Well, contrary to what you might be expecting from the posted extract, it IS a busy week this week (that’s what comes from copying from the previous week’s post!). So strap yourself in and enjoy!
The index is a guide as to what format the title is being released in. In some cases the title might already have been published in a different format. For those readers interested in audio editions I’ve indicated availability with the addition of a red button after the purchasing links – this makes it a bit easier to scan through and pick them up. The categories are intended to give you an indication of price and/or suitability depending on your preferred reading format. I have not complicated matters further by attempting to throw genres into the mix.
(NB As an Amazon Associate, Bookshop and Hive Affiliate I earn a small commission from qualifying purchases)
Index
Hardback releases
Saint X by Alexis Schaitkin
Claire is only seven years old when her college-age sister Alison vanishes from the luxury resort on the Caribbean island of Saint X on the last night of her family’s vacation. Several days later Alison’s body is found in a remote spot on a nearby cay, and two local men, employees at the resort, are arrested. But the evidence is slim, the timeline against it, and the men are soon released. It’s national tabloid news, a lurid mystery that will go unsolved, but for Claire’s family, there is only the sad return home to broken lives.
Years later, riding in a New York City taxi, Claire recognizes the name on the cab driver’s licence: Clive Richardson, one of the men originally suspected of murdering her sister. The fateful encounter sets her on an obsessive pursuit of the truth as to not only what happened on the night of Alison’s death, but the no less elusive question of exactly who was this sister she was barely old enough to know: a beautiful, changeable, provocative girl of eighteen at a turbulent moment of identity formation. As Claire doggedly shadows Clive, hoping to gain his trust, waiting for the slip that will uncover the truth, an unlikely intimacy develops between them, two people whose lives were forever marked by a tragedy.
The Castaways by Lucy Clarke
A SECRET BEACH.
A HOLIDAY OF A LIFETIME.
WISH YOU WERE HERE?
THINK AGAIN…
It should be like any other holiday.
Beautiful beaches.
Golden sunsets.
Nothing for miles.
You’ll never want to leave.
Until you can’t…
The Sweet Taste of Muscadines by Pamela Terry
Lila Bruce Breedlove never quite felt at home in Wesleyan, Georgia, especially after her father’s untimely demise when she was a child. Both Lila and her brother, Henry, fled north after high school, establishing fulfilling lives of their own. In contrast, their younger sister, Abigail, opted to remain behind to dote on their domineering, larger-than-life mother, Geneva. Yet despite their independence, Lila and Henry know deep down that they’ve never quite reckoned with their upbringing.
When their elderly mother dies suddenly and suspiciously in the muscadine arbor behind the family estate, Lila and Henry return to the town that essentially raised them. But as they uncover more about Geneva’s death, shocking truths are revealed that overturn the family’s history as they know it, sending the pair on an extraordinary journey to chase a truth that will dramatically alter the course of their lives. The Sweet Taste of Muscadines reminds us all that true love never dies.
An Unofficial Marriage by Joie Davidow
Set against the backdrop of the tumultuous events of 19th century Europe, An Unofficial Marriage dramatizes the equally tumultuous real-life love affair of two great artists–the famous Russian author, Ivan Turgenev, and the celebrated French opera singer, Pauline Viardot. From the moment he encounters her on the St. Petersburg stage, Ivan falls completely for Pauline. Though Pauline returns his feelings, she is bound by her singular passion for her art and her devotion to her gentle, older husband, Louis. Nevertheless, Ivan pursues Pauline across countries and continents–from Russia to France to Germany to Prussia–and in the decades that follow their fateful meeting, the lives of Pauline, Ivan, and Louis remain permanently intertwined as the lovers face jealousy, separation, the French Revolution of 1848, the cholera epidemic of 1849, the Franco-Prussian War, Turgenev’s arrest in Russia, Louis’s heartbreak and resignation, and the highs and lows of their artistic careers.
Good Eggs by Rebecca Hardiman
Meet the Gogartys: cantankerous gran Millie (whose eccentricities include a penchant for petty-theft and reckless driving); bitter downtrodden stepson Kevin (erstwhile journalist whose stay-at-home parenting is pushing him to the brink); and habitually moody, disaffected teenage daughter Aideen.
When Gran’s arrested yet again for shoplifting, Aideen’s rebelliousness has reached new heights and Kevin’s still not found work, he realises he needs to take action. With the appointment of a home carer for his mother, his daughter sent away to boarding school to focus on her studies and more time for him to reboot his job-hunt, surely everything will work out just fine. But as the story unfolds – and in the way of all the best families – nothing goes according to plan and as the calm starts to descend into chaos we’re taken on a hilarious multiple-perspective roller-coaster ride that is as relatable as it is far-fetched.
The Hiding Place by Jenny Quintana
Some houses have their secrets. But so do some people . . .
Abandoned as a baby in the hallway of a shared house in London, Marina has never known her parents, and the circumstances of her birth still remain a mystery.
Now an adult, Marina has returned to the house where it all started, determined to find out who she really is. But the walls of this house hold more than memories, and Marina’s reappearance hasn’t gone unnoticed by the other tenants.
Someone is watching Marina. Someone who knows the truth . . .
Lie Beside Me by Gytha Lodge
Louise wakes up. Her head aches, her mouth is dry, her memory is fuzzy. But she suspects she’s done something bad.
She rolls over towards her husband, Niall.
But it’s not Niall who’s lying beside her. In fact, she’s never seen this man before.
And he’s dead . . .
As Louise desperately struggles to piece her memories back together, Detective Jonah Sheens and his team mark her as their prime suspect.
But she’s not the only one with something to hide . . .
Did she do it?
And, if not, can they catch the real killer before they strike again?
The Split by Laura Kay
Brutally dumped by her girlfriend, Ally is homeless, friendless and jobless… but at least she has Malcolm. Wounded and betrayed, Ally has made off with the one thing she thinks might soothe the pain: Emily’s cat.
After a long train journey she arrives home to her dad in Sheffield, ready to fold herself up in her duvet and remain on the sofa for the foreseeable. Her dad has other ideas. A phone call later, and Ally is reunited with her first ever beard and friend of old, Jeremy. He too is broken-hearted and living at home again.
In an inspired effort to hold each other up, the pair decide to sign up for the local half marathon in a bid to impress their exes with their commitment and athleticism.
Given neither of them can run, they enlist the support of athletic, not to mention beautiful, Jo. But will she have them running for the hills… or will their ridiculous plan pay off…?
Hardback & eBook releases
The Rose Code by Kate Quinn
1940, Bletchley Park, Buckinghamshire.
Three very different women are recruited to the mysterious Bletchley Park, where the best minds in Britain train to break German military codes.
Vivacious debutante Osla has the dashing Prince Philip of Greece sending her roses – but she burns to prove herself as more than a society girl, working to translate decoded enemy secrets. Self-made Mab masters the legendary codebreaking machines as she conceals old wounds and the poverty of her East-End London upbringing. And shy local girl Beth is the outsider who trains as one of the Park’s few female cryptanalysts.
1947, London.
Seven years after they first meet, on the eve of the royal wedding between Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip, disaster threatens. Osla, Mab and Beth are estranged, their friendship torn apart by secrets and betrayal. Yet now they must race against the clock to crack one final code together, before it’s too late, for them and for their country.
Trust Me by T M Logan
TWO STRANGERS, A CHILD, AND A SPLIT SECOND CHOICE THAT WILL CHANGE EVERYTHING . . .
Ellen was just trying to help a stranger. That was how it started: giving a few minutes respite to a flustered young mother sitting opposite her on the train. A few minutes holding her baby while the mother makes an urgent call. The weight of the child in her arms making Ellen’s heart ache for what she can never have.
Five minutes pass.
Ten.
The train pulls into a station and Ellen is stunned to see the mother hurrying away down the platform, without looking back. Leaving her baby behind. Ellen is about to raise the alarm when she discovers a note in the baby’s bag, three desperate lines scrawled hastily on a piece of paper:
Please protect Mia
Don’t trust the police
Don’t trust anyone
Why would a mother abandon her child to a stranger? Ellen is about to discover that the baby in her arms might hold the key to an unspeakable crime. And doing the right thing might just cost her everything . . .
The Fine Art of Invisible Detection by Robert Goddard
Umiko Wada has recently had quite enough excitement in her life. With her husband recently murdered and a mother who seems to want her married again before his body is cold, she just wants to keep her head down.
As a secretary to a private detective, her life is pleasingly uncomplicated, filled with coffee runs, diary management and paperwork.
That is, until her boss takes on a new case. A case which turns out to be dangerous enough to get him killed. A case which means Wada will have to leave Japan for the first time and travel to London.
Following the only lead she has, Wada quickly realises that being a detective isn’t as easy as the television makes out. And that there’s a reason why secrets stay buried for a long time. Because people want them to stay secret. And they’re prepared to do very bad things to keep them that way…
The Night Gate by Peter May
In a sleepy French village, the body of a man shot through the head is disinterred by the roots of a fallen tree. A week later a famous art critic is viciously murdered in a nearby house. The deaths occurred more than seventy years apart.
Asked by a colleague to inspect the site of the former, forensics expert Enzo Macleod quickly finds himself embroiled in the investigation of the latter. Two extraordinary narratives are set in train – one historical, unfolding in the treacherous wartime years of Occupied France; the other contemporary, set in the autumn of 2020 as France re-enters Covid lockdown.
And Enzo’s investigations reveal an unexpected link between the murders – the Mona Lisa.
Tasked by the exiled General Charles de Gaulle to keep the world’s most famous painting out of Nazi hands after the fall of France in 1940, 28-year-old Georgette Pignal finds herself swept along by the tide of history. Following in the wake of Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa as it is moved from château to château by the Louvre, she finds herself just one step ahead of two German art experts sent to steal it for rival patrons – Hitler and Göring.
What none of them know is that the Louvre itself has taken exceptional measures to keep the painting safe, unwittingly setting in train a fatal sequence of events extending over seven decades.
Events that have led to both killings.
The Lip by Charlie Carroll
Away from the hotels and holiday lets, there is an unseen side of Cornwall, where the shifting uncertainties of the future breed resentment and mistrust.
Melody Janie is hidden. She lives alone in a caravan in Bones Break: a small cliff-top on Cornwall’s north coast. She spends her time roaming her territory, spying on passing tourists and ramblers, and remembering. She sees everything and yet remains unseen.
However, when a stranger enters her life, she is forced to confront not only him but the terrible tragedies of her past.
The Lip is a novel about childhood, isolation and mental health, told in the unique and unforgettable voice of Melody Janie.
A Fine Madness by Alan Judd
Danger and dissent stalk the streets and taverns of Elizabethan England. The Queen’s chief spymaster, Francis Walsingham, and his team of agents must maintain the highest levels of vigilance to ward off Catholic plots and the ever-present threat of invasion. One operative in particular – a young Cambridge undergraduate of humble origins, controversial beliefs and literary genius who goes by the name of Kit Marlowe – is relentless in his pursuit of intelligence for the Crown. When he is killed outside an inn in Deptford, his mysterious death becomes the subject of rumours and suspicion that are never satisfactorily resolved.
Years later, Thomas Phelippes, a former colleague of Marlowe’s and a man once much valued by Walsingham, finds himself imprisoned in the Tower. When he is visited by an emissary of the new king, however, it becomes clear that his long fall from favour may be reversed if he will furnish his monarch with every detail he is able to recall about his murdered friend’s life and death. But just what is it that so fascinates King James about the famously mercurial playwright-spy, and does Phelippes know enough to secure his own redemption?
Hot Stew by Fiona Mozley
‘Did you know in Tudor times all the brothels were south of the river in Southwark and it was only much later that they moved up this way to Soho. Stews, they were called then.’
Pungent, steamy, insatiable Soho; the only part of London that truly never sleeps. Tourists dawdling, chancers skulking, addicts shuffling, sex workers strutting, punters prowling, businessmen striding, the homeless and the lost. Down Wardour Street, ducking onto Dean Street, sweeping into L’Escargot, darting down quiet back alleyways, skirting dumpsters and drunks, emerging on to raucous main roads, fizzing with energy and riotous with life.
On a corner, sits a large townhouse, the same as all its neighbours. But this building hosts a teeming throng of rich and poor, full from the basement right up to the roof terrace. Precious and Tabitha call the top floors their home but it’s under threat; its billionaire-owner Agatha wants to kick the women out to build expensive restaurants and luxury flats. Men like Robert, who visit the brothel, will have to go elsewhere. Those like Cheryl, who sleep in the basement, will have to find somewhere else to hide after dark. But the women won’t go quietly. Soho is their turf and they are ready for a fight.
Kitchenly 434 by Alan Warner
Kitchenly 434 is set in a sprawling Tudorbethan mansion in Sussex, Kitchenly Mill Race, on the cusp of the arrival of Margaret Thatcher as Prime Minister. In some ways, the last days of an Age of Innocence.
Marko Morrell, guitarist in Fear Taker, is one of the biggest rock stars in the world. His demanding lifestyle means he is frequently in absentia at Kitchenly, his idyllic country retreat, and so it is his butler (or ‘help’), Crofton Park, who is charged with the maintenance and housekeeping. When, one day, two young girls arrive looking for Marko clutching their copies of Fear Taker LPs, Crofton finds himself on a romantic misadventure which leads to the tragi-comic unravelling of the fantasies he has been living by.
Win by Harlan Coben
Over twenty years ago, heiress Patricia Lockwood was abducted during a robbery of her family’s estate, then locked inside an isolated cabin for months. Patricia escaped, but so did her captors, and the items stolen from her family were never recovered.
Until now.
On New York’s Upper West Side, a recluse is found murdered in his penthouse apartment, alongside two objects of note: a stolen Vermeer painting and a leather suitcase bearing the initials WHL3. For the first time in years, the authorities have a lead not only on Patricia’s kidnapping but also on another FBI cold case – with the suitcase and painting both pointing them towards one man.
Windsor Horne Lockwood III – or Win as his few friends call him – doesn’t know how his suitcase and his family’s stolen painting ended up in this dead man’s apartment. But he’s interested – especially when the FBI tell him that the man who kidnapped his cousin was also behind an act of domestic terrorism, and that he may still be at large.
The two cases have baffled the FBI for decades. But Win has three things the FBI does not:: a personal connection to the case, a large fortune, and his own unique brand of justice …
The Field by Robert Seethaler
If the dead could speak, what would they say to the living?
From their graves in the field, the oldest part of Paulstadt’s cemetery, the town’s late inhabitants tell stories from their lives. Some recall just a moment, perhaps the one in which they left this world, perhaps the one that they now realize shaped their life forever. Some remember all the people they’ve been with, or the only person they ever loved.
These voices together – young, old, rich poor – build a picture of a community, as viewed from below ground instead of from above. The streets of the small, sleepy provincial town of Paulstadt are given shape and meaning by those who lived, loved, worked, mourned and died there.
Not Dark Yet by Peter Robinson
Murder is only the beginning for Banks and his team . . .
The gruesome double murder at an Eastvale property developer’s luxury home should be an open and shut case for Superintendent Banks and his team of detectives. There’s a clear link to the notoriously vicious Albanian mafia, men who left the country suspiciously soon after the death. Then they find a cache of spy-cam videos hidden in the house – and Annie and Gerry’s investigation pivots to the rape of a young girl that could cast the murders in an entirely different light.
Banks’s friend Zelda, increasingly uncertain of her future in Britain’s hostile environment, thinks she will be safer in Moldova hunting the men who abducted, raped and enslaved her than she is Yorkshire or London. Her search takes her back to the orphanage where it all began – but by stirring up the murky waters of the past, Zelda is putting herself in greater danger than any she’s seen before.
And as the threat escalates, so does the danger for Banks and those who love Zelda . . .
Paperback releases
Goodnight Beautiful by Aimee Molloy
A HANDSOME PSYCHOTHERAPIST, HIS LONELY WIFE, AND IN HIS HOME OFFICE, A CEILING VENT. . . YOU’D LISTEN TOO, WOULDN’T YOU?
Newlyweds, Sam Statler and Annie Potter are ready to begin their lives together in a small town in upstate New York. Whilst Annie spends most of her time alone, Sam, her therapist husband, works long hours in his home office, tending to the egos of his mostly female clientele.
Little does Sam know that through a vent in the ceiling, every word of his sessions can be heard from the room upstairs. The pharmacist’s wife, contemplating a divorce. The well-known painter whose boyfriend doesn’t satisfy her in bed. Who could resist eavesdropping?
Everything is fine until the French girl in the green Mini Cooper shows up, and Sam disappears into thin air, throwing a wrench into Sam and Annie’s happily ever after.
This is a brilliant story of a whirlwind marriage in which untold secrets and games threaten to destroy them both.
Out in the Cold by Stuart Johnstone
INTUITION IS EVERYTHING IN THE POLICE FORCE, SOMETHING THAT SERGEANT DON COLYEAR KNOWS BETTER THAN MOST.
When a superior officer s decision not to respond to a routine disturbance has fatal consequences, Colyear finds himself sent away from Glasgow to work in a remote Highlands town. Despite not wanting to be there, a feeling shared by his commander, Colyear soon settles into life investigating petty crimes. But it isn t long before he discovers something sinister about the town. A series of teenage disappearances seem to have been ignored by the authorities, and when a groundsman from the local country estate is gruesomely murdered, Colyear suspects that long-held secrets could be coming to the surface. As the town s dark secrets are revealed, Colyear must trust his instincts to stay alive.
Laura Cassidy’s Walk of Fame by Alan McMonagle
Laura Cassidy is going all the way. Hollywood. Starry lights. The Walk of Fame. It’s her destiny. At least, that’s what her movie-obsessed father used to tell her. That was always the plan.
Sure, it’s been a bit slow-going, but the stars have finally aligned. The long-awaited new theatre is about to open, and their first production calls for a particularly fiery female lead. This part has Laura’s name on it.
There’s her meddlesome older sister to get past – freshly returned from saving the world. Her occasional lover and stand-in leading man seems to think it’s all a waste of time. And probably best not to mention the audition to her mother, especially after what happened last time . . . Laura just has to stay one step ahead of them all.
Channelling the era of Hollywood’s silver screen and told in a voice that blends devil humour, quiet mayhem, and a singled-minded optimism that might just lead to disaster, Laura Cassidy’s Walk of Fame tells the story of a troubled soul desperate to find her place in life.
The Sicilian Method by Andrea Camilleri
Mimi Augello is visiting his lover when the woman’s husband unexpectedly returns to the apartment. Hurriedly, he climbs out the window and into the downstairs apartment, but from one danger to another. In the dark he sees a body lying on the bed.
Shortly afterwards another body is found and the victim is Carmelo Catalanotti, a director of bourgeois dramas with a harsh reputation for the acting method he developed for his actors: digging into their complexes to unleash their talent, a traumatic experience for all. Are the two deaths connected? Catalanotti scrupulously kept notes and comments on all the actors he worked with as well as strange notebooks full of figures, dates and names . . .
Inspector Montalbano finds all of Catalanotti’s dossiers and plays, the notes on the characters and the notes on his final drama, Dangerous Turn. It is in the theatre where he feels the solution lies.
Looking for Eliza by Leaf Arbuthnot
Ada is a widowed writer, navigating loneliness in Oxford after the death of her husband. She has no children. No grandchildren. She fears she is becoming peripheral, another invisible woman.
Eliza is a student at the university. She finds it difficult to form meaningful relationships after the estrangement of her mother and breakup with her girlfriend.
After meeting through Ada’s new venture, ‘Rent-a-Gran’, and bonding over Lapsang Souchong tea and Primo Levi, they begin to find what they’re looking for in each other. But can they cast off their isolation for good?
The Last Goodbye by Fiona Lucas
Anna’s world was shattered three years ago when her husband Spencer was killed in a tragic accident. Her friends and family think it’s time she moved on, but how can she when she’s lost her soulmate?
On New Year’s Eve, Anna calls Spencer’s old phone just to hear his voicemail greeting. But to her surprise someone picks up. Brody answers and is the first person who truly understands what Anna is going through. As they begin to speak regularly, Anna finds herself opening up and slowly she discovers how to smile again, how to laugh, even how to hope.
But Brody hasn’t been entirely honest with Anna. Will his secret threaten everything, just as it seems she might find the courage to love again?
The Innocent Dead by Lin Anderson
Mary McIntyre’s disappearance tore the local community apart, inflicting wounds that still prove raw for those who knew her.
So when the present-day discovery of a child’s remains are found in a peat bog south of Glasgow, it seems the decades-old mystery may finally be solved.
Called in to excavate the body, forensic scientist Rhona MacLeod uses the advances made in forensic science since Mary’s vanishing to determine what really happened all those years ago . . . and who was responsible.
One key person had been Karen Marshall who was devastated by her best friend’s abduction. Questioned by the police at the time had led to a dead end and the case soon went cold.
Now the news of the discovered body brings the nightmares back. But added to that, memories long-buried by Karen are returning, memories that begin to reveal her role in her friend’s disappearance and perhaps even the identity of the killer . . .
The Moment Before Impact by Alison Bruce
A terrible car accident – or calculated murder?
An evening out for five students ends in tragedy, with two dead and one critically injured. Nicci Waldock survives, but her life is left in tatters. Years later, a sighting of Jack Bailey, the brother of her dead friend, leaves her with a shocking realisation about the night of the accident.
Helped by former journalist Celia Henry, Nicci sets out to learn the truth about what really happened, and discovers a series of lies and dangerous secrets that have distorted everything she thinks she knows.
In uncovering the tangled truth of what happened that night three years ago, Nicci must decide who she can trust, and who is about to kill again. And she realises that everything can be saved or lost in the moment before impact.
A Vintage Friendship by Cathy Hopkins
Has their friendship stood the test of time?
The Class of ’72, Sara, Ally, Jo and Mitch were as close as sisters, then life intervened and the four friends lost touch. Now in her sixties, Sara has realized – late in the day – that those women were the best friends she’d ever had and is determined to get the gang back together.
Ally is facing a huge turning point in her life and Jo, after years of being chief cook and bottle washer, needs to put herself first after a wake-up call.
None of them know what happened to Mitch. The coolest and most enigmatic of the foursome doesn’t want to be found and it seems that even after all these years, the women are still keeping a few secrets from each other…
The Unwanted Dead by Chris Lloyd
Paris, Friday 14th June 1940.
The day the Nazis march into Paris, making headlines around the globe.
Paris police detective Eddie Giral – a survivor of the last World War – watches helplessly on as his world changes forever.
But there is something he still has control over. Finding whoever is responsible for the murder of four refugees. The unwanted dead, who no one wants to claim.
To do so, he must tread carefully between the Occupation and the Resistance, between truth and lies, between the man he is and the man he was.
All the while becoming whoever he must be to survive in this new and terrible order descending on his home…
Paperback & eBook releases
The End is Where We Begin by Maria Goodin
Jay Lewis is a troubled soul. A single father, just trying to keep everything together, he knows he sabotages any real chance of happiness.
Tormented by nightmares and flashbacks, he can’t forget the events from one fateful night that steered the course of the rest of his life. Struggling against the crushing weight of guilt, Jay knows there are wrongs he needs to put right.
Determined to get closure, he seeks out old friends and a past love. But in his quest for a more peaceful future, is he ready to face the trauma of his past?
The House Uptown by Melissa Ginsburg
After the sudden death of her mother, Ava finds herself headed cross-country to live with the only relative she has left. But Lane, her grandmother, doesn’t seem to have much room in her heart for a teenage girl, barely acknowledging Ava between obsessive painting sessions. The only other person who comes around is Lane’s assistant, Oliver, who’s dealing with issues of his own.
As the summer goes on, Ava begins to get a sense that something is very wrong in her grandmother’s house. Why was Lane estranged from Ava’s mother, and is she now losing her mind? Could the danger lie with Oliver? Or, is there something darker in their past, something which could come back to destroy them all?
The Memory Collectors by Kim Neville
Ev has a mysterious ability, one that she feels is more a curse than a gift. She can feel the emotions people leave behind on objects and believes that most of them need to be handled extremely carefully, and—if at all possible—destroyed. The harmless ones she sells at Vancouver’s Chinatown Night Market to scrape together a living, but even that fills her with trepidation. Meanwhile, in another part of town, Harriet hoards thousands of these treasures and is starting to make her neighbors sick as the overabundance of heightened emotions start seeping through her apartment walls.
When the two women meet, Harriet knows that Ev is the only person who can help her make something truly spectacular of her collection. A museum of memory that not only feels warm and inviting but can heal the emotional wounds many people unknowingly carry around. They only know of one other person like them, and they fear the dark effects these objects had on him. Together, they help each other to develop and control their gift, so that what happened to him never happens again. But unbeknownst to them, the same darkness is wrapping itself around another, dragging them down a path that already destroyed Ev’s family once, and threatens to annihilate what little she has left.
Who Do You Trust? by Kirsty Ferguson
A perfect sunny day, a family celebration, a heart-stopping hour that changes everything…
Dana has all she ever wanted – a husband she loves, her four-year-old daughter Kelsey who is the apple of her eye, and another baby on the way to complete her perfect family.
But then the worst fear that Dana has, comes true, and everything she thought she knew, she now starts to doubt. As her world comes crashing around her, who can Dana trust?
Her husband Logan who seems to be getting worryingly close to Dana’s best friend Pippa?
Her new friend Melanie who has a sinister habit of turning up in the strangest places?
Her parents and her sister, who Dana knows are keeping a terrible secret from her?
Matt, who says he’s Dana’s friend, but sometimes she’s not so sure?
Or will Dana discover that it’s a dangerous mistake to trust anyone…
This Nowhere Place by Natasha Bell
Nothing ever happened here . . . Until the first girl died.
______
Ten years ago, Mo arrived at the white cliffs, befriended by teenagers Cali and Jude.
They thought they’d save each other.
Within months, two of them end up dead, the third scarred for life.
Now, documentary maker Tarek is asking difficult questions about what happened that summer.
But the truth is something that must be unburied carefully . . .
Or it might just it bury you.
The Lake by Louise Sharland
The truth lies just beneath the surface…
Kate’s world falls apart when her teenage son drowns in the waters by his school. She’s convinced it wasn’t just a tragic accident, but no one will listen.
Then, six years later, Kate unearths Michael’s lost diary and realises she may finally be able uncover what really happened that night.
But as she delves deeper, she begins to realise that she didn’t really know her son – or the people in his life – at all. And that, sometimes, secrets are better left submerged…
The Good Neighbour by R J Parker
He isn’t who you think he is…
When Leah Talbot crashes her car one night, she spots a light on in a nearby house and approaches, hoping that someone is home.
He is.
Charming, handsome, Martin Tate answers the door to the bedraggled and traumatised Leah, inviting her in. Though she’s not there for long, Leah feels an indescribable pull to the man who has helped in her hour of need.
But when she returns the next morning to say thank you, it isn’t Martin who answers the door this time. It’s the police.
There’s been a brutal murder and the female homeowner is lying dead in a pool of blood upstairs in bed.
There’s no sign of Martin…
Until he comes looking for Leah.
Destroy Me by Karen Cole
SOME SECRETS ARE BEST LEFT BURIED…
Cat panics when she sees a photofit of a murder suspect flash up on the news. It looks exactly like her, and to make matters worse, the victim is her childhood best friend, Charlie.
The following day, the police arrive at her doorstep to question her. She hadn’t seen or spoken to Charlie in years, but could the secrets of their past finally be coming back to haunt her?
Desperate to find out who gave the police her description and to protect her five-year-old son, Cat investigates. She knows she is innocent and will stop at nothing to prove it. But some secrets are best left buried…
Little Wishes by Michelle Adams
It’s never too late to chase a love you lost…
It has been fifty years since Elizabeth fell in love with Tom, and just as many since she last saw him. She is still in love with him, and is sure he still loves her too, thanks to the small blue crocus delivered to her doorstep every year in line with a promise he once made. She has kept every little note bound to those flowers, each written as a wish for the life they could have shared.
But when on the 50th anniversary the blue flower fails to arrive, she fears something has happened to the love of her life. For the first time in almost half a century, she endeavours to find out what has happened to Tom; to find out whether the love they once shared can possibly be rekindled?
Faced with the knowledge that they have only a little time left, she vows to fulfil as many of his wishes as she can. But Elizabeth is scared that her efforts risk uncovering the shameful secret she has been keeping her whole life… Can she continue to hide the truth, or will she have the courage to finally make their dreams come true?
The Best is Yet to Come by Katy Colins
Sometimes it’s the things we don’t say that we need others to hear the loudest . . .
Izzy has always taken everything in her stride but motherhood is proving more difficult than she thought. She keeps telling herself it’s just a phase but the dark clouds are starting to appear.
Neighbour and widower Arthur might be in the winter of his life but he’s not ready to be packed off to a care home. He’s determined to do things his way.
When Izzy hears about Arthur’s big move, she offers to help. But Arthur isn’t telling her the whole story. It takes courage to admit you need a friend and when you feel invisible, all you need is a ray of hope. After all, what if the best is yet to come?
The World at My Feet by Catherine Isaac
The secrets that bind us can also tear us apart…
1990. Harriet is a journalist. Her job takes her to dangerous places, where she asks questions and tries to make a difference. But when she is sent to Romania, to the state orphanages the world is only just learning about, she is forced to rethink her most important rule.
2018. Ellie is a gardener. Her garden is her sanctuary, her pride and joy. But, though she spends long days outdoors, she hasn’t set foot beyond her gate for far too long. Now someone enters her life who could finally be the reason she needs to overcome her fears.
From post-revolution Romania to the idyllic English countryside, The World at My Feet is the story of two women, two worlds, and a journey of self-discovery that spans a lifetime.
The Littlest Library by Poppy Alexander
It’s only the beginning of her story…
Jess Metcalf is perfectly happy with her quiet, predictable life – it’s just the way she likes it. But when her beloved grandmother passes away and she loses her job at the local library, her life is turned upside-down.
Packing up her grandmother’s books, she moves to a tiny cottage in a charming country village. To her surprise, Jess finds herself the owner of an old red telephone box, too – and she soon turns it into the littlest library around!
It’s not long before the books are borrowed and begin to work their magic – somehow, they seem to be bringing the villagers together once more…
Maybe it’s finally time for Jess to follow her heart and find a place to call home?
eBook releases
The Spanish Girl by Jules Hayes
A country torn apart by war.
Two love stories divided by decades.
One chance to discover the truth…
Feisty journalist Isabella has never known the truth about her family. Escaping from a dangerous assignment in the turbulent Basque country, she finds her world turned upside down, firstly by her irresistible attraction to the mysterious Rafael, and then by a new clue to her own past.
As she begins to unravel the tangled story of her identity, Isabella uncovers a story of passion, betrayal and loss that reaches back to the dark days of Spain’s civil war – when a passionate Spanish girl risked everything for her country, and for the young British rebel who captured her heart.
But can Isabella trust the man she’s fallen in love with? Or are some wartime secrets better left undisturbed…?
A Place to Bury Strangers by Mark Dawson
A dog walker finds a human bone on lonely Salisbury Plain. DCI Mackenzie Jones investigates the grisly discovery but cannot explain how it ended up there. She contacts disgraced ex-detective Atticus Priest and the two of them trace the bone to a graveyard in the nearby village of Imber. But the village was abandoned after it was purchased by the Ministry of Defence to train the army, so why have bodies been buried in the graveyard since the church was closed?
At the same time, Atticus is approached by a single dad who needs his help to track down his missing daughter. Atticus takes on the case and finds himself battling a London gang who are selling their drugs in Salisbury and a host of witnesses who don’t seem to be telling him the truth.
Atticus and Mack deal with the fiendishly complex case and unpick a conspiracy that cuts to the heart of the English establishment – while dealing with their own feelings for one another.
Three O’Clock in the Morning by Gianrico Corofiglio
A coming-of-age novel—a heady union of Before Sunrise and Beautiful Ruins—about a father and his teenage son who are forced to spend two sleepless nights exploring the city of Marseilles, a journey of unexpected adventure and profound discovery that helps them come to truly know each other.
Antonio is eighteen years old and on the cusp of adulthood. His father, a brilliant mathematician, hasn’t played a large part in his life since divorcing Antonio’s mother but when Antonio is diagnosed with epilepsy, they travel to Marseille to visit a doctor who may hold the hope for an effective treatment. It is there, in a foreign city, under strained circumstances, that they will get to know each other and connect for the first time.
A beautiful, gritty, and charming port city where French old-world charm meets modern bohemia, father and son stroll the streets sharing strained small talk. But as the hours pass and day gives way to night, the two find themselves caught in a series of caffeine-imbued adventures involving unexpected people (and unforeseen trysts) that connect father and son for the first time. As the two discuss poetry, family, sex, math, death, and dreams, their experience becomes a mesmerizing 48-hour microcosm of a lifetime relationship. Both learn much about illusions and regret, about talent and redemption, and, most of all, about love.
After the Crash by Emma Davies
He helped you move on… Until you discovered what he did.
Louisa Adams has done her best to hold herself together in the years since she lost her husband in a car accident. But each morning she wakes to find his side of the bed cold is more painful than the last, and she’s struggling to make ends meet as a writer. She must admit defeat and move into the crumbling seaside guest house her daughter just bought. Perhaps it might help put what’s left of their broken family back together…
There, Louisa is offered a final chance to save her career by writing an article on a local sand artist, Isaac. Except, when he turns to greet her – tall, handsome and weather-worn – something about him feels disturbingly familiar. Why, when he looks into her eyes, does she feel like he knows exactly who she is and everything she’s been through?
As they explore the rugged coastline’s hidden coves together – living and laughing like she never thought she would again – Louisa is fascinated by this man who creates beautiful sculptures on the shoreline, but deep down she knows he’s keeping a secret from her. The discovery of a charcoal scribble in one of his sketchbooks linking him to the death of her husband, confirms her deepest fear. Is she ready for what he will tell her, and will letting him intear her family and her heart apart all over again?
The Secrets of Meadow Farmhouse by Katie Ginger
Amelia loves her life in Paris. But with the surprise inheritance of her childhood home, Meadow Farmhouse, she has no choice but to return to the small village of Meadowbank to restore her great-aunt’s old farmhouse. However returning to Meadowbank means she has to confront her past, including old flame Adam.
When Amelia discovers a locket hidden in the farmhouse, containing the picture of a mysterious World War Two soldier, she starts to uncover the secrets of her great-aunt’s past and is drawn further into village life. Shocked by the warm welcome from the villagers and her own surprising feelings for first love Adam, Amelia is suddenly confused as to where she truly belongs.
Can Amelia finally confront her own past and find where her heart truly calls home?
The Whispers by Heidi Perks
A MISSING WIFE. FOUR FRIENDS. WHO IS TELLING THE TRUTH?
Anna Robinson hasn’t been seen since she went on a night out with her four closest friends.
She has a loving husband and a son she adores. Surely she wouldn’t abandon them and her perfect life. . .
But what has happened to her?
At the school gates, it’s not long before the rumours start. Anna’s oldest friend Grace is beside herself with worry – desperately searching for answers, and certain that someone is hiding the truth.
With each day that passes, Anna’s life is under increasing threat. And a the pressure mounts, it won’t be long before something cracks. . .
OK folks, that’s it for another week, anything take your fancy?
See you – same time, same place next week.
Happy Reading!!
Jill's Book Cafe 
I don’t know if it’s me or you, but I can’t see the covers, Jill.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks so much for the heads up Kelly, all sorted now, it was me or rather WordPress. I changed the feature picture last night after playing with a new collage creator and in adding the new featured image it wiped out all the existing images in the feature – aaargh!!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Don’t you just love technology? 😂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Well it certainly got me moving this morning – had me at my PC like a shot!
LikeLiked by 1 person
😂
LikeLiked by 2 people
This might be a smaller number than normal, but there is still a lot to choose from here. I see several that I will be adding to my TBR.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Glad you found something Carla x
LikeLiked by 2 people
Wow another big week for new releases Jill. It must take you ages! x
LikeLiked by 2 people
Who needs a weekend anyway lol! It would be easier/quicker if I could find a magic formula for tracking down publication dates. I’m sure I miss a lot, but c’est la vie. x
LikeLiked by 2 people