#Review of A Killer Plot by E.C. Nevin @evilevehall @zaffrebooks @thebookdealer #compulsivereaders #blogtour #crimefiction #cosycrime #AKillerPlot

A Killer Plot
By E.C. Nevin

Cake, Prosecco, a book event and murder. Bookshops aren’t all quite a cosy as they first appear and the people in them aren’t always innocent as they first seem either. Cosy crime got twisty and A Killer Plot is a new book in the genre. Enter this book event recounted in a book if you dare! Today, I am on the Compulsive Readers blog tour. Also thanks to Zaffre Books for a book. Check below for the blurb and my review.

Having not read the previous Jane Hepburn mysteries book, I felt that A Killer Plot works well as being read as a stand alone. Jane Hepburn is.a mystery author who, like many authors, does the literary talk tours. This time she is at the cutely named, Willow Tree Books in London. Fascinatingly, you learn a lot about upmarket Cecil Court, its connection with Cats poet, T.S. Eliot, Graham Greene, theatreland and the starting place for Foyles Bookshop. Later, Cleeves, Rankin and other authors are mentioned, which may inspire readers to take a look at their books if they haven’t already too. The mentioning fits neatly into the plot.

One part that stands out is when it nicely says about authors being social butterflies, although she isn’t. It made me think about how much of social media is about readers not being sociable, which looks like a majority when the reality is more likely to be a mix, similarly with authors. What mirrors those not sociable butterflies is how Jane loves the bookshop, seeing it as almost the perfect haven, except for all the people. It mirrors that part of society in a well observed way.
There’s an air of sadness in the beginning as you learn about how her books aren’t selling well, barely a ripple, a key member of publishing staff leaves and her contract ends. It also shows a reality in the book world. This is in contrast to the much celebrated author, Natasha Martez.

The mystery really begins when there’s a panic about what’s happened to Hugo Strauss, host of the book launch party and first under big suspicion is Jane. She has a funny way with words, which adds a lightness to the serious situation, which readers can see unfold day by day, hour by hour. It creates an air of immersiveness, giving people an ‘eagle-eyed’ view of what happened from a Friday in September.
There’s more mystery when RedRuin66 pops up in online messages, which are cleverly crafted by Nevin.
The mystery gets twistier and observes just what can be dug up around the internet if you know what or how to do searches on people.
In parts the atmosphere grows quite sinister in feel. There’s some trepidation and danger in certain events.

I recommend A Killer plot and enter a sinister author and publisher world of book events. It’s coy crime with a twist.
If you like books such as The Magpie Murders by Anthony Horrowitz, I also recommend A Killer Plot.

Blurb

In the follow-up to A Novel Murder, mystery author Jane Hepburn is back and ready to leave her sleuthing skills in the pages of her novels. That is, until she’s invited to a prestigious literary party in London—where the gathering of glamorous attendees may be hiding a killer.

Jane Hepburn has almost made it. After solving the murder of her literary agent at last season’s crime book festival, Jane has received a burst of internet fame that landed her an invite to the coveted Cecil Court book party in London. Visiting beloved bookstores along the winding alleyway of Cecil Court, and brushing shoulders with famous writers and the editors and agents who made them stars, Jane is looking forward to a fun, murder-free weekend and a distraction from her own writer’s block. But an innocent moment of respite leads Jane to the charming, yet indolent assistant to a hotshot editor. The only problem is the assistant happens to be dead, and it is Jane who discovers her body.

Chaos ensues as the police get involved, but the case quickly grows more complicated when the assistant’s boss also shows up dead. What secrets were they hiding? And what was someone trying to conceal by killing them? To ensure that another event isn’t overshadowed by an unsolved murder, Jane and her two loyal friends, debut novelist and star of the party Natasha Martez, and agent intern Daniel Thurston, must put their sleuthing skills to the test. But nothing is as it seems in a party full of attendees with secrets they’d do anything to keep.

#Review of Roman Mornings by Matson Taylor #bookreview by Lou @matson_taylor_ @simonschusterUK #RomanMornings

Roman Mornings
By Matson Taylor

review by Louise Cannon

Matson Taylor is back!!! His debut novel shot up the charts and introduced readers to Evie Epworth. His debut was the very funny and poignant The Miseducation of Evie Epworth with a strong follow-up, All About Evie, set in Yorkshire and London. Now, he has a new character and is transporting readers to Italy in his 3rd fabulous book, Roman Mornings.

Some books are worth their weight in gold, this is one of them. It was worth the wait and it, for me, came along at the best possible time. It’s one for cat lovers, the holiday adventurers, readers of Kate Atkinson and Sarah Winman and for those who just need a little healing and a spot of heartwarmth in their books.

It was a delightful surprise when an opportunity to review Roman Mornings landed in my inbox from Simon & Schuster. Check it out below the cover you can just walk into for a perfect summer escape and my review and blurb below.

Full of heartwarming wit and encounters as an adventure on a mint-green Vespa ensues to seek out hope and new way of living life.

Roman Mornings takes readers between 1952, Trastevere, Rome and 1976. The sense of place draws you into the old narrow streets, adding an air of intrigue and mystery and wonderment as to who lives in these crammed streets and what are their stories. This is when readers meet some rather interesting eccentric characters.
Clementine Severs is the main character, who in 1952, arrives with a certificate in teaching and a whole lot of idealism, enough to fill many Grecian urns, certainly more than realism. She has many hopes, dreams and an urn-full of spirit.

By 1976, times from those days of surviving through World War 2, she is wilting, she and readers are reminded we all need something fun and happy in our lives. For Clemmie, it comes in the form striking up an unlikely friendship with young carpenter, Mongomery Marsh and a journey to find new hope and new ways of living life.

They also meet a cat called Octavian, who, if you’re a cat-owner, is so recognisable in manner and behaviours right down to a whisker twitch. Readers can be right into this feline and understand exactly what it’s doing and thinking, just like how cats communicate with humans in real-life and in some mysterious way, we understand them. Octavian is a great cat character.

Well-observed, are the changing times in culture and how young and older people can be both seeking out something similar and also become friends. The writing style has you hanging on every word as, cleverly he ensures his reader is absolutely with them every bit of the way, through potholes, the surrounding scents, food and growing friendship.

Roman Mornings is immersive, full of universally, heartstring tugging and heartfelt relatable themes that are emotional yet also upbeat, full of humour, hope, poignancy, whilst encompassing some healing along the way.

Roman Mornings may well make you want to wake up in Rome. If you don’t find yourself in Italy, it still may we’ll have you wake up to searching for hope and a new life.

I highly recommend Roman Mornings for your summer read or anyone looking for a heartfelt pick-me-up, perhaps with your favourite Italian food and tipple.

Blurb

A glorious novel of hope and healing for fans of Armistead Maupin, Fredrik Backman, Kate Atkinson and Sarah Winman.

1952, Trastevere, Rome. An idyllic maze crammed full of narrow streets and eccentric characters. A young English woman, Clementine Severs, arrives armed with a teaching certificate and enough idealism to fill a host of Grecian urns.

By 1976, she finds herself wilting, her youthful dreams squashed by time and tide. A chance encounter between an angel and a speeding mint green Vespa brings her into contact with a troubled young carpenter called Montgomery Marsh. Clemmie and Monty forge an unlikely friendship that takes them on a magical ride through the Eternal City in search of fresh hope and a new way of living.

Fun, spirited and full of heart, Roman Mornings, like the city of Rome itself, is a novel of mysterious beauty that you will want to revisit time and time again.

#review of Diagnosis or Death by Jake Lynch and Annabel McGoldrick #bookreview by Lou @jakelynch #annabellemcgoldrick @randomTTours #diagnosisordeath #psychologicalthriller

Diagnosis or Death
By Jake Lynch and Annabel McGoldrick

Mind Over Murder author, Jake Lynch and Annabel Goldrick have their new book Diagnosis or Death are groundbreaking in who their protagonist is. The protagonist is a psychotherapist who specialises in EMDR – Eye Movement Desentisisation and Reprocessing. Both authors have worked in journalism and now, Annabel is also accredited in EMDR. They bring their real life experiences and fictionalised them to create a compelling new series that brings a uniqueness to the crime/thriller/psychological thriller genre. I am on the blog tour with a review and book. I haven’t read any other books by these authors, but from this one, readers looking for something new are in for a treat of a read. Check out the cover, my review and blurb below…

Review

It’s intriguing when there’s a new protagonist on the horizon in crime fiction and this piqued my interest.
Janna is a former news reporter, now a psychotherapist practicing EMDR, is knee deep in work. Then there’s the shock of the death of a colleague and surely it isn’t suicide as first thought by the police.

Janna works from home nowadays and ends up getting highly involved in trying to discover what really happened. She then ends up digging around the murkier side of AI and the deep-fakes that are created. It’s chilling to the core!

What is fascinating to see unfold is how the skills of a psychotherapist can be deployed into a crime scene and also learning a bit more about this branch of psychology. Both professions in some ways marry up well as demonstrated in the book as both have an interest in people. This comes across in an intriguing manner, as does the crossover into a deep, dark crime scene. What evolves is a modern day crime that feels realistic and is compelling to read.

Blurb

Janna Rose is back! The Oxford journalist-turned-therapist is shocked by a colleague’s sudden death, which police dismiss as suicide – but she’s not convinced.

Pursuing her passion for justice, Janna investigates further only to be drawn into a shadowy world of Artificial Intelligence, where identity is fluid and nothing quite as it seems.

But who are the men behind the scheme, and what are their real motives? With dark forces threatening to drag her down and peril around every corner, Janna must deploy all her insights into human motivation to reveal the truth.

#Celebrations at the Toffee Factory by Glenda Young @flaming_nora @headlinepg #bookreview by Lou of a compelling trilogy #historicalfiction #CelebrationsAtTheToffeeFactory

Celebrations at the Toffee Factory
By Glenda Young

review by Louise Cannon

Join the toffee factory girls in their celebrations in what is a delightful final book in the trilogy by Glenda Young, who brings believable characters to life on the page for an immersive read. In a world of much technology, it occurs to me, and not many UK based factories left, she takes readers who know about factory life into something they can reminisce over, or compare to work today or introduce those who don’t know first or even second hand about certain time periods and that type of working life to that world.
Her books are well constructed and feel well researched. I feel this series could be made into a Sunday night tv drama. It has that feel to it.

The Toffee Factory Girls is set in the North East of England. Now WW1 has ended, we see, what in someways isn’t always considered, the toll the necessary rationing took on businesses. From that point, it is a refreshing look on this time period as we see Jack’s toffee factory struggling and you can’t but hope it survives, whether you have a sweet-tooth or not as from the first book to now, investment in this series was quickly established by the quality of writing and the characters created.

Both Elsie and Anne are so relatable. Elsie longs for freedom and a man to capture her heart and you can’t help but hope she finds someone who is good enough for her. Got to feel for Stan, who may just be what she needs, contradicting what she wants in spontaneous excitement. This complexity of human life is fascinating and universally relatable.
Hetty also has man trouble as to what she does when someone returns from the front and another may well leave for his home country. She is at a crossroads as to what to do for best.
Going back to Anne, her determination to keep the toffee factory going is admirable and shines through. She’s not one for letting someone emerging from Jack’s past to get in the way of her aspirations. You can’t help but root for her to find a way to success through all the tangled relationships.
What the question is, can they find more beyond the end of war times to celebrate?

Celebrations at the Toffee Factory is a fitting end to this compelling trilogy.

Blurb

Discover the gripping conclusion to Glenda Young’s Toffee Factory trilogy, set in a WWI toffee factory in the North-East!

The Great War has ended, but Jack’s toffee factory struggles after years of sugar rations and its troubles are far from over.

Fun, feisty Elsie longs for freedom and excitement. Hoping to meet the man of her dreams, she spurns the attention of dependable Stan. Will she realise that what she wants and what she needs are different things?

Efficient Anne takes control at the factory to change its fortunes after the war. She creates a new line of toffee. However, an unwelcome blast from Mr Jack’s past tries to jeopardise the factory’s success.

And Hetty is torn when her sweetheart Dirk prepares to leave for his hometown in Belgium. At the same time, her old boyfriend Bob returns from the Front, determined to marry her. Who will Hetty choose?

As the toffee factory girls celebrate the end of the war, they are more determined than ever to face the future with courage and hope.

#Review of The Castle of Stories by Matt Cain like The Durrells meets Italy @MattCainWriter #TheCastleofStories #Bookreview by Lou #holidayread #summer

The Castle of Stories
By Matt Cain

review by Louise Cannon

If you’re a fan of The Durrells or Italy or just seeking something where you can escape into pretty countryside to discover all it holds then delve into the Castle of Stories and see what emerges.

Adam is 45 and unexpectedly inherits a rundown farmhouse and castle in Tuscany from a great uncle he doesn’t know existed. It seems mysterious, but all seems above board. Bravely he undertakes all the renovation work. It’s quite a leap of faith and courage as Tuscany is rather far from Manchester, where he had a job that he quits.

His boyfriend, Theo joins him as he is now newly divorced from his wife and he ends up having to take his kids for the summer. The children’s moods are understandably cooler than the Tuscan temperatures towards Theo. They’ve had their lives turned upside down in a way that’s changed everything they thought they knew and understood in their family dynamics.
It’s interesting to see how that plays out as time moves onwards.

Castle of Stories is heartwarming as it immerses you into the Tuscan sunshine and changes in the characters lives.

What becomes apparent is the quality of the storytelling and writing that you can tell comes somewhere from the soul. There’s something quite palpable that emerges.

If you enjoyed The Darrell’s, this is one for you.

Blurb

Modern Family meets The Durrells in this life-affirming, poignant and evocative novel set against the idyllic beauty of the Tuscan countryside.

Stories don’t always unfold the way you expect them to…

When 45-year-old Adam inherits a rundown farmhouse and castle in Tuscany from a great uncle he didn’t know existed, he quits his job in Manchester to renovate the property. He’s thrilled his boyfriend of two years, newly divorced and out-of-the-closet Theo, is joining him. But Theo’s ex-wife says she can’t take their children for the summer, so they come too. As the temperature rises, so does the tension. The kids are hostile to Adam, immune to the beauty of the rural location – and scared of the resident lizards.

As Adam explores the crumbling walls of the castle and sorts through his uncle’s possessions, he discovers some dark family secrets. But could they finally allow him to break free from the pain of the past, start building a new family and open a life of queer joy?

THE CASTLE OF STORIES is a moving, heartwarming and uplifting novel about modern family in all its forms, what it means to love, and the importance of understanding your own story.

#Review by Wonderful by Louise Beech #bookreview by Lou #Wonderful @Louise_Beech_Swanson @LouiseWriter #MarilynMonroe #Hull

Wonderful
By Louise Beech

review by Louise Cannon

This year, 2026 is about celebrating the life and works of Marilyn Monroe. This is the year she would’ve reached her 100th birthday. The book, Wonderful connects the icon Marilyn Monroe with an ordinary girl in Hull and the Virgin Mary in surprising ways.
Today, I am on the blog tour with a review of the exquisitely written, passionate book, Wonderful.

What if the Hollywood icon, Marilyn Monroe didn’t die in 1962? What if there was a chance encounter with the Virgin Mary? What if, for the woman who has been scrutinised through the decades and no doubt will be forever as people examine history, she had a rather different life and wasn’t a “candle in the wind”, and lived, instead of dying. Sounds outlandish, but digging deeper into it, what it’s really doing is showing how Marilyn Monroe may have been, looking beyond and deeper than the glitz and glam. There’s something dreamy at times, but also thought-provoking.

There’s another character, Flora Baker, just a normal 36 woman in Hull, England. It’s 2016 and she has life challenges. Flora is working class and living in poverty in a shabby flat. She has a lot on her plate with financial worries and there’s Bella who struggles with her mental health. The family dynamics there are complicated.

The examination of two lives with different opportunities and stark contrasts works well as they then start to connect as certain similarities also become apparent. Alongside deep emotions, there is resilience in both Marilyn and Flora as they deal with what life has thrown them and how they are viewed. It is easy to be pulled into their lives from the start of where readers join their fascinatingly complex lives to the end.
It reminds you of their worthiness and how they’ve been treated very different from that worth.

Wonderful, ultimately pays homage to Marilyn Monroe, but also strongly highlights the plight of women in a powerful, strongly written manner. In some ways it’s not only relevant, but relatable. In some ways, it is hopeful too in how lives are connected, even when on the surface they can seem very different. It’s a rather wise, intelligent and insightful book in this way that is also compelling to read.

If you pick up any book relating to Marilyn Monroe, this is one I recommend for the top of your TBR pile. It may also compel you to want to know more about Marilyn Monroe.

Blurb

Could an icon and a working class woman really have something in common? That’s part of the beauty of this book because people are people whatever their walk of life and it can be amazing what can be found in common.

A Hollywood idol

The Virgin Mary.

An everyday girl from Hull.

Three women, three eras, surprising things in common…

On 4^th August 1962, the night she should have died, Marilyn Monroe – the biggest star in the world – receives a visitor who changes the course of her destiny. The Virgin Mary appears in her kitchen with a curious message. Inspired, Marilyn abandons her home, her life, her fame, and disappears into the night…

Fifty-four years later, in a Hull kitchen, Flora Baker finds Mary, bathed in light. She has a similar message for the working class woman who is on the poverty line and dreaming of a better life. Flora begins to make changes that impact not only her life but the lives of those around her…

Do Marilyn and Flora have more in common than just Mary’s visit? Are they somehow linked across time? And is Mary’s message for all the women of the world?

Wonderful is about the way women are portrayed in both history and the world of celebrity, about women not being quiet, and about women united by the shared stories that shape them.