Review: The Turning Tide

The Turning Tide by Catriona McPherson
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This started so well with Dandy and Hugh becoming grandparents and Hugh unbending enough to actually show some fatherly concern for poor Mallory ... and then, I don't even know what to say, was there even a murder? I can't tell.

Dandy and Alec have been gently refusing several letters to assist with the strange case of the Cramond Ferrywoman. However, when Mallory decides to invite a group of disadvantaged children to holiday in the grounds of Gilverton they decide they would rather investigate what has occasioned these strange pleas. Dandy and Alec have been approached by the local vicar, Mr Hogg, because their ferrywoman Vesper Kemp has refused to ferry people to and from the tiny tidal island, at first she only refused during good weather but now she has refused entirely and is running around the island barefoot, half-naked, dirty and with her hair in a tangle.

Coincidentally Dandy discovers that a friend's young son who died recently actually drowned in the river, but speaking to villagers and the local big-wigs she starts to hear conflicting accounts of his death, leading her to suspect murder. So now there are two mysteries to solve.

Maybe it was because I read this book in dribs and drabs but this felt very disjointed and disappointing, I also struggle to believe the truth about the perpetrators - it seems unlikely and I just keep thinking 'but how did they come together?'.

Anyway, I have already read the next book in the series (got an ARC which started me on this epic read) so now I'm looking for something similar eg 20th century detective but no knitting or cats. Anyone got any recommendations?

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Review: The Single Mums’ Book Club: An utterly hilarious, laugh out loud romance to escape with this summer!

The Single Mums’ Book Club: An utterly hilarious, laugh out loud romance to escape with this summer! by Victoria Cooke
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Stephanie is a divorced mother of three. Like most mothers her life is one of constant frenzy, trying to get three children and a dog ready and out of the house to various appointments on time. Her ex-husband Mike wanted to be alone, free from the demands of wife and children. Although he shares custody he is prone to telling Stephanie that he can't pick the kids up until Saturday morning (instead of Friday after school) because he wants to go out with his mates after work. Just your typical middle-aged man trying to be the perpetual teenager with no responsibilities. Even worse, all their friends were Mike's work colleagues and their wives who have ghosted Stephanie since the divorce.

On a day where she was late dropping to kids off at school, and made the cardinal sin of reversing outside the school, had a confrontation with one of her so-called ex-friends in the supermarket, and didn't have enough money in her purse to buy toilet roll, she starts sobbing in the supermarket where she is rescued by her neighbour Janey. Although they have never really spoken properly before Janey is a true friend and the two of them are soon thinking of ways to drink prosecco in each other's homes (cheaper than going out out) - hence the book club was born.

Soon the book club gathers other waifs and strays and together these women give each other the confidence to try again - in Steph's case to flex her rusty bookkeeping muscles part-time at the local vet's surgery.

This was a charming read, light-hearted, funny, with some serious moments too.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

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Review: Dandy Gilver and a Spot of Toil and Trouble

Dandy Gilver and a Spot of Toil and Trouble by Catriona McPherson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Well ... for one of the recent books in this series I said I hoped Dandy and Alec would be investigating a murder in high society and my wish sort of came true.

Dandy is invited to a genuine Scottish castle by Minnie, a woman she knew as a debutante, in a letter full of mysterious hints. When Dandy and Alec arrive they find Minnie and her husband Bluey have fallen on hard times. They live in Bewer Castle with Bluey's mother Ottoline.

Right from the start Dandy and Alec don't really know what they are there to investigate. At first they are asked to look for a ruby necklace with a terrible history which was lost when Ottoline's husband Richard left her. Then they are asked to prove whether Richard is still alive or died abroad. What is not very clear is whether they want the necklace found, or Richard to be alive, it all hinges on death duties.

Minnie and Bluey's daughter Penny has caught the acting bug and has been staying with her cousin in Glasgow, until an accident closes the theatre. Now the family have decided to invite the theatre company to Castle Bewer to perform a Shakespeare play to raise money for the upkeep of the castle. Minnie and Bluey have also sold treasure-hunter tickets to the general public with the story of the cursed ruby necklace.

This was yet another convoluted plot that kept me guessing right until the end.

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Review: The River Between Us

The River Between Us by Liz Fenwick
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Theo is in her mid-50s, divorced from a highly successful man she is nevertheless fairly destitute (because she couldn't be bothered to fight for half of what she helped him to build) and has bought a small derelict Boatman's cottage on the banks of the river Tamar, which divides Cornwall and Devon, sight unseen. As she restores the cottage and gardens she discovers a pile of unopened love letters dating from World War 1 from a male servant who was spurned by his lover.

Gradually Theo pieces together the story of forbidden love and secrets of one hundred years earlier, centred on the cottage and the nearby manor house, Abbotswood.

I enjoyed reading this very much, but now I have finished the novel I am struck by the ridiculous number of similarities that link three separate generations and the amazing coincidences necessary to bring it all together it has just kind of fallen apart in my hands. Also the inter-relationships are so convoluted that I am left with the sneaking suspicion that someone might be their own father (well you know what I mean).

Strangely this is the second book in a few weeks which reminds me of those family sagas we used to read in the 1980s, where generation after generation made the same mistakes in love. Maybe its just that this book is set mostly in the present day and in the 1910s but also partially in World War II and the 1980s.

Overall, an enjoyable read, provided you can suspend disbelief.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

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Review: Did You Miss Me?

Did You Miss Me? by Sophia Money-Coutts
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Three and a half stars.

On paper Nell Mason should be happy, a successful divorce lawyer with prospects of partnership within the next six months, a long-term relationship with her partner Gus, a house in Clapham and money in the bank. What more could she ask? Maybe Gus won't set the world on fire but he's solvent, kind, and reliable, even if he does have a regrettable liking for German petnames.

Then her mother calls to say that Lord Drummond has died, the father of Nell's schoolgirl crush, Art(hur) Drummond, her brother's best friend. Nell, Art, and her brother Jake grew up together, it didn't matter that Art was the son of the landowner and Mr Mason worked for him, the Masons were in and out of Drummond Hall all day long and Art was in and out of the Masons' far less impressive semi-detached cottage just as often. Then Art broke Nell's heart and has been living in America with his wife and son pretty much ever since.

Although she's avoided anything and everything to do with Art ever since, Nell knows she will have to return for his father's funeral, especially since Jake can be guaranteed to weasel out of doing anything. But meeting Art again after all these years brings back all those hopes and dreams that Nell has suppressed for years, is the grass always greener or has she been settling for boring all these years?

I liked this but I felt that too many of the secondary characters were characters. Nell's brother was a wide-boy estate agent who acted like a teenager. Nell's mum leaves her father for a caricature, Nell's boss is a ghastly misogynist, her clients are foul, her father is oblivious, Gus is self-absorbed - it was all too much and too strong. It felt like these characters overshadowed the romance, which in itself had broken down because of a series of coincidences, and consequently the ending felt like bish-bash-bosh, the end. More comedy than romance, which meant that some of the story didn't hang true for me, if Nell works 12-14 hour days in London how can she take her Dad down the pub every night at 6pm when she is working from home, and go for a run every morning?

Recommended if you are looking for a good laugh about divorce lawyers (and their clients), London snobbery and parental disasters, not so much if you are looking for a touching romance.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

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Review: The War Priest

The War Priest by Ann Aguirre
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Callum McCrae was a priest of Saint Casimir until the death of the leader of the Bear Clan catapulted him into leader of the Burnt Amber Bears. now he's returned to a Hold he barely knows, leading a people he doesn't understand and all he wants to do is return to his life of devotion.

Joss Bristow is a lynx shifter and singer, ever since she first saw Callum she has felt a visceral attraction to the dour Bear leader but he barely even notices her (I am now slightly obsessed by how many times I've used the word barely in this review). Joss manages to invite herself to Burnt Amber hold to improve morale just as the Gols lay siege to the Hold.

Callum and Joss can't be any more different but somehow Joss' presence makes his burden a little easier to bear (OMG I've done it again), she sees him in a way that no-one else does and her voice soothes his soul. The trouble is Callum has been told that his love is overpowering and oppressive and he is afraid to love again. There's also the pesky matter of his vows.

While the romance between these two is just lovely it is actually the fight scenes and the battle against the Gol that kept me enthralled, I cannot wait for the next book.

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Review: One Monsoon in Mumbai: Trouble and Laughter and Mushy Stuff

One Monsoon in Mumbai: Trouble and Laughter and Mushy Stuff by Anitha Perinchery
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Seema Rawat is a genius with IT systems and should have been a shoe-in for a top job when she graduated. However, her lowly birth in the slums of Mumbai counts against her and the only job she can get is for the Intelligence Bureau (IB) where her auntie Madhubala works. Her first big assignment is to go undercover to work for the Finance Minister's son Adhith's company to try and uncover proof of widespread corruption. With a fake history and cover story Seema gets a job and soon catches Adhith's eye with her good looks and shy persona (so very different from her real personality), but although he may look like a male model it is Adhith's best friend Vikram who catches Seema's eye.

Can Seema keep Adhith dangling while falling for Vikram and crack the case?

This book was fun to read, the comedy value of a cyberspy whose auntie keeps interfering in her investigation and the jealousy between Vikram and Adhith cannot be understated. When Adhith falls for Seema's auntie it becomes a French farce (Indian farce?) which reaches its zenith at Vikram's parents' wedding anniversary party.

If you want a charming, funny, romance then I highly recommend this.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

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Review: Rebel's Karma

Rebel's Karma by Rebecca Zanetti
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Benjamin (Benny) Reese may be a vampire-demon hybrid but he's the joker of The Seven, everyone's pal, until he meets the widow of one the Seven's sworn enemies, The Kurjan. He only touched her once but that activated his mating mark and he will do anything in his power to save her, and the other enhance human women, from the brutal Kurjans.

Karma is faced with a terrible decision. To save her adopted twin daughters she must allow herself to be captured by the Seven, possibly tortured by their vicious Queen, in order to covertly spy on them through an ingenious implant that allows the Kurjan to see what she sees and hear what she hears.

I'll be honest these books, like most PNR, are pretty similar but its the storytelling and the sheer exuberance of the characters that makes them so enjoyable. I also love the over-arching plot involving the three keys and the lock, I can't decide whether I want Hope/Paxton or Hope/Drake for the win.

Overall, if you love the OTT PNR genre and the previous 12 books then I'm sure you'll love this too.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

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Review: Home Sweet Mess

Home Sweet Mess by Allison Ashley
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

DNF at 70%.

Jeni Bishop moves to Kansas City to take up a job as a social worker with Child Protective Services. She has a series of unfortunate run-ins with a guy who later turns out to be her twin's best friend Logan, who works as a social media manager for the local NFL team.

Enemies at first, Jeni and Logan start to become friends. Something accelerated by their love of American football and Jeni's twin brother's cancer diagnosis.

She has decided never to get married because *reasons* and no longer dates, Logan 'dates' all the time but has never felt a connection with anyone, although he desperately wants to settle down and commit to someone because *reasons* (my suggestion would be not to find your dates by accepting phone numbers from barflies). When they acknowledge their mutual attraction Jeni suggests a friends-with-benefits arrangement but Logan decides that is what has gone wrong previously, he wants to date Jeni with no benefits (or maybe he wants dates and benefits).

This is an easy read but honestly I felt like there couldn't be one more trope/cliché left to tick and I just lost interest, I could tell exactly what was going to happen, I knew the secrets which had not been disclosed yet and just didn't care. Sorry.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

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Review: The Summer Job

The Summer Job by Lizzy Dent
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

DNF at 8%.

Birdie has run away from her life and is trying out someone else's. That sounds fun right? Unfortunately, I just found the whole premise of someone trying to pretend to a Michelin starred restaurant in a luxury Scottish hotel that you are a world-expert sommelier to be so far-fetched I couldn't get past it. I don't know why I could have accepted someone pretending to be an interior designer but not a sommelier, but there you are.

Obviously my fault for requesting a book with such a preposterous premise, I tried a few times over the last five months to engage with the book but I couldn't get over it.

I was invited to read this book by the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

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Review: The Best Things

The Best Things by Mel Giedroyc
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

I am embarrassed to say that I could not even get past 6%.

I really like Mel Giedroyc and was delighted to receive an ARC of her new book but despite several attempts over the past four months I just cannot get into the writing enough to read further. I made another attempt after seeing Mel on Saturday Kitchen Live but still I couldn't get engaged.

So here's what I did glean. Sally Parker has a large house and fabulous lifestyle but she's not in control. Her husband, her children, her housekeeper and her au pair rule the house and she just wafts around feeling inadequate and swallowing tranquilisers. Clearly all of this is about to change when Sally's husband loses his business and the family become destitute.

This sort of reminded me of a tv series from the early 2000s called At Home With the Braithwaites in which the mother won millions and didn't tell her family, obviously the plot isn't the same but the sheer awfulness of most of the other characters and the way in which each and every one of them is so very clearly 'a character' just grated on me.

So, barely getting halfway through chapter two is particularly shameful but I am quitting now.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

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Review: Who's That Girl?

Who's That Girl? by Mhairi McFarlane
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Edie has a platonic friendship with a colleague who is dating another colleague. Their messages are flirty banter and jack sometimes expresses doubts about his romance, but that's all. So even though Edie is in love with Jack nothing happens until, on his wedding day, Jack kisses Edie ... and his wife catches them. As is always the way, the single woman is vilified while the cheater gets off scot-free. So when the atmosphere at work becomes toxic Edie's boss suggests she goes home to Nottingham for a few weeks/months while things subside. As an incentive, he asks Edie to help ghost-write an autobiography for an up-and-coming tv star and heartthrob who also happens to come from Nottingham and is currently in the city filming a gritty detective film.

Nottingham is nothing but bad memories for Edie, her stroppy sister, her depressed father, their grotty home. Then the actor she is supposed to help turns out to be a bit of a Diva. But with no other choice Edie is forced to make the best of it.

I liked this but I didn't love it. There were too many clichés, the bitchy gay BFF who turns out to be a fair-weather friend. The power-crazed director, the love-hate relationship between the sisters, the story behind Edie's mother's death, the actor's story, yadda yadda. Also I have read something very similar before, or there are so many tropes that it just felt very familiar. And then it ended very abruptly!

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Review: Dandy Gilver and a Most Misleading Habit

Dandy Gilver and a Most Misleading Habit by Catriona McPherson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Dandy is drawn to a convent on a bleak Lanarkshire moor to investigate a series of disturbances which followed the destruction of the chapel by fire on Christmas Eve and the death of the Mother Superior in the same fire. At the same time Alec is asked to the same moor to help his old friend who is accused of setting the fire and killing Mother Mary. Alec's friend is suffering shell-shock, or PTSD as we would call it now, and is living in a psychiatric hospital, which had a prisoner break-out on the same night that Mother Mary died.

The acting Mother, also called Sister Mary confusingly, wants to unravel the mystery of Mother Mary's death, and her last words, and suspects that disturbances since then are not the acts of the two inmates who remain on the loose, but are in fact perpetrated by one of the sisters.

This is another highly satisfying murder mystery. As they used to say on the tv show Through The Keyhole, 'the clues are there' and indeed they were. I noticed the significance of some of the descriptions and had my suspicions but nothing like the elegance of the final solution, even if it did require the perpetrators to explain their motives Scooby Doo-style :)

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Review: Dandy Gilver and the Unpleasantness in the Ballroom

Dandy Gilver and the Unpleasantness in the Ballroom by Catriona McPherson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Dandy and Alec are brought to Glasgow to investigate vague threats being made to a debutante and are drawn into the world of competitive ballroom dancing. Professional rivalries, a previous death, hints of Glasgow mobsters all come together in a sparkling mystery. Dandy and Alec's investigations uncover the sordid underbelly of ballroom dancing and they learn that some people will do whatever it takes to make it to the top.

I have to confess I was mildly disappointed initially that this wasn't set in some aristocratic ballroom but as the tensions mount and the perpetrators sordid motives are revealed this ranks as one of the most enjoyable of these mysteries I have read so far.

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Review: The Mix-Up

The Mix-Up by Holly McCulloch
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I find this difficult to write because the blurb discloses something that isn't apparent until well over half way through the book and omits something that is hinted at from the start and revealed fairly early in the book.

Paige learned to bake from her grandmother and inherited her cake business (and flat above the workshop) when her grandmother died. Although her business has been doing nicely, she wants to expand into higher end wedding cakes so business is a little precarious as she tries to change focus. Oh, and she is also the least romantic person in the world, something she has to keep quiet from the hopeful brides who make up her clientele.

What she could never be prepared for was for her ex-boyfriend Chris to walk into her workshop with his fiancé Pippa looking for a wedding cake. Chris might have been equally surprised but he gets over the shock quickly enough, and bizarrely still wants Paige to make their wedding cake. Six years ago Chris let Paige down very badly, he wasn't there for her and he put his own needs ahead of hers. But now he's back in her life he seems to be a changed man, wanting to make amends, and it seems as though he is having second thoughts about marrying Pippa.

To get Chris out of her mind Paige goes to a party hosted by a wedding planner that Paige is keen to work with, who promises her a no-strings one-night stand with an ex-boyfriend, a guy who is known for a good time, but not for a long time. The friend doesn't have time to introduce them but points at a group of guys and says its the one in the black top. Of course there are two guys in black tops!

Paige has a great night with Noah, the guy in the black t-shirt, but he doesn't seem to be on the same page when it comes to one-night stands, he says they are having fun and why can't it continue?

As the book continues we see why Paige has this attitude about love and marriage, and the reason why she never cries. Unfortunately this is where the book lost a star for me, because Paige is one of those characters who clings onto a belief, a mantra, a worldview regardless of how stupid it has become. The more ridiculous the belief, the longer they cling to it, despite all evidence to the contrary. Also there was a whole thing with her toxic family that went nowhere.

This was an easy read, I sped through it in a single day, and an enjoyable read, but I don't think the characters will stay with me for long. A beach read (if we ever get to go on holiday this year).

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

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Review: Dandy Gilver and The Reek of Red Herrings

Dandy Gilver and The Reek of Red Herrings by Catriona McPherson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Three and a half stars, I'm knocking off half a star for all the Doric talk.

In what I feel is the grisliest investigation to date, Dandy Gilver and Alec Osborne travel at Christmas to a small fishing village in Banffshire called Gamrie. Engaged by Mr Birchfield, a herring distributor, to investigate why/how a dismembered body has been stored in barrels of herrings and to locate the two missing barrels before a customer makes a gruesome discovery. The stamping of the barrels in the harbour and the design of the barrels is sufficient to narrow down the precise batch of herrings. So off to Gamrie go our sleuths, to a small town of superstitions and customs far removed from 'modern day' Perthshire and Dandy's estate.

Dandy and Alec are plunged into what could be their oddest location to date. A parsimonious landlady, a bible-quoting vicar, a poetry-quoting doctor, a village in which all the fishing families appear to have intermarried and have a bewildering number of names, and a pair of brothers with a taxidermy museum at the top of the hill. Added to which, when they start asking questions about missing people, it turns out that there are a whole raft of peculiar strangers who have been seen once but never again.

I guessed one mystery quite early on (in fact I wish I had made a note in my Kindle when I had the thought), but the other mystery kept me guessing right to the end, in fact I suspected Dandy had got it wrong!

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