Late to the Party

Bryant and May - Oranges and Lemons by Christopher Fowler Published by Transworld Publish date: 23 July 2020 * Thanks to Random House UK, Transworld Publishers and Netgalley for an ARC in return for an honest review. This is the 19th and latest book in the Bryant & May series by Christopher Fowler and I'm guessing that the opening chaos and bizarre happenings are nothing new to this series! The Speaker of the House of Commons steps out of his house and is crushed by crates of oranges and lemons. Of course this is going to be a case for the Peculiar Crimes Unit (PCU)! But the PCU had previously been disbanded - the staff have all been dismissed, one detective is recovering in hospital and another has gone missing. The Peculiar Crimes Unit is reluctantly given a reprieve to solve one more case - a case which seems to mirror the old nursery rhyme 'Oranges and Lemons'. A couple of new faces join the rest of the PCU team, a Home Office spy named Tim ...

Keep Her Quiet by Emma Curtis Published by Black Swan Release date: 17th September 2020 ISBN:  978-1784165253 * Thanks to Random House UK, Transworld Publishers and Netgalley for an ARC in return for an honest review. Jenny has just given birth to the baby she's always wanted. She's never been this happy. Her husband Leo, knows the baby can't be his. He's never felt so betrayed. The same night, a vulnerable young woman, Hannah, wakes to find her newborn lifeless beside her. She's crazed with guilt. When chance throws Hannah into Leo's path, they make a plan that will have shattering consequences for all of them. Years later, a sixteen year old girl reads an article in a newspaper, and embarks on a journey to uncover the truth about herself. But what she learns will put everything she has ever known - and her own life - in grave danger. Because some people will go to desperate lengths to protect the secret their lives are built on... Read...

The Sin Eater by Megan Campisi Published by Pan Macmillan Release Date: 23 July 2020 ISBN:  978-1529019063 * Thank you to Pan Macmillan and Netgalley for sending an ARC in return for an honest review. An old adage says there are really only two stories: a man goes on a voyage, and a stranger arrives in town. This is the third: a woman breaks the rules . . . Can you uncover the truth when you’re forbidden from speaking it? A Sin Eater’s duty is a necessary evil: she hears the confessions of the dying, eats their sins as a funeral rite. Stained by these sins, she is shunned and silenced, doomed to live in exile at the edge of town. Recently orphaned May Owens is just fourteen, only concerned with where her next meal is coming from. When she’s arrested for stealing a loaf of bread, however, and subsequently sentenced to become a Sin Eater, finding food is suddenly the last of her worries. It’s a devastating sentence, but May’s new invisibility opens new doors. And ...

Playing Nice by JP Delaney Published by Quercus Books Release Date: 28 July 2020 ISBN: 9781529400878 * Thank you to Quercus Books and NetGalley for sending the ARC in return for an honest review. Pete Riley answers the door one morning to a parent’s worst nightmare. On his doorstep is Miles Lambert, who breaks the devastating news that Pete’s two-year-old, Theo, isn’t Pete’s real son – their babies got mixed up at birth. The two families – Pete, his partner Maddie, and Miles and his wife Lucy – agree that, rather than swap the boys back, they’ll try to find a more flexible way to share their children’s lives. But a plan to sue the hospital triggers an investigation that unearths disturbing questions about just what happened the day the babies were switched. And when Theo is thrown out of nursery for hitting other children, Maddie and Pete have to ask themselves: how far do they want this arrangement to go? What secrets lie hidden behind the Lamberts’ smart ...

Devoured by Anna Mackmin Published by Propolis ISBN: 978-0992946067 1973. Swallow's Farmhouse in deep, rural Norfolk is home to Your People, a commune of free-thinkers and poets seeking a better way. But beneath the veneer of a nurturing, alternative lifestyle, an atmosphere of jealousy and threat is pushing utopia towards the brink of its inevitable collapse. Raising herself amidst the chaos is a twelve year old survivor, desperately preoccupied with her transition into womanhood. With her mute sister, beloved dog and the re-defining force of her emerging appetites, she marches resolutely towards her future, venturing - with hilarious and horrifying results - through the minefield of an adult world built on hypocrisy and misplaced ideals. Devoured is Theatre Director's Anna Mackmin's first novel. Mackmin herself was raised in a commune in Norfolk during the 70s and, although most of the events in Devoured were made up, she does share some similarities wi...

Gallows Rock by Yrsa Sigudardottir. Published by Hodder & Stoughton (Release date 23 July 2020) ISBN:  978-1473693395 * Thank you to Hodder & Stoughton for providing a digital reading copy. On a jagged, bleak lava field just outside Reykjavik stands the Gallows Rock. Once a place of execution, it is now a tourist attraction. Until this morning, when a man was found hanging from it... The nail embedded in his chest proves it wasn't suicide. But when the police go to his flat, a further puzzle awaits: a four-year-old boy has been left there. He doesn't seem to have any link with the victim, his parents cannot be found, and his drawings show he witnessed something terrible. As detective Huldar hunts the killer, and child psychologist Freyja looks for the boy's parents, the mystery unfolds: a story of violence, entitlement, and revenge. This is the fourth in the Freyja and Huldar series but the first book I've ever read by Yrsa Siggurdardottir. ...

All of those plans and big ideas I had at the beginning of lock-down and... well, they didn't amount to much! Hanging out with the family, sleeping, working (from home), eating, TV, nature, walking, skincare and reading have pretty much been the constants to my lock-down life. But reading has featured very heavily - so I though I might just start introducing a few posts about reading and books. I'm still keeping this blog primarily as a skincare blog but thought I might try my hand at branching out a bit. I'm reading the equivalent of a book every two days. I usually have a physical book on the go at all times, but I've turned to Kindle and e-books during the lock-down which is a new thing for me. Not that I'm at all sniffy about e-books but I do prefer the real thing. But I took to Kindle on my iphone much better than I thought I would, so I always have an e-book on the go as well. This is my current 'To be read' pile. This isn't ...