#Review By Lou of The Mainstay – Topaz Files by Richard Robinson @betweenpr #RichardRobinson #TopazFiles #Thriller #Crimeseries

The Mainstay

The Mainstay has it all from 90’s reminiscing, murder, corruption all in an involving case.

See below for the blurb and my review.

Blurb

A Witness to Murder. A City on Edge. A Mastermind Hiding in Plain Sight.

When university student Sam Jacobs witnesses the murder of a Unionist MP in Ballycastle, he becomes more than a bystander — he becomes a target. Drawn into a web of politics, crime, and sectarian violence, Sam’s world unravels as powerful forces close in to silence him.

Chief Inspector Orla Massey calls on the covert Topaz team to investigate, but corruption in the RUC, political interference, and the ghosts of her own past push her to the brink. Meanwhile, MI5’s Jones, Jenny Richmond, and Declan McNally face a growing threat from an elusive mastermind known only as The Big Man. Power, politics, and betrayal collide as they race to unmask him before he strikes again.

From the terror of a Belfast safe house to a hanging aboard a luxury yacht, from a brutal execution to the underworld of global crime syndicates, The Mainstay is a gripping, heart-breaking and razor-sharp whodunnit where no one can be trusted.
And as the body count rises, one question remains:

Who is The Big Man? And how do you catch a man who doesn’t exist?

Review

Set in 90’s Northern Ireland on the backdrop of political unrest and sweets, such as the Wham bar, is a police station with Orla Massey and her team, ready to fight crime.

Sam is a uni student who witnesses a murder involving Batman and Wonder Woman, which wasn’t very superhero of them, but then underneath the costumes are just ordinary people who happen to have an evil side. You’ll see what I mean when you read it. What comes from it is a case of police corruption and safe houses and more… It’s a case for Orla, who is often overlooked for promotions.

Cutting through the darkness of situations and circumstances seen throughout the book is a little humour. It’s a rather atmospheric read that shows the turmoil of the times and grips you with a twisty murder plot. There’s also the question as to who is “The Big Man”?

This is the third in the Topaz series, but can be also read as a stand-alone.

Buy Link Amazon

*please note I have no affiliation to any sellers.

#Review By Lou of Note To Boy By Sue Clark @SueClark @SRLPublishing @RandomTTours #NoteToBoy #BlogTour

Note To Boy
By Sue Clark

Review written by Louise Cannon – Bookmarks and Stages

Note To Boy is more compelling and surprising than I ever expected. The fast, short chapters make it a book to relax into and forget everything around you. It doesn’t leave space for the mind to wander, not with compellingly written characters and circumstance. Find out more in the blurb and my review as part of the Random T. Tours blog tour below.
Check out the fantastic cover that looks like you can pick up the pieces of note paper. It’s very effective. Discover a bit about the author too.

Blurb

Eloise is an erratic, faded fashionista.

Bradley is a glum but wily teenager.

In need of help to write her racy 1960s memoirs, the former ‘shock frock’ fashion guru tolerates his common ways. Unable to remember his name, she calls him Boy. Desperate to escape a brutal home life, he puts up with her bossiness and confusing notes. Both guard secrets.

How did she lose her fame and fortune?

What’s he scheming – beyond getting his hands on her bank card?

And just what’s hidden in that mysterious locked room?

Review

Note to Boy is a fast-paced book where chapters are just a page or a few long, between Eloise and Bradley. It would make an interesting 2-hander play. It’s quickly compelling with cleverly placed parts where the narrative shifts to you, the reader, talking directly at you, as well as between Eloise and Bradley.

Eloise and Bradley are unlikely people to come across each other, but life’s paths collide and what comes next is a fascinating story about their two very different lives and backgrounds.

Eloise was once a fashionista of the highest order, but now has aged and is a bit cantankerous with it.
Bradley is 17, who has a tough life and is on a rough part of Kilburn. He answered an ad for a job to be her ‘domestic assistant’.
There are little bits in the way he is, which you have to suspend belief a little, but all in all, the creation of these two characters is quite wonderful and make you want to know more with every page.

The construction of the fast chapters and the way they speak to the reader, directly acknowledging the person turning the page, the manner which Eloise and Bradley communicate to each other as well is brilliantly done. Together, it hooks you in from the beginning.

Time flies when you read Note to Boy, which starts with a note. She can’t really remember his name, so Bradley becomes boy, but not out of malice, it’s just her memory. There’s a lot of humour and poignancy and of course 60’s fashion. It’s a rather entertaining book. One which I may well go back to and read again.

I highly recommend Note To Boy for a read you can relax into and not even notice the time whisk by.

About the Author

In a varied writing career, Sue Clark has penned BBC Radio and TV comedy scripts for the likes of David Jason, Lenny Henry, and Tracey Ullman, as well as contributing to newspapers, magazines, trade journals, and guidebooks, as a journalist, copywriter, PR, and editor.

But she had never done what she had always longed to do: write comic fiction. That is, until she was able to give up the old nine-to-five, take a creative writing course with Oxford University, join a writing group and – at last! – unshackle her imagination and let her love for comedy roam free.

The result, her debut comic novel, Note to Boy, was first published in 2020 and is now reissued with a bright new cover design. Her second, A Novel Solution, was published in June 2024.

Sue Clark believes no story, no matter how tragic, isn’t enhanced by an injection of comedy. And likewise, no story, no matter how comic, isn’t enriched by an injection of pathos. Her aim: to give the reader that winning combination of laughter, laced with a few tears, heart and humour.

#Inteview by Lou with Actor Alexandra Keddie About her play I See Me & Meryl Streep @TheOtherPalace until 4th May #ISeeMeAndMerylStreep #Theatre #Comedy

I See Me & Meryl Streep
Interview with Alexandra Keddie by Louise Cannon

After a successful sell-out run in Australia over several years, the AACTA and AWG nominated writer/actor/comedian, Alexandra Keddie has brought her one woman show – I See Me & Meryl Streep to The Other Palace, London.
It is on until 4th May, suitable for 12+. Find out more details after the interview.

I See Me & Meryl Streep promises to be: “laugh a minute and more sequins, accents and single tears than you can poke and Oscar at”.

I had the privilege to interview her about the play, her passion for the actress, Meryl Streep, creating the play, performing in the UK and tapping into her youth and more…
Firstly, find out a bit from the synopsis and then we will get into the Q&A session. Below, you’ll also find more details about how you can book your ticket and dates.

Synopsis

I See Me and Meryl Streep is a journey through the life of Meryl Streep told through the eyes of her biggest fan, a misfit, also named Meryl, who finally gets to live out her fantasy of being loved and adored.

At school, Meryl is made fun of and ridiculed but in this safe space she gets to shine and do all her favourite Streep impressions, from A Cry in the Dark to Out of Africa to The Devil Wears Prada to The Iron Lady and everything in between. With more props and costumes than Meryl Streep has Oscar nominations, Keddie whips through iconic impersonations and songs from Into the Woods, Ray Charles, Death Becomes Her, Mother Courage and of course Mamma Mia.

So, let’s begin to find out more from Alexandra Keddie herself.

1. What or who inspired you to act and how did you get started?

I’d been performing since I was really little but at 12 I essentially just decided that enormous success in big Hollywood movies was the logical path for a kid living in rural Queensland. I looked up acting classes and an agent in the phone book and asked mum if I could go along… I’d always loved movies. I didn’t have the best time at school (shock horror, the comic performer was bullied) and movies were my escape. If I wasn’t watching them I was quoting them to my mum and trying to make her laugh. She’s always been the best audience, she continues to indulge me!

2. Your play is called I See Me & Meryl Streep, what is it about the real actor Meryl Streep that you like most and what is it about her that made you create this play?

Well at 12 when I decided I wanted to be an actor I, very logically, went ‘well who is the best actress, I’ll be like her’. Meryl is known for being the most celebrated actress of this generation and is generally considered to be the ‘best actress’ – so I decided I’d be like her. I soon realised that she’d been given this title for a reason. She’s just exceptional. She’s able to take on so many different characters and truthfully and honestly embody them. She oozes charisma and is both unattainable and completely relatable at the same time. She made 12 year old Alex believe she could also be all those different characters and 33 year old Alex sit back in awe.

3. In the play, your character, also called, Meryl does impressions of Meryl Streep of some favourite films, The Devil Wears Prada, Mamma Mia and many more.
How did you prepare to do this so you’re convincing, since she’s so iconic?

Repetition is KEY! I have watched clips of her more times than you could imagine. It’s so much about finding the essence to her and threading that through the impressions. She has such a masterful way of using her voice so I did a lot of work in finding all that nuance. And she has her little physical quirks too that when you do them people instantly recognise HER.

But voice is usually my way in with impressions. When I first did the show I created a playlist on my phone that I’d listen to as drove to work. I had a 1hr drive each way and I’d just repeat and mimic every word over and over. Those vocal patterns became like a song and they’ve been stuck in my head ever since. Some of the impressions are more silly than others though. Sometimes you’re getting an impression where I’m striving for that Oscar, and others you’re getting the SNL impression where I’m going for the laughs!

4. I See Me & Meryl Streep had you tapping into your own youth.
What was that like looking back and exposing part of your life into your play?

It’s changed a lot since I first did the show. When I started writing it, I was 22. I was so close to that age that I was trying to speak to and I was still embarrassed and ashamed of all my weird quirks. The show has grown and evolved so much over the decade and now in my 30s I really look back at my teenage self so much more fondly. There’s that phrase, ‘show your scars not your wounds’. I think at 22/23 I still had a lot of wounds from that time in my life, I’d been bullied and felt really insecure and small for a long time. I’ve healed and grown so much and now have a story to share that’s much more evolved. I think there’s something quite powerful about a 33 year old woman presenting a story as her 16 year old self in a really loving way, yet completely irreverent way.

5. You’re performing at The Other Palace in London, once owned by Andrew Lloyd Webber and then the late Bill Kenwright.
What does that feel like to perform in a theatre of such prestige?

As an Australian it’s such a dream to be able to do any show in London, let alone one that I’ve written and one that I feel so proud of. The Other Palace is such a magnificent venue and it’s the perfect home for this show. I’m thrilled. Plus I’ve added a little Cats reference just for ALW.

6. This London debut celebrates your 10^th anniversary of I See Me & Meryl Streep as you’ve previously taken it across Australia.
What keeps the play fresh and interesting for you to perform it over so many years and have you found it’s evolved since the first performance?

Honestly, doing a one woman show is never dull. Stepping on stage each time is like stepping on a train and just trusting that you’ll get to the end. It’s such a mammoth thing to do that there’s no way it’d get dull. Plus every time I do it I always insist on rewriting at least some of it. When I first did the show I hadn’t written anything ever, now I’ve worked as a writer in many capacities and actually almost know what I’m doing. So the script has developed as I’ve become a better writer. And finding new moments and seeing how the audience responds is always really exciting.

7. What are you looking forward to most about performing in London?

Desperately hoping that Brits like my jokes!!!

8. What made you decide to tour your play to the UK and will you be taking it to other theatres across the UK? (being up in Scotland, I often wonder what’s touring).

I moved to London a year ago and doing this show has always been a great way to introduce myself to the theatre scene. I’d love to do the show around the UK! Fingers crossed that gets to happen!

9. Have you any other plans for either I See Me and Meryl Streep or any completely different acting plans in the pipework you can tell us about?

Funnily enough, once upon a time I intended for this show to be solely an acting piece, but it taught me to write and now that’s mostly what I do! I’ve got quite a few projects bubbling away. Watch this space!

You can book your tickets via The Other Palace website here: The Other Palace

#Review of City Girls Forever by Patricia Scanlan @patriciascanl18 #BATC @BookMinxSJV #CityGirlsForever

City Girls Forever
By Patricia Scanlan

Patricia Scanlan’s City Girls Forever is unputdownable as it reels you into relationships, friendships and life’s ups and downs, including the grittiness of it.
City Girls Forever is a perfect warm, compelling read.

Find out more below in the blurb and my review.

Blurb

The City Girls are back! And as City Girl, Devlin Delaney’s iconic gym and spa, prepares to mark a big anniversary, Devlin and her best friends Caroline and Maggie are looking forward to a fabulous party where they can all put their problems behind them and celebrate. Devlin’s past has returned to haunt her, with a shocking revelation. But she’s strong and her beloved Luke has her back.  Caroline is facing up to issues she’s long suppressed, with the help of a man who’s becoming more than a friend. Will happiness finally be hers? Maggie’s family is driving her mad. Her ex, Terry, and their daughter don’t get on, and she’s made an alarming discovery about her elderly mother’s financial affairs. She wants to run far, away. Sparks are going to fly, and some people are going to get a lot more than they bargained for!  

Once a City Girl, a City Girl Forever. Nothing will stop their celebration . . . or will it?

Review

City Girls Forever has some rather good humour from the first chapter, that is until the truth of why an otherwise sad occasion is happening, it confronts you, slam, as you almost hit the breaks, but also want to go onwards, even if in a little bit of shock by what has occurred. By this time, the city girls have already hooked you in and you know you’re in for a great read!

The characters are people who you really get to know and get engrossed in their lives. Devlin’s life is complex and brings up some important issues around relationships.

There’s Maggie, a mom/mum to Shona. Shona is supposed to be getting married and you get easily engrossed in their relationship and the stresses the big occasion is bringing to it.

Caroline is someone you can’t help but cheer on. She has supressed her issues and you just want life to start working out for her for the better.

There are relevant, pertinent issues that are addressed, some which readers may empathise with or find relatable. It makes it all fascinating to follow in that its all rather well observed and well conveyed.

City Girls Forever is an immersive read, with some gripping grittiness and comfort that wraps around you like a hug, with absorbing characters and plot.

* Buy Links

Waterstones Blackwells WH Smith Amazon

*please note that I am not affiliated to any company or person. I am merely sharing some potentially useful links.

#Review By Lou of Little Women By Louisa May Alcott Adapted by Anne-Marie Casey Directed By Loveday Ingram #LittleWomen #TheatrePlay #Theatre #TouringTheatre

Little Women

By Louisa May Alcott
Adapted by Anne-Marie Casey
Directed by Loveday Ingram

Review written by Louise Cannon – Bookmarks and Stages

Little Women, an all time classic has been brought magnificently to life.
Little Women is memorable and exceeded expectations!
I read all the books as a child from my mum’s old version of them. This play brought it all back and I highly recommend it. This production is noteworthy and worth being enthused about. I saw this at the Festival Theatre, Edinburgh. I left the theatre knowing I’d just witnessed something great on stage. Find out more details, including my review and the rest of the tour below… Thank you for touring!

Cast

Belinda Lang as Aunt March
Honeysuckle Weeks as Abigail “Marmee” March
Jack Ashton as John Brooke/Professor Bhaer
Grace Molony as Jo March
Jade Kennedy as Meg March
Catherine Chalk as Beth March
Imogen Elliott as Amy
Cillian Lenaghan as Theodore “Laurie” Lawrence

Belinda Lang (2point4 Children, Sister Boniface Mysteries), Honeysuckle Weeks (Foyles War, Calendar Girls the Musical), Jack Ashton (Call the Midwife, The Archers) and Grace Molony (Country Girls, The Great). With Cillian Lenaghan (The Woman in the Wall); Jade Kennedy (Rebus: A Game Called Malice); Catherine Chalk (Hilma) and Imogen Elliott (Grantchester).

Review

Little Women opens with Christmas as the March family gathers. There’s much fun to be had amongst harder times as the American civil war rumbles on. Despite it all, there are snow ball fights and dances, showing how life goes on. There’s so much energy on the stage that oozes out into the audience, leaving you want to have fun in the snow too.

There’s a fair amount of wit to be had as these strong-minded little women try to find their place in the world, have aspirations and retain their individuality as they come of age. All of the March girls are played by a strong, talented young cast who exceeded expectations!

The play is clever and seamless in how it portrays the passing of time as the little women grow, aided by timely music interludes.

Belinda Lang’s portrayal of Aunt March is rather special. She’s given her a posh New Orlean’s accent, which really works, showing another slant other than just beautiful clothes of her wealthy background. It truly is noteworthy and worthy to be enthused about in her lively performance. It feels like she’s brought all of Aunt March’s experiences from her past and present together, giving a great understanding of the woman and truly see a rounded, complex character. It may not be the biggest part, but what Belinda Lang has done is made it memorable for all the right reasons. Belinda Lang is incredibly talented.

Honeysuckle Weeks was perfect as Marmee, bringing wisdom and strength of character, as she brings up her 4 daughters whom all have their own personalities. She also shown the sadness of her husband being at war, which was beautifully done. The way she switches from what she wants her daughters to see to depicting her inner feelings that come pouring out in private is sublime!

Jack Ashton plays the love interests of Meg and Jo, which is fascinating to watch as John Brooke and Professor Bhaer are very different people, personality wise. He was, however convincing as both as separated the two very well, showing his broad skill.

Grace Moloney’s portrayal of Jo March is sublime with the determination and desires of being a tom boy and very definite ideas. She brings that sense of almost rebelliousness to the fore.

This is a very strong and impressive cast that I’ll be waxing lyrical about for a long time to come. Everyone seems to have grasped who their characters are and played them perfectly on stage. It’s a fantastically memorable adaptation that I urge you all to go to. It truly doesn’t disappoint!

See where it’s touring to here. I highly recommend you get your ticket whilst you still can:

Dates for Little Women (Play) tour

Tue, 8th April 2025 to Sat, 12th April 2025
The Lowry, Salford

Tue, 15th April 2025 to Sat, 19th April 2025
Malvern Theatres, Malvern»

Tue, 22nd April 2025 to Sat, 26th April 2025
Devonshire Park Theatre, Eastbourne»

Tue, 29th April 2025 to Sat, 3rd May 2025
New Theatre, Cardiff»

Tue, 6th May 2025 to Sat, 10th May 2025
Sheffield Theatres, Sheffield»

Tue, 13th May 2025 to Sat, 17th May 2025
His Majesty’s Theatre, Aberdeen»

Tue, 20th May 2025 to Sat, 24th May 2025
Birmingham Repertory Theatre, Birmingham»

Tue, 3rd June 2025 to Sat, 7th June 2025
Richmond Theatre, Outer London»

Tue, 10th June 2025 to Sat, 14th June 2025
Grand Theatre and Opera House, Leeds»

Tue, 17th June 2025 to Sat, 21st June 2025
Theatre Royal Plymouth, Plymouth»

Tue, 30th September 2025 to Sat, 4th October 2025
Darlington Hippodrome (formerly Civic Theatre), Darlington»

Tue, 28th October 2025 to Sat, 1st November 2025
Theatre Royal, Bath»

Synopsis

Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women was an immediate critical and commercial success. The book was inspired by Alcott’s experiences growing up and is one of the best loved novels of all time.

Experience the enduring journey of the March sisters – tomboy Jo, beautiful Meg, sensitive Beth, and spoilt Amy, as they navigate the challenges of the Civil War era, forging unbreakable bonds of love and family. Step into the world of sisterhood, courage, ambition and follow them as they progress into womanhood.

Still as relevant today Little Women is a celebration of women proving that women can be heroes of their own story, can be bold, persistent, self-assured to stand strong in who they are, and what they desire for themselves in their present and future.

Anne-Marie Casey’s masterful new adaptation of the classic story offers a captivating rendition of Little Women that breathes new life into a cherished classic.

The recent success of the Greta Gerwig film, the nostalgia of the classic book, combined with a beautiful adaptation provides an exciting theatrical experience guaranteed to be a night (or afternoon!) filled with laughter, tears, and a heart-warming lifting of the spirits.

#Review by Lou of The Seven O’Clock Club by Amelia Ireland #AmeliaIreland #bwpublishing #bonnierbooks_uk @KellyALacey @LoveBooksTours #LBTCrew #BookTwitter

The Seven O’Clock Club
By Amelia Ireland

Review written by Louise Cannon (Lou)

The Seven O’Clock Club, the book that can’t be neatly put into a box. It is as fast paced as a thriller, but it isn’t a thriller. It also has a bit of romance, it also deals with the human condition and society/community. The Seven O’Clock Club has something for everyone within it.

Today, I am on the Love Books Tour blog tour of this beautifully written book. Discover the blurb and my review below…

Blurb

At seven o’clock one Tuesday evening, in a perfectly ordinary tower block near Westminster, four strangers meet for the first time. They each have three things in common: all suffered a traumatic experience six months earlier; all exhibit a dogged inability to put it behind them; and all accepted an invitation to attend tonight’s counselling session with the unconventional Genevieve – a determined woman with an unusual theory to test.

But this isn’t a novel about psychotherapy or self-forgiveness. Because there is another reason these four people have been brought together. And when that perfectly ordinary tower block near Westminster turns out to be not quite so ordinary, all five are forced to make some unexpected – and, for some, impossible – decisions . . .

A novel about friendship, strength and love, The Seven O’Clock Club is a reminder that life can give you hope. Even in the darkest of spaces.

Review

The Seven O’Clock book is brilliantly compelling, if not what I was expecting from the cover. This is a good thing. It is about community, but not exactly the cosy community that you might expect, nor the type of club you may have become accustomed to. This explores the inner sanctum of a club where people have come together with their issues, especially grief and together as part of a therapy group.
In some ways, it reminds me of a series called “In Treatment”, although that was with individuals in each episode. In this book, each chapter does concentrate on the individuals, so you follow their lives, their progress, in and out of the confines of therapy and the relationships they form, but also within the group, so you see how they relate and communicate to each other.

The pacing, as mentioned before, is as sharp and fast as any thriller and with, at times, similar intensity, without it being a thriller. It gives chance to see people’s lives within the club in such a compelling manner. It’s pretty hard to let go of, once you’ve started it. There are characters who feel like society has been well-observed whilst creating them, are ones you can really get stuck into and want to know more about as well as the inner workings of this different style of club.

The Seven O’Clock Club is a book I highly recommend, especially if you’re looking for something different to be absorbed into.