Review: A Twist in the River

A Twist in the River by Stig Abell
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Three and a half stars.

A woman goes missing beside the river, local residents and true crime podcast aficionados gather to help search for Claire, hoping desperately that she will be found alive.

A few days later Jake finds a woman's naked body in the river ... but it isn't Claire's. Soon the body count mounts but it is still unclear whether the women have been murdered or if they have coincidentally died of natural causes, because there are no signs of struggle, violence, or drugs in their systems.

Can Jake and his trusty team of sleuths solve the mystery?

As a serial moaner I have previously moaned about Jake's gang turning into Slough House, lurid descriptions of Livia's body and random descriptions of people's clothing for no reason. I am glad to say none of these pet peeves registered this time. Also, I didn't guess the culprit's identity until close to the end ... suddenly a few clues came together and I was just a few pages ahead of the reveal.

Overall, I enjoyed this mystery.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley.

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Review: Her Slap Shot

Her Slap Shot by Emma Kate
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Three and a half stars.

Finley Blake is the first woman to ever be appointed head coach in professional hockey, and yes her dad is a big name in the industry but she earned her spot at Denver Yeti the hard way. Her ethos is all about accountability, don't lie about your fitness, don't hide injuries etc.

Beckett Kane is running out of time, yes he's won the league but he wants to lift that trophy with the captain's C on his jersey but his hip is causing him more and more difficulties, when he gets traded mid-season to the Denver Yeti it just makes everything harder.

Finley was against trading for Blake, even though she had been lobbying hard for a veteran defenseman to shore up their team, partly because he was her teenage crush, even helped her with her slap shot on one memorable afternoon, but she is overruled.

There is an instant attraction, but Finley knows the eyes of North America are on her, just one slip-up will have repercussions for all women in the industry, and Blake gets that.

I was enjoying this, the Yeti's PR team cook up a competition where players and staff are paired up to compete in a series of challenges, winners choose the charity the Yeti will support for the year. Of course Finley and Blake are paired up (although I think it would have been better if they were rivals) and end up spending a lot of time together practicing their 'talents' for the talent show, learning all about each other in a Mr and Mrs style quiz etc, and the attraction just keeps growing. So far so good.

What knocked this down from a four star to a three and a half were the smexy scenes. Just ick, ick, ick for me. Don't talk about her pretty p*ssy, call her a good girl and start trying to order her about on the first time - just no. There was just a whole chapter of me going ick ick ick. Luckily (for me) that was pretty much it. Overall, it felt like this was wedged in to meet some kind of spicy quotient and it didn't really mix with the rest of the book.

There's a bit of family angst with Finley's dad, and a bit of noble self-sacrifice, but I could live with that.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley.

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Review: A Degree of Murder: It's 25 years since they graduated...but revenge never gets old.

A Degree of Murder: It's 25 years since they graduated...but revenge never gets old. by Maz Evans
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The blurb

IT'S BEEN 25 YEARS SINCE THEY GRADUATED...BUT REVENGE NEVER GETS OLD.

The Class of 2000.
The Actress. The Techie. The Bimbo.
The Sportsman. The Bad Boy. The Writer. The Singer.
The Lecturer. The Musician. The Mature Student. The Weirdo.
But who is The Murderer?

I don't really know how to review this, not least because my ARC had some formatting issues which meant I didn't know whether paragraphs ended mid-sentence deliberately or because of formatting. In addition, the book jumps around from person to person and between graduation in 2000, the reunion in 2025 and the murder trial in 2026. None of the characters had a particularly strong tone so I didn't really know who was talking or which was their 2000 persona. There is also the confusion caused by not being told who has been murdered, who is accused of the murder and indeed, who is the narrator watching the trial.

In addition, despite being set in the UK this didn't really feel British (no I can't explain why and I had the same feeling about a book set in Australia so maybe it's a Me thing) maybe its because big graduation parties and reunions weren't really a thing when I was younger?

Anyway TL:DR the book was structured to keep the reader guessing.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley.

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Review: Flowers in July

Flowers in July by Anna Maynard
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Mary Roberts is a trainee doctor, she was in a six year relationship with Felix, also a doctor, until she discovered another woman's G-string in their bed. Now she's single and homeless whilst simultaneously worrying about her sister (single mother of three) and mother (issues with men and alcohol).

To escape her temporary lack of a home (and Felix her ex) Mary signs up for a week long wilderness expedition medicine course, only to discover that Felix has also signed up - allegedly to persuade her (yet again) to give him a second chance.

Despite the wilderness course being waaaay outside her comfort zone, Mary finds the course leader Abel is a reassuring and empowering presence, in his company she feels capable of stepping outside her comfort zone. However, Mary worries that she is mistaking Abel's niceness for something more.

I really wanted to like this but it just felt a bit meh. Abel just seemed to fall in love with Mary for no reason and was just perfectly kind and nice and supportive ALL THE TIME - he had no nuance or shadow or (frankly) personality. Mary was just dense. Men don't platonically hug you and sleep in the same bed unless they like like you! Also, to complete the trifecta of characters I didn't warm to, Mary's sister got on my nerves. Mary sends her money every month which her sister never acknowledges, every time Mary calls there's some drama with her nieces and nephews, then she has the audacity to complain.

Anyway, I enjoyed the wilderness course part but after that (and there was a lot) it just felt like Mary was being obtuse and there was manufactured drama, which made it drag.

Sorry, not for me.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley.

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Review: Death at King's Cross: A Four Queens of Crime Mystery

Death at King's Cross: A Four Queens of Crime Mystery by Rosanne Limoncelli
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Three and a half stars.

Its May 1941, the world is at war. The famous novelist Agatha Christie is volunteering at a local hospital in the dispensary. The author Dorothy L Sayers is writing copy for the BBC. Ngaio Marsh has returned to New Zealand where she cares for her father and volunteers at a local hospice for recovering servicemen. Finally, Margery Allingham is in the countryside helping those who have been evacuated or just misplaced by the bombings of London. Each of these famous authors of detective novels comes across something disturbing: blackmail; a sister's disappearance; missing drugs; and ravings about Nazi-style brothels.

Meanwhile, DCI Lilian Wyles is called into the mysterious murder of a young woman at King's Cross station. She was found wearing a flimsy silk nightdress, a man's coat, and nothing else, not even shoes. Her appearance suggests she has been beaten and possibly starved. Then abruptly the murder is taken out of Scotland Yard's hands and taken over by MI5 - the dead woman was an MI5 operative undercover on a mission. When Lilian calls on the four famous novelists little does she know that each of them holds a small piece of a puzzle which could put all their lives at risk.

This is apparently the second book in the Four Queens of Crime Mystery series, I didn't read the first book and there is no need to have anything other than the knowledge that these four women wrote detective novels to be able to read and understand this. I assume some of the story is based on fact (ie that DLS worked for the BBC) and other parts are fiction.

I enjoyed this, despite the coincidences and not having read the first book, and would definitely read more in the series.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley.

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Review: In Your Court

In Your Court by Kit Haley
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Three and a half stars.https://www.goodreads.com/review/edit...#

For once the blurb really nails it.

A sweet, steamy AF contemporary MM romance! Find inside: truckloads of hot, witty banter, exploration of queer solidarity, lots of tennis details but very little actual tennis, and amusing Australian/American cultural confusion.

Matteo Russo is an Australian tennis player. He was extremely promising as a young player, won a few junior tournaments, but a car accident left him injured and ever since he has struggled to reclaim his previous rankings. To boot, Mat is the only tennis player to openly state he is gay, a statement that brought him a lot of nasty comments and has made him feel like The Gay Tennis Player - every press conference, win or lose, he gets asked whether his sexuality had anything to do with the result.

As a junior, Matteo's greatest rival was Miles Callahan, a tall arrogant American with model good looks and oodles of money at his disposal. Miles now has endorsements aplenty and is ranked world number 5 (or it could be 3 - I can't remember and can't be bothered to check). Of course what made it even more galling was that Miles ticked every box on Mat's mythical checklist for a boyfriend.

When the two of them meet at the French Open, Mat puts up a good fight, but loses two sets to one. When Miles makes a sneering comment Mat points out that Miles wouldn't find it so easy without his five star hotel, chauffeur driven car, sports therapist, coach, manager etc, etc and challenges him to live like a 'normal' player.

When Mat gets to London in preparation for Wimbledon he gets a text from a number saved in his contacts as 'Scrunchie'. It's Miles accepting the challenge, he's come to London determined to stick to Mat's budget, forgoing his team and comforts. But as they bond over laundry and start practising together Mat comes to realise that Miles doesn't seem him as broken or defective, Miles sees him as his most difficult opponent, one who is impossible to beat when at the top of his game.

Although the film Wimbledon gets slated in this book for being inaccurate, I must confess to loving it (even tried to watch it the other day but refused to pay £3.49 to stream a 20-year old film) and this gave off similar vibes. There's lots of family angst and I felt it went on a bit too long towards the end but I loved Mat and Miles, two genuinely nice guys.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley.


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Review: Murder-on-Sea

Murder-on-Sea by Julie Wassmer
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Christmas is coming in Whitstable and Pearl Nolan is eagerly awaiting her son Charlie's return from Germany for the holidays. Meanwhile, someone is sending poison pen Christmas cards to some of the locals with some harsh (if true) comments. However, things escalate when earl's accountant Diana collapses at a charity church fundraiser right in front of Pearl and DCI Mike McGuire. After she is rushed to hospital and later dies, it turns out that Diana was poisoned with antifreeze in her glass of Jenever - a tipple which she had brought to the church for her own personal use.

Suspects and motives abound. Diana was at odds with her new neighbours, a young couple who have built a treehouse which completely overlooks her house. She was heard having a heated argument/discussion with the local GP, and it was common knowledge that she subsidised her son and his family's extravagant lifestyle. Not forgetting of course that as the local accountant Diana knew everyone's financial business and may well have been privy to financial woes or even wrongdoing.

Since Mike was a witness he can't investigate the murder officially, but unofficially if he can help Pearl solve the case and get one over on the detective in charge of the case he'd be very pleased.

This was okay. I felt like there were a lot of red herrings thrown in simply to confuse matters, lots of strangers, lots of secret meetings, lots of secrets. Again, while the murderer's identity was plausibly explained I feel that could have been true about any of the other suspects. Also, and probably more damning, this morning (having only finished it at 11pm the night before) I wasn't entirely sure if the murderer was also the poison pen Christmas card writer - which again is because as a reader I didn't get that 'AHA' moment when all the random clues suddenly dropped into place and there could only be one suspect. Maybe that is more realistic but it didn't give me the moment of satisfaction I want from a mystery when it's solved.

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Review: The Whitstable Pearl Mystery

The Whitstable Pearl Mystery by Julie Wassmer
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Three and a half stars.

Pearl Nolan owns a restaurant/bar in Whitstable. A single mother, she had to give up her burgeoning career in the Police when she became pregnant, but now her son is at University she has set up a detective agency on the side. Her first customer is a rather unsavoury man who claims to have invested money with a local oyster catcher called Vinnie Rowe but has yet to see any return on his money. Pearl knows Vinnie, so without actually accepting the job she goes to see him and find out what is happening. At first she can't find him anywhere on his boat but while pulling up the anchor to bring his boat into shore she discovers his dead body weighed down by the anchor.

The police, in the form of DFL (down from London) DCI Mike McGuire seem convinced that Vinnie's death was an accident, or possibly suicide, but Pearl is convinced it was murder, there's no way a seasoned sailor like Vinnie would accidentally get his foot caught up in the anchor rope and then fall overboard.

As Whitstable gets caught up in the annual Oyster Festival Pearl and Mike lock horns as she tries to uncover who killed Vinnie, and why. An investigation which will lead her far closer to home than she could ever imagine.

I bought this when it was on special offer at 99p because I enjoy the gentle (dare I say cosy) tv series based on the books. Other than completely changing the physical appearance of both Pearl and Mike beyond all recognition, from what I remember the tv series stays pretty close to the book. Also, I live not far from Whitstable and have been known to drive DFL for lunch in Seasalter.



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Review: A Murder in Eight Cocktails

A Murder in Eight Cocktails by Kelly Mullen
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Willa and Marty are retired, she was an interior designer and he was something horticultural, their only son has flown the nest and Willa is feeling a little lost. Marty has enthusiastically embraced bird watching as a hobby and Willa has started a podcast.

The couple are invited to the opening of an exclusive cocktail bar where guests are served a series of special cocktails at precisely timed intervals. But no-one expects their host to plunge to his death from the rooftop during the evening, or for him to send what appears to be a suicide text to several of the other guests.

Willa is convinced their host was murdered, and when the police decline to get involved she and her ex-husband Paul, who was the host's business partner, decide to take matters into their own hands.

I struggled to get into this book, despite liking Kelly Mullen's previous book This Is Not A Game, and was about to DNF it when it suddenly got more interesting as Willa and Paul and (reluctantly) Paul start matching the timeline to when they received each cocktail, I could see that this would be like one of those Logic Problems where you have to match (say) the first name, second name, house colour and car type based on a series of clues. Unfortunately, after that spark it fizzled out again. I think for my taste there were too many suspects, too many motives, and therefore when the murderer was revealed it didn't really feel that they were the only suspect that could possibly fit all the clues.

Probably more importantly, I didn't really like Willa, Marty, or Paul and I found it difficult to keep the suspects separate in my mind. Pleasant enough but not one I would read again.

Contains the history and recipes for several cocktails.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley.

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Review: You & Me and You & Me and You & Me

You & Me and You & Me and You & Me by Josie Lloyd
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Three and a half stars.

Jules and Adam have been married for nearly twenty-five years and have two teenage children. Their lives haven't been easy, Adam's parents died in a car accident, and his dad was in a lot of debt when he died. Their son Liam was badly injured in a tragic accident and Adam passed up the opportunity to go into partnership with his best friend, a decision that cost him millions. Jules has run up thousands in credit card debt after her pop-up catering business folded during COVID, something she is scared to confess to Adam.

After yet another coulda, shoulda, woulda argument between them Adam retreats to his shed, which is jam-packed full of stuff he's never thrown away, and digs out an old mix tape he made for Jules when they first started dating and puts it into an old cassette player. Suddenly he is transported back in time to the moment he gave Jules the tape.

Adam shares his finding with Jules who is initially sceptical, Adam has always been a bit of a geek and a fan of sci-fi and time travel. But she humours him and also finds herself transported back in time. However, Jules takes the opportunity to make one small change, telling past Adam that she prefers smooth-shaven men (because present day Adam has a straggly grubby old man beard) and lo and behold when she returns to the present Adam no longer has a beard.

The mix tapes, something they used to record for each other all the time, bring the two of them together, but soon the little change they make, inadvertently or deliberately, start to mount up, but just like that chilling film The Butterfly Effect, every change they seemingly make for the better has unintended consequences.

I started this a long time ago and lost interest, but picked it up again a few days ago and raced through it. Proof, if needed, that its often the reader not the book at fault when things don't gel. Anyway, I love a time-travel story and how changes have consequences. Loved this.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley.

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Review: It’s Not What You Think

It’s Not What You Think by Clare Mackintosh
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Nadeeka is convinced her boyfriend Jamie is cheating on her, she heard a woman's voice in the background when she called him, he said it was the HR manager at work but she could hear a train go past in the background - their house is near the railway line whereas his office is not. Clearly there is a woman in her house. Full of righteous fury, she won't be cheated on again, she storms home (getting stopped by the police for speeding on the way) only to discover the house is a crime scene and Jamie is dead ...

But that is only the start of the weirdness, Nadeeka's view of Jamie is about to be challenged and everything she thought she knew turns out to be wrong.

I have read Clare Mackintosh's DC Morgan series and really enjoyed it, so I took a chance on this based on the blurb. Then forgot about it. Then picked it up and for some unknown reason thought it was by Gillian McAllister (even though I thought it was weird to have two ARCs by the same author available at the same time). Anyway, picked it up on Sunday, started reading and finished on Monday evening. Loved it, thought there was a slight similarity to McAllister's Famous Last Words but still very enjoyable and full of suspense, keeps you guessing right to the end.

Loved it. So if any of you are Gillian McAllister fans I think you'll love this too.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley.

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