The Vanishing Act - Jo Jakeman

Life as a missing person is absolute murder...

When artist Eloise Ford hears that human remains found in an abandoned mine are believed to be those of long-missing teenager Elizabeth King, the shock sends her reeling.

It can't be true. Eloise knows this for a fact because... she is Elizabeth King.

Now, her carefully curated life in Cornwall is falling apart. Her husband is acting strangely, her children aren't speaking to her and she can't sell a painting for love nor money. But much more worrying are the signs that someone knows exactly who she is... and why she had to vanish thirty years ago.

Eloise needs answers. Is her son's ex-girlfriend just plain annoying... or does she know something? Will the detection skills of the online 'Truth Seekers' group prove more than amateurish? What's the real story behind those village newcomers?

And just how far would she go to keep her family, her friends, and her fraudulent life, safe?

 

What did I think?

I picked up The Vanishing Act solely on the cover (without reading the blurb) so one of the twists that is mentioned in the blurb was a complete shock to me.  I simply couldn't put it down and read it in a couple of hours so be prepared to do nothing but read when you pick up The Vanishing Act.

The story is told from the points of view of Eloise Ford and Holly Bond.  Both women have a keen interest in the human remains that have been found close to where they live but there's more to this story than meets the eye.  I loved the relationship between Eloise and her son's ex-girlfriend Holly.  Eloise really didn't like Holly to start with but she certainly grows on her.

It's pretty creepy and a little scary that Eloise doesn't know who she can trust as she struggles to hold on to the perfect life that she has built over the past 30 years.  I think it must have been quite exhausting to maintain the perfection that she has strived for but I can understand her motives for doing so.

The pacing is blisteringly fast once the book gets its hooks into you, which for me was just a few pages in, and I read it so much quicker than I expected which is always the mark of a good book.  Holly is part of a Facebook group about missing people and I loved reading the posts between them; each character has their own writing style and unique voice and it feels as if they were written by real people.

Completely gripping and incredibly addictive, The Vanishing Act is as unputdownable as it is unpredictable.  I absolutely loved it and can't recommend it highly enough - it's easily one of the best books I've read this year.  The Vanishing Act is my first Jo Jakeman book and I will definitely be looking at her back catalogue on the strength of this novel.

Many thanks to Hannah Hargrave PR for sending me a gifted hardback to read and review; this is my honest and unbiased opinion.

My rating:

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UK.Bookshop.org

Amazon

BLOG TOUR: The Reunion - M. J. Arlidge and Steph Broadribb

A skull looks up at Jennie from the trench, but it's not the chalk-white bone and grimacing teeth that send her reeling. It's the heart-shaped gold pendant, its delicate chain snapped in two. The necklace Hannah never took off. It can't be Hannah. But it is.

When Jennie Whitmore arrives at her school reunion, she immediately regrets her decision. Why would she choose to surround herself with people who were never nice to her? Who still aren't, even now she's a police officer? The only person who truly looked out for her all those years ago was charming, beautiful Hannah. Until the day she disappeared.

Jennie is ready to finally put White Cross Academy behind her, the old school building demolished the morning after the party. But with the demolition comes a call: a teenage girl's remains have been found on the grounds.

The instant drop in Jennie's gut tells her that the remains might be Hannah's, but when she's called in to examine them, the truth becomes undeniable. Hannah didn't run away and abandon Jennie thirty years ago; in fact, she never left White Cross at all.

Suddenly, Jennie has a murder to solve. The murder of her best friend. But can she do so before her colleagues discover just how closely connected she is to the victim? Before a mystery stalker makes good on his threats to silence her for good?

The Reunion is a gripping mystery perfect for fans of THE SANATORIUM, Lucy Foley, and Ruth Kelly.

 

What did I think?

I love both M.J. Arlidge's and Steph Broadribb's books so it's a booklover's dream to see these two authors collaborate to create a bone-chilling thriller.  As if the thought of a school reunion isn't horrifying enough, the partygoers are about to sober up pretty quickly when a body is found buried within the school.

Jennie is hoping her old friend Hannah will turn up to the school reunion so she can finally understand why Hannah didn't turn up the night they planned to run away to London.  The explanation is hiding beneath her feet and it's the worst one that Jennie could have imagined: Hannah was murdered on that fateful night.  

This murder is personal so Jennie is determined to lead the case despite her conflict of interest, which she hides from her boss.  As she plays down her relationship with Hannah and starts investigating Hannah's last known movements, she starts to wonder whether they were even friends at all.

The writing is seamless and if there weren't two names on the cover, you would never guess that it had two authors.  The plot twists and turns like a slithering snake and just when you think you have it all worked out, the truth slithers out of your grasp again.  

Gripping, chilling and twisty, The Reunion is a brilliant thriller that keeps the reader on the edge of their seat from start to finish.  I would definitely recommend it but be prepared to be unable to put it down once you pick it up.

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

My rating:

Buy it from:

UK.Bookshop.org

Amazon

About the authors:

M.J. Arlidge has worked in television for the last twenty years, specialising in high-end drama production, including prime-time crime serials Silent Witness, Torn, The Little House and, most recently, the hit ITV show Innocent. In 2015 his audiobook exclusive Six Degrees of Assassination was a number-one bestseller. His debut thriller, Eeny Meeny, was the UK's bestselling crime debut of 2014 and has been followed by ten more DI Helen Grace thrillers - all Sunday Times bestsellers.

Steph Broadribb was born in Birmingham and grew up in Buckinghamshire. Most of her working life has been spent between the UK and USA. As her alter ego - Crime Thriller Girl - she indulges her love of all things crime fiction by blogging at www.crimethrillergirl.com

Steph is an alumnus of the MA in Creative Writing (Crime Fiction) at City University London, and she trained as a bounty hunter in California. 

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BLOG TOUR: The Shame (Glasgow Southside Crime Series Book 3) - Maureen Myant

Glasgow

The cellar of a suburban bungalow has been hiding a dark secret. During building work, a skeleton is uncovered. DI Alex Scrimgeour and DS Mark Nicholson soon discover the remains have been there for sixty years. The owners of the house from that time, Richard and Doris Cavendish, are dead, but their daughter may still be alive.

Edinburgh

Edith Drummond is pleased to be back at work as a teacher after lockdown. She's a difficult woman with no friends but she's good at her job and the children love her. However, her Head Teacher, Olivia Waring, wants her to retire. Edith is determined to stay put, but their feud soon pales into insignificance when Edith receives a visit from the police.

Mark is sure Edith is hiding something, but he doesn't know what. His suspicion deepens when further remains are found at the bungalow in Glasgow, this time of a newborn baby. Despite dealing with his own personal problems, Mark is determined to get to the bottom of this bizarre case. Is there a link between the two crimes? Is the answer staring him In the face or is there more to the mystery than meets the eye?

 

What did I think?

The Shame is the third book in the Glasgow Southside Crime Series and although you can read it is a standalone and thoroughly enjoy it, it's absolutely brilliant when read as part of the series.  

The character development throughout the series is outstanding and I was as hooked by the continuation of their stories as I was by the actual crime they were investigating.  It's a rather grisly crime when the new owners of a home discover a skeleton in their basement so the police need to trace the previous occupants to identify the body and solve the crime.  

Edith Drummond was so ashamed of her past in Glasgow that she changed her name and moved to Edinburgh.  Edith is a difficult woman to love but she really did grow on me and I completely sympathised with her past family life and her present working life as a teacher.  I was so annoyed that the head teacher can't see what a brilliant teacher Edith is but instead is set on making Edith retire.  I was virtually fist bumping the air when Edith continued to stand up to her.

I am completely hooked by DS Mark Nicholson's story and although I do feel sorry for him, he made his bed so he has to lie in it.  Unfortunately for Mark, that bed is in his boss's flat as his wife threw him out after his affair.  DI Alex Scrimgeour is a bit of a teddy bear now that his own personal mystery has been solved but I really wouldn't be helping myself to his whisky if I was living in his flat!

As impossible to put down as it is to predict, The Shame is a cracking piece of crime fiction that had me on the edge of my seat and reading with my virtual running shoes on.  I already consider this to be one of my favourite crime series and The Shame proves that it is just getting better and better.  Very highly recommended.

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

My rating:

Buy it from:

Hobeck Books

Amazon

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BLOG TOUR: Old Bones - Helen Kitson

 

Diana and her sister Antonia are house-sharing spinsters who have never got over their respective first loves. Diana owns a gift shop, but rarely works there. Antonia is unemployed, having lost her teaching job at an all girls’ school following a shocking outburst in the classroom after enduring years of torment. Diana is a regular at the local library, Antonia enjoys her “nice” magazines, and they treat themselves to coffee and cake once a week in the village café.

Naomi lives alone, haunted by the failure of her two marriages. She works in the library, doesn’t get on with her younger colleagues, and rarely cooks herself a proper meal. Secretly she longs for a Boden frock.

When a body is discovered in the local quarry, all three women’s lives are turned upside down. And when Diana’s old flame Gill turns up unexpectedly, tensions finally spill over and threaten to destroy the outwardly peaceful lives all three women have carefully constructed around themselves.

Helen takes us back to the fictional Shropshire village of Morevale in this, her brilliant second novel which exposes the fragilities and strengths of three remarkably unremarkable elderly women.

What did I think?

Old Bones is a bit of a change of pace from books I've been reading lately and it's nice to sit back and relax with a good book rather than being perched on the edge of your seat.  I think I'd call this book alluring rather than addictive; it certainly drew me in and caught me in its spell as I untangled the stories of the three main characters.

The title of Old Bones could actually have a double meaning; not only the bones found in the local quarry but the weary sixty year old bones of Diana, Antonia and Naomi.  Although the characters are in their sixties, it certainly doesn't feel like they are that age and I think that has something to do with how you seem to regress to your childhood when you return home.  Spinster siblings Diana and Antonia are living together in the family home and Naomi is someone they have known since childhood, which means that there are old scores to be settled in a kind of schoolyard 'I'm not your friend anymore'.

With such wonderfully complex and completely flawed characters there is a lot to discover about these women, especially some secrets that they would prefer to keep hidden.  Unreliability of memory is explored as memories from childhood are revealed and I always find this a very interesting subject.  Our brains can bury memories that are painful to us and it can also fill in any blanks with the best fit scenario so any distant memory has to have some element of unreliability about it.

I actually felt quite sorry for Diana, Antonia and Naomi as life has not turned out quite the way they expected.  Diana is haunted by a lost love (and don't get me started on Gill whose selfishness infuriated me), Antonia is scarred by a devastating event in her past and Naomi is tortured by a deeply buried secret.  So much mystery and intrigue, and that's without the discovery of the bones!

Old Bones is a wonderfully alluring character driven story filled with mystery, intrigue and buried secrets.  I really enjoyed it and will definitely be looking out for more Helen Kitson books.

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

My rating:

Buy it from:

Louise Walters Books

UK.Bookshop.org

Amazon UK

Foyles

Waterstones

Amazon US

About the author:

Helen lives in Worcester with her husband, two teenaged children and two rescue cats. Her first poetry collection was nominated for the Forward Best First Collection Prize. She has published three other poetry collections and her short fiction has appeared in magazines including Ambit, Feminist Review and Stand. She holds a BA (Hons) in Humanities.

​

Helen's debut novel The Last Words of Madeleine Anderson was published in March 2019. Her second "Morevale" novel, Old Bones, will be published on 16 January 2021.

Social Media:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Jemima_Mae_7 

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Play Dead (D.I. Kim Stone 4) - Angela Marsons

The dead don’t tell secrets… unless you listen.

The girl’s smashed-in face stared unseeing up to the blue sky, soil spilling out of her mouth. A hundred flies hovered above the bloodied mess.

Westerley research facility is not for the faint-hearted. A ‘body farm’ investigating human decomposition, its inhabitants are corpses in various states of decay. But when Detective Kim Stone and her team discover the fresh body of a young woman, it seems a killer has discovered the perfect cover to bury their crime.

Then a second girl is attacked and left for dead, her body drugged and mouth filled with soil. It’s clear to Stone and the team that a serial killer is at work – but just how many bodies will they uncover? And who is next?

As local reporter, Tracy Frost, disappears, the stakes are raised. The past seems to hold the key to the killer’s secrets – but can Kim uncover the truth before a twisted, damaged mind claims another victim …?

What did I think?

I stupidly jumped into the DI Kim Stone series at book 3 but at absolutely no detriment as I immediately loved Angela Marsons writing and her amazing character of Kim Stone.  Book 4 languished on my TBR for far too long but good things come to those who wait and this was SO GOOD!!  You can definitely read this book as a standalone and it is so brilliant that I think it will get the same high ratings from new readers as those given by die-hard Kim Stone fans.  

What a highly imaginative storyline this is; it is so utterly compelling, and slightly grisly, that it draws the reader in immediately.  I must have a touch of the macabre about me as I loved the setting on a body farm and, with witty names of the 'residents' like Jack and Vera, I did quite literally laugh out loud.  To be honest, I didn't realise that body farms were a real thing but it was absolutely fascinating to think that there are such facilities where the different stages of decomposition can be observed and studied.  I do love books that send me off to google to do a little research of my own.

As strong a character as Kim Stone is, she has some competition in Play Dead with reporter Tracy Frost.  Oh how Tracy annoyed me!  She is such a bloodhound; sniffing out stories and generally making a nuisance of herself...but you quickly get the impression that something else lies behind the facade of Tracy Frost.  As much as she annoyed me, she intrigued me and I simply couldn't read fast enough to uncover Tracy's story.

Play Dead is an ingenious storyline with a touch of the macabre that I absolutely raced through.  It is gripping, intriguing and utterly compelling and I am already looking forward to my next literary visit with DI Kim Stone.

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

My rating:

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Forgiveness: Effortless Inspiration for a Happier Life - Dani DiPirro

Packed with insightful quotes, thought-provoking reflections and empowering affirmations designed to make you think about forgiveness in new ways, this uplifting little book provides bite-sized inspiration for you to feel lighter, freer and more at peace in everyday life.

What did I think?

What a super little book, it's certainly small but mighty.  I've bought the odd self-help book in the past and got bored after a few pages, leaving them barely thumbed through.  I do, however, still have a bit of an addiction to this kind of book so I was really pleased to win a copy in a Goodreads Giveaway.  Forgiveness only takes about 10 to 15 minutes to read from cover to cover, depending on how much thought you give each quote or idea.  In just a few pages of Forgiveness, I was eagerly reading to see what pearl of wisdom or inspirational quote would be imparted next.  I was so taken with some of the quotes that I shared them immediately by reading them out to my family.

The book itself has beautiful purple pages throughout, which is not only my favourite colour but a colour I find very peaceful and spiritual.   Each little section starts with an inspirational quote, including many from literary favourites such as Anne Frank, Mark Twain, Virginia Woolf and Oscar Wilde.  The quote is followed by a little passage about forgiveness with some key words such as 'compassion', 'patience' and 'happiness' and then leaves us with a thought to ponder to help us achieve these feelings.

Forgiveness certainly made me think about life and how we sometimes make it difficult for ourselves.  We often love to wallow in misery and negativity, forgetting how much better we feel when we're happy, kind and loving.  This is definitely a book I will dip in and out of in the future, but more likely I will read the whole book over and over again.  Forgiveness is full of enlightenment and wisdom, I feel like a better person already after just reading it once.  I am so looking forward to how much better I will feel when I put it into practice.

Inspirational and thought-provoking, Forgiveness is a little gem of a book and the best self-help book I have ever read.  It may be small but it packs a mighty punch.

I'll leave you with the fabulous Oscar Wilde quote that is included in the book:

"Always forgive your enemies; nothing annoys them so much."

My rating:

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