Two Heads Are Better Than One

Graham Hurley

Publication Date: 4th July 2024

Publisher: Head of Zeus

SYNOPSIS

A young British nurse experiences the devastating Spanish Civil War and the dark side of the espionage game in this gripping World War Two thriller from Graham Hurley.

1936. Anglo-Breton translator Annie Wrenne is working in Madrid when the Spanish Civil War breaks out. Annie becomes a nurse on the front line, but after falling in love with a patient, she ends up pregnant – and abandoned – by a man she thought she knew.

Annie passes the rest of the war in a haze, her only consolation her relationship with mysterious Republican fighter Carlos Ortega. Annie finds herself caught up in Ortega’s world, a web of intrigue, which leads to her recruitment into MI5. 

On her first mission, Annie must pose as Ortega’s wife and head to Algeciras. Hitler’s Operation Felix – his plan to control the Mediterranean and force Churchill to the negotiating table – has been set into motion, and the ‘couple’ must help prevent the Nazis from seizing Gibraltar.

But Ortega has secretly been working for the Nationalists, part of Madrid’s Fifth Column. If it falls to Annie – and Ortega – to save the day for the Allied cause, can she trust a man who has changed sides yet again? 

From award-winning author Graham Hurley, the latest thrilling instalment in the Spoils of War Collection, a non-chronological series of novels set during World War II and featuring some of the most momentous stories and figures of the era.

MY REVIEW

An engrossing story of spies and secret plots written by an accomplished author.

Graham Hurley has written nearly 50 books during the last two decades. This is the ninth book in his ‘Spoils of War’ series focussing on events during WW2 and merging facts with fiction exceptionally well, making the read absolutely plausible.

Having only read and thoroughly enjoyed the book before this one, The Blood of Others, I jumped at the chance to read Dead Ground for the blog tour.

Again, Graham has come up with the goods in writing an intense wartime spy novel, blending real events and real people with fiction to really bring the book to life.

We follow a few threads which come together later in the book. My favourite thread was Annie Wrenn; a selfless lady who begins volunteering in a hospital during the Spanish Civil War. After helping a beggar she comes across in the street with a disfigured face, who turns out to be a talented sniper with connections to British Intelligence, she finds herself working for the British Government as a spy. She gets involved in an art theft and spends a few nights in prison, all taken quite in her stride.

I also enjoyed getting to know Carlos Ortega, the beggar whose face had been badly disfigured when a church fell on him.

There are plenty of well known historical figures who appear in the book as Hitler plans his assault on Gibraltar and Annie tries to help stop it with her spying skills. I have learned a lot from this very interesting history lesson. I did not know about Admiral Canaris, head of Abwehr, and his role in the resistance of military officers to Hitler which lead to him being hanged for treason.

An enjoyable read from a master storyteller.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Born November, 1946, Clacton-on-Sea, Essex. Seaside childhood punctuated by football, swimming, afternoons on the dodgems, run-ins with the police, multiple raids on the local library…plus near-total immersion in English post-war cinema classics including The Dam Busters, Ice Cold in Alex, The Wooden Horse, The Cockleshell Heroes and Reach For The Sky. War-crazy? Sort of…

Wins scholarship to a London boarding school and then onward to Cambridge University. Reads English, volunteers for Six-Day War (those films again!), and emerges three years later with five mercifully unpublished manuscripts, still intent on becoming a full-time novelist. Yet more rejection slips (plus hunger) compel a career rethink…

Becomes a promotion script-writer with Southern Television, then researcher, then director. Spends the next twenty years making ITV documentaries, many of them networked. Films seabed wrecks of the Titanic and the Bismarck (with American oceanographer Bob Ballard), profiles the Brighton Bomber, produces ITV’s account of Richard Branson’s near-fatal attempt to cross the Atlantic by balloon, wins a number of awards…but still dreams of getting into print.

An ITV commission for 6-part drama series Rules of Engagement is sucessfully finessed into a two-book contract with Pan-Macmillan. Two more novels, both dubbed “international thrillers” follow. Sacked after Television South loses the ITV franchise and embarks on new career as – at last – a full-time novelist.

To date, 25 novels, one biography, two books for challenged readers, plus Airshow, a fly-on-the-wall novel-length piece of reportage, and Backstory, a book-length account of how and why I embarked on crime fiction. Draws gleefully on home-town Portsmouth (“Pompey”) as the basis for an on-going crime series featuring D/I Joe Faraday and D/C Paul Winter. Contributes five years of personal columns to the Portsmouth News, pens a number of plays and dramatic monologues for local production (including the city’s millenium celebration, Willoughby and Son), then decamps to Devon for a more considered take on Pompey low-life.

The Faraday series comes to an end after 12 books. Healthy sales at home and abroad, plus an on-going (and immensely successful) series of French TV adaptations, tempt Orion to commission a spin-off series, set in the West Country, featuring D/S Jimmy Suttle.

First book in the series, Western Approaches, publishes 2012. Second title, Touching Distance, already in the bag.

Married to the delectable Lin. Has three grown-up sons (Tom, Jack and Woody). Plus recently-arrived grandson Dylan. A corker.

Lifetime ambition? To properly master colloquial French. Current passion? Coastal quad rowing with Lin and the rest of The Forty Niners (don’t ask). 

Favourite time of the day? Six’o’clock.

More on my website: http://www.grahamhurley.co.uk

Jo Leevers

Publication date: 1/7/24

Publisher: Lake Union / Amazon Publishing

SYNOPSIS

She’s waiting to become a mother—but first she has to find her own.

Weeks away from the birth of her first child, Georgie should be enjoying the peace of her new life in the country, but boredom has settled in and nerves are running high. A viral news story about the rescue of a missing child warms her heart until she sees the photo: the woman who found the child is her own mother, Nancy, who disappeared twenty years ago.

How could Nancy have abandoned her own children? Georgie needs to know before becoming a mother herself, even if it means calling on her estranged brother Dan for support. As the siblings set off on a road trip towards the Scottish island where Nancy was last seen, they don’t yet know that her side of the story has just as much heartache as their own.

Caught between her new life and old secrets, Georgie must make peace with the past. Can she and Dan unite to uncover the truth? And can piecing together Nancy’s story fix their broken family—or are some wounds too deep to heal?

MY REVIEW

Massive thanks to Jo for kindly sending me an advance copy of The Last Time I Saw You.

I absolutely loved Tell Me How This Ends and had been looking forward to her next book.

Georgie and Dan’s mother, Nancy, left the family home 20 years ago when they were young teenagers. They have always wondered why and where she is now.

Out of the blue, Georgie sees a photo in the news about Nan who rescued a lost young girl in Scotland. Georgie immediately calls her estranged brother who drops everything to pick her up in an old Beetle and they head from London to Scotland. With Georgie 38 weeks pregnant. What could possibly go wrong.

The story is told from different POV’s and over different timelines as we are caught up and filled in with what happened before Nancy left and after. This is a rather dysfunctional family hiding plenty of secrets, lies and regrets. There are also references to coercive behavior and date rape by a supposedly trusted older man.

Jo tackles the difficult subjects sensitively from the rape to the feelings of failure as a mother and more, and I found myself absolutely immersed in Georgia and Nancy’s lives from the first word to the last. My interest did not falter once. And there were tears!

Already recommended to a friend today who has bought a copy.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jo Leevers comes from London and is the author of the bestselling Tell Me How This Ends. Her next novel, The Last Time I Saw You, is out in 2024. She’s also the author of the interiors book Victorian Modern and she writes about interior design for leading magazines and newspapers. She has two grown-up children and lives with her husband and their wayward dog Lottie.

Nick Bradley

Publication Date: 13/6/24

Publisher: Penguin Random House

SYNOPSIS

A despondent American translator living in Tokyo finds a lost book on the subway and embarks on a year-long journey translating it into English…

Flo is sick of Tokyo. She is stuck in a rut, her translation work has dried up, and she’s in a relationship that’s run its course. That’s until she stumbles upon a mysterious book left by a drunken passenger on the Tokyo Subway. From the very first page, Flo is transformed and immediately feels compelled to translate this forgotten novel, a decision which sets her on a path that will change her life…

It is a story about Ayako, a fierce and strict old woman who runs a coffee shop in the small town of Onomichi, where she has just taken guardianship of her grandson, Kyo. Haunted by long-buried family tragedy, both have suffered extreme loss and feel unable to open up to each other. 

As Flo follows the characters across a year in rural Japan, through the ups and downs of the pair’s burgeoning relationship, she quickly realises that she needs to venture outside the pages of the book to track down its elusive author. And, as her two protagonists reveal themselves to have more in common with her life than first meets the eye, the lines between text and translator converge. The journey is just beginning.

 MY REVIEW

I’m sure readers of Nicks first book, The Cat and the City will need no persuading to read this one!

This is a beautiful story within a story. Sad, happy, uplifting, promising, and so much more. Immersing the reader in Japanese culture, with beautiful descriptions of the scenery, food, traditions, the people. It just has to be read to be appreciated. Nick has drawn on his experiences of living in Japan and working as a translator and of his studying the cat in Japanese literature to create an outstanding work.

It is a story of family, of belonging, of dreams and sometimes harsh reality. It utterly draws the reader in to both the story within, and the translator’s story.

Set in Japan (of course!). The ‘inner’ story follows Kyo. Having failed his entrance exam to study medicine his mother sends him off to live with his grandmother for a year to attend a cram school, to prepare to resit it. There is no doubt Kyo will become a doctor just like his mother. Kyo feels like a failure, cutting all ties with his more successful peers, and is not even sure he wants to be a doctor. His first love is drawing and he would secretly love to become a Manga artist. As my daughter has me quite addicted to Manga and Anime I enjoyed the references to his work on a Manga strip.

Life with his strict grandmother is not much fun to begin with. Having lost her son, Kyo’s father, to suicide, she does not know how to treat Kyo. She keeps her emotions hidden but deep down she loves him and is so proud of him.

I enjoyed the relationship between Kyo and his grandmother, how it developed through its ups and downs.

And of course I loved Coltrane the one eyed cat.

The ‘outer’ story of Flo is quite sad. Having moved from the US, she still finds she is awkward around people. As a translator she keeps mostly to herself and is torn between following her girlfriend back to the US or staying in Tokyo. When she finds a novel left behind on a train she becomes obsessed with translating it into English and tracking down its secretive author.

Highly highly recommended and this is going to be one of my top books of the year without a shadow of a doubt.

Many thanks to Anne at Random Things Tours for having me along on the blog tour.

BLOG TOUR HOSTS

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

NICK BRADLEY holds a PhD from UEA focussing on the figure of the cat in Japanese literature. He lived in Japan for a decade, but currently teaches on the Creative Writing master’s programme at the University of Cambridge. His debut novel, The Cat and The City, was published in 2020 to widespread 

Robert J. Lloyd

Publication Date: 20/6/24

Publisher: Melville House Press

SYNOPSIS

In late 17th Century London rich young women are being kidnapped, then murdered. Harry Hunt, formerly of the Royal Society but now a rich gentleman, is falsely accused. To clear his name, he must rely on his abandoned scientific expertise and battle the full force of the British aristocracy.

1681. London cooks in summer heat. Bonfires are lit in protest against the King’s brother, James, heir to the throne but openly Catholic. Rumours abound of a ‘Black Box’, said to conceal proof the King’s illegitimate son is really the rightful heir.

When a wealthy merchant’s daughter is kidnapped and murdered―even though a ransom was paid―the King orders Harry Hunt of the Royal Society to help investigate.

A second woman goes missing: Elizabeth Thynne, England’s richest heiress. Her husband has a ransom letter from the same kidnappers.

Pressured by powerful men to find the killers and rescue Elizabeth, Harry uncovers a disturbing link to Bethlehem Hospital, better known as Bedlam. But he is falsely accused of the crimes.

To prove his innocence, he must find the real culprits. Harry’s search takes him from Rotherhithe to Whitehall Palace, and to the house of Sir Peter Lely, the famous portrait-painter, in Covent Garden. And back to Bedlam. He has the Monarchy’s future in his hands.

MY REVIEW

This is the third in the addictive Hunt and Hooke series and I am here for it! Since reading The Bloodless Boy I have eagerly awaited the next book and have never been disappointed. They can all be read as stand alones but I’d highly recommend them all.

This one is set in London in the summer of 1681.

Rich in history with real people, places and events being woven through the fiction.

When the body of a suicide victim is sent from Bethlehem Hospital – or Bedlam as it is better known – to be dissected in the interests of medical progress, someone recognises the girl and it is not the suicide victim it should be. She is a murder victim.

Harry Hunt is commanded by the King to investigate the murder. Not only is there a murder to investigate, it turns out another woman has disappeared and her husband wants her found.

With two cases now to investigate, and with the initial assistance of the no messing about Justice, Sir John, Harry begins his investigations unaware he himself will be brought into question.

He leaves his new, rich and privileged lifestyle and his potential fiancée behind and with no choice goes into hiding in the poor back streets of London with no money or possessions.

He uncovers conspiracies, lies, secrets and meets some very nasty people.

Robert excels at setting the scene and placing the reader right at the centre of the action. Sights, sounds and (bad) smells of London in 1681 are all described in detail.

He summarises the plot so far now and again through Harry’s thoughts, although I raced through it so quickly I didn’t need it. Very helpful to people who take more than a few days to read a book.

The short sharp chapters make for a fast paced read which completely immersed me.

An absolutely fantastic historical crime thriller and I can’t wait for the next one!

Thank you to Nikki at Melville House Press for having me along on the blog tour.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Robert Lloyd, the son of parents who worked in the British Foreign Office, grew up in South London, Innsbruck, and Kinshasa. He studied for a Fine Art degree, starting as a landscape painter, but it was while studying for his MA degree in the History of Ideas that he first read Robert Hooke’s diary, detailing the life and experiments of this extraordinary man. After a twenty-year career as a secondary
school teacher, he has now returned to painting and writing, and is working on the fourth book in the Hunt & Hooke series. He lives in Crickhowell, Wales.

Also in the Hunt & Hooke series:
The Bloodless Boy – 9781685890049
The Poison Machine – 9781685890407

Gay Marris

Publication Date: 20/6/25

Publisher: Bedford Square Publishers

SYNOPSIS

Set in London in 1968, A CURTAIN TWITCHER’S BOOK OF MURDER follows the lives of the inhabitants of a suburban London street. But this is no ordinary road.

“Ask anyone on Atbara Avenue how well they know their neighbours, and they’ll answer ‘well’. After all, they see each other across the vast distance afforded by close proximity, and that is probably for the best…”.

For the best, because Atbara Avenue is a street where, all too often, murder feels like the solution.

With a delicious cast of characters, dazzling plotting, and an utterly unique voice, Gay Marris’ first book is remarkably accomplished. If you’ve been longing for a fresh and compelling new voice in the world of crime fiction, your wait is over.

MY REVIEW

What an absolutely brilliant, entertaining, darkly humorous book! I think I would sum up as ‘cosy crime with plenty of stings in the tails’

The brilliantly plotted stories are set on Atbara Avenue, a suburban street in London, where across 8 chapters we read about different residents, their dastardly deeds and their secrets. The stories overlap as the neighbours turn up within each story.

I particularly liked Muriel, the ‘sweet little old lady’ who is not quite as sweet as she appears. Also Deirdre, the wife of the reverend, who likes to stick her nose into everyone’s business thinking she is helping but more often than not reads the situation completely wrong.

Pauline plans to murder her nasty mother.

Colin believes his soul has left his body and is talking to him.

And plenty more intriguing twisty stories… I just did not see those endings!

An excellent read I have already started recommending.

Really huge thanks to Bedford Square Publishers for introducing me to this book.

Jess Armstrong

Publication Date: 20/6/24

Publisher: Allison & Busby

SYNOPSIS

1922. Since the Great War, Ruby Vaughn has made a life for herself running a rare bookshop alongside octogenarian Mr Owen. She thought that she had consigned painful memories of Penryth Hall, deep in the Cornish countryside, to the distant past. Returning to the hall, home to a once dear friend, Tamsyn, leads Ruby to cross paths with Tamsyn’s sinister husband, Sir Edward Chenowyth. Desperate to leave, Ruby’s plans are thwarted when Penryth’s bells ring for the first time in thirty years. Edward has been brutally killed in the orchard prompting fears that a dormant curse has been awoken.

The Pellar, Ruan Kivell, is summoned. The locals believe that this unsettling man can break the curse. Sceptical Ruby doesn’t believe in curses or Pellars but to protect her friend, she must work alongside him to find out what really happened that night.

MY REVIEW

Set in 1922,this gothic historical crime novel with a hint of the supernatural is a brilliant debut.

Cast out from the high society of New York, Ruby finds herself living in Exeter with an octogenarian bookseller. When he asks her to take a case full of rare books to Cornwall, a place she never wanted to visit again, she is invited to stay at Penryth Hall with her best friend, Tamsyn, from many years ago and her husband. Ruby and Tamsyn clearly share some history. No sooner does Ruby arrive than Tamsyn’s husband is found murdered. Could the curse which is said to have killed her husband’s family have struck again? Could Tamsyn be next? And who is the wraith like figure Ruby saw in the gardens?

With the help of Ruan Kivell, the local Pellar, and self proclaimed witch, she begins investigating the murder, finding herself in fear for her life.

Such a good storyline with a fearless protagonist in Ruby and a maybe love interest in the Pellar, but this takes very much a back seat to the storyline.

I thoroughly enjoyed following Ruby as she dug deeper into the murder, absolutely not believing in curses or witches. She has quite a dry sense of humour I chuckled at a few times.

I am pleased to see it is book 1 of 2 as I need to know what Ruby does next! Does she go to Egypt with Howard Carter as she is desperate to?

Thank you so much to Allison & Busby for my spot on the blog tour and also for my gorgeous hardback copy of the book.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jess Armstrong is the USA Today best selling author of the Ruby Vaughn Mysteries. Her debut novel, The Curse of Penryth Hall, won the Mystery Writers of America/Minotaur First Crime Novel Competition. She has a masters degree in American History but prefers writing about imaginary people to the real thing. Jess lives in New Orleans with her historian husband, two sons, yellow cat, speckled dog, and the world’s most pampered school-fair goldfish. And when she’s not working on her next project, she’s probably thinking about cheese, baking, on social media or some combination of the above. You can find her on Instagram or X @JessL_Armstrong at or see what’s new on her website.

Tony Kent

Publication date: 6th June 2024

Publisher: Elliott & Thompson

SYNOPSIS

How do you take down an enemy when no one believes they exist?
When the lawyers of alleged war criminal Hannibal Strauss are caught up in a terror attack in The Hague, barrister Michael Devlin immediately suspects all is not what it seems. Teaming up once more with Agent Joe Dempsey, they must find who’s behind it all before any more innocent lives are lost.
With their key witness on the run and assassins on their tail, their
only lead is a codename: the Monk, a legendary and mysterious
foreign agent with a fearsome reputation. But what is his stake in this dangerous game? And just who is part of his shadowy network of spies? Caught in a complicated web of lies, secrets and double agents, there’s no one Dempsey and Devlin can trust but themselves.
The Shadow Network is a tightly plotted and fast paced political thriller set against the backdrop of Russian espionage, American spy-hunting and the modern day consequences of the games played by both superpowers during the Cold War.

MY REVIEW

Mr Kent. You kept me awake until after 2am as I just had to finish The Shadow Network! The quality of the writing. The characters. The fast pace. The non stop action. Thrillers just do not come any better than this.

The short chapters mean the different threads stay fresh in the mind as we swap between them.

Tony Kent draws from his experience and his knowledge of the criminal world, writing a fast paced, perfectly plotted and authentic storyline and larger than life characters. Literally in the case of one of them. As an ex boxer and current criminal barrister we don’t know what he is drawing from the real criminal world and what is from his imagination, but this reads as something which could actually happen. And perhaps is happening.

The story opens with a terror attack in The Hague, taking the reader straight into the action and not letting them go until the last page has been read. This is a chunky book with 525 pages which just flew past. I could have carried on reading and can’t wait for the next one.

Dempsey and Devlin are at the christening of Devlin’s boys completely unaware of the events unfolding in The Hague. When they are made aware there has been a random terrorist attack and Devlin’s friend is missing they arrange to travel to The Hague immediately to look for him. They have no idea what they are heading into or that the attack was actually targeted. Devlin’s friend being one of the targets.

Joe Dempsey. Ex Army and current agent for the International Security Bureau, the UN’s intelligence service, puts his hand selected alpha team to work. The small team of four is unofficially led by the very able Grace. They are sent to find the wife of a missing man and protect her but she is gone when they reach her home.

We get to see the softer side of Joe as his ex girlfriend appears in this story. He had to finish the relationship to keep her safe as his life does not allow for a family. Unbelievably she has got involved in the day’s atrocities by way of her husband and now her life is in danger.

There is a legendary foreign agent at play known as ‘The Monk’ who appears to be pulling the strings. He leads an organisation which was said to have been set up decades ago and which has its tentacles spread out across the globe. His identity is unknown. Even the people who work for him do not know who he is. It is up to Dempsey and Devlin to put their lives on the line to get to the bottom of today’s attack, find a missing computer expert who escaped from the attack and is now in hiding and who may have the answer, and track down the possibly non existent Monk.

I don’t want to spoil the plot but I gasped out loud at one revelation towards the end I did not see coming. Brilliant.

This is the fifth Dempsey and Devlin book. I have read Power Play (another fantastic read and my review is on my blog) and absolutely intend to read the others in the series. So glad there are even more to come and I’m here for them all.

Many thanks to Anne at Random Things Tours for having me along on the blog tour and to Elliott & Thompson for my finished copy of the book.

BLOG TOUR HOSTS

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

S.T.Gibson

Publication Date: 28/5/24

Publisher: Angry Robot

SYNOPSIS

The Devil knows your name, David Aristarkhov. 

As a teen, David Aristarkhov was a psychic prodigy, operating under the shadow of his oppressive occultist father. Now, years after his father’s death and rapidly approaching his thirtieth birthday, he is content with the high-powered life he’s curated as a Boston attorney, moonlighting as a powerful medium for his secret society. 

But with power comes a price, and the Devil has come to collect on an ancestral deal. David’s days are numbered, and death looms at his door. 

Reluctantly, he reaches out to the only person he’s ever trusted, his ex-boyfriend and secret Society rival Rhys, for help. However, the only way to get to Rhys is through his wife, Moira. Thrust into each other’s care, emotions once buried deep resurface, and the trio race to figure out their feelings for one another before the Devil steals David away for good…

The first book in a spellbinding and vibrant new series from The Sunday Times bestselling author of A Dowry of Blood.

MY REVIEW

This started off as an exciting read as we are thrown into the world of the supernatural and the occult. Summonings. Possession. Demons. Sorcerors. Ghosts. The opening line had me hooked. A haunted house? Oh yes bring it on!

A strong character driven read, this is the first in a series and is centred around David’s story. As well as his thriving sideline occult practice he is also a prosecutor for the City of Boston. His ex boyfriend Rhys and Rhys’ wife Moira are the other main characters and the story is told from the three POV’s. Quite a complicated relationship between the three with lingering feelings coming back to the surface. And plenty of spice. However my favourite character was Leda, David’s sister, a chaos magician. She is a jump off the page larger than life personality. ‘A bit of a hedonist’ as she describes herself.

David and Rhys are competing for the best position at their secret society and I would love to have read more details about what goes on at their weekly meetings.

When David hears a voice at a seance which appears to come from inside of him he is concerned he has accidentally let himself be possessed and reaches out to Rhys and Moira for help. Could it be the devil himself? Could the fabled family curse be real?

It is obvious the author is very interested in the occult, being a tarot reader, and has done a lot of research. I watched a very interesting interview on Instagram with Fairyloot I would recommend you watch if you are thinking of reading this book, or have already read it.

I would have really liked more focus on the plot and more of the supernatural rather than the relationships but that is just my preference. If you like a spicy read, with LGBTQ content, you may enjoy this.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

S.T. Gibson is the British Fantasy Award nominated and Goodreads Choice Award nominated author of the Sunday Times bestseller A DOWRY OF BLOOD. 

She holds a Bachelors degree in Creative Writing from UNC Asheville, and a Masters of Theological Studies from Princeton Seminary. 

Connect with her on twitter @s_t_gibson or through her official author website stgibson.com. Sign up for her monthly newsletter at saint.substack.com.

James Comey

Publication Date: 6th June 2024

Publisher: Head of Zeus

SYNOPSIS

She’s the lawyer. But now she’s the one on trial.

A red canoe sits abandoned on Seymour Rock, right where the Saugatuck River meets Long Island Sound.

The elegantly dressed corpse of a woman lies inside…

Nora Carleton left New York to become lead counsel at Saugatuck Associates, the world’s largest hedge fund, where her life has become slower, more predictable. That is until her colleague and friend, Helen, is brutally murdered – and she becomes the prime suspect.

In the months leading up to Helen’s death, she and Nora were investigating someone within the company who was using insider information to undercut Saugatuck’s investments. Nora knows this is somehow linked to Helen’s murder – if only she can see how.

Calling in old colleagues from the US Attorney’s office, Mafia investigator Benny Dugan and attorney Carmen Garcia, Nora must find evidence to prove her innocence – or risk being put behind bars herself…

Pre-order link

Amazon: https://geni.us/WestportBlogTour

MY REVIEW

Mr Comey follows up his brilliant debut, Central Park West, with Westport which is another cracking thriller.

With his experience as head of the FBI, and his previous role working in finance, Comey has created another believable story and some fantastic characters which jump off the page. Some of the characters reappear from Central Park West, but Westport can easily be read as a stand alone. I loved tough guy ‘Mr Rough’ Benny, legendary Mafia investigator and who worked with Nora in her previous role at the US Attorney’s office. He drops everything to come to help his friend prove her innocence, despite glaringly obvious clues pointing to Nora as a murderer. He believes her claim that she is being set up. What an asset to have in your corner!

I also really liked Nora as a character. Caught up in a murder investigation and trying to juggle her home life with work and now being the prime suspect. She keeps a level head throughout.

The story is fast paced and gripping, with plenty of threads to keep the reader intrigued. As well as a murder, there is a ‘front runner’ dealing in shares just before the finance company Nora and Helen work for places their share deals, and therefore making a lot of money. There are a handful of shady suspects who may have wanted to harm Helen, as she knew about the skeletons in their closets. But which one hated her enough to murder her? And who is the front runner?

Loved the tongue in cheek reference to Ironside, which Nora calls her close friend and wheelchair bound co-worker Rob, and which I totally understood as I used to watch the show!

James Comey was already on my auto read author list after his debut, and I look forward to his next novel which is book three in this trilogy. The quality and authenticity of his writing shines through the pages.

Huge thanks to Andrew at Head of Zeus for my invitation to join the blog tour.

BLOG TOUR HOSTS

Check out what these other amazing bloggers thought of the book.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

James Comey was born in New York City and attended the College of William and Mary and Chicago Law School. He worked as an assistant district attorney in New York, prosecuting organised crime figures, and worked on terrorism cases as assistant DA in Virginia. He served as the seventh Director of the FBI from 2013 until May 9, 2017, when he was dismissed by President Donald Trump.

James Comey Social Media Handles

Twitter: @Comey

Facebook: James Comey Author

Instagram: @Comey

Website: https://jamescomeybooks.com/

Rosie Green

Publication date: 6th April 2024

SYNOPSIS

The Sunshine Sisters: Skye’s story
BOOK TWO of a TRILOGY in the popular Little Duck Pond Café series

Skye Sunshine has a theory that workmen, when in your house, should be seen and not heard. But Saul, the annoyingly sexy handyman clearly hasn’t received the memo! He’s far too cheeky and irritating for her liking.
But when Skye’s peace of mind and reputation as an actress is threatened by hacks desperate for a story, can she really afford to turn down Saul’s offer – to whisk her away from the limelight to the privacy of his rustic cabin in the woods?

MY REVIEW

I’m so happy to be sharing my review today on the blog blitz for this fabulous new Duck Pond cafe book from Rosie Thomas.

Rosie has such a talent for writing characters which are full of life and I look forward to every book she releases.

This is book two of the Sunshine Sisters trilogy and having read book one and briefly met Skye the actress I was intrigued to get to know more about this sister.

Initially coming across as a bit stand offish, we soon begin to peel back the layers of what has made Skye into the person she is today. With a series of unfortunate incidents in her past involving men who have badly treated her, she is nervous to put her trust in a man. Rosie highlights the difficulties and worries faced by many women.

Over the course of the book we follow Skye as she changes from Diva actress to someone who can appreciate the simple things in life.

Rori, the handsome handyman from the first book, is on hand to be a friend for Skye. I was so hoping there would be love in the air for them. The chemistry between them was palpable and his cheeky sense of humour helped to melt Skye’s hard shell.

We find more out about Ava, Skye’s mother, and her early life which brought me to tears.

I loved the strong bonds between the three sisters who are always there for each other.

Rosie’s novellas are just the right length to enjoy in a couple of sittings. She manages to develop the characters and the situation making for a completely absorbing read.

Another brilliant addition to The Little Duck Pond series of novellas and I can’t wait to read about Blossom; the third sister.

Purchase Links
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0C6B1Y1KW
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C6B1Y1KW

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Rosie has been scribbling stories ever since she was little. Back then, they were rip-roaring adventure tales with a young heroine in perilous danger of falling off a cliff or being tied up by ‘the baddies’. Thankfully, Rosie has moved on somewhat, and now much prefers to write romantic comedies that melt your heart and make you smile, with really not much perilous danger involved at all – unless you count the heroine losing her heart in love.

Rosie’s Little Duck Pond Cafe series of novellas is centred around life in a village cafe and each book can be read as a stand-alone story. 

New for 2024: The Sunshine Sisters – an exciting new trilogy, part of the Little Duck Pond Café series. 

The Sunshine Sisters: Aurora – out now.

The Sunshine Sisters: Skye – out now

The Sunshine Sisters: Blossom – out in June

Follow Rosie on Twitter – https://twitter.com/Rosie_Green88