Hope to Die by Cara Hunter #NetGalley @penguinrandom @PenguinUKBooks #HopetoDie #bookreview @CaraHunterBooks

 

Hope to Die by Cara Hunter

Published by Penguin General UK, Viking

Publication Date: 18th August 2022

Adam Fawley #6

Genre: Crime, Mystery & Thrillers

My thanks to the publisher for the opportunity to read this title ahead of publication via NetGalley.

Book Description:

Midnight. A callout to an isolated farm outside Oxford. A body, shot at point blank range in the kitchen.

It looks like a burglary gone wrong, but DC Adam Fawley suspects there's something more to it. Who exactly was the aggressor here?

When the police discover a connection to a high-profile case from years ago, involving a child's murder and an alleged injustice, the press go wild.

Suddenly Fawley's team are under more scrutiny than ever before. And when you dig up the past, you're sure to find a few skeletons...

My Thoughts:

One of my favourite authors, Cara Hunter keeps up her reputation as the Queen of Contemporary Crime Writers with this new instalment in the DI Fawley series. 

Hope to Die is written in what has become recognisable as Cara's signature style, with copies of police interview transcripts and social media quotes dotted in among the narrative. These give the reader little insights into the background of the story, a feel for how the public are reacting to events as they are reported which gives a real-time feel to the book. There's a great resume of who's who and how they fit in at the start of the book so if you've picked up this without having read any other books in the series, you do get a great overview of the story so far.

Adam Fawley has recently become a dad again which if you have been following the series so far you will know is a significant event in his personal life. The events which kick off the book couldn't have come at a worse time for him; the shooting of an alleged intruder at an isolated farmhouse in the depth of the night seems fairly straightforward at first but when the team attend the scene there's definitely something "off" about the whole thing. The reports of what happened are not adding up and Fawley's instincts are telling him there's more to this than meets the eye.

Once the intruder is identified things get even trickier when it becomes clear that a previous police investigation by a neighbouring force has led to a terrible miscarriage of justice. The pressure is on to establish what went wrong in the original investigation - but why won't the wronged prisoner, who has spent much of their adult life behind bars, speak out and help solve the mystery?

Although I did work out "whodunit" quite early in the book (hence the deduction to a 4 star read), the journey of explaining how things went so horribly wrong for everyone involved was so intricately plotted that I was fully invested in the characters and how things would pan out for them all.

Roll on book 7!

About the Author:

Cara Hunter is the author of the Sunday Times bestselling crime novels Close to Home, In the Dark, No Way Out, All the Rage and The Whole Truth all featuring DI Adam Fawley and his Oxford-based police team. Close to Home was a Richard and Judy Book Club pick and was shortlisted for Crime Book of the Year in the British Book Awards 2019. No Way Out was selected by the Sunday Times as one of the 100 best crime novels since 1945. And The Whole Truth was a Richard and Judy pick in 2021. Cara's novels have sold more than a million copies worldwide, and the TV rights to the series have now been acquired by the Fremantle group. She lives in Oxford, on a street not unlike those featured in her books.

The Guilty Couple by CL Taylor @callytaylor @AvonBooksUK #bookreview #booktwitter #TheGuiltyCouple

 

The Guilty Couple by CL Taylor

Published by Avon

Publication Date: 23rd June 2022

Genre: Crime/Thriller

Book Description:

Five years ago, Olivia Sutherland was convicted of plotting to murder her husband.

Now she’s finally free, Olivia has three goals. Repair her relationship with her daughter. Clear her name. And bring down her husband – the man who framed her.

Just how far is she willing to go to get what she wants? And how far will her husband go to stop her?

Because his lies run deeper than Olivia could ever have imagined – and this time it’s not her freedom that’s in jeopardy, but her life…

My Thoughts:

First of all I have to say that I deliberately bought the hardback copy of this book because I love both the "naked" version of the book (as in the picture above) and the printed dustjacket. I can't decide which I prefer, they're both nice on the shelf.

The concept of the book is excellent, with Olivia Sutherland being framed by her husband for plotting to murder him. Five years in jail has certainly toughened her up and helped her make connections with exactly the kind of people Dominic accused her of having dealings with in the first place. Perhaps Mr Sutherland didn't think things through far enough as the one thing Olivia has had plenty of during her prison sentence is time to think, and to plan: Revenge. After spending many hours locked away with actual criminals Olivia has discussed her options with them and worked out a plan. A way to make Dominic pay. And it turns out that convicted criminals are some of the best at working out how to successfully make this happen.

What Olivia hadn't calculated into the equation during her time inside though was who helped Dominic put her away in the first place. Who could possibly have made it so easy for Olivia to be convicted in the first place? It is this information which makes her plan for revenge a tad more difficult to execute. But there is also a lot more happening "behind the scenes" than Olivia could possibly have even contemplated and, luckily for her, the tip of the scales might just be heading in her direction if Dominic doesn't come good on his side of the bargain.

In trying to work out the depths to which the various players are involved, and ultimately whose side they're on, I was drawn well and truly into the story. By the end of the book I had seen sides to all the characters which were not very likeable - and some were just downright horrible. I whizzed through this book in an incredibly short amount of time by my standards and was left wondering when the next Cally Taylor book would be out as I just want more!

About the Author:

C.L. Taylor is an award winning Sunday Times bestselling author of eight gripping psychological thrillers including SLEEP, a Richard and Judy Book Club pick for autumn 2019. Her books are not a series and can be read in any order:

2014 - THE ACCIDENT / Before I Wake (U.S. title)

2015 - THE LIE

2016 - THE MISSING

2017 - THE ESCAPE

2018 - THE FEAR

2019 - SLEEP

2020 - STRANGERS

2021 - HER LAST HOLIDAY

2022 - THE GUILTY COUPLE

She has also written standalone two Young Adult thrillers: THE TREATMENT and THE ISLAND.

C.L. Taylor's books have sold in excess of a million copies, been number one on Amazon Kindle, Audible, Kobo, iBooks and Google Play and have been translated into 25 languages and optioned for TV.

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

www.cltaylorauthor.com

www.twitter.com/callytaylor

www.Instagram.com/cltaylorauthor

www.facebook.com/callytaylorauthor

www.youtube.com/cltaylorauthor

The Murders at Fleat House by Lucinda Riley @lucindariley @HarryTwittaker @panmacmillan #bookreview #TheMurdersAtFleatHouse

 

The Murders at Fleat House by Lucinda Riley

Published by PanMacmillan

Publication Date: 26th May 2022

Book Description:

The sudden death of a pupil in Fleat House at St Stephen’s – a small private boarding school in deepest Norfolk – is a shocking event that the headmaster is very keen to call a tragic accident.

But the local police cannot rule out foul play and the case prompts the return of high-flying Detective Inspector Jazmine ‘Jazz’ Hunter to the force. Jazz has her own private reasons for stepping away from her police career in London, and reluctantly agrees to front the investigation as a favour to her old boss.

Reunited with her loyal sergeant Alastair Miles, she enters the closed world of the school, and as Jazz begins to probe the circumstances surrounding Charlie Cavendish’s tragic death, events are soon to take another troubling turn.

Charlie is exposed as an arrogant bully, and those around him had both motive and opportunity to switch the drugs he took daily to control his epilepsy.

As staff at the school close ranks, the disappearance of young pupil Rory Millar and the death of an elderly classics master provide Jazz with important leads, but are destined to complicate the investigation further. As snow covers the landscape and another suspect goes missing, Jazz must also confront her personal demons . . .

Then, a particularly grim discovery at the school makes this the most challenging murder investigation of her career. Because Fleat House hides secrets darker than even Jazz could ever have imagined . . .

My Thoughts:

Never having read any of Lucinda's other books I really didn't know what to expect. But I was certainly not disappointed - well, only because I realised that unfortunately this book will not be followed up with any sequels as the world lost an incredible writer when Lucinda sadly lost her battle with cancer in 2021.

The Murders at Fleat House is neatly plotted around the deaths of school bully Charlie Cavendish, who could also charm the birds from the trees where most of the masters were concerned. His demise is shortly followed by the apparent suicide of a teacher at the school. DI Jazz Hunter is brought in to investigate and immediately smells that something is off with the whole school. Staff closing ranks or being evasive, an incompetent head teacher who is more concerned about the public image of the school and how it will reflect on him and then the arrival of Jazz's ex-husband who takes it upon himself to take control of the investigation and almost derails the whole thing.

There is however far more than initially meets the eye in this case. With her eye for detail and a strong gut instinct for the truth Jazz luckily manages to peel away the layers and get to the crux of what has gone on at the school - and there are many layers to probe but without becoming overwhelming. There is also a great red herring which very nearly leads both the reader and the investigation heading up a blind alley but it's best I say no more on that one as I don't want to give any spoilers.

Overall a good storyline, some interesting characters (I have my favourites, but I'll let you decide who they were when you read this for yourself) and a suitably satisfying ending. If only Lucinda had penned us some more instalments...

About the Author:

Lucinda Riley was born in 1965 in Ireland, and after an early career as an actress in film, theatre and television, wrote her first book aged twenty-four. Her books have been translated into thirty-seven languages and continue to strike an emotional chord with all cultures around the world. The Seven Sisters series specifically has become a global phenomenon, creating its own genre, and there are plans to create a seven-season TV series.

Her books have been nominated for numerous awards, including the Italian Bancarella prize, The Lovely Books award in Germany, and the Romantic Novel of the Year award. In 2020 she received the Dutch Platinum award for sales over 300,000 copies for a single novel in one year – an award last won by J K Rowling for Harry Potter.

In collaboration with her son Harry Whittaker, she also devised and wrote a series of books for children called ‘The Guardian Angels’ series.

Though she brought up her four children mostly in Norfolk in England, in 2015 she fulfilled her dream of buying a remote farmhouse in West Cork, Ireland, which she always felt was her spiritual home, and indeed this was where her last five books were written.

Lucinda was diagnosed with cancer in 2017 and died on June 11th 2021, surrounded by her family.

The Good Husband by Abigail Osborne @Abigail_Author @Bloodhoundbook #bookreview #booktwitter #TheGoodHusband

 

The Good Husband by Abigail Osborne

Published by Bloodhound Books

Publication Date: 27th July 2022

Genre: Psychological Thriller

My thanks to the author for the opportunity to read this book ahead of publication. All thoughts and opinions given here are my own and unbiased.

Book Description:

A shopping trip on Black Friday shoppers leads to Elsie’s tragic death—and leaves Jack, her husband of thirty-seven years, devastated. Unable to cope with his grief, he flees to his childhood home to be with his father, an overbearing religious zealot who puts his faith before everything—even his son.

Jack’s father convinces him that Elsie had not died in vain. Her life was sacrificed to give Jack the strength he needs for his mission: to rid the world of greed. Embittered by his loss, Jack soon sets out to punish the depraved and eradicate the sinners from the world. The greedy killed his wife, and now they must pay. But how far is Jack willing to go to fulfil God’s plan—and how many innocent people will die?

My Thoughts:

I haven't been so conflicted in my thoughts as I have read a book in a long time! Abbie Osborne has had me questioning my opinions on the actions and thoughts of the main character Jack on every page of her new book 'The Good Husband'. I have sympathised with him during his early years, celebrated his happiness as he found love with Elsie, then hated him as he took action against those he judged to be greedy members of our society. If ever a book could be called an emotional rollercoaster this would be it. But was I as hasty in my judgment of Jack as he was in choosing who should pay for their sins? I'll let you decide as you take the journey too.

There are going to be those who could possibly take offence at how religion is presented in this storyline, however I feel that the characters balance one another out wonderfully. My advice is to please read the whole story, then consider how you feel. Jack's father is depicted as extremely devout and follows the word of the bible absolutely as he was taught it; however Elsie, who follows exactly the same religious text, has a far more generous and caring view of the world and her treatment of people shines out as an example of how faith can bring love to both individuals and a community. Anyone who knows me well will know I'm not a huge fan of religion and I did have concerns at the start that maybe I wasn't the best person to be reviewing this book, but by following Jack's story to its end I discovered how the subject had influenced his personality. 

It's difficult to review this book without giving too much away about its conclusion, but I was totally stunned by the closing chapters. I really didn't expect the book to take the direction it did and a lot of my opinions about Jack and his family changed within just a few paragraphs. The fact that I hadn't seen anything coming proves to me what a talented writer we have in Abbie and I look forward with excitement to seeing where her writing will lead us to next.

About the Author:

Abigail Osborne is an author and also runs her own business supporting students and people in the workplace with their disabilities. Abigail is originally from the Lake District but moved to the West Midlands for University where she completed an English Literature & History degree. She lives in Worcestershire with her husband and is a board game fanatic, owning over 70 games. She has a huge collection of books, plays the violin, and is currently learning the piano.

You can follow her on

Twitter @Abigail_Author

Facebook: abigailosborneauthor

Tiktok: abigailosbornewrites

Instagram: abigailosborneauthor

Website: www.abigailosborne.co.uk

An Almost Perfect Holiday by Lucy Diamond @panmacmillan @LDiamondAuthor #AnAlmostPerfectHoliday #bookreview

 

An Almost Perfect Holiday by Lucy Diamond

Published by Pan MacMillan

Publication Date 28th May 2020 (paperback)

Book Description:

It was supposed to be the perfect summer escape . . .

Down in Cornwall, the sun is shining and a row of three holiday cottages are fully booked. Em’s in the first one, with her blended family – fingers crossed they’re still together by the end of the fortnight. Maggie’s in the second cottage with her bolshie teenage daughter, hoping that some sea air and sunshine will reunite them. And then Olivia arrives in need of sanctuary, and perhaps the chance to work through the secret that has weighed on her for so long.

As the lives of the three women become tangled together, it’s not long before everyone’s wondering – will this holiday turn out to be a scorcher . . . or simply too hot to handle?

My Thoughts:

This book was my lucky charity shop find for the summer.  I was using a short cut through a local shopping mall when I spotted this one in the basket of books outside. Suffice to say it didn't stay there long and was soon on its way home with me!

Meet Em, Olivia and Maggie; three mums who are all having their own struggles with life and all it chooses to throw at them. They all feel they are failing at parenting in their own way yet by the end of a fortnight in Cornwall around the pool they might just be re-evaluating things.

Single mum Em is just putting a toe back into the dating scene and has met George, dishy single dad to 7 year old Seren. Olivia has 3 year old twins and is wondering whether life will ever get any easier as husband Mack spends so little time at home she's struggling to cope without a network of close family to lean on. Maggie has brought up teenager Amelia single handedly since her husband walked out years ago and whereas the two of them were close during Amelia's childhood, the teenage years are proving a bit more of a challenge.

The three women find themselves bonding around the pool at the holiday cottages they are staying at in the south-west of England.  The setting sounds idyllic - especially as they are lucky with the British summer weather most of the time they are there - but is a drive down the A-roads of Devon and Cornwall enough to get away from the stresses of everyday life?

I enjoyed this book immensely, reading about other parents having issues with their kids and trying to blend families together who know very little about each other. Life's never easy and no two families are the same so there are always going to be bumps along the way. However, despite differences in people's circumstances, there are common denominators across the board: as mums we often feel like we're not parenting as well as the next person. This story takes a look into the imperfect world of every family and shows that quite often we are all just winging it - or as Izzie finds out, you just have to "fake it till you make it".

Lucy Diamond has me craving a gorgeous staycation in the south-west although that's probably because my kids are young adults and far less likely to cause me the stresses that Em, Olivia and Maggie are experiencing! This one is a great holiday read so if you do get chance, pop a copy in your suitcase.

About the Author:

Lucy Diamond grew up in Nottingham and went to university in Leeds where she studied English Literature. After graduating, she lived in Oxford, London and Brighton, working in publishing and at the BBC. She now lives in beautiful Bath where she writes full-time.

As a Sunday Times bestselling author with sixteen novels, two digital novellas and a Quick Read under her belt, Lucy writes with warmth and honesty about the joy and surprises, as well as the complications, that love, family and friendships can bring. Her seventeenth novel, Anything Could Happen, was released as an ebook in December last year and published in hardback January 2022.

Lucy's website is www.lucydiamond.co.uk She is on Twitter @LDiamondAuthor, has a Facebook page at www.facebook.com/LucyDiamondAuthor and is on instagram @lucydiamondwrites.

One of the Girls by Lucy Clarke #Netgalley @lucyclarkebooks @HarperCollinsUK #OneOfTheGirls

One of the Girls by Lucy Clarke

Published by Harper Collins 

Publication Date: 26th May 2022

Genre: Womens Fiction

My thanks to publisher Harper Collins for giving me access to this book. The opinions I give here are my own and unbiased.

Book Description:

WE WERE DYING FOR A HOLIDAY

The six of us arrived on that beautiful Greek island dreaming of sun-drenched beaches and blood orange sunsets, ready to lose ourselves in the wild freedom of a weekend away with friends.

On the first night we swam under a blanket of stars.

On the second night the games began on our clifftop terrace.

On the third night the idyll cracked, secrets and lies whispering on the breeze.

And by the final night there was a body on the rocks below . . .

WHO WOULD KILL FOR IT?

My Thoughts:

Ever since I read Lucy Clarke's early book 'The Blue' (recently rebranded as 'No Escape') I have followed her work avidly. This latest book 'One of the Girls' was an auto buy for me, I didn't even need to read the "blurb" to know I would love it.  With both wedding and holiday seasons in full flow right now this is a book you need to have packed ready for your down time.

Lexi and Ed are getting married. The perfect excuse for Lexi's best friend Bella to leap into action and arrange the best hen event in history. Unfortunately for Bella things start to go off course right from the airport terminal as she and partner Fen bump into one of Bella's former colleagues who blurts out information about Bella which she's been keeping close to her chest. This is the first of the cracks to appear over the holiday, each getting bigger and more traumatic to the group. 

Every one of the girls in the friendship group is battling with some kind of secret or life event which they haven't shared with the others, whether it's recent or historical. Gregarious Bella goes headlong into situations without thinking through how her reaction will affect anyone else, then goes into a period of self-loathing which she reflects onto other people which just makes things even worse. The revelations just keep coming right the way through the book and the reader is kept in the dark as to who will become the victim of the story as described in the synopsis. 

Lucy has described the scenery and overall atmosphere of the Greek island villa and local town beautifully, so if you don't want to take a trip to the area by the end of the book I would be amazed. Just maybe don't choose it as the destination for your hen event!

About the Author:

Lucy Clarke has a first class degree in English Literature, and is a passionate traveller and diarist. She has worked as a presenter of social enterprise events, a creative writing workshop leader, and she is now a full-time novelist. Lucy is married to James Cox, a professional windsurfer, and together they spend their winters travelling and their summers at their home on the south coast of England.

One Good Thing by Alexandra Potter #bloggersborrowbooks #hardback #libraryloan @40somethingfkup @panmacmillan #OneGoodThing

 

One Good Thing by Alexandra Potter

Published by Pan

Publication Date: 9th December 2021

Genre: Womens Fiction, Humour

Book Description:

In life, nothing is certain. Just when you think you have it all figured out, something can happen to change the course of everything . . .

Liv Brooks is still in shock. Newly-divorced and facing an uncertain future, she impulsively swaps her London Life for the sweeping hills of the Yorkshire Dales, determined to make a fresh start. But fresh starts are harder than they look and feeling lost and lonely she decides to adopt Harry, an old dog from the local shelter, to keep her company.

But Liv soon discovers she isn’t the only one in need of a new beginning. On their daily walks around the village, they meet Valentine, an old man who suffers from loneliness who sits by the window and Stanley, a little boy who is scared of everyone, hides behind the garden gate and Maya, a teenager who is angry at everyone and everything. But slowly things start to change…

Utterly relatable, hilarious and heart-breakingly honest, this is a novel about friendship, finding happiness and living the life unexpected. And how when everything falls apart, all you need is one good thing to turn your life around and make it worth living again.

My Thoughts:

My first thought about this book is that it is a big hug on paper. Yes it is perhaps a little predictable: middle aged woman gets dumped by her husband in favour of the younger, more glamorous model, moves to a new town and makes a new life for herself. Can't argue there, but that would be a harsh summary as there is SO much more to this book which had me cheering Liv, the said middle aged former teacher, on to the new improved version of herself. Liv is such a lovely lady, she really deserved better than all that life in London had dealt her. 

The introduction of delightful Stanley, the little boy whose view is that everything in life is scary unless he can categorise it somehow on to his list of things to expect and in what order, is just the start of Liv's new friendship group. Valentine keeps himself to himself, another character struggling with the challenges life has thrown his way until a homemade bird feeder causes him and Liv to strike up an unlikely friendship. The common denominator which ties these three characters together is Liv's decision to adopt the oldest dog at the rescue centre, Harry. After a throw away comment from her friend back in London about her getting a dog as a loyal companion instead of a new man in her life, Liv decides that maybe it's not such a bad idea; an opinion she has second thoughts about when Harry decides to wreck her living room while she attempts to get her social life back on track.

This is a story which will have you chuckling, cheering and crying at depending on which page you're on. The characters are as diverse in personality as they are in age groups but I can guarantee you will have fallen in love with them all by the final page. Well, maybe with the exception of Liv's ex-husband. He's still a rat. But given that it was down to him that Liv rediscovered who she really was, maybe I might just forgive him.

About the Author:

Alexandra Potter is the bestselling author of romantic comedy fiction novels in the UK, including Me and Mr Darcy. These titles have sold in twenty-two territories and achieved worldwide sales of more than one million copies (making the bestseller charts in the UK, US, Germany, Czech Republic, Slovenia and Serbia).

Yorkshire born and raised, Alex currently lives in South-West London with Mr California and their Bosnian rescue dog and when she’s not spending time writing or travelling, she’s spending far too much time on Instagram being reminded that she should be exercising regularly, drinking enough water, practising mindfulness and feeling blessed.