#BookReview ‘Little Boy Blue’ by MJ Arlidge @mjarlidge #crimefiction

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Little Boy Blue ends on such a cliffhanger I wanted to start reading the next straightaway. As the end approached I kept thinking ‘it won’t end like that, it can’t end like that.’ Hide and Seek, sixth in the DI Helen Grace series by MJ Arlidge, is published in September, so not too long to wait. MJ ArlidgeThis is a chilling tale, one that pulls you in and turns the pages. I’d just finished a heavy literary book and needed a contrast, this book certainly provided it. As a television writer, Matthew Arlidge certainly knows how to manage tension and the pacing of his series is managed like television episodes. So perhaps it is not a surprise that Little Boy Blue ends on such a cliffhanger that it could actually be called part one of a two-part series.
The murders – yes plural, isn’t it always? – take place in Southampton’s shady world of BDSM, the world of sexual role play, bondage, dominance and submission. The first victim is someone known to Helen Grace and her instant reaction to hide this acquaintance is at the centre of this hurtling story of murder and secrets. What sets this series apart? The character of Helen Grace is intriguing and complex, we learn more about her in each book. She has a complicated, damaged past but instead of turning to the dark side, she always strives to do the right thing.
The stories are not standalone narratives, each book ramps up the tension and intrigue from the previous novels as the twists in Helen’s complicated life, her relationship with her colleagues and the politics of policing contribute to future tension. Events described in book one become relevant in book five. To get the best out of Little Boy Blue you need to understand the back story to Helen Grace and her team.

Read my reviews other books in this series:-
EENY MEENY #1HELENGRACE
POP GOES THE WEASEL #2HELENGRACE
THE DOLL’S HOUSE #3HELENGRACE
LIAR LIAR #4HELENGRACE
HIDE AND SEEK #6HELENGRACE
LOVE ME NOT #7HELENGRACE
DOWN TO THE WOODS #8 HELENGRACE

If like this, try:-
‘The Silent and the Damned’ by Robert Wilson #2FALCÓN
‘The Blood Detective’ by Dan Waddell #1BLOODDETECTIVE
‘Blood Med’ by Jason Webster #4MAXCAMARA

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#BookReview LITTLE BOY BLUE by MJ Arlidge @mjarlidge http://wp.me/p5gEM4-1ZB via @SandraDanby

#BookReview ‘Yuki Chan in Brontë Country’ by Mick Jackson @mickwriter #contemporary

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Yuki Chan in Brontë Country by Mick Jackson is an unexpected novel. Unusual, charming, offbeat. A young Japanese tourist visits Haworth, birthplace of the Brontë sisters, though she has not read their novels. Why is she there amongst a busload of pensioners? And why, when it’s time to leave, does she do a runner and ignore phone calls from her sister? Mick JacksonThis is a novel about grief, acceptance and friendship. There are other things going on too – the science of snow, spirit photography – but basically it is a road novel. Yukiko Chan leaves Japan for England to follow in the footsteps of her mother, who died ten years previously. ‘She is like Columbo, gathering evidence.’ But, in the way of road novels, Yuki finds answers to questions about herself she had not considered, and friendship and help from unexpected quarters.
The reasons for the road trip are drip-fed, this is a slow, thoughtful book, so read it with patience. I loved it. It is touching and quirky, as is Yuki herself, from her thoughts on how airports should be designed, to plans for more revolving restaurants. And why, she puzzles, are the biscuits in the Brontë gift tins not shaped liked the three sisters?

If you like this, try:-
‘The Last Days of Rabbit Hayes’ by Anna McPartlin
‘Nora Webster’ by Colm Tóibín
‘Did You Ever Have a Family’ by Bill Clegg

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
#BookReview YUKI CHAN IN BRONTË COUNTRY by @mickwriter http://wp.me/p5gEM4-22k via @SandraDanby

#BookReview ‘The Last of Us’ by Rob Ewing #dystopian #mystery

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The Last of Us by Rob Ewing is a tough and tender tale of survival of five children on a small Scottish island. Written from the perspective of Rona who is eight, it is a page-turning read about survival after the worst happens. Often a difficult read as the children have to face-up to things you wish children would never see or have to be aware of. Rob EwingRona has imaginary conversations with her Mum, who she believes will return to save her. Elizabeth, the eldest, draws on the example of her doctor parents, and tries to organize this fragile new family. Alex, the youngest, is diabetic and needs insulin shots. These three, unrelated, live together in a house of their choice. The two brothers Calum Ian and Duncan MacNeil, always on the periphery of the group, still live in their family home and often turn up for school smelling of petrol. They await the return of their fisherman father.
The children’s days are filled with routine, thanks to Elizabeth’s organization and rules. They brush their teeth, they go to school and follow the lessons which Elizabeth directs, they go ‘shopping’ in the derelict houses, marking the front doors either ‘G’ or ‘B’ depending on what they find inside. If there is a bad smell in a house, they put plastic bags on their feet and wear goggles to venture inside. Occasionally they pay their respects at the makeshift grave of the Last Adult. The children show immense courage, ingenuity and humanity in an impossible situation in which each in turn is tested.
Gradually we piece together what may have happened to the rest of the island inhabitants, sifting probable fact from the children’s fears and fantasies. The children seem to be coping, until Alex’s insulin runs out and they must venture further abroad on the island to look for medicine.

If you like this, try:-
‘In Ark’ by Lisa Devaney
‘The Queen of the Tearling’ by Erika Johansen
‘The Invasion of the Tearling’ by Erika Johansen

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#BookReview THE LAST OF US by Rob Ewing http://wp.me/p5gEM4-21Q via @SandraDanby

#BookReview ‘Agatha Raisin and the Potted Gardener’ by @mc_beaton #cosycrime

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When a new arrival in the Cotswold village of Carsley brings competition for the attentions of James Lacey, Agatha Raisin is tempted to turn her back on her neighbour. In Agatha Raisin and the Potted Gardener by MC Beaton, she makes a reckless decision and return to London. MC BeatonAs usual in this series, Agatha’s decision-making is suspect and she gets herself deeper into trouble. But observation of James and her rival in love, Mary Fortune, at the gardening club give her hope that James is not convinced by Mary’s obvious charms although Mary seems universally loved by the rest of the village.
Another murder in Carsley gives Agatha, ably aided by James, ample opportunity for nosiness, trespassing, the making of lots of general assumptions, all tempered by common sense and observation of human nature. Sometimes Agatha seems to have a death wish when it comes to relationships, she admits she was never good at making friends, perhaps she is likeable because she is not perfect. On occasions she is rude, grumpy and arrogant.
MC Beaton’s creation – this is the third in the Agatha Raisin series – is an enjoyable well-written mystery more akin with Jessica Fletcher in Murder She Wrote, than with Miss Marple. If you want an easy read one rainy afternoon, or when you are about to board a plane, then this will suit you admirably.

Read my reviews of other books in this series:-
AGATHA RAISIN AND THE QUICHE OF DEATH #1AGATHARAISIN
AGATHA RAISIN AND THE VICIOUS VET #2AGATHARAISIN
AGATHA RAISIN AND THE WALKERS OF DEMBLEY #4AGATHARAISIN
AGATHA RAISIN AND THE MURDEROUS MARRIAGE #5AGATHARAISIN

If you like this, try:-
‘Big Sky’ by Kate Atkinson
‘The Vanished Bride’ by Bella Ellis
‘A Fatal Crossing’ by Tom Hindle

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
#BookReview AGATHA RAISIN AND THE POTTED GARDENER by @mc_beaton http://wp.me/p5gEM4-1Wx via @SandraDanby

#BookReview ‘Somewhere Inside of Happy’ by @annamcpartlin #contemporary #grief

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Somewhere Inside of Happy by Anna McPartlin is a thoughtful book with strongly drawn characters, Irish humour and a fair amount of ripe language. And there is laughter and tears. Yet again, Irish author McPartlin tackles difficult issues. Grief – as in the superb The Last Days of Rabbit Hayes –  dementia and homophobia. Anna McPartlinThis is the story of Maisie Bean, a single mother who has fought bravely to escape a violent husband and raise her two children, Jeremy and Valerie. The story starts, on January 1, 1995, when Jeremy disappears.
Ever since his mother found the strength to leave her abusive husband, Jeremy has been the man of the family. He has been responsible, thoughtful, helpful, caring for his grandmother Bridie who suffers from dementia, keeping an eye on his younger sister Valerie. In doing so he has repressed who he is because he doesn’t really understand who he is, all he knows is that he is different.
Somewhere Inside of Happy is an examination of generalisations, assumptions and misunderstandings, how the crowd dynamic and a troublesome media can turn a whisper into fact. How a community looks the other way whilst a drug-addict father neglects his son and how gays are referred to as ‘queer’ and worse. The mirror held up to society is not a pretty one. It is a reminder to us all to be more respectful of others, to stop ourselves being unfair and condemnatory about things we do not understand. The setting is Ireland in the Nineties, not that long ago. The title of the book is actually a place within Jeremy, to where he retreats, curled up, when the outside world gets too much.
If I have one criticism, it is the Prologue set twenty years after the main story. It tells us so many things I would expect to discover through reading the book.
My favourite character? Bridie. She is drawn with such affection, a ‘game old bird’ dancing with her sixteen-year-old grandson.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE ABOUT THIS BOOK AT AMAZON

Read my review of THE LAST DAYS OF RABBIT HAYES, also by Anna McPartlin.

If you like this, try:-
‘The Little Red Chairs’ by Edna O’Brien
‘Nora Webster’ by Colm Tóibín
‘Butterfly Barn’ by Karen Power

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
#BookReview SOMEWHERE INSIDE OF HAPPY by @annamcpartlin http://wp.me/p5gEM4-21A via @SandraDanby

Great Opening Paragraph 87… ‘Time Will Darken It’ #amreading #FirstPara

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“In order to pay off an old debt that someone else had contracted, Austin King had said yes when he knew that he ought to have said no, and now at five o’clock of a July afternoon he saw the grinning face of trouble everywhere he turned. The house was full of strangers from Mississippi; within an hour, friends and neighbours invited to an evening party would begin ringing the doorbell; and his wife (whom he loved) was not speaking to him.” William MaxwellFrom ‘Time Will Darken It’ by William Maxwell

Here’s my review of TIME WILL DARKEN IT.

Sample the #FirstPara of THE CHATEAU.

And read my reviews of these other novels by William Maxwell:-
BRIGHT CENTER OF HEAVEN
THE FOLDED LEAF
THEY CAME LIKE SWALLOWS

Try one of these #FirstParas & discover a new author:-
‘Such a Long Journey’ by Rohinton Mistry 
‘The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time’ by Mark Haddon 
‘Death in Summer’ by William Trevor 

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#Books #FirstPara TIME WILL DARKEN IT by William Maxwell http://wp.me/p5gEM4-1Vh via @SandraDanby

#BookReview ‘Agatha Raisin and the Vicious Vet’ by @mc_beaton #cosycrime

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Re-bound dates are never a good idea, and Agatha Raisin and the Vicious Vet by MC Beaton starts with retired PR supremo and now amateur sleuth Agatha feeling spurned by sexy neighbour James Lacey. MC BeatonOn the re-bound, she goes out for dinner with the village’s new flirtatious vet, Paul Bladen. It soon turns out that he dislikes cats, although he does seem to have a penchance for middle-aged ladies.
When he drops dead, seemingly of an unfortunate accident, Agatha refuses to accept it is not murder. And so the second novel in the prolific Agatha Raisin series sets off at a pace, as Agatha tries to spend time with James Lacey without drooling.
They ignore police warnings not to ask questions where it is inappropriate, and after breaking into the bank, and snooping around the dead man’s house, they think they find evidence of wrongdoing. Except it is not quite the wrongdoing that they expected.
Another easy-to-read detective romp by MC Beaton, charming to read with your feet up on a rainy Sunday afternoon. Formulaic, yes. But very funny.

Read my review of other books in this series:-
AGATHA RAISIN AND THE QUICHE OF DEATH #1AGATHARAISIN
AGATHA RAISIN AND THE POTTED GARDENER #3AGATHARAISIN
AGATHA RAISIN AND THE WALKERS OF DEMBLEY #4AGATHARAISIN
AGATHA RAISIN AND THE MURDEROUS MARRIAGE #5AGATHARAISIN

If you like this, try:-
‘Etta and Otto and Russell and James’ by Emma Hooper
‘Cover Her Face’ by PD James
‘The Funny Thing About Norman Foreman’ by Julietta Henderson

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
#BookReview AGATHA RAISIN AND THE VICIOUS VET by @mc_beaton http://wp.me/p5gEM4-1K6 via @SandraDanby

#BookReview ‘Don’t You Cry’ by @MaryKubica #mystery #suspense

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Don’t You Cry explores how easy it is to make assumptions and how this guesswork is so often wrong. This is the third novel by Mary Kubica, all thoughtful mysteries, carefully written and detailed. It took me longer to get into this one, but Kubica spends time drawing the characters and I was prepared to go along with her. Mary KubicaThere are two narrators. In Chicago, Quinn’s roommate disappears. After a couple of days waiting for Esther to return and wondering if she has done anything to upset her, Quinn starts to poke around looking for answers. The first things she finds are confusing, they contradict the Esther she knows, or thinks she knows. And then she starts to wonder what Esther is hiding. Quinn’s voice is alternated with Alex, a young man who lives in the small town where he grew up on the shore of Lake Michigan. He is a nice guy, who passed up on college for a boring low-paid in a rundown lakeside café so he can care for his drunken father. He takes lunch to Ingrid, a housebound elderly lady and stays to eat with her, and to play cards. One day, he goes to work and sees a girl with distinctive, ombre hair. There is something about her that captures his imagination. The girl, in his head he calls her Pearl, is watching the house next door to Ingrid, which is the office of a psychologist.
Nothing is what it seems. I raced through the last few pages as the answers came thick and fast. The twists and turns are clever but, compared with Kubica’s other two novels, this feels baggy and would benefit from an edit to improve the pace and cut repetitions.

Read my reviews of two other novels by Mary Kubica:-
PRETTY BABY
THE GOOD GIRL

If you like this, try:-
‘Pretty Is’ by Maggie Mitchell
‘The Lost Girl’ by Sangu Mandanna
‘The Accident’ by CL Taylor

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
#BookReview DON’T YOU CRY by @MaryKubica by @SandraDanby http://wp.me/p5gEM4-21l

#BookReview ‘Dark Aemilia’ by Sally O’Reilly #historical

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Shakespeare, tick. Possible identity of the Dark Lady, tick. Supernatural, witches and demons, tick. Stinking, plague-ridden London, tick. The Globe, white-faced boy actors dressed in velvet, smoke, whistles and special effects, tick. This is Dark Aemilia by Sally O’Reilly. Sally O'ReillyBased on a foundation of history, O’Reilly tells the fictional story of real-life Aemilia Bassano and her love affair with William Shakespeare. There is no documentary evidence that this affair took place, but O’Reilly’s imagination conjures a rich story in which the setting of Elizabethan London is vibrant and believable. Wherever Aemilia goes – in an apothecary’s shop, in the audience at The Globe or standing at the edge of a plague pit – you can see, smell and hear her London.
Aemilia is something of a feminist, in that she struggles against men her whole life for the freedom to live her own life. Orphaned at 12 she becomes mistress to Lord Hunsdon [readers of Philippa Gregory’s The Other Boleyn Girl will be interested to know that Hunsdon was the real-life Henry, son of Mary Boleyn] but during an affair with Shakespeare, Aemilia falls pregnant. Hunsdon arranges a marriage for her to her cousin Alfonso Lanyer, and so Aemilia’s destiny is determined at each stage by men. Father, protector, husband, lover and son.
She is a fascinating character, a woman of her time or before her time? As a poet and a lover, her influence on Shakespeare is at the core of this book. But then with her son dying of the plague, she turns to witchcraft and so the wilder element of the story takes off. I admit to skipping some of these sections. For me, the interesting plot was Aemilia, Shakespeare, the Globe and the writing of Macbeth and consequently for me the book could have been shorter.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE ABOUT THIS BOOK AT AMAZON

If you like this, try:-
‘The Quick’ by Lauren Owen
‘The Taxidermist’s Daughter’ by Kate Mosse
‘A Dangerous Business’ by Jane Smiley

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
#BookReview DARK AEMILIA by Sally O’Reilly via @SandraDanby http://wp.me/p5gEM4-1RK

A poem to read in the bath… ‘Runaways’

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Today’s poem to read in your bath is from Red Tree, the debut poetry collection by Yorkshire poet Daniela Nunnari.

[photo: valleypressuk.com ]

[photo: valleypressuk.com ]

Because of copyright restrictions I am unable to reproduce the poem in full, but please search it out in an anthology or at your local library.

‘Runaways’

Run away with me.

We’ll drive down roads
With old stone walls.
We’ll close our eyes
By waterfalls,
And listen.

You’ll how me how to skim a stone
And how to pick the perfect one.
I’ll catch the icy river ripples,
Frozen like February, in my phone.’

So evocative of new love, the exhilaration and freedom of getting away from it all. The countryside and nature feature in examination of the fantasy/reality elements of a daily relationship.

My other favourites in this edition? ‘Optrex’, ‘Buoy’ and ‘There’s Something in the Trees’.

For more about Daniela Nunnari and publisher Valley Press, click here.

red tree by daniela nunnari 24-7-15

 

‘Red Tree’ by Daniela Nunnari [UK: Valley Press] 

Read these other excerpts and find a new poet to love:-
‘Cloughton Wyke I’ by John Wedgwood Clarke
‘Alone’ by Dea Parkin
‘Sometimes and After’ by Hilda Doolittle

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Daniela Nunnari’s RUNAWAYS http://wp.me/p5gEM4-1HI Today’s #poem to read in the bath: chosen by @SandraDanby

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