Decades: Compiling the Ulitmate Library with A.J. West

Decades – what is it OR where the hell has it been? Returning visitors will hopefully recognise and remember my Decades Library. You may well have wondered why it disappeared and why there has been two months since I last posted a single book review. So I’ve got a Decades recap incoming and a bit of an explanation as to why Grab This Book has been a quiet wee place for a while. Thanks for indulging a bit of personal introspection and my apology…

First up why has this blog gone quiet for the last 12 months? Well Grab This Book had nine years of championing brilliant reads – you can go back to March 2014 and find a wealth of fabulous books, author interviews, guest posts and Decades recommendations. Last year I hit a wall – mentally – I retreated back into myself and basically I found reading and blogging to be overwhelming. I no longer enjoyed the “escape” reading gave me and I actively avoided opening my blog to update it. I’ve missed lots of emails, invitations and the opportunity to celebrate great stories by authors I love. I can only apologise. But I want to keep my blog going as there is no better feeling than having someone tell me they loved a book I once recommended.

The best way I can kick off my demons is to return to Decades. I’ve some guest posts to share and I extend my profound thanks to those who have patiently waited for me to get my shizzle together.

To get back into the Decades groove I’ve a guest post from the fabulous A.J. West – his new novel The Betrayal of Thomas True is published by Orenda Books on 4 July 2024 and a blog tour kicks off on July 1st (tour details below – do check it out).

So for new readers what is Decades? Back in January 2021 I pondered the question: If you had a brand new library (with no books) which books should you add to the shelves to give your library visitors the very best reads to choose from?

I had no idea where to start so I invited guests to join me and tell me which books they thought should be added to my Ultimate Library. But I set a couple of rules in place to govern their choices.

1 – You can pick ANY five books

2 – You can only choose one book per decade from five consecutive decades. Which is why it is a Decades Library.

Now the eagle-eyed amongst you will perhaps spot this Decades post is slightly different from the previous but Mr West was killing time on a train journey and kindly set about my challenge to pass the time 🙂 I was battling my inner demons so didn’t get too picky over the rules (with apologies to my previous guests)

So without further ado I am utterly delighted to bring you the first Decades selections for many, many months.

A.J. West’s bestselling debut novel The Spirit Engineer won the HWA Debut Crown Award. His second novel, The Betrayal of Thomas True will be published in July 2024. West grew up in Buckinghamshire, before studying English Literature in Preston. He previously worked as an award-winning network television and radio news presenter and reporter. To find out more, please visit: www.ajwestauthor.com

You can also access all things A.J. West through one very simple click: linktr.ee/ajwest

DECADES

Ned Ward, The London Spy (1698)

An extraordinary real life guide to London at the turn of the 17th century, written by an enigmatic tavern-keeper who assumes the fictional role of an uninitiated visitor to the city. He takes the reader to the drinking houses, coffee houses, brothels and tourist attractions of the time. It’s just the most extraordinary window into the past, complete with old London Bridge, the Tower of London menagerie, Bedlam and various prisons and places of questionable repute. In addition to the various destinations, the reader also gets a fully immersive introduction to the people, mores and dialects of the time. A lesser-known essential read for anyone who enjoys a bit of time travel.

Thomas Hardy, Jude the Obscure (1895)

A true classic and deservedly so, this novel changed my view on fiction and was the first book to have a deep emotional impact on me as a reader at university. With lyrical prose and such vivid descriptions of pastoral England, its greatest power to my mind is as an achingly real a study of relationships, the hope, the lust, the joy, the cruelty and the tragedy. Speaking of tragedy, I will never recover from the shock when poor Jude discovers… well, you must read it to understand.

Iris Murdoch, The Sea The Sea (1999)

I fully concede I don’t appreciate this book, and that’s perhaps partly why I loved reading it so much. The writing is sublime and, though its a literary novel, less interested in plot than philosophy and human behaviour, it manages to be completely enthralling. It taught me that gripping fiction requires expert characterisation first, narrative second. Readers with a grounding in philosophy will be able to appreciate the genius of Murdoch’s writing in a way I’ll never fully achieve, and I’m happy to be humbled.

Isabel Allende, Daughter of Fortune (2000)

How to describe this novel? It feels impossible. Spanning generations, sweeping from Chile to China and the United States, dealing with gender, sexuality, dynastic legacies, colonialism, politics and the adventures of multiple unforgettable characters, this novel is an unmatched masterpiece where the reader is whipped along at an incredible pace without ever feeling adrift.

William Golding, The Inheritors (1955)

I’m reading this as I write. The perfect cleanse as I recover from a bit of historical fiction fatigue. There is nothing like this book, and no surprise it won the Nobel Prize for Literature. It is a fever dream, an enigmatic journey into a magical world long before civilisation when a small tribe of doomed neanderthals make sense of homosapien humans while the reader tries to make sense of them. Elusive and written with a level of intelligence well beyond my reckoning, this book inspires me, as an author, to be brave and to carry on challenging myself as a writer.

My thanks to A.J. for five amazing and diverse recommendations and for getting this blogger back into the right headspace. More apprecaited than you can know.

Do not miss The Betrayal of Thomas True:

THE BETRAYAL OF THOMAS TRUE

It is the year 1715, and Thomas True has arrived on old London Bridge with a dangerous secret. One night, lost in the squalor of London’s hidden back streets, he finds himself drawn into the outrageous underworld of the molly houses.

Meanwhile, carpenter Gabriel Griffin struggles to hide his double life as Lotty, the molly’s stoic guard. When a young man is found murdered, he realises there is a rat amongst them, betraying their secrets to a pair of murderous Justices.

Can Gabriel unmask the traitor before they hang? Can he save hapless Thomas from peril, and their own forbidden love?

Set amidst the buried streets of Georgian London, The Betrayal of Thomas True is a brutal and devastating thriller, where love must overcome evil, and the only true sin is betrayal…

PRE-ORDER YOUR COPY HERE: https://www.waterstones.com/book/the-betrayal-of-thomas-true/9781916788152

DECADES WILL RETURN

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December 12

A Deadly Covenant – Michael Stanley

When a human skeleton is discovered at the site of a controversial new dam in remote northern Botswana, rookie Detective Kubu is drawn into a terrifying local feud, and discovers a deadly covenant that could change everything…

While building a pipeline near the Okavango Delta, a contractor unearths the remains of a long-dead Bushman. Rookie Detective David ‘Kubu’ Bengu of Botswana CID and Scottish pathologist, Ian MacGregor, are sent to investigate, and MacGregor discovers eight more skeletons.

Shortly after the gruesome discoveries, the elder of a nearby village is murdered in his home. The local police are convinced it was a robbery, but Kubu isn’t so sure … and neither is the strange woman who claims that an angry river spirit caused the elder’s death.

As accusations of corruption are levelled and international outrage builds over the massacre of the Bushman families, Kubu and his colleagues uncover a deadly covenant, and begin to fear that their own lives may be in mortal danger…

My thanks to Orenda Books for the digital review copy I received of A Deadly Covenant. Thanks also to Anne Cater of Random Things Blog Tours for the opportunity to host this leg of the blog tour.

As I write my review of A Deadly Covenant there is snow on the ground outside my window, this book transported me to the heat of Botswana and let me forget the creeping which was descending over Scotland. Though I was startled by a brief mention of a small Scottish village just fifteen minutes from my house – a good story really can take you around the world!

I say the story transported me because the scene setting and locations play such an important role in the Detective Kubu books. I am constantly amazed I can have a clear image in my mind of what Kubu is seeing and the places he visits, despite the fact I have never been anywhere near Botswana. The authors seem to always excel at weaving Kubu’s world around me and I never fail to become caught up in the story.

A Deadly Covenant takes the readers back to the days of “young Kubu”. It is a few months since the success of his first case and Kubu is very much still finding his feet and learning the ropes. Having first encountered an older and wiser Kubu I am very much enjoying this more cautious and vulnerable period in his life and it gives the books a very different feel too.

In the story Kubu is travelling far from home to a remote corner of the country where a controversial water pipeline is being laid. The construction has temporarily paused due to the discovery of a human skull as the ground was dug away to lay pipes. Kubu and a well-travelled Scottish pathologist (Dr Macgregor) are sent to investigate. Under the instruction of the doctor; the skull and other human remains are excavated with care so he can begin his examination of the remains. However, it soon becomes apparent there are bones of more than one person buried in the sands – multiple deaths will bring multiple headaches.

The bodies appear to have been buried for at least a decade, perhaps longer, and Kubu and Mcgregor will be challenged to investigate events which none of the locals claim to have any knowledge of and are happy to assume was a sad accident or happened many years before they were born. No facts support these claims but disassociation and denial is rife.

The pipeline promises opportunity for the towns residents who will benefit from more water reaching their land. It’s a large project and has European funding money behind it too. As is the same the world over – money and local politics will make for dangerous bedfellows and tensions are rising between old friends and neighbours. Not long after Kubu arrives the problems start to come to a head and an influential member of the community is killed in his bed as he rested.

A Deadly Covenant brings us another methodical investigation by Detective Kubu and it’s always a real treat to follow his progress (or lack of it) as he doggedly chases down clues. In these earlier years much of his legwork is done under the instruction of his boss who guides Kubu and helps highlight the skills he needs to develop to become better at his job. It is very much a refreshing angle as so many of the police stories I read focus on the experienced investigators; seeing our lead character make mistakes and have those mistakes pointed out to him makes for good reading.

I never fail to enjoy a Detective Kubu book and A Deadly Covenant is another cracker. Loved it.

A Deadly Covenant is published by Orenda Books and is available in paperback, digital and audiobook format. You can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0B4Z2GC4Z/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0

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December 1

Dashboard Elvis is Dead – David F Ross

A failed writer connects the murder of an American journalist, a drowned 80s musician and a Scottish politician’s resignation, in a heart-wrenching novel about ordinary people living in extraordinary times.

Renowned photo-journalist Jude Montgomery arrives in Glasgow in 2014, in the wake of the failed Scottish independence referendum, and it’s clear that she’s searching for someone.

Is it Anna Mason, who will go on to lead the country as First Minister? Jamie Hewitt, guitarist from eighties one-hit wonders The Hyptones? Or is it Rabbit – Jude’s estranged foster sister, now a world-famous artist?

Three apparently unconnected people, who share a devastating secret, whose lives were forever changed by one traumatic night in Phoenix, forty years earlier…

Taking us back to a school shooting in her Texas hometown, and a 1980s road trip across the American West – to San Francisco and on to New York – Jude’s search ends in Glasgow, and a final, shocking event that only one person can fully explain…

I received a review copy from the publisher, Orenda Books, ahead of this blog tour post. My thanks to Orenda Books and to Anne Cater of Random Things Blog Tours for the opportunity to help open the tour for Dashboard Elvis is Dead.

When David F Ross writes a new novel I never know what to expect. But with Dashboard Elvis is Dead I don’t think I could ever anticipated the journey he takes his readers on. The story begins in Glasgow (a location I’ll admit I was expecting to feature) but not the Glasgow cafe and not with an American character taking the lead. Jude is looking for a quiet place so it’s not surprising that one of Glasgow’s own decides to sit with her and begin a (very one sided) conversation. David F Ross is very good at nailing the Glasgowisms of his characters and from these opening scenes his pinpoint observational humour comes to the fore.

We don’t linger long in Glasgow as events soon take us back in time and across the Atlantic Ocean to an 80s America where Jude is still a schoolgirl and finding life with her mother rather challenging. Jude’s life is about to take her places she never could have envisaged but before the rollercoaster of shock and upset is an unexpected and very welcome friendship with the school football star. He is the epitomy of the all American high school quarterback and Jude is a mixed race quiet girl – they keep their friendship a secret so when it is suddenly and tragically ended nobody can know the extent of Jude’s upset. It’s a harrowing and beautifully written delve back in time and sets the tone of the novel. Expect drama, emotional turmoil and don’t expect fairy tale endings.

As Jude leaves home and starts a journey to the bright city lights we meet The Hypetones. A Scottish breakthrough band who are embarking on a massive journey to the US to make their fortune and become the next big thing. Except they probably wont and their journey is being paid for on a shoestring budget which will test the patience of the musicians and their travelling companions. Wickedly funny, you cannot help but feel sorry for these young men as nothing seems to be going their way. But how I loved reading about their introduction to America and its cheap hotels and glitzy clubs.

Dashboard Elvis is Dead is a story which will unfold over a number of decades. An emotional journey which also spans different continents and will show how the lives of the central characters change as they grow and adapt to the world around them. David F Ross is one of the best at capturing characters and breathing life, humour and humanity into them so his readers cannot help but become engaged in their stories. It’s a wonderful read.

I wasn’t able to predict where the story was heading and I wasn’t prepared for how much I would become invested in the book either. I generally skim read stories and fly through them when I get started. I didn’t do that in this case. My reading slowed, I was taking in much more detail and I got much, much more back from the book as a result. Time with this book was time very well spent. It’s a reading treat – treat yourself when it releases next week.

Dashboard Elvis is Dead is published by Orenda Books and releases in paperback, digital and audiobook format on 8 December 2022. You can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0B4Z6PBX3/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0

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November 23

The Pain Tourist – Paul Cleave

A young man wakes from a coma to find himself targeted by the men who killed his parents, while someone is impersonating a notorious New Zealand serial killer … the latest chilling, nerve-shredding, twisty thriller from the author of The Quiet People

How do you catch a killer…When the only evidence is a dream?

James Garrett was critically injured when he was shot following his parents’ execution, and no one expected him to waken from a deep, traumatic coma. When he does, nine years later, Detective Inspector Rebecca Kent is tasked with closing the case that her now retired colleague, Theodore Tate, failed to solve all those years ago.

But between that, and hunting for Copy Joe – a murderer on a spree, who’s imitating Christchurch’s most notorious serial killer – she’s going to need Tate’s help. Especially when they learn that James has lived out another life in his nine-year coma, and there are things he couldn’t possibly know, including the fact that Copy Joe isn’t the only serial killer in town…

My thanks to Anne Cater of Random Things Blog Tours for the opportunity to host this leg of the blog tour for The Pain Tourist. I was provided with a review copy by the publishers, Orenda Books, but I am reviewing a copy I purchased through Kobo.

I picked up The Pain Tourist and read the blurb. A coma patient who has a dream-world from the time he was seemingly oblivious to events which were unfolding around him. Pain, Coma, Medical Bracelet on the cover and I am strapping myself in for a medical thriller. Reader I was totally wrong with my first assumption (which became a theme when I started trying to second=guess where Paul Cleave was taking the story) this is a dark crime story with killers, liars, cheats and ne’er-do-wells. Everything you want from a good crime thriller really – oh and there is actually a doctor too so a little bit of the medical thriller I had expected.

Central to all the events is James Garrett. He wakes one night as masked men have entered his family home and are holding his parents at gunpoint. James scrambles to alert his older sister and she manages to get out a window to try and summon help. Sadly for the other family members the gunmen aren’t happy at the prospect of leaving the Garrett home with nothing to show for their energies. James and his parents are all shot before the men leave the house – only James will survive but it takes extensive medical intervention to keep him alive and his small body goes into a coma for nine years.

Paul Cleave opens The Pain Tourist with the gripping account of the Garrett family plight. We then spin forward nine years to the point James starts coming out the coma. Many things have changed, the police officer investigating the original attach on the Garrett home has retired from active service. Younger colleagues need to pick up the threads of the investigation but the killers are still out there and it doesn’t take long for them to learn James is awake and he could be considered a threat if he can help police to identify his attackers.

Another seemingly dormant investigation is about to cause police a headache though. Initallly it looks like a notorious serial killer who escaped the police may have started killing again. However, a copycat murderer seems more likely and this creates a whole new problem. If someone wants to imitate a killer how far will they go to get the thrill or satisfaction they seek? Detective Inspector Rebecca Kent is caught up in both cases and her attention will be stretched as she is run ragged by both cases.

With two big cases to juggle Paul Cleave keeps the reader hooked with a canny use of short, punchy chapters. There’s always a new drama or trigger point arising in one of the cases and as we get deeper into the stories new layers of intrigue are unpeeled which draws the reader deeper into events. It is a difficult book to put down – each chapter seems to end with a need to keep you reading and with over one hundred and forty chapters there is a lot of story to be told.

As with all good stories it is the characters which will determine if you lose yourself to events. James Garrett is a fascinating one. He spent nine years in a coma and during this time he seems to have constructed a new world (coma world) where his family follow a very different path than the tragedy they faced in our world. But when James comes out of his coma his doctor realises the two worlds may overlap and where they do a murderer hides.

This may seem a fantastical construct but the author grounds the premise with some scientific explanation. Now these explanations may, or may not, be true science facts – but in a crime story I am more than happy to roll with what I am reading. It sounded legit! It also let me buy into the contribution that James makes to the investigations which are central to the story.

The Pain Tourist is a novel I will find easy to recommend, engaging multi-layered story and strong characters you want to read about. Plus finding out what The Pain Tourist from the title actually refers to was a real mind-blown moment. Dark.

The Pain Tourist is published by Orenda Books and is available in paperback and digital format. You can order a copy here: https://www.waterstones.com/book/the-pain-tourist/paul-cleave/9781914585487

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July 25

Decades: Compiling The Ultimate Library with Helen FitzGerald

My Decades Library grows. Each week I am joined by a booklover (authors, pubishers, bloggers or journalists) and I ask them to nominate five new books which they think should be included in my Ultimate Library. I started this challenge back in January 2021 and since then over 70 guest curators have joined me and selected some of their favourite reads which they feel the very best library should have available for readers to enjoy.

My guests don’t quite get to choose their five “favourite” books as I impose a couple of rules on their selections which means some books just don’t get to be included – I am told this can cause a bit of heartache and I do sometimes feel bad about this.

The reason I describe my Library as the Decades Library is beacuse of the rules governing selections:

1 – Choose Any Five Books
2 – You May Only Choose One Book Per Decade from Five Consecutive Decades.

So it’s selections from a fifty year publication span and means the fans of Tom Clancy can’t just pick all the Jack Ryan books – I initially hoped these rules would bring a broader range of reads to choose from and this seems to have been the case. Incidentally – in 18 months of Decades selections I haven’t had a single Tom Clancy book nominated.

Today I am delighted to be joined by Helen FitzGerald. Helen’s latest book, Keep Her Sweet, is published by Orenda Books (who also made five Decades selections). You can order a copy of Keep Her Sweet here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Keep-Her-Sweet-Helen-FitzGerald/dp/1914585100/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1650564375&sr=8-1

Helen FitzGerald is the bestselling author of ten adult and young adult thrillers, including The Donor (2011) and The Cry (2013), which was longlisted for the Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year, and adapted for a major BBC drama. Her 2019 dark-comedy thriller Worst Case Scenario was a Book of the Year in the Literary Review, Herald Scotland, Guardian and Daily Telegraph, shortlisted for the Theakston’s Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year, and won the CrimeFest Last Laugh Award. Helen worked as a criminal justice social worker for over fifteen years. She grew up in Victoria, Australia, and now lives in Glasgow with her husband. Follow Helen on Twitter @FitzHelen

DECADES

Published 1979 – Flowers in the Attic, V.C Andrews (smuggled this into the house!)

Up in the attic, four secrets are hidden. Four blonde, beautiful, innocent little secrets, struggling to stay alive…

Chris, Cathy, Cory and Carrie have perfect lives – until a tragic accident changes everything. Now they must wait, hidden from view in their grandparents’ attic, as their mother tries to figure out what to do next. But as days turn into weeks and weeks into months, the siblings endure unspeakable horrors and face the terrifying realisation that they might not be let out of the attic after all.

Helen shared with me that she read this when she was 13 (which may explain why she smuggled the book into the house). It’s definately a book which resonates with Decades Curators, Susi Holliday also made this choice when she picked her five and also suggested that she read it at an impressionable age.

Twice adapted for film, Flowers in the Attic was the first in a series which saw seven sequels follow over the years.

Published 1980 – The Name of the Rose, Umberto Eco

The year is 1327.

Franciscans in a wealthy Italian abbey are suspected of heresy, and Brother William of Baskerville arrives to investigate.

When his delicate mission is suddenly overshadowed by seven bizarre deaths, Brother William turns detective. He collects evidence, deciphers secret symbols and coded manuscripts, and digs into the eerie labyrinth of the abbey where extraordinary things are happening under the over of night.

A spectacular popular and critical success, The Name of the Rose is not only a narrative of a murder investigation but an astonishing chronicle of the Middle Ages.

Selling over 50 million copies worldwide, no doubt boosted by the film of the same name which starred Sean Connery and Christian Slater, this biblical crime thriller was ranked 14 in Le Monde’s top 100 books of the century.

Published 1997 – Oscar and Lucinda, Peter Carey

Peter Carey’s novel of the undeclared love between clergyman Oscar Hopkins and the heiress Lucinda Leplastrier is both a moving and beautiful love story and a historical tour de force set in Victorian times.

Made for each other, the two are gamblers – one obsessive, the other compulsive – incapable of winning at the game of love.

Winner of the 1998 Booker Prize the book was also adapted into a film which starred Ralph Fiennes and Cate Blanchett.

Published 2008 – The Slap, Christos Tsiolkas

At a suburban barbecue one afternoon, a man slaps an unruly boy.

The boy is not his son.

It is a single act of violence, but the slap reverberates through the lives of everyone who witnesses it happen.

Christos Tsiolkas presents the impact of this apparently minor domestic incident through the eyes of eight of those who witness it. The result is an unflinching interrogation of the life of the modern family, a deeply thought-provoking novel about boundaries and their limits…

The story is told through the voices of eight characters, in third person and each in a chapter of their own. Events after the incident are outlined chronologically through each character’s story.

The Slap won the Commonwealth Writers Prize in 2009 and has twice been adapted into a mini-series.

Published 2016 – A Dark Matter (The Skelfs), Doug Johnstone

Three generations of women from the Skelfs family take over the family funeral home and PI businesses in the first book of a taut, gripping page-turning and darkly funny new series.

Meet the Skelfs: well-known Edinburgh family, proprietors of a long-established funeral-home business, and private investigators…

When patriarch Jim dies, it’s left to his wife Dorothy, daughter Jenny and granddaughter Hannah to take charge of both businesses, kicking off an unexpected series of events. Dorothy discovers mysterious payments to another woman, suggesting that Jim wasn’t the husband she thought he was. Hannah’s best friend Mel has vanished from university, and the simple adultery case that Jenny takes on leads to something stranger and far darker than any of them could have imagined.

As the women struggle to come to terms with their grief, and the demands of the business threaten to overwhelm them, secrets from the past emerge, which change everything…

Shotlisted for the 2020 McIlvanney Prize (Scottish Crime Book of the Year) A Dark Matter introduced readers to The Skelfs – a much loved Edinburgh Family who have subsequently appeared in two further novels and will return later this year for a fourth outing in Black Hearts.

HONORARY MENTION: Seven Little Australians by Ethel Turner (1894, watched on TV 1973). I was the second youngest of 13; Mum was step-mum to the older eight children; dad was a strict ex military man; we lived in rural Victoria – so this really hit home. The only time we were ever allowed to miss mass was to watch the final episode when it was adapted for television.

My thanks to Helen for these wonderful selections. I can only include the five official selections in the Library but I do love an honorary mention as it lets me see which books almost made the cut.

DECADES WILL RETURN

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October 25

Cold as Hell by Lilja Sigurdardóttir translated by Quentin Bates

Áróra returns to Iceland when her estranged sister goes missing, and her search leads to places she could never have imagined. A chilling, tense thriller – FIRST in an addictive, nerve-shattering new series – from one of Iceland’s bestselling authors…

Icelandic sisters Áróra and Ísafold live in different countries and aren‘t on speaking terms, but when their mother loses contact with Ísafold, Áróra reluctantly returns to Iceland to find her sister. But she soon realizes that her sister isn’t avoiding her … she has disappeared, without trace.

As she confronts Ísafold’s abusive, drug-dealing boyfriend Björn, and begins to probe her sister’s reclusive neighbours – who have their own reasons for staying out of sight – Áróra is led into an ever-darker web of intrigue and manipulation.

Baffled by the conflicting details of her sister’s life, and blinded by the shiveringly bright midnight sun of the Icelandic summer, Áróra enlists the help of police officer Daníel, as she tries to track her sister’s movements, and begins to tail Björn – but she isn’t the only one watching…

Slick, tense, atmospheric and superbly plotted, Cold as Hell marks the start of a riveting, addictive new series from one of Iceland’s bestselling crime writers.

I read my purchased copy of Cold as Hell ahead of my review being shared as part of the blog tour. My thanks to Anne Cater of Random Things Blog Tours for the opportunity to join the Cold as Hell tour.

Áróra and Ísafold are sisters but they do not get on. It’s been several years since the pair spoke, Áróra lives in England, while Ísafold prefers Iceland. But Ísafold has fallen off the grid – she has not been in contact with her mother who is worried about what may have happened. Áróra is called – get to Iceland, find your sister.

The fact Ísafold is missing does not immediately concern Áróra but she takes herself to Iceland and is soon at Ísafold’s house. Her partner is not remotely interested in helping Áróra and doesn’t even care where Ísafold may be – she is not there and that seems enough for him. His dismissive behaviour perplexes Áróra and when she speaks with her mother after this encounter she doesn’t appear to have much of an idea how to track her sister. But mum’s can be full of good ideas and she recommends Áróra seek out an investigator (Daniel) who may be able to lend his support and skills. Giving up is not an option.

So an investigation is unofficially launched with Áróra and Daniel digging deeper and uncovering secrets.

There is a second distraction for Áróra though. She has met a guy in Iceland and while the two are in his hotel room she discovers his father owns the hotel. Áróra also realises she is naked in bed with a man who has just left prison and she has no idea what crime may have been committed to put him there. She flees into the night fearing for her safety but it subsequently transpires her new acquiantance had been charged with financial crime. This is of deep interest to Áróra who wants to know more about this man and the crimes he committed.

I cannot get enough of Financial Crime stories and I love that Lilja Sigurdardóttir features some wickedly clever financial scams in each of her books. The crashing of the global economies in 2008, when financial markets took a hit around the world, was particularly hard on Iceland – seeing the continued manipulation of financial issues in stories set in Iceland does make each of the crimes Lilja Sigurdardóttir writes about seem more cruel than may otherwise have been the case. But I do still love reading them.

I am reading more translated fiction these days than I have ever done at any previous time in my life. This is only possible through the work of all the translators who have a command of language far beyond anything I could ever hope to achive. Their hard work and diligence brings stories like Cold as Hell to my bookshelves and I get to enjoy books which would otherwise be strangers to me. You may note that this review has been titled to include Quentin Bates as translator; going forward I plan to always show the translator when reading a text not originally written in English.

In the case of Cold as Hell I love how Quentin Bates conveys the tone and emotion of the story. Áróra’s initial frustration at her mother’s concern over her sister’s disappearance. Her own bemusement at the reaction she recieves in Iceland from Björn when he does not seem to have any interest in the whereabouts of the woman he lived with for three years. Then the more subtle fascination Áróra has with Daniel as she outlines why she is worred about Ísafold. With those subtle indicators of emotion and intrigue I become more drawn to all the players in this game, they are not binary “good guy, bad guy” characters, there are shades of emotions, subtle deceptions and telling tics and Quentin Bates brings them all through to give the story the nuance I seek.

Cold as Hell builds the layers of mystery and dead end investigations but you are drawn along with the story. Nothing is quite what it seems and Lilja Sigurdardóttir is masterly in her weaving of layers to everyone’s story. Add in the whole financial crime element and I was more than happy to be lost in this story.

Cold as Hell is published by Orenda Books and is available in paperback, digital and audiobook format. You can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B08WRJXYGY/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0

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October 19

The Rabbit Factor – Antti Tuomainen

Just one spreadsheet away from chaos…

What makes life perfect? Insurance mathematician Henri Koskinen knows the answer because he calculates everything down to the very last decimal.

And then, for the first time, Henri is faced with the incalculable. After suddenly losing his job, Henri inherits an adventure park from his brother – its peculiar employees and troubling financial problems included. The worst of the financial issues appear to originate from big loans taken from criminal quarters … and some dangerous men are very keen to get their money back.

But what Henri really can’t compute is love. In the adventure park, Henri crosses paths with Laura, an artist with a chequered past, and a joie de vivre and erratic lifestyle that bewilders him. As the criminals go to extreme lengths to collect their debts and as Henri’s relationship with Laura deepens, he finds himself faced with situations and emotions that simply cannot be pinned down on his spreadsheets…

Warmly funny, rich with quirky characters and absurd situations, The Rabbit Factor is a triumph of a dark thriller, its tension matched only by its ability to make us rejoice in the beauty and random nature of life.

My thanks to Karen at Orenda Books for my review copy and to Anne Cater at Random Things Blog Tours for the opportunity to take part in the blog tour for The Rabbit Factor.

The exciting news about The Rabbit Factor (which I am sure you know already) is that Steve Carell loves the book and will play Henri in a movie adaptation for Amazon Studios. I don’t believe it is possible to know this and NOT picture Carell as Henri – I felt I knew the character from the outset.

But maybe that is because I had a bit of a head start? Henri is an actuary and works in Financial Services. Although I am not smart enough to be an actuary I have certainly worked with a fair few actuaries down the years and could easily identify with Henri and the dilemmas he faced. You see, Henri craves order, precision and mathematics. He knows where he stands with mathematical accuracy – it is CORRECT. It can be qualtified. It does not entertain frivolity or feelings.

So when his employers stop putting their focus behind the calcuations and start synergizing and working in teams to consider how best to drive their corporate missions forward he feels decidedly out of his comfort zone. Things come to a head when his boss lays it out to Henri – embrace the softer, team focused ethos or take a hike. Henri walks, confident he will be snapped up by another firm. But Henri has misjudged the modern workplace – it’s all buzzwords and corporate bullshit these days and he doesn’t find a place as easily as he had expected.

Fate is to intervene though. Henri’s brother, the last of his family has sadly passed away. Henri inherits everything. But everything is a children’s Adventure Park and a whole lot of debt – debt which Henri isn’t used to dealing with as it did not come from the bank but from some unsavoury characters who don’t accept “no” for an answer.

Soon Henri is trying to deal with frustrated artists, ticket collectors with aims to become General Manager, broken machinery, absent staff and planning how best to avoid being killed by a frustrated loanshark. It’s an absolute riot but in Antti Tuomainen’s skilled hands it is also a delight to read.

The Adventure Park (never Amusement Park) becomes Henri’s focus. He can make it work, he can make it profitable and more importantly…he thinks he can use it to keep the moneylenders off his back. However Henri had not considered the possibility someone may just decide that they want him dead – can he survive long enough to outfox the criminals?

The Rabbit Factor delivers fun by the bucketload. Henri and the other Adventure Park staff are hugely engaging and the whole story is quirky and charming – well as quirky and charming as you can get with hitmen, dead bodies and hostile lapdancers.

Don’t sleep on this one.

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September 30

Cover Reveal: River Clyde – Simone Buchholz

Today I am beyond excited to share something new with you. A first opportunity to see the cover for River Clyde, the next Chastity Riley book from Simone Buchholz which will be published in the new year by Orenda Books.

Before you scroll down to catch that first glimpse of the FIFTH book in this stupendous series I have the FAQ’s too:

River Clyde releases in digital format first. Ebook will be available from 17 January 2022 with print copies arriving on 17 March 2022.

Once again we can thank Rachel Ward for translating the original German text into English, Rachel translated all four previous books in the series.

Blurb first, cover second and then the handy pre-order links, there is a lot of love for this series and I know you will want to secure this one early to be sure you can get reading as soon as possible.

Chastity Riley travels to Scotland to face the demons of her past, as Hamburg is hit by a major arson attack. Queen of Krimi, Simone Buchholz returns with the nail-biting fifth instalment in the electric Chastity Riley series … and this time things are personal…

‘Simone Buchholz writes with real authority and a pungent, noir-ish sense of time and space … a palpable hit’ Independent

‘Reading Buchholz is like walking on firecrackers … a truly unique voice in crime fiction’ Graeme Macrae Burnet

Mired in grief after tragic recent events, state prosecutor Chastity Riley escapes to Scotland, lured to the birthplace of her great-great-grandfather by a mysterious letter suggesting she has inherited a house.

In Glasgow, she meets Tom, the ex-lover of Chastity’s great aunt, who holds the keys to her own family secrets – painful stories of unexpected cruelty and loss that she’s never dared to confront.

In Hamburg, Stepanovic and Calabretta investigate a major arson attack, while a group of property investors kicks off an explosion of violence that threatens everyone.

As events in these two countries collide, Chastity prepares to face the inevitable, battling the ghosts of her past and the lost souls that could be her future and, perhaps, finally finding redemption for them all.

Nail-bitingly tense and breathtakingly emotive, River Clyde is both an electrifying, pulse-pounding thriller and a poignant, powerful story of damage and hope, and one woman’s fight for survival.

You’ve been very patient so just zip down the page a little futher and enjoy the River Clyde cover in all its glory…

Isn’t it terrific? I love the stylistic approach that has featured for all the titles in this series and River Clyde really catches the eye.

I promised purchase links so you could get an early order in…

Waterstones: https://bit.ly/3EZj8XJ

Kindle: https://amzn.to/3F4nuwu

And I am afraid that’s all I have for you today, cover, blurb and order links with a huge dose of anticipation. Roll on January 17th

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August 7

Decades: Compiling the Ultimate Library with Karen Sullivan

The Decades Library is growing beyond anything I could have imagined. I started this project back in January when it was dark outside and the rain was lashing against my windows. Now here we are in August, it is still dark outside and the rain is still lashing against my windows (I live in Scotland) but every week since February a new guest curator has joined me to add new books to my Library.

The five books which follow will bring the number of Decades book recommendations made by authors, bloggers, publishers and journalists to 130 – there have been fewer than five titles nominated by more than one person. As readers we are blessed for choice.

What is the Decades Library? My guests are all given the same challenge. Nominate five books to my Decades Library which they consider to be essential reading. But they can only pick one book per decade over five consecutive decades. Easy? Have a go and see if you can pick five of your favourite books from a fifty year publication span.

A further reminder that the Library is now also a Decades Bookshop over at Bookshop.org. You can buy any of the nominated titles through this link (which is an affiliate site): https://uk.bookshop.org/lists/grab-this-book-the-decades-library

This week’s guest needs no introduction (which is lucky as I forgot to ask her to write one). If I say Orenda Books you will surely know the force of nature that is Karen Sullivan.

Karen founded Orenda Books in 2014 and the first books were published in 2015. In 2016, Karen was a Bookseller Rising Star, and Orenda Books was shortlisted for the IPG Nick Robinson Newcomer Award in 2015 and 2016. Orenda won the CWA Crime & Mystery Publisher of the Year Dagger in 2020 and were a regional finalist for the Small Press of the Year Award in the British Book Awards in 2021.

DECADES

Anne of Green Gables, Lucy Maud Montgomery (1908)

The ultimate coming-of-age novel, classic children’s literature that appeals to readers of all ages. Anne Shirley is an unforgettable character – tragic, unwittingly feminist, eternally optimistic, accident-prone, proud, intelligent, funny – and the snapshot of (my native) rural Canada at the turn of the century is immensely evocative. My own personal manta is drawn from this book: ‘Isn’t it nice to think that tomorrow is a new day with no mistakes in it yet?’

The Rainbow, D H Lawerence (1915)

D H Lawrence won my teenaged heart while I was at university, appearing to encapsulate what I perceived to be the human condition and all its existential angst in every book. This is a book about love in many forms, about relationships, about desire, and the fact that it was banned when it was published indicates its forward thinking. It also gives us an invaluable insight into life in the late 1800s and early 1900s.

The Age of Innocence, Edith Wharton (1920)

My high-school English teacher described this book as ‘ravishing’, and the story and its themes have stayed in my mind ever since. It’s about desire and deception, about rebelling against society and the decimation of innocence – a metaphor for the growing disillusionment about the ‘American Dream’. Its sophistication is breathtaking.

Little House in the Big Woods, Laura Ingalls Wilder (1932)

Another children’s book, and one that lays bare the struggles of American settlers, with bold, inspirational themes of survival, the importance of family, and the power of hope. It’s a classic for good reason, and although there are often shocking and dated attitudes towards Native Americans, it does serve a purpose in enlightening us to cultural beliefs and mores at that time, fed largely by ignorance and fear, and is upon reflection a lot more positive than it might seem. Few can fail to be inspired by this book.

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, Betty Smith (1943)

A beautifully written coming-of-age story about a young immigrant girl in early 20^th-century Brooklyn, it embodies the bright, often blind hope of the American Dream, and highlights a period of vast social change. Its inspirational messages – that anything is possible if you persevere, believe – provided comfort to and renewed determination for the American people during the war.

It’s been an absolute delight to have Karen take part in my Decades challenge. When I was struggling to get Grab This Book established Karen was hugely supportive and entrusted me with early review copies of the first Orenda books which were making their way into the world. Watching Orenda Books grow has been a joy and Karen’s support and encouragement still keeps me going.

DECADES WILL RETURN

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July 27

Girls Who Lie (Forbidden Iceland 2) – Eva Björg Ægisdóttir

When single mother Maríanna disappears from her home, leaving an apologetic note on the kitchen table, everyone assumes that she’s taken her own life … until her body is found on the Grábrók lava fields seven months later, clearly the victim of murder. Her neglected fifteen-year-old daughter Hekla has been placed in foster care, but is her perfect new life hiding something sinister?

Fifteen years earlier, a desperate new mother lies in a maternity ward, unable to look at her own child, the start of an odd and broken relationship that leads to a shocking tragedy.

Police officer Elma and her colleagues take on the case, which becomes increasingly complex, as the number of suspects grows and new light is shed on Maríanna’s past – and the childhood of a girl who never was like the others…

My thanks to Karen at Orenda Books for my review copy and to Anne Cater of Random Things Blog Tours for the opportunity to host this leg of the Girls Who Lie Blog Tour.

After last year’s introduction to the Forbidden Iceland series (The Creak on the Stairs) it is a welcome return for Elma the Icelandic police officer who is the lead character and the investigator tasked with these challenging investigations.

Seven months before our story begins a single mother (Maríanna) left her house and walked out on her teenage daughter. At least this is how things appeared, Maríanna had left a note for her daughter which seemed to apologise for her decicion to leave. She never returned and given that it was common knowledge Maríanna had struggled with parenting and had trouble bonding with her daughter nobody really questionned the initial decicion that she had taken her own life.

Back to the present and Elma is in an Icelandic cave and looking at Maríanna’s body. The seven months have not left Maríanna in an easily recognisable state but the cave protected her body from many of the elements and the police pathologist is certain that Maríanna did not take her own life. The police are now looking at a murder investigation but seven months on many memories are clouded and the questions which should have been asked when Maríanna first disappeared are less easily answered.

Interspersed between the chapters which track Elma’s investigation are some flashback/memory sections where a young mother recounts the problems she is experiencing. She did not wish to be a mother and she does not think she can do it. As her child grows older the subsequent sequences show the pair have no relationship and the mother cannot control (or even communicate with) her daugher. These are awkward and uncomfortable reads and while it sounds like you are reading Maríanna’s story you just cannot be sure this is the case.

As for Maríanna’s daughter. When she was young she would do short foster stays with a family. This would be at times when Maríanna was unable to cope, when she went off the rails for a period and just week on week. The foster family hoped Maríanna would put her daughter to them permanently but Maríanna never made that step and kept bringing her daughter home week on week. Once Maríanna walked out on her apparent suicide the foster arrangement became permanent. Now there is a new family structure in place, a happy family, and the police coming round to ask questions will not be condusive to a quiet and relaxing situation. Expect people to lie to protect their positions and the life they have established for themselves – afterall, the book is call Girls Who Lie.

When you’re reading translated fiction and you totally forget you are reading translated fiction then you know you have been well cared for by a top notch translator. All the plaudits to Victoria Cribb for taking Girls Who Lie and bringing it to the English speakers (readers) who would otherwise have missed out on Elma’s second outing.

It feels a slow burn at times and Elma even notes but the journey through Girls Who Lie is absolutely worth it and I hope you find you enjoyed it as much as I did.

Girls Who Lie is available in paperback, digital and audiobook format. You can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B08T5VZ6MK/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i1

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