My Top 16 Fiction Books of various genres of 2024 By Lou #BookReviews #ReadingCommunity #BookTwitter #Thrillers #RomanticFiction #LiteraryFiction

First of all, I, Louise Cannon wish you all a good New Year! Thank you so much for reading my blog and sharing my posts onto your social media. It’s much appreciated!

Whittling down lots of books is a challenge, but here are 16 of my best fictional reads of many genres of 2024. Each link will open in a new tab so you can navigate back here as you please with ease. Below this list you will find a link to a previous blog post about my 5 top non-fiction/memoirs to read.

The Teacher By Tim

The Headmaster isn’t liked by many others. When a body is discovered, in comes DS Cross and his team to uncover what becomes a search for motive and there’s plenty of suspicion to get stuck into.
Tim Sullivan mixes mystery and humour very well.
If you liked Ludwig on tv, you’ll enjoy this.
This is part of a series that can be read as a standalone.
2025 will see the next book – The Bookseller.

Discover the blurb and full review here: The Teacher

An Ideal Husband By Erica James

Louisa’s needing to carve out a new life. An Ideal Husband shows that everything can seem just fine and could well last forever, but sometimes secrets can be concealed very well… There are compelling twists and turns to this refreshing romance that tackles a bit of a disaster in life that isn’t often talked about…

Discover the blurb and my review here: An Ideal Husband

The Wedding of the Year

Expect the unexpected with cracks, bumps and twists in the road. Is it the wedding it’s cracked up to be? The Wedding of the Year becomes quite the page-turner as characters, refreshingly tell of their not so easy-flowing romances.

Discover the blurb and review here: The Wedding of the Year

Beautiful People by Amanda Jennings

Beauty on the outside doesn’t always mean beauty on the inside. Riches don’t always buy the perfect life are perhaps the takeaways from this psychological thriller. Victoria escapes her broken home for university life where she meets people who can open new doors for her. The very people who she thought were “Beautiful People” aren’t all they first seem in this darkly twisted psychological thriller that takes you into moments where you may well be holding your breath…

Discover the blurb and full review here: Beautiful People

Edge of The Land by Malcolm Hollingdrake

Part of the Merseyside crime series, this particular book is darkly compelling, set around the docklands and the famous Liverbird building. It can also be read as a standalone. How did an 8 year old turn to being a petty criminal and later fall foul with a drugs gang? Why are homeless people suddenly being murdered? Detective Inspector April Decent and Detective Sergeant Skeeter Warlock have tricky puzzles to unravel to uncover the serial killer.

Discover the blurb and review here: Edge Of The Land

True Love By Paddy Crewe

Set in the 1980’s Finn and Keely are growing up in the north east of England and life is hard in this gritty book of tragedy, yet also shows edges of romantic, agape, unconditional love. With characters to root for, it’s an immersive read.

Discover the blurb and review here: True Love

The Beaver Theory By Antti Tuomainen

Antti Tuomainen writes Scandi Noir with humour. The last in the trilogy that began with The Rabbit Factor, Henri Koskinen, the quirky mathematician who is the last person you’d think would own the theme park “YouMeFun” notices an unscrupulous rival is at play. Things get rather messier when there’s a death and soon after, the body count increases. The series is one of the most entertaining Scandi Noir I’ve ever seen.

Discover the blurb and review here: The Beaver Theory

Home for Christmas By Heidi Swain

This is the most festive book ever, ever! Heidi Swain takes people back to her community in Wynbridge and she weaved everything that is heartwarming and festive into a book to cosy up with.

Discover the blurb and review here: Home For Christmas

The Night In Question By Susan Fletcher

Florence Butterfield, an octogenarian with a colourful past. She was quite the adventurer and now is an amputee in a care home. The thing is, there’s a lot more sinister things than just care that’s going on…

Discover the blurb and review here: The Night In Question

The Island of Dreams by Helen McGinn
Meet Martha, she’s won a holiday to Paxos and is daunted by going it alone. Along with challenges, she also meets a rather welcoming community. McGinn gives a great sense of place and draws you into everyone’s personalities.

Discover the blurb and my review here: Island of Dreams

One of Us Is Dead By Peter James

One of Us Is Dead is part of the successful Grace series that you may have also seen on TV. This is the latest book. It can be read as standalone too.

A Dopple-ganger, a strange figure at a funeral of someone who’s supposed to be dead, all woven into a gripping case.

Discover the blurb and review here: One of Us Is Dead

The Guests By Nikki Smith

Sink into the luxury of the Maldives, feel the sand and sun on your skin. All isn’t all it seems in one of the resorts where secrets lie and the psyche of human nature truly comes through.

Discover more in the blurb and review here:
The Guests

This Motherless Land by Nikki May

A retelling of Mansfield Park, set between 1986 and 1992, retellings aren’t normally my thing, but this book was one piqued my interest by the author of WAHALA.

Eavesdrop on conversations and have fun with pop culture as well as having a feel of the original book by Jane Austen, it’s cleverly written with humour.
Discover more in the blurb and review here This Motherless Land

Gone To Pieces by Rachel Cosyns

A spider spinning a web like a labyrinth is cleverly how Gone To Pieces begins. It’s thought-provoking as it sets the story up to show human life, the web of connections and home as well as demonstrating the fragility of life.
Follow Rebecca into places people don’t always get to see…
Check out the blurb and review here: Gone To Pieces

Geneva By Richard Armitage

It’s easy to feel trapped and desire a good facility such as the carehome in Geneva.
The emotions and tensions build as does something rather sinister.
I’ve also included a link within the full review to a write-up of a talk Richard Armitage gave in the autumn of 2024.

Discover blurb, review, talk here: Geneva

Her Deadly Friend By Rachel Sargeant

It’s a thought-provoking thriller that makes you wonder how you’d feel if you suspected someone you knew of murder and may also destroy your life!

Discover the blurb and review here: Her Deadly Friend

See here for my top 5 Memoirs/Autobiographies:
Memoirs

#Review By Lou of Edge of the Land By Malcolm Hollingdrake @MHollingdrake @HobeckBooks #EdgeOfTheLand #MerseysideCrimeSeries #CrimeFiction #BlogTour

Edge of the Land
By Malcolm Hollingdrake

After reading and reviewing the first two of the Merseyside crime series, Catch As Catch Can and Syn, it gives me great pleasure to be back on the Hobeck Books blog tour for the third instalment. You can read it as a stand-alone or as part of the series.
I’ve also trawled through my many photos of Liverpool and included the Albert Docks and the Liverbirds Building that are mentioned after my review. I don’t live in Liverpool, but have visited this city.

Blurb

Edge of the Land is the thrilling third novel in the Merseyside crime series from Malcolm Hollingdrake, author of the best-selling Harrogate crime series.

The waterways of the Liverpool docks contain many ghosts and shadows. It’s a place to disappear… a place to die.
Detective Inspector April Decent and Detective Sergeant Skeeter Warlock are fearful for the welfare of a vulnerable young man injured in an attack ordered by drug dealers. Originally questioned at the scene, the young man denies the attack and refuses to co-operate with the police. He soon disappears. Clues to his whereabouts are sown, a cry for help maybe, but he remains elusive.

At the same time, the team are dealing with a spate of deaths in the city. The one thing the deaths have in common: the victims are all homeless and seemingly ravaged by addiction. Initially, the deaths are not considered to be suspicious as there is no obvious connection. Soon the hallmarks of murder are discovered and a hunt for a potential serial killer is on.
Is there a link between the missing man and the deaths? Could he be the vital piece of the puzzle which will solve the mystery behind the brutal murders?

Review

The Merseyside crime series is gritty with twists and turns, creating a dark, yet very compelling atmosphere. In reality, the docklands around Liverpool is an interesting area to visit, for readers who perhaps visit this city or live in and around it.

The writing is engaging, with shades of light and dark.
There’s a petty criminal, Danny, who has been sadly involved in crime since the age of 8, so knows no different. It’s quite a reflection on certain areas of society and how people can turn out. He’s now fallen foul to a drugs gang. Police are concerned about his activities and his welfare.

Homeless people are seen as “easy targets” and are being murdered. As a wider picture emerges, it looks like a serial killer is on the lose, going through the Liverpudlian streets.

Detective Inspector April Decent and Detective Sergeant Skeeter Warlock are the beat to solve both cases. Both are gripping and intriguing and not easy for the police to piece together the fragments of evidence.

It’s a fascinating read with tricky puzzles to solve before time runs out. There’s a lot for the police to handle and a lot at stake in this pacy read.

Pics are of the docks and Liverbirds building that are mentoned in the book.

#Reviews etc By Lou – Happy 1st Anniversary to Hobeck Books @HobeckBooks #CrimeFiction #Thrillers #PsychologicalThriller #ScottishNoir and more @HobeckBooks @RobertDaws @mark_wightman @istheauthor @KerenaSwan @AliMorgan2304 @antony_dunford @MHollingdrake

Hobeck Books is a publishing company run by husband and wife team – Adrian Hobart and Rebecca Collins. Today is the first anniversary of this team who are passionate about super crime fiction in all its forms and cats. I am also proud to be on their Advanced Readers Team and read through as many books as I can, to submit feedback, before I write a blog review.
Please note that I have not been asked to write a blog post or anything about it being their first anniversary, so, what I am writing is completely unbiased. I’ve felt I’ve wanted to put something together for awhile and now seems an appropriate time to do so to celebrate such an achievement from afar.
I have included some links to Hobeck Books and some of my reviews and you should check out the eye-catching covers too. There have so many books and authors that I just want to give you a taste of some here and bundle up a small selection of my reviews and also find out a bit more about this Indy publisher.

Hobeck Books have published police procedurals, thrillers, psychological thrillers, political thillers, quirky crime, Scottish Noir and more…There really is something for everyone who likes crime within fiction that also has a wider scope into people’s lives and so much more. Their authors are writing more than one book with them and they are often signing up authors from all over the UK.
They publish Paperbacks, Audiobooks and E-books, sometimes free E-books too. They also have their own Podcast (Hobcast), details can be found on their website. It has been quite a year from them.

Hobeck: Website www.hobeck.net Twitter: @HobeckBooks Instagram: @hobeckbooks
Facebook: www.facebook.com/hobeckbooks10

Hobeck Books is doing tremendously well for year 1. Not only have they learned about publishing (before Hobeck was official of course, as there’s always a lot going on in the background to businesses etc) and made connections with various people from authors to bloggers to other readers, but they have a book in the Shortlist for Crime Book Festival – Bloody Scotland – Waking The Tiger by Mark Wightman. It’s no mean feat as there are hugely popular authors on that list and yet, they’ve found and published a great debut that’s reached (so far), these heady heights. Luckily they all leave the killing to just being on the page. They’re all nicer than their culprits.

Their Flagship Author is the ever popular and hugely successful actor, podcaster and author – Robert Daws, who transferred all his books in his excellent Broderick and Sullivan Murder Mystery series to them and has another being released soon.
All are set in Gibraltar, may well make you want to go there and are twisty and compelling to read. They are also 99p over on Amazon to celebrate this magnificent achievement is such climes.

Links to Reviews
The Rock and Poisoned Rock Reviews
Killing Rock Review

Waking The Tiger by Mark Wightman has made it to Shortlist at Bloody Scotland, a prestigious and ever growing festival in Stirling, Scotland.

Waking The Tiger Review

Lewis Hastings has a trilogy of books – the increasingly popular Se7en series.
Here is a book with Jack Cade returning, but more standalone and works well with its twists and big plotlines to be gripped by.

The Angel of Whitehall Review

Blood Loss is the first in the DI Paton Investigates series. It’s twisty and hard to put down.

Blood Loss Review

Throttled is humourous, with some big themes and is part of The Quirk Files. This is book two. Book one is Over Her Dead Body.

Throttled Review

Hunted takes readers to the heart of nature and the dark world of wildlife crime. It’s books like these that also bring something different to crime fiction.

Hunted Review

Catch As Catch Can by Malcolm Hollingdrake is in the dark and brooding underworld and has quite a hook to it, that then makes you want to read the next book -Syn.
Catch As Catch Can Review

That was just a few, keep a look out for more and also keep an eye out on the Hobeck Books media and bloggers posts for more… Check out their website for what’s coming and for free books too and more info.
Hobeck: Website www.hobeck.net Twitter: @HobeckBooks Instagram: @hobeckbooks
Facebook: www.facebook.com/hobeckbooks10

#Review by Lou – Catch as Catch Can by Malcolm Hollingdrake – Happy Publication Day @MHollingdrake @HobeckBooks #CrimeFiction #Merseyside

Catch As Catch Can
By Malcolm Hollingdrake

Review written by Louise (Lou) @Lou_Bookmarks

Catch As Catch Can is an excellent first crime fiction novel set in Liverpool by Malcolm Hollingdrake. There is atmosphere and a terrific rhythm in the artistic writing that gives it an edge, on the backdrop of noteable landmarks and the streets of Liverpool.

Published by Hobeck Books, I thank them as a member of their Advanced Reading Team for gifting me a copy.

FInd out more in the blurb and short review below. Discover what book is coming soon by Malcolm Hollingdrake. I can tell you, it’s a good second book to Catch as Catch Can.

Blurb

A mutilated body apparently washed up on a windswept beach…

A violent criminal gang preys on moped riders across the area…

A teenage girl is desperate to escape sexual exploitation…

It’s a tough introduction to Merseyside for Detective Inspector April Decent, who’s just arrived from her native Yorkshire. Together with new colleague Skeeter Warlock, Decent quickly discovers there’s a sinister link between them all, one that will bring them face-to-face with some uncomfortable home truths.

Catch as Catch Can is the first in the Merseyside Crime Series from Malcolm Hollingdrake – bestselling author of the Harrogate Crime Series.

Review

Check out the mysterious cover and the abstractness of it as it reflects the Mersey in Liverpool. The book has great artistic qualities, such as the rich, imaginative descriptions. that hooked me in. It feeds into the imagination in a curious way. A flip of a coin and the book becomes darker and more intense as a tattoo parlour needs investigating, once the right one with a particular design is found. Readers are plunged into a dark world in Liverpool of exploitation of women. Detective Decent is on the case with her team to investigate. There are many great new characters to get to know in this debut novel and they have a definite northern feel and are really interesting to get to know how they work together and who they are.
It’s sinister and gripping as it goes on into delving into the crimes. Piercing through bits of the darkness here and there are subtle shades of lightness in some of the conversations that transpire from the investigation.

The book, set in Liverpool, highlights some of the landmarks of the city and the author uses the sprawling city well, so those familiar or unfamiliar with the city will get a sense of place and enjoyment out of it.

It is part of a series set in Liverpool. The next book is Syn and publishes soon.

#Cover Reveal of Catch As Catch Can and Syn by Malcolm Hollingdrake @MHollingdrake @HobeckBooks #crimeseries #sefton #Liverpool #indiepub #NewRelease

Very excitedly, there is a cover reveal for Malcolm Hollingdrake’s forthcoming first two titles in the brand new Merseyside Crime Series – Catch As Catch Can and Syn, published by Hobeck Books.
Check out the moody, atmospheric covers and the blurb. Click Here To Pre-Order

Blurb

The gritty streets of Liverpool and the sweeping sands of the Sefton coastline provide the setting for Merseyside Crime Series from bestselling British crime author, Malcolm Hollingdrake.

Newly transferred from her native Yorkshire, Detective Inspector April Decent doesn’t have time to settle in to her new job before she’s tasked with solving a series of dark and disturbing crimes.

Together with Detective Sergeant Skeeter Warlock, Decent faces huge challenges – not least within the Merseyside Police Force itself…

Release: 20 April 2021 and 18 May 2021 – Click Here To Pre-Order