Blog tour: 9 to 24 September 2021

Synopsis

What if you left your child alone, and something terrible happened?

Anna James is an anxious mother. So when she has to leave eleven-year-old Harrie home alone one evening, she can’t stop worrying about her daughter. But nothing bad ever happens in the sleepy village of Barton St Martin.

Except something goes wrong that night, and Anna returns to find Harrie with bruises she won’t explain. The next morning a local businessman is reported missing and the village is sparking with gossip.

Anna is convinced there’s a connection and that Harrie is in trouble. But how can she protect her daughter if she doesn’t know where the danger is coming from?

My review

Anna James is mum to 11-year-old twins, Harriet and Elise, and seven-year-old Molly. She has her own business developing websites. Her husband, Rob, an engineer, works at an oil rig off the coast of Nigeria and is away for three months at a time then home for two weeks. The family live in the small village of Barton St Martin.

Life for Anna is hectic and the girls regularly have activities to attend – football for Harrie and gymnastics classes for Elise. One evening, after strong persuasion from the twins and Rob during his weekly call, Anna decides to leave Harrie home alone for 20 minutes while her and Molly pick up Elise from gymnastics. Unfortunately, there’s an accident on the A12 and they end up being stuck in traffic for hours and Anna, panicking, phones but can’t get through to Harrie, their neighbour, June, or friend, Kat.

When they finally get home four hours later, just before midnight, Harrie is fine and fast asleep in bed but her behaviour in the weeks following is very erratic and it’s clear that something bad happened that night. She won’t open up to her mum or twin sister and she is very emotional and has problems at school too.

Told from the viewpoints of Anna and Harrie, it’s obvious that there’s lots going on with them and they’re both hiding secrets from each other. It made for compelling reading as I was desperate to find out what they were involved in.

There’s an intriguing range of characters in the village and they all seemed rather suspicious at times! The school mums were all a bit bitchy about each other and the secret group chat is really mean! They pretend they’re all friends then make sly digs at each other. The women are realistically written and so are the couples, who Anna makes rhymes up about so that she can remember who they are. This helps the reader to learn who everyone is too.

I wasn’t too keen on Rob either – he had form for lying to his wife and family and just doesn’t seem very trustworthy or particularly supportive of Anna, who is rather anxious and a bit of a worrier and still struggling after their difficulties of four years ago.

Overall, I really enjoyed this tense and twisty thriller. It’s well written and cleverly plotted and the entertaining story unfolded really well and I hadn’t guessed most of what was revealed! There are lots of twists and turns and I imagined all kinds of scenarios to explain Harrie’s role in events.

The ending came together with a bang and lots was revealed in the final pages. There were little clues littered throughout the book and it was fascinating to think back and relate those to what had happened. Some brilliant revelations and such an intense and gripping read.

This is the first book by the author that I’ve read but I’ll definitely be checking out her other books, The Perfect Betrayal and One Step Behind, which I already have on my Kindle!

Buy the book

Safe at Home by Lauren North can be purchased from Amazon on Kindle now and in paperback on 30 September, and as an eBook from Kobo and iBooks. See also Ethical Book Search.

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 from 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: https://www.lauren-north.com

Blog tour

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

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

Blog tour: 2 to 6 September 2021

Synopsis

On an ordinary working day …

Leila Syed receives a call that cleaves her life in two. Her brother-in-law’s voice is filled with panic. His son’s nursery has called to ask where little Max is.

Your worst nightmare …

Leila was supposed to drop Max off that morning. But she forgot.

Racing to the carpark, she grasps the horror of what she has done.

Is about to come true …

What follows is an explosive, high-profile trial that will tear the family apart. But as the case progresses it becomes clear there’s more to this incident than meets the eye …

A gripping, brave and tense courtroom drama, Next of Kin will keep you on the edge of your seat until the final, heart-stopping page.

My review

After reading and enjoying Kia Abdullah’s previous two books, Take It Back and Truth Be Told, I knew I wanted to read Next of Kin and I wasn’t disappointed with this excellent courtroom drama.

Leila and Yasmin Syed are sisters. Their parents died when the women were young so they are extremely close and, being nearly eight years older than Yasmin, Leila brought up her sister single handedly and did her best to provide for them both.

Yasmin is an executive personal assistant and married to Andrew Hansson and they have a three-year-old son, Max, and Leila runs her own architecture firm and is separated from her husband, Will Carmichael, and they don’t have any children. Over the years, the couples have been too close at times, living near each other, and the sisters have an intense if rather volatile and emotional relationship.

One Monday morning in July, Yasmin has already left for work when Andrew receives a page to say his company server has gone down, which he needs to attend to immediately. Panicking, he phones sister-in-law, Leila, to ask if she’ll drop off his son, Max, at nursery. She’s a bit annoyed, as the couple regularly ask her to look after her nephew, but she agrees and heads straight round.

After picking up Max, Leila receives a phone call from her assistant. There’s an emergency at her work too and she races to the office to solve the problem, completely forgetting that a sleeping Max is in the car.

It’s only when Leila gets a frantic call at half 11 from Andrew, who has been contacted by nursery, that she realises that Max has been in her car all morning. In shocking scenes, we experience the harrowing aftermath of Leila’s tragic mistake and the subsequent court case that follows as she is accused of deliberately leaving her nephew in the car while attending to her work issue.

Next of Kin was an emotional and thought-provoking read and my allegiance and sympathy for various characters changed as the story progressed and we learnt more about the main protagonists. Such a heart-breaking and traumatic scenario and I felt so sorry for all involved. It was such an intense and dramatic read and I was intrigued to see how everything would be resolved in this painful nightmare.

In his pursuit of a case, the police officer, Detective Sergeant Christopher Shepherd, was really horrible to Leila and I was frustrated and annoyed with him on her behalf. And during the court scenes, I felt so sorry for Leila as she was grilled by the prosecution and her words and actions were twisted to make her seem guilty and it felt like she didn’t have the chance to defend herself properly.

Overall, I really enjoyed this tense, disturbing and emotive novel. It was well written and cleverly plotted and had me gripped from beginning to end – an explosive start, a tense middle and a shocking finish! There were lots of twists and turns and, just when I thought I had everything figured out, the story produced some startling revelations.

Another powerful, compelling and sensitively written legal/courtroom thriller from the author. I’m definitely a big Kia Abdullah fan and looking forward to her next book already!

Buy the book

Next of Kin by Kia Abdullah 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

Kia Abdullah is an author and travel writer from London. Her novel, Take It Back, was named one of the best thrillers of the year by The Guardian and The Telegraph and was selected for an industry-first audio serialisation by HarperCollins and The Pigeonhole.

Kia has written for The New York Times, The Guardian, The Telegraph and The Times, and is the founder of Asian Booklist, a non-profit organisation that advocates for diversity in publishing.

Born in Tower Hamlets in East London, Kia was raised in a family of eight children and has five sisters. She has a degree in computer science from the University of London.

In 2007, Kia left her job in tech to pursue a career as a writer and worked as sub-editor and later features editor at Asian Woman Magazine. She then went on to join global publisher Penguin Random House working on the digital Rough Guides. In 2014, she quit her day job to found Atlas & Boots, an outdoor travel blog.

Today, she splits her time between London and the Yorkshire Dales town of Richmond, and spends her time writing, hiking, mentoring pupils from Tower Hamlets and visiting far-flung destinations for Atlas & Boots.

Kia loves to travel, hates to cook and is a Star Trek fan.

Twitter: @KiaAbdullah
Facebook: @kiawriter
Instagram: @kiaabdullah
Website: https://kiaabdullah.com

Blog tour

Thanks to Sian Baldwin at HarperCollins UK for my digital copy of Next of Kin and for my place on the blog tour.

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

Blog tour: 17 to 21 August 2021

Synopsis

Ten years of marriage.
Ten years of secrets.
An anniversary they’ll never forget.

Adam and Amelia are spending the weekend in the Scottish Highlands. The remote location is perfect for what they have planned.

But when their romantic trip takes a dark turn, they both start to wonder – can they trust the one they’re with?

Because every couple tells little white lies. Only for Adam and Amelia, the truth is far more dangerous.

My review

Adam and Amelia Wright are spending their wedding anniversary in a remote chapel in the Scottish Highlands. They’ve driven up from London and the journey has been rather scary as it’s snowing and Amelia’s Morris Minor Traveller is struggling to cope with the wintry conditions! Their giant black Labrador, Bob, is also with them.

The couple are both in their forties. Adam is a workaholic screenwriter and Amelia works for Battersea Dogs Home and she won the weekend away in the staff Christmas raffle. Their marriage is faltering and they’re hoping that some time away together will help them reconnect.

Adam suffers from a rare neurological condition called prosopagnosia (face blindness), which means that he doesn’t recognise faces, including his own or his wife’s, and can’t see their distinguishing features or facial expressions. He uses other strategies to recognise people like their smell, the sound of their voice or their touch.

When they arrive at the chapel after their long and arduous journey, the whole weekend already seems a disaster, especially when they see their accommodation for the next few days! As strange and dark things begin to happen, I felt very afraid for both of them and their dog, especially as we learn more about their pasts and what has been happening in their lives.

The story is told from the viewpoints of married couple, Adam and Amelia, with sections about a mysterious character called Robin, all interspersed with unsent letters to Adam, written on their anniversary each year, from his wife. I liked the little images at the beginning of each chapter, especially the ones for the anniversary milestones – paper, cotton, leather, linen, etc.

Both Adam and Amelia seem to be hiding some serious lies and secrets from each other and, as the story unfolds, it’s clear that there’s lots they haven’t been honest about during their marriage. We’re given a few hints but I still wasn’t sure how everything was going to reach its climax!

None of the main protagonists seemed very likeable and I wasn’t really sure who to trust, if any of them! We’re introduced to other characters and I was suspicious of several of them and their motives. Looking back, there are lots of clever little hints throughout the novel about what is to come.

The book has gothic vibes and is very creepy at times – the chapel appears haunted and it’s in an isolated setting with all but one of the surrounding houses/buildings being derelict and boarded up, with no signs of life. There’s a good sense of tension and the story builds well and I felt uneasy from the start.

Overall, I really enjoyed Rock Paper Scissors – it initially took me a little while to get into the book but, once I had, it was intriguing, gripping and entertaining. This twisty thriller is well written and cleverly plotted, with several red herrings and elements of misdirection. I had various theories but wasn’t sure how it was all going to be resolved and I found the ending fascinating and I didn’t see all that coming!

I’ve already read I Know Who You Are and His & Hers so I must get round to the author’s debut, Sometimes I Lie, which also sounds an intriguing novel!

Buy the book

Rock Paper Scissors by Alice Feeney 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

Alice Feeney is a writer and journalist. She spent 15 years at the BBC, where she worked as a reporter, news editor, arts and entertainment producer and One O’clock News producer.

Her debut novel, Sometimes I Lie, was a New York Times and international bestseller. It has been translated into over 20 languages and is being made into a TV series by Ellen DeGeneres and Warner Bros., starring Sarah Michelle Gellar. His & Hers is also being adapted for screen by Jessica Chastain’s Freckle Films. Her fourth novel, Rock Paper Scissors, is also being made into a TV series for Netflix by the producer of The Crown.

Alice has lived in London and Sydney and has now settled in the Surrey countryside. She writes in her shed with her dog; a giant black Labrador who is scared of feathers.

Twitter: @alicewriterland
Facebook: @AliceFeeneyAuthor
Instagram: @alicewriterland
Website: https://www.alicefeeney.com

Blog tour

Thanks to Sian Baldwin at HQ Stories for my proof and digital copies of Rock Paper Scissors and for my place on the blogger day.

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

Blog tour: 9 to 20 August 2021

Synopsis

Shirley Steadman, a 70 year old living in a small town in the North East of England, loves her volunteer work at the local hospital radio. But she is still haunted by the death of her son.

One day, she finds a frequency that was never there before. It’s a pirate radio station reporting the news.

But there is one problem – the news being reported is a daily early.

Shirley first thinks it is a mere misunderstanding – a wrong date. But as everything reported comes true, she’s in shock.

Then the presenter starts reporting murders – murders that happen just the way they said.

And Shirley is the only one who can stop them.

My review

Half-Past Tomorrow tells the story of Shirley Steadman, 70, who is a volunteer for the radio station at the local hospital in Chester-Le-Street. She enjoys chatting to patients and taking their music requests for the radio show.

Shirley lives in a small bungalow, a mile from the hospital, with her cat, Moggins. She’s a widow after the death of her husband, Bob, and has a daughter called Deena, 32. Her son, Gabe, was in the Royal Navy but died nearly 10 years ago and she still misses and mourns him, and makes his favourite bacon and banana sandwiches.

Shirley has an active social life – as well as the hospital radio, she does embroidery with a group of friends, volunteers at the local RSPCA shop and looks after her grandchildren, Maisie (10) and Kenneth (6) – but is also a bit lonely and tired of life.

One evening, while playing with the ancient radio equipment at the hospital before her request show, Shirley tunes into a pirate radio station called Mallet AM. At first, she just hears music then the presenter reads the news but, strangely, it’s for the following day. The new bulletin usually contains three items: two general bits of news and then the third one tells of an accident. Shirley decides to follow this up the next day and see if the predictions come true. She’s shocked to discover that they do!

She keeps listening to the pirate broadcast when she can and is concerned to hear that a murder is going to take place next! Shirley decides she must try to stop the murder from happening but it’s not as easy as that and things escalate in this twisted and gripping tale!

Shirley was a great protagonist – she’s fearless and brave and, despite her failing body, her mind is sharp and she’s not afraid to get involved in things to try and stop the events predicted by the Mallet AM presenter. She has a good rapport with her younger friend, Callie, who tries to help her solve the puzzling murders.

Shirley has a rather strained relationship with her daughter, Deena, who is protective and worried about her mum and her various escapades! We learn that Shirley had an abusive marriage and her husband was very harsh on their son, Gabe.

Overall, I really enjoyed Half-Past Tomorrow – it was entertaining, cleverly plotted and had an intriguing storyline. It was unique, surprising and went in several directions that I wasn’t expecting! I was never really sure if some events were real or imagined!

This was a fascinating read and very unpredictable. I had suspicions about several characters but was completely wrong about most of them and didn’t see the ending coming at all! This quirky story was something a bit different and I liked the way it was written – it was action packed and kept me gripped throughout and was also humorous and shocking as well.

I’ve already got the author’s other books, Guess Who and Now You See Me, on my Kindle so I must read those soon.

Buy the book

Half-Past Tomorrow by Chris McGeorge 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

Chris McGeorge studied MA Creative Writing (crime/thriller) at City University London where he wrote debut thriller, Guess Who, as his thesis.

His interests are broad, spanning film, books, theatre and video games. He is a member of the Northern Crime Syndicate, a supergroup of writers from Northern England.

He lives in County Durham with his partner and many, many animals.

Twitter: @crmcgeorge
Facebook: @chris.mcgeorge.1

Blog tour

Thanks to Alainna Hadjigeorgiou at Orion Publishing for my copy of Half-Past Tomorrow and to Tracy Fenton at Compulsive Readers for my place on the blog tour.

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

Blog tour: 28 July to 29 August 2021

Synopsis

Have you ever wanted to be someone else?

Vanessa has always found it easy to pretend to be somebody different, somebody better. When things get tough in her real life, all she has to do is throw on some nicer clothes, adopt a new accent and she can escape.

That’s how it started: looking round houses she couldn’t possibly afford. Harmless fun really. Until it wasn’t.

Because a man who lived in one of those houses is dead.

And everyone thinks Vanessa killed him …

My review

After things start going wrong in her life, Vanessa Adams, 32, checks the listings at various high-end estate agents and becomes addicted to looking round beautiful, expensive houses that she can’t possibly afford. She likes pretending to be someone else and imagining living in a stunning house. She ends up moving in with her older sister, Georgie, 45, and brother-in-law, Jack, in Wimbledon after a relationship break up and the loss of her job.

One evening, the police knock on the door and accuse Vanessa of murdering the owner of one of the houses that she viewed. She denies everything but can’t remember what did happen that fateful day.

Told in two timelines, then (2017) and now (2018), we learn about the events that lead up to Vanessa being questioned for murder. She is a rather unreliable narrator and I wasn’t sure whether to believe her version of what happened or not, especially with some of the comments from her best friend, Lottie, her ex, Connor and her sister, Georgie. Interspersed between the two time periods are flashbacks (in italics) to Vanessa’s childhood and her various memories.

In 2017, Vanessa works in marketing for cosmetics company, Luna London, and she lives with her friend of 14 years, Lottie, a case manager at a children’s charity. They’re both single and get on well and have fun together and enjoy their girlie nights out. When Vanessa gets a new boyfriend and spends all her time with him, Lottie feels sidelined and, eventually, the two women fall out.

Things progress rather fast with Connor Dawkins, an art director, and the couple fall head over heels in love and, before long, Vanessa is moving into his flat. Life isn’t all rosy for the pair and the couple’s relationship is unhealthy and toxic. They’re both flawed in their own ways.

Vanessa’s behaviour becomes rather erratic and she gets carried away with her new relationship and forgets the important things in life like her family, friends and job. Connor is horrible and far too jealous and possessive and Vanessa is totally taken in by him and is blind to his bad points – the emotional abuse and manipulative and coercive behaviour.

By the time Vanessa is accused of murder, her life has descended into chaos and she’s not sure how she came to be in this position. Lots happens to her in the year after meeting Connor and she has to be strong to unravel the full story.

Overall, I enjoyed The Perfect Life – it was well paced, tense, gripping and even creepy in parts. Vanessa was a difficult character to suss out and there was certainly lots going on in her life. It was fascinating to discover more about her childhood and learn what happened to her mum. Her relationship with Connor was frustrating as he was very controlling and kept trying to gaslight Vanessa and convince her that she was doing things and behaving in certain ways. She couldn’t see what was happening most of the time or just ignored his behaviour and made excuses.

This was an engaging and absorbing book and rather dark and disturbing at times. It was an intriguing and easy read, with short chapters, and I flew through it in a few hours, desperate to learn more about how Vanessa came to be accused of murder. By the end, there certainly had been some shocking revelations and I was surprised by how it was all resolved. An entertaining read!

I’ve read the author’s third thriller, The House on the Lake, so will have to go back and read her first two books, which I’ve got on my shelves already!

Buy the book

The Perfect Life by Nuala Ellwood can be purchased from Amazon on Kindle and in paperback, and as an eBook from Kobo and iBooks. See also the Ethical Book Search.

About the author

Nuala Ellwood is the author of three bestselling novels: My Sister’s Bones, for which she was selected as one of The Observer’s ‘New Faces of Fiction 2017’, Day of the Accident and The House on the Lake. The Perfect Life is her latest novel.

Nuala lives in York with her young son.

Twitter: @NualaWrites
Facebook: @NualaEllwoodAuthor
Instagram: @nualawrites

Blog tour

Thanks to Ellie Hudson at Penguin and Viking Books for my proof copy of The Perfect Life and for my place on the blog tour.

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

Blog tour: 4 to 11 August 2021

Synopsis

The wounds you can’t see take the longest to heal …

In an isolated cottage on the banks of a Scottish loch, a reclusive couple take on a new live-in carer.

As Lucy gets to know her employers, she realises the house and the people in it aren’t what they seem. Is the house haunted or is something far more sinister living within the walls?

As secrets and lies begin to unravel, Lucy starts to question what is real. But one thing seems certain, if scars cannot heal, people will never forgive …

My review

Scars begins in 2008 with a terrifying scene involving several women, then we skip forward in time and meet Lucy, who is starting a new job as a live-in carer for a reclusive couple, Diana and Richard Davenport, at Willow Cottage, which is located near a remote Scottish loch on the west coast of Scotland. Lucy will be looking after Richard and preparing meals and doing other household tasks.

Diana, an artist, is in her late sixties and her husband is a similar age and was an even more successful artist. The couple were both badly injured in a nasty car accident in London and Richard has been left in a wheelchair in a vegetative state and can’t communicate or respond and Diana has bad scarring on her face and suffers bad pain from her injuries.

We meet a local man called Mylo, who brings food supplies to the cottage, delivers mail and does other odd jobs like gardening. He shows Lucy around the area on his boat and seems friendly, if slightly troubled.

As Lucy gets to know her introverted and eccentric employer, Diana, she learns more about the couple’s pasts, their daughter and about the dreadful events that have happened recently in the house. Diana is addicted to painkillers and sleeping pills and drinks far too much alcohol. Her mental health deteriorates and she stops painting and she imagines things and becomes convinced that the house is haunted.

Diana’s behaviour gets more erratic and her drinking and pill popping get even worse and she doesn’t look after herself properly, let alone her husband. Lucy struggles to care for Diana as well as Richard and she has to call for help on several occasions as the situation worsens and she becomes concerned for her own safety.

The story is told from Lucy and Diana’s points of view, with the odd flashback to the past, and it’s fascinating to read how differently the women see the same events. Neither of them was very likeable. Diana, in particular, is cold and aloof and rather mean to Lucy, who is doing her best to look after the couple in rather difficult circumstances, in a remote and isolated location with no modern communications!

Overall, I really enjoyed this dark, tense and twisty thriller. It was chilling, disturbing and kept me gripped throughout and I was never quite sure which way it was going – all kinds of theories were running through my head and I had suspicions about several characters! Everyone seemed to be hiding things and they were all rather flawed characters, who were untrustworthy and unreliable narrators with lots of secrets.

I’m not usually a fan of ghostly supernatural stories but it worked well in this case and the creepy cottage and the beautiful but isolated rural setting combined well to create an eerie and unsettling gothic read.

The title of the novel is perfect – the main characters were all scarred, both physically and mentally, and it was intriguing to find out more about them as the cleverly plotted story progressed and elements were revealed.

This is the first book of the author’s that I’ve read but I’m now keen to read Damaged and Girl A.

Buy the book

Scars by Dan Scottow 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

Dan Scottow grew up in Hertfordshire before moving to London in his early twenties. After more than 10 years living there, he decided enough was enough, and packed his bags for Scotland in search of a more peaceful life.

Dan works as a graphic designer, but dreams of the day he can give it up and write full time.

Besides writing, he enjoys painting, watching a good scary film, travelling the world, good food, long walks on the beach with his dogs, and of course, reading a great book.

Dan’s psychological thrillers, Damaged and Girl A, are out now, and available to buy or download.

Twitter: @DanScottow
Facebook: @danscottowauthor

Thanks

Thanks to Dan Scottow for my digital copy of Scars and for my place on the blog tour.

Blog tour: 29 July to 6 August 2021

Synopsis

What was it like? Living in that house.

Maggie Holt is used to such questions. Twenty-five years ago, she and her parents, Ewan and Jess, moved into a rambling Victorian estate called Baneberry Hall. They spent three weeks there before fleeing in the dead of night, an ordeal Ewan later recounted in a memoir called House of Horrors. His tale of ghostly happenings and encounters with malevolent spirits became a worldwide phenomenon.

Now, Maggie has inherited Baneberry Hall after her father’s death. She was too young to remember any of the events mentioned in her father’s book. But she doesn’t believe a word of it. Ghosts, after all, don’t exist.

But when she returns to Baneberry Hall to prepare it for sale, her homecoming is anything but warm. People from the pages of her father’s book lurk in the shadows, and locals aren’t thrilled that their small town has been made infamous. Even more unnerving is Baneberry Hall itself – a place that hints of dark deeds and unexplained happenings.

As the days pass, Maggie begins to believe that what her father wrote was more fact than fiction. That, either way, someone – or something – doesn’t want her here.

And that she might be in danger all over again …

My review

Twenty-five years ago, Maggie Holt and her family fled from Baneberry Hall, near the village of Bartleby in Vermont, after living there for just 20 days. Maggie was only five and remembers nothing of her time in the house and why they left so suddenly, fearing for their lives. Her parents, Ewan and Jess, refuse to talk about it with her but her father wrote a bestselling book called House of Horrors, which is said to be the real-life true account of their terrifying experiences.

While some people believe the book is all true, others are convinced it is all fake and Maggie, herself, thinks the truth is somewhere in between the two. The book has made Maggie notorious and has affected her whole life – she was an outcast at school and still finds that everyone is curious about what happened and she regularly gets contacted by people wanting to know more.

Ewan Holt has now died and as his sole beneficiary, since her parents’ divorce 22 years ago, Maggie discovers that she has inherited the rambling Victorian estate of Baneberry Hall, which her father never sold. She is shocked by the news but, as an interior designer, she can’t resist going to visit the house to see what state it’s in and decides to spend the summer doing it up to sell, while also searching for clues to discover once and for all what actually happened there.

The story is told from Maggie’s point of view in the present day, alternated with chapters from Ewan’s book, which was written soon after the family escaped the house. This is cleverly done and works well as we follow Maggie’s investigations as the events (real or imagined) are recounted in the book. We learn how the family came to buy the house, as well as some of its past history and then find out about the frightening events that led up to the family leaving Baneberry Hall in the dead of night and never returning.

Maggie was a good protagonist and very brave at times – she seemed to face danger head on and was determined to be fearless and she questioned everything, including the local residents! It was also really interesting to see things from her father’s point of view and learn more about him, even though he was an unreliable narrator and we weren’t sure how true to life his account of events was.

Right from the start, this novel is really creepy and eerie and makes for uncomfortable reading – there’s a strong sense of foreboding and dread and I was just waiting for terrible things to happen! It’s definitely not a book to read late at night and all alone in the house!

Baneberry Hall has a disturbing past with several deaths over the decades and as I read Home Before Dark, I kept changing my mind about what was going on and who or what was responsible. I don’t really believe in ghosts but the evidence seems indisputable as strange and unexplained things keep happening.

Overall, I really enjoyed this twisted, addictive and creepy story. It’s well written and cleverly plotted with lots of suspense and so many freaky occurrences! It’s very atmospheric and gothic with some sinister characters (both real and ghostly). The setting is brilliant and I could just picture the house, its various rooms and the surroundings and the nearby village with a horrible motel.

At first, I thought this book was going to take me ages to read as it’s nearly 400 pages and the font is quite small but it’s a compelling read and I raced through it in a couple of days and was thoroughly gripped by this scary and chilling tale.

I’ve already read Lock Every Door but will definitely be checking out the author’s other books, Final Girls and Last Time I Lied, very soon! And I’m already looking forward to Survive the Night, which sounds brilliant!

Buy the book

Home Before Dark by Riley Sager 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

Riley Sager is the pseudonym of a former journalist, editor and graphic designer who previously published mysteries under his real name.

Now a full-time author, Riley’s first thriller, Final Girls, was a national and international bestseller that has been sold in 25 languages. A film version is being developed by Universal Pictures and Anonymous Content.

A native of Pennsylvania, he now lives in Princeton, New Jersey.

Twitter: @riley_sager
Facebook: @rileysagerbooks
Instagram: @riley.sager
Website: https://www.rileysagerbooks.com

Blog tour

Thanks to Niamh Anderson at Hodder & Stoughton for my paperback copy of Home Before Dark and for my place on the blog tour.

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

Blog tour: 26 July to 4 August 2021

Synopsis

Once upon a time there was a red wolf. But this is no fairy tale. He was a killer.

A convicted murderer with a story to tell
Serial killer Michael Reave – known as The Red Wolf – has been locked in Belmarsh Prison for over 20 years for the brutal and ritualistic murders of countless women.

A grieving daughter with a secret to unearth
Ex-journalist Heather Evans returns to her childhood home after her mother’s inexplicable suicide and discovers something chilling – hundreds of letters between her mother and Reave, dating back decades.

A hunt for a killer ready to strike again
When the body of a woman is found decorated with flowers, just like his victims, Reave is the only person alive who could help. After years of silence, he will speak to Heather, and only Heather.

If she wants to unearth the truth and stop further bloodshed, she’ll have to confront a monster.

My review

After the unexpected death of her estranged mother, former journalist Heather Evans heads to her old family home in Balesford to sort out Colleen’s belongings and finalise the funeral arrangements. The pair haven’t been close for years, since her father’s death, but Heather is shocked by her mother’s suicide and the strange note that she left behind and hopes to discover some clues in the house that will give her an idea about Colleen’s mental state in the weeks before her death.

The house is eerie and it feels like there’s a presence inside with various strange things happening. Her mother’s friend, Lilian, from up the road is a bit odd, despite kindly popping in with a stew. Luckily, Heather has an old friend, Nikki Appiah, who gets in touch again and the pair meet up for a drink.

While sorting paperwork in the attic, Heather is surprised to discover an old biscuit tin containing two bundles of letters between her mother and a man called Michael Reave who was in prison. The letters go back decades, including the early years of her parents’ marriage. Heather searches on the internet and is horrified to discover that Reave is still in Belmarsh prison and is a convicted serial killer, nicknamed The Red Wolf, who was responsible for the murder of five women in Lancashire and Manchester, and possibly many others too.

When Heather confesses to her friend about the letters she’s found, Nikki tells her that, shockingly, there have been some similar murders recently and women have been found dead and laid out in the same intricate way as Reave used to, using flowers and plants. Either a copycat killer is at large or Reave wasn’t responsible for the original crimes. Or perhaps he had an accomplice?

Heather phones the police and talks to DI Ben Parker about the letters and he’s very interested in Colleen’s correspondence and connection with Reave, especially in light of recent events. The police speak to Reave, who is keen to meet up with Heather when he learns that she is Colleen’s daughter.

It doesn’t make sense that Colleen would have corresponded with such a man and Heather agrees to talk to Reave. The meetings between them are very tense and there’s a lot unsaid between the two of them. I felt scared for Heather, her safety and mental health. At times, the tension is unbearable as Michael appears to be on the brink of confessing secrets to Heather, before distracting her with creepy Grimm’s fairy tales and changing the subject. He seems to enjoy the attention and likes manipulating the conversation and teasing her. It feels like he is in control throughout and he’s toying with Heather.

As she continues to meet up with Reave and learns more about her mother’s past, Heather can’t resist using her journalism skills to dig deeper and try to discover what’s going on. Is she putting herself in real danger? Will she be the next victim of the serial killer?

Overall, I really enjoyed this dark, creepy and disturbing serial killer crime thriller, which was cleverly plotted, well written and had great tension. It kept me gripped throughout and I was fully absorbed in the storyline and desperate to find out what was going on! It was an unsettling and, at times, grisly read and I felt on edge throughout, just waiting for something awful to happen!

Heather is a rather intriguing character – she was brave but also foolhardy and was also hiding some secrets. I liked the way she was determined to speak to Reave and learn more about her mother’s past, even if she wasn’t really sure that she wanted to know the truth! Reave was also a compelling character – despite his obvious flaws and appalling crimes, I was curious to learn more about him and his childhood.

This was an excellent and well-crafted story, with lots of twists and turns, and some unusual elements that made it different from your usual thriller. Not being much of a fantasy fan, I haven’t read any of the author’s previous books but I’ll definitely look out for any other crime thrillers that she writes! It would be great if this was a series as I’d love to read more about Heather Evans and DI Ben Parker.

Buy the book

Dog Rose Dirt by Jen Williams can be purchased from Amazon on Kindle and in hardback, and as an eBook from Kobo and iBooks.

About the author

Jen Williams lives in London with her partner and their small ridiculous cat. Having been a fan of grisly fairy tales from a young age, these days Jen writes dark unsettling thrillers with strong female leads, as well as character-driven fantasy novels with plenty of adventure and magic. She has twice won the British Fantasy Award for her Winnowing Flame trilogy, and when she’s not writing books she works as a bookseller and a freelance copywriter.

Twitter: @sennydreadful
Instagram: @sennydreadful19
Website: https://www.sennydreadful.co.uk

Blog tour

Thanks to Jennifer Harlow at HarperCollins for my copy of Dog Rose Dirt and to Anne Cater at Random Things Tours for my place on the blog tour.

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

Blog tour: 19 to 25 July 2021

Synopsis

Eliza is angry. Very angry, and very, very hot.

Late for work and dodging traffic, she’s still reeling from the latest row with husband Paddy. Twenty-something years ago, their eyes met over the class divide in oh-so-cool Britpop London, but while Paddy now seems content filling his downtime with canal boats and cricket, Eliza craves the freedom and excitement of her youth. Fifty sounds dangerously close to pensionable: her woke children want to cancel her, a male motorist has just called her a ‘mad old bat’ and to cap it all her hormones are on the run. Who knew menopause was puberty’s evil older sister?

But then a moment of heroism draws an unexpected admirer, and Eliza sets out to discover whether the second half of life can be a glass half full after all. She might suffer mental fog and night sweats – and have temporarily mislaid her waist – but this is her renaissance.

My review

Set in Warwickshire, near Stratford-upon-Avon, Woman of a Certain Rage tells the story of Eliza Finch, 50, menopausal and frustrated by life in several ways! She is married to Paddy Hollander, a bespoke cabinet maker, and they have three children, Joe (19), Summer (17) and Edward (12).

When we first meet Eliza, the family’s dog, Artemis (Arty), has just died and she is still in mourning and has a big argument with Paddy after he suggests they get a new puppy.

She’s feeling misunderstood by her husband, who can’t empathise with her menopausal symptoms (hot flushes, crazy mood swings, forgetfulness, overactive bladder, loss of sex drive, insomnia), and is feeling unloved and unwanted by her children, who seem to dismiss her opinion and rather look down on Eliza and act embarrassed by her.

Eliza is stuck in a rut and frustrated by life, mourning her younger carefree days and her loss of identity, fed up with being overlooked and ignored. Paddy is more interested in his work, the family canal boat and cricket. Her children cause her lots of worries – from her youngest son, Ed, who is autistic and very fixed in his ways and anxious about his routine, to her teenage daughter, Summer, who is at a difficult, impressionable age, and her oldest son, Joe, who is in his first year at uni and struggled with depression when he was younger. She also has strained relationships with her elderly parents, Peter and Fiona, and with her younger brother, Miles, who has just come out as gay after three marriages to women and fathering two sons. Her older sister, Jules, and her control-freak husband, Reece, also drive her crazy!

Eliza always wanted to be an actor and studied drama at university but she wasn’t very successful and, being too tall, struggled to find suitable roles. She then did radio work and is now a voice artist, narrating non-fiction and fiction books, and also works part time for an all-female estate agency doing viewings.

She gets up to some great escapades – there’s a particularly funny one where she experiences road rage and ends up in a daring rescue mission! Eliza also has amusing encounters with an Italian man called Matteo, who runs the local restaurant, and she gains a Japanese tourist friend who keeps popping up when least expected.

Woman of Certain Rage is an honest, thoughtful and hilarious account of a menopausal, fifty-something woman who is struggling with her life, jobs, husband, marriage, children and her parents and siblings, while trying not to explode with rage or melt into a puddle due to her emotions and internal heating system going haywire!

The book is entertaining, amusing and poignant and has some great observations and witty one liners. I’m in my early forties, so not quite menopausal yet, but I still found Eliza’s turbulent emotions and frustrations very relatable and loved her wry sense of humour!

Overall, I really enjoyed this book – it was a great slice of humour and despite being a fairly chunky book, I zipped through it, chuckling away at Eliza’s antics! It’s not my usual type of read but I could identify with the main character well and was rooting for her to overcome her various challenges!

I’m not sure if I’ve read any of Fiona Walker’s other books but I’ll definitely be checking them out now.

Buy the book

Woman of a Certain Rage by Georgie Hall can be purchased from Amazon on Kindle and in hardback, and as an eBook from Kobo and iBooks.

About the author

Georgie Hall is the alter-ego of best-selling author and woman of a certain (r)age, Fiona Walker. Stepping aside from her usual big-cast comedies to write as Georgie, she has her sharp-eyed wit firmly fixed on midlife, marriage, motherhood and menopause. Woman of a Certain Rage is for women everywhere who refuse to be told it’s too late to shake things up.

Twitter: @GeorgieHallUK
Facebook: @georgiehalluk
Instagram: @georgiehalluk
Website: https://georgie-hall.com/

Blog tour

Thanks to Avneet Bains at Head of Zeus for my copy of Woman of a Certain Rage and for my place on the blog tour.

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