20 Wednesday Jun 2018
It’s a truth universally acknowledged – and if it isn’t, it should be – that life is full of what if’s and maybe’s where every choice, every decision, changes the course of a life.
That’s the premise of Lucy V. Hay’s thought-provoking Proof Positive where bright, ambitious Lizzie locks herself in a public toilet with a pregnancy testing kit.
When the test proves positive Lizzie is faced with what could be the most important decision of her life.
16 Saturday Jun 2018
Would you be gullible enough to fall for a charming con man who loves you for your bank balance rather than your GSOH and desire for FTA and an LTR?
Me? I’d have said no, I wouldn’t be so daft.
Although, let’s be honest, any confidence trickster attracted by my bank balance is in for a big disappointment.
But that was before reading Deception Wears Many Faces by Maggie James. Continue reading
05 Tuesday Jun 2018
The epiphany moment came halfway through the first term at high school.
That’s when I realised I didn’t really like EP, the most popular girl in the class – a perfectly nice person but just not my type.
I suspect the feeling was mutual – but we managed to rub along together, probably because we were the only two kids in our form to be promoted to the year group netball squad. Continue reading
22 Tuesday May 2018
Posted in Reviews
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Anyone who has ever felt overwhelmed by a never-ending stream of work emails will experience an instant surge of sympathy for Dr Clancy Mclean, the over-worked psychiatrist at the heart of Lead Me Home, a suspenseful debut from CS Savage.
Those pesky emails are a recurring theme that clearly reflects the reality of an under-resourced mental health service.
Mclean’s days are filled with endless, interminably dull Continue reading
08 Tuesday May 2018
Posted in Reviews
It’s every woman’s nightmare: to slip the key into the lock and realise there’s an intruder inside.
What to do?
You can’t back out because the door always closes with a juddering sound that’s bound to attract attention.
And you can’t call the police because whoever’s broken in might hear you.
And then you hear a woman whimpering and moaning. Continue reading
06 Sunday May 2018
Posted in Reviews
It may seem a little like stating the blindingly obvious but Audrey Davis has a way with words.
I’ve enjoyed the witty word play in both of her Hattie Hastings novellas which I read earlier this year.
And A Clean Sweep is just as clever, packed with dry asides and witty observations.
In the opening pages, for instance, 50-something Emily is considering the Kim Kardashian question – how can a Continue reading
05 Saturday May 2018
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Thrills and spills – and dead bodies too – come fast and furious in Hard Prejudice, the sixth outing for Dave Stanton’s bounty hunter and private eye Dan Reno.
This is a satisfyingly macho action thriller that’s not for the faint-hearted.
Reno, and his sidekick, ex-cop Cody, don’t believe in a softly-softly approach when it comes to dealing with the bad guys.
And, though, Reno, at least, sometimes suffers night Continue reading
14 Saturday Apr 2018
It wasn’t until I sat down to write this review that the full significance of the title of the fourth novel in Liz Mistry’s DI Gus McGuire series struck home.
Sadly, I can’t elaborate.
But DO read Uncommon Cruelty and find out.
And, if this multi-layered, multi-voiced crime procedural doesn’t keeping you guessing right to the end, I’ll eat my hat.
The dreadlocked McGuire isn’t a typical copper – he can’t stand the sight of blood for one thing, which is a bit of a handicap when he has Continue reading
06 Friday Apr 2018
Posted in Reviews
It’s useful sometimes to re-visit books from one’s past.
Sometimes a second read will confirm prejudices.
On the other hand, it might inspire a change of heart.
William Golding’s modern British classic Lord of the Flies, which was published in 1954, is a case in point. Continue reading
23 Friday Mar 2018
Posted in Reviews
It’s appropriate that the blurb for The Haunting of Hattie Hastings: Part Two comes with a warning: Cliffhangar ending.
Nevertheless, I let out a silent scream when I reached the last page…’Noooooooooooooo’.
Because I really, really, really want to know what happens next to Hattie and co.
NOW!
Thank heavens the final instalment in this delightful trio of novellas by Audrey Davis is due out May/June.
Just in time for the summer holidays and a satisfying sunny afternoon read on the beach.
Because Hattie Hastings is a sunshine read albeit with a slightly bonkers plot – dead Continue reading
