Veronika Jordan's Blog, page 16

The Vanilla Killer by Peter Boland The Charity Shop Detective Agency #4

It’s a perfect summer’s day in Southbourne. And Partial Sue’s in one of her rare generous moods. She wants to treat all the ladies of the Dogs Need Nice Homes charity shop to supper.

But before the ladies can shut up shop and head to the chippie, the air is filled with the strains of ‘Greensleeves’. And a clapped-out old ice-cream van lurches into view. 

The gang can barely believe their eyes. Especially when they see who’s behind the wheel. Daisy’s daughter Bella.

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Newly divorced Bella’s only just rid herself of her rotten husband. Now she’s landed herself in an even stickier situation.

This banger may be stocked with sweet treats, but its freezer once held something much more sinister — the dead body of its former owner!

Everyone in the village knows the van’s sinister history. Except poor Bella. The culprit slipped away without a trace. But the village folk all say it’s just a matter of time until the Vanilla Killer strikes again!

When Bella starts receiving poison pen letters, the ladies can’t help but worry. What if their beloved Bella’s next?

There’s only one thing for it, the ladies agree over a steaming pot of tea. They need to put the Vanilla Killer on ice . . . before anyone else dies.

Fans of Richard Osman, Robert Thorogood, Janice Hallett, Simon Brett, Ian Moore and Sarah Yarwood-Lovett will adore this exciting new talent in cozy crime.

My Review

Three pensioners and a dog named Simon Le Bon investigate a cold case, excuse the pun, (no not a historic murder, but a body in the freezer of an ice cream van) in this cosy mystery. In reality the dog doesn’t do much investigating, but he can spot a sweet treat at a hundred paces. Always useful at a dessert-based crime scene.

I’m used to reading gritty crime thrillers, but every now and again I like to delve into lighter genres and this was hilarious. The humour is often quite subtle and I did wonder if everyone would get all the jokes and references. I got vibes of the sitcom Jam and Jerusalem, set in Clatterford, a fictional village in England, and the silliness of it all. But our three brave women investigators are much cleverer.

The Vanilla Killer is set in Southbourne, on the south coast near Bournemouth. It appears to exist. The main characters are Fiona, Partial Sue, and Daisy, plus Daisy’s daughter Bella, who has inadvertently become the new owner of the ‘haunted’ ice cream van. They run the Dogs Need Nice Homes charity shop. There are lots of other characters, like snobby Sophie from the Cats Alliance over the road, and the Wicker Man who pops in from time to time. I haven’t read the first three books so I don’t know the origin of the nicknames.

There is a lot of tea drinking going on all the time, but as we know, it’s the (very British) solution to everything, though there are times when only a gin and tonic will do. Just my opinion!

The book is a great romp of a cosy mystery and I feel I really should read the other three books next time I am in Bournemouth – we went there a lot pre-pandemic – in fact I swam the Bournemouth to Boscombe Pier-to-Pier in 2017.

Incidentally, for those of us who remember, I did love an orange Mivvi, never a strawberry fan.

Many thanks to @ZooloosBT  for inviting me to be part of this blog tour.

About the Author

After studying to be an architect, Pete realised he wasn’t very good at it. He liked designing buildings he just couldn’t make them stand up, which is a bit of a handicap in an industry that likes to keep things upright. So he switched to advertising, writing ads for everything from cruise lines to zombie video games.

After becoming disillusioned with working in ad agencies, he switched to writing thriller novels (or was it because he just wanted to work at home in his pyjamas?). He soon realised there’s no magic formula. You just have to put one word in front of the other (and keep doing that for about a year). It also helps if you can resist the lure of surfing, playing Nintendo Switch with his son, watching America’s Next Top Model with his daughter and drinking beer in a garden chair.

Book Links
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/221521337-the-vanilla-killer
Purchase Link: https://mybook.to/vanillakiller-zbt

Peter’s Social Media
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PeterBolandWriter
Twitter: https://x.com/PeterBoland19
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/peterboland.bsky.social

Joffe Books’ Social Media
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Twitter: https://twitter.com/joffebooks
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Website: https://joffebooks.com/

Bella’s Countryside Christmas by Claire Huston

An uplifting festive romance perfect for fans of Hallmark Christmas movies and authors such as Phillipa Ashley, Trisha Ashley, Sue Moorcroft, Rebecca Raisin and Donna Ashcroft.

Fleeing her heartache and horrendous job, Bella stumbles upon a December wedding in the beautiful village of Haileybrook and the spirit of the season moves her to act as a fake date to handsome stranger Jack.

Jack and Bella hit it off, but Bella has to leave in a hurry and their magical evening soon becomes nothing more than a blissful memory.

A year later, Bella is returning to Haileybrook, seeking a fresh start and a quieter life. With a new job close to her cosy cottage home, a peaceful Christmas is surely only days away.

But it’s not long before family surprises, small-town feuds and romantic drama disrupt Bella’s plans, and she has to wonder if being alone is what she really wants for Christmas …

My Review

I really enjoyed this – perfect for a Christmas read. It’s great fun with just enough intrigue to lift it from a simple romcom into something more interesting, with some lovely characters to root for.

If I ever have to move into a retirement home, I’d love to live in the place where Bella works, but let’s get back to the beginning. Bella is escaping a failed relationship and a conference dinner with the company she works for. She hates her job and needs to get away for a bit. While hiding in the church in the pretty village of Haileybrook in the Cotswolds, she has an unfortunate encounter with a Christmas tree, followed by an embarrassing rescue by the handsome Jack. This results in her posing as his plus one and all seems fun and lighthearted. And maybe a bit romantic as well.

But when she has to rush off, it looks like Jack is just a distant memory. Until she returns to Haileybrook to take up a new position as finance manager at the retirement home.

We meet lots of new people in Bella’s Countryside Christmas plus a few from Claire’s other books like Elle, Kate and Lucinda. I particularly love the retirement home’s committee, or as I call them The Ladies with Lavender (see what I did there) and Iris, Wendy and co.

Another great story from Claire – probably my favourite though I said that last time! Many thanks to the author for an ARC.

About the Author

Claire Huston lives in Warwickshire, UK, with her husband and two children. She writes uplifting modern love stories about characters who are meant for each other but need a little help to realise it.

A keen amateur baker, she enjoys making cakes, biscuits and brownies almost as much as eating them. You can find recipes for all the cakes mentioned in Art and Soul, her first novel, at clairehuston.co.uk along with over 150 other recipes. This is also where she talks about and reviews books.

Thank You For The Days by Dan Brotzel

Every day counts when you’re chasing love, life, and a little bit of madness…

Luke Milvaine is a drifting 30-something stuck in a dead-end job with an even deader love life. Then the sudden death of a school friend leaves him with a cockapoo puppy and a bizarre challenge to celebrate a different fake holiday every day for a year.

Shower With a Friend Day, Talk Like Shakespeare Day, National Burger Day…

What starts as a ridiculous stunt becomes a life-changing journey filled with strange encounters, surprising friendships, and the unexpected realisation that love might be right under his nose. With humour, heart, and a dash of absurdity, Luke discovers that sometimes, the biggest adventure is learning to appreciate the little things and rethink what – and who – truly matters.

Thank You for the Days is a humorous, heartfelt journey about finding meaning in the mundane and learning to live with purpose.

My Review

I really enjoyed this book and the way in which the relationships gradually unfolded. Luke Milvaine is in his thirties, he hasn’t seen his dad for years because he’s flying around the world on business, his mum died a few years ago and he lives in a flat share with Dom in the basement of his stepdad’s house. His young half brother Milo and half-sister Grace live there too along with inherited cockapoo Ziggy. Luke is in love with Yasmine (the One) even though they have only met once.

Luke works as a content creator at a somewhat dysfunctional company with Holly (she’s lovely), Muriel (she’s on the spectrum though of what I’m not sure), bosses father and daughter Greg and Phaedra, who are always at loggerheads, and a group of assorted misfits. He really wants to ‘escape’.

Luke’s life at this point seems boring and pointless, and he needs something to focus on, other than his annoying obsession with Yasmine (the One). You’re not fifteen Luke. It wasn’t even a seven-day holiday romance in Benidorm. He needs a challenge. So that’s when he begins his life-changing year of celebrating a different fake (actually they are not all fake – there really is a Talk-Like-A-Pirate-Day) holiday every day for a year, for charity. He’s also going to publish a blog, recording his escapades.

The book is also very educational. Thank you to the author for telling me about the origin of the Poinsettia (I have two on the go at the moment) even if I don’t believe it and also for teaching me how to spell Poinsettia – ie putting the second ‘i’ in the right place, I think. Apologies to Mrs Hart but I hate fig rolls. What’s wrong with a chocolate hob nob? And thank you for introducing me to so many useless special days. I will definitely be avoiding the gimp day, the roller-coaster day (I’m with Luke on that one) and the stand up comedy day.

But if I was doing the challenge, I quite fancy these:
June 26th is National Cream Tea Day, easy peasy.
July 7th is World Chocolate Day. You know what to do.
August 18th is National Bad Poetry Day. For many that’s every day.
And October 26th is Worldwide Howl at the Moon Night. Luke may have done this one – I can’t remember. I could go on – don’t worry I won’t.

Many thanks to the author for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

About the Author

Dan Brotzel describes himself as a “funny-sad author” and writer of novels, short stories, articles and other motley bits of content. The author of Hotel du Jack, a collection of short stories, and The Wolf in the Woods, a novel, he also co-wrote the brilliantly funny Work in Progress – a “novel-in emails” from award-winning publishers, Unbound. He lives in suburban north London with his partner and three children.

Whispers in the Park by Emmanuel Olympitis Illustrated by Olympia Olympitis

When Emmanuel Olympitis decided to turn his pen to a series of children’s books, he didn’t need to look far for an illustrator.

Whispers in the Park is a book for all the family, by a father and daughter team.

Whispers in the Park is the first book of a series, which takes the reader on a rollicking adventure through the treetops and undergrowth of the magnificent St James’s Park, where the most ancient and prestigious school for squirrels resides. When young squirrels Shane and Sophie are given scholarships to St James’s, they are excited and nervous to enter the magical world of squirreldom’s most venerable institution. But as the school’s treasures start to go missing, they are swept up into a gripping detective story, the unravelling of which will require some outside assistance…

Meet squirrel headmaster Horatio Hoyland, Witgift the wise old owl, Boris the tough games master Badger and Sam the siamese cat sleuth, and enter the world of Whispers in the Park – a vivid and whimsical children’s tale in the vein of The Wind in the Willows.

Whispers in the Park is a showcase of imaginative writing by the critically acclaimed Emmanuel Olympitis and the extraordinary talent of the emerging illustrator Olympia Olympitis, in her debut children’s book.

My Review

A few years ago, we went to London and walked through St James Park. I’d never seen so many squirrels in one place and they were so tame, you could hand feed them. I’m told they will climb up your leg (this happened to me in our Parish Church grounds, though this particular creature looked me in the eye and realised my suede boots were not a tree and scurried away). Tourists love them. Some people just think they are tree rats and want to get rid of them. Not me.

None of the squirrels were wearing school uniform though, but you can use your imagination. In Whispers in the Park, not all the animals are squirrels. We have Witgift the owl, Warburton the hedgehog, Boris the badger, Veronica the water vole, Miriam the hare, and the dastardly Fabian the fox to name but a few. Plus Sam the Siamese cat, a master sleuth.

Then of course we have the founder of the school – a red squirrel called Rufus, who created the Five Rules. It is also said that if a red squirrel returns to the school after 300 years, a prophesy will be fulfilled. When the school is in mortal danger, a direct descendant of Rufus will come to save it.

But I’m jumping forward. The story starts with Shane and Sophie, two young squirrels who join the prestigious St James’s academy on scholarships. Little did they know that they would encounter such intrigue and adventure in the first few days of attendance.

While the book is a Wind in the Willows type of tale, there is a deeper message here. It’s all about friendship, respect, team spirit and diversity. They may just be squirrels and such, but they have important life messages to teach us. I’m looking forward to book two, when hopefully we’ll find out more about the prophecy. I’ll never be able to visit Brownsea Island again without thinking about it!

Many thanks to Grace Pilkington Publicity for inviting me to be part of the blog tour.

About the Author and Illustrator

Emmanuel Olympitis is a British businessman who has held many public company directorships during his career. He is also the author of critically acclaimed By Victories Undone and Marked Cards.

Olympia Olympitis is a full-time illustrator based between London and Wiltshire, having studied at City and Guilds of London Art School and The University of Edinburgh. Specialising in house portraiture, landscape illustration and bespoke wedding & event stationery, Whispers in the Park is her first book.

King of Kazam by Jen Hyatt Illustrated by Cassandra Harrison

A modern fairy tale in which two children unite a community to topple a greedy king.

Join Kandy and Kane as they unite Kazam’s children to challenge the greedy King’s tax on flushing the loo. Will his palaces survive the river of poo? Will the brave children get the playground he refused to build?

The proceeds from King of Kazam will go to the Trussell Trust. This is our charity campaign for the year, and we are proud to support it without any campaign fees.

About The Trussell Trust

“We exist so everyone can be free from hunger”

“We’re an anti-poverty charity and community of food banks. We work together to ensure no one in the UK needs a food bank to survive, while providing food and practical support to people left without enough money to live on.”  

My Review

Is this a book about poo? Because we know that kids think the word ‘poo’ is hilarious. Well it is, but in reality The King of Kazam is about vanity, pride and greed. Even the king’s children think he is greedy. They want playgrounds with swings and unicorn rides. But the King just wants tributes to himself. And to do that he needs money.

So how to raise money? Tax everything. Including flushing the toilet. That can only lead to disaster and the results are hilarious (though not for the king and his celebrity wife). The book is written in rhyme, which makes it easy to read for younger children. Kids will love it.

And brilliant that sales of the book will help the Trussell Trust, which is a charity that I fully support.

Many thanks to @lovebookstours for inviting me to be part of #TheKingOfKazam readalong.

About the Author

Jen is a fiction writer. She is an alumna of the Curtis Brown six month selective novel writing course and a member of the Society of Authors. She convenes the Edinburgh Writers’ Forum and is a trustee of Edinburgh Women’s Fiction Festival. Previously, she has written non-fiction articles, blogs and books for The Guardian, Forbes, World Economic Forum, Huffington Post, World Bank and many others.

Jen hosts She Reads podcast and previously, Two Lit Chicks. She has won numerous awards and made many media appearances including on the BBC and ITV.

About the Illustrator

“Originally from the American Midwest, I trained as a Fine Art major, minoring in Art Education. I currently work in Edinburgh as both an artist and an art teacher of young children. All of my art lessons incorporate Art History and the creation of artworks inspired by the work of specific artists or even just a single work by an individual. My professional practice focuses on drawing people, architecture and creating pieces using a variety of art materials. 

“My work has been exhibited throughout the UK and USA, notably the Royal Scottish Academy in Edinburgh and the Barbican Artists Studios in London. I divide my work time between creating illustration pieces for various corporate and private clients and teaching children and adults.”

Buy links
https://www.jenhyatt.com/king-of-kazam

Goodreads
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/219524719-the-king-of-kazam

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The Housekeeper by Sadie Ryan

My name is Linda. Most of my friends, not that I have many left, call me Lindy. I work as a housekeeper in a local hotel. I had the world at my feet once. Not any more.

The first time I saw Mia was in the car park. She came over to help when my shopping bag split. There’s something about her delicate femininity that mesmerises me.

Ever since then, I’ve been kind of obsessed. Mia is stunning, with beautiful ash-blonde hair. I’ve had mine cut in the same style.

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She has two beautiful children, the same age as mine. A gorgeous home on an exclusive estate. And a husband who’s the old-fashioned kind who picks her up after a night out. Mine wouldn’t even pick me up if I fell over in the street.

But then I get a call. Mia’s voice on the phone is breathy, edgy. She’s whispering, like she doesn’t want anyone to hear. ‘Lindy, I need your help. Listen to me, please.’

I’ll help her. But only if she helps me . . .

My Review

I started this in the morning and by the end of the day I had finished it. I took it with me everywhere so I could keep reading.

The book is written from the point of view of both women – Lindy and Mia. Mia’s life is perfect. She has a handsome husband called Ricky who works in TV. She’s beautiful and has two grown up daughters. Lindy lives in her shadow, obsessively stalking her and craving her life. At least that’s how it seems.

Then one day, it all changes. I felt quite sorry for Lindy because we know there has been a terrible tragedy in her life, we just don’t know what it is yet. But it’s Mia I was rooting for. Her popular, charismatic husband is turning into a monster. And all because he wants her inheritance – the inheritance that was left by her grandmother for their two grown up daughters. But Mia has a secret, which she will do anything to keep hidden.

Now, if I was Mia, I would have come clean straight away. I did not understand why she wouldn’t reveal the truth about her past, however terrible and traumatic it would be for others.

There were times when the plot was somewhat far-fetched, but if ‘you can suspend disbelief’, you will enjoy the story as much as I did. It was so entertaining, I really couldn’t put it down.

Many thanks to @ZooloosBT  for inviting me to be part of this blog tour.

About the Author

Sadie Ryan is the author of three books. Guilty came out in April 2021, a psychological thriller. The Housekeeper is her latest novel. She loves animals and lives in leafy Cheshire in the North West of England with her daughter and rescue dog. When not writing she spends her time reading, gardening, walking her dog or watching old black and white movies. When asked where she gets her ideas from, she says, ‘From observation, inspiration and lots of wicked thoughts.’

Book Links
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/220224175-the-housekeeper
Purchase Link: https://mybook.to/thehousekeeper-zbt

Sadie’s Social Media
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sadieryanauthor
Twitter: https://twitter.com/The__SadieRyan
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sadie.ryan.author/
Website: https://www.sadieryan.co.uk/

Joffe Books’ Social Media
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Dead Sweet by Katrín Júlíusdóttir translated by Quentin Bates Paperback Tour

This brilliant book is now out in paperback!

When Óttar Karlsson, a wealthy and respected government official and businessman, is found murdered, after failing to turn up at his own surprise birthday party, the police are at a loss.

It isn’t until young police officer Sigurdís finds a well-hidden safe in his impersonal luxury apartment that clues start emerging.

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As Óttar’s shady business dealings become clear, a second, unexpected line of enquiry emerges, when Sigurdís finds a US phone number in the safe, along with papers showing regular money transfers to an American account. Following the trail to Minnesota, trauma rooted in Sigurdís’s own childhood threatens to resurface and the investigation strikes chillingly close to home…

Atmospheric, deeply unsettling and full of breakneck twists and turns, Dead Sweet is a startling debut thriller that uncovers a terrifying world of financial crime, sinister cults and disturbing secret lives, and kicks off an addictive, mind-blowing new series.

My Review

What a brilliant debut novel from a new Icelandic writer. Definitely one to watch and the first novel in a cracking new series.

Police officer Sigurdís nearly lost her job after losing her temper with a suspect. She couldn’t hold back. It was a domestic violence incident and we discover that Sigurdís herself was also a victim when she was a child. Her father, a respected senior officer in the police force beat her mother and then one day became so violent he nearly killed them all – Sigurdís, her brother Einar and their mother. He was arrested and sent to prison and Sigurdís and Einar went to live with their mother’s sister Halla.

In her first case back at work, Sigurdís is called upon to help investigate the murder of Óttar Karlsson, a wealthy and respected government official and businessman, who was found dead on the beach. Who would have killed him? It was a brutal attack. He didn’t die straight away. He was left to suffer first.

The police has no leads, until Sigurdís finds a hidden safe in Óttar’s house, which contains evidence of shady business dealings, a mysterious phone number, and papers showing regular money transfers to an American account.

Head of department Garðar, is certain that someone wanted revenge for being cheated out of their livelihood, but Sigurdís has other ideas. She believes it’s more personal and linked to a woman in America who knew Óttar when he was at Univeristy in Minnesota.

It’s fascinating and exciting, but little did I know how it would pan out. When Sigurdís digs deeper and even travels to America to investigate further, it becomes darker and darker, with some shocking revelations. And that’s all I can say! And there’s even a hint at a possible romance for Sigurdís in the books to come.

Many thanks to @annecater for inviting me to be part of #RandomThingsTours

About the Author

Katrín Júlíusdóttir has a political background and was a member of the Icelandic parliament from 2003 until 2016. Before she was elected to parliament, Katrín was an advisor and project manager at a tech company and a senior buyer and CEO in the retail sector. She worked from a young age in the fishing industry, was a store clerk and also worked the night shift at a pizza restaurant. She studied anthropology and has an MBA from Reykjavík University. Katrín’s debut novel Dead Sweet received the Blackbird Award and was an Icelandic bestseller upon publication. She is married to critically acclaimed author Bjarni M. Bjarnason, who encouraged her to start writing. They have four boys and live in Garðabær.

About Orenda Books

Orenda Books is a small independent publishing company specialising in literary fiction with a heavy emphasis on crime/thrillers, and approximately half the list in translation. They’ve been twice shortlisted for the Nick Robinson Best Newcomer Award at the IPG awards, and publisher and owner Karen Sullivan was a Bookseller Rising Star in 2016. In 2018, they were awarded a prestigious Creative Europe grant for their translated books programme. Three authors, including Agnes Ravatn, Matt Wesolowski and Amanda Jennings have been WHSmith Fresh Talent picks, and Ravatn’s The Bird Tribunal was shortlisted for the Dublin Literary Award, won an English PEN Translation Award, and adapted for BBC Radio Four ’s Book at Bedtime. Six titles have been short- or long-listed for the CWA Daggers. Launched in 2014 with a mission to bring more international literature to the UK market, Orenda Books publishes a host of debuts, many of which have gone on to sell millions worldwide, and looks for fresh, exciting new voices that push the genre in new directions. Bestselling authors include Ragnar Jonasson, Antti Tuomainen, Gunnar Staalesen, Michael J. Malone, Kjell Ola Dahl, Louise Beech, Johana Gustawsson, Lilja Sigurðardóttir and Sarah Stovell.

Second Chance In The Hague by David Kintore

‘Three miles away at Scheveningen the grey beach was bleak, unvisited, the daylight fading. It was getting colder.

Why linger? There was nothing out there but the cold North Sea stroking the land. In the town there would be bustle, conversation, connections, chances to not be alone.’

Stefan owns a moderately successful art gallery in The Hague, passing his days in a comfortable but spiritless rut.

Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Pages: 252
Publisher: Dalmerino Press

Freelance journalist Anna has quit her corporate job in search of something more fulfilling.

Art school student Nikki works part-time at Stefan’s gallery and hopes for a breakthrough exhibition; her student friends Petra and Suzanna have the same hope but things are not going their way.

Established local artist Matthijs reaches a turning point in his fifties.

Second chances come and go, but will they be taken?

David Kintore’s beguiling debut novel brings together a cast of characters navigating their way through the art world – breaking in, struggling, thriving, drifting.

My Review

If like me you are an avid reader of crime fiction, you will probably be waiting for the first murder to take place. But this is not that type of book. It’s a gentle story that takes place over a number of years and follows the lives of eight people, none of whom I wanted to murder.

Stefan is a gallery owner in The Hague, relatively successful, divorced, and frankly, rather bored with his life. Anna is a journalist (half English, half Italian) who lives in Amsterdam and has recently gone freelance. She had been commissioned to write an article about the thriving art scene in The Hague, and that is how she meets Stefan.

Nikki is an art student of huge talent whose paintings attract the attention of Japanese art collectors Shinju and Yukiko who visit Stefan’s gallery on a European tour. The couple are really minor characters, but we do follow them throughout the book.

Petra and Suzanna are also art students, but they are not attracting the same attention as Nikki. They paint together, which causes problems at the university, as they want to enter a joint picture for the final graduate degree show.

And finally we have Matthijs, who is both an artist and a teacher at the college where the three young women are students. He is having a mid-life crisis in his late fifties, because his career seems to have stalled and he isn’t sure where to go with it.

The book teaches us a lot about the art world, but also about Dutch culture and food. Look away if you (like me) are vegetarian, as there are a lot of rabbit and pork dishes being consumed. It’s a great insight into life in another country, and we also spend some time in Tokyo and Brussels.

Many thanks to @lovebookstours for inviting me to be part of the #SecondChanceInTheHague blog tour.

About the Author

David Kintore was born in Edinburgh, Scotland and grew up in York, England. He is the author of the non-fiction series of ‘Silver Screen Cities’ books, celebrating cinema-going in London, Tokyo, Amsterdam, Brussels, and Lisbon. His debut novel, ‘Second Chance in The Hague’, is out now.

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The Lion Women of Tehran by Marjan Kamali

From the author of The Stationery Shop of Tehran, a heartfelt, epic new novel of friendship, betrayal and redemption set against three transformative decades in Tehran, Iran.

In 1950s Tehran, seven-year-old Ellie lives in grand comfort until the untimely death of her father, forcing Ellie and her mother to move to a tiny home downtown. Lonely and bearing the brunt of her mother’s endless grievances, Ellie dreams of a friend to alleviate her isolation.

Luckily, on the first day of school, she meets Homa, a kind, passionate girl with a brave and irrepressible spirit. Together, the two girls play games, learn to cook in the stone kitchen of Homa’s warm home, wander through the colorful stalls of the Grand Bazaar, and share their ambitions for becoming ‘lion women.’

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But their happiness is disrupted when Ellie and her mother are afforded the opportunity to return to their previous bourgeois life. Now a popular student at the best girls’ high school in Iran, Ellie’s memories of Homa begin to fade. Years later, however, her sudden reappearance in Ellie’s privileged world alters the course of both of their lives.

Together, the two young women come of age and pursue their own goals for meaningful futures.

But as the political turmoil in Iran builds to a breaking point, one earth-shattering betrayal will have enormous consequences.

My Review

I confess I cried and not just at the end. Real tears running down my face. I found this book so emotional, even more so because much of it actually happened. The two main characters – Ellie and Homa – are fictitious, but their struggles are real. I remember well when the Ayatollah Khomeini took power from the Shah, and the large numbers of Iranians who came to the UK.

Ellie’s family are wealthy, but when her father dies, she and her mother are forced to move downtown, where she meets Homa at her new school. Homa is brave and feisty, but Ellie’s mother doesn’t approve of the friendship, because of Homa’s lower status. Then Ellie’s circumstances change and she is back in the privileged world of her early childhood.

Soon she and Homa lose touch, only to meet up again years later. They instantly rekindle their friendship, but their worlds are still miles apart – Homa being fiercely political, while Ellie just wants to get married and have children.

As we follow the women through three decades of unrest in Iran, we can see how their paths will become more divergent, but will it see the end of their friendship forever?

I can’t express how amazing this book is. The way in which women’s rights were systematically stripped away in Iran was both shocking and horrific. Women could be beaten for showing a strand of hair that slipped out of their hijab, or any ‘forbidden’ flesh. The clock was turned back not decades, but centuries.

But it’s the personal stories that had the deepest effect on me. This is a book that everyone should read.

As an aside, I was fascinated by the things that Ellie found so exciting in New York, like an orange powder you dissolve in water to make a drink, fish fingers, TV dinners etc – the sort of highly processed foods we now believe are responsible for our declining health. So interesting.

Many thanks to @annecater for inviting me to be part of #RandomThingsTours

About the Author

Marjan Kamali, born in Turkey to Iranian parents, spent her childhood in Kenya, Germany,
Turkey, Iran, and the United States. After graduating from UC Berkeley, she received her MBA
from Columbia University and an MFA in creative writing from New York University. She is the
award-winning author of The Stationery Shop of Tehran and Together Tea. Marjan is a 2022
recipient of the National Endowment for the Arts Creative Writing Fellowship. She lives with
her husband and two children in the Boston area.

Lonely Girl by Paul Guy Hurrell

Gladys is feeling sad, as any 13-year-old would when she finds out her parents are getting divorced. She has to move house and school.

Feeling lonely and missing her friends, her father takes her up Sugarwell Hill sledging after a heavy snowfall.

When Gladys crashes into a snowman, she is catapulted into a magical world.

This is where she meets Harvey Tootblaster, (Clumpy to his friends). Also, a strange but lovable creature who will guide and help her on her adventure.

#LonelyGirl Twitter/X #PaulGuyHurrell @BlossomSpring3 @ZooloosBT #ZooloosBookTours #blogtour #booktwitter #bookX
Instagram @paulguyhurrell @blossom.spring.publishing @zooloosbooktours #bookstagram

Gladys visits a village where it’s obligatory to wear slippers upon entry. She goes on a quest to find the heart of the Rainbow Forest and discovers Clumpy’s unique way of drying things and crossing rivers!

An inspiring story of how a lonely child is thrown into a whirlwind of adventures and makes friends with the unlikeliest of characters.

My Review

This is the fourth of Paul’s books I have read and reviewed. They centre around a child’s magical adventures, but there is always a deeper message, like bullying or loneliness.

Lonely Girl is for marginally older children than the other three. Gladys’s mum and dad are getting a divorce and Gladys is very upset. When her mum can’t cope, she has to live with her dad, but his house is on the other side of the town, so she has to change schools. She is very lonely, but doesn’t want to make new friends or join in any activities.

Then one day, after heavy snowfall, her dad takes her sledging. But it doesn’t go as planned and after crashing into a snowman, she ends up in a magical world, where she befriends a giant creature with some unfortunate toilet habits. Together they must work out how to cross the dangerous bridge to visit a village where everyone wears slippers.

What will happen to Gladys in the Rainbow Forest, and how can she get back home to her dad? She soon learns the power of friendship over adversity, and it changes her life forever.

Many thanks to @ZooloosBT  for inviting me to be part of this blog tour.

About the Author

“I was born in Leeds, Yorkshire, England in 1960 to a single parent family. I am the youngest of five siblings – four boys and a girl. I was brought up on a council estate and my family had very little, just like many other families on the estate at the time. I attended two schools as I grew up Bentley Lane Infants/Junior School and then onto Stainbeck High School. For me school was always hard, mainly because of my absenteeism. I wasn’t ill, it was just my mum didn’t send me (empty nest syndrome). Looking back at my school years there is a good chance I spent more times at home, than I did in school.

“I officially left school in 1976 and my first full time job was making special mirrors, the ones you see in pubs. I didn’t last long there before I got bored. I had a number of other jobs after that, but I didn’t stay long in any of them. One job I stayed a full day before not going back, but my record for the shortest stay was 4 hours, I walked away from this job after the hourly rate was cut from 90p an hour, down to 70p an hour.

“The following year I was forced to take a job, back at Stainbeck High School repairing school desks. While here I met my wife, Beverley. We are still together and have two wonderful grown- up children and three grandchildren. I worked for Leeds City Council, in the Housing section for 22 years, before retirement. Since retiring I have the time to carry out one of my first loves, writing stories.”

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