Review: Royal Fright: A 1920s tale of murder, mystery, and royal intrigue

Royal Fright: A 1920s tale of murder, mystery, and royal intrigue by G J Bellamy
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Sophie Burgoyne owns a temporary staff agency by day, but she and some of her closest friends also do some top secret work for the government at times.

There have been death threats made against King George and his family so while security has been enhanced, Sophie has been asked if she and her team can go to Sandringham with the royal family to try to uncover what is happening. The threats are signed by someone calling himself King Lud who claims to be the hereditary ruler of London. Whilst the team discover two fake bombs and a third bomb is thrown over the gate at Buckingham Palace, Sophie begins to suspect that the threats and bombs are a distraction to divert everyone's attention elsewhere.

Someone points out that if the intention was to really kill the King, Lud could have done so several times over, if the intention was to make the Police and Secret Service look bad a real bomb would have done the trick, therefore it seems likely that the purpose was theft. As a result of the bomb threats, the King cancels a planned visit to the Bank of England, which gives Sophie a starting point.

A team of criminals is digging through underground tunnels leading into the Bank of England's gold bullion vaults - but the evidence is highly circumstantial and the Directors of the Bank of England are too smug to consider that the bank might be vulnerable.

This was a good story, however towards the end (and this may have been in part because I had picked up and put down the book several times and was reading late at night) I completely lost track of who was who in the gang and in the cold light of day, other than the identity of Lud, I am still confused about the exact roles of the various underlings.

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Review: Built to Last

Built to Last by Lexi Blake
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Three and a half stars.

Harper Ross inherited the majority stake in her family's New York construction business when her father passed away suddenly. Since then she's discovered he and her uncle had a very sketchy idea of how to run a business, which mainly seemed to be using the business as a family slush fund, giving jobs to family who have no construction experience, and the big one, never paying taxes! Since then she's been trying to get the company on an even and legal footing, but it has required her to sell some of her shares. Now every one of her many relatives is moaning because they want a new car, or to join a sorority, or equal pay with her. Her mum just wants her to get married and pump out babies and let a man run the business.

One of her ride-or-die BFFs has bought an old brownstone on Park Avenue and intends to stage a reality TV renovation show, with the sale proceeds from the renovated house going towards disaster relief in her country. Harper is excited to be renovating such an historical building, its her great passion and she wants to do it justice. Then she discovers that two reality TV house designer brothers, Reid and Jeremiah Dorsey, are also part of the show (think Drew and Jonathan from The Property Brothers), Harper is immediately bowled over by Reid's good looks and sharp suit, now she wishes she wasn't still in her construction work wear, but her admiration turns cold when she overhears him talking about ripping out all the old features. Then he compounds his gaff by assuming she's a set runner.

What Harper doesn't know is that the house has already been sold and Reid is working to the new buyer's requirements, as they bicker over every little detail. But fight as they might, it only makes the attraction burn stronger.

My heart sank when I realised that Harper's BFF has married the King of a (fictional) small European country, in fact I put the book down for several weeks because I just can't bear those sort of books. Luckily Anika and Luca are just side players (I now know that this is the third book in a series which features each of the BFFs) and when I picked the book up again I raced through it.

It was fun, flirty, all about home renovations (which I love), sure it was pretty predictable why Reid blew hot and cold and who the mysterious house buyer was, but that didn't stop the enjoyment. Reminiscent of Lauren Layne. Perfect, undemanding beach reading.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley.

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Review: Traitor’s Legacy

Traitor’s Legacy by S.J. Parris
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Its December 1598, Queen Elizabeth I is still on the throne, but ageing, with no heir.

Sophia De Wolfe is a widow and former spy. When she retired her former spy-master, Walsingham, brokered a marriage for her with the wealthy merchant Humphrey de Wolfe and they were very happy until his death. When she was nineteen Sophia fell in love with a Jesuit priest and bore a child out of wedlock who was subsequently adopted, she has used her connections to discover the identity of the child, who is now a young man of fifteen and has kept an eye on him ever since. Her son, Tobie, who has no idea she is his birth mother, is an actor in a theatre company and she supports the company with her patronage.

One night, a young woman's body is found in a shallow grave. She is no pauper, instead she is an incredibly wealthy young woman, Agnes, ward to Sir Thomas North, who was intended to be betrothed to Thomas's son Edmund. Pinned to the girl's body is a note in a code created especially for Sophia when she was a spy. She hasn't thought of the code for a decade - who could have got hold of it and why would they use it to write a note and pin it to a body? Has someone discovered Sophia's past? Robert Cecil, the queen's current spymaster instructs Sophia to investigate.

Then disaster strikes. Sir Thomas has found love letters from Tobie to Agnes and has decided that Tobie killed her when she refused to elope with him. Now Sophia will do anything to rescue her son from prison. But as she investigates things become murky, was her death connected to a secret Catholic conspiracy? Why did the Countess of Essex take such an interest in Agnes? Is her murder related to the uprisings in Ireland? Was her murder a direct hit to Sophia?

I requested this book thinking the author was C.J. Sansom or Andrew Taylor (many of whose books I have read and enjoyed) and honestly I was none the wiser at the end that it wasn't one of these authors - I will definitely revisit her Giordano Bruno series - I think I bought the first one and couldn't get into it.

Overall, a fascinating, well-plotted historical detective series and I will definitely request the second book in the series.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley.

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Review: One Cornish Summer With You: The uplifting new romance and escapist beach read from the Sunday Times bestselling author

One Cornish Summer With You: The uplifting new romance and escapist beach read from the Sunday Times bestselling author by Phillipa Ashley
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Tammy lives in the Cornish harbour town of Porthmellow where she creates sand designs (eg pictures or 'Will You Marry Me?' scripts) and supplements her earnings by working at the local art gallery for her father's friend Davey.

Her idyllic childhood was marred when her mother left her father and her father gambled away their family home. The final blow was when his body was found washed ashore - was it a tragic accident for a local who became over-confident, or did he take his own life?

Every year on the anniversary of his death, Tammy creates a special design to honour his memory. This year, while she works she notices a man in a business suit watching her. Ruan is a solicitor who has recently moved from Bristol to Cornwall for a better work-life balance and his struck by the beauty and skill of the woman working on the beach.

Romance ensues but Ruan has a secret, which turns out to be much bigger than he imagined, which could break this young couple apart.

This was okay, I found Tammy a bit difficult to believe as a character, she was just so nagtive about everything, and Ruan was just another cut-out Ken doll - no faults at all.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley.

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Review: This Is Not a Game

This Is Not a Game by Kelly Mullen
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Three and a half stars.

Mimi is a septuagenarian living on Mackinac Island in Michigan, living her best life of bridge, crosswords, and the occasional Gibson martini. Then she receives an invitation to a Jazz Age themed auction party at Jane Ireland's extravagant mansion - the kicker is the invitation comes with a side of blackmail, Jane knows Mimi's secret and the price of silence is to buy a specific lot at her auction, no matter the cost.

Mimi has been estranged from her only living relative, her granddaughter Addie, since Addie started dating Brian. But when she receives the invitation/threat she knows she needs Addie's keen mind to help her ... at the very least she needs to tell Addie her darkest secret before it gets exposed.

When they arrive at Jane's party there's a motley group of guests, including Jane's son-in-law (who is also rumoured to be her lover), her brother, her life coach, a tv host, a famous artist, a pianist, a perfume creator (and there may be more). There seems to be a brittle atmosphere and Jane is seen arguing with guests at different times in the evening, before retiring to bed at just gone 9pm.

With the mansion's drawbridge raised and an extreme storm blowing in, the party are set to spend an uncomfortable night together, and then they find Jane's body and Mimi is accused of the murder. Can Mimi and Addie draw on all their resources to solve the mystery before more bodies pile up or the police can get onto the island from the mainland?

This sort of mystery harks back to some of the great locked room mysteries, all the guests (and staff) have secrets, most of them are also being blackmailed, some of the guests are co-conspirators, most of them are lying, the power has gone out and they are all trapped in the mansion which has lots of secret passageways (cue duh, duh, duh music).

I enjoyed this, I didn't guess the identity of the murderer and there were plenty of red herrings along the way. Maybe my only quibble was that it was a bit convoluted at the end.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley.

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Review: Well, Actually

Well, Actually by Mazey Eddings
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Two and a half stars.

Eva Kitt has a ghastly show where she interviews D-list celebrities over hot dogs (possibly the most disgusting food known to man IMHO) whilst making innuendos and giving off serial killer vibes. Its a job, but she'd much rather be a serious journalist.

Then one night she leaves a vitriolic post on her personal vlog about a fellow podcaster that she 'dated' in college which calls out his hypocrisy for hosting a podcast about deconstructing toxic masculinity when he was not only unmemorable and selfish in bed but also ghosted Eva afterwards. Of course the post goes viral and Eva's boos threatens to fire her for inappropriate behaviour, until her ex, Rylie Cooper, reaches out and agrees to be interviewed by Eva on her show where he proceeds to offer Eva a series of six dates to prove that he has grown and become a better human since college.

Maybe its my age, or the era of the social media influencers, but this is the second book in as many weeks where the FMC has had a completely BS job and it is soooo annoying.

This just felt obvious and crudely drawn. First it was obvious to this reader exactly how Rylie felt about Eva and because the book was written from Eva's POV it felt odd for her to tell the reader that he looked hurt (for example) we knew why but Eva was clueless? Like girl, if you can recognise his emotions then what do they mean? Ditto the boss. And why do all these characters have BFFS who are so mean that you wonder the entire book if they are actually back-stabbers? Get yourself some real friends. Rylie was a caricature, there was literally nothing wrong with him at all, a Ken doll, and there were 'reasons' for his behaviour back then.

Also, I don't get the motivation behind what the boss did ...

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley.

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Review: The Queen of Fives

The Queen of Fives by Alex Hay
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Three and a half stars.

Quinn Le Blanc is the Queen of Fives, sort of head of a group of con-artists of the highest order with strict rules of engagement, including that no con can last longer than five days. A bit like the TV series Hustle, Quinn and her crew only target the evil, the corrupt, the cheaters. But things haven't been going well for a long time, she is sinking deeper into debt and needs to pull off a big con to re-establish herself. Quinn decides to raise her aim from cheating bankers and stockbrokers to the Duke of Kendal, reputedly one of the wealthiest men in England and also, allegedly, a depraved man who unsavoury personal proclivities. Quinn decides to play the False Heiress con, pretend to be a wealthy heiress, get engaged to the Duke, and then vanish into thin air with lots of his lovely wealth.

Unfortunately, all is not what it seems in the House of Kendal and there is another player on the scene, someone who wants to be the Queen of Fives, spoiling Quinn's plans.

The other week I reviewed the third book in Anthony Horowitz's excellent Susan Ryeland series and remarked that it was easier to follow the story reading than I found it watching the series on TV. Well I think this would be easier to watch on TV or in a film that it is to read - you know when in the Ocean's Eleven films they show you flashbacks to reveal how the con was performed - like that. As it was, reading it the twists felt too implausible and difficult to follow. Also, keeping the identity of Quinn's nemesis a secret required a lot of convoluted shenanigans and I'm not sure it really worked - I also suspect the timeline wouldn't work.

Overall, not really Bridgerton, maybe more steampunk meets Oceans Twelve or Thirteen (ie not the best one).

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley.



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Review: The Eights

The Eights by Joanna Miller
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Its 1920 and Oxford University has admitted women students for the first time (I Must admit I found this odd because there were also older women who finally received their degrees from Oxford so how did they study?) and four young women from different walks of life are allotted rooms on staircase eight.

Otto is the youngest of four aristocratic sisters, her mother hasn't spoken to her for months after she refused to marry a wealthy acquaintance and instead chose to study maths at Oxford.

Dora is only at Oxford (despite being extremely clever) because bother her brother and her fiancé died during WW1, within two weeks of each other. She always wanted to be a wife and mother and faces an uncertain future where men are in short supply.

Beatrice is the daughter of a celebrated suffragette, her mother is very self-absorbed and alternately ignores and berates Beatrice for things she cannot change.

The fourth girl is Marianne, the daughter of a vicar in a nearby village, she returns home every other weekend and returns exhausted.

The young women navigate a strange new world, particularly strange since some of them were working during the war, so to be required to be accompanies by a chaperone and be forbidden to speak to any male student who is not their brother seems archaic.

I liked the historical detail and Joanna Miller says she did a lot of research about the era and Oxford, visiting on multiple occasions, I was just feeling there wasn't enough heart in the story - often a concern where you have four protagonists. In this case, Beatrice felt like the spare part, she didn't really have a story. Overall I felt it was a bit paint by numbers, there's the poor little rich girl, the girl with a secret, the girl who lost everything, blah, blah, blah.

I liked it but I didn't love it - if the characters had been real people I could have understood it better, but fictional characters who don't step off the page? Meh.

I received an Arc from the publisher via NetGalley.

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Review: Say You'll Remember Me

Say You'll Remember Me by Abby Jimenez
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Two and a half stars.

Samantha writes social media copy for an organic mustard brand (yep, end of days). When she finds a kitten with a potentially life-endangering birth defect (I can't bring myself to say what it is) she crowd funds surgery. Xavier is the handsome vet who agrees to perform the surgery against his better judgement. The two of them go on a bizarre yet magical first date which ends up with the two of them locked in an escape room overnight.

However, their magical date can only be a one-time thing because Samantha has to leave Minnesota and return to her family home in California. Her mother has dementia and the rest of the family are struggling to cope, as a remote worker Samantha can work just as easily in California and lend a hand.

Then the rest of the book is just Xavier and Samantha getting sadder and sadder because they live on opposite sides of the country, he can't leave Minnesota because he is hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt after setting up his veterinary practice while she (obviously) cant leave her mother. Neither of them can afford to fly cross-country very often, but neither of them wants to give up on their relationship. And then things get worse.

TBH it was all a bit depressing and didn't really go anywhere.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley.

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Review: Murder on the Pier

Murder on the Pier by Merryn Allingham
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Three and a half stars.

Its 1955, Flora Steele, small town book shop owner, and Jack Carrington, local crime writer, have taken Charlie to Brighton for the day as a treat for all his hard work. Unfortunately, after leaving the theatre on the pier which is putting on a very dated Harlequin show, Charlie and Flora find a dead body floating in the sea.

The body is that of Polly Dakers, a beautiful young woman from the village with aspirations to become a model. Polly was being escorted around by Harry, a married man, who had set her up in a luxurious apartment in Brighton, although their relationship was allegedly platonic. At a local party which Polly attended, Flora also noticed some tension between Polly and a night club owner called Frank Foster who seemed to be stalking Polly and she seemed scared of him. Polly was also seen arguing with her cousin Sylvia's boyfriend Raymond that night.

The police are convinced Polly either committed suicide or slipped on the icy ground and fell into the water through a gap in the railings. But based on her knowledge of Polly and the interactions she saw at the party, Flora is not convinced. However, when she starts investigating with Jack it seems as though someone is also trying to kill Flora.

While Flora is impulsive and liable to jump to conclusions, based on little or no evidence, Jack, as a former journalist, takes a more measured approach.

I enjoyed this more than the first book, although I thought the murderer's identity was too obvious. Also, if there had been two or three attempts on your life (two of which were 100% deliberate) would you go haring off to find evidence at the suspect's home - or would you present your suspicions to the police? With a modern day hat on, if Flora had given her 'evidence' to the police I am not sure it could have been used as they only had her word that she found it at the murderer's home.

Anyhoo, a pleasant cosy crime novel which draws on historical details (eg Jack having to go onto a waiting list for a telephone to be installed, and half day closing).

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Review: All Our Missing Pieces

All Our Missing Pieces by Sophie Ranald
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Orla inherits a dilapidated Georgian house in London from her late Grandmother. Orla has never set foot inside the house before, despite being raised by her grandmother, but she is determined to restore it to its former glory. Orla was estranged from her grandmother for two decades and it is bittersweet to inherit a house from her.

Beatrice is an American. She was adopted in Ireland at birth while her father was working in Dublin for two years. She has been privileged and indulged her entire life, but has managed to persuade her parents to let her nanny in London for a wealthy American family. The family offered to let her live in but Beatrice wants her own space. She hasn't let on that her reason for working in London is to try and track down her birth mother, her previous investigations having uncovered that the family had a big house in Spitalfields.

Livvie is in a flat share but for some reason one of the other girls has taken against her and is creating a toxic atmosphere, every time Livvie walks into a room they stop talking and/or laugh for no reason. After the girl's boyfriend tries to kiss her at a party in their flat it has got worse and she is desperate to move out.

Luke has recently split up with his girlfriend and was about to move back home, until Orla called him about doing some handywork in her house. They agree an arrangement where she pays him to help her restore the house and she lets him stay in the house at a reduced rate.

Over the course of a few months in 2005/6 these four people come together in the house. There's love, secrets, jealousy, it could bring them together or tear them apart.

I don't know what to say about this book. First, why set it in 2005 - was it just to explain a baby being taken away from its mother? Also, the book jumped between people's points of view but didn't give any clue as to who was 'speaking' at any one time. After a while I realised if the person was writing then it was Orla, but distinguishing between Livvie and Beatrice was more tricky.

More disturbingly, I just don't know what the point of the book was. I finished it and wondered if maybe it was part of a series, or a prequel (or whatever the opposite is of a prequel) but it doesn't appear to be. So we have Orla's story only half told. Luke's story only half told. Livvie's story half told. Beatrice's story sort of told. And a humungous sort of cliff-hanger at the end? Will there be a sequel?

Overall, it was both too predictable and lacked something

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Review: The Arts Trail Killer

The Arts Trail Killer by Emylia Hall
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Its time for the Porthpella annual arts festival and this year the organisers have managed to get a famous artist to return to his Cornish roots for the exhibition.

Harrison Loveday was born in Cornwall, but left when he was just a child. He feels no particular draw to the place, much preferring his life in Italy, but this year the invitation fits with his personal agenda so he decides to accept and dashes off a few lacklustre pictures for an exhibition.

As a local artist of some renown, Ally is one of the artists on the Arts Trail - a guided walk between local artists' studios - and has been invited to the opening drinks reception, taking along Gus as her plus one. But imagine her surprise when one of the other guests turns out to be none other than her first boyfriend Ray, they both knew Harrison when they were at art school.

Tragedy strikes when Harrison's agent drops dead in the middle of the party - the local police detective immediately suspects foul play, but who could it be? So few people knew her. Then graffiti appears daubed on some outdoor artwork and on a poster for the arts trail - is there a serial killer terrorising the town or is it just someone with a grudge against the arts trail?

There seem to be lots of suspects, especially when there is a second murder, and the Shell House detectives are called in by the arts trail's organisers to identify the vandal and restore faith in the exhibitions.

Another strong book in this cosy series, although I can't help but feel that having set up two potential budding/future romances the author is rowing back and introducing new elements *and I don't want it*. Also, I love, love, loved the covers for the previous books, they were striking and different and instantly recognisable - why suddenly change it?

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley.

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Review: The Rules of Time Travel: A cosy romcom about second chances and great coffee

The Rules of Time Travel: A cosy romcom about second chances and great coffee by L.A. Birchon
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Three and a half stars.

Rey goes back in time to prevent a disaster with the use of a brass device similar in size to a pocket watch. She doesn't really know much about time travel and has formulated a set of rules for herself, which are never shared with the reader.

Rey turns back time to a few weeks before a coffee shop called the Daily Grind will be destroyed in a fire which leaves one unidentified body in its wake. Rey applies for a job in the café, which is owned by Dom, a former alcoholic. Kate, a widow with one child, makes the cakes that Dom sells in the café, and Jack is the other barista. Rey knows Dom and Kate from her life in the future, but she worries that she has no recollection of Jack - could his be the body they find in the remains of the fire?

Kate's partner Stuart is wealthy and resents her 'little business', he is also jealous of the relationship she has with Dom, and he loathes her daughter Freya.

Rey has to be careful as 'The Fisherman' is on the look out for rogue time travellers, can anything she does in the past affect the future and avert the disaster?

This is hard to review. There is so much unexplained, maybe its the circularity of time travel? Jack has some great thoughts on what is a time travel book/film versus multiverse and the section titles reference some classics of the genres.

Also, if the author reads this there are some typos eg Marlboro cigarettes are not spelt Marlborough.

Overall though, I enjoyed this .

Read on my Kindle Unlimited subscription.

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Review: Murder at the Ponte Vecchio

Murder at the Ponte Vecchio by T.A. Williams
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I think this might be the best one yet.

Dan is riding high professionally, when he is called in to assist the Italian police talk to the family of an elderly jeweller found hanged from the Ponte Vecchio. His family are Dutch and speak fluent English but no Italian. Although initially thought to be suicide the post-mortem shows it was murder.

Meanwhile the Mayor, also a writer, has asked Dan to investigate his daughter's boyfriend. They've been dating for a while but, unlike her previous boyfriends, she hasn't introduced him to her parents or even divulged his name.

Finally, Dan old friend Virgilio is acting distracted, his wife Lina, Dan's assistant is concerned and asks Dan if he can winkle out what is troubling him.

I'd say there are lots of red herrings, but actually there is just speculation (as with any mystery) about various characters' possible motives which get discounted over time.

I loved it - my only gripe is that the food descriptions weren't quite as delectable as usual.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley.

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Review: Road-Tripped

Road-Tripped by Nicole Archer
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Two and a half stars.

This (for me) was just a bit of too many tropes. Callie Murphy has moved to New York with just the clothes on her back after she caught her manipulative and mentally abusive ex-fiancé, who was also her boss, in bed with what she 'thought' was her best friend. Callie now works for her trust-fund friend writing advertising copy. Part of reinventing herself has involved a fierce hair cut, dying her blonde hair black and radiating attitude at full blast.

Walker Rhodes is an aspiring photographer, growing up in the South he was the small, goofy-looking kid with glasses and so his personality still remains that sweet, kind aspect even though he now looks like a Greek god and his Southern manners mean that he responds kindly when women fawn all over him.

Based entirely on adding two plus two and coming up with twenty-two, Callie decides that Walker has slept with every single woman at the agency and she is determined not to fall for his charms.

Then Callie's friend tells her the agency is on a knife's edge and he had arranged a great sponsorship deal with a RV manufacturer, a couple touring the US blogging and shooting adverts as they go, unfortunately the couple have had to pull out as the woman has terrible morning sickness and so he has asked Callie and Walker to take their places - if they don't the agency will fold!

So, we have enemies to love and road-trip. But Callie has a twin sister who is a drug addict, their parents cared nothing for them and were borderline abusive.

Throw in a dog, and a doting grandmother with cancer, and Walker's parents were also absentee, and a birthday, and a miscarriage, and a suspected pregnancy, and a nudist camping site, and a famous photographer and it all gets a bit much.

I could have lived with that, but Callie is the sort of FMC who holds strong to her beliefs no matter what evidence she receives to show her it is wrong - wonder where we've seen that recently? She assumes because Walker winks at a few women and sees a woman follow him into the men's bathroom that he is a womaniser. She spends months on the road with him 24/7 and still believes it. He explains her misunderstanding with another co-worker (yes I get there are a lot of coincidences) to her satisfaction and she still believes it. His grandmother says they are on love with each other and she still believes it. I just wanted to pick her up and shake her.

Similarly, Walker is all sweetness and light, he knows Callie's first instinct is always flight, but yet on more than one occasion he just storms off hence aggravating the situation.

Finally, the smexy scenes and dirty talk were more cringeworthy than hot.




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