Review: Death on the Pier

Death on the Pier by Pauline Rowson
My rating: 0 of 5 stars

Its 1951 and DCI Ryga is sent to Southend-on-Sea to investigate the strange case of a disappearing body. Commander Cottinglea was walking back to his boarding house from the Southend Yacht Club when he saw a bloodied body close to the cliffs. He ran to find the nearest policeman, but when they returned only a few minutes later the body was gone and there was no evidence of any kind of disturbance. The local police are inclined to believe that the Commander was drunk (on one whisky and soda) or otherwise hallucinating, but the Commander is kicking up a stink and harassing the local police so Ryga is dispatched to do a bit of digging into the Commander and determine whether he was indeed imagining things.

When Ryga arrives in Southend, in a hot summer very similar to the one we are currently experiencing in the UK, eh quickly determines that Cottinglea is a cadger and starts to suspect some of his 'history' is sheer fabrication, the steward at the Yacht Club suggested the Commander's war record was a fiction and intimated that he didn't believe the Commander had ever sailed. Just as Ryga is close to dismissing the Commander's allegations the unthinkable happens, the Commander dies suddenly while sitting on a deckchair - practically in full view of Ryga. As Ryga digs deeper, his friend Eva arrives and together they discover a tangled web where nothing is as it seems.

I am enjoying this series set in post-WWII England where rationing is still in place and the country is trying to rebuild after the devastation. Ryga is a sensitive detective, a bit prone to wild speculations, many of which turn out to be wrong, but I like that he is testing theories and happy to discard them when they don't fit.

Available on Kindle Unlimited.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley.

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Review: Comfort Read

Comfort Read by Dylan Morrison
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Kit Forrest owns a quirky historic bookshop in Cedar Falls called Sawyer's Books, much used in tv and films as a backdrop. Unfortunately it needs far more work done on it than he ever imagined when he bought is as a surprise engagement present for his then boyfriend. The boyfriend not only rejected Kit's proposal, he broke up with him and left town. Leaving Kit broke, single, and homeless.

Eighteen months later, Kit is desperately trying to get a loan to cover the necessary repairs before the town condemns the property without success. Then, following an interview filmed at the bookshop, he receives a surprising offer from Hollywood superstar Sage Ballard - be his fake boyfriend to make a reluctant investor bankroll his adaptation of a much-loved fantasy book by proving that Sage is grounded, and in return Sage will pay for the necessary repairs to the bookshop. Fake boyfriend to one of the hottest men on the planet, who also happens to be Kit's childhood crush from when he starred in a tv sitcom? Sign him up stat, even if Sage does seem to be a bit of a drama llama!

Despite all the press coverage of Sage's recent bad-boy behaviour he turns out to be a charming guy, and maybe just a little bit shy. Once Kit gets over being star-struck he treats Sage just like any other guy. From red carpet dates, and dinners at Michelin starred restaurants, to Thanksgiving with Kit's out-there family the two are getting closer and closer.

I think we can all see where the conflict is going to arise and I have to confess it did irritate me a little bit but it was resolved really well and overall I loved the book so much. loved Kit, loved Sage that I am willing to let it go (big of me LOL).

Anyway, if you love a small-town bookshop fake romance with a film star then you'll love this. And now I see that I have also read and loved two other books by this author!

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley.

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Review: The Day Our Lives Collided

The Day Our Lives Collided by Laura Pearson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Three and a half stars.

Hayden, Tash, and Adam literally bump into each other at Fresher's week at university and become firm friends along with Leah, Nate, Jude, Ross, Johnnie, Caro, and Anisha. A bit like the film Four Weddings And A Funeral, we catch up with the group at various weddings where people variously Get married (obviously), split up, sleep together, or meet their future spouse. The group face heart-break, divorce, children, family illness. At the centre of everything are the original trio of friends, but even they have their trials and tribulations. Different chapters of the story are told from either Hayden, Adam, or Tash's POV.

I enjoyed this, until close to the end when for no apparent reason one of the characters starts addressing their child, as in 'you looked at your sister' which felty a bit odd - why?

I enjoyed this, but didn't love it, the three main characters' voices all sounded the same.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley.

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Review: The Storyteller's Secret: The ultimate FEELGOOD novel with characters you'll want as your new best friends

The Storyteller's Secret: The ultimate FEELGOOD novel with characters you'll want as your new best friends by Lucy Diamond
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The story of four women, each of whom in their own way is a storyteller.

Nancy in 1929 is a kitchen maid int he big house. One day she is cleaning the young master's bedroom and sees the draft of a novel he is writing, totally engrossed she accidentally adds a few words, which leads to her helping Master Albert write his novel.

In 2001 cousins Pearl and Saffie were best of friends, united by sharing the same birthday, until a shocking betrayal separates them.

Present day, Maud, Pearl and Saffie's grandmother is rushed to hospital - an event which brings Pearl back from Canada - can her accident bring back the friendship between the two cousins? Who is the mysterious man who called the ambulance? What secret is her friend Ruby trying to hide?

In her own inimitable way Lucy Diamond draws the stories of these four women together as Pearl and Saffie uncover family secrets.

I really enjoyed this, I could see where things were going but the journey was fun to read as the strands started to knit together.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley.

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Review: Her Game Plan

Her Game Plan by Emma Kate
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Charlotte Langford has been happily and successfully running the entertainment arm of her family's business, secure in the knowledge that when her father eventually retires she will be its CEO and her twin brother Chris will be the CEO of the pro football team, he has been managing for years. Then their father changes his mind, he thinks the business should be run by just one person and to help him decide the twins will swap roles for six months. To add insult to injury, her father is desperate for her to get married and start a family and feels that Chris is already ahead of Charlotte in that race, being married with one child and another on the way. What's a gal with no filter to do but make up a fake fiancé - since Chris saw her in the corridor with their quarterback Callan Devine's arms around her he leaps to a conclusion ... and Charlotte jumps on it. The only problem is, in real life Charlotte does not like Callan and deliberately misnames him every time they meet. She's going to have to eat a lot of humble pie to get him to pretend to date her until she's won this little game.

Callan has some issues from being dumped by his parents on his paternal grandmother, he always thinks he has to say yes, be nice to everyone, and bend over backwards in order to keep them on his side. Heck he even buys ridiculously expensive presents for the old folk in his nan's up-market nursing home, even though they and their families are easily able to buy these things for themselves. So when a woman who doesn't seem to even remember his name asks him to fake date her (and let her move in) he doesn't hesitate for one second.

As Callan gives her a crash course in football the two become close, but what happens when the team make a decision which could adversely affect Callan's life?

This was enjoyable. A bit predictable. Started to drag a bit in the middle, but its hard to do a fake-dating your boss story that is different to all the others.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley.

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Review: Game On

Game On by Zarah Detand
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Stellan is good-looking, charming, and a professional honey-trap for husbands and wives - he gets an incriminating photograph and their spouse gets a divorce. Then in Chicago on a job he realises too late that his mark is actually a very famous NHL star, Matt Harkins, he tries to stop things. He knows the photograph was completely innocent, even though there were definitely vibes between them, but his employers won't listen and fire him.

Seven months later, Stellan is working as an assistant in a high-end menswear shop in Seattle when Matt walks in for a suit. One thing leads to another but can there be any future between a closeted NHL captain and an openly queer man?

I am so angry with myself. I read this days if not weeks ago. Loved it. Totally forgot to write a review. Now I can't remember the nuances, just the vibe. Stellan is so sweet, Matt is trying hard and their friends are awesome.

I can't wait to read the next book - I think I know who it will feature ...

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley.

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Review: The Pinnacle: A Novel

The Pinnacle: A Novel by Abir Mukherjee
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Three and a half stars.

George Abercrombie is a Hollywood actor living in Mumbai with his younger wife, the acclaimed Bollywood actress Sweety Sahota. They have an apartment in the swanky Pinnacle, a new high-rise whose multi-million dollar apartments are owned by Mumbai's rich and famous. Whilst her career is on the rise, his is in decline and he has stooped to making commercials advertising a rotgut whisky. When Sweety ducks out of accompanying George to an interview with the BBC at the last minute words are spoken. George does the interview alone and then goes out and gets ridiculously drunk.

The next morning George wakes up on the sofa, stumbles into the bedroom and finds his wife dead in a pool of her own blood on the bed. Panicked, with no real idea of what happened last night, George calls his agent for help and sends the maid out to buy a new coffee machine to get her out the apartment.

Sweety's PA Gemma is missing, so is George's man servant Amit, Sweety's laptop, and some of her jewellery. Everyone has a secret, who killed Sweety?

Yet again I have confused Vaseem Khan and Abir Mukherjee - although in my defence they have both written novels this year which are not part of their ongoing series (and I have requested ARCs of both). Anyway, this was well-plotted and managed to make a few pointed jabs about corruption and 'eveteasing' without turning the book into a political statement. My biggest disappointment was that I guessed the murderer right from the start (although not the motive) so it just felt like a slow journey to the obvious.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley.

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Review: A Family Affair

A Family Affair by Jodi Taylor
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book takes place moments after the last book ended, when Lady Amelia Smallhope suggested to Pennyroyal that they steal the Crown Jewels (and replace them 24 hours later). As a recap(view spoiler)[, Smallhope was shot by an assassin paid for by her sister-in-law Caroline, the Dowager Countess of Goodrich, in an attempt to get all of Amelia's wealth. Pennyroyal has avenged her shooting and allegedly infected Caroline with a rare futuristic drug which means if she strays more than a short distance from her villa in Italy she will die a horrible death, and he's also stolen all her money and put it into the assassin's bank account to make sure the police know who is responsible (hide spoiler)].

So, they are planning their next heist, whilst denying any and all knowledge of the identity of the person who tied to kill Smallhope when questioned by the police, when Pennyroyal gets a call which changes everything for both of them. Could this be the end of the dream team?

Argh! I read this, didn't write a review. Skim-read it again, half-wrote the review and then pondered what to say about spoilers etc and gave up.

Anyway, another great outing for our two deadly time-hopping assassins with all their trademark charms, sass, danger, and deadly weapons. Loved it.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley.

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Review: The Oxford Detective Society

The Oxford Detective Society by Faith Martin
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Alyssa 'Lyssa' Moore is a widowed Oxford literature scholar turned biographer. She is approached out of the blue with a request to set the record straight about an infamous relative, Amelia 'Monty' Montrose who drowned in her own ornamental fish pond at just twenty-four years old, only a few months after the death by overdose of her famous lover Glen Bannister, lead singer of the Lucky Cuckoos, in 1966. Although not as well known as the Beatles etc, the Lucky Cuckoos had four chart hits and were expected to do even better until Glen's death. Tragically, most of the other band members also died young.

Trying to discover the truth about someone sixty years after their death is hard. Most of their contemporaries are also dead. Contemporaneous records of the time like photographs and videos are hard to find. Nevertheless, Lyssa sets to the task with a vengeance and manages to uncover some interesting facts, but she can't help but feel that her client isn't being entirely honest with her. As the investigation continues Lyssa starts to feel paranoid, as if someone is following her. Then she returns to her flat to find nothing missing but a few things out of place - has someone broken into her flat?

This was very enjoyable, I have commented before that Faith Martin has a weird obsession with constantly harping on about her main character's hair - I don't think it was necessary to mention Lyssa's high ponytail six times for example.

Anyway I digress, although they didn't play much of a part in the investigation, Lyssa's neighbours, a gay couple, and her BFF Frieda lend moral support and dub themselves the Oxford Detective Society. There is (I think) a little hint that there is something either odd about her husband's death, or maybe he had a secret ... I could be reading into things too much.

I can't wait to read the second book in the series.

Available on Kindle Unlimited.

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Review: The Shadows of Kensington Gore

The Shadows of Kensington Gore by Ross Montgomery
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The second book in the series featuring former Borstal boy Stephen Pike and Miss Decima Stockingham, an elderly and infirm aristocrat with a foul mouth, recently released from a form of house imprisonment by her cousin.

Stephen and Miss Stockingham are now living in an apartment in Kensington Gore, a very up-market area close to the Royal Albert Hall in London. Its 1911 and London is preparing for the coronation of King George V, but the Suffragette movement is planning disruption. Stephen escorts Miss Stockingham to a Suffragette rally at the Royal Albert Hall, whilst getting some air high up in the gallery he sees three Suffragettes congregating around the statue of Prince Albert in what he thinks is a suspicious manner when all the other Suffragettes are inside the hall. When a policeman shouts at them and starts running towards them with his truncheon out Stephen is afraid that the policeman will beat the women and runs down into the street, only to find the policeman dying in his own blood.

At first it seems obvious that one or all of the three women must have killed the policeman, but Miss Stockingham raises doubts. Then Mrs Pankhurst herself asks Miss Stockingham to investigate the murder and exonerate the Suffragettes by the end of the week - otherwise the government will use the murder as an excuse to declare the Suffragettes an illegal army. What ensues is a convoluted time-pressured investigation where no-one is who they seem, everyone comes under suspicion, and sadly more people will die.

I really enjoyed this, very different to the first book, lots of clues, and also lots of detailed facts expertly woven into the story about how the establishment treated the Suffragettes - and indeed the different treatment meted out to the aristocracy versus commoners.

I can't wait for the next one.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley.

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Review: Death by Noir

Death by Noir by Olly Smith
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

DNF at 27%.

I really wanted to like this book. I love Olly Smith on tv and I was excited about a cosy mystery centred on wine in England. Unfortunately, what I love about watching Olly does not (for me) translate well into writing. This was just too flowery, very much like a wine description, everything was over-described - do I really need to know the year, make, model, and registration number of someone's car? It could have been done more organically, eg Barclay loved his vintage car, even called it the Duke because his number plate started DUK, but not just a turgid recital of "1970 Rover P5B coupe in silver birch with the contrasting roof in burnt grey. DUK 922J has been Barclay's pride and joy ...". Also the book was written from the viewpoint of the omniscient narrator which is, I think, a tricky style to carry off, it comes across as too remote and you don't get to know any of the characters. And everything seemed to be about wine, a wine shop, vineyards etc - even I said too much wine!

Anyway, I should have known after the debacle with the Rev Richard Coles' book which I did at least finish, but wish I hadn't.

One for wine aficionado's I suggest.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley.

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