Tag Archives: book review

#BookReview ‘Invasion’ by @FrankRGardner #thriller #war

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Invasion by Frank Gardner is so lifelike it is terrifying. Fourth in the Luke Carlton series, I enjoyed it so much I’m going back to the beginning, the first book. Frank GardnerThe pace of the story is relentless from the first page. China is preparing to invade Taiwan. British intelligence sends a ‘collector,’ a volunteer citizen and ‘clean skin,’ to Hong Kong to collect top secret data from a spy deep in the Chinese Communist Party. But when climate scientist Dr Hannah Slade goes missing, all hell breaks loose. As the Secret Intelligence Service sends its best to Hong Kong to find her, a team of Chinese genetically-enhanced super soldiers are on board black inflatable boats heading for tiny Yanyu Island. Part of Taiwan but too small to defend, the Chinese hail success as they plant a flag on Taiwanese territory. Geo-political tensions rise, the US, the UK and Aukus send ships to the region. Meanwhile the Chinese are planning a full-scale invasion of Taiwan island itself.
Luke Carlton and Jenny Li are sent to recover Hannah. Posing as holidaymakers their cover is quickly blown. But who is giving them the tip-offs, local gangsters, fellow Five Eyes operatives, Chinese agents, Taiwanese agents? Sensing danger everywhere, trusting no-one, Luke and Jenny rely on their phones which allow covert updates to be sent back and forth to Vauxhall Cross; swapping information, identifying faces, receiving approval for their next move. Luke and Jenny move from Hong Kong to Macau, going from one dead end to another, until they are told Hannah was put on a ship bound for Taiwan.
Short chapters emphasize the quick pace of the action, moving from Hannah to Luke and Jenny, back to Vauxhall Cross and then to London politicians and the British navy racing to the danger zone. I lost track of the military details, the jargon, the model numbers of weapons and military kit, but stopped worrying about it; it reminded me of reading Robert Ludlum when I would skip a chapter to get to the action.
Up-to-date and frighteningly real, the tech is so hot it makes you look at your smartphone with suspicion.
Very good and read very quickly.
Next up is the first book, Crisis.

If you like this, try:-
‘The Chase’ by Ava Glass #1AliasEmma
‘Never’ by Ken Follett
‘The Travelers’ by Chris Pavone

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#BookReview INVASION by @FrankRGardner https://wp.me/p2ZHJe-8cm via @SandraDanby

COMING SOON… THE NEXT BOOK I REVIEW WILL BE:- Alys Clare

#BookReview ‘The Marlow Murder Club’ by Robert Thorogood #cosycrime

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I’m very late coming to The Marlow Murder Club by Robert Thorogood, spurred on by wanting to read the books before watching the television series. I’ve loved Agatha Christie books since I was young and this is full of the same spirit; the puzzle of the unravelling a mystery, set within a small community with a limited geographical area, with death but not violence. Curiosity, nosiness, imagination, determination and knowing when to break the rules.Robert ThorogoodThree women are brought together accidentally, randomly, by murder. Three murders in quiet, respectable, boring Marlow where nothing ever happens. The three victims seem unconnected. Suitably, seventy-seven year old Judith Potts who asks the awkward questions is a crossword setter, a professional puzzler who invents exactly the kind of cryptic clues I don’t understand.
Until the first murder happens at a house on the opposite side of the river from Judith’s waterside home, she has been living a quiet, almost hermit-like, minding her own business. She has earned a reputation as an eccentric. It all starts one summer night when Judith strips naked and steps into the Thames for a nighttime swim. She hears a gunshot and finds her friend Stefan Dunwoody shot dead. Detective Sergeant Tanika Malik, Judith quickly decides, is asking the wrong questions and too slowly. Judith’s first suspect is local auctioneer Elliot Howard but he has an alibi; he was at choir practice when Stefan died. Not believing anything she is told, Judith goes to the church to make enquiries where she finds a woman hiding in a cupboard. It is Becks Starling, the shy wife of the vicar, professional housewife and mother, incredibly tidy and drinks only tea. It’s difficult to think of two people more dissimilar in nature than Becks and whisky-drinking, naked-swimming, Judith.
When there’s a second murder in a bungalow on a suburban street in Marlow, Judith meets her third co-investigator. Iqbal Kassam was a taxi driver who worked the night shift and slept during the day. His dream was to own a boat on the river. So why has he been shot in the head? Judith, suspecting the two murders are linked, packs a flask of tea and a packet of beetroot sandwiches and sets out to be nosy. She meets dog-walker Suzie Harris who is walking Iqbal’s Dobermann, Emma.
And so the investigative trio is formed and the story is mainly told by these three women and Tanika Malik. This is a funny, clever novel which pays tribute to the type of small town community which exists across the country. It also shines a light on the roles of women in modern society, the misconceptions about their abilities, assumptions made based on personal appearance, and the bullying and crime that goes on in even the most idyllic-looking streets.
I’m hooked. Next is Death comes to Marlow.

Here’s my review of THE KILLING OF POLLY CARTER #2DEATHINPARADISE by the same author.

If you like this, try:-
‘Death at the Dance’ by Verity Bright #2Lady Eleanor Swift
‘The Mystery of Three Quarters’ by Sophie Hannah #3Poirot
‘Magpie Murders’ by Anthony Horowitz #1SusanRyeland

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COMING SOON… THE NEXT BOOK I REVIEW WILL BE:- Frank Gardner

#BookReview ‘The Sicilian Secret’ by Angela Petch #WW2 #romance

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Angela Petch knows how to tell a good World War Two romance. Her latest The Sicilian Secret blends a wartime romance with a 1973 mystery about parentage. There are lots of surprises along the way and a fascinating portrayal of Sicily during the Allied invasion of 1943. Angela Petch When Paige Caister’s beloved Aunt Florence dies suddenly, she inherits not only Squirrels cottage in Suffolk where Paige grew up with Flo, but also a box of mementoes. There is a necklace, a note to Paige which is unfinished and promising to ‘tell you everything,’ and an old airmail letter addressed to someone called Joy. This box sets Paige off on a journey of discovery, away from the life she thought she wanted.
The two major locations in this novel – rural Suffolk, and the south-eastern corner of Sicily – are vividly drawn. Mourning her aunt, Paige is thankful for the love of the Suffolk countryside, the trees and foxes, the kingfishers, that Flo gave her. As Paige follows the at first incomprehensible clues, she finds herself heading for Sicily seeking answers to questions she doesn’t really know.
In 1927 we meet a young Italian-British man, born in London to parents who recently emigrated from Sicily. Savio, called a ‘dirty Tally’ by schoolmates, wonders what it would be like to be a proper Italian, born in Sicily. When war breaks out, Savio and his parents are interned as ‘enemy aliens’ on the Isle of Man. Telling everyone that he was born in London and is English, Savio is ignored. He responds with his fists and is punished. His luck changes when a sympathetic British officer recognises his courage, resilience and determination.
In 1943, Lady Joy Harrison, leaves her over-bearing mother to take up an offer with a secret Government organisation. Tall and not ‘a girl’s girl,’ Joy’s fluent Italian leads her to a tough outdoor base in Scotland where she meets a young Italian determined to prove himself. What happens next is a time-old story of love in wartime; intense, real, fleeting, full of love and despair. Two characters, bonded by their difficulty in fitting in with society’s expectations, must decide whether to risk being true to themselves.
This is dual-timeline novel told from four perspectives; Joy, Savio, Paige and Florence. The story moves slowly at first as the author builds the picture, but the pace picks up as Paige’s investigation takes her to Italy. The ending is rather abrupt and the mystery perhaps predictable, but the journey of the wartime characters is engaging. The need to find out what happened to Joy and Savio made me read the book quickly over a weekend. This is a book to sink into and lose yourself in.

Here are my reviews of other novels also by Angela Petch:-
THE GIRL WHO ESCAPED
THE POSTCARD FROM ITALY
THE TUSCAN SECRET

If you like this, try:-
‘The Collaborator’s Daughter’ by Eva Glyn
‘The Secret Shore’ by Liz Fenwick
‘Love in a Time of War’ by Adrienne Chin #1FrySisters

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#BookReview THE SICILIAN SECRET by Angela Petch https://wp.me/p2ZHJe-89Y via @SandraDanby

COMING SOON… THE NEXT BOOK I REVIEW WILL BE:- Robert Thorogood

#BookReview ‘A Royal Murder’ by @BrightVerity #cosymystery #crime

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The twists and turns in the Lady Eleanor Swift cosy mysteries written by Verity Bright are becoming even more tangled now the series is well-established. A Royal Murder involves a death at Henley Regatta, the royal protection police, a Russian spy and a criminal mastermind. The stakes are higher, and so are the risks to Ellie. Verity BrightEllie is not in her comfortable place when she is ushered to the regatta by her new best friend, society girl Tiffany Persephone Fitzroy, better known as Tipsy. Ellie, who has already failed to live up to Tipsy’s long list of necessary style improvements to facilitate her entry into the highest of society – including pretending to have a ladylike appetite – is to be introduced to the king’s first cousin, once removed. Tipsy insists Eleanor must look her ‘fabulous best’ when she finally meets Xander Taylor-Howard at Henley. Soon she is trussed up in a sea of ivory silk frills and an enormous matching hat with ostrich feathers. Worst of all, Ellie must go the regatta looking like a ‘walking wedding cake’ where her favourite detective chief inspector, Hugh Seldon, is in charge of security.
Xander turns out to be a bit of a playboy. Unfortunately after the races at the prize-giving ceremony, he drinks from his glass of champagne and drops dead. Because Xander is one of the royal family, the murder hunt is run by the royal police headed by Sir Percival Westlake. Seldon is off the case but, much to her bemusement, Lady Swift is recruited by Sir Percival to investigate the people on his list of suspects.
Ellie and Clifford, her faithful butler, chase around interviewing suspects, secretly meeting the disgruntled Seldon to swap theories and discoveries. Xander Taylor-Howard had many secrets to hide, disgruntled husbands who have been cheated on, angry former girlfriends who were unceremoniously ditched. But when a second man is murdered, other secrets are uncovered. Who did Xander owe money to and how much; enough to be worth killing for. Or perhaps he was selling state secrets to the Russians.
The danger is more intense in this novel and, despite their best efforts, neither Clifford or Hugh can prevent Ellie from marching straight into trouble. But the familiar delights are still present; Clifford’s Mastermind-like ability to know the answer to every question; bulldog Gladstone’s ability to jump into the stinky overflow pond, the gorgeous food cooked by Mrs Trotman. And the ending is lovely.
Such an effortlessly entertaining series, the books continue to get better. A Royal Murder, the ninth instalment, has a lively cast of goodies and baddies. Ellie is unconventional and ahead of her time, Hugh is the strong silent hero, Clifford in indefatigable.

Read my review of other books in the Lady Eleanor Swift series:-
A VERY ENGLISH MURDER #1LADYELEANORSWIFT
DEATH AT THE DANCE #2LADYELEANORSWIFT
A WITNESS TO MURDER #3LADYELEANORSWIFT
MURDER IN THE SNOW #4LADYELEANORSWIFT
MYSTERY BY THE SEA #5LADYELEANORSWIFT
MURDER AT THE FAIR #6LADYELEANORSWIFT 
A LESSON IN MURDER #7LADYELEANORSWIFT 
DEATH ON A WINTER’S DAY #8LADYELEANORSWIFT 

If you like this, try:-
‘Death and the Brewery Queen’ by Frances Brody #12KateShackleton
‘Agatha Raisin and the Murderous Marriage’ by MC Beaton AR#5
‘The Secrets of Gaslight Lane’ by MRC Kasasian #4GowerDetective

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#BookReview A ROYAL MURDER by @BrightVerity https://wp.me/p2ZHJe-7Jh via @SandraDanby

COMING SOON… THE NEXT BOOK I REVIEW WILL BE:- Angela Petch

#BookReview ‘The Armour of Light’ by @KMFollett #historical #Kingsbridge

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It is 1792 and a weaving revolution is taking place in Kingsbridge while across the Channel, the deadly French Revolution is well underway. The Armour of Light by Ken Follett, fifth in the Kingsbridge historical series (starting with prequel The Evening and The Morning), begins with a horrific accident. When Sal Clitheroe’s husband dies, she and her small son Kit move to Kingsbridge and so set in motion a chain of events leading to the Battle of Waterloo. Ken Follett
As the 18th century turns into the 19th, this is a story of great change as Britain industrialises and hovers on the brink of war, and both workers and ruling classes of Kingsbridge are affected. Kingsbridge, now a city so much more than simply a cathedral, is still recognisable from the earlier novels. Sal and her fellow workers at the spinning and weaving mills become embroiled in a power struggle with the mill owners, as first the spinning jenny and then other machines are introduced. Jobs are lost, hours are reduced, dissenters are flogged and strike-busting labourers are hired from Ireland.
The Armour of Light is a compelling story of the political times in England from 1792 to 1824 told through the eyes of Sal and Kit; yarn supplier’s son Amos Barrowfield; weaver David Shoveller or ‘Spade’; and alderman and mill owner Joseph Hornbeam. Adding to the tensions between the powerful and the downtrodden, war taxes raised to fund the battle against Napolean mean shortages and rocketing prices. What’s more, young men are being grabbed off the street by press gangs. Kit is a key figure, growing from a child to an inventive engineer whose talents lead him on to the battlefield, bringing a youthful vigour and freshness to the age-old battles between the city cabal of powerful men and the new friendly society which stands up for the workers.
What an epic story this is, 745 pages long but I read it in five days. Not one to over-write, Follett’s prose is never flowery but always clear and dramatic. I always wanted to read just another chapter. A great continuation of the un-matched Kingsbridge series.

Click the titles to read my reviews of other Follett novels:-
THE EVENING AND THE MORNING #prequel Kingsbridge
THE PILLARS OF THE EARTH #1Kingsbridge
WORLD WITHOUT END #2Kingsbridge
A COLUMN OF FIRE #3Kingsbridge
NEVER

If you like this, try:-
‘The Lady of the Ravens’ by Joanna Hickson #1QueensoftheTower
‘The Drowned City’ by KJ Maitland #1 Daniel Pursglove
‘The Warlow Experiment’ by Alix Nathan

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COMING SOON… THE NEXT BOOK I REVIEW WILL BE:- Verity Bright

#BookReview ‘The King’s Mother’ by @anniegarthwaite #historical

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I couldn’t put down The King’s Mother. It’s the partner to Cecily by Annie Garthwaite, her re-telling of Cecily Neville, matriarch of the House of York during the Wars of the Roses. In the sequel she is now a widow, mother of King Edward IV and the dukes of Clarence and Gloucester, and still a powerhouse in a world of men. Annie GarthwaiteCecily Neville’s husband and eldest son are dead in battle, a battle won by her second son Edward who becomes king. This is the story of the mother of two kings, a woman unafraid to use her power, at the heart she is driven by family. She will do anything to protect her children, even when they are weak and wrong, even if it means waging war. The King’s Mother takes place as the War of the Roses transitions to the age of the Tudors. Edward becomes king at the age of 18, golden, feted, lusty and arrogant. No matter his mother’s plans for a geo-political marriage to benefit the country, the king falls for Elizabeth Woodville, a beautiful blonde from a lesser family. The relationship between the young queen and her mother-in-law is the spine of the novel.
The moral at the end is to never underestimate the power of maternal love and family loyalty. Garthwaite brings a new perspective to the telling of Richard III’s story, which is to be welcomed, and a bitter, grudgingly respectful, hateful battle between four mothers; Cecily, Elizabeth Woodville, Margaret Beaufort and Marguerite of Anjou. It is a time of war, civil and European, and Garthwaite shows the role of the women behind the thrones and most powerful men in the lands. Never ignore the soft power of the wife’s voice and the strategic knowledge learned by playing chess.
So good. It’s a timeless story, totally gripping despite the fact we all know the ending.
And another beautiful cover design.

Here’s my review of CECILY, also by Annie Garthwaite

If you like this, try:-
‘The Other Gwyn Girl’ by Nicola Cornick 
‘Winter Pilgrims’ by Toby Clements #1Kingmaker
‘A Rustle of Silk’ by Alys Clare #1GabrielTaverner

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#BookReview THE KING’S MOTHER by @anniegarthwaite https://wp.me/p2ZHJe-89I via @SandraDanby

COMING SOON… THE NEXT BOOK I REVIEW WILL BE:- Ken Follett

#BookReview ‘The Book of Secrets’ by Anna Mazzola #historical #mystery

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The Book of Secrets by Anna Mazzola is a dark tale of abuse, poison and the moral rights and wrongs of self-defensive murder in a male-dominated society. Anna MazzolaIt is Rome 1659 and there are rumours of funerals for men whose corpses have not decayed as expected. Young prosecutor Stefano Bracchi is commissioned by the Papal authorities to head an investigation. He has been recommended for the job by his father, who thinks Stefano is a weakling, and is egged on by his brothers who are bullies. Only his sister Lucia is a cautious, supportive voice. The journey made by Stefano in the course of his investigation is fascinating.
The story is told in two alternating strands; Stefano’s investigation, and the community of women headed by apothecary and midwife Girolama Spana whose band of women tell fortunes, sell face treatments, deliver babies, offer medical advice. And when occasionally confronted with a woman being abused, they sell bottles of ‘Aqua.’ Made from an ancient recipe passed through Girolama’s female relations, Aqua offers an escape for women trapped in a violent marriage, where they and their children are at risk, but for whom there is no protection under Roman law. Perhaps, though, Girolama has been selling rather more bottles than she used to.
It is a compelling cat-and-mouse story where I found myself rooting for one side and then the other, as Stefano edges closer to the truth I was willing Girolama on as she tied him in knots. The violence against women is shocking, especially in the extraction of confessions at the notorious Tor di Nona prison. But the law of murder in 17th century Rome makes no allowances in support of possible justification of the abused; it is a legal and philosophical argument that powers the story. Can murder every be right? Isn’t murder always murder? And of course because the suspected villains are women, the corpses look unnatural, and poison is suspected, they are also rumoured to be witches.
I would like to have read more from Marcello, the doctor attached to the inquisition who clearly is uncomfortable with the torture of witnesses, and also from some of the other women involved.
It’s a thought-provoking, dark and powerful novel. I was still thinking about it days after finishing it. A fictional telling of the true poisoning inquisition in Rome in 1656.

If you like this, try:-
‘Disobedient’ by Elizabeth Fremantle
‘Glorious Exploits’ by Ferdia Lennon
‘Shadows in the Ashes’ by Christina Courtenay

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COMING SOON… THE NEXT BOOK I REVIEW WILL BE:- Annie Garthwaite

#BookReview ‘The Saracen’s Mark’ by SW Perry @swperry_history #historical #crime

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It’s a treat to read The Saracen’s Mark by SW Perry and follow the ongoing story of Bankside doctor Nicholas Shelton and apothecary Bianca Merton. This is the third of the Jackdaw Mysteries and the action moves to Morocco in a complicated tale of politics, slavery, money and medicine. It is a dramatic and daring adventure. SW Perry London 1593. Dr Shelton is requested, or rather ordered, by Queen Elizabeth’s spymaster Robert Cecil to go to Marrakesh and strengthen the diplomatic ties between the two nations. His primary, secret task however is find a missing informer. But Nicholas leaves Bianca behind at the Jackdaw tavern after exchanging harsh words, not knowing that the plague will soon reach the south bank of the city. The story races along, alternating between Nicholas sailing south and Bianca dealing with the plague and the disappearance of the Jackdaw’s cook, Farzad. Both storylines are fast-moving and seem totally unlinked. Nicholas didn’t tell Bianca the real reason for his journey; Cecil threated to revoke Bianca’s licence as an apothecary if he refused. She knows there is more to it than he is telling her. They part on bad terms and when both face danger – Bianca from the plague, Nicholas from pirates and slavers – they regret their angry words. Determined to find the real reason for his voyage, Bianca investigates in London and discovers more than is safe for her to know. Both expecting to die, they imagine what they will say if they should ever meet again.
The medical strand is fascinating. Cecil agrees that while in Morocco Shelton should study Moorish medicine. Amazed by the Bimaristan-al-Mansur hospital he visits in Marrakesh, Nicholas witnesses a tracheotomy performed by a female surgeon. However he is less successful at spying, struggling with the language and the customs. He doesn’t trust Cathal Connell, captain of the ship on which he sailed south; an efficient man aboard ship, a brutal one on shore. When Nicholas discovers that Adolfo Sykes, the English informer he has been sent to find, is dead, he doesn’t know who to trust. What secrets did Sykes discover, was his death really an accident, and what happened to the letters he is thought to have sent to England but which never arrived.
The characters of Nicholas and Bianca are so engaging, the plotting is complicated and curious, the danger and double-dealing is on every page. How will Nicholas and Bianca know who to trust, should they believe their instincts or investigate for themselves. Of course they choose the latter, leading to dangerous adventures. The Morocco setting is inspired; very different from other Elizabethan fiction, at once fragrant and scented with blood.
I’m loving this series. Next is The Heretic’s Mark.

Here are my reviews of the first two books in the series:-
THE ANGEL’S MARK #1JACKDAWMYSTERIES
THE SERPENT’S MARK #2JACKDAWMYSTERIES

If you like this, try:-
‘Revelation’ by SJ Sansom #4Shardlake
‘The Drowned City’ by KJ Maitland #1DanielPursglove
‘The Vanished Bride’ by Bella Ellis #1BronteMysteries

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#BookReview THE SERPENT’S MARK by SW Perry @swperry_history https://wp.me/p2ZHJe-87C via @SandraDanby

COMING SOON… THE NEXT BOOK I REVIEW WILL BE:- Anna Mazzola

#BookReview ‘Murder at Elm House’ by Helena Dixon @NellDixon #cosymystery #crime

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A convalescent home seems an unlikely setting for illegal goings-on but that’s exactly the location of Murder at Elm House by Helena Dixon. This, the sixth of the 1930s Miss Underhay cosy mysteries, starts immediately where the previous book, Murder in the Belltower, ended. Helena Dixon Kitty Underhay and her beau, private detective Captain Matthew Bryant, are reluctant visitors to the nursing home in Torquay, sent there by Kitty’s grandmother to visit her friend Mrs Craven. This indomitable lady, who has been involved in some of Kitty’s previous detectoring, is recovering at Elm House after an operation. But she insists something is ‘not quite right.’ Strange noises in the night, people appearing and disappearing, and deaths. Not the usual sort of deaths expected in a convalescent home. After the death of another patient, one of the nurses asks Kitty to meet her the next day at a tea room in Torquay to discuss the happenings, but that night Nurse Hibbert falls from the roof and dies.
Long-running story threads are picked up again in Murder at Elm House. Kitty and Matt’s romance advances slowly and satisfactorily and she is now having driving lessons in her small red Morris Tourer. But all is not happy. The man she suspects of murdering her mother Elowed in 1916 has been seen in Dartmouth, and she has received an anonymous threatening note.
The threat level in this book is the highest yet, with fights and also guns making an appearance. Despite being banned by her grandmother from visiting Elm House, Kitty is not one to sit quietly by while others solve crime. Murder at Elm House combines two crime stories; the deaths and strange events at the nursing home, and the longer-running story of Ezekiel Hammett and his attempts to silence Kitty once and for all.
I raced through this book, finishing it in 24 hours. The stakes are higher, the risks are riskier. What’s going to happen in the next instalment of the Miss Underhay mysteries? This book has more of danger and a darker tone. The cast of characters is satisfyingly familiar with the addition of two younger members who get involved in the action. Dolly Miller – younger sister of Alice, housemaid at the Dolphin – has just started a new job at Elm House, and taxi driver and Kitty’s driving instructor Robert Potter. Both prove themselves worthy of surveillance, lock-breaking and being in the right place at the right time.
An easy-to-read series. Opening a new book feels like slipping on a comfortable pair of slippers and settling down with a mug of cocoa. Excellent.

Here are my reviews of other books in the series:-
MURDER AT THE DOLPHIN HOTEL #1MISSUNDERHAY
MURDER AT ENDERLEY HALL #2MISSUNDERHAY
MURDER AT THE PLAYHOUSE #3MISSUNDERHAY
MURDER ON THE DANCE FLOOR #4MISSUNDERHAY
MURDER IN THE BELLTOWER #5MISSUNDERHAY
MURDER AT THE WEDDING #7MISSUNDERHAY
MURDER IN FIRST CLASS #8MISSUNDERHAY

And my reviews of the first in a new series by Helena Dixon:-
THE SECRET DETECTIVE AGENCY #1SECRETDETECTIVEAGENCY
THE SEASIDE MURDERS #2SECRETDETECTIVEAGENCY

If you like this, try:-
‘The Art of the Imperfect’ by Kate Evans #1ScarboroughMysteries
‘The Various Haunts of Men’ by Susan Hill #1SimonSerrailler
‘The Silent Twin’ by Caroline Mitchell #3JenniferKnight

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#BookReview MURDER AT ELM HOUSE by Helena Dixon @NellDixon https://wp.me/p2ZHJe-7NX via @SandraDanby

COMING SOON… THE NEXT BOOK I REVIEW WILL BE:- SW Perry

#BookReview ‘The Traitor’ by Ava Glass #thriller

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I loved The Chase, the first Alias Emma book by Ava Glass, and wondered if she could match it. The Traitor is just as good and I read it just as quickly. Ava GlassFast-moving on every page, the action is this second novel featuring spy Emma Makepeace moves from London to a superyacht on the Mediterranean. The story begins as a British spy is found dead in a suitcase in his London apartment. He has been poisoned with a nerve agent. No fingerprints. No DNA. Stephen Garrick’s latest case was shadowing two oligarchs who are illegal arms dealers. He knew of a third man but not the identity. Before he died, Garrick was following someone in Pimlico. Did he get too close? Did the Russians kill him? And is there a traitor in the British government? Who will Emma’s boss Ripley trust with information about this case and will it be kept secret even from government ministers and civil servants?
Emma goes undercover on the superyacht ‘The Eden’ joining a small crew where there is nowhere to hide. The boat is owned by Andrei Volkov, code name Gold Dust I. Emma and Ripley hope Volkov will invite Gold Dust II, Oleg Federov, onto his yacht. Emma has three objectives – to find a smoking gun linking Volkov to illegal arms sales, to prove his link to Federov, and to identify Gold Dust III, the mysterious third man in the Russian weapons smuggling ring. There is no place to hide and, off shore most of the time, there is no mobile signal. Emma is on her own as they set sail from St Tropez for Barcelona.
As the story progresses, it’s difficult to know if Emma is safer at sea or on land. As Jessica Marshall, housemaid, her access to certain areas on board is restricted and Volkov’s bodyguard is tough and suspicious. Perhaps she can get closer to Volkov’s American girlfriend, Madison.
Great continuation characters – Ripley, Martha, Zach – add to the context of the shadowy ‘Agency’ which sits independently between MI5 and MI6. Ripley worked for MI6 in Russia at the end of the Cold War. Zach is a tech wizard; Martha provides the clothing and disguises. They are a tightknit team.
I didn’t want to put it down. Next in the series is The Trap.

Here’s my review of the first Alias Emma book:-
THE CHASE

If you like this, try:-
‘Waiting for Sunrise’ by William Boyd
‘Before the Fall’ by Noah Hawley
‘Never’ by Ken Follett

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#BookReview THE TRAITOR by Ava Glass https://wp.me/p2ZHJe-86m via @SandraDanby

COMING SOON… THE NEXT BOOK I REVIEW WILL BE:- Helena Dixon