As the scent of spring flowers fills the air and the days stretch longer with the promise of summer, it's time to gather around and share the treasures I have found within the many pages of books that I have read. May has brought a kaleidoscope of stories into my humble abode, each one unique in this rich tapestry of the bookish world I choose to surround myself on a daily basis. From cosy mysteries to the stirring tales of historical epics, and the intimate whispers of contemporary narratives, join me on my journey through the diverse landscapes of my May reads.
So, cosy up with your favourite things around you, and your favourite tipple for drinking while reading, for this month's literary adventure awaits.
Let me know what rituals, if any, you have while reading?
I would love to hear from you.
Alis x
Title: Murder on the Isle
Author: Anna A Armstrong
Genre: Cosy Mystery, crime
Series: Fitzmorris Family mystery series
Publisher: The Cotswold Winter Press
Date Published: 2023
Book Length: 238
Star Rating: 4**** I liked it and recommend
About Book: Escape to the picturesque Isle of Blom, a place reminiscent of the enchanting Isle of Man, where tranquility meets treachery in the second of the FitzMorris Family Mysteries. Join Dee FitzMorris and her family as they embark on a relaxing summer holiday, only to find themselves entangled in illegal gambling, illicit drugs, and a dangerous romance.
Escape with Dee FitzMorris to a picturesque Island where the sea in blue, the sun shines, and the pace of live is relaxing, shame about the dead body.
Holidaying on the scenic Isle of Blom, all three FitzMorris ladies find themselves in embroiled in illegal gambling, illicit drugs, and romance.
It is a race against time and a narcissistic killer for Dee when both daughter Zara and granddaughter Amelia are kidnapped. Can Dee use all her inquisitive skills to save them before the killer disposes of them?
My Thoughts: Murder on the Isle by Anna A Armstrong is a cosy mystery thriller that is part of the Fitzmorris family mystery series but can be read as a stand alone. The book starts off on the first page with a hook to keep your interest piqued so got off to a good start.
This book is definitely a cosy mystery, is easy and quick to read and is full of sweetness.
The characters are likeable, although not too much depth, even though there is more about the characters and their relationships in the first part of the book than the murder.
There is tension as the book evolves with twists and turns on the whodunnit leading you through the clues with an unexpected surprise.
In conclusion this book is just what it describes a cosy murder mystery, an easy quick read with an evocative setting and a book for lovers of a classic whodunnit.
Title: Miracle Number 4
Author: Paul Marriner
Genre: Upmarket Fiction Family
Publisher: Bluescale Publishing
Date Published: 2022
Book Length: 455
Star Rating: 5***** I loved it and highly recommend
About Book: A song of the suburbs: a story of family, friends, first love, tragedy, hope and rock and roll.
It's 1976 and with dreams of a career in rock, a crush on the prettiest girl in town, and a mother in remission from cancer, Mike’s future looks bright.
Music brings excitement and a chance to shine, but life off-stage is complicated.
Together with family, friends and band-mates, Mike finds joy, sadness and loss. Troubling secrets surface while a new friend brings both fresh perspectives and a cruel reality. The radios and pubs blast rock into the suburban nights and the band prepare for their big break. Is Mike ready?
My Thoughts: Miracle Number Four by Paul Marriner is set in the 70’s and music plays a large part in the story. This book brought back a lot of memories from the very beginning as I was the same age during the time period, I even had a friend called May who had a sister called April, There was a playlist that came with the book and I loved listening to the songs as I read each chapter, it evoked nostalgia and was a great touch.
The characters seemed real, and I felt that I knew them. I loved the main protagonist Mike (JB) his honest persona, his relationship with his family and Petra was heartwarming. Mariner’s writing showed his flaws and internal conflicts as well as his failings and achievements especially in someone so young which added authenticity to the story.
The book is about family, heartache, young love, hope and growing up and is reminiscent of my favourite era, and it was so true to the period, especially grappling with questions of identity and societal norms. The book just transported me back in time. Mariner’s prose is perfect as each chapter tells a story in itself.
In conclusion, Mariner’s prose is eloquent, painting a vivid image and evoking some great memories of the 1970’s, it kept me enthralled and will leave a lasting impression on me and is a must read that will linger long after you have finished the last page.
Title: Catch Me Twice
Author: Catherine Yaffe
Genre: Crime Thriller
Series: DI Ziggy Thornes series book 4 of 4
Date Published: 2024
Book Length: 308
Star Rating: 4 **** I liked it a lot and recommend
About Book: It’s 1989 - the so-called Second Summer of Love
The days are endlessly hot, and ravers are riding on a hedonistic wave of Acid House and MDMA. It’s the biggest youth movement since the 60’s and it’s out of control. Rave organisers mix with underworld gangsters who don’t care about the devastating consequences. But when ravers start dying, undercover cops are sent to infiltrate the chaotic, deadly scene. Little did anyone know that their actions in those heady days would come back to haunt them nearly a decade later. Was it really the Second Summer of Love, or a deadly Summer of Death? And can the instigators be caught twice?
My Thoughts: Catch Me twice by Catherine Yaffe is a crime thriller and the 4th book in the DI Ziggy Thornes series but can be read as a standalone. The book hooks you in right from the start with the story showing a moment in time in the late 80’s where raves were rife but so was the dark side of crime. Yaffe’s writing shows interesting characters with flaws, although they could have been developed further, but I wonder if I had read the first three books, I may have picked up a little more. The story has its surprising moments which unfold and kept me guessing until the end.
The book is a true blend of 80’s nostalgia albeit from the seedier side of life, with suspense that will appeal to you if you love crime and a bit of history thrown in.
Title: The Heiress
Author: Rachel Hawkins
Genre: Suspense Thriller
Publisher: Headline
Date Published: 2024
Book Length: 305
Star Rating: 4**** I liked it a lot and recommend
About Book: With the death of his adopted mother, Camden McTavish hopes that he can finally be free of his scandalous family. Ruby McTavish was North Carolina's richest woman, and its most notorious: the victim of a famous childhood kidnapping and a widow four times over. Camden settles into a normal life and marries Jules, a woman eager to escape her own messy past. It seems like history might just stay buried...But ten years later, his uncle's death pulls Cam and Jules back into the family fold as sinister questions about the infamous heiress begin to come to light. What truth lies behind Ruby's disappearance as a child? What really happened to those four husbands, all dead in mysterious circumstances? Why did Ruby adopt Cam in the first place? Soon, Jules and Cam will realise that the bonds of family stretch far beyond the grave...
My Thoughts: The Heiress by Rachel Hawkins starts by setting the scene, the book is about a rich woman who leaves her adopted son everything and leaves nothing to anyone else. The book is told from three points of view with snippets from the paper intertwined. I did find the book slow to start with and even wondered where it was going but his was just a minor flaw for me as the book did have me on the edge of seat by the end.
The book does pick up and the two main protagonists, as Cam and Jules look deeper into the mysteries that surround Cam’s mother and Hawkins kept me guessing until the very end with twists and turns that were surprising.
The characters are well developed with buried secrets on both sides that kept me guessing again which created a sense of atmosphere and intrigue.
In conclusion The Heiress was a good read and perfect for those of you that love a good suspense and mystery book that will keep you guessing right up until the very end.
Title: Catalyst
Author: Cameron Phoenix
Genre: Science Fiction Thriller Mystery
Date Published: 2023
Book Length: 306
Star Rating: 4**** I liked it a lot and recommend
About Book: Just as Jayden Amare Fox's quiet life on an East London estate looks to be steadily improving, things take a sudden dark and violent turn. Consumed by pain and obsessed with vengeance, his path crosses with that of an infamous hacker, wanted internationally for the crimes he is accused of.
What begins as a manhunt uncovers conspiracies of corruption and greed, and the consequences of playing god.
When a formidable common enemy emerges, secrets of a mysterious past that Jay has unknowingly been carrying his whole life are both a gift and a curse. The body count rises as the pair are forced to make sacrifices in a desperate attempt to save the little of what remains.
My Thoughts: Catalyst by Cameron Phoenix is a blood thirsty thriller told in the third person, which is a little unusual for me. The book is about Jaydon Fox whose life changes overnight in ways that are totally unexplained. There is a lot of blood thirsty, vengeful fighting right from the start of the book with a variety of separate attacks going on, with each of them intertwined. This book is about one mans retribution.
I did wonder at the beginning how some of the events could even have happened. However, I hadn’t realised from the blurb that this book is down as a science fiction book and as the story unfolds the events start to make sense and becomes a thrilling ride in every sense with new twists and revelations coming at speed.
I found Catalyst a compelling and intense read that I think will satisfy not only Science Fiction fans but fans of thriller and suspense. Cameron Phoenix has crafted a story that not only entertains but also provoked thoughts about justice and the lengths to which individuals will go to uncover the truth or to avenge what they care about. If you want a book that combines high stakes with intricate conspiracies, then this book is for you.
Title: Broken Shadows
Author: Sorrel Pitts
Genre: Psychological Thriller Crime Mystery
Publisher: Bloodhound Books
Date Published: 2024
Book Length: 354
Star Rating: 5***** I loved it and highly recommend
About Book: A man reunites with his estranged father to uncover the truth about his tragic childhood …Twenty-seven ago, eleven-year-old Callum was abducted. His body was found six months later by his older brother, Tom, near a Neolithic henge called the Shadowing Stones. It was the first in a series of events that would tear Tom’s family apart. Convinced his father was responsible for his brother’s death, Tom fled to Australia to start a new life. Now, decades later, Tom learns that his father is dying of cancer. Knowing this may be his last chance to learn the truth, Tom returns to England. But when he crosses paths with childhood acquaintance Anna, the pair are drawn together. As Tom grows closer to both Anna and his father, he is confronted with a series of shocking twists and revelations that will change his life forever…
My Thoughts: Broken Shadows by Sorrel Pitts is a psychological thriller and is written from two points of view. Pitts writing is very emotional and gets to the heart of how people are feeling. I really enjoyed the main protagonists, Tom and Anna, of which the story is told from. Both trying to get answers about the past and trying to make sense of it. And although they are both flawed in different ways, and they come from different backgrounds they had similarities and a great connection. The way Pitts described their insecurities made me feel their pain. The romance was an added bonus in the book.
Pitt had the ability to keep me intrigued and guessing while she unfolded the past meant I did not want to put the book down. Her ability to describe places, people and feelings made me feel as if I was a bystander in the story looking on.
For me this was a book with raw emotion that was an absolute page turner that was beautifully and sensitively written, the was it was crafted focussing on the effects trauma has had on lives and the fall out from that made this a book I highly recommend and one that deserves every one of its five stars.
Title: Immortalised to Death
Author: Lyn Squire
Genre: Historical Thriller Crime Mystery
Series: The Dunston Burnett Trilogy series book 1 of 3
Publisher: Level best Books
Date Published: 2023
Book Length: 272
Star Rating: 4 ***** I liked it a lot and recommend
About Book: Death strikes England's foremost novelist, his latest tale only half told. Was he murdered because someone feared a ruinous revelation? Or was it revenge for some past misdeed? Set in the Kent countryside and London slums of 1870, Immortalised to Death embeds an ingenious solution to Charles Dickens's unfinished The Mystery of Edwin Drood within the evolving and ultimately tragic consequences of a broader mystery surrounding the author himself. Debut author Lyn Squire kicks off his fascinating Dunston Burnett Trilogy with legendary Victorian novelist Charles Dickens dead at his desk, pen still in hand. Convinced that the identity of Dickens's murderer lies in the book's missing denouement, Dickens's nephew and unlikely detective, Dunston Burnett, sets out to complete his uncle's half-finished novel. A stunning revelation crowns this tale about the mysterious death of England's greatest novelist and exposes the author's long-held secret.
My Thoughts: Immortalised to Death by Lyn Squires is an historical mystery, crime thriller book set in 1870 surrounding the death of Charles Dickens and one of my favourite mix of genre’s to read. The book is a different mystery book to those I normally read and was a refreshing change. The book dissects the last unpublished novel to try to uncover the culprit of Charles Dickens death. The book is full of gentle twists and turns and true to the historical period, that slowly examines the writings to reveal the real players that the story is based on.
However, there are a plethora of players in the book, and I didn’t feel that there was enough substance to some of them, but I did love the main protagonist Dunston as a character and look forward to reading more books about him.
I did love the quotes throughout the book, and there were a number of them that I could have chosen to mention but a couple of my favourites are…..
‘But Dunston did have an enormous reservoir of perseverance, and side tracking him was more difficult than prising a knuckle bone from a bulldogs mouth.’ And …….
‘At last, he displayed all the bustle if rushing, but not the speed, his gait, a particular combination of scuttling crab and waddling duck, allowed at best an awkward trot.’
In conclusion I think this is a great first book in the trilogy of Dunston Burnett, a book that was delivered at a gentle speed and felt authentic against the backdrop of Victorian Britain. You do not have to be a fan of Charles Dickens to enjoy this book and I recommend it to those who love a mixture of history and mystery.
Title: The Flower Queen
Author: Kay Freeman
Genre: Romance, Suspense
Series: Flower Queen series book 1
Date Published: 2024
Book Length: 206
Star Rating: 4**** I liked it a lot and recommend
About Book: It began with a dying husband, and it ended in a dynasty. It took away her husband’s pain on his deathbed, kept her from losing the family farm, gave her the power to build a thriving business, but it’s illegal to grow in every state in the country in 1978. It even brings her first love from high school back; the only problem he works for the FBI. Will their occupations implode their romance, or will the opposite happen? A second chance at love, opposites attract , rags to riches heroine trope story.
My Thoughts: The Flower Queen by Kay Freeman is a suspense novel that has a little bit of romance in it. The novel is from a few people’s points of view which head up each chapter, and I have come to love. The book has some definite trigger points, so I would suggest you read the information first before reading. Freemans way with words gives you a real sense of the personas of the characters described. She shows vulnerabilities of the victims and makes it easy for you to connect with them.
There are secrets galore, drug lords, FBI, friends and enemies all unravelling with current crimes intertwined with past crimes. The book was easy to follow, and I read it in a coupe of sittings. I did like the main protagonists; the characters were well thought out. The only thing for me is you will need to read book 2 to find out what happens to some of the characters so there are a few unanswered questions but that does not detract from the 4 stars this book deserves. In conclusion, a book full of suspense, with twists and turns, with past crimes colliding with current crimes and a little romance, for good measure, added into the mix.
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