Caroline

The Secrets We Hide is one of the twistiest police procedurals I've read recently, and that's how I like them. I also like that Slaughter got straight down to business with the prologue. Opening with the murder was always going to reel me in. 🎣

We're back in North Falls for this, the second book in the Emmy Clifton series. It's six weeks since the events of We Are All Guilty Here came to their shocking conclusion, and when we meet Emmy, she is at her mother's funeral. On the way to a family gathering at cousin Taybee's house, Emmy, accompanied by son Cole and sister Jude, takes a short cut through a residential area of North Falls. That's when they hear a gunshot. 🚔

The investigation that follows takes many turns, and has a rogues gallery of suspects, from the abusive husband, to the former lover with a temper he can't control. The final reveal is a heartbreaker. 🚔

As with all of Slaughter's books, the themes, and people, are dark. Domestic abuse, crooked cops, blackmail and murder feature heavily. 🚔

Character wise, I'm glad Jude stayed in North Falls. She, rather than Emmy, is my favourite character, and I'm interested to see what she does going forward. 🚔

All told, I really enjoyed this book, and I love that it ended on a cliffhanger because that means there will be another instalment. 🚔

Thanks to HarperCollins UK and Netgalley for the ARC.

This title will be available on June 18th.

To mark the 100th anniversary of The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, HarperCollins UK will be publishing a special edition of the novel. I was lucky enough to be invited to read an ARC, and what a treat it was. 🗡️

As with last year's special edition of And Then There Were None, the final chapter of this Christie classic has been omitted, giving the reader the opportunity to try and solve the mystery alongside Poirot and his new sidekick, Dr. James Sheppard. 🗡️

Once again I had a lot of fun with this. As I hadn't read this before, nor watched its TV adaptation, I knew as much as Inspector Raglan or Poirot. There was quite a pool of suspects to choose from, and a few well placed red herrings too. 🗡️

When I got to the end, and was satisfied with my investigation, I downloaded the final chapter to see if I was right. 🗡️

To say I thoroughly enjoyed this book would be an understatement. That missing final chapter made the reading experience a lot more enjoyable, and my not having read the entire Christie back catalogue certainly helped. 🗡️

Thanks to HarperCollins UK and Netgalley for the ARC. This title will be available on June 4th.

I've been a fan of this series since Every Dead Thing was first published, and have read every single one more than once. A River Red With Blood has the honour of being the first in the series that I have listened to rather than read, and what an experience it has been. Jeff Harding has done a sterling job of narrating what is, in my opinion, the best Parker book post pandemic. 🩸

The usual cast of characters are here; Parker, Angel, Louis, and the Fulci brothers, Paulie and Tony. We also meet some characters we haven't met for some time, the rabbi Epstein, and medium Sabine Drew. 🩸

A River Red With Blood is a dark, disturbing story of kidnapping, rape and murder. During the course of his investigation into the death of a boy who had run away from his school, Parker encounters many creepy, decidedly evil individuals. And then he learns of the return of one of his nemeses. 🩸

The overall darkness of the book is balanced out by the humourous banter between Parker, Angel and Louis, and by the very presence of the Fulci brothers. 🩸

While the supernatural elements are kept to a minimum, there are some revelations, and it will be interesting to see where they take us. 🩸

I love this series, and I plan to circle back to the beginning and listen to every single book. 🩸🎧

I haven't been reading these anthologies in sequence, but this volume is my favourite to date.

Once again Tony Medawar has selected forgotten classics from the golden age of detective fiction, in this, the second book in the Bodies From the Library series. 🔎

Authors include Margery Allingham, Dorothy L Sayer, Edmund Crispin and Agatha Christie. 🔎

My personal favourite was Room to Let by Margery Allingham, a radio script about an unsolved murder, the victim of which may have been Jack the Ripper. 🔎

If you love tales from the golden age of detective fiction, then this is the book for you. 🔎

Not as good as its predecessors, but still an entertaining anthology. My personal favourite was The Magnifying Glass. 🔍

I liked the premise for this; a female serial killer eliminates men who have wronged her. A sort of female Dexter, if you will. There, however, the similarity ends because, while I loved Dexter, I couldn't warm to Yrsa at all, and lord knows I tried. 💉

I didn't dislike Honey, but it didn't excite me as much as the blurb for it did. That doesn't mean it's a bad book. Only you can decide that, by reading it for yourself. Just because it didn't set my world on fire doesn't mean it won't do so for you. 💉

As I said, I didn't dislike it. It had its moments, such as Yrsa's first, unintentional, kill, or her attempt to kill a well known misogynist. 💉

Yrsa comes across as very cold and unapproachable. Indeed, there is an instance of a student making a complaint about her. She does have a softer side though, as evidenced by her interactions with her father, and her frequent visits to her neighbor, Blake. 💉

Despite not loving it, Honey engaged me enough to want to finish it and find out how it ends for Yrsa. Again, you'll have to read it for yourself because I'm not going to tell you. 💉

Thanks to Harper Collins UK and Netgalley for the ARC.

This title will be available on May 7th.

I love a locked room mystery, me. I also love a side order of dark humour with my locked room mystery. A main character that's a bit of a maverick is a bonus. This book ticked all those boxes, and then some. 🚢

Jack Parlabane, our maverick, is an investigative journalist, trying to solve a decades old mystery. It's not long before he finds himself in the middle of a murder mystery onboard an ocean liner. 🚢

With three generations of one entertainment family, a business man keen to buy the puppet show that made them famous, and assorted fans of the show, there's quite a lot going on before we even get to the murder. There's also quite a lot of characters. That said, I enjoyed this. I really, really did. There's dark humour aplenty, and enough intrigue to keep the little grey cells ticking over. 🚢

This is the ninth book in the Jack Parlabane series, but the only one that I have read to date. This didn't hamper my enjoyment in any way. I may even circle back to the beginning some time. 🚢

Thanks to Little Brown and Netgalley for the ARC.

This title will be available on May 7th.

Five people are waiting for a train: a woman and her young son, an elderly lady, a gambler, and a business man. Their train is due at the station in five minutes, and when it arrives, one of these five will die. 🚝

The pages almost thrum with the tension that runs through this book. We, the readers, are spectators to what unfolds on this station platform. From the moment Gideon throws his mother's phone, we know that something bad is going to happen. Well actually, we know before then, because the author has told us so, but this incident serves to bring it home. From that moment on, further incidents occur until it is anyone's guess as to who will die, because there is no question now that someone will. 🚝

An incident at another station means the train is delayed by several minutes, causing some anxiety amongst the five, and some secondary characters who are also waiting on the platform. I was feeling pretty anxious myself at this point. 🚝

We are also treated to five interludes, where we learn the back stories of these five people. It soon becomes apparent that at least two of them know each other. 🚝

I enjoyed Five immensely. The back stories of the main protagonists were interesting, and at times poignant, more so because I knew one of them was going to die. While they weren't particularly likeable (yes, even the child) I certainly wasn't wishing death on any of them. I did, however, guess correctly who the unlucky person would be. 🚝

Thanks to HQ and Netgalley for the ARC.

This title will be available on May 5th.

I may have mentioned this before, but it's worth saying it again... this is a fun series. It may be cosy, but it's also very entertaining, with a wonderful cast of characters. 🗡️

How to Cheat Your Own Death is the third book in the Castle Knoll series. Author Kristen Perrin has stuck with the dual timeline narrative that served her so well in the first two books. The setting for this one is London, where Annie, preoccupied with her own fortune, is visiting her artist mother, Laura. Before you can say turpentine, Annie discovers a body in a skip behind her mother's house. This is the present day timeline, told from Annie's POV. 🗡️

The second timeline is 1968, and is told from the POV of Annie's great aunt Frances, in the form of diary entries. In this timeline there is a murder, with a modus operandi almost identical to that in Annie's timeline. Are the two connected? 🗡️

The story moves on at a steady pace. The dual timeline might not be to everyone's liking, but for me it was a further glimpse into Frances's life and how she came to be the keeper of so many secrets. All told, this was a most enjoyable read. 🗡️

Thanks to Quercus Books and Netgalley for the ARC.

This is the third installment in the Bodies From the Library series, an anthology of short mysteries from the golden age of detective fiction. 🔍

There's quite the mixed bag here, and a lot of authors I'd not heard of before. 🔍

My favourite story in the collection was The Incident of the Dog's Ball by Agatha Christie. My least favourite was Grand Guignol by John Dickson Carr which, I must admit, I DNF. 🔍

All in all though, this was an entertaining collection that made perfect bedtime reading. 🔍

I borrowed this title from Borrowbox.

I'm not a die hard Bowie fan, but I do appreciate his music, his many transformations, and his wonderful music videos (Ashes to Ashes springs to mind.) I've read other biographies of Bowie, and I didn't think there was anything more I needed to know. Then I saw this particular book on BorrowBox. The title intrigued me. I just had to know. 🎸

David Bowie and the Search for Life Death and God does exactly what it says on the tin. This is a deep dive into Bowie's search for spiritual enlightenment. It seems that he changed his religion as often as he changed his persona. Be it Buddhism, Gnosticism or Occultism, he tried them all. Not for Bowie organised religion. 🎸

As Ormerod takes us through Bowie's spiritual journey, he shows us how the different stages are reflected in the music. I'm afraid a lot of this went over my head because, as I said, I'm not a die hard fan. It still made for interesting reading though. 🎸

Many thanks to Random House UK and Netgalley for this ARC because, without you, I may well have missed out on this absolute cracker of a book.

This, right here, is my kind of book. First and foremost, it's a police procedural with a pair of mismatched detectives in the shape of DS Joseph Ashe, aka Dash, and DI Laurie Bower. What made it more engaging for me was the oh so gentle hint of the supernatural. That folks, was the clincher. 🏹

Ghosties aside, The Drowning Place is actually very, very good. DI Bower is on secondment to Edenscar, from Salford, and almost immediately finds herself investigating a triple murder which has shocked the whole community. As the investigation progresses, events take on a more sinister turn. 🏹

Dark, and twisty, the story moves along at a steady pace. Joe is a very likeable character, and definitely the ying to Laurie's yang but, like Cooper and Fry, or Dalziel and Pascoe, they are a good fit. 🏹

I was so sure I knew who the killer was, and felt vindicated when my suspect was arrested, but then the author threw a curve ball that I definitely didn't see coming. Brilliant! 🏹

If you're looking for a book that's guaranteed to mess with your head, then allow me to present Yesteryear for your perusal and enjoyment. This folks, is one of those books that has you muttering "wtf!!!" almost constantly. It's bonkers, but it's also very entertaining. 🐄

The story is told from the POV of Natalie Heller Mills, a good Christian wife, mother and influencer. Yesteryear is the ranch where Natalie and her family live their idyllic life. But all is not as it seems. 🐄

That's as much background as I'm willing to give. Trust me guys, this book is just twist after twist, revelation after revelation. Natalie, who spends an inordinate amount of time trying to be likeable for her Instagram followers, is anything but. I can't begin to tell you how much I disliked her. But it was her vileness that made this so enjoyable. 🐄

To be honest, apart from the children, none of the characters are particularly likeable. Caleb, Natalie's husband, is a conspiracy theorist, and her father-in-law Doug, has presidential aspirations. 🐄

It's not too much of a stretch to imagine the events portrayed in Yesteryear occurring in real life. Truth is often stranger than fiction, after all. 🐄

Thanks to 4th Estate Books and Netgalley for the ARC.