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 September 2022 + a link to previous September FBFs….

I.C.Y.M.I

Have you read any of the above?

Cuckoos on the Mersey follows the child protection teams in social services and the PVPU (protecting vulnerable people unit- Merseyside Police) on Merseyside. They are in a constant battle to protect the most vulnerable in society. Leo is a sixteen-year-old in the grip of a violent OCG, struggling to kick his addiction to ketamine. When his neighbour Angela is visited by social services, the social workers can’t get an answer. They persuade her children to open the door for them and Angela is found unconscious on her settee. A police investigation is launched and an evil criminal network is uncovered. A race against time begins as witnesses are silenced or vanish completely.

Cuckooing is exploitation carried out by criminal gangs who take over the homes of vulnerable people to use as a base for their activities. Addicts, the elderly, the disabled and the young are targeted and threatened with violence to force them to comply.

Cuckoos on the Mersey

by Conrad Jones 

My review

Cuckoos on the Mersey is a great start to a new series! It isn’t the easiest of reads given the subject matter, but it is certainly a compelling one.

There is so much going on throughout this book it was hard to keep up. It’s very emotional at times and frankly quite frightening at others.

Leo has had a rough start in life, and he hasn’t made the best decisions for himself so far, but I couldn’t help but like him. He is obviously besotted with his girlfriend, but I could fully understand her mother’s interference in their relationship. He’s hardly the reliable type. You can’t help who you fall in love with though and I did really feel for him as the story progressed.

I take my hat off to anyone working with social services or the police to help protect vulnerable people like Leo. It must be so difficult, disheartening at times, and presumably thankless at lot of the time. Thank God we have people who do though.

This is such a brilliant read with so many fascinating characters. I look forward to book two!

**Many thanks to Conrad Jones for my review copy**

Treat yourself

Happy reading!

It’s always darkest before the dawn . . .
________

After Mike loses Pia, his partner of seventeen years, best friends Vicky and Zaza rally round.

But the truth is, in Pia’s absence, they all need more than a little help . . .

Just-engaged Zaza fears the next step. Mum Vicky has lost sight of herself. And Mike can’t figure out how to start again.

Luckily, Pia left a list of loving instructions to help them cope.

Which is why they find themselves trekking in Peru. Stumbling up mountains. Lost in sweltering rainforests. As friendships and hope fray, they cling to their faith in Pia.

Soon they learn anything is possible when you’re walking on sunshine.

Walking on Sunshine

by Giovanna Fletcher 

My review

This is such an emotional read but one which is heart-warming and utterly uplifting.

Pia has recently passed away, far too young, leaving her partner, Mike, and her two best friends bereft. I can’t even imagine being widowed so young, I don’t want to even consider the heart-breaking possibility at any age if I’m honest, but when someone is so young it is so incredibly cruel. How do you begin to move on from such heartache?

Pia helps them all by leaving a set of rules.

I loved how very present Pia is throughout this book considering she isn’t there in person. This is a testament to beautiful writing and the love Mike, Vicky, and Zaza have for her.

Three very different characters with very different lives, trying to come to terms with their grief, support each other, and honour Pia’s wishes.

I absolutely loved this story even though it did make me cry (more than once).

It also made me smile, and laugh, a lot!

Thank you to my lovely Mum-in-law, Hazel, for passing on her copy of this to me. I will now be passing it on to my Mum.

Treat yourself

Happy reading!

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?