Review: Murder in a Mill Town

Murder in a Mill Town by Helen Cox
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Two and a half stars.

There is a bizarre murder at a museum in tourist village Andaby, near Hebden Bridge, Yorkshire. DS Charley Banks is officially on leave just prior to her forthcoming wedding, but the murder coincides rather uncomfortably with her older brother Ewan's release from prison for a murder he committed whilst in his early twenties. Obviously she can't be on the case but she can't stand not knowing so she turns to Kitt Hartley and Grace Edwards, of Hartley and Edwards Investigations for help. While the police investigate more recent reasons why the victim might have been murdered in such a violent way, Kitt, Charley, and Grace look further back in the past, spurred on by a fibre at the murder scene which looks suspiciously like the colour of the sash the victim' graduating class wore at school, over twenty years ago.

This is the seventh book in a series, as a mystery it can be read as a standalone very easily, however in terms of the characters and their relationships, this could leave you cold if (like me) this is your first encounter with the series. I didn't really connect with any of the characters, many of whom felt like they were stock characters included for their diversity or 'kooky' characteristics like the Scooby Doo gang or Buffy's team.

What rescued this was the crime and the criminal, but I had to wade through pages and pages of Charley's waffle about not trusting Ewan, and tedious navel gazing about relationships and marriage. I don't think I will be requesting any more books in this series.

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

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Review: A Conflict of Interests: An intriguing wartime mystery from the winner of the Richard and Judy Search for a Bestseller competition

A Conflict of Interests: An intriguing wartime mystery from the winner of the Richard and Judy Search for a Bestseller competition by Claire Gradidge
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The third book in the series about Josephine Lester, an illegitimate woman who returns to her birth town of Romsey and, despite the antipathy of many of the locals, gets a job assisting the local solicitor and coroner Bram Nash in investigating suspicious deaths. As children Bram was the leader of their little gang, even though his family were far more wealthy than Jo's and their other friends. Jo was kicked out when she was just fourteen years old, when her grandmother died, and forced to find work in London. Bram was hit in the face by shrapnel during WW1 and is forced to cover his scars with a metal mask which covers half his face.

It's two years since the shocking epilogue to the second book. Britain is on the brink of D-Day.

Bram and Jo are called out to a gruesome death scene, a body has been found in a burned out motor car in a deserted country lane, but before they can start their investigations proper, Bram is taken gravely ill, with blood pouring from the injury he sustained in WW1. While Bram lies in hospital Jo tries to solve the death with the reluctant help of Sergeant Tilling and the local police force, but Jo suspects the body may be that of her errant husband Richard. He might be abusive and a serial cheater, but she would never want him dead. But since she and Bram separately quarrelled with Richard shortly before he died the suspicion will lay squarely with them both unless she can uncover the truth.

I've got to say I thought the murderer's identity was fairly well signalled from the start, what I didn't know was the why - and that was a doozy. What I like about these books is that they are all very different and show character progression. I do hope this isn't the end for our crime-busting duo!

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

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Review: Ruby Fever

Ruby Fever by Ilona Andrews
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Four and a half stars.

When the Speaker of the Texas State Assembly is very publicly murdered in a restaurant owned by Linus Duncan, the Warden of Texas, and Linus himself is unconscious after having ingested a potentially fatal dose of a drug designed to protect him from attack by a Mental Mage, Catalina is catapulted into acting Warden.

Alessandro is having troubles with his Italian grandfather. There's an extremely rare and deadly spider loose somewhere in the compound. Cat and Alessandro are trying to track down and eliminate the Russian assassin Arkan. A member of the Russian Imperium is snooping around, and there's the usual big explosions, crazy magic, and Cat discovers a whole new facet of her magic.

What can I say? A triumphant end to Catalina's story. How can a 370 page novel feel like a short story? is it the writing? The story? The way you just plunge in and emerge hours later surprised to see you're no longer in Texas? Loved it and didn't want it to end.

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Review: The Second Time We Met

The Second Time We Met by Frances Mensah Williams
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

DNF at 58%.

Cara and Henry meet whilst volunteering, but she misses the coach home and their fledgling romance seems doomed before it even started. Then Cara is asked to organise an event for a swanky lawyers dinner, when her colleague is indisposed. Henry is one of the lawyers and the two pick up where they left off. But Cara and Henry couldn't be more different. He's from landed gentry with an estate in Gloucestershire while she comes from a Ghanaian/Caribbean background and an estate in KIlburn, at least until Cara's widowed mother remarried and the family moved to Cricklewood.

I wanted to read this opposites attract romance but it felt like the author wasn't really interested in the relationship between Cara and Henry, there was lots of distractions in the form of Cara's two friends (who were both dull as ditchwater as far as I'm concerned) and her brothers' shenanigans. There was also the obligatory spiteful snobby sister and her snooty posh friends who try to trip Cara up and Cara's Irish ex-boyfriend Ryan who returns after three years of radio-silence wanting her back. When Cara's friend Ashanti decides to sign a record contract with a dodgy label and hand over all of her original songs I could see that the book was going to be more about her than Cara and Henry - frankly I thought she was so stupid she deserved to be ripped off!

Anyway, the mystery behind Ryan leaving, Ashanti's drama, and Henry's irritating family all just bored me to tears, sorry, and I gave up at 58%.

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


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Review: By the Book

By the Book by Jasmine Guillory
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Three and a half stars.

Izzy is struggling to get noticed in her publishing job so when her boss bemoans a celebrity author who has missed every single deadline for his autobiography she foolishly offers to visit him personally to encourage him to submit something, or at least work with a ghostwriter. Of course it doesn't hurt that the writer, Beau Towers lives in sunny Santa Barbara rather than chilly New York.

At first Beau practically chases Izzy off, but after his housekeeper twists her ankle and Izzy gives him a piece of her mind Beau rather ungraciously allows her to stay the weekend, provided she gives him suitably inspiring pep talks.

Soon a weekend expands to a week, and then more. In encouraging Beau to write Izzy discovers he has some very powerful stories to tell (which he is finding hard to share), but she has also unlocked her own writing talents which have lain dormant since her first draft novel was dismissed as amateurish by a colleague.

The first couple of chapters did not grab me and I was about to throw in the towel, then bam! I was hooked. This is a modern retelling of Beauty and the Beast (although Beau seems to be both Beauty and the Beast), with a hint of 1001 Nights. But then towards the end it started to drag again, there were too many plots and some felt unnecessary to me.

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

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Review: Death in Dulwich

Death in Dulwich by Alice Castle
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Three and a half stars.

Beth Haldane, former journalist, single mother, gets a job as assistant archivist at swanky Dulwich village Wyatt's School. When she finds her skeevy new boss Alan Jenkins murdered behind the bins at lunchtime on her first day she is terrified that as the last person to see him alive, and the person who found his body, she will be the prime suspect and decides to do her own investigating.

Whatever Mr Jenkins was doing, it clearly wasn't archiving the school's records, which are in a disgraceful state. Amongst them Beth finds Mr Jenkins' personal bank statements which hint at a life of fancy clothes, fine wine and an addiction to p*rn. But who had a motive to kill Mr Jenkins, and what do they think is hidden in the archives?

This was a fun detective mystery, worthy of the cosy label. Although her family are Dulwich village born and bred Beth still finds time to wonder at the ambition of the Dulwich parents, their whole-hearted commitment to getting their children through the educational system ticking all the right boxes so that they can get jobs earning obscene amounts of money, all whilst driving 'Chelsea tractors' and wearing the ubiquitous white jeans.

Interested to see how the relationship with Detective Inspector York will turn out.

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

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Review: How Everything Turns Away

How Everything Turns Away by Steven J. Kolbe
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Ezra James is a former FBI agent, busted down to probation after a psychotic episode where he threatened his partner with his service weapon and vilified in the press for allegedly fabricating evidence to frame a man for a series of random murders.

His new job is head of security at the private school, St Joseph and Mary Catholic High School in Chicago. Then, the night of the school Christmas Pageant, the young and beautiful student art teacher is found almost dead in the snow below the school's bell tower. Was it attempted suicide? Or was it murder? At the fateful time all the electrics tripped and so no-one can tell if she jumped or she was pushed.

Lucia Vargas has just made police detective and this is her first case, her older partner Gorecki is a bit of a dinosaur so she is the one doing all the legwork on this case. When some of Ezra's throw-away comments about the student teacher Brooklyn Hannigan's body and the small blister on the back of her neck are repeated by the medical examiner she begins to take him seriously as a fellow professional. Then the school administrator informs her that the parents will not allow the police to question their children, the school would face multiple lawsuits, but the school byelaws do allow them to be questioned by the head of security - step up Ezra - and Lucia can 'observe'.

Soon there are multiple suspects. Who did Brooklyn have lunch with on the day she died? Who was her mysterious lover, was he married, or one of the students? Was he the father of her unborn baby? What caused the blister on her neck?

This was a fun read and it kept me guessing to the end. Ezra was a bit too superman for my liking, reminded me of the knight in one of the Monty Python sketches who has all his arms and legs cut off and still wants to fight people, and there was a lot of backstory which wasn't needed, although I assume it is the overarching thread of the series - who really was the Coast-to-Coast killer.

Anyway, I would definitely read the second book.

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

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Review: Under the Influence

Under the Influence by Karina May
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

DNF at 50%.

This felt like several different attempts at a book all thrown together and creating some kind of greige gloop.

First off there's the guy that broke Tinder trying to raise money for clean water in Peru, Blake, who gets dragged home to try to save his family's restaurant after the death of his philandering father. Then there's Louise, a hot-shot banker who refuses Blake's loan request when he approaches her bank.

Feathers (I think that's her name) is possibly Blake's half-sister, she's been singing in Blake's family restaurant (badly) but also set up her own new-age juice/smoothie bar aimed at the social media influencer demographic. Feathers might be flakier than a Cadbury's Flake but she knows her market and she is selling trips to Peru (I can't remember why) and asks Blake to assist for a share in the profits. Meanwhile, Louise is having a crisis of confidence and decides on a trip to Peru to 'find herself'.

Is this a small town Australia enemies to lovers/opposites attract? Who knows. At 50% the pair have only just reached Peru, they've barely interacted and from what I read the romance doesn't happen until the last 5% of the book. At the very least I think the cover is misleading because it suggests a contemporary romance which the book has failed to deliver.

I'm in a 'take no prisoners' kind of mood, DNF at 61%.

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

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Review: Good on Paper

Good on Paper by Valerie Tejeda
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

DNF at 61%.

Journalist Jazmine Prado faces redundancy when her print magazine pivots to digital media. So when her boss suggest she do a web series chronicling her wedding to internet media star Hudson Taylor she agrees, even if she isn't sure about marrying Hudson who she has spent barely any time with and she hates the idea of making her wedding a reality TV show.

They are whisked off to Cancun, because of course the wedding is planned to fit with the filming schedule and not what Jazmine and Hudson really want, and then Jazmine discovers that the videographer is none other than her first love, Leo Couture. I'm sorry, I hope I'm not being culturally insensitive but these names are dreadful. Now Jazmine is faced with her first love, all grown up and sexier than ever, competing against her new love, who she barely knows since he lives in Canada.

Yawn. I'm nearly two-thirds of the way through, nothing has happened other than highly improbable coincidences, and if the reader can't see that Jazmine and Hudson have nothing in common and probably don't even like each other very much then they have to be pretty dense.

Bored, bored, bored. I haven't read anything for over a month and I picked it up and within five minutes I put it down again. I gave up at 61%.

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

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Review: The Unbalanced Equation

The Unbalanced Equation by H.L. Macfarlane
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

DNF at 32%.

Four years ago Liz and Tom met at at a university cocktail evening at Glasgow University and just clicked, right up until Tom discovered that he had been assigned Liz as one of his Phd mentees. Tom has to switch very quickly from lust to absolute impartiality, which he takes waaaay too far and subjects her to microscopic scrutiny and criticising her for the most miniscule errors. No surprise that Liz is thrilled to get her Phd and leave Tom's lab to work in another, more congenial atmosphere.

Coincidence 1. One of Tom's students is left alone in the lab late one night (no, it's not that song) and manages to burn it down, in order to finish his current thesis Tom needs access to a lab and his BFF offers to let him share a desk with his newest scientist ... Liz.

Then Liz and Tom find they are both heading to the same restaurant for dinner because ... coincidence 2, their parents have been secretly dating for months but haven't told them because they know that Liz hates her Phd assessor. So they choose now to announce they are getting married. I mean seriously, does anyone know anyone (other than psychopaths) who glibly announces that they are getting married to someone they have been dating for quite some time, without having introduced them to their offspring? I get the 'we met a week ago and now we're getting married because life's too short' scenario but to be dating seriously and not even mention it to your child, when you are close? Ridiculous.

Then coincidence 3, Liz loses her apartment (I forget why) and has to vacate within a week, her father has already given up his home to move in with Tom's mother (who lives with Tom), so the only option is for Liz to move into Tom's palatial Glasgow mansion/townhouse (because he inherited a lot of money from something).

Nothing about this feels authentic, I can't put my finger on it but this doesn't 'feel' like it is set in Glasgow it feels more like it should be set in Seattle or San Francisco, it just doesn't have any Scottish vibe (sorry I can't explain it better). Then the sheer number of coincidences, I read that the two of them will be 'forced' to plan their parents' wedding (I mean seriously just tell them to eff off - if you don't have the time to organise your own wedding either pay a professional or don't bother, don't go imposing on people who already have full-time jobs to organise it for you) - it was just too much and felt fake. Finally, these are two educated scientists why do they talk and act like my eleven year old niece?

There could have been a good romance here but I'm grumpy and I've had enough, I gave up at 32%.

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

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Review: The Heretic Royal

The Heretic Royal by G.A. Aiken
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Where even to start with this?

I love G.A. Aiken and her alter-ego Shelly Laurenston and I think I've read pretty much everything published under both names. I was really enjoying this new series, I gave four stars to the first book and four and a half stars to the second (which is HIGH in my world) but this book, I don't even know what the point was or frankly whether anything happened, the romance was so muted it was non-existent, and the focus of the story seemed to be either on Annwyl the Bloody (hurrah, love the Mad Queen) or the princess that I assume will be the focus of the next book.

In fact, I keep having to re-read the synopsis of the book to remember who are supposed to be the romantic couple, nope its gone again!

I would classify this as the middle book of the series. Our new family meet Annwyl and her dragons (which sadly goes to show how much more depth of character they have compared to the new characters), the evil sister is even more evil than before, dragons are being dragons, most heinous, I don't recall any super smexy love scenes when the Dragon Kin series was wall-to-wall hawt dragon shenanigans between the sheets.

Overall, without Annwyl and her bickering children this would have been a two star at best.

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

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