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Books

Book Review: The Girls Who Disappeared by Claire Douglas

Book reviews By Oct 18, 2022 1 Comment

Twenty years ago, three young friends vanished from the scene of an accident, which left another badly injured. Now in Claire Douglas’ The Girls Who Disappeared, journalist Jenna Halliday arrives in town to cover the milestone anniversary, only to discover that loss, secrets and local lore still haunt the place and its inhabitants. Twenty years ago: One rainy night, Olivia Rutherford…

Book Review: Blue Water by Leonora Nattrass #BlueWaterBlogTour

Government clerk Laurence Jago returns, trading London’s political corridors and the dark alleys of Black Drop for passage to America with the hope of redemption in Leonora Nattrass’ sequel, Blue Water. Death came aboard with the cormorant. It arrived on the seventh day of our voyage… This is the secret report of disgraced former Foreign Office clerk Laurence Jago, written…

Book Review: My Darling Daughter by JP Delaney

JP Delaney’s My Darling Daughter explores what happens after an adopted teenager contacts her birth parent out of the blue and Anna’s mother Susie and husband, Gabe, respond to her cry for help. Out of the blue, Susie Jukes is contacted on social media by Anna, the girl she gave up for adoption fifteen years ago. But when they meet,…

Book Review: The Invisible by Peter Papathanasiou

The second book in Peter Papathanasiou’s series featuring Greek-Australian DS George Manolis sees him leave Australia for a Greek holiday. His late father emigrated from the northwesternmost mainland region of Prespes, bordering Albania and North Macedonia, a place where it’s easy to disappear. Burnt-out from policework, Detective Sergeant George Manolis flies from Australia to Greece for a holiday. Recently divorced…

Book Review: No Country for Girls by Emma Styles

Book reviews By Aug 15, 2022 No Comments

Two girls go on the run in Emma Styles’ No Country for Girls: a man is dead and they leave the city in his ute, still strangers but now accomplices to murder and with a bag of stolen gold at their feet. Gold. Theft. Murder. A Road Trip to Die For. Charlie and Nao are strangers from different sides of…

Book Review: The Wedding Crasher by Abigail Mann

Book reviews By Jun 10, 2022 1 Comment

When term ends for the summer break, photography teacher Poppy decides to escape the home she still shares with her estranged husband, Josh, and take herself and her camera to an island off the Devon coast. But on her way to commune with the only inhabitants, puffins and other seabirds, best friend and rookie wedding planner, Lola, ropes her in…

Book Review: The Beach House by Beverley Jones

Grace Jensen’s past catches up with her in The Beach House, threatening to dismantle the new life she’s carefully constructed for herself in the Pacific Northwest and bring it crashing down. When Grace Jensen returns to her home one day, she finds a body in a pool of blood and a menacing gift left for her. The community of Lookout…

Book Review: The Secret Lives of Church Ladies by Deesha Philyaw

Deesha Philyaw’s collection of short stories about The Secret Lives of Church Women is as delicious as its striking cover suggests. The nine stories feature four generations of characters grappling with who they want to be in the world, caught as they are between the church’s double standards and their own needs and passions. With their secret longings, new love,…

Book Review: A Little Hope by Ethan Joella

Ethan Joella’s novel A Little Hope takes you into the lives of a small town Connecticut community, with all the setbacks and disappointment, success and joy which people experience over the course of one year. Freddie and Greg Tyler seem to have it all: a comfortable home at the edge of the woods, a beautiful young daughter, a bond that…

#BegarsAbbeyBlogTour Book Review: Begars Abbey by V. L. Valentine

A hidden stash of telegrams and old letters sets Sam Cooper off on a transatlantic journey to see the crumbling family home and meet the infirm grandmother her mother never even mentioned while she was alive, only for her to discover that much darker family skeletons have also been kept hidden away. Winter 1954, and in a dilapidated apartment in…