The Man She Married Alison James

This is another one of those stories that is so improbable that it is actually quite possible. It is quite feasible for someone to copycat or what they call identity theft nowadays and become someone else.


Alice was trusting. She was a bit naïve. Not overly so. Brought up by loving parents and with a very normal sibling there was no reason to distrust people. When Dominic came into her life, despite that there were certain twinges of misgivings she over rode those feelings. She also knew distinctly that her best friend had reservations about the relationship but once she knew Alice was in deep, she put them aside and gave her the support she needed.


It was only after his death, that the entire mess unraveled in stages and showed the workings of a clinical, cold blooded man who was only after one thing - himself and that anyone who wanted more from him had to go. Alice escaped with her life, after several near calamities and should be considered one of the lucky ones.


A mystery serial killer murder/thriller. Psychopathic character who literally got away with murder until he was killed surprisingly by accident himself.


Sent to me by Netgalley for an unbiased review, courtesy of Bookouture.

The Neighbours by Nicola Gill

A book that will exasperate you, annoy you, keep you amused, make you rather prickly too.
It was entertaining.

Cassie and Ginny are neighbours. 55 and 35 respectively very un alike in ways, attitudes and characteristics but both are tenacious, both underlying the frivolity are good people and this is their story. Of hopelessness, despair, depression, relationships, the difficulty in finding (and keeping) a partner and their hopes for their futures.

It was a mish mash of feelings and basic living and trying to come to terms with life and come to terms they did - eventually. Ginny's basic fear of ending up alone without a family is shared by many and many would be able to empathise with her in this story though at times she annoyed me no end. Cassie is someone as a neighbor you'd steer well clear of - she was a pain in the butt but Ginny obviously saw beyond the façade.

The story was an excellent one and I will be looking out for this author in the future as well.

Sent to me by Netgalley for an unbiased review, courtesy of Avon Books UK.

On a non book note, I am looking forward to visiting Melbourne and seeing the grandchildren and the children (note order of preference now). It has been too long.

The Place We call Home by Faith Hogan

A family centric story but one also of with strong historical links set in an idyllic setting of Ballycove a village in Ireland which forms the backdrop to the story.


Miranda has taken over the mills through a quirk of fate. Now with intense hard work she has brought it from the brink of bankruptcy to its present state of being one of the foremost mills in the country with a reputation for quality and innovation unmatched by other designers. With ill health dogging her footsteps, Miranda knows she has to decide on who is going to take over the mills when she steps down but with three children of widely differing personalities and capabilities she is in a quandary.


With great power and wealth the usual characteristics of greed, envy and ambition rear their heads and even in the closest of families strife and mistrust soon will appear. This family is no different. How Miranda steers the family amongst each of their own personal woes and problems is the brilliant stuff of this story.


Wonderful writing.


Sent to me by Netgalley for an unbiased review, courtesy of Aria.

Give The Devil His Due by Sulari Gentill

I love this author's style of writing and am very partial to a Sri Lankan origin author anyway!!!! So few of them around.


The story of Rowland Sinclair and his family - the closest we could get to aristocracy in Australia in itself is an unusual family and background. The understated riches, lifestyle and manner of Rowland is in itself admirable and a story on its own. Set him against a motley crowd of arty types like Edna who has acquired a reputation which is not fair, Communists and so called hangers on and then set an attempted murder/s in this background and you have a fascinating story.


Set on a race track with a killer reputation, we have people gunning for Rowland Sinclair. In the process others get killed which adds to the mystery. The 1930s political scene in Australia was complicated and amazing and to someone like me who did not have a clue as to what Australia was like then, the story was a revelation.


Loved the writing.


Sent to me by Netgalley for an unbiased review, courtesy of Poisoned Pen Press.

I Choose You by Gayle Curtis

A very twisted lifestyle with strange characters inhabiting the story but so twisted that it has to be true. Elise and Nathaniel three kids and though life is a bit strange it all goes completely ballistic when their daughter is abducted and then found murdered.


What follows is a story of suicide, suicide watchers, promotion of suicides and with no apparent detective/police follow up as to the series of coincidences where people took their lives and nothing happened.


The book is confusing and though I thought I knew who was behind the killings, I was not absolutely sure. There are a lot of clues strewn around and the subject matter is so emotional in itself that I was floundering.


The story was a good one albeit confusing.


Sent to me by Netgalley for an unbiased review, courtesy of  Amazon Publishing UK.

The Marquise of O (Translation) and The Body in the Dumb River

A short review.


A different way of handling an age old problem. How to cope with an unexpected and unexplainable pregnancy. In a very conservative time. In a very respectable family.


A tragi comedy very well written.


Sent to me by Netgalley for an unbiased review, courtesy of Pushkin Press.







The writing in this one is slow as well. But it is somewhat different. A mystery murder of an innocuous man who was known to everyone as being mild and meek and who only wanted to get on with his life.


Seemingly quiet, James lived a double life. With a wife and three daughters who disliked him and who only wanted money out of him and above all respectability, there was Martha on the other hand who was a help mate of the best kind who loved him for who he was.


Littlejohn's detective work is brilliant. Very descriptive writing of both the setting and the characters are spot on. A pleasure to read at any time.


Sent to me by Netgalley for an unbiased review, courtesy of Poisoned Pen Press.

The Other Woman by Jane Isaac

Cameron Swift was shot dead by a black clad hemeted young person outside his house. It was not a robbery, neither was it random. Seemingly without any reason. DC Beth Chamberlain is put in charge of the case with the orders from high to solve this random murder quickly.


Monika is Cameron's partner and cannot find any reason why this should happen. With no enemies, a fairly low profile, a man who travels for work there are no clues. On the other side of the world in Goa, Sara is on holiday with her two daughters when she gets the news. It is with her getting the news that the whole story unravels.


How Cameron was able to maintain a duplicate life with no one the wiser, two families which he kept happy and contented but with now over riding financial woes despite an opulent lifestyle, Beth has to unravel the clues left behind to find out why and who did this.


Not just the people around him but even the victim has had secrets and they are kept closely guarded.
A typical mystery murder thriller this was well written with good characterization (especially the two women).


Sent to me by Netgalley for an unbiased review, courtesy of Aria.