Review: Deadly Wishes

Deadly Wishes by Rachel McLean
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Three and a half stars.

I have read Rachel MacLean's other police series set in Dorset so when I saw this book on Prime, I decided to give this series a go.

Zoe Finch has just been made up to acting Detective Inspector after some good work on the Canary investigation (which I assume is the subject of the prequel novella which I also have but haven't read). A single mother of a gay teenage son from a relationship with another (married) police officer, she lives in a student area of Birmingham, England.

The night of Assistant Chief Constable Bryn Jackson's surprise retirement party, he returns home with his wife only to be stabbed in the neck in his study with a ceremonial dagger (sounds like Cluedo). Whilst most of the more senior DIs are drunk or sleeping off the night's drinks, Zoe is sober and first on the scene after Mrs Jackson calls 999. Initially it looks like a robbery gone wrong, but soon the evidence points closer to home ... could Mrs Jackson have killed her abusive husband?

Zoe is soon replaced by DCI David Randle, a friend of ACC Jackson and Zoe's boss. But as the investigation progresses Zoe is puzzled by DCI Randle's orders which seem contradictory and ignore key clues. Is there more to ACC Jackson's death than meets the eye, and could he be involved in Canary?

Also, I don't know if it is just my Kindle version, but Chapter One ends with ACC Jackson's murder but Chapter Two jumps back in time to his retirement party, with no indication that this is earlier in the evening. At first, I thought that ACC Jackson had been stabbed in the side with one of those slow death wounds and gone on to the party, not knowing he was fatally injured which really confused me. I've checked and both the Kindle and paperback samples on Amazon have the same issue.

Anyway, there is clearly a series arc relating to police corruption starting out, although annoyingly the arc cliff-hanger (for want of a better description) is very similar to that of another book I read recently, Holy Island.

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Review: Holy Island

Holy Island by L.J. Ross
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

DCI Ryan has been on enforced sabbatical following a case in which his own sister was murdered. He has been spending his time on Lindisfarne, an island off the coast of Northumbria with a population of 200, drinking and feeling sorry for himself.

Shortly before Christmas, his pity-party for one is rudely terminated when a dog-walker finds the body of a young woman murdered, her body left in a way which suggests pagan rituals. Given that the island is cut off from the mainland for several hours every day, Ryan suggests to his Superintendent that he resumes active duties and leads the investigation. His superior officer concurs but sends a professor from the University who specialises in pagan rituals to the island to assist the investigation.

Doctor Anna Taylor was brought up on Lindisfarne, but after a family tragedy and her sister's betrayal she left and moved to the mainland. Now she's back as a police consultant but her return is not welcomed by everyone.

Initially I found some of the writing to be a bit confusing, there was talk of nights being pitch black so you can't see and then immediately references to the sky being full of stars, and other such anomalies. Then the plot started to unfold and I was intrigued. Unfortunately, I found it hard to believe in a plot in which a young woman had slept with nearly every man on the island and in which at least 5% of the population are members of a satanic cult. I know in detective stories the writer will give the reader several suspects to choose from, in this case all the suspects were guilty!

In all honesty, it reminded me of a creepy children's TV series back in the 1970s, called The Children of The Stones, maybe its just the epilogue.

Anyway, happy to continue reading on Kindle Unlimited as the series finds its feet. I see there are 20 books in the series so I assume it does.

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Review: ‎ Because You Loved Me

‎ Because You Loved Me by Beth Moran
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Three and a half stars.

Marion flees her home in Northern Ireland, her neglectful mother, and her fiancé, to travel to Sherwood Forest seeking answers about her father, who died when Marion was a small child. Looking for directions to the visitor centre, Marion is mistaken for someone else and gets a temporary job taking bookings at a holiday park. The manager of the holiday park, Scarlett takes Marion under her wing and gives her a caravan to live in and a job at the park.

There are two men who seem to be interested in Marion, her co-worker Jake, who has his own tragic family life, and Reuben, the son of the local lord of the manor. But someone else seems to have their eye on Jake, and Reuben already has a very glamorous girlfriend.

As Marion investigates her father's secret past, she clearly upsets someone judging by the threatening note that is thrown through her window, but then the future of the holiday park is put in jeopardy and Marion must do everything in her power to keep it going.

There is so much I have missed out, absentee fathers, Robin Hood re-enactments, assault, murder, illness, abuse, cooking lessons, BBQs, pigs and chickens, a fancy ball, al fresco romps, and more. And, unfortunately for me, that was part of the problem, this felt like Beth Moran threw everything but the kitchen sink at this one. Marion's childhood was tragic, and depressing. There are numerous 'baddies', most of whom are caricatures (and also women - why is that?) when just one would have sufficed. There are multiple issues affecting the caravan park and its inhabitants. I think this would have been better if the stories had been spread across several novels so that each person got their own book.

Overall, a charming romance, despite the numerous sad events depicted.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

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Review: Happy Place

Happy Place by Emily Henry
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Sabrina, Cleo and Harriet met at college and have been each other's 'ride-or-die' friends ever since. Every summer they and their significant others have met up for a week of drinking and eating lobster at Sabrina's family's multi-million-dollar holiday home. But this year things are different; Sabrina's father is selling the villa.

Harriet and Wyn, Cleo and Kimmy, Sabrina and Parth, each couple has their secrets which will be unveiled over a tumultuous week. Does this signal the end of their friendship? Harriet is the main character, she gets to the villa prepared to tell everyone that she and Wyn split up six months ago, but when she arrives Wyn is very much in situ and Sabrina's news makes them decide to keep their break-up to themselves for the time being.

Told in vague flashbacks interspersed with real-time from their annual vacation I'm afraid I lost patience with this story long before the end. Ordinarily I love Emily Henry's novels and I was really excited to be offered an advanced copy to review but I found this all a bit juvenile, everything could have been resolved in about 30 minutes if any of the characters had actually told the others the truth at any point, instead they all run around making assumptions and indulge in a lot of navel-gazing. Truthfully, I didn't warm to either Wyn or Harriet. Sorry, just not for me this one.

I was offered an ARC of this novel by the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

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Review: The Murder Garden

The Murder Garden by Alice Castle
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Eighth in a cosy detective series set in the chichi London suburb of Dulwich Village. Our heroine Beth Haldane is a single mother, widowed very young, with a propensity for stumbling over murders in what had until recently been a very safe area of London. She and her 'boyfriend' DCI Harry York seem to have given up on the idea of buying a house together in a cheaper area and have instead decided to build a Shoffice (part shed and part office) at the end of the garden. Unfortunately, Beth's dreams of getting rid of Harry's Golden Age novels and her son's gaming equipment into the Shoffice is thwarted when the builders find what is unmistakably a human bone. With Harry working late on another case, a group of dedicated CSI detectives traipsing in and out of her cottage, and a dog desperate to eat said bones, Beth is forced to investigate the murder in order to have any chance of getting her Shoffice built.

Finally, a book in this series in which the reader has a chance to guess the murderer's identity because there are actual clues! It's only taken eight books to get to this point. Also, I think Alice Castle has realised that there seems to be little chemistry between Harry and Beth and has introduced a potential new love interest in the form of the dour chief CSI officer - already he gets my vote over the bossy and fairly useless Harry. As I have noted previously, this series takes cosy mysteries to a new level where there is more detail about who Beth has coffee with and what homework her son has been set than there is actual detecting.

I received an ARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley and on my Kindle Unlimited subscription in return for an honest review.

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Review: The Murder Hour

The Murder Hour by Alice Castle
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Seventh book in the series set in wealthy, privileged, Dulwich Village where yummy mummies prowl the crowded streets in their Chelsea tractors (aka Range Rovers), dressed in Lulu Melon yogawear and competing viciously to get their precious male children into the prestigious Wyatt's School.

Beth Haldane, unlike many other mothers, was born in Dulwich Village and as a young widow she doesn't really fit into the dynamic. She (barely) works as an archivist for Wyatt's school three mornings a week and does some freelance writing to make ends meet. Oh, and she also has the unfortunate habit of finding dead bodies.

In this latest, and even more ludicrous than the last, book Beth has been persuaded by her 'boyfriend' DCI Harry York that she needs to move out of her charming but poky cottage in Dulwich Village and that they should buy a place together in a slightly more affordable area like Sydenham. Whilst logically understanding that they need more space and can't afford to buy in Dulwich Village, Beth can't bring herself to take things seriously and has found reasons to reject all the houses they have seen so far. Then, on her latest visit the Estate Agent who was supposed to show her the house turns out to have been murdered and stuffed into a kitchen larder!

As noted in my previous reviews of this series, my feeling is that these books are so 'cosy/cozy' that there is very little detecting involved, we read a lot about coffee in chi-chi shops and expensive handbags, and cat hairs then out of thin air Beth solves the crime without (as my maths teacher used to say) showing the workings. It is always as an afterthought that someone asks 'how did you know that X was the murderer' just so we the readers can find out what happened. These are okay but TBH if I didn't have the eighth book sitting on my TBR pile as an ARC and the books are all on Kindle Unlimited, I probably wouldn't bother reading any more.

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Review: The Murder Mystery

The Murder Mystery by Alice Castle
My rating: 4 of 5 stars



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Review: The Murder Club: An absolutely addictive cozy mystery

The Murder Club: An absolutely addictive cozy mystery by Alice Castle
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Beth's self-absorbed mother Wendy needs Beth's help when her Bridge partner Alf dies suddenly during the tea break. He was an elderly man so his death is being seen as inevitable, but Wendy is convinced he has been poisoned.

In other news, Jake has got into Wyatt's, Beth is still doing absolutely no work (for which she is being paid by Wyatt's), Katie's dog Teddy has served its purpose and has now been consigned to a dog-walker and I don't expect we'll hear from him again. Oh, and Belinda the middle school bully mother is having a hard time exerting her power now the boys have gone to Big School and most of the other children didn't get into Wyatt's.

As always, Beth's social life, family life, and general faffing take precedence over any actual plot and in this case the identity of the murderer and the reasons are utterly ridiculous.

As noted in my previous reviews, my feeling is that these books are so 'cosy/cozy' that there is very little detecting involved, we read a lot about coffee in chi-chi shops and expensive handbags, and cat hairs then out of thin air Beth solves the crime without (as my maths teacher used to say) showing the workings. It is always as an afterthought that someone asks 'how did you know that X was the murderer' just so we the readers can find out what happened. These are okay but TBH if I didn't have the eighth book sitting on my TBR pile as an ARC and the books are all on Kindle Unlimited I probably wouldn't bother reading any more.

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Review: There's No Place Like Home

There's No Place Like Home by Jane Lovering
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Join Izzy and five random strangers camping on the Yorkshire Moors for a new reality TV show where groups attempt to find proof of mythical creatures which roam outdoor spaces like the Beast of Bodmin Moor, or in Izzy's group's case, an alleged puma.

Izzy is more motivated by the £100 a day salary which, if she lasts the full 30 days, will give her enough money to put down a deposit on a flatshare than the share of £250,000 for incontrovertible proof that the animal exists, although it would mean an end to sofa-surfing in friend's flats.

Joining Izzy is misery-guts Mac from Glasgow, a Notting Hill socialite called Kanga who thought it would be more like Love Island, a married farmer called Seb, a young very religious girl called Ruth, and an American Big-Foot hunter called Junior.

Everyone has their own reasons for agreeing to be on the show, and everyone has their secrets, is anyone who they seem? But as they fight the elements and track the mysterious puma, is someone laying false trails or is there really something out there?

This was pleasant enough, but I didn't really get engaged. Maybe I needed the book to either start earlier in the story or continue after the reality TV show ended. Either way, I just felt like the problems each of the characters faced were told to the reader rather than being shown and, as a consequence, were less vivid. Not, in my opinion, one of Jane Lovering's better works.

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

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Review: Save the Best for Last

Save the Best for Last by Jennifer Probst
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Tessa Harper and her two friends own Quench, a highly successful women's magazine. Tessa specialises in makeovers where she helps women build their self esteem and go after what they really want in life. However, just recently Tessa has started to feel somewhat unfulfilled, all these women seem to want to do is get some guy's attention - this shouldn't about getting a guy but about being your best self.

Then when some research indicates that the magazine is losing out by not having any kind of sports articles, one of her friends suggests that Tessa gets some advice from a mutual friend, Ford Maddox, who hosts a very successful sports radio chat show. Ford and Tessa don't really get on, they each think the other's job is silly, she thinks he's a man child and he thinks she's an uptight, snobby princess. Ford has been in love with his co-worker Patricia for two years but she has strictly friend-zoned him while dating guys who cheat on her and treat her badly.

In return for teaching Tessa about sports, giving her some advice about sports stars to interview, and co-hosting a podcast with her, Ford asks for a makeover to help him win the fair Patricia. Will these two opposites realise that they are meant for each other?

This was okay, but I can't help but feel that Ford's makeover was just wear better shoes and white t-shirts and have a few scatter cushions whilst Tessa had to become less high maintenance and learn to love sport. I would have loved Ford to have had to do more because he didn't seem to grow as a person.

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

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Review: The Murder Walk: A totally unputdownable cozy murder mystery

The Murder Walk: A totally unputdownable cozy murder mystery by Alice Castle
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Beth's BFF Katie has bought a puppy which has turned out to be a bit of a liability seeing as how it tries to mount any dogs smaller than itself (FYI, my seven month old puppies are barely at that stage so how Katie's new puppy is doing that I don't know). Anyway, Teddy, the puppy, has become persona non grata at Dulwich Park necessitating Katie and Beth to take him to Peckham Rye. Katie lets him off the lead (again, why would you do that with a dog you can't control) and chasing after him Beth comes across a Labrador in a thicket standing guard over a dead body.

The dead body is that of a local renowned artist, while the police investigate his murder Beth agrees to look after his dog Colin. Apparently Colin and his owner were well-known for walking in the Rye of a morning and then in Dulwich Park in the afternoon. Then Beth and Katie find £30,000 in cash stuck in a tree close to where they found the body, are the two things connected?

As noted in my last review, my feeling is that these books are so 'cosy/cozy' that there is very little detecting involved, we read a lot about coffee in chi-chi shops and expensive handbags, and cat hairs then out of thin air Beth solves the crime without (as my maths teacher used to say) showing the workings. It is always as an afterthought that someone asks 'how did you know that X was the murderer' just so we the readers can find out what happened. These are okay but TBH if I didn't have the eighth book sitting on my TBR pile as an ARC and the books are all on Kindle Unlimited I probably wouldn't bother reading any more.

Read on my Kindle Unlimited subscription.

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