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The Key in the Lock – Beth Underdown

I still dream, every night, of Polneath on fire. Smoke unfurling out of an upper window and a hectic orange light cascading across the terrace.

By day, Ivy Boscawen mourns the loss of her son Tim in the Great War. But by night she mourns another boy – one whose death decades ago haunts her still.

For Ivy is sure that there is more to what happened all those years ago: the fire at the Great House, and the terrible events that came after. A truth she must uncover, if she is ever to be free.

My thanks to Ellie Hudson at Penguin for the opportunity to join the blog tour for The Key in the Lock. I recieved a review copy ahead of publication.

The Key in the Lock is Ivy’s story and it is a story of grief. Grief over the deaths of two boys, thirty years apart and in very different circumstances. But both deaths will have a profound impact upon Ivy and Beth Underdown writes about both in beautiful and haunting prose.

Durning The Great War Ivy’s son, Tim, has signed up and left to fight in France. Ivy was deeply unhappy with his decision, he had been studying at Oxford and she feels his decision was made while he was away from the family home and while she was unable to try to persuade him out of it. It is 1918, there is talk the war is very nearly over and Tim was just slightly too young to sign up – he could have waited and possibly there would not have been any need to head to the front line as the war may end soon. But it wasn’t to be.

While Tim was in the trenches he met his end, never to return home. But the telegram which his parents received informing them of his death stated simply that Tim was “Killed”. Killed. Two missing words are to cause Ivy much additional upset – there is no suggestion of Tim having been killed “in action”. Why, when her son was facing Germans on the front line, does his death notice not tell her he did fighting? As she struggles to understand what may lie behind the shortest and most devastating of messages an incident in her home will change Ivy’s life forever. Things will never be the same but will she get answers to the questions she has?

Understandably devastated at Tim’s death, Ivy is also dwelling on an earlier death. That of young William Tremain who died in a fire at Polneath house in 1888 (thirty years before). William had been trapped inside a room in Polneath which caught alight. His body was found under the bed but he had died before flame and smoke could be quelled enough to make a rescue possible.

Ivy had been nearby and was one of the first on the scene. She naturally became caught up in the subsequent inquest through slow and clever revelation Beth Underdown makes it clear to readers that there is more to William’s death than a tragic accident.

He was found under the bed of one of the staff, she would show kindness to the young boy – something which did not always appear to be the case from the patriach of the family. But the maid, Agnes, who would fuss and care for William wasn’t in her room in Polneath when the fire started nobody is sure where she was. The fire was in her room though and so was William. The child would come to visit her some evenings if he could not sleep. So when the fire took hold it appears William panicked, hid under the bed to escape smoke and flames and tragically lost his life.

Yet as the inquest and narrative continues there are unanswered questions. Why did William not run from the room? Where was Agnes? How did the fire start?

Both deaths occupy much of Ivy’s thoughts and the story switches between 1888 and 1918 as more information is established which helps readers understand what ocurred during both periods. Ivy is the central character to both tales but a deep and fascinating cast will spin in and out of her life and Beth Underdown weaves a rich narrative around them.

A beautifully told story of grief and a search for understanding.

The Key in the Lock is published by and is available in Hardback, Digital and Audiobook format. You can order a copy here: https://www.waterstones.com/book/the-key-in-the-lock/beth-underdown/9780241503300

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September 6

The Thursday Murder Club (Audiobook) – Richard Osman

In a peaceful retirement village, four unlikely friends meet up once a week to investigate unsolved murders.

But when a brutal killing takes place on their very doorstep, the Thursday Murder Club find themselves in the middle of their first live case.

Elizabeth, Joyce, Ibrahim and Ron might be pushing eighty but they still have a few tricks up their sleeves.

Can our unorthodox but brilliant gang catch the killer before it’s too late?

My thanks to Chloe at Penguin Random House for the opportunity to listen to The Thursday Murder Club audiobook ahead of the publication date.

After a summer of COVID related publication delays this week saw a tsunami of new titles heading our way. Many debut authors will get lost in the flurry but as one of the most familiar faces on our telly boxes I doubt that will apply to Richard Osman. Indeed a quick glance at the Amazon charts shows that The Thursday Murder Club is sitting in the top ten Mystery titles. But here’s the thing – this is a good book and irrespective of how well known the author may be a good story shines through and The Thursday Murder Club definately shines.

I was invited to join the blog tour for the audiobook of The Thursday Murder Club so the past two weeks I have spent my time in the company of Joyce, Elizabeth, Ibrahim and Ron; four residents of a retirement village in once of the nicer areas in Southern England. Much of the story is seen through the eyes of Joyce (as relayed to her diary) however narrative does change viewpoints and we get a good opportunity to view many different events and discussions as the story unfolds. This is extremely helpful as there is a lot going on down in Coopers Chase village where our amatur sleuths reside.

For clarity, the Thursday Murder Club are not a gang of aged killers biding their time to pick off the next victim. Elizabeth is good friends with a former police inspector who now finds herself hospitalized and seemingly receiving end of life care. The police officer and Elizabeth (along with Ron and Ibrahim) would review old case files and try to find clues which the investigating teams may have missed many years before. Their endeavours are keeping their minds active and deep down Elizabeth knows there is little hope of actually catching a killer. At the start of the story we see Joyce (former nurse) being consulted by Elizabeth on the liklihood of a stabbing victim dying within a certain timeframe. Having considered the extent of the wounds – Elizabeth has crime scene photographs for reference – Joyce is able to surmise there was time between stabbing and death for the victim to have received medical assistance which would surely have saved her life. Elizabeth concurred and Joyce appears to have passed the “entry exam” and is invited to join the Thursday Murder Club. Thus Joyce and the reader become members of Elizabeth’s core circle.

Archive files are all well and good but when an actual (brutal) murder takes place and the members of the Thursday Murder Club knew the victim, the old cases are promptly forgotten as there is a killer to be found. Using their combined skills Elizabeth, Ron, Joyce and Ibrahim manage to befriend the local community police officer, get her brought into the team investigating the murder and then work their charms on her boss to facilitate an exhange of information to ensure they are kept up to date on the progress of the police investigation.

If that sounds whimiscal and unlikely then you may well be right but it is fun and that’s what’s really important here. Richard Osman has crafted a light hearted, funny and engaging story. It is cozy crime but with an unexpectedly large death count by the end of the story and there are so many charming, tender and emotive moments in the book that you can find yourself laughing one paragraph only to have a casual throwaway line in the next bringing a tear-prick to your eyes. Joyce’s Jersey Boys story nearly did for me.

The hook in this story is not the murder or even the investigation. It is very much the characters – the four Club members, Donna and Chris the two police officers investigating the murder, the gangsters who knew the victim (he was one of them) and the dozens of supporting characters that come and go as life goes on around the Coopers Chase retirment village. If you enjoy larger than life characters wonderfully realised on page then Richard Osman is your current go-to book of choice…he nails it.

I do need to point out that it took me a while to embrace this story. The narrative style is very conversational and that took me some time to get my head around. Characters have conversations with lots of tangents, drifting off point to discuss the daughter of the person they met and oh she had a new car and her husband is not the nicest chap in town. It is a frighteningly realistic portrayal of group discussions in a retirement home and adds so much more insight into how the characters are thinking but when I was reading I was initially horrified about having to listen to all the ramblings. But the ramblings are sometimes important, they are often emotive or funny and they can lead to some unexpected outcomes. I am more accustomed to dark and edgy crime thrillers so the mental shift to cosy, chatty was needed. I think I was around 90 mins into the audiobook (over 10 hours in length) before I embraced it fully. And I am glad I did.

The all important information you need to know about the audiobook is how does the narration sound? Leading us through this story is Lesley Manville – she was a great choice and made Joyce, Elizabeth and the others really come to life for me. She has, what I consider to be, a posh English accent which I associate with tea with the vicar, the chair of the local WI branch and someone who uses the word “frightful” in every day conversation. Not much like the voices I hear in my neighbourhood on the edge of Glasgow! But it works perfectly for The Thursday Murder Club and that’s the key.

Not my usual listen as I tend not to enjoy the cosy crime stories but The Thursday Murder Club had so much going on and was written with buckets of charm and clever, clever red herrings I could not help but love it. Not too shabby at all – good job Mr Osman!

The Thursday Murder Club is available in hardback, digital and (obviously) audiobook format. You can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07S5D5TH7/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0

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July 24

One White Lie – Leah Konen

Imagine you’ve finally escaped the worst relationship of your life, running away with only a suitcase and a black eye.

Imagine your new next-door neighbours are the friends you so desperately needed – fun, kind, empathetic, very much in love.

Imagine they’re in trouble. That someone is telling lies about them, threatening their livelihoods – and even their lives.

Imagine your ex is coming for you.

If your new best friends needed you to tell one small lie, and all of these problems would disappear, you’d do it . . . wouldn’t you?

It’s only one small lie, until someone turns up dead . . .

My thanks to Sryia at Penguin RandomHouse for my review copy and the opportunity to join the tour.

Ooft.

Psychological thrillers sometimes aren’t quite what they are billed as. No real thrills, a bit predicable, never a sense of peril – essentially some books just don’t quite hit the mark for me. But One White Lie didn’t just hit the mark, it smashed it…maybe with the hammer that protagonist Lucy King carries around with her.

Ooft.

This story got me hooked – started reading in a hot bath, looked up 2 hours and 250 pages later in a decidedly cold bath. As a reader there is nothing better than finding a book which just keep you turning pages – One Little Lie did that for me. Always that nagging worry, doubt that what Lucy was experiencing was all it seemed, questions around why her new friends were shunned by the townsfolk where they lived. But I get ahead of myself.

We first meet Lucy as she is moving in to a new cottage in a small town on the outskirts of the city. She is clearly terrified and on the run from a controlling and aggressive partner and she needs a safe haven to sort out what to do.

Lucy meets her new neighbours, John and Vera. They are a few years older than Lucy but a strong friendship bond soon forms as the couple show her a kindness and compassion which she has been missing from her life for so long. For John and Vera Lucy represents a new friend in a town where they are deeply unpopular with the locals. For a long time Lucy tries to piece together snippets of gossip to determine why her friends are being held as outcasts. A nice layer of mystery for the reader as we only get snippets and rumour too.

Just as Lucy begins to relax in her new surroundings two shocking twists will threaten to destroy the sanctuary she has created. One way to ensure her continued safety is to tell One Little Lie to help John and Vera. That shouldn’t be too difficult a task should it? Unfortunately for Lucy one lie will lead to another and fate will play her a cruel hand further threatening her safety.

During all these issues Lucy is ever aware her ex is out there somewhere and he will be looking for her. So it is paranoia that Lucy believes someone has been in her home or has her ex finally caught up with her?

Stories build on the need to lie and sustain that lie places the protagonist under extreme stress and Leah Konen delivers that tension brilliantly. I really enjoyed One Little Lie – it ticked all the right boxes and I’d definitely recommend it.

One White Lie is published by Penguin and is available in physical, digital and audiobook format. You can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07YTHYLC6/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0

Follow the tour:

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December 31

City Without Stars – Tim Baker

Mexico – Ciudad Real is in crisis: the economy is in meltdown, a new war between rival cartels is erupting, and a serial killer is murdering hundreds of female workers.

Fuentes, the detective in charge of the investigation, suspects that most of his colleagues are on the payroll of his chief suspect, narco kingpin, El Santo. If he’s going to stop the killings, he has to convince fiery union activist, Pilar, to ignore all her instincts and work with him. But in a city eclipsed by murder, madness and magic, can she really afford to trust him?

Dark Pines – Will Dean

SEE NO EVIL

Eyes missing, two bodies lie deep in the forest near a remote Swedish town.

HEAR NO EVIL

Tuva Moodyson, a deaf reporter on a small-time local paper, is looking for the story that could make her career.

SPEAK NO EVIL

A web of secrets. And an unsolved murder from twenty years ago.

Can Tuva outwit the killer before she becomes the final victim? She’d like to think so. But first she must face her demons and venture far into the deep, dark woods if she wants to stand any chance of getting the hell out of small-time Gavrik.

The Darkness – Ragnar Jonasson

A young woman is found dead on a remote Icelandic beach.

She came looking for safety, but instead she found a watery grave.

A hasty police investigation determines her death as suicide . . .

When Detective Inspector Hulda Hermannsdóttir of the Reykjavik police is forced into early retirement, she is told she can investigate one last cold case of her choice – and she knows which one.

What she discovers is far darker than suicide . . . And no one is telling Hulda the whole story.

When her own colleagues try to put the brakes on her investigation, Hulda has just days to discover the truth. A truth she will risk her own life to find.

The Lost Village – Neil Spring

The remote village of Imber – remote, lost and abandoned. The outside world hasn’t been let in since soldiers forced the inhabitants out, much to their contempt.

But now, a dark secret threatens all who venture near. Everyone is in danger, and only Harry Price can help. Reluctantly reunited with his former assistant Sarah Grey, he must unlock the mystery of Imber, and unsurface the secrets someone thought were long buried. But will Sarah’s involvement be the undoing of them both?

Thirteen – Steve Cavanagh

THE SERIAL KILLER ISN’T ON TRIAL.

HE’S ON THE JURY…

‘To your knowledge, is there anything that would preclude you from serving on this jury?’

Murder wasn’t the hard part. It was just the start of the game.

Joshua Kane has been preparing for this moment his whole life. He’s done it before. But this is the big one.

This is the murder trial of the century. And Kane has killed to get the best seat in the house.

But there’s someone on his tail. Someone who suspects that the killer isn’t the man on trial.

Kane knows time is running out – he just needs to get to the conviction without being discovered.

The Lingering – SJI Holliday

Married couple Jack and Ali Gardiner move to a self-sufficient commune in the English Fens, desperate for fresh start. The local village is known for the witches who once resided there and Rosalind House, where the commune has been established, is a former psychiatric home, with a disturbing history

When Jack and Ali arrive, a chain of unexpected and unexplained events is set off, and it becomes clear that they are not all that they seem. As the residents become twitchy, and the villagers suspicious, events from the past come back to haunt them, and someone is seeking retribution…

The Hangman’s Hold – Michael Wood

There’s a killer in your house.
The Hangman waits in the darkness.

He knows your darkest secrets.
He’ll make you pay for all the crimes you have tried desperately to forget.

And he is closer than you think.
DCI Matilda Darke is running out of time. Fear is spreading throughout the city. As the body count rises, Matilda is targeted and her most trusted colleagues fall under suspicion. But can she keep those closest to her from harm? Or is it already too late?

The Janus Run – Douglas Skelton

When Coleman Lang finds his girlfriend Gina dead in his New York City apartment, he thinks nothing could be worse… until he becomes the prime suspect.

Desperate to uncover the truth and clear his name, Coleman hits the streets. But there’s a deranged Italian hitman, an intuitive cop, two US Marshals, and his ex-wife all on his tail. And trying to piece together Gina’s murky past without dredging up his own seems impossible. Worse, the closer he gets to Gina’s killer, the harder it is to evade the clutches of the mysterious organisation known only as Janus – from which he’d long since believed himself free.

Packed with plot twists, suspense and an explosive climax, The Janus Run is an edge-of-the-seat, breathtaking thriller – NYC noir at its finest.

The Puppet Show – M.W. Craven

A serial killer is burning people alive in the Lake District’s prehistoric stone circles. He leaves no clues and the police are helpless. When his name is found carved into the charred remains of the third victim, disgraced detective Washington Poe is brought back from suspension and into an investigation he wants no part of . . .

Reluctantly partnered with the brilliant, but socially awkward, civilian analyst, Tilly Bradshaw, the mismatched pair uncover a trail that only he is meant to see. The elusive killer has a plan and for some reason Poe is part of it.

As the body count rises, Poe discovers he has far more invested in the case than he could have possibly imagined. And in a shocking finale that will shatter everything he’s ever believed about himself, Poe will learn that there are things far worse than being burned alive …

The Dali Deception – Adam Maxwell

Five criminals. Two forgeries. And one masterpiece of a heist.

Violet Winters—a professional thief born of a good, honest thief-and-con-artist stock— has been offered the heist of a lifetime. Steal a priceless Salvador Dali from the security-obsessed chairman of the Kilchester Bank and replace it with a forgery.

The fact that the “painting” is a signed, blank canvas doesn’t matter. It’s the challenge that gives Violet that familiar, addicting rush of adrenaline. Her quarry rests in a converted underground Cold War bunker. One way in, one way out. No margin for error.

But the reason Violet fled Kilchester is waiting right where she left him—an ex-lover with a murderous method for dumping a girlfriend. If her heist is to be a success, there will have to be a reckoning, or everything could go spinning out of control.

Her team of talented misfits assembled, Violet sets out to re-stake her claim on her reputation, exorcise some demons, and claim the prize. That is, if her masterpiece of a plan isn’t derailed by a pissed-off crime boss—or betrayal from within her own ranks.

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June 17

The Chosen Ones – Howard Linskey

Eva Dunbar wakes in a large metal box.

She has no idea who has taken her.

She has no way out.

She isn’t the first young woman to disappear.

And with no leads Detective Ian Bradshaw has precious little time.

When at last a body is found, the police hope the tragic discovery might at least provide a clue that will help them finally find the kidnapper.

But then they identify the body – and realise the case is more twisted than they ever imagined .

My thanks to Penguin Books for my review copy and the chance to join the blog tour.

I hadn’t realised that The Chosen Ones was taking me into a series which has been running for a few books. It made no difference to my enjoyment of this cracking police thriller – I felt I was given all the backstory and information I needed to ensure I could keep up with proceedings.

The Chosen Ones is downright disturbing in places (a real positive for this reader) – women are vanishing in Newcastle and NE England. Readers get to learn what happens to the latest girl to be abducted – held in a small box by a masked man then shifted to a larger, but extremely well hidden, location.

Police are baffled and problems of staffing are going to compound their problems – a sting operation has exposed some corrupt cops and this leaves very few officers to track down the disappearing girls. Ian Bradshaw is tasked with the investigation into the missing girls, with resources a problem he manages to persuade his boss to agree to draft in some external assistance – journalist Tom Carney and his assistant Helen Norton.

I am new to Howard Linskey’s books but there was clearly some history between Tom and Helen and their relationship (or Tom’s relationships with women who are not Helen) made for some fun reading. Tom is dating a girl who is quite a few years younger than he…Helen does not approve. However, when one of Tom’s old flames appears on the scene to seek out his assistance things become even more entertaining.

Back to Eva, the girl lifted from the streets and held against her will. Her captor is a strange individual, he holds her at gunpoint while she washes but shows no interest in getting too close. He seems driven by an agenda which the reader does not get to share and the puzzle surrounding his motives ensured I kept turning the pages as I tried to work out what was going on!

As I have already stated, this is a cracking story which spins along at a crisp, and entertaining pace. The short chapter length and multiple viewpoints made sure there was always something new to develop or follow. I much prefer when a story zips along in this way, no lags or padding this is continuous entertainment.

The end came all too soon. Not that The Chosen Ones is a short book, I just wanted more of this story as I was enjoying it so much. A wee review of my bookshelves and Kindle Library shows I already have at least two more of Howard Linskey’s books waiting to be read – they will be moved up the reading order as Mr Linskey is very readable.

The Chosen Ones is available in paperback and digital format and also as an audiobook. You can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Chosen-Ones-gripping-crime-thriller-ebook/dp/B072FH6XM5/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8

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February 26

Doctor Who:The American Adventures – Justin Richards

Travel through time and space with the Twelfth Doctor in these six brand new adventures, set in a host of locations across the US and eras from throughout US history.

An invisible spacecraft turns up at the Battle of New Orleans, an alien presence is detected at the 1944 D-Day landings, and ghosts take over New York’s subway tunnels as they’re being dug in the early 1900s…

Filled with mystery, excitement and the Doctor’s trademark wit, these timey-wimey stories will delight any Doctor Who fan.

My thanks to Penguin Books UK for my review copy which I received through Netgalley

When Doctor Who goes off the air I switch to the books to get my fix of my favourite Timelord. This is a tactic which has been working for me since 1989 and I hope it never ends. When the novelisations of the tv shows ended I was bereft, however, Virgin Books and then BBC started releasing original novels featuring various incarnations of the Doctor and since the early 1990’s there have been a steady stream of new tales to enjoy.

Through the years Justin Richards has been a regular contributor to those original Doctor Who novels and he has written some of my favourite Doctor Who books. This means that when settled down to read Doctor Who: The American Adventures (six tales all from Mr Richards) I knew that I had some treats ahead…I was not disappointed.

As the name suggests all the stories are based in America and the Doctor will find himself arriving at some familiar points in time. The Oregon Trail (opportunity missed for The Ogron Trail), the California Gold Rush and with New York and a Florida theme-park also featuring we get a feel for different parts of the diverse landscape offered in the US.

I don’t believe it is possible to read a short story collection without favouring some tales more than others and this was the case with DW:TAA. I enjoyed the New York ghost story and the amusement park in Florida was fun too. That said the collection holds together really well and Who fans will enjoy the chance to see the Doctor (avec Capaldi face) back in the thick of the action.

A bit of Doctor Who knowledge will serve you well – but this is much more commonly found in readers over the last 10 years than was the case in the 1990’s!

Justin Richards is always very readable and this was an enjoyable evening’s entertainment. There are too few Capaldi stories available for readers so while we wait for the latest incarnation to light up our screens I recommend Doctor Who: The American Adventures.

Doctor Who: The American Adventures is available in hardback and digital format. You can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Doctor-Who-American-Adventures-Various/dp/1405928727/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1519588441&sr=8-4

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July 25

I Am Missing – Tim Weaver

When a young man wakes up bruised and beaten, with no memory of who he is or where he came from, the press immediately dub him ‘The Lost Man’.

Naming himself Richard Kite, he spends the next ten months desperately trying to find out who he is. But despite media appeals and the efforts of the police, no one knows him.

Richard’s last hope may be private investigator David Raker – a seasoned locator of missing people. But Raker has more questions than answers.

Who is Richard Kite?

Why does no one know him?

And what links him to the body of a woman found beside a London railway line two years ago?

Could Richard be responsible for her death – or is he next?

My thanks to Laura at Penguin for my review copy

I will start with the confession – this is the first of Tim Weaver’s novels that I have read. Having seen Tim at Bloody Scotland last September I promised myself that I would introduce his David Raker books to my bookshelves. Spin forward 10 months and I have just finished I am Missing.

Did it whet my appetite and leave me wanting to read more of Mr Weaver’s books?

Hell Yeah.

Did it matter that I had not read the earlier books? Not one jot – I felt the story was complete and other than a slight suggestion that Raker had ruffled some feathers within the police during the course of his previous adventures I was happy I had a good feel for the character.

So what made me jump into a series without catching up on the earlier volumes? Well I loved the premise of I Am Missing. Raker has proven that he is an accomplished investigator and can track down missing people but in this story he is approached by Richard Kite who wants Raker to find someone for him. Kite wants Raker to find out who Richard Kite really is – he has amnesia and cannot recall his own life prior to 10 months earlier when he was found washed up on a beach. A great twist on the missing person story and one which I initially found quite sad too.

As I was reading and Kite was explaining how so much of his life was a mystery to him I was very unsettled about his predicament. Tim Weaver dropped a tragic character into my lap and I was willing Raker to succeed even before he had ended his first conversation with Kite. Hooked I was!

What I had not expected was where Raker’s investigations would lead. As I got deeper into I am Missing I began to realise that there were several characters working to a secret agenda and that were hampering Raker at every turn. Soon I was suspicious of everyone and I was utterly engrossed.

I am reluctant to give much more detail regarding the plot for fear of spoilers – the joy of I am Missing was not knowing where the story was leading and having the mysteries teased out and explained as Raker himself pieces the clues together.

This was a treat and I would suggest a nice jumping in point for the David Raker stories if, like me, you are new to the series.

I Am Missing is published by Penguin and is available in paperback and digital format. You can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Am-Missing-David-Raker-Persons-ebook/dp/B071F2ZPV5/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1501021302&sr=8-2&keywords=tim+weaver+i+am+missing

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March 20

Written in Bones – James Oswald

When a body is found in a tree in The Meadows, Edinburgh’s scenic parkland, the forensics suggest the corpse has fallen from a great height.

Detective Inspector Tony McLean wonders whether it was an accident, or a murder designed to send a chilling message?

The dead man had led quite a life: a disgraced ex-cop turned criminal kingpin who reinvented himself as a celebrated philanthropist.

As McLean traces the victim’s journey, it takes him back to Edinburgh’s past, and through its underworld – crossing paths with some of its most dangerous and most vulnerable people.

And waiting at the end of it all, is the truth behind a crime that cuts to the very heart of the city…

My thanks to Laura at Penguin for my review copy

A new Tony McLean novel from James Oswald is always met with great anticipation here at Grab This Book. I am a big fan of this series and love the balance that the author finds between cracking police procedural but with a dark, and sometimes supernatural, edge to the stories.

Written in Bones is the 7th title to feature Tony McLean, knowing the back story helps but is not essential – new readers can easily pick up the series without worry of too many spoilers and will not be overwhelmed with confusing links to past events. One of the things I enjoy most about James Oswald’s books is how accessible they are, the stories all flow really well and are nicely paced.

From the very first pages of Written in Bones I was hooked. A body is discovered in The Meadows, a pleasant park in Edinburgh city centre. However, the body is stuck high in a tree and it appears to have fallen out of the sky. The only possible witness to the crime is a young boy who was walking his dog around The Meadows early in the morning. Unfortunately for McLean and his colleagues he does not appear to be the most reliable source for information as he maintains that he saw a dragon flying over the park at the time the body would have fallen into the tree.

Further investigation will reveal the young witness is the son of one of Edinburgh’s more notorious characters – someone very well known to the police. Could this simply be a coincidence or does the child’s presence link to crimes committed by his father? This element of an investigation could prove potentially tricky to some of McLean’s colleagues and Tony will be required to play politics around the station.

Although McLean can be a bit of a loose cannon at times, in Written in Bones there are new colleagues in the station and McLean will have to spend some of his time managing a team. The interaction between McLean and the younger, less experienced officers added a fun new angle to the story and I hope that we get to see a bit more of Tony in “mentor” mode.

Away from the mysterious body in a tree, Tony is also finding himself at a number of properties which have been subject to a break-in. He is pulled around the city and his investigations will leave someone unhappy – powerful people will not want the police sniffing around their operations. Back to that political pressure – Tony’s bosses will try to clip his wings and restrict his resources…can he find a way to make his already stretched team focus on more than one investigation?

I had great fun reading Written in Bones, it’s nice to be able to pick up a book which I know will entertain me and it did not fail to deliver the thrills and excitement that I look forward to in James Oswald’s writing. This has been a richly rewarding series thus far and Written in Bones only enhances the Tony McLean collection.

Written in Bones is published by Michael Joseph and you can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Written-Bones-Inspector-McLean-7/dp/0718183673/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1489962099&sr=8-1&keywords=james+oswald

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February 14

DC Super Hero Girls: Wonder Woman at Superhero High – Lisa Yee

The first book in an exciting new DC Super Hero Girls™ fiction series!

Wonder Woman™ wants to be the best super hero she can be, and that means going to Super Hero High School. But there’s a lot for the teen super hero to get used to at her new school! Save the Day alarms, a room-mate who shares everything on social media . . . not to mention the fact that Wonder Woman has never seen a boy before.

And, on top of all that, it seems like someone doesn’t want the Amazon princess at the school. Who’s been sending Wonder Woman nasty notes? And will they ruin her chances of success at Super Hero High School?

My thanks to Sarah at Penguin Random House for my review copy

I have been a fan of comic books since I was a kid and the love of those monthly ongoing adventures has never faded. Now my kids have reached the age that I was at when I started to follow the adventures of Batman, Superman and Spider-man. Back then we had Christopher Reeve in the Superman movies and not much else beyond any comic book you could find in your local newsagent (and in 1980’s Scotland there were precious few of those!)

These days my kids are spoiled for choice as they can do Teen Titans on the cartoon channels, stream Avengers or DareDevil through Netflix or raid my bookshelves for my DC and Marvel graphic novels. So when I suggested they may enjoy the new DC Super Heroes Girls books they were more than a little excited!

And for good reason – these books are perfectly pitched for readers around 8-11 years of age and make really good use of the DC comic book heroes. In Wonder Woman at Super Hero High we have Wonder Woman as a young girl hitting high school for the first time. The story is pitched at a level akin to the Middle Grade schools which my kids are inhaling on a daily basis at the moment so the Hero angle was a welcome change.

I left the eldest bookworm (10 years old) to read his way through the book on his own. Once done I grilled him for his thoughts…”really good story. I loved when new characters came in and I knew who they were – and it was weird too that they were at school”. Worth pointing out that my bookworm is a young lad and this is Super Hero Girls – this may explain the “a bit girly at times” comment too but it didn’t stop him reading and enjoying it (and asking if there were other books in the series).

There are other books in the DC Super Hero Girls range which may appeal to younger kids too. My 7 year old (the arty one in the family) had loads of fun with the Sticker Book and Doodle book.

This looks a great collection for kids who have got the superhero bug and with The LEGO Batman Movie in cinema’s at the moment there are bound to be a few more budding comic book fans looking for more stories about their heroes.

Wonder Woman at Super Hero High scored as a bit hit with my kids and got their official seal of approval.

Wonder Woman at Super Hero High is published by Puffin and is available now.

You can order books from the DC Super Hero Girls range here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/DC-Super-Hero-Girls-Wonder/dp/014137473X/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1487112754&sr=8-2&keywords=wonder+woman+at+superhero+high

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January 15

Lying in Wait – Liz Nugent

‘My husband did not mean to kill Annie Doyle, but the lying tramp deserved it.’

Lydia Fitzsimons lives in the perfect house with her adoring husband and beloved son. There is just one thing Lydia yearns for to make her perfect life complete, though the last thing she expects is that pursuing it will lead to murder. However, needs must – because nothing can stop this mother from getting what she wants …

My thanks to Sara at Penguin RandomHouse for my review and the chance to join the blog tour.

Lying in Wait constantly caught me off guard – but in a good way!

It opens with the murder of Annie Doyle and the killer almost immediately starts to lose control of how to manage the predicament that he finds himself in. Step forward Lydia Fitzsimons, the killer’s wife. She will supervise the disposal of the body, arrange an alibi, cover for her husband and keep him “on message”.

But the secret of this terrible deed will take its toll on Lydia, or more specifically on her family. Her husband will not find peace (even when Annie is buried in a safe location). Lydia’s son Laurence has a suspicion that something has happened on the night of the murder. As time goes by his suspicions grow stronger that his father may have some knowledge of the disappearance of local girl Annie Doyle. Laurence becomes obsessed with the “missing girl” collecting newspaper clippings and following the story for updates.

Meanwhile Annie’s family find their own way to cope with the unexpected disappearance of Annie. Most troubled by idea that Annie has vanished is her sister Karen – she turns to the police for help but encounters problems in getting information from them. Karen’s husband is no help as he is more concerned about the public perception of Annie and the rumour she was working as a prostitute.

Lying in Wait is told by several narrators and the story progresses by following Laurence, Lydia and Karen as we learn how they contend with life “after Annie”. We get an insight into how each copes with the challenges which arise as they try to uncover (or cover-up) information. It is wonderfully twisty and several times I caught myself asking “where can it go from here?” The unpredictable turns made for great reading and I can guarantee shocks along the way.

One for the fans of psychological thrillers that love a bit of human drama and torment to spice up a dark tale.

Lying in Wait is published by Penguin and is available now in digital and paperback. You can order a copy through this link: https://www.amazon.co.uk/d/cka/Lying-Wait-Liz-Nugent/0241974062/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1484434927&sr=8-1&keywords=lying+in+wait

Follow the blog tour here:

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