Hi, and welcome to my stop on Caroline England’s blog tour for The Stranger Beside Me 🙂

When no one is what they seem, who can you trust?

Katy Henry is lost and lonely. A single mother, plagued by fatigue and anxiety, she rarely has time for friends. But when she encounters Sibeal Matthews, all this changes. Sibeal is everything that Katy is not: assured, headstrong and charming.

Katy soon finds herself pulled out of her isolation into a fierce friendship. But Sibeal is not all that she seems. Tragedy haunts her, and for all her feistiness, she is startlingly dependent on her brother, Gabriel. And when her life begins to spectacularly unravel, Katy is swept up in the storm.

As Katy fights to protect herself and her son, it’s not just Sibeal who threatens to endanger them – Katy’s own past starts to rupture. Who can Katy trust? Can she even trust herself?

The Stranger Beside Me

by Caroline England

My review

Caroline England is one of my favourite authors so I couldn’t resist the chance to read The Stranger Beside Me as soon as I possibly could. It has certainly kept me glued to my kindle!

I’m thrilled to be a part of her fabulous blog tour.

I was intrigued by this book from the very start, and I couldn’t wait to find out how the story would pan out.

It’s full of fascinating characters. Complex characters with complicated relationships, complicated pasts, and uncertain futures. I’m keeping it vague as I don’t want to spoil it for anyone, but there are plenty of shocks and surprises throughout. I was gripped.

It’s quite a dark psychological thriller and so beautifully written I found it immensely difficult to put down. It kept me up WAY past my bedtime!

I can’t recommend it highly enough.

**Many thanks to Caroline England for my review copy**

OUT NOW!

Happy reading 🙂

Hi, and welcome to my Flashback Friday feature!

On the first Friday of each month, I like to look back at the books I was
reading the previous year during the same month.

Please do join in if you have the time, I’d love to see your posts 🙂

A big thank you to those who already join in regularly! xx

Here are my reviews from August 2022 + a link to previous August FBFs….

I.C.Y.M.I

Have you read any of the above?

Nadine Walsh’s party started with excitement. But it ended in murder . . .

In the day, she frets over the final details. She’s determined to make this the event of the year. A chance for everyone to forget the past.

In the evening, she’s distracted. Her husband and two grown children are consumed with their own concerns. The neighbours are getting on her nerves. But it’s Nadine’s own secrets that threaten the party.

By the end of the night, she will be standing over a dead body . . .

But which of her guests will she have murdered? And why?

A Death At The Party

by Amy Stuart 

My review

A Death At The Party takes place over just one day as Nadine prepares for the 60^th Birthday party she has been planning for her mother who just so happens to be a famous author. I love that! I love that Nadine wants to honour her mother. I love the relationship they share. It was just the two of them against the world for a long time.

I really wanted to like Nadine, but she makes it difficult. I felt a bit sorry for her husband if I’m honest. She has had some rough times though, so certain aspects of her behaviour are understandable.

This book had my attention pretty much from the start and held it throughout. The tension and suspense increased slowly, adding to my curiosity. I was completely invested! I knew something big was coming but I was still gobsmacked when it all kicked off.

Quite the ending!

**Many thanks to the author and publisher for my review copy via NetGalley**

Buy now on kindle

Paperback Publication Day – 3rd August!

The whispers started long before the accident on Harlow Street . . .
Was it at the party, when Whitney screamed blue murder at her son?
Or after neighbour Blair started prowling Whitney’s house, uninvited?
Or once Rebecca and Ben’s childlessness finally puts a crack in their marriage?
But on the terrible night of the accident, the whispers grow louder, more insistent.
Neighbours gather round. Questions are asked. Secrets are spilled. And the gloss on everything begins to rub off. Everyone is drawn into the darkness.
Because there’s no smoke without fire.
No friendship without envy.
And no lie that does not conceal a devastating truth . . .

The Whispers

by Ashley Audrain 

My Review

Wow, this is a tense and suspenseful read.

There are some fascinating and complex characters, friendships, and relationships throughout this story. I can’t say I found any of the characters particularly likeable, except for Rebecca. My heart went out to her. I was equally engrossed in all their stories and relationship dynamics.

Whitney isn’t what you’d call a natural mother. Her friends are witness to her losing her temper with her son during a party, leaving them wondering what might happen behind closed doors. Soon after, a terrible accident leaves her unable to leave his hospital bedside. It seems to have changed her whole perspective on life and made her want to be the mother her children deserve. There are secrets though that, if discovered, could change her life forever.

I was desperate to find out what these secrets were and where the story would lead. OH. MY. GOODNESS!

It’s an uncomfortable read at times but entirely compelling.

That ending!!

Just brilliant!

**Many thanks to the author and publisher for my review copy via NetGalley**

Out Now!

I.C.Y.M.I

Happy reading 🙂

Nine suicides
One Cult
No leader

Nine people arrive one night on Chelsea Bridge. They’ve never met. But at the same time, they run, and leap to their deaths. Each of them received a letter in the post that morning, a pre-written suicide note, and a page containing only four words: Nothing important happened today.

That is how they knew they had been chosen to become a part of the People Of Choice: A mysterious suicide cult whose members have no knowledge of one another.

Thirty-two people on that train witness the event. Two of them will be next. By the morning, People Of Choice are appearing around the globe; it becomes a movement. A social media page that has lain dormant for four years suddenly has thousands of followers. The police are under pressure to find a link between the cult members, to locate a leader that does not seem to exist.

How do you stop a cult when nobody knows they are a member?

Nothing Important Happened Today

by Will Carver 

My review

Nothing Important Happened Today is unlike anything I have ever read before. I’m not even sure how to review this book. It’s certainly unique and weirdly compelling. I can’t really explain why. It just is.

It is a disturbing story featuring many suicides. Groups of people ending their lives together despite seemingly having no link to each other. Other than all receiving the same letter through the post on the morning of their deaths. I still don’t get it!

I was confused, I was intrigued, I was saddened, I was disturbed, but I was fascinated. I couldn’t stop reading it and the ending is pure genius.

happy reading 🙂

An old pram is pulled from the depths, with the bones of a baby still strapped inside.

It’s the moment that new mother, Cora, has been dreading since she moved to Slayton – because someone knows, and is going to make her pay.

With the help of forensic anthropologist Sophia Hudson, and the extraordinary young Elliott Carter, Detective Sarah Noble gets to the bottom of a cold case that refuses to stay in the past. Will she survive the secrets of the bone house?

The Bone House (A Slayton Thriller Book 3)

by Caroline Mitchell 

My review

The Bone House is another excellent read in the brilliant Slayton Thriller series!

Detective Sarah Noble is asked to attend a local lake where a pram has been recovered. The bones of a tiny baby are still strapped into it. Who would do such a thing to an innocent newborn!?

When local resident, Cora, hears of the discovery panic sets in.

What follows is a highly emotional story with so many shocks and surprises along the way. I honestly didn’t know what to believe!

A heart-wrenching tale solved with intelligent policing, empathy, and a determination to discover the truth. Shocking, saddening truth.

Such clever writing.

I very much recommend!

** Many thanks to the author and publisher for my review copy via NetGalley. Apologies for the late review, after I requested this I realised I still needed to read books 1 and 2 first! **

Available now

I.C.Y.M.I

Happy reading 🙂

Hi, and welcome to my Flashback Friday feature!

On the first Friday of each month, I like to look back at the books I was reading the previous year during the same month.

Please do join in if you have the time, I’d love to see your posts 🙂

A big thank you to those who already join in regularly! xx

Here are my reviews from July 2022 + a link to previous July FBFs….

I.C.Y.M.I

Have you read any of the above?

When Stephanie is told she’s pregnant and that she is sick on the same day, she faces an impossible choice…

After trying for a baby for so long, finding out I was pregnant was supposed to be the happiest day of my life. But in the same breath as the news I had been waiting years to hear, the doctor told me I was seriously ill.

If I carry my baby to term, I will almost certainly die.

If I proceed with treatment, my baby will not live.

My husband – the father of this child – is telling me to save myself. But with all the secrets I know he is keeping from me, I can’t trust him anymore.

What would you do?

This Child of Mine

by Emma-Claire Wilson 

My review

This Child of Mine is a heart-wrenching story, but one which is ultimately uplifting.

Stephanie has been dealt a sh*t hand, to put it mildly. She is pregnant after years of trying but fate has intervened and is trying its best to snatch away the very thing she wants most in this world. I can’t even begin to imagine how you would process being pregnant and diagnosed with a life-threatening illness at the same time. Save yourself or save your baby? I honestly don’t know how I would feel in her situation but could totally understand her reluctance to just put herself first. I could also totally understand her husband’s perspective. A heart-breaking situation to find yourself in.

As if that wasn’t bad enough her life is devastated further and it’s no wonder she feels numb and unable to see any hope in her future.

There is though. There is always hope!

This is where the story really began to melt my heart and leave a smile on my face.

Such a beautiful ending.

I absolutely LOVED it!

**Many thanks to the author and publisher for my review copy via NetGalley**

Pre-order now

Happy reading! 🙂

Do you know where your daughters are tonight?

DI Marsha Clay is showing her new detective around the station when she gets a call to say a man has been found dead, and a woman beaten, in their home. Once at the property, they realise that two children are missing.

With no ransom demand forthcoming, Marsha and her team need to delve into the family background. Everything seems to be fine but, when another death is also linked to their case, and an accident from twenty years ago comes to light, it’s clear someone is out for revenge.

Can Marsha gather the information needed to bring the girls home and stop anyone else from losing their lives? And can she find out why DC Jess Baxter really transferred from Manchester to the Staffordshire Moorlands?

Set within the market town of Leek and its rural surroundings, this fast-paced British detective novel is a murder mystery with an emotional pull.

Missing Girls: A Staffordshire Moorlands Mystery (DI Marsha Clay Book 1)

by Mel Sherratt 

HAPPY PUBLICATION DAY TO MEL SHERRATT!!

My review

I think I’m going to get on well with Marsha Clay. What a cracking character and a cracking start to a new series!

I make no secret of the fact that I am a huge fan of Mel Sherratt. I have read and loved everything she has published, and I was so excited when I found out she was starting a new series with another new detective. I couldn’t wait to read it and I’m honoured to have been able to read an advance copy. Mel Sherratt never disappoints. I have absolutely loved Missing Girls.

DI Marsha Clay is introducing Jess to the team. Jess has transferred from Manchester and Marsha is interested to learn why but will bide her time. Let her settle in first. She doesn’t have much time to get acquainted though before they have a murder case to solve and two missing children to find.

This book certainly starts as it means to go on!

I love a police procedural, and this ticks all the boxes for me. I feel like I know the team well already and have enjoyed following the processes they follow to get the results they need as quickly as possible. I love that we saw a more personal side to some of them too. I look forward to getting to know them more as the series progresses.

The case they’re dealing with is a sensitive one and I was as desperate as the team for them to find the girls and get to the bottom of a seemingly random and senseless attack on a retired couple. I was both shocked and saddened as I learned the truth.

Fast paced, as always, I was glued to my kindle way past my bedtime.

If you haven’t read a Mel Sherratt book yet, then why not start with this one?

**Many thanks to Mel Sherratt for my ARC**

Treat yourself

Happy reading! 🙂

As a teenager, Kath Tyler dreamt of leaving her working-class life behind her and living a more upwardly-mobile one. Born and brought up in the Potteries, she was thrilled to meet gifted engineer, Robert Llewellyn, a schoolteacher based in London.

What Kath had not bargained for though was the eccentric family that she was taking on after marrying Rob: a dotty antiques dealer, a wayward son, a daughter who dabbled in the Dark Arts and a famous Welsh artist – they all tested Kath’s patience and increased her wanderlust.

Intrigued by the promise of a life abroad, the young couple journey to exotic lands; their eventual dream is to be one of the Ten Pound Poms.

Tragedy strikes though and the call of family brings Kath home to the Potteries once more; her shock loss is only tempered by the blossoming of her journalist flair.

Where There’s A Will, There’s A Woman is a powerful and emotional saga that starts in the Swinging Sixties and travels with the reader to the present day. It weaves around the lives and loves of two families who might have been worlds apart, but were brought together by the feisty determination of a Midlands girl, who knew how to smooth over troubled waters.

But… will Kath’s fire and grit be enough to solve two Llewellyn family mysteries?
Time will tell…

Where There’s A Will, There’s A Woman

by Mary Mae Lewis 

My review

Where There’s A Will, There’s A Woman is the brilliant life story of Kath Tyler. Kath was born and brought up in Stoke-on-Trent but was determined not to live her adult life there. Her Dad often accuses her of being above her station and thinks she has her head in the clouds, but she will prove him wrong. He hopes she does too really.

When Kath meets Robert Llewellyn, she is pretty sure he will be the one she marries. They don’t have the easiest of starts though and Kath was certainly not prepared for his family. They couldn’t be more different to her family if they tried. They obviously thought themselves superior, his mother at least, but they’re a lot less likeable than Kath’s parents. Tilly reminded me in many ways of a relative of mine. Sam I liked, although he really should have stood up to Tilly more. So many men seem to just put up with women like that for a quiet life though.

I felt for Robert as his parents didn’t seem to take much interest him, which must sting. Kath is lucky to have such loving and devoted parents. Rob seems to take everything in his stride though, obviously following his father’s example.

Kath’s parents are typical, lovely, down to earth, Stokies. Their dialogue is written in proper potteries dialect which I loved!

There are so many laugh out loud moments throughout this book and some heart-wrenching ones. Overall, it is a fascinating story which I found highly entertaining!

I look forward to reading Mary Mae Lewis’ second book, Don’t Stop The Fiesta.

Treat yourself

Happy reading! 🙂