#Review By Lou of The Golden Hour By Kate Lord Brown @katelordbrown @Teambatc #TheGoldenHour

The Golden Hour
By Kate Lord Brown

Be seduced into Egypt with this intriguing tale of past and present and history of the country and between the characters colliding. Discover the gorgeous cover, the blurb and my review below…

Blurb

The Golden Hour is an epic dual timeline story which interweaves glory-seeking desert archaeologists, priceless treasures, Nefertiti’s tomb and the decadent cabarets of WW2 Cairo with restless expat lives in bohemian Beirut.

Archaeologist Lucie Fitzgerald’s mother is dying – she’s also been lying. As her home, the ‘Paris of the East’, Beirut, teeters on the brink of war in the ‘70s, Polly Fitzgerald has one last story to tell from her deathbed. It’s the story of her childhood best friend Juno and their life in 30s Cairo. Lucie travels home to be with her dying mother and discovers the truth about her family, Juno’s work and their shared search for the greatest undiscovered tomb of all – Nefertiti’s.

From the cities to the deserts, this transporting and moving story of a lost generation transformed by war is a study of great love and sacrifice in all its forms, the perfect novel for fans of Santa Montefiore, Lucinda Riley and Victoria Hislop.

Review

The Golden Hour has a rich, lush setting that goes with the evocative cover. The plot goes across a dual timeline, flowing seamlessly linking past and present together, showing symbolism and hidden meanings along the way.

Lucie, in 1975 is called back to Beirut because her mother, Polly hasn’t long to live. She hopes that Lucie will take care of the stud farm. She also has one rather big secret to tell…
Lucie is an archaeologist researching Nefertiti’s tomb. This links past and present together. Polly also used to be in Egypt in 1939 with Juno, who have a complex friendship. There is a bit of common ground in their upbringing, on top of being able to see their passion for ancient Egypt. Like Lucie, they also had a desire to see what they can uncover in Nefertiti’s tomb. Their story starts to compellingly unfold in Luxor, Cairo.

In the background of unrest, tension and war looming, a remarkable friendship, love and secrets weave through the richly drawn plot. The passion for Egyptology of Kate Lord Brown comes across in the book with lots of detail, but not overly done as it leaves you feeling swept away with it, rather than bogged down in it.

The Golden Hour is intriguingly seductive and one to savour.

#Review by Lou of The Devil’s Draper By Donna Moore @BadsvilleBroad @fly_press #TheDevilsDraper #1920s #ScottishNoir

The Devil’s Draper
By Donna Moore

Set in 1920’s Glasgow, The Devil’s Draper is partly opulent, partly social narrative about women defying societal norms in a gripping, atmospheric mystery.

Blurb

FROM THE AUTHOR OF ‘THE UNPICKING’

When whispers of abuse at Arrol’s department store reach Mabel, a determined policewoman, she knows she must act. Enlisting the help of Johnnie, a cunning thief, and Beatrice, a savvy businesswoman, they embark on a perilous journey to uncover the truth. Set against the backdrop of 1920s Glasgow, where women’s voices are often silenced, this thrilling tale weaves together crime, justice, and the fight for equality. As the trio inches closer to exposing the scandal, they realize that in a world where women are rarely believed, their very lives may be at stake.

Review

Set in 1920’s Glasgow, Mabel is only one of two female police officers. She’s much more than the “statement taker” that her boss has her down for, but this is totally overlooked. She is a risk-taker, an organiser and shows integrity and bravery. She defies what are considered to be societal norms. She goes above and beyond what she is otherwise perceived to be by those in higher up positions. Mabel is a brilliant character to read about. There were women who didn’t fit into the box that society put them in, then and later. They’re fascinating women, I’ve been privileged to know and live part of my life alongside a woman in my family who also went against the grain. The Devil’s Draper is of course a work of fiction, but there’s plenty of paints what would have been a real picture from here and there in society.

Mabel gathers the force to find out who the man is that women are scared to name, even though their lives are at stake.

The Devil’s Draper has a darkness that fits well with Glasgow and the times, but also has parts that lifts your heart in what is a twisty, gripping read.

Thanks to Fly On The Wall Press for the opportunity to review.

#Review of Crucified, the new Jack Warr book by Lynda La Plante. Happy Publication Day @LaPlanteLynda @ZaffreBooks @Tr4cyF3nt0n #CompulsiveReaders #BlogTour #JackWarr #Crucified

Crucified
By Lynda La Plante

Crucified, the brand new 5th book in the Jack Warr series that fans of Lynda La Plante have been waiting for is now published.

Blurb

A KILLER IN THE FRAME.
A DETECTIVE AT BREAKING POINT . . .

Detective Jack Warr should be resting on his laurels. He’s just put sadistic serial killer Rodney Middleton behind bars and he’s ready to enjoy some time at home with his young family.

Instead, Jack is having violent nightmares that leave his wife Maggie terrified.

What Jack needs is a break, but instead he finds himself sucked into another grisly case as a man is found horrifically murdered in an art-framer’s shop. Jack becomes fascinated by the elaborately staged killing – especially coming straight after the surprise reappearance of charismatic forger Adam Border.

Could Adam be the victim?
Or the murderer?

Finding the truth will unveil a shocking portrait of a corrupt art world – but will it also expose the secrets Jack is so desperately trying to keep hidden?

Review

Jack Warr is a complex soul, which makes for fascinating reading. This becomes increasingly apparent throughout the series. He’s now suffering from the fall out, he resists all help when he’s mentally not in a good place. He has, however got the chance to reconnect with Adam Border, but here’s the thing, he’s ethically and morally corrupt. He’s a master forger. Things get darker when there’s a murder in the framer’s that artist/forger, Adam Border uses. There were already dodgy goings on prior to this.

There’s also a prison nurse, who nearing retirement is prepared to let nothing spoil this for her, but how far will she go?

Each character grips and intrigues with their complexities and nefarious ways.

Darkly edgy, compelling, this is a brilliant addition to the series that just makes you want more.

Buy Link

Lynda La Plante.com – check out the competition

Waterstones Amazon

#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