Twisted by Steve Cavanagh

Twisted by Steve Cavanagh
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

BEFORE YOU READ THIS BOOK
I WANT YOU TO KNOW THREE THINGS:

1. The police are looking to charge me with murder.
2. No one knows who I am. Or how I did it.
3. If you think you've found me. I'm coming for you next.

After you've read this book, you'll know: the truth is far more twisted...

What a gifted writer Steve Cavanagh is he is brilliant at weaving intricate plots and pulling the reader in. Deeply twisted this novel will have you question everything and then some. Right from the very first chapter this addictive psychological thriller will have you galloping along unable to turn the pages quickly enough.

Just when you think you’ve worked it all out along comes another curve ball to knock your theory out of the park.

Good characters, believable storylines and enough tension and twisted inventiveness to keep you guessing until the end.

Brilliant, I think Steve Cavanagh has now joined my list of best psychological thriller writers. Recommended reading and for me a 5 star novel.

I would like to thank the publisher for sending this in exchange for an honest review.

Never Tell by Lisa Gardner

Never Tell by Lisa Gardner
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

One death might be an accident.
Two looks like murder.

A man is shot dead in his own home, and his pregnant wife, Evie, is found with the gun in her hands.

Detective D.D. Warren instantly recognises her. Sixteen years ago, Evie also shot her own father. That killing was ruled an accident.

D.D. doesn’t believe in coincidences. But this case isn’t as open and shut as it first appears, and her job is to discover the truth.

Evie might be a victim.

Or she might be about to get away with murder again.

This appears to be one of a series of books which I had not read before but it is a decent stand alone book.

A solid plot line with relatable characters who as expected are flawed and this predictably leads them into difficult scenarios.

Lots of police involvement but equally good explanations along the way as different lines of enquiry are pursued until the puzzle begins to fit together.

Tightly woven together sub plots that culminate in the final reveal, which wasn’t entirely unpredictable but nevertheless a satisfactory read but no real unexpected twists.

There are so many books in this psychological/thriller/criminal genre that it’s becoming more and more difficult to rate them. This is not a great book but still a decent read, I give this one a 3.5 (rounded up to 4* for Goodreads and Amazon) and would recommend.

The Colorado Kid by Stephen King

The Colorado Kid by Stephen King
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

On an island off the coast of Maine, a man is found dead. There’s no identification on the body. Only the dogged work of a pair of local newspapermen and a graduate student in forensics turns up any clues, and it’s more than a year before the man is identified. And that’s just the beginning of the mystery. Because the more they learn about the man and the baffling circumstances of his death, the less they understand. Was it an impossible crime? Or something stranger still...? No one but Stephen King could tell this story about the darkness at the heart of the unknown and our compulsion to investigate the unexplained. With echoes of Dashiell Hammett’s THE MALTESE FALCON and the work of Graham Greene, one of the world’s great storytellers presents a moving and surprising tale whose subject is nothing less than the nature of mystery itself...


This is not a new Stephen King book but re released illustrated edition part of the Hard Case Crime series.

As with most King books the reader should not be expecting the norm but have to inhabit the tale go get the most out of it.

Not a book with a conclusion or happy neat ending but one that makes the reader think and if a book can do that then, for me, it’s done a good job.

When two teenagers find the body of a man on the beach it begins a mystery that remains unsolved for many years. Over a cup of coffee two veterans of the local newspaper The Weekly Islander (Dave Bowie 65 managing editor and Vincent Teague the 92 year old founder of the paper) tell Stephanie McCann (22 who is on an internship at the paper) about the unsolved case.

Eventually the identity of the dead man is revealed but the reasons that lead him to the island of Moose-Lookit remain a mystery.

I enjoyed the engaging prose and characterisation of all the ‘players’ and felt it sat nicely in the era. Brave of any writer to leave a book the same way it started, as a mystery, yet for all that it was a clever and intriguing tale.

Life does not neatly package up answers for everything and I think that this is the message here. Some things we will never know for sure but it doesn’t prevent us from trying. This is not a book for anyone looking for a solution to the tale which might frustrate some readers but for me maybe that was its resolution in that not everything in life is so tidy and neat. Some things simply can’t be explained.

Thought provoking and a good 4 star read. I would like to thank the publisher for sending this in exchange for an honest review.

The House Across the Street by Lesley Pearse

The House Across the Street by Lesley Pearse
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Is there a murderer across the street?

It's 1964 and twenty-three-year-old Katy Speed is fascinated by glamorous Gloria and the goings-on at her house over the road.

Who are the mysterious women that keep coming and going in the strange black car?

Then one night, Gloria's house burns to the ground. Bodies are found in the wreckage.

And Katy's horror turns to disbelief when her own father is arrested and charged with murder.

Determined to prove his innocence, Katy sets out to uncover the truth about the mysterious house across the street and find the real murderer. But that means risking her own life . . . 

Set in the 60s this book got off to a decent start but seemed to fall away once the plot was revealed. There were no real surprises and for me it felt very dated and lack lustre.

There was no real element of suspense and although it was set in the 60s and I expected it to reflect the era the dialogue seemed dated and bland.

Very predictable and simplistic with no great depth or passion - sorry a feeble 3 stars from me. Unfortunately my first book by this author so not one I intend to follow 😟

Watching You by Lisa Jewell

Watching You by Lisa Jewell
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

You’re back home after four years working abroad, new husband in tow.

You’re keen to find a place of your own. But for now you’re crashing in your big brother’s spare room.

That’s when you meet the man next door.

He’s the head teacher at the local school. Twice your age. Extraordinarily attractive. You find yourself watching him.

All the time.

But you never dreamed that your innocent crush might become a deadly obsession.

Or that someone is watching you.



Well constructed and intricately plotted novel with a creepy voyeristic flavour that keeps you going until the end. Nosey neighbours, bored housewives, slightly biopila resident all come together in this clever story of tragedy, lust, paranoia and revenge.

It opens up (as so many of this genre do) with the body of a woman murdered in her kitchen with a very convenient clue to the possible murderer at the scene. It’s all too clean to be the real murderer and so the story begins to unfold and lead the reader on many red herrings to throw the reader off the scent.

I did guess who the murderer was but not the reasons behind until almost the end so Lisa Jewell did well to keep the secret almost to the end.

Enjoyable read, lively short chapters that kept the pace moving forward well. Just enough information on the characters to keep the story alive and believable. A recommended read - 4 stars

The Last House Guest by Megan Miranda

The Last House Guest by Megan Miranda

Never overstay your welcome...

Littleport, Maine is like two separate towns: a vacation paradise for wealthy holidaymakers and a simple harbour community for the residents who serve them. Friendships between locals and visitors are unheard of - but that's just what happened with Avery Greer and Sadie Loman.

Each summer for a decade the girls are inseparable - until Sadie is found dead. When the police rule the death a suicide, Avery can't help but feel there are those in the community, including a local detective and Sadie's brother Parker, who blame her. Someone knows more than they're saying, and Avery is intent on clearing her name before she's branded a killer.


I really enjoyed Megan Miranda’s The Perfect Strange and so was eager to read this one but I’m afraid for me it just wasn’t a patch on ATMG.

It was told over two time lines which was fine but it was just so slow and uneventful for almost half the book that I found myself almost putting it down and not bothering. It was predictable and bland with no real surprises for the reader. Megan Miranda worked so hard to make the reader suspect one character that it was obviously someone else and not that hard to guess who.

I didn’t particularly like or connect with any of the characters so found myself not really caring in the end what happened to any of them.

Such a shame after ATMG novel but maybe my expectations were unrealistically high after reading this.

Really can only give this one a 3 star rating - sorry

I would like to thank the publisher for sending this in exchange for an honest review.

Living My Best Li(f)e by Claire Frost

Living My Best Li(f)e by Claire Frost
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Bell never thought she’d be facing her 40th birthday single. Recently dumped by her boyfriend of ten years, Bell is struggling to move on with her life – and surrender the fleecy pyjamas she’s been living in since January. Sick of being bombarded by #blessed on social media and feeling like her life doesn’t live up to everyone else’s, she decides it’s time for a change; time to find out who she really is, not who she thinks she should be.

Enter Millie, a successful online influencer posting under the handle @mi_bestlife. But as a single mum trying to make ends meet and stay ahead of the younger generation snapping at her heels, her Instagram feed is far more #BestLiethan #BestLife. With the internet trolls continuing to bring her down and an ex who cares more about playing football than seeing their son, Millie begins to wish her life was more like her filters.

It isn’t until Millie and Bell’s paths cross that the two women begin to realise what they’re missing. Will Bell finally learn to live life for herself? And will Millie see that she needs to start living for the momentand not for the likes?

Didn’t like this one at all. Schmaltzy life about friendships, community and finding yourself. Really cliched and rather boring - 185 pages in and nothing is really happening. The characters are at best trying and at worst pathetic and a 4 year old child called Wolf with the verbal and mental capabilities of a grown up didn’t ring true either.

It was drawn out with no pace or intrigue and was all so predictable that even skim reading I missed nothing and the ending was just as lack lustre as the rest of the book.

A reader has to invest time to read a novel and when there are great novels out there reading something so trite is not a good investment on the readers commitment or on their pocket.

Sorry I hate giving bad reviews and usually find something to like but this one just (for me) had no redeeming factors. A rather sad 2 stars from me.

I would like to thank the publisher for sending this in exchange for an honest review.