Two Heads Are Better Than One

Thank you to NetGalley and HQ for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

When Siobhan’s husband is arrested for a murder during their family holiday in France her world comes crumbling down. She thought his days of having affairs were behind them, but the murder he is accused of is a girl he had recently been seeing.

Their 16 year old daughter, Emma, is distraught. She had a close bond with her dad; much closer than with her mum which Siobhan envies.

There is also a baby missing, taken from the murdered girl’s flat. She had been babysitting for a friend.

I enjoyed the way the story was told by many of the characters involved in the murder and kidnap, covering the period leading up to the event and also since the event.

Kept me guessing until the final reveal!

Thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for an advance copy of this book. Published 20th May 2020.

Alice’s life is spiralling downwards. She has lost her teaching job and her partner has left her. She is alone in her house without any friends and she just can’t be bothered to do anything.

Then out if the blue she received a text from her old best friend Joanna who she has not seen for over 10 years to let Alice know she is getting married. On a whim Alice offers to visit her, hoping this is just what she needs to help her out if her depression – a trip to see her best friend.

She jumps into her car a few days later. She arrives at Joanna’s new apartment but only her fiancé, Mark, is at home. Surprised her friend is not there to meet her she asks if it is ok for her to come in for a drink after her stressful drive into London.

Mark was unaware of Alice’s visit, and in fact Joanna has never even mentioned her old best friend to him. He tells her Joanna is on a weekend course but invites Alice to stay for her return.

From then on this twisty psychological thriller delves into the past of the girl’s relationship, and the personality weakness and phobias Alice suffers.

It is obvious there is a rabbit away, but as we get to know more of the strange characters living in this nearly empty apartment block it does not get any easier to predict the end.

It was an enjoyable read and I would certainly read more from this author.

I received a free review copy from the publisher in exchange for my honest unedited feedback.

Thank you to NetGalley and Serpent’s Tail, Viper and Profile.

A school reunion. 20 years after leaving school. An updated yearbook. I’m sure those of us who left school a fair number of years ago will relate to this book. How interesting it would be to see how the ‘popular’ girls and boys had fared in life since school. Have the quiet ones come out if their shells and blossomed?

Kate was one of the quiet ones. It was her idea to track down her classmates and show them she was now successful. She manages to find most of them but a few are harder to find including Robbie, who’s entry in the yearbook left no doubt he had no good memories of school whatsoever.

Kate asks for updates to the yearbook so she can have a new one printed. Letters and emails start appearing with ‘updates’ on their lives they would rather not share, but who has sent them? Who else could possibly know such intimate details of their lives?

When one of the group is attacked and ends up in hospital in a bad state, they wonder if this attack was carried out by the same person who has been sending the emails and letters. Who could have such a serious grudge against them all?

The characters in the book are well written and we get to know most of them in depth. I guess most readers will relate to at least one of them.

The book was enjoyable although not quite in the ‘I couldn’t put it down’ category. I was gripped towards the end where the pace picked up and the culprit was revealed.

Thank you to Boldwood Books and NetGalley for allowing me to read an advance copy of this book in return for an honest review. Publication date 5/5/2020

Libby Quinn grew up listening to her beloved grandfathers stories. Once he began with ‘Once upon a time…’ she was so excited to hear where this story would take her. Her love of books had begun. Her grandfather always told her how amazing it would be to own a book shop.

After her grandfather dies, Libby decides she must follow her heart and open up her own bookshop in memory of her grandfather. She finds a run down, rat infested shop for sale on Ivy Street and decides this is the one. After she picks up the keys she finds it is in a worse condition than she initially thought.

Her boyfriend, Ant, is reluctant to get his hands dirty to help her and she has doubts about their relationship. Especially when she gets to know Noah, who runs the pub across the street.

Will she meet her target of 10 weeks to opening?

This is a lovely feel good book. Who doesn’t dream of owning their own bookshop?!

I would recommend this for fans of Lucy Diamond, and anyone who wants an uplifting read.

Firstly my thanks to Canongate Books and NetGalley for an advance copy of this book. Publication date 20th August 2020.

Nora Seed is at the lowest point in her life. Her parents are dead, her brother no longer speaks to her, her best friend has moved to Australia and she has just lost her job. She sits in her dingy flat and decides she has no reason to carry on living. She takes an overdose.

She ‘wakes up’ in a library. The librarian is her old school library teacher, Mrs Elm, who was always very kind to her. Mrs Elm explains this is the midnight library which exists between life and death; where every possible alternative life can be tried out to see if there is one Nora wishes to carry on living. Nora is handed her ‘book of regrets’ where she can read everything she has regretted in life. Perhaps she can choose a life where she can alter that decision she now regrets.

We are taken along with Nora to experience many of her alternate lives.

Will she find one she is happy with and decide to carry on living before time starts to move on and the library disappears forever?

Anyone who has read or knows of Matt Haig will know of his struggles with anxiety and depression. He makes no secret of the fact he almost took his own life. This is a man who knows life can get better and it is never too late to change your future.

There are many paths we can take in life and we must not focus on the grass being greener. We need to make the most of and enjoy the life we are living.

I’m going to give this book my 5 star rating. I have to admit that I almost gave up on it until around 10% in as the beginning is really very depressing. But please bear with it. Don’t stop reading. Finish it and it will be a book which stays with you for a very long time. I know the moral of the story will certainly stay with me and I will be recommending this book.

PS have tissues to hand if you tend to be emotional! I went through a few.

What a read!

Non stop action from beginning to end. Just how I like my books.

So many twists and turns and every chapter ends on a cliffhanger so you just need to read the next one! I devoured it within a couple of days and will definitely be reading more from this super talented author.

Ash Carter is asked to assist with investigating a helicopter crash in which two men have died. He quickly realises it was not an accident and his search for the killer, the missing third nan from the helicopter, begins.

Who is BlackJack, the killer who is judge, jury and executioner?

Is it Jeremiah, the twisted head of a strange commune hidden deep in the woods? Or one of his small army of ex military men?

Ash must find a way to be accepted into the commune to find his answers.

I challenge you to guess the killer!

Thanks to NetGalley, Murray Bailey and Heritage Books for an advance copy to review.

Thank you so much to Sophie Eminson from Canelo for the opportunity to read and review a super early copy of Marion Todd’s third book in the Detective Clare Mackay series. Due out in June 2020.

Having read Marion’s first two books in the series – See Them Run and In Plain Sight (I have now given all three books 5 stars) this one went to the top of my pile!

Although it is the third book in the series, each one can easily be read as a stand alone.

Mackay finds herself investigating the murder of a university student and at the same time she is involved in keeping a witness safe who will be giving evidence against her husband in a high profile case.

There appears to be a leak coming from the police as the location of the safe house has been compromised and the witness has to be moved to a new safe house, the location of which also appears to have been leaked. Gayle Crichton, an ethical hacker, has been called in by the police to investigate the leak. She has told Mackay she must not speak to anyone about the investigation, she must trust no one.

Could the leak be her best friend Diane who works in the IT department? Or could it be her boss? Or any of her other colleagues who she regards as friends?

Just as I was with the other two books, I was hooked from the first chapter. Non stop action. Brilliant police procedural with an ending you won’t see coming!

Thank you to NetGalley for a review copy of the book.

When I first heard about this book through Twitter I could not believe anyone would at this time want to read a book set in such a scary situation we all now find ourselves. Far too close for comfort. However a few weeks into lockdown and I got my reading mojo back (I couldn’t read at all initially) and I became intrigued as to what, if any, similarity with the situation we are now in would the book have, having been written but not published 15 years ago.

There are a few similarities. The PM catches the flu and ends up in St Thomas hospital at the beginning of the story being just one, but there are also sufficient differences to read this as purely fictional. And a very good read it is.

Although titled Lockdown, the main storyline is about the murder of a child which has happened as London is locked down with a serious flu pandemic. No-one is allowed outside the M25 and soldiers are guarding the outer limit with rifles ready to shoot anyone trying to leave.

As builders are about to fill the foundations of a huge new overflow hospital, one of them notices a bag in a ditch. When opened it is found to be full of human bones. Police are called in and an investigation begins. The investigating officer is due to retire the following day but promises himself he will solve this case before he does.

Full of non stop action and shocking scenes which will have you gripped until the last page.

The fact that this book has taken me much longer to read than it would have under normal circumstances is not a reflection on the book – just of the situation we are currently living in. Thank you to NetGalley and Head of Zeus for an ARC of the book.

This was my kind of book.

The opening chapter had my heart in my mouth and that was me gripped and looking forward to the rest of the book.

Michael North. Ex agent of The Board. Shot in Afghanistan and still has the bullet in his brain. Could die any second. Killed the men who ordered the assassination of his lover.

In Berlin, he is rescued from a rigged card game which has turned into a life or death situation, by Hone aka ‘the one-eyed man’ – an MI5 agent. Hone had tracked North down to ask him to protect his niece, Esme,who happens to be the wife of genius head of Derkind Tobias Hawke. She was attacked in her home by an intruder who tried to murder her.

Hawke has invented a highly advanced form of AI, he calls Syd, with the support of the government. The AI he has developed is decades ahead of anything else invented, being able to not only reason but apply common sense. Hawkes’ wife has reservations and does not want Syd to be let loose on the world yet she feels Syd could be a danger to humanity. Syd is due to be unveiled imminently at a gala to be held at the British Museum.

Although not keen on taking the job, North receives a plea for help from his friend Fangfang and arranges to be smuggled back to the UK……in a coffin!

What follows is a race to stop Syd from connecting to the world.

Add to the mix a dodgy Home Secretary, an escape through the sewers of London and a giant pet man eating octopus and we have a must read!

Published in Hardback 2nd April 2020.

Thank you to Avon Books and NetGalley for an advance copy of this book.

I had seen this book a lot on Twitter and was looking forward to it.

What a great premise – a deaf family who do not know there is an intruder in their house. This, and the amazing cover, had my interest!

Sadly it is a baby who has been murdered. A BSL interpreter is called in by the police. When she arrives it turns out she knows the family so is torn between telling the police and needing the work. She decides her need for the work wins over and her job interpreting at the scene, and the ensuing interviews with the family. The interpreter and her visiting deaf sister take it upon themselves to do their own investigation into the murder, landing them in danger.

There are just a handful of suspects and they are cleverly written so they all appear to have possibly been the murderer.

This is a decent debut and I am interested to see more books by this author.