Gold Dagger for Crime Novel of the Year. She went on to win the CWA Dagger in the Library for her body of work. Her fourth novel, Rubbernecker, was voted Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year. Her eighth novel, Snap, was a Sunday Times bestseller. It was longlisted for the Man Booker prize and voted Crime & Thriller Book of the Year at the Specsavers National Book Awards.

Her books have been translated into twenty-five languages.

The Girl In the Tunnel by Deirdre Palmer @rararesources #blogtour #bookreview @DLPalmer_Writer #TheGirlInTheTunnel

 

The Girl In The Tunnel by Deirdre Palmer

Publication Date: 11th October 2021

Published by The Patcham Press

Genre: Psychological Thriller, Womens Fiction

First and foremost I must thank blog tour organiser Rachel Gilbey of Rachel's Random Resources for the invitation to be part of this tour. I've not participated in many tours this year due to outside pressures of my day job and various other factors, but this title popped out at me and I knew I just had to review this book and be part of the tour. It is my honour to be promoting this on publication day, and I wish Deirdre every success with this page turner.

Book Description:

London. A January night. Commuters surge into the Underground. Ellen Randall recognises a man standing close to the platform edge: Matt Leyton, her sister Rosanna’s married lover. The man who’s playing a game as old as time. A red-hot flash of uncontrollable anger propels Ellen to his side. The train approaches. Seconds later, Matt has gone.

Carl Teviot is convinced Ellen isn’t a killer, even though he’s only just met her – or rather, found her, huddled in a sleeping bag in an abandoned Tube station: a ghost station. He can’t leave her there, alone, and in danger.

But rescuing her from the tunnel is only the beginning…

My Thoughts:

The opening chapter of this book certainly grabs your attention with our main character Ellen having a sudden rush of adrenalin when she spots her sister's married lover on the platform of the tube station. The consequences of her spur of the moment actions affect her - and others - deeply for some time to come. Ellen struggles to deal with her conscience but support comes in the unlikely form of stranger Carl, an urban explorer who finds her hiding away in an abandoned space below the streets of London. His gut feeling is that she isn't really the bad person she sees herself and finds himself going above and beyond to help Ellen find her way back to the life she deserves. In the meantime someone else seems to know what Ellen has done as she starts receiving messages threatening to expose her if she doesn't come clean herself.

Ellen's sister Rosie is completely unaware of the demons Ellen is fighting, she has a dilemma of her own to deal with and takes herself off to stay with friends in an attempt to sort her life out. The two sisters were orphaned at an early age and have supported each other ever since in all aspects of their lives, but suddenly find themselves needing to be independent in order to come to terms with what life has thrown at them this time.

To say I enjoyed this book seems so wrong as it feels like I am saying I enjoyed the trials and tribulations the three main individuals were going through. I feel the author handled some difficult issues very sensitively and in a confident manner. There perhaps should be some trigger warnings as there are some sections of the story which could be upsetting for some people. Without giving too much away I found myself sympathising with characters I didn't expect to and wanting to know more about others.  I particularly liked the side story involving Ellen's work colleagues which gave an interesting view of how Ellen fitted in at work and how people can (mis)interpret our personalities from how we portray ourselves in our professional roles.

I would be selective who I would recommend this book to due to the content but personally I found it to be an engrossing, sensitive read which took several turns I wasn't expecting and kept me invested in the story with well-timed twists throughout. My sincere thanks again to Rachel for giving me the opportunity to feature this book on my page in return for my honest review as part of the blog tour.

Buy yourself a copy here: 

UK - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Girl-Tunnel-Deirdre-Palmer-ebook/dp/B09BZW8GXS/

US - https://www.amazon.com/Girl-Tunnel-Deirdre-Palmer-ebook/dp/B09BZW8GXS/

About the Author:

Deirdre lives in Brighton, on the south coast of England. She writes women’s and psychological fiction under her own name, and as Zara Thorne. Becoming an author was a childhood dream, although she didn’t have much of a clue as to what it meant. But fast forward several years – okay, many years – and the dream showed signs of becoming reality. She entered the Mail on Sunday Novel Competition, twice, and came fourth, twice. So there was the incentive to complete her first novel, Remarkable Things, which was published by Crooked Cat and shortlisted for the Romantic Novelists’ Association Joan Hessayon Award. The Girl in the Tunnel is Deirdre’s 14^th book.

You can find Dierdre on social media at the following addresses:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/deirdre.palmer.735

Twitter: https://twitter.com/DLPalmer_Writer

Amazon: https://amzn.to/3cxx8bE