#Review By Lou of Buried – Book 1 of the Jack Warr Series By Lynda La Plante @LaPlanteLynda @ZaffreBooks #DCJackWarr #CrimeFiction #CompulsiveReaders #BlogTour

Buried
By Lynda La Plante

I am pleased to be back on the blog tour for books by Lynda La Plante, previously I was reading and reviewing all of the Tennison series. This time I’ve been reading and reviewing the Detective Constable Jack Warr series.
I will be reviewing 4 books and then the hotly anticipated 5th when it’s made available.

SOME THINGS SHOULD REMAIN BURIED . . .

DC Jack Warr and his girlfriend Maggie have just moved to London to start a new life together. Though charming, Jack can’t seem to find his place in the world – until he’s drawn into an investigation that turns his life upside down.

In the aftermath of a fire at an isolated cottage, a badly charred body is discovered, along with the burnt remains of millions of stolen, untraceable bank notes.

Jack’s search leads him deep into a murky criminal underworld – a world he finds himself surprisingly good at navigating. But as the line of the law becomes blurred, how far will Jack go to find the answers – and what will it cost him?

In BURIED, it’s time to meet DC Jack Warr as he digs up the deadly secrets of the past . . .

Review

Buried is a great beginning to a series. You start to really get to know Jack Warr in a way that makes you want to know him more. He has a girlfriend, Maggie, whom he truly loves and they’re trying to find how they fit into their ‘new life’ in London. This makes them interesting characters. There’s already a profession in place and it isn’t about losing a love first, which all makes great stories, but this adds a different slant to creating a new life and feeling lost. I liked this and it felt authentic.

Buried is a clever, fully loaded title. There’s the concept of something being buried and to be uncovered in the investigation, such as a body from the cottage fire and the money from a cold case involving a train robbery, but also in DC Jack Warr’s personal life where he starts to uncover his own past as he delves into trying to uncover who his biological father is.

There’s lots to hook you into the characters with the complex personal life as well as the, sometimes, perhaps unorthodox methods of working within the case in DC Warr’s professional life. There’s quite a bit of depth for readers to explore and be gripped by.

It’s a brilliant beginning of a series that I can’t wait to continue…

You can have the pleasure of discovering this series too:

Buy Links:

https://lyndalaplante.com/books/buried/

Bookshop.org

#Review of The Pearl Button Girl By Annie Murray Book 1 of #NewSeries #ChildrenOfBirmingham #AnnieMurray @PanMacMillan @chlodavies97 #ThePearlButtonGirl #BlogTour

The Pearl Button Girl
Book 1 of Children of Birmingham
By Annie Murray

The Pearl Button is the latest book by Annie Murray. It’s the first in a new set which follows the Fletcher family in industrialised Birmingham, with all the grit and warmth readers have come to expect. It gives me great pleasure to start off the Pan Macmillan blog tour with a review. Discover the blurb and review below.

Blurb

Annie Murray’s The Pearl Button Girl is book one in the Children of Birmingham series, starting in Victorian Birmingham and following the trials and triumphs of the Fletcher family.

Working at the local pearl button factory, Ada Fletcher is doing her best to make ends meet in trying times.

When tragedy strikes and her siblings are taken to a workhouse orphanage, Ada is saved from a similar fate by her neighbour, Sarah Connell.

But the roof over Ada’s head doesn’t come without a price: the Connells have too many children, not enough money, and Sarah’s reliance on drink means that it isn’t long before Ada needs to escape.

Determined to be more than just a factory girl, Ada embarks on a journey to reunite with her siblings. But in a teeming industrial city, will she be able to find long-lost family as well as a home and life to call her own?

Review

A new family and situations written in true Annie Murray style she still keeps to showing a family’s trials and tribulations of their life. This time it’s in a button factory and no matter how hard Ada Fletcher tries, she still faces such hardship and loses her siblings, Elsie, Dora, John, and Mabs to the workhouse. Her troubles don’t stop there as she embarks trying to find her family and create a new life.

Set in industrialised Birmingham, you get the sense of the hard times which some families came up against. The Fletcher family feels like it was a well researched creation of Victorian times when you aren’t living or working in a grand house. Through the Fletcher family, you’re skilfully shown the other side of society and how grim it could be. There’s also a sense of how people try to help where they can, even when their lives aren’t too much better with their own troubles and strife and that’s rather heart-warming.

There are elements of hope and Ada is such a well-drawn character that you want something good to happen to her.
There’s also warmth in Sarah Connell, but you can see she’s got her own family to juggle, although takes in Ada anyway and tries to accommodate her, you can feel her hardship and the toil it takes on the family as well as Sarah herself. She’s quite a complex character with a busy homelife and one that she is struggling to cope with. which adds interest in her and her home as well.
Sarah brings some compassionate feelings, but ultimately the desire is for Ada to be setting up a new homelife in a safe place and for something to happen so her future turns around for the better.

The Pearl Button Girl won’t disappoint and is sure to delight fans of Annie Murray.
It’s a story I recommend and it’s great getting into the grittiness, hardships and plight of a new family.

A Few Buy Links

Waterstones Amazon Bookshop.org

Find out who else is on the blog tour below, thanks to Chloe Davies at Pan Macmillan for inviting me and sending a copy of the book in exchange of an honest review.
Please note, I am not affiliated to any company.

#Review By Lou of Murder In The Blitz By F.L. Everett @fliceverett @bookouture #MurderInTheBlitz

Murder In The Blitz
By F.L. Everett

Today I am kicking off the Bookouture blog tour for – Murder In The Blitz is interesting and compelling in that it mixes crime and war times. Find out more in the blurb and then my review below.

Blurb

Murder in the Blitz: A completely addictive historical cozy mystery (An Edie York Mystery Book 1)

England, 1940. Newspaper secretary Edie York wants nothing more than to be a real wartime reporter. But when she stumbles upon the death of a Home Guard soldier she must turn her investigative skills to sleuthing…

Rookie reporter Edie York dreams of being out in the field, instead of being stuck writing up the wartime headlines, transcribing Churchill’s rousing speeches on her cranky typewriter. So when her first real assignment one misty morning ends with the crack of a pistol shot and the sudden death of a Home Guard soldier, she’s determined to take her chance and investigate.

With the local police force, under the utterly irritating but outrageously handsome DCI Louis Brennan, stretched to the limit as bombs rain down, Edie strikes out alone. And she quickly discovers more than she’d ever hoped – or feared. From undercover spies to priceless stolen artwork, Edie is plunged headlong into a mystery that stretches from Manchester to Berlin.

But when she finds another body in the blackout, Edie realises she’s bitten off more than she can chew. With an exasperated Louis finally lending a hand, can Edie unveil the murderer and make headline news, her name in print at last? Or will she be next…?

A brilliantly addictive and totally twist-packed cozy historical mystery perfect for fans of Richard Osman and Agatha Christie. This is the first book in the Edie York Mystery series.

Review

Investigative journalism turns to sleuthing in a twisty cosy mystery!

Historical mysteries either grab me or they don’t and this one does. The scene is set well and I liked that Edie York is a newspaper secretary dreaming of being out there on the ground. It has that feel of wants and desires of getting on in life. She wants a part of the action and has the bravery to go with her desire along with a curious and inquisitive nature.
It’s an interesting time for a book as the war is going on. As if deaths as a result of war isn’t enough, there is a murder and Edie is the one to uncover it, especially since DCI Louis Brennan has lots to deal with, yet ends up eventually on the case in Manchester. You really get to know the characters and it sets up the main ones, who may well be recurring characters well as well as getting on with the mystery to be solved.

It’s a twisty book, more so than I expected, yet keeps the cosy mystery book feel. It’s a strong book 1 in what will become a series and one surely to read!

About the Author

Flic Everett is a Mancunian writer who now lives in a cottage in the beautiful West Highlands with her patient husband and two deranged cocker spaniels. She still misses Manchester, and returns like a homing pigeon every month to see family and friends. She spends a lot of time writing on trains.

Flic has owned an award-winning vintage shop, guest-presented Woman’s Hour and was once a part-time tarot reader. She has a grown up son who makes her laugh more than anyone on earth, and she likes reading, painting, cooking, clothes, animals, Art Deco and rummaging in charity shops for bargains. Her greatest fear is being stranded without a book. She has spent many years as a freelance journalist and editor for national newspapers and magazines and can’t believe she’s finally allowed to make up stories from the comfort of her own home.

Author social media

Website

Www.fliceverett.com

Facebook URL

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61551319733773

Instagram URL @fliceverett

Twitter URL @fliceverett

Newsletter: https://bookouture.com/subscribe/f-l-everett/

#BookReview By Lou of The Time Jigsaw – Adventures In Time Book 1 #TheTimeJigsaw #SciFi #CrimeFiction #Mystery

The Time Jigsaw – Adventures In Time
Book 1
By David Munro

Having read and rating them pretty highly – two of David Munro’s books – Georgina and I asked him if there were others, so he directed me to where it all began – The Time Jigsaw. He informs me it is inspired by where he comes from. Check out the blurb and review below…

Blurb

Following a move to Nice, the life of James Carsell-Brown begins to change when he meets pretty Michelle Duvallier, whom he believes is the woman of his dreams. However. appearances can be deceptive. After the body of a young woman matching Michelle’s description is washed up on a beach, all hell breaks loose. He is kidnapped and upon his escape, decides to flee to the calmer waters of Scotland. In Scotland, though, he faces new challenges – time travelling from one period to another quite by chance.

Review

The Time Jigsaw is a slow-burn but one that’s worth staying with. There’s time travel and as well as this, a murder to solve. It’s certain intriguing as readers are invited to not only be immersed in solving a crime, but also in the sci-fi element of time travel, which feels very well researched.

Readers can follow the main character – James Carsell Brown who gets metaphorical “itchy feet” and makes the move from Aberdeen to Nice. There are interesting comparisons made between the two, and the differences. He doesn’t get the warmest of welcomes. It isn’t long before he meets Michelle Duvallier, there’s intrigue in the conversation that piques interest as to who she is. When her body is washed up, James finds himself embroiled in whoever she truly was and has no clue about what the police are on about. There’s intrigue with a little suspense as Detective Claude Laurant takes on the case. From then the suppositions and accusations fly and all is not as innocent as first appeared with the woman who seemed like she had an average life.

When in Scotland, an innocent enough journey and this is when things get even more mysterious and interesting as he finds himself travelling through time to various time periods. The author has clearly thoroughly researched the time periods and paints a picture of each place in time he arrives in. This is when the title – The Time Jigsaw comes into its own as there are many parts to piece together.

Between the time travel and the mystery of Michelle Duvallier, it is a fairly engaging story. It is an entertaining and interesting concept of mixing crime fiction and time travel.

About the Author

David Munro was born in the north of Edinburgh and then moved to the capital’s Royal Mile. His family originally came from Ardrishaig, on the banks of Loch Fyne. David was employed by a well-known brewery in Edinburgh, and at the age of 27, relocated to Aberdeen, then Glasgow. He attended university and college to attain Chartered Marketer status in an arts discipline. As an arts professional, and with experience of different cultures, this lends to creative literature. Relaxing to music and taking long walks through the scenic Scottish countryside, assists David in formulating ideas for his novels.

#Review By Lou of The Last Party By Clare Mackintosh #Book 1 of #DCFfionSeries #CrimeFiction

The Last Party
By Clare Mackintosh

The Last Party introduces DC Ffion Morgan in a new series for bestselling author – Clare Mackintosh. How does a party become murderous? I have also included a link to a write up to her Bloody Scotland appearance where she talked about The Last Party. Find this after the blurb and my review What you won’t find is the answer to that question, unless you read the book…

Blurb

THE INSTANT SUNDAY TIMES TOP 5 BESTSELLER AND START OF A THRILLING NEW SERIES: AT MIDNIGHT, ONE OF THEM IS DEAD. BY MORNING, ALL OF THEM ARE SUSPECTS . . .

On New Year’s Eve, Rhys Lloyd has a house full of guests.
His lakeside holiday homes are a success, and he’s generously invited the village to drink champagne with their wealthy new neighbours. This will be the party to end all parties.

But not everyone is there to celebrate. By midnight, Rhys will be floating dead in the freezing waters of the lake.

On New Year’s Day, DC Ffion Morgan has a village full of suspects.
The tiny community is her home, so the suspects are her neighbours, friends and family – and Ffion has her own secrets to protect.

With a lie uncovered at every turn, soon the question isn’t who wanted Rhys dead . . . but who finally killed him.

In a village with this many secrets, a murder is just the beginning.

Review

The Last Party is the First DC Morgan Mystery in a new series by Clare Mackintosh.

Rhys is found dead. New Year’s Eve/Day is a great premise to have a murder mystery. People come together who you wouldn’t necessarily have together at any other time and they party. As the champagne flows, someone wants Rhys dead, the question is whom and why. It’s twisty as the story builds the picture as to what the motive was to murder him and how everyone becomes a suspect.

The village atmosphere is well-written, which becomes increasingly intriguing as the secrets start to emerge. There are also issues of the day presented within the book, such as the rise of Air B n B’s and shifts in communities weaves into this book, set in Wales.

It is reminiscent of Agatha Christie’s books and the Miss Marple book – The Moving Finger comes to mind, since 1 person dies and not several like the thriller- And Then There Were None, but the party atmosphere makes this come to mind and Murder on The Orient Express as everyone is a suspect.

Link to Bloody Scotland Panel Talk: The Last Party Talk

#Review By Lou – New Neighbours of Coronation Close – Book 1 of a new series by Lizzie Lane – Happy Publication Day @baywriterallat1 @BoldwoodBooks #HistoricalSaga #FamilySaga

New Neighbours of Coronation Close
By Lizzie Lane

Fans of Lizzie Lane will be delighted to know that today is the publication of book 1 of a brand new historical saga series introducing readers to the people who reside in Coronation Close, set in 1936. See the blurb below and then my review. Thanks first to Boldwood Books for the review copy.

The start of BRAND NEW SERIES from bestselling author of ‘The Tobacco Girls’ Jenny Crawford has resigned herself to a loveless marriage living hand to mouth with their two children. Like many others, husband Roy struggles to find work at the docks but a chance encounter turns the family’s fortunes around.Not only does he get regular work but they are also allocated a council house on Coronation Close on the outskirts of the city. Jenny and the children are overjoyed, this is the fresh start she could only ever dream of. But trouble feels never too far away. With Roy spending more time with Sir Oswald Molsey bullying black shirts, Jenny is left to her own devices and eager to fit in begins to make new friends.Thankful of peace, Jenny has her head turned firstly by an old love and then by her knight in shining armour.Does she allow herself to glimpse a chance of happiness?Whatever happens the consequences could be dire if Roy ever finds out.

New Neighbours of Coronation Close is set in an interesting time in history. Set in 1936, the Molsey’s, in particular, Sir Oswald Molesy is making his mark and his views known (as is Hitler overseas, taking a firmer grip and making his views known ever more prominently); the monarchy is changing as a King is dead, which is where the book begins and the next in line is ascending onto the throne. It captures many moments of history, which puts events into context in amongst what was happening in the wider society. It’s pretty dark at times, as history shows us, but also hopeful as you root for a better life for Jenny.

Coronation Close is where Jenny Crawford and her husband Roy move to. It’s in the suburbs and secured because of Roy’s interest in politics, not just anyone’s politics, but he gets very close to Sir Oswald Mosley’s brand of politics. Life, just because they have a better council house now, is far from cosy. Roy has a temper on him and everything changed once he stuck a ring on her finger. There were money troubles as Roy and life around the docks, searching for work was difficult, prior to him meeting Sir Oswald Mosley. Roy becomes increasingly interested in him and spends vast amounts of time with him and seemingly changing their luck around; giving Jenny time to wonder if she can changer her life from one where she feels tied to the shackles of a loveless marriage to daring to set her sights to something happier.

It gives insight into a different period of time, when things were changing politically and yet domestically, whether you were an average person or monarchy, certain things were the same in certain attitudes and ways of having to be seen as doing what was considered the respectable thing to do above all else as there are consequences, no matter who you are and not always good ones. The question is, will Jenny, upon meeting an old lover, choose to change her life and do something considered radical for the times or will she remain with Roy? What of the monarch too?

It is certainly a book worth checking out.