Tag: book-review

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The Innocents by Bridget Walsh

Thank you ever so much to the lovely people over at Gallic Books for sending me an ARC of this second book in The Variety Palace Mystery series! I was also lucky enough to be gifted a bonus copy of the first installment in the series (The Tumbling Girl) which I listened to in audiobook format last year!

—Synopsis—

The Variety Palace Music Hall is in trouble, due in no small part to a gruesome spate of murders that unfolded around it a few months previously. 

Between writing, managing the music hall and trying to dissuade her boss from installing a water tank in the building, Minnie Ward has her hands full. Her complicated relationship with detective Albert Easterbrook doesn’t even bear thinking about. 

But when a performer’s brother mysteriously goes missing, Minnie and Albert are thrown together once more. Then another body is found dead in a trunk, and a strange connection starts to emerge. 

The crimes will propel the unlikely duo into the shady world of illegal gambling, dog fighting and monkey kidnappings as they trace things back to a tragedy that took place fourteen years ago, leaving 183 children dead. And given that the incident touched so many people’s lives, everyone is a suspect…

—Review—

I only have one request, and it is pretty simple: please Bridget, we want more and more of Minnie and Albert! What a treat these books are, I cannot recommend them enough!

The writing is simply exquisite, you are transported straight to the Victorian times, you can hear the hooves of the horses and the carriages, you can smell the streets of London, feel the damp and the fog, hear the sounds of the bustling life from those times!

The characters are so deep, so accomplished, you cannot help but get totally immersed in their lives and invested in their fate. Their relationships are complex and engrossing, nothing is out of place, nothing is superflus.

Can they find the culprit before it’s too late? Can Minnie continue to keep the Palace afloat whilst Tansie recuperate? Is she safe? Who can she trust?

The plot is ever so clever, fast paced, twisting and turning, gripping, keeping you on the edge of your seat until the very last page.

This is definitely my new favourite crime series, so, dear reader, join me in discovering how Minnie and Albert get to solve this latest streak of murders… To be devoured!

If you haven’t read the first book in the series (The Tumbling Girl); fear not! You won’t get lost, but it is such a shame and in my humble opinion you should remedy this straight away! I’ve popped the synopsis below to tempt you a bite more!

—About The Author—

Bridget Walsh was born in London to Irish immigrant parents. She studied English literature and was an English teacher for 23 years, before leaving the profession to pursue her writing. Bridget lives in Norwich with her husband, Micky, and her two dogs. 

The manuscript of Bridget’s debut novel, THE TUMBLING GIRL, written on the MA Creative Writing (Crime Fiction) course at UEA, won the UEA Little, Brown Award for Crime Fiction 2019. She has completed the second title in the Minnie Ward and Albert Easterbrook series, THE INNOCENTS. THE TUMBLING GIRL was published by Gallic Books in May 2023, with THE INNOCENTS to follow in 2024.

Visit Bridget’s website
Follow Bridget on Twitter and Instagram

—About The Tumbling Girl (Variety Palace Mysteries 1)—

The first of the sharp, witty Variety Palace Mysteries, THE TUMBLING GIRL sees an unlikely duo team up to solve a grisly spate of murders.

1876, Victorian London. Minnie Ward, a feisty scriptwriter for the Variety Palace Music Hall, is devastated when her best friend is found brutally murdered. She enlists the help of boxer-turned-private detective Albert Easterbrook to help her find justice.

Together they navigate London, from its high-class clubs to its murky underbelly. But as the bodies pile up, they must rely on one another if they’re going to track down the killer – and make it out alive . . .

A gripping debut to delight fans of historical crime.

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Blessed Water by Margot Douaihy

Sister Holiday is back!! Thanks so much to Emily over @Pushkin Press for having me on the blog tour of the second installment of the Sister Holiday series!

—Synopsis—

Tattooed from her neck to her toes and sporting a gold tooth as sharp as her wisecracks, Sister Holiday struggles to stay on the righteous path. She’s committed both to taking her permanent vows with the Sisters of the Sublime Blood and joining Magnolia Riveaux’s latest venture, Redemption Detective Agency-both in service of satisfying her eternal quest for answers.

When Sister Holiday and Riveaux set out to bust a philandering husband, they instead find the body of a priest floating in the Mississippi river, and with it, Redemption’s next case.

As a torrential rainstorm drowns New Orleans for three harrowing days over Easter weekend, Sister Holiday and Riveaux follow the clues. With the stakes rising alongside the relentless floodwaters, our favourite punk nun- sleuth throws herself into the deep end yet again.

—Review—

“The rain tried to wash us away that weekend. Or bless us, hold us under until the last breath. Every end a beginning.”

Our favourite queer, rock & roll, unconventional nun continues to sleuth around, but this time it’s even closer to home…

Saint Sebastian’s own Father Reese has been murdered, mutilated; Father Nathan is now missing… Who’s a friend? Who’s a foe?

We’re back in Sister Holiday’s beloved New Orleans, still a character in its own right, but this time facing raging storm and deluge.

Can Sister Holiday do it all, can she face the challenges this Easter weekend is bringing to her doorstep? Can her sobriety, her sanity and her faith sustain it all?

Why is her own brother Moose suddenly back? What does he want?

With everything on the verge of irreparable catastrophe, get swept away on Sister Holiday’s race against time to elucidate this latest mystery, find Father Nathan and the culprit before it’s too late, before the water engulfs it all, cleanses the evidence and sins, drowns the innocents and silences the truth.

A brilliant noir whodunnit which will delight those seeking unconventional mysteries!

Out now with Pushkin Press.

—About the Author—

Margot Douaihy lives in Northampton, MA, and teaches creative writing at Emerson College. Scorched Grace, the first of Douaihy’s Sister Holiday Mysteries, was named a best book of 2023 by Apple Books, BookPage and Marie Claire, among others. She is also the author of the poetry collections Bandit/Queen: The Runaway Story of Belle Starr, Scranton Lace, and Girls Like You.

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Meet Me When My Heart Stops by Becky Hunter

Wow Becky you’ve done it again! I loved your debut One Moment but this… this is quite something! I absolutely adored it! Thank you very much Corvus Books and NetGalley for the opportunity to read in advance! 

—Synopsis—

What if your soulmate could only ever be the love of your afterlife?

The first time Emery’s heart stops, she is only five years old…

Emery is born with a heart condition that means her heart could quite literally stop at any moment. The people around her know what to do – if they act quickly enough there will be no lasting damage, and Emery’s heart can be restarted. But when this happens, she is briefly technically dead.

Each time Emery’s heart stops, she meets Nick. His purpose is to help people adjust to the fact that they are dead, to help them say goodbye, before they move on entirely. He does not usually meet people more than once – but with Emery, he is able to make a connection, and he finds himself drawn to her.

As Emery’s life progresses, and she goes through ups and downs, she finds that a part of her is longing for those moments when her heart will stop – so that she can see Nick again.

This is the story of two fated lovers who long for each other, but are destined never to share more than a few fleeting moments – because if they were to be together, it would mean the end of Emery’s life.

—Review—

I’ll admit I’ve shed quite a few tears but this is filled with so much joy and love that you can’t help but fall for this story! 

Emery is afflicted by a strange condition… her heart stops beating sometimes. And in those moments, she is transported to a place “in between” where she meets her guide, Nick. A person supposed to help her get to terms with the fact that she has now died… but what are they to do when her heart restarts every time? 

Impossible love, impossible life what do you make of it? Do you stay in the limbo? Do you chose to live? If so how? 1000%, recklessly or to the fullest? But does that really make a difference? 

How do you navigate the reluctance from your loved ones to let you live the way you want?

Such a thought provoking read, exploring love, grief, family dynamics and relationships, making you appreciate the preciousness of life, how fleeting a moment can be, and how grateful we should be for the people in our lives. 

When everything can disappear in an instant, can you let people in? Or are you doomed to always be on the outside of love, of life…

It’s out today (21 March 2024) so get yourself a copy of this beautiful book! And if you haven’t had the chance to ready Becky’s debut novel “One Moment”, I can only recommend you remedy this straight away, you won’t be disappointed!

—About the Author—

Becky grew up in Berkshire, UK, and has loved reading since before she can remember. After studying social sciences at Cambridge university, this love of reading led her to a career in publishing, where she worked as a book publicist in London for several years before taking a career break and moving to Mozambique to volunteer with horses. It was here that she decided to give writing a proper go, though it was still a few years, a few more destinations, and a couple more jobs before she had the idea that would become ONE MOMENT, her debut novel.

She currently splits her time between London, Bristol and Falmouth, and works as a freelance book publicist and editor, alongside her own writing.

Find Becky on Twitter (@Bookish_Becky) or Instagram (beckyhunterbooks) – she’d love to hear from you!

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🦋 Weyward by Emilia Hart🦋

What a stunner of a debut! I am so grateful to have had the chance to win a proof from the lovely Harper Reader’s Room Team. Last year was such a whirlwind that I never got round to posting my review, so I thought that paperback publication would be the perfect opportunity to redeem myself!

—Synopsis—

Three women, five centuries, one spellbinding story.

In the present day, Kate flees a traumatic relationship to the Cumbrian cottage she inherited from her great-aunt; but the cottage hides secrets of its own.

In 1942, Violet rebels against her father’s ideas of a ‘proper young lady’ . . . until he takes matters into his own hands.

In 1619, Altha is on trial for witchcraft, implicated in the gruesome death of a local man.

Three women they tried to cage – but Weyward women belong to the wild. And they cannot be tamed…

—Review—

Altha 1619
Violet 1942
Kate 2019
The Weyward Women… witches? Or simply women at one with nature and the elements? 

“’Sight is a funny thing,’ my mother used to say. ‘Sometimes it shows us what is before our eyes. But sometimes it shows us what has already happened, or will yet come to pass?‘”

In this incredible debut, Hart has managed to capture the animalistic nature of the bonds uniting women, especially mothers and daughters. How it is engrained in our DNA, being passed on through generations. There is no escaping it, there is something deeply magical and compelling about it. 

A feminist tale, a powerful exploration of motherhood, of the fierceness of women, their determination and their protective nature, this is a novel  that will stay with you for a long time. 

With its cleverly woven plot and character driven story, all those secrets will keep you on the edge of your seat and ensure you devour this beauty as quickly as possible.

A truly accomplished and incredible debut which was one of my favourite books of 2023!

With Love,
AGJ

Out now with Borough Press – in Hardback, Paperback, E-format and Audio.

—My favourite excerpt-–

Below is a passage from the book that really resonated with me and that shows how beautiful and compelling the writing is.

“She hadn’t known it would be like this.
Now, in the mirror, Kate assesses herself. The strong lines of her limbs, the new spread of her hips. Her belly, with its growing curve.
Her breasts amaze her – the darkening of the nipples, the veins that glow blue and bright beneath her skin. The mole on her breastbone has darkened, too: ruby deepening to crimson. Even her skin is different – it is smoother, thicker. As if she is armoured. Armoured and ready, to protect her daughter. The force of it – this love that surges in her veins – shocks her. As does the searing clarity that she will do anything, whatever is necessary, to keep her child safe.
Unbidden, the day of the accident flashes in her mind. Her father’s hand on her shoulder, rough and desperate, pushing her out of the way of the oncoming car. Had he felt this way, too? She blinks the memory away, refocuses her gaze on the woman in the mirror. A woman she can barely recognise as herself.
She looks – and feels – powerful.”

—About the author—

Emilia Hart is a British-Australian writer. She was born in Sydney and studied English Literature and Law at the University of New South Wales before working as a lawyer in Sydney and London. Emilia is a graduate of Curtis Brown Creative’s Three Month Online Novel Writing Course and was Highly Commended in the 2021 Caledonia Novel Award. Her short fiction has been published in Australia and the UK. She lives in London. You can follow Emilia on Twitter at @EmiliaHartBooks.