Veronika Jordan's Blog, page 33

Sparks of Bright Matter by Leeanne O’Donnell

In 18th century London, a little knowledge is a dangerous thing. A lot of knowledge is deadly.

When ambitious apprentice chemist and secret alchemist Peter Woulfe is tasked with caring for a mysterious illustrated book, the Mutus Liber, he quickly realises that the grimy underworld of Georgian London is even more dangerous than he first believed.

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Soon the book is stolen by the light-fingered Sukie and Peter finds himself being pursued by threatening men who are willing to do anything to get the book back. Where in teeming London might Sukie be found? Why is Peter so enthralled by her? And what is it about the Mutus Liber that is so enticing? As the search for the book becomes an urgent game of cat and mouse, it seems that the key to Peter’s present dilemma might only be found in half-remembered events from his childhood, and then further back still, in the mists of Irish myth.

A spell-binding and unputdownable tale about spirit and matter, love and lust, and reality and magic.

My Review

This is a story about a book, the Mutus Liber. It’s also a story about a student of alchemy called Peter Woulfe. It’s not his book, he is supposed to be delivering it to Baron Swedenborg. And all the while he is trying to make gold out of lead, or something similar. It’s also a story about a prostitute called Sukie, with whom Peter is obsessed. But she has stolen the book and he must get it back at all costs.

But then again it’s about the Jacobite Rebellion and the men who will stop at nothing to put the rightful King on the throne. As an aside, when I was at school, I had a classmate who believed in the same thing. During assembly she would refuse to sing the National Anthem, instead, toasting the ‘King over the water’.

It’s also a story about the myths and magic of Peter’s birthplace and spiritual home in Ireland. Even though he travels extensively, he is always drawn back there, and to the strange woman called Bridey Leary who told him fantastical stories when he was a child.

The book moves back and forth through time, Peter as a child in Ireland in the early 1700s, as a young adult in 1744 when he discovers other pleasures with Sukie, then later in 1780 when he is older, and obsessed with his study of alchemy, to the exclusion of all else including having a wife and family. We also jump ahead some years later, when he is in his fifties.

Unlike a couple of other reviewers, I was far more interested in Peter than in Sukie. He’s an interesting character. He is fascinated by Sukie and the smell of her neck, but for me I can only imagine how everyone stank, especially a prostitute.

Sparks of Bright Matter is beautifully written, almost lyrical, with a style slightly reminiscent of The Night Circus. It’s got that whimsical feel about it, with a lightness of touch to the text. It won’t be for everyone and I accept that there are some loose ends that didn’t get tied up like Nico and Katia, but it’s a work of art and needs to savoured for its sheer beauty.

Many thanks to @Tr4cyF3nt0n for inviting me to be part of the #CompulsiveReaders #blogtour and to NetGalley for an ARC.

About the Author

Leeanne O’ Donnell was born in Dublin and now lives in an old farmhouse on the foothills of a mountain in the remote south west of Ireland. She feeds her cats, dogs, chickens, daughters and wife reasonably regularly – and occasionally waters her poly-tunnel. She has yet to learn to write a proper shopping list but has managed to finish her first novel while hiding in an old caravan in the garden. 

Sparks of Bright Matter was inspired by the magic of the mountain where she lives and the whispers of the ancient stories buried in the surrounding landscape. She is interested in all the big questions like what it means to be alive, and which crisps go best with a pint of Murphy’s stout. In Sparks of Bright Matter she explores the liminal spaces between magic and reality, spirit and matter, love and lust.

She started her storytelling career working in radio with RTE and BBC – and has made a number of award winning documentaries for RTE’s Doc on One series. Notably THE LADIES OF LLANGOLLEN about two Irish aristocrats who ran away together in the 18th century and DIVING AND FALLING about dancer and artist Lucia Joyce. She is also a trained psychotherapist and is frequently awed by the sacred work of helping people to understand and transform their own real-life stories.

The Ha-Ha by Tom Shakespeare

Meet Fred. He is about to turn forty and has invited an eclectic group of friends to celebrate at a rented stately home.

He is a wheelchair user after being paralysed in a road traffic accident, has been busy at work at his memoir and is longing to reconnect with long-standing university crush, Heather, a high-flying TV foreign correspondent. What should have been a jolly weekend in the country starts getting decidedly more complicated when Heather realises that the publication of Fred’s book could threaten her career ambitions.

#TheHaHa @TommyShakes @Duckbooks #RandomThingsTours @annecater @RandomTTours #blogtour

The Ha-Ha is a thoroughly engaging and very entertaining novel about friendship, sex, hallucinogenic drugs, marriage and putting the past behind you. There is also a very hungry pig who may or may not have eaten Fred’s stolen memoir.

It also proves that you can write about disability without making a big fuss of disability and that you can pay tribute to the immortal world of Blandings without ever including a PG Wodehouse character.

My Review

“…you can pay tribute to the immortal world of Blandings without ever including a PG Wodehouse character…” The pig comes closest.

And in The Ha-Ha we have a pig AND a dog. What could be better than that? And a seven-year-old with a very good aim with a bow and arrow, but that comes much later.

Something I love about Fred Twistleton is that he never seems to resent his disability, which resulted from an accident twenty years earlier. He’s always happy and cheerful, and that must be hard.

This weekend it’s his fortieth birthday and he’s having a party. He’s rented a stately home called Threepwood and invited his brother and sister-in-law, his friends from university and their various partners and children. Well one child actually, with a penchant for murdering the recorder – Freya only knows one tune Frère Jacques – and follows people around playing it.

Fred doesn’t always see eye to eye with his brother Roddy, a budding MP, and feels rather sorry for his wife Charlotte. Polly is probably his closest friend, mother of aforementioned Freya, who shares parenting with her ex-partner. Then we have Hugh, a socially awkward eccentric who is staying in his van rather than the house, Robin the psychiatrist who is bringing his Costa Rican boyfriend Alberto, and Sonia the literary agent who has promised to read his memoir. Except none of his friends want him to publish the memoir because they know their secrets will be revealed and together they hatch a plot to make it disappear. This involves a large document, a memory stick and a very greedy Vietnamese Pot Bellied pig.

Fred has a ‘long-standing university crush on Heather, a high-flying TV foreign correspondent‘. Except we all know she’s totally unsuitable as a life-partner and to make matters worse, Fred has a terror of naked women, following his accident. Nel, the pig’s ‘carer’ is far nicer, but will Fred realise that before they leave?

And did I mention there is also Fred’s lazy pug Humphrey?

‘Less of a dog, more of a pop-eyed hot water bottle.’

The whole thing is hilarious, witty and well-written. I would certainly read more by this author. Especially if the next book includes more unruly animals and children.

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

About the Author

Tom Shakespeare CBE is a social scientist and bioethicist, an academic who writes and talks and researches mainly about disability, but also about ethical issues around prenatal genetic testing and end of life assisted suicide. Born in 1966 in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, he studied at Cambridge University and has lived in Gateshead, Geneva and Norwich, while working at Universities of Sunderland, Leeds, Newcastle, then at World Health Organisation in Geneva, afterwards at UEA Medical School, and presently as Professor of Disability Research, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

Tom has presented programmes and documentaries on BBC Radio and has written for publications including The Guardian and The Lancet, alongside talking to academic, professional and lay audiences around the world. He has been a stand-up comedian, an actor, a dancer, and an artist. A father of two grown-up children, he now lives in London. https://farmerofthoughts.co.uk/

The Potting Shed Murder by Paula Sutton

Welcome to the sleepy village of Pudding Corner, a quintessentially English haven of golden cornfields, winding cobbled lanes … and murder.

Daphne Brewster has left London behind and is settling into her family’s new life in rural Norfolk, planting broad beans in raised beds and vintage hunting for their farmhouse.

But when the local headmaster is found dead in his potting shed, amongst his allotment cabbages, the village is ablaze: Who would kill beloved Mr Papplewick, pillar of the community? Daphne soon comes to realise perhaps the countryside isn’t so idyllic after all…

When the headmaster’s widow points her finger at Minerva, Daphne’s new friend, Daphne vows to clear her name. Sneaking into the crime scene and chasing down rumours gets her into hot water with the local inspector – until she comes across a faded photograph that unearths a secret buried for forty years…

They say nothing bad ever happens in close-knit Pudding Corner, but Daphne is close to the truth – dangerously close…

There’s death amongst the dahlias… A truly unputdownable whodunnit by Paula Sutton – otherwise known as Instagram’s happiest influencer: Hill House Vintage, the queen of cottagecore – an unforgettable new voice in cosy crime. Perfect for fans of Richard Osman, Janice Hallett and Richard Coles.

My Review

I don’t read a lot of cosy crime – I am usually attracted to more gritty and gruesome murder mysteries. That’s probably why I love a good Scandi Noir. Or Silent Witness. But The Potting Shed Murder was very entertaining and I really enjoyed reading it with my online book club over ten days.

Daphne Brewster, her husband and three children have upped sticks and left London for the peaceful Norfolk countryside. At least that was the plan. They have moved into a gorgeous house called Cranberry Farmhouse, in the beautiful village of Pudding Corner (I keep thinking of The House at Pooh Corner) and plan to grow their own, while Daphne restores old furniture. The kids have made friends, including Silvanus, who lives with his mum Minerva in what the locals believe to be a den of iniquity, where Wiccans and witches cast spells and no doubt dance around in the altogether.

But they have hardly been there more than a few weeks, when local headmaster Charles Papplewick is found dead in his potting shed. Was he murdered or did he simply have a massive heart attack? And why would anyone kill him? Everyone loved him, didn’t they?

Fingers are pointed at three women. His wife arch-bitch Augusta, snobby Marianne who wanted him to help get her son into a prestigious private school, and Minerva, with whom he has a secret relationship. But then there’s also Patsy from the local shop, whose sister Nancy has always believed she’s been holding a candle for him for over forty years.

There’s plenty of motive, means and opportunity, but surely none of these women would actually want to bump him off. Or would they? I enjoyed finding out.

Many thanks to The Pigeonhole, the author, and my fellow Pigeons for making this such an enjoyable read.

About the Author

Paula Sutton is the face behind Hill House Vintage, with over half-a-million Instagram followers. Named by British Vogue as the ‘happiest influencer on Instagram’, Paula is a vintage-hunting interiors stylist, author, columnist and television personality showcasing her wonderful cottage-core and cosy Norfolk life through a lens. Paula upped and left her glamorous London life – where she worked in fashion publishing – over ten years ago to move to Hill House in Norfolk with her family. Since then, Paula has curated a beautiful country home, mixing new with vintage, to find her perfect aesthetic, and is the creator of the popular blog, Hill House Vintage.

A Bitter Remedy Oxford Mysteries #1 by Alis Hawkins

Amongst the scholars, secrets and soporifics of Victorian Oxford, the truth can be a bitter pill to swallow….

Jesus College, Oxford, 1881. An undergraduate is found dead at his lodgings and the medical examination reveals some shocking findings. When the young man’s guardian blames the college for his death and threatens a scandal, Basil Rice, a Jesus college fellow with a secret to hide, is forced to act and finds himself drawn into Sidney Parker’s sad life.

The mystery soon attracts the attention of Rhiannon ‘Non’ Vaughan, a young Welsh polymath and one of the young women newly admitted to university lectures. But when neither the college principal nor the powerful ladies behind Oxford’s new female halls will allow her to become involved, Non’s fierce intelligence and determination to prove herself drive her on.

Both misfits at the university, Non and Basil form an unlikely partnership, and it soon falls to them to investigate the mysterious circumstances of Parker’s death. But between the corporate malfeasance and the medical quacks, they soon find the dreaming spires of Oxford are not quite what they seem.…

An intriguing first installment of The Oxford Mysteries series by master crime writer, Alis Hawkins. Perfect for fans of Laura Shepherd-Robinson, Sarah Waters and Kaite Welsh.

My Review

I knew as soon as I started reading A Bitter Remedy that it would become one of my favourite books of the year so far. In fact I’ve already recommended it to my brother and downloaded a sample of the next book in the series.

Set in 1881, we meet Rhiannon ‘Non’ Vaughan, an unusual and very liberated young woman, who has come to Oxford from semi-rural Wales. Life was different there and Non hates that she has to keep her mouth firmly shut at Oxford, so as not to hinder other women from being admitted to the university. She is so far only allowed to attend lectures – she cannot be a ‘proper’ student as such. Any bad behaviour could put the women’s movement back years.

But Non isn’t one to keep quiet and immediately puts the back up of a male student, by discussing the story of Lysistrata in detail, a subject considered unseemly for a woman. He complains and she is banned from lectures for a term.

Non forms a partnership with lecturer Basil Rice, who has enormous respect for her intelligence and initiative – but then he has his own secrets to keep.

When student Sidney Parker is found dead in his lodgings, Rice is called to investigate and to try and steer the blame away from the college. But Parker’s guardian George Reardon has other plans and it all becomes very complicated and lurid. Can the university prevent a scandal? Was Parker murdered? We shall have to find out. And Non is not to be deterred from becoming involved.

But probably the most important aspect of the book revolves around a disease known as spermatorrhoea, which young men were diagnosed with in the 19th century. It was supposed to cause every malady known to man (it didn’t affect women – if you read up about it you’ll understand why). And of course every quack in the country was selling their own cure to alleviate the symptoms. Poor Sydney was treating himself for an illness which didn’t even exist.

I simply adored A Bitter Remedy. I am always a bit wary of historical fiction as it can be overlong and frankly a bit boring, but this book is amazing. It’s got drama, it’s got murder. It’s even got humour. I couldn’t get enough of it.

Many thanks to The Pigeonhole, the author, and my fellow Pigeons for making this such an enjoyable read.

About the Author

Alis Hawkins grew up on a dairy farm in Cardiganshire. Her inner introvert thought it would be a good idea to become a shepherd and, frankly, if she had, she might have been published sooner. As it was, three years reading English at Corpus Christi College, Oxford revealed an extrovert streak and a social conscience which saw her train as a Speech and Language Therapist. She has spent the subsequent three decades variously bringing up two sons, working with children and young people on the autism spectrum and writing fiction, non-fiction and plays. She writes the kind of books she likes to read: character-driven historical crime and mystery fiction with what might be called literary production values.

Copyright 2010 by Rick PetersenA

Hungry Ghosts by C J Barker

The lives of Vic Woods and Ruth Wolfe, working-class teenagers from Liverpool and London, are profoundly disrupted by the arrival of World War II.

Ruth’s journey leads her to aerial photographic interpretation, though her aspirations for advancement are denied, while Vic’s wartime experiences with bomber command haunt him long after the war is over. Their post-war marriage and tumultuous relationship with their son, James, make for a gripping narrative of trauma, conflict and, ultimately, love.

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Set against the backdrop of World War II and the social upheaval of the late 1960s, Hungry Ghosts transports readers into the drama of two pivotal eras in history, exploring the intergenerational impact of war, particularly on the intricate relationships between fathers and sons.

Hungry Ghosts is not just a war story; it’s a timeless exploration of family bonds and the indelible scars left by war.

My Review

Based on Buddhist tradition, ‘hungry ghosts’ are those who ‘chase after what they think they need, but they can never find peace, even when they acquire what they thought they wanted. They are always hungry and never happy. What they have is never enough.’

It’s an interesting concept and Vic is told that, ‘to help a hungry ghost, we must listen to them and help them experience something good and beautiful to believe in.’ Vic knows he is one of them, ‘chasing, chasing, chasing after what he thought he wanted.’ This is a lesson he learns when he spends some time in a monastery after collapsing with exhaustion following months of photographing the Vietnam war.

But do we as the reader have sympathy with Vic? Particularly as wives and mothers, do we side so vehemently with Ruth, that all we can see is his drinking, his selfishness, his misogyny and his abandonment of his son. I am not of their generation, I am not working class, I received a private education leaving school at 16, but continuing with further education for another four years, the latter being in the early 1970s. Women of Ruth’s generation and class were forbidden from doing any of this.

My father was born in Poland, joined up in 1939 aged 16 and was taken prisoner-of-war in Siberia. When he finally escaped, he came to England and joined the RAF Polish Squadron. I never felt the effects of ‘combat stress’ being passed on to me, but then he never flew in active combat, as the war was ending, nor did he see what Vic saw. I suffered the aftermath of my Jewish mother having to flee nazi overrun Vienna in 1938. Her retreat into barbiturates and agoraphobia had a profound effect on my childhood.

But I do see the effects of PTSD on a friend who was in the Falklands War, and at 18 years old plucked body parts out of the water. What you see you can never unsee and it has shaped his life.

Vic was one of those who dropped bombs on Dresden and had horrific nightmares about the city burning, the charred bodies, the trapped and terrified children. What you see you can never unsee. And Vic can never unsee the horror. And that is what takes him to Vietnam, where his photos make him one of the most renowned war photographers in the world. His book ‘World on Fire’ becomes the blueprint for war photography.

But his son James only saw an alcoholic bully, who stood over him and his mother, his breath stinking of booze, then finally abandoning them to travel the world, ‘just taking pictures’. James could never understand why he didn’t help save anyone, just stood as an observer with a camera. It’s how we feel when we watch a nature programme and cannot understand why the filmmakers didn’t help that lost polar bear cub or save a baby penguin from certain death.

I am massively conflicted after reading Hungry Ghosts. I love Ruth and I can sympathise with Vic, but I feel that maybe they should have just divorced straight away. Then he could have had visiting rights where James was concerned, Ruth could have had another crack at finding love, and Vic would not have felt beholden to her.

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

About the Author

Born in England, resident in Thirroul, Australia, Chris Barker has been an educator in schools and universities in the UK and Australia. He has published several non- fiction books, and now writes fiction between stints in the garden, where he grows vegetables and looks after chickens. He has published short stories in England, America and Australia.

CJ’s Links
Twitter : https://twitter.com/chrisjonbarker
Website : https://creasedattheedges.com/

Book Links
Goodreads

Buy Links
https://mybook.to/hungryghost-zbt

Baby Teeth by Celia Silvani Cover Reveal

Claire is expecting a baby. It’s her dream but not everyone is as supportive as she’d like . . .

Isolated and vulnerable, she is drawn into an online group for ‘natural motherhood’ and is warmly embraced by the sisterhood.

As Claire withdraws further into their world and with her due date fast approaching, she is unsettled by the group’s conformity and the total shunning of medical intervention.

But blind loyalty can be catastrophic – and her silence could be fatal . . 

X/Twitter: @celia_silvani @orionbooks @Tr4cyF3nt0n Instagram: @celiasilvaniauthor @Thebookdealer  @orionbooks

About the Author

Celia Silvani is a charity communications manager and freelance writer, who has written for Stylist, The Telegraph and BBC Future on topics ranging from weddings to hurricanes. She got the inspiration for Baby Teeth from an NBC article she couldn’t stop thinking about, and interviewed midwives and obstetricians to get a fuller picture of birthing stories – as well as spending a lot of time lurking in the dark corners of internet freebirthing groups…

Away Weekend by Lesley Fernández-Armesto

Geraldine and her apricot poodle are usually reluctant to leave her pretty little mews house in St John’s Wood.

But what with her sister moving in with two pugs, and her daughter unexpectedly appearing on her doorstep – both the victims of dumping by their partners – Geraldine and her bijou home can barely take the strain.

#AwayWeekend #LesleyFernándezArmesto @BooksQuadrant @GracePublicity #blogtour

So it’s hard to resist the invitation from the handsome, enigmatic Ellis to accompany him for the weekend to his old university – All Saints, Indiana. Especially when the trip includes travel on his friend’s private plane. Of course, she knows nothing about American football, or anything about his friends. She doesn’t even know that much about him. But who cares? With her bag perfectly packed, she’s jet-set ready for a wonderful few days. What can possibly go wrong? 

Hilariously satirical about English and American manners, Lesley Fernández- Armesto is Nancy Mitford in the time slot of Ocado. She’s Absolutely Fabulous meets Alexander McCall Smith. 

My Review

Geraldine is divorced. Her military ex-husband Jonty has run off with Sally, leaving Geraldine with only her apricot poodle Bolly. She now lives in a tiny mews house in St John’s Wood. Then she meets Ellis, smooth, handsome, American, and a dead ringer for Cary Grant. He invites her to go to Indiana with him for the All Saints football match. As her sister and her two pugs, her daughter Cassie and God knows who else, are coming to stay, it couldn’t be better timing. But little does she know what she’s let herself in for. It would be my worst nightmare.

This was so funny. Geraldine’s observations about the Americans she meets at the football match are hilarious. The yanks (apart from functioning alcoholic Barb) all find her a bit weird. That’s because they have no idea what she’s talking about, but put her eccentricity down to her ‘Englishness’. Not that I think Geraldine is that wonderful herself. She’s a terrible snob, who does basically nothing except go to the theatre and lunch with her friends. My favourite bit is when she quotes Lord Byron, ‘The Assyrian came down like the wolf on the fold and his cohorts were gleaming in purple and gold (the colours of the All Saints team). ‘Brian?’ says Hal, ‘Is he here?’ ‘Byron, Lord Byron.’ Hal took another bite….’The Syrians? Where do they come into it?’

Then there is the scene when a group of Jonty’s friends are in France including Giles and Phyllida, and Jonty’s mother Mrs Acton-Payne who talks openly about how wonderful ex-wife Geraldine was in front of boring second wife Sally. It was so hilarious, I literally laughed out loud. Grandson Rupert’s comments add to the hilarity. Shame we didn’t see him again.

But back to Ellis. I’m not keen on him either. He’s a bit of a prat and all the terms of endearment he uses like ‘my love’ and ‘sweet dream’ (puts fingers down throat in imitation of vomiting) or whatever, are worse than ex-husband Jonty calling her ‘old thing’ (my husband wouldn’t dare). It’s all a bit politically incorrect at times, so please don’t be offended. It’s part of what makes it so funny.

Don’t expect a suspenseful mystery or a thriller, or a murder (though you may want to kill a few of the characters by the end). This is a character-driven book full of brilliantly written observations from either side. It will have you crying tears of laughter and of course there are dogs. Lots of them.

Many thanks to Grace Pilkington Publicity @GracePublicity for inviting me to be part of the #blogtour.

About the Author

Lesley Fernández-Armesto read War Studies at King’s College, London. She has written for The Times, ghosted an African president’s autobiography, and adapted Shakespeare’s As You Like It for an opera. She is never seen without her dachshunds. Away Weekend is her first novel.

The New Son by Iain Maitland

Nina always wanted a child of her own. Now she has one.

Nina feels trapped. Her partner Gary is controlling, his daughter hates her, and she’s recently suffered a miscarriage.  Just as her life seems hopeless, Alex, the son she gave up for adoption nearly 20 years ago, shows up at her door. Somehow, he has tracked her down.

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Their reunion is everything Nina has hoped for. Now she has a child of her own, someone in the family who really cares about her.

But honeymoons are brief and this one is no exception. Far from welcoming him, Gary is hostile to Alex and as their arguments become increasingly vicious, it soon becomes clear that Nina must choose between them.

But how will the abusive Gary react if she rejects him?  And can she trust Alex?  Is he really the loving son he seems to be – or does he have a sinister agenda of his own?

My Review

First of all I must just say that I disliked Gary as much, if not more, than any vile character in any book I have read in recent years. He has no redeeming features whatsoever. Coercive men in novels are often handsome and charming and you don’t realise what they are up to until it’s too late. And no-one believes you, because outside of the home they are still handsome and charming.

But Gary is a lout, a yob. He’s an unattractive con man who owes everyone money. He goes to the pub often, drinks too much and slobbers in his sleep. I’ve owned dogs with more charm and finesse. His ex-wife Gemma is almost as bad, insulting Nina and screaming at both of them. She doesn’t know how Gary can bear to sleep with her. Well he slept with you didn’t he Gemma, so he’s not exactly discerning.

Quite why Nina ever got together with Gary is totally beyond me. And his daughter Chloe from his first marriage, who lives with them, is also vile. Then into Nina’s sad life (having recently had a miscarriage) walks Alex, the son she gave away at birth.

To be honest I found Nina a bit bonkers at times. The thoughts that go through her head are very melodramatic and she definitely has an overactive imagination. She still believes that she could rekindle her relationship with the love of her life (when she was fifteen) and the father of her beloved boy. But when things take a turn for the worse, nothing she ever imagined could be more sinister than the unfolding reality.

Nina is written brilliantly – I don’t think we are supposed to like her much – and so are the other characters. Each one is fleshed out with all their worst flaws and features laid out for everyone to see. And that’s what makes them so unlikeable. At times I wondered if there was a bit of the tongue-in-cheek about the book. It’s scary and very entertaining.

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

About the Author

Iain Maitland is the author of three previous psych thrillers for Inkubator Books: The
Soulmate, The Perfect Husband and The Girl Downstairs. Iain is also the author of two memoirs, Dear Michael, Love Dad, a book of letters written to his eldest son who experienced depression and anorexia, and (co- authored with Michael) Out Of The Madhouse. He has also written a semi-autobiographical novel, The Old Man, His Dog & Their Longest Journey.

He is an Ambassador for Stem4, the teenage mental health charity. He talks regularly about mental health issues in schools and colleges and workplaces. Find out more about Iain at http://www.iainmaitland.net and twitter.com/iainmaitland

Iain’s Links
Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/iain.maitland.31
Twitter : http://www.twitter.com/iainmaitland
Website : http://www.iainmaitland.net

Book Links
Goodreads : https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/209313244-the-new-son
Buy Links : https://mybook.to/thenewson-zbt

Remedy by Emily Bridget Taylor Cover Reveal

Fallen from the heights of love
to the depths of madness,
she flees to the endless,
wailing moor.

There is nothing here but shadows,
a lantern – her white dress flickering in the wind.

There is nothing here but shadows,
a lantern – and you.

In your hands are her confessions.

Between your fingers, a book of prayers.

Drink the shadows with her –
and you will taste the fullness of light.

Remedy is a collection of poetry for those who refuse to be extinguished. It is a story told in four parts, each part mending a different kind of pain. Remedy will take you by the hand through the falling, severing, healing, and resurrecting – giving you the courage to begin again.

“Taylor’s voice soars to new heights. Remedy is soul-food, scars and all” – Scott-Patrick Mitchell, author of Clean.

About the Author

Emily Bridget Taylor is a poet, artist and performer. Her words and imagery are inspired by honey-filled days of light and love, and the dark hours between – the duality that is Life’s gift. In the wake of the pandemic, Emily began sharing her poetry online. What followed was a surprising, magical journey in which her words and images resonated around the world. Her poetry collection Remedy, art series Remedy for Walls and performance poetry touch on themes of love, trauma, self-care and healing. Her artistic calling is to dissolve shame in all its forms. Follow her journey at www.emilybridgettaylor.com and @emilybridgettaylor on socials.

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My Top 10 Books of 2024 – Part One

I couldn’t decide whether to cheat or not. Should I move my favourite audiobooks into their own section and give myself more room for extra favourites in this list?

Or should I feature them in both? Then I looked back to last quarter and I did move them. So here are my favourite 10 books of 2024 so far, not counting audiobooks.

The Dubrovnik Book Club by Eva Glyn

I only have three experiences of book clubs – one being an online book club called The Pigeonhole, of which I have been a member for six or seven years. In that time I have made ‘friends’ all over the world, shared our love of playing detective, and discussed as we read along – usually over a period of 10 days – a few chapters each day.

Number two was supposed to be Cheltenham’s ‘best book club’. We met in a pub and there were over 20 of us. We didn’t read the same book – we each brought our BYOB and talked about it to encourage others to read it. At least two-thirds were non-fiction which I don’t read. I was bored and never went back, though Covid arrived before the next meeting so I didn’t need to make any excuses.

For my full review click here

The Descent by Paul E. Hardisty

If I thought The Forcing was hard to review in January 3023, then this one is nigh impossible, but I’ll give it my best shot.

The Descent alternates between two timelines – the first one being now ie 2024 which we see from the point of view of a young assistant (we don’t know her name) to the ‘Boss’ (we don’t know his name either initially). If you’ve read The Forcing you might have an inkling. She is around 20 years old and is one of his favourites. She earns a fortune for someone of her age, but what she has to do for the money is not exactly part of the official job description. This part is the ‘prequel’ to The Forcing.

For my full review click here

Deadly Animals by Marie Tierney

Omg! Omg! Omg! What a stunning debut novel! I loved this so much.

We have two perfect protagonists – 13-year-old Ava who has an unusual hobby, and investigating police officer DI Seth Delahaye. Ava goes out in the middle of the night, to look at the roadkill she keeps in her forest ‘lab’ to work out the rate at which they decompose and why. A future star of Silent Witness maybe? One night though, she finds more than she bargained for.

Delahaye is involved in the search for missing teenager Mickey Grant. He’s going to need help from the community – he only recently arrived from the Met – and Ava has the local knowledge and her unusual skills. But no-one will believe a child when she delivers her inside information, so she puts on an adult voice to call the police. Because she knows where the body is.

For my full review click here

What We Did In The Storm by Tina Baker

What We Did In The Storm is typical Tina style, full of dreadful, dysfunctional characters, but we can’t help loving them (well some of them) anyway. I always thought the Scilly Isles was a quiet, peaceful place until I read this book!

And there are a lot of characters – I still don’t know who Fiona is – but I soon got to know the rest. We have Hannah the sexy barmaid, who works for Alison and Bobby in the local (and only) pub on the island of Tresco. Fifty-plus Beatrice who is a bit like Margot from The Good Life (if Margot was permanently bladdered to use Ted’s expression), her son Kit who falls in love with Hannah, but obviously Bea doesn’t think she’s good enough and Charlotte, who is Beatrice’s Instagram-obsessed, posy, pouty goddaughter and is after Kit. Beatrice approves. Of course she does.

For my full review click here

My Father’s House Rome Escape Line Trilogy #1 by Joseph O’Connor

I don’t often read stories about the Second World War, especially about Nazi occupation, concentration camps and the fate of the Jews. Being of Jewish extraction – my mother had to escape Vienna in 1938 – it can become too personal. So I only read one every few months, otherwise I feel choked with emotion.

My Father’s House takes place in occupied Rome and follows the same story as the film The Scarlet and the Black, starring Gregory Peck as Irish Catholic Priest Monsignor Hugh O’Flaherty. It’s a true story, set mainly in the Vatican, where a small group of eight friends came together to help Jews and escaped Allied prisoners out of Italy and the risk of being killed or sent to the concentration camps by the Nazis. They called themselves the ‘Choir’ and they did actually sing and play instruments to act as cover for their true reason for meeting.

For my full review click here

Artificial Wisdom by Thomas R Weaver

I’m a huge fan of crime fiction and mysteries, but I don’t usually read techno thrillers. However, this one revolves around the climate crisis and what might happen if we don’t tackle it now. And that is something I am very interested in.

I don’t know anything about AI though and I found some of the concepts like ‘egospace’ and NR (Neuro Reality) a bit beyond me. Someone I was chatting to in our readalong tried to explain that it’s like a TV series I’d never heard of and a bit like those virtual reality headsets. Well, I’m still none the wiser, but I think I get the egospace. It’s your own personal space, like the desktop on your computer before you go into the apps.

For my full review click here

Daughters of Warsaw by Maria Frances

In 1978 I accompanied my father to Poland to visit his family. He hadn’t returned since 1939, when he joined the Polish infantry at the age of 16 and was captured by the Russians and sent to a prisoner-of-war camp north of Siberia. When we arrived, one of his older half-sisters had died four hours before we got there and another was in nursing home suffering with dementia. No, she didn’t have any good days, unlike Magda in the book. During our visit staying in a small town quite close to Wroclaw (I got very excited when Zofia goes there), my father had a reunion with his nephew and his best friend from school. They reminisced, and laughed and drank a lot of brandy (not vodka), and got very drunk and cried. I mention this, because there is a scene where Lizzie finds a missing relative and they drink vodka and celebrate and I was immediately reminded of that night with my dad in Poland.

For my full review click here

Shaking Hands With Elvis by Paul Carroll

I’m so stunned by this that I don’t really know where to begin. I’ve never been sure about assisted dying, but then I listen to someone like Dame Esther Rantzen talking about joining Dignitas. “The 83-year-old, who has stage four lung cancer, is campaigning for people who have physical illnesses, and a life expectancy of six months or less, to have the right to choose when they die.

“Assisted dying is illegal in England, Northern Ireland and Wales – and anyone who travels abroad with a person who ends their life could be prosecuted when they return.” – Sky News

For my full review click here

Crow Moon by Suzy Apsley

More crows. It’s not that I have a thing about corvids, but they seem to feature in quite a few of the books I read. Poor birds, they do get a bad rap. But then I think back to ‘the crow and the duckling incident’ on a visit to Hever Castle, and maybe they deserve it.

When I first read the synopsis, I did wonder how I would manage to read this, knowing that Martha’s three-year-old twins had died in a fire. I don’t know how she manages to carry on. Maybe it’s because she has her older son Dougie to stop her from giving up.

The story begins with Dougie’s best friend Fraser going missing. At first they think he might have just stayed out all night, but after a few days the community knows there is something more sinister and search parties are out looking for him.

For my full review click here

To The River by Vikki Wakefield

At last something very different from my usual feast of crime novels and psychological thrillers, with two unusual women at its heart. Then there’s Blue, the fiercely loyal and brave dog that is Sabine Kelly’s constant companion. And Sabine needs protection – she’s been on the run for twelve years, living on a houseboat on the river.

The first thing I must say about this book is that you will need to decide very early on whether you believe in Sabine. Because if you don’t and you think she was capable as a 17-year-old to murder her mum Dee and seven-year-old sister Aria by setting their caravan on fire, then you will struggle to engage. Sabine has never told anyone what really happened that night, but after so many years in hiding, she is ready to reveal the truth.

For my full review click here