All She Burns by Charlotte Essex

4.5 Stars from me Wow! What a strong debut - I was hooked and am absolutely in love with Red. Okay, so she's a little bit arsony but what a character, I was captivated by her. I found following the forensic investigation in to unraveling the cause of a fire super interesting too, the descriptions and 'clues' left by the way the fire burns and what that tells the fire investigator is just so impressive.

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Finders Keepers by Jessica Huntley PUBLICATION DAY!

HAPPY PUBLICATION DAY to Jessica Huntley as FINDERS KEEPERS is out TODAY! They stumbled on a fortune. Now they’re paying the price. Mel, Liv, and Jennie have been best friends forever. There’s nothing they wouldn’t do for each other. When Mel's mother dies, a hidden key leads the three of them to a storage unit — and a discovery that will change their lives.

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I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman

4.5 Stars from me I read this as part of a book group and the debrief on it was fascinating for me as it literally split the group between those who loved it and those who hated it. I hadn't anticipated that. I was in the love it camp. I found it all the more fascinating to read that this is a book that is having somewhat of a surge of interest, however the author is no longer with us and will therefore never know that her little book has had a boom period.

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Not a Word by Linwood Barclay

4.5 Stars from me I completely love reading Linwood Barclay books, I love his writing style, his characterisation and I find the stories deeply and immediately engaging. This one is no exception, it is cleverly plotted with interesting characters. I particularly enjoyed the storylines featuring Holden and Gage but honestly each person had a thread and backstory that drew me in and made me want to know more.

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A Christmas Proposal by Rose Warner

She lost everything in the Great War – her brothers, her fiancé, her way of life. Will this new war bring back long-buried feelings? Beatrice is settling into life in the countryside, along with Victoria and Nell, as a teacher evacuee. Her world is turned upside down again when she meets David, the new doctor at the military hospital, whose kindness and gentleness warm her frozen heart.

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Fear in the New Forest by Linda Mather

4 Stars from me I am delighted to be closing the blog tour for Fear in the New Forest! Linda Mather is a new author to me and I loved following this story and getting to know the characters. This is the second installment in the DCI Elinor Saxby series but I didn't feel I'd missed out by not reading the first book - needless to say if you are starting the series it makes sense to begin at the beginning.

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The Christmas Killer by Ross Greenwood

5 Stars from me ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Love, love, LOVE the DCI John Barton series and I am always genuinely thrilled when I hear that Ross Greenwood has penned a new one. Things I want to know - can I get an invite to the Barton family Christmas dinner? Can I become friends with Barton's wife (I don't mind dog sitting)? Can I join Barton's team?

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Frankie by Graham Norton

5 Stars from me Read this for book club and oh I loved it! I wish it were the case that all home care was like this, bringing personal quality and appreciation of someone's journey through life alongside the care. What an absolute angel from above Damian was for Frankie. I also loved Frankie and Nor's friendship - this is literally the stuff of dreams.

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Eyes on You by Adele Parks

5 Stars from me Oh I could not put this delightfully dark and trashy psychological thriller down - it was superb! This is the perfect ultra absorbing book where everyone is batshit crazy and nothing is quite what it seems - I have recommended it to so many people. A book review where less is decidedly more, not a lot more to say than if you like Lisa Jewell you will love this book - go read it!

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The Dying Light by Ann Cleeves

4 Stars from me As one would expect from this author, this was a solid and engaging read with a strong storyline. I have enjoyed Venn's previous story and while he isn't even coming close to stealing Vera's place in my heart, it's fair to say that I'm warming to him! The story of the dead girl and her missing friend was intriguing and immediately pulled me in, it felt like there were just the right amount of potential baddies to choose from too and I liked being able to work through them all along with Venn.

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The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

4 Stars from me So I've said 4 stars but I had a little bit of an epiphany after reading this book so maybe it should really be 1 million stars? Because, weirdly, so did my whole book group. Anyway, the story, it's a classic mid-point between life and death type scenario, only in this one the main character, Nora, finds herself in a library with each book representing an alternate life that she could have taken.

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My Friend’s Husband by Rupa Mahadevan

4 Stars from me I was hooked by the premise of this one - a book that starts with a victim reporting their own kidnapping, mid abduction, from the boot of a car... what?!   Fortunately for the victim, Roshni, her new friend Clara is determined to find her and get to the bottom of who has taken her, and why. Partially altruistic as Roshni has been a good friend to Clara, and partly to stop the police from looking too closely in her own direction.

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The Dark Heart by Neil Lancaster

5 Stars from me I love this series and I am always grateful when I pick up a Neil Lancaster book because I can do so safe in the knowledge that it will be a gripping story that will keep me reading well beyond a sensible time. This one did not disappoint and especially the interactions with The Cashier which were tense and convincingly dangerous.

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Blood, Rust and Steel by Stuart MacBride

5 Stars from me   It should be impossible for a gritty and downright gruesome crime thriller to make me laugh and yet here we are. I laughed at several points while reading this story and I LOVED every single moment of it! You could jump in and read this one - and you'd enjoy it, it's witty, clever and engaging. BUT if you want to love it as much as I did then I whole hardheartedly recommend that you begin with…

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The Butler by Clare Mackintosh

5 Stars from me ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️  OH MY GOD MORE PLEASE! I LOVED this and yes please I want the next installment of this story - I want to follow where Baxter goes next please Clare Mackintosh - he is a sensational character. I always know that a Clare Mackintosh book is a sure thing, one of those you save for when you've got some time to dedicate to it, or need to get yourself out of a book slump and this one did not disappoint.

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Death on the Norfolk Express by Ross Greenwood

5 Stars from me ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ The latest in the DI Ashley Knight 'Norfolk Murders' series is a sure fire winner. It's got a steam train, it's set in Norfolk, there's murder, there's mystery, a sprinkling of mayhem and it's written by Ross Greenwood - ding ding ding all aboard! I've been looking forward to this one and it did not disappoint, from the opening chapters it was clear that we were about to embark on a thrill ride - albeit one ambling down through the Norfolk coastline.

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The Night Stairs by Erin Kelly

4 Stars from me Finding this book was a bit like finding a lost shoe as my mind swiftly drew back to a time when I devoured books like Malory Towers and St Clare's, fascinated by these other worlds inhabited by girls whose lives were so utterly different to my own. The Night Stairs, for me, is the grown up version of these books with an added sprinkle of religion and Erin Kelly has delivered this beautifully by setting the story around a tight core of characters, within the boarding school setting.

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Nothing to See Here by Susan Lewis

3.5 Stars from me I listened to this book on audible and find it really hard to rate as although I absolutely loved parts of it, and enjoyed the whole podcast element, I did find it dragged a little in places and essentially could have benefited from being shorter/tighter. I feel mean saying that as there were sections that had me absolutely gripped but overall I think it just left me wanting a little more - not more length obvs but more ompf.

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Liar Liar by Luca Veste

4 Stars from me Mark Fletcher is a respected detective, with a bit of a hero complex. He literally stops at nothing in his quest to help people and bring criminals to justice. Unfortunately, despite this, his latest attempts to do good have gone horribly wrong and he finds himself firmly in the murky underworld that he has fought so hard to clean up.

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Nine Missing Girls by Steena Holmes

4 Stars from me This book contains a series of short stories - each focused on Detective Meri Amber's investigation into a missing girl/girls. She has an admirably dogged determination, which, coupled with her innate gentle kindness, makes her the perfect person to be searching for the girls. Meri is thorough and driven as she goes about her work. She never takes the path of least resistance, and instills deep faith in her abilities.

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The Good Listener by Holly Watt

4 Stars from me I was drawn in to this one incredibly quickly and felt huge empathy for Clara. Although, having said that, I also wanted to shake her a lot of the time. Really enjoyed the concept of 'Good Listeners' and that they had the same people ringing in week in week out with the same tales of woe. This was a nice undercurrent of 'you never know what someone is going through' and also a balance of real problems vs third world problems feeling just a real and painful to the person experiencing them.

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