The only trouble with getting an early review copy of a new book is that you’ve got an even longer wait till book 2 arrives! I’ve been a fan of Sarah Painter for some time now. Her stories are always a little bit quirky and have a thread of the supernatural running through them. This…
Book Review: You Let Me In – Lucy Clarke ****
Elle arrives back at her house by the sea after a writer’s retreat. It is the first time that she has rented out her dream house on Airbnb. Something doesn’t feel quite right about the place since she got home. There is a coldness, a shift in the atmosphere. Her publisher is desperately chasing her…
Book Review: The Mystery of Three Quarters – Sophie Hannah ****
During my younger years I read every Agatha Christie mystery that I could get my hands on. They were readily available in the small convent school library and evoked less critical response from my parents than the Stephen King and Harold Robbins books that I had also discovered around that time! Poirot was probably my…
Book Review: The Clockmaker’s Daughter – Kate Morton *****
When I got sent an early review copy of the new Kate Morton book I knew that I was in for a treat. You can always rely on Morton for an intelligent and interesting read. It is the summer of 1862 when a group of bohemian artists and their friends decamp to the beautiful Birchwood…
Book Reviews: One Thousand Stars And You – Isabelle Broom *****
I love a good book cover and shamelessly I will admit that it is often the difference between picking up a book in the store or not. This latest book from Isabelle Broom has the most gorgeous cover art and it captured me right from the start. Alice lives with Richard. She has a job…
Book Review: The Futures – Anna Pitoniak ***
The Futures is described as a New York Love Story but for most of the book the main characters Julia and Evan seem to be almost the antithesis of love. Their relationship is a convenience, a habit. Julia and Evan get together at college where Evan is a Canadian ice hockey player on a sports…
Book Review: The Plus One – Sophia Money-Coutts ***
The debut novel from a London journalist, The Plus One is a bit like eating candy floss when you know that you should be eating salad. It is a romp very much in the style of an early Jilly Cooper novel updated for the noughties. Polly works for a society magazine called Posh. (Think Heat…
Book Review: Do Not Disturb – Claire Douglas ****
As I waved my neighbours off to their holiday in Wales this morning it struck me that if you paid attention to this years crime fiction you would never set foot in the place. Far too dangerous! First off there was Mark Edwards’ The Retreat (check out my review on that one too) and now…
Book Review: Pieces of Her – Karin Slaughter *****
Andrea knows everything about her mother Laura. They’ve lived in the idyllic seaside town of Belle Isle for most of Andy’s life. She’s seen her mum through breast cancer and divorce and watched her become a much loved speech therapist at the centre of the small community. Meeting Laura for brunch at the mall takes…
Book Review: One In a Million – Lindsey Kelk *****
Way back in the distant mists of 2009 I picked up a book by an unknown author and took it on holiday with me. “I Heart New York” was the first of many books by Lindsey Kelk and I’ve been sharing my summers with her ever since. Kelk has always had a rare ability to…
Book Review: Future Popes of Ireland – Darragh Martin ****
I do have a fondness for stories set in Eighties Ireland. A reminder of a pretty idyllic childhood. This story opens with the visit of Pope John Paul II to Ireland in 1979. A vast gathering of Mammies and their various offspring in Phoenix Park looking for that Papal blessing. Now that there has been…
Book Review: How to be Famous – Caitlin Moran *****
Over the past year I’ve been half expecting a big scandal to emerge in the music industry given the tales of sordid sexism and exploitation that have emerged from the film and television industries. Moran’s book “How to be Famous” addresses many of these themes. Described as semi-autobiographical fiction it is set in cocaine fuelled…
