SquadPod blast: 4 to 13 June 2024

Synopsis

It seems too good to be true …

When struggling writer Sebastian finds a room to let in a palatial Hampstead residence he cannot believe his luck. The rent is ridiculously cheap and he immediately feels a connection with his beautiful widowed landlady, Adriana.

It is.

Things take a dark turn when he finds out what happened to the last lodger. Could this be why the house is a fortress of security, and why Adriana seems so fragile? Adriana doesn’t want to talk about the death and sadness that seem to follow her wherever she goes and Sebastian has secrets of his own.

Now someone is watching their every move and there is nowhere to hide.

This house of light becomes a dark nightmare as the threat ramps up – what does the watcher want? And how far will they go to get it?

My review

Twenty-five-year-old Sebastian (Seb) Walker, a struggling writer and bar worker, decides to move to London for some inspiration to help him with his writing. He searches on a private rental website and is amazed to find an affordable room in an incredible six-bedroom property in trendy and expensive Hampstead, an area known for its literary connections.

The set up is a bit strange as he’ll be the lodger for a lady called Adriana Wentworth, who is 39 and was widowed seven years ago when her husband, Charles, died of a heart attack. Her last lodger, a young City law firm trainee called Ethan, died accidentally in tragic circumstances a few months ago. Adriana has some strange house rules but Seb thinks the house is perfect for his needs.

Right from the start of the novel, it’s clear that both Seb and Adriana are hiding some dark and disturbing secrets. The story is told in the first person and both characters allude to traumatic events in their past that have affected them deeply. They’ve both had difficult childhoods and their parents have passed away.

We also hear from a creepy, menacing third voice, who appears to be stalking Adriana and watching her every move inside and outside the house obsessively, and there are also flashbacks to ‘before’, where we meet 11-year-old Scarlett, who has friends called Xavier and Eve.

As Seb gets to know more about the enigmatic and security-conscious Adriana in her locked-down fortress, he begins to wonder what he’s letting himself in for, especially when he’s warned off by various people. Death seems to follow Adriana around and she’s very introverted, secretive and delicate, perhaps understandably so.

I didn’t trust either of them and felt that they were both unreliable narrators and I wasn’t sure what on earth was bubbling away beneath the surface!

Overall, this was a cleverly plotted and well-paced story and very engaging! There was lots of tension and I felt quite frightened and fearful at various points – the story was dark and chilling and made for uncomfortable reading at times.

It was such a tense and gripping novel and very twisty – there were lots of shocking revelations; most of which I was totally surprised by!

As the tension and suspense rose, I couldn’t put this compelling book down! The complex characters fascinated me and I was curious to try and put all the clues together and find out how everything was going to reach its dramatic climax.

I’ve read and enjoyed A.A. Chaudhuri’s earlier legal thriller series (The Scribe and The Abduction) and The Final Party, and must check out her two other psychological thrillers, She’s Mine and The Loyal Friend soon!

Buy the book

Under Her Roof by A.A. Chaudhuri is published on 13 June and can be purchased from Amazon on Kindle and in paperback, and as an eBook from Kobo and iBooks. See also Ethical Book Search.

About the author

A.A. Chaudhuri is a former City lawyer turned thriller writer, born and raised in Portsmouth, but who now lives in Surrey with her family. Once a highly ranked British junior tennis player, competing in the national championships and a member of the national squad, she went on to tour the women’s professional satellite circuit as a teenager and achieved a world ranking of 650.

The Scribe and The Abduction, published by Lume Books in 2019, are her first crime book series, plunging readers into London’s glamorous legal world and featuring series’ heroine, Maddy Kramer, fiction’s first female City lawyer amateur sleuth, who teams up with charismatic DCI Jake Carver to solve a gruesome series of murders and a puzzling abduction.

As well as Under Her Roof, A.A. Chaudhuri has written three other psychological thrillers with Hera Books: She’s Mine (2021), The Loyal Friend (2022) and The Final Party (2023).

Besides being an avid reader, she enjoys fitness, films, anything Italian and a good margarita!

Twitter: @AAChaudhuri
Facebook: @AAChaudhuri
Instagram (author): @a.a.chaudhuri
Instagram: @aachaudhuri
Website: aachaudhuri.com

Blog tour

Thanks to Hera Books for my digital copy of Under Her Roof and to The SquadPod Collective for my place on the book blast.

See the banner below for more stops on the SquadPod blast.

Blog tour: 27 May to 7 June 2024

Synopsis

When 3-month-old Max is abducted, his parents are plunged into their worst nightmare. Devastated mum Sarah only took her eyes off him for a second, but that doesn’t stop her guilt. Even husband Jake can’t hide his anger that their little boy went missing on her watch.

By contrast there are smiles and celebration at a caravan park in Lincolnshire, as baby Blaze is introduced to the Star family. Jenna and Gary are delighted with the new addition to their family. He is their fourth child and a real object of delight to their eldest – fifteen-year-old Willow – who once again will raise the child.

But trouble is brewing for the Star family. Willow is concerned by the desperate online appeals from Sarah and Jake, baby Max has neonatal diabetes and without regular treatment will die. As baby ‘Blaze’ becomes seriously ill, Willow makes a shocking discovery. What is the truth about her family? And how far will they go to hide their deadly secret?

My review

With three children under three years old and a husband, Jake, who is never around because he’s just been promoted to deputy head at the local comprehensive school, Sarah Barratt is struggling. Their three month old, Max, has neonatal diabetes and constantly cries and Sarah is at the end of her tether and concerned about the future.

After a rather fractious and upsetting lunch with Lisa, her friend and former work colleague, Sarah heads to the nearby nature reserve with a screaming baby Max to feed him and zone out for a bit. She has her headphones on with music playing loudly and ends up getting distracted and Max is abducted.

Meanwhile, the rather unconventional Star family are celebrating the arrival of their new baby boy, who they name Blaze. They live in Nomad, a vintage showman’s van, and travel around the country visiting various campsites and farmers’ fields but they don’t consider themselves to be typical travellers, referring to themselves as special, and stay away from the Normals. The Star family consists of mum Jenna and stepdad Gaz plus Willow (nearly 16), Tiger (10) and Moon (5). The children don’t go to school, instead learning lots of different practical skills, and they live a hippy-type lifestyle with no access to TV, radio or internet and no phones.

Told from the viewpoints of Sarah, Jake, Jenna and Willow, we learn more about the two families as the shocking story unfolds in this gripping and fascinating read! Poor Sarah is vilified by everyone – her rather useless husband, Jake, his parents, the local police and people nationwide (online trolls) condemn her for her actions and carelessness and accuse the poor woman of all kinds of terrible things. She’s supported by family liaison officer, PC Leila Hassan, but struggles to hold it all together as days pass with no news of her baby son, who is in danger of becoming critically ill without his diabetic medication.

I really enjoyed this tense and unusual novel – the premise and characters were different from the norm and the rather dark story was cleverly plotted, well paced and very entertaining. The book has lots of relevant and emotional themes and I found the Star family’s traveller-type lifestyle particularly interesting. All the main protagonists were intriguing and they developed well as the novel progressed and I couldn’t wait to find out how everything would be resolved, racing through the book in two days, desperately hoping Max was going to be found in time!

I felt a range of emotions as poor Sarah was attacked from all quarters and hounded by the press and I was shocked by the disturbing and twisted behaviour of Jenna, who talks about freedom but is actually so controlling of everyone. Willow was amazing, so brave and wise beyond her years. She’s growing up and starting to question everything more, particularly her upbringing and her mum’s rather erratic decisions and behaviour. Jake’s actions left a lot to be desired and he was so unsupportive of Sarah and really weak at times! Other characters like Joan and Zack were lovely too and played important roles in the story.

The various locations were well described and I was excited to discover that the novel is partially set in Thetford Forest in Norfolk as I’m from near there originally and it’s unusual to find the town mentioned!

Overall, this was a brilliant read and I found it engaging and very tense at times. I wasn’t expecting some of the twists and turns and there were some shocking revelations, which had me gasping in horror and surprise! I was really hoping that all the pieces of the jigsaw were going to fall into place in this desperate race against time.

The Wrong Child is written by two authors and it was fascinating to learn how their process works. They are part of an Orion Crime Writers’ Room project that’s led by M.J. Arlidge, who is working in collaboration with Julia Crouch, Steph Broadribb, Lisa Hall, Alex Khan and Andy Maslen. M.J. Arlidge came up with the ideas for the five standalone novels but each author works with him to hone the plot, characters and style and they then write their story with input, guidance and feedback from Arlidge at each stage of the process. It sounds like a fascinating concept and I’m looking forward to reading the other four books.

I haven’t read any books by either of the authors before but will definitely be checking out their backlists now!

Buy the book

The Wrong Child by M.J. Arlidge and Julia Crouch can be purchased from Amazon on Kindle (currently only 99p) and in paperback, and as an eBook from Kobo and iBooks. See also Ethical Book Search.

About the authors

M.J. Arlidge has worked in television for the last 20 years, specialising in high-end drama production, including prime-time crime serials Silent Witness, Torn, The Little House and, most recently, the hit ITV show Innocent. In 2015, his audiobook exclusive Six Degrees of Assassination was a number-one bestseller. His debut thriller, Eeny Meeny, was the UK’s bestselling crime debut of 2014 and has been followed by 10 more DI Helen Grace thrillers, all Sunday Times bestsellers.

Twitter: @mjarlidge
Facebook: @MJArlidge
Instagram: @m_j_arlidge

Julia Crouch is the author of seven internationally published crime novels: Cuckoo, Every Vow You Break, Tarnished, The Long Fall, Her Husband’s Lover, The New Mother and The Daughters. She has also written 11 plays and is developing a screenplay. She teaches for UEA, Faber Academy and the National Centre for Writing.

Twitter: @thatjuliacrouch
Facebook: @JuliaCrouchAuthor
Instagram: @juliageek

Blog tour

Thanks to Orion and Tracy Fenton at Compulsive Readers for my digital copy of The Wrong Child and for my place on the blog tour.

See the banner below for more stops on the #blogtour.

Blog tour: 22 to 28 April 2024

Synopsis

Your father is on death row. You have seven days to save him. But do you want to?
Alice knows her father is guilty of many things.
He’s guilty of abandoning her.
He’s guilty of being unfaithful to her mother.
But is he guilty of murder?

Now on Death Row, he has seven days to live.
Some people want him released.
Others will kill to keep him just where he is.
Alice has only one chance to save him. But should she?

My review

There are 13 years in age between Alice Logan and her sister, Fiona Sharp, and the women haven’t always had the easiest of relationships since their parents split up. Alice was the one who told their mum that their dad, Jim, was having an affair with a woman called Mariella Serrano and Fiona has always blamed her sister for splitting up the family and her parents’ 19-year marriage.

When, out of the blue, Fiona reveals to Alice that she’s heard from Mariella and their estranged father is on death row in Raiford in Florida and due to be executed by lethal injection in seven days’ time, both women are shocked and confused, especially as they haven’t been in touch with their dad for over 14 years.

Jim Sharp was accused and found guilty of the murder of a small-time drug dealer called Manny Castillo. The evidence against him sounds conclusive but Jim has spent the last 11 years maintaining his innocence and appealing.

Fiona pleads with her sister to help investigate the case and see if there’s any way that their father can be saved. Alice was a criminal attorney in New York but returned to their hometown of Whitley Bay after their mum had a stroke four years ago and now works as a lawyer for a law firm.

Reluctantly, Alice agrees to help and what follows is a whirlwind week as she races from the North East of England to Paris to New York to Florida! It’s a race against time as Alice has just seven days to try and find something to help her father and save him from death row. She’s tenacious and brave, putting herself in dangerous situations, asking probing questions of various people and using her contacts in the UK and US to try and figure out what’s been going on.

It’s a gripping, fast-paced, exciting and cleverly plotted thriller that would make a great TV series or film! There were lots of twists and turns, and I was never sure who to trust and was suspicious of everyone. The case took a frightening turn and things escalated in dramatic fashion.

There were some shocking revelations and some intense and terrifying scenes in which I was scared for all of the characters involved! I was holding my breath at times. Such an entertaining read!

Seven Days is compulsive and tense reading and the short chapters made me want to read just one more! I raced through it in a couple of days and didn’t want to put this brilliant book down! I’m looking forward to the next book from the author and will definitely be checking out his Porter and Styles series, written as Robert Scragg.

Buy the book

Seven Days by Robert Rutherford can be purchased from Amazon on Kindle and in hardback, and as an eBook from Kobo and iBooks. See also Ethical Book Search.

About the author

Robert Rutherford had a random mix of jobs before taking the dive into crime writing; he’s been a bookseller, pizza deliverer, karate instructor, football coach and HR manager. He lives on the North-East coast with his wife, children and overly needy dog, and is a founding member of the Northern Crime Syndicate crime-writers group.

Robert’s work has also seen him win the Lindisfarne Prize for Crime Fiction in 2021, as well as being shortlisted for a CWA Dagger in 2021 and 2022, and longlisted in 2024.

He also writes as Robert Scragg, with What Falls Between the Cracks, the first in his Porter and Styles series, being chosen as a New Writing North pick in the 2019 Read Regional books of the year.

Twitter: @rutherfordbooks
Facebook: @robertscragg
Instagram: @robertrutherfordwrites

Blog tour

Thanks very much to Alainna Georgiou at Hodder & Stoughton for my hardback copy of Seven Days and for my place on the blog tour.

See the banner below for more stops on the #blogtour.

Blog tour: 11 to 26 April 2024

Synopsis

‘We’re not famous anymore. We’re notorious.’

For over a decade, the Lancasters were celebrity royalty, with millions tuning in every week to watch their reality show, Living with the Lancasters.

But then an old video emerges of one of their legendary parties. Suddenly, they’re in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons: witnesses swore they’d seen missing teenager Bradley Wilcox leaving the Lancaster family home on the night of the party, but the video tells a different story.

Now true crime investigator and YouTuber Tom Isaac is on the case. He’s determined to find out what really happened to Bradley – he just needs to read between the Lancasters’ lies …

Because when the cameras are always rolling, it won’t be long until someone cracks.

Told exclusively through interviews, transcripts and diary entries, Clickbait is an incisive, compelling, and gripping thriller. It explores fame, deception and ruthless ambition, asking whether reality TV has created a generation of people in the public eye who are famous for being famous, and what dangers come with trying to stay in the public eye. With an increasing demand for clicks and views, popular news sites and national newspapers are as much at risk of attention-grabbing behaviour as those we call influencers. But just how far would you go to retain your celebrity status?

My review

The reality TV show, Living with the Lancasters, first aired on YouTube in April 2007. It features mum Lynn (43), and her three children, Taylor (20), Locke (17) and India (14). Their dad and Lynn’s husband, Ed, a former Manchester Utd footballer died in 2004.

Nineteen years after Ed’s sudden death, in a tribute to his dad, Locke shares a video of him dancing at his 40th birthday party at the family home in 2003 and inadvertently opens a big can of worms! In the background is 18-year-old Bradley Wilcox who went missing that night and hasn’t been seen since.

Bradley’s sister, Cassie, has been trying to discover the truth about his disappearance for the last 20 years, setting up a missing persons charity called Never Give Up. She enlists the help of true crime investigator and YouTuber, Tom Isaac, to try and finally get to the bottom of what happened two decades ago.

Right from the dramatic opening, this was a gripping and intriguing thriller and I couldn’t wait to find out how the story was going to unfold. Written in the form of video transcripts, news articles, police interviews, personal interviews, private emails and diary entries, it makes for fascinating reading!

The book was cleverly plotted and it flows so well, with lots of twists and turns and some shocking reveals. It’s fast paced and deviously written; just when I thought the investigation was slowing down, something else would happen and we’d be heading off in another direction!

It was an intense and absorbing read and unpredictable too as I had no idea how the story was going to be resolved and whether Bradley was going to be found or not. I had some theories but was mostly barking up the wrong tree!!

I’m not usually a fan of reality TV but the setting was great and I was horrified by the kinds of things everyone was getting up to in the series! Surely it couldn’t be real and was all staged? Some awful behaviour, ruthless ambition and their egos were ridiculous!

None of the members of the Lancaster family were particularly likeable, which meant that I suspected them all of various misdemeanours at one point or another! I read the book over the course of a couple of days, quickly turning the pages and desperate to finish just another section!

I’ve now read several of the author’s books and they’re always engaging and compelling stories. This one was brilliant! It’s very readable and particularly enthralling too and I couldn’t put it down! I’m looking forward to reading The Ugly Truth next for my monthly book club readalong in The Bookload on Facebook.

Buy the book

Clickbait by L.C. North can be purchased from Amazon on Kindle and in hardback, and as an eBook from Kobo and iBooks. See also Ethical Book Search.

About the author

L.C. North studied psychology at university before pursuing a career in public relations. Her book club thrillers, The Ugly Truth and Clickbait, combine her love of psychology and her fascination with the celebrities in the public eye.

When she’s not writing, she co-hosts the crime thriller podcast, In Suspense. She lives on the Suffolk borders with her family.

L.C. North is the pen name of Lauren North.

Twitter: @Lauren_C_North
Facebook: @LaurenNorthAuthor
Instagram: @Lauren_C_North
Website: lauren-north.com
Newsletter: bookouture.com/lauren-north

Blog tour

Thanks to Transworld Books and Anne Cater at Random Things Tours for my proof copy of Clickbait and for my place on the blog tour.

See the banner below for more stops on the #blogtour.

Blog tour: 6 to 12 April 2024

Synopsis

When Shelley Woodhouse wakes up in hospital from a coma, the first thing she says is that her husband must be arrested.

He’s the reason she’s in here. She knows it. She remembers what he did. Clearly as anything.

But there are things Shelley has forgotten too, including parts of her childhood. And as those start to come back to her, so do other memories. Ones with the power to change everything.

But can she trust these new memories, or what anyone around her is telling her? And who is the mysterious hospital volunteer who brings her food and keeps making her smile? Is it possible to find your future when you’re confused about your past?

My review

I’ve read and enjoyed all the author’s books and couldn’t wait to sign up for the blog tour and read The Day Shelley Woodhouse Woke Up too!

When Shelley Woodhouse comes round, she’s shocked to discover that she’s in the intensive care unit at her local hospital. She’s been injured in some kind of incident but she’s not sure what happened and everyone seems to be reluctant to tell her the truth.

Shelley believes that her husband has attacked her and caused the injuries but no one is forthcoming about what happened and her requests to see a police officer fall on deaf ears. We later discover that Shelley became distressed when friends and hospital staff tried to tell her what had happened and she asked that she be allowed to regain her memories by herself.

While recovering, Shelley tries to figure out why she’s in the hospital and the story is told in the then and now as she thinks back to her childhood with her mum, Tina, her Granny Rose, her mum’s boyfriend, Mick, and various schoolfriends.

Shelley has a dedicated nurse, Angela, who looks after her, a physiotherapist called Fern, and also has visits from her friend, Dee, and a lovely volunteer called Matt, who runs the restaurant in the hospital. All the characters were well written and I could really imagine them all so clearly.

The Day Shelley Woodhouse Woke Up is a gripping and intense read and I was fascinated by Shelley’s rather sad past as well as her present life. The book was so emotional and heart-wrenching in places and I was angry with how Shelley and her mum had been treated by certain people over the years and keen to work out how and why she’d ended up in hospital.

The book was cleverly written, with lots of little hints and clues about the past, but I really wasn’t sure where things were going as I read and the mystery of the story was definitely intriguing!

I love the style of covers for the author’s books too – they’re very recognisable and go well together.

This was another excellent read from Laura Pearson – very poignant and beautifully written – and I raced through it, eagerly turning the pages. I can’t wait to see what she writes next!

Buy the book

The Day Shelley Woodhouse Woke Up by Laura Pearson can be purchased from Amazon on Kindle, paperback and hardback and as an eBook from Kobo. See purchase link for Apple and Amazon. See also Ethical Book Search.

About the author

Laura Pearson is the author of five novels. The Last List of Mabel Beaumont was a Kindle number one bestseller in the UK and a top 10 bestseller in the US. Laura lives in Leicestershire, England, with her husband, their two children, and a cat who likes to lie on her keyboard while she tries to write.

Twitter: @LauraPAuthor
Facebook: @LauraPAuthor
Instagram: @laurapauthor
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Blog tour

Thanks to Rachel Gilbey at Rachel’s Random Resources for my digital copy of The Day Shelley Woodhouse Woke Up and for my place on the blog tour.

See the banner below for more stops on the #blogtour.

Blog tour: 8 to 14 March 2024

Synopsis

The end of our marriage was only the beginning …

Last night, we celebrated our anniversary. Over candlelight, we talked about the children, our work, and I was so happy, and felt so loved.

But the next morning, when I check my phone, there is a message. From a friend. And a string of photos appear of my husband, Will, with another woman: walking along the street holding hands. Going into fancy hotels. Standing at a window, his arms around her, her head on his shoulder …

I beg Will to tell me what’s going on. But all he can say is that it’s not what I think. As if the betrayal wasn’t bad enough, he won’t even be honest with me.

And now there’s someone watching our house. Will is acting like a stranger and I think he’s following me. I can’t trust him anymore, and I desperately need to know who sent me those photos and why.

But maybe Will is telling the truth.
Maybe it’s not what I think.

Because the more our pain stops us talking, and the more the two of us tear each other apart, the more I wonder if I ever knew him at all – and what I’ll have to risk to protect my children.

And when at last the secrets are revealed, will the truth save our family, or destroy us all?

A thrilling, gripping page-turner about a marriage falling apart and the darkness love can contain. Readers who love Lisa Jewell, Ruth Ware and Shari Lapena will be hooked by The Split.

My review

The night after celebrating their seventh anniversary, Jessica discovers husband, Will, has been cheating when ‘a friend’ messages her a whole series of photos of him with another woman. The marriage is over as far as she’s concerned, and she asks him to leave. There’s no coming back, especially as her father was a cheat too.

Will swears that things aren’t what they seem and it appears that this isn’t your average affair but Jessica is adamant that she’s not giving him a second chance.

The couple have been together for 15 years and have two young children, Cassie (6) and Charlie (4). Will is a house husband and also works part time as a life coach, while Jessica works full time in London, doing 12-hour days, attending meetings and going out for drinks after work.

After their split, Will is staying at a local Travelodge in Brentford when he meets a man called Ian Robbins, who offers him a place to stay, but right from the start I was rather suspicious and wary of him. Things all seemed too good to be true and it felt like Robbins was grooming him for something!

The novel is told from Will and Jessica’s points of view and alternates between the two and, as the story progresses, things just seem to get worse and worse for them both! Jessica spots someone watching their house and struggles to do her demanding job and look after the children, even with help from her mum and best friend, Lena.

Lena acts like she is supportive but I had my doubts at times and wondered if she had feelings for Will. Also, several of the mums from school keep appearing throughout and I was curious if they were involved somehow. It all made for fascinating reading!

Will and Jessica make some awful decisions. Will is naive and far too trusting. They’re both really stubborn and don’t communicate properly at all. If they’d sat down and talked properly about things, they could have avoided a lot of the heartache that followed, but the novel would have been a lot shorter!

Overall, this was a gripping and well-plotted read, with multiple twists and turns! It’s fast paced, tense and intense and kept my interest throughout as I was trying to second guess what on earth was going on with all the characters. I was suspicious of everyone and kept thinking of lots of different scenarios but could never quite figure out what was going on – the author was always one step ahead!

I was genuinely quite scared for several characters at various points and was wondering how everything was going to be resolved in this intriguing tale. The story was a little far-fetched at times but I liked that – I’m always happy to suspend disbelief while reading!

I’ve read four of the author’s books now and they’re always entertaining and engaging reads that have me turning the pages quickly and I don’t want to put them down!

Buy the book

The Split by S.E. Lynes can be purchased from Amazon on Kindle and in paperback. See also Ethical Book Search.

About the author

S.E. Lynes is the author of Amazon number one best seller, The Housewarming, plus best-selling psychological suspense novels such as Valentina, Mother, The Women, Her Sister’s Secret, The Baby Shower, The Ex, The Summer Holiday and many more!

A former BBC producer, she has lived in France, Spain, Scotland and Italy and is now settled with her family in Greater London. After completing her MA, S.E. Lynes taught creative writing at Richmond Adult Community College for 10 years. She now combines writing, mentoring and lecturing in Richmond Borough.

Lynes has also published thrillers in Italy, Germany, Poland and Croatia, and has also published three children’s books in Italy: Il Leopardo Lampo, La Coccodrilla Ingamba and the bilingual La Scimmia Spiritosa/The Funny Monkey.

Twitter: @SELynesAuthor
Facebook: @susie.lynes
Instagram: @selynesauthor
Website: susielynes.wixsite.com/website
Bookouture email sign up: bookouture.com/se-lynes

Blog tour

Thanks to Sarah Hardy and Noelle Holten at Bookouture for my digital copy of The Split and for my place on the blog tour.

See the banner below for more stops on the #blogtour.

Blog tour: 23 to 27 February 2024

Synopsis

On an ordinary Friday afternoon, popular teacher Mrs Walker and her eight-year-old son leave the school playground. But they never make it home …

Being called in as a substitute teacher to replace a missing teacher – and mother – is the hardest job I’ve ever done. Cate Walker should still be here, in the role she loves. Her son Archie should be sitting in class with his friends. But instead they’ve disappeared and nobody has heard from them since …

At drop-off and pick-up, the other parents are hunched together anxiously. I can see the confusion in their children’s faces. The whole village is full of whispered rumours: that Archie and Cate will never be found, that someone else will soon be next … and that Cate’s charismatic husband, Oliver – our headteacher – is involved.

After the chilling way Oliver looked at me on my first morning, the thought makes my blood turn to ice. I’m determined to uncover what’s really happened to Cate and Archie, especially after I find photos in Cate’s classroom cupboard that change everything …

Then an anonymous note turns up threatening me. My home is broken into while I sleep. I know the longer I stay at this school, the more danger I’m in.

But whoever’s trying to scare me doesn’t know who I am – or why I’m really here.

Or just how far I’ll go to expose the truth …

My review

Right from the start and the very chilling prologue, this was a gripping and intriguing read and I couldn’t wait to find out how the story was going to unfold.

Teacher, Cate Walker, and her eight-year-old son, Archie, left Leedham Primary School as normal on Friday but haven’t been seen since. Cate’s husband, Oliver, the headteacher, is behaving rather strangely and seems to be hiding something. As does supply teacher, Lexi Mills, who is covering for Cate. She’s newly arrived to the area, from Brighton, and seems to be running away from her past.

Set over a couple of weeks, the story is told from the point of view of Oliver, Lexi, another teacher called Gemma and curtain-twitching neighbour, Jeanie, who is hiding something (or someone?) in her spare room! There are also interludes from a mysterious and disturbing character who seems to be the one responsible for the disappearance of Cate and Archie.

The book was very well plotted and there were lots of twists and turns and moments of misdirection. Just when I thought that I’d got things sussed, something else would happen that changed my mind! It was an intense and absorbing read and unpredictable too as I had no idea how everything was connected and how the story was going to be resolved and whether Cate and Archie were going to be found or not.

The small village setting was great and I loved the claustrophobic feel and how everyone wanted to know each other’s business and they all enjoyed gossiping about each other. The rumour mill is strong in Leedham!

None of the characters were particularly likeable, which meant that I suspected them all of various misdemeanours at one point or another! There were some very creepy and harrowing moments with several characters and I was frantically turning the pages at times!

I’ve now read several of the author’s books and they’re always engaging and compelling stories. This one was very readable and particularly tense too and I couldn’t put it down!

Buy the book

The Teacher’s Secret by Lauren North can be purchased from Amazon on Kindle and in paperback.

About the author

Lauren North writes psychological suspense novels that delve into the darker side of relationships and families. She has a lifelong passion for writing, reading, and all things books. Lauren’s love of psychological suspense has grown since childhood and her dark imagination of always wondering what’s the worst thing that could happen in every situation.

Lauren studied psychology before moving to London where she lived and worked for many years. She now lives with her family in the Suffolk countryside.

Twitter: @Lauren_C_North
Facebook: @LaurenNorthAuthor
Instagram: @Lauren_C_North
Website: lauren-north.com
Newsletter: bookouture.com/lauren-north

Blog tour

Thanks to Jess Readett at Bookouture for my digital copy of The Teacher’s Secret and for my place on the blog tour.

See the banner below for more stops on the #blogtour.

Blog tour: 12 February to 1 March 2024

Synopsis

If you can’t trust your head, can you trust your heart?

If she had been found moments later, Amelia’s heart would have stopped and never recovered. Instead she was taken from the desolate beach to the nearest hospital just in time to save her life. When her sister Lexi arrives from New York, Amelia’s heart is beating, but the accident has implanted a series of false memories. These memories revolve around a man named Sam, and a perfect love story that never existed.

Determined to help her sister, Lexi enlists the help of Nick, a local vet who bears a striking resemblance to Sam. Together, Lexi and Nick recreate and photograph Amelia’s dream dates in the hopes of triggering her true memories.

But as love starts to stir between Lexi and Nick, they must navigate a complex web of emotions. How can Lexi fall for Amelia’s dream man without hurting her sister?

My review

When Amelia is found unconscious and suffering from hypothermia on the mudflats near her Somerset cottage at 5am one freezing cold January morning, it’s touch and go if she will survive. Fortunately, her rescuers manage to revive her and she’s rushed to hospital.

Her younger sister, Lexi, who lives in New York, receives a phone call from their mum in the middle of the night and frantically books the next available flight and dashes to be by Amelia’s bedside.

Amelia comes round but is very dazed and confused – she’s behaving strangely and thinks she’s married to a man called Sam, but she’s actually single. She gets upset by her family’s insistence that he doesn’t exist and is just a false memory and draws a picture to show them what Sam looks like.

When Lexi meets a vet called Nick (and his Old English Sheepdog, Mabel) on the beach, she is shocked to realise that he matches her sister’s description and drawings of Sam but he has no idea who Amelia is and is definitely not her husband!

While Amelia is trying to recover, Lexi keeps up the pretence of Sam’s existence, against medical advice, and takes photos of herself and Nick recreating key moments that her sister has described, hoping that Amelia’s real memories will return. While going on these pretend ‘dates’ with Nick, the pair of them get close and it’s clear there’s a strong mutual attraction.

Amelia and Lexi share a special and unusual bond, despite being eight years apart in age, and are close with their mum, Esme. Their father, an angler, died in a tragic accident when Lexi was only eight years old.

The story is told from the point of view of Lexi and it was lovely to see her close relationship and strong connection with her sister. Their love for each other was clear, despite the traumas they were both experiencing. Lexi’s growing friendship with Nick was a joy to read too – their banter, witty remarks, in jokes and the ‘will they, won’t they’ aspect!

Amelia’s gruff neighbour, retired fisherman Tom, was a lovely character and I liked the part he played in the story and how he grew in confidence. Nick, the handsome vet, had me swooning as well and I was really hoping that there was going to be a happy ending for him and Lexi, despite the circumstances and everything that had gone on.

Overall, I really enjoyed The Memory of Us. I had to suspend disbelief at times but it was an emotional and entertaining read, and the pacing and reveals were well done. I felt real empathy for all the characters and was in tears at certain points! It was a gripping and engaging read and cleverly written as I had no idea how things were going to pan out. There were certainly some shocks and surprises along the way!

This was actually the first book by Dani Atkins that I’ve read but I realised that I’ve got several of them in paperback and on my Kindle and will be picking up another one soon!

Buy the book

The Memory of Us by Dani Atkins can be purchased from Amazon on Kindle and in hardback, and as an eBook from Kobo and iBooks. (It’s currently only 99p in all eBook formats.) See also Ethical Book Search.

About the author

Dani Atkins is an award-winning novelist. Her 2013 debut, Fractured (published as Then and Always in North America), has been translated into over 20 languages and has sold more than half a million copies since first publication in the UK.

Dani is the author of eight other bestselling novels (The Story of Us, Our Song, This Love, While I was Sleeping, A Million Dreams, A Sky Full of Stars, The Wedding Dress, Six Days) and Perfect Strangers, a standalone eBook novella. In 2018, This Love won the Romantic Novel of the Year Award at the RNA awards in London and, in 2022, A Sky Full of Stars won the Contemporary Romantic Novel of the Year at the RNA awards.

Dani lives in a small village in Hertfordshire with her husband, a Siamese cat and a very soppy Border Collie.

Twitter: @AtkinsDani
Facebook: @DaniAtkinsAuthor
Instagram: @daniatkinsauthor

Blog tour

Thanks to Sophie Ransom and Poppy Delingpole for my proof and hardback copies of The Memory of Us and for my place on the blog tour.

See the banner below for more stops on the #blogtour.

Blog tour: 21 to 28 February 2024

Synopsis

Ash Carter returns to Israel on what should be a straightforward mission. However, there is a mystery. Why did Alfred Duffy go AWOL from the British Army, go to Israel and then hand himself in at Acre Prison?

The mystery deepens when Carter finds that Duffy escaped just as he arrived.

The hunt begins but as the mystery unravels towards an exciting climax, it becomes unclear who is the hunter and who the hunted.

My review

Set in the new state of Israel in the late 1940s, The Prisoner of Acre is the fourth book in the Ash Carter Near East crime thriller series. The series is a prequel to the brilliant Ash Carter mystery thrillers, which are based in Singapore in the 1950s.

It’s April 1949 and Captain Ash Carter, who is in the British Army’s Royal Military Police (in the Special Investigations Branch), has been tasked with finding an AWOL soldier, Sergeant Alfred Duffy, from the Royal East Kent Regiment. Duffy was temporarily assigned to Provost Company 225, based in Cyprus, but went missing after getting a two-day leave pass. A week later, he turns up at Acre Prison in Israel, where he hands himself in, and Carter is sent to Haifa, with two colleagues, to bring Duffy home.

It sounds like a simple task but, knowing this fascinating series, I knew it wasn’t going to be that easy for Ash!! Right from the start, I was waiting for the action to kick off and it didn’t take long for things to go awry!

Carter sets off to find Duffy, cleverly following clues about his whereabouts, and meets lots of different characters along the way. Some people are more helpful than others and most of them definitely shouldn’t be trusted. As the novel progresses, Ash finds himself involved in something a lot bigger than he imagined and he’s not really sure what’s happening and why. He faces some terrifying situations and I genuinely couldn’t see him escaping some of them and was wondering when his luck was going to run out!

Overall, The Prisoner of Acre is a well-researched, action-packed and gripping read! It’s well plotted and fast paced with lots of action, lots of tension and some terrifying twists and turns. There are startling revelations and some violent and shocking scenes, but all in keeping with the story. The characters are well drawn and the main protagonist is intelligent and brave but also rather reckless at times, which adds to the excitement as you never know what he’s going to do next! I love the way his brain works and how he manages to put the clues together and figure out what’s happening, especially when things are at a dead end.

There are lots of military and political tensions in the period and area in which the book is set and it’s all very tense and volatile. I could really picture the location and it was well described. There’s such a sense of menace and danger to the story and no one can be trusted, even those close to Carter. While reading, I was on edge the whole time, waiting for someone to be threatened or attacked!

I was wondering how the story was going to be resolved but things came to a dramatic and satisfying conclusion, which left me wanting to read more! I really enjoyed the original Ash Carter thrillers and this prequel series is intense and absorbing and an excellent addition to the author’s list. I hope there’s going to be another book soon.

Buy the book

The Prisoner of Acre (Ash Carter, Near East crime thriller, book 4) by Murray Bailey is released on 23 February and can be preordered on Kindle from Amazon.

About the author

Murray Bailey got his first taste of success when he was published in The Times at 18 and in his local newspaper. Although he went on to pursue a different career, he continued to write and edit and became the editor of an international magazine and editor of four technical books.

I Dare You was the first of his books to be published in 2016. It was followed by Map of the Dead, the first of the series based on his interest in Egyptology. His main series, however, is the Ash Carter thrillers, inspired by his father’s experience in the Royal Military Police in Singapore in the early 1950s.

Murray was born in Greater Manchester, England and has been moving south ever since. He now lives on the beautiful Dorset coast with his wife and family.

Twitter: @MurrayBaileybks
Facebook: @MurrayBaileyAuthor
Instagram: @murraybaileyauthor
Website: https://murraybaileybooks.com/

Blog tour

Thanks to Murray Bailey for my digital copy of The Prisoner of Acre and for my place on the blog tour.

See the banner below for more stops on the #blogtour.

Blog tour: 5 to 18 February 2024

Synopsis

When her husband suggests a romantic break, Claire feels obliged to say yes but immediately regrets it.

After the tragedy they’ve been through, how can one weekend in Paris save their marriage?

Claire and Ronan aren’t the only people on a make-or-break visit to the City of Love. There is a big-shot movie producer from Hollywood, full of regret for a life ill-lived; a student from Boston, torn between love and duty; a Ukrainian refugee struggling to protect her little sister; and an old woman from Dijon, hoping to be braver than she has ever had to be before.

When their lives briefly intertwine, something extraordinary happens …

My review

Set in Paris over one September weekend, Last Chance in Paris tells the story of multiple characters who are all in the city for different reasons.

A married couple from Cork, Claire and Ronan, are celebrating their fifth wedding anniversary and trying to find each other again after heartbreak; well-known movie producer, Harry, working on his next film, is looking back over his life and regretting some of his choices; US student and bookshop assistant, Dan, is falling in love but unsure if things will work out; Yeva, a Ukrainian refugee, is trying to protect her younger sister; and an old lady called Mireille from Dijon is being brave and facing the past.

It’s a lovely, poignant read as we learn more about their lives and the things they’ve faced over the years. Each of them has a moving story to tell. It was fascinating to see how the story expanded, how their paths crossed and how various connections between the characters were revealed.

The setting of Paris was great – it’s always lovely to spend some time in this beautiful city and visit the sights! I really felt like I was exploring Paris with them all and it reminded me of my visits there.

I liked the fact that there were French and Ukrainian phrases scattered throughout the book. It was a nice touch and I had fun looking them up!

I really enjoyed this book; it was well written, thought provoking and emotional and I enjoyed the way that people’s lives and stories were cleverly woven around each other. It had me guessing about how the characters were linked and wondering how their stories were each going to end. I felt such a range of emotions while reading and I couldn’t put it down as it was so engaging and captivating.

This is the author’s debut novel and I will definitely be looking out for her next book!

Buy the book

Last Chance in Paris by Lynda Marron can be purchased from Amazon on Kindle and in paperback, and as an eBook from Kobo and iBooks. See also Ethical Book Search.

About the author

Lynda Marron was born in Dublin and spent her early childhood in a small town called Prosperous in Co. Kildare. At the age of nine, she moved to Cork. She has not yet mastered the language.

In her teens, she learned that reading curbed her anxiety, and that writing swept it clean away. Thus began her addiction to ink.

Lynda graduated from University College Cork in the mid-nineties with two degrees in microbiology, neither of which brought her any closer to her dream of writing a novel. She opted for the longer route, the Life Experience Creative Writing Course, which included teaching English to Italian teenagers, filing letters in a GP’s surgery, writing listicles for an online bookseller, and a 25-year module called Read All the Books.

She has made and raised four lovely humans, each of whom she taught to read. When she isn’t busy writing her second novel, you’ll find her reading, not weeding, in her rewilded garden. Her greatest ambition is to one day plant a forest, or even just an oak.

Last Chance in Paris is her debut novel.

Instagram: @sultanabun

Blog tour

Thanks to Tracy Fenton at Compulsive Readers and Eriu Books for my digital copy of Last Chance in Paris and for my place on the blog tour.

See the banner below for more stops on the #blogtour.