Bedtime Book #Review My Best Friend’s Exorcism by Grady Hendrix

Welcome to another Bedtime Book Review in which I put down my kindle and pick up a good old paperback/hardback in a bid to get my tbr pile under control. You can read my last bedtime book review of Then She Was Gone by Lisa Jewell here.

Title:My Best Friends Exorcism by Grady Hendrix

Publisher:Quirk Books

Date Published:11^th July 2017

Genre: Horror

Description:

The year is 1988. High school sophomores Abby and Gretchen have been best friends since fourth grade. But after an evening of skinny-dipping goes disastrously wrong, Gretchen begins to act different. She s moody. She s irritable. And bizarre incidents keep happening whenever she s nearby. Abby s investigation leads her to some startling discoveries and by the time their story reaches its terrifying conclusion, the fate of Abby and Gretchen will be determined by a single question: Is their friendship powerful enough to beat the devil? Like an unholy hybrid of Beaches and The Exorcist, My Best Friend s Exorcism blends teen angst, adolescent drama, unspeakable horrors, and a mix of 80s pop songs into a pulse-pounding supernatural thriller.

Review:

The story starts with Abby finding out the exorcist is dead, which takes her back to the terrible events in the summer of 1988 when her best friend Gretchen was possessed by a demon.

Now I kept seeing this novel on Instagram and what attracted me to it was the absolutely gorgeous cover! It’s so eye catching and also it has that air of nostalgia as it looks like an old VHS tape (if you’re reading this and don’t know what a VHS tape is, please google it and stop making me feel so old!!!)

This book is pure eighties teenage nostalgia. I have to be honest there were quite a lot of slang that I didn’t quite get because I’m not a) American and b) old enough to remember 1988 properly but it didn’t spoil my enjoyment of the novel.

The main theme of the story is about friendship. We see Abby and Gretchen’s friendship from the very beginning, when she was the only one to turn up to Abby’s tenth birthday. The friendship continues into high school until the fateful night they decide to try drugs. Gretchen tries to skinny dip but it all goes wrong ending up with her getting lost. They find her the next day but there is something wrong with her. She stops looking after herself, self harming. Nobody stands by her except Abby even though Gretchen is utterly horrible to her.

There’s quite a few unlikable characters in the book but I did really like Abby. She’s sweet loyal yet a little naive and I did feel like shaking her and saying ‘no don’t do that!’ while I was reading.

While I didn’t find the book that scary, it takes a lot to scare me these days, but there were some pretty stomach churning moments. I’m just going to say worms and bugs and leave it there.

My only disappointment was it wasn’t really explained how Gretchen became possessed, that was something I felt could have been expanded upon a little more.

Overall My Best Friend’s Exorcism is not for the faint of heart but I think will appeal to anyone who enjoys those old eighties teen movies.

Rating: 4/5

About The Author:

Grady Hendrix is an American author, journalist, public speaker, and screenwriter known for his best-selling 2014 novel Horrorstör. Hendrix lives in Manhattan and was one of the founders of the New York Asian Film Festival.

Next up on Bedtime Book Reviews: Three Things About Elsie by Joanna Cannon.

Advertisements

#BlogTour #Review Calamity In Camberwell by Alice Castle @DDsDiary @crookedcatbooks @rararesources

I’m excited to bring you my review of Calamity In Camberwell but as an extra little bonus there’s a giveaway for a copy of the book signed by the author herself (open internationally). See the bottom of the page for details!

Title: Calamity In Camberwell by Alice Castle

Publisher: Crooked Cat Books

Date Published: 13^th August 2018

Genre: Mystery/Thriller, Cosy mystery.

Description:

Beth Haldane, SE21’s answer to Miss Marple, worries she is losing a kindred spirit when her friend Jen, the only other single mum in the playground, suddenly gets married and moves to Camberwell.

Soon Beth has to face much more pressing fears. Has something gone horribly wrong with Jen’s marriage? What is her husband really up to? Why is her daughter leading Beth’s son astray? And where on earth IS Jen anyway?

As Beth’s friends push her to start dating again, Beth turns to Met Police DI Harry York for help. But will they solve the mystery in time, or will it turn out that in south east London, not everyone gets to live happily ever after?

Purchase Link – MyBook.to/Cic

Review:

We are back with Beth in the third instalment of London Murder Mystery series. I’m a huge fan of this series having read both Death in Dulwich (you can read my review here) and The Girl in the Gallery (you can read my review here). I would recommend you read both or at least the previous book before you read Calamity in Camberwell because this does contain slight spoilers for The Girl in the Gallery.

After seeing her friend and fellow single mum Jen remarried after a particularly nasty divorce, Beth’s friends try to convince her to start dating again. But Beth is reluctant, as she feels something is off about Jen’s new marriage.

Her fears start to grow and Jen and her husband disappear. Unsure of what to do, she turns to DI York to help her.

Calamity In Camberwell has a different feel to it than the first two books, because it doesn’t involve Beth stumbling across a dead body or nearly dead body like in The Girl In The Gallery, instead it focuses a bit more on Beth, her life and her friendships.

Having read the previous novels, I feel like I know Beth so well now yet still I’m finding out new things about her, like more about her marriage to Ben’s dad (his name has escaped me as I’m writing this) who died eight years earlier.

The book is fast paced, well written and has a surprising twist at the end but I have to be honest I felt the mystery aspect of the book was overshadowed by Beth’s fears about her son’s new tutoring and Beth’s attempts at dating which was a shame.

I still massively enjoyed this book and I’m happy to see there will be more books in the pipeline, I can’t wait!

Rating: 3.5/5

About The Author:

Before turning to crime, Alice Castle was a UK newspaper journalist for The Daily Express, The Times and The Daily Telegraph. Her first book, Hot Chocolate, set in Brussels and London, was a European hit and sold out in two weeks.

Death in Dulwich was published in September 2017 and has been a number one best-seller in the UK, US, Canada, France, Spain and Germany. A sequel, The Girl in the Gallery was published in December 2017 to critical acclaim. Calamity in Camberwell, the third book in the London Murder Mystery series, will be published this summer, with Homicide in Herne Hill due to follow in early 2019.  Alice is currently working on the fifth London Murder Mystery adventure. Once again, it will feature Beth Haldane and DI Harry York.

Alice is also a mummy blogger and book reviewer via her website: https://www.alicecastleauthor.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/alicecastleauthor/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/DDsDiary?lang=en

Links to buy books: MyBook.to/GirlintheGallery

myBook.to/1DeathinDulwich

myBook.to/HotChocolate

She lives in south London and is married with two children, two step-children and two cats.

Giveaway – Win a signed copy of Calamity in Camberwell (Open Internationally)

*Terms and Conditions –Worldwide entries welcome.  Please enter using the Rafflecopter box below.  The winner will be selected at random via Rafflecopter from all valid entries and will be notified by Twitter and/or email. If no response is received within 7 days then I reserve the right to select an alternative winner. Open to all entrants aged 18 or over.  Any personal data given as part of the competition entry is used for this purpose only and will not be shared with third parties, with the exception of the winners’ information. This will passed to the giveaway organiser and used only for fulfilment of the prize, after which time I will delete the data.  I am not responsible for dispatch or delivery of the prize.

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/33c69494117/?

#BlogTour #Review The Affair by Sheryl Browne @bookouture @SherylBrowne

Title: The Affair by Sheryl Browne

Publisher: Bookouture

Date Published: 10^th August 2018

Genre: Psychological Thriller

Description:

The moment she opened her eyes, she knew everything had changed. The stale taste of alcohol; her uneasy stomach. She looked at her husband sleeping peacefully, and knew she would never tell anyone what happened last night.

You will think you know what happened to Alicia that night.

You will see a desperate wife, lying to her husband.

You will watch a charming lover, trying to win her back.

You will judge her, just like everyone else.

You will assume you know what happens next. But everything you think you know about the past, the relationships, what drives Alicia and her husband to lie… is wrong.

If you loved The Girl on the Train, The Wife Between Us and The Sister, you’ll love this compelling and gripping psychological thriller from Sheryl Browne. The Affair will have you hooked from the very first page!

Review:

I want to thank Bookouture and NetGalley for my copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

Justin and Alicia have the perfect life, he’s doctor, she’s a social worker, they have two children, Lucas is six months and Sophie is fifteen. An old work colleague of Alicia’s, Paul Radley, comes back into their lives, jealousy raises it’s ugly head and Justin suspects she’s had an affair.

A tragic accident causes their life to unravel even further, lies comes to the surface and soon their family is blown apart. Can they put the pieces back together?

I love when a novel surprises me! The Affair really is a hard novel to categorise, it’s part psychological thriller, part domestic drama and I was so emotional while reading, I even had a little cry.

This is a really character driven novel, each on with their own unique voice. Justin, before we even start the story properly, has had his mother, father and sister taken away from him after being murdered in their own home, then just when he thinks he’s got the perfect life, boom, the author throws more heart break at him. I genuinely wonder how he doesn’t just fall to pieces.

Sophie is your typical angry, hormonal teen, who I feel, as the mother of sulky teenager myself, Sheryl Browne got spot on.

Lastly there’s Alicia, who even though I know I shouldn’t really feel sorry for her, after all the lies she told, I really did which was some clever writing by Sheryl Browne.

Overall The Affair is a really powerful and suspenseful drama that will take you on an emotional rollercoaster until the very end.

I have a copy of The Babysitter, Sheryl Browne previous novel, I now can’t wait to read it!

Rating: 5/5

You can follow the rest of the blog tour here:

You Can Buy Your Copy Here:

Amazon: mybook.to/TASBSocial

iBookstore: http://ow.ly/p4qb30ljwU1

Kobo: http://ow.ly/OJe330ljwY0

Googleplay: http://ow.ly/iFDC30ljx34

About The Author:

Sheryl Browne brings you powerful psychological thriller and contemporary fiction. Sheryl’s latest psychological thriller THE AFFAIR – the second of a three-book deal – comes to you from fabulous BOOKOUTURE. A member of the Crime Writers’ Association and the Romantic Novelists’ Association, and previously writing for award winning Choc Lit, Sheryl has several books published and two short stories in Birmingham City University anthologies, where she completed her MA in Creative Writing.

So why does Sheryl write in two genres? Quoting E. L. Doctorow, Sheryl says: “Writing a novel is like driving a car at night. You can only see as far as your headlights…” This she thinks sums up a writer’s journey, you never quite know where you are going until you get there. You might start with an outline, but a strong character will always divert from the plot. If Sheryl’s not sure where a character is going, she simply has to trust him to show her the way. Plus, according to one reviewer, she also has a scary insight into the mind of a psychopath. 

www.facebook.com/SherylBrowne.Author/  

www.twitter.com/SherylBrowne  

#BlogTour #Review Murder And The Glovemaker’s Son by Leslie Cookman

Before I share my review of Murder and the Glovemaker’s Son I just want to invite you to the launch party on Facebook on Friday 17^th August. I have gone to a number of these events hosted by the lovely Jill Burkinshaw and there’s always fun and giveaways galore. Just follow the link below:

LAUNCH PARTY – Murder and the Glovemaker’s Son:

https://www.facebook.com/events/193396384616020/

Title: Murder And The Glovemaker’s Son by Leslie Cookman

Publisher: Accent Press

Publication Date: 16th August 2018

Genre: Mystery/Thriller

Description:

A new title in the Libby Sarjeant Murder Mystery series by bestselling author Lesley Cookman.

Set in the Kent village of Steeple Martin this series has a loyal following from around the globe.

The Oast Theatre in Steeple Martin is hosting a touring production of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night which is attracting a lot of attention. But very soon it begins to attract attention of an entirely different kind, when a document goes missing along with its owner.

When a body turns up, Libby Sarjeant and Fran Wolfe become involved with the investigation with the help, naturally, of their friends and relatives.

Review:

A tour of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night has arrived in the village of Steeple Martin after a letter was uncovered claiming that Shakespeare had toured with his company there. The letter is soon debunked as a fake and the letter and the owner disappear. The owner is soon found dead but the letter is missing. Another body is found with links to the touring Shakespeare company. Can Libby Sarjeant and her friends get to the bottom of this mystery before anyone else turns up dead?

So this is the 19^th book in the series, yes you read that right 19^th, this has to be one of the longest running book series I’ve come across in years. I actually haven’t read any of the other books myself and I found there was a handy little glossary of regular characters in the front, which helped me to make sense of who was who etc.

This is a proper cosy mystery, you don’t see the body or have it described in detail, instead it really focuses on the puzzle of the case.

The characters really make this book. Libby is quite fierce and a little bossy but I feel like the characters around her bring out her nicer side.

The book contains a lot of historical facts which I found immensely interesting like Shakespeare being a spy for Queen Elizabeth which I didn’t know and now I want to find out more about!

I have to be honest, there is quite a large cast of characters which I felt slightly over shadowed the mystery and trying to keep them straight in my head was quite hard.

Overall I would recommend Murder And The Glovemaker’s Son to anyone who enjoys a good puzzling mystery.

Rating: 3/5

Author Bio:

Lesley started writing almost as soon as she could read, and filled many Woolworth’s exercise books with pony stories until she was old enough to go out with boys. Since she’s been grown up, following a varied career as a model, air stewardess, actor and disc jockey, she’s written short fiction and features for a variety of magazines, achieved an MA in Creative Writing from the University of Wales, taught writing for both Kent Adult Education and the WEA and edited the first Sexy Shorts collection of short stories from Accent Press in aid of the Breast Cancer Campaign. The Libby Sarjeant series is published by Accent Press, who also publish her book, How to Write a Pantomime, with a foreword by Roy Hudd. She is also the author of several pantomimes and a Music Hall musical, and more recently an Edwardian mystery series, The Alexandrians, also from Accent Press. She has also written romances under the name Rosina Lesley.

She has four grown up children, two cats and lives on the Kent coast of England.

Links:

Website – http://www.lesleycookman.co.uk/

Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/lesley.cookman

Twitter – @LesleyCookman

Bedtime Book #Review Then She Was Gone by Lisa Jewell

Welcome Back To Bedtime Book Reviews! It went on a bit of a hiatus over the last month or so due to a bout of the flu and a huge backlog of reviews. If you’ve never read one these reviews before I basically put down my kindle at night and pick up one of my numerous paperback/hardback books and read in bed in a bid to help me sleep better! You can read my previous Bedtime Book Review Rivers Of London here.

Title: Then She Was Gone by Lisa Jewell

Publisher: Arrow Books

Date Published: 14^th December 2017

Genre: Psychological Thriller

Description:

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?

Review:

Fifteen year old Ellie is about to take her GCSE’s, she’s bright but a little spoilt, everybody thinks she’d heading for greatness, that’s until she disappears. Her mum Laurel has never given up hope of finding her.

Laurel has spent the last ten years in limbo, her marriage broke down, her two other children barely talk to her. Then she meets Floyd, a smart, handsome and charismatic man who injects some much needed company in her life. Then she meets his daughter Poppy. She’s the spitting image of Ellie.

She brushes this off as a coincidence but then she finds out Poppy’s mother used to be Ellie’s maths tutor and the feeling of unease grows. Can she find out what happened to her daughter?

I discovered Lisa Jewell last year and her book I Found You was one of my top reads of 2017 (you can read my review here), so when I saw Then She Was Gone I thought I really want to read that!

Now initially I felt very sorry for Laurel. She’d lost her daughter, but not just that her favourite daughter, her ‘golden girl’ but the way she treated the rest of her family especially her other daughter Hanna really made me dislike her which I feel may have effected how I see this book. She does see the error of her ways but it takes a long, long time.

The story started off really strong, we have a mix of narratives from Laurel and Ellie from back in 2005 from before she goes missing, drew me in. Then Laurel meets the too good to be true Floyd and his slightly strange daughter Poppy who acts far too old for her nine years and his other daughter Sara-Jade who is a bit creepy but then I felt the story fell flat. I just felt like it lacked tension and what happened to Ellie was frankly a bit unbelievable.

Will this put me off reading any more of Lisa Jewell’s books? No but I just won’t be as anxious to get my hands on her next book.

Rating: 3/5

About The Author:

Lisa Jewell was born in 1968 in Middlesex Hospital in London’s West End and was brought up in North London. At primary school in Oakleigh Park, she was found to be gifted only in creative writing and was once accused of cheating by a teacher who didn’t believe that a poem she’d read in class could possibly have been written by her.

Despite such early indicators, she decided to eschew writing and instead study art and design at Barnet College. After a brief and largely unsuccessful stint in fashion, she at last found her calling after enrolling in a creative writing course at her local Adult Education College. She has since written thirteen bestselling novels.

Lisa lives in London with her husband and their two daughters.

#BlogTour #GuestPost No Place Like Home by Rebecca Muddiman @Bloodhoundbook @RebeccaMuddiman

Today I’m excited to bring you a guest post from Rebecca Muddiman herself on the inspiration behind her new novel No Place Like Home!

Title: No Place Like Home by Rebecca Muddiman

Publisher: Bloodhound Books

Date Published: 6^th August 2018

Genre: Mystery/Thriller

Description:

What would you do if you came home to find someone in your house?

This is the predicament Polly Cooke faces when she returns to her new home.The first weeks in the house had been idyllic, but soon Jacob, a local man, is watching her.

What does he want and why is he so obsessed with Polly?

In a situation where nothing is what it seems, you might end up regretting letting some people in.

The Inspiration for No Place Like Home by Rebecca Muddiman:

The inspiration for a book can come from many places. For me, especially with my crime novels, it often comes from real life – e.g. domestic abuse or child abduction. I keep several folders of cuttings from newspapers and magazines, things that caught my eye or my imagination; as well as dozens of notebooks with ideas ranging from a single word, to a what if? sentence, to a longer sketch of the idea. These are both really useful in coming up with and developing ideas, though if anyone who was unaware of my job came across them, they’d probably think I was a lunatic.

When I’m starting a new book, sometimes I know exactly what I’m going to write about without having to consult the notebooks. Some ideas come forward, announcing themselves, and refuse to leave you alone until you’ve given them attention. Other ideas, you have to go looking for. After writing four books in a series, I knew I wanted to try a standalone. I just didn’t know what I wanted to write about at that point. So I headed for the notebooks and folders, flicking through, looking for the ideas that grabbed me the most. Some ideas can sit there for years without jumping out at me and then suddenly they seem like the most urgent thing in the world.

When coming up with what would eventually become No Place Like Home, there were three ideas I shortlisted. I wrote the three ideas down on one piece of paper, staring at it, trying to decide which one I would focus on. And as I stared, I realised they weren’t three ideas at all. Without realising it, I’d picked three ideas that were actually one idea.

The first came from an idle thought I’d had one day, soon after I’d moved in to my own house. Walking the dog on the field behind it, I looked back at my house. It was still new enough that I had to count the houses to work out which was mine. Once I’d found it, I looked at the bedroom window, and the first thing that came to mind was what would I do if I saw someone in the house? Someone who shouldn’t be there? Maybe everyone thinks like this, maybe it’s just crime writers. But either way, when I got home (where there was no intruder in the house) I wrote the thought down in a notebook and then forgot about it.

The second part of the idea came from something that happened to me about fifteen years earlier. My brother got a temporary job in another part of the country, but as it was temporary he didn’t want to give up his flat. So I volunteered to move in while he was away. The flat was on the second floor of a small block, located in a small square otherwise occupied by a pub, a fish and chip shop, and a handful of mostly closed down places. I was really excited by the idea of having my own place (even if it was temporary) but one day the buzzer went and when I answered it there was a man’s voice I didn’t recognise. I couldn’t make out what he was saying so I went to the bedroom window and peered down to the street below. I recognised the man. He was one of those semi-famous people in small towns, someone everyone knows, or at least knows of. He was obviously a man with troubles, the kind that kids cruelly shout at on their way home from school, running off as soon as their victim responds. I knew he was harmless, but it was still a little unnerving that he was standing outside, staring up at my window, wanting to be in. I found out later he was the previous occupant of the flat and had been evicted for trashing the place. Clearly he wasn’t pleased about that and he kept on coming back, pressing the buzzer, standing outside looking in, sometimes for an hour at a time. This was before mobile phones and my brother had no landline. The only way I could call for help would be to use the phone box across the square, but the only way to get to the phone box would be to pass the man at the front door. It never came to that. After a few visits he gave up. But the memory of it never left me, and one day it went into the notebook.

The last part came from a newspaper article about cuckooing. It focused on drug dealers and users who would target people who lived alone, vulnerable people, and take over their homes, using them as a place to conduct business without risking the police catching them.

These three ideas were linked by the theme of home and the invasion of what should be our safe haven. It was exciting putting the three ideas together and I knew I was onto something. But finding the idea was the easy part, making it into a book was much harder. Figuring out how these three pieces fitted together (or not) was where the hard work began. But, much like building a house, you have to start with strong foundations, and with these three ideas, I did.

About The Author:

Rebecca Muddiman was born and raised in the North East and worked in the NHS for many years. She has published four crime novels – Stolen, Gone, Tell Me Lies, and Murder in Slow Motion. Stolen won a Northern Writers Award in 2010 and the Northern Crime Competition in 2012. She is also a screenwriter and was selected for the London Screenwriters Festival Talent Campus in 2016.

Most of her spare time is spent re-watching Game of Thrones, trying to learn Danish, and dealing with two unruly dogs. Sometimes all at the same time.

Links:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/RebeccaMuddiman

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rebeccamuddimanwriter/

Website: https://rebeccamuddiman.wordpress.com/

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7053551.Rebecca_Muddiman

#BlogTour #Review The Backpacker by Stewart Giles @stewartgiles

Title: The Backpacker by Stewart Giles (DC Harriet Taylor 3)

Publisher: Self Published

Date Published: 29^th July 2018

Genre: Police Procedural

Description:

From #1 best-selling author: Stewart Giles comes a new detective story set on the Cornish coast. Where the pretty villages and towns hold some very dark secrets.

WHAT IS THE SECRET AT LANDELL’S FARM?

A girl’s body is found hidden in a remote spot of a Cornish Farm. The same farm that a young girl ran towards to escape her pursuer many years before.  Detective Harriet Taylor has to abandon her day out to investigate.

As Littlemore and the forensics team get to work they uncover another mystery hidden among the rocks.

Who would kill a young backpacker who hurt nobody? Is there a link between this and a mystery from many years ago?

As Harriet and the team get to work they find more questions than answers. What secrets is the sleepy Cornish village hiding?

This is a fast-paced page-turner that has so many twists and turns it keeps the reader guessing right up to the shocking end.

If you like Police Procedurals, then this is a series you won’t want to miss.

THE SETTING

Trotterdown and the surrounding villages is a fictional village in Cornwall. It is typical of Cornish villages with remote farms and sleepy Cornish stone cottages. However, the area is steeped in history and the residents of the quaint cottages have their share of myths and secrets making it the ideal setting for this series.

THE DETECTIVE

DC Harriet Taylor had only been married for 2 years when her philandering husband was killed in a car crash. It is common knowledge around the station that the woman who died next to him was his latest lover. Harriet transferred to Trotterdown to escape the gossip and sympathetic looks. She is now finding her way around Cornwall and getting to know the other members of the team.

DC HARRIET TAYLOR SERIES

Book 1 – The Beekeeper

Book 2 – The Perfect Murder

Book 3 – The Backpacker

DS JASON SMITH SERIES

Book 0.5 – Phobia

Book 1 – Smith

Book 2 – Boomerang

Book 3 – Ladybird

Book 4 – Occam’s Razor

Book 5 – Harlequin

Book 6 – Selene

Book 7 – Horsemen

Book 8 – Unworthy

Review:

Harriet Taylor is spending some much need rest time sailing with her new boyfriend pathologist Dr Jon Finch when a call comes in they’ve found a body of a young woman up at Landell’s farm. It turns out to be Frenchwoman Lauren Moreau, an avid hiker out to walk the coast to coast trail nearby. While investigating they unearth a second body which has been there for much longer.

With her hands full and short staffed Harriet can’t get the second body out of her mind. Are the two deaths linked and who is the mystery dead man?

So this is third in the DC Harriet Taylor series and the second I’ve read, (you can read my review of the previous novel, The Perfect Murder, here), but it can be read as a stand alone. Personally I would probably recommend starting at the beginning with The Beekeeper just to get a better understanding of the characters and setting.

Sometimes I love diving back into a series with familiar characters that I am already know and enjoy. The book isn’t that long but there’s plenty packed into it! With the fast pace I absolutely flew through it, I could not stop turning those pages!

Harriet is still as determined for justice as usual, although she is suffering from insomnia and headaches but that won’t stop her cracking the case! I adored the fact that she has found a new relationship with Jon Finch after the one with her husband ended so badly.

I also want to note there is quite a few sailing terms in the book but there’s a handy glossary of terms at the front, now if someone asked me what a jib sheet was, I now know what the heck they’re talking about!

There’s two storylines, one from 1996 and one from the present that are weaved together well. I did really enjoy the two narratives, each one as interesting as the other but I think they needed signposting a little better. What I mean to say is 1996 chapters were labelled but the present was not making it a little jarring when it changed eras.

Also I felt the ending was a little rushed compared to Stewart Giles other books but it is well worth a read.

I would recommend this for fans of police procedurals with a strong female lead.

Rating: 4/5

About The Author:

After reading English at 3 Universities and graduating from none of them, I set off travelling around the world with my wife, Ann, finally settling in South Africa, where we still live. After Ann dropped a rather large speaker on my head I came up with the idea for a detective series. DS Jason Smith was born. Smith, the first in the series was finished a few months later. 3 years and 8 DS Smith books later, Joffe Books wondered if I would be interested in working with them. As a self-published author, I agreed. However, we decided on a new series – the DC Harriet Taylor Cornwall series. The Beekeeper hit the shelves and hit the number one spot in Australia. The second in the series, The Perfect Murder did just as well. The third in the series, The Backpacker I have self-published and is now available.

Links:

Website: www.stewartgiles.com

Twitter: @stewartgiles

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/stewart.giles.33

You can join the Stewart Giles reader club by completing this form: https://goo.gl/forms/gtQ0gsNpzFP8WFHP2