I love reviewing for My Weekly magazine online and today I’m delighted to share details of my latest one. This time it is of How To Kill A Guy In Ten Ways by Eve Kellman.

Published by Harper Collins imprint Avon yesterday, 28th March 2024, How To Kill A Guy In Ten Ways is available for purchase through the links here.

How To Kill A Guy In Ten Ways

Are you on a date that doesn’t feel right?

Can’t shake that creepy guy at the bar?

Worried you’re being followed home?

Message M.

After one too many terrifying encounters, Millie Masters sets up a hotline for women who feel unsafe walking home alone at night: Message M.

But very quickly she realises that there’s much more to be done to help the women who call in. Because the men just do it again the next night, and the next, and the next…

And when her own sister is assaulted on a night out, the temptation to take the law into her own hands becomes too much to resist.

Because M can also stand for murder…

A deliciously dark, hilariously twisted serial killer thriller with a villainous female lead. 

My Review of How To Kill A Guy In Ten Ways

My full review of How To Kill A Guy In Ten Ways can be found on the My Weekly website here.

However, here I can say that How To Kill A Guy In Ten Ways is a cracker of a book, absolutely packed with action and a  murderous protagonist to cheer for every step of the way. I really, really enjoyed this sharp, sassy book!

Do visit My Weekly to read my full review here.

About Eve Kellman

Eve Kelman is a fiction editor, lecturer, and writer. She lives in Bristol, UK, with her partner and two adorable dogs.

For further information, follow Eve on Twitter/X @EvilEveHall.

I’m a huge fan of Isabelle Kenyon because she is the most inspirational young woman running her own business and supporting a wide range of talented writers. Consequently I was devastated not to be able to read Isabelle’s The Dark Within Them in time for the blog tour, because I have so many other commitments at the moment. However, Isabelle kindly allowed me to share an extract from The Dark Within Them with you today and I’m delighted to do so.

Published yesterday, 28th March 2024 by Fly on the Wall Press, The Dark Within Them is available for purchase here.

The Dark Within Them

A TIGHT-KNIT MORMON COMMUNITY.

Faith-healer Amber is hopeful about Lehi, the safe Mormon town to which she, her new husband and two kids have just moved.

BODIES BURIED IN THE GARDEN.

After the sudden death of her daughter, Amber discovers the community will do anything to keep its secrets.

ONE FAMILY DIVIDED.

When nothing feels certain anymore, will Amber take a leap of faith, for love?

An Extract from The Dark Within Them

THE MEETING, 11TH MAY, 2015

CHAD

This was the kind of meeting all diaries were cleared for. Chad stood central in a horseshoe of bodies, an unlikely orchestrator. The floor was his but his tongue lay slack, hiding behind his lower teeth. There was a tremor in his wife’s shoulders which made him roll back his own, and clear his throat for silence.

Each sound in the Temple reverberated off the pristine white surfaces.

“Thank you for being here today,” he began. “I have great faith in the church community and its advice. Hell, we’ve all stood where I am now at one point or another, I’m sure. And today it’s my turn to ask for your help, with our Gilly.”

The open windows seeped humid twilight into the hall and beads of sweat formed under his cotton shirt. He talked slowly, using his hands as an offering. Holding his palms open showed he had nothing to hide: he’d been taught that by his uncle Jim.

His audience gazed, unblinking. He wiped clammy paws on his jeans. He was forgetting people knew him here—since he could wobble around the neighbourhood on pudgy toddler legs—and that earned him a kind of immunity from judgement.

“Gilly’s fifteen. Young. She’s…she’s mostly a good kid. Anything bad in her? It didn’t come from her mothering. That’s not to blame.” He nodded with what he felt was warmth at his wife, her cheeks betraying a shade of fuchsia. “Perfect mother in my Amber. She made sure those kids grew up in a loving, attentive environment, and they wanted for nothing—don’t doubt that. But since Gilly moved to Lehi, with young Ivan and their mom, well, she’s been finding getting settled tough. This is a good neighbourhood—we all know that—and Amber and I, we’ve been wanting them to make friends. And these days…well, kids are always on their phones, right? Texting nonstop. She was texting this boy, we discovered, and erm,” he paused and pulled on his earlobe, “she being underage, we looked at those messages, you know? And that’s when we saw the pictures.” He looked away from his wife’s shrinking form. “To be sending those kind of images to a boy—outside of the church—well, we’re all kind of cut up about it. There’s a kind of darkness in my home these days.”

He breathed out, realising his fingernails had been digging so hard into his palms that they had left indents…He flexed his hands, feeling for the back of a chair to sink into.

“Thank you, Chad.” Brett’s eyes crinkled, kind. “This is exactly the right space to discuss these kind of family dynamics in.” The circle nodded at these words, mumbling approval. “You’ve done the right thing.”

Amber wasn’t looking at him. He shuffled his chair closer to reach for her hand, but she pretended not to notice.

“Would you like to offer your thoughts also, Amber?” Brett’s voice guided all eyes towards her. As a leader, Brett was always calm and balanced in this way—it was why Chad had always looked up to him.

“Well,” she adjusted the hem of her skirt. “Chad’s account just about sums it up. Gilly’s…unsettled. It may be…that God is testing us, as a family.”

“We all have our tests,” Chad agreed. “Marriage is a gift from God, and so are children…”

“…but you’ve struggled,” Amber murmured.

A muscle in his jaw clenched. “As I was saying. I’ll be the first to say I’ve struggled to father Amber’s kids. To connect, I guess. Not having done this parenting thing before.”

A few members of the group shuffled in their seats but Brett began a slow clap, which the room adopted after a beat.

“We appreciate that level of honesty, Chad. And we’re here for that struggle with you.”

The slow warmth spread from his belly and he gave Brett a lopsided smile. Hadn’t Brett always understood him?

Amber raised her voice. “What would you have us do?” she asked Brett and a hush fell.

“First, let us pray,” Brett said. All of them crossed their arms over their chest and began to recite familiar words, before the voices petered out. “Now. This is a prime example: Gilly’s an excellent candidate for conversion therapy. Gilly’s had a troubled childhood…all that travelling, a single mother…”

Brett shook his head slowly. “The death of your late husband is not your fault, Amber, clearly, but with that lack of a family unit…well I feel it’s that absence of structure which has led Gilly to the devil.” Chad felt his leg twitch like a startled horse and the group recoiled, some softly crying out. Just hearing the name was enough to allow fear to creep in. “Thankfully, my conversion therapy reverses that influence.”

Amber sat up straight. “…Reverses? What does your therapy involve?”

Melanie, Chad’s oldest friend and neighbour, leaned into the circle. “Brett is the founder of this treatment, Amber. I’ve seen it with my own eyes. So you’ve nothing to fear from it.”

Chad observed his wife watching Brett, who cracked a lazy smile. “It’s just like a baptism, Amber. A water-based therapy. The elements have much to teach us about healing, don’t you think?”

Chad himself hadn’t heard much about the therapy, just that it was new, and not practiced in other Temples as of yet. But he had seen Brett’s first patient, Peggy-Sue from number nine, go from fishnets and eyeliner to long dresses and a career in administration. She didn’t talk much now, mind, but the change had apparently significantly reduced her mother’s blood pressure and restored harmony. And Brett’s advice came from the heart.

That was all he needed.

He cracked a calloused knuckle. “When can we start?”

****

Oo! I don’t know about you, but I have a feeling this is not going to go well! It’s made me all the more determined to get to The Dark Within Them as soon as I can.

About Isabelle Kenyon

Isabelle Kenyon is a Manchester writer and the author of 5 chapbooks including Growing Pains (Indigo Dreams).  She has had work and articles published internationally and newspapers such as The Somerville Times and The Bookseller.

For further information, follow Isabelle on Twitter/X @kenyon_isabelle, visit her website, or find Isabelle on Instagram and Facebook.

There’s more with these other bloggers too:

I’m a huge fan of C.L. Taylor books so I couldn’t be happier that my latest online review for My Weekly is of her brand new thriller, Every Move You Make.

You’ll find my reviews of C.L. Taylor’s novels The Guilty Couple, The Fear, The Missing, Strangers, Sleep and The Treatment through the links here.

Published by Harper Collins imprint Avon today, 28th March 2024, Every Move You Make is available for purchase through the links here.

Every Move You Make

Keep your friends close and your enemies closer…

Alexandra, Lucy, Bridget, River and Natalie. Five friends who wish they’d never met. Because the one thing they have in common is the worst thing in their lives: they are all being stalked.

When one of their group is murdered, days after their stalker is released from prison, time stands still for them all. They know their lives could end just as brutally at any moment – all it takes is for the people they fear the most to catch up with them.

When the group receive a threat that one of them will die in ten days’ time, the terror that stalks their daily lives becomes all-consuming. But they know they don’t want to be victims anymore – it’s time to turn the tables and finally get their revenge.

Because the only way to stop a stalker is to become one yourself…

The multimillion bestseller returns with her most propulsive and addictive book yet. A chilling and terrifyingly real thriller that will keep you up all night – and looking over your shoulder for days to come…

My Review of Every Move You Make

My full review of Every Move You Make can be found on the My Weekly website here.

However, here I can say that Every Move You Make is typical C.L. Taylor being psychologically chilling, plausible and totally gripping. It’s a book to make you check your doors and windows are firmly locked at night!

Do visit My Weekly to read my full review here.

About C.L. Taylor

C.L. Taylor is a Sunday Times bestselling author. Her psychological thrillers have sold over a million copies in the UK alone, been translated into over twenty languages, and optioned for television. Her 2019 novel, Sleep, was a Richard and Judy pick. C.L. Taylor lives in Bristol with her partner and son.

You can follow C.L. Taylor on Twitter/X @callytaylor and find out more about her on her website. You’ll also find her on Facebook and Instagram.

Just at the point where I had decided I simply didn’t have the capacity to take on anything new for the blog, I was invited to participate in the blog tour for Leave No Trace by Jo Callaghan. My willpower lasted less than a nanosecond and it feels a real privilege to participate by sharing my review today.

I adored Jo Callaghan’s first book In the Blink of an Eye (reviewed here) and it was one of my favourite reads in 2023, so I simply couldn’t resist Leave No Trace and would like to thank  Anne Cater of Random Things Tours for inviting me to take part.

Leave No Trace is published by Simon and Schuster today, 28th March 2024 and is available for purchase through the links here.

Leave No Trace

DCS Kat Frank and AIDE Lock return in the provocative new thriller from the author of In the Blink of an Eye.

One detective driven by instinct, the other by logic.
It will take both to find a killer who knows the true meaning of fear . . .

When the body of a man is found crucified at the top of Mount Judd, AIDE Lock – the world’s first AI Detective – and DCS Kat Frank are thrust into the spotlight as they are given their first live case.

But with the discovery of another man’s body – also crucified – it appears that their killer is only just getting started. With the police warning local men to be vigilant, the Future Policing Unit is thrust into a hostile media frenzy as they desperately search for connections between the victims. But time is running out for them to join the dots and prevent another death.

For if Kat and Lock know anything, it’s that killers rarely stop – until they are made to.

My Review of Leave No Trace

A man has been crucified.

I had been slightly apprehensive about Leave No Trace because I thought In the Blink of an Eye was magnificent and was afraid it might not be possible to match it. I was wrong. Leave No Trace us every bit as good, and it sets up the next book in the series perfectly. Whilst this is the second novel featuring Kat and Lock, their back story is so skilfully interwoven that there’s no need to have read In the Blink of an Eye before Leave No Trace, though I strongly suggest you do.

Leave No Trace is just brilliant. It’s enthralling, perfectly plotted and totally absorbing. I thought it was wonderful.

Very early on in Leave No Trace Jo Callaghan enraged me. Not because of the brutal murder DCS Kat Frank is investigating, but because of the reckless disregard for facts and the feelings of the victim’s family displayed by the press, and the infuriating social media comments from the public. And that’s the point. I made assumptions about those elements that made me realise I was almost as bad as those whom I was judging. The author captured to perfection modern society’s disregard for truth to the extent that I was completely hooked into the story, desperate to know what might actually transpire to be the facts of the case. She also peeled back the layers of societal expectation and attitude so that Leave No Trace is impactful and thought provoking. 

I loved the physical structure of the book; the police interview transcripts, the timed and dated chapters, the italicised interjections from the killer. These all added interest and detail that I found gripping. With short, snappy chapters and frequent mini cliff-hangers at the end of them, Jo Callaghan tantalises the reader, making Leave No Trace enthralling. 

What is so wonderful is that Lock is the epitome of logic and yet is so frequently the light relief, providing the humour that tempers the more disturbing or emotional moments in the story. He’s also the source of considerable emotional growth – both for Lock and the reader. Jo Callaghan has such a brilliant lightness of touch that she manages to convey grief, loneliness, hatred, friendship, respect and all manner of human responses so convincingly through an AI being. 

Leave No Trace is a brilliant police procedural thriller that is incredibly entertaining, but what elevates it beyond an exciting, fast paced read is the way Jo Callaghan takes huge themes like misogyny and distils them into a microcosm at a personal level so that she exemplifies modern society so skilfully. Leave No Trace can be enjoyed on many levels.

I absolutely loved Leave No Trace. Jo Callaghan writes with a mature understanding of humanity, of society and of the complexity of relationships. Her stories resonate with humour and warmth as well as being assiduously researched, written with sophistication and totally gripping. If you’ve yet to meet Kat and Lock, you must do so immediately. They are sensationally good! 

About Jo Callaghan

Jo Callaghan works fulltime as a senior strategist, where she has carried out research into the future impact of AI and genomics on the workforce. After losing her husband to cancer in 2019 when she was just forty-nine, she started writing In the Blink of an Eye, her debut crime novel, which explores learning to live with loss and what it means to be human. In The Blink of an Eye was selected for BBC 2’s ‘Between the Covers’ in Spring 2023, and Jo was a featured debut at Harrogate Crime Festival and Bloody Scotland Festival. She lives with her two children in the Midlands. Leave No Trace is her second novel

For further information, follow Jo on Twitter @JoCallaghanKat or Instagram.

There’s more with these other bloggers too:

It’s far too long since I featured Annie Murray on Linda’s Book Bag. Then I was reviewing her Letter From A Tea Garden under her pen name of Abi Oliver in a post you’ll find here. This time, however, I’m delighted to share my review of Homecoming for the Chocolate Girls and would like to extend my grateful thanks to Chloe Davies at Pan Macmillan for sending me a copy in return for an honest review.

Homecoming for the Chocolate Girls is out from Pan Macmillan in paperback on 11th April 2024 and is available for pre-order here.

Homecoming for the Chocolate Girls

1946: The war might be over but for the Gilby family there are still battles to be fought at home . . .

For Birmingham and the Gilby family the war years have been a time of great change. With her husband having left her for another woman, Ann Gilby is finally free to follow her heart. While the neighbours may be scandalized by having a divorcee in their midst, Ann is determined to rise above the local gossip and make a happy home with her former sweetheart, the father of Ann’s youngest child.

Meanwhile daughters Joy and Sheila are lucky enough to have their menfolk back home, but Joy’s husband has returned from his experiences in a Japanese prisoner of war camp a broken man.

Then there’s Ann’s son, Martin, who is still coming to terms with learning who his real father is, as well as having secrets of his own . . .

My Review of Homecoming for the Chocolate Girls

World War Two is finally over.

I thoroughly, thoroughly enjoyed this book. Homecoming for the Chocolate Girls is not just a really captivating story that is incredibly entertaining, but it is a well researched and deftly executed insight into the society of the historical setting, with sexuality, health, divorce and family so sensitively explored that there is much, much more than a physical homecoming for some of Annie Murray’s characters as they come to terms with their experiences and who or what they have become.

Although Homecoming for the Chocolate Girls is the concluding part of a series, at no time is the reader at a disadvantage because the histories of the characters are woven in effortlessly. It’s quite hard to define, but I felt this was a proper story. There’s such skill in Annie Murray’s writing as she leads her readers through events alongside her characters. Brilliantly researched for its historical accuracy and context, the narrative is absorbing, drawing in the reader and ending by making them feel they have been fabulously entertained by real people. Homecoming for the Chocolate Girls would make a brilliant television series because it is episodic, pacy and interesting.

I loved the dynamics between the characters. Alan’s damaged mental health following his WW2 experiences felt especially poignant given that our modern world seems determined to plunge itself back into global conflict. Annie Murray deals with difficulty in her story with sensitivity and compassion. She also balances light and shade so perfectly that I found Homecoming for the Chocolate Girls made me immensely sad and wonderfully uplifted. Alongside highly dramatic aspects there are quieter, more prosaic moments of ordinary life that make the narrative all the more engaging, because they lend authenticity. 

I think what works so well is that all the characters, even the fairly sanguine and steady Tom, are so human. They are messy, foolish, strong, principled, reckless, petty and forgiving so that it feels as if all life is here. Add in themes such as those of guilt, betrayal, mental and physical health, family, identity and self-acceptance and this is a story with an aspect for any reader to relate to so that it reverberates long after it is read. 

I thought Homecoming for the Chocolate Girls was excellent. It’s a riveting story, skilfully told without recourse to saccharine sentimentality so that it has emotional impact and resonance. I don’t often read sagas, but Annie Murray has persuaded me that I’m really missing out! 

About Annie Murray

Annie Murray was born in Berkshire and read English at St John’s College, Oxford. Her first ‘Birmingham’ novel, Birmingham Rose, hit The Times bestseller list when it was published in 1995. She has subsequently written many other successful novels, including The Bells of Bournville Green, sequel to the bestselling Chocolate Girls, Sisters of Gold and Black Country Orphan. Annie has four children and lives just south of Oxford. She also writes as Abi Oliver.

You can follow Annie on Twitter/X @AnnieMurray085 and visit her website for more details. You’ll also find Annie on Facebook and Instagram.

It’s far too long since I ‘stayed in’ with Joanna Toye to chat about her book Wartime for the Shop Girls in a post you’ll find here. Consequently, my enormous thanks go to Aoifke McGuire-France at Penguin Random House for sending me a copy of Joanna’s latest book The Little Penguin Bookshop in return for an honest review. It’s my pleasure to share that review today.

Published by Penguin on 11th April 2024, The Little Penguin Bookshop is Available for purchase through the links here.

The Little Penguin Bookshop

Books can change lives, even in wartime. . .

When World War II breaks out, Carrie Anderson sets up a bookstall at her local train station in the hope of providing a sense of escapism for travellers, troops and evacuees.

Driven by an entrepreneurial spirit and armed with a colourful array of Penguin paperbacks, Carrie’s business soon booms. And when she gifts a book to a dashing officer, an act of kindness becomes the beginning of Carrie’s very own love story.

But as war rages on, and Mike is posted abroad, Carrie’s world is turned upside-down.

With the help of her station community, and the power of her paperbacks, can Carrie find the strength to battle through?

My Review of The Little Penguin Bookshop

Twins Carrie and Johnnie are about to face war.

What an absolutely super book. In The Little Penguin Bookshop Joanna Toye has produced what might be termed a proper story. It’s filled with vivid characters, a sense of history and a wonderful love of books. What could be better? Just reading about the books sold by Carrie, or discussed by her, brings glorious memories flooding back to the reader, making The Little Penguin Bookshop a smashing read. 

The Little Penguin Bookshop is alive with historical detail woven into the story giving it interest, authenticity and texture, bringing the era to vivid life, but never imposing or detracting from the narrative. The plot simply romps along as Carrie opens her railway platform stand including the little Penguin bookshop. I found it impossible to tear myself away from finding out what was going to happen next. Through Carrie and Johnnie in particular we get a real insight into the Second World War. We all know about it through historical fact, but Joanna Toye really brings it alive through the brother and sister, as she illustrates the impact on everyday life for ordinary people to the extent that I worried about them and wondered how they were faring when I wasn’t reading the book. 

Indeed, the characters here are warm, varied, and totally believable. The odious Mr Bayliss is balanced by the pragmatic, hard working Norman. The handsome Mike and heroic Johnnie are enhanced by the more ordinary Eric. However, it is the women in the story, especially Carrie who feel so relatable and realistic. Joanna Toye made me care about her completely. Many of the women here are in traditional roles of catering staff and housewives and yet there’s a strong feminist streak too that I found very appealing.

I think what makes The Little Penguin Bookshop so compelling and entertaining is that, along with that sense of history that feels so pertinent to today’s world, there’s romance and a little bit of mystery, particularly attached to Penny, so that there’s something for every reader in this wonderful story.

 Alongside the themes of war are others that add depth and warmth to the story. There’s a super message, particularly through Ruby, of not judging someone based on your assumptions about them. Both Ruby and Penny illustrate that we don’t always know what is really happening in another person’s life. I thought the impact of kindness was incredibly deftly handled. 

I thoroughly, thoroughly enjoyed The Little Penguin Bookshop. I found it absorbing, entertaining and surprisingly powerful. The Little Penguin Bookshop is a story I recommend completely.

About Joanna Toye

After a career in radio and TV, producing and writing for programmes ranging from The Archers to EastEnders, Joanna turned to historical novels to create her very own fictional world. Her bestselling Shop Girls and Victory Girls series, following three shop girls in a department store in World War Two, their families and friends, have been called ‘a cross between Mr Selfridge and Call the Midwife for their warm sense of family and community in an authentic period setting. The Little Penguin Bookshop is the first novel in a brand new series.

Formerly a confirmed city girl, Joanna has recently relocated to the Somerset countryside to be closer to her daughter and small granddaughters, and is loving every minute of her new life.

For further information, follow Joanna on Twitter/X @JoannaToye and find her on Instagram and Facebook.

My enormous thanks to Frankie Banks at Orion for sending me a copy of The Wakes by Diane Yarwood in return for an honest review.

The Wakes is already available in other formats but will be published by Orion imprint Phoenix in paperback on 25th April 2024 and is available for purchase through the links here.

The Wakes

It’s winter in Sydney and the lives of two strangers have fallen apart. Newly separated and in need of a distraction, Clare agrees to help her neighbour Louisa with a funeral catering business that has bitten off more than it can chew. Meanwhile, emergency doctor Chris has witnessed too many deaths but still feels compelled to attend the occasional wake.

When Clare and Chris meet, the good in their lives is slowly illuminated. After all, the thing about death is that it makes life matter.

Funny, moving, wise and hopeful, The Wakes is an irresistible debut novel about old friends, lost love, good food and new beginnings.

My Review of The Wakes

Clare is helping her neighbour cater for wakes!

The Wakes is a gorgeously nuanced book that is balanced between humour and sadness, life and death, love and loss. I adored it.

The Wakes is deceptively simple. A couple of neighbours, Clare and Louisa become friends as they cater for a series of funeral wakes and much of the action is relatively prosaic and understated. However, this is the greatest success of Dianne Yarwood’s story. Through the small aspects of life, the quick turns of fate or accident, she presents a relatable, heart-rending narrative that makes the reader feel seen. The Wakes is the potential story of all our lives.

Dianne Yarwood places the reader right next to the characters – Clare and Chris in particular – feeling their emotions with them so that the story has an almost visceral effect. She illustrates how the minutiae of life are actually life itself. There’s a love story here, but one which is slow-burning and all the more affecting as a result. There’s humour as the characters often surprise themselves just as much as the reader. There’s a portrait of society that resonates with grief, hope, jealousies and and aspiration. It’s the themes and human understanding rather than the action that makes The Wakes so compelling. The Wakes illustrates the myriad ways we torture ourselves with ‘what ifs?’, so often comparing ourselves with others and finding ourselves lacking. In addition, I’d defy anyone reading The Wakes not to become ravenous. The descriptions of food are sublime!

Whilst The Wakes is beautifully written with a wonderful range of sentence structure, it is in the simplest of sentences that Diane Yarwood packs the most impact and emotion. Every time, she stops the reader in their tracks as they think that the author has articulated to perfection their own inner feelings – ones they didn’t know they had, never mind trying to express them. This truly is magnificent writing. 

The characters are perfectly drawn. Even the least likeable, like Paul, is imbued with such pathos that it is impossible not to find compassion and understanding in your heart for them. I loved the fact that Beth is the catalyst for so much of the dynamic between characters, especially Chris, Paul and Dan and yet she is barely physically present in the narrative. 

It’s quite hard to review The Wakes, because it is akin to a deep, calm lake. It appears simple, but beneath its perfect surface far more is happening than might at first appear. I thought it was outstanding.

About Diane Yarwood

Dianne Yarwood worked in accounting and corporate advisory in London and Sydney. She also nurtured a love for cooking and catering. At the age of forty, with three young children, she became very ill and her life was saved by an emergency doctor. This brush with mortality gave her the courage to do what she’s always wanted to do – write. Dianne lives in Sydney with her husband. The Wakes is her first novel.

For further information, visit Diane’s website or find her on Instagram.

My enormous thanks to publicist Becky Hunter for sending me a copy of J.M. Hall’s A Clock Stopped Dead in return for an honest review. It’s my pleasure to share that review today.

It’s exactly a year since I reviewed J.M. Hall’s A Spoonful of Murder in a post you can find here.

Published by Avon on 11th April 2024, A Clock Stopped Dead is available for pre-order here.

A Clock Stopped Dead

Retired schoolteachers and amateur sleuths Liz, Pat and Thelma are giving up their coffee morning for a brand-new mystery.

Retired teachers Pat, Liz and Thelma are happiest whiling away their hours over coffee, cake and chat at the Thirsk Garden Centre café.

But when their good friend tells them about an unsettling experience she had in a sinister-feeling charity shop, they simply can’t resist investigating…

Because the entire shop has vanished into thin air.

Before long, our trio of unlikely sleuths find themselves embroiled in a race against the clock to get to the bottom of this mystery – but who has a secret to hide and how far will they go to keep it concealed?

Only time will tell…

My Review of A Clock Stopped Dead

Marguerite has had an unnerving experience.  

A Clock Stopped Dead is tongue in cheek, hugely entertaining and a cracking romp of a mystery story. 

The structure is incredibly well plotted. As J.M. Hall presents mini cliff-hangers throughout each chapter as well as totally engaging epigraphs at the start of each one, A Clock Stopped Dead is the kind of book to keep a reader turning the page almost against their will. I love the way that, just as you think you’ve got a handle on what is going on, something else is dropped into the plot through the nosiness or conversations of Liz, Thelma and Pat, so that the repercussions ripple outwards, drawing you in more and more. Reading A Clock Stopped Dead is a bit like watching waves on a beach – impossible to predict just how they might break each time but mesmerising. 

There’s a gentle humour throughout, that is enhanced by the private thoughts and personal situations of Pat, Liz and Thelma and particularly through the words they choose not to say. Their family tribulations and relationships, their ageing anxieties and so on make them warm and relatable characters. The dynamics between the three ladies shift and reform too in a very realistic manner akin to real friendships so that J.M. Hall brings them to vivid life. In fact, once A Clock Stopped Dead is finished and the various mysteries resolved, I found the final few pages quite emotional. 

Given that A Clock Stopped Dead is a cosy murder mystery that is absorbing and entertaining, what gives it extra relatability and enjoyment for the reader is the exploration of human nature presented. There’s the impact of grief, self-delusion and deception. The challenges of new relationships and established marriages, of love and friendship blend in too so that this truly feels a story concerning real people about whom the reader feels strongly. This is wonderful storytelling.

I so enjoyed A Clock Stopped Dead. I find myself wondering what the ladies are up to now and longing to read more about them.

About J.M. Hall

J.M. Hall is an author, playwright and Deputy Head of a primary school. His plays have been produced in theatres across the UK as well as for radio, the most recent of which being Trust, a BBC Radio 4series about the Academy school system, starring Julie Hesmondhaulgh. He lives in Shipley.

You’ll find J.M. Hall on Instagram.

It’s a pleasure to start off the blog tour for Lesley Fernández-Armesto by staying in with Lesley to chat about her writing. My thanks to Grace Pilkington for inviting me to participate and for putting us in touch with one another.

Staying in Lesley Fernández-Armesto

Welcome to Linda’s Book Bag Lesley and thank you for staying in with me. Tell me, which of your books have you brought to discuss?

I’m bringing along my first novel, Away Weekend. It’s a comedy of manners, a send up of the differences between Brits and Americans. It was inspired by one of those ‘what if’ moments. I’ve spent a lot of time in Indiana, where my husband is a professor at a university famous for American Football. It’s the sort of place where most days one yearns for excitement, yawns with boredom, then, whoosh, it’s game day, and this quiet, Catholic campus erupts into a razzmatazz of parties.  The air is filled with the roar of the crowd, and the whiff of hotdogs. The blare of the marching bands wafts through the ether, as cheerleaders high kick their way to the stadium. The game – to me –is impenetrable, and the emotion it inspires in its followers overwhelming.

I think we’re still two nations divided by a common language Lesley! What can we expect from an evening in with Away Weekend?

One hot September afternoon, there I was, sitting on the balcony of our apartment, anticipating the start of a game. Watching the unfurling scene before me, I was utterly baffled by it all.  I sipped on a cooling glass of wine, and as the liquid trickled agreeably down my throat, I invented a character. For no reason whatsoever I called her Geraldine. This exacting creature, punctilious in her appearance, is curiously prone to faux pas. And she has a particular penchant for white wine. Back in London she has met a glamorous, rich, good-looking American guy, Ellis. He’s wined and dined her in all the very best places. And now she’s accepted an invitation to travel with him in his friend’s private plane – a real deal clincher – to spend the weekend with his old university chums at a football game.  She has absolutely no idea what to expect, has packed all the wrong clothes, and has already realised that Ellis is not quite the sophisticated gentleman she thought he was. To make it worse, she’s left her tiny, precious mews house in St John’s Wood in unusual disarray. Both her sister and her daughter have been dumped by their partners, and they’ve turned up unexpectedly on her doorstep, creating chaos. It augurs ill for the weekend away, as everything, but everything, is about to go horribly wrong.

That sounds rather rash of Geraldine. Tell me more about her – what would she bring along for an evening in?

There’s no doubt Geraldine, like me, loves a party.  I think she’s the sort of girl (ok, she’s in her fifties) who plays Black Eyed Peas ‘Gotta Feeling’ when she’s putting her make up on to go out, but tonight, to show she can be cultured, too, she’s bringing a much-loved vinyl of Maria Callas singing popular arias. And she’ll bring a bottle – or two – of Champagne in her Longchamp bag, which she’ll be happy to share.  She may be a little on the late side, because she’s been re-arranging her wardrobe according to colour – a frequently performed task which used to enrage her ex-husband, Jonty. 

Anyone bringing champagne is welcome here! What else might Geraldine add to the party?

It’s more than likely she’ll bring her dog, Bolly, too, as he doesn’t like being left on his own. He’s a small apricot poodle with an extensive collection of pashminas, and he’s an excellent judge of character.  He took an instant dislike to Ellis the minute he met him. Geraldine has taken much longer to form the same opinion, but perhaps her weekend away has made her realise that family and friends are more important than relationships with people one doesn’t really know. Her homecoming reveals even more surprises, but at least there’s a decent bottle of Chablis in the fridge.

I rather like the sound of Geraldine, Lesley. Thanks you for introducing us. I think you’d better get some music on and pour a glass of champagne whilst I tell Linda’s Book Bag readers a little more about Away Weekend:

Away Weekend

How could Geraldine resist the invitation from charming and enigmatic Ellis, especially as it includes travel on a private plane? It will be a glamorous change from her increasingly chaotic life, and a chance to meet his friends, as they reunite at their old college in Indiana for a football game. Not that Geraldine is interested in sport, unless shopping counts. She’s jet-set ready and eager for take off . What can possibly go wrong?

Published by Quadrant on 1st April 2024, Weekend Away is available for purchase here.

About Lesley Fernández-Armesto

Lesley spent an inordinately long time at university, and has a degree in Law, and a Master of Arts in War Studies.  Her first experience of the US was as an exchange student, ostensibly to study international law, but mainly to party up and down the East Coast. Lesley has ghostwritten the autobiography of an African president, adapted Shakespeare’s As You Like It for an opera libretto, and organised literary and opera events for a major charity.  Her greatest love – apart from her family, of course – are Dachshunds. Lesley acquired her first in 1981 and has remained faithful to the breed!

You can find Lesley on Instagram and there’s more with these other bloggers:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My huge thanks to Katrina Power at FMcM for sending me a copy of the children’s book Superhero Animals by Chris Packham, illustrated by Anders Frang, which is part of the Little Experts Series.

I previously reviewed three of the Little Experts Books, Marvellous Vehicles by James May, Amazing Bodies by Dr Ronx and Why Money Matters by Deborah Meaden, here.

Published by Harper Collins’s Farshore imprint Red Shed, Superhero Animals is available for purchase through the links here.

Superhero Animals

Get up close to nature with naturalist and TV presenter CHRIS PACKHAM CBE and encounter the amazing animal superheroes that will help us save the world.

Our EXPERTS are famous for their incredible know-how and passion for their subjects, and now they have made it their mission to share that knowledge with you in LITTLE EXPERTS: the inspirational non-fiction series for six- to nine-year-olds.

This jaw-dropping non-fiction journey has vibrant, playful artwork throughout by Anders Frang.

Little Experts is an unmissable series that will empower and inspire a new generation of experts.

Also available in the LITTLE EXPERTS series:

• How to Build a Home by GEORGE CLARKE, an architect, writer, lecturer and TV presenter.
• How Families Are Made by DR AMIR KHAN, an award-winning full-time GP and resident doctor on Lorraine and Good Morning Britain.
• Why Money Matters by DEBORAH MEADEN, entrepreneur, Dragons’ Den investor and host of the BBC Radio 5 Live’s The Big Green Money Show podcast.
• Amazing Bodies by DR RONX, award-winning trans non-binary emergency doctor and TV presenter.
• Marvellous Vehicles by JAMES MAY, a writer and broadcaster who is best known for co-presenting Top Gear and The Grand Tour.
• Running the Country by ALASTAIR CAMPBELL, a writer, podcaster and strategist who is best known for his work as former PM Tony Blair’s spokesman.
• How to Save a Life by DR RONX, award-winning trans non-binary emergency doctor and TV presenter.

My Review of Superhero Animals

A children’s book about animals!

As with the other Little Experts books I’ve read, this is another super addition. I love the robust, vibrant cover (which has a nod to Chris Packham’s dogs on the back cover) because it means the book will endure, whether it’s used in the home or another setting with bigger groups of children. It feels right that Superhero Animals is published using sustainable materials too.

Chris Packham’s Introduction sets the tone for the whole book because he gives autonomy to the young reader, making them aware they have a role to play in the planet’s ecosystem. There’s a real sense of inclusion with a female blind person of colour in the illustrations and creatures covered that are familiar, like wasps and worms as well as final section on Superstar Dogs which provides a relatability for children.

Superhero Animals is packed with the kind of facts children will find fascinating, from the importance of whale poo, to eating ants as part of the human diet. It’s hugely entertaining as well as educational.

The illustrations are perfect for the text because they have a naïve style that will appeal to the target audience, but that refrain from being childish or overly anthropomorphic so that Superhero Animals retains an authenticity that is vital in engaging rather than patronising young readers.

Indeed, Superhero Animals has educational potential far beyond the information about animals to be discovered in its pages.  There’s such potential for project work, researching further the creatures included such as in the shark challenge (and yes, I did find out more about the blue mountain frog!), giving talks about the creatures in Superhero Animals to support oracy, using the alliterative titles and the glossary – even the breaking down of phytoplankton into phonic syllables – for literacy and so on. I can envisage reluctant readers, especially boys, being drawn into enjoying reading through Superhero Animals almost without realising what they are doing.

Superhero Animals is a smashing children’s book and this middle aged child thoroughly enjoyed it.

About Chris Packham

Chris Packham CBE is one of the UK’s leading naturalists and an award-winning conservationist. He began his TV career presenting children’s series The Really Wild Show, and has since presented outstanding nature programmes such as Springwatch.

For further information, visit Chris’s website, follow him on Twitter/X @chrisgpackham or find Chris on Facebook and Instagram.

About Anders Frang

Anders Frang is a freelance illustrator from Denmark. He studied at the Danish Design School in Copenhagen as well as Edinburgh College of Art.

For further information, visit Anders’ website, and find him on Instagram.