Hope to Die by David Jackson

Hope to Die by David Jackson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

CROSS YOUR HEART AND . . . HOPE TO DIE
There was a hate in this killer. A thirst for obliteration rather than a mere desire to end a life . . .

A brutal murder takes place in the grounds of a Liverpool cathedral. A killer is on the loose, driven by a chilling rage. The victim: the last person you'd expect to be subjected to such terrible violence. Can DS Nathan Cody crack the case before another innocent is chosen?


My first novel by this author and my first introduction to DC Nathan Cody. Having missed the first novel in this sequence of DC Cody books I thought it might be difficult to understand the character but Jackson made it easy to get the back story.

All the characters were filled in nicely so missing the first book in the series didn’t spoil the enjoyment.

Psychological thriller with good tension and nit overly long chapters kept the pace going nicely but the concept wasn’t entirely new. There were a couple of surprises but not enough to make the story really stand out. Having said this it’s an excellent read and Jackson even managed to create empathy for the killer who had been mercilessly mentally abused by his mother. Reading parts where he is only 6 having wet the bed and all the punishment that incurred were very moving.

Well deserved 4 stars from me.

Pretty Guilty Women by Gina LaManna

Pretty Guilty Women by Gina LaManna
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Four Women. Four Confessions. One Murder.

Something has gone terribly wrong at the Banks wedding. A man is dead. Four different women rush to offer confessions, each insisting that they committed the crime -- alone.

Ginger is holding her family together by a thread, and this wedding weekend is not the fabulous getaway she anticipated.

Kate has enough money to buy her way out of anything. Well, almost anything.

Emily can't shake her reputation or her memories, and she's planning to drown this whole vacation in a bottle.

Lulu's got ex-husbands to spare, and another on the way -- as soon as she figures out what the devil the current husband is up to behind her back.

Why would they confess to the same murder? Only they know -- and they're not telling. This page-turning novel explores the depths of friendship and the truths we love to ignore.


Three ex college friends meet up at an exclusive luxury hotel for the wedding of a mutual friend Kate, Ginger and Emily are friends of the bride, Lulu who becomes friends to the other three is related to the groom through marriage to Pierce her husband. Lulu is much older than the others and on her forth marriage.

All the friends have secrets and (Lulu apart) having had no contact with each other for five years, they have no idea what each of them has gone through.

We open with a murder and each of the friends confess to the killing. While the confused and exasperated detective tries to unpick the mystery we learn the stories of these friends and what leads each to confess to the murder.

Despite its hefty 319 pages it is a surprisingly quick read, nicely written with interesting flawed characters. There was a little twist at the end, not completely surprising but it rounds things off. Nothing too heavy with his novel, recommended read - four stars.

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

The Loving Husband by Christobel Kent

The Loving Husband by Christobel Kent
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Atmospheric psychological thriller that journeys through the effects of love and trust. Fran comes to live in the Fens with her husband and children leaving London and her friends, family and job behind her. She’s entirely reliant on her husband where trust is paramount.

Often left alone with her daughter Emme and Ben the new baby, Fran has placed her life in husband Nathan’s hands, cut off from all she knows.

Tragically one night she discovers him dead on their farm and her life starts to unravel. How well did she know Nathan, who was she married to?

Cleverly woven sub plots come together and the murderer is exposed but not before several red herrings have been discarded. It was a decent story but let down by hollow characters and Frans ‘secret’ being a bit weak - having said that it was an enjoyable read and worth 4 stars

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

Rewind by Catherine Ryan Howard

Rewind by Catherine Ryan Howard
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

PLAY
Andrew, the manager of Shanamore Holiday Cottages, watches his only guest via a hidden camera in her room. One night the unthinkable happens: a shadowy figure emerges onscreen, kills her and destroys the camera. But who is the murderer? How did they know about the camera? And how will Andrew live with himself?

PAUSE
Natalie wishes she'd stayed at home as soon as she arrives in the wintry isolation of Shanamore. There's something creepy about the manager. She wants to leave, but she can't - not until she's found what she's looking for...

REWIND
This is an explosive story about a murder caught on camera. You've already missed the start. To get the full picture you must rewind the tape and play it through to the end, no matter how shocking...

A twisty clever thriller set in Ireland with creepy characters and remote isolated places this book really had it all.

Told through multiple timelines it did however become a bit disjointed and difficult to follow. Reading a little and returning later it was hard to remember what had gone on and I had to re-read the chapter before to refresh myself.

I did work out early on who had committed the murder but I wanted to know the motive and when it was revealed I felt it just was a bit weak and let down what otherwise could have been a five star rating.

It is a good read, I think that as such a prolific reader I probably am harder to please so go and buy it you won’t be disappointed. A solid 4 stars from me

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

The Retreat - Sherri Smith blog tour

The Retreat: A Novel of Suspense by Sherri Smith
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Katie Manning was a beloved child star until her mid-teens when her manager attacked and permanently scarred her face, effectively ending her career and sending her on a path of all-too-familiar post-Hollywood self-destruction.

Now twenty-seven, Katie wants a better answer to those clickbait "Where Are They Now?" articles that float around online. An answer she hopes to find when her brother's too-good-to-be-true fiancée invites her to a wellness retreat upstate. Together with Katie's two best friends - one struggling with crippling debt and family obligations, one running away from a failed job and relationship - Katie will try to find the inner peace promised at the tranquil retreat. But finding oneself just might drudge up more memories than Katie is prepared to deal with.

Each woman has come to the retreat for different reasons. Each has her secrets to hide. And at the end of this weekend, only one will be left standing.

Another book centered around a wellness retreat which seem to be a popular choice for writers at the moment. A psychological thriller that brings together 4 women Katie, Carmen, Ellie and Ariel who attend a weekend getaway each hoping to gain something uplifting from the experience.

Naturally things don’t go particularly well and at the end of the novel only one of the group come out alive. Well paced with characters although not entirely likeable do make this work.

Not as good at Nine Perfect strangers by Liane Morriarty but worth 4 stars

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



Excerpt: 



Excerpt 4. Carmen

She’d started donating her eggs in her second term at NYU when she realized that her financial-aid package, even with a scholarship, fell short of covering all of her tuition.

She had tried working as a bartender, but the late nights caused her grades to slip, and her partial scholarship was threatened. She was in danger of not being able to finish out the year. She would have had to drop out, left with nothing but crippling debt to show for it (which eventually happened anyway).

Enter Darla Gibbins from ReproGen. She’d solicited Carmen in the student commons, stepping out in front of her as if she were selling hand lotion in a mall. Darla looked like either a madam or a television evangelist. Chubby and virtually chinless, her fake thick lashes wagged from her eyelids like butterflies stuck in glittery grease. “What’s a little discomfort for a couple of weeks if it puts up to $10,000 in your pocket? Easy money.”

Ten thousand turned out to be seven thousand. But the egg donation was easy, and she could study in the waiting room. She was hooked.

Now Carmen was on her fourth donation because clearly she came from especially fecund stock, and the money was just cover- ing the little extras like clothes and replacing the busted picture window because they couldn’t go another winter with cardboard as their only protection. Her thirteen-year-old brother, the shithead, had gone on a Banksy-inspired vandalism spree and now Carmen was stuck paying off his fines to keep him out of juvie. Then to top it off, the hot water tank just went.

She told herself it was her last donation, but even she didn’t be- lieve it. She felt hooked. It wasn’t the easiest way to make money, but out of all the ways to make money, it wasn’t the worst either.

Carmen felt she was nine years old and back in the free swim- ming class offered to low-income families. The instructor had called the kids who’d passed to stand on the side and left the failures in the pool, half treading water, half drowning, looking up at them, chlorinated water burning up their noses and eyes. Carmen did everything right to escape that pool, but there she was anyway. Pov- erty was like a serial killer at the end of a horror movie; just when she thought she’d gotten away, it popped up stronger, yielding an electric bill like a machete.



She still skimmed the release of liability waiver and signed it anyway. She planned on backing out at the last minute to avoid Katie’s inevitable wheedling that would last the entire weekend. Carmen’s contract specifically stated she not partake in any drugs or alcohol, yet she couldn’t deny her interest was piqued. She’d love to drink some magical tea, morph into her spirit animal or whatever, and gallop around in some rainbow-drenched, unicorn-laden alter- nate universe for an hour or eight. Her life was hard. It’d be nice to sink into oblivion for a while. It was what she’d always liked about Katie; she brought out Carmen’s risk-taking side. She slayed her type A. Got her to loosen up, drink too much, have fun, take off her glasses, let her hair fall loose like the schoolmarm in some old- school rock video who suddenly gave in to all her seething impulses. Katie was her bad influence. Someone she could blame for doing what she really wanted to do.

The Craftsman by Sharon J. Bolton

The Craftsman by Sharon J. Bolton

Devoted father or merciless killer?

His secrets are buried with him.

Florence Lovelady's career was made when she convicted coffin-maker Larry Glassbrook of a series of child murders 30 years ago. Like something from our worst nightmares the victims were buried...ALIVE.

Larry confessed to the crimes; it was an open and shut case. But now he's dead, and events from the past start to repeat themselves.

Did she get it wrong all those years ago?
Or is there something much darker at play?

Another cleverly crafted psychological thriller with a flavour of witchcraft which made the story fresh.

Told over two timelines 1969 and 1999 it follows the first murder case of newly qualified WPC Lovelady in Pendle Hill in Yorkshire. Several children go missing and when found they have been buried alive. The first victim is found buried alive with an effigy doll made by her killer.

Other children go missing and it’s a race against time to find them - all this takes place in 1969.

Lovelady goes on to solve the mystery and gets the killer much to the annoyance of this small towns all male officer force. 1960’s police force was dominated by men and the Yorkshire constabulary closed ranks around her - all except one DC Tom Devine

1999 and Lovelady has moved on, married and has a son Ben she goes back to Pendle Hill with Ben for the funeral of the man she arrested and charged for the murders, Larry Glassbrook. Her arrival stirs memories and the feeling she had all those years ago about the wrong man being accused surface again. Florence finds she may have been wrong and a whole new set of spooky goings on lead her to the truth.

Very well executed with plenty of atmosphere that has the reader completely hooked until the end. I’ve not read this author before but on the strength of this novel I would definitely read her work again. I would have given this 4.5 stars but rounded down to 4 - a recommended read.

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

The Nanny by Gilly Macmillan

The Nanny by Gilly Macmillan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Seven-year-old Jocelyn loves her nanny more than her own mother.
When her nanny disappears one night, Jo never gets over the loss.
How could she vanish without saying goodbye?

Thirty years on, Jo is forced to return to her family home and confront her troubled relationship with her mother. When human remains are discovered in the grounds of the house, Jo begins to question everything.

Then an unexpected visitor knocks at the door and Jo’s world is destroyed again as, one by one, she discovers her childhood memories aren’t what they seemed.

What secrets was her nanny hiding – and what was she running away from? And can Jo trust what her mother tells her?

Sometimes the truth hurts so much you’d rather hear the lie.



A tense and tightly woven psychological thriller that pulls the reader in from the start.

After leaving the family ancestral home, Jo finds herself having to return with her daughter Ruby after a family tragedy and reluctantly move back home with her estranged mother. Jo is determined that her relationship with her daughter will be close unlike her own with her mother Virginia was. She resents the fact that Ruby and her mother seem to get along so well and this rankles Jo. When Ruby accidentally uncovers a skull in the lake in the grounds of the Manor House Jo believes it might be her Nanny Hannah who disappeared when Jo was only seven.

A twisty tale of secrets and lies follows as the pace and tension builds to a conclusion that has to result in the elimination of someone. I did guess what was going on but really the pieces didn’t start to fall together until late in the book exactly what I assume Gillian Macmillan intended. It keeps you guessing who the remains belong to and more importantly who the killer/s was - which is not as straightforward as you might think. A good satisfying read - recommended for all psychological thriller fans and worth 4 stars

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

Juror #3 by James Patterson

Juror #3 by James Patterson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A RACIALLY CHARGED MURDER SPLITS A TOWN IN TWO

Ruby Bozarth, a newcomer to Rosedale, Mississippi, is also fresh to the Mississippi Bar – and she faces an impossible task defending a college football star accused of murder.

The victim is a young woman from one of the town's oldest families, and Rosedale's upper crust are howling for blood.

Then news breaks of a second murder, and lurid, intertwining investigations unfold.

Ruby discovers that no one in Rosedale can be trusted, especially the twelve men and women on the jury.

They may be hiding the biggest secret of all.



A collaborative novel from two authors and in many ways it looked like two separate stories - they did come together eventually but I was a bit puzzled for a while how they could do this.

Brilliantly atmospheric, I could almost ‘see’ the characters and settings which made the novel more enjoyable. Good courtroom dramas in both involving the newly qualified and inexperienced Ruby Bozarth leading murder trials. Nice back story of impending love interest gave this novel all the ingredients of a good read. Nice short chapters kept the pace going and a good measure of surprises along the way made this an enjoyable read - 4 stars from me, recommended reading for legal loving readers.

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.

Then She Was Gone by Lisa Jewell

Then She Was Gone by Lisa Jewell

She was fifteen, her mother's golden girl.
She had her whole life ahead of her.
And then, in the blink of an eye, Ellie was gone.

Ten years on, Laurel has never given up hope of finding Ellie. And then she meets a charming and charismatic stranger who sweeps her off her feet.

But what really takes her breath away is when she meets his nine-year-old daughter.

Because his daughter is the image of Ellie.

Now all those unanswered questions that have haunted Laurel come flooding back.

What really happened to Ellie? And who still has secrets to hide?


I haven't read a Lisa Jewell book for some time, but the books I have read by her have been completely different. I was excited to read a book of a different genre by her and to see if she was able to adapt to a different genre.

This story if about Laurel Mack, her daughter went missing ten years ago. She never did find out what happened to her and has never given up hope of finding some clues. One day she meets a man in a cafe, after they hit things off she discovers he has a daughter, who is about 9 and looks the spitting image of the daughter she lost.

After time goes on Laurel begins to think there is more to her relationship and the coincidence of Poppy, the daughter of Floyd (the man she is seeing). She begins to do a bit of research of her own.

I found the story had good pace and I wanted to pick it up to finish it. I thought I had guessed the ending early on in the story, and although I hadn't I wasn't far from the ending of the book and that is why I have given this 4* and not 5*.

Overall I really enjoyed this book and will be reading other new Lisa Jewell books in the future.

The Brighton Mermaid by Dorothy Koomson

The Brighton Mermaid by Dorothy Koomson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Brighton Beach, 1993

Teenagers Nell and Jude find the body of a young woman and when no one comes to claim her, she becomes known as the Brighton Mermaid. Nell is still struggling to move on when, three weeks later, Jude disappears.

Twenty-five years on, Nell is forced to quit her job to find out who the Brighton Mermaid really was – and what happened to her best friend that summer.

But as Nell edges closer to the truth, dangerous things start to happen. Someone seems to be watching her every move, and soon she starts to wonder who in her life she can actually trust…


Surprisingly I’ve not read anything from this author before although I do read and review a lot of novels and psychological thrillers are a particular favourite. Having read many novels in this genre it gets harder to review them as my expectations rise. I wasn’t disappointed with this one, it had good pace and the tension was built chapter on chapter.

The characters were likeable even though they are flawed and enough twists and turns means you’re never quite sure which of the suspects are guilty.

A good whodunit novel that is gripping with multifaceted characters and a multi layered plot that will hurtle you towards the end. Plenty of suspense, drama and intrigue with a little twist at the end that I didn’t guess.

Good recommended read and worth 4 stars - I will look out for Dorothy Koomson novels in the future.

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

A Danger to Herself and Others by Alyssa B. Sheinmel

A Danger to Herself and Others by Alyssa B. Sheinmel
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Only when she's locked away does the truth begin to escape...

Seventeen-year-old Hannah Gold has always been treated like a grown up. As the only child of two New York professionals, she's been traveling the world and functioning as a miniature adult since the day she was born. But that was then. Now, Hannah has been checked into a remote treatment facility, stripped of all autonomy and confined to a single room.

Hannah knows there's been a mistake. What happened to her roommate that summer was an accident. As soon as the doctor and judge figure out that she isn't a danger to herself or others, she can get back to her life of promise and start her final year at school. Until then, she's determined to win over the staff and earn some privileges so she doesn't lose her mind to boredom.

But then she's assigned a new roommate. At first, Lucy is the perfect project to keep Hannah's focus off all she is missing at home. But Lucy may be the one person who can make Hannah confront the secrets she's avoiding - and the dangerous games that landed her in confinement in the first place.

A glimpse into the mind of a mental health patient this novel, aimed at YA’s reveals the fragile line between reality and psychotic illness.


Hannah finds herself institutionalised when her best friend and room mate falls from their second floor room and as a consequence suffers severe brain damage. Believing Hannah had some part in this she is sent to a mental hospital because it’s believed she is a danger to herself and others. While there she is assessed over many months and in her belief that it’s all been a huge mistake she works hard to please the doctors so she can be released.

The story is tightly woven so that the reader almost becomes Hannah in that the reader also is unsure of the reality or the psychosis that Hannah experiences. Frighteningly the deeper the psychosis and her logical analysis goes the cloudier the lines get between reality and imagination.

An insightful and disturbing read it almost shouldn’t be YA material in my view because of the vulnerability of this age group. Having said this it is a powerful and thought provoking novel that is sadly tragic and highlighted for me the inevitability of the stigma attached to mental illness and the vulnerability of its sufferers.

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

My Sister by Michelle Adams

My Sister by Michelle Adams
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

My name is Irini. Our parents sent me away.
My sister is Elle. They kept her.
Families should stay together. What happened that day ripped mine apart.

A successful doctor, with a loving boyfriend, Irini Harringford is finally happy. But when Elle tracks her down everything starts to unravel.

Irini knows only too well what her sister is capable of. However, her desperate need for answers drags her back to a shocking past.

She always thought her family didn't want her. What if the truth is even worse?



I really enjoyed this psychological thriller and the bonds that tie siblings together.

Irine is sent away from the family home to live with her aunt and uncle when she is three years old. She grows up believing that her parents didn’t want her while they kept her sister Elle.

Irine cuts herself off from her family but is constantly pursued by her sister Elle so much so that Irine is forced to keep moving to stay away from her. Elle is toxic and dangerous and Irine doesn’t want her in her life. When their mother dies Irine goes reluctantly back to the family home hoping to get answers of why her parents sent her away and kept Elle - what she eventually finds out threatens to destroy many lives.

A good psychological thriller that uncovers jealousy and hidden truths. Ellie is manipulating and crazy but I also felt that Irine was also a little weird and wicked.

A good pace and well thought out plot made this an enjoyable and interesting read. A few red herrings and twists add up to a satisfying read. Definitely worth 4 stars - a recommended read.

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

A Beautiful Corpse by Christi Daugherty

A Beautiful Corpse by Christi Daugherty
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A murder that shocks a city…
Shots ring out on one of Savannah's most famous streets. A beautiful law student lies dead.

A case full of secrets and lies…
Three men close to the victim are questioned. All of them claim to love her. All of them say they are innocent of her murder.

An investigation that could prove deadly…
As crime reporter Harper McClain unravels a tangled story of obsession and jealousy, the killer focuses on her. He's already killed one woman. Will he kill another?

The second in this series in the Harper McClain books begins with Harper attending the shooting in a tourist area of the city. When she arrives at the scene with her friend Bonnie (who she was having a drink with earlier in the evening) she discovers that the dead woman is Naomi Scott a girl that works at the same bar as Bonnie. Harper wants to help find out who the murderer is and tries to track down the killer. Harper is having problems of her own at the same time with a break-in at her apartment and the feeling that she is being followed, coupled with the detective investigating the murder being her former lover Luke, Harper is more involved that she thought she'd be.

The pace is good and the plot twisty enough to keep you reading to the end. Atmospheric and well written this makes for a compelling read. The ending is not really 'the end' and there is sure to be another in the series, I hope so.

Again easily readable as a stand alone novel but easily more enjoyable if you read both books. Again an easy 4 stars for this one.

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

The Echo Killing by Christi Daugherty

The Echo Killing by Christi Daugherty
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The most exciting new crime voice you’ll read this year!

Fifteen years ago her mother’s killer got away. Has he finally struck again?

MURDER SHOCKS PEACEFUL NEIGHBOURHOOD

A woman in her thirties. Found naked and stabbed on the kitchen floor. Discovered by her twelve-year-old daughter after school.

As top Savannah crime reporter Harper McClain stares at the horrific scene before her, one thought screams through her mind. This murder is identical to another murder she has witnessed. Her mother’s murder…

For fifteen years, Harper has been torn apart by the knowledge that her mother’s killer is walking free. And now, it seems he’s struck again. There are no fingerprints. No footprints. No DNA. Yet still, Harper is determined to discover the truth once and for all.

But that search will come at a cost…and it could be one she isn’t ready to pay.

A slow burning thriller mystery part one of two this sets the scene for the second in the series and ends with unresolved questions that continue in the second book.

A woman is murdered that appears to mirror or echo a murder that happened 20 years ago where the daughter of the murdered woman is now a reporter. Harper is a crime murder reporter and finds herself at the scene of the murder of a woman that appears to echo that of her mothers.

The murderer was never caught and it becomes personal for Harper so she embarks on trying to solve the case herself. As she becomes further involved she risks losing her job and her relationships.

We are introduced to a range of characters some likeable some not so much. Harper is likeable but damaged and as she delves deeper into the criminal mind she risks her own safety to uncover the truth. With the help of a cop boyfriend, her colleague photographer and a few close friends she slowly uncovers some painful truths.

As I said this story is not fully resolved at the end as there is a second book in this series. As a stand alone it is a decent read and gets 4 stars from me.

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

Sleep by C.L. Taylor

Sleep by C.L. Taylor
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

All Anna wants is to be able to sleep. But crushing insomnia, terrifying night terrors and memories of that terrible night are making it impossible. If only she didn’t feel so guilty…

To escape her past, Anna takes a job at a hotel on the remote Scottish island of Rum, but when seven guests join her, what started as a retreat from the world turns into a deadly nightmare.

Each of the guests have a secret, but one of them is lying – about who they are and why they're on the island. There's a murderer staying in the Bay View hotel. And they've set their sights on Anna.

Seven strangers. Seven secrets. One deadly lie.

Someone’s going to sleep and never wake up…

To begin with, after reading the blurb I thought this would be in the style of Agatha Christi and 'and then there were none'. I was actually very wrong, although I was kind of looking forward to one of those style stories!

I found this was a very easy, quick read, I managed to work a full week and still find time and the want to pick up the book after work, this is something I don't do often!

Anna the lead character has been in an accident and decides she needs a fresh start. After applying for a job on the island of Rum in Scotland she packs her bags and makes the journey up there. This island is really remote, there isn't a doctor, he comes over every couple of weeks and if the community need anything they have to travel to the mainland for this.

Anna's job is in the only hotel on the island and when the guests turn up she begins to realise things are what they seem. Throughout sleep we begin to learn a little about each of the characters and the plot really draws you in.

Personally I was a little disappointed with the ending, I felt it could have been better and I had already worked out who the killer was, saying that it didn't spoil my enjoyment of the novel.

This is one I recommend you read. I would like to thank the publisher for sending this in exchange for an honest review.

We Won an Island by Charlotte Lo

We Won an Island by Charlotte Lo
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

When Luna's family win an island, Luna thinks it will solve everything AND she can finally get a donkey! But things don't go entirely to plan - no one expects Luna's younger brother to win a Sheep Pageant, for example - and the secret festival they hold soon spirals out of control. But the island is beautiful, and the family are happy, and maybe Luna will get her donkey after all...


Luna and her family are facing eviction, they have not had an easy life and her dad is rather depressed. They decide to enter a competition on the radio to win an island, run by a billionaire who owns it, this would mean they would be able to relocate and have a home.

This story takes us through the ups and downs of moving to a new place, knowing no one and having to deal with the hand they have been given.

You can't help but fall in love with Luna, she is optimistic about everything and tries to always see the good in all situations.

This is a fun quick story, one that children will enjoy, it was engaging and fun throughout. I would recommend this to any child who loves an adventure and is on the lookout for something new.

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

Murder at The Mill by M.B. Shaw

Murder at The Mill by M.B. Shaw
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A picture hides a thousand lies . . . And only Iris Grey can uncover the truth

Iris Grey arrives at Mill Cottage in a picture-perfect Hampshire village, looking to escape from her crumbling marriage. She is drawn to the neighbouring Wetherby family, and is commissioned to paint a portrait of Dominic Wetherby, a celebrated crime writer.

At the Wetherby's Christmas Eve party, the mulled wine is in full flow - but so too are tensions and rivalries among the guests. On Christmas Day, the youngest member of the Wetherby family, Lorcan, finds a body in the water. A tragic accident? Or a deadly crime?

With the snow falling, Iris enters a world of village gossip, romantic intrigue, buried secrets and murder.

Classic who dunnit murder mystery in the Marple Agatha Christie style. Very well written with good strong characters and steady pace throughout.

As with Christie novels, a hugely enjoyable nostalgic feel in this tale where all sub plots come together at the end.

I did guess the murderer and even felt sympathy for that person and the real villain also got their comeuppance so a well rounded complete outcome in the end.

Perfect for Christie fans and a really enjoyable well written piece of mystery and murder. A cosy fireside read and deserves 4 stars.

The Other Couple by Sarah J. Naughton

The Other Couple by Sarah J. Naughton
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

It was meant to be the perfect honeymoon.

A five-star resort in paradise.

White sands, a private villa and world-class cuisine.

A chance for newlyweds Asha and Ollie Graveney to recover from a recent tragedy, and enjoy the holiday of their dreams.

Except someone has other plans...

And paradise has turned into a nightmare.

Marrying a wealthy man who is deeply in love with you, holidaying in Vietnam in a 6 star luxury resort what's not to like? Very good comparison of paradise by day and sinister threatening danger by night kept this novel's pace going.

Asha feels that she doesn't really belong in Olly's world, she loves the luxury of the high life but she misses the ordinary feel of belonging in her own world. She marries Olly against the wishes of his family who feel she is nothing but a gold digger and she starts her married life on honeymoon in Vietnam almost on the back foot.

Olly appears to be distant and anxious but does not confide in her; he has secrets from his past she knows nothing about. They spend most of their days with other couples at the resort drinking heavily during the day and collapsing in drink induced comas at night. When they are both sober they spend the time arguing.

Olly, feeling that he is to blame and not wanting to loose Asha, agrees to a trip to some caves where one of them is murdered. I won't spoil it so you'll have to read it yourself.
The survivor, when back in London, tries to piece together what has happened and who committed the murder out of the other couples.

Good pacey novel, a few curve balls and surprises and although I guessed the murderer it was only when the writer wanted the reader to find out. A 4 stars for this one, a nice read and good ending.

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

The Librarian of Auschwitz by Antonio Iturbe

The Librarian of Auschwitz by Antonio Iturbe
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Fourteen-year-old Dita is one of the many imprisoned by the Nazis at Auschwitz. Taken, along with her mother and father, from the Terezín ghetto in Prague, Dita is adjusting to the constant terror that is life in the camp. When Jewish leader Freddy Hirsch asks Dita to take charge of the eight precious books the prisoners have managed to smuggle past the guards, she agrees. And so Dita becomes the secret librarian of Auschwitz, responsible for the safekeeping of the small collection of titles, as well as the ‘living books’ - prisoners of Auschwitz who know certain books so well, they too can be ‘borrowed’ to educate the children in the camp.

But books are extremely dangerous. They make people think. And nowhere are they more dangerous than in Block 31 of Auschwitz, the children’s block, where the slightest transgression can result in execution, no matter how young the transgressor…



A moving account of one girl's life in Auschwitz concentration camp during the war. Dita and her mother Lisl are transported from camp to camp until they are finally sent to Auschwitz.

In an attempt to fool the rest of the world into thinking these camps were fine the Germans created a family camp to film and for people to visit to fool them into thinking that the atrocities they were being accused of just were not happening.

Block 31 was the childrens education camp, during the day the parents of the children laboured for the Germans while their children attended 'school'. This school had no books as these were forbidden, children were allowed to play and sing nothing else. Joseph Mengele also had an experimentation block where twins and other children of interest were taken from time to time.

Dita was given the responsibility of being the camps librarian where she looked after 8 books that prisoners had managed to smuggle into camp. These books, along with living teachers were the education that the children received in secret.

I did feel that it was hard to 'feel' emotions in this novel, perhaps it should have been a factual account rather than a story. I'm sure that prisoners were eventually institutionalised and so weak that they almost accepted their treatment - perhaps due to a will to survive some may have become informers which shows itself in the novel.

A moving and disturbing account of what people are capable of on both sides of the war. 4 stars

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