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

The New Home by Chris Merritt #TheNewHome @bookouture #NetGalley @DrCJMerritt #newbook #review

 

The New Home by Chris Merritt

Published by Bookouture

Publication Date: 7th September 2021

Genre: Psychological Thriller

Book Description:

Freya loves her new home on a quiet suburban street. And her beautiful neighbour Emily is everything she’s ever wanted in a best friend. Finally, she has somebody to share her secrets with over a glass of wine. But as Freya watches her new friend setting the table for dinner one evening, she sees something shocking that makes her think that Emily’s life might not be as perfect as it seems. Days later, Emily and her daughter vanish…

When you meet Emily’s husband, you will think you know what he’s hiding.

You will ask yourself whether Emily and Freya really did meet by chance.

You will think you know what happened to Emily and her little girl the night they went missing.

But when you discover the truth, it will shake you to your core and you will lie awake at night wondering if you can ever really trust the people in the house next door…

My Thoughts:

Documentary maker Freya and fiance Jack, a hospital doctor, have moved from London to their 'doer-upper' of a property, one which Freya has great ideas for. However all her passion for making the property her forever home fizzle when she gets distracted by a more pressing desire: to find her missing neighbour and her daughter.
It's only a few months after they've moved in when Emily and Thea go missing; Freya and Emily are beginning to form a nice friendship, however Emily's husband Michael is a different kettle of fish. Freya finds him stand offish, if not downright unpleasant. But is Freya imagining the look which seems to pass between Jack and Emily when they first meet - it seems like they recognise each other. But that can't be right can it?
Frustrated by the lack of progress and police interest in the case, Freya decides to step up and be the one to seek out the fate of her friend. She sets up a social media page asking for information - but could this be leading Freya herself into danger? As the story moves along, we find out there is more to Freya's past than we were initially aware of. Jack is dismissive of Freya's concerns, the detective in charge of the case even more so. Why is nobody helping her, why don't they care?
We follow Freya's analysis of each person close to Emily, her thoughts and plans to discover the truth. I have to admit to thinking long and hard about the possibilities of what could have happened to the girls when I wasn't actually reading the book. The author certainly put enough scenarios out there as to who could have ill intentions - but I didn't see the actual outcome panning out as it did. I had question marks in my own mind about some of the characters, but bigger doubts about some of the wild accusations that Freya was coming up with. 
Chris Merritt has plotted and presented some excellent plot twists in this novel which has enticed me into looking into more of his books for the future. His characters are so nicely created that we are presented with just enough information about them to make them credible suspects but without giving away too much of their part in the plot. Everyone's a suspect!
Suspense, creepy houses and suspicious characters abound in this excellent thriller. It will have the hairs on the back of your neck standing up, I guarantee!

From the Author:

Hello! I'm a British author whose crime thrillers combine psychology, suspense, and characters you care about.

All my novels are set in London, where I live. My first trilogy starred Zac Boateng and Kat Jones, two detectives motivated by family, who tackle organised crime and police corruption. LAST WITNESS, the second Boateng and Jones book, reached #13 in the UK Kindle chart in 2019.

My second series features detective Dan Lockhart - an ex-soldier with a missing wife - and psychologist Dr Lexi Green, an American living in London. These novels are darker, more psychological serial-killer cases, with romantic relationships as a central theme.

I began writing fiction in 2014, after previous careers as a diplomat, based in Iraq and Jerusalem, and later as a psychologist working with victims and perpetrators of crime. I specialised in treating Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), which sparked my interest in telling stories about how people cope when faced with extreme adversity.

Now, I spend most of my time writing novels and drinking coffee while *thinking* about writing novels. When I'm not writing, I love climbing and playing basketball.

You can find out more about my work at www.cjmerritt.co.uk or follow me on Twitter @DrCJMerrit

Hot Desk by Zara Stoneley #NetGalley @ZaraStoneley @OneMoreChapter_ @HarperCollinsUK #HotDesk

 

Hot Desk by Zara Stoneley

Published by HarperCollins UK, One More Chapter

Publication Date: 31st August 2021

Genre: Romance

My thanks to the publisher who allowed me an advance copy of this book via NetGalley in return for my honest review.

Book Description:

Same desk, different days. A post-it note is just the beginning…

Alice loves her job and wants to keep it – whatever the price. But then she’s told the company is switching to flexible working and hot desking…Alice’s desk might look a mess, but she knows exactly where everything is. Or she did. Until she found out she’s going to share it with the most annoying guy in the office.
 
Jamie can work from anywhere. He’s quite happy to sweep his work life into a box at the end of the working day. But can sharing a desk with Alice be as much fun as teasing her in person?
 
With no option but to try it and see, will their relationship turn into open warfare or will it ever progress beyond a post-it note?

My Thoughts:

What a fab book, so relatable for many who find themselves in exactly the same situation as the main characters Alice & Jamie, working from home due to the covid pandemic then just as they think some semblance of normality is coming back - Bang! Hotdesking! 

I love Alice's character, all she wants is a little piece of the world to call her own after sharing with a big family. Even her 'own' room in the house she shares is invaded by her annoying sister who has zero boundaries in knowing what is acceptable and what is well and truly over the line. So when  her 'own' desk at the office is lost to the Dragon Lady's concept to save money and space - hotdesking- and she finds herself drawing the short straw having to share with cocky office heart throb Jamie, her little safe haven feels lost.

The first half of this book did come to feel a little repetitive with Alice going over and over the issues she has with Jamie, her sister, her obnoxious boyfriend who wouldn't go away, yada yada yada. Then all  of a sudden the book comes to life. Is Jamie really the extroverted office clown she thinks he is? Can she actually start setting boundaries and getting people to respect them? The humble Post-It note plays a fabulous part in this book in a similar vein as in The Flat Share by Beth O'Leary but to a lesser extent. 

My worry for this book is that it will lose a lot of readers with being too longwinded before the action kicks in. Alice can be quite annoying with her inner monologues and does harp on quite a lot about needing her own space. The second half is SO good that it seems a shame that many won't get to enjoy it as they will have abandoned the book way before they reach it. 

So in conclusion: a book of two halves. Please persevere with the start, you will be rewarded!

About the Author:

USA Today bestselling author Zara Stoneley was born in a small village in the UK. She wanted to be a female James Herriot, a spy, or an author when she grew up.

After many (many) years, and many different jobs, her dream of writing a bestseller came true, and more than half a million copies of her books have now been sold worldwide.

She writes about friendship, dreams, love, and happy ever afters, and hopes that her tales make you laugh a lot, cry a little, and occasionally say 'ahhh'.

Zara now lives in a Cheshire village with her family, a lively cockapoo, a cocker spaniel puppy and a very bossy (and slightly evil) cat. Her bestselling novels include 'Bridesmaids', 'No One Cancels Christmas', 'The Wedding Date', 'The Holiday Swap', 'Summer with the Country Village Vet', 'Blackberry Picking at Jasmine Cottage' and the popular Tippermere series - 'Stable Mates', 'Country Affairs' and 'Country Rivals'.

Website: http://www.zarastoneley.com
Twitter: @ZaraStoneley
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ZaraStoneley

The Family Upstairs by Lisa Jewell @lisajewelluk #TheFamilyUpstairs @arrowbooksuk @penguinrandom

 

The Family Upstairs by Lisa Jewell

Published by Arrow (Penguin RandomHouse)

Publication Date: 12th December 2019

Genre: Psychological Thriller

Book Description:

In a large house in London's fashionable Chelsea, a baby is awake in her cot. Well-fed and cared for, she is happily waiting for someone to pick her up.

In the kitchen lie three decomposing corpses. Close to them is a hastily scrawled note.

They've been dead for several days.

Who has been looking after the baby?

And where did they go?

Two entangled families.
A house with the darkest of secrets.

My Thoughts:

I'm rather late to the party on this one. The world and his wife seems to have read this before me, and not only that there's news of a sequel as I read it. 

I have to admit I have passed over this book a few times in my search for my next read purely due to the whole cult theme which is the basis for the novel; it's a subject I have to be in the right mindset to read about. Although in this book it is less of an obvious cult which takes over the property in Chelsea, more of a very devious, manipulative man taking advantage of an extremely vulnerable couple.

There are two timeframes within the book: the present day with a young lady named Libby inheriting the aforementioned property in Cheyne Walk, Chelsea and the historical background to the house in the late 1980s when Henry and Martina Lamb bought it and the ensuing horrors which unfolded. There is also another thread in the present day with Lucy and her children living a hand to mouth existence in the Cote d'Azur; homeless and struggling to get by it's left to the reader to try and piece together how this little unfortunate family unit fits in.

I have to admit I kept getting Libby and Lucy confused - I do wish authors would use completely different names for their characters as it doesn't take much for me to get muddled, especially at the beginning of a book where I'm settling the characters in to my head and getting the foundations of the storyline fixed in place. Once I got past that issue I have to say I didn't really gel with any of the people involved. On one hand I felt sorry for them and their circumstances/misfortunes but on the other I needed them to take responsibility for what they were doing. And then there's David Thomsen, evil personified. I cannot tell you how much I disliked this man. Therefore a character well-written. I don't think the man did a nice deed throughout his time in the book and I have to admit to wanting to hug Henry for his determination in trying to remove David from the house. It was just unfortunate that the knock on effect had such dire consequences.  

I'm not sure about the ending of the book, it all seemed to fit a bit too nicely for all that had gone before and it is only the fact that I know the sequel is coming which makes me happy with its conclusion. It doesn't feel like the end, more of a pause, and I am so glad that Lisa Jewell is giving us more to the story to perhaps give us a more comfortable closure for the story. I can't wait for The Family Upstairs 2 and certainly won't be leaving it on the shelf as long after publication as I did book one!

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 eighteen novels, most recently a number of dark psychological thrillers, including The Girls, Then She Was Gone and The Family Upstairs (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 twenty-five languages. She lives in north London with her husband, two teenage daughters, one cat, one guinea pig and the best dog in the world.

The Anniversary by Laura Marshall #NetGalley @BooksSphere #TheAnniversary @laurajm8

 

The Anniversary by Laura Marshall

Publication Date 5th August 2021

Published by Little, Brown Book Group UK, (Sphere)

Genre: General Fiction

Book Description:

Eleven murders. Twenty-five years ago.
Are some truths better left buried?

On 15th June 1994, Travis Green - husband, father, upstanding citizen - walked through the streets of Hartstead and killed eleven of his neighbours. The final victim was four-year-old Cassie Colman's father.

As the twenty-five year anniversary approaches, Cassie would rather forget the past - even as her mother struggles to remember it at all. Then something hidden in her mother's possessions suggests those eleven murders were not what everyone believes.

Once Cassie suspects she's been lied to about the most important event of her life, she can't stop digging up the past.

But someone will do anything to keep it buried . . .

My Thoughts:

This book looks at tragedies which affect not just one person in a town but the whole community. Just about everyone knows someone touched by the actions of Travis Green that day 25 years ago, when he took his gun and seemingly randomly shot and killed 11 locals including himself. The quarter century anniversary is coming up and the echoes from the past are getting louder - but someone wants them quitened. Who would that be and why?
Cassie has returned from her life in London with a young baby and no partner, home to her mum whose dementia is going downhill fast. Cassie had hoped to be able to manage for sometime yet but it is quickly apparent that she's going to need more support than she'd thought. Struggling with the demands of a new baby and with no other family or friends to call on, life is taking its toll on her. Then when journalist Alison Patchett approaches her for her slant on the anniversary of the shootings, Cassie wonders whether coming back to her home town was a good idea.
But help comes in strange guises and Cassie is soon re-evaluating the relationships she has begun to form.
Although the main subject of this book is unpleasant the story is well written and sympathetic to some really quite sensitive issues. There's a lot more to it than the story of a small town shooting.
Overall I enjoyed the book and was keen to get back to the story whenever I had to put it down. I wasn't sure who was to be trusted and there are some nice subtle little twists which I wasn't expecting all throughout the story.  People aren't always who you expect them to be - and that can lead to good things as well as bad. It's just a case of working out who's worth investing in.

About the Author:

Laura Marshall is the Sunday Times top ten and Kindle No. 1 bestselling author of three psychological thrillers. Her first two novels, FRIEND REQUEST and THREE LITTLE LIES have sold over half a million copies in the UK and been translated into twenty-five languages.

She grew up in Wiltshire, studied English at the University of Sussex and currently lives in Kent with her family.

For more information visit Laura's website www.lauramarshall.co.uk or find her at www.facebook.com/lauramarshallauthor or on Twitter @laurajm8.