Our Holiday by Louise Candlish #paperbackbook #bookreview @louise_candlish

 

Our Holiday by Louise Candlish

Published by HQ

Publication Date: 4th July 2024

Book Description:

Charlotte and Perry long for summers at Cliff View, their gorgeous holiday home overlooking the turquoise waters of Pine Ridge. And now that city friends Amy and Linus have bought a property nearby, they plan lazy weeks of sun, sea and sipping rosé on Charlotte’s summerhouse veranda.

But there’s trouble in paradise…

A rising tide of resentment towards second-home owners is heading their way and small acts of criminal damage are escalating into something more menacing. By the end of the summer, families and friendships will be torn apart and Pine Ridge will be known for more than its sun-drenched beaches.

It will be known for murder…

My Thoughts:

I think most people, if they were really honest with themselves, would love to own a bolthole by the coast - especially when it's in a location as gorgeous as the Jurassic coast in the south of England. The fictional village of Pine Ridge is one of those places but with the divide between rich and poor widening,  resentment is building between the locals who cannot afford even the most basic of accommodation in the area, and the second home owners who rarely use their holiday homes except in the height of the season leaving them standing empty for months on end. This has led to a protest group being set up named NJFA (Not Just For August) - think of the 'Just Stop Oil' protestors and apply their methods to a local area where tourists flock. 

I found this book to be quite thought-provoking, and could see valid points made by both sides of the argument regarding second homes. Fortunately the storyline didn't get too preachy despite some strong opinions and dubious means of expression by certain characters. Boundaries between the locals and the younger generation of visitors blur as the book progresses, leading to the ultimate tragedy which features in the prologue. It soon becomes clear that someone was in the wrong place at the wrong time - but who they were and how it all came about is far from evident.

Between the over-privileged families who own the second homes and the struggling locals just making a stand to be able to live in the area they grew up, there are some interesting (and some quite obnoxious) characters. But would any of them deliberately want to take a life? The local detectives who are faced with sorting out the ensuing chaos certainly have a tricky task on their hands. 

This book proved to be an interesting study of human behaviour and a great whodunnit all rolled into one. The setting is so beautiful that you can understand why people want to live there, whatever their personal circumstances. The perfect book to pop in your luggage for your staycation.

About the Author:

Louise Candlish is the bestselling author of 16 novels and her books are published all over the world. Her book Our House was adapted into a major four-part ITV drama and won the 2019 British Book Awards Crime and Thriller Book of the Year.

She lives in a South London neighbourhood not unlike the one in her books, with her husband, daughter (when she's not at uni), and a fox-red Labrador called Bertie who is the apple of her eye.

For more book news (and doting pictures of Bertie, regularly updated!), catch her on Twitter @louise_candlish, on Instagram @louisecandlish or facebook.com/LouiseCandlishAuthor.

First Wife's Shadow by Adele Parks #librarybook @adeleparks #bookreview #firstwifesshadow @HQstories

 

First Wife's Shadow by Adele Parks

Published by HQ

Publication Date: 4th July 2024

Book Description:

HIS FIRST WIFE DIED. NOW THERE'S A VACANCY…

When Emma meets Matthew, a kind, handsome widower, he seems to be just what she needs.

Yet as their relationship moves fast, Emma’s friends worry Emma might be exploited. She’s a rich woman after all.

Emma doesn’t care Matthew has no money. But as the memory of his perfect first wife hangs over them, Emma does have one tiny doubt.

If Matthew’s wife hadn’t died, he wouldn’t be with her. And Emma wonders if she’s second best. Can she ever fill the dead woman’s shoes?

As jealousy and suspicion blossom between Emma and Matthew, events take a darker, dangerous turn.

Suddenly Emma doesn’t know who she can trust. Her friends? Her husband? Or even herself…?

My Thoughts:

The prologue to this book tells us that someone involved in the story dies. We know not who or why. All we do know is that they took their last breath crushed between a car and a tree. An unfortunate accident or a deliberate act? Ultimately a jury will need to decide.

Emma is a wealthy lady, CEO of a world leading company in the renewable energy field. Matthew is a freelance photographer, a recent widower trying to find a way forward after losing his wife. Well, that's what he tells Emma when they meet at conference where Emma is the speaker. But there's a lot more to Matthew than meets the eye, a fact that Emma's best friend Heidi intuits quite early on.

The story is split into two parts, the first is from Emma's point of view then on the turn of a page a new voice takes over and, in my opinion, that's where the book really begins to earn its stripes. Emma's narration of things really just sets the scene and I was just starting to feel like I was losing interest when this new voice stepped in, the action began to happen and didn't let up right through to the end.

This book certainly had me asking myself how I would react in the circumstances Emma and Matthew found themselves, but I suppose one never knows until you're faced with them. Another thing I realised is that none of us really know each other's history and very much take people at face value, a dangerous thing to do, as those involved in this story find out!

The characters are all excellent (the nice ones and the nasties) - I loved Emma's friendship group of Heidi and Gina with their associated families - they all have plenty of depth and background to them. The descriptions of Emma's home are gorgeous and I had no problem picturing the scenes set there in my head especially when events took a darker turn and the house and its woodland setting just seemed to add to the sinister atmosphere. There are clues to the overall story right the way through and while I managed to pick up on a few of them, others managed to elude me.

My recommendation is that you work your way through the first half and the second part will reward you in spades.

About the Author:

Adele Parks MBE was born in North Yorkshire. She is the author of 23 bestselling novels including the Sunday Times Number One bestsellers Lies Lies Lies and Just My Luck. Over five million UK editions of her work have been sold and her books have been translated into 31 different languages. Adele's novel The Image of You has just been released as a major motion movied and she has several other titles optioned and in development including One Last Secret and Both of You. She is an ambassador of the National Literacy Trust and the Reading Agency: two charities that promote literacy in the UK. Adele has lived in Botswana, Italy and London and is now settled in Guildford, Surrey. In 2022 she was awarded an MBE for her services to literature.

Find Adele on X @adeleparks, Instagram @adele_parks, Facebook @OfficialAdeleParks, TikTok @Adeleparksauthor or visit www.adeleparks.com.

The Dead Friend Project by Joanna Wallace #NetGalley #TheDeadFriendProject @JoWallaceAuthor @ViperBooks

 

The Dead Friend Project by Joanna Wallace

Published by Viper Books

Publication Date: 11th July 2024

My thanks to the publisher for allowing me access to this book via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own and are unbiased.

Book Description:

Things haven't been going well for Beth. Her husband has left her for one of her friends. Her fellow school mums judge her for swearing too much and not shifting the baby weight. And now she's stuck in A&E after her son fell off the climbing wall on the first day of school. In fact, things haven't been going well for Beth since Charlotte died - her best friend, a favourite at the school pick-ups and the only person to ever run an interesting PTA meeting. But after being hit by a car while on an ill-timed evening jog, Charlotte is no longer there to help Beth pick up the pieces of her increasingly difficult life. That is, until Beth discovers that Charlotte left her toddler alone in the house during that fatal run. The Charlotte she knew would never do something so irresponsible, and suddenly Beth is questioning whether Charlotte's death was really an accident. 

With a newfound purpose and a glass of wine in hand, it's time for Beth to uncover what really happened to her best friend. And what better place to start than the circle of chatty school mums, who can't be as perfect as they pretend. But which of them is hiding something? Beth's determined to find out. Once she's put the kids to bed, of course... 

My Thoughts:

The characters in this book will be instantly recognisable to anyone who has ever run the gauntlet of the school run. It's hard to believe that the majority of schools across the land has the same mix and dynamic of playground politics and cliques of people involved. There's the PTA clan, those mums who are perfectly turned out every trip in all the right gear with their faultless hair and make up, and the sweary mum who feels like she will never make the grade or be accepted into any of the established groups.

Jo Wallace has captured the scenario perfectly and underscored within it a thread of humour which will have you laughing out loud throughout. Beth is desperately trying to hold her shattered life together without the two people she thought she would have beside her forever: her husband Rowan and her best friend Charlotte. With 3 kids and a loveable dog to contend with every day, she's rarely the priority. Then one day she overhears something which gets her mind working overtime and gives her a project to focus on. Who Killed Charlotte and Why? 

There are a workable number of characters in this book so I never felt overwhelmed by who was who, but there are enough suspects for Beth to weave into the mix and form motives for. By the end I think most people have been put under the microscope but will Beth be satisfied that she has solved the mystery?

This book drew me in and kept me amused. I don't recommend reading it in public though unless you want to attract attention to yourself because I promise you won't be able to hold those giggles in. 

About the Author:

Joanna Wallace studied law before working as a commercial litigation solicitor in London. She now runs a family business and lives in Buckinghamshire with her husband, four children, and two dogs. She was partly inspired to write You'd Look Better as a Ghost, her debut, following her father's diagnosis of early onset dementia.

The Clique by Rhiannon Barnsley #NetGalley #TheClique #bookreview @RhiBarnsley @0neMoreChapter_ @HarperCollinsUK

 

The Clique by Rhiannon Barnsley

Published by Harper Collins UK, One More Chapter

Publication Date: 1st August 2024

Book Description:

There’s only one way to join their society. If someone leaves, or dies…

High-flying lawyer Sara O’Neil had it all; the career, the money, the prestige.

And then she jumped to her death.

Cassandra Harlow never expected to see her friend fall from their office rooftop. Someone knows what really happened. But the only people who might know the truth are a secret women-only society, Inside, whose promise is to fast-track your career.

But if Sara was part of it and they helped facilitate her rise to the top, could they also be the reason she came crashing down to earth?

My Thoughts:

This book literally starts and ends with jaw dropping situations. The meat in between those two events is equally as shocking but puts them into context, and I for one read the last sentence of the book with a buzz of a satisfied smile - does that make me a bad person? I'll let you decide when you've read the book.

The day to day workings of legal companies is outside of most people's knowledge base. Unless you've worked at one of them you're unlikely to have stepped behind the scenes. They are usually very well-presented, smart, shiny places with highly qualified,  expensively dressed professional staff. But would you really want to be one of their number? It is well known that the hours are long, the pressures unbelievable - the need for things to be done in a timely manner with impeccable attention to detail is paramount. But what if you worked your backside off, only to be overlooked when it came to promotion purely because you were born the wrong gender? It's been happening for decades in the professions, the Old Boys' Network and Gentlemen's clubs ensuring that only the "right" people get the top jobs. In other words...Men Only. But all this is beginning to change, but only if you have access to The Clique. A mysterious, members-only society which helps the cream of the crop of women professionals get a Louboutin-clad toe into all the places and jobs that have previously only been offered to the men. But what is the price of success? Would you be willing to pay it?

This novel takes us on a nail-biting journey as Cass endeavours to find out what happened to her friend and colleague Sara O'Neil. She puts herself in ever more dangerous situations, even onto the radar of the local police as her investigations get closer to the truth. But who can she trust and will she reach the prize before someone decides she's gone far enough and takes her out of the game?

I thoroughly enjoyed this book which looks at the not-so-attractive underbelly of the corporate law world, and personally I think it has the best last sentence of a book that I've read in a long time. An excellent finale Miss Barnsley. Bravo!

My thanks to the publisher for the opportunity to read this book ahead of publication and, in doing so, discover another author whose work I will be exploring further.

About the Author:

Originally from the West Midlands, Rhiannon currently lives in London with her fiancé and her cat Salem. She's a corporate lawyer by day and writes after work and during weekends.

She is a Faber Academy Writing a Novel graduate and loves to write dark and twisty thrillers with a particular focus on women. When she's not writing, she can often be found reading or training with her cheerleading team.

The Suspect by Rob Rinder #TheSuspect @RobbieRinder #bookreview

 

The Suspect by Rob Rinder

Published by Penguin

Publication Date: 20th June 2024

Book Description:

When the UK's favourite breakfast TV presenter dies live on air in front of millions of viewers, the nation is left devastated.

More devastated still when it becomes clear that her death was not an accident.

The evidence points to one culprit: celebrity chef Sebastian Brooks. But junior barrister Adam Green is about to discover that the case is not as open-and-shut as it first seemed.

And although her angelic persona would suggest otherwise, she was not short of enemies in the glittery TV world . . .

Can Adam uncover the truth?

My Thoughts:

Rob Rinder's first book The Trial was a refreshing surprise when it comes to celebrity authors. I'm not a fan of well-known people attempting to write novels as they're often either ghost written or poor quality writing (or  both!). Rob Rinder has convinced me otherwise, and despite his debut novel still having room for improvement he has proved his worth with this second book. In my opinion he has conquered some of the difficult issues facing every author, from credible storylines to the intricacies of plots - especially when writing a series. The characters need to be consistent from one book to the next, and Adam Green and his colleagues in the legal world are excellent examples of this.

The Suspect follows on beautifully from the end point of The Trial. It's as though the reader has merely turned a page and continued Adam's journey as a new fledged barrister in Chambers. His job may be more secure than it was in the first novel, but his workload hasn't let up - if anything it's increased due to one of his colleagues needing to take a break for health reasons.

Along a similar vein to his first big case, Adam finds himself assisting the defence team in a case involving two high profile public figures. The nation's favourite breakfast TV presenter Jessica Holby has lost her life due to an allergic reaction during a live broadcast. Celebrity chef Sebastian Brooks is prime suspect and has also an apparent motive but isn't giving his lawyers anything to work with. A custodial sentence is looking almost certain.

Alongside this case Adam is also representing a young man charged with firearms offences. The team know he's taking the rap for his older brother but is only doing so due to family loyalties combined with pressure from one of the most influential and dangerous gangs in the area. This case tests Adam to his limit as his conscience regarding justice versus protecting his clients on a personal level is challenged once again.

If anything the two cases in this book could easily feature as standalone storylines rather than sharing the limelight. I would have enjoyed reading more in-depth about the young man facing the firearms charges as the themes involved are some which face many of our youngsters today. Hopefully this is a thread which feeds into future novels facing our young barrister. We will have to wait to see where the author takes us next as I understand book three is already commissioned. I'm in the queue already!

About the Author:

Rob Rinder is a practising criminal barrister, a broadcaster and Sunday Times best-selling author. Called to the bar in 2001, Rob went on to specialise in cases involving international fraud, money laundering and other forms of financial crime, while working in media to make law more accessible. He started his broadcast career with Judge Rinder for ITV before going on to host his own BBC 5Live series Raising the Bar. Featuring in Who Do You Think You Are?, Rob’s story resulted in creating the documentary My Family, the Holocaust and Me.

A regular host on ITV’s Good Morning Britain, Rob co-hosts BBC Two’s Amazing Hotels: Life Beyond The Lobby and has recently filmed a new travel show, The Grand Tour, which will see Rob and his co-host Rylan retrace the footsteps of cultural greats around Italy. Shedding light on the unsolved mystery of what happened to the Princes in the Tower during Richard III’s reign for a Channel 4 documentary in 2023, Rob’s filmed a new show for the channel exploring the history of prisons which will come to our screens later this year.

In 2020, Rob was awarded an MBE for his services to Holocaust education and an honorary doctorate for his legal work.

The Trial was Rob's number one bestselling debut novel and The Suspect is the much anticipated follow-up. Both novels are inspired by Rob's own experiences as a barrister.

Last Night at Villa Lucia by Simon McCleave #NetGalley @Stormbooks_co #LastNightatVillaLucia

 

Last Night at Villa Lucia by Simon McCleave

Published by Storm Publishing

Publication Date: 26th July 2024

Book Description:

A body is floating face down in the middle of the infinity pool.

For a second I think I’m imagining it. My head is throbbing as I pull my sunglasses down over my eyes. It’s not even 8 a.m. and the blazing Tuscan sunshine is already stifling.

Flashes of last night play over in my mind. The spiteful words hurled across the table. The ruined meal. The endless glasses of crisp white wine. My daughter watching my every move. Tears choke my throat. This beautiful villa was the only good thing that came out of my painful divorce. I fix my eyes on the gently swaying cypress trees as I try to calm my breathing.

A police siren pierces the tranquillity and I collapse onto a wicker chair. I must get my story straight fast. But one question plays over in my mind without an answer.

What really happened last night?

My Thoughts:

This is the first book I've read by this author and while I enjoyed it to a point I felt the characters lacked a certain something that I can't quite put my finger on. The setting of the villa in Tuscany and how Cerys came to be living there with her daughter was described very well. However the constant theme throughout the book is her addiction to alcohol. I understand that this is all consuming for a person, and how it affects the whole family but I felt it overshadowed the subject of the book: the fact that there's an actual body floating in the infinity pool one morning. 

There are multiple suspects and credible motives for each of those on the list, from the son staying in the villa who has a couple of reasons why he could have committed murder, to the gardener and maintenance guy Lorenzo who has a very weak back story which could have been developed far more interestingly in my opinion. Cerys herself is a distinct possibility, or as the dishy detective suggests maybe it was a burglary gone wrong. Lucia, the maid who the villa is named after, also has her motives. But despite all the speculation and scene setting involved, I don't think there was a chapter that went by without the mention of alcohol in some guise or another which really became slightly tedious towards the end, and quite a distraction from a murder investigation. There are a couple of twists along the way, but nothing that properly shocked me unfortunately. My favourite characters were Charlie and Lowri who stood out from the cast and who I was most invested in. 

I feel this would be a good holiday read when you don't want to expend too much effort working out whodunnit whilst lying by the pool, but if you want a gripping thriller then this one just lacks that feeling of any substantial depth to the characters and plot. 

My thanks to the publisher Storm Publishing for the opportunity to read this book via Netgalley prior to publication. All opinions here are my own.

About the Author:

Simon is a million selling crime novelist. His first book, 'The Snowdonia Killings', was released in January 2020 and soon became an Amazon Bestseller, reaching No 1 in the Amazon UK Chart and selling over 400,000 copies. His seventeen subsequent novels in the DI Ruth Hunter Crime Thriller Series have all been Amazon Best Sellers and many have hit the top of the UK Digital Chart. He has sold over 2 million books since 2020.

The Ruth Hunter Snowdonia books are currently in development as a television series to be filmed on location in North Wales in 2024.

SImon also has a very successful crime series set on Anglesey with Harper Collins (Avon). 'The Dark Tide', the first of the series, was the highest ever selling Waterstones' Welsh Book of the Month.

Simon McCleave was originally born in South London. When leaving University, he worked in television and film development. He was a Script Editor at the BBC, a producer at Channel 4 before working as a Story Analyst in Los Angeles. He worked on films such as 'The Full Monty' and television series such as the BBC Crime Drama 'Between The Lines'.

Simon then became a script writer for television and film. He wrote on series such as Silent Witness, Murder In Suburbia, Teachers, Attachments, The Bill, Eastenders and many more. His film, 'Out of the Game' for Channel 4 was critically acclaimed - 'An unflinching portrayal of male friendship.' (Time Out)

Simon lives in North Wales with his wife and two children.

A Beginner's Guide to Breaking and Entering by Andrew Hunter Murray @andrewhunterm @PenguinUKBooks #bookreview #worcesterbookstagrammer

 

A Beginner's Guide to Breaking and Entering by Andrew Hunter Murray

Published by Penguin

Publication Date: 25th April 2024

Book Description:

Property might be theft. But the housing market is murder.

My name is Al. I live in wealthy people's second homes while their real owners are away.

I don’t rob them, I don’t damage anything… I’m more an unofficial house-sitter than an actual criminal.

Life is good.

Or it was - until last night, when my friends and I broke into the wrong place, on the wrong day, and someone wound up dead.

And now … now we’re in a great deal of trouble.

My Thoughts:

What a fantastically quirky book! It fits my sense of humour greatly and had me chuckling at various points throughout as "Al" (not his real name) describes how his life has taken a rather unexpected and disappointing turn.

Al is an interloper (aka housebreaker/squatter, but he finds these terms quite demeaning, hence the alternative). He "borrows" the homes of well-to-do folks who don't currently need the accommodation as they're out of the country for a while. And life is going well for Al, until he breaks one of his own rules and revisits a home he has previously stayed in. Someone (plural) has got there first and puts Al's plans out of kilter. This is the first of a few things which go wrong for Al which ultimately lead him to be thrashing out his version of events on an ancient computer in the "IT suite" at His Majesty's pleasure.

I know this book won't appeal to everyone, but I found it very amusing in parts, edge of the seat thrilling in others and even tugged at my heartstrings a couple of times. Al is an excellent narrator, his observations of people and places are full of humour and the scenes leading up to his eventual incarceration are plotted so perfectly they would be well-placed among the pages of many an acclaimed thriller writer. The pacing is spot on and I would love there to be a sequel so we can find out whether life ever turns out to be kinder for our lovable interloper.

If you enjoyed Belinda Bauer's 'Exit' then I think this would be a great fit for you.

About the Author:

Andrew Hunter Murray is a British Author based in London. His first book The Last Day was published in 2020 and is set in a world which has spun to a halt causing civilisation to be brought to the brink of collapse.

He works for the TV show QI and writes for the magazine Private Eye. His second novel The Sanctuary was released in 2022.