BLOG TOUR: The Murmurs - Michael J. Malone

On the first morning of her new job at Heartfield House, a care home for the elderly, Annie Jackson wakens from a terrifying dream. And when she arrives at the home, she knows that the first old man she meets is going to die.

How she knows this is a terrifying mystery, but it is the start of horrifying premonitions ... a rekindling of the curse that has trickled through generations of women in her family – a wicked gift known only as ‘the murmurs’...

With its reappearance comes an old, forgotten fear that is about to grip Annie Jackson.

And this time, it will never let go...

What did I think?

Oh wow, Michael J. Malone has done it again.  Just when I think he's written his best book, he goes and pulls another one out of the bag.  The Murmurs is an outstanding gothic thriller that chilled me to the bone.

Annie has always felt different from her twin brother Lewis, and it wasn't helped by their mother treating Lewis as the golden child and all but ignoring Annie.  Their mother Eleanor always feared that Annie had a curse lying dormant inside her and now it's about to wake up.  Eeeeeek!  The death premonitions and whispering voices really creeped me out and I loved it!

The whole story is very intricately plotted around Annie's curse and it's like untangling a ball of wool so I couldn't read fast enough to discover all of the book's dark and creepy secrets.  I loved the story of Eleanor and her sisters and it was heartbreaking to read about how patients (mainly women) with mental health issues were treated in the not too distant past.  

Expect the unexpected with a Michael J. Malone book and you will not be disappointed.  The Murmurs is a dark, creepy and compelling book that ticks all the boxes of a fast-paced thriller but it goes one better by adding an element of the supernatural.

I received a digital ARC  to read and review for the blog tour and this is my honest and unbiased opinion.

My rating:

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About the author:

Michael Malone is a prize-winning poet and author who was born and brought up in the heart of Burns’ country. He has published over 200 poems in literary magazines throughout the UK, including New Writing Scotland, Poetry Scotland and Markings. Blood Tears, his bestselling debut novel won the Pitlochry Prize from the Scottish Association of Writers. His dark psychological thriller, A Suitable Lie, was a number-one bestseller, and is currently in production for the screen, and five powerful standalone thrillers followed suit. A former Regional Sales Manager (Faber & Faber) he has also worked as an IFA and a bookseller. Michael lives in Ayr, where he also works as a hypnotherapist.

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The Institution - Helen Fields

They’re locked up for your safety.

Now, you’re locked in with them.

Dr Connie Woolwine has five days to catch a killer.

On a locked ward in the world’s highest-security prison hospital, a scream shatters the night. The next morning, a nurse’s body is found and her daughter has been taken. A ransom must be paid, and the clock is ticking.

Forensic profiler Dr Connie Woolwine is renowned for her ability to get inside the mind of a murderer. Now, she must go deep undercover among the most deranged and dangerous men on earth and use her unique skills to find the girl – before it’s too late.

But as the walls close in around her, can Connie get the killer before The Institution gets her?

 

What did I think?

WOW!  Just WOW!  Do not miss this book!  I have to start my review of The Institution by saying how amazingly brilliant it is.  It's a standalone novel but I was absolutely delighted to be reacquainted with profiler Connie Woolwine and former DI Brodie Baarda who we met in The Shadow Man.  

Set on a criminally insane ward in a remote location, it's fraught with danger as Woolwine and Baarda go undercover to find a murderer after a most heinous crime is committed on site.  It's certainly no mean feat as every man held there is a killer.  Imagine Hannibal Lector being the main character in One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, The Institution is sort of like that.  Are the 'guests' insane or dangerous?  Can any member of staff be trusted?

The increasing danger level had me on high alert throughout the book.  There were several scenes where I gasped out loud or held my breath and I had absolutely no idea who had committed this awful murder, how they'd done it or why.  When all is revealed, the conclusion is immensely satisfying and it left me fist pumping the air (and with a little bit of sick in my mouth - yuk!).

The storyline is very chilling, but it was the last line that gave me goosebumps and chilled me to the bone.  I'm not going to quote it and it could be quite innocent to a lot of people but it really resonated with me as I have been there and regretted it.  I hope it's not something that Connie Woolwine will come to regret and I hope it's a sign that there are more Woolwine and Baarda books to come.

With characters that gave me nightmares, The Institution is gripping, addictive and chilling.  The writing, plot, characters and chilling location are all outstanding and I was left both breathless and speechless at the end.  It's brilliant from start to finish and an easy five stars.  Very highly recommended.

I  chose to read an ARC and this is my honest and unbiased opinion.

My rating:

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UK.Bookshop.org

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Matilda Windsor is Coming Home - Anne Goodwin

In the dying days of the old asylums, three paths intersect.

Henry was only a boy when he waved goodbye to his glamorous grown-up sister; approaching sixty, his life is still on hold as he awaits her return.

As a high-society hostess renowned for her recitals, Matty’s burden weighs heavily upon her, but she bears it with fortitude and grace.

Janice, a young social worker, wants to set the world to rights, but she needs to tackle challenges closer to home.

A brother and sister separated by decades of deceit. Will truth prevail over bigotry, or will the buried secret keep family apart?

In this, her third novel, Anne Goodwin has drawn on the language and landscapes of her native Cumbria and on the culture of long-stay psychiatric hospitals where she began her clinical psychology career.

Find out more on Matilda Windsor’s webpage

What did I think?

Oh my goodness, Anne Goodwin's new novel is completely heartbreaking.  I felt so incredibly upset and angry at events fifty years in the past that altered the course of Matty and Henry's lives.  It's so annoying to think of how differently their lives could have turned out if one selfish action hadn't tore them apart.

Henry barely remembers his sister Matilda who left when he was a small child; all he has to remember her by is a conker that she gave him when she left.  It's almost as if Henry's life has been put on hold waiting for Matilda to return home.  Meanwhile, Matilda has been hidden away in a psychiatric hospital for over fifty years; her mind creating butlers and maids out of the staff to help her cope with her new life and to keep her safe from the evil prince who destroyed her life.  With the hospital facing closure, Matty's life is set to be changed once more.

The whole story is actually written very cleverly and this really makes Matty so unbelievably endearing to readers.  I was sometimes a little confused and unable to differentiate between memories and actual events, which is exactly how Matty must be feeling.  I felt as if I was not only stepping into her shoes but seeing right inside her head.  It's strange but I never really felt as if Matty's memories were unreliable, however, Henry's were a little more cloudy but this is most likely due to him being a child when they were separated.

I absolutely adored Matty; she may be a batty septuagenarian (Anne Goodwin's words) but she's really quite a character.  I am delighted that Anne is writing a sequel so we can continue Matty's journey as I'm missing her already and I really need to know what happens next.

Matilda Windsor is Coming Home is a truly immersive story that really gets under your skin and you can't help but fall in love with Matty, a wonderfully quirky and charming main character of whom I felt incredibly protective.

Many thanks to Anne Goodwin for sending me a digital ARC to review; this is my honest and unbiased opinion.

My rating:

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About the author:

Anne Goodwin grew up in the non-touristy part of Cumbria, where this novel is set. When she went to university ninety miles away, no-one could understand her accent. After nine years of studying, her first post on qualifying as a clinical psychologist was in a long-stay psychiatric hospital in the process of closing.

Her debut novel, Sugar and Snails, about a woman who has kept her past identity a secret for thirty years, was shortlisted for the 2016 Polari First Book Prize. Her second novel, Underneath, about a man who keeps a woman captive in his cellar, was published in 2017. Her short story collection, Becoming Someone, on the theme of identity, was published in November 2018. Subscribers to her newsletter can download a free e-book of prize-winning short stories.

Author links:

Website: annegoodwin.weebly.com 

Twitter @Annecdotist

Link tree https://linktr.ee/annecdotist

YouTube: Anne Goodwin’s YouTube channel

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

Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Anne-Goodwin/e/B0156O8PMO/

Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/Anne-Goodwin/e/B0156O8PMO/

Inspired Quill: https://www.inspired-quill.com/blog/anne-goodwin/

Newsletter signup https://bit.ly/daughtershorts

Book purchase links: https://linktr.ee/matildawindsor

Saving Lucia - Anna Vaught

How would it be if four lunatics went on a tremendous adventure, reshaping their pasts and futures as they went, including killing Mussolini? What if one of those people were a fascinating, forgotten aristocratic assassin and the others a fellow life co-patient, James Joyce's daughter Lucia, another the first psychoanalysis patient, known to history simply as 'Anna O,' and finally 19th Century Paris's Queen of the Hysterics, Blanche Wittmann? That would be extraordinary, wouldn't it? How would it all be possible? Because, as the assassin Lady Violet Gibson would tell you, those who are confined have the very best imaginations.

What did I think?

Bluemoose Books have decided to mark 2020 by only publishing novels written by women and Saving Lucia by Anna Vaught is the first of these.  What is so special about Saving Lucia is that the characters are based on real women from history, or rather forgotten from history until Anna Vaught became inspired by them.

I don't think I have ever read a book that has made me google so many things.  I have become fascinated by Lady Violet Gibson, an Irish women who made an assassination attempt on Benito Mussolini in Rome in 1926.  Instead of going to prison in Italy, she was incarcerated in a lunatic asylum in England along with Lucia Joyce, the daughter of Irish writer James Joyce.

Violet tells her story to Lucia and you feel like you're actually inside Violet's mind so it's quite hard to follow at times.  With thoughts jumping from one thing to another, as they often do in our brains, the writing has an almost dreamlike quality.  Anna Vaught's expressive and ethereal writing style gives her novel the feel of a literary classic.  I felt like I should be making notes in the margins and I was surprised when this was actually mentioned towards the end of the book.

Saving Lucia certainly gives the reader a few things to think about, namely how easily problematic women were carted off to lunatic asylums in the past when there was probably nothing wrong with their mental health.  I dread to even consider some of the 'treatments' they underwent and I feel quite angry on their behalf.  

Based on real women and real events, Saving Lucia is an exemplary novel and one that has continued to fascinate me long after I turned the final page.  It has the feel of a modern literary classic and should be carefully absorbed over time rather than devoured in one sitting.

I chose to read an ARC and this is my honest and unbiased opinion.

My rating:

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Alice (Chronicles of Alice 1) - Christina Henry

A mind-bending new novel inspired by the twisted and wondrous works of Lewis Carroll...

In a warren of crumbling buildings and desperate people called the Old City, there stands a hospital with cinderblock walls which echo the screams of the poor souls inside. In the hospital, there is a woman. Her hair, once blond, hangs in tangles down her back. She doesn’t remember why she’s in such a terrible place. Just a tea party long ago, and long ears, and blood…

Then, one night, a fire at the hospital gives the woman a chance to escape, tumbling out of the hole that imprisoned her, leaving her free to uncover the truth about what happened to her all those years ago. Only something else has escaped with her. Something dark. Something powerful. And to find the truth, she will have to track this beast to the very heart of the Old City, where the rabbit waits for his Alice.

What did I think?

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is one of my favourite books so I was very intrigued to read Christina Henry's alternative story.  I knew from the start that this wasn't going to be a fairytale version of Alice although it is equally as bonkers and entertaining as the original Lewis Carroll book.

When she went missing, Alice was found and reunited with her parents but could only rave about 'The Rabbit'.  Her parents were unable to cope and put Alice in an asylum where she was forgotten and left to rot.  The only thing keeping her going is the ability to contact the resident in the room next door through a mousehole.  Her neighbour is Hatcher and he has a plan to escape...

Alice and Hatcher's escape from the asylum during a fire also releases the beast known as the Jabberwock and the beast is on their tail as they travel through the Old City in search of the truth about what happened when Alice went missing.  During their travels, we meet familiar characters in unfamiliar forms as Christina Henry takes us on a dark and dangerous adventure through a nightmare land.  I loved meeting the characters and seeing how Christina Henry had twisted the original tale.

Completely unusual and imaginative but very very dark, Alice will give you nightmares as you journey through an Old City that is a dangerous as Wonderland was colourful.  I'm looking forward to continuing the story in Red Queen.

My rating:

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BLOG TOUR: The Key - Kathryn Hughes

Today I'm taking part in the blog tour for The Key by Kathryn Hughes.  This is an absolutely breathtaking book that I will remember for a very long time.  You can read my review below and you can also click here to read an extract comprising the prologue that made me gasp out loud and chapter one set in 2006.

1956

It's Ellen Crosby's first day as a student nurse at Ambergate County Lunatic Asylum. When she meets a young woman committed by her father, and a pioneering physician keen to try out the various 'cures' for mental illness, little does Ellen know that a choice she will make is to change all their lives for ever...

2006

Sarah is drawn to the abandoned Ambergate Asylum. Whilst exploring the old corridors she discovers a suitcase belonging to a female patient who was admitted fifty years earlier. The shocking contents lead Sarah to unravel a forgotten story of tragedy, lost love and an old wrong that only she may have the power to put right . . .

What did I think?

I was a late entrant to join The Key blog tour and I thought that I would struggle to read the book in the time given, but I couldn't have been more wrong.  No sooner had I picked the book up than I was wiping my eyes after turning the final page.  Kathryn Hughes is such a talented author that she effortlessly weaves so much emotion into the pages that even the coldest heart can't fail to be moved.

The prologue is set in 1956 with an attempted dual suicide and murder that made me gasp out loud, but we are teasingly left dangling for quite a few chapters before we pick up this thread again.  As we meet Sarah in 2006 we discover the abandoned Ambergate Lunatic Asylum and Sarah is determined to tell its story through a book she is writing.  Sarah befriends a homeless young man who is sheltering in the asylum and the pair investigate the empty corridors and empty rooms together.  One day they stumble across the attic filled with suitcases and one suitcase in particular is like opening the wardrobe door to Narnia as we glimpse into the past of 1956.

Student Nurse Ellen Crosby is very empathetic and wants to make a difference; her outspoken views often get her into trouble with the sister and the doctor, but I loved her standing up to them to get her point across.  Ellen is drawn to Amy Sullivan who is admitted on the same day that Ellen started at Ambergate and is the same age as her.  Amy's story is terribly tragic and her misery is compounded as each day of her incarceration in Ambergate passes.  In 2006, Sarah traces Amy via Ellen and the whole heartbreaking story is revealed.

I had to brush a few tears away whilst reading The Key; the pain and suffering must have been immense for the men and women forced into institutions, many of them as sane as  you or I.  It's quite shocking to think that places such as Ambergate Asylum actually existed.  Thank goodness for Enoch Powell, then Minister of Health, who promised to close many of these asylums in his 'water tower' speech delivered in 1961.  

The Key is a completely heart-wrenching and poignant story that left me completely powerless to prevent my eyes blurring with tears as the story unfolded.  It reminded me of the TV show Long Lost Families as my happiness for the characters at the end of the book was coupled with a lone tear trickling down my face.  It's a beautifully written novel, inspired by the real-life discovery of a room filled with suitcases in a derelict asylum in Willard, New York.  In addition to reading The Key, it's well worth visiting the Willard Suitcases website to read more about this amazing story.  I definitely won't forget The Key anytime soon.

I chose to read an ARC and this is my honest and unbiased opinion.

My rating:

Buy it from Amazon


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The Hiding Place - John Burley

Dr Lise Shields works with the most deadly criminals in America. At Menaker psychiatric hospital all are guilty and no one ever leaves. Then she meets Jason Edwards.

Jason is an anomaly. No transfer order, no patient history, no paperwork at all. Is he really guilty of the horrific crimes he’s been sentenced for?

Caught up in a web of unanswered questions and hastily concealed injustices, the spotlight begins to shine on Lise. She’s being watched, and the doors of Menaker psychiatric hospital are closing in.

In Lise’s quest to discover the truth, is there anywhere left to hide?

What did I think?

This was an interesting read and although I guessed the twist half way through, I still enjoyed it.  We are introduced to psychiatrist Dr. Lise Shields as she is treating a patient, Jason Edwards, in Menaker asylum.  Jason is being treated for insanity after protecting his sister by falsely admitting to killing his partner, Amir.  Jason's life comes under threat and Lise is approached by two FBI agents trying to protect him, but then Jason gets abducted and the abductors come after Lise.  While trying to elude capture, Lise falls and breaks her arm - while she is under anaesthetic we get a glimpse into her earlier life.  We read about her close relationship as a child with her schizophrenic Uncle Jim and his incarceration in an asylum - it was really quite sad reading about his struggle with his mental health and the effect it had on his family.

While Lise is on the run, the chase was very gripping and I couldn't put the book down at this stage.  She is picked up on the side of the road and helped by an ex-military guy called Haden.  At the time I found it a bit odd that she trusted a complete stranger, so I felt like the end of the story lacked a bit of an explanation about Haden.  I can't say too much without ruining the story!

When she makes it back to Menaker, we find that Jason has also returned.  Their ultimate reconnection and brief moment of sanity was very moving.

This was a quick read due to the gripping chase scenes and short chapters, and I thought that the difficult topic of mental health was portrayed with sensitivity and compassion. 

I received this e-book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

My rating:

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