The Woman In Cabin 10

Author – Ruth Ware

Ruth Ware is a British author, whose debut novel In a Dark, Dark Wood was a New York Times and Sunday Times best seller.  The Woman In Cabin 10 is her second book and was nominated for the Goodreads Choice Awards Best Mystery and Thriller 2016. She has also released The Lying Game and The Death of Mrs Westaway.

Her website is www.ruthware.com and you can also find her on Twitter @RuthWareWriter 

Publisher – Harvill Secker

Pages – 343

The Blurb – How do you stop a killer, when no one believes they exist?

This was meant to be the perfect trip.  The Northern Lights.  A luxury press launch on a boutique cruise ship. A chance for travel journalist Lo Blacklock to recover from a traumatic break-in.

Except things don’t go as planned.  Woken in the night by screams, Lo rushes to her window to see a body thrown overboard from the next door cabin.  But the records show that no one ever checked in to that cabin, and no passengers are missing from the boat.

Exhausted, emotional and increasingly desperate, Lo has to face that fact that she may have made a terrible mistake.  Or is she trapped on board a boat with a murderer and she is the sole witness..

I got this book from my mum.

My thoughts- This is the first book I have read by Ruth Ware and I wasn’t disappointed.  It is a well written pacey thriller that keeps you guessing all the way through.

Lo, accepts an assignment to cover the launch of a new luxury cruise ship.  Already in a state after a break in and a troubled relationship, she is relying on alcohol and pills to survive.  Her anxiety increases, as she is in unfamiliar surroundings with strangers.  Then struggling with sleep,  she thinks she has witnessed a body been thrown overboard, however upon reporting it to the cruise ship staff, she is told no-one was in or has ever been in that room, even though she saw someone in there earlier.

Her journalistic instinct kicks in and whilst battling against her own mind, she endeavours to find out who got thrown overboard and who did it.  As she continues to interview the passengers under the guise of writing her travel piece, some of her questions raises suspicions.

She is stuck on the ocean with a suspected killer, on a boat full of strangers.  She doesn’t know who to trust, she doesn’t trust herself and someone is out to stop her finding out more.

You can purchase it here

This book counts towards my British Book Challenge

 

Advertisements

Barnabus Tew And The Case Of The Missing Scarab

Author – Columbkill Noonan

Columbkill Noonan

Columbkill Noonan lives in Baltimore, Maryland, USA, where she teaches yoga and Anatomy and Physiology.  Her work has appeared in numerous anthologies and magazines. Her first novel, “Barnabas Tew and the Case of the Missing Scarab” by Crooked Cat Books, was released in 2017, and her latest work, “Barnabas Tew and the Case of the Nine Worlds”, is set to be released in September 2018.

In her spare time, Columbkill enjoys hiking, paddle boarding, aerial yoga, and riding her rescue horse, Mittens.

To learn more about Columbkill please feel free to visit her website (www.columbkill.weebly.com)

Social Media Links –  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ColumbkillNoonan/

                                       Twitter: https://twitter.com/columbkillnoon1?lang=en

Publisher – Crooked Cat Books

Pages – 275

Barnabus Tew, a detective in Victorian London, is having a hard time making a name for himself, probably because most of his clients end up dead before he can solve their cases.  His luck is about to change, though, for better or worse: Anubis, the Egyptian god of the dead, notices him and calls him to the Egyptian underworld.  A terrible kidnapping has occurred; one that promises to put an end to the status quo and could perhaps even put an end to the entire world.  It is up to Barnabus (along with his trusty assistant, Wilfred) to discover the culprit and set things to right.  Can he turn his luck around and solve the most important case of his life?

I read this book to take part in my first ever blog tour, a big thank you to Rachel’s Random Resources for the opportunity to take part.

My thoughts – I really enjoyed this book as it certainly is a departure from standard detective novels.  The main character Barnabus Tew wants to be the next celebrated detective following on from Sherlock Holmes.  However his powers of deduction aren’t as finely attuned and his clients have a knack of dying while he is investigating their cases.  He is assisted by Wilfred Colby, who he thinks of as intellectually inferior to himself, but as the book unfolds, we see that Wilfred, is more than capable when it comes to detecting.

Down on their luck and unable to pay their rent, they are about to find themselves involved in their strangest case yet, as they find themselves summoned to the Egyptian underworld to assist God of the dead, Anubis.

I found this book extremely amusing as the pair deal with the peculiarities of individual Egyptian Gods in an effort to be returned to Victorian England.  Columbkill successfully combines historical fact into a humorous whodunit and those who have knowledge of their Egyptian Gods will not be disappointed by their portrayal in this book.  It is obvious that a lot of research has gone into this book, which adds to its authenticity.

Although Barnabus is lacking in obvious powers of deduction and is prone to running around in circles (literally), he and Wilfred endeavour to save Egypt from mischievous Gods and in doing so face, mice people, crocodiles and evil snakes.

I really enjoyed this book and found myself learning about Egyptian Gods, whilst enjoying a mystery,  I look forward to reading the next in the series, Barnabus Tew And The Case Of The Nine Worlds.

You can purchase it here

 

 

Tamworth Readers and Writers Group

This group is a lovely addition to Tamworth.  It has been running for over a year and is a wealth of information for readers and writers alike.

The group was formed by Sue Flint and Tina Williams.  Sue has experience in running writers and craft groups.  She is an avid reader and is also a published author.  Tina is a book reviewer and blogger, and along with Anthony Poulton Smith is responsible for the success of Tamworth’s Literary Festival every year.

You can find them on Twitter Sue, Tina, Anthony.

The group hosts a different author every month, it is an invaluable way for readers to meet new authors or perhaps a favourite.  In return authors can meet readers, engage with them and take away feedback or inspiration.  The author spends some time talking to the group about their books and taking questions.  Most of the time you can purchase the author’s books and get them signed.

The range of authors and speakers is vast, lots of genres are covered. Subjects covered include, article writing, proofing and editing and blogging, in addition to the authors.  We have had talks from debut authors and established authors.

Erin Green talking about her writing journey and her first two novels

 

Darren Young came to talk about his debut novel, Child Taken

Erin is on Twitter Erin Green, you can find Darren at Darren Young

To order their books just click Erin: A Christmas Wish, The Single Girl’s Calendar

Darren: Child Taken

Some of the other people we have had come to our group as speakers are, author Sara Read, author Lucy Felthouse, librarian Ian Burley, author Anthony Poulton Smith (link further up) and Daniel Thompson.

The group is lucky as we meet in Christopher’s Restaurant, at The Peel, Aldergate and we have the enclosed back section to ourselves.  It lends itself nicely to groups, and we make full use of their facilities.  Listening to our speakers is usually accompanied by tea and coffee and maybe cake.  Some of us also stop for lunch after.

The next meeting of the group is Tuesday 17th July at 10.00 and all are welcome, no need to book.  The speaker is Jonathan Davidson who is the CEO of Writing West Midlands.

For more information on the group or to be a speaker please contact Sue or Tina at the above links.

Caroline x

The Wainwright Book Prize

So I don’t know about you but I enter a lot of competitions on Twitter, you know the ones, comment and retweet to win x, y or z.  So last month I entered a competition to win the complete longlist for the Wainwright Book Prize, the whole list, thirteen amazing books.  You guessed it I won!

So today my book post starts arriving and nine of the thirteen books are now in my possession.  I can’t wait to get started on them.

 

I’m just waiting for the marvellous The Lost Words, A Wood of One’s Own, Owl Sense and The Wood to arrive.  I’ll edit this post when they do.

The Wainwright Book Prize celebrates the outdoors by promoting the best in nature and travel writing.  Previous winners of the prize include Amy Liptrot and John Lewis-Stempel

You can find out all about The Wainwright Book Prize here and they are also on Twitter @wainwrightprize

So if you see a competition you fancy, enter.  You never know, you may be lucky.

 

Caroline x

The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August

Author – Claire North

Claire is an English author who also writes under the name of Kate Griffin and Catherine Webb.  The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August was shortlisted for the Arthur C. Clarke award, and was selected for the Radio 2, Waterstones and Richard and Judy book clubs.  She wrote her first novel when she was just 14 years old, Mirror Dreams, and has been prolific since then under her different pen names.

Her website is kategriffin.net and is on Twitter @ClaireNorth42

Publisher – Orbit

Pages – 405

The Blurb – Some stories cannot be told in just one lifetime.  No matter what he does or the decisions he makes, every time Harry dies, he always returns to where he began, a child with all the knowledge of a life lived a dozen times before.  Nothing ever changes – until now.

I read this book as part of Tamworth Library’s book group.  We meet every third Tuesday of the month on the first floor.

My thoughts – What an incredible book.  I don’t usually read science fiction so was a bit apprehensive before starting.  However that was quickly swept away by the story of Harry August,  which reeled me in immediately.  Although I don’t read science fiction I am a big fan of Doctor Who, and this is in the same vein, with a lot more layers.

As Harry goes through his life he realises that he is different to other people and belongs to a small group of people, who when they die, go straight back to where they started.   The majority of these people belong to The Cronus Club, a group that literally have time on their hands. This story follows Harry as he tries to decipher what meaning his life has and whether subtle changes can alter his eventual outcome, and that of The Cronus Club.

The book is beautifully written and it is evident that a lot of research has gone into all aspects of it, there is some very technical science in it, which I won’t pretend to understand but it was written in such a way that the depth of it doesn’t distract from the story.  The story poses lots of questions one of which is what would you do with eternity?  You live the same life over and over again, do you lead hedonistic lifestyles in each or do you progress with each lifetime?  Learn new languages and travel the world, gaining knowledge, new skills?  If you knew that time isn’t progressing as it should, would you dedicate your life or lives to preventing the end of time?

The book contains a few extras.  And a two page extract of Claire North’s next book, Touch and the four chapters of The OverSight by Charlie Fletcher.

I thoroughly recommend this book, it is a brilliant read and it really got me thinking and playing out endless scenarios relating to time travel universes etc.

This book counts towards as part of my British Book Challenge

You can purchase it here

 

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Then She Was Gone

Author – Luca Veste

Then She Was Gone is the fourth of in the series of Murphy and Rossi detective novels. He has also written a stand alone novel, The Bone Keeper.

His website is www.lucaveste.com, he is also on Twitter @LucaVeste.

Publisher – Simon & Schuster UK

Pages – 433

The Blurb – Tim Johnson took his baby daughter out for a walk and she never made it home.  Johnson claimed he was assaulted and that the girl was snatched.  the police saw a different crime, with Johnson their only suspect.  A year later Sam Bryne is on course to be elected as one of the youngest MPs in Westminster.  He’s tipped for the very top…until he vanishes.  Detectives Murphy and Rossi are tasked with discovering what has happened to the popular politician – and in doing so, they unearth a trail that stretches into the past, and crimes that someone is hell-being on avenging.

I was given this book by a friend.

My thoughts – This is the first book of Luca Veste’s that I have read, and I was not disappointed.  I found it completely engrossing and read it within two days.  The story flows well and it is really fast paced.  Although this is the fourth in the Murphy and Rossi series, it works very well as a stand alone novel.

I enjoyed the characters of DI David Murphy and Ds Laura Rossi, like I said I haven’t read the other in the series but I took them straight away and enjoyed the banter between them.  The book starts with them investigating the disappearance of Sam Bryne.  The search for him turns into something far more sinister than a mere disappearance, as someone will go to any lengths to exact their revenge.

Does this aspiring politician have skeletons in his past, that would explain his absence and the trail of devastation that would follow?  And how does the disappearance of Tim Johnson’s daughter tie into the story.

I thoroughly recommend the book, it is a great thriller that is beautifully written.  Authors are always told to show not tell their story, Luca Veste has really done this.  It is very cleverly constructed with a brilliant ending that I really did not see coming.

I loved the book and the writing and I’ll definitely be reading the rest of the series and the stand alone novel, The Bone Keeper.

The book contains the first chapter of the third in the series, Bloodstream

This book counts towards my British Book Challenge

You can purchase it here