BLOG TOUR: Keep Her Quiet - Emma Curtis

Jenny has just given birth to the baby she’s always wanted. She’s never been this happy. 

Her husband, Leo, knows this baby girl can’t be his. He’s never felt so betrayed. 

The same night, a vulnerable young woman, Hannah, wakes to find her new-born lifeless beside her. She’s crazed with grief. 

When chance throws Hannah into Leo’s path, they make a plan that will have shattering consequences for all of them. 

Years later, a sixteen-year-old girl reads an article in a newspaper, and embarks on a journey to uncover the truth about herself. But what she learns will put everything she has ever known – and her own life – in grave danger. Because some people will go to desperate lengths to protect the secrets their lives are built on . . .

What did I think?

I am totally speechless and completely breathless after reading Keep Her Quiet and not just because it was the book I was reading on the exercise bike.  It's the one book that has made me disappointed about stopping exercising!  I thought The Night You Left was brilliant but Keep Her Quiet is breathtakingly outstanding; Emma Curtis has really outdone herself this time.

It's a mother's worst nightmare to lose a child and Jenny and Hannah lose their babies within days of each other, in very different circumstances.  Jenny's husband, Leo, never wanted children but Jenny's biological clock was ticking and she's delighted to find herself pregnant with Sophie.  Hannah was cast out of her community when it was discovered she was pregnant, with the father of her baby denying all knowledge.  It'll be tough as a single mother but she will love Zoe with all her heart.  

It's in the blurb so it's not a spoiler to say that Zoe dies at only a few days old so Hannah steals Sophie and brings her up as Zoe.  On Sophie's 16th birthday, the media interest is reignited so Jenny and Leo make another appeal for their daughter to come forward.  Leo is an author, so any publicity helps him to sell more books, especially when he wrangles the release dates to coincide with their appeals for Sophie.  What a selfish man!  Selfish doesn't even begin to cover it!  I'm saying no more for fear of spoiling the story.

Perfectly plotted, completely gripping and totally addictive, Keep Her Quiet is an absolutely superb psychological thriller.  I'll definitely be recommending this one for a long time to come.

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

My rating:

Buy it from Amazon

About the author:

Emma Curtis was born in Brighton and now lives in London with her husband.  

After raising two children and working various jobs, her fascination with the darker side of domestic life inspired her to write her acclaimed psychological suspense thrillers One Little Mistake, When I Find You, The Night You Left and Keep Her Quiet.  

Find her on Twitter: @emmacurtisbooks 

Follow the tour:

BLOG TOUR: The Honey and the Sting - E C Fremantle

Be drawn into this compelling, transfixing novel about the bond between three sisters from the author of The Poison Bed

Three sisters.

Three secrets.

Three ways to fall . . .

England, 1628.

Forcibly seduced by the powerful George Villiers, doctor's daughter Hester is cast aside to raise her son alone and in secret. She hopes never to see Villiers again.

Melis's visions cause disquiet and talk. She sees what others can't - and what has yet to be. She'd be denounced as a witch if Hester wasn't so carefully protective.

Young Hope's beauty marks her out, drawing unwelcome attention to the family. Yet she cannot always resist others' advances. And her sisters cannot always be on their guard.

When Villiers decides to claim his son against Hester's wishes, the sisters find themselves almost friendless and at his mercy.

But the women hold a grave secret - will it be their undoing or their salvation?

Because in the right hands, a secret is the deadliest weapon of all . . .

What did I think?

I have to say that the cover of this book is absolutely beautiful and although I read it in ebook form, I think it's definitely worth picking up a physical copy.  The cover may be fantastic but it's nothing compared to the story within which completely blew me away.  I have read and enjoyed an E C Fremantle book before but The Honey and the Sting is nothing short of exceptional.  This is historical fiction at its finest.  

I didn't realise how much of real history was included in the story until I started googling, as I often do when a story grips me so much that I have to find out more.  The Duke of Buckingham is often cast as a baddie due to their closeness to the crown and their addiction to power.  The 1st Duke of Buckingham, George Villiers, is one of the main characters in the book and what a vile character he is.  After impregnating Hester and casting her out of his household, he turns up eight years later demanding his son but he leaves empty handed when Hester reveals that she has a secret that would take Villiers down.  Knowing she only has a temporary reprieve, Hester has no alternative but to leave her home and go into hiding with her two sisters and her son, but the Duke of Buckingham's reach is vast and Hester doesn't know who she can trust.

I loved the relationship and the unbreakable bond between the three sisters: Hester, Melis and Hope.  Melis has an affinity for bees and she tells Hester about the honey and the sting, how something can be both sweet and sharp or good and bad.  Melis also has the gift of foresight but this is often taken with a pinch of salt, until several of her predictions come true.  Hester hopes that they can remain hidden from the Duke long enough for the predicted event to happen, but she doesn't know that there is a wasp in their nest.

Set in the 17th Century, The Honey and the Sting may be historical fiction but it reads like a modern day thriller.  It's fast-paced, gripping and intriguing which I find is quite unusual for historical fiction.  The real characters and historical facts are seamlessly woven into the story with enough intrigue to warrant further research; I certainly know a lot more about George Villiers now.

With clever plotting and sublime writing, The Honey and the Sting is an exceptional book and E C Fremantle deserves a virtual round of applause.  Without doubt a 5 star rating for this very highly recommended book.

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

My rating:

Buy it from Amazon

Follow the tour:

BLOG TOUR: Say No More (Sacramento #2) - Karen Rose

Perfect for fans of James Patterson and Karin Slaughter, this is the second gripping instalment of the Sacramento series from Sunday Times bestseller Karen Rose. An explosive crime thriller, Say No More will keep you gripped until the final page.

If they ever catch you, say nothing. Admit nothing. Never tell.

Mercy Callahan never thought she'd be able to talk about her past. When she arrives in Sacramento to make peace with her brother Gideon, and to help find the brutal cult that took away her childhood, she is finally ready to talk. But when Ephraim Burton - the man who made her life a living hell - follows her there, she realises she might never be safe. 

Rafe Sokolov would do anything to have Mercy back in his life and would go to any length to protect her. But when it becomes apparent that Ephraim is more determined than ever to get Mercy back, even Rafe might not be able to stop the trail of destruction he leaves in his wake. As Ephraim draws near, it's clear it's not just Mercy who is in danger; those closest to her are firmly in his sights.

Will Mercy sacrifice herself to help bring Ephraim down? Or will he finally get what he's always wanted...

What did I think?

Karen Rose is one of those authors where you don't even read the book blurb before buying her new book as you know it's going to brilliant.  I'm guilty of that too as I didn't realise that Say No More is the second book in the Sacramento series (and I haven't yet read Say You're Sorry), but Karen Rose slips in enough recaps for new readers so you don't even notice that you've missed the first book in the series.

Say No More is a chunky read (the hardback is 583 pages) but it's so gripping that time flies when you're reading and I only reluctantly put it down to rest my weary hands.  Mercy Callahan is an unlucky lady: she escaped from a cult, escaped the clutches of a serial killer and now her cult 'husband' wants her back.  Rafe Sokolov rescued Mercy from a serial killer and provides the law enforcement love interest that you would expect in a Karen Rose book.

There is so much going on in the book that I could write about but I don't want to give any of the plot away, so I just want to highlight some major points that I enjoyed: the cult and family.  The cult story is brilliant, it's always intriguing and slightly sinister when cults are involved as they make up their own rules to suit them.  Eden has zero tolerance where escapees are concerned and the graveyard bears the crosses to prove it.  With Ephraim hunting Mercy, I was kept on the edge of my seat as he leaves a trail of dead bodies in his wake.  The Sokolov family reminded me of the Reagans in Blue Bloods as Rafe and his siblings all have some links to law enforcement and they all come together around the dinner table, especially for a slice of Irina's birds milk cake.

Filled with danger and brimming with tension, Say No More is a gripping and compelling read that will entertain and delight both new and long-standing Karen Rose fans.  

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

My rating:

Buy it from:

Amazon UK

Waterstones

Book Depository

Google Books

Hive.co.uk

About the author:

Karen Rose was introduced to suspense and horror at the tender age of eight when she accidentally read Poe’s The Pit and The Pendulum and was afraid to go to sleep for years. She now enjoys writing books that make other people afraid to go to sleep. Karen lives in Florida with her family, their cat, Bella, and two dogs, Loki and Freya. When she’s not writing, she enjoys reading, and her new hobby – knitting.

Social Media:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/KarenRoseBooks 

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

Website: http://www.karenrosebooks.com/ 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/karenrosebooks/ 

Follow the tour:

BLOG TOUR: The Witch House - Ann Rawson

Who can you trust, if you can't trust yourself?

Alice Hunter, grieving and troubled after a breakdown, stumbles on the body of her friend and trustee, Harry Rook. The police determine he has been ritually murdered and suspicion falls on the vulnerable Alice, who inherited the place known locally as The Witch House from her grandmother, late High Priestess of the local coven.

When the investigations turn up more evidence, and it all seems to point to Alice, even she begins to doubt herself.

Can she find the courage to confront the secrets and lies at the heart of her family and community to uncover the truth, prove her sanity, and clear herself of murder?

What did I think?

Oh wow The Witch House is a book that has it all: murder, mystery, family secrets, the occult, an unreliable narrator and, rather surprisingly, archaeology.  With all of those wonderful ingredients, it feels like The Witch House was written especially for me with many of my interests in mind.

Alice has a breakdown after the death of her grandmother and wakes up in an institution.  When she is released, she returns to the house she has inherited via a trust from her grandmother, much to the chagrin of her mother who was left with another property and a meagre allowance.  Alice doesn't really have any kind of relationship with her mother, having been left in her grandmother's care at a young age.  Alice also inherits her love of archaeology from her grandmother and I absolutely loved this part of the story.

When the trustee is murdered in an apparent pagan ritual, Alice not only discovers the body but becomes the prime suspect.  As more evidence points the finger in Alice's direction, she becomes the sole focus of the police's attentions.  Alice must dig for evidence herself with a little help from her friend and her archaeology professor.

I cannot tell you how much I enjoyed archaeology playing a part in the story.  It's so unusual to find it in a fiction book and I loved the descriptions of the Roman treasures, fake or otherwise, that were part of Alice's grandmother's collection.  The descriptions are so vivid that I even felt like I was part of the field trip taken by Alice's course. It's so exciting to think that we're walking in the footsteps of the Romans and there could be treasure buried beneath our feet.

Of course, although it is of huge interest to me, archaeology is only a small part of the story.  Alice's grandmother was a High Priestess and Alice has been brought up surrounded by the occult and pagan traditions, with her grandmother choosing to hand down her knowledge to her granddaughter rather than her daughter.  Once you get to know Alice's mother, it's very easy to see why she has been bypassed!

The Witch House is a completely gripping and compelling murder mystery with an unusual occult slant.  Even when you think you have it all worked out, Ann Rawson still has the element of surprise hidden up her sleeve in this outstanding novel.  I was on the edge of my seat towards the end and couldn't read it fast enough.  Ann Rawson is an exceptional storyteller and I'll certainly be looking out for more of her books.  So very different from other crime novels, The Witch House is a very highly recommended read.

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

My rating:

Buy it from Amazon

About the author:

Ann Rawson has long been addicted to story. As a child she longed to learn to read because she knew there was magic in those pages, the inky squiggles that turned into words and became images in her head – the stories that could transport her away from the everyday. As she grew older, she divined there was truth in books too. They were a glimpse into other minds. Her reading became the foundation of a deep and abiding interest in what makes people tick – and so she soon became hooked on crime fiction.

Age ten, she wrote to Malcolm Saville, author of the Lone Pine Series, enclosing her first short story. He wrote back and encouraged her to continue writing – and she is heartbroken that the letter is long lost. His book, Lone Pine Five, sparked a lifelong interest in archaeology, as it mentions the Mildenhall Treasure which makes an appearance in The Witch House.

A lapsed witch with enduring pagan tendencies, she lives on the south coast. She still thinks of herself as a Northerner, although she’s been in exile for many years. Almost every day she walks on the Downs or the white cliffs with her husband, plotting her next novel while he designs computer systems.

Ann’s debut novel, A Savage Art was published by Fahrenheit Press in 2016. She has published some short fiction, and in 2019 her memoir piece If… was shortlisted for the Fish Short Memoir Prize.

She is currently completing a memoir and working on her third novel.

You can follow her on Twitter @AE_Rawson (where she doesn’t go far, to be honest), find her Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/aerawson/, and her blog is at www.strawintogold.co.uk

The Long Call (Two Rivers #1) - Ann Cleeves

The Long Call is the No.1 bestselling first novel in the Two Rivers series from Sunday Times bestseller and creator of Vera and Shetland, Ann Cleeves.

In North Devon, where the rivers Taw and Torridge converge and run into the sea, Detective Matthew Venn stands outside the church as his father's funeral takes place. The day Matthew turned his back on the strict evangelical community in which he grew up, he lost his family too.

Now he's back, not just to mourn his father at a distance, but to take charge of his first major case in the Two Rivers region; a complex place not quite as idyllic as tourists suppose.

A body has been found on the beach near to Matthew's new home: a man with the tattoo of an albatross on his neck, stabbed to death.

Finding the killer is Venn’s only focus, and his team’s investigation will take him straight back into the community he left behind, and the deadly secrets that lurk there.

What did I think?

Ann Cleeves is a local author and I have wanted to read one of her books for quite some time but with so many books and such long-established series, I really didn't know where to start.  Seeing that her new book, The Long Call, was the first in a new series set in North Devon, I grabbed the opportunity to break my Ann Cleeves duck...or should that be gull?  The 'long call' is the well-known call of the herring gull, which is a familiar sound in coastal areas especially in my (and Ann's) local Tyneside.

Firstly, I have to say that there's a map in the front of the book and I absolutely love maps in books.  It really brings the story to life, although Ann Cleeves does such a good job of this herself that I didn't refer to the map whilst I was reading.

Detective Matthew Venn is a man after my own heart: only speaking up when he has something worthwhile to say.  I loved his colleagues, Jen and Ross, but for very different reasons: Jen is a bit of a pressure cooker likely to explode at any moment, more than likely at Ross who is so annoying.  I always felt like Ross wanted to build up his audience in readiness for a big reveal and a ta-da!  Such very different characters work so very well together though.

Matthew's back story is fascinating and provides the backdrop for a compelling murder mystery.  Matthew was brought up in the Barum Brethren community but his homosexuality resulted in him being ostracised and estranged from his parents.  When a body is found on the beach with links to The Woodyard, a local day centre run by Matthew's husband, Matthew has a slight conflict of interest.  He has an even bigger conflict when a vulnerable young woman from his old community disappears from The Woodyard and he has to return to the community to investigate but Matthew is the best person to see behind the mask of the Brethren leader.

Much like the tide, The Long Call starts out quite slow paced then all of a sudden I was immersed.  There are quite a lot of characters thrown at you at the beginning but I managed to keep track of them all without having to write them down.  After a bit of scene setting, as you would expect in a new series, the story really got going and I was in its vice like grip until the very end.  It's my first Ann Cleeves book so I can't compare it to any of her others; suffice to say that it has made me more eager to read some of her other books, especially the Vera series which is set in the North East.

Really enjoyable and a fantastic start to a new series, The Long Call is a mystery that kept me riveted.  The writing is as polished as I would expect from such an accomplished author and the story kept me interested and thoroughly entertained.

My rating:

Buy it from Amazon

BLOG TOUR: One White Lie - Leah Konen

Imagine you've finally escaped the worst relationship of your life with only a black eye.

Imagine your new next-door neighbours are the friends you so desperately needed.

Imagine they're in trouble. That someone is threatening their livelihoods - and even their lives.

Imagine your ex is coming for you.

If you just needed to tell one small lie to make all these problems disappear, you'd do it . . . wouldn't you?

It's only one small lie, until someone turns up dead . . .

What did I think?

I thought One White Lie was going to be a slow burning psychological thriller at first but when I finished the first quarter of the book I just couldn't put it down.  This superb thriller from Leah Konen is like a river through a canyon, twisting and turning as it takes the reader in completely unexpected directions. 

I was drawn into Lucy's story immediately as she escapes an abusive relationship with a black eye and her dog, Dusty.  Giving the impression that she is off to Seattle, she leaves Brooklyn and heads upstate to Woodstock to start her new life.  Lucy is befriended by her new neighbours, John and Vera, but with vicious rumours circulating about John's fidelity their marriage may not be as happy as it seems.  The couple have a plan to escape it all and Lucy doesn't hesitate to offer her assistance but even the best laid plans often go awry.

As Lucy shares some of the stories of the abuse that was inflicted by her partner Davis, you realise just how cunning (and crazy) some people are.  Davis seems to be the master of mind games as he did little things to pay Lucy back for insignificant insults.  Lucy didn't even realise he was doing it at first as his acts of revenge could be explained as accidents but her black eye is no accident.

John and Vera's relationship was interesting to read; I really couldn't decide whether I believed the rumours or not.  Their plan seemed very drastic and not exactly the actions of an innocent party but they must have been under quite a lot of stress when the community shunned them.  They certainly seemed to look for the answer to their problem at the bottom of several bottles of wine!

I really enjoyed One White Lie, it's gripping, addictive and very twisty.  The plot is perfectly crafted and I didn't work any of it out which meant I was surprised at every twist and turn.  One White Lie is an excellent psychological thriller and one I highly recommend.

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

My rating:

Buy it from Amazon

Follow the tour:

BLOG TOUR: The Resident - David Jackson

THERE'S A SERIAL KILLER ON THE RUN

AND HE'S HIDING IN YOUR HOUSE

Thomas Brogan is a serial killer. With a trail of bodies in his wake and the police hot on his heels, it seems like Thomas has nowhere left to hide. That is until he breaks into an abandoned house at the end of a terrace on a quiet street. And when he climbs up into the loft, he realises that he can drop down into all the other houses through the shared attic space.

That's when the real fun begins. Because the one thing that Thomas enjoys even more than killing is playing games with his victims - the lonely old woman, the bickering couple, the tempting young newlyweds. And his new neighbours have more than enough dark secrets to make this game his best one yet...

Do you fear The Resident? Soon you'll be dying to meet him.

What did I think?

I have to say that I don't have a fear of attics but rather the ladders leading up to them, so there really could be someone living in my loft and I'd be none the wiser.  My first house was in a terrace and I could totally imagine builders cutting costs by not bricking all the way up between the houses.  This is what killer on the run, Thomas Brogan, finds when he hides in the loft of an abandoned house.  With access to three houses he can steal a little food from each one without anyone noticing and remain hidden from the police.

Brogan is at constant war with himself due to the other voice in his head and it's like he has whole conversations with himself.  You can see how this happened through flashbacks to his lonely childhood and it just shows you how certain events can inflict lasting damage.  Not that every lonely, bullied child becomes a serial killer, of course!  Seeing this side of Brogan makes him appear more human rather than a soulless serial killer and rather strangely I did grow to like him.

Once Brogan started to interact with the residents of the three houses, I was completely hooked.  After a close shave at one house he focuses his attention on deaf old lady Elsie and newlyweds Martyn and Colette.  After discovering that the young couple are hiding secrets from each other, Brogan soon realises that he can have some fun with Martyn and Colette whilst using Elsie for provisions.  It's just that niggling voice in his head crying out for more blood to be shed...

So very addictive, I couldn't put The Resident down and read it over the course of 24 hours.  Written with surprising elements of humour, The Resident is a darkly comic thriller that thoroughly entertained me from start to finish.  

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

My rating:

Buy it from Amazon

Follow the tour: