Review: The Last Devil to Die

The Last Devil to Die by Richard Osman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

It's Christmas, a large drug shipment is coming into the UK, usual sources are unavailable so the dealers lean on a local antique dealer to 'buy' an ugly box (which contains the drugs) for £500 which he can sell for £5,000 in a few days time to a courier. Unfortunately, the antiques dealer is murdered in his car and the drugs have gone missing - he happens to be an old friend of Elizabeth's husband Stephen so the gang are determined to find the killer and locate the drugs.

Throw in the FCA, art forgers, a rabid Afghan heroin seller, the Thursday Murder Club and many, many old friends and you have yet another cracking murder mystery. I laughed, I cried, I totally got the killer wrong yet again.

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Review: The Last Devil to Die

The Last Devil to Die by Richard Osman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

It's Christmas, a large drug shipment is coming into the UK, usual sources are unavailable so the dealers lean on a local antique dealer to 'buy' an ugly box (which contains the drugs) for £500 which he can sell for £5,000 in a few days time to a courier. Unfortunately, the antiques dealer is murdered in his car and the drugs have gone missing - he happens to be an old friend of Elizabeth's husband Stephen so the gang are determined to find the killer and locate the drugs.

Throw in the FCA, art forgers, a rabid Afghan heroin seller, the Thursday Murder Club and many, many old friends and you have yet another cracking murder mystery. I laughed, I cried, I totally got the killer wrong yet again.

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Review: The Bullet That Missed

The Bullet That Missed by Richard Osman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The team have decided to investigate a cold case, the disappearance of a young local TV presenter who was in the process of breaking a major investigation. To kick off their investigation Ron agrees/proposes being interviewed by local TV host Mike Waghorn so the Thursday Murder Club gang can gently interrogate him about what he knows about Bethany Waites and what she was investigating.

Meanwhile, Connie Johnson is in prison on remand, running her drugs empire quite comfortably whilst plotting to kill Ron.

Throw in a war between money launderers, senior romance, kidnapping, dementia, and Joyce's cakes and you have another brilliant book in this endearing series.

Not sure why I stopped reading it two years ago but I fairly ripped through it while on holiday.

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Review: Scot’s Eggs

Scot’s Eggs by Catriona McPherson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Three and a half stars.

Its Easter in Cuento, Lexy and Taylor are trying (unsuccessfully) to get pregnant. Todd is doing his best to help them (no, eugh, by offering advice).

A retired couple have gone missing, their rented Mustang has been found abandoned in a museum parking lot, liberally splattered with blood. It seems the couple, the improbably named Bill and Billie Miller, were on the trip of a lifetime, staying in five star hotels, but Bill got a migraine and they tried to find a room to stay in Cuento, not realising all the hotels were full.

Of course, this occurred when most of the regular residents of the Last Ditch Motel were away for some or all of the weekend and a pair of locums were supposed to be looking after the motel. Kathi and Noleen are desperate to prove that there is no way that the Millers could have stayed at the motel, but the generally chaotic way in which the locums appear to have left the place and the lack of record-keeping isn't making life easy.

As usual, this is a completely bonkers detective story featuring variously: a Scottish therapist; a germophobe who runs a cleaning company; an aesthetician on semi-permanent sick leave who is also a germ/creature-phobe; collectively known as Trinity who solve crimes, as well as a rag-tag assortment of lesser but no less bonkers characters.

Lexy is trying for her citizenship (as well as a baby), so expect lots of references to the constitution alongside the inevitable US/UK confusion of two countries speaking the same language with different cultural backgrounds.

I don't know whether its just me, but this book almost made sense to me, not quite, but nearly - its like always being just that one step behind everyone else ...

Anyway, it was funny, mad, silly, and an enjoyable read.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley.

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Review: Turns of Fate

Turns of Fate by Anne Bishop
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Welcome to the Isle of Wyrd.

The Isle of Wyrd is ruled by the Arcana, humans are allowed to visit Destiny Park for entertainment, a brush with the uncanny, to have their palms read, or to eat at the restaurant or sleep at the hotel. Some come to make a bargain with the Arcana, out of love, fear, desperation, or hate. But a bargain with the Arcana doesn't always end up the way that you planned and their idea of justice can be brutal.

Detective Beth Fahey has recently joined the local police district responsible for incidents that occur on Wyrd, she has her own burdens having been abandoned by her parents as a child and brought up by an ultra-religious aunt with addiction, Beth is drawn to art featuring the uncanny and her aunt often berated her for her unnatural interests.

Beth's first case is to investigate the case of a thirty-five year old man who bought a gun from Wyrd to shoot his girlfriend, his ex, and his daughter. Unbelievably, despite shooting at point-blank range he didn't kill any of them, but himself died of what looks like extreme old age. Beth's boss wants her to ask the leader of Wyrd whether the weapon was a ghost gun, and whether it has returned to Wyrd. Such questions require her to pay the Ferryman his price in silver or gold coins and cross to Wyrd to meet the three sisters who will answer questions ... for a price.

Little does Beth know that she is one-quarter Arcana herself and the inhabitants of Wyrd are happy to share more information with her than they would with others, making her both the ideal liaison between the humans and the Arcana, but also ostracising her from her colleagues.

As an introduction to a new series we see variously: someone running from an abusive relationship seeking sanctuary on Wyrd; a bully getting his just desserts; a businessman trying to welch on an agreement and paying the price; a kidnapping; and what happens to visitors who don't remember that words and intentions have meaning.

I loved every page of this, couldn't get enough, can't wait for the next book.

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Review: Death of a Stranger

Death of a Stranger by John Pilkington
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Matthew Cutler is a constable in the parish of Spitalsfields in 1594. Widowed by the Plague, he lives with his two daughters and their aunt Margery.

Called upon to investigate the murder of an Italian perfumer Paulo Brisco, stabbed multiple times by a sword, Matthew is beset by well-meaning do-gooders keen to proclaim various people as the murderer. But Matthew's dogged pursuit of the truth leads him into darker secrets than he thought possible, and puts his own and his family's lives in danger.

I loved the historical details about this book. I work in the City of London, so mentions of place like Bishopsgate and Moorgate etc are places that I see all the time and made it doubly interesting, I even looked up a map of London at around this time to see how small London was and how areas that are now heavily built up were once fields. Loved the reference to Peckham Rye being in Surrey (I had to look that up to confirm that it would have been at that point).

However, historical detail aside, the mystery felt a little flat to me, Matthew's pursuit of potential culprits one after the other seemed to lack direction and although I know who killed Brisco there were so many motives flying around that I confess I don't really recall WHY.

This is only the first book in what looks to be a series, maybe Matthew's character will deepen and develop over time.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley.

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Review: Let's Make a Scene

Let's Make a Scene by Laura Wood
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Thirteen years ago Cynthie Taylor made her acting debut in an historical romance, Lady of Quality, co-starring with acting royalty Jack Turner-Jones. They were enemies (with a fair amount of attraction being denied), forced to pretend to date to drum up publicity for the film.

Present day, Cynthie has been publicly shamed as the scarlet woman for trying to break up her director's marriage, with his wife four months pregnant! He told Cynthie they'd been separated for years and is now making gooey eyes at his wife in public. Cynthie has lost the action-hero film she was about to star in (morality clause) and her BFF/manager Hannah brings her a new script, Lady of Quality 2, same producers/directors/cast/crew. The film has been a Netflix staple for the last thirteen years and a new generation want to see the sequel.

Of course, to add insult to injury, there will be a Netflix documentary crew filming behind the scenes and the producers think it would be a great idea for all concerned if Cynthie and Jack reprised their fake romance, which would squash rumours that Cynthie is a drug addict or in despair etc.

Jack is now one of the stars of a hit Vampire series (think Vampire Diaries/Buffy/Angel) but the last season ended rather ambiguously for his character and he hopes being a hot property with the film could help his character return for the next season.

With both of them older and wiser could this film change enemies to lovers?

This was a one-day only 99p offer on Amazon Kindle and it had rave reviews from so many rom-com authors I had to give it a go - L.O.V.E.D. it. Funny, touching, I could totally see this being made into a great film.

I see now that it is the second in a series, I didn't know that and it can totally be read as a standalone.

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Review: A Cottage in the Country: The new heartwarming romance from the beloved #1 Sunday Times bestselling author

A Cottage in the Country: The new heartwarming romance from the beloved #1 Sunday Times bestselling author by Katie Fforde
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Three and a half stars.

Hattie is a house-finder (nothing like an estate agent) in the Cotswolds, finding the perfect property for her clients. She also happens to have visions (inherited from her Irish grandmother) which show her romantic couples for good (or bad) and she does her best to honour those visions by either bringing the couples together, or helping them to split up. However, despite all her success for her clients, Hattie has been unable to find her own forever home and instead house-sits for various landlords on a temporary basis. The house she really loves belongs to an octogenarian friend of hers called Mary, a beautiful old Cotswolds cottage, but Hattie knows she could never afford it, even if Mary's nephew Clive has neglected basic maintenance for too long.

Her best friends are Rose who owns a local shop (who Hattie got together with her now-husband) and Luke, a restorer of old houses. Everyone thinks she and Luke should be more than friends, but Hattie has always shied away from that, what could be worse than losing a partner and a best friend in one?

When Hattie's bossy older sister gets a job in Switzerland she asks (demands) that Hattie look after her fifteen-year old son Xander who has been having some trouble at school and has been enrolled at a local school which specialises in helping troubled teens.

After Katie Fforde's recent books set in the 1960s this was a nice return to present day and I have to say for the first 75% of the book I was absolutely loving it, no shrinking virginal heroine, just a lovely friends to lovers (eventually) romance. Two things brought down what was a solid four star rating for me: Clive, and the 'secret'. Clive was too much of a pantomime villain, and the secret was totally unnecessary and I don't understand why it was a secret in the first place.

But other than those minor gripes (which is a bit like saying I wish Katie Fforde wasn't so Katie Fforde I know), this was a feel good, sweet romance - just what you would expect.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley.

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Review: Murder in York

Murder in York by J.R. Ellis
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

DCI Oldroyd is in York attending a residential conference on modern policing. For a bit of light relief he decides to spend the evening in York town centre and join a walking ghost tour to dind out more about the history of this Roman settlement.

Unfortunately, the night turns rather more ghoulish than planned when the tour discovers a dead body in one of York's narrow alleyways. The victim, Henry Marlow, is a wealthy landlord in the area. A self-made man, Marlow is also a miser and has had numerous run-ins with his tenants, the council, and local charities about the way he fails to maintain his properties. Throw an ex-wife, her new boyfriend, and a disgruntled PA into the mix and there are plenty of suspects.

With DCI Oldroyd and Andy temporarily attached to York police station to help with the investigation (and get out of the seminar), things are progressing slowly, but as the body count starts mounting, was the motive hatred of Marlow, or is there a serial killer loose on the run-up to Christmas?

I thoroughly enjoyed this, Oldroyd's more irritating characteristics have been toned down (eg his habit of making up acronyms) and there was an impressive array of potential suspects paraded before the reader to muddy the waters.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley.

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Review: Thrown for a Loop

Thrown for a Loop by Sarina Bowen
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Three and a half stars.

Ten years ago Zoe Carson was an Olympic hopeful figure skater and Chase Merritt was an ice hockey hopeful picking up some extra cash as the boys' dorm leader at skating summer camp. They met, they fell in love, they sneaked around, the got caught. Things went badly wrong and they've never spoken since.

Now newly divorced Olympic silver medalist Zoe has accepted a part-time job coaching the New York Legends ice hockey team. Its the only job she has managed to secure and she desperately needs it to become permanent to be able to actually afford to live and work in NYC, too bad if the boy who broke her heart a decade ago is one of their star players.

Its an uphill battle trying to coax NHL players to listen to a diminutive figure skater, even if she can help them improve speed and accuracy, especially when someone clearly wants to bully her out of her job.

This was fun, low on the scorch-o-meter, but a bit predictable. I guessed very early on who it was who wanted to get rid of Zoe - they just had to think about motive.

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Review: The Devil in Oxford

The Devil in Oxford by Jess Armstrong
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Ruby Vaughn travels from Exeter to Oxford to spend Christmas with her friend Leona and also accompany her (Ruby's) boss/companion the octogenarian Mr Owen aka the Viscount of Harwick to various of antiquarian society dinners and talks.

Ruby and Mr Owen arrive slap bang in the middle of a ding-dong between two Oxford scholars, the disgraced Julius Harker who now runs a curiosity museum and the illustrious lecturer on anthropology Frederick Reaver - apparently they were supposed to have a debate several days ago in public but Harker failed to show up. Now crowds have gathered for Harker's unveiling of his Napoleonic cache of Egyptian treasures. But the missing man makes an appearance in the most shocking way possible, his dead body stuffed inside a sarcophagus with his tongue cut out. When Harker's mild mannered business partner Herr Mueller is arrested for his murder Leona begs Ruby to investigate the case and prove Mueller innocent, but there seem to be multiple factors at work.

I didn't realise that this was the third book in a series when I requested the ARC and I have to say I found it difficult to keep track of all the different threads. As I said in my review of a very different book, there are too many overreaching arcs in this book: the romance with the witch Ruan; the women pretending to be Ruby's mother (who died when the Ruritania sank, along with Ruby's father and sister); the mystery about Ruby's 'powers'; her WW1 trauma which may or may not have caused a nervous breakdown, etc, etc.

Also, there were so many suspects for Harker's murder and in the end when the culprit is revealed I didn't feel that there was any evidence (other than the villain's convenient mea culpa) to suggest it was that person over any of the others. There were lots of hints at the supernatural but when it came down to it all the explanations were pretty prosaic.

Pleasant enough but not really what I was hoping for.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley.

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