Murder at Primrose Cottage – Merryn Allingham

The third in the Flora Steele Mysteries and the young bookshop owner has left her shop behind i the Sussex village of Abbeymead and embarked on a trip to Cornwall.

Accompanying her is Jack Carrington, crime writer, who needs to finish his latest novel otherwise his agent and publisher are gong to be further annoyed if it is delayed any further.

Renting a cottage from Roger Gifford, Flora is somewhat surprised to find him dead the following morning after their arrival in an overgrown orchard. His throat had been caught. The locals are devastated, he was well liked, popular and why would such a heinous crime happen in such a small village.

Roger was looking into something and it seems he got quite near the truth about events during the Second World War. However, Roger leaves behind a bitter ex-wife and a money grabbing brother, both with valid reasons for wanting Roger gone. Then the presence of mysterious women Mercy Dearlove spooks a number of the locals, could she have been the one?

When another body turns up and the mystery during the war leads them back to Abbeymead and Jack’s own father, it seems that it is not just one puzzle that is going to be solved when they find the murderer.

A light cosy crime read which gives you escapism in all its forms and even if like me you worked out “whodunnit”, it doesn’t really matter as it is always nice to see how we get to the solution. Clearly there is more to be had from Flora and Jack, they make for a pleasant diversion and like friendly faces jumping off the page.

Thank you to the publisher via netgalley for the opportunity to read this book.

Murder at Primrose Cottage is out now.

20 Books of Summer

Go big or go home they often say and in a first for this blog and me I am going to take part in Cathy at 746 Books 20 Books of Summer. I could have started with 10 or 15 and lets be honest I might only reach one of those but why not aim high.

It all starts on the 1 June and goes through to 1 September so I am going to make an attempt to clear a number on my netgalley list and also plenty off my shelves too.

Here is my initial 20 and we can change our minds along the way but this is the original starting point.

1. Lucinda Riley – The Missing Sister
2. Sara Sheridan – The Fair Botanists
3. Sara Cox – Thrown Angela Thirkell – High Rising
4. Richard Coles – Murder Before Evensong
5. Jennifer Ryan – The Wedding Dress Circle
6. Gervase Phinn – At The Captains Table
7. Ann Cleeves – The Rising Tide
8. Celia Rees – Miss Graham’s War
9. Fern Britton – The Good Servant
10. Mick Herron – Slow Horses
11. Gill Hornby – Miss Austen
12. Anne Booth – Small Miracles
13. P.G.Wodehouse – Jeeves & Wooster unknown title yet!
14. Stacy Halls – The Foundling
15. Robert Galbraith – Troubled Blood
16. Jennifer Saint – Ariadne
17. Cathy Bramley – My Kind of Happy
18. Sue Tedder – Annie Stanley All At Sea
19. Dawn French – Because of You
20. Freya Sampson – The Girl on the 88 Bus

Let the reading commences and I will have to see how I get on- hopefully a mix of genres there to keep my interest piqued!

A New Start for the Wrens – Vicki Beeby

This is the start of a new series for the author and also for me. I was after a new saga to get stuck into and I have found it clearly with this series and the authors previous work.

Iris is also after a new start too, after presuming that she was about to be proposed to and live the life as lady of the manor, she makes a mistake and finds herself suddenly in Orkney as a WREN signaller. Joining her are Mary and Sally and whilst we learn about them, this story very much focuses on Iris. I took an immediate dislike to Iris, who ability to speak without thinking was clear and she really did have a problem with anyone who did not come from the same class and why would women want to do anything other than marry.

Of course as the book goes on, we see Iris prejudices challenged not just by her developing friendships with Mary and Sally but also the other people she meets along the way. Mechanic Rob is nothing like the man Iris should marry but something about him is enthralling. Stewart on the other hand would go down well with Iris’s parents. But is he really the caring doctor he makes out.

Then of course there is the Orkney Islands themselves, a vast landscape, nothing like the landscape of any of the girls homes. The weather is another battle to fight along with the Germans. The islanders welcome these girls into the homes and hearts and Irish can see that perhaps all she has held as ‘right’ is in fact wrong. When it looks like there could be a traitor in their midst, they find their purpose in their work will have huge ramifications.

This is a wonderfully written saga and I was hooked from the beginning. As someone who has a lot of knowledge of the Royal Navy and also coming from Portsmouth and working now where HMS Mercury moved to I can see plenty of names I recognised and nothing stood out for me as achingly wrong! I have seen that in previous novels and it really spoils the book for me.

I am already looking forward to catching up with the girls again soon.

Thank you to the publisher via netgalley for the opportunity to read this book.

A New Start for the Wrens is out now.

The Little Wartime Library Kate Thompson

Books, reading and therefore libraries are important at all times and in this novel, based on events during the Second World War, are important to the residents of Bethnal Green.

The unfinished underground station becomes the unlikely home of the Bethnal Green library as the original one was destroyed during the blitz. Librarian, Clara Button and her assistant Ruby Monroe have decamped underground to still serve the local residents with books, information , a shoulder to cry on and most importantly forms of escapism. But it is not just the locals, a whole world has opened up underneath he streets of London and bombed out residents are seeking shelter as well.

This is a forward thinking library, with bedtime stories for the smaller residents of the station as well as visits to local factories for those on shift work that cannot get to the library, a solace for overwhelmed mothers and an information point on being able to take control of your life. For some Clara and her ideas are a bit too forward thinking and it seems is cutting articles out of newspapers and spying on what is really going on amongst the bookshelves of stories.

A wonderful book full of so much, the impact of war on many different generations, domestic violence, female emancipation, sexual freedoms, loss, death, grief and that stoicism that seems to come out of these times.

An escapism to another time, which shows you the joy books bring no matter when we are reading them and under what circumstances.

For fans of books, libraries, reading and books based on the Second World War.

Thank you to the publisher via netgalley for the opportunity to read this book.

The Little Wartime Library is out now.

The Paris Apartment – Lucy Foley

Writing reviews for thrillers is always tough – you can’t say too much, but you need to give the readers a flavour of what to expect. Well if you know Foley’s previous work then you will probably know what to expect, but I would say prepare for the unexpected.

Centred around an apartment in Paris, this book first of introduces us to Jess who has come to Paris, to see her half brother Ben. We know little about Jess, we find out more as the book goes on but we never get to know the whole story.

In fact that is a theme of the book, do we really know any of these people who are in this apartment block.

The concierge, an old lady, forever in the shadows and living in a place that would fit in one of the penthouse singles rooms.

The occupiers of the penthouse, Sophie and Jacques. One seen and one not, but regardless their presence is felt over every floor.

Antoine, drunk, his wife has just left him but for who? He cannot seem to rely on steady work and needs to find money from somewhere else but where?

Naivety and falling in love fast and hard is where Mimi is at, but she is indulged so it doesn’t matter until that one fateful day.

Nick, returned to live in a minimalist circumstances. Looking like he doesn’t want to really put down roots, but then a face from the past comes brings everything back.

Then there is Ben. But where has he gone? Why did he say to Jess that he would meet her and then not be there? Jess wants to know but what is she really about to discover about her brother?

The tension can be felt as you turn the page, it is almost like you are waiting for something to snap, something to give. When it does it will be what you least expect. I was hooked, I needed to know what happened and whilst I worked one of the characters relationships out, this book kept me guessing until the very end. Rarely do books do that.

I have to say that the author has created another wonderful novel, very much centred around one place, like her previous two novels. This one branches out slightly but really only into another self centred place where everyone is trapped.

Perfect for people who want to be gripped and trapped almost by their reading and need to what happens next. It could well surprise you!

Thank you to the publisher via netgalley for the opportunity to read this book.

The Paris Apartment is out now.

The Kitchen Front – Jennifer Ryan

I have read many books which are based around the Second World War and it is always nice to get a different perspective, a different aspect to telling a well versed period of history.

Jennifer Ryan certainly does it with this book and uses the war at home, the food shortages, rationing and cooking to create this wonderful story.

The BBC programme The Kitchen Front needs to relate more to its female audience and so decides to hold a competition for a new presenter. Enter four ladies from Fenley Village.

First is Lady Gwendoline, she knows her status within the village, as being married to the prominent factory owner puts her above everyone else. In here eyes anyway. If she could win, then she would go up in everyone’s expectations, especially her husbands.

Audrey, widow with three young boys is Gwendoline’s sister. And looked upon as the poorer of the two. Devastated by her husband’s death and struggling to keep a roof above her families head, she will do anything to make the extra pennies to survive.

Nell is the kitchen maid for Gwendoline and along with the cook Mrs Quince, well known already in the area for what she can create. Nell is wanting to break free and leave the life of service behind and be her own women. Whilst she has the encouragement from Mrs Quince, can she do something as scary as cook for a competition and potentially win? Confidence is all she needs and it can come from the most unexpected places.

Zelda has bucket loads of confidence, as a chef very much in a mans world and determined to be recognised in her own right. Zelda sees this as a way to further her career. Except war work has taken her to the factory owned by Gwendoline’s husband and her condition means she is about to stand out from the crowd for all the wrong reasons.

All these women are thrown together in the competition and outside of that as well. There ingenuity to create something out of nothing or something out of foul ingredients shows the pluck and determination that the home front employed during rationing. The strength of friendship and adversity means that by the end of the book, all of their lives have changed.

Cooking and a common goal and purpose may have brought these four unlikely women together, but it was love, respect and their strength of belief and friendship which will keep them together long after you have finished reading the book.

An excellent book, covering the home front and full of recipes for dried egg powder, whale meat and tins of spam! Not sure I would want to recreate some of them, but they are all brought to life within the pages of the book.

Thank you to the publisher for the opportunity via netgalley to read this book. Unfortunately I was too late to download my copy but I was interested, so I purchased my own copy and devoured it. Jennifer Ryan’s writing is wonderful and I look forward to reading more.

The Kitchen Front is out now.

The Tea Ladies at St Jude’s Hospital – Joanna Nell

Joanna Nell’s books are something I only have discovered thanks to netgalley. And whenever I see a new one, I am always intrigued about what she is going to tackle next as it has at times a rather sad subject and in the main the character re those sprightly and determined older people who almost always get over looked.

The volunteers at the Marjorie Marshall Memorial Cafeteria have been raising money for various projects around the hospital for a number of years. As well as serving the traditional tea they have also provided the sympathy. The current volunteers are Hilary, manageress and with indominable spirit she runs the place with a rod of iron. She is also having to deal with elderly sister who insists on driving her to work every day and also the fact that she has left her husband after he spent all the money.

Working alongside Hillary is Joy. Joy by name and nature, never on time and with a wealth of observations about everything she will forever annoy Hillary. Then there is Chloe, seventeen years old, working towards her Duke of Edinburgh and determined to live up to her parents expectations and follow them into the medical profession. If only her heart was in it.

But longstanding traditions and volunteers don’t make good business sense. And it seems the Marjorie Marshall Memorial Cafeteria is earmarked for closure. Surely these three unlikely women can do what they can to save it.

But with their own problems as well, it seems personal and professional will cross over and have some interesting outcomes!

This book made me chuckle and cry. We learn more about the backgrounds to the three main characters as the book progresses and whilst I did work out what they all had to hide, what they gave within the pages of the book and the story made it all the more special.

This authors novels are unique, they are set in a place that you cannot really pinpoint (but if you do your research it will be Australia) but actually they could be any hospital, any cafeteria, any volunteers from anywhere in the world and the spirit and determination would be just the same. A wonderful story to add to the Joanna Nell oeuvre.

Thank you to the publisher via netgalley for the opportunity to read this book.

The Tea Ladies of St Jude’s Hospital is out now.

April Roundup

And there goes April……I normally have a lot of time to read in April due to holiday, but this year was very different. Less holiday due to work computer systems, personnel changes and the like means that I have had the bare minimum to catch up. It has slightly annoyed me really as has the lack of doing what I like doing. However I have read some books and some cracking ones at that.

The Second World War seems to have been a theme when I look back on the books I have read. I was delighted and also saddened to finally reach the end of this series with Nancy Revell – Three Cheers for the Shipyard Girls. I am now on the look out for another saga series to get immersed in, so if you have any recommendations then please comment and let me know.

From the Shipyards of the War and staying very much on the home front I ended up in a cooking competition on rations with Jennifer Ryan – The Kitchen Front. Whilst perhaps some of the ingredients leave a lot to be desired this strong story of friendship and what you can achieve with every little is excellent. It was lovely to see a book which concentrated on a different part of the war. Jennifer Ryan has a knack of doing that with her story telling.

You never think of what happened to libraries during the War. Kate Thompson – The Little Wartime Library shines a light on such a place, deep underground at Bethnal Green. Synonymous with a tragedy of its own. This was a delightful, heart-breaking book which tells you the power of friendship and strength through books.

More libraries featured this month by pure accident and that was with the latest Katie Ginger – The Little Library on Cherry Lane. A library threatened from something different but nonetheless showing such an important place that libraries can be. Makes me feel so guilty that I do not use mine as often as I should.

Female friendships is a theme in many books I read and they can cross generations as they do in Joanna Nell – The Tea Ladies of St Jude’s Hospital. An author I have read before who can capture the wonder of the elderly in such a comic way that her books have a great sense of fun about them.

Cathy Bramley – The Summer That Changed Us is the latest in this author’s work and I think I have pretty much read all of them. This one was different, it spoke to me in a completely different way. I adored it from beginning to end, it dealt with some real tough subject matter but not in a frivolous way but in something more realistic akin to real life. Cathy’s work keeps getting better and better.

Reading brings me such joy an contentment but I always like to be challenged sometimes by what I pick up. The final two books I want to talk about this month do that. Clare Chambers – Small Pleasures was on my shelf for a while after seeing it being raved about on Between the Covers a relatively new book programme on BBC2. Wow! A gentle book with an interesting themes to make it not so gentle and a bit more powerful.

Thrillers always have that way of being powerful, if they have the right hook to draw you in, the hours whizz by and you suddenly find it is way past your bedtime! Lucy Foley – The Paris Apartment was no exception. Whilst Lucy has moved away from the almost ‘locked room’ mystery this had a lot of a similar elements and branched out a little bit more. I was hooked, I was drawn in and I had to keep turning the page. A little bit slow in parts and not my favourite of hers but still a great thriller to escape with.

So that was my April, I am trying to erode the huge list of books to read on my shelf, on my kindle and on my want to buy list! Then of course I need to be writing about the books too, which seems to be harder and harder at the moment. A few more hours in the day, a few more days in the week and all we be fine!