Review: Follow the Money by Bob DeGeorge

Synopsis: Welcome to San Jose, the hi-tech capital of Silicon Valley, where the streets are lined with silicon instead of fruit trees. But beneath the shiny facade of this city lies a dark and dangerous underbelly that can easily turn the so-called 'safest large city in America' into a lie. Seasoned San Jose Police Department police detectives Rex Johnson and Kat Sanchez know this all too well as they navigate through the treacherous world of crime in their city.

From sex crimes to financial fraud, they've seen it all. But their latest case is unlike anything they've encountered before. As they dig deeper into a seemingly simple counterfeit check scam, they uncover a tangled web of Asian Organized Crime, led by a ruthless Vietnamese crime boss who will stop at nothing to become the ultimate kingpin of San Jose.

As their investigation heats up, so does the danger. With their families at risk and a psychopathic criminal mastermind on their trail, Rex and Kat must race against time to take down this crime boss before it is too late for them and the city they have sworn to serve and protect.

Follow Detectives Rex and Kat as they navigate through the dangerous streets of San Jose in this thrilling tale of crime, corruption, and survival. If you enjoyed books like John Connely's 'Bosch' series, then you won't want to miss this first in the series gripping crime novel set in the hi-tech world of Silicon Valley.

~ ~ ~

Just not for me - it felt like a (poor) serialisation more attuned to the TV than print. Too much going on that it just felt ... off. I quickly lost all interest, skimming through the chapters to at least make it to the end. I wish I hadn't bothered - I should have set it aside after the first few chapters and moved onto something else.

Will not be pursuing book two.

Review: The Tailor of Riga by Jonathan Harries

Synopsis: I had absolutely no intention of getting into the family business. As I told my father the night he enlightened me on what my ancestors had been up to for over a thousand years, "Sticking a curved dagger into someone's liver ain't quite my cup of tea."

As it turned out, I had no choice. When your family's been assassinating reprobates and other loathsome individuals for seventy generations, you have a certain obligation.

So, while it was a little disconcerting to hear how dear old granny would have become a prostitute if Grandpa Joe hadn't whacked one of Germany's top agents just before the start of World War I, it certainly piqued my interest. Of course, as I discovered, prostitution and murder were pretty de rigueur for my family.

After all, it was my great-grandfather who was hired by the British secret service to kill Jack the Ripper and my mother's cousins who took part in the attempted assassination of Lenin.

My only regret when I finally took up the family sica was not eliminating Jean-Bedel Bokassa just before he crowned himself Emperor of the Central African Empire and ate my two friends.

But we all make mistakes.

~ ~ ~

A rather curious (and dubious) tale of the author's discovery of his "real" family history.

"When your family's been assassinating reprobates and other loathsome individuals for seventy generations, you have a certain obligation."

Harries takes us on a journey of discovery - that he is descended from a long line of assassins dating back to Biblical times - and showcases a couple of incidents out of what is no doubt many acts of subterfuge and murderous expediency, de rigueur.

For those who definitely like their humour accompanied by satire, witticisms, anecdotal snippets of questionable historical accuracies and fallacies, then this is for you.

Looking forward to reading more of the exploits in the next books in the series: The Carpet Salesman from Baghdad, The Bodyguard of Sarawak, and The Correspondent of Petrograd.

Review: The Lewis Trilogy by Peter May

The Blackhouse

The Isle of Lewis is the most remote, harshly beautiful place in Scotland, where the difficulty of existence seems outweighed only by people's fear of God. But older, pagan values lurk beneath the veneer of faith, the primal yearning for blood and revenge.

When a brutal murder on the island bears the hallmarks of a similar slaying in Edinburgh, police detective Fin Macleod is dispatched north to investigate. But since he himself was raised on Lewis, the investigation also represents a journey home and into his past.

Each year the island's men perform the hunting of the gugas, a savage custom no longer necessary for survival, but which they cling to even more fiercely in the face of the demands of modern morality. For Fin the hunt recalls a horrific tragedy, which after all this time may have begun to demand another sacrifice.

The Lewis Man

A MAN WITH NO NAME. An unidentified corpse is recovered from a Lewis peat bog; the only clue to its identity being a DNA sibling match to a local farmer. A MAN WITH NO MEMORY. But this islander, Tormod Macdonald - now an elderly man suffering from dementia - has always claimed to be an only child. A MAN WITH NO CHOICE. When Tormod's family approach Fin Macleod for help, Fin feels duty-bound to solve the mystery.

The Chessmen

Fin Macleod, now head of security on a privately owned Lewis estate, is charged with investigating a spate of illegal game-hunting taking place on the island. This mission reunites him with Whistler Macaskill—a local poacher, Fin's teenage intimate, and possessor of a long-buried secret. But when this reunion takes a violent, sinister turn, Fin realizes that revealing the truth could destroy the future.

The Black Loch

A MURDER

The body of eighteen-year-old TV personality Caitlin is found abandoned on a remote beach at the head of An Loch Dubh - the Black Loch - on the west coast of the Isle of Lewis. A swimmer and canoeist, it is inconceivable that she could have drowned.

A SECRET

Fin Macleod left the island ten years earlier to escape its memories. When he learns that his married son Fionnlagh had been having a clandestine affair with the dead girl and is suspected of her murder, he and Marsaili return to try and clear his name.

A TRAP

But nothing is as it seems, and the truth of the murder lies in a past that Fin would rather forget, and a tragedy at the cages of a salmon farm on East Loch Roag, where the tense climax of the story finds its resolution.

~ ~ ~

I have read the first three in the series, and all stories follow on from the previous - I have yet to read the fourth instalment. These are not your typical police procedural nor detective fiction; but there is certainly mystery, crime, drama.

The stories are a look into the darker side of a small enclosed, almost claustrophobic community, with long hidden secrets, whose community, like the island itself, is not without scars, and no-one remains untouched by tragedy. The truth of murder lies in a past best forgotten.

The Blackhouse sees the return to Lewis of Fin Macleod, sent to investigate a local death. His presence brings to light that long buried secrets from the past, which is a catalyst for the crimes he is sent to investigate. Even Fin himself has secrets so deeply buried that he has forgotten them.

The Lewis Man delves into the past of another island family with the discovery of the bog-body of a murdered man. But are those revealing what they know reliable narrators.

The Chessman deals with past events linked back to Fin's university days and a local rock band.

May has a way of slowly luring in the reader until they find themselves fully immersed in not only the narrative and characters, but the island of Lewis itself. May's prose is dark and brooding, at times even menacing, that one almost feels the isolation and harsh ruggedness of the Outer Hebrides.

For those with an interest in family drama with long hidden secrets, this series is one for you.

The Remembered Soldier

An extraordinary love story and a captivating novel about the power of memory and imagination.

Flanders 1922. After serving as a soldier in the Great War, Noon Merckem has lost his memory and lives in a psychiatric asylum. Countless women, responding to a newspaper ad, visit him there in the hope of finding their spouse who vanished in battle. One day a woman, Julienne, appears and recognizes Noon as her husband, the photographer Amand Coppens, and takes him home against medical advice. But their miraculous reunion doesn't turn out the way that Julienne wants her envious friends to believe. Only gradually do the two grow close, and Amand's biography is pieced together on the basis of Julienne's stories about him. But how can he be certain that she's telling the truth? 

In The Remembered Soldier, Anjet Daanje immerses us in the psyche of a war-traumatized man who has lost his identity. When Amand comes to doubt Julienne's word, the reader is caught up in a riveting spiral of confusion that only the greatest of literature can achieve.

Review: Miss Winter In The Library With A Knife by Martin Edwards

Synopsis: Six down-on-their-luck people with links to the world of crime writing have been invited to play a game this Christmas by the mysterious Midwinter Trust. The challenge seems simple but ......

Solve the murder of a fictional crime writer in a remote but wonderfully atmospheric village in north Yorkshire to win a prize that will change your fortunes for good.

Six members of staff from the shadowy Trust are there to make sure everyone plays fair. The contestants have been meticulously vetted but you can never be too careful. And with the village about to be cut off by a snow storm, everyone needs to be extra vigilant. Midwinter can play tricks on people's minds…

The game is set – but playing fair isn't on everyone's Christmas list.

~ ~ ~

"... the skill lies in diverting attention from what really matters, seducing the players with red herrings ..."

The narrative is in the form of journals, letters, tourist-like pamphlets, maps, floor-plans where the challenge to solve the mystery is between both reader and characters. If the reader is stuck, Martin provides a "clue finder" at the back of the book. It will remind some readers of the classic interactive crime books and of more recent versions such as "Cluedle" or "Murdle".

For me, this really needs to be visual - I think you need to see how things play out - a bit like the movie "Clue". I wasn't really a fan of this one nor its set up. The story line was great, the characters fine, the setting suitable, but ... I don't know ... the delivery just wasn't there for me. I felt like I needed to be watching rather than reading, if that makes sense.

Give it a go as Martin is the supreme classic crime novelist - and his curated anthologies are exceptional.

Review: What's Mine Is Yours by Leah Mercer

Synopsis: She invited her into her home. She shouldn’t have…

Emily: It’s been a long time since my best friend Ava stopped speaking to me. But I knew I’d find a way back in. When I hear that her daughter won’t sleep at home because of a burglary on the street, I offer to swap houses for a while. Ava is so grateful. And now I’m staying in her family home, I finally understand why she’s been avoiding me… Ava isn’t as perfect as she makes out. She’s been hiding a big secret that could ruin her idyllic life. Only now, I know all about it…

Ava: I didn’t want to let Emily back into my life, but my daughter begged me to agree to the swap. I’ll do anything for my precious girl. As I lie in Emily’s bed in her cramped apartment, I fear what she’s up to inside my home. Has she looked through my belongings? Has she found the key to the locked room in my basement? And does she know the truth about what I did?

Two friends. Two secrets. Which one is telling a deadly lie, and which is in danger?

~ ~ ~

Two women - initially friends but drifted apart, are brought back together by tragedy and decide to house swap. One is keen - one is reluctant - but both women have secrets they have no wish for the other to discover, especially now that they have swapped residences!

Quick easy chapters with flowing first person narratives that quickly build the intensity of the drama until dark secrets linking them all are finally laid bare, out in the open. The reader is left wondering just how will these revelations impact the women and their families, and will it propel one or the other into actions with unforgiving consequences.

Loved every page as I sat highly engrossed trying to discover the secrets of Ava and Emily before they were ultimately revealed to the reader.

Review: The Revenge Plot by Jackie Kabler

Synopsis: When Ella Leonard arrives at work one Monday morning, she’s stunned.  The place isn’t just shut – it’s gone. Boarded up, closed down.

Days later, she gets home to find she’s been evicted from her flat, her belongings piled on the doorstep. It’s as if, bit by bit, someone is taking her entire life away from her.

Who, and why? And how much worse can it get? The answer? A lot worse.   This is just the beginning…

~ ~ ~

We all know that revenge is a dish best served cold, on fine bone china - but this tale takes the cake!

We are introduced to Ella Leonard front and centre - she is our first ... victim. Why is someone targeting Ella in such a despicable way, what has she done to merit such unwelcome attention. As Ella's life unravels, no clue is yet to be given.

Enter Harriet, an old friend of Ella's, who steps in to assist Ella in getting back on her feet. But as the narrative draws onward, we are left wondering if Harriet herself is all she seems. Harriet has a secret .. or two ... which are revealed to the reader, and here we learn of Nisha - nemesis and tormentor of Harriet.

The lives of these three women have intertwined over many years, and it is not until they begin to converge in the present, that the secrets and reasons behind their acts of revenge become clear.  The pace certainly picks up from this point.

The short sharp chapters of first person narrative keep the reader immersed - but we are left asking ourselves, who do we cheer for when all three consider themselves victims and all are just as unlikable as their past and present lives are linked. Everything comes full circle, but we are left wondering at what cost - who ultimately gains from their revenge - and who is left with nothing. The conclusion is a little convoluted but in the overall scheme of things, why not!

Review: Dead of Summer by Jessa Maxwell

Synopsis: Orla O’Connor hasn’t been to the isolated New England enclave of Hadley Island since she graduated from high school a decade ago. As a teenager, her best friend Alice disappeared from its shores without a trace—but with plenty of rumors.

Now, Orla returns to her family’s beachfront home to clean it out before her parents sell it. The island and her best friend’s house next door, abandoned after her family left in grief, are stirring up memories she would like to avoid. Then there are the locals, always gossiping and watching Orla’s every move. Worst of all, David, Orla’s childhood crush and son of a wealthy Manhattan family, is back for the summer with his new, impossibly pretty girlfriend, Faith.

Faith suspects that David is going to propose but as soon as she settles into his family’s sprawling Hadley Island estate, she feels out of place. She anticipated a luxurious summer of fun and romance, but David is never around—lured into business conversations with his entrepreneur father from dawn to dusk. With nothing else to do, Faith begins to investigate the island’s dark past, curious about what really happened to Alice all those years ago.

Meanwhile, local Henry hasn’t left his house since the young girl went missing, in an attempt to let the accusations against him die down. Except they never have. For years, Henry has had an endless supply of time to pursue his only hobby, watching the island from his telescope and recording the activities of its inhabitants. But Orla’s return has shaken him and lately he’s been seeing strange things: shadowy figures walking on the beach in the middle of the night and a light on in the upstairs window of the long-abandoned house of the missing girl.

When there’s another disappearance on the island, all three find themselves pulled into an eerie and twisty mystery that will haunt them for the rest of their lives.

~ ~ ~

Hadley Island - an isolated, secluded, insular, almost claustrophobic community, holding its dark secrets very close, especially by those with money and power. A community dominated by what is referred to as "narrow-prying neighbours" - where the public and private activities of individuals are open to observation (and interference) by the greater community.

Orla O'Connor is drawn back to the island by unfinished business left behind after her hasty departure many years ago when best friend Alice disappeared.  Faith Ellis, a new arrival, is joining boyfriend David Clarke and his family, whilst hoping for an announcement of impending nuptials.  Long term resident Henry Wright, hidden from the community, plays silent witness to all that happens on the island.  What dark secrets will ultimately draw all three together - will these secrets be exposed or kept hidden once again - will the mystery surrounding Alice be finally laid bare.

Using flashbacks and recalled memories, Maxwell weaves her web that slowly draws the reader into the narration. We the reader suspect, guess, imagine where we are being led, but before long the pathway comes to a dead-end and we must back track to find that little trail off to the side that we missed. The clues are there for those paying attention - but Maxwell is clever in deceiving as well as exposing.

Wonderful read that I could not put down - my first by this author - and a great start for this reader.

Review: Five Found Dead by Sulari Gentill

Synopsis: Crime fiction author Joe Penvale has won the most brutal battle of his life. Now that he has finished his intense medical treatment, he and his twin sister, Meredith, are boarding the glorious Orient Express in Paris, hoping for some much-needed rest and rejuvenation. Meredith also hopes that the literary ghosts on the train will nudge Joe's muse awake, and he'll be inspired to write again. And he is; after their first evening spent getting to know some of their fellow travelers, Joe pulls out his laptop and opens a new document. Seems like this trip is just what the doctor ordered…

And then some. The next morning, Joe and Meredith are shocked to witness that the cabin next door has become a crime scene, bathed in blood but with no body in sight. The pair soon find themselves caught up in an Agatha Christie-esque murder investigation. Without any help from the authorities, and with the victim still not found, Joe and Meredith are asked to join a group of fellow passengers with law enforcement backgrounds to look into the mysterious disappearance of the man in Cabin16G. But when the steward guarding the crime scene is murdered, it marks the beginning of a killing spree which leaves five found dead—and one still missing. Now Joe and Meredith must fight once again to preserve their newfound future and to catch a cunning killer before they reach the end of the line.

~ ~ ~

The author provides the reader with a puzzle and mystery that is centered around how Christie's story amplifies the travelers' own experience on the actual Orient Express and of their perceptions of the fellow passengers.

This theme is referred to quite often by the fictional character of crime fiction author Joe Penvale and his sister, lawyer Meredith, who embark on a journey on this famous train only to find themselves caught up in their own version of "Murder on the Orient Express".

Like the Christie novel, the reader meets Joe's fellow passengers on the train - in fact it is a train full of detectives of one sort or another. There is the locked room murder, all passengers are suspects as Joe put himself in the position of Poirot and investigates. Clues and red herrings abound, as the body count rises (a la Death on the Nile), and the author reveals that not all is what or who they seem.

An entertaining homage to the Queen of Crime.

Review: The President's Hat by Antoine Laurain

Synopsis: Dining alone in an elegant Parisian brasserie, accountant Daniel Mercier can hardly believe his eyes when French President François Mitterrand sits down to eat at the table next to him. Once the presidential party has gone, Daniel discovers that Mitterrand's black felt hat has been left behind. After a few moments' soul-searching, Daniel decides to keep the hat as a souvenir of an extraordinary evening. It's a perfect fit, and as he leaves the restaurant Daniel begins to feel somehow . . . different.

Has Daniel unwittingly discovered the secret of supreme power? Over the course of the next 2 years the iconic item of headgear plays with the lives of the men and women who wear it, bringing them success that had previously eluded them. As it makes its way from head to head, the wearers find themselves acting with more confidence, decisiveness, authority and panache—just like the original wearer. Some, like Daniel, attribute their new luck to the hat itself, while some are unaware of its magical effects. All, however, find themselves changed by their time spent wearing the president’s hat.

~ ~ ~

A light-hearted and quirky short story of how having possession of something new can inspire and give confidence to pursue what you really want.

Set in 1980s Paris, our four main characters - accountant Daniel, aspiring writer Fanny, perfumer Aslan, and aristocrat Bernard - all come into contact with the fifth character - the hat of French President Francois Mitterrand. The journey the hat takes and the impact on the lives of each of the "owners" is skillfully told, and is interwoven with letters between them. 

However, it is the undocumented character of the French President who has the final say as the narrative comes full circle back to the President and the author provides a wrap up of the lives of the characters for the reading audience.

The Gun Seller by Hugh Laurie

Synopsis: When Thomas Lang, a hired gunman with a soft heart, is contracted to assassinate an American industrialist, he opts instead to warn the intended victim - a good deed that doesn't go unpunished. Within hours Lang is butting heads with a Buddha statue, matching wits with evil billionaires, and putting his life (among other things) in the hands of a bevy of femmes fatales, whilst trying to save a beautiful lady ...and prevent an international bloodbath to boot.

~ ~ ~

Why has it taken me so long to find this tome???

Another one for that genre of "bad guy hero" narrative - this time from actor and comedian Hugh Laurie. Told in first person narrative by the man in the title - gun seller / assassin for hire Thomas Lang - we are taken on a non-stop, oft tongue-in-cheek adventure as Lang tries to right a wrong, save the life of the man he was hired to kill and the life of the damsel in distress, whilst at the same time saving the world under the guise of terrorist from evil villains (ie: businessmen) who are hoping to start WWIII in order to drum up sales.

As Lang laments.... " ... all I was doing - all I'd ever been doing since the whole thing started - was selling guns ..."

It is witty, humourous (in a dry, sartirical sort of way), it is action packed - with action and fabulous one-liners a-plenty - and has a hero intent on doing good under (and in) extreme circumstances - does he get the girl in the end, read on and find out!

Loved every minute of reading this!

Review: Butter by Asako Yuzuki

Synopsis: The cult Japanese bestseller about a female gourmet cook and serial killer and the journalist intent on cracking her case, inspired by a true story.

There are two things that I can simply not tolerate: feminists and margarine.

Gourmet cook Manako Kajii sits in Tokyo Detention Center convicted of the serial murders of lonely businessmen, who she is said to have seduced with her delicious home cooking. The case has captured the nation’s imagination but Kajii refuses to speak with the press, entertaining no visitors. That is, until journalist Rika Machida writes a letter asking for her recipe for beef stew and Kajii can’t resist writing back.

Rika, the only woman in her news office, works late each night, rarely cooking more than ramen. As the visits unfold between her and the steely Kajii, they are closer to a masterclass in food than journalistic research. Rika hopes this gastronomic exchange will help her soften Kajii but it seems that she might be the one changing. With each meal she eats, something is awakening in her body, might she and Kaji have more in common than she once thought?

Inspired by the real case of the convicted con woman and serial killer, "The Konkatsu Killer," Asako Yuzuki’s Butter is a vivid, unsettling exploration of misogyny, obsession, romance and the transgressive pleasures of food in Japan.

~ ~ ~

Anyone new to Japanese fiction / mysteries should be aware that these books tend to contain lengthy descriptions ... about everything. Having read a number of Japanese mysteries this was something I was well aware of - and yet, I was thoroughly disengaged with both characters (Rika Machida and Manako Kujii) and the narrative to the point that I would consider myself utterly bored. After 100 or so pages of a story that was three parts too long in the telling and one part mystery, I literally gave up - and this being despite the fact that this story was "inspired" upon real events (a theme I tend to find engaging).

If you are interested in cooking and butter then by all means, read on.  If you are interested in the "real events" that inspired this particular work, then head over to good old wikipedia and read about Kinae Kijima.

Review: A Present Past by Sergei Lebedev

Synopsis: The Soviet and post-Soviet world, with its untold multitude of crimes, is a natural breeding ground for ghost stories. No one writes them more movingly than Russian author Sergei Lebedev, who in this stunning volume probes a collective guilty conscience marked by otherworldliness and the denial of misdeeds. 

These eleven tales share a mystical topography in which the legacy of totalitarian regimes is ever-present—from Katyn to Chechnya, from Lithuanian KGB documents to the streetscape of unified Berlin, from the fragments of family history to the echoes of foot soldiers in Russia’s wars of aggression. 

In these stories, as in Lebedev’s acclaimed novels, the voices of things, places, animals, and people seek justice for a restless past, where steel claws scrape just beneath the surface and where the heredity of evil is uninterrupted, unacknowledged, unnamed.

~ ~ ~

I loved Lebedev's "Untraceable" - so was looking forward to reading more from him.

This series of short stories, haunting tales of a Soviet past intruding on a Soviet present, were very different from the abovementioned work, but were intriguing in themselves nonetheless. I would have to say that my favourite tale was "Titan" - the story of a person of interest to the Soviet Secret Police, who managed to turn the tables on them in a rather unique way.

For anyone wanting to further explore Russian literature, definitely pick this up!

Review: The Invisible Hour by Alice Hoffman

Synopsis: One June day when Mia Jacob can no longer see a way to survive, the power of words saves her. The Scarlet Letter was written almost two hundred years earlier, but it seems to tell the story of Mia’s mother, Ivy, and their life inside the Community—an oppressive cult in western Massachusetts where contact with the outside world is forbidden. But how could this be? How could Nathaniel Hawthorne have so perfectly captured the pain and loss that Mia carries inside her?

Through a journey of heartbreak, love, and time, Mia must abandon the rules she was raised with at the Community. As she does, she realizes that reading can transport you to other worlds or bring them to you, and that readers and writers affect one another in mysterious ways. She learns that time is more fluid than she can imagine, and that love is stronger than any chains that bind you.

As a girl Mia fell in love with a book. Now as a young woman she falls in love with a brilliant writer as she makes her way back in time. But what if Nathaniel Hawthorne never wrote The Scarlet Letter ? And what if Mia Jacob never found it on the day she planned to die?

~ ~ ~

Mia Jacobs - reader, time traveler, muse.

A young girl escaping her cult-like existence, discovers that reading can transport her to another world - quite literally - and in doing so, she discovers a strength her mother never quite found for herself. Is Hawthorn's book based upon her life or is her current life the result of her time travel.

I think this is definitely deserving of more than one reading - after the first, you definitely need to go back and start again to ensure you have taken in all the little hints and clues to this story. There is much to be said of the power of the written word.

My first Hoffman book, and though not really a fan of the time-travel genre, I did enjoy this one.

Review: The City of the Living by Nicola Lagioia

Synopsis: In March 2016, in an apartment on the outskirts of Rome, two “ordinary” young men brutally tortured and murdered twenty-two-year-old Luca Varani. News of the seemingly inexplicable crime sent shock-waves across Rome and beyond.

After the crime comes to light, Lagioia begins investigating the crime by meeting with the victim’s family and corresponding with one of the killers. It soon becomes clear, however, that to investigate this crime means to descend into the darkest corners of Rome and of the human psyche.

Lagioia leads us through a maze of betrayed expectations, sexual confusion, economic grievances and identity crises to locate the breaking point, the point after which anything is possible.

Sharp, hypnotic, devastating, The City of The Living is not just the story of a crime, but of human nature the tension between responsibility and guilt, between the drive to oppress and the desire to be free, between who we are and who we can become.

~ ~ ~

An auto-fictional account of a much publicised murder that occurred in 2016 in Rome, Italy. The first part of the account, told in the third person narrative, deals with the crime, the arrest. The second part, told in the first person narrative, continues on, and is punctuated by personal recollections and statement of friends. The reconstruction includes legal proceedings, reports, interviews and other evidence. It is written in a style that sort of plays out events as they are happening.

Unfortunately, I was not at all engaged with the writing style or presentation. I did persevere till the end but there really was no really interest except to finish.

Review: The Christmas Appeal by Janice Hallett

Synopsis: This immersive holiday caper from the “modern Agatha Christie” (The Sunday Times, London) follows the hilarious Fairway Players theater group as they put on a Christmas play—and solve a murder that threatens their production.

The Christmas season has arrived in Lower Lockwood, and the Fairway Players are busy rehearsing their festive holiday production of Jack and the Beanstalk to raise money for a new church roof. But despite the season, goodwill is distinctly lacking among the amateur theater enthusiasts with petty rivalries, a possibly asbestos-filled beanstalk, and some perennially absent players behind the scenes.

Of course, there’s also the matter of the dead body onstage. Who could possibly have had the victim on their naughty list? Join lawyers Femi and Charlotte as they investigate Christmas letters, examine emails, and pore over police transcripts to identify both the victim and killer before the curtain closes on their holiday production—for good.

~ ~ ~

Written along the same style as The Appeal by the same author, this was a more engaging read as it was, quite simply, more concise that the first in the series.

Again, the author uses all the "modern day" electronic forms of communication to set out and ultimately solve this little christmas mystery.

Review: The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels by Janice Hallett

Synopsis: Everyone knows the story of the Alperton Angels, the cult that brainwashed a teenage girl into believing her baby was the anti-Christ. When the girl came to her senses and called the police, the Angels committed suicide and mother and baby disappeared. 

Now, true crime author Amanda Bailey is looking to revive her career by writing a book on the case. The Alperton baby has turned eighteen; finding them will be the true-crime scoop of the year. But rival author Oliver Menzies is just as smart, better connected, and also on the baby’s trail. As Amanda and Oliver are forced to collaborate, they realize that the truth about the Angels is much darker and stranger than they’d ever imagined, and in pursuit of the story they risk becoming part of it.

~ ~ ~

Two rival crime authors must collaborate to seek the truth about a mysterious cult. Who will live to write about it and will all be revealed or hidden once again.

The story format is told by way of more modern forms of communication - whatsapp messages, texts, emails, sticky notes, transcribed interviews etc. We don't actually "meet" the to rivals in the flesh, so to speak. I am not really a fan of this style of narrative - and found myself taking longer to read than I usually would. However, the story was engaging enough that I was compelled to read on until the mystery was solved.

Review: Dogboy V Catfish by Luke Gracias

Synopsis: On the day of her second wedding, Katherine Fisher, aka 'Catfish' set the date for her divorce. In precisely 18 months, she would be entitled to half of their combined assets and receive maintenance payments until her five- year-old daughter, Emma, turns 18. Just as Catfish was about to take her husband, Lindsay 'Dogboy' Kramer (a successful businessman and dog whisperer) to the cleaners, he goes missing.

The police investigation into Dogboy's disappearance leads them into the dark world of counterfeit designer goods, money laundering, and drug smuggling. With Dogboy's assets frozen and the mob protecting their interests, the missing persons case escalates to homicide. Catfish is in a race against time to get hold of Dogboy's assets before the police get hold of her.

One question remains - is Dogboy dead or alive?

~ ~ ~

This is my "read" of the year!

Gracias' excellent narrative provides for an engaging and thrilling "whodunnit" when a former beauty queen marries a loner for his money and begins divorce proceedings before the ink has even dried on the marriage certificate. Unfortunately, said bride soon finds that everything she thought she was getting, quickly turns to dust and slips through her fingers as her sordid past comes back to bite her in the arse.

This is a departure from Gracias' other two books - but it is a strong stand-alone. I read this in one sitting - driven by the compulsion to keep reading and wanting to know the fate Dogboy. For someone to win, someone must lose - would it be Dogboy or Catfish?.

2022 Independent Press Awards

Author David Salner has been awarded as a Distinguished Favorite in the category of General Fiction by the 2022 Independent Press Award for his novel, A Place To Hide.

If you have not already done so, seek it out and read - it is captivating novel of human endurance, acceptance, and friendships forged under unlikely circumstances.

You can read my review of A Place To Hide posted roughly a year ago.

Review: Melting in the Middle by Andy Howden

Synopsis: Long-listed for the Exeter Novel Prize, Melting in the Middle is a literary comedy about redemption and second chances, played out amid the madness of modern life.

Set against the backdrop of a modern day "David and Goliath" story, a middle management, middle aged man must come to terms with changes not only in his business life but in his personal life. Will he succeed - only time - and his persistence - will tell, especially when a spanner, in the form of an enigmatic and contradictory young woman, is thrown in for good measure.

This slow moving tale of one man's attempts to keep his life and career afloat makes for interesting read. At times, it almost seemed as though the workplace was being used a metaphor for some sort of dystopian society where it was a case of survival of the fittest (maybe I am reading too much into something that is not there).

Our hero, for want of a better word, a big fish in a little pond, finds himself merely one of a school in a large pond. To keep his head above water, he must fall in line with the new management protocols or else find himself on the scrap heap. But Stephen Carracas is a survivor, he goes from being "axeman" and "lackey" to back to the top of his game, and along the way comes to terms with events in his personal life.

I would not have normally picked this up but was offered a complimentary review copy, and I did enjoy reading it.