Katharine Johnson's Blog, page 6

Book review: The Apartment by KL Slater

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As I’ve probably said many times on this blog, I love reading (and writing) stories about houses that harbour dark secrets, so I was immediately drawn to this one.

Recently widowed Freya is desperate to find a new home for herself and five year-old daughter Skye so when an elderly man she meets in a cafe tells her he has an apartment to rent in one of London’s most exclusive areas for a shockingly affordable price, it seems like an offer she can’t refuse. But it soon becomes clear there’s something not quite right about Adder House and its elderly residents. Strange things start happening and Freya can’t help the feeling that she and Skye are not alone in the flat but who can she trust?

A second narrative from the 1920s tells a disturbing story about a young child and a series of psychological experiments. The house has its secrets and nothing is quite what it seems. As the truth starts to unravel, can Freya and her daughter get out in time to save themselves?

My review

I found this a wonderfully creepy read. I loved the slow build-up of suspense, and the house with it spooky atmosphere and weird residents. It was easy to understand how Freya got drawn into living at Adder House, and her fear and suspicion were brilliantly portrayed. Skye’s a great little character, too. The sections from the 1920s are chilling and I was wondering how they would connect with Freya and the house.

If you read a lot of psychological thrillers you’ll probably guess where it’s going and who’s responsible but I still really enjoyed reading it and would highly recommend it to fans of Lisa Jewell and Ruth Ware.

This is the first book I’ve read by this author but KL Slater is the million-copy bestselling author of twelve standalone thrillers so I’m looking forward to reading more.

The Apartment is published by Thomas and Mercer, Amazon’s thriller imprint, and is available here

My thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for a review copy.

Book review: Little Secrets by Jennifer Hillier

I was excited by the premise for this revenge tale and hoped it would live up to expectations.

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All it takes to unravel a life is one home truth

Marin used to have it all. Married to the love of her life, she runs a chain of upscale hair salons and husband Derek runs his own company. They’re admired in their community and area a loving family – until their world falls apart the day their son Sebastian is taken. A year later the marriage is on the rocks and Marin is a shadow of her former self. The police have failed to find Sebastian so Marin hires a PI. But the PI’s investigation leads to a different discovery – that Marin’s husband has been having an affair. This at least is a problem Marin can do something about…

My review

I read a lot of psychological thrillers but this one really stood out for me as the intrigue and tension are full-on throughout. From the heart-stopping opening scene in a busy market when all it takes is “a lollipop, a Santa suit and two hundred forty seconds” for someone to lure away Marin’s 4 year old son, through the revelations and twists that follow, I was consumed by the story.

The characters are flawed and fascinating. Don’t expect to like them – they all of course have their secrets and these secrets are dark! Marin and Derek make terrible decisions, the potential consequences of which can be seen looming, which makes for a terrific read.

It’s a taut, twisty thrill-ride with one crisis leading to another and I loved how it ended. I’d recommend this to fans of Gillian Flyn and Liz Nugent or anyone who enjoys psychological thrillers with flawed protagonists.

Jennifer Hillier is a Canadian author of five previous thrillers including the very popular Jar of Hearts, which I’ve now added to my reading list.

Little Secrets is published on 7th May 2020 by Corvus, an imprint of Atlantic Books

Thanks to Atlantic Books and NetGalley for a review copy

Torta Pasqualina

Happy Easter! Today’s post is a bit different – I thought I’d bring you a seasonal recipe from Carlo’s restaurant, I Tre Fratelli. Carlo is one of the main characters in The Secret. He’s revived the village’s fortunes by reopening the once thriving but long-neglected restaurant (but he’s increasingly concerned that his mother’s hiding the truth about her past.)

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Torta Pasqualina is a savoury spinach pie with hidden hard boiled eggs, traditionally eaten at Easter but can be enjoyed any time. It’s originally from Liguria the region bordering Tuscany and just up the coast from the fictional village of Santa Zita. It’s vegetarian, quick and easy to make and keeps in the fridge for a couple of days.

Ingredients

2 sheets of ready-rolled puff pastry

1 500g pack of spinach

1 tub of ricotta

100 Parmesan cheese or vegetarian hard cheese

(Or 50g Parmesan and 100g Provolone, Gruyere or cheddar)

6 eggs

1 onion finely chopped

1/2 tsp nutmeg, 1/2 tsp cinnamon

Method

Pre-heat the oven to 200 degrees C and grease a medium sized pie/quiche dish

Hard boil five of the eggs

Sauté the onions

Wash the spinach and put in a pan with just the water clinging to its leaves, and heat until it wilts (around 5mins). Allow to cool, squeeze dry and chop.

Add the onions to the spinach, add seasoning and allow to cool.

Use one of the pastry sheets to line the pie dish, trimming and rebuilding the edges so that it just overlaps. Spoon in half of the spinach and cheese mixture and spread evenly. Cut the hardboiled eggs in half and place them yolk down around the dish on top of the spinach mixture.

Top with the remaining spinach mix, brush the edge of the pastry with beaten egg and place the second pastry sheet on top. Trim to fit, prick all over with a fork or cut a cross in the centre. Brush all over with the beaten egg and place in the oven for 35 minutes.

Beat the remaining egg and brush the edges of the pastry

Serve hot or cold with a crisp salad.

Buon appetito!

The Secret is available here: mybook.to/thesecretjohnson

Book review: Goodbye to Budapest by Margarita Morris

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My sister gave me this book for my birthday in February and I’d packed it away in my suitcase to read during my stay in Budapest this week. Sadly, my travel plans like those of so many others have been cancelled although I know this is hardly a tragedy in the grand scheme of things. One upside of lockdown, however, is having a bit more time to read so I’ve been on a virtual visit to Hungary during a fascinating and terrifying era.

Goodbye to Budapest covers the Cold War period from before Stalin’s death in 1953 to the Hungarian Uprising of 1956. It starts with a fateful ring on the doorbell in the middle of the night. Katalin’s father Marton is taken away by the Secret Police although he’s done nothing wrong. This is what life was like for ordinary people living under the iron fist of Stalinist communism where you could never be sure which of your neighbours to trust. Will she ever see him again?

The death of Stalin brings hope and some changes, and ignites the fuse for the giant student-led demonstration three years later. As young and old take to the streets they’re met with Soviet tanks. Can Katalin and her family, who’ve been through so much already, survive?

I found this a compulsive page turner with themes of love, courage, betrayal and redemption. It was an emotional rollercoaster, told without sentimentality and is clearly well researched. This is an era I’ve wanted to know more about and now I feel that I do. I believed in the characters and the tension was maintained right up to the end.

I also absolutely love the cover.

I’d recommend Goodbye to Budapest to anyone who enjoys Cold War dramas or has an interest in Hungarian history.

It’s published by Landmark and available here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07TWX7TQY

Book review: The Search Party by Simon Lelic

I was instantly drawn to this book by its premise – a group of teenagers going out to look for their missing friend and making a chilling discovery.

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When 16 year-old Sadie Saunders goes missing, her five friends set out to the woods to find her. But they’re not just friends – they’re suspects. And not everyone will make it home alive.

THE CHALK MAN meets THE HUNTING PARTY in this gripping story; witness four suspects as, alongside DI Fleet, you attempt to discover the truth about what happened to Sadie…

My review

I love the black and yellow cover which immediately makes me think of The Hunting Party and this story’s told in the same way, with multiple narrators. Each of the teenagers falls under suspicion and it soon turns out they all have something to hide. As the tension builds with a Blair Witch vibe they turn on each other and revelations tumble out. Meanwhile, the detective has secrets of his own which make it hard to stifle his prejudices.

I love stories with small casts and locked-room situations so really enjoyed this one and believed in the characters. I thought I knew where the story was heading but the twist at the end took me by surprise which is always a bonus.

The Search Party is a brilliant read – chilling and atmospheric – and one which I’ll be recommending to many people.

It’s published by Viking in August.

My thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for a review copy.

ISBN 9780241422687

Book review: The Tuscan Girl by Angela Petch

At this time of year I’d normally be in Italy, ideally sitting in a favourite cafe on the edge of a sunny square. Sadly that’s not possible for anyone at the moment. The coronavirus has had heartbreaking consequences and turned life upside down in many countries, especially Italy.

In the UK too the news gets worse each day and we’re adjusting to staying in our homes for the foreseeable future. My way of escape has been through books and thanks to this one I’ve been able to armchair-travel to virus-free Tuscany.

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Alba (who readers will know from The Tuscan Secret) is now an adult, grieving for her husband and blaming herself for his death. She returns from the UK to her childhood home in Tuscany for a break. There she meets Massimo, an elderly man who shares with her his bottled-up wartime memories and the story of Lucia, the girl he loved.

But there’s one part of Lucia’s story he’s never been able to share – and he’s running out of time. Has Alba churned up emotions that are too painful for him to confront or will unearthing this secret finally bring Massimo peace?

My review

I met author Angela Petch on a scorching day in Florence last summer and was excited to hear about the book she was writing so I opened this with high expectations.

In fact The Tuscan Girl surpassed these and for me, this is without doubt her best book yet.

The descriptions are beautiful:

Dragonflies skimmed the spangled, shimmering surface of the weir

She stared at the view of mountains dusted with snow. The river beneath her window where willows waved silvery-green in the afternoon sunshine…

Hoar frost painted every surface with a sparkle. The trees were fish bones outlined against the clean light of the sky, and above, a line of pines straggled like a bad haircut along the ridge

The characters have so much warmth and are dealing with huge inner conflicts as well as the external conflict going on around them. Alba, as she’s learning Massimo’s story, is also working through her own grief. Lucia who joins the partisans falls in love with a German soldier but things aren’t what they seem. I loved the sections about being a POW in England – my grandfather had Italian POWs working on his farm and I’ve often wondered what their stories might have been.

The Tuscan Girl is a love story and you’ll feel transported by descriptions of scenery and food but this book has so much more depth than your average holiday read set in Italy. The back story is tragic and terrible without sensationalising.

There are themes of love, grief, bravery and healing. Above all, it feels real.

That’s because it’s clearly written by someone who knows the country intimately. Italy ‘s WWII history has always fascinated me and having spent a lot of time reading and writing about it myself (for The Secret), I can tell how much research has gone into this.

If you enjoy books set in Italy I’d highly recommend this emotional read.

It’s published by Bookouture and is available in ebook, paperback and audiobook

Book review: The Motion of the Body Through Space by Lionel Shriver

I love Lionel Shriver’s writing style so was thrilled to be offered the chance to read this.

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The Motion of the Body Through Space is dry, witty, sad and brilliantly observed. It provides a window into a marriage as a couple adjust to the changes forced on them by ageing.

Recently-retired Remington who’s never done any exercise has suddenly developed an obsession with running, a sport his wife Serenata has excelled at until recently when her knees gave out. Even if Remington makes it to the finish line will their marriage survive?

The characters are complex and flawed and their portrayal is unflinching. Serenata who’s “never been a team player” and has “always kept others at bay” is now questioning her identity and resents her husband’s enthusiasm for the sport and his glamorous personal trainer. Her waspish remarks (eg “It doesn’t bother you…that your ambition is hopelessly trite?”) mask her fear that while he’s found a new lease of life she at 60 is over the hill and can see “the decline that spread before her.” The relationship with their adult children is also difficult, making this an uncomfortable, entertaining and thought-provoking read, exploring themes of loneliness, jealousy and betrayal.

Would I recommend this book? Yes to fans of Lionel Shriver or anyone who enjoys pithy domestic dramas.

The Motion of the Body Through Space will be published by HarperCollins on 20 May.

My thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for sending me a copy to review.

Book review: Rules For Perfect Murders by Peter Swanson

I was instantly attracted to this story of a bookseller who gets drawn into an FBI investigation because of the books he’s read.

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A series of unsolved murders appear to have one thing in common: each bears a resemblance to one of those depicted in the classic crime mysteries listed in Malcolm Kershaw’s blog post about eight fictional perfect murders.

Malcolm who runs the Old Devils book shop is visited by an FBI agent who brings the murders to his attention and asks for his help in solving them.

Although at this stage I was thinking this was all a bit hard to believe, I also decided that I didn’t care! For someone like me who loves making lists and reading crime stories this was a perfect read.

It also had the added bonus of enabling me to revisit some of my favourite crime stories and discover new ones:

The Red House Mystery by AA Milne; Malice Aforethought by Anthony Berkeley Cox; The ABC Murders by Agatha Christie; Double Indemnity by James M Cain; Strangers On A Train by Patricia Highsmith;, The Drowner by John D Macdonald, Deathtrap by Ira Levin (a play); and The Secret History by Donna Tartt.

Each plot is dissected to show the genius of the murder plan. (If you haven’t read these stories but are planning to you might want to read them first to avoid spoilers.)

Unassuming, bookish Mal is a fascinating narrator: “I’ve never been good at making friends. Sometimes I blame it on the fact that I was an only child.”

We soon learn he’s not as straightforward as he seems and he has secrets in his past that the killer knows about. Is he of interest to the agent as an expert or a suspect or both?

In Mal’s own words “I don’t trust narrators any more than I trust actual people in my life. We never get the whole truth, not from anybody.”

In some ways I found this story as bizarre, flawed and implausible as the characters inside – but also absolutely brilliant and I couldn’t stop reading.

Would I recommend it? Without hesitation! This is a fiendishly good read for lovers of classic crime fiction and a refreshing change from gory thrillers. I’d happily read it again.

My thanks to Faber & Faber and NetGalley for a review copy of this book.

Book review: Coming up For Air by Sarah Leipciger

I was intrigued by this watery book title and beautiful cover, especially when I discovered the story was inspired by true events so was thrilled to be offered the chance to read and review it.

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Coming Up for Air is a haunting, beautifully-written tale which encompasses three stories from different eras: a heartbroken young woman who drowns herself in the Seine in the 1800s but whose sweet face becomes known all over Europe; a grieving Norwegian toymaker whose young son’s death inspires an invention which could save innumerable lives; and a present-day Canadian journalist who has Cystic Fibrosis and is offered one last lifeline.

For a while I was wondering what these narratives could have to do with each other but this is gradually revealed.

It’s not a feel-good story but a fascinating one and I found myself fully absorbed although not wanting to rush through. I’d recommend reading it when you have time to enjoy it at a leisurely pace. The theme of drowning runs throughout – the Inconnue’s suicide, the Norwegian child’s accident and the CF sufferer drowning in her own lungs – but there is also hope and a sense that good things will come out of bad.

The imagery is breathtaking with lots of watery references: for example, a woman in the Norwegian storyline is described as having “long, tangled hair the colour of sea foam”.

I particularly enjoyed the descriptions in L’Inconnue’s narrative, eg:

Chestnut trees gregarious with white blossom lined the avenue and there was the perfume of a dozen flower stalls and the stink of mud and yeast and horses.

Would I recommend it? Yes absolutely to fans of literary fiction such as Once Upon A River by Diane Setterfield.

Thanks to Penguin and NetGalley for a review copy of the book.

Book review: Keeper by Jessica Moor

Today is publication day for Keeper. I was immediately drawn by this cover and was delighted to be offered an advance copy to review.

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Described as a literary thriller and a feminist whodunnit, Keeper tells the poignant and powerful story of Katie Straw, whose body is pulled from the river. While the police believe this is an open-and-shut case of suicide, the residents of the women’s refuge where Katie worked are convinced it’s murder.

It’s a hard-hitting novel told in two time frames: before and after Katie’s death. The Then narrative tracks the changing path of her relationship to Jamie and the Now tracks the police investigation. We also learn about the women in the refuge and the violent and abusive relationships they’ve been in.

I can’t honestly say this was an enjoyable read but then neither is it supposed to be. What it is, is a bleak and chilling portrayal of domestic abuse in different forms and shows how insidious it can be – and how difficult it can be to escape.

It’s topical and well written with a shocking twist and heart-wrenching ending.

The ebook and hardback versions are available from today.

My thanks to Penguin and NetGalley for a review copy.