None of This Is True by Lisa Jewell #libraryloan #hardbackbooks #NoneOfThisIsTrue @lisajewelluk @centurybooksuk

 

None Of This Is True by Lisa Jewell

Published by Century

Publication Date: 20th July 2023

Book Description:

Celebrating her 45th birthday at her local pub, podcaster Alix Summer crosses paths with an unassuming woman called Josie Fair. Josie is also celebrating her 45th.

A few days later, they bump into each other again, this time outside Alix's children's school. Josie says she thinks she would be an interesting subject for Alix's podcast. She is, she tells Alix, on the cusp of great changes in her life.

Alix agrees to a trial interview and indeed, Josie's life appears to be strange and complicated. Alix finds her unsettling but can't quite resist the temptation to keep digging.

Slowly Alix starts to realise that Josie has been hiding some very dark secrets, and before she knows it Josie has cajoled her way into Alix's life - and into her home.

Soon Alix begins to wonder who is Josie Fair really? And what has she done?

My Thoughts:

This book ranks alongside Gillian McAllister's Wrong Place Wrong Time in my top reads of this year. With a fairly small cast of characters, there are some absolute gems in there who will stir up all kinds of emotions in you from pity to curiosity, right through to some anger and resentment. And then some!

Josie and her husband Walter rarely dine out; however, Josie has received a small inheritance from her grandmother so decides they need to celebrate her birthday in style this year and chooses a nice gastropub in town. It's here she spots a small group of women, one of them also celebrating her birthday and while taking a bathroom break, she bumps into none other than the birthday girl herself, Alix. Totally out of character, she announces to Alix that they are birthday twins and thus discovers that they were actually born in the same hospital, on the same day. The moment passes and the two women return to their separate tables to continue their evening. But for Josie, that's just the start. The following day she finds herself searching online for Alix, keen to find out all she can about her, and it doesn't take long before a dangerous obsession forms.

Wow what a wild ride this book is! The more Alix talks to Josie as the subject of a new podcast she's producing, the less she seems to know about her. Nothing seems to fit together properly, and when she tries chatting to people who've known Josie over the years (including Josie's own mother) further red flags start waving frantically in her head. The story is told from both the women's points of view, which only serves to provide further questions to the reader rather than solving any of the issues raised.  

By the end of the book, all I could think is just how brilliant the story telling is and I felt quite shell shocked as I pondered how apt the title is. I do wish I had taken on board the prologue far more than I did, as there are clues in its content which I had clearly not picked up on as I eased myself into the early pages with my cuppa.

A twisty,turny tale with wonderfully horrible characters throughout - or are they??

One of my favourite page turners of the year so far.

 

About the Author:

LISA JEWELL was born in London in 1968.

Her first novel, Ralph's Party, was the best- selling debut novel of 1999. Since then she has written another twenty novels, most recently a number of dark psychological thrillers, including The Girls, Then She Was Gone, The Family Upstairs, The Family Remains and The Night She Disappeared, all of which were Richard & Judy Book Club picks.

Lisa is a New York Times and Sunday Times number one bestselling author who has been published worldwide in over thirty languages. She lives in north London with her husband and two daughters.

And So It Begins by Rachel Abbott @HeadlineFiction @RachelAbbott #AndSoItBegins #NetGalley #Bookreview #booktwt

 

And So It Begins by Rachel Abbott

Published by Headline

Publication Date: 15th November 2018

My thanks to the publishers for a review copy of this book, provided via NetGalley

Book Description:

WHO WILL BELIEVE YOUR STORY IF THE ONLY WITNESS IS DEAD?

Cleo knows she should be happy for her brother Mark. He's managed to find someone new after the sudden death of his first wife - but something about Evie just doesn't feel right...

When Evie starts having accidents at home, her friends grow concerned. Could Mark be causing her injuries? Called out to their cliff-top house one night, Sergeant Stephanie King finds two bodies entangled on blood-drenched sheets.

Where does murder begin? When the knife is raised to strike, or before, at the first thought of violence? As the accused stands trial, the jury is forced to consider - is there ever a proper defence for murder?

My Thoughts:

This book has a stunning setting in a beautiful home cut into a cliff face in Cornwall, a huge plate-glass window overlooking the sea. It's the home of local photographer Marcus North, his wife Evie and their daughter. The house comes with a tragic history, with Marcus' wife having been found dead at the bottom of the stairs while he was away on a commissioned photography trip. It took a few years before Marcus (real name Mark) could consider moving on with his life, his rather overbearing sister Cleo helping to support and steer him back on course, pushing him to focus on his photography studio.

History then appears to repeat itself, the book itself opening with detectives arriving at the property to find Mark dead in bed with his partner Evie covered in blood next to him, confessing to killing him. Detective Stephanie King was one of the first on scene both times tragic events have happened, and she can't help but think there's more to this family home than meets the eye. There's also an interesting backstory between the detectives which I think we will hear more about in future books.

The story follows the trial of Evie, with input from Mark's sister (who appears to be jealous of all the women in his life) and their mutual friend who has her own questions about the whole situation too. The legal representatives on both sides are both excellently drawn and the twists and turns which appear throughout the book create more questions than answers right up until the end.

As regular readers of my blog will know, I love a courtroom drama so this one was an ideal read for me which had me guessing from the first page to the last. I'll definitely be reading further instalments of this series.

About the Author:

Rachel Abbott's debut thriller, Only the Innocent, was an international bestseller, reaching the number one position in the Amazon charts both in the UK and US. This was followed by the number one bestselling novels The Back Road, Sleep Tight, Stranger Child, Nowhere Child (a short novel based on the characters from Stranger Child), Kill Me Again, The Sixth Window, Come a Little Closer, The Shape of Lies, Right Behind You and Close Your Eyes. The new thriller in the Tom Douglas series - No More Lies - was released in February 2023.

In 2018 Rachel released the first book in a new series - And So It Begins. This was followed by The Murder Game in 2020 (The Invitation in the US).

Rachel's novels have now been translated into over 20 languages and have sold over 5 million copies.

In 2015 Amazon celebrated the first five years of the Kindle in the UK, and announced that Rachel was the number one bestselling independent author over the five-year period. She was also placed fourteenth in the chart of all authors. Stranger Child was the most borrowed novel for the Kindle in the first half of 2015.

Rachel now lives in Alderney - a beautiful island off the coast of France - where she devotes her time to her love of writing fiction.

Kill For Me Kill For You by Steve Cavanagh @HeadlineFiction @SteveCavanagh_ #KillForMeKillForYou

 

Kill For Me Kill For You by Steve Cavanagh

Published by Headline Fiction

Publication Date: 3rd August 2023

Genre: Psychological Thriller

Book Description:

One dark evening in New York City, two strangers meet by chance.

Over drinks, Amanda and Wendy realise they have so much in common.

They both feel alone. They both drink alone.

And they both desperately want revenge against the two men who destroyed their families.

Together, they have the perfect plan.

If you kill for me, I'll kill for you...

My Thoughts:

Having waited patiently in the reservation queue for this book at my library, I made sure I was able to call in to collect it on my way home from work on the day I received the notification to say it was available. Hardbacks aren't really my format of choice as I like to read a few pages on my commute each day where possible, but I'd heard such good reviews of this book that I wasn't prepared to wait for the paperback to hit the shelves.

In the first chapter we meet Amanda and learn about the loss of both her 6 year old daughter and her husband. We see how Amanda intends to deal with the man who she believes caused her to lose everything she held dear in her life. The man who escaped justice just because his father was able to influence the so-called "law enforcers". The story then moves to a young woman named Ruth Gelman, who is stabbed in her home by a serial attacker who police come to nickname "Mr Blue Eyes" following the statement she gives them when she wakes up in hospital. But just how do the two threads of the tale relate to one another? 

Amanda is forced, through the consequences of her need for revenge, to attend group counselling - a prospect she manages to put off right until the very last chance her legal team can scrape together for her. There she meets another young woman named "Wendy" and against all the rules of the group, they end up going for drinks after the session. It is during this session that Wendy makes a bold suggestion: they can both get the end result they want, but without any of the risk attached: Wendy will kill Amanda's target if she agrees to do the same for her. Just like the movie "Strangers on a Train".

From thereon in the story really is quite a hair raising ride. There are multiple occasions where you want to shout at the pages to warn characters against going through with their intended actions. The ripples that spread from the decisions made by these women are far-reaching and will have your eyes wide and jaw dropping by the end.  In fact, it wasn't until I sat and properly considered the events of the last few chapters that I really appreciated just how clever Mr Cavanagh's writing is in this book. Some readers have said they prefer the Eddie Flynn books, but for me this one is my favourite of the ones I've read so far from this author.

My advice is, where possible, try to read this book in decent sized chunks as I feel you'll get far more carried along by the tension and plotting than if you read it chapter by chapter.  I'm pretty sure the ending will give you a smile of satisfaction on your face once all the pieces fully register in place.

About the Author:

Steve Cavanagh is the bestselling author of the Eddie Flynn series of novels and standalone thrillers. In 2018 The Liar won the CWA Gold Dagger for crime novel of the year and 2019 saw his novel Thirteen win the Theakston's Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year. Every one of his novels has either won or been nominated for awards internationally.

He is a former lawyer, born and brought up in Belfast, Northern Ireland, where he still lives.