Two Heads Are Better Than One

Clare Marchant

Publication Date: 9th August 2024

Publisher: Boldwood Books

SYNOPSIS

Now: When Adrianna arrives at the small, run-down cottage, near the sea in rural Norfolk, she can’t help but breathe a sigh of relief. Here she can forget her life in the city, and the problems she’s left behind there, at least for a while.

But – like Adrianna herself – the cottage holds secrets. And when Adrianna finds a mysterious bundle of notes hidden under a floorboard, she can’t shake the idea that they’ve been waiting for her. Especially when – in the rambling, overgrown garden – she then finds a strangely-carved stone, drawing her into a centuries-old mystery…

1646: Between her work as the village midwife and the medicines she sells from her cottage, Ursula has no need for a man. But this ideal leaves her unprotected in a world where just one accusation of witchcraft can mean certain death. So when she catches the eye of a powerful new local doctor, she must use every part of her cunning, or risk becoming his prisoner…

Can the two women – their paths bound by place and history – each find the keys to their own destiny?

MY REVIEW

Clare excels in writing historical fiction dual timeline / timeslip novels. This time we travel back and forth between 1646, when England was in the midst of witch trial hysteria, and the present time, and we get to know two women centuries apart but who are being manipulated by controlling men.

In 1646, Ursula lives alone in a very basic cottage. Her mother died at the hands of her father and Ursula has sworn never to be in a position where a man can use and ill-treat her. She earns the small amount of money she needs to survive as a midwife and she also grows her own plants to make herbal remedies to sell to treat her friends and neighbours. When the new doctor unexpectedly visits her home, and in no uncertain terms tells her he wants her to be his mistress, she refuses. He is not happy and tells her if she does not change her mind he will ruin her life. He begins setting in motion his plan to out her as a witch.

In the present day, and at the suggestion of her – unawares to her – controlling and manipulative boyfriend, Adrianna is taking a six month sabbatical from her high pressure London job. She finds an old run down cottage near the sea in Norfolk and moves in.

When Adrianna finds a pile of old papers hidden under the floorboards she begins to learn about the life of a woman who lived in the cottage centuries earlier and experiences strange feelings, breezes, shadows possibly from ghosts of the past.

Both stories are incredibly captivating. I was completely gripped by the lives of these women, and I was hoping for a good ending for them both. The spooky atmosphere and the detailed descriptions of how Ursula lived in the 1646 storyline had me right in the middle of the action. And those birds!

The witch trials were horrifying. Innocent women being put to death. One of the characters in the book was based on a real person, Matthew Hopkins the Witchfinder General.

A fantastic read I flew through I just couldn’t put it down.

I’m delighted to be sharing my review today as part of the blog tour arranged by Rachel’s Random Resources.

Purchase Link – https://mybook.to/housewitchsocial

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Clare Marchant is the author of dual timeline historical fiction. Her books have been translated into seven languages, and she is a USA Today bestseller. Clare spends her time writing and exploring local castles, or visiting the nearby coast.

Social Media Links –

Facebook: @claremarchantauthor

Twitter: @claremarchant1

Instagram: @claremarchantauthor

Tom Mead

Publication Date: 1/8/24

Publisher: Aries Fiction

SYNOPSIS

Sleuth and illusionist Joseph Spector investigates his most complex case yet in this gripping new locked-room murder mystery, set in an English country house just before the Second World War.

Hampshire, 1938. When prominent judge Sir Giles Drury starts receiving sinister letters, his wife suspects Victor Silvius, a man confined to a sanatorium after attacking Sir Giles. Meanwhile, Silvius’ sister Caroline is convinced her brother is about to be murdered… by none other than his old nemesis Sir Giles Drury. 

Caroline seeks the advice of Scotland Yard’s Inspector Flint, while the Drurys, eager to avoid a scandal, turn to Joseph Spector. Spector, renowned magician turned sleuth, has an uncanny knack for solving complicated crimes – but this case will test his powers of deduction to their limits. 

At a snowbound English country house, a body is found is impossible circumstances. Spector and Flint’s investigations collide as they find themselves trapped by the snowstorm where anyone could be the next victim – or the killer…

MY REVIEW

I’m so happy to be on the blog tour for the latest locked room mystery from one of the best locked room mystery authors I have read.

If you have read either of Tom’s previous books, you already know you are in for a tantalising story of murder most foul. The books all feature Spector and Flint, two characters who work so well together.

Tom is an amazing ‘locked room’ author. I have no idea how he comes up with such intricately devised plots. The perfect Golden Age mystery and fans of Agatha Christie and Sherlock Holmes will feel right at home.

In this outing, set in 1938, we have a particularly dodgy set of characters. Lots of murders. Mostly apparently unexplainable. But, we have illusionist extraordinaire Spector helping Scotland Yard’s Inspector Flint get to the bottom of the murders.

I love a good murder mystery set in an old mansion in the snow. Tick, tick and tick again.

After a rather gruesome discovery of a body in a suitcase, which someone clearly did not want to be identified, the plot gets deliciously twisty and there are plenty of red herrings to keep the reader on their toes!

I enjoyed the summary speech at the end and was kicking myself that I had failed to recognise so many seemingly minor details as clues which were very relevant!

Thoroughly enjoyable old fashioned detective work and puzzle solving at its best.

Thank you Sophie and Poppy at Ransom PR for my spot on the blog tour.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Tom Mead is a Derbyshire mystery writer and aficionado of Golden Age Crime Fiction. His debut novel, DEATH AND THE CONJUROR, was an international bestseller, nominated for several awards, and named one of the best mysteries of the year by The Guardianand Publishers Weekly. Its sequel, THE MURDER WHEEL, was described as “pure nostalgic pleasure” by the Wall Street Journal and “a delight” by the Daily Mail. It was also named one of the Best Traditional Mysteries of 2023 by Crimereads. His third novel, CABARET MACABRE, will be published in 2024.

The Other People

C.B. Everett

Publishing in UK: 10th April 2025

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

SYNOPSIS

Forget what you think you know.

Ten strangers.

An old dark house.

A killer picking them off one by one.

And a missing girl who’s running out of time…

Ten strangers wake up inside an old, locked house. They have no recollection of how they got there.

In order to escape, they have to solve the disappearance of a young woman.

But a killer also stalks the halls of the house and soon the body count starts to rise.

Who are these strangers? Why were they chosen? Why would someone want to kill them?

And who – or what – is the Beast in the Cellar?Because while you can trust yourself, can you really trust THE OTHER PEOPLE?

The Other People is available to pre-order now.

Praise for the author

‘One of the very best crime writers we have, simple as that’ ― Mark Billingham

‘One of the brightest stars in the British crime writing’― John Connolly

‘A guaranteed thrill-ride’ ― Sarah Pinborough

‘Crime fiction royalty’ ― Steve Cavanagh

‘(A) master storyteller’ ― Ragnar Jonasson

Sarah Pearse

Published: 16/7/24

Publisher: Sphere Books

SYNOPSIS

The Sanatorium took you to the Alps and chilled you to the bone. Now, The Wilds will take you deep into the woods . . . and out there, it’s easy to get lost.

After the dark events that scarred her childhood, Kier Templer escaped her hometown and twin to live her life on the road. They’ve never lost contact until, on a trip to a Portuguese national park, Kier vanishes without a trace.

Detective Elin Warner arrives in the same park ready to immerse herself in its vast wilderness – only to hear about Kier’s disappearance, and discover a disturbing map she left behind. The few strangers at the isolated camp close ranks against her questions, and the park’s wild beauty starts to turn sinister.

Elin must untangle the clues to find out what really happened to Kier. But when you follow a trail, you have to be careful to watch your back…

MY REVIEW

Another wonderfully atmospheric thriller from Sarah Pearse.

I read and thoroughly enjoyed an ARC of The Sanitorium where we were introduced to Elin. This is book three in the trilogy although can be read as a standalone.

Elin has travelled to Portugal with her brother, Isaac, to get away from it all by staying in a caravan in a National Park and to reconnect with each other. However, Isaac has other ideas as he is helping a friend to try to find out what happened to his sister, Kier, who disappeared in 2018 from this same National Park, where she was staying in her caravan. He asks for his detective sister’s help. Elin soon gets

There are a handful of people living at the nearby campsite who are clearly hiding something. Do they know what happened to Kier?

The story is told over two timelines where we follow Kier and her horribly controlling boyfriend in 2018 then Elin and Isaac in 2021.

I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough as the tension built towards the end. A brilliant and unpredictable ending!

Thank you to Little Brown for granting my request to read the book via NetGalley.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Sarah Pearse lives by the sea in South Devon with her husband and two daughters. After moving to Switzerland in her twenties, she spent every spare moment exploring the mountains in the Swiss Alpine town of Crans Montana, the dramatic setting that inspired her debut novel, THE SANATORIUM, which was a REESE WITHERSPOON BOOK CLUB PICK and became an instant NEW YORK TIMES Bestseller and a No.1 SUNDAY TIMES Bestseller and also won CRIME BOOK OF THE YEAR AT THE 2022 FINGERPRINT AWARDS & was the COLD AS ICE AWARD WINNER AT 2022 DEAD GOOD READERS AWARDS. The Retreat was her second novel and was also a New York Times Bestseller and a Top Ten Sunday Times Bestseller. Over 1 MILLION copies of her books have been sold in over 30 countries. You can find Sarah on Twitter @SarahVPearse and Instagram / TikTok @sarahpearseauthor

The Bookseller

By Tim Sullivan

Publication Date: 16/1/25

Publisher: Aries Fiction

‘George Cross is becoming one of my favourite detectives.’ ELLY GRIFFITHS

SOMEONE’S ABOUT TO TURN THEIR LAST PAGE…

Pre-order the new unmissable case for DS George Cross set in the mysterious (and murderous) world of book-selling…

Perfect for fans of MW Craven, Peter James and Joy Ellis, this is the seventh book in the bestselling series, which can be read in any order.

About the author

Tim Sullivan is a crime writer, screenwriter and director, whose film credits include Shrek, Flushed Away, Where Angels Fear to Tread and Jack and Sarah. His crime series featuring the socially awkward but brilliantly persistent DS George Cross has topped the book charts and been widely acclaimed. Tim lives in North London with his wife Rachel, the Emmy Award-winning producer of The Barefoot Contessa and Pioneer Woman.

Pre-order link

The Bookseller: https://geni.us/Booksellercovrev

Follow AUTHOR

Facebook: Tim Sullivan novels

Twitter: @TimJRSullivan

Instagram: @timsullivanauthor

TikTok: timsullivanauthor

Website: timsullivan.co.uk

Follow Aries

Twitter: @AriesFiction

Facebook: Aries Fiction

Instagram: headofzeus

TikTok: headofzeus

Website: http://www.headofzeus.com

Rosie Green

Published 8/6/24

SYNOPSIS

Blossom Sunshine’s life is anything but boring right now. She’s determined to finally solve the mystery of who her biological father is – despite Mum Ada putting a spanner in the works. What is Ada trying to hide? Meanwhile, best friend Billy is doing his best to impress Jenna. This means cutting back on the cakes and carbs that he loves, but Jenna’s worth it. Isn’t she?
And then there’s Blossom’s own love life, which has been a catalogue of disasters up till now – but that was before she met Trevor. He’s not her usual type but she thinks maybe that’s a good thing? Could this be real love at long last?
One thing’s for certain – the path to her achieving her heart’s desire looks anything but smooth!

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Sunshine-Sisters-Blossom-TRILOGY-popular-ebook/dp/B0CNYJZ9X1

1 DAY BLOG BLITZ 14 JULY 2024

MY REVIEW

I absolutely love Rosie’s books and having read the other two of the Sunshine Sisters trilogy I was really looking forward to the final sister’s story.

This series is always such a joy to read.

I don’t know how Rosie consistently comes up with such delightful stories which are so easy to read I usually read them in one sitting.

This was my favourite of The Sunshine Sisters trilogy. We follow Blossom as she navigates another failed romance and finally finds out who her father is.

Thank you Rachel at Rachel’s Random Resources for my spot on the Blog Blitz.

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: Aurora, Skye and Blossom. (These three books are best read in order.) 

Out In August 2024: The Sticky Toffee Pudding Club – essential reading for lovers of traditional puddings and good stories!

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

Patrick Worrall

Publication Date: 11/7/24

Publisher: Bantam

SYNOPSIS

It’s 1951 and the servants of Stalin are closing in on the occupied nations of eastern Europe. As the Red Army tightens the net, Greta – best and bravest of freedom fighters – is told to escape to the West and undertake a dangerous mission.

Greta’s task is to find a missing girl: the precious daughter of a partisan general who was sent into exile in the final days of the war.

But the so-called Free World is no place for vulnerable young refugees. Europe is in ruins, the old Empires are dying, and a spectacular cast of spivs, gangsters and rival intelligence agencies are fighting over the scraps.

Crossing the Iron Curtain will require nerves of steel as Greta faces down the French mob, ex-Nazis, Soviet spies, all the glamour and temptation of Paris and ultimately, her own demons.

The Exile is the stunning prequel to The Partisan, Patrick Worrall’s critically-acclaimed debut, which introduced the world to the force of nature that is Greta. This is her white-knuckle ride into the black heart of postwar Europe – a terrifying world in which allies and enemies are impossible to tell apart.

BLOG TOUR HOSTS

MY REVIEW

Well that was quite a ride!

Fast paced and action packed, this was a post-war thriller which had me sitting on the edge of my seat quite a number of times.

It is 1951. Stalin is closing in on Eastern Europe. Greta is a Lithuanian resistance fighter with no fear, a can do attitude and a pretty good set of knife skills. She can read peoples body language and is hyper aware of her surroundings so she keeps one step ahead most of the time, trusting no one. Until she is blinded by lust in the form of Robert, a friend from her past.

Seven years earlier, Greta’s exiled general sent her to take her daughter away to France and safety from the war. Now she regrets that decision and, getting old, she wants her daughter back. Again she relies on Greta and sends her away, with a few connections, to help her on her journey to find her daughter.

Not only is Greta on the search for Morta, she is also hoping to collect money and arms to help their cause.

We also have another thread to the story. The Fazi family of gangsters. It is interesting to see how the two threads come together and how Greta gets involved in their world.

Needless to say there are secrets, betrayals and revenge along the way.

An atmospheric, action packed journey through Germany and France’s underworld, with a cast of well drawn characters, where it is impossible to tell the good guys from the bad.

This is a prequel to Patrick’s debut The Partisan which is now on my list to read.

Many thanks to Sophie and Poppy at Ransom PR for inviting me to join the blog tour.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Patrick Worrall grew up in Worcestershire and was educated at King’s College, Cambridge, where he won a Rylands Prize for English. He has worked as a teacher in eastern Europe and Asia, a newspaper journalist, a reporter at the Old Bailey and the head of Channel 4 News’s FactCheck unit. His first novel, the Partisan, is a Times bestseller and Sunday Times Thriller of the Month.

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