This was read in preparation for our last show which was all about book series’ (if you missed it you can listen to it anywhere you listen to podcasts or through the below link) however this novel is also perfect for the Halloween season.
Blurb
Two years ago, Louise le Blanc fled her coven and took shelter in the city of Cesarine, forsaking all magic and living off whatever she could steal. There, witches like Lou are hunted. They are feared. And they are burned.
As a huntsman of the Church, Reid Diggory has lived his life by one principle: Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live. But when Lou pulls a wicked stunt, the two are forced into an impossible situation—marriage.
Lou, unable to ignore her growing feelings, yet powerless to change what she is, must make a choice. And love makes fools of us all.
I went into this book pretty blind. Having seen it promoted and raved about all over Bookstagram I decided to get it from Waterstones one day as part of a buy 1 get 1 half price. What I didn’t realise is just how good it would be!
This was another Netgalley read and also Natasha Brown’s debut novel. So let’s start with a bit of an overview.
Blurb
Come of age in the credit crunch. Be civil in a hostile environment. Go to college, get an education, start a career. Do all the right things. Buy an apartment. Buy art. Buy a sort of happiness. But above all, keep your head down. Keep quiet. And keep going.
The narrator of Assembly is a black British woman. She is preparing to attend a lavish garden party at her boyfriend’s family estate, set deep in the English countryside. At the same time, she is considering the carefully assembled pieces of herself. As the minutes tick down and the future beckons, she can’t escape the question: is it time to take it all apart?
I have previously read CT Ortega’s debut novel, The Writer and The Throne and really enjoyed it, so I jumped at the chance to review his new novel, One Will Die.
BLURB
Two different lives… Two different hopes… Only one will survive…
Tanel, a quiet poet born into the battle-driven clan of Mil’chama. The heavily trained boy struggles to find his way, wishing for a more peaceful existence.
Vinn, a young man tired of watching his people suffer because they’re ill-prepared to defend themselves. The warrior at heart has had enough and is ready to fight back.
As the two stand on the opposing sides of the battlefield, face to face, one of these coming-of-age stories will have an early end.
Thanks to RedDogPress for gifting me a copy of Chris McDonald’s new murder mystery novella, The Case of the Missing Firefly and for inviting me to be a part of this wonderful book tour.
Blurb
The notoriously hard-drinking, backstabbing Stonebridge Radio crew are having their Hallowe’en party on Winkle Island, rumoured to be the most haunted place in Northern Ireland. Unfortunately, Adam and Colin are there too, having accepted an easy payday from Colin’s event organising mother.
At dinner, a shocking announcement is followed by an even more shocking murder, and the theft of a priceless Firefly necklace. To top it all, thanks to a raging storm, everyone is trapped on the island.
Faced with devious radio presenters, a strange tour guide, and a rampaging murderer, Adam and Colin are back in business.
———–‐————–
This whodunit has everything you could want. From the spooky, coastal/boat setting, the building of tension and suspense to the unique and quirky characters who are all suspects. The Case of the Missing Firefly is perfect to read on a crisp autumn night under a fluffy blanket in front of the fire with a nice hot drink.
I loved the fact it was set just off the coast of Northern Ireland as it is a place very close to my heart and where my dad’s side of the family are from.
From the quiet, hardworking, elderly boss, Albert to your typical, egotistical, arrogant prime time dj, Drive Time Dave, you are introduced to a whole variety of different personalities which each lends their own spin on events and predich who they think really did it. Then you have your typical young tech nerds, Colin and Adam, who are simply meant to be there to set up the projector for the presentation. They think it will be the easiest £100 earned for 2 minutes work, but suddenly they are thrust into the middle of a murder investigation. With no police able to make it to the scene they don their detective hats and go all Sherlock and Watson to help solve the mystery.
This was an easy, quick and fun read. Although I guessed about halfway through who the murderer was, there were still a few twists I didn’t see coming which made it all the more exciting at the end.
Overall, I thought it was a great cosy murder mystery. It also happens to be the 4th in the series of the Stonebridge murders so I will certainly be looking out for the first 3. However, these can be read as standalones.
If you are looking for a fun little novella full of crime, suspense, murder and a bit of geekiness I highly recommend this book. Also I love the cover, it is very reminiscent of traditional murder mysteries.
⭐⭐⭐⭐ – a fun, cosy murder mystery novella perfect for the season
You can purchase the novella from the links below:
Stonebridge is a small town on the north coast of Northern Ireland. Most of its inhabitants are friendly, happy people. Most of them…Because bad things happen even in the happiest of places. It’s a good thing, then, that Adam Whyte and Colin McLaughlin call Stonebridge home. Armed with an encyclopedic knowledge of detective shows, a misplaced sense of confidence and a keen desire to see justice done, these two are the closest thing the town has to saviours. Which isn’t that reassuring…
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Originally hailing from the north coast of Northern Ireland and now residing in South Manchester, Chris McDonald has always been a reader. At primary school, The Hardy Boys inspired his love of adventure, before his reading world was opened up by Chuck Palahniuk and the gritty world of crime.
He’s a fan of 5-a-side football, has an eclectic taste in music ranging from Damien Rice to Slayer and loves dogs.
A scream cut through the night as they watched flames engulf the woodland. Fire ripped through the trees, leaving only charred branches behind. And then they saw it… on the ashen forest floor… was a body.
Police officer, Mitchel Prescott answered the phone with a shaking hand. It was the one call he had been dreading. It was the hospital at Green Acres… his father Thomas, had died in the night.
Returning to the small town he had been avoiding since he was a child, Mitch must lay his father to rest.
When he arrives, the close-knit residents refuse to speak about Thomas’ death, other to explain he was found burnt to death in the woods and his dementia was the likely cause.
But when Mitch discovers traces of accelerant on his father’s body, he’s certain it wasn’t an accident. Then his childhood home is broken into, his father’s study ransacked, and a rock thrown through the window warning him to leave.
Mitch is convinced Thomas had discovered something that had got him into trouble… something that would threaten his entire family.
I was gifted this book by Welbeck publishing in exchange for an honest review. I will admit I haven’t read the first book in the Jessica Niemi series, The Witch Hunter, but I feel it hasn’t hindered my enjoyment of the book.
This was another Netgalley read I was gifted in exchange for an honest review. My usual genres at the moment have been thrillers, romance or fantasy so I thought I would try something a bit different. So without further ado let’s have a bit of a blurb:
Blurb
When aspiring novelist Christopher Flinders drops out of university to write his masterpiece (in between shifts as a fish delivery man and builder’s mate), his family is sceptical.
But when he is taken up by the London editor Owen Goddard and his charming wife Diana it seems success is just around the corner. Christopher’s life has so far been rather short of charm – growing up in an unlovely suburb, with unambitious parents and a semi-vagrant brother – and he is captivated by his generous and cultured mentors.
However, on the brink of realising his dream, Christopher makes a desperate misjudgment which results in disaster for all involved. Shattered, he withdraws from London and buries himself in rural Yorkshire, embracing a career and a private life marked by mediocrity.
Twenty years on, a young academic researching into Owen Goddard seeks him out, and Christopher is forced to exhume his past, setting him on a path to a life-changing discovery.
This is a trilogy which I have seen around Bookstagram for a long time. Then my amazing brother bought me the complete set for Christmas last year and so I thought it was about time to see what all the fuss is about. So, without further ado here is my review of Scythe by Neil Shusterman
Blurb
A world with no hunger, no disease, no war, no misery. Humanity has conquered all those things, and has even conquered death. Now scythes are the only ones who can end life—and they are commanded to do so, in order to keep the size of the population under control.
Citra and Rowan are chosen to apprentice to a scythe—a role that neither wants. These teens must master the “art” of taking life, knowing that the consequence of failure could mean losing their own.
This novel was another one I had the pleasure of reading through NetGalley. So thank you to Netgalley and Amazon Publishing for this opportunity to read and review Martyn Ford’s latest novel, All Our Darkest Secrets.
Blurb
He’d do anything to protect his wife. But what if that meant making the biggest mistake of all?
James Casper is one of the good guys. A DEA agent. A loyal husband. With his sights set on the man at the top of the city’s opioid crisis, James is about to make the biggest bust of his career.
Then his beloved wife Rosie does something terrible, and James must choose: report it—or help her. He knows how this works, and he tells himself he’s smart enough to get away with murder. But James’s worst enemy knows what they have done—and he won’t hesitate to use it to manipulate him.
James is dragged into a dark and dangerous world. As events spiral and loyalties are tested, he realizes there’s only one way out. And that is to be even more ruthless than the people he’s working for.
Whatever happens, no matter how far he falls, at least he’ll still have Rosie.
I must admit I haven’t read his first novel, House in the Cerulean Sea. However I have heard so many good things about that novel and so I jumped at the chance to read and review this title through Netgalley. Needless to say I am now biting at the bit to read his previous title.
Blurb
Welcome to Charon’s Crossing.
The tea is hot, the scones are fresh, and the dead are just passing through.
When a reaper comes to collect Wallace from his own sparsely attended funeral, Wallace is outraged. But he begins to suspect she’s right, and he is in fact dead. Then when Hugo, owner of a most peculiar tea shop, promises to help him cross over, Wallace reluctantly accepts the truth.
Yet even in death, he refuses to abandon his life – even though Wallace spent all of it working, correcting colleagues and hectoring employees. He’d had no time for frivolities like fun and friends. But as Wallace drinks tea with Hugo and talks to his customers, he wonders if he was missing something.
The feeling grows as he shares jokes with the resident ghost, manifests embarrassing footwear and notices the stars. So, when he’s given one week to pass through the door to the other side, Wallace sets about living a lifetime in just seven days.
Lizzieslittlebooknook 