The Christmas Appeal – Janice Hallett

It’s Christmas in Lockwood and for the Fairway Players that means panto season! They’re rehearsing hard to make sure their performance of Jack and the Beanstalk is the best yet so they can raise money for the church roof but as always there is underlying tension. Sarah-Jane is now chair of the group and trying to fend off aggression from disgruntled parties as well as rumours that the beanstalk is full of asbestos. In amongst all this there’s the small matter of a dead Santa. Can Charlotte and Femi get to the bottom of it?

“The Christmas Appeal” by Janice Hallett is due to be published on 26 October 2023 by Viper Books and I received an eArc via NetGalley in exchange for this honest review.

August Round Up

No idea where my head has been! Completely forgot to post my August round up and now it’s nearly time for Septembers!

Divine Might – Natalie Haynes

Many of the stories of Gods and Goddesses from Ancient Greece focus mainly on the Gods with Goddesses often having more of a support role and many being depicted as petulant and vengeful. “Divine Might” seeks to show another side to the story of some of the most well known Goddesses in Greek mythology.

“Divine Might” by Natalie Haynes is due to be published tomorrow, 28 September, by Pan MacMillan and I was very fortunate to receive an eArc via NetGalley in exchange for this honest review.

Broken – Karin Slaughter

A young woman has been found in Lake Grant, initially suspected to have taken her own life but it quickly becomes clear that this is murder staged as suicide.

Dr Sara Linton is back in town for Thanksgiving with her family and is called to see the prime suspect at the Police Station as he is a former patient of hers. When she arrives she finds him dead in his cell with the words “not me” written in his own blood. Horrified at this turn of events in her late husband’s Station and suspecting Lena Adams is involved she calls in Will Trent of the GBI to find out what has happened and things quickly start to unravel.

Genesis – Karin Slaughter

Dr Sara Linton works on a woman in the Emergency Room at Grady Hospital who was hit by a car after escaping from a brutal attack. Will Trent heads into the woods to investigate and stumbles across a torture chamber in the ground along with signs of another victim who has also escaped. Before long this sadistic killer has taken two more women and time is running out for Will and Faith to put their own problems aside and save them.

Yellowface – Rebecca F. Kuang

June Heyward has been feeling like she has been in the shadow of her more successful friend, Athena Liu, since college. Athena is a bestselling author whilst June’s debut novel barely made a whimper, never mind a bang, so who could blame her for stealing the unpublished manuscript for Athena’s next big hit on the very same night that Athena sadly passed away?

The Song of Achilles – Madeline Miller

Ancient Greece is a place full of heroes. Many will know the legend of Achilles but few will know the name of Patroclus. Exiled to the Court of Achilles’ Father, King Peleus, friendship blossoms into something deeper between the young men. When Queen Helen of Sparta is taken by the Trojans, Achilles is called upon to join the fight to retrieve her and fulfil his destiny.

Holly – Stephen King

Holly has a lot going on when she takes a call from the Mother of a missing girl. Her partner at Finders Keepers detective agency, Pete, is isolating at home with covid and her own overbearing Mother has just died from covid. She almost doesn’t take the case but something about the relationship between Penny Dahl and her missing daughter, Bonnie, reminds her of her relationship with her Mother and she decides to look into it. The more Holly digs the stranger the case becomes but even she won’t be able to believe where it ends up.

Bag of Bones – Stephen King

When bestselling author, Mike Noonan’s, wife dies suddenly he begins a period of the most intense writer’s block. He can barely even look at his computer never mind write anything. Deciding a change of scenery might help, he heads to their summer home, Sara Laughs, but before long he finds himself drawn into a custody battle with elderly billionaire, Max Devore, who is intent on ripping his dead son’s three year old daughter, Kyra, away from her Mother. Devore will stop at nothing but there’s something else at work in the town too, something much darker.