Stephanie Dagg's Blog, page 4
March 14, 2021
Acts of Kindness by Heather Barnett
When Bella Black arrives in a sleepy Wiltshire village, it seems like the perfect place for a new start: a lovely home, exciting job and an attractive colleague or two to take her mind off her recent divorce.
When people start disappearing, she realises she holds the key to a mystery bigger than she could have ever imagined.
Who is really pulling the strings at the secretive OAK Institute?
Can anyone be trusted?
Will Bella make the right choices before its too late?
My review
There’s a lot going on in this exciting debut novel. It’s a combination of mystery, new starts, social commentary, comedy and self-development. The author handles these various strands skilfully and weaves a rich story with them.
Bella is a likeable, interesting character, and she’s far from being the only one. The fortunately/unfortunately-named (depending on your politics!) Maggie Thatcher is certainly one to watch in the book.
The setting and atmosphere is well portrayed, with the calm and wholesomeness of rural living counterbalanced by the definite hint of intrigue and menace surrounding the Institute.
Lots to savour in this easy-to-ready, enjoyable novel.
Purchase Links
Amazon UK: https://amzn.to/3fhl9Cd
bookshop.org : https://bit.ly/333Ovz2
Amazon US: https://amzn.to/35NWnGu
Author bio
Heather Barnett gained a degree in English and French from the University of Leeds and has written ever since: from copywriting to stand-up comedy and sketches. She is now focusing on writing novels. Heather’s influences span Jane Austen and Douglas Adams at one end of the alphabet through to PG Wodehouse at the other.
Heather’s debut novel, Acts of Kindness, is an uplifting, light-hearted mystery. It was inspired by witnessing commuters helping a woman who’d fallen down the stairs at Paddington station; intermingled with wondering what was behind some grand stone gateposts that she used to drive past in Wiltshire.
Her second novel, Lord Seeks Wife, is a romantic comedy and will be published summer 2021.
Aside from writing, Heather’s interests are classic literature, cats and comedy.
Heather is head of marketing at an agency near Oxford and lives by the river Kennet in Berkshire.
For more information on Heather and her books, please visit her website: www.heatherbarnettauthor.com or join the discussion on Twitter @WritesHeather.
Social Media Links –
Twitter: @ WritesHeather
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/writesheather/
Serpentine Books: www.serpentinebooks.com Twitter: @SerpentineBooks
March 3, 2021
Jane Austen’s Best Friend by Zoe Wheddon
Jane Austen’s Best Friend; The life and influence of Martha Lloyd
All fans of Jane Austen everywhere believe themselves to be best friends with the beloved author and this book shines a light on what it meant to be exactly that. Jane Austen’s Best Friend; The Life and Influence of Martha Lloyd offers a unique insight into Jane’s private inner circle. Through this heart-warming examination of an important and often overlooked person in Jane’s world, we uncover the life changing force of their friendship. Each chapter details the fascinating facts and friendship forming qualities that tied Jane and Martha together. Within these pages we will relive their shared interests, the hits and misses of their romantic love lives, their passion for shopping and fashion, their family histories, their lucky breaks and their girly chats. This book offers a behind the scenes tour of the shared lives of a fascinating pair and the chance to deepen our own bonds in ‘love and friendship’ with them both.
Extract
Helping our friends is one of life’s most rewarding things to do and helps to cement any friendship. Jane Austen fans dream of being able to do anything at all which might gratify or please their literary heroine and what could be closer to Jane’s heart than preparing her ink, quill, and paper. Would we not all love to make sure that her writing slope was kept in tip top condition, her chair made up to be its most comfortable and her table to be set ‘just so’ in her favoured position, next to the window? This passage talks about Martha’s part in helping her friend with these most practical acts. It is kind of mind-blowing to stop and realise that someone made the ink that fed the quill that followed the will of the writer. It was with Martha’s ink with which those words flowed and through which our beloved authoress’ characters came to life on the page. What a wonderful moment frozen in time that is. A friendship is all about the little things, but this one simple fact feels quite momentous indeed.
“However, the recipe that excites everyone the most, even to this present day, is, of course, her recipe for making ink. How thrilling to think that Martha supported her friend Jane’s writing by supplying the ink to the very quill that allowed her ideas to flow forth. How special too to wonder that perhaps Martha’s own book was written, even in part, in that very same homemade ink. What we would all give to be able to bless our own words with the ink that wrote the words of Jane Austen.”
My opinion
An absolute must for any Jane Austen fan.
This is a beautifully written, carefully researched account of a somewhat overlooked figure in literary history.
Purchase Links
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Jane-Austens-Best-Friend-Influence/dp/1526763818/
https://www.amazon.com/Jane-Austens-Best-Friend-Influence/dp/1526763818/
https://www.waterstones.com/book/jane-austens-best-friend/zoe-wheddon/9781526763815
https://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/Jane-Austens-Best-Friend-Hardback/p/18769
Author Bio – ‘A native of Jane Austen’s beloved county of Hampshire, Zoe Wheddon, lives in a village on the outskirts of the touwn that she and her husband Matt grew up in, with three grown up children and a cat called Leia.
She co-presents the popular podcast What Would Jane Do and writes articles and book reviews on matters relating to friendship, self-compassion and personal development on her blog. When not researching or writing her next book, Zoe can be found in the classroom teaching Spanish and French or singing ABBA songs loudly in her kitchen.’
Social Media Links – Twitter: @ ZoeWheddon
Facebook: Zoe Wheddon Author page.
Instagram: Zoe_Wheddon
Website- www.zoewheddon.co.uk
February 25, 2021
Melting in the Middle by Andy Howden
For Stephen Carreras, life is in turmoil. His career with Britain’s worst chocolate company is heading for the rocks when it’s taken over by US confectionery giant Schmaltz. He’s just turned forty, he’s messed up on marriage and is struggling to keep a toehold in the lives of his monosyllabic teenage children.
Then he meets Rachel, who dances to a very different beat. She challenges him to do good among the carnage that surrounds him. But to do so, he must confront his past and work out all over again what really matters…
Long-listed for the Exeter Novel Prize, Melting in the Middle is a literary comedy about redemption and second chances, played out amid the madness of modern life.
My review
This is a very enjoyable book, with interesting characters and lots of sharp humour that’s poignant at times. It’s a tale of man versus rat race.
Melting in the Middle is an uplifting story of second chances, both professional and domestic. I think many readers will empathise because these days career paths are hardly ever smooth. It’s heartening to see how Stephen copes with having his working life turned upside down by a takeover at the same time as adjusting to his post-divorce situation. He’s more adaptable than he thinks he is, and, although reluctantly at first, it’s true to say he eventually embraces his new circumstances and turns them to his advantage.
Stephen, simultaneously anti-hero and hero, is surrounded by equally fascinating, multi-faceted characters. The inter-relationships are vividly and convincingly portrayed.
Much to enjoy in this deceptively simple book. Probe beneath the surface a little and you discover clever complexity and a richness of social criticism and satire.
Super cover, great writing.
Purchase Links
https://www.troubador.co.uk/bookshop/contemporary/melting-in-the-middle/
https://www.waterstones.com/book/melting-in-the-middle/andy-howden/9781800460645
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Melting-Middle-Andy-Howden-ebook/dp/B08P61K7KX/
https://www.amazon.com/Melting-Middle-Andy-Howden-ebook/dp/B08P61K7KX/
https://www.whsmith.co.uk/products/melting-in-the-middle/andy-howden/paperback/9781800460645.html
https://www.hive.co.uk/Product/Andy-Howden/Melting-in-the-Middle/25091964
Author bio
Born in Yorkshire, Andy Howden read English at Sheffield University before a career in marketing, including working for a multi-national company in London and Paris. This novel was long-listed for the Exeter Novel Prize as ‘funny,poignant and uplifting’ and sprang out of a MA in Creative Writing at St Mary’s University in Twickenham. Andy lives in South West London with is wife and has two grown up children who have left home but fortunately keep popping back to see him.
Social Media Links –
www.facebook.com/andyhowdenwriter
Twitter: @ andy_howden
February 19, 2021
Eleven Days in June by R. P. Gibson Colley
Eleven Days in June (The Little Leaf Series, 1)
Devon, 1985. Dan is 20, lives in a sleepy village and works in a small DIY shop. He likes numbers and hero worships Lord Nelson. But he finds ordinary people difficult to understand and he’s certainly never kissed a girl. His mother mocks him, and he misses his father and he pines for Ollie, his only childhood friend who truly understood him.
But, despite it all, Dan thinks he’s happy enough. Until one June day, the beautiful and mysterious Libby walks into his shop – and into Dan’s life.
Libby’s sudden appearance turns Dan’s ordered existence upside down. But Dan soon realises that Libby isn’t who she seems. Who exactly is she? What is she hiding, and, more importantly, who’s that threatening man always looking for her?
In trying to help Libby, Dan comes to realise what’s missing in his own life, and, in turn, appreciates what’s really important…
My review
I thoroughly enjoyed this well-written, confident novel. The story it relates is interesting with a very strong sense of time and place. For those of us who lived through them, it’s nice to go back to the 1980s, which was in some ways the best decade ever! And for those who didn’t, it’s a lovely introduction to that period.
There’s excellent characterisation with intriguing relationships going on, both good and bad. Dan, probably more anti-hero than hero, is a likeable protagonist in whom the reader quickly becomes invested.
I also like that it’s a novel that’s happy in its own skin – or rather, covers. It’s content to be itself, original, different, not contorting to fit into a particular genre. It thus comes over as a very genuine, natural book.
It’s a delightful, entertaining and absorbing read.
Purchase Links
UK – https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08QLLHH2Y/
US – https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08QLLHH2Y/
Author auto-bio
I was born one Christmas Day, which means, as a child, I lost out on presents. Nonetheless, looking back on it, I lived a childhood with a “silver spoon in my mouth” – brought up in a rambling manor house in the beautiful Devon countryside. It’s been downhill ever since.
I was a librarian for a long time, a noble profession. Then I started a series called History In An Hour, “history for busy people”, which I sold to HarperCollins UK.
I now live in London with my wife, two children and dog (a fluffy cockapoo) and write historical fiction, mainly 20th-century war and misery, and humorous books set in 1980s England.
February 8, 2021
The Mirror Dance by Catriona McPherson
Synopsis
Something sinister is afoot in the streets of Dundee, when a puppeteer is found murdered behind his striped Punch and Judy stand, as children sit cross-legged drinking ginger beer. At once, Dandy Gilver’s semmingly-innocuous investigation into plagiarism takes a darker turn. The gruesome death seems to be inextricably bound to the gloomy offices of Doig’s Publishers, its secrets hidden in the real stories behind their girls’ magazines The Rosie Cheek and The Freckle.
On meeting a mysterious professor from St Andrews, Dandy and her faithful colleague Alex Osbourne are flung into the worlds of academia, the theatre and publishing. Nothing is quite as it seems, and behind the cheerful facades of puppets and comic books, is a troubled history has begun to repeat itself.
This is the fifteenth book in the Dandy Gilver series. Published by Hodder and Stoughton.
My review
This book was my introduction to this series, but I was able to get stuck in straight away. There is no doubt an added richness from following the series from its start, but the degree of enjoyment is not affected in the slightest. This is a charming and clever book.
I like how it’s a mix of factual setting in the publishing industry in Dundee, and fiction. And there’s another element too. Stories set in this era always have an added poignancy. People are so optimistic after pulling their lives and society back together after the first world war. The reader knows that everything is about to come tumbling down again. The genteel ways of the upper middle class and above, with their households of servants and gardeners, are about to end forever. This is the atmosphere that emerges in this beautiful book.
Dandy is a likeable, energetic heroine, ably assisted by Alex with whom she has a slightly nuanced rapport, and her indomitable maid Grant. Together they wade into this particular mystery with enthusiasm and persistence.
The plot is original and clever, and the story is absorbing and immensely enjoyable.
And I absolutely adore the cover!
About the author
Catriona McPherson was born in South Queensferry. After finishing school, she worked in a bank for a short time, before going to university. She studied for an MA in English Language and Linguistics at Edinburgh University, and then gained a job in the local studies department at Edinburgh City Libraries. She left this post after a couple of years, and went back to university to study for a PhD in semantics. During her final year she applied for an academic job, but left to begin a writing career.
These days, McPherson lives with her husband on a farm in the Galloway countryside, where she spends her time writing, gardening, swimming and running.
Botanical Curses and Poisons by Fez Inkwright
Botanical Curses and Poisons: the shadow lives of plants
Discover the fascinating folklore, lurid histories, and malignant properties of toxic plants.
‘If you drink much from a bottle marked ‘poison’, it is almost certain to disagree with you, sooner or later.’ – Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland
Poisonings are among the most memorable deaths in history, from the Roman Empire to the Medieval era and beyond. Concealed and deliberate, it’s a crime that must be planned in advance. And yet there is a fine line between healing and poisoning – Paracelsus argued that only the dosage matters!
In Botanical Curses and Poisons, illustrator, author, and folklorist Fez Inkwright returns to archives to uncover the fascinating folklore, lurid histories, and untold stories behind deadly plants, witching herbs and fungi.
Filled with beautiful illustrations, this treasury of folklore is packed with insight, lore, and the revealed mysteries of everyday flora! Botanical Curses and Poisons is printed in hardcover with metallic foiling, a ribbon bookmark, black-and-white illustrations on nearly every page, and a wealth of folklore, history and poetry about the deadly plants within!
From the creator of Folk Magic and Healing (2019).
My review
This is an absolute treasure trove of a book, packed with truly fascinating – and horrifying! – information and beautiful illustrations. It incorporates botany, chemistry, botany, literature, social commentary – and that’s just scratching the surface.
It’s principally about the darker side of plants, their less nice characteristics – specifically, how some of them can kill us and don’t always need a helping hand from a human to do so. The legends and historical accounts of infamous poisoning cases that were carried out by assorted baddies are both macabre and truly riveting.
But it’s not all bad news as we do get to see some plants being used for healing too… but not always with the desired effect. For example, the doctrine of signatures was a misguided attempt to cure parts of the body with a plant that looked like the afflicted area. This proved to be disastrous in some instances.
We get to see wise women and witches, and examine the fine line between the two. Hedge witches, who used plants in lotions and potions, were treated with great suspicion and cruelty at the time of the Inquisition.
Then comes the kernel of the book. It’s an A-Z – well actually Y, but that’s near enough – of plants from all continents, their medicinal and deadly properties, details of where and how these are and have been used, topped off with legends and stories about them and the people who made use of them in one way or another.
The book finishes with a useful index and bibliography which make this a very complete reference work that’s handsome, educational and immensely enjoyable.
About the author
Fez Inkwright is an illustrator, author and folklorist. Her greatest passions are botany, nature, primitive religions, and folklore, which flavour most of her work. For the past eight years she has produced work for children’s books, hand-drawn maps and tattoo design and now spends her time indulging in conservation work and writing. She lives in Bristol with two cats and several hundred bees.
Gardening / Plants / Folklore & Myth / Herbal Remedies
ISBN 978-1-912634-22-4
£12.99 / $16.95 (USD) / $22.95 (CAN)
Hardback 224 pages 210 x 148 mm Black-and-white illustrations throughout
Published 7 January 2021
February 7, 2021
Housewife Writes Bestseller by Ann Victoria Roberts
‘Housewife Writes Bestseller – A Tale of Life & Luck’
Synopsis:
One Thursday in July, 1989, beneath the headline, Obsession That Became A Bestseller, the Daily Mail featured a photo of a young woman looking like a lottery winner. The Sun’s piece was cheekier: Mum Makes A Million, appeared beside the boobs on Page Three.
Ann Victoria Roberts hadn’t posed naked and hadn’t won a fortune. She’d written a novel that prompted a bidding war for publishing rights across the world. In the eyes of the press, the fact that Ann was not a career woman, but simply a wife and mother, was newsworthy.
In this memoir, the author reflects on the joys, the travels and the heartaches of her life as a sea-captain’s wife – and the decade of coincidences and lucky strikes that led to the writing of two big historical novels, Louisa Elliott and Liam’s Story. Amidst the fanfares and famous names, and the journey that took her from York to Australia and back, Ann reveals the work behind the success, and the truth behind her characters.
As readers, we browse in bookshops, spot a favourite author or intriguing title, and take it home. Rarely do we consider the path that book must have taken from the author’s pen to a bookshop shelf. And yet the story behind it is often stranger than the fiction it contains…
My review
This books is a real gem, or rather gems because it’s not just the account of Ann Victoria Roberts, our housewife, becoming an author, but it also the story about the novels that she wrote! There’s so much happening within the pages.
Ann was inspired to write her books after discovering the diary of a relative, Liam, who died in the First World War. The author’s subsequent success is a testament to both him and to her own resoluteness and perseverance. It’s so poignant that this young man, one of the tragic generation that were cut down by international conflict, lives on in the writing that he inspired with his humbled diary.
‘Luck’ is mentioned in the book’s subtitle, but other than there being a modicum of ‘right time, right place’ and a smattering of happy coincidences the author’s success is mainly due to her hard work, careful research and lovely writing style. She’s a natural storyteller with a warm, inviting tone. She knows what details to include, and what to leave out. She creates settings and personalities succinctly yet also vividly.
The element of life is certainly there in terms of Ann’s experiences and the family life background to this huge undertaking. It’s lovely to glimpse beyond the written page to find out about the very human side of a bestselling author.
There’s another aspect to the book: it also acts as a writing guide, although not explicitly. Ann’s careful cataloguing of the steps she went through, the decisions she made, the actions she took most definitely to be taken on board by all aspiring authors. The main lesson is that there are no short cuts, that the effort has to be put in to gain the rewards. Ms Roberts wasn’t looking for acclaim and wealth from the book, just the sense of achievement, and this is encouraging to writers. We all know that the success stories such as this are few and far between, but they do happen. And even if it doesn’t in our case – I haven’t quite given up hoping though! – the act of creating a memoir or novel is highly fulfilling and worth undertaking in its own right.
I was glued to this wonderful, enlightening, inspiring book. Absolutely one to read.
About the author
A lover of history, art, and the sea, Ann Victoria Roberts was simply a Yorkshire wife and mother when her success hit national headlines in 1989. Her first historical novels, Louisa Elliott and Liam’s Story, had just sold for what was then a record sum for a first-time author. Inspired by a diary written by a young Australian soldier during WW1, she began researching his family background in York, which led to a novel based on the relationships of a previous era.
As the wife of a sea-captain, Ann’s writing was often interrupted by voyages with her husband and children – she even received news of Louisa Elliott’s acceptance while on the bridge of an oil tanker entering port!
Her fifth novel, The Master’s Tale, based on the life of Captain Smith of the Titanic, was inspired by little-known facts behind the disaster, and praised for its authenticity. A keen reader and researcher, Ann enjoys painting pictures with words and regards good historical fiction as a pleasurable way to discover how life was lived in the past. Her seventh book, Housewife Writes Bestseller – a Tale of Life & Luck, is a memoir of crazy days, huge upheavals, and the strange events that led to her success. Ann is now a grandmother, and lives in Southampton UK with her semi-retired Master Mariner husband.
Two Nosey Parker Cosy Mysteries by Fiona Leitch: brilliant!
Murder on the Menu
The first book in a NEW cosy mystery series!
Still spinning from the hustle and bustle of city life, Jodie ‘Nosey’ Parker is glad to be back in the Cornish village she calls home. Having quit the Met Police in search of something less dangerous, the change of pace means she can finally start her dream catering company and raise her daughter, Daisy, somewhere safer.
But there’s nothing like having your first job back at home to be catering an ex-boyfriend’s wedding to remind you of just how small your village is. And when the bride, Cheryl, vanishes Jodie is drawn into the investigation, realising that life in the countryside might not be as quaint as she remembers…
With a missing bride on their hands, there is murder and mayhem around every corner but surely saving the day will be a piece of cake for this not-so-amateur sleuth?
Purchase Links
http://mybook.to/murderonthemenureveal
A Brush With Death
Jodie ‘Nosey’ Parker is back!
When a body turned up at her last catering gig it certainly put people off the hor d’oeuvres. So with a reputation to salvage, Jodie’s determined that her next job for the village’s festival will go without a hitch.
But when chaos breaks out, Jodie Parker somehow always finds herself in the picture.
The body of a writer from the festival is discovered at the bottom of a cliff, and the prime suspect is the guest of honour, the esteemed painter Duncan Stovall. With her background in the Met police, Jodie has got solving cases down to a fine art and she knows things are rarely as they seem.
Can she find the killer before the village faces another brush with death?
Both these books can be read as standalones. They are humorous cosy mysteries with a British female sleuth in a small village, written in British English and with mild profanity and peril. Each book ncludes one of Jodie’s Tried and Tested Recipes!
My review
These two books are glorious! For me they’re exactly what cosy mysteries should be – character driven, lots of fun, a plausible plot, enough tension and red herrings to keep us on our toes, and an ending that’s satisfying, but still leaves wanting more in the series.
Jodie is a great heroine. She’s wonderfully human in being imperfect, has an engaging and energetic personality and comes over as a likeable, genuine, nice person. She has good relationships with her mother and daughter Daisy, although the former is definitely hard work at times! I love the repartee and teasing that goes on within the family: a warm, homely touch. She’s a dedicated divorced mum, and gave up her beloved job with the Met after an incident that left her daughter worrying every day that her mum might not come home. She’s thrown herself whole-heartedly into her new official career as a caterer, and also into her new unofficial one of amateur sleuth. She’s well qualified for both these roles, and her skills in all areas are called upon frequently.
The two novels are utterly delightful, both the sort of book that it’s so hard to put down once you’ve started reading. The humour is lively and witty, the pace of the writing is brisk and the plots are clever and well developed. You really do get sucked into the action and care about Jodie and her family.
I’m hoping this will turn into a nice long series!
Purchase Links
UK – https://www.amazon.co.uk/Brush-Death-Nosey-Parker-Mystery-ebook/dp/B08CTX44K5
US – https://www.amazon.com/Brush-Death-Nosey-Parker-Mystery-ebook/dp/B08CTX44K5
Author Bio
Fiona Leitch is a writer with a chequered past. She’s written for football and motoring magazines, DJ’ed at illegal raves and is a stalwart of the low budget TV commercial, even appearing as the Australasian face of a cleaning product called ‘Sod Off’. Her debut novel ‘Dead in Venice’ was published by Audible in 2018 as one of their Crime Grant finalists. After living in London, Hastings and Cornwall she’s finally settled in sunny New Zealand, where she enjoys scaring her cats by trying out dialogue on them. She spends her days dreaming of retiring to a crumbling Venetian palazzo, walking on the windswept beaches of West Auckland, and writing funny, flawed but awesome female characters.
Social media links
https://www.facebook.com/fiona.leitch.1/
https://www.instagram.com/leitchfiona/
January 30, 2021
When’s the Wedding? by Olivia Spring
When’s the Wedding? Dreaming of saying ‘I do’…
She’s found the perfect man. Will she get her perfect proposal?
Dog hotel marketing manager Alex has always dreamed of having a fairy-tale proposal: the glorious sunset, iconic backdrop and rose petals – the whole shebang. She’s found her Mr Right, and life with sexy paediatrician Miles is wonderful, except for one thing. Despite saying that he’s ready for marriage, Miles seems no closer to putting a ring on it.
After a romantic getaway to Paris ends in more disappointment and Alex receives news that sends her world into a spin, she decides that her dream proposal won’t just fall into her lap. So she hatches a plan.
Although she’s convinced her methods will lead to Miles popping the question faster than she can say ‘I do’, Alex’s friends warn her it will end in disaster. But a little bit of hint dropping can’t hurt, right?
Will Alex get her happily-ever-after, or is there a reason why Miles is dragging his feet?
Order this fun romantic comedy now and join Alex on her exciting adventures as she attempts to speed up the proposal process, with hilarious results!
When’s The Wedding? is the sequel to Only When It’s Love. It can also be read as a standalone novel.
Pre-order links:
Publication date: 25th March 2021
Author Bio
Olivia Spring is a British, London-based writer of contemporary women’s fiction, sexy chick lit and romantic comedy. Her uplifting debut novel The Middle-Aged Virgin, which was released in July 2018, deals with being newly single in your thirties and beyond, dating, relationships, love, sex and living life to the full.
In addition to The Middle-Aged Virgin, Olivia has published four novels: The Middle-Aged Virgin in Italy, Love Offline, Losing My Inhibitions and Only When It’s Love. When’s The Wedding?, the hotly anticipated sequel to Only When It’s Love and Olivia’s sixth novel, will be published in March 2021.
When she’s not writing, Olivia can be found travelling to Italy to indulge in pasta, pizza and gelato and of course, seeking inspiration for her next book!
Social Media
https://twitter.com/ospringauthor
https://www.facebook.com/ospringauthor/
https://www.instagram.com/ospringauthor/
https://www.bookbub.com/authors/olivi...
#WhensTheWedding
January 28, 2021
The Mystery Shopper and the Hot Tub by Helen Field
Synopsis
A genuinely very funny and irreverent debut novel about life, love, sex, double lives, mystery shopping and hot tubs.
Brooke’s a gorgeous young mum who lives in Essex. Her favourite things in life are her baby, her husband, Chardonnay, hot tubs and OK! magazine.
All that’s missing from her life is the hot tub. Brooke’s bored at home and wants financial independence, but mostly a hot tub and Dean’s a man with traditional values and he doesn’t want Brooke to work. She secretly takes a job at a nearby country house, meeting the incorrigible Lady Townsend. This unlikely friendship, plus some jaw-dropping events, helps Brooke realise that she’s capable of so much more than she thought.
Dean is a devoted husband and father, and, knowing what Brooke wants most of all in life, he secretly takes up mystery shopping hoping to make some extra money to pay for it. And if he gets some peace and quiet whilst doing so, all the better.
The elaborate web of lies they both weave results in numerous madcap situations, but can their deceit undermine the love that they have?
My review
This book is deceptively simple because there are so many layers to it. At first glance it’s about two rather shallow people who put image above everything else. But at heart, there’s goodness, good intentions, loyalty, love and wanting to surprise their partner. Due to lack of communication lines get crossed, and both parties of Brooke and Dean sneak off on secret missions in order to accomplish their well-intentioned but misguided goals.
All sort of social issues are swirled around in the story which stars what appears to be the stereotypical Essex couple. This alone brings bubbles of classism and snobbery, both society’s and the characters’, to the surface. The rights and wrongs of conspicuous consumption and consumerism slosh around there too. And that’s just a quick toe dip.
Brooke is exasperating and endearing, Dean likewise. They’re both incredibly selfish, yet also genuinely caring. It’s fascinating reading about them and the messes they proceed to get themselves into. They develop from caricatures into warm, human beings.
The humour is abundant, the atmosphere lively, the writing razor-sharp and the author’s eye unsparing. This book makes for a thoroughly entertaining and also thought-provoking read.
About the author
Helen Field is a business woman, writer, publisher of greetings cards, funny poet, speaker, traveller and author of The Mystery Shopper & The Hot Tub.
She was born and brought up in Waltham Abbey in Essex and currently lives in a small village in North West Essex, so it would be fair to say she has earned her “Essex girl” badge!
Helen has had a varied and interesting career in retail and hospitality in UK, Europe and USA, including setting up and running her own restaurant. She runs her own training consultancy to the hospitality industry. One element of her business has been designing and implementing mystery shopper programmes all over the UK for some of the most well-known organisations. With inside knowledge of the industry and armed with thousands of funny mystery shopping incidents, she was inspired to write her debut novel, The Mystery Shopper & The Hot Tub.
Helen has recently spent time combining work and writing with travelling with her husband, including four months in Europe in a 20 year old campervan, a completely wild four-month ride round India by train and a month in an isolated log cabin in Finland.
She rides a motorbike and has three talented and amazing grown up children.
P.s. She doesn’t have a hot tub… yet!
